diff --git a/app/api/debug/profile-cache/route.ts b/app/api/debug/profile-cache/route.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..084d30e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/api/debug/profile-cache/route.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+import { NextRequest } from "next/server";
+import {
+  debugFetchProfiles,
+  debugReadCache,
+  type DebugCacheEntry,
+  type Profile,
+} from "src/identity/profileCache";
+
+export const runtime = "nodejs";
+export const dynamic = "force-dynamic";
+
+// GET /api/debug/profile-cache?dids=did:plc:foo,did:plc:bar
+//   Reports what's currently in Redis for each DID and what the upstream
+//   Bluesky getProfiles call returns right now. Does not write to the cache.
+export async function GET(req: NextRequest) {
+  const param = req.nextUrl.searchParams.get("dids");
+  if (!param) {
+    return Response.json(
+      { error: "`dids` query param required (comma-separated)" },
+      { status: 400 },
+    );
+  }
+
+  const dids = Array.from(
+    new Set(
+      param
+        .split(",")
+        .map((s) => s.trim())
+        .filter(Boolean),
+    ),
+  );
+  if (dids.length === 0) {
+    return Response.json({ error: "no DIDs provided" }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+
+  const [cacheEntries, fetched] = await Promise.all([
+    debugReadCache(dids),
+    debugFetchProfiles(dids),
+  ]);
+
+  const result = dids.map((did) => {
+    const cache: DebugCacheEntry = cacheEntries.get(did) ?? { status: "miss" };
+    const live: Profile | null = fetched.get(did) ?? null;
+    return { did, cache, live };
+  });
+
+  return Response.json(
+    { dids, result },
+    { headers: { "Cache-Control": "no-store" } },
+  );
+}
diff --git a/app/debug/profile-cache/page.tsx b/app/debug/profile-cache/page.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c3911837
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/debug/profile-cache/page.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+import {
+  debugFetchProfiles,
+  debugReadCache,
+  type DebugCacheEntry,
+  type Profile,
+} from "src/identity/profileCache";
+
+export const dynamic = "force-dynamic";
+export const runtime = "nodejs";
+
+type SearchParams = Promise<{ dids?: string }>;
+
+export default async function ProfileCacheDebugPage({
+  searchParams,
+}: {
+  searchParams: SearchParams;
+}) {
+  const { dids: didsParam } = await searchParams;
+  const dids = parseDids(didsParam);
+
+  let rows: {
+    did: string;
+    cache: DebugCacheEntry;
+    live: Profile | null;
+  }[] = [];
+
+  if (dids.length > 0) {
+    const [cacheEntries, fetched] = await Promise.all([
+      debugReadCache(dids),
+      debugFetchProfiles(dids),
+    ]);
+    rows = dids.map((did) => ({
+      did,
+      cache: cacheEntries.get(did) ?? { status: "miss" },
+      live: fetched.get(did) ?? null,
+    }));
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <div className="max-w-4xl mx-auto p-6 flex flex-col gap-4">
+      <h1 className="text-xl font-bold">Profile Cache Debug</h1>
+      <p className="text-sm text-tertiary">
+        Shows what&apos;s in the Redis cache and what bsky&apos;s
+        getProfiles returns right now. The cache is not updated.
+      </p>
+
+      <form method="get" className="flex flex-col gap-2">
+        <label htmlFor="dids" className="text-sm font-bold">
+          DIDs (comma- or whitespace-separated)
+        </label>
+        <textarea
+          id="dids"
+          name="dids"
+          defaultValue={didsParam ?? ""}
+          rows={4}
+          className="border border-border rounded-md p-2 font-mono text-sm"
+          placeholder="did:plc:..., did:plc:..."
+        />
+        <button
+          type="submit"
+          className="self-start bg-accent-1 text-accent-2 font-bold px-3 py-1 rounded-md text-sm"
+        >
+          Inspect
+        </button>
+      </form>
+
+      {dids.length === 0 ? (
+        <div className="text-sm italic text-tertiary">
+          Enter one or more DIDs above to inspect.
+        </div>
+      ) : (
+        <div className="flex flex-col gap-4">
+          {rows.map((row) => (
+            <ProfileRow key={row.did} {...row} />
+          ))}
+        </div>
+      )}
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
+function ProfileRow(props: {
+  did: string;
+  cache: DebugCacheEntry;
+  live: Profile | null;
+}) {
+  return (
+    <div className="border border-border rounded-md p-3 flex flex-col gap-2">
+      <div className="font-mono text-sm font-bold break-all">{props.did}</div>
+      <div className="grid grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-2 gap-3">
+        <Pane title={`Cache — ${cacheLabel(props.cache)}`}>
+          <pre className="text-xs whitespace-pre-wrap break-all">
+            {JSON.stringify(props.cache, null, 2)}
+          </pre>
+        </Pane>
+        <Pane title={`Live — ${props.live ? "found" : "null"}`}>
+          <pre className="text-xs whitespace-pre-wrap break-all">
+            {JSON.stringify(props.live, null, 2)}
+          </pre>
+        </Pane>
+      </div>
+      <DiffSummary cache={props.cache} live={props.live} />
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
+function Pane({
+  title,
+  children,
+}: {
+  title: string;
+  children: React.ReactNode;
+}) {
+  return (
+    <div className="flex flex-col gap-1">
+      <div className="text-xs font-bold text-tertiary uppercase">{title}</div>
+      <div className="bg-border-light rounded-md p-2 overflow-auto">
+        {children}
+      </div>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
+function cacheLabel(entry: DebugCacheEntry) {
+  if (entry.status !== "hit") return entry.status;
+  const ageSec = Math.round(entry.ageMs / 1000);
+  return entry.expired
+    ? `hit (expired, age ${ageSec}s)`
+    : `hit (age ${ageSec}s)`;
+}
+
+function DiffSummary({
+  cache,
+  live,
+}: {
+  cache: DebugCacheEntry;
+  live: Profile | null;
+}) {
+  if (cache.status !== "hit") {
+    return (
+      <div className="text-xs italic text-tertiary">
+        Nothing in cache to compare.
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
+  const cached = cache.profile;
+  if (!cached && !live) {
+    return (
+      <div className="text-xs italic text-tertiary">
+        Both cache and live are null (negative cache hit).
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
+  if (!cached || !live) {
+    return (
+      <div className="text-xs italic text-accent-contrast">
+        Mismatch: one side is null ({!cached ? "cache" : "live"}).
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
+  const fields: (keyof Profile)[] = [
+    "handle",
+    "displayName",
+    "avatar",
+    "description",
+  ];
+  const diffs = fields.filter((f) => cached[f] !== live[f]);
+  if (diffs.length === 0) {
+    return (
+      <div className="text-xs italic text-tertiary">
+        Cache matches live for handle/displayName/avatar/description.
+      </div>
+    );
+  }
+  return (
+    <div className="text-xs flex flex-col gap-0.5">
+      <div className="font-bold">Differs on: {diffs.join(", ")}</div>
+      {diffs.map((f) => (
+        <div key={f} className="font-mono">
+          <span className="text-tertiary">{f}:</span>{" "}
+          <span>cache={JSON.stringify(cached[f])}</span>{" "}
+          <span>live={JSON.stringify(live[f])}</span>
+        </div>
+      ))}
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
+function parseDids(raw: string | undefined): string[] {
+  if (!raw) return [];
+  return Array.from(
+    new Set(
+      raw
+        .split(/[\s,]+/)
+        .map((s) => s.trim())
+        .filter(Boolean),
+    ),
+  );
+}
diff --git a/src/identity/profileCache.ts b/src/identity/profileCache.ts
index 31c81c6b..aea77779 100644
--- a/src/identity/profileCache.ts
+++ b/src/identity/profileCache.ts
@@ -105,3 +105,50 @@ export const getProfiles = cache(
     return result;
   },
 );
+
+export type DebugCacheEntry =
+  | { status: "hit"; profile: Profile | null; updatedAt: number; ageMs: number; expired: boolean }
+  | { status: "miss" }
+  | { status: "malformed"; raw: string }
+  | { status: "disabled" };
+
+export async function debugReadCache(
+  dids: string[],
+): Promise<Map<string, DebugCacheEntry>> {
+  const out = new Map<string, DebugCacheEntry>();
+  if (!redisClient) {
+    for (const did of dids) out.set(did, { status: "disabled" });
+    return out;
+  }
+  if (dids.length === 0) return out;
+
+  const raw = await redisClient.mget(...dids.map(profileKey));
+  const now = Date.now();
+  raw.forEach((value, i) => {
+    const did = dids[i];
+    if (!value) {
+      out.set(did, { status: "miss" });
+      return;
+    }
+    try {
+      const entry = JSON.parse(value) as CachedEntry;
+      const ageMs = now - entry.updatedAt;
+      out.set(did, {
+        status: "hit",
+        profile: entry.profile,
+        updatedAt: entry.updatedAt,
+        ageMs,
+        expired: ageMs > MAX_TTL * 1000,
+      });
+    } catch {
+      out.set(did, { status: "malformed", raw: value });
+    }
+  });
+  return out;
+}
+
+export async function debugFetchProfiles(
+  dids: string[],
+): Promise<Map<string, Profile | null>> {
+  return fetchProfiles(dids);
+}