diff --git a/.sqlx/query-1c260c68aeeb055a4ac1a056d445f71f3f5f3b9bea6b497b93abfa5938ccea22.json b/.sqlx/query-1c260c68aeeb055a4ac1a056d445f71f3f5f3b9bea6b497b93abfa5938ccea22.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 044b7bc..0000000
--- a/.sqlx/query-1c260c68aeeb055a4ac1a056d445f71f3f5f3b9bea6b497b93abfa5938ccea22.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "db_name": "PostgreSQL",
-  "query": "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM auth.sessions s\n         INNER JOIN auth.tokens t ON t.id = s.token_id\n         WHERE t.expires_at > now()",
-  "describe": {
-    "columns": [
-      {
-        "ordinal": 0,
-        "name": "count",
-        "type_info": "Int8"
-      }
-    ],
-    "parameters": {
-      "Left": []
-    },
-    "nullable": [
-      null
-    ]
-  },
-  "hash": "1c260c68aeeb055a4ac1a056d445f71f3f5f3b9bea6b497b93abfa5938ccea22"
-}
diff --git a/src/cli.rs b/src/cli.rs
index 03cb9a4..1e65e4c 100644
--- a/src/cli.rs
+++ b/src/cli.rs
@@ -282,10 +282,6 @@ async fn serve(cfg: ServeConfig, role: handoff::Role) -> Result<()> {
     };
 
     let gc_handle = tokio::spawn(token_gc::run(state.pool.clone(), state.metrics.clone()));
-    let sessions_handle = tokio::spawn(http::active_sessions_gauge(
-        state.pool.clone(),
-        state.metrics.clone(),
-    ));
 
     let tls = match (cfg.tls_cert, cfg.tls_key, cfg.tls_ca) {
         (Some(cert), Some(key), Some(ca)) => Some((cert, key, ca)),
@@ -364,9 +360,7 @@ async fn serve(cfg: ServeConfig, role: handoff::Role) -> Result<()> {
 
     let result = http::serve(listener, tls, state, shared, handoff_shutdown).await;
     gc_handle.abort();
-    sessions_handle.abort();
     let _ = gc_handle.await; // JoinError here means cancelled (expected) or panicked (already exiting)
-    let _ = sessions_handle.await;
     // The handoff thread either exited cleanly on commit (we already saw
     // handoff_shutdown=true) or it is still parked in accept() on the
     // control socket. We're going down anyway; don't wait.
diff --git a/src/http.rs b/src/http.rs
index 87fb493..9e6d224 100644
--- a/src/http.rs
+++ b/src/http.rs
@@ -511,25 +511,6 @@ async fn metrics_handler(State(state): State<AppState>) -> impl IntoResponse {
         .into_response()
 }
 
-/// Background task that refreshes the `auth_active_sessions_total` gauge every 60 s.
-/// Running this as a task keeps the DB query off the scrape hot path.
-pub async fn active_sessions_gauge(pool: sqlx::PgPool, metrics: Arc<Metrics>) {
-    let mut interval = tokio::time::interval(Duration::from_secs(60));
-    loop {
-        interval.tick().await;
-        if let Ok(Some(n)) = sqlx::query_scalar!(
-            "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM auth.sessions s
-         INNER JOIN auth.tokens t ON t.id = s.token_id
-         WHERE t.expires_at > now()"
-        )
-        .fetch_one(&pool)
-        .await
-        {
-            metrics.active_sessions_total.set(n as f64);
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 async fn shutdown_signal() {
     use tokio::signal;
 
diff --git a/src/metrics.rs b/src/metrics.rs
index 63dc1f6..d24a6a5 100644
--- a/src/metrics.rs
+++ b/src/metrics.rs
@@ -180,10 +180,6 @@ define_metrics! {
         gauge token_gc_last_run_timestamp_seconds("token_gc_last_run_timestamp_seconds")
             => "Unix timestamp of the last successful GC pass",
 
-        // Session count for capacity planning and anomaly detection.
-        gauge active_sessions_total("auth_active_sessions_total")
-            => "Current number of active (non-expired) sessions",
-
         // Signing key lifecycle events.
         counter signing_key_rotations_total("auth_signing_key_rotations_total")
             => "Signing keys generated (new active key created)",