diff --git a/scripts/cli/commands/debug/cli_debug_commands.sh b/scripts/cli/commands/debug/cli_debug_commands.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..61e18fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/cli/commands/debug/cli_debug_commands.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+cliHandleDebugCommands()
+{
+    local action="$initial_command2"
+
+    case "$action" in
+        ""|help)
+            cliShowDebugHelp
+            ;;
+        load-trace)
+            cliDebugLoadTrace
+            ;;
+        *)
+            isNotice "Invalid debug action: $action"
+            cliShowDebugHelp
+            ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+# Run `libreportal <args>` with LP_LOAD_TRACE=1, then summarise the resulting
+# trace file. We rebuild the args from initial_command3..7 (the CLI dispatcher
+# doesn't pass $@ to category handlers — same constraint as the peer commands).
+# A child shell invocation isolates the trace so it doesn't pollute the
+# currently-loaded process.
+cliDebugLoadTrace()
+{
+    local args=()
+    local a
+    for a in "$initial_command3" "$initial_command4" "$initial_command5" "$initial_command6" "$initial_command7"; do
+        [[ -n "$a" ]] && args+=("$a")
+    done
+    [[ ${#args[@]} -eq 0 ]] && args=(help)
+
+    local trace_file
+    trace_file=$(mktemp -t libreportal-load-trace.XXXXXX.log)
+
+    isHeader "Load trace: libreportal ${args[*]}"
+
+    # Time the whole child invocation so we can compare 'wall' vs 'time spent
+    # in sourced files'. The diff = bash startup + dispatch + the command's
+    # own work (which for `help` is ~nothing, so wall ≈ load + bash startup).
+    local t0 t1 wall_ms
+    t0=$EPOCHREALTIME
+    LP_LOAD_TRACE=1 LP_LOAD_TRACE_FILE="$trace_file" \
+        libreportal "${args[@]}" >/dev/null 2>&1
+    t1=$EPOCHREALTIME
+    wall_ms=$(awk -v a="$t0" -v b="$t1" 'BEGIN{printf "%.1f", (b-a)*1000}')
+
+    if [[ ! -s "$trace_file" ]]; then
+        isError "Trace file empty — did the child invocation actually source files?"
+        rm -f "$trace_file"
+        return 1
+    fi
+
+    # Aggregate: total ms inside source, count, top-N hottest files. awk single
+    # pass — no need for sort | head | wc dance.
+    awk -v wall="$wall_ms" -v file="$trace_file" '
+        { ms=$1; sub(/^[^\t]*\t/,""); path=$0
+          total+=ms; n++
+          if (ms > 0.1) { top_ms[n]=ms; top_path[n]=path }
+        }
+        END {
+            printf "  Wall time (child invocation): %s ms\n", wall
+            printf "  Files sourced:               %d\n", n
+            printf "  Cumulative source time:      %.1f ms\n", total
+            if (n>0) printf "  Average per file:            %.3f ms\n", total/n
+            printf "\n  Top 15 hottest files (>0.1 ms):\n"
+            # Quick sort by ms descending (small N, n^2 is fine).
+            for (i=1;i<=n;i++) for (j=i+1;j<=n;j++)
+                if (top_ms[j]>top_ms[i]) {
+                    t=top_ms[i]; top_ms[i]=top_ms[j]; top_ms[j]=t
+                    t=top_path[i]; top_path[i]=top_path[j]; top_path[j]=t
+                }
+            shown=0
+            for (i=1;i<=n && shown<15;i++) if (top_ms[i]>0) {
+                printf "    %8.3f ms  %s\n", top_ms[i], top_path[i]
+                shown++
+            }
+            printf "\n  Full trace at: %s\n", file
+        }
+    ' "$trace_file"
+}
diff --git a/scripts/cli/commands/debug/cli_debug_header.sh b/scripts/cli/commands/debug/cli_debug_header.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a664c10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/cli/commands/debug/cli_debug_header.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+cliShowDebugHelp()
+{
+    isHeader "LibrePortal Debug Commands"
+    echo "Diagnostic tools for measuring and inspecting the running install."
+    echo ""
+    echo "debug load-trace [cmd...]"
+    echo "    Run \`libreportal <cmd...>\` with LP_LOAD_TRACE=1 (default: 'help')"
+    echo "    and summarise where the source-loading time went — total time,"
+    echo "    files loaded, hottest files. Used to measure the gain from lazy"
+    echo "    loading (Phase 3+) and find outliers worth optimising."
+    echo ""
+    echo "  Examples:"
+    echo "    libreportal debug load-trace                  # times 'libreportal help'"
+    echo "    libreportal debug load-trace peer list        # times 'libreportal peer list'"
+    echo "    libreportal debug load-trace backup app delete linkding 1:abc"
+}
diff --git a/scripts/source/loading/initilize_files.sh b/scripts/source/loading/initilize_files.sh
index 001d743..7a12230 100755
--- a/scripts/source/loading/initilize_files.sh
+++ b/scripts/source/loading/initilize_files.sh
@@ -37,13 +37,32 @@ sourceInitilize()
         files_to_source=("${files_libreportal_cli[@]}")
     fi
 
-    # Checking for missing files
+    # Checking for missing files. If LP_LOAD_TRACE=1, every source is timed
+    # and logged to ${LP_LOAD_TRACE_FILE:-/tmp/libreportal-load-trace.<pid>.log}
+    # — used by `libreportal debug load-trace` to pinpoint where the startup
+    # second goes. Each line: <elapsed_ms>\t<file_relpath>. Zero overhead when
+    # the env var is not set (one `[[` per file).
+    if [[ "$LP_LOAD_TRACE" == "1" ]]; then
+        : "${LP_LOAD_TRACE_FILE:=/tmp/libreportal-load-trace.$$.log}"
+        export LP_LOAD_TRACE_FILE
+        : > "$LP_LOAD_TRACE_FILE"
+    fi
     for file_to_source in "${files_to_source[@]}"; do
         if [ ! -f "${install_scripts_dir}${file_to_source}" ]; then
             isNotice "Missing file: ${install_scripts_dir}${file_to_source}"
         else
-            source "${install_scripts_dir}${file_to_source}"
-            #echo "Sourced file: ${install_scripts_dir}${file_to_source}"
+            if [[ "$LP_LOAD_TRACE" == "1" ]]; then
+                local _t0=$EPOCHREALTIME
+                source "${install_scripts_dir}${file_to_source}"
+                local _t1=$EPOCHREALTIME
+                # ms with 3 decimals. EPOCHREALTIME is `<sec>.<usec>`; awk
+                # handles the float arithmetic without needing bc.
+                local _ms
+                _ms=$(awk -v a="$_t0" -v b="$_t1" 'BEGIN{printf "%.3f", (b-a)*1000}')
+                printf '%s\t%s\n' "$_ms" "$file_to_source" >> "$LP_LOAD_TRACE_FILE"
+            else
+                source "${install_scripts_dir}${file_to_source}"
+            fi
         fi
     done