diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index adf9223..f35528f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -375,6 +375,16 @@ PubSub and each BEAM VM's effective port limit:
 ./scripts/kind-up.sh
 ```
 
+Pause the local cluster after Kubernetes verification without deleting its
+container, PostGIS volume, Secret, or other cluster state:
+
+```bash
+./scripts/kind-stop.sh
+```
+
+`./scripts/kind-up.sh` resumes a stopped project-owned control plane before
+loading images and reconciling the chart.
+
 Open:
 
 - app: <http://localhost:4011>
diff --git a/docs/operations.md b/docs/operations.md
index 8dbfc27..f92a4a2 100644
--- a/docs/operations.md
+++ b/docs/operations.md
@@ -272,6 +272,18 @@ For the project-owned kind cluster, run:
 ./scripts/kind-rolling-verify.sh local-kind-rollout
 ```
 
+The kind control plane is an optional verification environment, not part of
+the ordinary public Compose route. Pause it without deleting its container or
+Kubernetes state when the cluster is not being tested:
+
+```bash
+./scripts/kind-stop.sh
+```
+
+The next `./scripts/kind-up.sh` validates the ownership marker and kind labels,
+starts the stopped control plane, then continues with image loading and chart
+reconciliation.
+
 That script requires both the kind ownership marker and the control-plane
 cluster label before invoking `rollout restart`. It changes only the web and
 worker Deployment pod templates. It snapshots application-table counts before
diff --git a/docs/verification.md b/docs/verification.md
index e087fc4..6c4de16 100644
--- a/docs/verification.md
+++ b/docs/verification.md
@@ -282,6 +282,17 @@ cross-node PubSub. This fixes that specific over-allocation; it is not a
 production minimum-RAM measurement. Detailed evidence and per-container values
 are recorded in `docs/performance.md`.
 
+The optional kind and load verification environments were stopped after their
+final checks without deleting their containers or volumes. Immediately before
+the pause, both isolated databases contained zero users, requests, and
+messages; every kind pod was Ready. The stopped kind control plane had been
+using 1.706 GiB, while the running load application/database/monitoring
+containers used roughly another 1.6 GiB in the same observation. A complete
+resume test measured the Kubernetes API Ready after 6.83 seconds, then
+`kind-up.sh` reconciled the chart, rolled both 2-replica Deployments, passed
+four-node PubSub and the BEAM port-limit checks, and `kind-stop.sh` paused it
+again. The ordinary public Compose route remained HTTP 200 throughout.
+
 ## Public staging observation
 
 On 2026-07-18, `whoneedhelp.imalto.site` was published through the existing
diff --git a/scripts/kind-stop.sh b/scripts/kind-stop.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..8c6309a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/kind-stop.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -eu
+
+ROOT=$(CDPATH='' cd -- "$(dirname -- "$0")/.." && pwd)
+CLUSTER=who-need-help
+MARKER="$ROOT/.tools/${CLUSTER}.owned"
+CONTROL_PLANE="${CLUSTER}-control-plane"
+
+if [ ! -f "$MARKER" ]; then
+  echo "The project ownership marker is absent; refusing to stop a kind cluster." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! docker inspect "$CONTROL_PLANE" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "The project-owned kind control-plane container does not exist."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+scope=$(
+  docker inspect "$CONTROL_PLANE" \
+    --format '{{index .Config.Labels "io.x-k8s.kind.cluster"}}:{{index .Config.Labels "io.x-k8s.kind.role"}}'
+)
+
+if [ "$scope" != "$CLUSTER:control-plane" ]; then
+  echo "The kind control-plane container is outside this project's scope." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ "$(docker inspect "$CONTROL_PLANE" --format '{{.State.Running}}')" != true ]; then
+  echo "The project-owned kind cluster is already stopped."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+docker stop "$CONTROL_PLANE" >/dev/null
+echo "Stopped the project-owned kind cluster; its container and Kubernetes data remain."
diff --git a/scripts/kind-up.sh b/scripts/kind-up.sh
index af08bfd..496e22f 100755
--- a/scripts/kind-up.sh
+++ b/scripts/kind-up.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ export PATH
 
 CLUSTER=who-need-help
 MARKER="$ROOT/.tools/${CLUSTER}.owned"
+CONTROL_PLANE="${CLUSTER}-control-plane"
 NAMESPACE=who-need-help
 SECRET_NAME=who-need-help-local
 POSTGIS_IMAGE=postgis/postgis:18-3.6-alpine
@@ -70,6 +71,18 @@ if kind get clusters | grep -Fxq "$CLUSTER"; then
     echo "Refusing to modify it. Rename/remove it yourself or inspect it first." >&2
     exit 1
   fi
+
+  if [ "$(docker inspect "$CONTROL_PLANE" \
+    --format '{{index .Config.Labels "io.x-k8s.kind.cluster"}}:{{index .Config.Labels "io.x-k8s.kind.role"}}')" \
+    != "$CLUSTER:control-plane" ]; then
+    echo "The existing kind control-plane container is outside this project's scope." >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  if [ "$(docker inspect "$CONTROL_PLANE" --format '{{.State.Running}}')" != true ]; then
+    docker start "$CONTROL_PLANE" >/dev/null
+    echo "Resumed the stopped project-owned kind control plane."
+  fi
 else
   kind create cluster --config "$ROOT/deploy/kind/cluster.yaml"
   touch "$MARKER"