diff --git a/internal/execution/guarded.go b/internal/execution/guarded.go
index 072d546..b0694d4 100644
--- a/internal/execution/guarded.go
+++ b/internal/execution/guarded.go
@@ -875,9 +875,11 @@ func runLocal(
 	}
 
 	startedAt := time.Now().UTC()
+	vramStop := samplePeakVRAM(ctx, 500*time.Millisecond)
 	out, peakRAMMB, runErr := runWithReservationHeartbeat(ledger, execID, func() (string, int64, error) {
 		return runLocalWithOutput(ctx, command, env, stdoutWriter, stderrWriter)
 	})
+	peakVRAMMB := vramStop()
 	elapsed := time.Since(startedAt)
 	resp.Output = out
 	resp.ExitCode = exitCode(runErr)
@@ -887,6 +889,7 @@ func runLocal(
 		runtimeChanged = true
 		recordExecutionOutcome(st, reqs, resp, runErr, elapsed, peakRAMMB)
 		resp.PeakRAMMB = peakRAMMB
+		resp.PeakVRAMMB = peakVRAMMB
 		resp.WallTimeMS = durationMilliseconds(elapsed)
 		return resp, runErr
 	}
@@ -896,6 +899,7 @@ func runLocal(
 	recordExecutionOutcome(st, reqs, resp, nil, elapsed, peakRAMMB)
 	resp.OK = true
 	resp.PeakRAMMB = peakRAMMB
+	resp.PeakVRAMMB = peakVRAMMB
 	resp.WallTimeMS = durationMilliseconds(elapsed)
 	return resp, nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/execution/vram.go b/internal/execution/vram.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84a4f0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/execution/vram.go
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+package execution
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"context"
+	"os/exec"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// samplePeakVRAM polls nvidia-smi at a fixed interval while run is executing
+// and returns the peak total GPU memory used across all GPUs, in MiB. If
+// nvidia-smi is unavailable or every sample fails, it returns 0 and a nil
+// error — VRAM is best-effort telemetry, not a load-bearing signal.
+//
+// The caller starts the sampler before launching the workload, then calls
+// stop() once the workload has finished; the returned peak is the max total
+// observed across all successful samples taken between start and stop.
+//
+// On machines without NVIDIA GPUs (e.g. Apple Silicon, Intel-only nodes),
+// nvidia-smi will not be on PATH and this returns 0 cleanly.
+func samplePeakVRAM(ctx context.Context, interval time.Duration) (stop func() int64) {
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	peak := int64(0)
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+
+	go func() {
+		ticker := time.NewTicker(interval)
+		defer ticker.Stop()
+		for {
+			select {
+			case <-done:
+				return
+			case <-ctx.Done():
+				return
+			case <-ticker.C:
+				used, ok := queryTotalVRAMUsed(ctx)
+				if !ok {
+					continue
+				}
+				mu.Lock()
+				if used > peak {
+					peak = used
+				}
+				mu.Unlock()
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+
+	return func() int64 {
+		close(done)
+		mu.Lock()
+		defer mu.Unlock()
+		return peak
+	}
+}
+
+// queryTotalVRAMUsed runs nvidia-smi once and sums memory.used across all
+// GPUs. Returns (totalMiB, true) on success, (0, false) if nvidia-smi is
+// missing, fails, or emits unparseable output.
+func queryTotalVRAMUsed(ctx context.Context) (int64, bool) {
+	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, "nvidia-smi",
+		"--query-gpu=memory.used",
+		"--format=csv,noheader,nounits",
+	)
+	out, err := cmd.Output()
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, false
+	}
+	var total int64
+	scan := bufio.NewScanner(strings.NewReader(string(out)))
+	for scan.Scan() {
+		line := strings.TrimSpace(scan.Text())
+		if line == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		mib, err := strconv.ParseInt(line, 10, 64)
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, false
+		}
+		total += mib
+	}
+	if err := scan.Err(); err != nil {
+		return 0, false
+	}
+	return total, true
+}
diff --git a/internal/execution/vram_test.go b/internal/execution/vram_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4076280
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/execution/vram_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+package execution
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// TestSamplePeakVRAMReturnsZeroWhenNvidiaSmiMissing verifies the sampler
+// degrades cleanly on machines without nvidia-smi (Apple Silicon, Intel-only
+// nodes). It does this by pointing PATH at an empty directory so the binary
+// can't be found.
+func TestSamplePeakVRAMReturnsZeroWhenNvidiaSmiMissing(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("PATH", "/nonexistent/empty-path")
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+	stop := samplePeakVRAM(ctx, 20*time.Millisecond)
+	// Give the ticker a couple of beats to attempt (and fail) a sample.
+	time.Sleep(80 * time.Millisecond)
+	peak := stop()
+	if peak != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 0 peak when nvidia-smi missing, got %d", peak)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestSamplePeakVRAMStopsCleanly verifies that calling stop() returns a
+// non-negative int64 and doesn't block or panic, even if the goroutine never
+// took a successful sample.
+func TestSamplePeakVRAMStopsCleanly(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("PATH", "/nonexistent/empty-path")
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel()
+	stop := samplePeakVRAM(ctx, 50*time.Millisecond)
+	peak := stop()
+	if peak < 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected non-negative peak, got %d", peak)
+	}
+	// Calling stop twice must not panic on double-close of the channel.
+	// (We don't call it twice here — the contract is single-stop — but
+	// we verify the returned value is sane.)
+}
+
+// TestQueryTotalVRAMUsedHandlesMissingBinary verifies the query helper
+// returns (0, false) when nvidia-smi isn't on PATH, not an error.
+func TestQueryTotalVRAMUsedHandlesMissingBinary(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("PATH", "/nonexistent/empty-path")
+	total, ok := queryTotalVRAMUsed(context.Background())
+	if ok {
+		t.Fatalf("expected ok=false when nvidia-smi missing, got total=%d", total)
+	}
+	if total != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected total=0 when missing, got %d", total)
+	}
+}