diff --git a/pkg/api/api.go b/pkg/api/api.go
index 801189b..6456069 100644
--- a/pkg/api/api.go
+++ b/pkg/api/api.go
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ func (a *API) handleAdminIdeas(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			Status:         idea.Status,
 			CreatedAt:      idea.CreatedAt,
 			UpdatedAt:      idea.UpdatedAt,
-			Matches:        summarizeMatches(idea.Matches, idea.CNCFMatches),
+			Matches:        summarizeMatches(match.CapMatches(idea.Matches), idea.CNCFMatches),
 		})
 	}
 	writeJSON(w, http.StatusOK, out)
diff --git a/pkg/match/capmatches_test.go b/pkg/match/capmatches_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf05f22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/match/capmatches_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package match
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/hivecommons/dibs/pkg/store"
+)
+
+// TestCapMatchesSortsBeforeCapping: a strong match stored past the cap index
+// must survive, and the caller's slice must not be reordered.
+func TestCapMatchesSortsBeforeCapping(t *testing.T) {
+	n := MaxMatches + 3
+	in := make([]store.Match, n)
+	for i := range in {
+		in[i] = store.Match{RepoID: string(rune('a' + i)), Score: float64(i)}
+	}
+	orig := append([]store.Match(nil), in...)
+
+	got := CapMatches(in)
+	if len(got) != MaxMatches {
+		t.Fatalf("len = %d, want %d", len(got), MaxMatches)
+	}
+	for i := 1; i < len(got); i++ {
+		if got[i-1].Score < got[i].Score {
+			t.Fatalf("not sorted desc at %d: %v < %v", i, got[i-1].Score, got[i].Score)
+		}
+	}
+	if got[0].Score != float64(n-1) {
+		t.Fatalf("top score = %v, want %v", got[0].Score, float64(n-1))
+	}
+	for i := range in {
+		if in[i] != orig[i] {
+			t.Fatalf("input mutated at %d", i)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/match/engine.go b/pkg/match/engine.go
index a19e14d..38a2b0f 100644
--- a/pkg/match/engine.go
+++ b/pkg/match/engine.go
@@ -19,9 +19,23 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hivecommons/dibs/pkg/store"
 )
 
-// MaxMatches caps how many candidate repos an idea keeps — LLM cost control.
+// MaxMatches caps how many candidate repos are RETURNED/surfaced for an idea.
+// It does not cap the persisted cache, which holds every scored candidate so
+// repos ranked below the cap are not re-scored (LLM cost) or re-notified.
 const MaxMatches = 10
 
+// CapMatches returns a score-desc sorted copy of ms limited to MaxMatches
+// entries. It sorts first because the persisted order is not guaranteed
+// (ScoreForRepo appends without re-sorting).
+func CapMatches(ms []store.Match) []store.Match {
+	out := append([]store.Match(nil), ms...)
+	sort.SliceStable(out, func(i, j int) bool { return out[i].Score > out[j].Score })
+	if len(out) > MaxMatches {
+		out = out[:MaxMatches]
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
 // MaxCNCFCandidates caps how many BM25-ranked CNCF projects reach the LLM.
 const MaxCNCFCandidates = 15
 
@@ -168,7 +182,8 @@ func truncate(s string, n int) string {
 // MatchesForIdea returns the idea's candidate repos (accepting-only, minus
 // passed/offered ones), scoring lazily: cached matches whose RepoHash still
 // matches are reused; everything else is (re)scored, persisted, and — if
-// strong and fresh — notified to both sides. Sorted by score desc, capped.
+// strong and fresh — notified to both sides. The full set is persisted; the
+// returned slice is sorted by score desc and capped at MaxMatches.
 func (e *Engine) MatchesForIdea(ctx context.Context, idea *store.Idea) ([]store.Match, error) {
 	cached := map[string]store.Match{}
 	for _, m := range idea.Matches {
@@ -197,11 +212,8 @@ func (e *Engine) MatchesForIdea(ctx context.Context, idea *store.Idea) ([]store.
 		}
 	}
 	sort.SliceStable(out, func(i, j int) bool { return out[i].Score > out[j].Score })
-	if len(out) > MaxMatches {
-		out = out[:MaxMatches]
-	}
 	if changed {
-		persisted := out
+		persisted := append([]store.Match(nil), out...)
 		if _, err := e.Store.Mutate(idea.ID, false, func(i *store.Idea) error {
 			i.Matches = persisted
 			i.MatchesUpdatedAt = time.Now().UTC()
@@ -210,6 +222,7 @@ func (e *Engine) MatchesForIdea(ctx context.Context, idea *store.Idea) ([]store.
 			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
+	out = CapMatches(out)
 	if out == nil {
 		out = []store.Match{}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/match/engine_cache_cap_test.go b/pkg/match/engine_cache_cap_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fbee040
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/match/engine_cache_cap_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+package match
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/hivecommons/dibs/pkg/registry"
+	"github.com/hivecommons/dibs/pkg/store"
+)
+
+type countingNotifier struct{ n int }
+
+func (c *countingNotifier) NewMatch(string, string, *store.Idea, *registry.RepoProfile, float64) {
+	c.n++
+}
+
+// TestMatchesForIdeaCachesFullSetAndCapsReturned: with MaxMatches+1 repos the
+// persisted cache holds all of them, so a second call re-scores and
+// re-notifies nothing and does not rewrite the idea.
+func TestMatchesForIdeaCachesFullSetAndCapsReturned(t *testing.T) {
+	st, reg := newFixtures(t)
+	n := MaxMatches + 1
+	repos := make([]registry.RepoProfile, 0, n)
+	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
+		repos = append(repos, registry.RepoProfile{
+			RepoID:      fmt.Sprintf("org/repo-%02d", i),
+			Owner:       "bob",
+			Description: "telemetry dashboards grafana",
+			Topics:      []string{"observability"},
+		})
+	}
+	repos[0].Description = "kubernetes multicluster scheduling placement policies clusters"
+	repos[1].Description = "kubernetes multicluster scheduling"
+	repos[2].Description = "kubernetes scheduling dashboards"
+	if err := reg.Merge(repos); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Merge: %v", err)
+	}
+	notes := &countingNotifier{}
+	e := &Engine{Store: st, Registry: reg, Notifier: notes}
+	idea := createIdea(t, st, "Kubernetes multicluster scheduling", "Schedule workloads across clusters with placement policies.")
+
+	first, err := e.MatchesForIdea(context.Background(), idea)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("MatchesForIdea: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(first) != MaxMatches {
+		t.Fatalf("first call returned %d, want %d", len(first), MaxMatches)
+	}
+	saved, err := st.Get(idea.ID)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Get: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(saved.Matches) != n {
+		t.Fatalf("persisted %d matches, want %d", len(saved.Matches), n)
+	}
+	notified := notes.n
+
+	second, err := e.MatchesForIdea(context.Background(), saved)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("second MatchesForIdea: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(second) != MaxMatches {
+		t.Fatalf("second call returned %d, want %d", len(second), MaxMatches)
+	}
+	for i := range first {
+		if first[i].RepoID != second[i].RepoID {
+			t.Fatalf("entry %d changed: %s then %s", i, first[i].RepoID, second[i].RepoID)
+		}
+	}
+	again, err := st.Get(idea.ID)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Get: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !again.MatchesUpdatedAt.Equal(saved.MatchesUpdatedAt) {
+		t.Fatalf("MatchesUpdatedAt bumped on a fully cached call")
+	}
+	if notes.n != notified {
+		t.Fatalf("notifier fired %d more times on second call", notes.n-notified)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/match/llm_contract_test.go b/pkg/match/llm_contract_test.go
index 30d42f0..4421c87 100644
--- a/pkg/match/llm_contract_test.go
+++ b/pkg/match/llm_contract_test.go
@@ -201,10 +201,10 @@ func TestParseRefinedEmptyTitleAfterStrip(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-// TestMatchesForIdeaCappedAtMaxMatches: with more candidate repos than
+// TestMatchesForIdeaPersistsAllCapsReturn: with more candidate repos than
 // MaxMatches the result is truncated to the top-scoring MaxMatches, sorted
 // by score descending — the LLM cost control the constant documents.
-func TestMatchesForIdeaCappedAtMaxMatches(t *testing.T) {
+func TestMatchesForIdeaPersistsAllCapsReturn(t *testing.T) {
 	st, reg := newFixtures(t)
 	n := MaxMatches + 5
 	repos := make([]registry.RepoProfile, 0, n)
@@ -246,8 +246,8 @@ func TestMatchesForIdeaCappedAtMaxMatches(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Get: %v", err)
 	}
-	if len(kept.Matches) != MaxMatches {
-		t.Fatalf("persisted %d matches, want the capped %d", len(kept.Matches), MaxMatches)
+	if len(kept.Matches) != n {
+		t.Fatalf("persisted %d matches, want the full cache of %d", len(kept.Matches), n)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/mcpserver/server.go b/pkg/mcpserver/server.go
index 72d5aea..350a418 100644
--- a/pkg/mcpserver/server.go
+++ b/pkg/mcpserver/server.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/hivecommons/dibs/pkg/auth"
 	"github.com/hivecommons/dibs/pkg/deps"
+	"github.com/hivecommons/dibs/pkg/match"
 	"github.com/hivecommons/dibs/pkg/registry"
 	"github.com/hivecommons/dibs/pkg/store"
 	mcpsdk "github.com/modelcontextprotocol/go-sdk/mcp"
@@ -294,7 +295,7 @@ func (t *tools) getIdea(ctx context.Context, req *mcpsdk.CallToolRequest, in get
 	if authErr == nil && id != nil {
 		viewer = id.Username
 	}
-	matches, offers := idea.Matches, idea.Offers
+	matches, offers := match.CapMatches(idea.Matches), idea.Offers
 	if idea.Author != viewer {
 		matches, offers = nil, t.offersForViewer(idea.Offers, viewer)
 	}