diff --git a/src/mcp/mcp.c b/src/mcp/mcp.c
index a0d3269f0..9ae1e7a2e 100644
--- a/src/mcp/mcp.c
+++ b/src/mcp/mcp.c
@@ -8744,12 +8744,16 @@ static int search_result_cmp(const void *a, const void *b) {
     return rb->score - ra->score; /* descending */
 }
 
+enum { SEARCH_CODE_MAX_GREP_MATCHES = 500 };
+
 /* Build the grep/search command string based on scoped vs recursive mode.
- * On Windows, uses PowerShell Select-String with tab-delimited output.
- * On POSIX, uses grep with colon-delimited output. */
-static void build_grep_cmd(char *cmd, size_t cmd_sz, bool use_regex, bool scoped,
-                           const char *file_pattern, const char *tmpfile, const char *filelist,
-                           const char *root_path) {
+ * On Windows, uses
+ * PowerShell Select-String with tab-delimited output.
+ * On POSIX, uses grep with colon-delimited
+ * output. */
+void cbm_search_code_build_grep_cmd(char *cmd, size_t cmd_sz, bool use_regex, bool scoped,
+                                    const char *file_pattern, const char *tmpfile,
+                                    const char *filelist, const char *root_path) {
 #ifdef _WIN32
     const char *sm = use_regex ? "" : " -SimpleMatch";
     if (scoped) {
@@ -8761,8 +8765,9 @@ static void build_grep_cmd(char *cmd, size_t cmd_sz, bool use_regex, bool scoped
                 "-LiteralPath $_ -Pattern $pat%s "
                 "-ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }"
                 " | Where-Object { $_.Path -like '*%s' }"
+                " | Select-Object -First %d"
                 " | ForEach-Object { $_.Path + [char]9 + $_.LineNumber + [char]9 + $_.Line }\"",
-                tmpfile, filelist, sm, file_pattern);
+                tmpfile, filelist, sm, file_pattern, SEARCH_CODE_MAX_GREP_MATCHES);
         } else {
             snprintf(
                 cmd, cmd_sz,
@@ -8770,8 +8775,9 @@ static void build_grep_cmd(char *cmd, size_t cmd_sz, bool use_regex, bool scoped
                 "Get-Content -Encoding UTF8 -LiteralPath '%s' | ForEach-Object { Select-String "
                 "-LiteralPath $_ -Pattern $pat%s "
                 "-ErrorAction SilentlyContinue }"
+                " | Select-Object -First %d"
                 " | ForEach-Object { $_.Path + [char]9 + $_.LineNumber + [char]9 + $_.Line }\"",
-                tmpfile, filelist, sm);
+                tmpfile, filelist, sm, SEARCH_CODE_MAX_GREP_MATCHES);
         }
     } else {
         if (file_pattern) {
@@ -8781,8 +8787,9 @@ static void build_grep_cmd(char *cmd, size_t cmd_sz, bool use_regex, bool scoped
                 "-ErrorAction SilentlyContinue"
                 " | Select-String -Pattern (Get-Content -Encoding UTF8 -LiteralPath '%s')%s "
                 "-ErrorAction SilentlyContinue"
+                " | Select-Object -First %d"
                 " | ForEach-Object { $_.Path + [char]9 + $_.LineNumber + [char]9 + $_.Line }\"",
-                root_path, file_pattern, tmpfile, sm);
+                root_path, file_pattern, tmpfile, sm, SEARCH_CODE_MAX_GREP_MATCHES);
         } else {
             snprintf(
                 cmd, cmd_sz,
@@ -8790,8 +8797,9 @@ static void build_grep_cmd(char *cmd, size_t cmd_sz, bool use_regex, bool scoped
                 "SilentlyContinue"
                 " | Select-String -Pattern (Get-Content -Encoding UTF8 -LiteralPath '%s')%s "
                 "-ErrorAction SilentlyContinue"
+                " | Select-Object -First %d"
                 " | ForEach-Object { $_.Path + [char]9 + $_.LineNumber + [char]9 + $_.Line }\"",
-                root_path, tmpfile, sm);
+                root_path, tmpfile, sm, SEARCH_CODE_MAX_GREP_MATCHES);
         }
     }
 #else
@@ -9767,11 +9775,14 @@ static char *handle_search_code(cbm_mcp_server_t *srv, const char *args) {
     const char *tmpfile = scratch.pattern_path;
     const char *filelist = scratch.filelist_path;
 
-    /* No grep-level match limit — let grep find all matches, then dedup and
-     * cap in our code. The -m flag caused results from large vendored files
-     * to exhaust the quota before reaching project source files. */
-    enum { GREP_MAX_MATCHES = 500 };
-    int grep_limit = GREP_MAX_MATCHES;
+    /* Bound accepted scanner records in C on every platform. Windows also
+     * applies this limit
+     * after its producer filters to avoid an unbounded
+     * PowerShell stream. POSIX deliberately
+     * avoids grep's per-file -m flag,
+     * which let large vendored files exhaust the quota
+     * before project source. */
+    int grep_limit = SEARCH_CODE_MAX_GREP_MATCHES;
 
     /* Scope grep to indexed files only — avoids scanning vendored/generated code.
      * Query the graph for distinct file paths, write them to a temp file,
@@ -9800,8 +9811,8 @@ static char *handle_search_code(cbm_mcp_server_t *srv, const char *args) {
         search_scratch_close(&scratch);
     } else {
         char cmd[CBM_SZ_4K];
-        build_grep_cmd(cmd, sizeof(cmd), use_regex, scoped, file_pattern, tmpfile, filelist,
-                       root_path);
+        cbm_search_code_build_grep_cmd(cmd, sizeof(cmd), use_regex, scoped, file_pattern, tmpfile,
+                                       filelist, root_path);
 
         FILE *fp = cbm_popen(cmd, "r");
         if (!fp) {
diff --git a/src/mcp/mcp_internal.h b/src/mcp/mcp_internal.h
index 313a4d1ce..dc7d8b3c8 100644
--- a/src/mcp/mcp_internal.h
+++ b/src/mcp/mcp_internal.h
@@ -20,6 +20,13 @@ void cbm_mcp_server_set_command_test_hook(cbm_mcp_server_t *srv, cbm_mcp_command
  * this immediately before publication so idle sessions retain no SQLite DB. */
 bool cbm_mcp_server_release_pristine_memory_store(cbm_mcp_server_t *srv);
 
+/* Build search_code's platform command. Exposed only for white-box tests that
+ * pin producer-side
+ * filtering and output limits. */
+void cbm_search_code_build_grep_cmd(char *cmd, size_t cmd_sz, bool use_regex, bool scoped,
+                                    const char *file_pattern, const char *tmpfile,
+                                    const char *filelist, const char *root_path);
+
 /* Prepend one daemon-owned notice to a successful JSON-RPC tool response.
  * On success replaces and frees *response_io; on failure it is unchanged. */
 bool cbm_mcp_jsonrpc_response_prepend_notice(char **response_io, const char *notice);
diff --git a/tests/test_mcp.c b/tests/test_mcp.c
index 1d99d71ad..280971528 100644
--- a/tests/test_mcp.c
+++ b/tests/test_mcp.c
@@ -4190,10 +4190,32 @@ TEST(search_code_scoped_path_with_spaces_issue687) {
 }
 
 #ifdef _WIN32
+static bool search_code_command_has_producer_cap(bool scoped, const char *file_pattern) {
+    char cmd[CBM_SZ_4K];
+    cbm_search_code_build_grep_cmd(cmd, sizeof(cmd), false, scoped, file_pattern,
+                                   "C:\\tmp\\pattern", "C:\\tmp\\files", "C:\\repo");
+
+    const char *filter =
+        scoped && file_pattern ? strstr(cmd, " | Where-Object ") : strstr(cmd, "Select-String ");
+    const char *cap = strstr(cmd, " | Select-Object -First 500");
+    const char *format = strstr(cmd, " | ForEach-Object { $_.Path +");
+    return filter && cap && format && filter < cap && cap < format &&
+           strstr(cmd, "Select-Object -First 4096") == NULL &&
+           strstr(cap + 1, " | Select-Object -First 500") == NULL;
+}
+
+TEST(search_code_windows_producer_cap_follows_filters) {
+    ASSERT_TRUE(search_code_command_has_producer_cap(true, "*.pas"));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(search_code_command_has_producer_cap(true, NULL));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(search_code_command_has_producer_cap(false, "*.pas"));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(search_code_command_has_producer_cap(false, NULL));
+    PASS();
+}
+
 /* Issue #903 follow-up: scoped search_code on Windows writes a UTF-8 filelist
- * containing absolute source paths, then reads it back through PowerShell.
- * Windows PowerShell 5.1 treats UTF-8 without BOM as ANSI unless told
- * otherwise, so a non-ASCII project root can be mojibaked before
+ * containing
+ * absolute source paths, then reads it back through PowerShell. Windows PowerShell 5.1 treats UTF-8
+ * without BOM as ANSI unless told otherwise, so a non-ASCII project root can be mojibaked before
  * Select-String sees the LiteralPath. */
 TEST(search_code_scoped_path_with_cjk_root_issue903) {
     char tmp[512];
@@ -10651,6 +10673,7 @@ SUITE(mcp) {
     RUN_TEST(search_code_multi_word);
     RUN_TEST(search_code_scoped_path_with_spaces_issue687);
 #ifdef _WIN32
+    RUN_TEST(search_code_windows_producer_cap_follows_filters);
     RUN_TEST(search_code_scoped_path_with_cjk_root_issue903);
 #endif
     RUN_TEST(search_code_path_filter_prefilter_keeps_matches);