diff --git a/appview/db/pipeline.go b/appview/db/pipeline.go
--- a/appview/db/pipeline.go
+++ b/appview/db/pipeline.go
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ }
 
 // this is a mega query, but the most useful one:
 // get N pipelines, for each one get the latest status of its N workflows
-func GetPipelineStatuses(e Execer, filters ...filter) ([]models.Pipeline, error) {
+func GetPipelineStatuses(e Execer, limit int, filters ...filter) ([]models.Pipeline, error) {
 	var conditions []string
 	var args []any
 	for _, filter := range filters {
@@ -205,7 +205,9 @@ pipelines p
 		join
 			triggers t ON p.trigger_id = t.id
 		%s
-	`, whereClause)
+		order by p.created desc
+		limit %d
+	`, whereClause, limit)
 
 	rows, err := e.Query(query, args...)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/appview/pipelines/pipelines.go b/appview/pipelines/pipelines.go
--- a/appview/pipelines/pipelines.go
+++ b/appview/pipelines/pipelines.go
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ repoInfo := f.RepoInfo(user)
 
 	ps, err := db.GetPipelineStatuses(
 		p.db,
+		30,
 		db.FilterEq("repo_owner", repoInfo.OwnerDid),
 		db.FilterEq("repo_name", repoInfo.Name),
 		db.FilterEq("knot", repoInfo.Knot),
@@ -124,6 +125,7 @@ }
 
 	ps, err := db.GetPipelineStatuses(
 		p.db,
+		1,
 		db.FilterEq("repo_owner", repoInfo.OwnerDid),
 		db.FilterEq("repo_name", repoInfo.Name),
 		db.FilterEq("knot", repoInfo.Knot),
@@ -193,6 +195,7 @@ }
 
 	ps, err := db.GetPipelineStatuses(
 		p.db,
+		1,
 		db.FilterEq("repo_owner", repoInfo.OwnerDid),
 		db.FilterEq("repo_name", repoInfo.Name),
 		db.FilterEq("knot", repoInfo.Knot),
diff --git a/appview/pulls/pulls.go b/appview/pulls/pulls.go
--- a/appview/pulls/pulls.go
+++ b/appview/pulls/pulls.go
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@ }
 
 	ps, err := db.GetPipelineStatuses(
 		s.db,
+		len(shas),
 		db.FilterEq("repo_owner", repoInfo.OwnerDid),
 		db.FilterEq("repo_name", repoInfo.Name),
 		db.FilterEq("knot", repoInfo.Knot),
@@ -648,6 +649,7 @@
 	repoInfo := f.RepoInfo(user)
 	ps, err := db.GetPipelineStatuses(
 		s.db,
+		len(shas),
 		db.FilterEq("repo_owner", repoInfo.OwnerDid),
 		db.FilterEq("repo_name", repoInfo.Name),
 		db.FilterEq("knot", repoInfo.Knot),
diff --git a/appview/repo/repo_util.go b/appview/repo/repo_util.go
--- a/appview/repo/repo_util.go
+++ b/appview/repo/repo_util.go
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 package repo
 
 import (
-	"crypto/rand"
-	"math/big"
 	"slices"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
@@ -90,18 +88,6 @@
 	return
 }
 
-func randomString(n int) string {
-	const letters = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"
-	result := make([]byte, n)
-
-	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
-		n, _ := rand.Int(rand.Reader, big.NewInt(int64(len(letters))))
-		result[i] = letters[n.Int64()]
-	}
-
-	return string(result)
-}
-
 // grab pipelines from DB and munge that into a hashmap with commit sha as key
 //
 // golang is so blessed that it requires 35 lines of imperative code for this
@@ -118,6 +104,7 @@ }
 
 	ps, err := db.GetPipelineStatuses(
 		d,
+		len(shas),
 		db.FilterEq("repo_owner", repoInfo.OwnerDid),
 		db.FilterEq("repo_name", repoInfo.Name),
 		db.FilterEq("knot", repoInfo.Knot),