diff --git a/cli/testdata/server-config.yaml.golden b/cli/testdata/server-config.yaml.golden
index 974dec3b28..179765bdeb 100644
--- a/cli/testdata/server-config.yaml.golden
+++ b/cli/testdata/server-config.yaml.golden
@@ -752,6 +752,11 @@ workspace_prebuilds:
   # limit; disabled when set to zero.
   # (default: 3, type: int)
   failure_hard_limit: 3
+# Configure the background chat processing daemon.
+chat:
+  # How many pending chats a worker should acquire per polling cycle.
+  # (default: 10, type: int)
+  acquireBatchSize: 10
 aibridge:
   # Whether to start an in-memory aibridged instance.
   # (default: false, type: bool)
diff --git a/coderd/apidoc/docs.go b/coderd/apidoc/docs.go
index d441b185b1..236b86dc9b 100644
--- a/coderd/apidoc/docs.go
+++ b/coderd/apidoc/docs.go
@@ -12714,6 +12714,9 @@ const docTemplate = `{
                 },
                 "bridge": {
                     "$ref": "#/definitions/codersdk.AIBridgeConfig"
+                },
+                "chat": {
+                    "$ref": "#/definitions/codersdk.ChatConfig"
                 }
             }
         },
@@ -13771,6 +13774,14 @@ const docTemplate = `{
                 }
             }
         },
+        "codersdk.ChatConfig": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+                "acquire_batch_size": {
+                    "type": "integer"
+                }
+            }
+        },
         "codersdk.ConnectionLatency": {
             "type": "object",
             "properties": {
diff --git a/coderd/apidoc/swagger.json b/coderd/apidoc/swagger.json
index 5bc51ca337..2fd2e29e04 100644
--- a/coderd/apidoc/swagger.json
+++ b/coderd/apidoc/swagger.json
@@ -11320,6 +11320,9 @@
 				},
 				"bridge": {
 					"$ref": "#/definitions/codersdk.AIBridgeConfig"
+				},
+				"chat": {
+					"$ref": "#/definitions/codersdk.ChatConfig"
 				}
 			}
 		},
@@ -12342,6 +12345,14 @@
 				}
 			}
 		},
+		"codersdk.ChatConfig": {
+			"type": "object",
+			"properties": {
+				"acquire_batch_size": {
+					"type": "integer"
+				}
+			}
+		},
 		"codersdk.ConnectionLatency": {
 			"type": "object",
 			"properties": {
diff --git a/coderd/chatd/chatd.go b/coderd/chatd/chatd.go
index 8738bdd2e1..51874b7fd7 100644
--- a/coderd/chatd/chatd.go
+++ b/coderd/chatd/chatd.go
@@ -58,11 +58,11 @@ const (
 	// of 5 means recovery runs at 1/5 of the stale-after duration.
 	staleRecoveryIntervalDivisor = 5
 
-	// maxChatsPerAcquire is the maximum number of chats to
+	// DefaultMaxChatsPerAcquire is the maximum number of chats to
 	// acquire in a single processOnce call. Batching avoids
 	// waiting a full polling interval between acquisitions
 	// when many chats are pending.
-	maxChatsPerAcquire int32 = 10
+	DefaultMaxChatsPerAcquire int32 = 10
 
 	defaultSubagentInstruction = "You are running as a delegated sub-agent chat. Complete the delegated task and provide clear, concise assistant responses for the parent agent."
 )
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ type Server struct {
 
 	// Configuration
 	pendingChatAcquireInterval time.Duration
+	maxChatsPerAcquire         int32
 	inFlightChatStaleAfter     time.Duration
 }
 
@@ -1174,6 +1175,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	ReplicaID                  uuid.UUID
 	SubscribeFn                SubscribeFn
 	PendingChatAcquireInterval time.Duration
+	MaxChatsPerAcquire         int32
 	InFlightChatStaleAfter     time.Duration
 	AgentConn                  AgentConnFunc
 	CreateWorkspace            chattool.CreateWorkspaceFn
@@ -1199,6 +1201,11 @@ func New(cfg Config) *Server {
 		inFlightChatStaleAfter = DefaultInFlightChatStaleAfter
 	}
 
+	maxChatsPerAcquire := cfg.MaxChatsPerAcquire
+	if maxChatsPerAcquire <= 0 {
+		maxChatsPerAcquire = DefaultMaxChatsPerAcquire
+	}
+
 	workerID := cfg.ReplicaID
 	if workerID == uuid.Nil {
 		workerID = uuid.New()
@@ -1219,6 +1226,7 @@ func New(cfg Config) *Server {
 		providerAPIKeys:            cfg.ProviderAPIKeys,
 		instructionCache:           make(map[uuid.UUID]cachedInstruction),
 		pendingChatAcquireInterval: pendingChatAcquireInterval,
+		maxChatsPerAcquire:         maxChatsPerAcquire,
 		inFlightChatStaleAfter:     inFlightChatStaleAfter,
 	}
 
@@ -1272,7 +1280,7 @@ func (p *Server) processOnce(ctx context.Context) {
 	chats, err := p.db.AcquireChats(acquireCtx, database.AcquireChatsParams{
 		StartedAt: time.Now(),
 		WorkerID:  p.workerID,
-		NumChats:  maxChatsPerAcquire,
+		NumChats:  p.maxChatsPerAcquire,
 	})
 	acquireCancel()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/coderd/coderd.go b/coderd/coderd.go
index 247fef523f..01856736fb 100644
--- a/coderd/coderd.go
+++ b/coderd/coderd.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"math"
 	"net/http"
 	httppprof "net/http/pprof"
 	"net/url"
@@ -766,17 +767,26 @@ func New(options *Options) *API {
 	}
 	api.agentProvider = stn
 
+	maxChatsPerAcquire := options.DeploymentValues.AI.Chat.AcquireBatchSize.Value()
+	if maxChatsPerAcquire > math.MaxInt32 {
+		maxChatsPerAcquire = math.MaxInt32
+	}
+	if maxChatsPerAcquire < math.MinInt32 {
+		maxChatsPerAcquire = math.MinInt32
+	}
+
 	api.chatDaemon = chatd.New(chatd.Config{
-		Logger:            options.Logger.Named("chats"),
-		Database:          options.Database,
-		ReplicaID:         api.ID,
-		SubscribeFn:       options.ChatSubscribeFn,
-		ProviderAPIKeys:   chatProviderAPIKeysFromDeploymentValues(options.DeploymentValues),
-		AgentConn:         api.agentProvider.AgentConn,
-		CreateWorkspace:   api.chatCreateWorkspace,
-		StartWorkspace:    api.chatStartWorkspace,
-		Pubsub:            options.Pubsub,
-		WebpushDispatcher: options.WebPushDispatcher,
+		Logger:             options.Logger.Named("chats"),
+		Database:           options.Database,
+		ReplicaID:          api.ID,
+		SubscribeFn:        options.ChatSubscribeFn,
+		MaxChatsPerAcquire: int32(maxChatsPerAcquire), //nolint:gosec // maxChatsPerAcquire is clamped to int32 range above.
+		ProviderAPIKeys:    chatProviderAPIKeysFromDeploymentValues(options.DeploymentValues),
+		AgentConn:          api.agentProvider.AgentConn,
+		CreateWorkspace:    api.chatCreateWorkspace,
+		StartWorkspace:     api.chatStartWorkspace,
+		Pubsub:             options.Pubsub,
+		WebpushDispatcher:  options.WebPushDispatcher,
 	})
 	gitSyncLogger := options.Logger.Named("gitsync")
 	refresher := gitsync.NewRefresher(
diff --git a/codersdk/deployment.go b/codersdk/deployment.go
index cbe582f806..296eb33b02 100644
--- a/codersdk/deployment.go
+++ b/codersdk/deployment.go
@@ -1437,6 +1437,11 @@ func (c *DeploymentValues) Options() serpent.OptionSet {
 			Parent: &deploymentGroupNotifications,
 			YAML:   "inbox",
 		}
+		deploymentGroupChat = serpent.Group{
+			Name:        "Chat",
+			YAML:        "chat",
+			Description: "Configure the background chat processing daemon.",
+		}
 		deploymentGroupAIBridge = serpent.Group{
 			Name: "AI Bridge",
 			YAML: "aibridge",
@@ -3600,6 +3605,18 @@ Write out the current server config as YAML to stdout.`,
 			Group:       &deploymentGroupClient,
 			YAML:        "hideAITasks",
 		},
+		// Chat Options
+		{
+			Name:        "Chat: Acquire Batch Size",
+			Description: "How many pending chats a worker should acquire per polling cycle.",
+			Flag:        "chat-acquire-batch-size",
+			Env:         "CODER_CHAT_ACQUIRE_BATCH_SIZE",
+			Value:       &c.AI.Chat.AcquireBatchSize,
+			Default:     "10",
+			Group:       &deploymentGroupChat,
+			YAML:        "acquireBatchSize",
+			Hidden:      true, // Hidden because most operators should not need to modify this.
+		},
 		// AI Bridge Options
 		{
 			Name:        "AI Bridge Enabled",
@@ -4052,9 +4069,14 @@ type AIBridgeProxyConfig struct {
 	UpstreamProxyCA serpent.String      `json:"upstream_proxy_ca" typescript:",notnull"`
 }
 
+type ChatConfig struct {
+	AcquireBatchSize serpent.Int64 `json:"acquire_batch_size" typescript:",notnull"`
+}
+
 type AIConfig struct {
 	BridgeConfig      AIBridgeConfig      `json:"bridge,omitempty"`
 	BridgeProxyConfig AIBridgeProxyConfig `json:"aibridge_proxy,omitempty"`
+	Chat              ChatConfig          `json:"chat,omitempty" typescript:",notnull"`
 }
 
 type SupportConfig struct {
diff --git a/docs/reference/api/general.md b/docs/reference/api/general.md
index 921aeaef1c..00143a418d 100644
--- a/docs/reference/api/general.md
+++ b/docs/reference/api/general.md
@@ -204,6 +204,9 @@ curl -X GET http://coder-server:8080/api/v2/deployment/config \
         "retention": 0,
         "send_actor_headers": true,
         "structured_logging": true
+      },
+      "chat": {
+        "acquire_batch_size": 0
       }
     },
     "allow_workspace_renames": true,
diff --git a/docs/reference/api/schemas.md b/docs/reference/api/schemas.md
index 3a197078bf..9200650837 100644
--- a/docs/reference/api/schemas.md
+++ b/docs/reference/api/schemas.md
@@ -786,6 +786,9 @@
     "retention": 0,
     "send_actor_headers": true,
     "structured_logging": true
+  },
+  "chat": {
+    "acquire_batch_size": 0
   }
 }
 ```
@@ -796,6 +799,7 @@
 |------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|----------|--------------|-------------|
 | `aibridge_proxy` | [codersdk.AIBridgeProxyConfig](#codersdkaibridgeproxyconfig) | false    |              |             |
 | `bridge`         | [codersdk.AIBridgeConfig](#codersdkaibridgeconfig)           | false    |              |             |
+| `chat`           | [codersdk.ChatConfig](#codersdkchatconfig)                   | false    |              |             |
 
 ## codersdk.APIAllowListTarget
 
@@ -1557,6 +1561,20 @@ AuthorizationObject can represent a "set" of objects, such as: all workspaces in
 | `one_time_passcode` | string | true     |              |             |
 | `password`          | string | true     |              |             |
 
+## codersdk.ChatConfig
+
+```json
+{
+  "acquire_batch_size": 0
+}
+```
+
+### Properties
+
+| Name                 | Type    | Required | Restrictions | Description |
+|----------------------|---------|----------|--------------|-------------|
+| `acquire_batch_size` | integer | false    |              |             |
+
 ## codersdk.ConnectionLatency
 
 ```json
@@ -2720,6 +2738,9 @@ CreateWorkspaceRequest provides options for creating a new workspace. Only one o
         "retention": 0,
         "send_actor_headers": true,
         "structured_logging": true
+      },
+      "chat": {
+        "acquire_batch_size": 0
       }
     },
     "allow_workspace_renames": true,
@@ -3292,6 +3313,9 @@ CreateWorkspaceRequest provides options for creating a new workspace. Only one o
       "retention": 0,
       "send_actor_headers": true,
       "structured_logging": true
+    },
+    "chat": {
+      "acquire_batch_size": 0
     }
   },
   "allow_workspace_renames": true,
diff --git a/site/src/api/typesGenerated.ts b/site/src/api/typesGenerated.ts
index 46113d0a99..f86e9e92a9 100644
--- a/site/src/api/typesGenerated.ts
+++ b/site/src/api/typesGenerated.ts
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ export interface AIBridgeUserPrompt {
 export interface AIConfig {
 	readonly bridge?: AIBridgeConfig;
 	readonly aibridge_proxy?: AIBridgeProxyConfig;
+	readonly chat?: ChatConfig;
 }
 
 // From codersdk/allowlist.go
@@ -1071,6 +1072,11 @@ export interface Chat {
 	readonly archived: boolean;
 }
 
+// From codersdk/deployment.go
+export interface ChatConfig {
+	readonly acquire_batch_size: number;
+}
+
 // From codersdk/chats.go
 /**
  * ChatCostChatBreakdown contains per-root-chat cost aggregation.