diff --git a/apps/cli/README.md b/apps/cli/README.md
index 2cf229dc..ae7d3d32 100644
--- a/apps/cli/README.md
+++ b/apps/cli/README.md
@@ -165,6 +165,15 @@ threatcrush init --offline          # Same, without signing in (scripts, CI, con
 
 Config lives at `/etc/threatcrush/threatcrushd.conf` with module configs in `/etc/threatcrush/threatcrushd.conf.d/`.
 
+### Usage counts
+
+Each `threatcrush ai-scan` / `ai-scan-run` sends one anonymous count to the API
+(`THREATCRUSH_API_URL`, default threatcrush.com): command, CLI version, OS, Node
+version, CI or not, a random install ID (`~/.threatcrush/usage-ping.json`), and
+probe/finding counts and run time. Never the target, prompts, responses or
+finding text. Turn it off with `THREATCRUSH_TELEMETRY=0` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1`.
+Requests to our API also carry the user agent `threatcrush/<version>`.
+
 ## Cloud dashboard
 
 The daemon reports to your ThreatCrush dashboard once the machine is logged in and linked to a server there:
diff --git a/apps/cli/src/commands/ai-scan.ts b/apps/cli/src/commands/ai-scan.ts
index f445fa41..830c8e05 100644
--- a/apps/cli/src/commands/ai-scan.ts
+++ b/apps/cli/src/commands/ai-scan.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import type { RunResult } from '../core/run-result.js';
 import { runAiScan, httpSender } from '../aiscan/runner.js';
 import { selectProbes, type ProbeCategory } from '../aiscan/probes.js';
 import { runMosh } from '../aiscan/mosh.js';
+import { sendUsagePing } from '../core/usage-ping.js';
 
 export interface AiScanCliOptions {
   categories?: string;   // comma list
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ export async function aiScanCommand(url: string, opts: AiScanCliOptions): Promis
   const probes = selectProbes(categories);
   logger.info(`Probing ${chalk.white(url)} with ${probes.length} check(s)...\n`);
   const spinner = ora({ text: 'Running probes...', color: 'green' }).start();
+  const t0 = Date.now();
 
   const result = await runAiScan(url, send, {
     categories,
@@ -55,6 +57,10 @@ export async function aiScanCommand(url: string, opts: AiScanCliOptions): Promis
     },
   });
   spinner.stop();
+  await sendUsagePing({
+    event: 'ai-scan', probes: probes.length, findings: result.findings.length,
+    severity: result.severity_summary, duration_ms: Date.now() - t0, failed: Boolean(result.error),
+  });
 
   if (opts.json) {
     console.log(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));
@@ -93,7 +99,12 @@ export async function aiScanMoshCommand(file: string, args: string[]): Promise<v
     return;
   }
 
+  const t0 = Date.now();
   const res = await runMosh(source, { argv: args, out: (s) => console.log('  ' + s) });
+  await sendUsagePing({
+    event: 'ai-scan-run', scans: res.scans.length, findings: res.scans.reduce((n, s) => n + s.findings.length, 0),
+    duration_ms: Date.now() - t0, failed: Boolean(res.failed),
+  });
   if (res.failed) {
     console.log();
     console.log(`  ${chalk.red('✗ script failed:')} ${res.failed}`);
diff --git a/apps/cli/src/core/__tests__/usage-ping.test.ts b/apps/cli/src/core/__tests__/usage-ping.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f4be7a85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/cli/src/core/__tests__/usage-ping.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+import { mkdtempSync, readFileSync, rmSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { installId, sendUsagePing, usagePingDisabled } from "../usage-ping.js";
+
+const dirs: string[] = [];
+const tmp = () => { const d = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "tc-ping-")); dirs.push(d); return d; };
+afterEach(() => { for (const d of dirs.splice(0)) rmSync(d, { recursive: true, force: true }); });
+
+function capture() {
+  const calls: { url: string; body: Record<string, unknown> }[] = [];
+  const fetchImpl = (async (url: string, init?: RequestInit) => {
+    calls.push({ url, body: JSON.parse(String(init?.body)) });
+    return new Response("{}", { status: 202 });
+  }) as unknown as typeof fetch;
+  return { calls, fetchImpl };
+}
+
+describe("usage ping", () => {
+  it("is off with THREATCRUSH_TELEMETRY=0/off/false/no or DO_NOT_TRACK=1", () => {
+    for (const v of ["0", "off", "false", "no", "OFF"]) expect(usagePingDisabled({ THREATCRUSH_TELEMETRY: v })).toBe(true);
+    expect(usagePingDisabled({ DO_NOT_TRACK: "1" })).toBe(true);
+    expect(usagePingDisabled({ DO_NOT_TRACK: "0" })).toBe(false);
+    expect(usagePingDisabled({})).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("sends nothing when disabled", async () => {
+    const { calls, fetchImpl } = capture();
+    const ok = await sendUsagePing({ event: "ai-scan", findings: 1, duration_ms: 5 }, { fetchImpl, dir: tmp(), env: { DO_NOT_TRACK: "1" } });
+    expect(ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(calls).toHaveLength(0);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps one install id and prints the notice only the first time", async () => {
+    const dir = tmp(), notices: string[] = [];
+    const { calls, fetchImpl } = capture();
+    const ping = { event: "ai-scan" as const, probes: 12, findings: 2, severity: { high: 2 }, duration_ms: 40 };
+    await sendUsagePing(ping, { fetchImpl, dir, env: {}, notice: (s) => notices.push(s) });
+    await sendUsagePing(ping, { fetchImpl, dir, env: {}, notice: (s) => notices.push(s) });
+    expect(notices).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(notices[0]).toMatch(/THREATCRUSH_TELEMETRY=0/);
+    expect(calls).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(calls[0].url).toMatch(/\/api\/telemetry$/);
+    expect(calls[0].body.install_id).toBe(calls[1].body.install_id);
+    expect(calls[0].body.install_id).toBe(JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(dir, "usage-ping.json"), "utf-8")).install_id);
+  });
+
+  it("carries counts and environment, never the target", async () => {
+    const { calls, fetchImpl } = capture();
+    await sendUsagePing({ event: "ai-scan", probes: 3, findings: 0, duration_ms: 9 }, { fetchImpl, dir: tmp(), env: { CI: "true" }, notice: () => {} });
+    const b = calls[0].body;
+    expect(Object.keys(b).sort()).toEqual(["arch", "ci", "duration_ms", "event", "findings", "install_id", "node", "platform", "probes", "version"]);
+    expect(b.ci).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("never throws when the network fails", async () => {
+    const fetchImpl = (async () => { throw new Error("offline"); }) as unknown as typeof fetch;
+    await expect(sendUsagePing({ event: "ai-scan-run", scans: 1, findings: 0, duration_ms: 1 }, { fetchImpl, dir: tmp(), env: {}, notice: () => {} })).resolves.toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("reuses an id already on disk", () => {
+    const dir = tmp();
+    const a = installId(dir), b = installId(dir);
+    expect(a.fresh).toBe(true);
+    expect(b).toEqual({ id: a.id, fresh: false });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/apps/cli/src/core/usage-ping.ts b/apps/cli/src/core/usage-ping.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..84bae0e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/cli/src/core/usage-ping.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
+import { existsSync, mkdirSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
+import { apiUrl, CLI_CONFIG_DIR } from './cli-config.js';
+import type { Severity } from './run-result.js';
+import { PKG_VERSION } from './version.js';
+
+// One anonymous usage ping per ai-scan run, so threatcrush.com can count how
+// often the scanner is used. ai-scan runs on the user's machine and otherwise
+// sends nothing home. (Error reporting is a separate thing: core/telemetry.ts.)
+//
+// What is sent: the command, CLI version, OS, Node version, whether it ran in
+// CI, a random per-machine install id, and counts (probes, findings by
+// severity, scans in a .mosh script, duration). What is never sent: the target
+// URL, headers, prompts, responses or finding text.
+//
+// Off with THREATCRUSH_TELEMETRY=0 (or off/false/no) or DO_NOT_TRACK=1. The
+// first run prints a one-line notice saying so.
+
+const STATE_FILE = 'usage-ping.json';
+
+export interface UsagePing {
+  event: 'ai-scan' | 'ai-scan-run';
+  probes?: number;
+  scans?: number;
+  findings: number;
+  severity?: Partial<Record<Severity, number>>;
+  duration_ms: number;
+  failed?: boolean;
+}
+
+export function usagePingDisabled(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): boolean {
+  const v = (env.THREATCRUSH_TELEMETRY ?? '').trim().toLowerCase();
+  if (['0', 'off', 'false', 'no'].includes(v)) return true;
+  const dnt = (env.DO_NOT_TRACK ?? '').trim().toLowerCase();
+  return dnt !== '' && dnt !== '0' && dnt !== 'false';
+}
+
+/** The random install id, created on first use; `fresh` is true that once (for the notice). */
+export function installId(dir = CLI_CONFIG_DIR): { id: string; fresh: boolean } {
+  const file = join(dir, STATE_FILE);
+  try {
+    const j = JSON.parse(readFileSync(file, 'utf-8')) as { install_id?: string };
+    if (j.install_id) return { id: j.install_id, fresh: false };
+  } catch {}
+  const id = randomUUID();
+  try {
+    if (!existsSync(dir)) mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
+    writeFileSync(file, JSON.stringify({ install_id: id, created_at: new Date().toISOString() }) + '\n');
+  } catch {}
+  return { id, fresh: true };
+}
+
+export function pingBody(p: UsagePing, id: string, env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env) {
+  return {
+    ...p,
+    version: PKG_VERSION,
+    platform: process.platform,
+    arch: process.arch,
+    node: process.version,
+    ci: Boolean(env.CI || env.GITHUB_ACTIONS),
+    install_id: id,
+  };
+}
+
+/** Best effort: never throws, gives up after `timeoutMs` so it cannot hold the CLI open. */
+export async function sendUsagePing(
+  p: UsagePing,
+  opts: { fetchImpl?: typeof fetch; dir?: string; timeoutMs?: number; notice?: (s: string) => void; env?: NodeJS.ProcessEnv } = {},
+): Promise<boolean> {
+  const env = opts.env ?? process.env;
+  if (usagePingDisabled(env)) return false;
+  try {
+    const { id, fresh } = installId(opts.dir);
+    if (fresh) {
+      (opts.notice ?? ((s) => process.stderr.write(s + '\n')))(
+        'threatcrush: sends an anonymous usage count per ai-scan run (no targets, no findings text). Turn off with THREATCRUSH_TELEMETRY=0.',
+      );
+    }
+    const res = await (opts.fetchImpl ?? fetch)(`${apiUrl()}/api/telemetry`, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify(pingBody(p, id, env)),
+      signal: AbortSignal.timeout(opts.timeoutMs ?? 2_000),
+    });
+    return res.ok;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/apps/web/src/app/api/telemetry/__tests__/route.test.ts b/apps/web/src/app/api/telemetry/__tests__/route.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6f037cc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/web/src/app/api/telemetry/__tests__/route.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+const inserted: unknown[] = [];
+let insertError: { message: string } | null = null;
+
+vi.mock("@/lib/supabase", () => ({
+  getSupabaseAdmin: () => ({
+    from: (table: string) => ({
+      insert: async (row: unknown) => {
+        inserted.push({ table, row });
+        return { error: insertError };
+      },
+    }),
+  }),
+}));
+
+import { POST } from "@/app/api/telemetry/route";
+import { parsePing } from "@/lib/usage-ping";
+
+const req = (body: string) =>
+  new Request("http://localhost/api/telemetry", { method: "POST", body }) as unknown as import("next/server").NextRequest;
+
+const PING = {
+  event: "ai-scan", probes: 12, findings: 2, severity: { high: 2, bogus: 9 }, duration_ms: 812,
+  version: "0.13.53", platform: "linux", arch: "x64", node: "v24.22.1", ci: false,
+  install_id: "0b9c3f2e-6a1d-4c55-9f3e-2d4b8a7c1e90",
+};
+
+describe("POST /api/telemetry", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => { inserted.length = 0; insertError = null; });
+
+  it("stores a valid ping and keeps only documented fields", async () => {
+    const res = await POST(req(JSON.stringify({ ...PING, target: "https://secret.example/llm", ip: "1.2.3.4" })));
+    expect(res.status).toBe(202);
+    expect(inserted).toHaveLength(1);
+    const { table, row } = inserted[0] as { table: string; row: Record<string, unknown> };
+    expect(table).toBe("cli_usage_pings");
+    expect(row).not.toHaveProperty("target");
+    expect(row).not.toHaveProperty("ip");
+    expect(row.severity).toEqual({ high: 2 });
+    expect(row.findings).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  it("rejects unknown events, junk and oversize bodies without storing", async () => {
+    for (const body of [JSON.stringify({ ...PING, event: "scan" }), "not json", "[]", "x".repeat(5000), ""]) {
+      expect((await POST(req(body))).status).toBe(400);
+    }
+    expect(inserted).toHaveLength(0);
+  });
+
+  it("drops malformed strings and clamps numbers", () => {
+    const row = parsePing({ ...PING, version: "<script>", install_id: "nope", probes: -1, duration_ms: 1e12, ci: "yes" })!;
+    expect(row.version).toBeNull();
+    expect(row.install_id).toBeNull();
+    expect(row.probes).toBeNull();
+    expect(row.duration_ms).toBe(1_000_000);
+    expect(row.ci).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("answers 500 when the insert fails", async () => {
+    insertError = { message: "relation does not exist" };
+    expect((await POST(req(JSON.stringify(PING)))).status).toBe(500);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/apps/web/src/app/api/telemetry/route.ts b/apps/web/src/app/api/telemetry/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e8e6bb64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/web/src/app/api/telemetry/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import { NextResponse, type NextRequest } from "next/server";
+import { getSupabaseAdmin } from "@/lib/supabase";
+import { MAX_BODY, parsePing } from "@/lib/usage-ping";
+
+// POST /api/telemetry: stores one anonymous CLI usage ping (see lib/usage-ping.ts).
+// No IP or user is recorded.
+
+export async function POST(request: NextRequest) {
+  const text = await request.text().catch(() => "");
+  if (!text || text.length > MAX_BODY) return NextResponse.json({ error: "bad ping" }, { status: 400 });
+  let body: unknown;
+  try {
+    body = JSON.parse(text);
+  } catch {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: "bad ping" }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+  const row = parsePing(body);
+  if (!row) return NextResponse.json({ error: "bad ping" }, { status: 400 });
+  const { error } = await getSupabaseAdmin().from("cli_usage_pings").insert(row);
+  if (error) {
+    console.error("[telemetry] insert failed", error.message);
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: "not stored" }, { status: 500 });
+  }
+  return NextResponse.json({ ok: true }, { status: 202 });
+}
diff --git a/apps/web/src/app/privacy/page.tsx b/apps/web/src/app/privacy/page.tsx
index 6e5be978..b7673f94 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/app/privacy/page.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/app/privacy/page.tsx
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ export default function PrivacyPage() {
           <h1 className="mt-3 text-4xl font-bold text-tc-text">
             Privacy <span className="text-tc-green glow-green">Policy</span>
           </h1>
-          <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-tc-text-dim">Last updated: September 25, 2026</p>
+          <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-tc-text-dim">Last updated: October 28, 2026</p>
         </header>
 
         <div className="space-y-8 text-tc-text">
@@ -57,6 +57,16 @@ export default function PrivacyPage() {
                 unlinked daemon sends none of this. The CLI keeps your sign-in tokens on the machine
                 in <code className={code}>~/.threatcrush/config.json</code>.
               </li>
+              <li>
+                <span className="text-tc-text">CLI usage counts.</span> Each{" "}
+                <code className={code}>threatcrush ai-scan</code>{" "}run sends one anonymous count: the
+                command, CLI version, operating system, Node version, whether it ran in CI, a random
+                install ID kept in <code className={code}>~/.threatcrush/usage-ping.json</code>, and the
+                number of probes, findings by severity and the run time. It never includes the target,
+                prompts, responses or finding text, and is not tied to your account. Turn it off with{" "}
+                <code className={code}>THREATCRUSH_TELEMETRY=0</code>{" "}or{" "}
+                <code className={code}>DO_NOT_TRACK=1</code>.
+              </li>
               <li>
                 <span className="text-tc-text">GitHub App.</span> If you install the ThreatCrush
                 GitHub App, we read the file list and file contents of the repositories you grant it
diff --git a/apps/web/src/lib/usage-ping.ts b/apps/web/src/lib/usage-ping.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..662cea18
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/web/src/lib/usage-ping.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+// Anonymous CLI usage pings (apps/cli/src/core/usage-ping.ts): one per
+// ai-scan run, counts only. Every field is checked against a narrow shape and
+// anything else is dropped, so the table can only ever hold what the CLI
+// documents sending.
+
+const EVENTS = new Set(["ai-scan", "ai-scan-run"]);
+const SEVERITIES = ["critical", "high", "medium", "low", "info"] as const;
+export const MAX_BODY = 4096;
+
+const count = (v: unknown) =>
+  typeof v === "number" && Number.isFinite(v) && v >= 0 ? Math.min(Math.floor(v), 1_000_000) : null;
+const short = (v: unknown, re: RegExp) => (typeof v === "string" && re.test(v) ? v : null);
+
+export function parsePing(body: unknown) {
+  if (!body || typeof body !== "object" || Array.isArray(body)) return null;
+  const b = body as Record<string, unknown>;
+  if (typeof b.event !== "string" || !EVENTS.has(b.event)) return null;
+  const severity: Record<string, number> = {};
+  if (b.severity && typeof b.severity === "object") {
+    for (const k of SEVERITIES) {
+      const n = count((b.severity as Record<string, unknown>)[k]);
+      if (n) severity[k] = n;
+    }
+  }
+  return {
+    event: b.event,
+    version: short(b.version, /^[0-9A-Za-z.+-]{1,32}$/),
+    platform: short(b.platform, /^[a-z0-9]{1,16}$/),
+    arch: short(b.arch, /^[a-z0-9_]{1,16}$/),
+    node: short(b.node, /^v?[0-9.]{1,16}$/),
+    ci: b.ci === true,
+    install_id: short(b.install_id, /^[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[0-9a-f]{12}$/i),
+    probes: count(b.probes),
+    scans: count(b.scans),
+    findings: count(b.findings) ?? 0,
+    severity,
+    duration_ms: count(b.duration_ms),
+    failed: b.failed === true,
+  };
+}
diff --git a/apps/web/src/middleware.ts b/apps/web/src/middleware.ts
index 3c93c79d..9a0ae8ce 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/middleware.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/middleware.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ const RATE_RULES: RateRule[] = [
   { prefix: "/api/credits/invites/accept", limit: 10, windowMs: 60_000 },
   { prefix: "/api/hooks/", limit: 60, windowMs: 60_000 },
   { prefix: "/api/scan", limit: 20, windowMs: 60_000 },
+  // Anonymous CLI usage pings: one per ai-scan run, so 30/min per IP is generous.
+  { prefix: "/api/telemetry", limit: 30, windowMs: 60_000 },
   { prefix: "/api/modules/fetch-meta", limit: 20, windowMs: 60_000 },
   { prefix: "/api/funding/", limit: 30, windowMs: 60_000 },
   // Public and unauthenticated: IP geolocation for the TUI and desktop maps,
diff --git a/docs/SELF_HOSTING.md b/docs/SELF_HOSTING.md
index 1141628a..6fa10d78 100644
--- a/docs/SELF_HOSTING.md
+++ b/docs/SELF_HOSTING.md
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ sudo threatcrush install-service
 - **Normalized detections only** by default -- no raw logs are stored
 - All data stays in your Supabase/Postgres instance
 - The agent sends only structured detection events (severity, title, source IP)
-- No telemetry phones home unless you opt in
+- No telemetry phones home unless you opt in. The CLI's anonymous ai-scan usage count goes to `THREATCRUSH_API_URL`, so a self-hosted install sends it to your own server, never to threatcrush.com (off with `THREATCRUSH_TELEMETRY=0`)
 
 ## Updating
 
diff --git a/supabase/migrations/20261028100000_cli_usage_pings.sql b/supabase/migrations/20261028100000_cli_usage_pings.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..258937fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/supabase/migrations/20261028100000_cli_usage_pings.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+-- Anonymous usage pings from the CLI (one per ai-scan / ai-scan-run), so the
+-- nightly report can count scanner use. ai-scan runs on the user's machine and
+-- sends nothing else home. Rows carry counts and environment only: no target,
+-- no findings text, no IP. Written by POST /api/telemetry with the service
+-- role; RLS on with no policies, so anon/authenticated can neither read nor write.
+create table if not exists public.cli_usage_pings (
+  id uuid primary key default gen_random_uuid(),
+  created_at timestamptz not null default now(),
+  event text not null check (event in ('ai-scan', 'ai-scan-run')),
+  version text,
+  platform text,
+  arch text,
+  node text,
+  ci boolean not null default false,
+  install_id uuid,
+  probes integer,
+  scans integer,
+  findings integer not null default 0,
+  severity jsonb not null default '{}'::jsonb,
+  duration_ms integer,
+  failed boolean not null default false
+);
+
+create index if not exists cli_usage_pings_created_at on public.cli_usage_pings (created_at desc);
+
+alter table public.cli_usage_pings enable row level security;
+revoke all on public.cli_usage_pings from anon, authenticated;