diff --git a/docs/v0.7-search-and-git.md b/docs/v0.7-search-and-git.md
index 3046000..f2c7ccc 100644
--- a/docs/v0.7-search-and-git.md
+++ b/docs/v0.7-search-and-git.md
@@ -51,9 +51,15 @@ Sync performance — inherited from the
 - [ ] Close the publish gap: 19.8 s today — the splice's 5.0 s and the ~7 s of
       repo-open/negotiation overhead are the next curves
       ([tradeoff analysis](tradeoff-curves/sync-commit-staging.md)).
-- [ ] Instrument the residual ~360 ms/loose-write (suspect: FAT directory-op
-      cost in the freshen/refresh path) — one `sd_bench` + `p_mmap`-miss
-      logging pass.
+- [~] Instrument the residual ~360 ms/loose-write (suspect: FAT directory-op
+      cost in the freshen/refresh path) — **instrumentation BUILT 2026-07-14,
+      measurement run pending**: `sd_bench` grew a directory-entry-scaling
+      section (stat hit/miss + the loose-object composite at 8/64/256
+      siblings — FAT resolves paths by linear scan, so cost climbing with N
+      convicts dir scans; flash with `just flash-bench`), and `stage_and_commit`
+      now brackets the splice with the `p_mmap` counters, logging
+      `N mmaps / M KB read` per commit so the next real `:sync` splits the
+      residual into pack-read I/O vs everything else.
 - [ ] The images-off-card lever
       ([notes/git-sync-images-and-repo-size.md](notes/git-sync-images-and-repo-size.md))
       composes with the splice — decide whether to take it here.
diff --git a/firmware/src/bin/sd_bench.rs b/firmware/src/bin/sd_bench.rs
index 981d181..388d4c9 100644
--- a/firmware/src/bin/sd_bench.rs
+++ b/firmware/src/bin/sd_bench.rs
@@ -117,6 +117,42 @@ fn run() -> Result<()> {
         Ok(())
     })?);
 
+    // 6b) Directory-entry scaling — the ~360 ms/loose-write residual suspect
+    //     (2026-07-13, post-FASTSEEK; see sync-commit-staging.md). FAT has no
+    //     directory index: every path resolution scans the parent's entries
+    //     linearly over SPI, so op cost should grow with sibling count. A repo
+    //     `.git/objects/` accumulates up to 256 fan-out dirs, and every loose
+    //     write resolves multi-component paths under it several times (freshen
+    //     stat, temp create, remove, rename). If stat/create cost climbs with N
+    //     here, the residual is directory scans, not data I/O — and the miss
+    //     case (full scan, no early exit) is the worst-case bound.
+    for n in [8usize, 64, 256] {
+        let dir = format!("{BENCH_DIR}/fan{n}");
+        fs::create_dir_all(&dir)?;
+        for j in 0..n {
+            File::create(format!("{dir}/e{j:04}"))?; // sibling entries (untimed setup)
+        }
+        summarize(&format!("stat hit, {n:>3} siblings"), time_each(|i| {
+            fs::metadata(format!("{dir}/e{:04}", i % n)).map(|_| ()).map_err(Into::into)
+        })?);
+        summarize(&format!("stat miss, {n:>3} siblings"), time_each(|i| {
+            let _ = fs::metadata(format!("{dir}/nope{i}"));
+            Ok(())
+        })?);
+        summarize(&format!("loose composite, {n:>3} sib"), time_each(|i| {
+            let tmp = format!("{dir}/tmp_obj{i}");
+            let fin = format!("{dir}/{i:038x}");
+            let _ = fs::metadata(&fin); // freshen probe, misses
+            {
+                let mut f = File::create(&tmp)?;
+                f.write_all(&PAYLOAD)?;
+            }
+            let _ = fs::remove_file(&fin); // p_rename's remove(to) — ENOENT
+            fs::rename(&tmp, &fin)?;
+            Ok(())
+        })?);
+    }
+
     // Clean up so the card is left as we found it.
     fs::remove_dir_all(BENCH_DIR).with_context(|| format!("removing {BENCH_DIR}"))?;
 
diff --git a/firmware/src/git_sync.rs b/firmware/src/git_sync.rs
index 2161430..dd9453b 100644
--- a/firmware/src/git_sync.rs
+++ b/firmware/src/git_sync.rs
@@ -476,6 +476,13 @@ fn stage_and_commit(repo: &Repository, paths: &BTreeSet<String>) -> Result<Optio
         None => None,
     };
 
+    // I/O attribution for the ~360 ms/loose-write residual (v0.7 follow-up):
+    // bracket the splice with the p_mmap counters so the log says how many
+    // mmap windows (≈ unique pack reads) and how many KB the whole splice
+    // issued. Divided by the loose writes (~4/path: blob + tree chain), this
+    // pins whether the residual is pack-read I/O or FAT directory ops — the
+    // two candidates left after FASTSEEK.
+    let (maps_before, read_kb_before) = map_counters();
     let t_splice = Instant::now();
     let mut tree = base;
     for path in paths {
@@ -514,9 +521,12 @@ fn stage_and_commit(repo: &Repository, paths: &BTreeSet<String>) -> Result<Optio
     let oid = repo
         .commit(Some("HEAD"), &sig, &sig, &message, &tree, &parents)
         .context("creating commit")?;
+    let (maps_after, read_kb_after) = map_counters();
     log::info!(
-        "commit split — splice {splice_ms}ms ({} path(s)), commit-obj {}ms; committed {} — free heap {} ({} internal)",
+        "commit split — splice {splice_ms}ms ({} path(s), {} mmaps / {} KB read), commit-obj {}ms; committed {} — free heap {} ({} internal)",
         paths.len(),
+        maps_after - maps_before,
+        read_kb_after - read_kb_before,
         t_commit.elapsed().as_millis(),
         short(oid),
         free_heap(),
@@ -931,6 +941,16 @@ unsafe extern "C" {
     fn esp_map_stats(hits: *mut u32, misses: *mut u32, read_kb: *mut u32, cached_kb: *mut u32);
 }
 
+/// The p_mmap emulation's cumulative counters: (mappings created, KB read).
+/// Deltas around an operation attribute its pack-read I/O (each mapping is a
+/// real lseek+read over SPI in esp_map.c).
+fn map_counters() -> (u32, u32) {
+    let (mut maps, mut read_kb) = (0u32, 0u32);
+    // SAFETY: esp_map_stats only writes the non-null out-params.
+    unsafe { esp_map_stats(std::ptr::null_mut(), &mut maps, &mut read_kb, std::ptr::null_mut()) };
+    (maps, read_kb)
+}
+
 /// One-line heap + odb-cache + mmap snapshot for the push path. Runs 4–6
 /// (2026-07-13) each spent ~65 s inside `remote.push()` while something
 /// consumed ~6 MB of PSRAM (run 4: the UI aborted on a framebuffer alloc;