diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 4ac8920..49df4d2 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -479,6 +479,36 @@ ORLY has received several significant performance improvements in recent updates
 - Serial-based event fetching for efficiency
 - Filter analysis in `get-indexes-from-filter.go` selects optimal strategy
 
+## Git Commit Message Format
+
+When asked to "make a commit comment", generate a commit message following this standard format:
+
+**Structure:**
+- **First line**: 72 characters maximum, imperative mood summary
+- **Second line**: Empty line
+- **Body**: Bullet points describing each change in detail
+- **Optional**: "Files modified:" section listing affected files
+
+**Example:**
+```
+Fix directory spider tag loss: size limits and validation
+
+- Increase WebSocket message size limit from 500KB to 10MB to prevent
+  truncation of large kind 3 follow list events (8000+ follows)
+- Add validation in SaveEvent to reject kind 3 events without p tags
+  before storage, preventing malformed events from buggy relays
+- Implement CleanupKind3WithoutPTags() to remove existing malformed
+  kind 3 events at startup
+- Add enhanced logging showing tag count and event ID when rejecting
+  invalid kind 3 events for better observability
+
+Files modified:
+- app/handle-websocket.go: Increase DefaultMaxMessageSize to 10MB
+- pkg/database/save-event.go: Add kind 3 validation with logging
+- pkg/database/cleanup-kind3.go: New cleanup function
+- app/main.go: Invoke cleanup at startup
+```
+
 ## Release Process
 
 1. Update version in `pkg/version/version` file (e.g., v1.2.3)
diff --git a/app/handle-websocket.go b/app/handle-websocket.go
index 8da4772..3723292 100644
--- a/app/handle-websocket.go
+++ b/app/handle-websocket.go
@@ -21,7 +21,10 @@ const (
 	DefaultPongWait       = 60 * time.Second
 	DefaultPingWait       = DefaultPongWait / 2
 	DefaultWriteTimeout   = 3 * time.Second
-	DefaultMaxMessageSize = 512000 // Match khatru's MaxMessageSize
+	// DefaultMaxMessageSize is the maximum message size for WebSocket connections
+	// Increased from 512KB to 10MB to support large kind 3 follow lists (10k+ follows)
+	// and other large events without truncation
+	DefaultMaxMessageSize = 10 * 1024 * 1024 // 10MB
 	// ClientMessageSizeLimit is the maximum message size that clients can handle
 	// This is set to 100MB to allow large messages
 	ClientMessageSizeLimit = 100 * 1024 * 1024 // 100MB
diff --git a/app/main.go b/app/main.go
index 7790493..04260e7 100644
--- a/app/main.go
+++ b/app/main.go
@@ -92,6 +92,13 @@ func Run(
 		// Continue anyway - follows can be loaded when admins update their follow lists
 	}
 
+	// Cleanup any kind 3 events that lost their p tags (only for Badger backend)
+	if badgerDB, ok := db.(*database.D); ok {
+		if err := badgerDB.CleanupKind3WithoutPTags(ctx); chk.E(err) {
+			log.E.F("failed to cleanup kind 3 events: %v", err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Initialize spider manager based on mode (only for Badger backend)
 	if badgerDB, ok := db.(*database.D); ok && cfg.SpiderMode != "none" {
 		if l.spiderManager, err = spider.New(ctx, badgerDB, l.publishers, cfg.SpiderMode); chk.E(err) {
diff --git a/pkg/database/cleanup-kind3.go b/pkg/database/cleanup-kind3.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc79206
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/database/cleanup-kind3.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+package database
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"time"
+
+	"git.mleku.dev/mleku/nostr/encoders/filter"
+	"git.mleku.dev/mleku/nostr/encoders/kind"
+	"lol.mleku.dev/chk"
+	"lol.mleku.dev/log"
+)
+
+// CleanupKind3WithoutPTags scans for kind 3 follow list events that have no p tags
+// and deletes them. This cleanup is needed because the directory spider may have
+// saved malformed events that lost their tags during serialization.
+func (d *D) CleanupKind3WithoutPTags(ctx context.Context) error {
+	log.I.F("database: starting cleanup of kind 3 events without p tags")
+
+	startTime := time.Now()
+
+	// Query for all kind 3 events
+	f := &filter.F{
+		Kinds: kind.NewS(kind.FollowList),
+	}
+
+	events, err := d.QueryEvents(ctx, f)
+	if chk.E(err) {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	deletedCount := 0
+
+	// Check each event for p tags
+	for _, ev := range events {
+		hasPTag := false
+
+		if ev.Tags != nil && ev.Tags.Len() > 0 {
+			// Look for at least one p tag
+			for _, tag := range *ev.Tags {
+				if tag != nil && tag.Len() >= 2 {
+					key := tag.Key()
+					if len(key) == 1 && key[0] == 'p' {
+						hasPTag = true
+						break
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Delete events without p tags
+		if !hasPTag {
+			log.W.F("database: deleting kind 3 event without p tags from pubkey %x", ev.Pubkey)
+			if err := d.DeleteEvent(ctx, ev.ID); chk.E(err) {
+				log.E.F("database: failed to delete kind 3 event %x: %v", ev.ID, err)
+				continue
+			}
+			deletedCount++
+		}
+	}
+
+	duration := time.Since(startTime)
+
+	if deletedCount > 0 {
+		log.I.F("database: cleanup completed in %v - deleted %d kind 3 events without p tags (scanned %d total)",
+			duration, deletedCount, len(events))
+	} else {
+		log.I.F("database: cleanup completed in %v - no kind 3 events needed deletion (scanned %d total)",
+			duration, len(events))
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/database/cleanup-kind3_test.go b/pkg/database/cleanup-kind3_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ecb4019
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/database/cleanup-kind3_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+package database
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"testing"
+
+	"git.mleku.dev/mleku/nostr/encoders/event"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+// TestKind3TagRoundTrip tests that kind 3 events with p tags survive
+// JSON -> binary -> JSON round trip
+func TestKind3TagRoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
+	// Sample kind 3 event JSON with p tags
+	kind3JSON := `{
+		"id": "1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef",
+		"pubkey": "fedcba0987654321fedcba0987654321fedcba0987654321fedcba0987654321",
+		"created_at": 1234567890,
+		"kind": 3,
+		"tags": [
+			["p", "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"],
+			["p", "bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb"],
+			["p", "cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc"]
+		],
+		"content": "",
+		"sig": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
+	}`
+
+	// 1. Unmarshal from JSON (simulates receiving from WebSocket)
+	ev1 := event.New()
+	err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(kind3JSON), ev1)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.NotNil(t, ev1.Tags)
+	assert.Equal(t, 3, ev1.Tags.Len(), "Should have 3 tags")
+
+	// Verify all tags have key "p"
+	pTagCount := 0
+	for _, tag := range *ev1.Tags {
+		if tag != nil && tag.Len() >= 2 {
+			key := tag.Key()
+			if len(key) == 1 && key[0] == 'p' {
+				pTagCount++
+				t.Logf("Found p tag with value length: %d bytes", len(tag.Value()))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	assert.Equal(t, 3, pTagCount, "Should have 3 p tags after JSON unmarshal")
+
+	// 2. Marshal to binary (simulates database storage)
+	buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	ev1.MarshalBinary(buf)
+	binaryData := buf.Bytes()
+	t.Logf("Binary encoding size: %d bytes", len(binaryData))
+
+	// 3. Unmarshal from binary (simulates database retrieval)
+	ev2 := event.New()
+	err = ev2.UnmarshalBinary(bytes.NewBuffer(binaryData))
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.NotNil(t, ev2.Tags)
+	assert.Equal(t, 3, ev2.Tags.Len(), "Should have 3 tags after binary round-trip")
+
+	// Verify all tags still have key "p"
+	pTagCount2 := 0
+	for _, tag := range *ev2.Tags {
+		if tag != nil && tag.Len() >= 2 {
+			key := tag.Key()
+			if len(key) == 1 && key[0] == 'p' {
+				pTagCount2++
+				t.Logf("Found p tag after round-trip with value length: %d bytes", len(tag.Value()))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	assert.Equal(t, 3, pTagCount2, "Should have 3 p tags after binary round-trip")
+
+	// 4. Marshal back to JSON to verify tags are still there
+	jsonData2, err := json.Marshal(ev2)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	t.Logf("JSON after round-trip: %s", string(jsonData2))
+
+	// Parse the JSON and count p tags
+	var jsonMap map[string]interface{}
+	err = json.Unmarshal(jsonData2, &jsonMap)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	tags, ok := jsonMap["tags"].([]interface{})
+	assert.True(t, ok, "tags should be an array")
+	assert.Equal(t, 3, len(tags), "Should have 3 tags in final JSON")
+
+	for i, tag := range tags {
+		tagArray, ok := tag.([]interface{})
+		assert.True(t, ok, "tag should be an array")
+		assert.GreaterOrEqual(t, len(tagArray), 2, "tag should have at least 2 elements")
+		assert.Equal(t, "p", tagArray[0], "tag %d should have key 'p'", i)
+		t.Logf("Tag %d: %v", i, tagArray)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/database/save-event.go b/pkg/database/save-event.go
index facd635..19836c2 100644
--- a/pkg/database/save-event.go
+++ b/pkg/database/save-event.go
@@ -134,6 +134,31 @@ func (d *D) SaveEvent(c context.Context, ev *event.E) (
 		return
 	}
 
+	// Validate kind 3 (follow list) events have at least one p tag
+	// This prevents storing malformed follow lists that may come from buggy relays
+	if ev.Kind == 3 {
+		hasPTag := false
+		tagCount := 0
+		if ev.Tags != nil {
+			tagCount = ev.Tags.Len()
+			for _, tag := range *ev.Tags {
+				if tag != nil && tag.Len() >= 2 {
+					key := tag.Key()
+					if len(key) == 1 && key[0] == 'p' {
+						hasPTag = true
+						break
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		if !hasPTag {
+			log.W.F("SaveEvent: rejecting kind 3 event without p tags from pubkey %x (total tags: %d, event ID: %x)",
+				ev.Pubkey, tagCount, ev.ID)
+			err = errors.New("blocked: kind 3 follow list events must have at least one p tag")
+			return
+		}
+	}
+
 	// check if the event already exists
 	var ser *types.Uint40
 	if ser, err = d.GetSerialById(ev.ID); err == nil && ser != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/version/version b/pkg/version/version
index 4e0bea4..e4d3918 100644
--- a/pkg/version/version
+++ b/pkg/version/version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-v0.31.0
\ No newline at end of file
+v0.31.1
\ No newline at end of file