diff --git a/PHASE2-FINDINGS.md b/PHASE2-FINDINGS.md
index 0551a8486..402643afb 100644
--- a/PHASE2-FINDINGS.md
+++ b/PHASE2-FINDINGS.md
@@ -301,8 +301,63 @@ is a correctness fix — idle commits stayed within their 73–96 range afterwar
 the app-root churn dominates and this hook is not what drives it. Recorded as *not* a
 measured win.
 
+
+## What is actually hogging the memory
+
+Tested directly against the hypothesis that cached base64 images were bloating
+TanStack Query / Redis. **They are not** — measured on a loaded 4-tab session:
+
+| suspect | measured | verdict |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| base64 data-URLs in server heap | **0.01 MiB** (2 strings) | not a factor |
+| base64 blobs in browser heap | **0.01 MiB** (7 strings) | not a factor |
+| Redis total | **2.17 MB** | not a factor |
+| image bytes in Redis | **none** — `image-proxy` stores only URL + headers | not a factor |
+| React Query `gcTime` | already 5 min, not 24 h | already addressed |
+
+What the server heap is actually made of (141 MiB used, 259 MiB RSS):
+
+| bucket | size | share of heap |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| **bundled JS source retained as strings** | **41.4 MiB** | **~29%** |
+| other strings (translations, ids, misc) | 10.3 MiB | 7% |
+| URLs | 2.0 MiB | 1% |
+| everything else (objects, code, maps) | ~87 MiB | 62% |
+
+**The memory is the code, not cached data.** That is why every cache-tuning idea in the
+fix catalog measured at zero, and why `serverExternalPackages` — which removes code from
+the boot-loaded bundle — was the only lever that moved idle memory.
+
+Within that, **7.86 MiB is literal duplicate copies** of identical chunk sources: the same
+module inlined into several Turbopack chunks and retained once per chunk. Worst offenders
+were `@ioredis/commands`' command table (in 10 chunks, resident 6×, 2.07 MiB wasted) and
+`got`/`@octokit/request-error` (2.1 MiB each).
+
+`@ioredis/commands` is now external, which removes it from all 10 chunks. Recorded as
+**bundle hygiene, not a memory win**: idle went 89.7 → 89.4 MiB, inside noise, and
+board-loaded/peak differences were smaller than the run-to-run spread (one "before" run
+read 220.6 MiB against 169–173 for identical code).
+
+`got` and `@octokit/request-error` were deliberately **not** externalised. They are only
+transitive dependencies here, and a check inside the image confirmed `got` is **not
+traced** into `node_modules` — externalising it would have turned a bundled module into a
+runtime `require` that resolves to nothing, trading zero measured gain for a possible
+`MODULE_NOT_FOUND` on a code path the benchmarks never hit.
+
+### Where the remaining headroom is
+
+Nothing further is available from caches, Redis, or process trimming. The two real levers
+left are both large:
+
+1. **Ship less server JavaScript.** ~29% of the heap is retained bundle source. Every
+   package moved out of the boot graph pays twice — smaller chunks and less retained
+   source. This is the same lever that produced the −37% idle result.
+2. **Stop the App Router re-rendering every second** (see above). That governs the
+   browser side, which is where the 650 MB peak lives.
+
 ## Measured but not pursued
 
+
 | lever | measured cost | why not pursued |
 | --- | --- | --- |
 | in-image Redis (F12) | **8.1 MiB RSS** (6.3 PSS) | The catalog estimated 10–40 MB; the real figure is 8. Removing it means replacing the pub/sub bus for single-instance — real risk for ~5% of the footprint. |
diff --git a/apps/nextjs/next.config.ts b/apps/nextjs/next.config.ts
index ba65beefe..ab735d7d6 100644
--- a/apps/nextjs/next.config.ts
+++ b/apps/nextjs/next.config.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,15 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
     "linkedom",
     // Only reachable through /api/mcp/[transport].
     "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk",
+    // Bundling inlines a copy per chunk: a server heap snapshot found this package's
+    // command table in 10 chunks and resident 6 times over (2.1 MiB of duplication).
+    // Safe to externalise because ioredis is already external and owns this as a
+    // direct dependency, so it is always traced alongside it. Bundle hygiene — it did
+    // not move measured memory (idle 89.7 -> 89.4 MiB, inside run-to-run noise).
+    // got and @octokit/request-error duplicate similarly but are only transitive
+    // deps here, so externalising them risks a runtime require that was never traced,
+    // for no measured gain.
+    "@ioredis/commands",
   ],
   experimental: {
     optimizePackageImports: ["@mantine/core", "@mantine/hooks", "@tabler/icons-react"],
diff --git a/scripts/benchmarks/analyze-heap-strings.mjs b/scripts/benchmarks/analyze-heap-strings.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..89040cf59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/benchmarks/analyze-heap-strings.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+// Lists the largest strings in a .heapsnapshot with a content preview, and buckets
+// them by what they look like. Aggregate "37 MiB of strings" says nothing about
+// whether that is base64 images, translations, or bundled source.
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+
+const snap = JSON.parse(readFileSync(process.argv[2], "utf8"));
+const meta = snap.snapshot.meta;
+const nf = meta.node_fields;
+const stride = nf.length;
+const iType = nf.indexOf("type");
+const iName = nf.indexOf("name");
+const iSelf = nf.indexOf("self_size");
+const nodeTypes = meta.node_types[0];
+const nodes = snap.nodes;
+const strings = snap.strings;
+const N = snap.snapshot.node_count;
+
+const classify = (text) => {
+  if (/^data:[^;]+;base64,/.test(text)) return "data-URL (base64 inline image)";
+  if (/^[A-Za-z0-9+/]{200,}={0,2}$/.test(text.slice(0, 400))) return "bare base64 blob";
+  if (/^(https?:)?\/\//.test(text)) return "URL";
+  if (/^\s*[[{]/.test(text) && text.length > 200) return "JSON payload";
+  if (/^<svg|^<\?xml/.test(text)) return "inline SVG";
+  if (/function |=>|require\(|import /.test(text) && text.length > 400) return "source/code";
+  return "other text";
+};
+
+const items = [];
+let totalStringBytes = 0;
+for (let i = 0; i < N; i++) {
+  const base = i * stride;
+  const type = nodeTypes[nodes[base + iType]];
+  if (type !== "string" && type !== "concatenated string" && type !== "sliced string") continue;
+  const self = nodes[base + iSelf];
+  totalStringBytes += self;
+  const text = strings[nodes[base + iName]] ?? "";
+  items.push({ self, text });
+}
+
+items.sort((a, b) => b.self - a.self);
+const MiB = (b) => (b / 1048576).toFixed(2);
+
+console.log(`total string bytes: ${MiB(totalStringBytes)} MiB across ${items.length.toLocaleString()} strings\n`);
+
+console.log("=== 25 largest strings ===");
+console.log("KiB".padStart(9), " kind".padEnd(34), "preview");
+for (const item of items.slice(0, 25)) {
+  const kind = classify(item.text);
+  const preview = item.text.replace(/\s+/g, " ").slice(0, 80);
+  console.log((item.self / 1024).toFixed(1).padStart(9), ` ${kind.padEnd(33)}`, preview);
+}
+
+const buckets = new Map();
+for (const item of items) {
+  const kind = classify(item.text);
+  const acc = buckets.get(kind) ?? { bytes: 0, n: 0 };
+  acc.bytes += item.self;
+  acc.n++;
+  buckets.set(kind, acc);
+}
+console.log("\n=== string bytes by kind ===");
+console.log("MiB".padStart(9), "count".padStart(10), " kind");
+for (const [kind, v] of [...buckets.entries()].sort((a, b) => b[1].bytes - a[1].bytes)) {
+  console.log(MiB(v.bytes).padStart(9), String(v.n).padStart(10), ` ${kind}`);
+}