diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/src/debug/raw-sse-buffer.ts b/packages/coding-agent/src/debug/raw-sse-buffer.ts
index 1bb6d0b3e..b62614666 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/src/debug/raw-sse-buffer.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/src/debug/raw-sse-buffer.ts
@@ -119,9 +119,16 @@ export class RawSseDebugBuffer {
 	#records: RawSseDebugRecord[] = [];
 	// Parallel to `#records`: `#recordChars[i]` is the precomputed char count
 	// for `#records[i]`. Kept in lockstep by `#append` (push both) and
-	// `#enforceLimits` (shift both). See the comment above the class for why
-	// this is a sidecar array instead of a per-record property.
+	// `#enforceLimits` (advance `#head` to evict, then `slice` both together
+	// when compacting). See the comment above the class for why this is a
+	// sidecar array instead of a per-record property.
 	#recordChars: number[] = [];
+	// Head-index ring over `#records`/`#recordChars`: index of the oldest live
+	// record. Eviction advances `#head` (amortized O(1)) rather than an O(n)
+	// front `shift()`; the dead `[0, #head)` prefix is reclaimed lazily by
+	// `#enforceLimits`. Live count is `#records.length - #head`; the live
+	// records are `#records[#head ..]`.
+	#head = 0;
 	#totalChars = 0;
 	#droppedRecords = 0;
 	#droppedChars = 0;
@@ -181,7 +188,7 @@ export class RawSseDebugBuffer {
 
 	snapshot(): RawSseDebugSnapshot {
 		return {
-			records: [...this.#records],
+			records: this.#records.slice(this.#head),
 			droppedRecords: this.#droppedRecords,
 			droppedChars: this.#droppedChars,
 			totalEvents: this.#totalEvents,
@@ -190,9 +197,12 @@ export class RawSseDebugBuffer {
 	}
 
 	toRawText(): string {
-		// Reads the live array directly: `rawRecordText` only computes a string
-		// from each record, so no caller-visible mutation is possible.
-		const body = this.#records.map(rawRecordText).join("\n");
+		// Reads the live window directly: `rawRecordText` only computes a string
+		// from each record, so no caller-visible mutation is possible. With a
+		// non-empty dead prefix we map a slice past `#head`; `#head === 0` (the
+		// common case) maps `#records` in place with no extra copy.
+		const live = this.#head === 0 ? this.#records : this.#records.slice(this.#head);
+		const body = live.map(rawRecordText).join("\n");
 		if (this.#droppedRecords === 0) return body;
 		const dropped = `: omp-debug-dropped records=${this.#droppedRecords} chars=${this.#droppedChars}\n\n`;
 		return body.length > 0 ? `${dropped}${body}` : dropped;
@@ -208,14 +218,25 @@ export class RawSseDebugBuffer {
 	}
 
 	#enforceLimits(): void {
-		while (this.#records.length > MAX_RAW_SSE_EVENTS || this.#totalChars > MAX_RAW_SSE_CHARS) {
-			if (this.#records.length === 0) return;
-			this.#records.shift();
-			const chars = this.#recordChars.shift() ?? 0;
+		while (this.#records.length - this.#head > MAX_RAW_SSE_EVENTS || this.#totalChars > MAX_RAW_SSE_CHARS) {
+			if (this.#records.length - this.#head === 0) break;
+			const chars = this.#recordChars[this.#head] ?? 0;
+			this.#head += 1;
 			this.#totalChars = Math.max(0, this.#totalChars - chars);
 			this.#droppedRecords += 1;
 			this.#droppedChars += chars;
 		}
+		// Reclaim the consumed `[0, #head)` prefix once it grows large: one O(n)
+		// memmove amortized over many O(1) evictions, bounding the backing arrays
+		// to ~2x the live window. `#head >= MAX_RAW_SSE_EVENTS` covers the
+		// full-record-count steady state; `#head > liveCount` covers a small live
+		// window held by a few large records under the char budget.
+		const liveCount = this.#records.length - this.#head;
+		if (this.#head >= MAX_RAW_SSE_EVENTS || this.#head > liveCount) {
+			this.#records = this.#records.slice(this.#head);
+			this.#recordChars = this.#recordChars.slice(this.#head);
+			this.#head = 0;
+		}
 	}
 
 	#emit(): void {
diff --git a/packages/coding-agent/test/debug/raw-sse-buffer.test.ts b/packages/coding-agent/test/debug/raw-sse-buffer.test.ts
index ad5e66b04..f393e2feb 100644
--- a/packages/coding-agent/test/debug/raw-sse-buffer.test.ts
+++ b/packages/coding-agent/test/debug/raw-sse-buffer.test.ts
@@ -96,4 +96,78 @@ describe("RawSseDebugBuffer", () => {
 		expect(buffer.toRawText()).toContain("requestId=req_pre_viewer");
 		expect(buffer.toRawText()).toContain("event: message_stop");
 	});
+
+	it("keeps oldest-first order and exact droppedRecords well past MAX_RAW_SSE_EVENTS", () => {
+		const buffer = new RawSseDebugBuffer();
+		// > 2x MAX_RAW_SSE_EVENTS (1000) so the head-index ring compacts at least
+		// once; a corrupt slice would scramble order or counts.
+		const APPENDS = 2_300;
+		for (let i = 1; i <= APPENDS; i++) {
+			buffer.recordEvent({ event: null, data: "{}", raw: [`data: ${i}`] }, model);
+		}
+
+		const snapshot = buffer.snapshot();
+		// 1000 newest survive (sequences 1301..2300); the oldest 1300 are evicted.
+		expect(snapshot.records).toHaveLength(1_000);
+		expect(snapshot.droppedRecords).toBe(1_300);
+		expect(snapshot.totalEvents).toBe(APPENDS);
+		const last = snapshot.records[snapshot.records.length - 1];
+		expect(snapshot.records[0].sequence).toBe(1_301);
+		expect(last.sequence).toBe(2_300);
+		// Contiguous + oldest-first across the compaction boundary.
+		expect(snapshot.records.every((record, idx) => record.sequence === 1_301 + idx)).toBe(true);
+		expect(rawSseRecordLines(snapshot.records[0])[0]).toBe("data: 1301");
+		expect(rawSseRecordLines(last)[0]).toBe("data: 2300");
+	});
+
+	it("evicts by char budget with exact droppedChars and live char total", () => {
+		const buffer = new RawSseDebugBuffer();
+		// One 63_998-char line → originalChars 63_999 (≤ the 64_000 per-event cap,
+		// so no trim) → 64_000 chars per record. 8 records exactly fill
+		// MAX_RAW_SSE_CHARS (512_000); each further append evicts the oldest.
+		const PER_RECORD_CHARS = 64_000;
+		const LINE_LEN = 63_998;
+		const APPENDS = 12;
+		for (let i = 1; i <= APPENDS; i++) {
+			const line = `data: ${i}`.padEnd(LINE_LEN, "x");
+			buffer.recordEvent({ event: null, data: "{}", raw: [line] }, model);
+		}
+
+		const snapshot = buffer.snapshot();
+		// 12 appended, 8 fit the budget → the oldest 4 (sequences 1..4) drop.
+		expect(snapshot.records).toHaveLength(8);
+		expect(snapshot.droppedRecords).toBe(4);
+		expect(snapshot.droppedChars).toBe(4 * PER_RECORD_CHARS);
+		expect(snapshot.records[0].sequence).toBe(5);
+		expect(snapshot.records[snapshot.records.length - 1].sequence).toBe(12);
+		// #totalChars is not exposed; derive live chars from the conservation
+		// invariant (sum appended − droppedChars) and confirm eviction stopped
+		// exactly at budget rather than over- or under-evicting.
+		const liveChars = APPENDS * PER_RECORD_CHARS - snapshot.droppedChars;
+		expect(liveChars).toBe(8 * PER_RECORD_CHARS);
+		expect(liveChars).toBeLessThanOrEqual(512_000);
+	});
+
+	it("emits the dropped header and oldest-first body in toRawText after eviction", () => {
+		const buffer = new RawSseDebugBuffer();
+		const APPENDS = 1_005; // 5 past MAX_RAW_SSE_EVENTS → oldest 5 drop
+		for (let i = 1; i <= APPENDS; i++) {
+			buffer.recordEvent({ event: null, data: "{}", raw: [`data: ${i}`] }, model);
+		}
+
+		// Dropped records 1..5: each "data: N" is 7 chars → 9 chars/record → 45.
+		const text = buffer.toRawText();
+		expect(text.startsWith(": omp-debug-dropped records=5 chars=45\n\n")).toBe(true);
+
+		// Body data lines, oldest-first, are exactly records 6..1005 — no dropped
+		// record leaks and order survives the head-index window.
+		const dataLines = text
+			.split("\n")
+			.filter(line => line.startsWith("data: "))
+			.map(line => Number(line.slice("data: ".length)));
+		expect(dataLines).toHaveLength(1_000);
+		expect(dataLines[0]).toBe(6);
+		expect(dataLines.at(-1)).toBe(1_005);
+		expect(dataLines.every((n, idx) => n === 6 + idx)).toBe(true);
+	});
 });