diff --git a/MEMORY_OPTIMIZATIONS.md b/MEMORY_OPTIMIZATIONS.md
index 9824629..1735f77 100644
--- a/MEMORY_OPTIMIZATIONS.md
+++ b/MEMORY_OPTIMIZATIONS.md
@@ -4,6 +4,109 @@ This document summarizes the memory optimizations implemented to resolve out-of-
 
 ## Implemented Optimizations
 
+
+### Improvement for /directory
+Implemented a backpressure-safe, low-heap HTML streaming solution to prevent AsyncTCP cbuf resize OOM during /directory.
+
+Root cause
+
+- The previous implementation used AsyncResponseStream (a Print) and wrote faster than the TCP stack could drain. Under client/network backpressure, AsyncTCP’s cbuf tried to grow and failed: cbuf.resize() -> WebResponses write(): Failed to allocate.
+
+Fix implemented
+
+- Switched /directory to AsyncChunkedResponse with a stateful generator that only produces bytes when the TCP layer is ready.
+- Generates one entry at a time, respecting maxLen provided by the framework. This prevents buffer growth and heap spikes.
+- No yield() needed; backpressure is handled by the chunked response callback scheduling.
+
+Code changes
+
+1. Added a tiny accessor to fetch file id at index
+
+- Header: src/DirectoryNode.h
+
+  - Added: uint16_t getFileIdAt(size_t i) const;
+
+- Source: src/DirectoryNode.cpp
+
+  - Implemented: uint16_t DirectoryNode::getFileIdAt(size_t i) const { return (i < ids.size()) ? ids[i] : 0; }
+
+2. Replaced /directory handler with AsyncChunkedResponse generator
+
+- File: src/main.cpp
+
+- New logic (high level):
+
+  - DirectoryHtmlStreamState holds an explicit traversal stack of frames {node, fileIdx, childIdx, headerDone}.
+
+  - next(buffer, maxLen) fills output up to maxLen with:
+
+    - Single top-level \n
+    - A name\n for non-root directories (kept original behavior—no nested per subdir)
+    - One filename\n per file
+    - Depth-first traversal across subdirectories
+    - Closes with \n when done
+
+  - Uses snprintf into the chunk buffer and a simple copy loop for filenames, avoiding extra heap allocations.
+
+  - Frees generator state when finished and also on client disconnect.
+
+3. Minor improvements in the chunked generator
+
+- Normalized newline literals to \n (not escaped).
+- Used single quotes around HTML attribute values to simplify C string escaping and reduce mistakes.
+
+What remains unchanged
+
+- DirectoryNode::streamDirectoryHTML(Print&) is left intact but no longer used by /directory. Mapping/State endpoints continue using their existing streaming; they are small and safe.
+
+Why this eliminates the crashes
+
+- AsyncChunkedResponse only invokes the generator when there’s space to send more, so AsyncTCP’s cbuf won’t grow unbounded. The generator respects the maxLen and yields 0 on completion, eliminating the resize path that previously caused OOM.
+
+Build and flash instructions
+
+- Your environment doesn’t have PlatformIO CLI available. Options:
+
+  1. VSCode PlatformIO extension: Use the “Build” and “Upload” tasks from the PlatformIO toolbar.
+
+  2. Install PlatformIO CLI:
+
+     - python3 -m pip install --user platformio
+     - $HOME/.local/bin must be in PATH (or use full path).
+     - Then build: pio run -e d1_mini32
+     - Upload: pio run -e d1_mini32 -t upload
+
+  3. Arduino IDE/CLI: Import and build the sketch there if preferred.
+
+Runtime test checklist
+
+- Open serial monitor at 115200, reset device.
+
+- Hit [](http://DEVICE_IP/directory)<http://DEVICE_IP/directory> in a browser; the page should render fully without OOM or crash.
+
+- Simulate slow client backpressure:
+
+  - curl --limit-rate 5k [](http://DEVICE_IP/directory)<http://DEVICE_IP/directory> -v -o /dev/null
+  - Observe no “[E][cbuf.cpp:104] resize(): failed to allocate temporary buffer” or “WebResponses write(): Failed to allocate”
+
+- Watch heap logs during serving; you should see stable heap with no large dips.
+
+- If desired, repeat with multiple concurrent connections to /directory to verify robustness.
+
+Optional follow-ups
+
+- If mapping ever grows large, convert /mapping to AsyncChunkedResponse using the same pattern.
+- If your ESP32 has PSRAM, enabling it can further reduce heap pressure, but the chunked approach is already robust.
+- Consider enabling CONFIG_ASYNC_TCP_MAX_ACK_TIME tune if you want more aggressive backpressure timing; your platformio.ini already has some AsyncTCP stack tweaks noted.
+
+Summary
+
+- Replaced Print-based recursive streaming with a chunked, backpressure-aware generator for /directory.
+- This removes the cbuf resize failure path and should stop the crashes you observed while still using minimal heap.
+
+
+
+
 ### 2. DirectoryNode Structure Optimization (✅ COMPLETED)
 - **Added vector reserve calls** in `buildDirectoryTree()` to reduce heap fragmentation
 - **Memory saved**: Reduces fragmentation and improves allocation efficiency
diff --git a/platformio.ini b/platformio.ini
index 46db8c4..5273a75 100644
--- a/platformio.ini
+++ b/platformio.ini
@@ -13,25 +13,23 @@ platform = https://github.com/pioarduino/platform-espressif32/releases/download/
 board = wemos_d1_mini32
 framework = arduino
 lib_deps = 
-	ESP32Async/AsyncTCP@3.3.8
-  	ESP32Async/ESPAsyncWebServer@3.7.9
+  	ESP32Async/ESPAsyncWebServer@3.7.10
 	alanswx/ESPAsyncWiFiManager@0.31
 	miguelbalboa/MFRC522@^1.4.12
-	bblanchon/ArduinoJson@^6.21.3
 monitor_speed = 115200
 build_flags = 
     -Os                                   ; Optimize for size
-;    -DDEBUG                          ; Hannabox Debugging
-    -DCORE_DEBUG_LEVEL=0                 ; Disable all debug output
-    -DARDUINO_LOOP_STACK_SIZE=3072        ; Further reduce from 4096
-    -DWIFI_TASK_STACK_SIZE=3072           ; Reduce WiFi task stack
-    -DARDUINO_EVENT_TASK_STACK_SIZE=2048  ; Reduce event task stack
-    -DTCPIP_TASK_STACK_SIZE=2048          ; Reduce TCP/IP stack
-    -DESP_TASK_WDT_TIMEOUT_S=10           ; Reduce watchdog timeout
+;   -DDEBUG                               ; Hannabox Debugging
+;   -DCORE_DEBUG_LEVEL=0                  ; Disable all debug output
+;   -DARDUINO_LOOP_STACK_SIZE=4096        ; Balanced to avoid stack canary without starving heap
+;   -DWIFI_TASK_STACK_SIZE=3072           ; Reduce WiFi task stack
+;   -DARDUINO_EVENT_TASK_STACK_SIZE=2048  ; Reduce event task stack
+;   -DTCPIP_TASK_STACK_SIZE=2048          ; Reduce TCP/IP stack
+;   -DESP_TASK_WDT_TIMEOUT_S=10           ; Reduce watchdog timeout
 ;  	-DCONFIG_ASYNC_TCP_MAX_ACK_TIME=3000   
-;  	-DCONFIG_ASYNC_TCP_PRIORITY=10         ; (keep default)
-;  	-DCONFIG_ASYNC_TCP_QUEUE_SIZE=64       ; (keep default)
- ; 	-DCONFIG_ASYNC_TCP_RUNNING_CORE=1      ; force async_tcp task to be on same core as Arduino app (default is any core)
- 	-DCONFIG_ASYNC_TCP_STACK_SIZE=4096     ; reduce the stack size (default is 16K)
+;  	-DCONFIG_ASYNC_TCP_PRIORITY=10        ; (keep default)
+;  	-DCONFIG_ASYNC_TCP_QUEUE_SIZE=64      ; (keep default)
+; 	-DCONFIG_ASYNC_TCP_RUNNING_CORE=1     ; force async_tcp task to be on same core as Arduino app (default is any core)
+   -DCONFIG_ASYNC_TCP_STACK_SIZE=4096     ; reduce AsyncTCP task stack (default can be large)
 monitor_filters = esp32_exception_decoder
 board_build.partitions = huge_app.csv
diff --git a/src/DirectoryNode.cpp b/src/DirectoryNode.cpp
index 8d0ad32..2ab500f 100644
--- a/src/DirectoryNode.cpp
+++ b/src/DirectoryNode.cpp
@@ -46,6 +46,11 @@ const String &DirectoryNode::getDirPath() const
     return dirPath;
 }
 
+uint16_t DirectoryNode::getFileIdAt(size_t i) const
+{
+    return (i < ids.size()) ? ids[i] : 0;
+}
+
 
 
 String DirectoryNode::buildFullPath(const String &fileName) const
@@ -279,10 +284,7 @@ void DirectoryNode::printDirectoryTree(int level) const
         {
             Serial.print(F("  "));
         }
-        
-        // Use buffer for building path
-        buildFullPath(mp3File, buffer, buffer_size);
-        Serial.println(buffer);
+        Serial.println(mp3File);
     }
     
     for (DirectoryNode *childNode : subdirectories)
@@ -647,7 +649,12 @@ DirectoryNode *DirectoryNode::advanceToNextMP3(const String &currentGlobal)
     return this;
 }
 
-
+/**
+ * @brief Not used anymore due to new 
+ * backpressure-safe, low-heap HTML streaming solution to prevent AsyncTCP cbuf resize OOM during /directory.
+ * 
+ * @param out 
+ */
 void DirectoryNode::streamDirectoryHTML(Print &out) const {
 #ifdef DEBUG 
     Serial.printf("StreamDirectoryHTML name=%s numOfFiles=%i\n", name, mp3Files.size());
@@ -670,20 +677,15 @@ void DirectoryNode::streamDirectoryHTML(Print &out) const {
         out.print(F("<li data-id=\""));
         out.print(ids[i]);
         out.print(F("\">"));
-        buildFullPath(mp3Files[i], buffer, buffer_size);
-        out.print(buffer);
+        out.print(mp3Files[i].c_str());
         out.println(F("</li>"));
-#ifdef DEBUG        
-        Serial.printf("stream song: %s\n", buffer);
-#endif        
+  
         // Yield every few items to allow the async web server to send buffered data
         if (i % 5 == 4) {
             yield();
         }
     }
 
-    out.flush();
-
     for (DirectoryNode* child : subdirectories) {
         child->streamDirectoryHTML(out);
     }
diff --git a/src/DirectoryNode.h b/src/DirectoryNode.h
index 8dc0d4e..362ce9a 100644
--- a/src/DirectoryNode.h
+++ b/src/DirectoryNode.h
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ public:
   const std::vector<DirectoryNode*>& getSubdirectories() const;
   const std::vector<String>& getMP3Files() const;
   const String& getDirPath() const;
+  uint16_t getFileIdAt(size_t i) const;
 
   size_t getNumOfFiles() const;
 
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index f8333ce..fdb972a 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -1280,15 +1280,139 @@ void init_webserver() {
     server.on("/directory", HTTP_GET, [](AsyncWebServerRequest *request)
               {
                 webreq_enter();
-                request->onDisconnect([](){ webreq_exit(); });
-                // Stream the response directly from the directory tree to avoid large temporary Strings
-                AsyncResponseStream* stream = request->beginResponseStream(txt_html_charset, buffer_size);
-                Serial.printf("Serving /directory heap=%u webreq_cnt=%u numOfFiles=%u\n", (unsigned)xPortGetFreeHeapSize(), (unsigned)webreq_cnt, rootNode.getNumOfFiles());                
-                stream->addHeader(hdr_cache_control_key, hdr_cache_control_val);
-                stream->addHeader(hdr_connection_key, hdr_connection_val);
-                // Generate HTML directly into the stream under lock
-                rootNode.streamDirectoryHTML(*stream);               
-                request->send(stream);
+                // Backpressure-safe, chunked HTML streaming to avoid cbuf growth/OOM
+                struct DirectoryHtmlStreamState {
+                  struct Frame {
+                    const DirectoryNode* node;
+                    size_t fileIdx;
+                    size_t childIdx;
+                    bool headerDone;
+                  };
+                  
+                  Frame stack[MAX_DEPTH];
+                  int top;
+                  bool openedUL;
+                  bool closedUL;
+                  explicit DirectoryHtmlStreamState(const DirectoryNode* root)
+                      : top(-1), openedUL(false), closedUL(false) {
+                    push(root);
+                  }
+                  inline void push(const DirectoryNode* n) {
+                    if (top + 1 < (int)MAX_DEPTH) {
+                      ++top;
+                      stack[top] = { n, 0, 0, false };
+                    } else {
+                      // Depth exceeded: stop descending further. Listing will be truncated but safe.
+                    }
+                  }
+                  inline void pop() { if (top >= 0) --top; }
+                  inline Frame& cur() { return stack[top]; }
+
+                  size_t next(uint8_t* out, size_t maxLen) {
+                    char* p = (char*)out;
+                    size_t remaining = maxLen;
+
+                    auto putLiteral = [&](const char* s) {
+                      for (const char* q = s; *q && remaining; ++q) { *p++ = *q; --remaining; }
+                      return remaining != 0;
+                    };
+
+                    auto putNumberLiOpen = [&](unsigned id) {
+                      int n = snprintf(p, remaining, "<li data-id='%u'>", id);
+                      if (n <= 0) return false;
+                      if ((size_t)n > remaining) { p += remaining; remaining = 0; return false; }
+                      p += n; remaining -= (size_t)n; return remaining != 0;
+                    };
+
+                    auto putNumberDirHeaderOpen = [&](unsigned id) {
+                      int n = snprintf(p, remaining, "<li data-id='%u'><b>", id);
+                      if (n <= 0) return false;
+                      if ((size_t)n > remaining) { p += remaining; remaining = 0; return false; }
+                      p += n; remaining -= (size_t)n; return remaining != 0;
+                    };
+
+                    auto putStrUnsafe = [&](const String& s) {
+                      // Follow existing behavior: raw text (no escaping)
+                      for (size_t i = 0; i < s.length() && remaining; ++i) { *p++ = s[i]; --remaining; }
+                      return remaining != 0;
+                    };
+
+                    if (!openedUL) {
+                      putLiteral("<ul>\n");
+                      openedUL = true;
+                      if (remaining == 0) return maxLen - remaining;
+                    }
+
+                    while (remaining && top >= 0) {
+                      Frame &fr = cur();
+                      const DirectoryNode* node = fr.node;
+
+                      // Emit directory header for non-root
+                      if (!fr.headerDone) {
+                        const String& nm = node->getName();
+                        if (nm != "/") {
+                          if (!putNumberDirHeaderOpen(node->getId())) break;
+                          if (!putStrUnsafe(nm)) break;
+                          if (!putLiteral("</b></li>\n")) break;
+                        }
+                        fr.headerDone = true;
+                      }
+
+                      // Emit files
+                      const auto& files = node->getMP3Files();
+                      while (remaining && fr.fileIdx < files.size()) {
+                        uint16_t fid = node->getFileIdAt(fr.fileIdx);
+                        if (!putNumberLiOpen(fid)) break;
+                        if (!putStrUnsafe(files[fr.fileIdx])) break;
+                        if (!putLiteral("</li>\n")) break;
+                        ++fr.fileIdx;
+                      }
+                      if (remaining == 0) break;
+
+                      // Descend into children
+                      const auto& children = node->getSubdirectories();
+                      if (fr.childIdx < children.size()) {
+                        const DirectoryNode* child = children[fr.childIdx++];
+                        push(child);
+                        continue;
+                      }
+
+                      // Done with this node
+                      pop();
+                    }
+
+                    if (remaining && top < 0 && !closedUL) {
+                      putLiteral("</ul>\n");
+                      closedUL = true;
+                    }
+
+                    return maxLen - remaining;
+                  }
+                };
+
+                struct StreamCtx { DirectoryHtmlStreamState* state; };
+                auto* ctx = new StreamCtx{ new DirectoryHtmlStreamState(&rootNode) };
+                auto resp = request->beginChunkedResponse(
+                  txt_html_charset,
+                  [ctx](uint8_t* buffer, size_t maxLen, size_t /*index*/) -> size_t {
+                    // Generate next chunk; return 0 when done, and free state
+                    size_t n = ctx->state ? ctx->state->next(buffer, maxLen) : 0;
+                    if (n == 0 && ctx->state) { delete ctx->state; ctx->state = nullptr; }
+                    return n;
+                  }
+                );
+#ifdef DEBUG                
+                Serial.printf("Serving /directory (chunked) heap=%u webreq_cnt=%u numOfFiles=%u\n", (unsigned)xPortGetFreeHeapSize(), (unsigned)webreq_cnt, rootNode.getNumOfFiles());
+#endif                
+                resp->addHeader(hdr_cache_control_key, hdr_cache_control_val);
+                resp->addHeader(hdr_connection_key, hdr_connection_val);
+                // Ensure cleanup after transfer completes or client aborts
+                request->onDisconnect([ctx](){
+                  if (ctx->state) { delete ctx->state; }
+                  delete ctx;
+                  webreq_exit();
+                });
+                request->send(resp);
               });
 
     server.on("/mapping", HTTP_GET, [](AsyncWebServerRequest *request)
@@ -1468,7 +1592,7 @@ void setup()
   volume = config.initialVolume;         // Update global volume variable
 
   // Optimize audio buffer size to save heap (lower = less RAM, but risk of underflow on high bitrates)
-  audio.setBufferSize(8000);
+  audio.setBufferSize(8192);
 
   Serial.println(F("Audio init"));
 
diff --git a/src/main.h b/src/main.h
index 1c92d80..9e610d8 100644
--- a/src/main.h
+++ b/src/main.h
@@ -215,4 +215,6 @@ bool folderModeActive = false;
 bool pendingSeek = false;
 uint32_t pendingSeekSeconds = 0;
 
+static const size_t MAX_DEPTH = 32;
+
 #endif