diff --git a/.github/workflows/css-order-scan.yml b/.github/workflows/css-order-scan.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..525919c9d69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/css-order-scan.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+name: CSS Cascade-Order Scan
+
+on:
+  schedule:
+    # Once per day at 05:17 UTC (off the hour to avoid scheduler contention).
+    - cron: '17 5 * * *'
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+concurrency:
+  group: css-order-scan-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  scan:
+    name: Scan CSS cascade-order dependencies
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 1
+
+      - name: Setup Node.js
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+        with:
+          node-version-file: .nvmrc
+
+      - name: Prepare node_modules cache key
+        run: mkdir -p .build && node build/azure-pipelines/common/computeNodeModulesCacheKey.ts compile $(node -p process.arch) > .build/packagelockhash
+
+      - name: Restore node_modules cache
+        id: cache-node-modules
+        uses: actions/cache@v5
+        with:
+          path: .build/node_modules_cache
+          key: "node_modules-css-order-scan-${{ hashFiles('.build/packagelockhash') }}"
+
+      - name: Extract node_modules cache
+        if: steps.cache-node-modules.outputs.cache-hit == 'true'
+        run: tar -xzf .build/node_modules_cache/cache.tgz
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        if: steps.cache-node-modules.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: npm ci --ignore-scripts
+        env:
+          ELECTRON_SKIP_BINARY_DOWNLOAD: 1
+          PLAYWRIGHT_SKIP_BROWSER_DOWNLOAD: 1
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Install build dependencies
+        if: steps.cache-node-modules.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: npm ci
+        working-directory: build
+
+      - name: Install rspack dependencies
+        if: steps.cache-node-modules.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: npm ci
+        working-directory: build/rspack
+
+      - name: Create node_modules archive
+        if: steps.cache-node-modules.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: |
+          set -e
+          node build/azure-pipelines/common/listNodeModules.ts .build/node_modules_list.txt
+          mkdir -p .build/node_modules_cache
+          tar -czf .build/node_modules_cache/cache.tgz --files-from .build/node_modules_list.txt
+
+      - name: Copy codicons
+        run: cp node_modules/@vscode/codicons/dist/codicon.ttf src/vs/base/browser/ui/codicons/codicon/codicon.ttf
+
+      - name: Transpile source
+        run: npm run transpile-client
+
+      - name: Install Playwright Chromium
+        run: npx playwright install chromium
+
+      - name: Start serve-out
+        # The scan attaches to an already-running serve (component-explorer-attach.json).
+        # Start it in the background and wait until rspack reports the loopback URL.
+        run: |
+          npm run serve-out-rspack > /tmp/serve-out.log 2>&1 &
+          echo "SERVE_PID=$!" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+          for i in $(seq 1 120); do
+            if grep -q "Loopback: http://localhost:5123/" /tmp/serve-out.log; then
+              echo "serve-out is ready"
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            sleep 2
+          done
+          echo "::error::serve-out did not become ready in time"
+          cat /tmp/serve-out.log
+          exit 1
+
+      - name: Run CSS order scan
+        run: node test/componentFixtures/cssOrderScan.mts --fixture-id-regex ".*"
+
+      - name: Stop serve-out
+        if: always()
+        run: kill "$SERVE_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+      - name: Upload serve-out log
+        if: always()
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
+        with:
+          name: serve-out-log
+          path: /tmp/serve-out.log
+
+      - name: Upload report
+        if: always()
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
+        with:
+          name: css-order-report
+          path: test/componentFixtures/.build/css-order-report/
+
+      - name: Write job summary
+        if: always()
+        run: |
+          REPORT="test/componentFixtures/.build/css-order-report/report.md"
+          if [ -f "$REPORT" ]; then
+            cat "$REPORT" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+          else
+            echo "No report was produced." >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
+          fi
diff --git a/build/rspack/cssSourceMarkerLoader.ts b/build/rspack/cssSourceMarkerLoader.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d4b577a24f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build/rspack/cssSourceMarkerLoader.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+import * as path from 'path';
+
+/**
+ * Prepends a marker comment with the CSS module's repo-relative source path.
+ *
+ * Native CSS (`experiments.css`) concatenates every imported `.css` module into
+ * a single stylesheet, but it preserves comments. This marker therefore lets
+ * tooling that reads the bundled stylesheet (e.g. the cascade-order-dependency
+ * detector and its bisection) map each concatenated "document" back to the
+ * exact source file by name, instead of relying on the generic copyright
+ * banner which carries no filename.
+ *
+ * `this.rootContext` is the rspack `context` option (the repo root), so no
+ * `__dirname` handling is needed.
+ */
+export default function cssSourceMarkerLoader(this: { resourcePath: string; rootContext: string }, source: string): string {
+	const rel = path.relative(this.rootContext, this.resourcePath).replace(/\\/g, '/');
+	return `/* @css-source: ${rel} */\n${source}`;
+}
diff --git a/build/rspack/rspack.serve-out.config.mts b/build/rspack/rspack.serve-out.config.mts
index fe277aac46d..611047861f9 100644
--- a/build/rspack/rspack.serve-out.config.mts
+++ b/build/rspack/rspack.serve-out.config.mts
@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ export default {
 			{
 				test: /\.css$/,
 				type: 'css',
+				// Tag every CSS module with its repo-relative source path (as a
+				// comment that native CSS preserves) so tooling reading the
+				// bundled stylesheet can map concatenated documents back to files.
+				use: [path.join(__dirname, 'cssSourceMarkerLoader.ts')],
 			},
 			{
 				test: /\.ttf$/,
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/test/browser/componentFixtures/fixtureUtils.ts b/src/vs/workbench/test/browser/componentFixtures/fixtureUtils.ts
index 7d7c22960dd..eaeaf497e89 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/test/browser/componentFixtures/fixtureUtils.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/test/browser/componentFixtures/fixtureUtils.ts
@@ -21,13 +21,11 @@ import '../../../browser/parts/auxiliarybar/media/auxiliaryBarPart.css';
 // Theme
 import { IEnvironmentService } from '../../../../platform/environment/common/environment.js';
 import { IExtensionResourceLoaderService } from '../../../../platform/extensionResourceLoader/common/extensionResourceLoader.js';
-import { Registry } from '../../../../platform/registry/common/platform.js';
-import { getIconsStyleSheet } from '../../../../platform/theme/browser/iconsStyleSheet.js';
-import { ColorScheme, ThemeTypeSelector } from '../../../../platform/theme/common/theme.js';
-import { IColorTheme, IThemeService, IThemingRegistry, Extensions as ThemingExtensions } from '../../../../platform/theme/common/themeService.js';
-import { generateColorThemeCSS } from '../../../services/themes/browser/colorThemeCss.js';
+import { ThemeTypeSelector } from '../../../../platform/theme/common/theme.js';
+import { IColorTheme, IThemeService } from '../../../../platform/theme/common/themeService.js';
 import { ColorThemeData } from '../../../services/themes/common/colorThemeData.js';
 import { ExtensionData } from '../../../services/themes/common/workbenchThemeService.js';
+import { ensureGlobalStylesInstalled, getStylesheetDocumentFiles, overrideStylesheetOrder, ReverseStylesheetsOption } from './fixtureUtilsCss.js';
 
 // Instantiation
 import { SyncDescriptor } from '../../../../platform/instantiation/common/descriptors.js';
@@ -246,9 +244,6 @@ class NullStorageService implements IStorageService {
 // Themes
 // ============================================================================
 
-const themingRegistry = Registry.as<IThemingRegistry>(ThemingExtensions.ThemingContribution);
-const mockEnvironmentService: IEnvironmentService = Object.create(null);
-
 // Eagerly bundle all built-in theme JSON files so they can be served to
 // `_loadColorTheme` via the IExtensionResourceLoaderService code path. The
 // rspack config maps these JSON files to `asset/source`, so they are imported
@@ -298,68 +293,6 @@ function createBuiltInTheme(themePath: string, uiTheme: ThemeTypeSelector): Colo
 export const darkTheme = createBuiltInTheme('/extensions/theme-defaults/themes/dark_modern.json', ThemeTypeSelector.VS_DARK);
 export const lightTheme = createBuiltInTheme('/extensions/theme-defaults/themes/light_modern.json', ThemeTypeSelector.VS);
 
-let globalStyleSheet: CSSStyleSheet | undefined;
-let iconsStyleSheetCache: CSSStyleSheet | undefined;
-let darkThemeStyleSheet: CSSStyleSheet | undefined;
-let lightThemeStyleSheet: CSSStyleSheet | undefined;
-
-function getGlobalStyleSheet(): CSSStyleSheet {
-	if (!globalStyleSheet) {
-		globalStyleSheet = new CSSStyleSheet();
-		const globalRules: string[] = [];
-		for (const sheet of Array.from(document.styleSheets)) {
-			try {
-				for (const rule of Array.from(sheet.cssRules)) {
-					globalRules.push(rule.cssText);
-				}
-			} catch {
-				// Cross-origin stylesheets can't be read
-			}
-		}
-		globalStyleSheet.replaceSync(globalRules.join('\n'));
-	}
-	return globalStyleSheet;
-}
-
-function getIconsStyleSheetCached(): CSSStyleSheet {
-	if (!iconsStyleSheetCache) {
-		iconsStyleSheetCache = new CSSStyleSheet();
-		const iconsSheet = getIconsStyleSheet(undefined);
-		iconsStyleSheetCache.replaceSync(iconsSheet.getCSS() as string);
-		iconsSheet.dispose();
-	}
-	return iconsStyleSheetCache;
-}
-
-function getThemeStyleSheet(theme: ColorThemeData): CSSStyleSheet {
-	const isDark = theme.type === ColorScheme.DARK;
-	if (isDark && darkThemeStyleSheet) {
-		return darkThemeStyleSheet;
-	}
-	if (!isDark && lightThemeStyleSheet) {
-		return lightThemeStyleSheet;
-	}
-
-	const scopeSelector = '.' + theme.classNames[0];
-	const sheet = new CSSStyleSheet();
-	const css = generateColorThemeCSS(
-		theme,
-		scopeSelector,
-		themingRegistry.getThemingParticipants(),
-		mockEnvironmentService
-	);
-	sheet.replaceSync(css.code);
-
-	if (isDark) {
-		darkThemeStyleSheet = sheet;
-	} else {
-		lightThemeStyleSheet = sheet;
-	}
-	return sheet;
-}
-
-let globalStylesInstalled = false;
-
 let themesLoadedPromise: Promise<void> | undefined;
 function ensureThemesLoaded(): Promise<void> {
 	if (!themesLoadedPromise) {
@@ -371,26 +304,59 @@ function ensureThemesLoaded(): Promise<void> {
 	return themesLoadedPromise;
 }
 
-function installGlobalStyles(): void {
-	if (globalStylesInstalled) {
-		return;
-	}
-	globalStylesInstalled = true;
-	document.adoptedStyleSheets = [
-		...document.adoptedStyleSheets,
-		getGlobalStyleSheet(),
-		getIconsStyleSheetCached(),
-		getThemeStyleSheet(darkTheme),
-		getThemeStyleSheet(lightTheme),
-	];
-}
-
 export async function setupTheme(container: HTMLElement, theme: ColorThemeData): Promise<void> {
 	await ensureThemesLoaded();
-	installGlobalStyles();
+	await ensureGlobalStylesInstalled([darkTheme, lightTheme]);
 	container.classList.add('monaco-workbench', getPlatformClass(), 'disable-animations', ...theme.classNames);
 }
 
+/**
+ * The recognized fields of the per-render `input` (passed via the CLI `--input`
+ * flag), parsed once into a typed shape by {@link parseFixtureInput}.
+ */
+interface FixtureRenderInput {
+	/** See {@link ReverseStylesheetsOption}; `false` when no reversal is requested. */
+	readonly reverseStylesheets: ReverseStylesheetsOption;
+	/** Whether the render should return its virtual-time trace as `output`. */
+	readonly outputTimeTrace: boolean;
+	/** Whether the render should return the bundled stylesheet files as `output`. */
+	readonly outputStylesheetFiles: boolean;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Parses the untyped render `input` into the recognized {@link FixtureRenderInput}
+ * fields. Unknown/extra fields are ignored; missing fields default to off.
+ */
+function parseFixtureInput(input: unknown): FixtureRenderInput {
+	if (!input || typeof input !== 'object') {
+		return { reverseStylesheets: false, outputTimeTrace: false, outputStylesheetFiles: false };
+	}
+	const record = input as Record<string, unknown>;
+	return {
+		reverseStylesheets: parseReverseOption(record.reverseStylesheets),
+		outputTimeTrace: !!record.outputTimeTrace,
+		outputStylesheetFiles: !!record.outputStylesheetFiles,
+	};
+}
+
+/**
+ * Validates a `reverseStylesheets` input value: `true` (reverse all stylesheet
+ * documents), `{ fromIndex, toIndex }` (reverse only that index window, used by
+ * the order-dependency bisection), or `false` when absent/unrecognized.
+ */
+function parseReverseOption(value: unknown): ReverseStylesheetsOption {
+	if (value === true) {
+		return true;
+	}
+	if (value && typeof value === 'object') {
+		const range = value as Record<string, unknown>;
+		if (typeof range.fromIndex === 'number' && typeof range.toIndex === 'number') {
+			return { fromIndex: range.fromIndex, toIndex: range.toIndex };
+		}
+	}
+	return false;
+}
+
 function getPlatformClass(): string {
 	const alwaysUseMac = true;
 	if (alwaysUseMac) {
@@ -879,6 +845,7 @@ export function defineComponentFixture(options: ComponentFixtureOptions): Themed
 		background: theme === darkTheme ? 'dark' : 'light',
 		render: async (container: HTMLElement, context) => {
 			const disposableStore = new DisposableStore();
+			const input = parseFixtureInput(context.input);
 
 			// Replace Math.random with a seeded PRNG so fixtures render deterministically.
 			disposableStore.add(pushRandomOverwrite(42));
@@ -977,6 +944,13 @@ export function defineComponentFixture(options: ComponentFixtureOptions): Themed
 			async function actualRender() {
 				await setupTheme(container, theme);
 
+				// The order-dependency fuzzer reorders the bundled CSS for just
+				// this render; the override is scoped to the fixture's lifetime
+				// (disposed at teardown, where it is also leak-checked).
+				if (input.reverseStylesheets !== false) {
+					disposableStore.add(overrideStylesheetOrder(input.reverseStylesheets));
+				}
+
 				let renderTimeApi: IDisposable | undefined;
 				if (virtualTimeEnabled) {
 					renderTimeApi = pushGlobalTimeApi(virtualTimeApi);
@@ -1044,13 +1018,19 @@ export function defineComponentFixture(options: ComponentFixtureOptions): Themed
 				afterMicrotaskClosure: cb => nextMacrotask(realTimeApi, cb),
 			});
 
-			const wantsTimeTrace = !!context.input && typeof context.input === 'object' && !!(context.input as Record<string, unknown>).outputTimeTrace;
-
-			if (wantsTimeTrace && virtualTimeEnabled && p.history.length > 0) {
+			if (input.outputTimeTrace && virtualTimeEnabled && p.history.length > 0) {
 				const startTime = p.history[0].time;
 				const history = buildHistoryFromTasks(p.history, startTime);
 				return { output: renderSwimlanes(history) };
 			}
+
+			// The order-dependency bisection driver asks for the list of bundled
+			// stylesheet documents so it can name a conflicting document by index
+			// without itself parsing the bundle. Keeping this knowledge in the
+			// runtime means the driver only deals in indices and image hashes.
+			if (input.outputStylesheetFiles) {
+				return { output: { stylesheetFiles: await getStylesheetDocumentFiles() } };
+			}
 			return undefined;
 		},
 	});
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/test/browser/componentFixtures/fixtureUtilsCss.ts b/src/vs/workbench/test/browser/componentFixtures/fixtureUtilsCss.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bec844d7651
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/test/browser/componentFixtures/fixtureUtilsCss.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,263 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+import { IDisposable, toDisposable } from '../../../../base/common/lifecycle.js';
+import { IEnvironmentService } from '../../../../platform/environment/common/environment.js';
+import { Registry } from '../../../../platform/registry/common/platform.js';
+import { getIconsStyleSheet } from '../../../../platform/theme/browser/iconsStyleSheet.js';
+import { ColorScheme } from '../../../../platform/theme/common/theme.js';
+import { IThemingRegistry, Extensions as ThemingExtensions } from '../../../../platform/theme/common/themeService.js';
+import { generateColorThemeCSS } from '../../../services/themes/browser/colorThemeCss.js';
+import { ColorThemeData } from '../../../services/themes/common/colorThemeData.js';
+
+const themingRegistry = Registry.as<IThemingRegistry>(ThemingExtensions.ThemingContribution);
+const mockEnvironmentService: IEnvironmentService = Object.create(null);
+
+let overlaySheet: CSSStyleSheet | undefined;
+let installedPromise: Promise<void> | undefined;
+let bundlePromise: Promise<Bundle> | undefined;
+let bundle: Bundle | undefined;
+let activeOverride: object | undefined;
+let iconsStyleSheetCache: CSSStyleSheet | undefined;
+let darkThemeStyleSheet: CSSStyleSheet | undefined;
+let lightThemeStyleSheet: CSSStyleSheet | undefined;
+
+/**
+ * Controls how the bundled stylesheet documents are reordered.
+ * - `false`: keep the original (product) order.
+ * - `true`: reverse the order of all documents.
+ * - `{ fromIndex, toIndex }`: reverse only the documents in the half-open
+ *   index range `[fromIndex, toIndex)`. This is what the order-dependency
+ *   bisection uses to narrow down which documents conflict.
+ */
+export type ReverseStylesheetsOption = boolean | { readonly fromIndex: number; readonly toIndex: number };
+
+/**
+ * Matches the `@css-source: <path>` marker that `cssSourceMarkerLoader` injects
+ * before each source file's CSS in the concatenated bundle. These markers are
+ * the canonical per-source-file delimiters: every CSS module processed by the
+ * build gets exactly one, and it carries the module's repo-relative path.
+ */
+const CSS_SOURCE_MARKER_REGEX = /\/\*\s*@css-source:\s*(\S+)\s*\*\//g;
+
+interface StylesheetDocument {
+	/** Repo-relative source path from the `@css-source` marker. */
+	readonly file: string;
+	/** The marker plus the file's CSS, up to the next marker. */
+	readonly text: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Splits the concatenated bundle into per-source-file documents at the
+ * `@css-source` markers. Any text before the first marker is returned as the
+ * `preamble` and kept in place. This single definition of a "document" is used
+ * for both reversal and the index→file reporting, so the bisection driver never
+ * needs to understand the bundle format.
+ */
+function parseStylesheetDocuments(cssText: string): { readonly preamble: string; readonly documents: readonly StylesheetDocument[] } {
+	const markers = Array.from(cssText.matchAll(CSS_SOURCE_MARKER_REGEX));
+	if (markers.length === 0) {
+		return { preamble: cssText, documents: [] };
+	}
+	const preamble = cssText.slice(0, markers[0].index);
+	const documents = markers.map((marker, i) => {
+		const start = marker.index;
+		const end = i + 1 < markers.length ? markers[i + 1].index : cssText.length;
+		return { file: marker[1], text: cssText.slice(start, end) };
+	});
+	return { preamble, documents };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Reverses the order of whole documents within `[fromIndex, toIndex)` (or all
+ * documents when `option === true`), preserving rule order inside each document.
+ * Because adopted stylesheets are applied after the document's `<link>`/`<style>`
+ * sheets in the cascade, this reversed copy wins source-order ties and surfaces
+ * order-dependent conflicts.
+ */
+function reverseDocuments(cssText: string, option: Exclude<ReverseStylesheetsOption, false>): string {
+	const { preamble, documents } = parseStylesheetDocuments(cssText);
+	if (documents.length < 2) {
+		return cssText;
+	}
+	const from = option === true ? 0 : Math.max(0, Math.min(documents.length, option.fromIndex));
+	const to = option === true ? documents.length : Math.max(from, Math.min(documents.length, option.toIndex));
+	const reordered = [
+		...documents.slice(0, from),
+		...documents.slice(from, to).reverse(),
+		...documents.slice(to),
+	];
+	return preamble + reordered.map(doc => doc.text).join('');
+}
+
+/**
+ * Reads the raw source text of a stylesheet (which, unlike `cssRules`, retains
+ * comments such as the `@css-source` markers). Falls back to serialized rules
+ * when the source cannot be read.
+ */
+async function readStyleSheetSource(sheet: CSSStyleSheet): Promise<string> {
+	const owner = sheet.ownerNode;
+	if (owner instanceof HTMLStyleElement) {
+		return owner.textContent ?? '';
+	}
+	if (sheet.href) {
+		try {
+			return await (await fetch(sheet.href)).text();
+		} catch {
+			// Fall back to serialized rules below.
+		}
+	}
+	try {
+		return Array.from(sheet.cssRules, rule => rule.cssText).join('\n');
+	} catch {
+		// Cross-origin stylesheets can't be read
+		return '';
+	}
+}
+
+interface Bundle {
+	/**
+	 * The document's own stylesheets that make up the concatenated product CSS
+	 * (those carrying `@css-source` markers), snapshotted once. These are what the
+	 * reversal overlay reproduces and what it disables while active; harness
+	 * stylesheets (reset, explorer UI, HMR) are deliberately excluded.
+	 */
+	readonly sheets: readonly CSSStyleSheet[];
+	/** Their concatenated raw source, retaining the `@css-source` markers. */
+	readonly rawSources: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Reads the bundled product stylesheets once and caches both the snapshot and
+ * their concatenated raw source. Only sheets carrying `@css-source` markers are
+ * included, so harness-owned stylesheets are never reordered or disabled. Unlike
+ * serialized `cssRules`, the raw source retains the markers that delimit
+ * per-source-file documents, so it can be reordered by {@link reverseDocuments}.
+ */
+function readBundle(): Promise<Bundle> {
+	return bundlePromise ??= (async () => {
+		const sheets = Array.from(document.styleSheets);
+		const sources = await Promise.all(sheets.map(readStyleSheetSource));
+		const bundled = sheets
+			.map((sheet, i) => ({ sheet, source: sources[i] }))
+			.filter(entry => /\/\*\s*@css-source:/.test(entry.source));
+		return bundle = {
+			sheets: bundled.map(entry => entry.sheet),
+			rawSources: bundled.map(entry => entry.source).join('\n'),
+		};
+	})();
+}
+
+/**
+ * The repo-relative source files of the bundled stylesheet documents, in product
+ * order. Index `i` is the document that a `reverseStylesheets` window refers to,
+ * so the bisection driver uses this to name a conflicting document — keeping all
+ * knowledge of the bundle format inside the runtime.
+ */
+export async function getStylesheetDocumentFiles(): Promise<string[]> {
+	const { rawSources } = await readBundle();
+	return parseStylesheetDocuments(rawSources).documents.map(doc => doc.file);
+}
+
+function getIconsStyleSheetCached(): CSSStyleSheet {
+	if (!iconsStyleSheetCache) {
+		iconsStyleSheetCache = new CSSStyleSheet();
+		const iconsSheet = getIconsStyleSheet(undefined);
+		iconsStyleSheetCache.replaceSync(iconsSheet.getCSS() as string);
+		iconsSheet.dispose();
+	}
+	return iconsStyleSheetCache;
+}
+
+function getThemeStyleSheet(theme: ColorThemeData): CSSStyleSheet {
+	const isDark = theme.type === ColorScheme.DARK;
+	if (isDark && darkThemeStyleSheet) {
+		return darkThemeStyleSheet;
+	}
+	if (!isDark && lightThemeStyleSheet) {
+		return lightThemeStyleSheet;
+	}
+
+	const scopeSelector = '.' + theme.classNames[0];
+	const sheet = new CSSStyleSheet();
+	const css = generateColorThemeCSS(
+		theme,
+		scopeSelector,
+		themingRegistry.getThemingParticipants(),
+		mockEnvironmentService
+	);
+	sheet.replaceSync(css.code);
+
+	if (isDark) {
+		darkThemeStyleSheet = sheet;
+	} else {
+		lightThemeStyleSheet = sheet;
+	}
+	return sheet;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Installs the runtime-generated global styles once: the icon-font sheet, a
+ * scoped sheet per theme, and an (initially empty) reversal overlay, all as
+ * `document.adoptedStyleSheets`. The overlay keeps a stable identity and a fixed
+ * position so that, once filled by {@link overrideStylesheetOrder}, its reordered
+ * copy reliably wins source-order cascade ties. Idempotent and effectively
+ * write-once: after the returned promise resolves the global sheets never change
+ * except through a scoped {@link overrideStylesheetOrder} override.
+ */
+export function ensureGlobalStylesInstalled(themes: readonly ColorThemeData[]): Promise<void> {
+	return installedPromise ??= (async () => {
+		await readBundle();
+		const overlay = overlaySheet = new CSSStyleSheet();
+		document.adoptedStyleSheets = [
+			...document.adoptedStyleSheets,
+			overlay,
+			getIconsStyleSheetCached(),
+			...themes.map(getThemeStyleSheet),
+		];
+	})();
+}
+
+/**
+ * Temporarily reorders the bundled stylesheet documents for the lifetime of the
+ * returned disposable, so the order-dependency fuzzer can flip cascade ties that
+ * are decided purely by source order. While active, the bundled product sheets
+ * are disabled and replaced wholesale by the reordered copy in the overlay, so
+ * the originals cannot contribute competing declarations.
+ *
+ * Exclusive and stack-like: throws if another override is already active (two
+ * fixtures must not render against the shared page concurrently), and the
+ * returned disposable throws if disposed out of order.
+ * {@link ensureGlobalStylesInstalled} must have resolved first.
+ */
+export function overrideStylesheetOrder(option: Exclude<ReverseStylesheetsOption, false>): IDisposable {
+	if (!overlaySheet || !bundle) {
+		throw new Error('ensureGlobalStylesInstalled() must resolve before overriding the stylesheet order.');
+	}
+	if (activeOverride) {
+		throw new Error('A stylesheet-order override is already active; fixtures must render sequentially.');
+	}
+	const overlay = overlaySheet;
+	const sheets = bundle.sheets;
+	const token = activeOverride = {};
+
+	// Disable the bundled product sheets and reproduce them, reordered, in the
+	// overlay. The overlay alone then defines the product cascade, so the disabled
+	// originals can't win (or tie) against it.
+	const wasDisabled = sheets.map(sheet => sheet.disabled);
+	for (const sheet of sheets) {
+		sheet.disabled = true;
+	}
+	overlay.replaceSync(reverseDocuments(bundle.rawSources, option));
+
+	return toDisposable(() => {
+		if (activeOverride !== token) {
+			throw new Error('Stylesheet-order override disposed out of order.');
+		}
+		overlay.replaceSync('');
+		sheets.forEach((sheet, i) => { sheet.disabled = wasDisabled[i]; });
+		activeOverride = undefined;
+	});
+}
diff --git a/test/componentFixtures/component-explorer-attach.json b/test/componentFixtures/component-explorer-attach.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8d9c44fc940
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/componentFixtures/component-explorer-attach.json
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{
+	"$schema": "../../node_modules/@vscode/component-explorer-cli/dist/component-explorer-config.schema.json",
+	"screenshotDir": ".screenshots",
+	"sessions": [
+		{
+			"name": "current"
+		}
+	],
+	"server": {
+		"type": "http",
+		"url": "http://localhost:5123"
+	}
+}
diff --git a/test/componentFixtures/cssOrderBisect.mts b/test/componentFixtures/cssOrderBisect.mts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..40dbe154610
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/componentFixtures/cssOrderBisect.mts
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+/**
+ * CSS cascade-order dependency bisection driver.
+ *
+ * Localizes which two bundled CSS source files form a cascade-order dependency
+ * in a component fixture, by binary-searching over stylesheet-document reversal
+ * windows. It drives `@vscode/component-explorer`'s `render` command against an
+ * already-running `serve` (see `component-explorer-attach.json`) and uses the
+ * rendered image hash as an oracle: reversing the document order of the bundled
+ * CSS flips cascade ties that are decided purely by source order, so a hash
+ * change under reversal means the fixture's appearance depends on CSS order.
+ *
+ * It performs two independent ~log2(N) searches, reusing the running serve for
+ * every probe (no rebuilds):
+ *   - `a` = the largest `fromIndex` for which reversing `[fromIndex, N)` still
+ *     changes the image — the later document of the conflicting pair.
+ *   - `b` = the smallest `toIndex` (minus one) for which reversing `[0, toIndex)`
+ *     changes the image — the earlier document of the conflicting pair.
+ *
+ * The driver itself has no knowledge of the bundle format: the fixture runtime
+ * reports both the document count and the index→source-file mapping in the
+ * render manifest's `output` (requested via `--input '{"outputStylesheetFiles":true}'`),
+ * so this script only ever deals in document indices and image hashes.
+ *
+ * Prerequisites: start the serve, e.g. `npm run serve-out-rspack`, then run:
+ *   node test/componentFixtures/cssOrderBisect.mts \
+ *     --fixture-id-regex "aiCustomizationManagementEditor/LocalHarness/Dark"
+ *
+ * Notes:
+ *   - The search assumes a single dominant conflicting pair; with several, it
+ *     localizes the outermost/innermost conflicting documents.
+ */
+
+import { mkdir, rm } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { bisectConflict, readServeUrl, Renderer } from './cssOrderShared.mts';
+
+interface Args {
+	readonly config: string;
+	readonly fixtureRegex: string;
+	readonly keep: boolean;
+}
+
+function parseArgs(argv: readonly string[]): Args {
+	const get = (name: string): string | undefined => {
+		const i = argv.indexOf(`--${name}`);
+		return i >= 0 && i + 1 < argv.length ? argv[i + 1] : undefined;
+	};
+	const here = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+	const fixtureRegex = get('fixture-id-regex');
+	if (!fixtureRegex) {
+		throw new Error('Missing required --fixture-id-regex <pattern>');
+	}
+	return {
+		config: resolve(get('config') ?? join(here, 'component-explorer-attach.json')),
+		fixtureRegex,
+		keep: argv.includes('--keep'),
+	};
+}
+
+async function main(): Promise<void> {
+	const args = parseArgs(process.argv.slice(2));
+	const configDir = dirname(args.config);
+	const serveUrl = await readServeUrl(args.config);
+
+	process.stdout.write(`Serve:   ${serveUrl ?? '(from config)'}\n`);
+	process.stdout.write(`Fixture: ${args.fixtureRegex}\n`);
+
+	const probeRoot = join(configDir, '.build', 'css-bisect', 'bisect');
+	await rm(probeRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+	await mkdir(probeRoot, { recursive: true });
+	const renderer = new Renderer(args.config, probeRoot);
+
+	// The unreversed render also serves as the baseline image and reports the
+	// document list, so the driver never has to parse the bundle itself.
+	const baselineEntries = (await renderer.render(args.fixtureRegex, { outputStylesheetFiles: true })).entries;
+	if (baselineEntries.length === 0) {
+		throw new Error(`No fixtures matched ${args.fixtureRegex}`);
+	}
+	const baselineEntry = baselineEntries[0];
+	const files = baselineEntry.output?.stylesheetFiles;
+	if (!files || files.length === 0) {
+		throw new Error('Fixture did not report `output.stylesheetFiles`; rebuild the serve so it includes the runtime change.');
+	}
+	const n = files.length;
+	const baseline = baselineEntry.imageHash;
+	if (!baseline) {
+		throw new Error('Baseline render produced no image.');
+	}
+	process.stdout.write(`Bundle:  ${n} documents (reported by the fixture runtime)\n\n`);
+
+	// Each probe spawns a fresh `render` (browser navigation), so they are slow
+	// and otherwise silent; log every probe as it completes to show progress.
+	const reversed = await renderer.hash(args.fixtureRegex, { fromIndex: 0, toIndex: n });
+	process.stdout.write(`baseline (no reversal): ${baseline.slice(0, 12)}\n`);
+	process.stdout.write(`full reversal:          ${reversed.slice(0, 12)}\n\n`);
+
+	if (baseline === reversed) {
+		process.stdout.write('No order-dependency detected: full reversal does not change the rendering.\n');
+		if (!args.keep) {
+			await rm(probeRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+		}
+		return;
+	}
+
+	const probesPerPhase = Math.ceil(Math.log2(n)) + 1;
+	process.stdout.write(`Localizing the conflicting documents (~${2 * probesPerPhase} probes)...\n`);
+	let probeCount = 0;
+	const { later, earlier } = await bisectConflict(renderer, baselineEntry.fixtureId, n, baseline, ({ fromIndex, toIndex, differs, ms }) => {
+		const verdict = differs ? 'DIFFERS' : 'same as baseline';
+		process.stdout.write(`  probe #${++probeCount}: reverse[${fromIndex}, ${toIndex}) -> ${verdict} (${ms}ms)\n`);
+	});
+
+	process.stdout.write('\nOrder-dependency localized between two documents:\n');
+	process.stdout.write(`  doc ${earlier}: ${files[earlier] ?? '(out of range)'}\n`);
+	process.stdout.write(`  doc ${later}: ${files[later] ?? '(out of range)'}\n`);
+	process.stdout.write('\nProduct order renders these with the later document winning the cascade tie.\n');
+
+	if (!args.keep) {
+		await rm(probeRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+	}
+}
+
+main().catch(err => {
+	process.stderr.write(`${err instanceof Error ? err.stack : String(err)}\n`);
+	process.exitCode = 1;
+});
diff --git a/test/componentFixtures/cssOrderScan.mts b/test/componentFixtures/cssOrderScan.mts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d6849660267
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/componentFixtures/cssOrderScan.mts
@@ -0,0 +1,291 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+/**
+ * CSS cascade-order dependency scanner.
+ *
+ * Renders every component fixture twice — once normally and once with the
+ * bundled CSS documents reversed — and flags every fixture whose screenshot
+ * changes under reversal: its appearance depends on the source-concatenation
+ * order of two CSS files (a cascade tie broken only by order). For each flagged
+ * fixture it then binary-searches to localize the two conflicting source files
+ * (see `cssOrderShared.mts`), and writes a self-contained Markdown report with
+ * the baseline/reversed images so the fragile pairs can be reviewed.
+ *
+ * Intended for a scheduled CI job; runs against an already-running `serve`
+ * (see `component-explorer-attach.json`). Prerequisites: start the serve, e.g.
+ * `npm run serve-out-rspack`, then run:
+ *   node test/componentFixtures/cssOrderScan.mts [--out <dir>] [--fixture-id-regex <rx>]
+ */
+
+import { copyFile, mkdir, rm, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { bisectConflict, type FixtureEntry, readServeUrl, Renderer } from './cssOrderShared.mts';
+
+interface Args {
+	readonly config: string;
+	readonly fixtureRegex: string;
+	readonly out: string;
+	/** When set, images are linked as `<imageBaseUrl>/<hash>` instead of bundled relative paths. */
+	readonly imageBaseUrl: string | undefined;
+	readonly keep: boolean;
+}
+
+function parseArgs(argv: readonly string[]): Args {
+	const get = (name: string): string | undefined => {
+		const i = argv.indexOf(`--${name}`);
+		return i >= 0 && i + 1 < argv.length ? argv[i + 1] : undefined;
+	};
+	const here = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+	const config = resolve(get('config') ?? join(here, 'component-explorer-attach.json'));
+	return {
+		config,
+		fixtureRegex: get('fixture-id-regex') ?? '.*',
+		out: resolve(get('out') ?? join(dirname(config), '.build', 'css-order-report')),
+		imageBaseUrl: get('image-base-url'),
+		keep: argv.includes('--keep'),
+	};
+}
+
+/** A localized cascade-order conflict for one fixture. */
+interface Problem {
+	readonly fixtureId: string;
+	readonly background: 'light' | 'dark' | undefined;
+	readonly labels: readonly string[];
+	readonly docCount: number;
+	readonly baselineHash: string;
+	readonly reversedHash: string;
+	/** Document index + source file of the later document (wins the tie in product order). */
+	readonly laterIndex: number;
+	readonly laterFile: string;
+	/** Document index + source file of the earlier document (loses the tie in product order). */
+	readonly earlierIndex: number;
+	readonly earlierFile: string;
+	/** Relative path of the baseline image within the report, if captured. */
+	readonly baselineImage: string | undefined;
+	/** Relative path of the reversed image within the report, if captured. */
+	readonly reversedImage: string | undefined;
+}
+
+const GITHUB_SERVER = process.env.GITHUB_SERVER_URL ?? 'https://github.com';
+const GITHUB_REPO = process.env.GITHUB_REPOSITORY;
+const GITHUB_SHA = process.env.GITHUB_SHA;
+
+/** Maps a bundled `out/…` document path back to its `src/…` source. */
+function toSourcePath(path: string): string {
+	return path.startsWith('out/') ? `src/${path.slice('out/'.length)}` : path;
+}
+
+/** A Markdown link to the source file on GitHub (when running in Actions), else inline code. */
+function fileLink(path: string): string {
+	const src = toSourcePath(path);
+	if (GITHUB_REPO && GITHUB_SHA) {
+		return `[\`${src}\`](${GITHUB_SERVER}/${GITHUB_REPO}/blob/${GITHUB_SHA}/${src})`;
+	}
+	return `\`${src}\``;
+}
+
+/** Just the file name of a bundled document path, for compact tables. */
+function fileBaseName(path: string): string {
+	const src = toSourcePath(path);
+	return src.slice(src.lastIndexOf('/') + 1);
+}
+
+function slugify(fixtureId: string): string {
+	return fixtureId.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9._-]+/g, '_');
+}
+
+/** Markdown image source for a captured render, honoring `--image-base-url`. */
+function imageSource(args: Args, hash: string, relativePath: string | undefined): string | undefined {
+	if (args.imageBaseUrl) {
+		return `${args.imageBaseUrl.replace(/\/$/, '')}/${hash}`;
+	}
+	return relativePath;
+}
+
+function renderMarkdown(args: Args, problems: readonly Problem[], totals: { scanned: number; errored: number }): string {
+	const lines: string[] = [];
+	const clean = totals.scanned - problems.length - totals.errored;
+
+	lines.push('# CSS Cascade-Order Dependency Report', '');
+	lines.push(`- Generated: ${new Date().toISOString()}`);
+	if (GITHUB_REPO && GITHUB_SHA) {
+		lines.push(`- Commit: [\`${GITHUB_SHA.slice(0, 8)}\`](${GITHUB_SERVER}/${GITHUB_REPO}/commit/${GITHUB_SHA})`);
+	}
+	lines.push(`- Fixtures scanned: **${totals.scanned}**`);
+	lines.push(`- Order-dependent: **${problems.length}**`);
+	lines.push(`- Clean: **${clean}**`);
+	lines.push(`- Errored / no image: **${totals.errored}**`, '');
+
+	lines.push('> **How this works.** Each fixture is rendered normally and again with the');
+	lines.push('> bundled CSS documents reversed. A changed screenshot means the appearance');
+	lines.push('> depends on the source-concatenation order of two CSS files — a cascade tie');
+	lines.push('> broken only by order. A binary search then localizes the two source files.');
+	lines.push('> The later document (by product source order) currently wins the tie.');
+	lines.push('>');
+	lines.push('> **Caveats.** Detects the dominant conflicting pair per fixture; only flips');
+	lines.push('> ties of equal specificity and importance; assumes no `@layer`.', '');
+
+	if (problems.length === 0) {
+		lines.push('No order-dependent fixtures detected. :tada:', '');
+		return lines.join('\n');
+	}
+
+	// Aggregate by CSS source file so the most frequently fragile files surface.
+	const byFile = new Map<string, { fixtures: Set<string>; partners: Set<string> }>();
+	const note = (file: string, partner: string, fixtureId: string) => {
+		let entry = byFile.get(file);
+		if (!entry) {
+			entry = { fixtures: new Set(), partners: new Set() };
+			byFile.set(file, entry);
+		}
+		entry.fixtures.add(fixtureId);
+		entry.partners.add(partner);
+	};
+	for (const p of problems) {
+		note(p.laterFile, p.earlierFile, p.fixtureId);
+		note(p.earlierFile, p.laterFile, p.fixtureId);
+	}
+
+	lines.push('## Problematic CSS files', '');
+	lines.push('| CSS source file | Fixtures affected | Conflicts with |');
+	lines.push('| --- | ---: | --- |');
+	const sortedFiles = [...byFile.entries()].sort((a, b) => b[1].fixtures.size - a[1].fixtures.size);
+	for (const [file, entry] of sortedFiles) {
+		const partners = [...entry.partners].map(fileBaseName).sort().join(', ');
+		lines.push(`| ${fileLink(file)} | ${entry.fixtures.size} | ${partners} |`);
+	}
+	lines.push('');
+
+	lines.push('## Affected fixtures', '');
+	lines.push('| Fixture | Theme | Earlier doc (loses) | Later doc (wins) |');
+	lines.push('| --- | --- | --- | --- |');
+	for (const p of problems) {
+		lines.push(`| \`${p.fixtureId}\` | ${p.background ?? '—'} | ${fileLink(p.earlierFile)} (#${p.earlierIndex}) | ${fileLink(p.laterFile)} (#${p.laterIndex}) |`);
+	}
+	lines.push('');
+
+	lines.push('## Details', '');
+	for (const p of problems) {
+		lines.push(`### \`${p.fixtureId}\``, '');
+		lines.push(`- Theme: ${p.background ?? '—'}`);
+		if (p.labels.length > 0) {
+			lines.push(`- Labels: ${p.labels.map(l => `\`${l}\``).join(', ')}`);
+		}
+		lines.push(`- Later document (wins): ${fileLink(p.laterFile)} — document #${p.laterIndex}`);
+		lines.push(`- Earlier document (loses): ${fileLink(p.earlierFile)} — document #${p.earlierIndex}`);
+		lines.push(`- Image hash: \`${p.baselineHash.slice(0, 12)}\` (baseline) → \`${p.reversedHash.slice(0, 12)}\` (reversed)`, '');
+
+		const baseSrc = imageSource(args, p.baselineHash, p.baselineImage);
+		const revSrc = imageSource(args, p.reversedHash, p.reversedImage);
+		if (baseSrc && revSrc) {
+			lines.push('| Baseline (product order) | Reversed order |');
+			lines.push('| --- | --- |');
+			lines.push(`| ![baseline](${baseSrc}) | ![reversed](${revSrc}) |`, '');
+		}
+	}
+
+	return lines.join('\n');
+}
+
+async function main(): Promise<void> {
+	const args = parseArgs(process.argv.slice(2));
+	const configDir = dirname(args.config);
+	const serveUrl = await readServeUrl(args.config);
+
+	process.stdout.write(`Serve:   ${serveUrl ?? '(from config)'}\n`);
+	process.stdout.write(`Fixtures: ${args.fixtureRegex}\n`);
+	process.stdout.write(`Output:  ${args.out}\n\n`);
+
+	const probeRoot = join(configDir, '.build', 'css-order-scan');
+	await rm(probeRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+	await mkdir(probeRoot, { recursive: true });
+	await rm(args.out, { recursive: true, force: true });
+	const assetsDir = join(args.out, 'assets');
+	await mkdir(assetsDir, { recursive: true });
+	const renderer = new Renderer(args.config, probeRoot);
+
+	// One render of every fixture in product order: this is the per-fixture
+	// baseline image and also reports each fixture's document list, so the scan
+	// never has to parse the bundle itself.
+	process.stdout.write('Rendering all fixtures (baseline)...\n');
+	const baseline = await renderer.render(args.fixtureRegex, { outputStylesheetFiles: true }, { useHashPaths: false });
+	// One render of every fixture with all documents reversed: fixtures whose
+	// image changes here are order-dependent.
+	process.stdout.write('Rendering all fixtures (reversed)...\n');
+	const reversed = await renderer.render(args.fixtureRegex, { reverseStylesheets: true }, { useHashPaths: false });
+
+	const reversedById = new Map<string, FixtureEntry>(reversed.entries.map(e => [e.fixtureId, e]));
+	const candidates = baseline.entries.filter(base => {
+		const rev = reversedById.get(base.fixtureId);
+		return !base.hasError && base.imageHash && rev?.imageHash && base.imageHash !== rev.imageHash;
+	});
+	const errored = baseline.entries.filter(e => e.hasError || !e.imageHash).length;
+	process.stdout.write(`\nScanned ${baseline.entries.length} fixtures: ${candidates.length} order-dependent, ${errored} errored/no-image.\n`);
+
+	const problems: Problem[] = [];
+	for (let i = 0; i < candidates.length; i++) {
+		const base = candidates[i];
+		const rev = reversedById.get(base.fixtureId)!;
+		const files = base.output?.stylesheetFiles;
+		if (!files || files.length === 0) {
+			process.stderr.write(`::warning::${base.fixtureId} did not report stylesheetFiles; skipping.\n`);
+			continue;
+		}
+		const n = files.length;
+		process.stdout.write(`\n[${i + 1}/${candidates.length}] Localizing ${base.fixtureId} (${n} documents)...\n`);
+		let probeCount = 0;
+		const { later, earlier } = await bisectConflict(renderer, base.fixtureId, n, base.imageHash!, ({ fromIndex, toIndex, differs, ms }) => {
+			const verdict = differs ? 'DIFFERS' : 'same';
+			process.stdout.write(`  probe #${++probeCount}: reverse[${fromIndex}, ${toIndex}) -> ${verdict} (${ms}ms)\n`);
+		});
+
+		// Copy the baseline and reversed images into the report so it is
+		// self-contained (links resolve when the artifact is downloaded).
+		const slug = slugify(base.fixtureId);
+		let baselineImage: string | undefined;
+		let reversedImage: string | undefined;
+		if (base.imagePath) {
+			baselineImage = `assets/${slug}.baseline.png`;
+			await copyFile(join(baseline.targetDir, base.imagePath), join(args.out, baselineImage));
+		}
+		if (rev.imagePath) {
+			reversedImage = `assets/${slug}.reversed.png`;
+			await copyFile(join(reversed.targetDir, rev.imagePath), join(args.out, reversedImage));
+		}
+
+		problems.push({
+			fixtureId: base.fixtureId,
+			background: base.background,
+			labels: base.labels ?? [],
+			docCount: n,
+			baselineHash: base.imageHash!,
+			reversedHash: rev.imageHash!,
+			laterIndex: later,
+			laterFile: files[later] ?? '(out of range)',
+			earlierIndex: earlier,
+			earlierFile: files[earlier] ?? '(out of range)',
+			baselineImage,
+			reversedImage,
+		});
+		process.stdout.write(`  → #${earlier} ${fileBaseName(files[earlier] ?? '?')} loses to #${later} ${fileBaseName(files[later] ?? '?')}\n`);
+	}
+
+	const markdown = renderMarkdown(args, problems, { scanned: baseline.entries.length, errored });
+	await writeFile(join(args.out, 'report.md'), `${markdown}\n`, 'utf8');
+	await writeFile(join(args.out, 'report.json'), `${JSON.stringify({ generatedAt: new Date().toISOString(), commit: GITHUB_SHA, scanned: baseline.entries.length, errored, problems }, undefined, '\t')}\n`, 'utf8');
+
+	if (!args.keep) {
+		await rm(probeRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+	}
+
+	process.stdout.write(`\nReport written to ${join(args.out, 'report.md')} (${problems.length} order-dependent fixtures).\n`);
+}
+
+main().catch(err => {
+	process.stderr.write(`${err instanceof Error ? err.stack : String(err)}\n`);
+	process.exitCode = 1;
+});
diff --git a/test/componentFixtures/cssOrderShared.mts b/test/componentFixtures/cssOrderShared.mts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7bf6ea084ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/componentFixtures/cssOrderShared.mts
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+/**
+ * Shared primitives for the CSS cascade-order dependency tools.
+ *
+ * Both `cssOrderBisect.mts` (localize one fixture's conflicting pair) and
+ * `cssOrderScan.mts` (scan every fixture and produce a report) drive
+ * `@vscode/component-explorer`'s `render` command against an already-running
+ * `serve` and use the rendered image hash as an oracle: reversing the document
+ * order of the bundled CSS flips cascade ties that are decided purely by source
+ * order, so a hash change under reversal means the appearance depends on CSS
+ * order. None of this code understands the bundle format — the fixture runtime
+ * reports the document count and the index→source-file mapping in the render
+ * manifest's `output` (requested via `--input '{"outputStylesheetFiles":true}'`).
+ */
+
+import { execFile } from 'node:child_process';
+import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { dirname, isAbsolute, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { promisify } from 'node:util';
+
+const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
+
+/** Absolute path to the component-explorer CLI entry (its `bin`). */
+export const cliEntry = resolve(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '../../node_modules/@vscode/component-explorer-cli/dist/index.js');
+
+/** A single fixture's entry in a render manifest (only the fields we use). */
+export interface FixtureEntry {
+	readonly fixtureId: string;
+	readonly imageHash?: string;
+	/** Image path relative to the render target directory (e.g. `images/<hash>.png`). */
+	readonly imagePath?: string;
+	readonly background?: 'light' | 'dark';
+	readonly labels?: readonly string[];
+	readonly hasError?: boolean;
+	/** Arbitrary data returned by the fixture render function. */
+	readonly output?: { readonly stylesheetFiles?: readonly string[] };
+}
+
+/** The result of a single `render` invocation. */
+export interface RenderResult {
+	readonly entries: readonly FixtureEntry[];
+	/** Absolute path to the render target directory, for resolving `imagePath`. */
+	readonly targetDir: string;
+}
+
+/** Options accepted by a `reverseStylesheets` input value. */
+export interface ReverseWindow {
+	readonly fromIndex: number;
+	readonly toIndex: number;
+}
+
+/** Reads the serve URL from the component-explorer config (top-level or first session), for logging. */
+export async function readServeUrl(configPath: string): Promise<string | undefined> {
+	const config = JSON.parse(await readFile(configPath, 'utf8'));
+	const url = config.server?.url ?? config.sessions?.[0]?.server?.url;
+	return typeof url === 'string' ? url.replace(/\/$/, '') : undefined;
+}
+
+/** Escapes a string so it can be used as a literal inside a `--fixture-id-regex`. */
+export function escapeRegex(value: string): string {
+	return value.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&');
+}
+
+/** A regex that matches exactly the given fixture id. */
+export function exactFixtureRegex(fixtureId: string): string {
+	return `^${escapeRegex(fixtureId)}$`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Drives the component-explorer `render` command against the configured serve.
+ * Each call spawns a fresh `render` (browser navigation), writing into its own
+ * numbered sub-directory of `probeRoot` so manifests and images never collide.
+ */
+export class Renderer {
+	private count = 0;
+	private readonly configPath: string;
+	private readonly configDir: string;
+	private readonly probeRoot: string;
+
+	constructor(configPath: string, probeRoot: string) {
+		this.configPath = configPath;
+		this.configDir = dirname(configPath);
+		this.probeRoot = probeRoot;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Renders every fixture matching `fixtureRegex` with the given `--input` and
+	 * returns all manifest entries plus the target directory. Content-hash image
+	 * paths (`useHashPaths`) deduplicate identical images and are the default;
+	 * pass `useHashPaths: false` to get readable `<fixtureId>.png` paths when the
+	 * images themselves are needed (e.g. for a report).
+	 */
+	async render(fixtureRegex: string, input: object, options?: { readonly useHashPaths?: boolean }): Promise<RenderResult> {
+		const useHashPaths = options?.useHashPaths ?? true;
+		const target = join(this.probeRoot, `r${this.count++}`);
+		const args = [
+			cliEntry, 'render',
+			'-p', this.configPath,
+			'--fixture-id-regex', fixtureRegex,
+			'--target', target,
+			'--input', JSON.stringify(input),
+		];
+		if (useHashPaths) {
+			args.push('--useHashPaths');
+		}
+		await execFileAsync(process.execPath, args, { cwd: this.configDir, maxBuffer: 64 * 1024 * 1024 });
+
+		const targetDir = isAbsolute(target) ? target : join(this.configDir, target);
+		const manifest = JSON.parse(await readFile(join(targetDir, 'manifest.json'), 'utf8'));
+		const entries: FixtureEntry[] = manifest.fixtures ?? [];
+		return { entries, targetDir };
+	}
+
+	/** Renders a single fixture with the given reversal window and returns its image hash. */
+	async hash(fixtureRegex: string, window: ReverseWindow): Promise<string> {
+		const { entries } = await this.render(fixtureRegex, { reverseStylesheets: window });
+		const hash = entries[0]?.imageHash;
+		if (!hash) {
+			throw new Error(`Render produced no image hash for ${fixtureRegex}`);
+		}
+		return hash;
+	}
+}
+
+/** Renders a reversal window `[fromIndex, toIndex)` and returns the image hash. */
+export type HashFn = (fromIndex: number, toIndex: number) => Promise<string>;
+
+/**
+ * Finds the largest `fromIndex` in `[0, n]` for which `hash(fromIndex, n)`
+ * still differs from `baseline` — the later document of the conflicting pair.
+ * `hash(0, n)` must differ and `hash(n, n)` (an empty window) must equal `baseline`.
+ */
+export async function findLastConflictStart(hash: HashFn, n: number, baseline: string): Promise<number> {
+	let lo = 0;        // hash(lo, n) differs
+	let hi = n;        // hash(hi, n) == baseline (empty window)
+	while (hi - lo > 1) {
+		const mid = (lo + hi) >> 1;
+		if (await hash(mid, n) !== baseline) {
+			lo = mid;
+		} else {
+			hi = mid;
+		}
+	}
+	return lo;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Finds the smallest `toIndex` in `[0, n]` for which `hash(0, toIndex)` differs
+ * from `baseline`. `hash(0, 0)` must equal `baseline` and `hash(0, n)` must
+ * differ. Returns that boundary `toIndex` (the earlier document is `toIndex - 1`).
+ */
+export async function findFirstConflictEnd(hash: HashFn, n: number, baseline: string): Promise<number> {
+	let lo = 0;        // hash(0, lo) == baseline
+	let hi = n;        // hash(0, hi) differs
+	while (hi - lo > 1) {
+		const mid = (lo + hi) >> 1;
+		if (await hash(0, mid) !== baseline) {
+			hi = mid;
+		} else {
+			lo = mid;
+		}
+	}
+	return hi;
+}
+
+/** The two documents of a localized cascade-order conflict (indices into the document list). */
+export interface ConflictPair {
+	/** The later document (higher index); wins the cascade tie in product order. */
+	readonly later: number;
+	/** The earlier document (lower index); loses the cascade tie in product order. */
+	readonly earlier: number;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Localizes the dominant conflicting document pair for a single fixture by
+ * binary-searching reversal windows. `baseline` is the fixture's un-reversed
+ * image hash; reversing the whole document range `[0, n)` must already be known
+ * to change it. `onProbe` is an optional progress callback.
+ */
+export async function bisectConflict(
+	renderer: Renderer,
+	fixtureId: string,
+	n: number,
+	baseline: string,
+	onProbe?: (info: { fromIndex: number; toIndex: number; differs: boolean; ms: number }) => void,
+): Promise<ConflictPair> {
+	const rx = exactFixtureRegex(fixtureId);
+	const hash: HashFn = async (fromIndex, toIndex) => {
+		const started = Date.now();
+		const h = await renderer.hash(rx, { fromIndex, toIndex });
+		onProbe?.({ fromIndex, toIndex, differs: h !== baseline, ms: Date.now() - started });
+		return h;
+	};
+	const later = await findLastConflictStart(hash, n, baseline);
+	const earlier = (await findFirstConflictEnd(hash, n, baseline)) - 1;
+	return { later, earlier };
+}