diff --git a/changelog.d/fix-test-runner-memory.fixed.md b/changelog.d/fix-test-runner-memory.fixed.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..76101c289
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/fix-test-runner-memory.fixed.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Stop the YAML test runner keeping per-case state alive for the whole run: finished cases drop runner-owned simulation references (also when the simulation failed to build) and any tracer, the reform-system cache keeps the 2 most recently used (`--reform-cache-size`), and neither a traced parameter tree nor the tax-benefit system's cache of it at each instant (`get_parameters_at_instant`) keeps tracer-bound wrappers.
diff --git a/docs/engineering/skills/testing.md b/docs/engineering/skills/testing.md
index 86e214485..ecf1ef527 100644
--- a/docs/engineering/skills/testing.md
+++ b/docs/engineering/skills/testing.md
@@ -36,3 +36,33 @@ broader behavioral change, run the relevant focused tests and formatting check.
 - Prefer small synthetic fixtures for regression tests.
 - When fixing a bug, add a regression test that fails without the fix and passes
   with it unless the change is documentation-only.
+
+## YAML suites and memory
+
+`policyengine-core test <paths> -c <country_package>` runs every case in one
+process. Its memory is bounded by design, and tests must keep it that way:
+
+- A finished case releases its simulation (`YamlItem.teardown`). pytest keeps
+  every collected item until the session ends, so anything stored on the item
+  lives for the whole run.
+- A case that names `reforms` or `extensions`, or sets a parameter with a
+  dotted input key, runs on a system built for that combination: a full copy
+  of the baseline system. The runner caches the `--reform-cache-size` most
+  recently used of them (default 2) plus the reform-free system. Do not add a
+  cache to the runner that grows with the number of cases or combinations.
+- Each system still caches its parameter tree at every distinct instant its
+  cases read (`ParameterNode.get_at_instant`,
+  `TaxBenefitSystem.get_parameters_at_instant`), so memory grows with the
+  number of distinct dates a suite reads, not with the number of cases.
+  Neither cache may hold a tracer: a read of a traced tree is wrapped for that
+  read only.
+- `tests/core/tools/test_runner/test_runner_memory.py` holds the regression
+  tests: a few hundred cases in one process must not grow traced memory or
+  the number of live simulations and systems, and traced cases at distinct
+  dates must leave no tracer or recorded result alive.
+
+Run one large suite at a time. A country package's whole YAML tree in one
+process still holds the baseline system, the reform-free copy and the cached
+reform systems at once; use the country package's own batch runner where it
+has one (policyengine-us: `policyengine_us/tests/test_batched.py` and the
+`make test-yaml-*` targets).
diff --git a/docs/python_api/tools.md b/docs/python_api/tools.md
index 4c8473ab3..47fe40021 100644
--- a/docs/python_api/tools.md
+++ b/docs/python_api/tools.md
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ The `policyengine_core.tools` module contains miscellaneous utility functions, i
 .. autofunction:: policyengine_core.tools.test_runner.run_tests
 ```
 
+The same runner backs `policyengine-core test <paths> -c <country_package>`,
+where `--reform-cache-size N` sets `reform_cache_size`.
+
 ## dump_simulation
 
 ```{eval-rst}
diff --git a/policyengine_core/parameters/parameter_node.py b/policyengine_core/parameters/parameter_node.py
index 0df0e387b..a14c3a3c8 100644
--- a/policyengine_core/parameters/parameter_node.py
+++ b/policyengine_core/parameters/parameter_node.py
@@ -214,17 +214,19 @@ def clone(self) -> "ParameterNode":
         return clone
 
     def _get_at_instant(self, instant: Instant) -> ParameterNodeAtInstant:
-        if instant in self._at_instant_cache:
-            return self._at_instant_cache[instant]
-        node_at_instant = ParameterNodeAtInstant(self.name, self, instant)
+        node_at_instant = self._at_instant_cache.get(instant)
+        if node_at_instant is None:
+            node_at_instant = ParameterNodeAtInstant(self.name, self, instant)
+            self._at_instant_cache[instant] = node_at_instant
         if self.trace:
-            at_instant = TracingParameterNodeAtInstant(
+            # Wrapped on each read and never cached: a cached wrapper kept the
+            # tracer of whichever simulation first read this instant alive for
+            # the life of the parameters, and recorded later reads into it,
+            # while a node cached before tracing was turned on went untraced.
+            return TracingParameterNodeAtInstant(
                 node_at_instant, self.tracer, self.branch_name
             )
-        else:
-            at_instant = node_at_instant
-        self._at_instant_cache[instant] = at_instant
-        return at_instant
+        return node_at_instant
 
     def attach_to_parent(self, parent: "ParameterNode"):
         self.parent = parent
diff --git a/policyengine_core/scripts/policyengine_command.py b/policyengine_core/scripts/policyengine_command.py
index 7aa85c888..2f90aa746 100644
--- a/policyengine_core/scripts/policyengine_command.py
+++ b/policyengine_core/scripts/policyengine_command.py
@@ -9,6 +9,13 @@
 """
 
 
+def non_negative_int(value: str) -> int:
+    number = int(value)
+    if number < 0:
+        raise argparse.ArgumentTypeError(f"must be 0 or more, got {number}")
+    return number
+
+
 def get_parser():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
 
@@ -91,6 +98,12 @@ def build_test_parser(parser):
             default=None,
             help="variables to ignore. If specified, do not test the given variables.",
         )
+        parser.add_argument(
+            "--reform-cache-size",
+            type=non_negative_int,
+            default=None,
+            help="how many reform systems (built for tests with reforms, extensions or parameter inputs) to keep cached; each is a full copy of the tax-benefit system. Defaults to 2; 0 caches none.",
+        )
 
         return parser
 
diff --git a/policyengine_core/scripts/run_test.py b/policyengine_core/scripts/run_test.py
index 5eb4c7c7e..123f49fa0 100644
--- a/policyengine_core/scripts/run_test.py
+++ b/policyengine_core/scripts/run_test.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ def main(parser):
         "only_variables": args.only_variables,
         "ignore_variables": args.ignore_variables,
         "visualize": args.visualize,
+        "reform_cache_size": args.reform_cache_size,
     }
 
     paths = [os.path.abspath(path) for path in args.path]
diff --git a/policyengine_core/taxbenefitsystems/tax_benefit_system.py b/policyengine_core/taxbenefitsystems/tax_benefit_system.py
index b7073081d..79e7d94ca 100644
--- a/policyengine_core/taxbenefitsystems/tax_benefit_system.py
+++ b/policyengine_core/taxbenefitsystems/tax_benefit_system.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 )
 from policyengine_core.periods import Instant, Period
 from policyengine_core.populations import GroupPopulation, Population
+from policyengine_core.tracers import TracingParameterNodeAtInstant
 from policyengine_core.variables import Variable
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -559,10 +560,23 @@ def get_parameters_at_instant(self, instant: Instant) -> ParameterNodeAtInstant:
                 )
             )
 
+        parameters = self.parameters
         parameters_at_instant = self._parameters_at_instant_cache.get(instant)
-        if parameters_at_instant is None and self.parameters is not None:
-            parameters_at_instant = self.parameters.get_at_instant(str(instant))
+        if parameters_at_instant is None and parameters is not None:
+            parameters_at_instant = parameters.get_at_instant(str(instant))
+            if isinstance(parameters_at_instant, TracingParameterNodeAtInstant):
+                parameters_at_instant = parameters_at_instant.parameter_node_at_instant
             self._parameters_at_instant_cache[instant] = parameters_at_instant
+        if parameters_at_instant is not None and getattr(parameters, "trace", False):
+            # Wrapped on each read and never cached, as the tree's own reads
+            # are (``ParameterNode._get_at_instant``): a cached wrapper kept
+            # the tracer of whichever simulation first read this instant
+            # alive for the life of the system, and recorded later reads into
+            # it, while a node cached before tracing was turned on went
+            # untraced.
+            return TracingParameterNodeAtInstant(
+                parameters_at_instant, parameters.tracer, parameters.branch_name
+            )
         return parameters_at_instant
 
     def get_package_metadata(self) -> dict:
diff --git a/policyengine_core/tools/test_runner.py b/policyengine_core/tools/test_runner.py
index 6b8d4aefc..c8df6c8cf 100644
--- a/policyengine_core/tools/test_runner.py
+++ b/policyengine_core/tools/test_runner.py
@@ -67,9 +67,18 @@ def import_yaml():
 # reuses after GC — a collected baseline could produce the same id as a
 # completely unrelated new baseline and hit a stale cache entry (bug H9).
 import weakref
+from collections import OrderedDict
 
 _tax_benefit_system_cache: "weakref.WeakKeyDictionary" = weakref.WeakKeyDictionary()
 
+# How many reform systems (cases with ``reforms``, ``extensions`` or dotted
+# parameter inputs) each baseline keeps, least recently used evicted first.
+# Every one is a full clone of the baseline's parameters and variables, which
+# is over a gigabyte for policyengine-us, and an unbounded cache made a long run
+# grow by that much for every distinct combination it met. The reform-free
+# system that most cases share is always kept and does not count.
+DEFAULT_REFORM_CACHE_SIZE = 2
+
 
 def run_tests(tax_benefit_system, paths, options=None):
     """
@@ -94,6 +103,17 @@ def run_tests(tax_benefit_system, paths, options=None):
     +-------------------------------+-----------+ See :any:`openfisca_test` options doc +
     | name_filter                   | ``str``   |                                           |
     +-------------------------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------+
+    | reform_cache_size             | ``int``   | Reform systems kept cached (default 2)    |
+    +-------------------------------+-----------+-------------------------------------------+
+
+    **Memory**: a case that names ``reforms`` or ``extensions``, or sets a
+    parameter with a dotted input key, runs on a system built for that
+    combination, which is a full copy of ``tax_benefit_system``. The runner
+    keeps the ``reform_cache_size`` most recently used of them and the
+    reform-free system every other case shares, and each case releases its
+    simulation when it finishes, so memory does not grow with the number of
+    cases or of distinct combinations. Each system still caches its
+    parameters at every distinct instant the cases read.
 
     """
 
@@ -183,6 +203,7 @@ def __init__(self, *, baseline_tax_benefit_system, test, options, **kwargs):
         self.test = test
         self.simulation = None
         self.tax_benefit_system = None
+        self._system_simulation = None
 
     def runtest(self):
         self.name = self.test.get("name", "")
@@ -245,15 +266,22 @@ def apply(self):
             self.baseline_tax_benefit_system,
             reforms + inline_reform,
             self.test.get("extensions", []),
+            # ``repr`` keeps 0.2 and "0.2" apart: one is a valid value, the
+            # other is rejected when the system is built.
             reform_key="=".join(
-                [f"{key}:{value}" for key, value in parametric_reform_items]
+                [f"{key}:{value!r}" for key, value in parametric_reform_items]
             ),
+            cache_size=self.options.get("reform_cache_size"),
         )
         verbose = self.options.get("verbose")
         performance_graph = self.options.get("performance_graph")
         performance_tables = self.options.get("performance_tables")
         visualize = self.options.get("visualize")
 
+        # ``Simulation.__init__`` registers itself on the system before the
+        # builder returns, so note what was there to restore it at teardown
+        # even if building fails.
+        self._system_simulation = getattr(self.tax_benefit_system, "simulation", None)
         try:
             builder.set_default_period(period)
             self.simulation = builder.build_from_dict(self.tax_benefit_system, input)
@@ -288,6 +316,33 @@ def apply(self):
             if visualize:
                 self.generate_variable_graph(tracer)
 
+    def teardown(self):
+        # pytest keeps every collected item until the session ends, so a
+        # finished case must not keep its simulation, or the system it ran on,
+        # alive: over a run of thousands of cases that retained every
+        # simulation and every reform system any case used.
+        system, simulation = self.tax_benefit_system, self.simulation
+        if system is not None:
+            if getattr(system, "simulation", None) is not self._system_simulation:
+                # A simulation built for this case, including one whose build
+                # failed, registered itself on the cached system.
+                system.simulation = self._system_simulation
+            tracer = getattr(simulation, "tracer", None)
+            parameters = getattr(system, "parameters", None)
+            if tracer is not None and getattr(parameters, "tracer", None) is tracer:
+                # Core's simulations trace through a per-call view and leave
+                # the tree unmarked, but code outside core can mark the cached
+                # system's tree with this case's tracer (policyengine-us's
+                # ``isolate_parameter_tracing`` does). Left marked, the tree
+                # would keep this case's tracer alive, and later untraced
+                # cases would record their parameter reads in it.
+                parameters.trace = False
+                parameters.tracer = None
+                parameters.branch_name = None
+        self.simulation = None
+        self.tax_benefit_system = None
+        self._system_simulation = None
+
     def print_computation_log(self, tracer):
         print("Computation log:")  # noqa T001
         tracer.print_computation_log()
@@ -419,30 +474,71 @@ def pytest_collect_file(self, parent, file_path):
             )
 
 
+class _CachedSystems:
+    """One baseline's cached systems: the reform-free one, kept for the
+    baseline's lifetime, and an LRU of reform systems."""
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.reform_free = None
+        self.reforms = OrderedDict()
+
+
 def _get_tax_benefit_system(
     baseline,
     reforms,
     extensions,
     reform_key=None,
+    cache_size=None,
 ):
+    """Return the system a YAML case runs on.
+
+    ``cache_size`` bounds how many reform systems stay cached for ``baseline``
+    (default ``DEFAULT_REFORM_CACHE_SIZE``; 0 caches none). The reform-free
+    system is always cached.
+    """
+    if cache_size is None:
+        cache_size = DEFAULT_REFORM_CACHE_SIZE
+    if cache_size < 0:
+        raise ValueError(f"cache_size must be 0 or more, got {cache_size}")
     if not isinstance(reforms, list):
         reforms = [reforms]
     if not isinstance(extensions, list):
         extensions = [extensions]
 
-    # Inner key is (reforms in order, reform_key, extensions as a frozenset).
-    # The outer cache is keyed on the baseline *object* so its entries are
-    # tied to the baseline's lifetime (see bug H9 above).
+    # The cache is keyed on the baseline *object* so its entries are tied to
+    # the baseline's lifetime (see bug H9 above).
+    cached_systems = _tax_benefit_system_cache.get(baseline)
+    if cached_systems is None:
+        cached_systems = _CachedSystems()
+        _tax_benefit_system_cache[baseline] = cached_systems
+
+    # This call's bound applies to what earlier calls cached under a larger
+    # one, least recently used first.
+    reform_systems = cached_systems.reforms
+    while len(reform_systems) > cache_size:
+        reform_systems.popitem(last=False)
+
+    if not reforms and not extensions and not reform_key:
+        if cached_systems.reform_free is None:
+            cached_systems.reform_free = baseline.clone()
+        return cached_systems.reform_free
+
+    # Key: (reforms in order, reform_key, extensions as a frozenset). The
+    # runner rebuilds its inline reform class for every case, so with a
+    # ``reform_key`` (the parameter values it sets) a class reform keys by
+    # that; without one, by the class itself.
     inner_key = (
-        ":".join([reform if isinstance(reform, str) else "" for reform in reforms]),
+        tuple(
+            reform if isinstance(reform, str) or not reform_key else ""
+            for reform in reforms
+        ),
         reform_key,
         frozenset(extensions),
     )
-    baseline_entry = _tax_benefit_system_cache.get(baseline)
-    if baseline_entry is not None:
-        cached = baseline_entry.get(inner_key)
-        if cached is not None:
-            return cached
+    cached = reform_systems.get(inner_key)
+    if cached is not None:
+        reform_systems.move_to_end(inner_key)
+        return cached
 
     current_tax_benefit_system = baseline.clone()
 
@@ -459,10 +555,10 @@ def _get_tax_benefit_system(
         current_tax_benefit_system = current_tax_benefit_system.clone()
         current_tax_benefit_system.load_extension(extension)
 
-    if baseline_entry is None:
-        baseline_entry = {}
-        _tax_benefit_system_cache[baseline] = baseline_entry
-    baseline_entry[inner_key] = current_tax_benefit_system
+    if cache_size > 0:
+        reform_systems[inner_key] = current_tax_benefit_system
+        while len(reform_systems) > cache_size:
+            reform_systems.popitem(last=False)
 
     return current_tax_benefit_system
 
diff --git a/tests/core/test_parameter_tracing_cache.py b/tests/core/test_parameter_tracing_cache.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5b6d73b0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/core/test_parameter_tracing_cache.py
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+"""A traced parameter tree wraps its cached nodes on each read and caches only
+the plain nodes, so no tracer outlives its simulation and no cached node goes
+untraced. The tax-benefit system's own cache of the tree at each instant
+(``TaxBenefitSystem.get_parameters_at_instant``) follows the same rule."""
+
+import gc
+import weakref
+
+from policyengine_core.country_template.entities import entities
+from policyengine_core.parameters import ParameterNode, ParameterNodeAtInstant
+from policyengine_core.taxbenefitsystems import TaxBenefitSystem
+from policyengine_core.tracers import FullTracer, TracingParameterNodeAtInstant
+
+DATES = [f"{year}-01-01" for year in range(2011, 2027)]
+
+
+def tree():
+    return ParameterNode("", data={"x": {"values": {"2010-01-01": 1}}})
+
+
+def system():
+    tax_benefit_system = TaxBenefitSystem(entities)
+    tax_benefit_system.parameters = tree()
+    return tax_benefit_system
+
+
+def trace(node, tracer, branch_name="default"):
+    node.trace, node.tracer, node.branch_name = True, tracer, branch_name
+
+
+def untrace(node):
+    node.trace, node.tracer, node.branch_name = False, None, None
+
+
+def test_a_node_cached_before_tracing_is_traced_once_tracing_starts():
+    parameters = tree()
+    plain = parameters.get_at_instant("2017-01-01")
+    trace(parameters, FullTracer())
+    traced = parameters.get_at_instant("2017-01-01")
+    assert isinstance(traced, TracingParameterNodeAtInstant)
+    assert traced.parameter_node_at_instant is plain
+
+
+def test_the_cache_never_holds_a_tracer():
+    parameters = tree()
+    for tracer in (FullTracer(), FullTracer()):
+        trace(parameters, tracer)
+        assert parameters.get_at_instant("2017-01-01").tracer is tracer
+        assert parameters.get_at_instant("2018-01-01").tracer is tracer
+    assert all(
+        type(node) is ParameterNodeAtInstant
+        for node in parameters._at_instant_cache.values()
+    )
+    parameters.trace, parameters.tracer = False, None
+    assert type(parameters.get_at_instant("2017-01-01")) is ParameterNodeAtInstant
+
+
+def test_the_system_cache_never_holds_a_tracer():
+    """Reads at distinct dates, each under a tracer of its own, as traced
+    cases on one cached system make them: the system used to cache one
+    tracing wrapper per date, each keeping its tracer alive."""
+    tax_benefit_system = system()
+    refs = []
+    for date in DATES:
+        tracer = FullTracer()
+        refs.append(weakref.ref(tracer))
+        trace(tax_benefit_system.parameters, tracer)
+        assert tax_benefit_system.get_parameters_at_instant(date).tracer is tracer
+        del tracer
+    untrace(tax_benefit_system.parameters)
+    gc.collect()
+
+    cached = tax_benefit_system._parameters_at_instant_cache
+    assert len(cached) == len(DATES)
+    assert all(type(node) is ParameterNodeAtInstant for node in cached.values())
+    assert [ref for ref in refs if ref() is not None] == []
+
+
+def test_a_system_node_cached_before_tracing_is_traced_once_tracing_starts():
+    tax_benefit_system = system()
+    plain = tax_benefit_system.get_parameters_at_instant("2017-01-01")
+    tracer = FullTracer()
+    trace(tax_benefit_system.parameters, tracer, "branch")
+    traced = tax_benefit_system.get_parameters_at_instant("2017-01-01")
+    assert isinstance(traced, TracingParameterNodeAtInstant)
+    assert traced.parameter_node_at_instant is plain
+    assert (traced.tracer, traced.branch_name) == (tracer, "branch")
+    untrace(tax_benefit_system.parameters)
+    assert tax_benefit_system.get_parameters_at_instant("2017-01-01") is plain
+
+
+def test_each_system_read_records_in_the_tracer_current_at_the_read():
+    """A read through the system records in the tree's tracer at the time of
+    the read, and nowhere once tracing stops: it used to record every later
+    read in the tracer current when the instant was first read."""
+    tax_benefit_system = system()
+    first, second = FullTracer(), FullTracer()
+    for tracer in (first, second):
+        tracer.record_calculation_start("y", "2017")
+
+    trace(tax_benefit_system.parameters, first)
+    assert tax_benefit_system.get_parameters_at_instant("2017-01-01").x == 1
+    trace(tax_benefit_system.parameters, second)
+    assert tax_benefit_system.get_parameters_at_instant("2017-01-01").x == 1
+    untrace(tax_benefit_system.parameters)
+    assert tax_benefit_system.get_parameters_at_instant("2017-01-01").x == 1
+
+    assert len(first.trees[0].parameters) == 1
+    assert len(second.trees[0].parameters) == 1
diff --git a/tests/core/test_parameter_tracing_cache_property.py b/tests/core/test_parameter_tracing_cache_property.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..32918fb54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/core/test_parameter_tracing_cache_property.py
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+"""The parameter-instant caches under tracing, for any sequence of tracing
+switches and reads at any dates.
+
+Two paths read the parameter tree at an instant: the tree's own
+(``ParameterNode.get_at_instant``, cached in ``_at_instant_cache``) and the
+tax-benefit system's (``TaxBenefitSystem.get_parameters_at_instant``, cached
+in ``_parameters_at_instant_cache``). Invariants checked after every step:
+
+- both caches hold plain ``ParameterNodeAtInstant`` objects only, so neither
+  keeps a tracer;
+- differential: both paths return the same plain node for an instant, traced
+  exactly when the tree is traced at the time of the read, with the tree's
+  tracer and branch name at that time;
+- a traced read records in that tracer and in no other, and tracing never
+  changes a value read;
+- once tracing stops and the caller drops its tracers, none is alive.
+
+``test_parameter_tracing_cache.py`` pins the same behaviour with examples.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import gc
+import weakref
+
+import pytest
+
+# The country-package smoke job installs no dev dependencies.
+hypothesis = pytest.importorskip("hypothesis")
+st = hypothesis.strategies
+
+from policyengine_core.country_template.entities import entities
+from policyengine_core.parameters import ParameterNode, ParameterNodeAtInstant
+from policyengine_core.taxbenefitsystems import TaxBenefitSystem
+from policyengine_core.tracers import FullTracer, TracingParameterNodeAtInstant
+
+# The parameter's value from each start date on: the reference the reads are
+# checked against.
+X_VALUES = {"2010-01-01": 1, "2015-01-01": 2, "2020-01-01": 3}
+DATES = ["2012-06-01", "2015-01-01", "2017-01-01", "2020-01-01", "2024-12-31"]
+TRACERS = 3
+
+
+def expected_x(date: str) -> int:
+    return X_VALUES[max(start for start in X_VALUES if start <= date)]
+
+
+def system() -> TaxBenefitSystem:
+    tax_benefit_system = TaxBenefitSystem(entities)
+    tax_benefit_system.parameters = ParameterNode(
+        "", data={"x": {"values": dict(X_VALUES)}}
+    )
+    return tax_benefit_system
+
+
+steps = st.lists(
+    st.one_of(
+        st.tuples(
+            st.just("trace"),
+            st.integers(min_value=0, max_value=TRACERS - 1),
+            st.sampled_from(["default", "branch"]),
+        ),
+        st.tuples(st.just("untrace")),
+        st.tuples(st.sampled_from(["system", "tree"]), st.sampled_from(DATES)),
+    ),
+    max_size=30,
+)
+
+
+def check_caches(tax_benefit_system: TaxBenefitSystem) -> None:
+    for cache in (
+        tax_benefit_system._parameters_at_instant_cache,
+        tax_benefit_system.parameters._at_instant_cache,
+    ):
+        assert all(type(node) is ParameterNodeAtInstant for node in cache.values())
+
+
+def plain(node):
+    if isinstance(node, TracingParameterNodeAtInstant):
+        return node.parameter_node_at_instant
+    return node
+
+
+@hypothesis.given(sequence=steps)
+# ``too_slow`` times input generation by the wall clock, so it fails on a busy
+# host, not on anything this property checks.
+@hypothesis.settings(
+    max_examples=300,
+    deadline=None,
+    suppress_health_check=[hypothesis.HealthCheck.too_slow],
+)
+def test_caches_stay_tracer_free_and_both_paths_agree(sequence):
+    tax_benefit_system = system()
+    parameters = tax_benefit_system.parameters
+    tracers = [FullTracer() for _ in range(TRACERS)]
+    for tracer in tracers:
+        tracer.record_calculation_start("y", "2017")
+    refs = [weakref.ref(tracer) for tracer in tracers]
+    current = None  # (tracer index, branch name) while the tree is traced
+    reads = [0] * TRACERS
+
+    for step in sequence:
+        if step[0] == "trace":
+            _, index, branch_name = step
+            parameters.trace = True
+            parameters.tracer = tracers[index]
+            parameters.branch_name = branch_name
+            current = (index, branch_name)
+        elif step[0] == "untrace":
+            parameters.trace, parameters.tracer, parameters.branch_name = (
+                False,
+                None,
+                None,
+            )
+            current = None
+        else:
+            path, date = step
+            read = (
+                tax_benefit_system.get_parameters_at_instant(date)
+                if path == "system"
+                else parameters.get_at_instant(date)
+            )
+            other = (
+                parameters.get_at_instant(date)
+                if path == "system"
+                else tax_benefit_system.get_parameters_at_instant(date)
+            )
+            for node in (read, other):
+                if current is None:
+                    assert type(node) is ParameterNodeAtInstant
+                else:
+                    index, branch_name = current
+                    assert isinstance(node, TracingParameterNodeAtInstant)
+                    assert node.tracer is tracers[index]
+                    assert node.branch_name == branch_name
+            assert plain(read) is plain(other)
+            assert read.x == expected_x(date)
+            if current is not None:
+                reads[current[0]] += 1
+            del read, other, node
+        check_caches(tax_benefit_system)
+        assert [len(tracer.trees[0].parameters) for tracer in tracers] == reads
+
+    parameters.trace, parameters.tracer, parameters.branch_name = False, None, None
+    del tracers, tracer
+    gc.collect()
+    assert [ref for ref in refs if ref() is not None] == []
diff --git a/tests/core/test_tracing_parameter_isolation.py b/tests/core/test_tracing_parameter_isolation.py
index 8c4f5e95a..2660fe9ab 100644
--- a/tests/core/test_tracing_parameter_isolation.py
+++ b/tests/core/test_tracing_parameter_isolation.py
@@ -358,23 +358,34 @@ def test_tracing_parameter_node_can_be_copied(isolated_tax_benefit_system, dupli
     )
 
 
-def test_parameters_holding_traced_nodes_can_be_deep_copied(
+def test_traced_parameters_can_be_deep_copied_without_caching_wrappers(
     isolated_tax_benefit_system,
 ):
-    """A tree whose ``trace`` flag is set caches traced nodes; copying it works."""
+    """A traced tree caches plain nodes and returns a wrapper for each read."""
     parameters = isolated_tax_benefit_system.parameters
     parameters.trace = True
     parameters.tracer = FullTracer()
-    parameters(INSTANT)
-    assert type(parameters._at_instant_cache[INSTANT]) is (
-        TracingParameterNodeAtInstant
-    )
+    traced = parameters(INSTANT)
+    cached = parameters._at_instant_cache[INSTANT]
+    assert type(cached) is ParameterNodeAtInstant
+    assert type(traced) is TracingParameterNodeAtInstant
+    assert traced.parameter_node_at_instant is cached
+    assert traced.tracer is parameters.tracer
+    assert parameters(INSTANT) is not traced
 
     duplicated = copy.deepcopy(parameters)
-
-    assert duplicated(INSTANT).taxes.income_tax_rate == (
-        parameters(INSTANT).taxes.income_tax_rate
-    )
+    copied_read = duplicated(INSTANT)
+
+    assert type(copied_read) is TracingParameterNodeAtInstant
+    assert copied_read.tracer is duplicated.tracer
+    assert copied_read.tracer is not parameters.tracer
+    assert copied_read.parameter_node_at_instant is not cached
+    assert copied_read.taxes.income_tax_rate == traced.taxes.income_tax_rate
+    for tree in (parameters, duplicated):
+        assert all(
+            type(node) is ParameterNodeAtInstant
+            for node in tree._at_instant_cache.values()
+        )
 
 
 class _SlottedParameterNode(ParameterNode):
diff --git a/tests/core/tools/test_runner/test_reform_cache_property.py b/tests/core/tools/test_runner/test_reform_cache_property.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7abde339b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/core/tools/test_runner/test_reform_cache_property.py
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+"""The YAML runner's reform-system cache against a reference LRU.
+
+For any sequence of requests, each with its own cache size, the cache holds
+at most that call's ``cache_size`` reform systems after the call, returns a cached object exactly when a plain
+LRU of that size would, always hands back a system built for the reforms and
+extensions requested, and keeps one reform-free system throughout.
+``test_runner_memory.py`` pins the same behaviour with examples.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from collections import OrderedDict
+
+import pytest
+
+# The country-package smoke job installs no dev dependencies.
+hypothesis = pytest.importorskip("hypothesis")
+st = hypothesis.strategies
+
+from policyengine_core.tools.test_runner import (
+    _get_tax_benefit_system,
+    _tax_benefit_system_cache,
+)
+
+
+class StubSystem:
+    """Records what the runner applied to it, in order."""
+
+    def __init__(self, applied=()):
+        self.applied = tuple(applied)
+
+    def clone(self):
+        return StubSystem(self.applied)
+
+    def apply_reform(self, path):
+        return StubSystem(self.applied + (("reform", path),))
+
+    def load_extension(self, extension):
+        self.applied += (("extension", extension),)
+
+
+requests = st.tuples(
+    st.lists(st.sampled_from(["a", "b", "c"]), max_size=2),
+    st.lists(st.sampled_from(["x", "y"]), max_size=2, unique=True),
+    st.sampled_from(["", "p:1", "p:2"]),
+    # Each call's bound; runs on one baseline can ask for different ones.
+    st.integers(min_value=0, max_value=3),
+)
+
+
+@hypothesis.given(sequence=st.lists(requests, max_size=40))
+# ``too_slow`` times input generation by the wall clock, so it fails on a busy
+# host, not on anything this property checks.
+@hypothesis.settings(
+    max_examples=300,
+    deadline=None,
+    suppress_health_check=[hypothesis.HealthCheck.too_slow],
+)
+def test_cache_matches_reference_lru(sequence):
+    baseline = StubSystem()
+    reference = OrderedDict()
+    last_returned = {}
+    reform_free = None
+
+    for reforms, extensions, reform_key, cache_size in sequence:
+        # The reference applies each call's bound first, oldest out first.
+        while len(reference) > cache_size:
+            reference.popitem(last=False)
+        system = _get_tax_benefit_system(
+            baseline,
+            list(reforms),
+            list(extensions),
+            reform_key=reform_key,
+            cache_size=cache_size,
+        )
+        assert system is not baseline
+        # Reforms apply in the order given; extension order is not part of
+        # the cache key, so only the set is fixed.
+        applied_reforms = [name for kind, name in system.applied if kind == "reform"]
+        applied_extensions = {
+            name for kind, name in system.applied if kind == "extension"
+        }
+        assert applied_reforms == list(reforms)
+        assert applied_extensions == set(extensions)
+
+        if not reforms and not extensions and not reform_key:
+            if reform_free is None:
+                reform_free = system
+            assert system is reform_free
+        else:
+            key = (tuple(reforms), reform_key, frozenset(extensions))
+            if key in reference:
+                reference.move_to_end(key)
+                assert system is last_returned[key]
+            else:
+                assert system is not last_returned.get(key)
+                if cache_size:
+                    reference[key] = True
+                    while len(reference) > cache_size:
+                        reference.popitem(last=False)
+            last_returned[key] = system
+
+        cached = _tax_benefit_system_cache[baseline]
+        assert len(cached.reforms) <= cache_size
+        assert list(cached.reforms) == list(reference)
+        assert cached.reform_free is reform_free
diff --git a/tests/core/tools/test_runner/test_runner_memory.py b/tests/core/tools/test_runner/test_runner_memory.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fd4795505
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/core/tools/test_runner/test_runner_memory.py
@@ -0,0 +1,372 @@
+"""The YAML runner must not keep per-case state alive across a run.
+
+pytest holds every collected item until the session ends. When each
+``YamlItem`` kept its simulation, and the runner kept every reform system it
+ever built, memory grew with every case: a policyengine-us run of ~1,500
+files in one process reached 118 GB.
+"""
+
+import gc
+import weakref
+
+import pytest
+import yaml
+
+from policyengine_core.country_template import CountryTaxBenefitSystem
+from policyengine_core.reforms import Reform, set_parameter
+from policyengine_core.tools import test_runner
+from policyengine_core.tools.test_runner import (
+    DEFAULT_REFORM_CACHE_SIZE,
+    _get_tax_benefit_system,
+    _tax_benefit_system_cache,
+)
+from policyengine_core.tools.test_runner import OpenFiscaPlugin
+from tests.fixtures.yaml_runner_memory import (
+    RUNNER_ARGV,
+    mark_parameter_trees_traced,
+    record_results,
+    run_with_probe,
+    system_reading_its_parameters,
+    write_cases,
+    write_cases_at_distinct_dates,
+)
+from tests.fixtures.tracing import build_simulation
+
+
+def _rate_reform(rate):
+    """An inline reform class like the one the runner builds for a dotted
+    parameter input, and the ``reform_key`` it would get."""
+    modifier = set_parameter(
+        "taxes.income_tax_rate", rate, return_modifier=True, period="year:2000:40"
+    )
+
+    class inline_reform_class(Reform):
+        def apply(self):
+            self.parameters = modifier(self.parameters)
+
+    return [inline_reform_class], f"taxes.income_tax_rate:{rate}"
+
+
+def _system_for_rate(baseline, rate, cache_size=None):
+    reforms, key = _rate_reform(rate)
+    return _get_tax_benefit_system(
+        baseline, reforms, [], reform_key=key, cache_size=cache_size
+    )
+
+
+def _rate(system):
+    return system.parameters.taxes.income_tax_rate("2017-01-01")
+
+
+def test_reform_cache_keeps_at_most_cache_size_reform_systems():
+    baseline = CountryTaxBenefitSystem()
+    refs = [weakref.ref(_system_for_rate(baseline, 0.2 + i / 100)) for i in range(8)]
+    gc.collect()
+
+    cached = _tax_benefit_system_cache[baseline].reforms
+    assert len(cached) == DEFAULT_REFORM_CACHE_SIZE
+    # Evicted systems are freed, not just dropped from the cache.
+    alive = [ref() for ref in refs if ref() is not None]
+    assert len(alive) == DEFAULT_REFORM_CACHE_SIZE
+    assert set(map(id, alive)) == set(map(id, cached.values()))
+
+
+def test_reform_cache_evicts_least_recently_used():
+    baseline = CountryTaxBenefitSystem()
+    a = _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.21, cache_size=2)
+    b = _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.22, cache_size=2)
+    assert _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.21, cache_size=2) is a  # hit; A is newest
+    _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.23, cache_size=2)  # evicts B, not A
+    assert _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.21, cache_size=2) is a
+    rebuilt_b = _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.22, cache_size=2)
+    assert rebuilt_b is not b
+    assert _rate(rebuilt_b) == pytest.approx(0.22)
+
+
+def test_reform_free_system_is_kept_through_evictions():
+    baseline = CountryTaxBenefitSystem()
+    reform_free = _get_tax_benefit_system(baseline, [], [], reform_key="")
+    for i in range(6):
+        _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.3 + i / 100, cache_size=1)
+    assert _get_tax_benefit_system(baseline, [], [], reform_key="") is reform_free
+    assert _get_tax_benefit_system(baseline, [], []) is reform_free
+    assert reform_free is not baseline
+    assert _rate(reform_free) == pytest.approx(0.15)
+    assert _rate(baseline) == pytest.approx(0.15)
+
+
+def test_cache_size_zero_builds_a_fresh_reform_system_each_time():
+    baseline = CountryTaxBenefitSystem()
+    first = _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.25, cache_size=0)
+    second = _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.25, cache_size=0)
+    assert first is not second
+    assert _rate(first) == _rate(second) == pytest.approx(0.25)
+    assert len(_tax_benefit_system_cache[baseline].reforms) == 0
+
+
+def test_a_smaller_cache_size_applies_to_what_is_already_cached():
+    baseline = CountryTaxBenefitSystem()
+    first = _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.21, cache_size=3)
+    _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.22, cache_size=3)
+    _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.23, cache_size=3)
+    # A cache hit under a smaller bound still trims, least recently used first.
+    assert _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.23, cache_size=1) is not None
+    assert len(_tax_benefit_system_cache[baseline].reforms) == 1
+    # Any request applies its bound, a reform-free one too; 0 empties it.
+    _get_tax_benefit_system(baseline, [], [], cache_size=0)
+    assert len(_tax_benefit_system_cache[baseline].reforms) == 0
+    assert _system_for_rate(baseline, 0.21, cache_size=0) is not first
+
+
+def test_class_reforms_without_a_key_are_cached_apart():
+    baseline = CountryTaxBenefitSystem()
+    (reform_a,), _ = _rate_reform(0.21)
+    (reform_b,), _ = _rate_reform(0.22)
+    system_a = _get_tax_benefit_system(baseline, [reform_a], [])
+    system_b = _get_tax_benefit_system(baseline, [reform_b], [])
+    assert _rate(system_a) == pytest.approx(0.21)
+    assert _rate(system_b) == pytest.approx(0.22)
+    assert _get_tax_benefit_system(baseline, [reform_a], []) is system_a
+
+
+def test_negative_cache_size_is_rejected():
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        _system_for_rate(CountryTaxBenefitSystem(), 0.25, cache_size=-1)
+
+
+def test_finished_cases_release_their_simulations(tmp_path):
+    path = write_cases(tmp_path / "cases.yaml", 60)
+    probe = run_with_probe(CountryTaxBenefitSystem(), path)
+    assert len(probe.outcomes) == 60
+    # Every item is still referenced by the session here; none may keep the
+    # simulation it ran.
+    assert probe.live_simulations == 0
+
+
+def test_live_systems_do_not_grow_with_the_number_of_cases(tmp_path):
+    short = run_with_probe(
+        CountryTaxBenefitSystem(), write_cases(tmp_path / "short.yaml", 12)
+    )
+    long = run_with_probe(
+        CountryTaxBenefitSystem(), write_cases(tmp_path / "long.yaml", 90)
+    )
+    # 4 vs 30 distinct reform systems requested; the live count must not move.
+    assert long.live_systems == short.live_systems
+
+
+def test_traced_cases_release_their_tracers(tmp_path):
+    """Verbose (traced) cases at different dates keep no tracer: the cached
+    system's parameters used to cache one tracing wrapper, holding that case's
+    tracer and results, per date."""
+    cases = [
+        {
+            "name": f"case {i}",
+            "period": f"20{15 + i // 12}-{i % 12 + 1:02d}",
+            "input": {"salary": 1000},
+            "output": {"income_tax": 150},
+        }
+        for i in range(16)
+    ]
+    path = tmp_path / "traced.yaml"
+    path.write_text(yaml.safe_dump(cases))
+    system = CountryTaxBenefitSystem()
+    probe = run_with_probe(system, path, {"verbose": True})
+    assert probe.live_tracers == 0
+    assert probe.live_simulations == 0
+    reform_free = _tax_benefit_system_cache[system].reform_free
+    assert reform_free.parameters.trace is False
+    assert reform_free.parameters.tracer is None
+
+
+def _run_cases_reading_the_systems_parameters(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Run 16 verbose cases at distinct dates whose formula reads
+    ``TaxBenefitSystem.get_parameters_at_instant``; return the probe, the
+    weak references to every result their tracers recorded, and the system
+    they ran on."""
+    results = record_results(monkeypatch)
+    system = system_reading_its_parameters()
+    path = write_cases_at_distinct_dates(tmp_path / "traced.yaml", 16)
+    probe = run_with_probe(system, path, {"verbose": True})
+    assert len(probe.outcomes) == 16
+    assert results
+    return probe, results, _tax_benefit_system_cache[system].reform_free
+
+
+def test_traced_cases_reading_the_systems_parameters_release_their_tracers(
+    tmp_path, monkeypatch
+):
+    """The system caches the parameter tree at each instant it is asked for.
+    While core's simulations marked the tree traced, that cache kept a
+    tracing wrapper, with its case's tracer and results, for every date (16
+    tracers and 32 result arrays after 16 dates)."""
+    probe, results, reform_free = _run_cases_reading_the_systems_parameters(
+        tmp_path, monkeypatch
+    )
+    assert probe.live_tracers == 0
+    assert [ref for ref in results if ref() is not None] == []
+    assert probe.live_simulations == 0
+    assert len(reform_free._parameters_at_instant_cache) == 16
+
+
+def test_cases_on_a_tree_marked_traced_release_their_tracers(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """The same cases, with each simulation marking its system's parameter
+    tree traced, as code outside core can: the system's cache must still
+    keep only plain nodes, and teardown unmarks the tree."""
+    mark_parameter_trees_traced(monkeypatch)
+    probe, results, reform_free = _run_cases_reading_the_systems_parameters(
+        tmp_path, monkeypatch
+    )
+    assert probe.live_tracers == 0
+    assert [ref for ref in results if ref() is not None] == []
+    assert probe.live_simulations == 0
+    assert reform_free.parameters.trace is False
+    assert reform_free.parameters.tracer is None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "invalid_input",
+    [
+        pytest.param({"salary": "not a number"}, id="variable-value"),
+        pytest.param(
+            {"persons": {"person": {"salary": {"2017-01": "not a number"}}}},
+            id="entity-value",
+        ),
+        pytest.param({"unknown_variable": 1}, id="unknown-variable"),
+    ],
+)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("existing_simulation", [False, True])
+def test_cases_whose_simulation_fails_to_build_release_it(
+    tmp_path, invalid_input, existing_simulation
+):
+    """Both builder paths release failed cases and restore any prior backlink."""
+    cases = [
+        {
+            "name": f"bad input {i}",
+            "period": "2017-01",
+            "input": invalid_input,
+            "output": {"income_tax": 0},
+        }
+        for i in range(8)
+    ]
+    path = tmp_path / "bad.yaml"
+    path.write_text(yaml.safe_dump(cases))
+    system = CountryTaxBenefitSystem()
+    reform_free = _get_tax_benefit_system(system, [], [])
+    previous = build_simulation(reform_free) if existing_simulation else None
+    probe = run_with_probe(system, path, outcome="failed")
+    assert len(probe.outcomes) == len(probe.items) == 8
+    assert probe.live_simulations == 0
+    assert getattr(reform_free, "simulation", None) is previous
+    for item in probe.items:
+        assert item.simulation is None
+        assert item.tax_benefit_system is None
+        assert item._system_simulation is None
+
+
+def test_successful_cases_restore_the_systems_previous_simulation(tmp_path):
+    """Successful and failed builds have the same ownership after teardown."""
+    system = CountryTaxBenefitSystem()
+    reform_free = _get_tax_benefit_system(system, [], [])
+    previous = build_simulation(reform_free)
+    path = write_cases(tmp_path / "good.yaml", 3, reform_every=0)
+
+    probe = run_with_probe(system, path)
+
+    assert len(probe.outcomes) == len(probe.items) == 3
+    assert probe.live_simulations == 0
+    assert reform_free.simulation is previous
+    for item in probe.items:
+        assert item.simulation is None
+        assert item.tax_benefit_system is None
+        assert item._system_simulation is None
+
+
+def test_inline_parameter_values_key_by_type(tmp_path):
+    """A number and the same digits as a string are different inputs: the
+    string must not reuse the system built for the number."""
+    base = {"period": "2017-01", "input": {"salary": 1000}}
+    cases = [
+        {
+            **base,
+            "name": "number",
+            "input": {**base["input"], "taxes.income_tax_rate": 0.2},
+            "output": {"income_tax": 200},
+        },
+        {
+            **base,
+            "name": "string",
+            "input": {**base["input"], "taxes.income_tax_rate": "0.2"},
+            "output": {"income_tax": 200},
+        },
+    ]
+    path = tmp_path / "typed.yaml"
+    path.write_text(yaml.safe_dump(cases))
+    exit_code = pytest.main(
+        [*RUNNER_ARGV, "-q", "-p", "no:cacheprovider", str(path)],
+        plugins=[OpenFiscaPlugin(CountryTaxBenefitSystem(), {})],
+    )
+    # With a value-only key the string case passed on the number's system.
+    assert exit_code == 1
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("reform_every", [0, 3])
+def test_traced_memory_stays_flat_over_hundreds_of_cases(tmp_path, reform_every):
+    """A few hundred cases in one process: memory after the last case is
+    within a small bound of memory after the first hundred."""
+    path = write_cases(tmp_path / "cases.yaml", 300, reform_every=reform_every)
+    probe = run_with_probe(CountryTaxBenefitSystem(), path)
+    assert len(probe.outcomes) == 300
+    # One sample every 10 cases: index 9 is after case 100.
+    growth = max(probe.traced[10:]) - probe.traced[9]
+    # Measured over these 200 cases: 0.5 MB with the fix (pytest's own
+    # per-case reports); 4.0 MB (plain cases) and 18.4 MB (every third case a
+    # reform) without it.
+    assert growth < 2_000_000, f"traced memory grew {growth / 1e6:.1f} MB"
+
+
+def test_reform_cache_size_option_reaches_the_cache(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    seen = []
+    original = test_runner._get_tax_benefit_system
+
+    def spy(*args, **kwargs):
+        seen.append(kwargs.get("cache_size"))
+        return original(*args, **kwargs)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(test_runner, "_get_tax_benefit_system", spy)
+    path = write_cases(tmp_path / "cases.yaml", 3)
+    run_with_probe(CountryTaxBenefitSystem(), path, {"reform_cache_size": 0})
+    assert seen == [0, 0, 0]
+
+
+def test_command_line_rejects_a_negative_reform_cache_size(capsys):
+    from policyengine_core.scripts import policyengine_command
+
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as exit_info:
+        policyengine_command.get_parser().parse_args(
+            ["test", "cases.yaml", "--reform-cache-size", "-1"]
+        )
+    assert exit_info.value.code == 2
+    assert "must be 0 or more" in capsys.readouterr().err
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "arguments, expected", [([], None), (["--reform-cache-size", "3"], 3)]
+)
+def test_command_line_passes_reform_cache_size(monkeypatch, arguments, expected):
+    from policyengine_core.scripts import policyengine_command, run_test
+
+    seen = {}
+
+    def fake_run_tests(tax_benefit_system, paths, options):
+        seen.update(options)
+        return 0
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(run_test, "run_tests", fake_run_tests)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(run_test, "build_tax_benefit_system", lambda *args: object())
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "sys.argv", ["policyengine-core", "test", "cases.yaml", *arguments]
+    )
+    with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as exit_info:
+        run_test.main(policyengine_command.get_parser())
+    assert exit_info.value.code == 0
+    assert seen["reform_cache_size"] == expected
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/yaml_runner_memory.py b/tests/fixtures/yaml_runner_memory.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fb6264a0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/yaml_runner_memory.py
@@ -0,0 +1,203 @@
+"""Helpers for the YAML runner memory tests: generated case files and a pytest
+plugin that measures what a run keeps alive."""
+
+import gc
+import sys
+import tracemalloc
+import weakref
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import numpy as np
+import pytest
+import yaml
+
+from policyengine_core.country_template import CountryTaxBenefitSystem
+from policyengine_core.country_template.variables.taxes import (
+    income_tax as template_income_tax,
+)
+from policyengine_core.simulations import Simulation
+from policyengine_core.taxbenefitsystems import TaxBenefitSystem
+from policyengine_core.tracers import FullTracer
+from policyengine_core.tools.test_runner import OpenFiscaPlugin
+
+# pytest-rerunfailures 16.7 stores failed ExceptionInfo objects on collected
+# items even when no reruns are requested, retaining the builder's simulation
+# through traceback locals. Measure the runner's ownership without this dev
+# plugin; the outer test session can still rerun these tests normally.
+RUNNER_ARGV = [
+    "--capture",
+    "no",
+    "--maxfail",
+    "0",
+    "--tb",
+    "short",
+    "-p",
+    "no:rerunfailures",
+]
+
+
+def write_cases(path: Path, count: int, reform_every: int = 3) -> Path:
+    """Write ``count`` country-template income tax cases to ``path``.
+
+    Every ``reform_every``-th case sets the income tax rate as a dotted
+    parameter input with a value no other case uses, so it needs a reform
+    system of its own; the others run on the reform-free system. ``0``
+    writes no reform cases.
+    """
+    cases = []
+    for i in range(count):
+        salary = 1000 + i
+        case = {
+            "name": f"case {i}",
+            "period": "2017-01",
+            "input": {"salary": salary},
+            "absolute_error_margin": 0.01,
+        }
+        if reform_every and i % reform_every == 0:
+            rate = round(0.10 + i / 10_000, 4)
+            case["input"]["taxes.income_tax_rate"] = rate
+            case["output"] = {"income_tax": salary * rate}
+        else:
+            case["output"] = {"income_tax": salary * 0.15}
+        cases.append(case)
+    path.write_text(yaml.safe_dump(cases, sort_keys=False))
+    return path
+
+
+def write_cases_at_distinct_dates(path: Path, count: int, people: int = 256) -> Path:
+    """Write ``count`` income tax cases for ``people`` people each, every one
+    in a month no other case uses, so each reads the parameters at an instant
+    of its own."""
+    cases = [
+        {
+            "name": f"case {i}",
+            "period": f"{2017 + i // 12}-{1 + i % 12:02d}",
+            "input": {"salary": [1000] * people},
+            "output": {"income_tax": [150] * people},
+        }
+        for i in range(count)
+    ]
+    path.write_text(yaml.safe_dump(cases))
+    return path
+
+
+def system_reading_its_parameters() -> CountryTaxBenefitSystem:
+    """A country-template system whose income tax formula reads the rate
+    through the public ``TaxBenefitSystem.get_parameters_at_instant``, not
+    through the formula's ``parameters`` argument."""
+    system = CountryTaxBenefitSystem()
+
+    class income_tax(template_income_tax):
+        def formula(person, period, parameters):
+            system_parameters = (
+                person.simulation.tax_benefit_system.get_parameters_at_instant(
+                    period.start
+                )
+            )
+            return person("salary", period) * system_parameters.taxes.income_tax_rate
+
+    system.update_variable(income_tax)
+    return system
+
+
+def mark_parameter_trees_traced(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    """Have every simulation that switches tracing on mark its system's
+    parameter tree traced with its own tracer and branch name.
+
+    Core's simulations trace per call and leave the tree untraced; code
+    outside core still marks it (policyengine-us's
+    ``isolate_parameter_tracing`` marks the root of a tree no one else reads
+    where it stands).
+    """
+    original = Simulation.trace
+
+    def set_trace(simulation, trace):
+        original.fset(simulation, trace)
+        if trace:
+            parameters = simulation.tax_benefit_system.parameters
+            parameters.trace = True
+            parameters.tracer = simulation.tracer
+            parameters.branch_name = simulation.branch_name
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(Simulation, "trace", property(original.fget, set_trace))
+
+
+def record_results(monkeypatch) -> list:
+    """Weak references to every array a ``FullTracer`` records as a
+    calculation result from now on."""
+    refs = []
+    original = FullTracer.record_calculation_result
+
+    def record(tracer, value):
+        if isinstance(value, np.ndarray):
+            refs.append(weakref.ref(value))
+        original(tracer, value)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(FullTracer, "record_calculation_result", record)
+    return refs
+
+
+def live(cls) -> weakref.WeakSet:
+    """The live instances of ``cls`` after a full collection."""
+    gc.collect()
+    return weakref.WeakSet(o for o in gc.get_objects() if isinstance(o, cls))
+
+
+class MemoryProbe:
+    """pytest plugin recording, after every ``sample_every``-th case, the bytes
+    Python has allocated (``tracemalloc``, after a full collection) and, at the
+    end of the session, how many simulations and tax-benefit systems are
+    alive that the run created (not ones other tests left behind)."""
+
+    def __init__(self, sample_every: int = 10):
+        self.sample_every = sample_every
+        self.items = []
+        self.traced = []
+        self.outcomes = []
+        self.live_simulations = None
+        self.live_systems = None
+        self.live_tracers = None
+
+    def pytest_sessionstart(self, session):
+        self.simulations_before = live(Simulation)
+        self.systems_before = live(TaxBenefitSystem)
+        self.tracers_before = live(FullTracer)
+        tracemalloc.start()
+
+    def pytest_runtest_logreport(self, report):
+        if report.when == "call":
+            self.outcomes.append(report.outcome)
+
+    def pytest_runtest_logfinish(self, nodeid, location):
+        if len(self.outcomes) % self.sample_every == 0:
+            gc.collect()
+            self.traced.append(tracemalloc.get_traced_memory()[0])
+
+    def pytest_sessionfinish(self, session, exitstatus):
+        tracemalloc.stop()
+        # Keep the collected items alive even after pytest.main returns, so
+        # collecting the session itself cannot hide a runner-owned reference.
+        self.items = list(session.items)
+        # pytest keeps the last failure's traceback in ``sys.last_*``; that one
+        # root is pytest's, not the runner's.
+        for name in ("last_type", "last_value", "last_traceback", "last_exc"):
+            if hasattr(sys, name):
+                delattr(sys, name)
+        self.live_simulations = len(live(Simulation) - self.simulations_before)
+        self.live_systems = len(live(TaxBenefitSystem) - self.systems_before)
+        self.live_tracers = len(live(FullTracer) - self.tracers_before)
+
+
+def run_with_probe(
+    tax_benefit_system, path: Path, options=None, outcome="passed"
+) -> MemoryProbe:
+    """Run ``path`` the way ``run_tests`` does, with a ``MemoryProbe``; every
+    case must end with ``outcome``."""
+    probe = MemoryProbe()
+    exit_code = pytest.main(
+        [*RUNNER_ARGV, "-q", "-p", "no:cacheprovider", str(path)],
+        plugins=[OpenFiscaPlugin(tax_benefit_system, options or {}), probe],
+    )
+    assert exit_code == (0 if outcome == "passed" else 1), exit_code
+    assert probe.outcomes and set(probe.outcomes) == {outcome}
+    return probe