diff --git a/compose.yaml b/compose.yaml
index 2a58dbde..7e059153 100644
--- a/compose.yaml
+++ b/compose.yaml
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ services:
       dockerfile: Dockerfile
     profiles:
       - production
+      - cluster
     command:
       - sh
       - -c
diff --git a/docs/console.md b/docs/console.md
index 76a83c64..874b6488 100644
--- a/docs/console.md
+++ b/docs/console.md
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ The server UI uses root-relative URLs (`/v1/api/send`, `/static/app.js`, `/share
 
 ### SSE Proxy
 
-SSE streams (`/v1/api/events`, `/v1/api/events/global`) are proxied by creating a per-connection `httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=None)`, streaming the upstream response via `aiter_text()`, parsing SSE framing (`\n\n` delimiters), and re-emitting events through `EventSourceResponse`. Each proxied SSE stream requires its own httpx client since the shared client's 30-second timeout would kill long-lived connections.
+SSE streams (`/v1/api/events`, `/v1/api/events/global`) are proxied as raw byte passthrough — the console opens an `httpx.AsyncClient.stream()` to the upstream server (with `read=None` and `pool=None` timeouts since SSE connections are long-lived) and relays every byte via `StreamingResponse`. This preserves server-side ping comments, event framing, and keepalives verbatim without parsing or re-encoding.
 
 ### Authentication
 
diff --git a/tests/test_console.py b/tests/test_console.py
index dfda851d..c2941f64 100644
--- a/tests/test_console.py
+++ b/tests/test_console.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 """Tests for turnstone.console — collector and HTTP server."""
 
+import asyncio
 import json
 import queue
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock
@@ -1299,3 +1300,177 @@ class TestProxySharedStatic:
         resp = client.get("/node/unknown/shared/base.css")
         assert resp.status_code == 404
         client.close()
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# SSE proxy — raw byte passthrough
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestSSEProxy:
+    """Verify _proxy_sse forwards raw bytes including ping comments."""
+
+    def test_proxy_sse_preserves_pings_and_events(self):
+        """SSE proxy should forward ping comments and events verbatim."""
+        from turnstone.console.server import _proxy_sse
+
+        # Simulate an upstream SSE response with a ping comment and a real event
+        sse_payload = b': ping - 2026-03-08T12:00:00Z\n\nevent: message\ndata: {"type": "test"}\n\n'
+
+        class FakeResponse:
+            status_code = 200
+            headers = {"content-type": "text/event-stream"}
+
+            async def aiter_bytes(self):
+                yield sse_payload
+
+            async def aclose(self):
+                pass
+
+            async def __aenter__(self):
+                return self
+
+            async def __aexit__(self, *args):
+                pass
+
+        class FakeClient:
+            def stream(self, method, url, **kwargs):
+                return FakeResponse()
+
+        class FakeRequest:
+            class url:  # noqa: N801
+                query = "ws_id=test123"
+
+            class app:  # noqa: N801
+                class state:  # noqa: N801
+                    proxy_sse_client = FakeClient()
+                    proxy_auth_token = ""
+
+            headers = {}
+
+            async def is_disconnected(self):
+                return False
+
+        async def _run():
+            response = await _proxy_sse(
+                FakeRequest(), "http://fake:8080", "events", api_prefix="v1/api"
+            )
+            assert response.media_type == "text/event-stream"
+            # Collect the streamed bytes
+            chunks: list[bytes] = []
+            async for chunk in response.body_iterator:
+                chunks.append(chunk if isinstance(chunk, bytes) else chunk.encode())
+            body = b"".join(chunks)
+            # Ping comment must be preserved (not filtered)
+            assert b": ping" in body
+            # Real event must be preserved
+            assert b"event: message" in body
+            assert b'"type": "test"' in body
+
+        asyncio.run(_run())
+
+    def test_proxy_sse_upstream_error_status(self):
+        """Non-200 upstream status should yield an error event."""
+
+        from turnstone.console.server import _proxy_sse
+
+        class FakeResponse:
+            status_code = 502
+
+            async def aiter_bytes(self):
+                return
+                yield  # make it an async generator
+
+            async def aclose(self):
+                pass
+
+            async def __aenter__(self):
+                return self
+
+            async def __aexit__(self, *args):
+                pass
+
+        class FakeClient:
+            def stream(self, method, url, **kwargs):
+                return FakeResponse()
+
+        class FakeRequest:
+            class url:  # noqa: N801
+                query = ""
+
+            class app:  # noqa: N801
+                class state:  # noqa: N801
+                    proxy_sse_client = FakeClient()
+                    proxy_auth_token = ""
+
+            headers = {}
+
+            async def is_disconnected(self):
+                return False
+
+        async def _run():
+            response = await _proxy_sse(FakeRequest(), "http://fake:8080", "events")
+            chunks: list[bytes] = []
+            async for chunk in response.body_iterator:
+                chunks.append(chunk if isinstance(chunk, bytes) else chunk.encode())
+            body = b"".join(chunks)
+            assert b"event: error" in body
+            assert b"502" in body
+
+        asyncio.run(_run())
+
+    def test_proxy_sse_disconnect_handling(self):
+        """Proxy should stop when browser disconnects."""
+
+        from turnstone.console.server import _proxy_sse
+
+        class FakeResponse:
+            status_code = 200
+
+            async def aiter_bytes(self):
+                yield b"data: chunk1\n\n"
+                yield b"data: chunk2\n\n"  # should not be reached
+                yield b"data: chunk3\n\n"
+
+            async def aclose(self):
+                pass
+
+            async def __aenter__(self):
+                return self
+
+            async def __aexit__(self, *args):
+                pass
+
+        class FakeClient:
+            def stream(self, method, url, **kwargs):
+                return FakeResponse()
+
+        call_count = 0
+
+        class FakeRequest:
+            class url:  # noqa: N801
+                query = ""
+
+            class app:  # noqa: N801
+                class state:  # noqa: N801
+                    proxy_sse_client = FakeClient()
+                    proxy_auth_token = ""
+
+            headers = {}
+
+            async def is_disconnected(self):
+                nonlocal call_count
+                call_count += 1
+                return call_count > 1  # disconnect after first chunk
+
+        async def _run():
+            response = await _proxy_sse(FakeRequest(), "http://fake:8080", "events")
+            chunks: list[bytes] = []
+            async for chunk in response.body_iterator:
+                chunks.append(chunk if isinstance(chunk, bytes) else chunk.encode())
+            body = b"".join(chunks)
+            assert b"chunk1" in body
+            # Should have stopped before chunk3
+            assert b"chunk3" not in body
+
+        asyncio.run(_run())
diff --git a/turnstone/console/server.py b/turnstone/console/server.py
index 809df4db..969be692 100644
--- a/turnstone/console/server.py
+++ b/turnstone/console/server.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import httpx
 from sse_starlette import EventSourceResponse
 from starlette.applications import Starlette
 from starlette.middleware import Middleware
-from starlette.responses import HTMLResponse, JSONResponse, Response
+from starlette.responses import HTMLResponse, JSONResponse, Response, StreamingResponse
 from starlette.routing import Mount, Route
 from starlette.staticfiles import StaticFiles
 
@@ -568,7 +568,11 @@ async def _proxy_post(
 async def _proxy_sse(
     request: Request, server_url: str, path: str, *, api_prefix: str = "api"
 ) -> Response:
-    """Proxy an SSE stream from the target server to the browser."""
+    """Proxy an SSE stream from the target server to the browser.
+
+    Relays raw bytes verbatim so server-side ping comments, event framing,
+    and keepalives all pass through unchanged.
+    """
     target = f"{server_url}/{api_prefix}/{path}"
     if request.url.query:
         target += f"?{request.url.query}"
@@ -576,30 +580,34 @@ async def _proxy_sse(
     sse_client: httpx.AsyncClient = request.app.state.proxy_sse_client
     sse_auth = _proxy_auth_headers(request)
 
-    async def sse_generator() -> AsyncGenerator[dict[str, str], None]:
-        from httpx_sse import aconnect_sse
-
+    async def raw_stream() -> AsyncGenerator[bytes, None]:
         try:
-            async with aconnect_sse(sse_client, "GET", target, headers=sse_auth) as source:
-                if source.response.status_code != 200:
+            async with sse_client.stream(
+                "GET",
+                target,
+                headers={**sse_auth, "Accept": "text/event-stream", "Cache-Control": "no-store"},
+                timeout=httpx.Timeout(connect=10, read=None, write=5, pool=None),
+            ) as response:
+                if response.status_code != 200:
                     log.debug(
                         "SSE proxy received status %s from %s",
-                        source.response.status_code,
+                        response.status_code,
                         target,
                     )
-                    yield {
-                        "event": "error",
-                        "data": f"Upstream returned status {source.response.status_code}",
-                    }
+                    yield f"event: error\ndata: Upstream returned status {response.status_code}\n\n".encode()
                     return
-                async for sse in source.aiter_sse():
+                async for chunk in response.aiter_bytes():
                     if await request.is_disconnected():
                         return
-                    yield {"event": sse.event, "data": sse.data}
+                    yield chunk
         except httpx.HTTPError:
             log.debug("SSE proxy stream ended for %s", target)
 
-    return EventSourceResponse(sse_generator(), ping=5)
+    return StreamingResponse(
+        raw_stream(),
+        media_type="text/event-stream",
+        headers={"Cache-Control": "no-store", "X-Accel-Buffering": "no"},
+    )
 
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------