diff --git a/src/agent/runner.rs b/src/agent/runner.rs
index 5bc3ce4..cba6296 100644
--- a/src/agent/runner.rs
+++ b/src/agent/runner.rs
@@ -62,8 +62,6 @@ pub struct Agent {
     pub reasoning_effort: String,
     /// Persistent conversation log — append-only record of all messages.
     conversation_log: Option<ConversationLog>,
-    /// Current context window budget breakdown.
-    pub context_budget: ContextBudget,
     /// BPE tokenizer for token counting (cl100k_base — close enough
     /// for Claude and Qwen budget allocation, ~85-90% count accuracy).
     tokenizer: CoreBPE,
@@ -116,7 +114,6 @@ impl Agent {
             process_tracker: ProcessTracker::new(),
             reasoning_effort: "none".to_string(),
             conversation_log,
-            context_budget: ContextBudget::default(),
             tokenizer,
             context,
             shared_context,
@@ -126,7 +123,6 @@ impl Agent {
 
         agent.load_startup_journal();
         agent.load_working_stack();
-        agent.measure_budget();
         agent.publish_context_state();
         agent
     }
@@ -183,28 +179,11 @@ impl Agent {
     /// Push a context-only message (system prompt, identity context,
     /// journal summaries). Not logged — these are reconstructed on
     /// every startup/compaction.
-    /// Measure context window usage by category. Uses the BPE tokenizer
-    /// for direct token counting (no chars/4 approximation).
-    fn measure_budget(&mut self) {
-        let count = |s: &str| self.tokenizer.encode_with_special_tokens(s).len();
-
-        let id_tokens = count(&self.context.system_prompt)
-            + self.context.personality.iter()
-                .map(|(_, content)| count(content)).sum::<usize>();
-        let jnl_tokens: usize = self.context.journal.iter()
-            .map(|e| count(&e.content)).sum();
-        let mem_tokens: usize = self.context.loaded_nodes.iter()
-            .map(|node| count(&node.render())).sum();
-        let conv_tokens: usize = self.context.messages.iter()
-            .map(|m| crate::agent::context::msg_token_count(&self.tokenizer, m)).sum();
-
-        self.context_budget = ContextBudget {
-            identity_tokens: id_tokens,
-            memory_tokens: mem_tokens,
-            journal_tokens: jnl_tokens,
-            conversation_tokens: conv_tokens,
-            window_tokens: crate::agent::context::model_context_window(&self.client.model),
-        };
+    pub fn budget(&self) -> ContextBudget {
+        let count_str = |s: &str| self.tokenizer.encode_with_special_tokens(s).len();
+        let count_msg = |m: &Message| crate::agent::context::msg_token_count(&self.tokenizer, m);
+        let window = crate::agent::context::model_context_window(&self.client.model);
+        self.context.budget(&count_str, &count_msg, window)
     }
 
     /// Send a user message and run the agent loop until the model
@@ -372,7 +351,7 @@ impl Agent {
 
             if let Some(usage) = &usage {
                 self.last_prompt_tokens = usage.prompt_tokens;
-                self.measure_budget();
+                
                 self.publish_context_state();
                 let _ = ui_tx.send(UiMessage::StatusUpdate(StatusInfo {
                     dmn_state: String::new(), // filled by main loop
@@ -382,7 +361,7 @@ impl Agent {
                     completion_tokens: usage.completion_tokens,
                     model: self.client.model.clone(),
                     turn_tools: 0, // tracked by TUI from ToolCall messages
-                    context_budget: self.context_budget.status_string(),
+                    context_budget: self.budget().status_string(),
                 }));
             }
 
@@ -547,7 +526,7 @@ impl Agent {
             if output.text.starts_with("Error:") {
                 ds.tool_errors += 1;
             }
-            self.measure_budget();
+            
             self.publish_context_state();
             return;
         }
@@ -826,7 +805,7 @@ impl Agent {
 
     /// Called after any change to context state (working stack, etc).
     fn refresh_context_state(&mut self) {
-        self.measure_budget();
+        
         self.publish_context_state();
         self.save_working_stack();
     }
@@ -849,8 +828,16 @@ impl Agent {
 
     /// Push the current context summary to the shared state for the TUI to read.
     fn publish_context_state(&self) {
+        let summary = self.context_state_summary();
+        if let Ok(mut dbg) = std::fs::OpenOptions::new().create(true).append(true)
+                .open("/tmp/poc-journal-debug.log") {
+            use std::io::Write;
+            for s in &summary {
+                let _ = writeln!(dbg, "[publish] {} ({} tokens, {} children)", s.name, s.tokens, s.children.len());
+            }
+        }
         if let Ok(mut state) = self.shared_context.write() {
-            *state = self.context_state_summary();
+            *state = summary;
         }
     }
 
@@ -978,7 +965,7 @@ impl Agent {
         self.context.journal = journal::parse_journal_text(&journal);
         self.context.messages = messages;
         self.last_prompt_tokens = 0;
-        self.measure_budget();
+        
         self.publish_context_state();
     }
 
@@ -1041,7 +1028,7 @@ impl Agent {
         self.context.messages = messages;
         dbglog!("[restore] built context window: {} messages", self.context.messages.len());
         self.last_prompt_tokens = 0;
-        self.measure_budget();
+        
         self.publish_context_state();
         true
     }
diff --git a/src/agent/types.rs b/src/agent/types.rs
index 1e04425..dbd8f4f 100644
--- a/src/agent/types.rs
+++ b/src/agent/types.rs
@@ -342,6 +342,57 @@ pub const WORKING_STACK_INSTRUCTIONS: &str = "/home/kent/.consciousness/config/w
 pub const WORKING_STACK_FILE: &str = "/home/kent/.consciousness/working-stack.json";
 
 impl ContextState {
+    /// Compute the context budget from typed sources.
+    pub fn budget(&self, count_str: &dyn Fn(&str) -> usize,
+                   count_msg: &dyn Fn(&Message) -> usize,
+                   window_tokens: usize) -> ContextBudget {
+        let id = count_str(&self.system_prompt)
+            + self.personality.iter().map(|(_, c)| count_str(c)).sum::<usize>();
+        let jnl: usize = self.journal.iter().map(|e| count_str(&e.content)).sum();
+        let (mem, conv) = self.split_memory_conversation(count_msg);
+        ContextBudget {
+            identity_tokens: id,
+            memory_tokens: mem,
+            journal_tokens: jnl,
+            conversation_tokens: conv,
+            window_tokens,
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Split conversation messages into memory tool interactions and
+    /// everything else. Returns (memory_tokens, conversation_tokens).
+    pub fn split_memory_conversation(&self, count: &dyn Fn(&Message) -> usize) -> (usize, usize) {
+        // Collect tool_call_ids that belong to memory tools
+        let mut memory_call_ids: std::collections::HashSet<String> = std::collections::HashSet::new();
+        for msg in &self.messages {
+            if let Some(ref calls) = msg.tool_calls {
+                for call in calls {
+                    if call.function.name.starts_with("memory_")
+                        || call.function.name.starts_with("journal_") {
+                        memory_call_ids.insert(call.id.clone());
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        let mut mem_tokens = 0;
+        let mut conv_tokens = 0;
+        for msg in &self.messages {
+            let tokens = count(msg);
+            let is_memory = match &msg.tool_call_id {
+                Some(id) => memory_call_ids.contains(id),
+                None => msg.tool_calls.as_ref().map_or(false, |calls|
+                    calls.iter().all(|c| memory_call_ids.contains(&c.id))),
+            };
+            if is_memory {
+                mem_tokens += tokens;
+            } else {
+                conv_tokens += tokens;
+            }
+        }
+        (mem_tokens, conv_tokens)
+    }
+
     pub fn render_context_message(&self) -> String {
         let mut parts: Vec<String> = self.personality.iter()
             .map(|(name, content)| format!("## {}\n\n{}", name, content))
diff --git a/src/bin/poc-agent.rs b/src/bin/poc-agent.rs
index 8d399f1..09e481f 100644
--- a/src/bin/poc-agent.rs
+++ b/src/bin/poc-agent.rs
@@ -964,7 +964,7 @@ async fn run(cli: cli::CliArgs) -> Result<()> {
             completion_tokens: 0,
             model: agent_guard.model().to_string(),
             turn_tools: 0,
-            context_budget: agent_guard.context_budget.status_string(),
+            context_budget: agent_guard.budget().status_string(),
         }));
     }