diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b8efdc4e1..880c8ed19 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@ shape of this file.
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Fixed
+
+- **Project gathering reads a large document once, not once per matching lane.** A record too large to share a
+  page is read alone; when another lane had already returned it, it was still read in full again before being
+  dropped, so a 95 KB document matched by five lanes charged about 476 KB. It is now skipped without reading.
+
 ## 0.368.0 — 20.10.2026
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/docs/dev/PROJECT-GATHERING.md b/docs/dev/PROJECT-GATHERING.md
index fc8d4fd21..d8545db03 100644
--- a/docs/dev/PROJECT-GATHERING.md
+++ b/docs/dev/PROJECT-GATHERING.md
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@ the invocation.
 
 ## Units, coverage and resume
 
-A page holds the records that fit `maxPageBytes` together. A record larger than that is read alone, with
-up to 256 KiB of the remaining `maxReadBytes`. A record above 256 KiB is not read: `oversized` lists its `ref`,
+A page holds the records that fit `maxPageBytes` together. A record larger than that is read alone, once per run however many lanes
+match it, with up to 256 KiB of the remaining `maxReadBytes`. A record above 256 KiB is not read: `oversized` lists its `ref`,
 `bytes`, the lanes that matched it and its source, and the unit moves past it. Open it by reference instead.
 
 Every unit reports `state`: `pending`, `partial`, `done`, `unavailable`, `failed` or `read-limited` (the
diff --git a/src/services/project-gathering.test.ts b/src/services/project-gathering.test.ts
index 6c5a8270b..191e07753 100644
--- a/src/services/project-gathering.test.ts
+++ b/src/services/project-gathering.test.ts
@@ -383,6 +383,22 @@ it("reads documents too large to share a page one at a time and moves past one t
   expect(result.usage.readBytes).toBeLessThan(400000)
 })
 
+it("reads a large document once when several lanes match it", async () => {
+  const f = await fixture()
+  const { note } = await f.store.notes.saveFileNote({
+    folderId: f.folder.id,
+    path: "large.md",
+    title: "large",
+    text: `Harbour launch plan ${"x".repeat(95200)}`,
+  })
+  drainNoteIndex(f.db, stemmerCache())
+  const request = { ...f.request, sources: f.sources.filter((s) => s.kind === "document") }
+  const result = await gatherProjectEvidence({ evidence: f.port }, request)
+  expect(result.items.find((i) => i.ref === `document:${note.id}`)?.lanes).toEqual(["l1", "l2"])
+  expect(result.usage.readBytes).toBeGreaterThan(95200)
+  expect(result.usage.readBytes).toBeLessThan(2 * 95200)
+})
+
 it("reads a large document on resume when the read budget ran out before its own read", async () => {
   const f = await fixture()
   const { note } = await f.store.notes.saveFileNote({
diff --git a/src/services/project-gathering.ts b/src/services/project-gathering.ts
index 07ddc2f73..27c460551 100644
--- a/src/services/project-gathering.ts
+++ b/src/services/project-gathering.ts
@@ -128,19 +128,22 @@ export const gatherProjectEvidence = async (ports: ProjectGatheringPorts, reques
   let stopped: ProjectGatheringStop = null
   const open = (u: ProjectUnitProgress) => !terminal.has(u.state) && u.state !== "read-limited"
 
-  const take = (item: ContextEvidenceItem, lane: ProjectLane, kind: ContextSource["kind"], source: number) => {
-    const known = byRef.get(item.ref)
+  /** Records another lane finding a reference this run already returned; true when it had. */
+  const again = (ref: string, lane: ProjectLane) => {
+    const known = byRef.get(ref)
     if (known) {
       if (!known.lanes.includes(lane.id)) known.lanes.push(lane.id)
       if (!lane.kinds.every((k) => k === "person")) known.context = "project"
-      return
-    }
-    const key = seenKey(item.ref)
-    if (seen.has(key)) {
-      matchedAgain.set(item.ref, (matchedAgain.get(item.ref) ?? new Set()).add(lane.id))
-      return
+      return true
     }
-    seen.add(key)
+    if (!seen.has(seenKey(ref))) return false
+    matchedAgain.set(ref, (matchedAgain.get(ref) ?? new Set()).add(lane.id))
+    return true
+  }
+
+  const take = (item: ContextEvidenceItem, lane: ProjectLane, kind: ContextSource["kind"], source: number) => {
+    if (again(item.ref, lane)) return
+    seen.add(seenKey(item.ref))
     const short = excerpt(item.text, lane.query, 300, { literal: true })
     const fingerprint = contextEvidenceFingerprint(item)
     const entry: ProjectEvidenceItem = {
@@ -215,7 +218,8 @@ export const gatherProjectEvidence = async (ports: ProjectGatheringPorts, reques
       }
       try {
         let page = await readPage(Math.min(plan.budgets.maxPageBytes, plan.budgets.maxReadBytes - usage.readBytes), 20)
-        const big = page.oversized
+        // A large record another lane already returned is not read again; its page already moves past it.
+        const big = page.oversized && !again(page.oversized.ref, unit.lane) ? page.oversized : undefined
         if (big && big.bytes <= CONTEXT_MAX_READ_BYTES) {
           if (big.bytes > plan.budgets.maxReadBytes - usage.readBytes || usage.reads >= plan.budgets.maxReads) {
             state.state = "read-limited"