diff --git a/src/openhuman/memory/ingest_pipeline.rs b/src/openhuman/memory/ingest_pipeline.rs
index 614bd63d1b..df3a7e68e2 100644
--- a/src/openhuman/memory/ingest_pipeline.rs
+++ b/src/openhuman/memory/ingest_pipeline.rs
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ async fn persist(
     let source_id_for_store = source_id.to_string();
     let raw_refs_for_store = raw_refs_for_chunks.clone();
     let written = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || -> Result<Option<usize>> {
-        use std::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
+        use std::collections::HashSet;
         chunk_store::with_connection(&config_owned, |conn| {
             // IMMEDIATE, not the default DEFERRED: this transaction reads
             // (get_chunk_lifecycle_status_tx) before it writes
@@ -362,11 +362,16 @@ async fn persist(
             // insert a new row that picks up the column DEFAULT — so reading
             // post-upsert can't distinguish "brand new" from
             // "already-admitted-from-prior-ingest".
-            let mut prior: HashMap<String, Option<String>> = HashMap::new();
-            for s in &staged_for_store {
-                let status = chunk_store::get_chunk_lifecycle_status_tx(&tx, &s.chunk.id)?;
-                prior.insert(s.chunk.id.clone(), status);
-            }
+            // Batch the prior-lifecycle read: one `SELECT … WHERE id IN (…)`
+            // instead of one round-trip per staged chunk. Keeping this short
+            // matters because it runs inside the write transaction, and SQLite
+            // serialises writers. `prior` maps a chunk id to its pre-upsert
+            // status; ids with no prior row are simply absent (a batch miss ==
+            // the old per-id `Ok(None)`), so the lookup below treats a miss as
+            // "genuinely new".
+            let staged_ids: Vec<String> =
+                staged_for_store.iter().map(|s| s.chunk.id.clone()).collect();
+            let prior = chunk_store::get_chunk_lifecycle_statuses_tx(&tx, &staged_ids)?;
 
             let n = chunk_store::upsert_staged_chunks_tx(&tx, &staged_for_store)?;
 
@@ -392,7 +397,7 @@ async fn persist(
             // leave the lifecycle alone and skip the extract enqueue.
             let mut to_schedule: HashSet<String> = HashSet::new();
             for s in &staged_for_store {
-                let pre = prior.get(&s.chunk.id).cloned().flatten();
+                let pre = prior.get(&s.chunk.id).cloned();
                 let needs_processing = matches!(
                     pre.as_deref(),
                     None | Some(chunk_store::CHUNK_STATUS_PENDING_EXTRACTION),
diff --git a/src/openhuman/memory_store/chunks/store.rs b/src/openhuman/memory_store/chunks/store.rs
index 7b068c657c..aed7c565be 100644
--- a/src/openhuman/memory_store/chunks/store.rs
+++ b/src/openhuman/memory_store/chunks/store.rs
@@ -807,11 +807,64 @@ pub fn get_chunk_lifecycle_status(config: &Config, chunk_id: &str) -> Result<Opt
     })
 }
 
-pub(crate) fn get_chunk_lifecycle_status_tx(
+/// Batched form of the per-chunk lifecycle read, for use inside a write
+/// transaction.
+///
+/// Contract mirror of looping [`get_chunk_lifecycle_status`] over `chunk_ids`,
+/// but in `O(ceil(n / MAX_FETCH_BATCH))` SQLite round-trips instead of `O(n)`.
+/// The ingest pipeline reads every staged chunk's prior lifecycle *before* the
+/// upsert, inside its write transaction (issue #707) — doing that one
+/// `SELECT … WHERE id = ?` at a time is an N+1 that lengthens the write-lock
+/// critical section for multi-chunk documents. Batching keeps the transaction
+/// short, which matters because SQLite serialises writers.
+///
+/// The returned map contains only ids that exist in `mem_tree_chunks` with a
+/// non-null status; missing (or null-status) ids are silently absent, matching
+/// the single-id helper returning `Ok(None)`. Callers look each id up and treat
+/// a miss as "no prior row".
+pub(crate) fn get_chunk_lifecycle_statuses_tx(
     tx: &Transaction<'_>,
-    chunk_id: &str,
-) -> Result<Option<String>> {
-    get_chunk_lifecycle_status_conn(tx, chunk_id)
+    chunk_ids: &[String],
+) -> Result<HashMap<String, String>> {
+    get_chunk_lifecycle_statuses_conn(tx, chunk_ids)
+}
+
+fn get_chunk_lifecycle_statuses_conn(
+    conn: &Connection,
+    chunk_ids: &[String],
+) -> Result<HashMap<String, String>> {
+    let mut out: HashMap<String, String> = HashMap::with_capacity(chunk_ids.len());
+    if chunk_ids.is_empty() {
+        return Ok(out);
+    }
+    for window in chunk_ids.chunks(MAX_FETCH_BATCH) {
+        // Positional placeholders `?1, ?2, …, ?n` — rusqlite binds 1..n in the
+        // order values are passed. Same shape as `get_chunks_batch`.
+        let placeholders = (1..=window.len())
+            .map(|i| format!("?{i}"))
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+            .join(",");
+        let sql = format!(
+            "SELECT id, lifecycle_status FROM mem_tree_chunks WHERE id IN ({placeholders})"
+        );
+        let mut stmt = conn
+            .prepare(&sql)
+            .context("prepare get_chunk_lifecycle_statuses")?;
+        let params: Vec<&dyn rusqlite::ToSql> =
+            window.iter().map(|id| id as &dyn rusqlite::ToSql).collect();
+        let rows = stmt
+            .query_map(params.as_slice(), |r| {
+                Ok((r.get::<_, String>(0)?, r.get::<_, Option<String>>(1)?))
+            })
+            .context("query get_chunk_lifecycle_statuses")?;
+        for row in rows {
+            let (id, status) = row.context("decode get_chunk_lifecycle_statuses row")?;
+            if let Some(status) = status {
+                out.insert(id, status);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    Ok(out)
 }
 
 fn get_chunk_lifecycle_status_conn(conn: &Connection, chunk_id: &str) -> Result<Option<String>> {
diff --git a/src/openhuman/memory_store/chunks/store_tests.rs b/src/openhuman/memory_store/chunks/store_tests.rs
index c50052d42a..166e9211e6 100644
--- a/src/openhuman/memory_store/chunks/store_tests.rs
+++ b/src/openhuman/memory_store/chunks/store_tests.rs
@@ -1518,6 +1518,69 @@ fn get_chunks_batch_empty_input_and_missing_ids() {
     assert!(map.get("ghost:no-such-2").is_none());
 }
 
+// ---------- get_chunk_lifecycle_statuses_tx ----------
+//
+// Contract: batched, transaction-scoped form of the per-chunk lifecycle read.
+// Equivalent to looping the single-id `get_chunk_lifecycle_status` but in
+// `O(ceil(n / MAX_FETCH_BATCH))` round-trips. Only ids with a present,
+// non-null row appear in the map; misses are silently absent (same as the
+// single-id `Ok(None)`) — which is what the ingest pipeline relies on to
+// distinguish genuinely-new chunks from ones already past extraction.
+
+#[test]
+fn lifecycle_statuses_batch_matches_single_reads() {
+    let (_tmp, cfg) = test_config();
+    let c1 = sample_chunk("slack:#eng", 0, 1_700_000_000_000);
+    let c2 = sample_chunk("slack:#eng", 1, 1_700_000_000_000);
+    let c3 = sample_chunk("slack:#ops", 0, 1_700_000_000_000);
+    upsert_chunks(&cfg, &[c1.clone(), c2.clone(), c3.clone()]).unwrap();
+    set_chunk_lifecycle_status(&cfg, &c1.id, "admitted").unwrap();
+    set_chunk_lifecycle_status(&cfg, &c2.id, "sealed").unwrap();
+    // c3 keeps whatever the insert default is — the batch must still agree
+    // with the single-id read for it, without the test hardcoding that value.
+
+    let ids = vec![
+        c1.id.clone(),
+        c2.id.clone(),
+        c3.id.clone(),
+        "ghost:no-such".to_string(),
+    ];
+    let map = with_connection(&cfg, |conn| {
+        let tx = conn.unchecked_transaction()?;
+        let m = get_chunk_lifecycle_statuses_tx(&tx, &ids)?;
+        tx.commit()?;
+        Ok(m)
+    })
+    .unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(map.get(&c1.id).map(String::as_str), Some("admitted"));
+    assert_eq!(map.get(&c2.id).map(String::as_str), Some("sealed"));
+    // Batch result must equal looping the single-id read, for every id.
+    for id in [&c1.id, &c2.id, &c3.id] {
+        let single = get_chunk_lifecycle_status(&cfg, id).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            map.get(id),
+            single.as_ref(),
+            "batch must match single-id read for {id}"
+        );
+    }
+    // Missing ids are silently absent (mirrors the single-id `Ok(None)`).
+    assert!(map.get("ghost:no-such").is_none());
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn lifecycle_statuses_batch_empty_input_issues_no_query() {
+    let (_tmp, cfg) = test_config();
+    let map = with_connection(&cfg, |conn| {
+        let tx = conn.unchecked_transaction()?;
+        let m = get_chunk_lifecycle_statuses_tx(&tx, &[])?;
+        tx.commit()?;
+        Ok(m)
+    })
+    .unwrap();
+    assert!(map.is_empty());
+}
+
 // ---------- get_chunk_embeddings_for_signature_batch ----------
 //
 // Contract: equivalent to looping `get_chunk_embedding_for_signature`