diff --git a/src/main/daemon/session-ingest-throughput.bench.test.ts b/src/main/daemon/session-ingest-throughput.bench.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e226ddf869d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/daemon/session-ingest-throughput.bench.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { performance } from 'node:perf_hooks'
+import { Session, type SubprocessHandle } from './session'
+
+// Benchmark harness for the terminal performance initiative: measures the
+// daemon-side ingest rate (Session.handleSubprocessData -> HeadlessEmulator
+// write + pending-output recording + client fanout) for the same workload
+// shapes as tools/benchmarks/terminal-pipeline-bench.mjs. Bare headless
+// xterm parses these at ~80-100 MB/s; the end-to-end Orca pipeline measured
+// 2-15 MB/s (baseline-jul02) — this isolates the daemon layer's share.
+// Run with:
+//   ORCA_TERMINAL_PERF_BENCH=1 pnpm vitest run \
+//     src/main/daemon/session-ingest-throughput.bench.test.ts \
+//     --config config/vitest.config.ts
+const benchEnabled = process.env.ORCA_TERMINAL_PERF_BENCH === '1'
+
+const COLS = 114
+const ROWS = 85
+const TARGET_BYTES = 10 * 1024 * 1024
+const CHUNK = 64 * 1024
+
+function asciiLog(targetBytes: number): string {
+  const parts: string[] = []
+  let bytes = 0
+  let line = 0
+  while (bytes < targetBytes) {
+    line++
+    const s = `\x1b[32m[build ${String(line).padStart(6, '0')}]\x1b[0m compile transform resolve bundle emit chunk module (${line % 5000}ms)\r\n`
+    parts.push(s)
+    bytes += s.length
+  }
+  return parts.join('')
+}
+
+function agentTui(targetBytes: number): string {
+  const statusRows = 10
+  const parts: string[] = []
+  let bytes = 0
+  let frame = 0
+  let painted = false
+  const push = (s: string): void => {
+    parts.push(s)
+    bytes += Buffer.byteLength(s, 'utf8')
+  }
+  while (bytes < targetBytes) {
+    frame++
+    push('\x1b[?2026h')
+    if (painted) {
+      push(`\x1b[${statusRows}A\x1b[0J`)
+    }
+    push(`\x1b[2m●\x1b[0m transcript line for frame ${frame} with some words\r\n`)
+    for (let r = 0; r < statusRows; r++) {
+      push(
+        `\x1b[38;5;${33 + (r % 6)}m⠼ task ${frame % 100}·${r}\x1b[0m ${'▇'.repeat((frame + r) % 40)}\r\n`
+      )
+    }
+    painted = true
+    push('\x1b[?2026l')
+  }
+  return parts.join('')
+}
+
+function makeSubprocess(): SubprocessHandle & { emit: (data: string) => void } {
+  let onData: ((data: string) => void) | null = null
+  return {
+    pid: 4242,
+    getForegroundProcess: () => 'bench',
+    write: () => {},
+    resize: () => {},
+    kill: () => {},
+    forceKill: () => {},
+    signal: () => {},
+    onData: (cb) => {
+      onData = cb
+    },
+    onExit: () => {},
+    dispose: () => {},
+    emit: (data: string) => onData?.(data)
+  }
+}
+
+function ingest(fixture: string, drainPendingEveryChunks: number | null): number {
+  const subprocess = makeSubprocess()
+  const session = new Session({
+    sessionId: 'bench',
+    cols: COLS,
+    rows: ROWS,
+    subprocess,
+    shellReadySupported: false
+  })
+  session.attachClient({ onData: () => {}, onExit: () => {} })
+  // Warmup primes JIT paths.
+  subprocess.emit(fixture.slice(0, 256 * 1024))
+  session.takePendingOutput(false)
+  const start = performance.now()
+  let chunks = 0
+  for (let i = 0; i < fixture.length; i += CHUNK) {
+    subprocess.emit(fixture.slice(i, i + CHUNK))
+    chunks++
+    // Why: without periodic takes the 2MB pending cap overflows and recording
+    // short-circuits, understating the real steady-state cost. The 5s adapter
+    // tick drains in production; drain per ~1.5MB approximates a hot session.
+    if (drainPendingEveryChunks && chunks % drainPendingEveryChunks === 0) {
+      session.takePendingOutput(false)
+    }
+  }
+  const ms = performance.now() - start
+  session.dispose()
+  return ms
+}
+
+describe.skipIf(!benchEnabled)('daemon session ingest throughput', () => {
+  it('measures MB/s per workload shape', () => {
+    const rows: string[] = []
+    for (const [name, fixture] of [
+      ['ascii-log', asciiLog(TARGET_BYTES)],
+      ['agent-tui', agentTui(TARGET_BYTES)]
+    ] as const) {
+      const bytes = Buffer.byteLength(fixture, 'utf8')
+      const ms = ingest(fixture, 24)
+      const rate = bytes / 1024 / 1024 / (ms / 1000)
+      rows.push(
+        `${name}: ${rate.toFixed(1)} MB/s (${ms.toFixed(0)}ms for ${(bytes / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(1)}MB)`
+      )
+    }
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-console -- bench harness output
+    console.log(`\n[session-ingest] ${COLS}x${ROWS}\n  ${rows.join('\n  ')}`)
+    expect(rows.length).toBe(2)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/tools/benchmarks/terminal-headless-parse-bench.mjs b/tools/benchmarks/terminal-headless-parse-bench.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..694593cfb3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/benchmarks/terminal-headless-parse-bench.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+/**
+ * Decomposes cross-terminal pipeline results: feeds the same fixtures from
+ * terminal-pipeline-bench through a bare @xterm/headless Terminal — no Orca
+ * layers, no IPC, no rendering — to locate where throughput is lost.
+ *
+ * If headless xterm parses a fixture near the plain-text rate, the pipeline
+ * gap for that fixture lives in Orca's layers (delivery, side-effect
+ * scanning, renderer paint). If headless collapses too, the cost is intrinsic
+ * to xterm.js's parser/buffer for that byte pattern.
+ *
+ * Usage:
+ *   node tools/benchmarks/terminal-headless-parse-bench.mjs
+ *     [--size-mb 10] [--cols 114] [--rows 85] [--scrollback 5000]
+ */
+import { performance } from 'node:perf_hooks'
+import xterm from '@xterm/headless'
+import { buildFixture } from './terminal-pipeline-bench.mjs'
+
+const { Terminal } = xterm
+const CHUNK = 64 * 1024
+
+function arg(name, fallback) {
+  const i = process.argv.indexOf(name)
+  return i === -1 ? fallback : Number(process.argv[i + 1])
+}
+
+const sizeMb = arg('--size-mb', 10)
+const cols = arg('--cols', 114)
+const rows = arg('--rows', 85)
+const scrollback = arg('--scrollback', 5000)
+const targetBytes = Math.floor(sizeMb * 1024 * 1024)
+
+function writeAll(term, data) {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    let offset = 0
+    const next = () => {
+      if (offset >= data.length) {
+        resolve()
+        return
+      }
+      const chunk = data.slice(offset, offset + CHUNK)
+      offset += CHUNK
+      // write callback fires after the chunk is parsed — same "fully parsed"
+      // fence semantics as the DSR fence in the pipeline bench.
+      term.write(chunk, next)
+    }
+    next()
+  })
+}
+
+const FIXTURES = ['ascii-log', 'cjk-emoji', 'agent-tui', 'styles-stress']
+
+console.log(
+  `headless xterm ${cols}x${rows} scrollback=${scrollback}, ${sizeMb}MB per fixture (parse-only, no render)`
+)
+for (const name of FIXTURES) {
+  const fixture = buildFixture(name, targetBytes, cols, rows)
+  const bytes = Buffer.byteLength(fixture, 'utf8')
+  const term = new Terminal({ cols, rows, scrollback, allowProposedApi: true })
+  // Warmup primes JIT so the first fixture isn't penalized.
+  await writeAll(term, fixture.slice(0, 256 * 1024))
+  const start = performance.now()
+  await writeAll(term, fixture)
+  const ms = performance.now() - start
+  console.log(
+    `${name.padEnd(15)} ${(bytes / 1024 / 1024 / (ms / 1000)).toFixed(1).padStart(7)} MB/s  (${ms.toFixed(0)}ms)`
+  )
+  term.dispose()
+}
diff --git a/tools/benchmarks/terminal-pipeline-bench.mjs b/tools/benchmarks/terminal-pipeline-bench.mjs
index c7660807902..6274befd9ae 100644
--- a/tools/benchmarks/terminal-pipeline-bench.mjs
+++ b/tools/benchmarks/terminal-pipeline-bench.mjs
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ function stylesStressFixture(targetBytes, cols) {
   return parts.join('')
 }
 
-function buildFixture(name, targetBytes, cols, rows) {
+export function buildFixture(name, targetBytes, cols, rows) {
   switch (name) {
     case 'ascii-log':
       return asciiLogFixture(targetBytes)
@@ -551,8 +551,14 @@ async function main() {
   process.exit(0)
 }
 
-main().catch((err) => {
-  restoreTerminal()
-  console.error(err)
-  process.exit(1)
-})
+// Why the guard: buildFixture is imported by sibling analysis scripts
+// (headless parse decomposition); importing must not start a benchmark run.
+const invokedDirectly =
+  process.argv[1] && import.meta.url === new URL(`file://${process.argv[1]}`).href
+if (invokedDirectly) {
+  main().catch((err) => {
+    restoreTerminal()
+    console.error(err)
+    process.exit(1)
+  })
+}