diff --git a/internal/observability/metrics.go b/internal/observability/metrics.go
index d7cc32e19..e922e3a45 100644
--- a/internal/observability/metrics.go
+++ b/internal/observability/metrics.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus/collectors"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus/promhttp"
@@ -431,11 +432,30 @@ func (mm *MetricsManager) HTTPMiddleware() func(http.Handler) http.Handler {
 
 			// Record metrics
 			duration := time.Since(start)
-			mm.RecordHTTPRequest(r.Method, r.URL.Path, http.StatusText(ww.statusCode), duration)
+			mm.RecordHTTPRequest(r.Method, routeLabel(r), http.StatusText(ww.statusCode), duration)
 		})
 	}
 }
 
+// unmatchedRouteLabel is the path label for a request no route matched.
+const unmatchedRouteLabel = "unmatched"
+
+// routeLabel is the path label for r: the chi route pattern it matched
+// ("/api/v1/servers/{name}"), never the raw path. The middleware runs before
+// authentication, so a raw-path label would let any caller add a counter and
+// a histogram series per distinct path it sends. Outside a chi router the raw
+// path is kept.
+func routeLabel(r *http.Request) string {
+	rctx := chi.RouteContext(r.Context())
+	if rctx == nil {
+		return r.URL.Path
+	}
+	if pattern := rctx.RoutePattern(); pattern != "" {
+		return pattern
+	}
+	return unmatchedRouteLabel
+}
+
 // responseWriter wraps http.ResponseWriter to capture status code
 type responseWriter struct {
 	http.ResponseWriter
diff --git a/internal/observability/metrics_test.go b/internal/observability/metrics_test.go
index b4e7dbcca..653c02929 100644
--- a/internal/observability/metrics_test.go
+++ b/internal/observability/metrics_test.go
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 package observability
 
 import (
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/go-chi/chi/v5"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus/testutil"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
@@ -55,6 +58,26 @@ func TestToolCallMetric_NoPerUserCardinalityLabels(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.NotContains(t, body, "profile=", "tool-call metric must not carry a profile label")
 }
 
+// The HTTP middleware runs before authentication, so its path label must be
+// the matched route, not the raw request path: otherwise every distinct path
+// anyone sends adds a counter and a histogram series that is never freed.
+func TestHTTPMiddleware_PathLabelIsRoutePattern(t *testing.T) {
+	mm := NewMetricsManager(zap.NewNop().Sugar())
+	r := chi.NewRouter()
+	r.Use(mm.HTTPMiddleware())
+	r.Get("/api/v1/servers/{name}", func(w http.ResponseWriter, _ *http.Request) {
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+	})
+
+	for _, p := range []string{"/api/v1/servers/a", "/api/v1/servers/b", "/api/v1/nope-1", "/api/v1/nope-2"} {
+		r.ServeHTTP(httptest.NewRecorder(), httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, p, nil))
+	}
+
+	assert.Equal(t, 2, testutil.CollectAndCount(mm.httpRequests), "one series per route plus one for unmatched paths")
+	assert.InDelta(t, 2.0, testutil.ToFloat64(mm.httpRequests.WithLabelValues(http.MethodGet, "/api/v1/servers/{name}", "OK")), 1e-9)
+	assert.InDelta(t, 2.0, testutil.ToFloat64(mm.httpRequests.WithLabelValues(http.MethodGet, "unmatched", "Not Found")), 1e-9)
+}
+
 func scrapeMetrics(t *testing.T, mm *MetricsManager) string {
 	t.Helper()
 	families, err := mm.registry.Gather()