@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@
 ;;     You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 ;;     along with Megatest.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 ;;
 ;;======================================================================
 
-(use srfi-69 posix)
+(use srfi-69 posix srfi-18)
 
 (declare (unit api))
 (declare (uses rmt))
 (declare (uses db))
 (declare (uses dbmod))
@@ -141,38 +141,39 @@
     tasks-add
     tasks-set-state-given-param-key
     ))
 
 (define *db-write-mutexes* (make-hash-table))
+(define *api-watchdog* #f)
 
+(define (api:watchdog dbstruct) ;; trim not-used sqlite3 db handles
+  (let* ((th1 (make-thread (lambda ()
+			     (let loop ()
+			       (thread-sleep! 60) ;; 2x the age we close at
+			       (db:close-old dbstruct)
+			       (loop)))
+			   "api:watchdog thread")))
+    (thread-start! th1)
+    (set! *api-watchdog* th1)))
+    
 ;; These are called by the server on recipt of /api calls
 ;;    - keep it simple, only return the actual result of the call, i.e. no meta info here
 ;;
 ;;    - returns #( flag result )
 ;;
 (define (api:execute-requests dbstruct dat)
   (db:open-no-sync-db) ;; sets *no-sync-db*
-;;   (handle-exceptions
-;;    exn
-;;    (let ((call-chain (get-call-chain)))
-;;      (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "WARNING: api:execute-requests received an exception from peer, dat=" dat ", exn=" exn)
-;;      (print-call-chain (current-error-port))
-;;      (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* " message: "  ((condition-property-accessor 'exn 'message) exn))       
-  ;;      (vector #f (vector exn call-chain dat))) ;; return some stuff for debug if an exception happens
+  (if (not *api-watchdog*)(api:watchdog dbstruct))
   (if (> *api-process-request-count* 200)
       (begin
 	(if (common:low-noise-print 30 "too many threads")
 	    (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "WARNING: "*api-process-request-count*" threads, potential overload, adding 0.5 sec delay."))
 	(thread-sleep! 0.5) ;; take a nap
 	))
    (cond
     ((not (vector? dat))                    ;; it is an error to not receive a vector
      (vector #f (vector #f "remote must be called with a vector")))
-    #;((> *api-process-request-count* 200) ;; 20)
-     (debug:print 0 *default-log-port* "WARNING: api:execute-requests received an overloaded message.")
-     (set! *server-overloaded* #t)
-     (vector #f (vector #f 'overloaded))) ;; the inner vector is what gets returned. nope, don't know why. please refactor!
     (else  
      (let* ((cmd-in            (vector-ref dat 0))
             (cmd               (if (symbol? cmd-in)
 				   cmd-in
 				   (string->symbol cmd-in)))