diff --git a/scripts/src/cicd.ts b/scripts/src/cicd.ts
index 035b77d6..40022428 100644
--- a/scripts/src/cicd.ts
+++ b/scripts/src/cicd.ts
@@ -1971,6 +1971,7 @@ function kubeConfigMapFollowerState(registry: BranchFollowerRegistry, options: P
       return { ok: true, stateByFollower: {}, present: false, error: "" };
     }
     present = true;
+    if (result.omitted) continue;
     if (result.value === null || result.value.length === 0) continue;
     const parsed = parseJsonObject(result.value);
     if (parsed === null) {
@@ -1987,8 +1988,9 @@ function kubeConfigMapFollowerState(registry: BranchFollowerRegistry, options: P
   };
 }
 
-function kubeConfigMapDataValue(registry: BranchFollowerRegistry, options: ParsedOptions, key: string): { ok: boolean; present: boolean; value: string | null; error: string } {
+function kubeConfigMapDataValue(registry: BranchFollowerRegistry, options: ParsedOptions, key: string): { ok: boolean; present: boolean; value: string | null; omitted: boolean; error: string } {
   const template = `{{ with index .data ${JSON.stringify(key)} }}{{ . }}{{ end }}`;
+  const maxValueBytes = 4096;
   const script = [
     "set -eu",
     "tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)",
@@ -1996,18 +1998,24 @@ function kubeConfigMapDataValue(registry: BranchFollowerRegistry, options: Parse
     "trap cleanup EXIT INT TERM",
     `NAMESPACE=${shQuote(registry.controller.namespace)}`,
     `CONFIGMAP=${shQuote(registry.controller.stateConfigMapName)}`,
-    "export NAMESPACE CONFIGMAP",
+    `MAX_VALUE_BYTES=${maxValueBytes}`,
+    "export NAMESPACE CONFIGMAP MAX_VALUE_BYTES",
     `if ! value=$(kubectl -n "$NAMESPACE" get configmap "$CONFIGMAP" -o go-template=${shQuote(template)} 2>"$tmpdir/error"); then`,
     "  error_b64=$(tail -c 800 \"$tmpdir/error\" | base64 | tr -d '\\n')",
     "  if grep -qi 'not found' \"$tmpdir/error\"; then",
-    "    printf '{\"ok\":true,\"present\":false,\"valueB64\":null,\"errorB64\":\"%s\"}' \"$error_b64\"",
+    "    printf '{\"ok\":true,\"present\":false,\"valueB64\":null,\"omitted\":false,\"errorB64\":\"%s\"}' \"$error_b64\"",
     "    exit 0",
     "  fi",
-    "  printf '{\"ok\":false,\"present\":false,\"valueB64\":null,\"errorB64\":\"%s\"}' \"$error_b64\"",
+    "  printf '{\"ok\":false,\"present\":false,\"valueB64\":null,\"omitted\":false,\"errorB64\":\"%s\"}' \"$error_b64\"",
+    "  exit 0",
+    "fi",
+    "value_bytes=$(printf '%s' \"$value\" | wc -c | tr -d ' ')",
+    "if [ \"${value_bytes:-0}\" -gt \"$MAX_VALUE_BYTES\" ]; then",
+    "  printf '{\"ok\":true,\"present\":true,\"valueB64\":null,\"omitted\":true,\"valueBytes\":%s,\"errorB64\":\"\"}' \"$value_bytes\"",
     "  exit 0",
     "fi",
     "value_b64=$(printf '%s' \"$value\" | base64 | tr -d '\\n')",
-    "printf '{\"ok\":true,\"present\":true,\"valueB64\":\"%s\",\"errorB64\":\"\"}' \"$value_b64\"",
+    "printf '{\"ok\":true,\"present\":true,\"valueB64\":\"%s\",\"omitted\":false,\"valueBytes\":%s,\"errorB64\":\"\"}' \"$value_b64\" \"$value_bytes\"",
   ].join("\n");
   const result = runKubeScript(registry, options, script, "", 10_000);
   const parsed = result.exitCode === 0 ? parseJsonObject(result.stdout) : null;
@@ -2016,6 +2024,7 @@ function kubeConfigMapDataValue(registry: BranchFollowerRegistry, options: Parse
       ok: false,
       present: false,
       value: null,
+      omitted: false,
       error: redactText(tailText(result.stderr || result.stdout, 800)),
     };
   }
@@ -2023,11 +2032,13 @@ function kubeConfigMapDataValue(registry: BranchFollowerRegistry, options: Parse
   const error = errorB64.length === 0 ? "" : Buffer.from(errorB64, "base64").toString("utf8");
   const ok = parsed.ok === true;
   const present = parsed.present === true;
+  const omitted = parsed.omitted === true;
   const valueB64 = typeof parsed.valueB64 === "string" ? parsed.valueB64 : null;
   return {
     ok,
     present,
     value: valueB64 === null ? null : Buffer.from(valueB64, "base64").toString("utf8"),
+    omitted,
     error: redactText(error),
   };
 }
@@ -2089,8 +2100,90 @@ function runKubeScript(registry: BranchFollowerRegistry, options: ParsedOptions,
   return runCommand([transPath(), registry.controller.kubeRoute, "sh"], repoRoot, { input: `${script}\n`, timeoutMs });
 }
 
+function compactFollowerStateForConfigMap(state: FollowerState): Record<string, unknown> {
+  return {
+    id: state.id,
+    adapter: state.adapter,
+    enabled: state.enabled,
+    phase: state.phase,
+    source: state.source,
+    target: state.target,
+    lastTriggeredSha: state.lastTriggeredSha,
+    lastSucceededSha: state.lastSucceededSha,
+    pipelineRun: state.pipelineRun,
+    inFlightJob: state.inFlightJob,
+    budgetSource: state.budgetSource,
+    controller: state.controller,
+    decision: state.decision,
+    dryRun: state.dryRun,
+    updatedAt: state.updatedAt,
+    warnings: state.warnings.slice(0, 6),
+    stateFormat: "compact-v1",
+    command: compactStateCommand(state.command),
+  };
+}
+
+function compactStateCommand(command: Record<string, unknown> | undefined): Record<string, unknown> | undefined {
+  if (command === undefined) return undefined;
+  const closeout = asOptionalRecord(command.closeout);
+  const closeoutSummary = asOptionalRecord(closeout?.summary);
+  const payload = compactNativePayload(asOptionalRecord(command.payload)) ?? closeoutSummary;
+  return {
+    mode: stringOrNull(command.mode) ?? stringOrNull(command.status),
+    namespace: stringOrNull(command.namespace),
+    pipelineRun: stringOrNull(command.pipelineRun),
+    sourceCommit: stringOrNull(command.sourceCommit),
+    sourceStageRef: stringOrNull(command.sourceStageRef),
+    wait: command.wait === true ? true : undefined,
+    pipelineRunCompleted: command.pipelineRunCompleted === true ? true : undefined,
+    stillRunning: command.stillRunning === true ? true : undefined,
+    closeout: closeout === null
+      ? null
+      : {
+          ok: closeout.ok === true,
+          completed: closeout.completed === true,
+          timedOut: closeout.timedOut === true,
+          polls: numberOrNull(closeout.polls),
+          elapsedMs: numberOrNull(closeout.elapsedMs),
+          summary: closeoutSummary,
+          statusAuthority: stringOrNull(closeout.statusAuthority),
+          parsedDownstreamCliOutput: false,
+        },
+    payload,
+    exitCode: numberOrNull(command.exitCode),
+    timedOut: command.timedOut === true,
+    statusAuthority: stringOrNull(command.statusAuthority),
+    parsedDownstreamCliOutput: false,
+  };
+}
+
+function compactNativePayload(payload: Record<string, unknown> | null): Record<string, unknown> | null {
+  if (payload === null) return null;
+  return {
+    source: compactSourcePayload(asOptionalRecord(payload.source)),
+    tekton: asOptionalRecord(payload.tekton),
+    argo: asOptionalRecord(payload.argo),
+    runtime: asOptionalRecord(payload.runtime),
+    errors: Array.isArray(payload.errors) ? payload.errors.slice(0, 5) : [],
+    statusAuthority: stringOrNull(payload.statusAuthority),
+    parsedDownstreamCliOutput: false,
+  };
+}
+
+function compactSourcePayload(source: Record<string, unknown> | null): Record<string, unknown> | null {
+  if (source === null) return null;
+  return {
+    commit: stringOrNull(source.commit),
+    branch: stringOrNull(source.branch),
+    repository: stringOrNull(source.repository),
+    stageRef: stringOrNull(source.stageRef),
+    sourceAuthority: stringOrNull(source.sourceAuthority),
+    repoPath: stringOrNull(source.repoPath),
+  };
+}
+
 function writeFollowerState(registry: BranchFollowerRegistry, state: FollowerState, options: ParsedOptions): CommandResult {
-  const json = JSON.stringify(state);
+  const json = JSON.stringify(compactFollowerStateForConfigMap(state));
   const dataPatch = JSON.stringify({ data: { [state.id]: json, _updatedAt: new Date().toISOString(), _specRef: SPEC_REF } });
   if (options.controller) {
     const patchBase64 = Buffer.from(dataPatch, "utf8").toString("base64");