diff --git a/backend/src/utils/warmupKafka.ts b/backend/src/utils/warmupKafka.ts
index cc77938..a97b457 100644
--- a/backend/src/utils/warmupKafka.ts
+++ b/backend/src/utils/warmupKafka.ts
@@ -1,69 +1,165 @@
 // src/utils/warmupKafka.ts
-import { Kafka } from "kafkajs";
+//
+// FIX: Previously this used `groupId: \`warmup-consumer-${Date.now()}\`` which
+// created a brand-new consumer group on every restart. Kafka had no record of
+// what was already processed, so it always replayed every message from offset 0.
+// Startup time grew linearly with total message history — unboundedly.
+//
+// The fix has two parts:
+//   1. Use a stable group ID ("ascent-warmup-stable") so Kafka tracks committed
+//      offsets across restarts. On the next startup only new messages are replayed.
+//   2. Fetch the high-water-mark (latest offset) for every partition upfront.
+//      Stop the consumer as soon as all partitions are caught up instead of
+//      relying on an arbitrary 1-second sleep.
+
+import { Kafka, Admin } from "kafkajs";
 import { userCache } from "../services/kafkaConsumerService.js";
 
-export async function warmupKafkaCache() {
-  console.log("🔥 Warming up Kafka cache...");
+const STABLE_WARMUP_GROUP_ID = "ascent-warmup-stable";
+
+const TOPICS = [
+  "quiz-tracker-events",
+  "github-tracker-events",
+  "blog-events",
+] as const;
+
+/**
+ * Fetches the latest (high-water-mark) offset for every partition of every
+ * topic. Returns a map of "topic:partition" -> latestOffset (as bigint).
+ * Partitions with no messages yet (offset "0") are excluded because there is
+ * nothing to replay.
+ */
+async function fetchLatestOffsets(
+  admin: Admin,
+): Promise<Map<string, bigint>> {
+  const latestOffsets = new Map<string, bigint>();
+
+  for (const topic of TOPICS) {
+    try {
+      const offsets = await admin.fetchTopicOffsets(topic);
+      for (const partition of offsets) {
+        const latest = BigInt(partition.high);
+        if (latest > 0n) {
+          latestOffsets.set(`${topic}:${partition.partition}`, latest);
+        }
+      }
+    } catch {
+      // Topic may not exist yet on a fresh cluster — that is fine, skip it.
+      console.warn(`[warmup] Topic "${topic}" not found, skipping.`);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return latestOffsets;
+}
+
+export async function warmupKafkaCache(): Promise<void> {
+  console.log("[warmup] Starting Kafka cache warmup...");
 
   const kafka = new Kafka({
     clientId: "ascent-warmup",
     brokers: [process.env.KAFKA_BROKER || "localhost:9092"],
   });
 
-  const topics = [
-    "quiz-tracker-events",
-    "github-tracker-events",
-    "blog-events",
-  ];
+  const admin = kafka.admin();
+  await admin.connect();
+
+  // Step 1: Find out where the tip of each partition is right now.
+  const latestOffsets = await fetchLatestOffsets(admin);
+  await admin.disconnect();
+
+  if (latestOffsets.size === 0) {
+    console.log("[warmup] No messages in any topic yet. Skipping warmup.");
+    return;
+  }
+
+  console.log(
+    `[warmup] Need to catch up on ${latestOffsets.size} partition(s).`,
+  );
+
+  // Track how many partitions we have fully consumed up to their latest offset.
+  const caughtUp = new Set<string>();
 
+  // Step 2: Create a consumer with a STABLE group ID.
+  // On the very first run this behaves identically to fromBeginning: true.
+  // On subsequent restarts Kafka resumes from the last committed offset,
+  // so only messages produced since the previous startup are replayed.
   const warmupConsumer = kafka.consumer({
-    groupId: `warmup-consumer-${Date.now()}`, // unique, isolated
+    groupId: STABLE_WARMUP_GROUP_ID,
   });
 
   try {
     await warmupConsumer.connect();
 
-    for (const topic of topics) {
+    for (const topic of TOPICS) {
+      // fromBeginning only applies the very first time this group ID is seen
+      // by the broker. After that, committed offsets take precedence.
       await warmupConsumer.subscribe({ topic, fromBeginning: true });
     }
 
-    console.log("Warmup consumer started — replaying all messages...");
-
-    await warmupConsumer.run({
-      eachMessage: async ({ topic, message }) => {
-        try {
-          const msg = JSON.parse(message.value?.toString() || "{}");
-          const { userId } = msg;
-          if (!userId) return;
-
-          if (!userCache[userId]) {
-            userCache[userId] = { quiz: [], github: [], blog: [] };
-          }
-
-          switch (topic) {
-            case "quiz-tracker-events":
-              userCache[userId].quiz.push(msg);
-              break;
-            case "github-tracker-events":
-              userCache[userId].github.push(msg);
-              break;
-            case "blog-events":
-              userCache[userId].blog.push(msg);
-              break;
-          }
-        } catch (err) {
-          console.error("Warmup message error:", err);
-        }
-      },
+    console.log("[warmup] Replaying messages since last committed offset...");
+
+    await new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
+      warmupConsumer
+        .run({
+          // Commit offsets after each batch so progress is durable.
+          autoCommit: true,
+          autoCommitInterval: 1000,
+
+          eachMessage: async ({ topic, partition, message }) => {
+            try {
+              const msg = JSON.parse(message.value?.toString() || "{}");
+              const { userId } = msg;
+
+              if (userId) {
+                if (!userCache[userId]) {
+                  userCache[userId] = { quiz: [], github: [], blog: [] };
+                }
+
+                switch (topic) {
+                  case "quiz-tracker-events":
+                    userCache[userId].quiz.push(msg);
+                    break;
+                  case "github-tracker-events":
+                    userCache[userId].github.push(msg);
+                    break;
+                  case "blog-events":
+                    userCache[userId].blog.push(msg);
+                    break;
+                }
+              }
+
+              // Check if this partition is now caught up.
+              const key = `${topic}:${partition}`;
+              const latestOffset = latestOffsets.get(key);
+
+              if (latestOffset !== undefined) {
+                // message.offset is the 0-based index of this message.
+                // The partition is caught up when we have processed the message
+                // at index (latestOffset - 1).
+                const currentOffset = BigInt(message.offset as string);
+                if (currentOffset >= latestOffset - 1n) {
+                  caughtUp.add(key);
+                }
+              }
+
+              // Resolve as soon as every tracked partition is caught up.
+              if (caughtUp.size === latestOffsets.size) {
+                resolve();
+              }
+            } catch (err) {
+              console.error("[warmup] Error processing message:", err);
+            }
+          },
+        })
+        .catch(reject);
     });
 
-    // Important: Wait a moment for late messages
-    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 1000));
+    console.log(
+      `[warmup] Caught up on all ${caughtUp.size} partition(s). Cache is ready.`,
+    );
   } finally {
-    console.log("Warmup complete — disconnecting warmup consumer.");
     await warmupConsumer.stop();
     await warmupConsumer.disconnect();
+    console.log("[warmup] Warmup consumer disconnected.");
   }
-
-  console.log("Kafka Warmup Done! Cache rebuilt.");
 }