diff --git a/implementations/Crafter.Debug-Session.cpp b/implementations/Crafter.Debug-Session.cpp
index 0176f47..14d206d 100644
--- a/implementations/Crafter.Debug-Session.cpp
+++ b/implementations/Crafter.Debug-Session.cpp
@@ -462,11 +462,14 @@ namespace Crafter::Debug {
                 }
                 if (!known) return exchange->Reply(MakeErrorReply(Codes::invalidParams, std::format("kinds: '{}' is not one of log, warn, error, check, event, agent, pause, stdio", kind)));
             }
+            // `last` 0 means none, as with tail -n 0: a follower that only
+            // wants what comes next. (A TimelineQuery's 0 means all.)
             Detail::TimelineQuery backlog = query;
             backlog.last = decoded->last;
+            const auto recent = [&] { return decoded->last == 0 ? std::vector<TimelineEntry>() : Detail::Timeline::Instance().Query(backlog); };
             if (!decoded->follow) {
                 Value entries = Value::MakeArray();
-                for (const TimelineEntry& entry : Detail::Timeline::Instance().Query(backlog)) entries.Push(EntryValue(entry));
+                for (const TimelineEntry& entry : recent()) entries.Push(EntryValue(entry));
                 return exchange->Reply(MakeReply(Object({ { "entries", std::move(entries) }, { "lastSequence", Value(Detail::Timeline::Instance().LastSequence()) } })));
             }
             // The backlog and the registration happen under one lock, which
@@ -474,7 +477,7 @@ namespace Crafter::Debug {
             // every entry once and in order. Stream never blocks.
             std::lock_guard lock(mutex);
             const std::uint64_t upTo = Detail::Timeline::Instance().LastSequence();
-            for (const TimelineEntry& entry : Detail::Timeline::Instance().Query(backlog)) {
+            for (const TimelineEntry& entry : recent()) {
                 if (entry.sequence > upTo) continue;
                 if (!exchange->Stream(Object({ { "entry", EntryValue(entry) } }))) return;
             }
diff --git a/implementations/Crafter.Debug.Cli-Client.cpp b/implementations/Crafter.Debug.Cli-Client.cpp
index af2100f..6e03563 100644
--- a/implementations/Crafter.Debug.Cli-Client.cpp
+++ b/implementations/Crafter.Debug.Cli-Client.cpp
@@ -984,7 +984,8 @@ memory are a debugger's job; `crafter-debug debugger` prints how to attach one.
     trace <sample> --history         a Debug::Sample's recent history
     log [--last 50] [--level info|warn|error] [--cat <glob>] [--grep <text>]
         [--since-frame n] [--kinds log,warn,error,check,event,agent,pause,stdio]
-    log --follow [--for 30m]         streams new entries; run it under Monitor
+    log --follow [--for 30m]         the last 50 (--last; 0 for none), then new
+                                     entries as they come; run it under Monitor
     screenshot [-o shot.png]         default ./build/crafter-debug-shots/
     quit [--force]                   --force exits even if the loop is stuck
     debugger                         how to attach lldb or gdb