diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 4dd9a7e32..aa0472911 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ Never put more than one C# language feature on one branch.
 - Always run the test suite with `--report-trx` so failures survive: `dotnet test --solution ILSpy.sln --report-trx` (the repo pins Microsoft.Testing.Platform in `global.json`; the bare `dotnet test <sln>` form is the old VSTest syntax). Don't dismiss failures as flaky without first reproducing in isolation, then running repeatedly.
 - The decompiler test suite (test kinds, fixture structure, how to write tests, the compiler-matrix model) is documented in [ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/CLAUDE.md](ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/CLAUDE.md).
 - After matcher / rewriter edits, **run the relevant tests, not just the build.** `dotnet build` green ≠ behaviour correct.
-- **To see what a transform did, dump the ILAst:** `ilspycmd <assembly> -m <doc-id> --ilast` prints the IL transform pipeline's result, and `--after-transform <name-or-index>` stops the pipeline early so two stages can be diffed. Debug builds only (like the UI's ILAst language), so run it from a local build, not the installed tool.
+- **To see what a transform did, dump the ILAst:** `ilspycmd <assembly> -m <doc-id> --ilast` prints the IL transform pipeline's result, and `--after-transform <name-or-index>` stops the pipeline early so two stages can be diffed. Debug builds only (like the UI's Debug Steps pane), so run it from a local build, not the installed tool.
 
 ## Investigating dependencies
 
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/DebugStepRecordingTests.cs b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/DebugStepRecordingTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e3139ebb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/DebugStepRecordingTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,366 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 Siegfried Pammer
+//
+// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this
+// software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software
+// without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
+// publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons
+// to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+//
+// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or
+// substantial portions of the Software.
+//
+// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
+// INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
+// PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE
+// FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
+// OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
+// DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.DebugSteps;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Util;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL.Transforms;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Metadata;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests.Helpers;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.TypeSystem;
+
+using NUnit.Framework;
+
+namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests
+{
+	/// <summary>
+	/// The Debug Steps view replays a decompilation by index, so a single <see cref="Stepper"/> has to
+	/// span the whole pipeline: the IL transforms, the ILAst-to-C# conversion, and the C# AST
+	/// transforms. These tests pin the IL half of that recording.
+	/// </summary>
+	[TestFixture]
+	public class DebugStepRecordingTests
+	{
+		const string RecordedStep = "recorded IL step";
+		const string DetachedStep = "step on a detached function";
+
+		const string SeamStep = "C# AST built from ILAst";
+
+		static readonly FullTypeName SampleType =
+			new FullTypeName("ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.ProjectDecompiler.WholeProjectDecompiler");
+
+		[Test]
+		public void ILTransformStepsLandOnTheDecompilerStepper()
+		{
+			var decompiler = CreateRecordingDecompiler();
+			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(new RecordingILTransform());
+
+			decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			Assert.That(TreeTraversal.PreOrder(decompiler.Stepper.Steps, n => n.Children).Select(n => n.Description), Has.Some.Contains(RecordedStep));
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Retaining the IL steps of every member of a type is affordable for a step view and not for a
+		/// whole-module decompile, which is why it is opt-in - and why callers that never opted in must
+		/// keep the throwaway per-member stepper they have always had.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void ILTransformStepsAreNotRecordedWithoutOptIn()
+		{
+			var decompiler = StepperTesting.CreateDecompiler();
+			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(new RecordingILTransform());
+
+			decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			Assert.That(TreeTraversal.PreOrder(decompiler.Stepper.Steps, n => n.Children).Select(n => n.Description), Has.None.Contains(RecordedStep));
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Halting in the IL phase leaves no C# to show, so the caller needs the ILAst the pipeline
+		/// stopped in - and must not be told the member failed to decompile.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void AStepLimitInTheILPhaseHaltsWithThePartiallyTransformedFunction()
+		{
+			var decompiler = CreateRecordingDecompiler();
+			decompiler.ILTransforms.Insert(0, new RecordingILTransform());
+			decompiler.Stepper.StepLimit = 0;
+
+			string code = decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			var astTransformNames = CSharpDecompiler.GetAstTransforms().Select(t => t.GetType().Name).ToArray();
+			using (Assert.EnterMultipleScope())
+			{
+				Assert.That(decompiler.StepLimitHaltedFunction, Is.Not.Null, "the caller renders this as ILAst");
+				Assert.That(decompiler.Stepper.LimitReachedStep, Is.Not.Null);
+				Assert.That(decompiler.Errors, Is.Empty, "a deliberate halt is not a decompilation failure");
+				Assert.That(code, Does.Not.Contain(CSharpDecompiler.DecompilationErrorReportUrl));
+				// The C# AST phase must not run after an IL-phase halt. It would hit the same limit
+				// again - the step counter never advances past it - and the second hit would replace
+				// LimitReachedStep with an AST node, so the position the halted step is highlighted at
+				// would be lost.
+				Assert.That(astTransformNames, Has.None.Matches<string>(
+					name => decompiler.Stepper.LimitReachedStep!.Description.Contains(name)),
+					"the halt must still report the IL step it stopped on");
+			}
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// A limit in the C# AST phase prints the partially transformed tree, and nothing claims the
+		/// run halted in the IL phase.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void AStepLimitInTheAstPhaseStillProducesPartialCSharp()
+		{
+			var decompiler = StepperTesting.CreateDecompiler();
+			decompiler.Stepper.StepLimit = 1;
+
+			string code = decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			using (Assert.EnterMultipleScope())
+			{
+				Assert.That(decompiler.StepLimitHaltedFunction, Is.Null);
+				Assert.That(code, Does.Contain("DecompileProject"), "the members are still written");
+			}
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// A member whose transform throws must not swallow the members after it: their steps belong
+		/// beside it in the tree, not inside the group it abandoned.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void AFailingTransformDoesNotNestLaterMembersUnderIt()
+		{
+			if (!Stepper.SteppingAvailable)
+				Assert.Ignore("Transform stepping is compiled out without the STEP symbol, so there are no groups to check.");
+
+			var decompiler = CreateRecordingDecompiler();
+			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(new StepperTesting.ThrowingILTransform("CleanUpFileName"));
+
+			decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			var crashed = decompiler.Stepper.Steps.Single(n => n.Description.Contains("CleanUpFileName"));
+			using (Assert.EnterMultipleScope())
+			{
+				Assert.That(crashed.EndStep, Is.GreaterThan(crashed.BeginStep + 1), "the abandoned group was closed at the step it stopped on");
+				Assert.That(decompiler.Stepper.Steps, Has.Some.Matches<Stepper.Node>(n => n.Description.Contains("SanitizeFileName")),
+					"the members after the failing one stay top-level siblings");
+			}
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// A step index only means anything against the run that produced it, so there must not be a
+		/// second numbering to confuse it with: with recording off the pipeline counts nothing at all,
+		/// neither the IL transforms nor the C# AST transforms that used to be recorded regardless.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void NothingIsRecordedWhileRecordingIsOff()
+		{
+			var decompiler = StepperTesting.CreateDecompiler();
+
+			decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			using (Assert.EnterMultipleScope())
+			{
+				Assert.That(decompiler.RecordSteps, Is.False, "recording is off unless a caller asks for it");
+				Assert.That(decompiler.Stepper.Steps, Is.Empty, "no step may be recorded while recording is off");
+				Assert.That(decompiler.Stepper.CurrentStep, Is.Zero, "the step counter must not advance either");
+			}
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The crashed-member attribution compares the step counter against the limit, which is only
+		/// meaningful while the counter is actually counting. With recording off it sits at zero, so a
+		/// limit of zero would otherwise match at every throwing transform and hand the pane an
+		/// unrelated member's ILAst.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void ACrashWhileRecordingIsOffAttributesNoHaltedFunction()
+		{
+			var decompiler = StepperTesting.CreateDecompiler();
+			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(new StepperTesting.ThrowingILTransform("CleanUpFileName"));
+			decompiler.Stepper.StepLimit = 0;
+
+			decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			Assert.That(decompiler.StepLimitHaltedFunction, Is.Null,
+				"a step limit cannot be reached by a run that records no steps");
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Closing the groups an unwind abandoned must stop at the depth the member started from: a
+		/// group opened around the decompile still belongs to whoever opened it, and swallowing it
+		/// files every later step as that caller's sibling instead of its child.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void AFailingTransformLeavesAGroupOpenedAroundItAlone()
+		{
+			if (!Stepper.SteppingAvailable)
+				Assert.Ignore("Transform stepping is compiled out without the STEP symbol, so there are no groups to check.");
+
+			var decompiler = CreateRecordingDecompiler();
+			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(new StepperTesting.ThrowingILTransform("CleanUpFileName"));
+
+			var outer = decompiler.Stepper.StartGroup("outer");
+			decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+			var afterwards = decompiler.Stepper.Step("after the decompile");
+
+			using (Assert.EnterMultipleScope())
+			{
+				Assert.That(outer.Children, Does.Contain(afterwards),
+					"the group opened around the decompile must still be the one collecting steps");
+				Assert.That(decompiler.Stepper.Steps, Does.Not.Contain(afterwards),
+					"a step recorded inside the outer group is not a top-level sibling of it");
+			}
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The plain ExpressionBuilder/StatementBuilder output is a state worth looking at, so it has
+		/// a step of its own at the top level rather than being reachable only as "before the first
+		/// AST transform". Halting there has to print C#: the whole type is converted by then, so
+		/// nothing is left in ILAst.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void TheStateAtTheSeamIsUntransformedCSharp()
+		{
+			if (!Stepper.SteppingAvailable)
+				Assert.Ignore("Transform stepping is compiled out without the STEP symbol, so there is no seam step.");
+
+			var decompiler = CreateRecordingDecompiler();
+			string full = decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			var seam = decompiler.Stepper.Steps.SingleOrDefault(n => n.Description.Contains(SeamStep));
+			Assert.That(seam, Is.Not.Null, $"'{SeamStep}' must be recorded once, at the top level");
+
+			var replay = CreateRecordingDecompiler();
+			replay.Stepper.StepLimit = seam!.BeginStep;
+			string atSeam = replay.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			using (Assert.EnterMultipleScope())
+			{
+				Assert.That(replay.StepLimitHaltedFunction, Is.Null,
+					"the seam is past every member's IL phase, so there is no halted function to dump");
+				Assert.That(atSeam, Does.Contain("class WholeProjectDecompiler"),
+					"halting at the seam still prints C#");
+				Assert.That(atSeam, Is.Not.EqualTo(full),
+					"the AST transforms have not run yet, so this cannot equal the finished output");
+			}
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// A member group ends where the next member's group begins, so the state after its last step is
+		/// the state that member finished in - not the untouched IL of the member the halt unwinds from.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void TheStateAfterAMemberGroupIsThatMembersTransformedFunction()
+		{
+			if (!Stepper.SteppingAvailable)
+				Assert.Ignore("Transform stepping is compiled out without the STEP symbol, so there are no groups to replay.");
+
+			int endStep = MemberGroup("CleanUpFileName", CreateRecordingDecompiler()).EndStep;
+
+			var replay = CreateRecordingDecompiler();
+			replay.Stepper.StepLimit = endStep;
+			replay.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			Assert.That(replay.StepLimitHaltedFunction?.Name, Is.EqualTo("CleanUpFileName"));
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Replaying the state after a group whose transform threw stops on the exception, never on a
+		/// step: the ILAst the crash left half-transformed is the whole point of looking at it.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void TheStateAfterACrashedGroupIsTheFunctionTheTransformCrashedIn()
+		{
+			if (!Stepper.SteppingAvailable)
+				Assert.Ignore("Transform stepping is compiled out without the STEP symbol, so there are no groups to replay.");
+
+			var decompiler = CreateRecordingDecompiler();
+			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(new StepperTesting.ThrowingILTransform("CleanUpFileName"));
+			decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+			int endStep = decompiler.Stepper.Steps.Single(n => n.Description.Contains("CleanUpFileName")).EndStep;
+
+			var replay = CreateRecordingDecompiler();
+			replay.ILTransforms.Add(new StepperTesting.ThrowingILTransform("CleanUpFileName"));
+			replay.Stepper.StepLimit = endStep;
+			replay.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			Assert.That(replay.StepLimitHaltedFunction?.Name, Is.EqualTo("CleanUpFileName"));
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Some transforms build a helper function and work on it before attaching it to the member
+		/// (ProxyCallReplacer, the nested-function decompilers). A halt in there has to render the tree
+		/// that holds the halted instruction; the member's function does not contain it yet.
+		/// </summary>
+		[Test]
+		public void AHaltOnADetachedFunctionRendersThatFunction()
+		{
+			var detachedStep = new DetachedFunctionILTransform("CleanUpFileName");
+			var decompiler = CreateRecordingDecompiler();
+			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(detachedStep);
+			decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+			int haltAt = TreeTraversal.PreOrder(decompiler.Stepper.Steps, n => n.Children).Single(n => n.Description.Contains(DetachedStep)).BeginStep;
+
+			var replay = CreateRecordingDecompiler();
+			var replayStep = new DetachedFunctionILTransform("CleanUpFileName");
+			replay.ILTransforms.Add(replayStep);
+			replay.Stepper.StepLimit = haltAt;
+			replay.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+
+			Assert.That(replay.StepLimitHaltedFunction, Is.SameAs(replayStep.DetachedFunction));
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Runs the decompiler once and returns the top-level group recording the named member's IL phase.
+		/// </summary>
+		static Stepper.Node MemberGroup(string methodName, CSharpDecompiler decompiler)
+		{
+			decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(SampleType);
+			return decompiler.Stepper.Steps.Single(n => n.Description.EndsWith("." + methodName, StringComparison.Ordinal));
+		}
+
+		static CSharpDecompiler CreateRecordingDecompiler()
+		{
+			var decompiler = StepperTesting.CreateDecompiler();
+			decompiler.RecordSteps = true;
+			return decompiler;
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Records one step per top-level function through <see cref="Stepper.Step"/> rather than
+		/// <c>context.Step</c>: the latter is <c>[Conditional("STEP")]</c>, and that is resolved where
+		/// the call is compiled - this assembly, which never defines STEP - so a <c>context.Step</c>
+		/// call would vanish and leave the tests passing vacuously in every configuration.
+		/// </summary>
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Records one step on an instruction of a function that hangs off nothing, standing in for the
+		/// helper functions the real transforms build before attaching them.
+		/// </summary>
+		sealed class DetachedFunctionILTransform(string methodName) : IILTransform
+		{
+			public ILFunction? DetachedFunction { get; private set; }
+
+			public void Run(ILFunction function, ILTransformContext context)
+			{
+				if (function.Parent != null || function.Method?.Name != methodName)
+					return;
+				DetachedFunction = new ILFunction(function.Method!, function.CodeSize, function.GenericContext,
+					new Nop(), ILFunctionKind.LocalFunction);
+				context.Stepper.Step(DetachedStep, new DebugStepNodeInfo(DetachedFunction.Body));
+			}
+		}
+
+		sealed class RecordingILTransform : IILTransform
+		{
+			public void Run(ILFunction function, ILTransformContext context)
+			{
+				if (function.Parent == null)
+					context.Stepper.Step(RecordedStep);
+			}
+		}
+
+	}
+}
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/DecompilationErrorRecoveryTests.cs b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/DecompilationErrorRecoveryTests.cs
index a0fcf17b7..c5d28d9b9 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/DecompilationErrorRecoveryTests.cs
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/DecompilationErrorRecoveryTests.cs
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.Syntax;
 using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL;
 using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL.Transforms;
 using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Metadata;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests.Helpers;
 using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.TypeSystem;
 
 using NUnit.Framework;
@@ -40,20 +41,19 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests
 	[TestFixture]
 	public class DecompilationErrorRecoveryTests
 	{
-		const string SimulatedFailure = "Simulated transform failure";
 
 		[Test]
 		public void FailingMethodBodyKeepsTheRestOfTheType()
 		{
-			var decompiler = CreateDecompiler();
-			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(new ThrowingILTransform("CleanUpFileName"));
+			var decompiler = StepperTesting.CreateDecompiler();
+			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(new StepperTesting.ThrowingILTransform("CleanUpFileName"));
 
 			string code = decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(
 				new FullTypeName("ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.ProjectDecompiler.WholeProjectDecompiler"));
 
 			using (Assert.EnterMultipleScope())
 			{
-				Assert.That(code, Does.Contain(SimulatedFailure), "the exception text must show up in the output");
+				Assert.That(code, Does.Contain(StepperTesting.SimulatedFailure), "the exception text must show up in the output");
 				Assert.That(code, Does.Contain(CSharpDecompiler.DecompilationErrorReportUrl), "users need to be told where to report this");
 				Assert.That(code, Does.Contain("public static string CleanUpFileName"), "the failing member keeps its signature");
 				Assert.That(code, Does.Contain("DecompileProject"), "the other members of the type are unaffected");
@@ -63,8 +63,8 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests
 		[Test]
 		public void FailingMethodBodyIsRecordedAsError()
 		{
-			var decompiler = CreateDecompiler();
-			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(new ThrowingILTransform("CleanUpFileName"));
+			var decompiler = StepperTesting.CreateDecompiler();
+			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(new StepperTesting.ThrowingILTransform("CleanUpFileName"));
 
 			decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(
 				new FullTypeName("ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.ProjectDecompiler.WholeProjectDecompiler"));
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests
 		[Test]
 		public void ErrorsCoverOnlyTheLastDecompilation()
 		{
-			var decompiler = CreateDecompiler();
-			var failing = new ThrowingILTransform("CleanUpFileName");
+			var decompiler = StepperTesting.CreateDecompiler();
+			var failing = new StepperTesting.ThrowingILTransform("CleanUpFileName");
 			decompiler.ILTransforms.Add(failing);
 			decompiler.DecompileTypeAsString(
 				new FullTypeName("ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.ProjectDecompiler.WholeProjectDecompiler"));
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests
 		[Test]
 		public void FailingOutputKeepsTheFileWellFormed()
 		{
-			var decompiler = CreateDecompiler();
+			var decompiler = StepperTesting.CreateDecompiler();
 			var syntaxTree = decompiler.DecompileType(
 				new FullTypeName("ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.ProjectDecompiler.WholeProjectDecompiler"));
 
@@ -125,21 +125,5 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests
 			}
 		}
 
-		static CSharpDecompiler CreateDecompiler()
-		{
-			var module = new PEFile("ICSharpCode.Decompiler.dll");
-			var settings = new DecompilerSettings();
-			var typeSystem = new DecompilerTypeSystem(module, new UniversalAssemblyResolver(null, false, null), settings);
-			return new CSharpDecompiler(typeSystem, settings);
-		}
-
-		sealed class ThrowingILTransform(string methodName) : IILTransform
-		{
-			public void Run(ILFunction function, ILTransformContext context)
-			{
-				if (function.Parent == null && function.Method?.Name == methodName)
-					throw new InvalidOperationException(SimulatedFailure);
-			}
-		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/Helpers/StepperTesting.cs b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/Helpers/StepperTesting.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..23d018d86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests/Helpers/StepperTesting.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 Siegfried Pammer
+//
+// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this
+// software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software
+// without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
+// publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons
+// to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+//
+// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or
+// substantial portions of the Software.
+//
+// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
+// INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
+// PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE
+// FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
+// OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
+// DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+using System;
+
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL.Transforms;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Metadata;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.TypeSystem;
+
+namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Tests.Helpers
+{
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Shared setup for the tests that drive the transform pipeline itself rather than the code it
+	/// produces: they decompile this assembly, which is on disk next to the tests and large enough to
+	/// span many members, and they need a transform that fails on demand.
+	/// </summary>
+	static class StepperTesting
+	{
+		public const string SimulatedFailure = "Simulated transform failure";
+
+		public static CSharpDecompiler CreateDecompiler()
+		{
+			return new CSharpDecompiler("ICSharpCode.Decompiler.dll",
+				new UniversalAssemblyResolver(null, false, null), new DecompilerSettings());
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Throws while transforming the named method's top-level function, leaving the pipeline to
+		/// unwind out of whatever step groups it had opened.
+		/// </summary>
+		public sealed class ThrowingILTransform(string methodName) : IILTransform
+		{
+			public void Run(ILFunction function, ILTransformContext context)
+			{
+				if (function.Parent == null && function.Method?.Name == methodName)
+					throw new InvalidOperationException(SimulatedFailure);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/CSharp/CSharpDecompiler.cs b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/CSharp/CSharpDecompiler.cs
index ad511a493..ed0668734 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/CSharp/CSharpDecompiler.cs
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/CSharp/CSharpDecompiler.cs
@@ -210,6 +210,9 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp
 			transforms.RemoveRange(lastBlockTransform + 1, transforms.Count - (lastBlockTransform + 1));
 			// Use CombineExitsTransform so that "return other != null && ...;" is a single statement even in release builds
 			transforms.Add(new CombineExitsTransform());
+			// Deliberately not the caller's Stepper: this runs speculatively during pattern recognition,
+			// so its steps are noise in a step tree and its numbering would shift with settings the user
+			// never chose.
 			il.RunTransforms(transforms,
 				new ILTransformContext(il, typeSystem, debugInfo: null, settings) {
 					CancellationToken = cancellationToken
@@ -232,6 +235,35 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp
 
 		public Stepper Stepper { get; set; } = new Stepper();
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Gets or sets whether the pipeline records its steps into <see cref="Stepper"/>, so that one
+		/// step tree spans all of it: the IL transforms of every member, the ILAst-to-C# conversion,
+		/// and the C# AST transforms.
+		/// Off by default, and off means the whole pipeline records nothing: every phase keeps the
+		/// stepper its context creates for itself, which nothing reads. Turning it on is what makes the
+		/// steps <i>retained</i>, and each retained step pins the ILAst it captured, including the
+		/// instructions its transform removed. That is affordable for the single type a step view
+		/// displays and not for a whole-module decompile, so only callers that show the steps opt in.
+		/// A step index is only meaningful against a run with the same value: numbering the whole
+		/// pipeline and numbering nothing are not the same scale, so a full run and the step-limited
+		/// re-run that replays one of its indices have to agree on it.
+		/// Has no effect unless <see cref="Stepper.SteppingAvailable"/>.
+		/// </summary>
+		public bool RecordSteps { get; set; }
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The <see cref="ILFunction"/> whose IL transforms were halted by <see cref="Stepper.StepLimit"/>,
+		/// or null when no step limit was reached before the C# AST was built. Reset at the start of
+		/// every Decompile* call, like <see cref="Errors"/>.
+		/// A limit reached in the IL phase leaves this member and every member after it without a body,
+		/// so the returned syntax tree is not the interesting output: the caller renders this function
+		/// as an ILAst dump instead. A limit reached in the C# AST phase leaves this null and still
+		/// yields partially transformed C#. A transform that throws where the limit was aimed sets this
+		/// too, so the ILAst the crash left behind can be rendered rather than the error comment.
+		/// </summary>
+		public ILFunction? StepLimitHaltedFunction { get; private set; }
+
+
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Returns all built-in transforms of the C# AST pipeline.
 		/// </summary>
@@ -816,6 +848,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp
 			// previous one stop counting - otherwise a reused instance reports them again against
 			// members that decompiled cleanly.
 			errors.Clear();
+			// Same reasoning for the halted function: a stale one would make the caller render the
+			// previous run's ILAst, and the "already halted" guard in DecompileBody would skip every
+			// member from here on.
+			StepLimitHaltedFunction = null;
 			List<INamespace> resolvedNamespaces = new List<INamespace>();
 			foreach (var ns in namespaces)
 			{
@@ -841,20 +877,36 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp
 
 		void RunTransforms(AstNode rootNode, DecompileRun decompileRun, ITypeResolveContext decompilationContext)
 		{
+			// The IL phase halted at the step limit, so this tree is missing the bodies it was supposed
+			// to transform and the caller renders the halted ILAst instead. Running the AST pipeline over
+			// it would only waste the work and hit the same limit again - and that second hit would
+			// overwrite Stepper.LimitReachedStep with a node from a tree nobody displays, losing the
+			// position the halted step is highlighted at.
+			if (StepLimitHaltedFunction != null)
+				return;
 			var typeSystemAstBuilder = CreateAstBuilder(decompileRun.Settings);
-			var context = new TransformContext(typeSystem, decompileRun, decompilationContext, typeSystemAstBuilder) {
-				Stepper = Stepper
-			};
+			var context = new TransformContext(typeSystem, decompileRun, decompilationContext, typeSystemAstBuilder);
+			// Off means off for the whole pipeline: leaving the AST half recording would give the same
+			// pipeline two numbering bases, and an index recorded under one of them means a different
+			// step under the other. Without this the context keeps a stepper of its own, which nothing
+			// reads.
+			if (RecordSteps)
+				context.Stepper = Stepper;
 			// The tree handed to the pipeline must already be well-formed; check it once up front so a
 			// malformed builder output is caught here rather than blamed on the first transform (DEBUG only).
 			rootNode.CheckInvariant();
 			bool traceTransforms = DecompilerEventSource.Log.IsTransformTracingEnabled();
 			try
 			{
+				// The whole type has been converted and nothing has transformed it yet, so this is the
+				// one index whose state is the plain ExpressionBuilder/StatementBuilder output. Without
+				// it that state is only reachable as "before the first AST transform", which names a
+				// transform rather than the thing being shown and sits after every member's group.
+				context.Step("C# AST built from ILAst", rootNode);
 				foreach (var transform in astTransforms)
 				{
 					CancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
-					context.StepStartGroup(transform.GetType().Name);
+					context.StepStartGroup(transform.GetType().Name, rootNode);
 					long traceStart = traceTransforms ? Stopwatch.GetTimestamp() : 0;
 					transform.Run(rootNode, context);
 					if (traceTransforms)
@@ -2257,8 +2309,53 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp
 			return method.ReturnType.Kind == TypeKind.Void && method.Name == "InitializeComponent" && method.DeclaringTypeDefinition!.GetNonInterfaceBaseTypes().Any(t => t.FullName == "System.Windows.Forms.Control");
 		}
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The outermost <see cref="ILFunction"/> holding the instruction the halted step was recorded
+		/// on, or null when the step named no instruction (a group opener) or the instruction hangs off
+		/// no function at all.
+		/// </summary>
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The function a halt belongs to, taken from the stepper rather than reconstructed. The step
+		/// the limit stopped on is the first choice; on a member's opening group step that step belongs
+		/// to the next member, so the last step actually recorded - the previous member's - is the
+		/// state the halt is showing. Following the instruction to its outermost function also covers
+		/// a step recorded in a helper the pipeline has not attached yet.
+		/// </summary>
+		ILFunction? HaltedStepFunction()
+		{
+			return FunctionOf(Stepper.LimitReachedStep) ?? FunctionOf(Stepper.LastStep);
+
+			static ILFunction? FunctionOf(Stepper.Node? step)
+				=> (step?.Position as ILInstruction)?.Ancestors.OfType<ILFunction>().LastOrDefault();
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The IL transforms a member's body runs through. Decompiling definitions only stops after
+		/// yield and async detection: the transforms past it exist to shape a body nobody is going to
+		/// print, and only IsAsync/IsIterator have to be right on the ILFunction.
+		/// </summary>
+		IEnumerable<IILTransform> SelectILTransforms(bool decompileMemberBodies)
+		{
+			foreach (var transform in ilTransforms)
+			{
+				yield return transform;
+				if (!decompileMemberBodies && transform is AsyncAwaitDecompiler)
+					yield break;
+			}
+		}
+
 		void DecompileBody(IMethod method, EntityDeclaration entityDecl, DecompileRun decompileRun, ITypeResolveContext decompilationContext, ExtensionInfo? extensionInfo)
 		{
+			// An earlier member's IL phase already hit the step limit, so the pipeline is stopped for
+			// good: reading IL for every remaining member only to throw on its first step is wasted work.
+			if (StepLimitHaltedFunction != null)
+				return;
+			// Declared out here so the StepLimitReachedException handler below can report the function
+			// its transforms were halted in.
+			ILFunction? function = null;
+			// Only the groups this member opens may be closed when an exception unwinds out of it: a
+			// caller that wrapped this call in a group of its own still owns that group afterwards.
+			int groupDepth = Stepper.GroupDepth;
 			try
 			{
 				var ilReader = new ILReader(typeSystem.MainModule) {
@@ -2290,7 +2387,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp
 					entityDecl.AddChild(body, Slots.Body);
 					return;
 				}
-				var function = ilReader.ReadIL((MethodDefinitionHandle)method.MetadataToken, methodBody, cancellationToken: CancellationToken);
+				function = ilReader.ReadIL((MethodDefinitionHandle)method.MetadataToken, methodBody, cancellationToken: CancellationToken);
 				function.CheckInvariant(ILPhase.Normal);
 
 				AddAnnotationsToDeclaration(method, entityDecl, function, parameterOffset);
@@ -2309,17 +2406,14 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp
 					CancellationToken = CancellationToken,
 					DecompileRun = decompileRun
 				};
-				foreach (var transform in ilTransforms)
-				{
-					CancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
-					transform.Run(function, context);
-					function.CheckInvariant(ILPhase.Normal);
-					// When decompiling definitions only, we can cancel decompilation of all steps
-					// after yield and async detection, because only those are needed to properly set
-					// IsAsync/IsIterator flags on ILFunction.
-					if (!localSettings.DecompileMemberBodies && transform is AsyncAwaitDecompiler)
-						break;
-				}
+				if (RecordSteps)
+					context.Stepper = Stepper;
+				// Deliberately unanchored: a member's opening step is where the *previous* member's
+				// state ends, so giving it this member's function would attribute a halt on the
+				// boundary to the member the pipeline is only about to start.
+				context.StepStartGroup(method.FullName);
+				function.RunTransforms(SelectILTransforms(localSettings.DecompileMemberBodies), context);
+
 
 				// Generate C# AST only if bodies should be displayed.
 				if (localSettings.DecompileMemberBodies)
@@ -2333,6 +2427,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp
 						decompileRun,
 						CancellationToken
 					);
+					// The seam between the two halves of the pipeline. Besides marking where the IL steps
+					// end and the C# AST steps begin, it is the only handle on the fully transformed
+					// ILAst: every IL step shows the state before some transform, never after the last.
+					context.Step("Convert ILAst to C#", function.Body);
 					body = statementBuilder.ConvertAsBlock(function.Body);
 
 					var warningAnchor = body.Statements.FirstOrDefault();
@@ -2349,14 +2447,42 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp
 					entityDecl.AddChild(body, Slots.Body);
 				}
 
+				context.StepEndGroup(keepIfEmpty: true);
+
 				CleanUpMethodDeclaration(entityDecl, body, function, localSettings.DecompileMemberBodies);
 			}
+			catch (StepLimitReachedException)
+			{
+				// A step limit reached in the IL phase stops the pipeline for good: this member and every
+				// member after it stay body-less, and the caller renders StepLimitHaltedFunction as ILAst
+				// rather than the C# it would otherwise print. This clause has to stay above the general
+				// handler below, which would turn the halt into an error comment and report the member as
+				// a decompilation failure.
+				// A halt on this member's opening group step is the state right after the previous member
+				// finished - the index the pane replays for "show state after" its last step - so that is
+				// the function to render, not the untouched IL of the member the exception unwound from.
+				// A step recorded on a helper function the pipeline has not attached yet (a proxy body, a
+				// nested function on its way into place) belongs to that function's own tree, which the
+				// member's function does not contain - so follow the halted step's instruction to the
+				// function that actually holds it.
+				StepLimitHaltedFunction = HaltedStepFunction() ?? function;
+				Stepper.EndOpenGroups(groupDepth);
+			}
 			catch (Exception innerException) when (!(innerException is OperationCanceledException))
 			{
 				// One method the decompiler cannot handle must not cost the user the type or, when
 				// exporting a project, the assembly around it: keep the signature, put the error in
 				// front of it, and let the remaining members decompile.
 				errors.Add(innerException as DecompilerException ?? new DecompilerException(module, method, innerException));
+				// The unwind left this member's step groups open; close them so the members after it are
+				// recorded as its siblings instead of disappearing into the group that failed.
+				Stepper.EndOpenGroups(groupDepth);
+				// A replay aiming at the state after the crashed group stops exactly here: the transform
+				// throws before any step can reach the limit, so without this the halt would be attributed
+				// to the next member and the half-transformed ILAst the crash left behind - the one thing
+				// worth looking at when debugging a throwing transform - would be unreachable.
+				if (RecordSteps && function != null && Stepper.CurrentStep == Stepper.StepLimit)
+					StepLimitHaltedFunction = function;
 				entityDecl.GetChild(Slots.Body)?.Remove();
 				if (settings.DecompileMemberBodies)
 				{
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DebugSteps/Stepper.cs b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DebugSteps/Stepper.cs
index 2dab0f037..9a92806ae 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DebugSteps/Stepper.cs
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/DebugSteps/Stepper.cs
@@ -183,6 +183,13 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.DebugSteps
 		readonly IList<Node> steps;
 		int step = 0;
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Index the next recorded step will be given. It equals <see cref="StepLimit"/> exactly at the
+		/// point the limit is about to halt the pipeline, so a caller unwinding for a different reason
+		/// can tell whether it is standing on the step a replay was aiming for.
+		/// </summary>
+		public int CurrentStep => step;
+
 		public Stepper()
 		{
 			steps = new List<Node>();
@@ -256,6 +263,30 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.DebugSteps
 			}
 		}
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Closes every group that is still open, e.g. after an exception unwound out of the transform
+		/// that started them. Without this, everything recorded afterwards is filed as a child of the
+		/// group that failed, and that group's <see cref="Node.EndStep"/> still points at its own start,
+		/// so replaying "the state after this step" lands on the wrong step.
+		/// The groups are kept even when empty: a group that recorded nothing before it was abandoned is
+		/// precisely the one worth seeing, and <see cref="EndGroup"/>'s removal path expects the group to
+		/// still be the last entry of its parent, which an unwind cannot guarantee.
+		/// Closing stops at <paramref name="targetDepth"/>, which every caller must state: a group that
+		/// was already open before the
+		/// unwinding code ran belongs to whoever opened it, not to the unwind.
+		/// </summary>
+		public void EndOpenGroups(int targetDepth)
+		{
+			while (groups.Count > targetDepth)
+				EndGroup(keepIfEmpty: true);
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// How many groups are currently open. Take it before entering code that may unwind, and hand
+		/// it back to <see cref="EndOpenGroups"/> so only the groups that code opened are closed.
+		/// </summary>
+		public int GroupDepth => groups.Count;
+
 		public void EndGroup(bool keepIfEmpty = false)
 		{
 			var node = groups.Pop();
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/IL/Instructions/ILFunction.cs b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/IL/Instructions/ILFunction.cs
index a990f05c6..c0718070c 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/IL/Instructions/ILFunction.cs
+++ b/ICSharpCode.Decompiler/IL/Instructions/ILFunction.cs
@@ -406,13 +406,16 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL
 			foreach (var transform in transforms)
 			{
 				context.CancellationToken.ThrowIfCancellationRequested();
+				// 'near: this' is what lets a halt on a group opener be traced back to the function it
+				// belongs to; without a position the step carries no anchor and the halt cannot be
+				// attributed to any member.
 				if (transform is BlockILTransform blockTransform)
 				{
-					context.StepStartGroup(blockTransform.ToString());
+					context.StepStartGroup(blockTransform.ToString(), this);
 				}
 				else
 				{
-					context.StepStartGroup(transform.GetType().Name);
+					context.StepStartGroup(transform.GetType().Name, this);
 				}
 				long traceStart = traceTransforms ? System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch.GetTimestamp() : 0;
 				transform.Run(this, context);
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.ILSpyCmd/ILAstDumper.cs b/ICSharpCode.ILSpyCmd/ILAstDumper.cs
index 808e5544a..752e6c906 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.ILSpyCmd/ILAstDumper.cs
+++ b/ICSharpCode.ILSpyCmd/ILAstDumper.cs
@@ -37,14 +37,14 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpyCmd
 	/// <summary>
 	/// Writes the decompiler's intermediate representation (ILAst) of a method body, optionally
 	/// stopping the IL transform pipeline after a chosen transform. This is the command-line
-	/// counterpart of the UI's "ILAst" language, and makes transform output diffable.
+	/// counterpart of the UI's Debug Steps pane, and makes transform output diffable.
 	/// </summary>
 	class ILAstDumper
 	{
 		static readonly IReadOnlyList<IILTransform> transforms = CSharpDecompiler.GetILTransforms();
 
 		readonly ILAstWritingOptions writingOptions = new ILAstWritingOptions {
-			// same sugar as the UI's ILAst pane, so its output and this one are diffable
+			// same sugar as the Debug Steps pane's ILAst dump, so its output and this one are diffable
 			UseFieldSugar = true,
 			UseLogicOperationSugar = true,
 		};
diff --git a/ICSharpCode.ILSpyCmd/IlspyCmdProgram.cs b/ICSharpCode.ILSpyCmd/IlspyCmdProgram.cs
index 4932aa375..15e74dab4 100644
--- a/ICSharpCode.ILSpyCmd/IlspyCmdProgram.cs
+++ b/ICSharpCode.ILSpyCmd/IlspyCmdProgram.cs
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ Examples:
 
 #if DEBUG
 		// ILAst is the decompiler's own working representation: it exists to debug transforms
-		// while developing ILSpy, so - like the UI's ILAst language - it ships in debug builds
+		// while developing ILSpy, so - like the UI's Debug Steps pane - it ships in debug builds
 		// only and is absent from the released tool.
 		[Option("--ilast", "Show the decompiler's intermediate representation (ILAst) of method bodies, after the full IL transform pipeline. Select what to dump with --type or --member; without either, every method of the assembly is dumped.", CommandOptionType.NoValue)]
 		public bool ShowILAstFlag { get; }
diff --git a/ILSpy.Tests/Editor/DecompilerViewTests.cs b/ILSpy.Tests/Editor/DecompilerViewTests.cs
index 82c5417cb..9a8baca1e 100644
--- a/ILSpy.Tests/Editor/DecompilerViewTests.cs
+++ b/ILSpy.Tests/Editor/DecompilerViewTests.cs
@@ -547,12 +547,12 @@ public class DecompilerViewTests
 
 			// Switch the language — the buggy path was here.
 			var languageService = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<LanguageService>();
-			var blockIL = languageService.Languages.OfType<ILAstLanguage>()
-				.Single(l => l.Name == "ILAst");
-			languageService.CurrentLanguage = blockIL;
+			var il = languageService.Languages.OfType<ILLanguage>()
+				.Single(l => l.Name == "IL");
+			languageService.CurrentLanguage = il;
 
 			await vm.DockWorkspace.WaitForDecompiledTextAsync();
-			TestCapture.Step("ilast-method");
+			TestCapture.Step("il-method");
 
 			// Force GC to flush any unobserved Task faults that escaped via the dispatcher.
 			System.GC.Collect();
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ public class DecompilerViewTests
 			System.GC.Collect();
 
 			unobserved.Should().BeNull(
-				$"C# → ILAst language switch must not leak an unobserved task fault; saw: {unobserved}");
+				$"C# → IL language switch must not leak an unobserved task fault; saw: {unobserved}");
 		}
 		finally
 		{
diff --git a/ILSpy.Tests/Views/DebugStepsTests.cs b/ILSpy.Tests/Views/DebugStepsTests.cs
index 251201477..09df46b9f 100644
--- a/ILSpy.Tests/Views/DebugStepsTests.cs
+++ b/ILSpy.Tests/Views/DebugStepsTests.cs
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ public class DebugStepsTests
 		// The default writing options match the WPF baseline: field sugar and
 		// logic-operation sugar on; IL ranges and child-index-in-block off. The four
 		// CheckBoxes in DebugSteps.axaml bind two-way against these defaults.
-		var options = DebugStepsPaneModel.WritingOptions;
+		var options = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>().WritingOptions;
 		options.UseFieldSugar.Should().BeTrue();
 		options.UseLogicOperationSugar.Should().BeTrue();
 		options.ShowILRanges.Should().BeFalse();
@@ -82,19 +82,21 @@ public class DebugStepsTests
 	}
 
 	[AvaloniaTest]
-	public async Task Debug_Steps_VM_Populates_After_ILAst_Decompile_Regardless_Of_View_Lifecycle()
+	public async Task Debug_Steps_VM_Populates_After_Decompile_Regardless_Of_View_Lifecycle()
 	{
 		// End-to-end repro of the user-reported "Debug Steps pane is empty" bug:
 		// 1. Boot the window, load assemblies.
 		// 2. Select a method.
-		// 3. Switch the active language to BlockIL (ILAst).
-		// 4. Wait for the BlockIL decompile to finish — its OnStepperUpdated event fires.
-		// 5. Assert the DebugStepsPaneModel's Steps property is populated.
+		// 3. Wait for the decompile to finish — its OnStepperUpdated event fires.
+		// 4. Assert the DebugStepsPaneModel's Steps property is populated.
 		//
 		// Asserting against the VM (not the View) decouples this test from the dock layout's
 		// view-realisation timing — which is the whole point of the fix that moved state
 		// from the View into the VM. If `Steps` is populated, any view that binds to it (now
 		// or later) will render the correct content.
+		//
+		// Recording is what produces steps at all, and no view is realized to switch it on here.
+		AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>().SetRecordingEnabled(true);
 
 		var window = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<MainWindow>();
 		window.Show();
@@ -110,26 +112,26 @@ public class DebugStepsTests
 		await vm.DockWorkspace.WaitForDecompiledTextAsync();
 
 		var languageService = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<LanguageService>();
-		var blockIL = languageService.Languages.OfType<ILAstLanguage>()
-			.Single(l => l.Name == "ILAst");
-		languageService.CurrentLanguage = blockIL;
-		await vm.DockWorkspace.WaitForDecompiledTextAsync();
-
-		blockIL.Stepper.Steps.Should().NotBeEmpty(
-			"BlockILLanguage.DecompileMethod must populate context.Stepper.Steps when STEP is defined");
+		var csharp = languageService.Languages.OfType<CSharpLanguage>().Single();
+		csharp.Stepper.Steps.Should().NotBeEmpty(
+			"the C# decompile must populate decompiler.Stepper.Steps when STEP is defined");
 
 		var debugStepsVm = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>();
 		await Waiters.WaitForAsync(
 			() => debugStepsVm.Steps?.Count > 0,
-			description: "DebugStepsPaneModel.Steps to be populated after the ILAst decompile");
+			description: "DebugStepsPaneModel.Steps to be populated after the decompile");
 
 		debugStepsVm.Steps.Should().NotBeNullOrEmpty(
-			"after switching to ILAst and decompiling, the VM's Steps must list the stepper's recorded transforms");
+			"after decompiling, the VM's Steps must list the stepper's recorded transforms");
 	}
 
 	[AvaloniaTest]
 	public async Task CSharp_DebugSteps_Are_Grouped_By_Ast_Transform()
 	{
+		// Steps exist only while the pane asks for them, and nothing realizes the pane's view here,
+		// so this test asks the same way the view does.
+		AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>().SetRecordingEnabled(true);
+
 		var window = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<MainWindow>();
 		window.Show();
 		var vm = (MainWindowViewModel)window.DataContext!;
@@ -152,16 +154,19 @@ public class DebugStepsTests
 			() => debugStepsVm.Steps?.Count > 0,
 			description: "DebugStepsPaneModel.Steps to be populated after the C# decompile");
 
+
 		var astTransformNames = CSharpDecompiler.GetAstTransforms()
 			.Select(transform => transform.GetType().Name)
 			.ToArray();
 
+		// The AST transforms close the tree, after the member groups of the IL half.
 		debugStepsVm.Steps!
 			.Select(step => StripStepNumber(step.Description))
-			.Should().Equal(astTransformNames,
-				"C# debug steps must use AST transforms as top-level groups");
+			.Should().EndWith(astTransformNames,
+				"C# debug steps must use AST transforms as the top-level groups of the C# half");
 
 		var transformGroupWithChanges = debugStepsVm.Steps!
+			.Where(step => astTransformNames.Contains(StripStepNumber(step.Description)))
 			.FirstOrDefault(step => step.Children.Count > 0);
 		transformGroupWithChanges.Should().NotBeNull(
 			"individual C# AST mutation steps must be nested under their transform group");
@@ -186,16 +191,177 @@ public class DebugStepsTests
 		AssertPreciseHighlight(tab, "C# replay after a selected AST mutation step must locate the changed node");
 		debugStepsVm.Steps.Should().BeSameAs(collectedSteps,
 			"a step-limited C# replay must preserve the current full-run step tree and selection context");
+	}
+
+	[AvaloniaTest]
+	public async Task IL_Steps_Are_Recorded_Only_While_The_Pane_Asks_For_Them()
+	{
+		// Every retained step pins the ILAst it captured, which for one type runs to tens of thousands
+		// of nodes. A closed pane displays none of them, so the decompile must not collect any - not
+		// the IL transforms, and not the C# AST transforms either: a run that records half a pipeline
+		// would number its steps on a scale no displayed tree was recorded on.
+		var debugStepsVm = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>();
+		debugStepsVm.SetRecordingEnabled(false);
+
+		var window = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<MainWindow>();
+		window.Show();
+		var vm = (MainWindowViewModel)window.DataContext!;
+		await vm.AssemblyTreeModel.WaitForAssembliesAsync(minimumCount: 3);
+
+		var languageService = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<LanguageService>();
+		var csharp = languageService.Languages.OfType<CSharpLanguage>().Single();
+		languageService.CurrentLanguage = csharp;
+
+		var typeNode = vm.AssemblyTreeModel.FindNode<TypeTreeNode>(
+			"System.Linq", "System.Linq", "System.Linq.Enumerable");
+		typeNode.IsExpanded = true;
+		var method = typeNode.Children.OfType<MethodTreeNode>()
+			.First(m => m.MethodDefinition.Name == "Range");
+		vm.AssemblyTreeModel.SelectNode(method);
+		await vm.DockWorkspace.WaitForDecompiledTextAsync();
+
+		var ilTransformNames = CSharpDecompiler.GetILTransforms()
+			.Select(transform => transform.GetType().Name)
+			.ToHashSet();
+		ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Util.TreeTraversal.PreOrder(csharp.Stepper.Steps, n => n.Children).Select(n => n.Description).Should().NotContain(
+			description => ilTransformNames.Contains(StripStepNumber(description)),
+			"a closed pane leaves the IL transforms unrecorded");
+		csharp.Stepper.Steps.Should().BeEmpty("a closed pane leaves the whole pipeline unrecorded");
+	}
+
+	[AvaloniaTest]
+	public async Task Closing_The_Pane_Releases_The_Steps_Even_When_Another_Language_Is_Current()
+	{
+		// The steps are pinned on the MEF-shared CSharpLanguage, not on whichever language happens to
+		// be selected. Open the pane on C#, switch to IL, close the pane: the release has to reach the
+		// C# language anyway, or its whole IL tree stays alive until the next full C# run.
+		var window = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<MainWindow>();
+		window.Show();
+		var vm = (MainWindowViewModel)window.DataContext!;
+		await vm.AssemblyTreeModel.WaitForAssembliesAsync(minimumCount: 3);
+
+		var languageService = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<LanguageService>();
+		var csharp = languageService.Languages.OfType<CSharpLanguage>().Single();
+		languageService.CurrentLanguage = csharp;
+
+		var debugStepsVm = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>();
+		debugStepsVm.SetRecordingEnabled(true);
+
+		var typeNode = vm.AssemblyTreeModel.FindNode<TypeTreeNode>(
+			"System.Linq", "System.Linq", "System.Linq.Enumerable");
+		typeNode.IsExpanded = true;
+		var method = typeNode.Children.OfType<MethodTreeNode>()
+			.First(m => m.MethodDefinition.Name == "Range");
+		vm.AssemblyTreeModel.SelectNode(method);
+		await vm.DockWorkspace.WaitForDecompiledTextAsync();
+		await Waiters.WaitForAsync(
+			() => debugStepsVm.Steps?.Count > 0,
+			description: "DebugStepsPaneModel.Steps to be populated after the C# decompile");
+
+		languageService.CurrentLanguage = languageService.GetLanguage("IL");
+		Dispatcher.UIThread.RunJobs();
+
+		debugStepsVm.SetRecordingEnabled(false);
+
+		csharp.Stepper.Steps.Should().BeEmpty(
+			"closing the pane must release the recorded steps whatever language is selected");
+	}
+
+	[AvaloniaTest]
+	public async Task Opening_The_Pane_Does_Not_Redecompile_A_Language_That_Records_Nothing()
+	{
+		// Only the C# language records steps, so re-running any other language's decompile buys
+		// nothing and throws away the view the user is looking at.
+		var window = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<MainWindow>();
+		window.Show();
+		var vm = (MainWindowViewModel)window.DataContext!;
+		await vm.AssemblyTreeModel.WaitForAssembliesAsync(minimumCount: 3);
+
+		var debugStepsVm = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>();
+		debugStepsVm.SetRecordingEnabled(false);
+
+		var languageService = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<LanguageService>();
+		languageService.CurrentLanguage = languageService.GetLanguage("IL");
+		Dispatcher.UIThread.RunJobs();
+
+		var typeNode = vm.AssemblyTreeModel.FindNode<TypeTreeNode>(
+			"System.Linq", "System.Linq", "System.Linq.Enumerable");
+		typeNode.IsExpanded = true;
+		var method = typeNode.Children.OfType<MethodTreeNode>()
+			.First(m => m.MethodDefinition.Name == "Range");
+		vm.AssemblyTreeModel.SelectNode(method);
+		await vm.DockWorkspace.WaitForDecompiledTextAsync();
+
+		var tab = vm.DockWorkspace.ActiveDecompilerTab!;
+		tab.IsDecompiling.Should().BeFalse("the IL decompile the test awaited has finished");
+
+		debugStepsVm.SetRecordingEnabled(true);
+
+		tab.IsDecompiling.Should().BeFalse(
+			"opening the pane on a language that records no steps must leave the tab alone");
+	}
+
+	[AvaloniaTest]
+	public async Task A_Run_Finishing_After_The_Pane_Closed_Does_Not_Repin_Its_Steps()
+	{
+		// Closing the pane drops the tree, but the language still raises StepperUpdated at the end of
+		// every full run. Taking that update would pin the tree straight back into a pane nobody is
+		// looking at - which is the retention closing was meant to end.
+		var window = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<MainWindow>();
+		window.Show();
+		var vm = (MainWindowViewModel)window.DataContext!;
+		await vm.AssemblyTreeModel.WaitForAssembliesAsync(minimumCount: 3);
 
-		static string StripStepNumber(string description)
+		var languageService = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<LanguageService>();
+		var csharp = languageService.Languages.OfType<CSharpLanguage>().Single();
+		languageService.CurrentLanguage = csharp;
+
+		var debugStepsVm = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>();
+		debugStepsVm.SetRecordingEnabled(true);
+
+		var typeNode = vm.AssemblyTreeModel.FindNode<TypeTreeNode>(
+			"System.Linq", "System.Linq", "System.Linq.Enumerable");
+		typeNode.IsExpanded = true;
+		var first = typeNode.Children.OfType<MethodTreeNode>()
+			.First(m => m.MethodDefinition.Name == "Range");
+		vm.AssemblyTreeModel.SelectNode(first);
+		await vm.DockWorkspace.WaitForDecompiledTextAsync();
+		await Waiters.WaitForAsync(
+			() => debugStepsVm.Steps?.Count > 0,
+			description: "DebugStepsPaneModel.Steps to be populated after the C# decompile");
+
+		debugStepsVm.SetRecordingEnabled(false);
+		debugStepsVm.Steps.Should().BeNull("closing the pane drops the tree it was showing");
+
+		// A later full run raises StepperUpdated exactly the way the in-flight one would have.
+		var second = typeNode.Children.OfType<MethodTreeNode>()
+			.First(m => m.MethodDefinition.Name == "AsEnumerable");
+		vm.AssemblyTreeModel.SelectNode(second);
+		await vm.DockWorkspace.WaitForDecompiledTextAsync();
+		Dispatcher.UIThread.RunJobs();
+
+		debugStepsVm.Steps.Should().BeNull(
+			"a run finishing while the pane is closed must not pin its steps back into it");
+	}
+
+	[AvaloniaTest]
+	public async Task CSharp_DebugSteps_Cover_IL_Transforms_And_Replay_Renders_ILAst()
+	{
+		// Recording the IL half is what an open pane switches on; nothing realizes the pane's view
+		// here, so this test asks for it the same way the view does.
+		var debugStepsVm = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>();
+		debugStepsVm.SetRecordingEnabled(true);
+		try
+		{
+			await CoverILTransformsAndReplay();
+		}
+		finally
 		{
-			var separatorIndex = description.IndexOf(": ", StringComparison.Ordinal);
-			return separatorIndex >= 0 ? description[(separatorIndex + 2)..] : description;
+			debugStepsVm.SetRecordingEnabled(false);
 		}
 	}
 
-	[AvaloniaTest]
-	public async Task ILAst_DebugStep_Replay_Highlights_Changed_Instruction()
+	static async Task CoverILTransformsAndReplay()
 	{
 		var window = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<MainWindow>();
 		window.Show();
@@ -203,8 +369,8 @@ public class DebugStepsTests
 		await vm.AssemblyTreeModel.WaitForAssembliesAsync(minimumCount: 3);
 
 		var languageService = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<LanguageService>();
-		var blockIL = languageService.Languages.OfType<ILAstLanguage>().Single(l => l.Name == "ILAst");
-		languageService.CurrentLanguage = blockIL;
+		var csharp = languageService.Languages.OfType<CSharpLanguage>().Single();
+		languageService.CurrentLanguage = csharp;
 
 		var typeNode = vm.AssemblyTreeModel.FindNode<TypeTreeNode>(
 			"System.Linq", "System.Linq", "System.Linq.Enumerable");
@@ -217,25 +383,49 @@ public class DebugStepsTests
 		var debugStepsVm = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>();
 		await Waiters.WaitForAsync(
 			() => debugStepsVm.Steps?.Count > 0,
-			description: "DebugStepsPaneModel.Steps to be populated after the ILAst decompile");
+			description: "DebugStepsPaneModel.Steps to be populated after the C# decompile");
+
+		// The C# step tree spans the whole pipeline, so its top level is every decompiled member's IL
+		// group, in order, followed by the C# AST transforms - and the IL transforms sit inside the
+		// group of the member they transformed.
+		var ilTransformNames = CSharpDecompiler.GetILTransforms()
+			.Select(transform => transform.GetType().Name)
+			.ToHashSet();
+		var memberGroup = debugStepsVm.Steps!
+			.FirstOrDefault(step => step.Children.Any(child => ilTransformNames.Contains(StripStepNumber(child.Description))));
+		memberGroup.Should().NotBeNull("the C# step tree must group each member's IL transforms");
+
+		var astTransformNames = CSharpDecompiler.GetAstTransforms()
+			.Select(transform => transform.GetType().Name)
+			.ToArray();
+		var topLevel = debugStepsVm.Steps!.Select(step => StripStepNumber(step.Description)).ToArray();
+		topLevel.Should().EndWith(astTransformNames, "the C# AST transforms close the step tree");
+		var beforeTransforms = topLevel.Take(topLevel.Length - astTransformNames.Length).ToArray();
+		beforeTransforms.Should().EndWith(new[] { "C# AST built from ILAst" },
+			"the seam closes the IL half, right before the first AST transform");
+		beforeTransforms.SkipLast(1)
+			.Should().OnlyContain(description => description.Contains("System.Linq.Enumerable"),
+				"nothing but the decompiled members' groups precedes the seam");
 
 		// Replaying an individual mutation step is what surfaces a single IL change; the leaf
 		// step's changed instruction (or a surviving ancestor) must map to a rendered text range.
-		var replayStep = FirstLeafStep(debugStepsVm.Steps!);
-		replayStep.Should().NotBeNull("the ILAst stepper must record individual mutation steps");
+		var replayStep = FirstLeafStep(memberGroup!.Children);
+		replayStep.Should().NotBeNull("the IL transforms must record individual mutation steps");
 
 		var collectedSteps = debugStepsVm.Steps;
 		var tab = vm.DockWorkspace.ActiveDecompilerTab!;
 
 		await tab.RestartDecompileWithStepLimit(replayStep!.BeginStep, isDebug: false, replayStep.BeginStep);
-		tab.Text.Should().NotBeNullOrWhiteSpace("ILAst replay before a selected step must still emit IL");
-		AssertPreciseHighlight(tab, "ILAst replay before a selected step must locate the changed instruction");
+		tab.Text.Should().NotBeNullOrWhiteSpace("replaying an IL-phase step must still emit output");
+		tab.SyntaxExtension.Should().Be(".il",
+			"an IL-phase step halts before there is any C#, so the editor shows the ILAst it stopped in");
+		AssertPreciseHighlight(tab, "an IL-phase replay must locate the changed instruction");
 		debugStepsVm.Steps.Should().BeSameAs(collectedSteps,
-			"a step-limited ILAst replay must not replace the full step tree shown by the pane");
+			"a step-limited replay must not replace the full step tree shown by the pane");
 
 		await tab.RestartDecompileWithStepLimit(replayStep.EndStep, isDebug: false, replayStep.BeginStep);
-		tab.Text.Should().NotBeNullOrWhiteSpace("ILAst replay after a selected step must still emit IL");
-		AssertPreciseHighlight(tab, "ILAst replay after a selected step must locate the changed instruction");
+		tab.Text.Should().NotBeNullOrWhiteSpace("replaying the state after an IL-phase step must still emit output");
+		AssertPreciseHighlight(tab, "an IL-phase replay must locate the changed instruction");
 
 		// The first leaf step that acts on a concrete instruction; a step whose Position is null
 		// (e.g. an empty transform group) has nothing to highlight and is not what a user replays.
@@ -258,17 +448,23 @@ public class DebugStepsTests
 	}
 
 	[AvaloniaTest]
-	public Task ILAst_And_TypedIL_Languages_Are_Registered_In_Debug_Builds()
+	public Task Stepping_And_Language_Version_Selection_Coexist_On_The_CSharp_Language()
 	{
-		// Two ILAstLanguage subclasses: BlockILLanguage ("ILAst") drives the stepper,
-		// TypedILLanguage ("Typed IL") writes type-annotated raw IL without transforms.
-		// Both register via [Export(typeof(Language))]; the language picker uses them
-		// in addition to C# and the disassembler-IL language.
+		// Stepping belongs to the C# language, which offers language versions: selecting a version and
+		// walking the pipeline have to work at the same time, on the same language.
 		var languageService = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<LanguageService>();
-		languageService.Languages.OfType<ILAstLanguage>().Should().HaveCount(2,
-			"both BlockIL and TypedIL must be registered when DEBUG is defined");
-		languageService.Languages.Should().Contain(l => l.Name == "ILAst");
-		languageService.Languages.Should().Contain(l => l.Name == "Typed IL");
+		languageService.Languages.Should().NotContain(l => l.Name == "ILAst",
+			"no language runs the IL pipeline: it is walked in the Debug Steps pane instead");
+		languageService.Languages.Should().Contain(l => l.Name == "Typed IL",
+			"Typed IL is a raw-IL rendering, not a pipeline stage, and stays its own debug language");
+
+		var csharp = languageService.Languages.OfType<CSharpLanguage>().Single();
+		languageService.CurrentLanguage = csharp;
+		csharp.HasLanguageVersions.Should().BeTrue();
+
+		var debugStepsVm = AppComposition.Current.GetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>();
+		debugStepsVm.IsAvailable.Should().BeTrue(
+			"the language that offers version selection is also the one that records steps");
 		return Task.CompletedTask;
 	}
 
@@ -376,9 +572,9 @@ public class DebugStepsTests
 	[AvaloniaTest]
 	public Task DebugSteps_View_Loads_With_Filter_Applied()
 	{
-		// Guards the filter wiring in the XAML -- the per-row style Setter bindings -- against a
-		// structural break that x:CompileBindings="False" would not catch at build time.
-		// Realising the view with a populated tree and a live filter must not throw.
+		// Guards the filter wiring in the XAML -- the per-row style Setter bindings, which apply to
+		// containers the compiler never sees typed. Realising the view with a populated tree and a
+		// live filter must not throw.
 		var vm = new DebugStepsPaneModel();
 		var group = new Stepper.Node("CombineQueryExpressions");
 		group.Children.Add(new Stepper.Node("3: Introduce query continuation"));
@@ -394,6 +590,43 @@ public class DebugStepsTests
 		return Task.CompletedTask;
 	}
 
+	[AvaloniaTest]
+	public Task Writing_Option_CheckBoxes_Are_Bound_To_The_ILAst_Writing_Options()
+	{
+		// The checkboxes drive how a halted IL step's ILAst is rendered, through the options the pane
+		// owns: what the compiler cannot check is that the two-way path reaches the pane's own instance
+		// rather than a copy, and a dead binding here is a dead feature.
+		var vm = new DebugStepsPaneModel { IsAvailable = true };
+		var window = new Window { Width = 500, Height = 300, Content = new DebugSteps { DataContext = vm } };
+		window.Show();
+		Dispatcher.UIThread.RunJobs();
+		try
+		{
+			var fieldSugar = window.GetVisualDescendants().OfType<CheckBox>()
+				.Single(box => (box.Content as string) == "Field sugar");
+			fieldSugar.IsChecked.Should().Be(vm.WritingOptions.UseFieldSugar,
+				"the checkbox must show the current writing option");
+
+			fieldSugar.IsChecked = false;
+			Dispatcher.UIThread.RunJobs();
+			vm.WritingOptions.UseFieldSugar.Should().BeFalse(
+				"toggling the checkbox must reach the options the ILAst dump is written with");
+		}
+		finally
+		{
+			window.Close();
+		}
+		return Task.CompletedTask;
+	}
+
+	// Step descriptions are prefixed with their index ("42: Foo"); the name behind it is what
+	// identifies the transform that recorded them.
+	static string StripStepNumber(string description)
+	{
+		var separatorIndex = description.IndexOf(": ", StringComparison.Ordinal);
+		return separatorIndex >= 0 ? description[(separatorIndex + 2)..] : description;
+	}
+
 	// A replay highlight must land on the changed node, not merely be non-null: in bounds, not a
 	// flood of the whole document, and (unless it is a zero-length removal caret) on rendered code
 	// rather than whitespace. This is what keeps the ancestor fallback from silently widening every
@@ -474,7 +707,7 @@ public class DebugStepsTests
 	[AvaloniaTest]
 	public Task Pane_Reports_Not_Available_For_Languages_Without_Debug_Steps()
 	{
-		// The step tree only makes sense for IDebugStepProvider languages (C#, ILAst, Typed IL).
+		// The step tree only makes sense for the C# language, whose pipeline records it.
 		// For the plain IL disassembler the pane must not keep showing the previous language's
 		// stale step tree (whose commands would trigger pointless re-decompiles); it reports
 		// unavailability so the view swaps in a "not available" message instead.
diff --git a/ILSpy/DecompilationOptions.cs b/ILSpy/DecompilationOptions.cs
index 27bb43af2..3db61bb38 100644
--- a/ILSpy/DecompilationOptions.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/DecompilationOptions.cs
@@ -54,10 +54,12 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy
 		public string? StrongNameKeyFile { get; set; }
 
 		/// <summary>
-		/// Stop the IL-transform pipeline after this many steps. <see cref="int.MaxValue"/>
-		/// means "run all transforms". The Debug Steps pane sets this to the index of a
-		/// chosen step so it can show the partial state at that point. Honoured by
-		/// <see cref="Languages.BlockILLanguage"/>; ignored by every other language.
+		/// Stop the decompiler pipeline after this many steps. <see cref="int.MaxValue"/> means "run
+		/// everything". The Debug Steps pane sets this to the index of a chosen step so it can show the
+		/// partial state at that point. Honoured by the C# language, whose steps span the IL transforms,
+		/// the ILAst-to-C# conversion and the C# AST transforms; ignored by every other language.
+		/// A limit landing in the IL phase yields an ILAst dump rather than C#, because the halted
+		/// member never reaches the C# builders.
 		/// </summary>
 		public int StepLimit { get; set; } = int.MaxValue;
 
@@ -69,12 +71,21 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy
 		public int? HighlightStep { get; set; }
 
 		/// <summary>
-		/// When true, transforms emit verbose debug information about their behaviour. Only
-		/// meaningful in combination with <see cref="StepLimit"/> — the Debug Steps pane sets
-		/// it on the "Debug this step" context-menu action.
+		/// When true, the pipeline breaks into an attached debugger on reaching <see cref="StepLimit"/>
+		/// and then carries on, instead of halting there. Only meaningful in combination with
+		/// <see cref="StepLimit"/> — the Debug Steps pane sets it on the "Debug this step"
+		/// context-menu action.
 		/// </summary>
 		public bool IsDebug { get; set; }
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// When true, the pipeline records its steps so a step view can display them. It travels with
+		/// the request rather than being read from the view: a step index only means anything against
+		/// a run recorded the same way, so the full run and the step-limited replay of one of its
+		/// indices have to agree on it, and the decompile that reads it happens on a background task.
+		/// </summary>
+		public bool RecordSteps { get; set; }
+
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Optional sink for whole-project decompilation progress. Wired onto
 		/// <see cref="ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.ProjectDecompiler.WholeProjectDecompiler.ProgressIndicator"/>
diff --git a/ILSpy/Docking/DockWorkspace.cs b/ILSpy/Docking/DockWorkspace.cs
index ca88b3367..3e32ee93f 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Docking/DockWorkspace.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/Docking/DockWorkspace.cs
@@ -84,6 +84,15 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Docking
 		/// behaviour (e.g. ShowOptionsCommand).</summary>
 		public IDocumentDock? Documents => factory.Documents;
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Whether decompiles started in this workspace record their transform steps. Set on the UI
+		/// thread by whoever displays them and copied into each run's <see cref="DecompilationOptions"/>,
+		/// so a background decompile never samples live view state - and every tab, including ones
+		/// opened later, records the same way. A step index only means anything against a run
+		/// recorded like the one the index was taken from.
+		/// </summary>
+		public bool RecordSteps { get; set; }
+
 		public IRelayCommand NavigateBackCommand { get; }
 		public IRelayCommand NavigateForwardCommand { get; }
 		public IRelayCommand<NavigationEntry> NavigateToHistoryCommand { get; }
diff --git a/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.DebugSteps.cs b/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.DebugSteps.cs
index 6d350cee4..bb8700dcf 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.DebugSteps.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.DebugSteps.cs
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ using System;
 using ICSharpCode.Decompiler;
 using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp;
 using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.DebugSteps;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL;
 
 using ICSharpCode.ILSpy.AppEnv;
 using ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Docking;
@@ -32,12 +33,13 @@ using ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels;
 namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 {
 	/// <summary>
-	/// Debug Steps support for the C# language, shown in the Debug Steps pane like the ILAst
-	/// language already does for IL transforms. A full decompile records AST transform groups with
-	/// individual mutation steps inside; a selected step's index is replayed by re-decompiling with <see
-	/// cref="DecompilationOptions.StepLimit"/>.
+	/// Debug Steps support for the C# language: the pipeline the pane walks. A full decompile records
+	/// the IL transforms of each member, the ILAst-to-C# seam, and the C# AST transforms into one
+	/// <see cref="Stepper"/>; a selected step's index is replayed by re-decompiling with
+	/// <see cref="DecompilationOptions.StepLimit"/>. A step that halts the IL phase leaves no C# to
+	/// print, so the replay renders the halted ILAst instead - see <see cref="TryWriteILAst"/>.
 	/// </summary>
-	partial class CSharpLanguage : IDebugStepProvider
+	partial class CSharpLanguage
 	{
 		Stepper stepper = new Stepper();
 
@@ -45,13 +47,48 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 
 		public event EventHandler? StepperUpdated;
 
-		// The C# AST step view has no options of its own (yet); the pane shows nothing above the
-		// tree for C#, unlike ILAst's writing-options checkboxes.
-		public object? StepOptions => null;
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Writes the ILAst the IL transforms were halted in, in place of the C# the caller would
+		/// otherwise print. The step limit stops the pipeline before that member ever reaches the C#
+		/// builders, so there is nothing else worth showing.
+		/// When the halt lands mid-type, the whole document becomes that one member's ILAst and the C#
+		/// of the members already decompiled is dropped: one document in one language keeps the
+		/// highlighting unambiguous, and which member the limit lands in follows decompilation order,
+		/// not the user's selection.
+		/// </summary>
+		private static partial bool TryWriteILAst(ITextOutput output, DecompilationOptions options, CSharpDecompiler decompiler)
+		{
+			if (decompiler.StepLimitHaltedFunction is not { } function)
+				return false;
+			if (output is AvaloniaEditTextOutput avaloniaOutput)
+			{
+				// The dump is IL, not C#; without this the editor would highlight it as C#.
+				avaloniaOutput.SyntaxExtensionOverride = ".il";
+			}
+			output.WriteLine();
+			function.WriteTo(output, DebugStepsPane?.WritingOptions ?? new ILAstWritingOptions());
+			return true;
+		}
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The Debug Steps pane, or null before composition is up (design-time previews) and in the
+		/// window between startup and the pane being created. It is a [Shared] export, so a decompile
+		/// running on a background task resolves the same instance the view is bound to.
+		/// </summary>
+		static DebugStepsPaneModel? DebugStepsPane => AppComposition.TryGetExport<DebugStepsPaneModel>();
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Drops the recorded steps of the last run. The stepper pins every ILAst its steps captured, so
+		/// this is what actually releases that memory once nothing is displaying it.
+		/// </summary>
+		internal void ReleaseSteps()
+		{
+			stepper = new Stepper();
+		}
 
 		partial void OnCSharpDecompiled(CSharpDecompiler decompiler, ITextOutput output, DecompilationOptions options)
 		{
-			// The button always shows so the pane is one click away; mirrors the ILAst language.
+			// The button always shows so the pane is one click away.
 			// DockWorkspace is resolved lazily (an ImportingConstructor import would form a MEF
 			// cycle via LanguageService -> Languages).
 			(output as ISmartTextOutput)?.AddButton(Images.ViewCode, "Show Steps", delegate {
diff --git a/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.cs b/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.cs
index 2be32de77..10a46c120 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/Languages/CSharpLanguage.cs
@@ -327,6 +327,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 			};
 			decompiler.Stepper.StepLimit = options.StepLimit;
 			decompiler.Stepper.IsDebug = options.IsDebug;
+			// The Debug Steps pane walks the whole pipeline, so the IL transforms record into the same
+			// stepper as the C# AST transforms. Which runs record is decided by whoever started the
+			// decompile, not by the pane's state at the moment this runs on a background task.
+			decompiler.RecordSteps = options.RecordSteps;
 			if (options.EscapeInvalidIdentifiers)
 				decompiler.AstTransforms.Add(new EscapeInvalidIdentifiers());
 			return decompiler;
@@ -354,11 +358,11 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 			{
 				var members = CollectFieldsAndCtors(methodDefinition.DeclaringTypeDefinition!, methodDefinition.IsStatic);
 				decompiler.AstTransforms.Add(new SelectCtorTransform(methodDefinition));
-				WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(members), decompiler.Stepper);
+				WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(members), decompiler);
 			}
 			else
 			{
-				WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(method.MetadataToken), decompiler.Stepper);
+				WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(method.MetadataToken), decompiler);
 			}
 			OnCSharpDecompiled(decompiler, output, options);
 		}
@@ -371,7 +375,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 		{
 			CSharpDecompiler decompiler = BeginDecompile(property, output, options);
 			WriteCommentLine(output, TypeToString(property.DeclaringType));
-			WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(property.MetadataToken), decompiler.Stepper);
+			WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(property.MetadataToken), decompiler);
 			OnCSharpDecompiled(decompiler, output, options);
 		}
 
@@ -381,14 +385,14 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 			WriteCommentLine(output, TypeToString(field.DeclaringType));
 			if (field.IsConst)
 			{
-				WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(field.MetadataToken), decompiler.Stepper);
+				WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(field.MetadataToken), decompiler);
 			}
 			else
 			{
 				var members = CollectFieldsAndCtors(field.DeclaringTypeDefinition!, field.IsStatic);
 				var resolvedField = decompiler.TypeSystem.MainModule.GetDefinition((FieldDefinitionHandle)field.MetadataToken);
 				decompiler.AstTransforms.Add(new SelectFieldTransform(resolvedField));
-				WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(members), decompiler.Stepper);
+				WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(members), decompiler);
 			}
 			OnCSharpDecompiled(decompiler, output, options);
 		}
@@ -417,7 +421,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 			CSharpDecompiler decompiler = BeginDecompile(extension, output, options);
 			WriteCommentLine(output, TypeToString(commentType,
 				ConversionFlags.UseFullyQualifiedTypeNames | ConversionFlags.UseFullyQualifiedEntityNames | ConversionFlags.SupportExtensionDeclarations));
-			WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.DecompileExtension(extension.MetadataToken), decompiler.Stepper);
+			WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.DecompileExtension(extension.MetadataToken), decompiler);
 			OnCSharpDecompiled(decompiler, output, options);
 		}
 
@@ -425,7 +429,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 		{
 			CSharpDecompiler decompiler = BeginDecompile(ev, output, options);
 			WriteCommentLine(output, TypeToString(ev.DeclaringType));
-			WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(ev.MetadataToken), decompiler.Stepper);
+			WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(ev.MetadataToken), decompiler);
 			OnCSharpDecompiled(decompiler, output, options);
 		}
 
@@ -433,7 +437,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 		{
 			CSharpDecompiler decompiler = BeginDecompile(type, output, options);
 			WriteCommentLine(output, TypeToString(type, ConversionFlags.UseFullyQualifiedTypeNames | ConversionFlags.UseFullyQualifiedEntityNames));
-			WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(type.MetadataToken), decompiler.Stepper);
+			WriteCode(output, options, decompiler.Decompile(type.MetadataToken), decompiler);
 			OnCSharpDecompiled(decompiler, output, options);
 		}
 
@@ -520,7 +524,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 			SyntaxTree st = options.FullDecompilation
 				? decompiler.DecompileWholeModuleAsSingleFile()
 				: decompiler.DecompileModuleAndAssemblyAttributes();
-			WriteCode(output, options, st, decompiler.Stepper);
+			WriteCode(output, options, st, decompiler);
 			return null;
 		}
 
@@ -732,38 +736,54 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
 			}
 		}
 
-		static void WriteCode(ITextOutput output, DecompilationOptions options, SyntaxTree syntaxTree, Stepper stepper)
+		static void WriteCode(ITextOutput output, DecompilationOptions options, SyntaxTree syntaxTree, CSharpDecompiler decompiler)
 		{
-			var settings = options.DecompilerSettings;
-			syntaxTree.AcceptVisitor(new InsertParenthesesVisitor { InsertParenthesesForReadability = true });
-			output.IndentationString = settings.CSharpFormattingOptions.IndentationString;
-			TokenWriter tokenWriter = new TextTokenWriter(output, settings);
-			// Node-range tracking (NodeLookup) is only consumed by the debug-step highlighter, which
-			// resolves nothing without a step limit. Skip it on a normal decompile so the common path
-			// doesn't pay the per-node/per-annotation bookkeeping; AvaloniaEditTextOutput is an
-			// ISmartTextOutput, so the branch below still gives it full syntax highlighting.
-			if (output is TextView.AvaloniaEditTextOutput avaloniaOutput && options.StepLimit != int.MaxValue)
-				tokenWriter = new CSharpHighlightingTokenWriter(tokenWriter, avaloniaOutput);
-			else if (output is TextView.ISmartTextOutput smartOutput)
-				tokenWriter = new CSharpHighlightingTokenWriter(tokenWriter, smartOutput);
-
-			// For the on-screen C# view, harvest the IL-offset/line map for body bookmarks during this
-			// single formatting pass (see Bookmarks.BookmarkDebugInfoCollector). The collector is the
-			// outermost writer so its StartNode sees each node's start line before any token is written.
-			// Other outputs (IL view, ilspycmd's plain text) are not AvaloniaEditTextOutput and are unaffected.
-			Bookmarks.BookmarkDebugInfoCollector? bookmarkCollector = null;
-			if (output is TextView.AvaloniaEditTextOutput bookmarkOutput)
-				tokenWriter = bookmarkCollector = new Bookmarks.BookmarkDebugInfoCollector(tokenWriter, bookmarkOutput);
-
-			syntaxTree.AcceptVisitor(new CSharpOutputVisitor(tokenWriter, settings.CSharpFormattingOptions));
-			bookmarkCollector?.Publish();
+			if (!TryWriteILAst(output, options, decompiler))
+			{
+				var settings = options.DecompilerSettings;
+				syntaxTree.AcceptVisitor(new InsertParenthesesVisitor { InsertParenthesesForReadability = true });
+				output.IndentationString = settings.CSharpFormattingOptions.IndentationString;
+				TokenWriter tokenWriter = new TextTokenWriter(output, settings);
+				// Node-range tracking (NodeLookup) is only consumed by the debug-step highlighter, which
+				// resolves nothing without a step limit. Skip it on a normal decompile so the common path
+				// doesn't pay the per-node/per-annotation bookkeeping; AvaloniaEditTextOutput is an
+				// ISmartTextOutput, so the branch below still gives it full syntax highlighting.
+				if (output is TextView.AvaloniaEditTextOutput avaloniaOutput && options.StepLimit != int.MaxValue)
+					tokenWriter = new CSharpHighlightingTokenWriter(tokenWriter, avaloniaOutput);
+				else if (output is TextView.ISmartTextOutput smartOutput)
+					tokenWriter = new CSharpHighlightingTokenWriter(tokenWriter, smartOutput);
+
+				// For the on-screen C# view, harvest the IL-offset/line map for body bookmarks during this
+				// single formatting pass (see Bookmarks.BookmarkDebugInfoCollector). The collector is the
+				// outermost writer so its StartNode sees each node's start line before any token is written.
+				// Other outputs (IL view, ilspycmd's plain text) are not AvaloniaEditTextOutput and are unaffected.
+				Bookmarks.BookmarkDebugInfoCollector? bookmarkCollector = null;
+				if (output is TextView.AvaloniaEditTextOutput bookmarkOutput)
+					tokenWriter = bookmarkCollector = new Bookmarks.BookmarkDebugInfoCollector(tokenWriter, bookmarkOutput);
+
+				syntaxTree.AcceptVisitor(new CSharpOutputVisitor(tokenWriter, settings.CSharpFormattingOptions));
+				bookmarkCollector?.Publish();
+			}
+			// Shared by both renderings: ILInstruction.WriteTo marks its node ranges the same way the
+			// C# token writer marks the AST's, so the highlighter resolves a step against whichever
+			// text was just written.
 			if (output is TextView.AvaloniaEditTextOutput nodeOutput
-				&& TextView.DebugStepHighlighter.TryResolve(stepper, options.StepLimit, options.HighlightStep, nodeOutput.NodeLookup, out var range))
+				&& TextView.DebugStepHighlighter.TryResolve(decompiler.Stepper, options.StepLimit, options.HighlightStep, nodeOutput.NodeLookup, out var range))
 			{
 				nodeOutput.DebugStepHighlight = range;
 			}
 		}
 
+		// Writes the ILAst the pipeline was halted in, when a Debug Steps replay stopped it before
+		// there was any C# to show, and reports whether it wrote anything. Implemented under DEBUG in
+		// CSharpLanguage.DebugSteps.cs; in Release nothing sets a step limit, so it never writes.
+		private static partial bool TryWriteILAst(ITextOutput output, DecompilationOptions options, CSharpDecompiler decompiler);
+
+#if !DEBUG
+		private static partial bool TryWriteILAst(ITextOutput output, DecompilationOptions options, CSharpDecompiler decompiler)
+			=> false;
+#endif
+
 		void AddWarningMessage(MetadataFile module, ITextOutput output, string line1, string? line2 = null,
 			string? buttonText = null, global::Avalonia.Media.IImage? buttonImage = null,
 			System.EventHandler<global::Avalonia.Interactivity.RoutedEventArgs>? buttonClickHandler = null)
diff --git a/ILSpy/Languages/IDebugStepProvider.cs b/ILSpy/Languages/IDebugStepProvider.cs
deleted file mode 100644
index 465b85bc4..000000000
--- a/ILSpy/Languages/IDebugStepProvider.cs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright (c) 2026 AlphaSierraPapa for the SharpDevelop Team
-//
-// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this
-// software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software
-// without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
-// publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons
-// to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
-//
-// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or
-// substantial portions of the Software.
-//
-// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
-// INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
-// PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE
-// FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
-// OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
-// DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
-
-#if DEBUG
-
-using System;
-
-using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.DebugSteps;
-
-namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
-{
-	/// <summary>
-	/// A language that surfaces a <see cref="Stepper"/> of decompiler-pipeline steps for the
-	/// Debug Steps pane to visualise. Implemented by <see cref="ILAstLanguage"/> (one node per IL
-	/// transform step) and <see cref="CSharpLanguage"/> (one node per C# AST transform). The pane
-	/// binds to whichever current language is an <see cref="IDebugStepProvider"/>, so it no longer has to
-	/// know the concrete language type.
-	/// </summary>
-	internal interface IDebugStepProvider
-	{
-		/// <summary>The step tree produced by the most recent full decompile.</summary>
-		Stepper Stepper { get; }
-
-		/// <summary>Raised after a full (non step-limited) decompile refreshes <see cref="Stepper"/>.</summary>
-		event EventHandler? StepperUpdated;
-
-		/// <summary>
-		/// Language-specific options object the Debug Steps pane renders above the step tree
-		/// (e.g. ILAst's writing-options checkboxes), or <see langword="null"/> when the language
-		/// has no step options. The pane picks a template by the object's runtime type, so each
-		/// language contributes its own controls.
-		/// </summary>
-		object? StepOptions { get; }
-	}
-}
-
-#endif
diff --git a/ILSpy/Languages/ILAstLanguage.cs b/ILSpy/Languages/ILAstLanguage.cs
deleted file mode 100644
index fe4ff0dde..000000000
--- a/ILSpy/Languages/ILAstLanguage.cs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,201 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright (c) 2026 AlphaSierraPapa for the SharpDevelop Team
-//
-// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this
-// software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software
-// without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
-// publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons
-// to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
-//
-// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or
-// substantial portions of the Software.
-//
-// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
-// INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
-// PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE
-// FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
-// OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
-// DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
-
-#if DEBUG
-
-using System;
-using System.Collections.Generic;
-using System.Composition;
-
-using ICSharpCode.Decompiler;
-using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp;
-using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.DebugSteps;
-using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Disassembler;
-using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL;
-using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL.Transforms;
-using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Metadata;
-using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.TypeSystem;
-using ICSharpCode.ILSpyX;
-
-using ICSharpCode.ILSpy.AppEnv;
-using ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Docking;
-using ICSharpCode.ILSpy.TextView;
-using ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels;
-
-using SRM = System.Reflection.Metadata;
-
-namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
-{
-	/// <summary>
-	/// Debug-only language that surfaces the decompiler pipeline's intermediate state.
-	/// Two concrete variants ship: <see cref="TypedIL"/> renders raw IL with type
-	/// annotations; <see cref="BlockIL"/> runs the decompiler's IL transforms with a
-	/// <see cref="Stepper"/> attached so the Debug Steps pane can replay each transform.
-	/// Compiled only when DEBUG is defined — the language list is identical to Release
-	/// otherwise.
-	/// </summary>
-	public abstract class ILAstLanguage : Language, IDebugStepProvider
-	{
-		readonly string name;
-
-		protected ILAstLanguage(string name)
-		{
-			this.name = name;
-		}
-
-		// ILAst output uses the same `{}/()/[]` bracket conventions as C#, plus C#-style
-		// `//` comments and `"..."` strings. Reusing CSharpBracketSearcher gives the
-		// language correct bracket highlighting without a per-grammar implementation.
-		public override ICSharpCode.ILSpy.TextView.IBracketSearcher BracketSearcher { get; } = new CSharpBracketSearcher();
-
-		/// <summary>
-		/// Fires after a <see cref="DecompileMethod"/> run installs a fresh <see cref="Stepper"/>.
-		/// The Debug Steps pane subscribes here so it can rebind its TreeView to the new
-		/// step list whenever the user reruns decompilation.
-		/// </summary>
-		public event EventHandler? StepperUpdated;
-
-		protected virtual void OnStepperUpdated(EventArgs? e = null)
-			=> StepperUpdated?.Invoke(this, e ?? EventArgs.Empty);
-
-		public Stepper Stepper { get; set; } = new();
-
-		// ILAst contributes the shared writing-options checkboxes to the Debug Steps pane.
-		public object? StepOptions => DebugStepsPaneModel.WritingOptions;
-
-		public override string Name => name;
-
-		public override string FileExtension => ".il";
-
-		public override void DecompileMethod(IMethod method, ITextOutput output, DecompilationOptions options)
-		{
-			base.DecompileMethod(method, output, options);
-			new ReflectionDisassembler(output, options.CancellationToken)
-				.DisassembleMethodHeader(method.ParentModule!.MetadataFile, (SRM.MethodDefinitionHandle)method.MetadataToken);
-			output.WriteLine();
-			output.WriteLine();
-		}
-	}
-
-	/// <summary>
-	/// Raw IL with type annotations on each instruction. No transforms, no stepper — the
-	/// Debug Steps pane stays empty under this language because there's nothing to step
-	/// through. Useful as a sanity-check view for the IL reader itself.
-	/// </summary>
-	[Export(typeof(Language))]
-	[Shared]
-	public sealed class TypedILLanguage : ILAstLanguage
-	{
-		public TypedILLanguage() : base("Typed IL") { }
-
-		public override void DecompileMethod(IMethod method, ITextOutput output, DecompilationOptions options)
-		{
-			base.DecompileMethod(method, output, options);
-			var module = method.ParentModule!.MetadataFile!;
-			var methodDef = module.Metadata.GetMethodDefinition((SRM.MethodDefinitionHandle)method.MetadataToken);
-			if (!methodDef.HasBody())
-				return;
-			var typeSystem = new DecompilerTypeSystem(module, module.GetAssemblyResolver());
-			var reader = new ILReader(typeSystem.MainModule);
-			var methodBody = module.GetMethodBody(methodDef.RelativeVirtualAddress);
-			reader.WriteTypedIL((SRM.MethodDefinitionHandle)method.MetadataToken, methodBody, output, cancellationToken: options.CancellationToken);
-		}
-	}
-
-	/// <summary>
-	/// Runs the full C# decompiler's IL transforms and writes the resulting <see cref="ILFunction"/>.
-	/// Each transform is recorded by a <see cref="Stepper"/> hooked into the
-	/// <see cref="ILTransformContext"/>; the resulting step tree is what the Debug Steps
-	/// pane visualises. The "Show Steps" button on the output reveals the pane.
-	/// </summary>
-	[Export(typeof(Language))]
-	[Shared]
-	public sealed class BlockILLanguage : ILAstLanguage
-	{
-		readonly IReadOnlyList<IILTransform> transforms;
-
-		public BlockILLanguage() : base("ILAst")
-		{
-			this.transforms = CSharpDecompiler.GetILTransforms();
-		}
-
-		public override void DecompileMethod(IMethod method, ITextOutput output, DecompilationOptions options)
-		{
-			base.DecompileMethod(method, output, options);
-			var module = method.ParentModule!.MetadataFile!;
-			var metadata = module.Metadata;
-			var methodDef = metadata.GetMethodDefinition((SRM.MethodDefinitionHandle)method.MetadataToken);
-			if (!methodDef.HasBody())
-				return;
-			IAssemblyResolver assemblyResolver = module.GetAssemblyResolver();
-			var typeSystem = new DecompilerTypeSystem(module, assemblyResolver);
-			var reader = new ILReader(typeSystem.MainModule) {
-				UseDebugSymbols = options.DecompilerSettings.UseDebugSymbols,
-				UseRefLocalsForAccurateOrderOfEvaluation = options.DecompilerSettings.UseRefLocalsForAccurateOrderOfEvaluation,
-			};
-			var methodBody = module.GetMethodBody(methodDef.RelativeVirtualAddress);
-			ILFunction il = reader.ReadIL((SRM.MethodDefinitionHandle)method.MetadataToken, methodBody,
-				kind: ILFunctionKind.TopLevelFunction, cancellationToken: options.CancellationToken);
-			var decompiler = new CSharpDecompiler(typeSystem, options.DecompilerSettings) { CancellationToken = options.CancellationToken };
-			ILTransformContext context = decompiler.CreateILTransformContext(il);
-			context.Stepper.StepLimit = options.StepLimit;
-			context.Stepper.IsDebug = options.IsDebug;
-			try
-			{
-				il.RunTransforms(transforms, context);
-			}
-			catch (StepLimitReachedException)
-			{
-				// Expected when the Debug Steps pane asked to halt after a specific step.
-			}
-			catch (Exception ex)
-			{
-				output.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
-				output.WriteLine();
-				output.WriteLine("ILAst after the crash:");
-			}
-			finally
-			{
-				// Capture the populated stepper even when a transform crashed, so the user
-				// can see the partial step tree leading up to the failure point. Only when
-				// the run was full-fidelity (no StepLimit) — partial runs leave the stepper
-				// alone so the previously-shown tree stays visible.
-				if (options.StepLimit == int.MaxValue)
-				{
-					Stepper = context.Stepper;
-					OnStepperUpdated();
-				}
-			}
-			// DockWorkspace is resolved lazily here, not via [ImportingConstructor]: it imports
-			// LanguageService, which imports the registered Languages, so a constructor import would
-			// form a composition cycle. The lazy lookup costs one MEF resolve per "Show Steps" click.
-			(output as ISmartTextOutput)?.AddButton(Images.ViewCode, "Show Steps", delegate {
-				AppComposition.TryGetExport<DockWorkspace>()?.ShowToolPane(DebugStepsPaneModel.PaneContentId);
-			});
-			output.WriteLine();
-			il.WriteTo(output, DebugStepsPaneModel.WritingOptions);
-			if (output is TextView.AvaloniaEditTextOutput nodeOutput
-				&& TextView.DebugStepHighlighter.TryResolve(context.Stepper, options.StepLimit, options.HighlightStep, nodeOutput.NodeLookup, out var range))
-			{
-				nodeOutput.DebugStepHighlight = range;
-			}
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-#endif
diff --git a/ILSpy/Languages/TypedILLanguage.cs b/ILSpy/Languages/TypedILLanguage.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b29f840d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ILSpy/Languages/TypedILLanguage.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 Siegfried Pammer
+//
+// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this
+// software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software
+// without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
+// publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons
+// to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+//
+// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or
+// substantial portions of the Software.
+//
+// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
+// INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
+// PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE
+// FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
+// OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER
+// DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+#if DEBUG
+
+using System.Composition;
+
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.Disassembler;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.TypeSystem;
+using ICSharpCode.ILSpyX;
+
+using SRM = System.Reflection.Metadata;
+
+namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Languages
+{
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Debug-only language rendering raw IL with the type the reader inferred for each instruction.
+	/// It runs no transforms, so it is a sanity-check view for the IL reader itself rather than a
+	/// stage of the decompiler pipeline - the pipeline is walked in the Debug Steps pane instead,
+	/// under the C# language.
+	/// Compiled only when DEBUG is defined; the language list is identical to Release otherwise.
+	/// </summary>
+	[Export(typeof(Language))]
+	[Shared]
+	public sealed class TypedILLanguage : Language
+	{
+		public override string Name => "Typed IL";
+
+		public override string FileExtension => ".il";
+
+		// Typed IL output uses the same `{}/()/[]` bracket conventions as C#, plus C#-style
+		// `//` comments and `"..."` strings. Reusing CSharpBracketSearcher gives the
+		// language correct bracket highlighting without a per-grammar implementation.
+		public override ICSharpCode.ILSpy.TextView.IBracketSearcher BracketSearcher { get; } = new CSharpBracketSearcher();
+
+		public override void DecompileMethod(IMethod method, ITextOutput output, DecompilationOptions options)
+		{
+			base.DecompileMethod(method, output, options);
+			var module = method.ParentModule!.MetadataFile!;
+			new ReflectionDisassembler(output, options.CancellationToken)
+				.DisassembleMethodHeader(module, (SRM.MethodDefinitionHandle)method.MetadataToken);
+			output.WriteLine();
+			output.WriteLine();
+			var methodDef = module.Metadata.GetMethodDefinition((SRM.MethodDefinitionHandle)method.MetadataToken);
+			if (!methodDef.HasBody())
+				return;
+			var typeSystem = new DecompilerTypeSystem(module, module.GetAssemblyResolver());
+			var reader = new ILReader(typeSystem.MainModule);
+			var methodBody = module.GetMethodBody(methodDef.RelativeVirtualAddress);
+			reader.WriteTypedIL((SRM.MethodDefinitionHandle)method.MetadataToken, methodBody, output, cancellationToken: options.CancellationToken);
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+#endif
diff --git a/ILSpy/TextView/DecompilerTabPageModel.cs b/ILSpy/TextView/DecompilerTabPageModel.cs
index 565b9b0b4..269f5e5c2 100644
--- a/ILSpy/TextView/DecompilerTabPageModel.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/TextView/DecompilerTabPageModel.cs
@@ -395,6 +395,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.TextView
 		int? pendingHighlightStep;
 		bool pendingIsDebug;
 
+
 		/// <summary>
 		/// Output-length safety limits (characters): a decompile that produces more than the active
 		/// limit is stopped and replaced with a "too much code" message rather than hanging/OOMing the
@@ -559,6 +560,10 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.TextView
 				var stepLimit = pendingStepLimit;
 				var highlightStep = pendingHighlightStep;
 				var isDebug = pendingIsDebug;
+				// Unlike the per-run overrides above, this is not reset: it describes the tab, and
+				// every run has to record the same way or a step index picked from one tree would
+				// select a different step on replay.
+				var recordSteps = AppEnv.AppComposition.TryGetExport<Docking.DockWorkspace>()?.RecordSteps ?? false;
 				pendingStepLimit = int.MaxValue;
 				pendingHighlightStep = null;
 				pendingIsDebug = false;
@@ -580,6 +585,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.TextView
 							StepLimit = stepLimit,
 							HighlightStep = highlightStep,
 							IsDebug = isDebug,
+							RecordSteps = recordSteps,
 						};
 						try
 						{
diff --git a/ILSpy/ViewModels/DebugStepsPaneModel.cs b/ILSpy/ViewModels/DebugStepsPaneModel.cs
index 41a0ed7db..fce035d14 100644
--- a/ILSpy/ViewModels/DebugStepsPaneModel.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/ViewModels/DebugStepsPaneModel.cs
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.ComponentModel;
 using System.Composition;
+using System.Linq;
 
 using Avalonia.Threading;
 
@@ -40,15 +41,14 @@ using ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Util;
 namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 {
 	/// <summary>
-	/// Bottom-aligned tool pane that surfaces the step tree from the active
-	/// <see cref="Languages.IDebugStepProvider"/> language — ILAst (one step per IL transform) or
-	/// C# (one step per AST transform). The ViewModel owns the cross-language / cross-decompile
-	/// state (active language, current Stepper.Steps list, per-language options) so it doesn't
-	/// matter when the matching View materialises — the View just binds to <see cref="Steps"/>
-	/// and lights up whenever the current language is a step provider and a decompile finishes.
+	/// Bottom-aligned tool pane that surfaces the step tree the C# language records while decompiling:
+	/// the IL transforms of each member, the ILAst-to-C# seam, then the C# AST transforms. The
+	/// ViewModel owns the cross-decompile state (active language, current Stepper.Steps list) so it
+	/// doesn't matter when the matching View materialises — the View just binds to <see cref="Steps"/>
+	/// and lights up whenever C# is the current language and a decompile finishes.
 	///
-	/// Compiled only in Debug builds — Release users don't see the pane or the languages
-	/// that populate it.
+	/// Compiled only in Debug builds — Release users don't see the pane, and the decompiler they
+	/// run against records no steps to put in it.
 	/// </summary>
 	[Export]
 	[ExportToolPane(ContentId = PaneContentId, Alignment = ToolPaneAlignment.Bottom, Order = 1, IsVisibleByDefault = false)]
@@ -57,29 +57,38 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 	{
 		public const string PaneContentId = "DebugSteps";
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Whether the C# language should record the IL transforms of every member into its
+		/// <see cref="Stepper"/>. Every retained step pins the ILAst it captured, so recording a whole
+		/// type costs tens of thousands of nodes (System.Linq.Enumerable: 85k, ~35 MB) and a third
+		/// again as much decompilation time - worth it while the pane is on screen to show them,
+		/// wasted while it is closed. Reached from the C# language through composition: the pane is a
+		/// [Shared] export, so the background decompile resolves this very instance.
+		/// </summary>
+		public bool IsRecording { get; private set; }
+
 		readonly LanguageService? languageService;
 
-		IDebugStepProvider? activeLanguage;
+		CSharpLanguage? activeLanguage;
 		int lastSelectedStep = int.MaxValue;
 
 		/// <summary>
-		/// App-wide ILAst writing options shared between the BlockIL language (which reads
-		/// them while emitting the transformed IL) and the DebugSteps view (whose four
-		/// checkboxes toggle their values). Static singleton state because the language is
-		/// MEF-shared and decompiles on background tasks that have no view-model reference.
+		/// App-wide ILAst writing options shared between the C# language (which reads them while
+		/// emitting the ILAst a halted IL step stopped in) and the DebugSteps view (whose four
+		/// checkboxes toggle their values). Reached from the C# language through composition, the same
+		/// way <see cref="IsRecording"/> is.
 		/// </summary>
-		public static ILAstWritingOptions WritingOptions { get; } = new() {
+		public ILAstWritingOptions WritingOptions { get; } = new() {
 			UseFieldSugar = true,
 			UseLogicOperationSugar = true,
 		};
 
 		/// <summary>
-		/// Options controls for the active step-provider language (e.g. ILAst's writing options),
-		/// or null when the language has none. The view selects a template by runtime type, so the
-		/// options shown swap with the language.
+		/// The writing options the checkboxes above the step tree bind to. They govern the ILAst dump
+		/// an IL-phase step renders, which is one step selection away at any time, so unlike the step
+		/// list they are always applicable.
 		/// </summary>
-		[ObservableProperty]
-		object? options;
+		public ILAstWritingOptions Options => WritingOptions;
 
 		/// <summary>
 		/// The recorded transform steps currently backing <see cref="Steps"/>. Tracked so that
@@ -109,9 +118,9 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 		StepNodeViewModel? selectedStep;
 
 		/// <summary>
-		/// True while the current language is an <see cref="IDebugStepProvider"/>. When false,
-		/// the view replaces the step tree with a "not available" note instead of leaving the
-		/// previous language's stale tree (whose commands would trigger pointless re-decompiles).
+		/// True while the current language records steps, i.e. while it is C#. When false, the view
+		/// replaces the step tree with a "not available" note instead of leaving the previous
+		/// language's stale tree (whose commands would trigger pointless re-decompiles).
 		/// </summary>
 		[ObservableProperty]
 		bool isAvailable;
@@ -174,7 +183,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 			// ToolPaneRegistry which materialises this VM which would import DockWorkspace).
 			// Lazy lookup at command-execution time breaks the cycle.
 
-			// Language flips go through LanguageService.CurrentLanguage; the BlockILLanguage
+			// Language flips go through LanguageService.CurrentLanguage; the C# language
 			// pumps StepperUpdated when its decompile finishes. The selection-changed event
 			// is the signal that the user picked a new tree node — clear the step list so
 			// the previous run's nodes aren't shown against a fresh selection. All three
@@ -210,13 +219,13 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 
 		void TryAttachToCurrentLanguage()
 		{
-			if (languageService?.CurrentLanguage is IDebugStepProvider il)
-				AttachToLanguage(il);
+			if (languageService?.CurrentLanguage is CSharpLanguage csharp)
+				AttachToLanguage(csharp);
 			else
 				DetachFromLanguage();
 		}
 
-		void AttachToLanguage(IDebugStepProvider language)
+		void AttachToLanguage(CSharpLanguage language)
 		{
 			if (ReferenceEquals(activeLanguage, language))
 			{
@@ -230,7 +239,6 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 			activeLanguage = language;
 			language.StepperUpdated += OnStepperUpdated;
 			SetStepsSource(language.Stepper.Steps);
-			Options = language.StepOptions;
 			IsAvailable = true;
 		}
 
@@ -242,13 +250,17 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 			{
 				activeLanguage.StepperUpdated -= OnStepperUpdated;
 				activeLanguage = null;
-				Options = null;
 			}
 		}
 
 		void OnStepperUpdated(object? sender, System.EventArgs e)
 		{
 			Dispatcher.UIThread.Post(() => {
+				// A run that started while the pane was open can finish after it closed. Taking its
+				// update would pin the tree straight back into a pane nobody is looking at, undoing
+				// the release that closing just performed.
+				if (!IsRecording)
+					return;
 				if (activeLanguage != null)
 				{
 					SetStepsSource(activeLanguage.Stepper.Steps);
@@ -322,6 +334,9 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 		static void SnapshotExpansion(StepNodeViewModel node)
 		{
 			node.ExpansionBeforeFilter = node.IsExpanded;
+			// A subtree nobody has expanded has no wrappers and so no expansion state to save.
+			if (!node.HasMaterializedChildren)
+				return;
 			foreach (var child in node.Children)
 				SnapshotExpansion(child);
 		}
@@ -332,6 +347,8 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 			if (node.ExpansionBeforeFilter is bool expanded)
 				node.IsExpanded = expanded;
 			node.ExpansionBeforeFilter = null;
+			if (!node.HasMaterializedChildren)
+				return;
 			foreach (var child in node.Children)
 				RestoreExpansion(child);
 		}
@@ -343,16 +360,33 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 		/// </summary>
 		static bool ApplyFilterToNode(StepNodeViewModel node, string filter)
 		{
-			bool descendantMatches = false;
-			foreach (var child in node.Children)
-				descendantMatches |= ApplyFilterToNode(child, filter);
-			bool selfMatches = node.Description.Contains(filter, System.StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+			bool selfMatches = Matches(node.Description, filter);
+			// Ask the recorded steps, not the wrappers: a subtree with no match stays hidden, and
+			// wrapping it only to hide it would put a view-model on the UI thread for every step of a
+			// recorded type - tens of thousands of them, on the first keystroke.
+			bool descendantMatches = node.Step.Children.Any(step => SubtreeMatches(step, filter));
 			node.IsVisible = selfMatches || descendantMatches;
 			if (descendantMatches)
 				node.IsExpanded = true;
+			// Descend into wrappers that exist either because the path is being revealed or because
+			// an earlier pass built them: those carry visibility state that has to be corrected.
+			if (descendantMatches || node.HasMaterializedChildren)
+			{
+				foreach (var child in node.Children)
+					ApplyFilterToNode(child, filter);
+			}
 			return selfMatches || descendantMatches;
 		}
 
+		static bool SubtreeMatches(Stepper.Node step, string filter)
+		{
+			return Matches(step.Description, filter)
+				|| step.Children.Any(child => SubtreeMatches(child, filter));
+		}
+
+		static bool Matches(string description, string filter)
+			=> description.Contains(filter, System.StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+
 		void OnSelectionChanged(object? sender, AssemblyTreeSelectionChangedEventArgs e)
 		{
 			// User picked a new tree node — the previous run's stepper is stale until the next
@@ -385,12 +419,51 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 			RequestRedecompile(lastSelectedStep, isDebug: false);
 		}
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// The C# language whether or not it is the current one. The steps are pinned on the MEF-shared
+		/// language instance, so releasing them cannot depend on which language happens to be selected:
+		/// switching to IL detaches this pane but leaves the recorded tree exactly where it was.
+		/// </summary>
+		CSharpLanguage? StepRecordingLanguage =>
+			activeLanguage ?? languageService?.Languages.OfType<CSharpLanguage>().FirstOrDefault();
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Turns step recording on while the pane is on screen. Enabling re-runs the current decompile,
+		/// because the run that produced the displayed output recorded no steps; disabling drops the
+		/// tree the language is still holding, which is where the retained ILAst lives.
+		/// </summary>
+		internal void SetRecordingEnabled(bool enabled)
+		{
+			if (IsRecording == enabled)
+				return;
+			IsRecording = enabled;
+			// The workspace carries the flag into every run it starts, including the ones the user
+			// triggers by selecting another node, so closing the pane has to clear it there too.
+			if (AppComposition.TryGetExport<DockWorkspace>() is { } workspace)
+				workspace.RecordSteps = enabled;
+			if (enabled)
+			{
+				// C# is the only language that records anything, so re-running any other one would
+				// throw away the view the user is looking at to produce a tree that stays empty.
+				if (activeLanguage != null)
+					RequestRedecompile(int.MaxValue, isDebug: false);
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				SetStepsSource(null);
+				StepRecordingLanguage?.ReleaseSteps();
+			}
+		}
+
 		void RequestRedecompile(int stepLimit, bool isDebug, int? highlightStep = null)
 		{
 			lastSelectedStep = stepLimit;
 			// Composition unavailable in design-time previews; the gesture is a no-op there.
 			var dock = AppComposition.TryGetExport<DockWorkspace>();
-			dock?.ActiveDecompilerTab?.RestartDecompileWithStepLimit(stepLimit, isDebug, highlightStep);
+			if (dock == null)
+				return;
+			dock.RecordSteps = IsRecording;
+			dock.ActiveDecompilerTab?.RestartDecompileWithStepLimit(stepLimit, isDebug, highlightStep);
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/ILSpy/ViewModels/StepNodeViewModel.cs b/ILSpy/ViewModels/StepNodeViewModel.cs
index ed09b1138..adb2ecada 100644
--- a/ILSpy/ViewModels/StepNodeViewModel.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/ViewModels/StepNodeViewModel.cs
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ using System.Collections.Generic;
 using CommunityToolkit.Mvvm.ComponentModel;
 
 using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.DebugSteps;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.CSharp.Syntax;
+using ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL;
 
 namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 {
@@ -39,9 +41,51 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 	{
 		public Stepper.Node Step { get; }
 		public StepNodeViewModel? Parent { get; }
-		public IReadOnlyList<StepNodeViewModel> Children { get; }
 		public string Description => Step.Description;
 
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Which half of the pipeline the step belongs to, shown beside the description so the seam is
+		/// visible at a glance. Taken from what the step points at: the IL transforms anchor their
+		/// steps to instructions, the C# ones to syntax nodes. Empty when a step carries no anchor.
+		/// </summary>
+		public string Phase => PhaseOf(Step);
+
+		static string PhaseOf(Stepper.Node step)
+		{
+			switch (step.Position)
+			{
+				case ILInstruction:
+					return "IL";
+				case AstNode:
+					return "C#";
+			}
+			// A group opener carries no position of its own when anchoring it would misattribute a
+			// halt landing on it, so take the phase from the first step underneath that has one.
+			foreach (var child in step.Children)
+			{
+				string phase = PhaseOf(child);
+				if (phase.Length > 0)
+					return phase;
+			}
+			return string.Empty;
+		}
+
+		IReadOnlyList<StepNodeViewModel>? children;
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Wrappers for this step's children, built on first access. A recorded type runs to tens of
+		/// thousands of steps, so materialising the whole tree up front would put that many view-models
+		/// on the UI thread for the handful of rows an expanded path actually shows.
+		/// </summary>
+		public IReadOnlyList<StepNodeViewModel> Children => children ??= Wrap(Step.Children, this);
+
+		/// <summary>
+		/// Whether <see cref="Children"/> has been built. Lets a walk that only needs to fix up state
+		/// it previously set skip the subtrees nobody has looked at, instead of wrapping them to find
+		/// out there is nothing to fix.
+		/// </summary>
+		internal bool HasMaterializedChildren => children != null;
+
 		/// <summary>Two-way bound to the row's TreeViewItem.IsExpanded.</summary>
 		[ObservableProperty]
 		bool isExpanded;
@@ -60,20 +104,16 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels
 		{
 			Step = step;
 			Parent = parent;
-			var children = new List<StepNodeViewModel>(step.Children.Count);
-			foreach (var child in step.Children)
-			{
-				children.Add(new StepNodeViewModel(child, this));
-			}
-			Children = children;
 		}
 
-		public static IReadOnlyList<StepNodeViewModel> Wrap(IList<Stepper.Node> steps)
+		public static IReadOnlyList<StepNodeViewModel> Wrap(IList<Stepper.Node> steps) => Wrap(steps, null);
+
+		static IReadOnlyList<StepNodeViewModel> Wrap(IList<Stepper.Node> steps, StepNodeViewModel? parent)
 		{
 			var wrapped = new List<StepNodeViewModel>(steps.Count);
 			foreach (var step in steps)
 			{
-				wrapped.Add(new StepNodeViewModel(step, null));
+				wrapped.Add(new StepNodeViewModel(step, parent));
 			}
 			return wrapped;
 		}
diff --git a/ILSpy/Views/DebugSteps.axaml b/ILSpy/Views/DebugSteps.axaml
index f258334d5..29e997924 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Views/DebugSteps.axaml
+++ b/ILSpy/Views/DebugSteps.axaml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
              xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
              xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
              xmlns:vm="using:ICSharpCode.ILSpy.ViewModels"
-             xmlns:il="using:ICSharpCode.Decompiler.IL"
              mc:Ignorable="d" d:DesignWidth="400" d:DesignHeight="300"
              x:Class="ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Views.DebugSteps"
              x:DataType="vm:DebugStepsPaneModel">
@@ -13,47 +12,46 @@
 	           Margin="8" TextWrapping="Wrap" Opacity="0.7"
 	           Text="Debug steps are not available for the current language." />
 	<DockPanel IsVisible="{Binding IsAvailable}">
-		<!-- Top row: language-contributed options on the left, filter box in the top-right corner.
-		     Options are selected by type: ILAst renders its writing-options checkboxes; C# (null
-		     Options) renders nothing, leaving just the filter box. -->
+		<!-- Top row: the ILAst writing options on the left, filter box in the top-right corner. The
+		     options govern the ILAst dump an IL-phase step renders. -->
 		<DockPanel DockPanel.Dock="Top" Margin="2">
 			<TextBox DockPanel.Dock="Right" Width="160" Margin="4,0,0,0"
 			         VerticalAlignment="Center" PlaceholderText="Filter steps"
 			         Text="{Binding FilterText}" />
-			<ContentControl Content="{Binding Options}">
-				<ContentControl.DataTemplates>
-					<DataTemplate DataType="il:ILAstWritingOptions">
-						<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
-							<CheckBox Margin="3" Content="Field sugar"
-							          IsChecked="{Binding UseFieldSugar, Mode=TwoWay}" />
-							<CheckBox Margin="3" Content="Logic operation sugar"
-							          IsChecked="{Binding UseLogicOperationSugar, Mode=TwoWay}" />
-							<CheckBox Margin="3" Content="Show IL ranges"
-							          IsChecked="{Binding ShowILRanges, Mode=TwoWay}" />
-							<CheckBox Margin="3" Content="Show child index in block"
-							          IsChecked="{Binding ShowChildIndexInBlock, Mode=TwoWay}" />
-						</StackPanel>
-					</DataTemplate>
-				</ContentControl.DataTemplates>
-			</ContentControl>
+			<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
+				<CheckBox Margin="3" Content="Field sugar"
+				          IsChecked="{Binding Options.UseFieldSugar, Mode=TwoWay}" />
+				<CheckBox Margin="3" Content="Logic operation sugar"
+				          IsChecked="{Binding Options.UseLogicOperationSugar, Mode=TwoWay}" />
+				<CheckBox Margin="3" Content="Show IL ranges"
+				          IsChecked="{Binding Options.ShowILRanges, Mode=TwoWay}" />
+				<CheckBox Margin="3" Content="Show child index in block"
+				          IsChecked="{Binding Options.ShowChildIndexInBlock, Mode=TwoWay}" />
+			</StackPanel>
 		</DockPanel>
 		<TreeView Name="StepsTree"
 		          ItemsSource="{Binding Steps}"
 		          SelectedItem="{Binding SelectedStep, Mode=TwoWay}"
-		          DoubleTapped="OnTreeDoubleTapped"
-		          x:CompileBindings="False">
+		          DoubleTapped="OnTreeDoubleTapped">
 			<TreeView.Styles>
 				<!-- Each row's visibility and expansion are owned by its StepNodeViewModel, where the
 				     pane's filter logic maintains them; expansion is two-way so the user's expander
 				     gestures flow back into the view-model instead of dying with the container. -->
-				<Style Selector="TreeViewItem">
+				<Style Selector="TreeViewItem" x:DataType="vm:StepNodeViewModel">
 					<Setter Property="IsVisible" Value="{Binding IsVisible}" />
 					<Setter Property="IsExpanded" Value="{Binding IsExpanded, Mode=TwoWay}" />
 				</Style>
 			</TreeView.Styles>
 			<TreeView.ItemTemplate>
-				<TreeDataTemplate ItemsSource="{Binding Children}">
-					<TextBlock Text="{Binding Description}" />
+				<TreeDataTemplate DataType="vm:StepNodeViewModel" ItemsSource="{Binding Children}">
+					<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Spacing="6">
+						<Border Background="{DynamicResource ThemeControlMidBrush}"
+								CornerRadius="3" Padding="4,0" VerticalAlignment="Center"
+								IsVisible="{Binding Phase, Converter={x:Static StringConverters.IsNotNullOrEmpty}}">
+							<TextBlock Text="{Binding Phase}" FontSize="10" />
+						</Border>
+						<TextBlock Text="{Binding Description}" />
+					</StackPanel>
 				</TreeDataTemplate>
 			</TreeView.ItemTemplate>
 			<TreeView.ContextMenu>
diff --git a/ILSpy/Views/DebugSteps.axaml.cs b/ILSpy/Views/DebugSteps.axaml.cs
index 65cb1ea9f..4af4a3400 100644
--- a/ILSpy/Views/DebugSteps.axaml.cs
+++ b/ILSpy/Views/DebugSteps.axaml.cs
@@ -83,7 +83,12 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Views
 			DetachModel();
 			attachedModel = model;
 			if (model != null)
+			{
 				model.SelectionRevealRequested += OnSelectionRevealRequested;
+				// The view is in the tree exactly while the pane is open, which is the only time the
+				// recorded IL steps are worth their memory.
+				model.SetRecordingEnabled(true);
+			}
 		}
 
 		void DetachModel()
@@ -91,6 +96,7 @@ namespace ICSharpCode.ILSpy.Views
 			if (attachedModel != null)
 			{
 				attachedModel.SelectionRevealRequested -= OnSelectionRevealRequested;
+				attachedModel.SetRecordingEnabled(false);
 				attachedModel = null;
 			}
 		}