diff --git a/ci/licenses_golden/excluded_files b/ci/licenses_golden/excluded_files
index baeb05a703512..0c350100bfb21 100644
--- a/ci/licenses_golden/excluded_files
+++ b/ci/licenses_golden/excluded_files
@@ -257,6 +257,7 @@
 ../../../flutter/shell/common/animator_unittests.cc
 ../../../flutter/shell/common/base64_unittests.cc
 ../../../flutter/shell/common/context_options_unittests.cc
+../../../flutter/shell/common/display_list_debugger_unittests.cc
 ../../../flutter/shell/common/dl_op_spy_unittests.cc
 ../../../flutter/shell/common/engine_animator_unittests.cc
 ../../../flutter/shell/common/engine_unittests.cc
diff --git a/ci/licenses_golden/licenses_flutter b/ci/licenses_golden/licenses_flutter
index b8c15596edb2c..486606e92ac2f 100644
--- a/ci/licenses_golden/licenses_flutter
+++ b/ci/licenses_golden/licenses_flutter
@@ -41507,6 +41507,8 @@ ORIGIN: ../../../flutter/shell/common/context_options.h + ../../../flutter/LICEN
 ORIGIN: ../../../flutter/shell/common/dart_native_benchmarks.cc + ../../../flutter/LICENSE
 ORIGIN: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display.cc + ../../../flutter/LICENSE
 ORIGIN: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display.h + ../../../flutter/LICENSE
+ORIGIN: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display_list_debugger.cc + ../../../flutter/LICENSE
+ORIGIN: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display_list_debugger.h + ../../../flutter/LICENSE
 ORIGIN: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display_manager.cc + ../../../flutter/LICENSE
 ORIGIN: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display_manager.h + ../../../flutter/LICENSE
 ORIGIN: ../../../flutter/shell/common/dl_op_spy.cc + ../../../flutter/LICENSE
@@ -44395,6 +44397,8 @@ FILE: ../../../flutter/shell/common/context_options.h
 FILE: ../../../flutter/shell/common/dart_native_benchmarks.cc
 FILE: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display.cc
 FILE: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display.h
+FILE: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display_list_debugger.cc
+FILE: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display_list_debugger.h
 FILE: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display_manager.cc
 FILE: ../../../flutter/shell/common/display_manager.h
 FILE: ../../../flutter/shell/common/dl_op_spy.cc
diff --git a/shell/common/BUILD.gn b/shell/common/BUILD.gn
index 8e2d9f2174b3a..ae6a999dd2597 100644
--- a/shell/common/BUILD.gn
+++ b/shell/common/BUILD.gn
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@ source_set("common") {
     "animator.h",
     "context_options.cc",
     "context_options.h",
+    "display_list_debugger.cc",
+    "display_list_debugger.h",
     "display_manager.cc",
     "display_manager.h",
     "dl_op_spy.cc",
@@ -312,6 +314,7 @@ if (enable_unittests) {
       "animator_unittests.cc",
       "base64_unittests.cc",
       "context_options_unittests.cc",
+      "display_list_debugger_unittests.cc",
       "dl_op_spy_unittests.cc",
       "engine_animator_unittests.cc",
       "engine_unittests.cc",
diff --git a/shell/common/display_list_debugger.cc b/shell/common/display_list_debugger.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..2b4ddc71f1e56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell/common/display_list_debugger.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+// Copyright 2013 The Flutter Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+#include "flutter/shell/common/display_list_debugger.h"
+
+#include <atomic>
+
+#include "flutter/fml/logging.h"
+
+namespace {
+std::atomic<char*> saveDisplayListPath;
+template <typename T>
+using FreePtr = std::unique_ptr<T, decltype(&free)>;
+}  // namespace
+
+namespace flutter {
+void DisplayListDebugger::HandleMessage(
+    std::unique_ptr<PlatformMessage> message) {
+  const fml::MallocMapping& data = message->data();
+  FreePtr<char>(saveDisplayListPath.exchange(
+                    strdup(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(data.GetMapping()))),
+                &free);
+}
+
+fml::Status DisplayListDebugger::SaveDisplayList(
+    const sk_sp<DisplayList>& display_list) {
+  if (FreePtr<char> path =
+          FreePtr<char>(saveDisplayListPath.exchange(nullptr), &free)) {
+    fml::UniqueFD dir = fml::OpenDirectory(
+        path.get(), /*create_if_necessary=*/false, fml::FilePermission::kWrite);
+    // DisplayList doesn't have an accessor for the byte size of the storage,
+    // adding one may confuse the api so we derive it with bytes().
+    size_t size = display_list->bytes(/*nested=*/false) - sizeof(DisplayList);
+    fml::NonOwnedMapping mapping(display_list->GetStorage().get(), size);
+    bool success = fml::WriteAtomically(dir, "display_list.dat", mapping);
+    FML_LOG(ERROR) << "store display_list (" << success << "):" << path.get();
+    return success ? fml::Status()
+                   : fml::Status(fml::StatusCode::kUnknown, "write failed");
+  }
+  return fml::Status(fml::StatusCode::kUnavailable, "unavailable");
+}
+}  // namespace flutter
diff --git a/shell/common/display_list_debugger.h b/shell/common/display_list_debugger.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1c8e622e5f9c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell/common/display_list_debugger.h
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+// Copyright 2013 The Flutter Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+#ifndef FLUTTER_SHELL_COMMON_DISPLAY_LIST_DEBUGGER_H_
+#define FLUTTER_SHELL_COMMON_DISPLAY_LIST_DEBUGGER_H_
+
+#include "flutter/display_list/display_list.h"
+#include "flutter/fml/status.h"
+#include "flutter/lib/ui/window/platform_message.h"
+
+namespace flutter {
+
+/// Utility for saving display lists to disk in response to platform messages.
+class DisplayListDebugger {
+ public:
+  static constexpr char kChannelName[] = "flutter/display_list_debugger";
+  static void HandleMessage(std::unique_ptr<PlatformMessage> message);
+  static fml::Status SaveDisplayList(const sk_sp<DisplayList>& display_list);
+};
+
+}  // namespace flutter
+
+#endif  // FLUTTER_SHELL_COMMON_DISPLAY_LIST_DEBUGGER_H_
diff --git a/shell/common/display_list_debugger_unittests.cc b/shell/common/display_list_debugger_unittests.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6cf94b2c62020
--- /dev/null
+++ b/shell/common/display_list_debugger_unittests.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+// Copyright 2013 The Flutter Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
+// found in the LICENSE file.
+
+#include "flutter/display_list/dl_builder.h"
+#include "flutter/shell/common/display_list_debugger.h"
+
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+
+namespace flutter {
+namespace testing {
+
+TEST(DisplayListDebuggerTest, Noop) {
+  DisplayListBuilder builder;
+  sk_sp<DisplayList> display_list = builder.Build();
+  EXPECT_FALSE(DisplayListDebugger::SaveDisplayList(display_list).ok());
+}
+
+TEST(DisplayListDebuggerTest, Simple) {
+  DisplayListBuilder builder;
+  builder.Scale(0.2, 0.2);
+  sk_sp<DisplayList> display_list = builder.Build();
+  fml::ScopedTemporaryDirectory temp_dir;
+  auto message = std::make_unique<PlatformMessage>(
+      DisplayListDebugger::kChannelName,
+      fml::MallocMapping::Copy(temp_dir.path().c_str(),
+                               temp_dir.path().size() + 1),
+      /*response=*/nullptr);
+  DisplayListDebugger::HandleMessage(std::move(message));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(DisplayListDebugger::SaveDisplayList(display_list).ok());
+}
+
+}  // namespace testing
+}  // namespace flutter
diff --git a/shell/common/shell.cc b/shell/common/shell.cc
index 9cb5735c6a14c..7f8ac70bd12e1 100644
--- a/shell/common/shell.cc
+++ b/shell/common/shell.cc
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include "flutter/fml/trace_event.h"
 #include "flutter/runtime/dart_vm.h"
 #include "flutter/shell/common/base64.h"
+#include "flutter/shell/common/display_list_debugger.h"
 #include "flutter/shell/common/engine.h"
 #include "flutter/shell/common/skia_event_tracer_impl.h"
 #include "flutter/shell/common/switches.h"
@@ -1328,6 +1329,11 @@ void Shell::OnEngineHandlePlatformMessage(
     return;
   }
 
+  if (message->channel() == DisplayListDebugger::kChannelName) {
+    DisplayListDebugger::HandleMessage(std::move(message));
+    return;
+  }
+
   if (platform_message_handler_) {
     if (route_messages_through_platform_thread_ &&
         !platform_message_handler_
diff --git a/shell/gpu/gpu_surface_metal_impeller.mm b/shell/gpu/gpu_surface_metal_impeller.mm
index 01093fe37612f..5dac3e2565631 100644
--- a/shell/gpu/gpu_surface_metal_impeller.mm
+++ b/shell/gpu/gpu_surface_metal_impeller.mm
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@
 #include "flutter/common/settings.h"
 #include "flutter/fml/make_copyable.h"
 #include "flutter/fml/mapping.h"
+#include "flutter/fml/paths.h"
 #include "flutter/fml/trace_event.h"
+#include "flutter/shell/common/display_list_debugger.h"
 #include "impeller/display_list/dl_dispatcher.h"
 #include "impeller/renderer/backend/metal/surface_mtl.h"
 #include "impeller/typographer/backends/skia/typographer_context_skia.h"
@@ -127,6 +129,10 @@
           return false;
         }
 
+#ifndef NDEBUG
+        DisplayListDebugger::SaveDisplayList(display_list);
+#endif
+
         if (!disable_partial_repaint && damage) {
           uintptr_t texture = reinterpret_cast<uintptr_t>(last_texture);