diff --git a/third_party/optmem/memo b/third_party/optmem/memo
index 411d013..6c8b838 100755
--- a/third_party/optmem/memo
+++ b/third_party/optmem/memo
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ KNOBS = {
     "PART_CHARS": (20000, "output paging: largest part, in bytes"),
     "PART_LINES": (500, "output paging: largest part, in lines"),
 }
-WAKE_LINES = KNOBS["WAKE_LINES"][0]  # ~8k tokens of dense text, in 2 parts
+WAKE_LINES = 96
+MAX_WAKE_LINES = 96
 ENTRY_CHARS = KNOBS["ENTRY_CHARS"][0]
 # Every harness truncates a command that prints too much, and each drops a
 # different piece: Claude Code cuts the middle at 30,000 chars, pi cuts the
@@ -161,6 +162,9 @@ def size(k, v, where=""):
     if not v.isdigit() or int(v) < 1:
         die("%s%s must be a positive whole number, not '%s'." % (where, k, v))
     top = min(TREE_REC - 8, LOG_REC - 40)
+    if k == "WAKE_LINES" and int(v) > MAX_WAKE_LINES:
+        die("%sWAKE_LINES is at most %d to keep wake within the agent context "
+            "budget." % (where, MAX_WAKE_LINES))
     if k == "ENTRY_CHARS" and int(v) > top:
         die("%sENTRY_CHARS is at most %d: a memory has to fit the fixed-width "
             "records." % (where, top))