diff --git a/src/control_server.c b/src/control_server.c
index ce03140c..c89c1c65 100644
--- a/src/control_server.c
+++ b/src/control_server.c
@@ -425,6 +425,7 @@ static void accept_callback(socket_t fd, void* arg) {
     }
     client->subscribed_nodes = 0;
     client->write_registered = 0;
+    client->idle_timer = uasync_set_timeout(server->ua, 300000, client, control_client_idle_cb, "ctrl_idle");
 
     /* Register with uasync */
     client->socket_id = uasync_add_socket_t(server->ua, client_fd,
@@ -604,6 +605,7 @@ static void client_write_callback(socket_t fd, void* arg) {
 
     uasync_set_socket_write(server->ua, client->socket_id, 0);
     client->write_registered = 0;
+    if (q->count > 128) DEBUG_WARN(DEBUG_CATEGORY_CONTROL, "ctrl_out: large output queue count=%d fd=%d", q->count, (int)client->fd);
     (void)fd;
 }
 
@@ -634,9 +636,19 @@ static int control_client_send(struct control_server* server, struct control_cli
     return 0;
 }
 
+static void control_client_idle_cb(void* arg) {
+    struct control_client* client = (struct control_client*)arg;
+    if (!client || !client->server) return;
+    client->idle_timer = NULL;
+    DEBUG_WARN(DEBUG_CATEGORY_CONTROL, "Control client idle timeout fd=%d, closing", client->fd);
+    close_client(client->server, client);
+}
+
 static void close_client(struct control_server* server, struct control_client* client) {
     if (!server || !client) return;
     
+    if (client->idle_timer) { uasync_cancel_timeout(server->ua, client->idle_timer); client->idle_timer = NULL; }
+
     /* Log disconnection */
     if (server->log_file) {
         fprintf(server->log_file, "%llu: [LOG] Client connection closed\n", 
@@ -843,6 +855,10 @@ static void handle_client_data(struct control_server* server, struct control_cli
                 return;
         }
         
+        /* Reset idle timer on each valid command */
+        if (client->idle_timer) { uasync_cancel_timeout(server->ua, client->idle_timer); }
+        client->idle_timer = uasync_set_timeout(server->ua, 300000, client, control_client_idle_cb, "ctrl_idle");
+
         /* Remove processed message from buffer */
         uint16_t msg_size = hdr->size;
         if (client->recv_len > msg_size) {
diff --git a/src/control_server.h b/src/control_server.h
index 27de068b..e399a34b 100644
--- a/src/control_server.h
+++ b/src/control_server.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ struct control_client {
     uint64_t selected_peer_id;          /* 0 = none selected */
 
     struct ll_queue* output_queue;      /* Output queue for async sends */
+    void* idle_timer;                  /* Client idle timeout */
     uint8_t subscribed_nodes;           /* 1 = subscribed to node updates */
     uint8_t write_registered;           /* 1 = write events registered in uasync */
 };