diff --git a/config/scripts/terminal-control-strip-benchmark.mjs b/config/scripts/terminal-control-strip-benchmark.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c06eb2a7ff0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/scripts/terminal-control-strip-benchmark.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Mirrors the complete pre/post stripTerminalControl paths at their production size caps.
+import { performance } from 'node:perf_hooks'
+
+const ESC = String.fromCharCode(0x1b)
+const BEL = String.fromCharCode(0x07)
+const ANSI_ESCAPE_RE = new RegExp(
+  `${ESC}(?:[@-Z\\\\-_]|\\[[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]|\\][^${BEL}]*(?:${BEL}|${ESC}\\\\))`,
+  'g'
+)
+const INCOMPLETE_ANSI_ESCAPE_RE = new RegExp(
+  `${ESC}(?:\\[[0-?]*[ -/]*|\\][^${BEL}${ESC}]*|\\S?)?$`,
+  'g'
+)
+const HISTORY_LIMIT = 300
+const SCAN_LIMIT = 4096
+const SAMPLE_ID_LENGTH = 24
+const ITERATIONS = Number(process.env.ORCA_STRIP_BENCH_ITERATIONS ?? '501')
+let resultChecksum = 0
+let validatedPairs = 0
+
+if (!Number.isSafeInteger(ITERATIONS) || ITERATIONS <= 0) {
+  throw new Error(`ORCA_STRIP_BENCH_ITERATIONS must be a positive integer, got ${ITERATIONS}`)
+}
+
+function isStrippedCode(code) {
+  return (code <= 0x1f && code !== 0x0a && code !== 0x0d) || (code >= 0x7f && code <= 0x9f)
+}
+
+function terminalControlMayAffectText(data) {
+  for (let index = 0; index < data.length; index += 1) {
+    const code = data.charCodeAt(index)
+    if (
+      code === 0x0d ||
+      code === 0x1b ||
+      (code <= 0x1f && code !== 0x0a) ||
+      (code >= 0x7f && code <= 0x9f)
+    ) {
+      return true
+    }
+  }
+  return false
+}
+
+function stripPerChar(data) {
+  if (!terminalControlMayAffectText(data)) {
+    return data
+  }
+  const withoutAnsi = data.replace(ANSI_ESCAPE_RE, '').replace(INCOMPLETE_ANSI_ESCAPE_RE, '')
+  let output = ''
+  for (let index = 0; index < withoutAnsi.length; index += 1) {
+    if (isStrippedCode(withoutAnsi.charCodeAt(index))) {
+      continue
+    }
+    output += withoutAnsi[index]
+  }
+  return output
+}
+
+function stripSliceRuns(data) {
+  if (!terminalControlMayAffectText(data)) {
+    return data
+  }
+  const withoutAnsi = data.replace(ANSI_ESCAPE_RE, '').replace(INCOMPLETE_ANSI_ESCAPE_RE, '')
+  let output = ''
+  let runStart = 0
+  for (let index = 0; index < withoutAnsi.length; index += 1) {
+    if (isStrippedCode(withoutAnsi.charCodeAt(index))) {
+      if (index > runStart) {
+        output += withoutAnsi.slice(runStart, index)
+      }
+      runStart = index + 1
+    }
+  }
+  return runStart === 0 ? withoutAnsi : output + withoutAnsi.slice(runStart)
+}
+
+function fixedSampleId(sampleId) {
+  return `sample:${sampleId}`.padEnd(SAMPLE_ID_LENGTH, '_').slice(0, SAMPLE_ID_LENGTH)
+}
+
+function makeTuiFixture(length, sampleId, strippedControl) {
+  const lines = [
+    `${strippedControl}\x1b[35m✻ Thinking...\x1b[0m\r\n`,
+    '  ⏺ Running tests... 42 passed, 0 failed\r\n'
+  ]
+  let text = `${fixedSampleId(sampleId)}\r\n`
+  for (let lineIndex = 0; ; lineIndex += 1) {
+    const next = lines[lineIndex % lines.length]
+    if (text.length + next.length > length) {
+      break
+    }
+    text += next
+  }
+  return text + 'x'.repeat(length - text.length)
+}
+
+function makeDenseFixture(length, sampleId, strippedControl) {
+  const prefix = `\x1b[35m${fixedSampleId(sampleId)}`
+  const suffix = '\x1b[0m'
+  const bodyLength = length - prefix.length - suffix.length
+  const body = `x${strippedControl}`.repeat(Math.floor(bodyLength / 2))
+  return `${prefix}${body}${bodyLength % 2 === 0 ? '' : 'x'}${suffix}`
+}
+
+function median(samples) {
+  const sorted = [...samples].sort((a, b) => a - b)
+  const middle = Math.floor(sorted.length / 2)
+  return sorted.length % 2 === 0 ? (sorted[middle - 1] + sorted[middle]) / 2 : sorted[middle]
+}
+
+function measure(strip, fixture) {
+  const start = performance.now()
+  const output = strip(fixture)
+  return { elapsed: performance.now() - start, output }
+}
+
+function consumeOutput(output) {
+  resultChecksum = Math.imul(resultChecksum ^ output.length, 16777619) >>> 0
+  resultChecksum ^= output.charCodeAt(Math.floor(output.length / 2))
+}
+
+function recordPair(fixture, sampleId, perCharFirst, samples) {
+  const perCharFixture = fixture.make(sampleId, perCharFirst ? '\x01' : '\x02')
+  const sliceRunsFixture = fixture.make(sampleId, perCharFirst ? '\x02' : '\x01')
+  if (
+    perCharFixture === sliceRunsFixture ||
+    perCharFixture.length !== fixture.length ||
+    sliceRunsFixture.length !== fixture.length
+  ) {
+    throw new Error(`invalid inputs for ${fixture.label}, sample ${sampleId}`)
+  }
+  let perCharResult
+  let sliceRunsResult
+  if (perCharFirst) {
+    perCharResult = measure(stripPerChar, perCharFixture)
+    sliceRunsResult = measure(stripSliceRuns, sliceRunsFixture)
+  } else {
+    sliceRunsResult = measure(stripSliceRuns, sliceRunsFixture)
+    perCharResult = measure(stripPerChar, perCharFixture)
+  }
+  if (perCharResult.output !== sliceRunsResult.output) {
+    throw new Error(`strip mismatch for ${fixture.label}, sample ${sampleId}`)
+  }
+  consumeOutput(perCharResult.output)
+  consumeOutput(sliceRunsResult.output)
+  validatedPairs += 1
+  samples.perChar.push(perCharResult.elapsed)
+  samples.sliceRuns.push(sliceRunsResult.elapsed)
+}
+
+const denseBodyLength = SCAN_LIMIT - '\x1b[35m'.length - SAMPLE_ID_LENGTH - '\x1b[0m'.length
+const denseControlPercent = ((Math.floor(denseBodyLength / 2) / SCAN_LIMIT) * 100).toFixed(1)
+const fixtures = [
+  {
+    label: `${HISTORY_LIMIT} history TUI`,
+    length: HISTORY_LIMIT,
+    make: (sampleId, control) => makeTuiFixture(HISTORY_LIMIT, sampleId, control)
+  },
+  {
+    label: `${HISTORY_LIMIT + 1} boundary TUI`,
+    length: HISTORY_LIMIT + 1,
+    make: (sampleId, control) => makeTuiFixture(HISTORY_LIMIT + 1, sampleId, control)
+  },
+  {
+    label: `${SCAN_LIMIT} scan TUI`,
+    length: SCAN_LIMIT,
+    make: (sampleId, control) => makeTuiFixture(SCAN_LIMIT, sampleId, control)
+  },
+  {
+    label: `${SCAN_LIMIT} scan ${denseControlPercent}% C0`,
+    length: SCAN_LIMIT,
+    make: (sampleId, control) => makeDenseFixture(SCAN_LIMIT, sampleId, control)
+  }
+]
+
+const pad = (value, width) => String(value).padStart(width)
+console.log('Complete stripTerminalControl path. Lower is better.')
+console.log(
+  `iterations=${ITERATIONS} (${ITERATIONS * 2} first-touch samples/implementation, counterbalanced median)`
+)
+console.log(
+  `${pad('fixture', 25)} ${pad('per-char', 11)} ${pad('slice runs', 12)} ${pad('speedup', 9)}`
+)
+
+for (const fixture of fixtures) {
+  const samples = { perChar: [], sliceRuns: [] }
+  for (let index = 0; index < ITERATIONS; index += 1) {
+    const orders = index % 2 === 0 ? [true, false] : [false, true]
+    for (const perCharFirst of orders) {
+      const orderLabel = perCharFirst ? 'per-first' : 'slice-first'
+      recordPair(fixture, `${index}:${orderLabel}`, perCharFirst, samples)
+    }
+  }
+  const perChar = median(samples.perChar)
+  const sliceRuns = median(samples.sliceRuns)
+  console.log(
+    `${pad(fixture.label, 25)} ${pad(`${(perChar * 1000).toFixed(1)} us`, 11)} ${pad(`${(sliceRuns * 1000).toFixed(1)} us`, 12)} ${pad(`${(perChar / sliceRuns).toFixed(2)}x`, 9)}`
+  )
+}
+console.log(`\nvalidated=${validatedPairs} measured pairs, result checksum=${resultChecksum >>> 0}`)
+console.log('Production calls are bounded to 4096, 4096, 300, and 301 code units.')
diff --git a/src/shared/command-code-output-status.test.ts b/src/shared/command-code-output-status.test.ts
index 512cb07e332..e19504fc5ed 100644
--- a/src/shared/command-code-output-status.test.ts
+++ b/src/shared/command-code-output-status.test.ts
@@ -315,3 +315,36 @@ function maxStringContextLength(contexts: unknown[]): number {
     ...contexts.map((context) => (typeof context === 'string' ? context.length : 0))
   )
 }
+
+describe('terminal control stripping', () => {
+  function promptFrom(raw: string): string | null {
+    let captured: string | null = null
+    const detector = createCommandCodeOutputStatusDetector({
+      startupCommand: 'command-code',
+      onWorking: (prompt) => {
+        captured = prompt
+      }
+    })
+    detector.observe(raw)
+    return captured
+  }
+
+  it('strips control bytes wherever they sit around the prompt text', () => {
+    expect(promptFrom('❯ plain prompt\r\n\x1b[35m✻ Thinking...\x1b[0m')).toBe('plain prompt')
+    expect(promptFrom('\x07❯ leading control\r\n\x1b[35m✻ Thinking...\x1b[0m')).toBe(
+      'leading control'
+    )
+    expect(promptFrom('❯ trailing control\x07\r\n\x1b[35m✻ Thinking...\x1b[0m')).toBe(
+      'trailing control'
+    )
+    expect(promptFrom('❯ adjacent\x07\x01\x02controls\r\n\x1b[35m✻ Thinking...\x1b[0m')).toBe(
+      'adjacentcontrols'
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('preserves multi-byte text and newlines while stripping', () => {
+    expect(promptFrom('❯ 日本語 \u{1f389} prompt\r\n\x1b[35m✻ Thinking...\x1b[0m')).toBe(
+      '日本語 \u{1f389} prompt'
+    )
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/shared/command-code-output-status.ts b/src/shared/command-code-output-status.ts
index 459831aee79..70bb9ff039e 100644
--- a/src/shared/command-code-output-status.ts
+++ b/src/shared/command-code-output-status.ts
@@ -126,15 +126,19 @@ function stripTerminalControl(data: string): string {
     return data
   }
   const withoutAnsi = data.replace(ANSI_ESCAPE_RE, '').replace(INCOMPLETE_ANSI_ESCAPE_RE, '')
+  // Four calls per PTY chunk favor copying sparse intact runs over per-character concatenation.
   let output = ''
+  let runStart = 0
   for (let index = 0; index < withoutAnsi.length; index += 1) {
     const code = withoutAnsi.charCodeAt(index)
     if ((code <= 0x1f && code !== 0x0a && code !== 0x0d) || (code >= 0x7f && code <= 0x9f)) {
-      continue
+      if (index > runStart) {
+        output += withoutAnsi.slice(runStart, index)
+      }
+      runStart = index + 1
     }
-    output += withoutAnsi[index]
   }
-  return output
+  return runStart === 0 ? withoutAnsi : output + withoutAnsi.slice(runStart)
 }
 
 function terminalControlMayAffectText(data: string): boolean {