diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ae95c0ede..c8e6bcbea 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ Full detail: [architecture overview](./docs/architecture/overview.md) · [
 - [Which template system?](./docs/templates/which-template-system.md) — the template naming history and the migration map for callers arriving from a pre-2.0 surface (classic presets, built-in `*Template` classes, the legacy PDF API). The retired classic docs are archived at [v1-classic](./docs/templates/v1-classic/README.md).
 
 ### Architecture & operations
-- [Architecture overview](./docs/architecture/overview.md) · [Lifecycle](./docs/architecture/lifecycle.md) · [Production rendering](./docs/operations/production-rendering.md) · [Layout snapshot testing](./docs/operations/layout-snapshot-testing.md) · [Troubleshooting](./docs/troubleshooting.md)
+- [Architecture overview](./docs/architecture/overview.md) · [Lifecycle](./docs/architecture/lifecycle.md) · [Production rendering](./docs/operations/production-rendering.md) · [Benchmarks](./docs/operations/benchmarks.md) · [Layout snapshot testing](./docs/operations/layout-snapshot-testing.md) · [Troubleshooting](./docs/troubleshooting.md)
 
 ### Recipes & examples
 - [Recipes index](./docs/recipes.md) — [shape-as-container](./docs/recipes/shape-as-container.md) · [shapes](./docs/recipes/shapes.md) · [transforms](./docs/recipes/transforms.md) · [page-backgrounds](./docs/recipes/page-backgrounds.md) · [layered-page-design](./docs/recipes/layered-page-design.md) · [absolute-placement](./docs/recipes/absolute-placement.md) · [tables](./docs/recipes/tables.md) · [themes](./docs/recipes/themes.md) · [streaming](./docs/recipes/streaming.md) · [extending](./docs/recipes/extending.md) · [font-coverage](./docs/font-coverage.md)
diff --git a/benchmarks/src/main/java/com/demcha/compose/BenchmarkSupport.java b/benchmarks/src/main/java/com/demcha/compose/BenchmarkSupport.java
index 989214ff4..4a280a2ba 100644
--- a/benchmarks/src/main/java/com/demcha/compose/BenchmarkSupport.java
+++ b/benchmarks/src/main/java/com/demcha/compose/BenchmarkSupport.java
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 package com.demcha.compose;
 
 import java.net.URL;
+import java.util.Locale;
 
 final class BenchmarkSupport {
 
+    private static final String BENCHMARK_LOGGING_PROPERTY = "graphcompose.benchmark.logging";
     private static final String LOGBACK_CONFIG_PROPERTY = "logback.configurationFile";
     private static final String LOGBACK_STATUS_LISTENER_PROPERTY = "logback.statusListenerClass";
     private static final String NOP_STATUS_LISTENER = "ch.qos.logback.core.status.NopStatusListener";
@@ -19,6 +21,10 @@ static void configureQuietLogging() {
             System.setProperty(LOGBACK_STATUS_LISTENER_PROPERTY, NOP_STATUS_LISTENER);
         }
 
+        if (benchmarkLoggingEnabled()) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         if (System.getProperty(LOGBACK_CONFIG_PROPERTY) != null) {
             return;
         }
@@ -28,4 +34,11 @@ static void configureQuietLogging() {
             System.setProperty(LOGBACK_CONFIG_PROPERTY, config.toExternalForm());
         }
     }
+
+    private static boolean benchmarkLoggingEnabled() {
+        String mode = System.getProperty(BENCHMARK_LOGGING_PROPERTY, "quiet")
+                .trim()
+                .toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
+        return mode.equals("debug") || mode.equals("verbose") || mode.equals("true") || mode.equals("on");
+    }
 }
diff --git a/benchmarks/src/main/resources/logback-benchmark.xml b/benchmarks/src/main/resources/logback-benchmark.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..60919a318
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmarks/src/main/resources/logback-benchmark.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+<configuration>
+    <statusListener class="ch.qos.logback.core.status.NopStatusListener"/>
+    <logger name="org.apache.fontbox" level="ERROR"/>
+    <logger name="org.apache.pdfbox" level="ERROR"/>
+    <logger name="com.demcha.compose" level="ERROR"/>
+    <root level="ERROR"/>
+</configuration>
diff --git a/benchmarks/src/test/java/com/demcha/compose/BenchmarkSupportTest.java b/benchmarks/src/test/java/com/demcha/compose/BenchmarkSupportTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a121a694c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmarks/src/test/java/com/demcha/compose/BenchmarkSupportTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+package com.demcha.compose;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+class BenchmarkSupportTest {
+
+    private static final String BENCHMARK_LOGGING_PROPERTY = "graphcompose.benchmark.logging";
+    private static final String LOGBACK_CONFIG_PROPERTY = "logback.configurationFile";
+    private static final String LOGBACK_STATUS_LISTENER_PROPERTY = "logback.statusListenerClass";
+    private static final String NOP_STATUS_LISTENER = "ch.qos.logback.core.status.NopStatusListener";
+
+    private String originalBenchmarkLogging;
+    private String originalLogbackConfig;
+    private String originalStatusListener;
+
+    @BeforeEach
+    void captureProperties() {
+        originalBenchmarkLogging = System.getProperty(BENCHMARK_LOGGING_PROPERTY);
+        originalLogbackConfig = System.getProperty(LOGBACK_CONFIG_PROPERTY);
+        originalStatusListener = System.getProperty(LOGBACK_STATUS_LISTENER_PROPERTY);
+
+        System.clearProperty(BENCHMARK_LOGGING_PROPERTY);
+        System.clearProperty(LOGBACK_CONFIG_PROPERTY);
+        System.clearProperty(LOGBACK_STATUS_LISTENER_PROPERTY);
+    }
+
+    @AfterEach
+    void restoreProperties() {
+        restore(BENCHMARK_LOGGING_PROPERTY, originalBenchmarkLogging);
+        restore(LOGBACK_CONFIG_PROPERTY, originalLogbackConfig);
+        restore(LOGBACK_STATUS_LISTENER_PROPERTY, originalStatusListener);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void configuresQuietLogbackByDefault() {
+        BenchmarkSupport.configureQuietLogging();
+
+        assertThat(System.getProperty(LOGBACK_CONFIG_PROPERTY))
+                .contains("logback-benchmark.xml");
+        assertThat(System.getProperty(LOGBACK_STATUS_LISTENER_PROPERTY))
+                .isEqualTo(NOP_STATUS_LISTENER);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void leavesLogbackConfigurationUnsetWhenBenchmarkLoggingIsDebug() {
+        System.setProperty(BENCHMARK_LOGGING_PROPERTY, "debug");
+
+        BenchmarkSupport.configureQuietLogging();
+
+        assertThat(System.getProperty(LOGBACK_CONFIG_PROPERTY)).isNull();
+        assertThat(System.getProperty(LOGBACK_STATUS_LISTENER_PROPERTY))
+                .isEqualTo(NOP_STATUS_LISTENER);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void leavesLogbackConfigurationUnsetWhenBenchmarkLoggingIsTrue() {
+        System.setProperty(BENCHMARK_LOGGING_PROPERTY, "true");
+
+        BenchmarkSupport.configureQuietLogging();
+
+        assertThat(System.getProperty(LOGBACK_CONFIG_PROPERTY)).isNull();
+    }
+
+    private static void restore(String name, String value) {
+        if (value == null) {
+            System.clearProperty(name);
+        } else {
+            System.setProperty(name, value);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/docs/operations/benchmarks.md b/docs/operations/benchmarks.md
index 1c6bd6d75..20e183677 100644
--- a/docs/operations/benchmarks.md
+++ b/docs/operations/benchmarks.md
@@ -105,6 +105,22 @@ powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\run-benchmarks.ps1 -CurrentSp
 powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\run-benchmarks.ps1 -CurrentSpeedProfile full
 ```
 
+### Benchmark logging
+
+Benchmark runs are quiet by default so GraphCompose, PDFBox, and FontBox
+DEBUG lifecycle logs do not dominate the step logs or console mirror.
+When debugging benchmark internals, opt into those logs explicitly:
+
+```powershell
+powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\run-benchmarks.ps1 -CurrentSpeedProfile smoke -EnableBenchmarkLogs
+```
+
+Direct Java entry points accept the same switch as a JVM property:
+
+```powershell
+java -Dgraphcompose.benchmark.logging=debug -cp "benchmarks\target\test-classes;benchmarks\target\classes;$cp" com.demcha.compose.CurrentSpeedBenchmark
+```
+
 ## Diff selection rules
 
 ### Current-speed diffs
diff --git a/scripts/run-benchmarks.ps1 b/scripts/run-benchmarks.ps1
index a0dd2c777..734f887e6 100644
--- a/scripts/run-benchmarks.ps1
+++ b/scripts/run-benchmarks.ps1
@@ -21,12 +21,16 @@ Step 11 (`11-verdict-current-speed`) compares the current-speed result against
 the committed baseline (`baselines/current-speed-<profile>.json`) and fails the
 run when a canonical scenario regresses beyond the noise band. Use `-SkipVerdict`
 to skip that gate while exploring. See `docs/operations/perf-change-workflow.md`.
+
+Benchmark logging is quiet by default. Use `-EnableBenchmarkLogs` when debugging
+GraphCompose/PDFBox lifecycle logs during a benchmark run.
 #>
 param(
     [switch]$IncludeEndurance,
     [switch]$OpenResults,
     [switch]$SkipDiff,
     [switch]$SkipVerdict,
+    [switch]$EnableBenchmarkLogs,
     [ValidateSet("full", "smoke")]
     [string]$CurrentSpeedProfile = "full",
     [ValidateRange(1, 10)]
@@ -254,6 +258,7 @@ function Invoke-MedianAggregation {
         [string]$SuiteName,
         [string]$AggregateSuiteName,
         [string]$Classpath,
+        [string[]]$SystemProperties = @(),
         [string[]]$InputPaths
     )
 
@@ -263,7 +268,7 @@ function Invoke-MedianAggregation {
 
     $beforeRuns = @(Get-RunFiles -SuiteName $AggregateSuiteName)
     $arguments = @($SuiteName) + $InputPaths
-    Invoke-JavaMain -Name $Name -Classpath $Classpath -MainClass "com.demcha.compose.BenchmarkMedianTool" -Arguments $arguments | Out-Null
+    Invoke-JavaMain -Name $Name -Classpath $Classpath -MainClass "com.demcha.compose.BenchmarkMedianTool" -SystemProperties $SystemProperties -Arguments $arguments | Out-Null
 
     $afterRuns = @(Get-RunFiles -SuiteName $AggregateSuiteName)
     $newRuns = @($afterRuns | Where-Object { $_ -notin $beforeRuns })
@@ -287,6 +292,9 @@ function Get-IfExists {
     return $null
 }
 
+$benchmarkLoggingMode = if ($EnableBenchmarkLogs) { "debug" } else { "quiet" }
+$benchmarkLoggingProperties = @("-Dgraphcompose.benchmark.logging=$benchmarkLoggingMode")
+
 Add-Content -Path $summaryPath -Value @(
     "# Benchmark Run",
     "",
@@ -295,6 +303,7 @@ Add-Content -Path $summaryPath -Value @(
     ("- Include endurance: ``{0}``" -f $IncludeEndurance),
     ("- Skip diff: ``{0}``" -f $SkipDiff),
     ("- Current speed profile: ``{0}``" -f $CurrentSpeedProfile),
+    ("- Benchmark logging: ``{0}``" -f $benchmarkLoggingMode),
     ("- Repeat current-speed/comparative: ``{0}``" -f $Repeat),
     ("- Logs folder: ``{0}``" -f $logRoot),
     ""
@@ -322,7 +331,7 @@ try {
     $dependencyClasspath = (Get-Content $resolvedClasspathFile -Raw).Trim()
     $javaClasspath = "benchmarks\target\test-classes;benchmarks\target\classes;$dependencyClasspath"
 
-        $currentSpeedProperties = @()
+        $currentSpeedProperties = @() + $benchmarkLoggingProperties
         $currentSpeedProperties += "-Dgraphcompose.benchmark.profile=$CurrentSpeedProfile"
         if ($Warmup -gt 0) {
             $currentSpeedProperties += "-Dgraphcompose.benchmark.warmup=$Warmup"
@@ -351,6 +360,7 @@ try {
                 -SuiteName "current-speed" `
                 -AggregateSuiteName $currentSpeedAggregateSuite `
                 -Classpath $javaClasspath `
+                -SystemProperties $benchmarkLoggingProperties `
                 -InputPaths $currentSpeedRuns | Out-Null
         }
 
@@ -359,6 +369,7 @@ try {
             -SuiteName "comparative" `
             -Classpath $javaClasspath `
             -MainClass "com.demcha.compose.ComparativeBenchmark" `
+            -SystemProperties $benchmarkLoggingProperties `
             -RepeatCount $Repeat
         $comparativeAggregateSuite = "aggregates/comparative"
         if ($Repeat -gt 1) {
@@ -367,13 +378,14 @@ try {
                 -SuiteName "comparative" `
                 -AggregateSuiteName $comparativeAggregateSuite `
                 -Classpath $javaClasspath `
+                -SystemProperties $benchmarkLoggingProperties `
                 -InputPaths $comparativeRuns | Out-Null
         }
 
-        Invoke-JavaMain -Name "07-stress" -Classpath $javaClasspath -MainClass "com.demcha.compose.GraphComposeStressTest"
+        Invoke-JavaMain -Name "07-stress" -Classpath $javaClasspath -MainClass "com.demcha.compose.GraphComposeStressTest" -SystemProperties $benchmarkLoggingProperties
 
         if ($IncludeEndurance) {
-            Invoke-JavaMain -Name "08-endurance" -Classpath $javaClasspath -MainClass "com.demcha.compose.EnduranceTest" -JavaOptions @("-Xmx$EnduranceHeap")
+            Invoke-JavaMain -Name "08-endurance" -Classpath $javaClasspath -MainClass "com.demcha.compose.EnduranceTest" -SystemProperties $benchmarkLoggingProperties -JavaOptions @("-Xmx$EnduranceHeap")
         } else {
             Add-SummaryLine("- ``08-endurance``: skipped")
             Add-SummaryLine("  - Reason: use ``-IncludeEndurance`` to enable the 100,000 document soak run")
@@ -390,7 +402,7 @@ try {
 
             if ($null -ne $currentSpeedDiffPair) {
                 $currentSpeedDiffName = if ($Repeat -gt 1) { "09-diff-current-speed-median" } else { "09-diff-current-speed" }
-                Invoke-JavaMain -Name $currentSpeedDiffName -Classpath $javaClasspath -MainClass "com.demcha.compose.BenchmarkDiffTool" -Arguments $currentSpeedDiffPair
+                Invoke-JavaMain -Name $currentSpeedDiffName -Classpath $javaClasspath -MainClass "com.demcha.compose.BenchmarkDiffTool" -SystemProperties $benchmarkLoggingProperties -Arguments $currentSpeedDiffPair
             } else {
                 Add-SummaryLine("- ``09-diff-current-speed``: skipped")
                 if ($Repeat -gt 1) {
@@ -408,7 +420,7 @@ try {
 
             if ($null -ne $comparativeDiffPair) {
                 $comparativeDiffName = if ($Repeat -gt 1) { "10-diff-comparative-median" } else { "10-diff-comparative" }
-                Invoke-JavaMain -Name $comparativeDiffName -Classpath $javaClasspath -MainClass "com.demcha.compose.BenchmarkDiffTool" -Arguments $comparativeDiffPair
+                Invoke-JavaMain -Name $comparativeDiffName -Classpath $javaClasspath -MainClass "com.demcha.compose.BenchmarkDiffTool" -SystemProperties $benchmarkLoggingProperties -Arguments $comparativeDiffPair
             } else {
                 Add-SummaryLine("- ``10-diff-comparative``: skipped")
                 if ($Repeat -gt 1) {
@@ -475,7 +487,7 @@ try {
             # average latency; peakHeapMb is advisory inside the tool. When the
             # gate is on, BenchmarkVerdictTool exits non-zero on a regression,
             # which makes Invoke-LoggedCommand throw and fail the whole run.
-            $verdictProperties = @()
+            $verdictProperties = @() + $benchmarkLoggingProperties
             if ($Repeat -le 1) {
                 $verdictProperties += "-Dgraphcompose.benchmark.verdict.gate=false"
                 Add-SummaryLine("- ``11-verdict-current-speed``: advisory (single run; use -Repeat 5 for the hard gate)")