diff --git a/tests/scratch-cava-reinit.test.ts b/tests/scratch-cava-reinit.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..80921f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scratch-cava-reinit.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+/** Scratch: cava init/destroy cycles leak native fftw buffers? */
+import { test, expect } from "bun:test"
+import { loadCavaCore } from "../src/utils/cavacore"
+
+const cava = loadCavaCore()
+const skip = !cava
+
+test.skipIf(skip)("init/destroy x50: RSS bounded", () => {
+  const cfg = { bars: 64, sampleRate: 22050, channels: 1, autosens: 0 }
+  const samples = new Float64Array(8192)
+  Bun.gc(true)
+  const startRss = process.memoryUsage.rss()
+  for (let i = 0; i < 50; i++) {
+    cava!.init(cfg)
+    cava!.execute(samples)
+    cava!.destroy()
+  }
+  Bun.gc(true)
+  const endRss = process.memoryUsage.rss()
+  const grown = (endRss - startRss) / 1048576
+  console.log(`init/destroy x50: rss delta=${grown.toFixed(1)}MB`)
+  expect(grown).toBeLessThan(100)
+}, 60_000)
diff --git a/tests/scratch-region-count.ts b/tests/scratch-region-count.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79ce0d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scratch-region-count.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/** Mach VM region walker via FFI (self-process). */
+import { dlopen, FFIType, ptr } from "bun:ffi"
+
+const k = dlopen("/usr/lib/system/libsystem_kernel.dylib", {
+  mach_task_self: { args: [], returns: FFIType.u64 },
+  mach_vm_region: {
+    args: [FFIType.u64, FFIType.ptr, FFIType.ptr, FFIType.u32, FFIType.ptr, FFIType.ptr, FFIType.ptr],
+    returns: FFIType.i32,
+  },
+})
+
+/** Walk own VM map; count total regions and ~128K ones. */
+export function countRegions(): { total: number; r128k: number } {
+  const task = (k.symbols.mach_task_self as any)() as number
+  const addr = new BigUint64Array(1)
+  const size = new BigUint64Array(1)
+  const info = new Uint32Array(16)
+  const infoCnt = new Uint32Array(1)
+  const objectName = new Uint32Array(1)
+  let total = 0
+  let r128k = 0
+  addr[0] = 1n
+  const walk = k.symbols.mach_vm_region as any
+  for (;;) {
+    infoCnt[0] = 16
+    const kr = walk(BigInt(task), ptr(addr), ptr(size), 9, ptr(info), ptr(infoCnt), ptr(objectName))
+    if (kr !== 0) break
+    total++
+    if (size[0] >= 131072n && size[0] <= 139264n) r128k++
+    addr[0] = addr[0] + size[0]
+    if (addr[0] === 0n || total > 500000) break
+  }
+  return { total, r128k }
+}
diff --git a/tests/scratch-render-leak.tsx b/tests/scratch-render-leak.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03f99fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scratch-render-leak.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/** Minimal opentui app: VM region growth from render loop and/or text churn. */
+import { appendFileSync } from "node:fs"
+import { createSignal } from "solid-js"
+import { render } from "@opentui/solid"
+import { countRegions } from "./scratch-region-count"
+
+const CHURN = Bun.argv.includes("--churn")
+const OUT = Bun.argv.find((a) => a.startsWith("--out="))?.slice(6) ?? "/tmp/render-leak.log"
+const log = (m: string) => Bun.write(Bun.stderr, m + "\n") // stderr may be hijacked too; use fd via file:
+const append = (m: string) => appendFileSync(OUT, m + "\n")
+
+const [s, setS] = createSignal("hello")
+if (CHURN) {
+  let i = 0
+  setInterval(() => setS(`hello ${++i} ${"x".repeat(i % 50)}`), 33)
+}
+
+render(() => <text>{s()}</text>)
+await Bun.sleep(1000)
+const c0 = countRegions()
+append(`start churn=${CHURN}: total=${c0.total}`)
+for (let w = 1; w <= 4; w++) {
+  await Bun.sleep(15_000)
+  const c = countRegions()
+  append(`t=${w * 15}s total=${c.total} (delta ${c.total - c0.total})`)
+}
+process.exit(0)
diff --git a/tests/scratch-stream-leak.test.ts b/tests/scratch-stream-leak.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1931cb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scratch-stream-leak.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/** Scratch: does the ffmpeg decode stream leak VM regions per chunk? */
+import { test, expect } from "bun:test"
+import { EpisodePcmCache } from "../src/utils/audio-pcm-cache"
+import { spawnSync } from "child_process"
+
+const wav = "/tmp/podtui-stream.wav"
+if (!(await Bun.file(wav).exists()) && (await Bun.$`which ffmpeg`.nothrow())) {
+  await Bun.$`ffmpeg -f lavfi -i "sine=frequency=440:duration=600" -ar 22050 -ac 1 -sample_fmt s16 ${wav}`.quiet().nothrow()
+}
+
+function regions(): number {
+  const out = spawnSync("vmmap", [String(process.pid)], { timeout: 20000 }).stdout?.toString() ?? ""
+  return out.split("\n").filter((l) => l.includes("VM_ALLOCATE")).length
+}
+function rss(): number {
+  return Number(spawnSync("ps", ["-o", "rss=", "-p", String(process.pid)]).stdout?.toString().trim() || 0)
+}
+
+test("decode stream 90s: regions and rss bounded", async () => {
+  Bun.gc(true)
+  await Bun.sleep(200)
+  const r0 = regions(), m0 = rss()
+  const pcm = new EpisodePcmCache({ url: wav })
+  pcm.startDecode(0)
+  const t0 = Date.now()
+  while (Date.now() - t0 < 90_000) {
+    await Bun.sleep(5_000)
+    const pos = ((Date.now() - t0) / 1000) * 4
+    pcm.readWindow(new Float64Array(512), pos)
+  }
+  Bun.gc(true)
+  const r1 = regions(), m1 = rss()
+  console.log(`stream 90s: regions ${r0}->${r1} (delta ${r1 - r0}), rss ${(m0 / 1048576) | 0}->${(m1 / 1048576) | 0}MB`)
+  pcm.stop()
+  expect(r1 - r0).toBeLessThan(100)
+}, 140_000)
diff --git a/tests/scratch-stream-run.ts b/tests/scratch-stream-run.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..40d0948
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scratch-stream-run.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/** Scratch runner: decode stream, self-measure VM regions over time. */
+import { EpisodePcmCache } from "../src/utils/audio-pcm-cache"
+import { countRegions } from "./scratch-region-count"
+const wav = "/tmp/podtui-stream.wav"
+if (!(await Bun.file(wav).exists())) {
+  await Bun.$`ffmpeg -f lavfi -i "sine=frequency=440:duration=600" -ar 22050 -ac 1 -sample_fmt s16 ${wav}`.quiet().nothrow()
+}
+const pcm = new EpisodePcmCache({ url: wav })
+Bun.gc(true)
+console.log(`start: ${JSON.stringify(countRegions())}`)
+pcm.startDecode(0)
+const t0 = Date.now()
+const buf = new Float64Array(512)
+while (Date.now() - t0 < 90_000) {
+  await Bun.sleep(15_000)
+  const pos = ((Date.now() - t0) / 1000) * 4
+  pcm.readWindow(buf, pos)
+  const c = countRegions()
+  console.log(`t=${((Date.now() - t0) / 1000) | 0}s total=${c.total} r128k=${c.r128k} rss=${(process.memoryUsage.rss() / 1048576) | 0}MB`)
+}
+pcm.stop()
+console.log("done")