diff --git a/lightrag/api/routers/document_routes.py b/lightrag/api/routers/document_routes.py
index c7d9dd97..71247f17 100644
--- a/lightrag/api/routers/document_routes.py
+++ b/lightrag/api/routers/document_routes.py
@@ -2173,20 +2173,24 @@ def create_document_routes(
             logger.error(traceback.format_exc())
             raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail=str(e))
 
+    # TODO: Deprecated
     @router.get(
         "", response_model=DocsStatusesResponse, dependencies=[Depends(combined_auth)]
     )
     async def documents() -> DocsStatusesResponse:
         """
-        Get the status of all documents in the system.
+        Get the status of all documents in the system. This endpoint is deprecated; use /documents/paginated instead.
+        To prevent excessive resource consumption, a maximum of 1,000 records is returned.
 
         This endpoint retrieves the current status of all documents, grouped by their
-        processing status (PENDING, PROCESSING, PROCESSED, FAILED).
+        processing status (PENDING, PROCESSING, PROCESSED, FAILED). The results are
+        limited to 1000 total documents with fair distribution across all statuses.
 
         Returns:
             DocsStatusesResponse: A response object containing a dictionary where keys are
                                 DocStatus values and values are lists of DocStatusResponse
                                 objects representing documents in each status category.
+                                Maximum 1000 documents total will be returned.
 
         Raises:
             HTTPException: If an error occurs while retrieving document statuses (500).
@@ -2203,12 +2207,45 @@ def create_document_routes(
             results: List[Dict[str, DocProcessingStatus]] = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
 
             response = DocsStatusesResponse()
+            total_documents = 0
+            max_documents = 1000
 
+            # Convert results to lists for easier processing
+            status_documents = []
             for idx, result in enumerate(results):
                 status = statuses[idx]
+                docs_list = []
                 for doc_id, doc_status in result.items():
+                    docs_list.append((doc_id, doc_status))
+                status_documents.append((status, docs_list))
+
+            # Fair distribution: round-robin across statuses
+            status_indices = [0] * len(
+                status_documents
+            )  # Track current index for each status
+            current_status_idx = 0
+
+            while total_documents < max_documents:
+                # Check if we have any documents left to process
+                has_remaining = False
+                for status_idx, (status, docs_list) in enumerate(status_documents):
+                    if status_indices[status_idx] < len(docs_list):
+                        has_remaining = True
+                        break
+
+                if not has_remaining:
+                    break
+
+                # Try to get a document from the current status
+                status, docs_list = status_documents[current_status_idx]
+                current_index = status_indices[current_status_idx]
+
+                if current_index < len(docs_list):
+                    doc_id, doc_status = docs_list[current_index]
+
                     if status not in response.statuses:
                         response.statuses[status] = []
+
                     response.statuses[status].append(
                         DocStatusResponse(
                             id=doc_id,
@@ -2224,6 +2261,13 @@ def create_document_routes(
                             file_path=doc_status.file_path,
                         )
                     )
+
+                    status_indices[current_status_idx] += 1
+                    total_documents += 1
+
+                # Move to next status (round-robin)
+                current_status_idx = (current_status_idx + 1) % len(status_documents)
+
             return response
         except Exception as e:
             logger.error(f"Error GET /documents: {str(e)}")