diff --git a/docs/browser-scenario-contract.md b/docs/browser-scenario-contract.md
index c2409cf307..29850acbc5 100644
--- a/docs/browser-scenario-contract.md
+++ b/docs/browser-scenario-contract.md
@@ -516,6 +516,9 @@ id the application assigns:
   the same name replaces the value. An integer past 2^53, which JSON parsing
   would round to another number, and a number that is not finite, such as
   `1e400`, fail the step that saves it.
+- A scenario keeps at most 4,000,000 characters of saved values at once,
+  counting the redaction spellings of values saved as secret, and a save past
+  that fails its step before the value is kept.
 - A value saved with `secret: true` is redacted however short, as a declared
   secret is, as `[REDACTED:page:<step_id>.<name>]`, from records made after it
   is saved. The
diff --git a/docs/specs/agent-environments/scenario-saved-values/spec.md b/docs/specs/agent-environments/scenario-saved-values/spec.md
index 458981fdc8..80efebde26 100644
--- a/docs/specs/agent-environments/scenario-saved-values/spec.md
+++ b/docs/specs/agent-environments/scenario-saved-values/spec.md
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ values.
   local storage entry. The encoded value and parts read from the page are
   redacted as page values are. A username with a colon fails the step.
 - Validation refuses a saved value no earlier step saves.
+- A scenario keeps at most 4,000,000 characters of saved values at once, counting
+  the redaction spellings of values saved as secret; a save past that fails its
+  step before the value is kept.
 - A value saved with `secret: true` is redacted from records made after it is
   saved. The environment build warns about saved values named like credentials
   that are not marked secret (`credential-named-saved-values`).
diff --git a/src/browser/BrowserScenarioSecrets.ts b/src/browser/BrowserScenarioSecrets.ts
index 3ee11cd699..4e41f2df12 100644
--- a/src/browser/BrowserScenarioSecrets.ts
+++ b/src/browser/BrowserScenarioSecrets.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ const REDACTION_PREFIX = "[REDACTED:";
 /** Page values shorter than this are not redacted: redacting them would rewrite ids, ports and hosts throughout the capture. */
 export const MIN_REDACTED_PAGE_VALUE_LENGTH = 8;
 
+/** The most saved-value text a scenario keeps at once, with the redaction spellings of values saved as secret: as much as one saved response can carry. */
+export const MAX_RETAINED_SAVED_CHARACTERS = 4_000_000;
+
 const encodedSecretValues = (secret: string): ReadonlySet<string> =>
   new Set([
     encodeURIComponent(secret),
@@ -75,6 +78,17 @@ const secretPatterns = (
   });
 };
 
+/** The code units a secret's redaction spellings keep, each distinct spelling once. */
+const spellingUnits = (secret: string): number =>
+  [
+    ...new Set(
+      [
+        ...secretPatterns(secret, "text"),
+        ...secretPatterns(secret, "url"),
+      ].flatMap(({ text, searchText }) => [text, searchText]),
+    ),
+  ].reduce((units, spelling) => units + spelling.length, 0);
+
 const declaredPatterns = (
   values: ReadonlyMap<string, string>,
   spellings: SecretSpellings,
@@ -331,15 +345,35 @@ export class BrowserScenarioSecrets {
   /** Values steps saved from JSON responses, by name, as strings or numbers. */
   private readonly saved = new Map<string, string | number>();
 
-  /** Keep a value a step saved from a JSON response; a secret one is redacted from everything recorded after it. */
+  /** Code units the current saved values keep, and those the redaction spellings of secret saves keep for the rest of the scenario. */
+  private savedUnits = 0;
+  private secretSpellingUnits = 0;
+
+  /** Keep a value a step saved from a JSON response; a secret one is redacted from everything recorded after it. Refused before it is kept when the scenario would hold more than {@link MAX_RETAINED_SAVED_CHARACTERS}. */
   save(
     label: string,
     name: string,
     value: string | number,
     secret: boolean,
   ): void {
+    const text = String(value);
+    const replaced = this.saved.get(name);
+    const savedUnits =
+      this.savedUnits -
+      (replaced === undefined ? 0 : String(replaced).length) +
+      text.length;
+    let kept = savedUnits + this.secretSpellingUnits;
+    const spellings =
+      secret && kept <= MAX_RETAINED_SAVED_CHARACTERS ? spellingUnits(text) : 0;
+    kept += spellings;
+    if (kept > MAX_RETAINED_SAVED_CHARACTERS)
+      throw new Error(
+        `${name} cannot be saved: the scenario would keep more than ${String(MAX_RETAINED_SAVED_CHARACTERS)} characters of saved values.`,
+      );
     this.saved.set(name, value);
-    if (secret) this.admitCredential(label, String(value));
+    this.savedUnits = savedUnits;
+    this.secretSpellingUnits += spellings;
+    if (secret) this.admitCredential(label, text);
   }
 
   /** A saved value with the JSON type it was saved with. */
diff --git a/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioRequest.test.ts b/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioRequest.test.ts
index 07714950ae..07ff953673 100644
--- a/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioRequest.test.ts
+++ b/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioRequest.test.ts
@@ -1093,6 +1093,47 @@ describe("values a URL path or Basic header cannot carry", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("saved value retention", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.unstubAllGlobals();
+  });
+
+  it("refuses a new saved name that would keep more than the limit, before keeping it", () => {
+    const secrets = resolved(scenario([requestStep({})]));
+    secrets.save("a.first", "first", "x".repeat(3_000_000), false);
+    expect(() =>
+      secrets.save("b.second", "second", "y".repeat(1_500_000), false),
+    ).toThrow("more than 4000000 characters of saved values");
+    expect(() => secrets.savedValue("second")).toThrow("No earlier step saved");
+    // A later save of the same name replaces its value rather than adding to it.
+    secrets.save("c.first", "first", "z".repeat(3_500_000), false);
+    expect(String(secrets.savedValue("first"))).toHaveLength(3_500_000);
+  });
+
+  it("counts the redaction spellings a secret save keeps", () => {
+    const plain = resolved(scenario([requestStep({})]));
+    plain.save("a.token", "token", "t".repeat(2_500_000), false);
+    const secret = resolved(scenario([requestStep({})]));
+    expect(() =>
+      secret.save("a.token", "token", "t".repeat(2_500_000), true),
+    ).toThrow("more than 4000000 characters of saved values");
+  });
+
+  it("fails the step that would save past the limit", async () => {
+    stubFetch(201, [`{"id":"${"y".repeat(200_000)}"}`]);
+    const parsed = scenario([
+      requestStep({ save: [{ name: "item", json_pointer: "/id" }] }),
+    ]);
+    const secrets = resolved(parsed);
+    secrets.save("seed.big", "big", "x".repeat(3_900_000), false);
+    await expect(
+      perform(fakePage({}), parsed.actions[0]!, secrets),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(
+      "Step create: item cannot be saved: the scenario would keep more than",
+    );
+  });
+});
+
 describe("goto placeholders", () => {
   it("fills a goto destination's placeholders, percent-encoded", async () => {
     const parsed = scenario([
diff --git a/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioRequest.ts b/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioRequest.ts
index 8ee1691d88..20d61f2bb8 100644
--- a/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioRequest.ts
+++ b/src/browser/PlaywrightScenarioRequest.ts
@@ -650,6 +650,12 @@ const saveValues = (
       throw new ScenarioRequestError(
         `Step ${stepId}: the number at ${json_pointer} is too large to keep exactly, so ${name} cannot be saved from it.`,
       );
-    secrets.save(`${stepId}.${name}`, name, value, secret);
+    try {
+      secrets.save(`${stepId}.${name}`, name, value, secret);
+    } catch (cause) {
+      throw new ScenarioRequestError(
+        `Step ${stepId}: ${cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : String(cause)}`,
+      );
+    }
   }
 };