diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fc86ede..ac54302 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ test-e2e:
 
 .PHONY: build clean test run-node run-node2 run-node3 run-example deps tidy fmt vet lint clear-ports
 
-VERSION := 0.52.15
+VERSION := 0.52.16
 COMMIT  ?= $(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo unknown)
 DATE    ?= $(shell date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)
 LDFLAGS := -X 'main.version=$(VERSION)' -X 'main.commit=$(COMMIT)' -X 'main.date=$(DATE)'
diff --git a/pkg/gateway/gateway.go b/pkg/gateway/gateway.go
index ef03844..6057a34 100644
--- a/pkg/gateway/gateway.go
+++ b/pkg/gateway/gateway.go
@@ -108,13 +108,22 @@ func New(logger *logging.ColoredLogger, cfg *Config) (*Gateway, error) {
 	if dbErr != nil {
 		logger.ComponentWarn(logging.ComponentGeneral, "failed to open rqlite sql db; http orm gateway disabled", zap.Error(dbErr))
 	} else {
+		// Configure connection pool with proper timeouts and limits
+		db.SetMaxOpenConns(25)                 // Maximum number of open connections
+		db.SetMaxIdleConns(5)                  // Maximum number of idle connections
+		db.SetConnMaxLifetime(5 * time.Minute) // Maximum lifetime of a connection
+		db.SetConnMaxIdleTime(2 * time.Minute) // Maximum idle time before closing
+
 		gw.sqlDB = db
 		orm := rqlite.NewClient(db)
 		gw.ormClient = orm
 		gw.ormHTTP = rqlite.NewHTTPGateway(orm, "/v1/db")
+		// Set a reasonable timeout for HTTP requests (30 seconds)
+		gw.ormHTTP.Timeout = 30 * time.Second
 		logger.ComponentInfo(logging.ComponentGeneral, "RQLite ORM HTTP gateway ready",
 			zap.String("dsn", dsn),
 			zap.String("base_path", "/v1/db"),
+			zap.Duration("timeout", gw.ormHTTP.Timeout),
 		)
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/rqlite/adapter.go b/pkg/rqlite/adapter.go
index 81205bf..ec456d3 100644
--- a/pkg/rqlite/adapter.go
+++ b/pkg/rqlite/adapter.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package rqlite
 import (
 	"database/sql"
 	"fmt"
+	"time"
 
 	_ "github.com/rqlite/gorqlite/stdlib" // Import the database/sql driver
 )
@@ -21,6 +22,12 @@ func NewRQLiteAdapter(manager *RQLiteManager) (*RQLiteAdapter, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to open RQLite SQL connection: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	// Configure connection pool with proper timeouts and limits
+	db.SetMaxOpenConns(25)                 // Maximum number of open connections
+	db.SetMaxIdleConns(5)                  // Maximum number of idle connections
+	db.SetConnMaxLifetime(5 * time.Minute) // Maximum lifetime of a connection
+	db.SetConnMaxIdleTime(2 * time.Minute) // Maximum idle time before closing
+
 	return &RQLiteAdapter{
 		manager: manager,
 		db:      db,