diff --git a/ddprof-lib/src/main/java/com/datadoghq/profiler/AgentPhase.java b/ddprof-lib/src/main/java/com/datadoghq/profiler/AgentPhase.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..df4fcd2b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ddprof-lib/src/main/java/com/datadoghq/profiler/AgentPhase.java
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package com.datadoghq.profiler;
+
+public enum AgentPhase {
+    IDLE("idle"),
+    CONTEXT_BUILD("context_build"),
+    AWAITING_INFERENCE("awaiting_inference"),
+    TOOL_EXECUTION("tool_execution"),
+    TOKENIZING("tokenizing"),
+    EMBEDDING("embedding"),
+    RETRYING("retrying"),
+    SERIALIZING("serializing"),
+    INFERENCE_WAIT("inference_wait");
+
+    public static final String ATTRIBUTE_NAME = "llm.agent.phase";
+
+    private final String token;
+
+    AgentPhase(String token) {
+        this.token = token;
+    }
+
+    public String token() {
+        return token;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/ddprof-lib/src/main/java/com/datadoghq/profiler/ContextSetter.java b/ddprof-lib/src/main/java/com/datadoghq/profiler/ContextSetter.java
index bff497b80..afb6a300f 100644
--- a/ddprof-lib/src/main/java/com/datadoghq/profiler/ContextSetter.java
+++ b/ddprof-lib/src/main/java/com/datadoghq/profiler/ContextSetter.java
@@ -61,4 +61,12 @@ public boolean clearContextValue(int offset) {
         }
         return false;
     }
+
+    public String readContextValue(int offset) {
+        if (offset < 0) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        ThreadContext ctx = profiler.getThreadContext();
+        return ctx != null ? ctx.readContextAttribute(offset) : null;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/doc/specs/2026-06-02-llm-phase-attribution-design.md b/doc/specs/2026-06-02-llm-phase-attribution-design.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e553219d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/specs/2026-06-02-llm-phase-attribution-design.md
@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+# LLM Phase Attribution — Foundation + F1 Pilot
+
+**Status:** Approved design, pending implementation plan
+**Date:** 2026-06-02
+**Branch:** `jb/llm`
+**Scope source:** `doc/temp/llm-profiling-design.md` (15-feature roadmap)
+
+## Problem
+
+LLM pipeline state is invisible to the profiler. A CPU flamegraph from an
+LLM-based JVM service shows undifferentiated work with no way to tell context
+assembly from inference wait from tool execution. This spec covers the shared
+*foundation* for LLM phase attribution plus the first feature (F1, "AI Phase
+Tagging (CPU)"), proven end-to-end and demonstrated with real recorded data.
+
+This is one slice of a larger roadmap. The other 14 features are explicitly out
+of scope here (see Non-Goals).
+
+## Goals
+
+1. Define a per-thread *agent phase* contract owned by `java-profiler`.
+2. Let `dd-trace-java` set the phase from instrumentation, async-signal-safe to
+   read.
+3. CPU samples carry the phase so flamegraphs become phase-keyed.
+4. Ship a real, runnable LangChain4j scenario that produces a JFR recording
+   suitable for the profiling backend.
+
+## Key architectural decision: Hybrid representation
+
+The roadmap doc proposes a new ~24-byte typed struct in the per-thread native
+context (`agentPhase` uint8, etc.). **For this pilot we do not do that.**
+
+Evidence from the codebase:
+
+- The per-thread context already has **10 attribute slots** (`DD_TAGS_CAPACITY`),
+  each a `u32` dictionary-encoded ID, read async-signal-safe in the signal
+  handler via `getOtelTagEncoding(i)` (`ddprof-lib/src/main/cpp/thread.h:250`).
+- `writeCurrentContext()` already emits those tag encodings into **CPU execution
+  samples** — not only wall-clock — via `recordExecutionSample`
+  (`ddprof-lib/src/main/cpp/flightRecorder.cpp:1700-1713`).
+- `dd-trace-java` already has the full attribute path: `ContextSetter`,
+  `Profiling.get().setContextValue(...)`, `ProfilingContextAttribute`, and
+  `DD_PROFILING_CONTEXT_ATTRIBUTES` slot registration
+  (`DatadogProfiler.java:153`, `DatadogProfilerConfig.getContextAttributes`).
+
+`agentPhase` is an enum with 9 values — ideal for dictionary encoding (tiny,
+stable cardinality). For F1 the dedicated struct buys nothing over the existing
+attribute path and costs native struct churn, new JFR metadata, new JNI setters,
+and a wider blast radius.
+
+**Decision:** Expose a typed `AgentPhase` enum as the public contract, but back
+it with the existing dictionary-encoded attribute slot. No native changes.
+
+The dedicated typed fields *are* justified later — for high-cardinality numeric
+fields (`contextTokenCount`, `requestContextId`, `requestStartNs`) that would
+explode a string dictionary, and because string-encoding the full roadmap would
+exhaust the 10 slots. That work is deferred to the first Phase-2 feature that
+needs it.
+
+## Constraints (carried from the roadmap)
+
+- No malloc / no heap access in signal handlers — reads stay plain field /
+  dictionary-id accesses on pre-allocated per-thread state.
+- No O(N) work in any sampler hot path.
+- The phase contract is owned by `java-profiler`; instrumentation lives in
+  `dd-trace-java`.
+
+## Component design
+
+### java-profiler
+
+1. **`AgentPhase` enum** in `com.datadoghq.profiler` — the layout contract. The
+   9 phases from the roadmap (`IDLE`, `INFERENCE_WAIT`, `TOOL_EXECUTION`,
+   `CONTEXT_BUILD`, `TOKENIZING`, `EMBEDDING`, `AWAITING_INFERENCE`, `RETRYING`,
+   `SERIALIZING`), each with a stable lowercase string token (e.g.
+   `AWAITING_INFERENCE` → `"awaiting_inference"`). The profiling backend keys on
+   these tokens.
+2. **Enum→token helper** for use with the existing
+   `ContextSetter.setContextValue(attribute, value)`. No JNI, no native code, no
+   new JFR metadata.
+3. **Well-known attribute name constant** (`llm.agent.phase`) so both sides agree
+   on the slot name.
+
+### dd-trace-java
+
+1. **Startup registration.** Ensure `llm.agent.phase` is in the registered
+   attribute set returned by `getContextAttributes`, gated by a config flag
+   (working name `DD_PROFILING_LLM_PHASE_ENABLED`, default-on for the pilot),
+   mirroring the existing `PROFILING_CONTEXT_ATTRIBUTES_SPAN_NAME_ENABLED`
+   pattern. Consumes 1 of 10 slots. This is mandatory: `ContextSetter` is built
+   once at startup and `offsetOf()` returns `-1` (setter no-ops) for any name not
+   registered then.
+2. **Typed setter.** Add `setAgentPhase(AgentPhase)` to the profiling API
+   surface, implemented in `DatadogProfilingIntegration` / `DatadogProfiler` by
+   mapping the enum to its token and calling `setContextValue(offset, token)`.
+   Use scoped set/restore (`Profiling.get().newScope()`) so nested phases restore
+   the previous value on exit — satisfying the roadmap's "zeroed at exit"
+   requirement without leaving a stale phase on the slot.
+3. **New LangChain4j instrumentation module.** Tags three phases at LC4j
+   orchestration boundaries:
+   - **CONTEXT_BUILD** — AiServices prompt / message assembly (incl. RAG
+     retrieval if present).
+   - **AWAITING_INFERENCE** — the model call (`ChatModel.chat`, streaming
+     variant noted during implementation).
+   - **TOOL_EXECUTION** — tool executor dispatch.
+   loopIteration and other numeric counters are out (F3/deferred). Exact LC4j
+   version and class/method signatures are pinned during implementation
+   (LC4j renamed `ChatLanguageModel`→`ChatModel` at 1.0, so version matters).
+
+### JFR output
+
+No new event type. The phase rides as an existing context **tag encoding**
+emitted on every `T_EXECUTION_SAMPLE`. Downstream, each CPU sample carries an
+`llm.agent.phase` label → phase-keyed flamegraph.
+
+**Open verification (implementation-time, not assumed):** confirm the
+`llm.agent.phase` label surfaces *by name* in the emitted JFR via the existing
+attribute machinery.
+
+## Testing strategy
+
+1. **java-profiler unit (`ddprof-test`).** Caller-simulated, no dd-trace-java
+   dependency: register `llm.agent.phase`, set a phase from a worker thread, run
+   CPU load, assert the JFR execution samples carry the phase tag encoding. Runs
+   under `testRelease` / `testDebug` (the `:test` task is disabled).
+2. **dd-trace-java instrumentation/muzzle test.** Assert the LangChain4j call
+   path drives the phase attribute (set on enter, restored on exit) across the
+   three boundaries.
+3. **Demo — mock path (CI-safe).** A canned `ChatModel` returning fixed
+   responses with an artificial delay; a small AiServices agent with one tool, so
+   all three phases appear. Deterministic; exercises full instrumentation + JFR
+   path.
+4. **Demo — Ollama path (manual).** Same agent app against a local Ollama model
+   (e.g. llama3) for realistic inference latency, producing a JFR recording for
+   the profiling backend. No API key, offline-reproducible.
+
+## Non-goals / explicit deferrals
+
+- No dedicated native typed fields; no new JNI setters; no new JFR event type.
+- Numeric fields (`contextTokenCount`, `requestContextId`, `requestStartNs`)
+  deferred to their first consuming Phase-2 feature.
+- Roadmap features F2–F15 deferred.
+- Other framework modules (Spring AI, OpenAI Java SDK, DJL, HuggingFace) and the
+  real-OpenAI demo backend deferred.
+
+## Integration reference (grounding)
+
+| Concern | Location |
+|---|---|
+| Attribute slots, async-signal-safe read | `ddprof-lib/.../cpp/thread.h:250` (`getOtelTagEncoding`) |
+| Tag encodings emitted on CPU samples | `ddprof-lib/.../cpp/flightRecorder.cpp:1700-1713` |
+| Java attribute setter | `ddprof-lib/.../java/com/datadoghq/profiler/ContextSetter.java` |
+| Startup attribute set | dd-trace-java `DatadogProfilerConfig.getContextAttributes` |
+| ContextSetter wiring | dd-trace-java `DatadogProfiler.java:153` |
+| Profiler context bridge | dd-trace-java `DatadogProfilingIntegration.java` |
+| Profiling API surface | dd-trace-java `dd-trace-api/.../profiling/ProfilingContext.java` |
+| Existing OpenAI instrumentation (pattern reference) | dd-trace-java `dd-java-agent/instrumentation/openai-java/` |