diff --git a/crates/omnigraph-server/src/lib.rs b/crates/omnigraph-server/src/lib.rs
index b9ce418..cb5ca41 100644
--- a/crates/omnigraph-server/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/omnigraph-server/src/lib.rs
@@ -1024,6 +1024,10 @@ async fn server_schema_apply(
     actor: Option<Extension<AuthenticatedActor>>,
     Json(request): Json<SchemaApplyRequest>,
 ) -> std::result::Result<Json<SchemaApplyOutput>, ApiError> {
+    let actor_arc = actor
+        .as_ref()
+        .map(|Extension(actor)| Arc::clone(&actor.0))
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| Arc::<str>::from("anonymous"));
     let actor_id = actor.as_ref().map(|Extension(actor)| actor.as_str());
     authorize_request(
         &state,
@@ -1035,6 +1039,11 @@ async fn server_schema_apply(
             target_branch: Some("main".to_string()),
         },
     )?;
+    let est_bytes = request.schema_source.len() as u64;
+    let _admission = state
+        .workload
+        .try_admit(&actor_arc, est_bytes)
+        .map_err(ApiError::from_workload_reject)?;
     let result = {
         let db = &state.engine;
         db.apply_schema(&request.schema_source)
@@ -1073,6 +1082,10 @@ async fn server_ingest(
     let branch = request.branch.unwrap_or_else(|| "main".to_string());
     let from = request.from.unwrap_or_else(|| "main".to_string());
     let mode = request.mode.unwrap_or(omnigraph::loader::LoadMode::Merge);
+    let actor_arc = actor
+        .as_ref()
+        .map(|Extension(actor)| Arc::clone(&actor.0))
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| Arc::<str>::from("anonymous"));
     let actor_id = actor.as_ref().map(|Extension(actor)| actor.as_str());
 
     let branch_exists = {
@@ -1106,6 +1119,11 @@ async fn server_ingest(
             target_branch: None,
         },
     )?;
+    let est_bytes = request.data.len() as u64;
+    let _admission = state
+        .workload
+        .try_admit(&actor_arc, est_bytes)
+        .map_err(ApiError::from_workload_reject)?;
 
     let result = {
         let db = &state.engine;
@@ -1187,6 +1205,10 @@ async fn server_branch_create(
     Json(request): Json<BranchCreateRequest>,
 ) -> std::result::Result<Json<BranchCreateOutput>, ApiError> {
     let from = request.from.unwrap_or_else(|| "main".to_string());
+    let actor_arc = actor
+        .as_ref()
+        .map(|Extension(actor)| Arc::clone(&actor.0))
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| Arc::<str>::from("anonymous"));
     authorize_request(
         &state,
         actor.as_ref().map(|Extension(actor)| actor),
@@ -1200,6 +1222,13 @@ async fn server_branch_create(
             target_branch: Some(request.name.clone()),
         },
     )?;
+    // Branch metadata only — small constant bytes estimate. The Lance
+    // shallow-clone work is bounded by the parent's manifest size, not
+    // the request body.
+    let _admission = state
+        .workload
+        .try_admit(&actor_arc, 256)
+        .map_err(ApiError::from_workload_reject)?;
     {
         let db = &state.engine;
         db.branch_create_from(ReadTarget::branch(&from), &request.name)
@@ -1240,6 +1269,10 @@ async fn server_branch_delete(
     actor: Option<Extension<AuthenticatedActor>>,
     Path(branch): Path<String>,
 ) -> std::result::Result<Json<BranchDeleteOutput>, ApiError> {
+    let actor_arc = actor
+        .as_ref()
+        .map(|Extension(actor)| Arc::clone(&actor.0))
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| Arc::<str>::from("anonymous"));
     let actor_id = actor.as_ref().map(|Extension(actor)| actor.as_str());
     authorize_request(
         &state,
@@ -1251,6 +1284,11 @@ async fn server_branch_delete(
             target_branch: Some(branch.clone()),
         },
     )?;
+    // Metadata-only manifest tombstone — small constant estimate.
+    let _admission = state
+        .workload
+        .try_admit(&actor_arc, 256)
+        .map_err(ApiError::from_workload_reject)?;
     {
         let db = &state.engine;
         db.branch_delete(&branch)
@@ -1291,6 +1329,10 @@ async fn server_branch_merge(
     Json(request): Json<BranchMergeRequest>,
 ) -> std::result::Result<Json<BranchMergeOutput>, ApiError> {
     let target = request.target.unwrap_or_else(|| "main".to_string());
+    let actor_arc = actor
+        .as_ref()
+        .map(|Extension(actor)| Arc::clone(&actor.0))
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| Arc::<str>::from("anonymous"));
     let actor_id = actor.as_ref().map(|Extension(actor)| actor.as_str());
     authorize_request(
         &state,
@@ -1302,6 +1344,13 @@ async fn server_branch_merge(
             target_branch: Some(target.clone()),
         },
     )?;
+    // Merge body is small JSON; the heavy work is in the engine but is
+    // bounded per-(table, branch) by the writer queue. Small constant
+    // estimate suffices for the actor in-flight count.
+    let _admission = state
+        .workload
+        .try_admit(&actor_arc, 256)
+        .map_err(ApiError::from_workload_reject)?;
     let outcome = {
         let db = &state.engine;
         db.branch_merge_as(&request.source, &target, actor_id)