diff --git a/ui-tui-opentui-v2/scripts/mem-bench.tsx b/ui-tui-opentui-v2/scripts/mem-bench.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..efd24dc6122
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui-tui-opentui-v2/scripts/mem-bench.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+/**
+ * DEV BENCH — NOT a test, NOT production code. Throwaway memory-measurement
+ * harness for the Epic 5 comparison doc. Empirically checks whether the rolling
+ * MESSAGE_CAP bounds the native (Yoga/renderable) allocation footprint as the
+ * transcript grows. Excluded from `bun test` (not a *.test.ts) and lint-clean.
+ *
+ *   Uncapped:  HERMES_TUI_MAX_MESSAGES=100000 bun scripts/mem-bench.ts
+ *   Capped:    HERMES_TUI_MAX_MESSAGES=400    bun scripts/mem-bench.ts
+ *
+ * Run each as a SEPARATE bun invocation so the WASM/native heap starts fresh.
+ *
+ * Signal: native `getAllocatorStats().activeAllocations` (the Zig-side allocator
+ * count — every live renderable/Yoga subtree contributes) and the recursive
+ * renderable descendant count under `renderer.root`. RSS is reported too but is
+ * noisy and grow-only (WASM linear memory never returns to the OS), so the
+ * meaningful comparison is the SLOPE of activeAllocations / descendant count:
+ * capped should plateau after ~CAP messages; uncapped should keep climbing.
+ *
+ * GC: forces `Bun.gc(true)` (synchronous) before each sample to measure RETAINED
+ * memory, not garbage. (`--expose-gc`/`global.gc` is unavailable under Bun.)
+ */
+import { resolveRenderLib } from '@opentui/core'
+import type { Renderable } from '@opentui/core'
+import { testRender } from '@opentui/solid'
+
+import { createSessionStore } from '../src/logic/store.ts'
+import { App } from '../src/view/App.tsx'
+import { ThemeProvider } from '../src/view/theme.tsx'
+
+const lib = resolveRenderLib()
+
+const TOTAL = Number.parseInt(process.env.MEM_BENCH_TOTAL ?? '5000', 10)
+const SAMPLE_EVERY = Number.parseInt(process.env.MEM_BENCH_SAMPLE ?? '250', 10)
+const cap = process.env.HERMES_TUI_MAX_MESSAGES ?? '(default 400)'
+
+const MB = (bytes: number) => (bytes / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(1)
+
+/** Recursively count every Renderable under root (a proxy for live Yoga nodes). */
+function descendantCount(node: Renderable): number {
+  let n = 0
+  for (const child of node.getChildren()) n += 1 + descendantCount(child)
+  return n
+}
+
+/** One streamed assistant turn = a few text parts (a realistic multi-node subtree). */
+function pushTurn(store: ReturnType<typeof createSessionStore>, i: number): void {
+  store.pushUser(`user message ${i}: please summarize the situation in a few lines`)
+  store.apply({ type: 'message.start' })
+  store.apply({ type: 'message.delta', payload: { text: `Sure — point one for turn ${i}. ` } })
+  store.apply({ type: 'message.delta', payload: { text: `Here is point two with a bit more detail. ` } })
+  store.apply({ type: 'message.delta', payload: { text: `And a closing point three for turn ${i}.` } })
+  store.apply({ type: 'message.complete' })
+}
+
+async function main(): Promise<void> {
+  const store = createSessionStore()
+  store.apply({ type: 'gateway.ready' })
+
+  const setup = await testRender(
+    () => (
+      <ThemeProvider theme={() => store.state.theme}>
+        <App store={store} />
+      </ThemeProvider>
+    ),
+    { width: 100, height: 40, exitOnCtrlC: false }
+  )
+  await setup.renderOnce()
+  await setup.flush()
+
+  // header: pad to fixed widths for a readable table
+  process.stdout.write(`\n=== mem-bench  cap=${cap}  total=${TOTAL}  sampleEvery=${SAMPLE_EVERY} ===\n`)
+  process.stdout.write(
+    'pushes | msgs | rss(MB) | heapUsed(MB) | external(MB) | arrayBuf(MB) | activeAllocs | renderables\n'
+  )
+  process.stdout.write(
+    '-------+------+---------+--------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+------------\n'
+  )
+
+  async function sample(pushes: number): Promise<void> {
+    await setup.renderOnce()
+    await setup.flush()
+    Bun.gc(true) // synchronous, full GC — measure retained, not garbage
+    const m = process.memoryUsage()
+    const alloc = lib.getAllocatorStats()
+    const renderables = descendantCount(setup.renderer.root)
+    const cols = [
+      String(pushes).padStart(6),
+      String(store.state.messages.length).padStart(4),
+      MB(m.rss).padStart(7),
+      MB(m.heapUsed).padStart(12),
+      MB(m.external).padStart(12),
+      MB(m.arrayBuffers).padStart(12),
+      String(alloc.activeAllocations).padStart(12),
+      String(renderables).padStart(11)
+    ]
+    process.stdout.write(cols.join(' | ') + '\n')
+  }
+
+  await sample(0)
+  for (let i = 1; i <= TOTAL; i++) {
+    pushTurn(store, i)
+    if (i % SAMPLE_EVERY === 0) await sample(i)
+  }
+
+  setup.renderer.destroy()
+}
+
+await main()