diff --git a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/cards/DashboardViewCard.tsx b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/cards/DashboardViewCard.tsx
index 73c24a3b..cf4a7fad 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/cards/DashboardViewCard.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/pages/Dashboard/cards/DashboardViewCard.tsx
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import KeyboardArrowUpRounded from '@mui/icons-material/KeyboardArrowUpRounded';
 import { Output, SERVE_BASE } from '@/shared/state/outputsSlice';
 import { setViewCardPosition, setViewDocked, setViewCardSize, setActiveViewCardId, recordClosedCard, addViewCard, setTiledCard, clearTiledCard, toggleMinimizeCard, activateViewCardPreview } from '@/shared/state/dashboardLayoutSlice';
 import { removeViewCardCleanly } from '@/shared/viewTeardown';
+import { requestAppSlot, releaseAppSlot, subscribeAppBudget } from '@/shared/appWebviewBudget';
 import { expandSession } from '@/shared/state/agentsSlice';
 import WindowControls from './WindowControls';
 import { openCardContextMenu } from '../desktop/CardContextMenu';
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ const MIN_H = 200;
 // has no login/scroll state worth keeping, so we just unmount the webview when the card is off-screen or
 // too small to read, and remount (reload) on return. Asymmetric: resume instantly, suspend after a beat
 // so panning past a card doesn't reload it.
+const isElectron = typeof navigator !== 'undefined' && navigator.userAgent.includes('Electron');
 const APP_PREVIEW_MIN_PX = 260;   // below this on-screen width the live page is indistinguishable from a still
 const APP_PREVIEW_MARGIN_PX = 400; // resume once the card is within this of the viewport
 const APP_SUSPEND_SETTLE_MS = 1200;
@@ -224,23 +226,37 @@ const DashboardViewCard: React.FC<Props> = ({
       if (previewDeferred) {
         want = false; // reveal-parked: never boot until the first click clears the defer
       } else if (alwaysLive) {
+        // Actively used (selected, interacting, agent-driven, tiled, fullscreen): pinned, never capped.
+        if (isElectron) requestAppSlot(cardKey, 0, true);
         want = true;
       } else {
         const now = getCanvasState();
         const vpEl = document.querySelector('[data-canvas-viewport]');
         const vpW = vpEl ? (vpEl as HTMLElement).clientWidth : window.innerWidth;
         const vpH = vpEl ? (vpEl as HTMLElement).clientHeight : window.innerHeight;
+        let onscreen: boolean;
         if (cardWidth * now.zoom < APP_PREVIEW_MIN_PX) {
-          want = false;
+          onscreen = false;
         } else {
           const m = APP_PREVIEW_MARGIN_PX / now.zoom;
           const vx = -now.panX / now.zoom - m;
           const vy = -now.panY / now.zoom - m;
           const vw = vpW / now.zoom + 2 * m;
           const vh = vpH / now.zoom + 2 * m;
-          want = cardX < vx + vw && cardX + cardWidth > vx && cardY < vy + vh && cardY + cardHeight > vy;
+          onscreen = cardX < vx + vw && cardX + cardWidth > vx && cardY < vy + vh && cardY + cardHeight > vy;
+        }
+        if (!onscreen || !isElectron) {
+          want = onscreen; // non-Electron previews are cheap iframes, no renderer to cap
+        } else {
+          // On-screen but passive: go live only if the hard cap has a slot; closest-to-center wins it.
+          const cx = (-now.panX + vpW / 2) / now.zoom;
+          const cy = (-now.panY + vpH / 2) / now.zoom;
+          const ddx = cardX + cardWidth / 2 - cx;
+          const ddy = cardY + cardHeight / 2 - cy;
+          want = requestAppSlot(cardKey, ddx * ddx + ddy * ddy, false);
         }
       }
+      if (!want) releaseAppSlot(cardKey);
       if (want === previewLiveRef.current) return;
       if (want) {
         if (suspendTimerRef.current) { clearTimeout(suspendTimerRef.current); suspendTimerRef.current = null; }
@@ -265,14 +281,19 @@ const DashboardViewCard: React.FC<Props> = ({
       }
     };
     evaluate();
+    const unsubBudget = subscribeAppBudget(evaluate); // an eviction or a freed slot re-runs this card's decision
     window.addEventListener('openswarm:canvas-pan-changed', evaluate);
     window.addEventListener('resize', evaluate);
     return () => {
+      unsubBudget();
       window.removeEventListener('openswarm:canvas-pan-changed', evaluate);
       window.removeEventListener('resize', evaluate);
       if (suspendTimerRef.current) { clearTimeout(suspendTimerRef.current); suspendTimerRef.current = null; }
     };
-  }, [alwaysLive, previewDeferred, cardX, cardY, cardWidth, cardHeight, getCanvasState]);
+  }, [alwaysLive, previewDeferred, cardX, cardY, cardWidth, cardHeight, getCanvasState, cardKey]);
+
+  // Free the cap slot on unmount (card deleted, dashboard switch) so a slot is never leaked.
+  useEffect(() => () => releaseAppSlot(cardKey), [cardKey]);
 
   // Deselecting the card exits interact mode (click anywhere else on canvas).
   useEffect(() => {
diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/appWebviewBudget.test.ts b/frontend/src/shared/appWebviewBudget.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3497ea93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/appWebviewBudget.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+// Run: node --test frontend/src/shared/appWebviewBudget.test.ts
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import {
+  requestAppSlot,
+  releaseAppSlot,
+  MAX_LIVE_APP_WEBVIEWS as MAX,
+} from './appWebviewBudget.ts';
+
+// The module holds shared state, so every test fills, asserts, then releases its own keys to leave a clean slate.
+function fill(prefix: string, n: number, basePriority: number): string[] {
+  const keys: string[] = [];
+  for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) {
+    const k = `${prefix}${i}`;
+    assert.equal(requestAppSlot(k, basePriority + i, false), true, `slot ${i} should be granted below cap`);
+    keys.push(k);
+  }
+  return keys;
+}
+function release(keys: string[]): void {
+  for (const k of keys) releaseAppSlot(k);
+}
+
+test('grants every request below the cap', () => {
+  const keys = fill('a', MAX, 10);
+  release(keys);
+});
+
+test('denies a farther card once the cap is full', () => {
+  const keys = fill('b', MAX, 10);
+  assert.equal(requestAppSlot('b-far', 9999, false), false, 'a card farther than all live cards is denied');
+  release([...keys, 'b-far']);
+});
+
+test('a closer card evicts the farthest, and the evicted one is then denied', () => {
+  const keys = fill('c', MAX, 100); // priorities 100..100+MAX-1; farthest is the last
+  assert.equal(requestAppSlot('c-near', 1, false), true, 'a closer card takes a slot by eviction');
+  // The farthest original (highest priority) was evicted; re-requesting it now fails (still full, still farthest).
+  const evicted = `c${MAX - 1}`;
+  assert.equal(requestAppSlot(evicted, 100 + MAX - 1, false), false, 'the evicted farthest card cannot re-enter');
+  release([...keys, 'c-near']);
+});
+
+test('pinned cards bypass the cap and are never evicted', () => {
+  const keys = fill('d', MAX, 10);
+  assert.equal(requestAppSlot('d-pin', 0, true), true, 'pinned card is admitted past a full cap');
+  // A pinned card does not consume an evictable slot, so an unpinned farther card is still denied.
+  assert.equal(requestAppSlot('d-far', 9999, false), false, 'unpinned farther card still denied with a pin present');
+  // Another pin also admitted.
+  assert.equal(requestAppSlot('d-pin2', 0, true), true, 'second pinned card also admitted');
+  release([...keys, 'd-pin', 'd-pin2', 'd-far']);
+});
+
+test('releasing a slot lets a previously-denied card in', () => {
+  const keys = fill('e', MAX, 10);
+  assert.equal(requestAppSlot('e-wait', 9999, false), false, 'denied while full');
+  releaseAppSlot(keys[0]);
+  assert.equal(requestAppSlot('e-wait', 9999, false), true, 'admitted after a slot frees');
+  release([keys[1], keys[2], keys[3], keys[4], keys[5], 'e-wait'].filter(Boolean));
+});
+
+test('re-requesting an already-live card just updates it, no extra slot', () => {
+  const keys = fill('f', MAX, 10);
+  assert.equal(requestAppSlot(keys[0], 5, false), true, 'existing card re-request is idempotent');
+  assert.equal(requestAppSlot('f-far', 9999, false), false, 'still full after a re-request');
+  release([...keys, 'f-far']);
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/appWebviewBudget.ts b/frontend/src/shared/appWebviewBudget.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..299976fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/appWebviewBudget.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/**
+ * Hard ceiling on simultaneously-live app (View) webviews. An app preview is the heaviest surface on
+ * the canvas (a full renderer running a live frontend), and unlike browser cards these had NO global
+ * cap, so a pile of big app cards left in view could stack renderers until the whole app OOMs. This is
+ * admission control: a passive on-screen app goes live only if a slot is free, else it stays a
+ * placeholder; the cards closest to the viewport center win the scarce slots. A card the user is
+ * actively using (selected, interacting, agent-driven, tiled, fullscreen) is "pinned" and bypasses the
+ * cap, the same way a browser card's mustStayLive rule exempts it. Below the cap this is a no-op, so
+ * everyday behavior is unchanged; it only bites when too many previews want to be live at once.
+ */
+export const MAX_LIVE_APP_WEBVIEWS = 6;
+
+interface Slot {
+  priority: number; // squared distance from viewport center; smaller = closer = kept when slots are scarce
+  pinned: boolean; // actively used: never counted against the cap, never evicted
+}
+
+const live = new Map<string, Slot>();
+const listeners = new Set<() => void>();
+
+// Deferred: an eviction firing inside one card's render must not synchronously poke another card's state.
+function notify(): void {
+  queueMicrotask(() => {
+    for (const fn of [...listeners]) fn();
+  });
+}
+
+function evictableLiveCount(): number {
+  let n = 0;
+  for (const s of live.values()) if (!s.pinned) n++;
+  return n;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Whether this card may be live now. Idempotent (safe to call every pan/resize tick). A pinned card is
+ * always granted; an unpinned one is granted if a slot is free, or if it is closer to center than the
+ * farthest currently-live unpinned card, which it then evicts.
+ */
+export function requestAppSlot(key: string, priority: number, pinned: boolean): boolean {
+  const existing = live.get(key);
+  if (existing) {
+    existing.priority = priority;
+    existing.pinned = pinned;
+    return true;
+  }
+  if (pinned || evictableLiveCount() < MAX_LIVE_APP_WEBVIEWS) {
+    live.set(key, { priority, pinned });
+    return true;
+  }
+  let worstKey: string | null = null;
+  let worstPriority = -Infinity;
+  for (const [k, s] of live) {
+    if (!s.pinned && s.priority > worstPriority) {
+      worstPriority = s.priority;
+      worstKey = k;
+    }
+  }
+  if (worstKey !== null && priority < worstPriority) {
+    live.delete(worstKey);
+    live.set(key, { priority, pinned });
+    notify(); // the evicted card must re-evaluate and drop to a placeholder
+    return true;
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
+/** A card that suspends or unmounts MUST release, or its slot leaks and a capped card never wakes. */
+export function releaseAppSlot(key: string): void {
+  if (live.delete(key)) notify(); // a freed slot lets a capped card come alive
+}
+
+/** Re-run a card's live/suspend decision whenever the budget changes (an eviction or a freed slot). */
+export function subscribeAppBudget(fn: () => void): () => void {
+  listeners.add(fn);
+  return () => {
+    listeners.delete(fn);
+  };
+}