diff --git a/migrations/0002-meta.sql b/migrations/0002-meta.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..42df7cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/0002-meta.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS meta (
+  key TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
+  value INTEGER NOT NULL,
+  updated_at INTEGER NOT NULL
+);
diff --git a/schema.sql b/schema.sql
index 43bc147..adc1179 100644
--- a/schema.sql
+++ b/schema.sql
@@ -22,3 +22,9 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS segment_collections (
 
 CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS segment_collections_nsid ON segment_collections (nsid, idx);
 CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS segment_collections_ns ON segment_collections (ns, idx);
+
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS meta (
+  key TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
+  value INTEGER NOT NULL,
+  updated_at INTEGER NOT NULL
+);
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index e20f876..a9ba669 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -126,6 +126,13 @@ async function ingest(request: Request, env: Env): Promise<Response> {
   for (const segment of parsed.value.segments) {
     await env.DB.batch(segmentStatements(env.DB, segment, ingestedAt));
   }
+  if (parsed.value.archiveSegments !== undefined) {
+    await env.DB.prepare(
+      "INSERT INTO meta (key, value, updated_at) VALUES ('archive_segments', ?1, ?2) ON CONFLICT(key) DO UPDATE SET value = excluded.value, updated_at = excluded.updated_at",
+    )
+      .bind(parsed.value.archiveSegments, ingestedAt)
+      .run();
+  }
   return json({ ingested: parsed.value.segments.length });
 }
 
@@ -138,12 +145,15 @@ type ProgressRow = {
 };
 
 async function progress(env: Env): Promise<Response> {
-  const [row, kinds] = await env.DB.batch([
+  const [row, kinds, meta] = await env.DB.batch([
     env.DB.prepare(
       "SELECT COUNT(*) AS segments, MAX(idx) AS max_idx, MAX(max_seq) AS max_seq, SUM(event_count) AS events, MAX(ingested_at) AS updated_at FROM segments",
     ),
     env.DB.prepare("SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT nsid) AS collections, COUNT(DISTINCT ns) AS namespaces FROM segment_collections"),
+    env.DB.prepare("SELECT value FROM meta WHERE key = 'archive_segments'"),
   ]);
+  // SAFETY: the third statement selects exactly this one column.
+  const archive = meta?.results[0] as { value: number } | undefined;
   // SAFETY: the first statement selects exactly ProgressRow's columns.
   const p = row?.results[0] as ProgressRow | undefined;
   // SAFETY: the second statement selects exactly these two counts.
@@ -156,6 +166,7 @@ async function progress(env: Env): Promise<Response> {
     updatedAt: p?.updated_at ?? null,
     collections: k?.collections ?? 0,
     namespaces: k?.namespaces ?? 0,
+    archiveSegments: archive?.value ?? null,
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/src/ingest.ts b/src/ingest.ts
index b156c48..b353ad7 100644
--- a/src/ingest.ts
+++ b/src/ingest.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
   integer,
   integerRange,
   object,
+  optional,
   string,
   stringLength,
   type InferOutput,
@@ -37,6 +38,8 @@ export const SegmentRecordSchema = object({
 
 export const IngestBatchSchema = object({
   segments: constrain(array(SegmentRecordSchema), [arrayLength(1, 200)]),
+  /** how many sealed segments the archive reports in total, so the page can say how partial it is */
+  archiveSegments: optional(count),
 });
 
 export type CollectionCount = InferOutput<typeof CollectionCountSchema>;
diff --git a/src/ui.js b/src/ui.js
index 9c5f2b0..91e06c3 100644
--- a/src/ui.js
+++ b/src/ui.js
@@ -66,7 +66,10 @@ async function loadProgress() {
   el.lede.innerHTML = `<em>strata</em> — what's in the archive. every app on the network writes its own kinds of records; this is how much of each there is, and when it arrived. so far: <em>${compact.format(p.events)}</em> records from <em>${fmt.format(p.namespaces)}</em> apps, in <em>${fmt.format(p.collections)}</em> record types.`;
   if (p.updatedAt) {
     const d = new Date(p.updatedAt);
-    el.live.innerHTML = `· <b>${fmt.format(p.segments)}</b> chunks read`;
+    const partial = p.archiveSegments && p.archiveSegments > p.segments;
+    el.live.innerHTML = partial
+      ? `· showing the first <b>${fmt.format(p.segments)}</b> of <b>${fmt.format(p.archiveSegments)}</b> chunks — still reading`
+      : `· <b>${fmt.format(p.segments)}</b> chunks read`;
     el.updated.textContent = `updated ${dayFmt.format(d)} ${timeFmt.format(d)} utc`;
   }
   view.step = STEPS.find((s) => Math.ceil(p.segments / s) <= 120) ?? STEPS[STEPS.length - 1];