diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1151690..59bfe4c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -186,6 +186,29 @@ purely from desktop compositor churn — a ~200 MiB swing with nothing else chan
 That is why the default keeps >1 GiB spare there rather than the 388 MiB that
 `ncmoe=8` leaves.
 
+## `--predict` ist ein Default, kein Deckel
+
+Despite the name, `--predict` does **not** cap what a client can ask for. Measured
+against `--predict 8192`:
+
+| Request | Result |
+|---|---|
+| `max_tokens: 9000` | **8893** tokens, `finish_reason: stop` — the flag is ignored |
+| no `max_tokens` | **8192** tokens, `finish_reason: length` — the flag applies |
+
+So it only binds clients that send no `max_tokens` at all. That is still worth having
+here: without it such a client generates until the 128k window is full, which at
+~40 t/s is **roughly 50 minutes**, and with `-np 1` the single slot is blocked for all
+of it. Set to `32768` — a runaway is bounded to ~12 minutes, while no realistic long
+answer gets truncated. Many OpenAI clients do not send `max_tokens`, and at 8192 they
+were silently cut off with `finish_reason: length`.
+
+Note the sibling `gemma4-26b-llama-runner` README describes `--predict` as a "harte
+Cap fuer Gesamt-Generierung" — by this measurement that is wrong there too.
+
+`--reasoning-budget 4096` is a separate knob for the thinking block and was **not**
+verified the same way; do not assume its semantics from the flag name either.
+
 ## Deploy
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 19495cc..1ef3758 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -51,8 +51,12 @@ services:
       - -np
       - "1"
       - --no-mmap
+      # Default only, NOT a ceiling: a client sending max_tokens overrides it
+      # (verified — max_tokens=9000 returned 8893 tokens against --predict 8192).
+      # It bounds clients that send no max_tokens at all, which would otherwise
+      # generate until the 128k window is full: ~50 min blocking the single slot.
       - --predict
-      - "8192"
+      - "32768"
       - --reasoning-budget
       - "4096"
       - --slot-save-path