diff --git a/headroom/memory/adapters/fts5.py b/headroom/memory/adapters/fts5.py
index 1b679e458..a0920a444 100644
--- a/headroom/memory/adapters/fts5.py
+++ b/headroom/memory/adapters/fts5.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ and Unicode tokenization for high-quality search results.
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import contextlib
 import re
 import sqlite3
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ from ..models import Memory
 from ..ports import TextFilter, TextSearchResult
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    pass
+    from collections.abc import Iterator
 
 
 @dataclass
@@ -67,15 +68,20 @@ class FTS5TextIndex:
         self.db_path = Path(db_path)
         self._init_db()
 
-    def _get_conn(self) -> sqlite3.Connection:
+    @contextlib.contextmanager
+    def _get_conn(self) -> Iterator[sqlite3.Connection]:
         """Get a new database connection (thread-safe pattern).
 
-        Returns:
-            A new SQLite connection with row factory configured.
+        Commits on clean exit, rolls back on exception, and always closes
+        the connection -- callers use ``with self._get_conn() as conn:``.
         """
         conn = sqlite3.connect(str(self.db_path))
         conn.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
-        return conn
+        try:
+            with conn:
+                yield conn
+        finally:
+            conn.close()
 
     def _init_db(self) -> None:
         """Initialize the FTS5 virtual table schema."""
diff --git a/headroom/memory/adapters/sqlite.py b/headroom/memory/adapters/sqlite.py
index c5fcdf28c..c57d07132 100644
--- a/headroom/memory/adapters/sqlite.py
+++ b/headroom/memory/adapters/sqlite.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ Provides persistent storage for Memory objects with full support for:
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import contextlib
 import json
 import re
 import sqlite3
@@ -20,6 +21,8 @@ from ..models import Memory, ScopeLevel, normalize_entity_refs
 from ..ports import MemoryFilter
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Iterator
+
     import numpy as np
 
 # Regex pattern for safe metadata keys: alphanumeric, underscores, hyphens only
@@ -73,15 +76,20 @@ class SQLiteMemoryStore:
         self.db_path = Path(db_path)
         self._init_db()
 
-    def _get_conn(self) -> sqlite3.Connection:
+    @contextlib.contextmanager
+    def _get_conn(self) -> Iterator[sqlite3.Connection]:
         """Get a new database connection (thread-safe pattern).
 
-        Returns:
-            A new SQLite connection with row factory configured.
+        Commits on clean exit, rolls back on exception, and always closes
+        the connection -- callers use ``with self._get_conn() as conn:``.
         """
         conn = sqlite3.connect(str(self.db_path))
         conn.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
-        return conn
+        try:
+            with conn:
+                yield conn
+        finally:
+            conn.close()
 
     def _init_db(self) -> None:
         """Initialize the database schema with indexes."""
diff --git a/headroom/memory/adapters/sqlite_graph.py b/headroom/memory/adapters/sqlite_graph.py
index 2c2ac432c..cda1fa6f7 100644
--- a/headroom/memory/adapters/sqlite_graph.py
+++ b/headroom/memory/adapters/sqlite_graph.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ This is a drop-in replacement for InMemoryGraphStore that:
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import contextlib
 import json
 import sqlite3
 from collections import deque
@@ -24,6 +25,8 @@ from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any
 from .graph_models import Entity, Relationship, RelationshipDirection, Subgraph
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Iterator
+
     from ..tracker import ComponentStats
 
 
@@ -71,11 +74,12 @@ class SQLiteGraphStore:
         self._lock = RLock()
         self._init_db()
 
-    def _get_conn(self) -> sqlite3.Connection:
+    @contextlib.contextmanager
+    def _get_conn(self) -> Iterator[sqlite3.Connection]:
         """Get a new database connection (thread-safe pattern).
 
-        Returns:
-            A new SQLite connection with row factory configured.
+        Commits on clean exit, rolls back on exception, and always closes
+        the connection -- callers use ``with self._get_conn() as conn:``.
         """
         conn = sqlite3.connect(str(self.db_path))
         conn.row_factory = sqlite3.Row
@@ -87,7 +91,11 @@ class SQLiteGraphStore:
         # Enable foreign keys
         conn.execute("PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON")
 
-        return conn
+        try:
+            with conn:
+                yield conn
+        finally:
+            conn.close()
 
     def _init_db(self) -> None:
         """Initialize the database schema with indexes."""
diff --git a/tests/test_memory/test_adapters_connection_leak.py b/tests/test_memory/test_adapters_connection_leak.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..06836196a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_memory/test_adapters_connection_leak.py
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+"""Regression tests: SQLite adapters must close every connection they open.
+
+``_get_conn()`` in each adapter opens a brand-new ``sqlite3.Connection`` per
+call. ``with conn:`` only commits/rolls back on exit -- it does not close the
+connection -- so without an explicit ``.close()`` every operation leaks a
+file descriptor.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import sqlite3
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+from headroom.memory.adapters.fts5 import FTS5TextIndex
+from headroom.memory.adapters.graph_models import Entity
+from headroom.memory.adapters.sqlite import SQLiteMemoryStore
+from headroom.memory.adapters.sqlite_graph import SQLiteGraphStore
+from headroom.memory.models import Memory
+
+
+def _track_connections(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> list[sqlite3.Connection]:
+    """Wrap ``sqlite3.connect`` to record every connection it creates."""
+    created: list[sqlite3.Connection] = []
+    real_connect = sqlite3.connect
+
+    def tracking_connect(*args: object, **kwargs: object) -> sqlite3.Connection:
+        conn = real_connect(*args, **kwargs)  # type: ignore[arg-type]
+        created.append(conn)
+        return conn
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sqlite3, "connect", tracking_connect)
+    return created
+
+
+def _assert_all_closed(connections: list[sqlite3.Connection]) -> None:
+    assert connections, "expected at least one sqlite3.Connection to be created"
+    for conn in connections:
+        with pytest.raises(sqlite3.ProgrammingError, match="closed database"):
+            conn.execute("SELECT 1")
+
+
+async def test_sqlite_memory_store_closes_connections(
+    tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+) -> None:
+    created = _track_connections(monkeypatch)
+
+    store = SQLiteMemoryStore(str(tmp_path / "mem.db"))
+    await store.save(Memory(content="hello", user_id="alice"))
+
+    _assert_all_closed(created)
+
+
+def test_fts5_text_index_closes_connections(
+    tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+) -> None:
+    created = _track_connections(monkeypatch)
+
+    index = FTS5TextIndex(str(tmp_path / "fts.db"))
+    index.index_raw("mem-1", "hello world", {"user_id": "alice"})
+
+    _assert_all_closed(created)
+
+
+async def test_sqlite_graph_store_closes_connections(
+    tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+) -> None:
+    created = _track_connections(monkeypatch)
+
+    store = SQLiteGraphStore(str(tmp_path / "graph.db"))
+    await store.add_entity(Entity(user_id="alice", name="Project X", entity_type="project"))
+
+    _assert_all_closed(created)