diff --git a/packages/bugc/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/bugc/CHANGELOG.md
index f7b5d6634e..b389b3f480 100644
--- a/packages/bugc/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/bugc/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ support. Changes to the specification itself are tracked in the root
   has the branch's context: its source range, its variables (the storage
   variables too) and its transforms. Before, it had no context, so a
   debugger listed no variables while it ran ([#356]).
+- The instructions that run before a function's first statement now have
+  a `variables` context: the memory setup at the start of the code (and
+  `create`) blocks, and a function's entry `JUMPDEST` and prologue. They
+  list the storage variables and the locals in scope, a local without a
+  pointer: a parameter is not yet in its home there, and the `invoke`'s
+  `arguments` point at it on the stack. Before, they listed no variables,
+  so a debugger showed none for those steps ([#358]).
 - A call to a function with no return type now compiles as a statement,
   as in `bump();`, at every optimization level. The function's `return`
   context has no `data`. Before, IR generation failed with "Cannot convert
@@ -301,3 +308,4 @@ First publication.
 [#351]: https://github.com/ethdebug/format/pull/351
 [#352]: https://github.com/ethdebug/format/pull/352
 [#356]: https://github.com/ethdebug/format/pull/356
+[#358]: https://github.com/ethdebug/format/pull/358
diff --git a/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/debug/local-variables.soundness.test.ts b/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/debug/local-variables.soundness.test.ts
index f2ab39d7f7..ef8018ffed 100644
--- a/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/debug/local-variables.soundness.test.ts
+++ b/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/debug/local-variables.soundness.test.ts
@@ -1052,3 +1052,61 @@ describe.each(levels)("locals hold the program's values at O%i", (level) => {
     (program) => check(program, level),
   );
 });
+
+describe("variables before a function's first statement", () => {
+  // Contexts are postconditions: the step after an instruction shows
+  // its context. Every step lists the storage variable; from the
+  // callee's entry JUMPDEST through its prologue, the parameters.
+  const source = `name Prelude;
+define {
+  function add(a: uint256, b: uint256) -> uint256 {
+    let c = a + b;
+    return c;
+  };
+}
+storage { [0] r: uint256; }
+code { let x = 7; r = add(x, 3); }`;
+
+  for (const level of [0, 1] as Level[]) {
+    it(`lists variables at every step (O${level})`, async () => {
+      const { steps, instructionAt } = await traceLocals(source, level);
+      const unlisted = steps
+        .map((_, i) => i)
+        .filter(
+          (i) =>
+            i > 0 &&
+            localsOf(instructionAt(steps[i - 1])?.context).length === 0,
+        );
+      expect(unlisted).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    it(`lists the parameters in the prologue (O${level})`, async () => {
+      const { program } = await traceLocals(source, level);
+      const at = program.instructions.findIndex(
+        (instruction) =>
+          instruction.operation?.mnemonic === "JUMPDEST" &&
+          Program.Context.isInvoke(instruction.context),
+      );
+      // The entry JUMPDEST, then the prologue: the ops that map to the
+      // whole function, before its body's
+      const whole = codeOffset(program.instructions[at + 1].context);
+      const rest = program.instructions.slice(at + 1);
+      const prologue = [
+        program.instructions[at],
+        ...rest.slice(
+          0,
+          rest.findIndex(
+            (instruction) => codeOffset(instruction.context) !== whole,
+          ),
+        ),
+      ];
+      expect(prologue.length).toBeGreaterThan(1);
+      for (const instruction of prologue) {
+        const names = localsOf(instruction.context).map((v) => v.identifier);
+        expect(names, `pc ${instruction.offset}`).toEqual(
+          expect.arrayContaining(["r", "a", "b"]),
+        );
+      }
+    });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/debug/local-variables.ts b/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/debug/local-variables.ts
index a8376c2195..845135db09 100644
--- a/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/debug/local-variables.ts
+++ b/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/debug/local-variables.ts
@@ -459,6 +459,33 @@ export function withoutFrameLocals(
   };
 }
 
+/**
+ * The variables in scope before a function's entry block: during the
+ * memory setup of main or create, or a function's entry JUMPDEST and
+ * prologue. They are the entry block's, as listed just before its first
+ * instruction. No local is in its home yet (the prologue is still
+ * setting the frame up), so a local is listed without a pointer.
+ */
+export function preludeVariables(func: Ir.Function): VariableEntry[] {
+  const block = func.blocks.get(func.entry);
+  if (!block) return [];
+  const first = block.instructions[0] ?? block.terminator;
+  const context = (block.entryDebug?.context ??
+    first.operationDebug?.context) as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
+  if (!context) return [];
+
+  const locals = new Set(
+    [...(func.ssaVariables?.values() ?? [])].map((ssa) => ssa.name),
+  );
+  return liftVariables(context).variables.map((entry) => {
+    if (entry.identifier === undefined || !locals.has(entry.identifier)) {
+      return entry;
+    }
+    const { pointer: _, ...rest } = entry;
+    return rest;
+  });
+}
+
 /** The source offsets of an instruction/terminator: of its `code`
  * context, or of each `code` in a `gather` (all of which apply). */
 function codeOffsets(context: unknown): number[] {
diff --git a/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/generation/block.ts b/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/generation/block.ts
index c678bd9c90..24ef450170 100644
--- a/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/generation/block.ts
+++ b/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/generation/block.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@ import {
   generateCallTerminator,
 } from "./control-flow/index.js";
 import { annotateTop } from "./values/identify.js";
-import { withReturned, withStackLocals } from "../debug/local-variables.js";
+import {
+  preludeVariables,
+  withReturned,
+  withStackLocals,
+} from "../debug/local-variables.js";
 
 /**
  * Generate code for a basic block
@@ -59,7 +63,11 @@ export function generate<S extends Stack>(
             ? { sourceId: func.sourceId, loc: func.loc }
             : undefined;
         result = result.then(
-          initializeMemory(state.memory.nextStaticOffset, sourceInfo),
+          initializeMemory(
+            state.memory.nextStaticOffset,
+            sourceInfo,
+            func ? preludeVariables(func) : [],
+          ),
         );
       }
 
@@ -385,23 +393,23 @@ function storePhiDest<S extends Stack>(
 function initializeMemory<S extends Stack>(
   nextStaticOffset: number,
   sourceInfo?: { sourceId: string; loc: Ast.SourceLocation },
+  variables: Format.Program.Context.Variables["variables"] = [],
 ): Transition<S, S> {
   const { PUSHn, MSTORE } = operations;
 
-  const debug = sourceInfo
-    ? {
-        context: {
-          code: {
-            source: { id: sourceInfo.sourceId },
-            range: sourceInfo.loc,
-          },
-        } as Format.Program.Context,
-      }
-    : {
-        context: {
-          remark: "initialize free memory pointer",
-        } as Format.Program.Context,
-      };
+  const debug = {
+    context: {
+      ...(sourceInfo
+        ? {
+            code: {
+              source: { id: sourceInfo.sourceId },
+              range: sourceInfo.loc,
+            },
+          }
+        : { remark: "initialize free memory pointer" }),
+      ...(variables.length > 0 ? { variables } : {}),
+    } as Format.Program.Context,
+  };
 
   const { PUSH0 } = operations;
 
diff --git a/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/generation/function.ts b/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/generation/function.ts
index 3908182369..3f5a8115b2 100644
--- a/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/generation/function.ts
+++ b/packages/bugc/src/evmgen/generation/function.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { type Layout, Memory } from "#evmgen/analysis";
 import type { Error as EvmgenError } from "#evmgen/errors";
 
 import * as Block from "./block.js";
+import { preludeVariables } from "../debug/local-variables.js";
 import { serialize } from "../serialize.js";
 import { type Transition } from "../operations.js";
 
@@ -67,8 +68,15 @@ function generatePrologue<S extends Stack>(
         }),
       },
     };
+    // Until the prologue has stored the arguments in the frame, the
+    // parameters are listed without a pointer (the invoke's
+    // `arguments` point at them on the stack)
+    const variables = preludeVariables(func);
     const entryDebug = {
-      context: entryInvoke as Format.Program.Context,
+      context: {
+        ...entryInvoke,
+        ...(variables.length > 0 ? { variables } : {}),
+      } as Format.Program.Context,
     };
     currentState = {
       ...currentState,
@@ -78,7 +86,7 @@ function generatePrologue<S extends Stack>(
       ],
     };
 
-    const d = makePrologueDebug(func);
+    const d = makePrologueDebug(func, variables);
     const frameSize = currentState.memory.frameSize;
 
     if (frameSize !== undefined) {
@@ -264,21 +272,23 @@ function emitFpRelativeStore<S extends Stack>(
   );
 }
 
-function makePrologueDebug(func: Ir.Function): Debug {
-  return func.sourceId && func.loc
-    ? {
-        context: {
-          code: {
-            source: { id: func.sourceId },
-            range: func.loc,
-          },
-        } as Format.Program.Context,
-      }
-    : {
-        context: {
-          remark: "prologue: allocate call frame",
-        } as Format.Program.Context,
-      };
+function makePrologueDebug(
+  func: Ir.Function,
+  variables: Format.Program.Context.Variables["variables"],
+): Debug {
+  return {
+    context: {
+      ...(func.sourceId && func.loc
+        ? {
+            code: {
+              source: { id: func.sourceId },
+              range: func.loc,
+            },
+          }
+        : { remark: "prologue: allocate call frame" }),
+      ...(variables.length > 0 ? { variables } : {}),
+    } as Format.Program.Context,
+  };
 }
 
 /**