diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index bda1d49..bea32be 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ POSTGRES_USER=
 POSTGRES_HOST=
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD=
 POSTGRES_DATABASE=
+# Used by prisma/schema.prisma. Full Prisma connection URL with pool params appended.
+# Keep connection_limit small (~5) for Vercel serverless — see schema.prisma for why.
+# Paste the literal URL (copy POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL's value and append the pool params); do not use $-interpolation.
+POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL_WITH_POOL="postgres://USER:PASS@HOST/DB?pgbouncer=true&connect_timeout=15&connection_limit=5&pool_timeout=20"
 
 
 # --- Vercel hosts and credentials
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 1a93cd4..b1ed12f 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ yarn prettier:fix     # Prettier auto-format
 ```
 
 After changing `prisma/schema.prisma`:
+
 ```bash
 npx prisma generate   # Regenerate Prisma client (also runs on postinstall)
 npx prisma db push    # Push schema changes to database
@@ -44,11 +45,12 @@ No test suite is configured.
 ### Database (Prisma + PostgreSQL)
 
 Three models in `prisma/schema.prisma`:
+
 - `CustomFieldAccess` — per-portal field-level VIEW/EDIT permissions
 - `ClientProfileUpdates` — audit log of profile changes (stores full custom fields + changed fields as JSONB)
 - `Setting` — per-portal JSON configuration
 
-Uses `relationMode = "prisma"` for serverless compatibility. Connection string uses `POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL_HIGHER_CONNECTION_LIMIT`.
+Uses `relationMode = "prisma"` for serverless compatibility. Connection string uses `POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL_WITH_POOL`.
 
 ### Mutable/Immutable State Pattern
 
@@ -66,6 +68,7 @@ Settings and custom field access are stored as two copies in context: a read-onl
 ## Environment Setup
 
 Copy `.env.example` to `.env.local`. Required variables:
+
 - `COPILOT_API_KEY` — from the Assembly/Copilot dashboard
 - `COPILOT_ENV` — `local` for test tokens, `production` for real tokens
 - `POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL` and related DB vars — PostgreSQL connection strings
diff --git a/prisma/schema.prisma b/prisma/schema.prisma
index f0e3463..c7cf623 100644
--- a/prisma/schema.prisma
+++ b/prisma/schema.prisma
@@ -7,9 +7,13 @@ generator client {
 
 datasource db {
   provider     = "postgresql"
-  // Vercel won't let us change the POSTGRES_* config so update it with a connection_limit key using a custom env var like
-  // POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL_HIGHER_CONNECTION_LIMIT="$POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL&connection_limit=20"
-  url          = env("POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL_HIGHER_CONNECTION_LIMIT")
+  // Vercel won't let us edit the integration-managed POSTGRES_* vars directly, so we set a separate var that holds the
+  // full Prisma connection URL with pool params appended. Keep connection_limit small for Vercel serverless — each
+  // lambda gets its own client-side pool, and large values multiplied by concurrent lambdas saturate pgBouncer
+  // (see https://pris.ly/d/connection-pool). Example value (paste the literal URL, do not use $-interpolation):
+  //   POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL_WITH_POOL="postgres://USER:PASS@HOST/DB?pgbouncer=true&connect_timeout=15&connection_limit=5&pool_timeout=20"
+  // Heads up: if the Vercel/Neon integration rotates POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL's credentials, update this var to match.
+  url          = env("POSTGRES_PRISMA_URL_WITH_POOL")
   directUrl    = env("POSTGRES_URL_NON_POOLING")
   // Emulates relationships in Prisma client itself. Better for serverless databases like neon or planetscale
   relationMode = "prisma"