diff --git a/gitnexus/src/server/validation.ts b/gitnexus/src/server/validation.ts
index 54bf73d4f4..bae6a9ad07 100644
--- a/gitnexus/src/server/validation.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/src/server/validation.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
  */
 
 import path from 'node:path';
-import rateLimit, { type RateLimitRequestHandler } from 'express-rate-limit';
+import rateLimit, { type RateLimitRequestHandler, ipKeyGenerator } from 'express-rate-limit';
 import type { Request } from 'express';
 
 /**
@@ -138,6 +138,9 @@ export interface RouteLimiterOverrides {
  *   - keyGenerator: req.ip with a socket.remoteAddress fallback so abruptly
  *     closed connections do not trigger ERR_ERL_UNDEFINED_IP_ADDRESS
  *     (which would 500 the request via Express's default error handler).
+ *     The IP is passed through `ipKeyGenerator` so IPv6 addresses are
+ *     normalised to their /56 subnet — without this, each IPv6 address
+ *     gets its own counter and the limit is trivially bypassed (#1360).
  *     Caller must wire `app.set('trust proxy', ...)` correctly — see
  *     createServer in api.ts.
  *
@@ -151,7 +154,10 @@ export function createRouteLimiter(opts?: RouteLimiterOverrides): RateLimitReque
     standardHeaders: 'draft-7',
     legacyHeaders: false,
     passOnStoreError: true,
-    keyGenerator: (req: Request) => req.ip ?? req.socket?.remoteAddress ?? 'unknown',
+    keyGenerator: (req: Request) => {
+      const ip = req.ip ?? req.socket?.remoteAddress;
+      return ip ? ipKeyGenerator(ip) : 'unknown';
+    },
     message: { error: 'Too many requests, please try again later.' },
     ...opts,
   });
diff --git a/gitnexus/test/unit/rate-limit.test.ts b/gitnexus/test/unit/rate-limit.test.ts
index 5a79e60852..b939c271e1 100644
--- a/gitnexus/test/unit/rate-limit.test.ts
+++ b/gitnexus/test/unit/rate-limit.test.ts
@@ -78,6 +78,16 @@ describe('createRouteLimiter — defaults', () => {
     // express middleware signature is (req, res, next) — 3 args.
     expect(limiter.length).toBe(3);
   });
+
+  // Regression guard for #1360 — createRouteLimiter must not throw
+  // ERR_ERL_KEY_GEN_IPV6.  The validation fires at construction time
+  // (inside `rateLimit()`), so a simple `createRouteLimiter()` call is
+  // the canary: if the keyGenerator references `req.ip` without using
+  // `ipKeyGenerator`, the `rateLimit()` constructor throws before the
+  // middleware is ever invoked.
+  it('does not throw ERR_ERL_KEY_GEN_IPV6 on construction (#1360)', () => {
+    expect(() => createRouteLimiter()).not.toThrow();
+  });
 });
 
 describe('createRouteLimiter — integration with a real route', () => {
@@ -252,3 +262,28 @@ describe('production routes — rate-limit middleware wiring', () => {
     );
   });
 });
+
+// Structural guard for #1360 — validates that the validation module uses
+// `ipKeyGenerator` so IPv6 addresses are normalised to their /56 subnet.
+// Without this, each IPv6 address gets an independent counter and the
+// rate-limit is trivially bypassed. The construction-time test above
+// catches the same regression behaviourally; this source-grep test catches
+// it structurally so the failure message is immediately obvious.
+describe('validation.ts — IPv6 key normalisation (#1360)', () => {
+  let validationSource: string;
+
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    validationSource = await fs.readFile(
+      path.join(__dirname, '..', '..', 'src', 'server', 'validation.ts'),
+      'utf-8',
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('imports ipKeyGenerator from express-rate-limit', () => {
+    expect(validationSource).toMatch(/import.*ipKeyGenerator.*from\s+'express-rate-limit'/);
+  });
+
+  it('keyGenerator body calls ipKeyGenerator', () => {
+    expect(validationSource).toMatch(/ipKeyGenerator\(ip\)/);
+  });
+});