diff --git a/services/track-changes/app/coffee/MongoManager.coffee b/services/track-changes/app/coffee/MongoManager.coffee
index e906257add..383facbf2e 100644
--- a/services/track-changes/app/coffee/MongoManager.coffee
+++ b/services/track-changes/app/coffee/MongoManager.coffee
@@ -23,11 +23,13 @@ module.exports = MongoManager =
 		MongoManager.getLastCompressedUpdate doc_id, (error, update) ->
 			return callback(error) if error?
 			if update?
-				if update.broken
-					# the update is marked as broken so we will force a new op
+				if update.broken # marked as broken so we will force a new op
 					return callback null, null
 				else if update.pack?
-					return callback null, update, update.pack[0]?.v
+					if update.finalised # no more ops can be appended
+						return callback null, null, update.pack[0]?.v
+					else
+						return callback null, update, update.pack[0]?.v
 				else
 					return callback null, update, update.v
 			else
diff --git a/services/track-changes/app/coffee/PackManager.coffee b/services/track-changes/app/coffee/PackManager.coffee
index 9d17d8bd17..27a825ff05 100644
--- a/services/track-changes/app/coffee/PackManager.coffee
+++ b/services/track-changes/app/coffee/PackManager.coffee
@@ -272,8 +272,9 @@ module.exports = PackManager =
 		db.docHistory.find(query, {pack:false}).sort {v:1}, (err, packs) ->
 			return callback(err) if err?
 			return callback() if not packs?
-			return callback() if packs?.length <= 1
-			packs.pop()  #  discard the last pack, it's still in progress
+			return callback() if not packs?.length
+			last = packs.pop() # discard the last pack, if it's still in progress
+			packs.push(last) if last.finalised # it's finalised so we push it back to archive it
 			callback(null, packs)
 
 	# findPacks: (project_id, doc_id, queryFilter, callback) ->
@@ -380,19 +381,51 @@ module.exports = PackManager =
 			return markAsChecked(err) if err?
 			return markAsChecked() if not pack?
 			return callback() if pack.expiresAt? # return directly
-			PackManager.updateIndexIfNeeded project_id, doc_id, (err) ->
+			PackManager.finaliseIfNeeded project_id, doc_id, pack._id, pack, (err) ->
 				return markAsChecked(err) if err?
-				PackManager.findUnarchivedPacks project_id, doc_id, (err, unarchivedPacks) ->
+				PackManager.updateIndexIfNeeded project_id, doc_id, (err) ->
 					return markAsChecked(err) if err?
-					if not unarchivedPacks?.length
-						logger.log "no packs need archiving"
-						return markAsChecked()
-					async.eachSeries unarchivedPacks, (pack, cb) ->
-						PackManager.archivePack project_id, doc_id, pack._id, cb
-					, (err) ->
+					PackManager.findUnarchivedPacks project_id, doc_id, (err, unarchivedPacks) ->
 						return markAsChecked(err) if err?
-						logger.log "done processing"
-						markAsChecked()
+						if not unarchivedPacks?.length
+							logger.log "no packs need archiving"
+							return markAsChecked()
+						async.eachSeries unarchivedPacks, (pack, cb) ->
+							PackManager.archivePack project_id, doc_id, pack._id, cb
+						, (err) ->
+							return markAsChecked(err) if err?
+							logger.log "done processing"
+							markAsChecked()
+
+	finaliseIfNeeded: (project_id, doc_id, pack_id, pack, callback) ->
+		logger.log {project_id, doc_id}, "archiving old packs"
+		sz = pack.sz / (1024 * 1024) # in fractions of a megabyte
+		n = pack.n / 1024 # in fraction of 1024 ops
+		age = (Date.now() - pack.meta.end_ts) / DAYS
+		if age < 30 # always keep if less than 1 month old
+			return callback()
+		# compute an archiving threshold which decreases for each month of age
+		archive_threshold = 30 / age
+		if sz > archive_threshold or n > archive_threshold or age > 90
+			PackManager.markPackAsFinalisedWithLock project_id, doc_id, pack_id, callback
+		else
+			callback()
+
+	markPackAsFinalisedWithLock: (project_id, doc_id, pack_id, callback) ->
+		LockManager.runWithLock(
+			"HistoryLock:#{doc_id}",
+			(releaseLock) ->
+				PackManager._markPackAsFinalised project_id, doc_id, pack_id, releaseLock
+			callback
+		)
+
+	_markPackAsFinalised: (project_id, doc_id, pack_id, callback) ->
+		logger.log {project_id, doc_id, pack_id}, "marking pack as finalised"
+		db.docHistory.findAndModify {
+			query: {_id: pack_id}
+			update: {$set: {finalised: true}}
+		}, callback
+
 
 	updateIndexIfNeeded: (project_id, doc_id, callback) ->
 		logger.log {project_id, doc_id}, "archiving old packs"