diff --git a/docs/benchmarks.md b/docs/benchmarks.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d418a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/benchmarks.md
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# Performance baselines
+
+Median wall-clock times for the non-Analyzer pipeline (Knowledge Base: 188 entries; scene: `complex_multi_character`).
+Numbers are machine-dependent and indicative; regenerate with `python scripts/benchmark.py`.
+
+| Metric | Median |
+|---|---|
+| Knowledge Base load | 11.26 ms |
+| Single-scene resolution | 57.6 µs |
+| Full pipeline (validate → build) | 742.6 µs |
diff --git a/scripts/benchmark.py b/scripts/benchmark.py
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/benchmark.py
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+"""Benchmark the non-Analyzer compiler pipeline (issue #29, MASTER_SPEC §26.6, NFR-004).
+
+Measures Knowledge Base load time, single-scene resolution time, and full
+non-Analyzer pipeline time (median over several iterations). Prints a table and
+records a baseline to ``docs/benchmarks.md`` for future comparison.
+
+Usage:
+    python scripts/benchmark.py
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import statistics
+import sys
+import time
+from collections.abc import Callable
+from pathlib import Path
+
+sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent))
+
+from compiler.builder.prompt_builder import build_prompts  # noqa: E402
+from compiler.common.config import Config  # noqa: E402
+from compiler.common.knowledge_base import KnowledgeBase, load_knowledge_base  # noqa: E402
+from compiler.resolver.illustrious_resolver import resolve_scene  # noqa: E402
+from compiler.splitter.category_splitter import split_into_categories  # noqa: E402
+from compiler.validator.scene_validator import validate_scene  # noqa: E402
+from tests.regression.golden_scenes import KB_DIR, SCENES  # noqa: E402
+
+_BENCHMARK_SCENE = "complex_multi_character"
+_BASELINE_FILE = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent / "docs" / "benchmarks.md"
+
+
+def _median_seconds(operation: Callable[[], object], iterations: int) -> float:
+    """Return the median wall-clock time of ``operation`` over ``iterations`` runs."""
+    samples = []
+    for _ in range(iterations):
+        start = time.perf_counter()
+        operation()
+        samples.append(time.perf_counter() - start)
+    return statistics.median(samples)
+
+
+def measure_kb_load(iterations: int = 20) -> float:
+    return _median_seconds(lambda: load_knowledge_base(KB_DIR), iterations)
+
+
+def measure_resolution(kb: KnowledgeBase, scene: dict, iterations: int = 200) -> float:
+    config = Config()
+    validated = validate_scene(scene, config).data
+    return _median_seconds(lambda: resolve_scene(validated, kb, config), iterations)
+
+
+def measure_full_pipeline(kb: KnowledgeBase, scene: dict, iterations: int = 200) -> float:
+    config = Config()
+
+    def run() -> None:
+        validated = validate_scene(scene, config)
+        resolved = resolve_scene(validated.data, kb, config)
+        categorized = split_into_categories(resolved.data)
+        build_prompts(categorized.data, config)
+
+    return _median_seconds(run, iterations)
+
+
+def run_benchmarks() -> dict[str, float]:
+    """Run all benchmarks and return their median seconds."""
+    kb = load_knowledge_base(KB_DIR)
+    scene = SCENES[_BENCHMARK_SCENE]
+    return {
+        "knowledge_base_load": measure_kb_load(),
+        "single_scene_resolution": measure_resolution(kb, scene),
+        "full_pipeline": measure_full_pipeline(kb, scene),
+    }
+
+
+def _format_baseline(results: dict[str, float], entry_count: int) -> str:
+    lines = [
+        "# Performance baselines",
+        "",
+        "Median wall-clock times for the non-Analyzer pipeline "
+        f"(Knowledge Base: {entry_count} entries; scene: `{_BENCHMARK_SCENE}`).",
+        "Numbers are machine-dependent and indicative; regenerate with "
+        "`python scripts/benchmark.py`.",
+        "",
+        "| Metric | Median |",
+        "|---|---|",
+        f"| Knowledge Base load | {results['knowledge_base_load'] * 1e3:.2f} ms |",
+        f"| Single-scene resolution | {results['single_scene_resolution'] * 1e6:.1f} µs |",
+        f"| Full pipeline (validate → build) | {results['full_pipeline'] * 1e6:.1f} µs |",
+        "",
+    ]
+    return "\n".join(lines)
+
+
+def main() -> int:
+    results = run_benchmarks()
+    entry_count = len(load_knowledge_base(KB_DIR))
+    baseline = _format_baseline(results, entry_count)
+    _BASELINE_FILE.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    _BASELINE_FILE.write_text(baseline, encoding="utf-8")
+    sys.stdout.write(baseline)
+    sys.stdout.write(f"\nWrote baseline to {_BASELINE_FILE}\n")
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    raise SystemExit(main())
diff --git a/tests/test_performance.py b/tests/test_performance.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f2d07e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_performance.py
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+"""Performance tests and benchmark smoke test (issue #29, §26.6, NFR-004)."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import compiler.common.knowledge_base as kb_module
+from scripts.benchmark import (
+    measure_full_pipeline,
+    measure_kb_load,
+    measure_resolution,
+    run_benchmarks,
+)
+from tests.regression.golden_scenes import (
+    SCENES,
+    compile_prompt_outputs,
+    load_reference_knowledge_base,
+)
+
+BASELINE_FILE = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent / "docs" / "benchmarks.md"
+
+
+def test_benchmark_functions_return_positive_durations() -> None:
+    kb = load_reference_knowledge_base()
+    scene = SCENES["complex_multi_character"]
+    assert measure_kb_load(iterations=2) > 0
+    assert measure_resolution(kb, scene, iterations=5) > 0
+    assert measure_full_pipeline(kb, scene, iterations=5) > 0
+
+
+def test_run_benchmarks_reports_all_metrics() -> None:
+    results = run_benchmarks()
+    assert set(results) == {"knowledge_base_load", "single_scene_resolution", "full_pipeline"}
+    assert all(value > 0 for value in results.values())
+
+
+def test_full_pipeline_is_fast() -> None:
+    # Generous, non-flaky bound: the non-Analyzer pipeline is sub-millisecond in
+    # practice; 100 ms leaves ample margin under CI load.
+    kb = load_reference_knowledge_base()
+    scene = SCENES["complex_multi_character"]
+    assert measure_full_pipeline(kb, scene, iterations=20) < 0.1
+
+
+def test_recorded_baseline_exists() -> None:
+    assert BASELINE_FILE.is_file()
+    assert "Performance baselines" in BASELINE_FILE.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+
+def test_knowledge_base_loaded_once_and_reused(tmp_path, monkeypatch) -> None:
+    (tmp_path / "hair.json").write_text(
+        '[{"id": "long_hair", "tags": ["long hair"], "category": "hair"}]',
+        encoding="utf-8",
+    )
+    calls = {"n": 0}
+    real_load = kb_module.load_knowledge_base
+
+    def counting_load(*args, **kwargs):
+        calls["n"] += 1
+        return real_load(*args, **kwargs)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(kb_module, "load_knowledge_base", counting_load)
+
+    loader = kb_module.KnowledgeBaseLoader(tmp_path)
+    loaded = [loader.get() for _ in range(5)]
+
+    assert calls["n"] == 1  # loaded once
+    assert all(kb is loaded[0] for kb in loaded)  # reused
+
+
+def test_pipeline_does_not_reload_knowledge_base(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    kb = load_reference_knowledge_base()
+    calls = {"n": 0}
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        kb_module, "load_knowledge_base", lambda *a, **k: calls.__setitem__("n", calls["n"] + 1)
+    )
+    for scene in SCENES.values():
+        compile_prompt_outputs(scene, kb)
+    assert calls["n"] == 0  # compilation reuses the passed Knowledge Base