diff --git a/.jules/bolt.md b/.jules/bolt.md
index 603b207d0..ca1af7062 100644
--- a/.jules/bolt.md
+++ b/.jules/bolt.md
@@ -14,3 +14,6 @@
 ## 2026-07-28 - Memoize text processing in React
 **Learning:** Performing expensive string manipulations like splitting long texts (`transcript.split('\n')`) or generating dynamic Regex expressions inside a component body causes significant CPU overhead on every re-render (like keystroke updates in a search box).
 **Action:** Extract pure transformation logic on static/infrequent data into `useMemo` hooks (e.g., memoizing the paragraph split on `transcript` and precomputing search `RegExp` based on `searchQuery`).
+## 2026-07-23 - Optimize string operations in React filtering loops
+**Learning:** Found an inefficiency in `InteractiveTranscript.tsx` where `.toLowerCase()` on the search query was evaluated *inside* a `.filter()` loop, repeating a constant operation O(N) times. Additionally, the expensive text matching was evaluated even if the speaker filter failed.
+**Action:** When filtering large arrays in React `useMemo` hooks, always hoist constant operations (like query lowercasing) outside the loop and use short-circuit evaluation (`if (!matchesPreviousCondition) return false;`) to skip expensive string methods. Also remember to add safety checks like `val ? val.toLowerCase() : ''` to avoid crashes.
diff --git a/apps/web/src/components/InteractiveTranscript.tsx b/apps/web/src/components/InteractiveTranscript.tsx
index 21f79d91b..6f3e03fcc 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/components/InteractiveTranscript.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/components/InteractiveTranscript.tsx
@@ -166,12 +166,22 @@ export default function InteractiveTranscript({
   );
 
   const filteredSegments = useMemo(() => {
+    // Optimization: Pre-compute the lowercase search query outside the loop
+    // to prevent recalculating it for every segment. Also short-circuit the
+    // expensive string matching if the speaker filter already fails.
+    const lowerQuery = searchQuery ? searchQuery.toLowerCase() : '';
+
     return segments.filter((seg) => {
       const matchesSpeaker = !filterSpeaker || seg.speaker === filterSpeaker;
+
+      // Short-circuit: if speaker doesn't match, we can skip the text search
+      if (!matchesSpeaker) return false;
+
       const matchesSearch =
-        !searchQuery ||
-        seg.text.toLowerCase().includes(searchQuery.toLowerCase());
-      return matchesSpeaker && matchesSearch;
+        !lowerQuery ||
+        (seg.text ? seg.text.toLowerCase().includes(lowerQuery) : false);
+
+      return matchesSearch;
     });
   }, [segments, filterSpeaker, searchQuery]);