diff --git a/DEPLOYMENT.md b/DEPLOYMENT.md
index aa5e9e8d..30a064e2 100644
--- a/DEPLOYMENT.md
+++ b/DEPLOYMENT.md
@@ -230,8 +230,15 @@ docker compose -f compose.yaml -f compose.demo.yaml pull
 docker compose -f compose.yaml -f compose.demo.yaml up -d --no-recreate db   # + health wait
 ./migrate.sh -f compose.yaml -f compose.demo.yaml
 docker compose -f compose.yaml -f compose.demo.yaml up -d
+docker image prune -af --filter "until=168h"   # success-path hygiene (gh-#441), + builder prune
 ```
 
+The final prune runs **only after a successful `up`** (a failed upgrade leaves the
+previous images untouched — they're what is still running) and keeps everything in use
+plus roughly the last week of releases for instant rollback. Without it, superseded
+release tags accumulate ~1.5 GB per release forever — 46 GB of dead tags filled the demo
+box's disk mid-deploy on 2026-08-09, and an SD-card box hits that wall far sooner.
+
 The `up -d --no-recreate db` step (gh-#305) is what makes a **first** boot work — before
 it, `migrate.sh` (which never starts anything by design) had no db to talk to on a fresh
 box and the launch deadlocked. On an upgrade it changes nothing: `--no-recreate` leaves a
diff --git a/launch.sh b/launch.sh
index 990fe121..3baf7703 100755
--- a/launch.sh
+++ b/launch.sh
@@ -232,6 +232,8 @@ if [ "$PINNED" = "1" ]; then
     plan_line "./migrate.sh ${MIGRATE_ARGS[*]}"
     plan_line "$(compose_display) up -d"
     plan_line "record COMPOSE_FILE=$(compose_file_value) in .env (gh-#309)"
+    plan_line "docker image prune -af --filter until=168h (success-path hygiene, gh-#441)"
+    plan_line "docker builder prune -af"
     plan_line "$(compose_display) ps"
     plan_profiles
     exit 0
@@ -293,6 +295,18 @@ if [ "$PINNED" = "1" ]; then
 
   persist_compose_file
 
+  # gh-#441: superseded release images accumulate ~1.5 GB per release and nothing else ever
+  # prunes them — 46 GB of dead tags filled the demo box's disk mid-deploy (2026-08-09), and an
+  # SD-card Pi hits that wall far sooner. Success path only: every failure above bails via
+  # preflight_fail before reaching here, so a failed upgrade never touches the previous images
+  # (they are what is still running). Best-effort — hygiene never fails a launch that already
+  # succeeded. `until=168h` keys on image CREATED time, so everything in use plus roughly the
+  # last week of releases survives for instant rollback; older tags go. The builder cache is
+  # pure waste on a --pinned box, which never builds (BUILD=1 + --pinned errors at parse time).
+  echo "==> pruning superseded images (kept: in-use + last 7 days)"
+  docker image prune -af --filter "until=168h" | tail -1 || true
+  docker builder prune -af >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+
   echo "==> stack status"
   compose ps
   exit 0
diff --git a/tests/GenWave.Host.Tests/Specs/Gh441_PinnedFlowPrunesSupersededImages.cs b/tests/GenWave.Host.Tests/Specs/Gh441_PinnedFlowPrunesSupersededImages.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f5aa22fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/GenWave.Host.Tests/Specs/Gh441_PinnedFlowPrunesSupersededImages.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+// gh-#441 — launch.sh --pinned prunes superseded release images after a healthy up.
+//
+// BDD specification — xUnit. Drives the real ./launch.sh via Process, --dry-run only
+// (the Story201 contract: the plan is the behavior, assertable with no docker daemon).
+//
+// Why this exists: nothing ever pruned old `home-v*` tags — 46 GB of dead images filled the
+// demo box's 75 GB disk mid-deploy on 2026-08-09 (the db PANIC'd on a full device during
+// db/34). The prune is success-path-only hygiene: a FAILED deploy must leave the previous
+// images untouched, because they are what is still running. These specs pin the plan shape;
+// the success-path-only property is structural (every failure bails via preflight_fail before
+// the prune line is reached).
+
+using System.Diagnostics;
+
+namespace GenWave.Host.Tests.Specs;
+
+public static class FeaturePinnedFlowPrunesSupersededImages
+{
+    static string RepoRoot()
+    {
+        var dir = new DirectoryInfo(AppContext.BaseDirectory);
+        while (dir is not null && !File.Exists(Path.Combine(dir.FullName, "GenWave.sln")))
+            dir = dir.Parent;
+
+        if (dir is null) throw new InvalidOperationException("repo root (GenWave.sln) not found");
+        return dir.FullName;
+    }
+
+    static (int ExitCode, string StdOut) RunLaunch(params string[] args)
+    {
+        var startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("bash")
+        {
+            WorkingDirectory = RepoRoot(),
+            RedirectStandardOutput = true,
+            RedirectStandardError = true,
+            UseShellExecute = false,
+        };
+        startInfo.ArgumentList.Add(Path.Combine(RepoRoot(), "launch.sh"));
+        foreach (var arg in args) startInfo.ArgumentList.Add(arg);
+
+        using var process = Process.Start(startInfo)
+            ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("failed to start launch.sh");
+        var stdOut = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
+        process.StandardError.ReadToEnd();
+        process.WaitForExit();
+        return (process.ExitCode, stdOut);
+    }
+
+    static string[] PlanLines(string stdOut) =>
+        stdOut.Split('\n').Where(l => l.StartsWith("plan> ", StringComparison.Ordinal)).ToArray();
+
+    public static class ScenarioPinnedFlowPrunes
+    {
+        static readonly Lazy<(int ExitCode, string StdOut)> Run =
+            new(() => RunLaunch("--pinned", "--dry-run"));
+
+        [Fact]
+        public static void Plan_prunes_images_with_the_retention_filter()
+        {
+            // The 7-day CREATED-time filter is the rollback-safety contract: the freshly pulled
+            // release and its recent predecessors survive; month-old tags go.
+            Assert.Contains(
+                PlanLines(Run.Value.StdOut),
+                l => l.Contains("image prune", StringComparison.Ordinal) && l.Contains("until=168h", StringComparison.Ordinal));
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public static void Plan_prunes_the_builder_cache()
+        {
+            // A --pinned box never builds (BUILD=1 + --pinned errors at parse time); its build
+            // cache is pure waste.
+            Assert.Contains(
+                PlanLines(Run.Value.StdOut),
+                l => l.Contains("builder prune", StringComparison.Ordinal));
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public static void Prune_is_planned_after_the_stack_is_up()
+        {
+            // Order is the safety property the plan can express: pull → migrate → up → prune.
+            // Pruning before `up -d` could remove the very images a rollback needs while the
+            // new ones are still unproven.
+            var lines = PlanLines(Run.Value.StdOut);
+            var upIndex = Array.FindIndex(lines, l => l.EndsWith("up -d", StringComparison.Ordinal));
+            var pruneIndex = Array.FindIndex(lines, l => l.Contains("image prune", StringComparison.Ordinal));
+            Assert.True(upIndex >= 0 && pruneIndex > upIndex, $"expected image prune after `up -d` (up at {upIndex}, prune at {pruneIndex})");
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static class ScenarioDevFlowDoesNotPrune
+    {
+        [Fact]
+        public static void Dev_plan_contains_no_prune()
+        {
+            // The dev flow builds from source — pruning there would eat build layers and
+            // dangling intermediates a developer is actively using.
+            var run = RunLaunch("--dry-run");
+            Assert.DoesNotContain(
+                PlanLines(run.StdOut),
+                l => l.Contains("prune", StringComparison.Ordinal));
+        }
+    }
+}