diff --git a/docs/architecture/iot-data-platform-principles.md b/docs/architecture/iot-data-platform-principles.md
index e6d11e01..ea90d4c2 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/iot-data-platform-principles.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/iot-data-platform-principles.md
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ Every received frame should become one `FrameEnvelope`.
 1. Stabilize ingress: connection lifecycle, protocol parser correctness, bounded backpressure, durable publish.
 2. Stabilize event log: NATS to Kafka bridge, topic names, partition keys, retry and replay.
 3. Simplify storage: keep only the minimal tables above, remove duplicated payloads from business tables.
-4. Stabilize realtime: Redis full latest raw state, MySQL lightweight snapshot and location.
+4. Stabilize realtime: Redis full latest raw state, MySQL lightweight snapshot and location. Realtime consumers start from latest when no committed offset exists; historical rebuilds must be explicit replay jobs, not accidental backlog scans.
 5. Stabilize history: raw and location query pagination, clear time zone behavior.
 6. Stabilize metrics: idempotent daily metrics from mileage differences and raw replay.
 7. Add operations: health, readiness, metrics, lag, connection counts, deploy notes.
diff --git a/docs/ops/vehicle-ingest-runbook.md b/docs/ops/vehicle-ingest-runbook.md
index bb1550a9..b37204ea 100644
--- a/docs/ops/vehicle-ingest-runbook.md
+++ b/docs/ops/vehicle-ingest-runbook.md
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@
 
 如果 stat-writer 少消费某个 raw topic，对应协议的每日里程不会进入 `vehicle_daily_mileage`。修正后可能出现短时间 Kafka lag，这是在追补历史 backlog；只要 `vehicle_stat_writes_total` 持续增长且 lag 下降，就是健康状态。
 
+Realtime API 是当前态投影，默认在没有已提交 offset 时从 latest 开始消费。切换 topic 或新建 consumer group 后，不应让 realtime 追扫历史 raw backlog；需要重建当前态时，应使用明确的回放任务或手动 reset offset。
+
 业务端口：
 
 - GB32960 TCP：`0.0.0.0:32960`
diff --git a/go/vehicle-gateway/cmd/realtime-api/main.go b/go/vehicle-gateway/cmd/realtime-api/main.go
index 7701207a..228a6132 100644
--- a/go/vehicle-gateway/cmd/realtime-api/main.go
+++ b/go/vehicle-gateway/cmd/realtime-api/main.go
@@ -167,13 +167,7 @@ func consumeKafka(ctx context.Context, logger interface {
 	Warn(string, ...any)
 }, registry *metrics.Registry, updater realtimeUpdater, brokers []string) {
 	kafkaTopics := kafkaTopicsFromEnv()
-	reader := kafka.NewReader(kafka.ReaderConfig{
-		Brokers:     brokers,
-		GroupID:     env("KAFKA_GROUP", "go-realtime-api"),
-		GroupTopics: kafkaTopics,
-		MinBytes:    1,
-		MaxBytes:    10e6,
-	})
+	reader := kafka.NewReader(realtimeReaderConfig(brokers, kafkaTopics))
 	defer reader.Close()
 	logger.Info("realtime kafka consumer started", "topics", strings.Join(kafkaTopics, ","))
 	for {
@@ -189,6 +183,17 @@ func consumeKafka(ctx context.Context, logger interface {
 	}
 }
 
+func realtimeReaderConfig(brokers []string, kafkaTopics []string) kafka.ReaderConfig {
+	return kafka.ReaderConfig{
+		Brokers:     brokers,
+		GroupID:     env("KAFKA_GROUP", "go-realtime-api"),
+		GroupTopics: kafkaTopics,
+		MinBytes:    1,
+		MaxBytes:    10e6,
+		StartOffset: kafka.LastOffset,
+	}
+}
+
 func kafkaTopicsFromEnv() []string {
 	defaultTopics := strings.Join([]string{topics.RawGB32960, topics.RawJT808, topics.RawYutongMQTT}, ",")
 	return splitCSV(env("KAFKA_TOPICS", defaultTopics))
diff --git a/go/vehicle-gateway/cmd/realtime-api/main_test.go b/go/vehicle-gateway/cmd/realtime-api/main_test.go
index 0c242924..7fa4c491 100644
--- a/go/vehicle-gateway/cmd/realtime-api/main_test.go
+++ b/go/vehicle-gateway/cmd/realtime-api/main_test.go
@@ -104,6 +104,17 @@ func TestKafkaTopicsFromEnvDefaultsToGoRawTopics(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestRealtimeReaderConfigStartsAtLatestOffset(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := realtimeReaderConfig([]string{"127.0.0.1:9092"}, []string{"vehicle.raw.go.jt808.v1"})
+
+	if cfg.StartOffset != kafka.LastOffset {
+		t.Fatalf("StartOffset = %d, want kafka.LastOffset %d", cfg.StartOffset, kafka.LastOffset)
+	}
+	if got := strings.Join(cfg.GroupTopics, ","); got != "vehicle.raw.go.jt808.v1" {
+		t.Fatalf("GroupTopics = %q", got)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestRealtimeAPIDoesNotExposeDuplicateMileagePointRoute(t *testing.T) {
 	source, err := os.ReadFile("main.go")
 	if err != nil {