diff --git a/app/Commands/AbdmPruneLogs.php b/app/Commands/AbdmPruneLogs.php
index 92c43c6..4f18e5c 100644
--- a/app/Commands/AbdmPruneLogs.php
+++ b/app/Commands/AbdmPruneLogs.php
@@ -9,14 +9,15 @@ class AbdmPruneLogs extends BaseCommand
 {
     protected $group = 'ABDM';
     protected $name = 'abdm:prune-logs';
-    protected $description = 'Delete ABDM log rows older than the retention window (default 2 days).';
-    protected $usage = 'abdm:prune-logs [--days 2] [--table all] [--batch 2000] [--dry-run] [--optimize]';
+    protected $description = 'Strip bulky ABDM log payloads and delete rows past the retention window.';
+    protected $usage = 'abdm:prune-logs [--days 30] [--strip-payload-days 2] [--table all] [--batch 2000] [--dry-run] [--optimize]';
     protected $arguments = [];
     protected $options = [
-        '--days' => 'Retention window in days (default: 2).',
+        '--days' => 'Delete rows older than this many days (default: 30).',
+        '--strip-payload-days' => 'Blank request/response JSON older than this many days (default: 2, 0 disables).',
         '--table' => 'all | abdm_api_logs | abdm_hiu_workflows (default: all).',
         '--batch' => 'Rows deleted per statement (default: 2000).',
-        '--dry-run' => 'Report what would be deleted without deleting.',
+        '--dry-run' => 'Report what would be changed without writing.',
         '--optimize' => 'Rebuild the table afterwards to release disk space.',
     ];
 
@@ -31,9 +32,17 @@ class AbdmPruneLogs extends BaseCommand
 
     public function run(array $params)
     {
-        $days = (int) (CLI::getOption('days') ?? 2);
+        $days = (int) (CLI::getOption('days') ?? 30);
         if ($days <= 0) {
-            $days = 2;
+            $days = 30;
+        }
+
+        // Payloads (FHIR bundles, ABHA cards) are ~99% of the size, so they go
+        // early while the request/response metadata stays for the audit trail.
+        $stripDays = CLI::getOption('strip-payload-days');
+        $stripDays = $stripDays === null ? 2 : (int) $stripDays;
+        if ($stripDays < 0) {
+            $stripDays = 0;
         }
 
         $batch = (int) (CLI::getOption('batch') ?? 2000);
@@ -59,9 +68,13 @@ class AbdmPruneLogs extends BaseCommand
 
         $db     = \Config\Database::connect();
         $cutoff = date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('-' . $days . ' days'));
+        $stripCutoff = $stripDays > 0 ? date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('-' . $stripDays . ' days')) : '';
 
         CLI::write('ABDM Log Prune' . ($dryRun ? ' (dry-run)' : ''), 'yellow');
-        CLI::write('Retention: ' . $days . ' day(s) — cutoff ' . $cutoff);
+        CLI::write('Delete rows older than ' . $days . ' day(s) — cutoff ' . $cutoff);
+        if ($stripCutoff !== '') {
+            CLI::write('Strip payloads older than ' . $stripDays . ' day(s) — cutoff ' . $stripCutoff);
+        }
 
         foreach ($tables as $table) {
             if (! $db->tableExists($table)) {
@@ -69,13 +82,37 @@ class AbdmPruneLogs extends BaseCommand
                 continue;
             }
 
-            $hasUpdatedAt = in_array('updated_at', $db->getFieldNames($table) ?? [], true);
+            $fields = $db->getFieldNames($table) ?? [];
+            $hasUpdatedAt = in_array('updated_at', $fields, true);
             $age = $hasUpdatedAt
                 ? '((created_at IS NOT NULL AND created_at < ?) OR (created_at IS NULL AND updated_at IS NOT NULL AND updated_at < ?))'
                 : '(created_at IS NOT NULL AND created_at < ?)';
             $binds = $hasUpdatedAt ? [$cutoff, $cutoff] : [$cutoff];
             $where = $age . self::GUARDS[$table];
 
+            if ($stripCutoff !== '') {
+                $payloadCols = array_values(array_intersect(['request_json', 'response_json'], $fields));
+                if ($payloadCols !== []) {
+                    $sets = [];
+                    $notEmpty = [];
+                    foreach ($payloadCols as $col) {
+                        $sets[] = $col . ' = NULL';
+                        $notEmpty[] = $col . ' IS NOT NULL';
+                    }
+                    $stripWhere = '(created_at IS NOT NULL AND created_at < ?) AND (' . implode(' OR ', $notEmpty) . ')';
+
+                    $strippable = (int) ($db->query('SELECT COUNT(*) AS c FROM ' . $table . ' WHERE ' . $stripWhere, [$stripCutoff])
+                        ->getRowArray()['c'] ?? 0);
+
+                    if ($strippable > 0 && $dryRun) {
+                        CLI::write($table . ': ' . $strippable . ' row(s) would have payloads stripped.');
+                    } elseif ($strippable > 0) {
+                        $db->query('UPDATE ' . $table . ' SET ' . implode(', ', $sets) . ' WHERE ' . $stripWhere, [$stripCutoff]);
+                        CLI::write($table . ': stripped payloads on ' . $strippable . ' row(s).', 'green');
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
             $total = (int) ($db->query('SELECT COUNT(*) AS c FROM ' . $table . ' WHERE ' . $where, $binds)
                 ->getRowArray()['c'] ?? 0);
 
diff --git a/scripts/install_hms_cron.sh b/scripts/install_hms_cron.sh
index 598af72..29edc2a 100644
--- a/scripts/install_hms_cron.sh
+++ b/scripts/install_hms_cron.sh
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ $BLOCK_START
 * * * * * cd $PROJECT_DIR && $PHP_BIN spark snomed:process-coding >> $LOG_DIR/snomed_process.log 2>&1
 */2 * * * * cd $PROJECT_DIR && $PHP_BIN spark abdm:hiu-poll --limit=30 >> $LOG_DIR/abdm_hiu_poll.log 2>&1
 */5 * * * * cd $PROJECT_DIR && $PHP_BIN spark abdm:hiu-retry --limit=20 >> $LOG_DIR/abdm_hiu_retry.log 2>&1
-30 2 * * * cd $PROJECT_DIR && $PHP_BIN spark abdm:prune-logs --days=2 --optimize >> $LOG_DIR/abdm_prune_logs.log 2>&1
+30 2 * * * cd $PROJECT_DIR && $PHP_BIN spark abdm:prune-logs --days=30 --strip-payload-days=2 --optimize >> $LOG_DIR/abdm_prune_logs.log 2>&1
 $BLOCK_END
 EOF