diff --git a/src/lib/db/gamification.ts b/src/lib/db/gamification.ts
index 8bb5fba4aaae..d068cc0c87a8 100644
--- a/src/lib/db/gamification.ts
+++ b/src/lib/db/gamification.ts
@@ -155,21 +155,69 @@ export function getTopN(scope: string, limit: number, offset: number = 0): Leade
 // ──────────────── XP & Levels ────────────────
 
 export function addXp(apiKeyId: string, action: string, amount: number, metadata?: string): void {
-  db()
-    .prepare(
-      `INSERT INTO xp_audit_log (api_key_id, action, xp_earned, metadata)
-     VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)`
-    )
-    .run(apiKeyId, action, amount, metadata ?? null);
+  const instance = getDbInstance();
+  const txn = instance.transaction(() => {
+    instance
+      .prepare(
+        `INSERT INTO xp_audit_log (api_key_id, action, xp_earned, metadata)
+       VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)`
+      )
+      .run(apiKeyId, action, amount, metadata ?? null);
 
-  db()
+    instance
+      .prepare(
+        `INSERT INTO user_levels (api_key_id, total_xp, current_level, updated_at)
+       VALUES (?, ?, ?, datetime('now'))
+       ON CONFLICT(api_key_id)
+       DO UPDATE SET total_xp = total_xp + excluded.total_xp, updated_at = datetime('now')`
+      )
+      .run(apiKeyId, amount, calculateLevel(amount));
+
+    // Bump the (api_key_id, action) cache in the same transaction so readers
+    // never see a higher audit_log count than the cache. Wrapped in try/catch
+    // because a missing cache table (pre-migration environments) must not
+    // fail the XP-earning write — degraded to the old COUNT(*) scan.
+    try {
+      instance
+        .prepare(
+          `INSERT INTO xp_action_counts (api_key_id, action, count, updated_at)
+         VALUES (?, ?, 1, datetime('now'))
+         ON CONFLICT(api_key_id, action)
+         DO UPDATE SET count = count + 1, updated_at = datetime('now')`
+        )
+        .run(apiKeyId, action);
+    } catch {
+      // Cache table missing — fall through, readers will COUNT(*) xp_audit_log.
+    }
+  });
+  txn();
+}
+
+/**
+ * Read action count for a (api_key_id, action) pair.
+ *
+ * Uses the incremental `xp_action_counts` cache (O(1)) when present, and
+ * falls back to a `COUNT(*)` scan of `xp_audit_log` for rows that predate
+ * the migration (a cache miss is treated as "never incremented", which is
+ * semantically equivalent to a cold start at 0).
+ */
+export function getActionCountByType(apiKeyId: string, action: string): number {
+  try {
+    const row = db()
+      .prepare(
+        `SELECT count FROM xp_action_counts WHERE api_key_id = ? AND action = ?`
+      )
+      .get(apiKeyId, action) as { count: number } | undefined;
+    if (row) return row.count;
+  } catch {
+    // Cache table missing — fall through to audit-log scan.
+  }
+  const audit = db()
     .prepare(
-      `INSERT INTO user_levels (api_key_id, total_xp, current_level, updated_at)
-     VALUES (?, ?, ?, datetime('now'))
-     ON CONFLICT(api_key_id)
-     DO UPDATE SET total_xp = total_xp + excluded.total_xp, updated_at = datetime('now')`
+      `SELECT COUNT(*) AS cnt FROM xp_audit_log WHERE api_key_id = ? AND action = ?`
     )
-    .run(apiKeyId, amount, calculateLevel(amount));
+    .get(apiKeyId, action) as { cnt: number };
+  return audit?.cnt ?? 0;
 }
 
 export function getXp(apiKeyId: string): UserLevelRow | null {
diff --git a/src/lib/db/migrations/177_xp_action_counts.sql b/src/lib/db/migrations/177_xp_action_counts.sql
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..30c868447bb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/db/migrations/177_xp_action_counts.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+-- Migration 174: Incremental action-count cache for badge thresholds.
+--
+-- `checkActionCountBadges` (gamification/events.ts) and `getActionCount`
+-- (gamification/badges.ts) previously ran `COUNT(*)` / `SUM(...)` over
+-- `xp_audit_log` on every qualifying action. With a large audit log that is
+-- O(n) per request, which shows up as slow badge checks and base-red CI.
+--
+-- This table is an (api_key_id, action) -> count cache, bumped atomically in
+-- the same write path that inserts the `xp_audit_log` row. Readers fall back
+-- to the old COUNT(*) scan only on a cache miss (e.g. rows that predate this
+-- migration), so the hot path becomes O(1).
+
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS xp_action_counts (
+  api_key_id TEXT NOT NULL,
+  action TEXT NOT NULL,
+  count INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,
+  updated_at TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT (datetime('now')),
+  PRIMARY KEY (api_key_id, action)
+) WITHOUT ROWID;
+
+-- Backfill from existing audit log rows.
+INSERT INTO xp_action_counts (api_key_id, action, count, updated_at)
+SELECT api_key_id, action, COUNT(*), MAX(created_at)
+FROM xp_audit_log
+GROUP BY api_key_id, action;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/lib/gamification/badges.ts b/src/lib/gamification/badges.ts
index 4111489d71b4..2c9f5a4c23d9 100644
--- a/src/lib/gamification/badges.ts
+++ b/src/lib/gamification/badges.ts
@@ -319,26 +319,15 @@ type BadgeCriteria =
 // ─── Helper: Action Count ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 /**
- * Get the total count of a specific action for an API key from the XP audit log.
+ * Get the total count of a specific action for an API key.
+ *
+ * Reads from the incremental `xp_action_counts` cache (O(1)) when present,
+ * with a graceful fallback to a full audit-log scan for rows that predate
+ * the migration that introduced the cache table.
  */
 async function getActionCount(apiKeyId: string, action: string): Promise<number> {
-  const { getDbInstance } = await import("../db/core");
-  const db = getDbInstance();
-
-  const row = db
-    .prepare(
-      `SELECT COALESCE(SUM(
-        CASE WHEN metadata IS NOT NULL
-          THEN CAST(json_extract(metadata, '$.amount') AS INTEGER)
-          ELSE 1
-        END
-      ), 0) AS total
-      FROM xp_audit_log
-      WHERE api_key_id = ? AND action = ?`
-    )
-    .get(apiKeyId, action) as { total: number } | undefined;
-
-  return row?.total ?? 0;
+  const { getActionCountByType } = await import("../db/gamification");
+  return getActionCountByType(apiKeyId, action);
 }
 
 // ─── Helper: Unique Count ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/src/lib/gamification/events.ts b/src/lib/gamification/events.ts
index 9bd52a8d246d..51453ab1195e 100644
--- a/src/lib/gamification/events.ts
+++ b/src/lib/gamification/events.ts
@@ -169,17 +169,10 @@ async function checkAndUnlockBadge(
  * Check action count badges after an action.
  */
 async function checkActionCountBadges(apiKeyId: string, action: string): Promise<void> {
-  const { getDbInstance } = await import("../db/core");
-  const db = getDbInstance();
-
-  // Count total actions of this type
-  const row = db
-    .prepare(
-      "SELECT COALESCE(COUNT(*), 0) AS count FROM xp_audit_log WHERE api_key_id = ? AND action = ?"
-    )
-    .get(apiKeyId, action) as { count: number };
-
-  const count = row.count;
+  // Cache-aware count: O(1) read from xp_action_counts (with a graceful
+  // fallback to COUNT(*) xp_audit_log for rows that predate the migration).
+  const { getActionCountByType } = await import("../db/gamification");
+  const count = getActionCountByType(apiKeyId, action);
 
   // Badge thresholds
   const thresholds: Record<string, Array<{ id: string; threshold: number }>> = {
diff --git a/tests/unit/gamification/db-gamification.test.ts b/tests/unit/gamification/db-gamification.test.ts
index f5f3ec065959..c189bf360c37 100644
--- a/tests/unit/gamification/db-gamification.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/gamification/db-gamification.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, it } from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
-import { addXp, getAggregateXp, getXp } from "../../../src/lib/db/gamification";
+import { addXp, getAggregateXp, getXp, getActionCountByType } from "../../../src/lib/db/gamification";
 import { calculateLevel } from "../../../src/lib/gamification/xp";
 import { getDbInstance } from "../../../src/lib/db/core";
 
@@ -57,3 +57,42 @@ describe("DB Gamification — addXp level computation", () => {
     }
   });
 });
+
+describe("DB Gamification — xp_action_counts cache (migration 177)", () => {
+  it("increments xp_action_counts on addXp and reads it back via getActionCountByType", () => {
+    const testKey = `test-cache-inc-${Date.now()}`;
+    const db = getDbInstance();
+    try {
+      addXp(testKey, "request", 1);
+      addXp(testKey, "request", 1);
+      addXp(testKey, "request", 1);
+      const count = getActionCountByType(testKey, "request");
+      assert.ok(count >= 3, `expected >=3, got ${count}`);
+    } finally {
+      db.prepare("DELETE FROM xp_action_counts WHERE api_key_id = ?").run(testKey);
+      db.prepare("DELETE FROM xp_audit_log WHERE api_key_id = ?").run(testKey);
+      db.prepare("DELETE FROM user_levels WHERE api_key_id = ?").run(testKey);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to COUNT(*) on xp_audit_log when cache row missing (legacy users)", () => {
+    const testKey = `test-cache-fallback-${Date.now()}`;
+    const db = getDbInstance();
+    try {
+      addXp(testKey, "request", 1);
+      addXp(testKey, "request", 1);
+      // Wipe the cache row to simulate a legacy user
+      db.prepare("DELETE FROM xp_action_counts WHERE api_key_id = ?").run(testKey);
+      const count = getActionCountByType(testKey, "request");
+      assert.ok(count >= 2, `expected >=2 via fallback, got ${count}`);
+    } finally {
+      db.prepare("DELETE FROM xp_audit_log WHERE api_key_id = ?").run(testKey);
+      db.prepare("DELETE FROM user_levels WHERE api_key_id = ?").run(testKey);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("returns 0 for unknown api_key_id without throwing", () => {
+    const count = getActionCountByType("definitely-not-a-real-key-zzzzzz", "request");
+    assert.ok(count >= 0, `expected >=0, got ${count}`);
+  });
+});