diff --git a/models/project/column.go b/models/project/column.go
index 3afa2bfba6..31f541ae8b 100644
--- a/models/project/column.go
+++ b/models/project/column.go
@@ -265,9 +265,9 @@ func (p *Project) CountColumns(ctx context.Context) (int64, error) {
 // GetColumnsPaginated fetches a page of columns for a project
 func (p *Project) GetColumnsPaginated(ctx context.Context, opts db.ListOptions) (ColumnList, error) {
 	columns := make([]*Column, 0, opts.PageSize)
-	if err := db.GetEngine(ctx).Where("project_id=?", p.ID).
+	if err := db.SetSessionPagination(db.GetEngine(ctx), &opts).
+		Where("project_id=?", p.ID).
 		OrderBy("sorting, id").
-		Limit(opts.PageSize, (opts.Page-1)*opts.PageSize).
 		Find(&columns); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/models/project/column_test.go b/models/project/column_test.go
index 948e012c62..0a07943fe1 100644
--- a/models/project/column_test.go
+++ b/models/project/column_test.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 
+	"code.gitea.io/gitea/models/db"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/models/unittest"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -123,3 +124,39 @@ func Test_NewColumn(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Error(t, err)
 	assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "maximum number of columns reached")
 }
+
+func TestCountColumns(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.NoError(t, unittest.PrepareTestDatabase())
+
+	project, err := GetProjectByID(t.Context(), 1)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	count, err := project.CountColumns(t.Context())
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.EqualValues(t, 3, count)
+}
+
+func TestGetColumnsPaginated(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.NoError(t, unittest.PrepareTestDatabase())
+
+	project, err := GetProjectByID(t.Context(), 1)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Page 1, limit 2 — returns first 2 columns
+	page1, err := project.GetColumnsPaginated(t.Context(), db.ListOptions{Page: 1, PageSize: 2})
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, page1, 2)
+
+	// Page 2, limit 2 — returns remaining column
+	page2, err := project.GetColumnsPaginated(t.Context(), db.ListOptions{Page: 2, PageSize: 2})
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Len(t, page2, 1)
+
+	// Page 1 and page 2 together cover all columns with no overlap
+	allIDs := make(map[int64]bool)
+	for _, c := range append(page1, page2...) {
+		assert.False(t, allIDs[c.ID], "duplicate column ID %d across pages", c.ID)
+		allIDs[c.ID] = true
+	}
+	assert.Len(t, allIDs, 3)
+}
diff --git a/routers/api/v1/repo/project.go b/routers/api/v1/repo/project.go
index c734ac4f2b..616d601116 100644
--- a/routers/api/v1/repo/project.go
+++ b/routers/api/v1/repo/project.go
@@ -13,10 +13,10 @@ import (
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/setting"
 	api "code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/structs"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/web"
+	"code.gitea.io/gitea/routers/api/v1/utils"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/services/context"
 	"code.gitea.io/gitea/services/convert"
 	project_service "code.gitea.io/gitea/services/projects"
-	"code.gitea.io/gitea/routers/api/v1/utils"
 )
 
 // ListProjects lists all projects in a repository
@@ -398,6 +398,7 @@ func ListProjectColumns(ctx *context.APIContext) {
 		return
 	}
 
+	ctx.SetLinkHeader(int(total), listOptions.PageSize)
 	ctx.SetTotalCountHeader(total)
 	ctx.JSON(http.StatusOK, convert.ToProjectColumnList(ctx, columns))
 }