diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 3129d3104..e58d067da 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ gem "flamegraph"
 gem "memory_profiler"
 gem "rack-mini-profiler"
 gem "stackprof"
+gem "prosopite"
 
 gem "oauth" # for linking accounts
 gem "mail" # for parsing incoming mail
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index cf9f04ee7..ca8011273 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -203,6 +203,7 @@ GEM
       hashery (~> 2.0)
       ruby-rc4
       ttfunk
+    prosopite (1.4.2)
     psych (5.1.2)
       stringio
     public_suffix (5.0.4)
@@ -416,6 +417,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   oauth
   parslet
   pdf-reader
+  prosopite
   puma
   rack-attack
   rack-mini-profiler
diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index f98157cb8..a7aff0a8d 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
   before_action :mini_profiler
   before_action :prepare_exception_notifier
   before_action :set_traffic_style
+  around_action :n_plus_one_detection
 
   # 2023-10-07 one user in one of their browser envs is getting a CSRF failure, I'm reverting
   # because I'll be AFK a while.
@@ -188,4 +189,11 @@ def tags_filtered_by_cookie
       tag: cookies[TAG_FILTER_COOKIE].to_s.split(",")
     )
   end
+
+  def n_plus_one_detection
+    Prosopite.scan
+    yield
+  ensure
+    Prosopite.finish
+  end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/story.rb b/app/models/story.rb
index 8762baf87..a7cebf7b5 100644
--- a/app/models/story.rb
+++ b/app/models/story.rb
@@ -415,6 +415,8 @@ def check_tags
       return
     end
 
+    # ignored to manage tags_a for nicer UI and because the n is typically 2-5 tags
+    Prosopite.pause
     taggings.each do |t|
       if !t.tag.can_be_applied_by?(u) && t.tag.privileged?
         raise "#{u.username} does not have permission to use privileged tag #{t.tag.tag}"
@@ -429,6 +431,8 @@ def check_tags
       end
     end
 
+    Prosopite.resume
+
     if taggings.reject { |t| t.marked_for_destruction? || t.tag.is_media? }.empty?
       errors.add(:base, "Must have at least one non-media (PDF, video) " \
         "tag.  If no tags apply to your content, it probably doesn't " \
diff --git a/config/initializers/prosopite.rb b/config/initializers/prosopite.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c43ccbbf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/initializers/prosopite.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# typed: false
+
+if Rails.env.production?
+  Prosopite.custom_logger = Logger.new("/srv/lobste.rs/log/n_plus_one_detection.log")
+else
+  Prosopite.raise = true
+end