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diff --git a/test/renderer/utils/memberAvatarCatalog.assets.test.ts b/test/renderer/utils/memberAvatarCatalog.assets.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c4335a7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/renderer/utils/memberAvatarCatalog.assets.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { readdirSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import path from 'node:path';
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+
+const AVATAR_DIR = path.join(process.cwd(), 'src/renderer/assets/participant-avatars');
+const EXPECTED_AVATAR_COUNT = 13;
+const MAX_AVATAR_DIMENSION_PX = 256;
+const MAX_AVATAR_FILE_BYTES = 120 * 1024;
+const MAX_AVATAR_CATALOG_BYTES = 1.25 * 1024 * 1024;
+
+function readPngDimensions(buffer: Buffer): { width: number; height: number } {
+  expect(buffer.subarray(0, 8).toString('hex')).toBe('89504e470d0a1a0a');
+  return {
+    width: buffer.readUInt32BE(16),
+    height: buffer.readUInt32BE(20),
+  };
+}
+
+describe('participant avatar assets', () => {
+  it('keeps startup avatars within the renderer asset budget', () => {
+    const avatarFiles = readdirSync(AVATAR_DIR)
+      .filter((fileName) => fileName.endsWith('.png'))
+      .sort();
+    let totalBytes = 0;
+
+    expect(avatarFiles).toHaveLength(EXPECTED_AVATAR_COUNT);
+
+    for (const fileName of avatarFiles) {
+      const buffer = readFileSync(path.join(AVATAR_DIR, fileName));
+      totalBytes += buffer.byteLength;
+      const dimensions = readPngDimensions(buffer);
+
+      expect(dimensions.width, fileName).toBeLessThanOrEqual(MAX_AVATAR_DIMENSION_PX);
+      expect(dimensions.height, fileName).toBeLessThanOrEqual(MAX_AVATAR_DIMENSION_PX);
+      expect(buffer.byteLength, fileName).toBeLessThanOrEqual(MAX_AVATAR_FILE_BYTES);
+    }
+
+    expect(totalBytes).toBeLessThanOrEqual(MAX_AVATAR_CATALOG_BYTES);
+  });
+});