diff --git a/src/webgl/p5.RendererGL.Immediate.js b/src/webgl/p5.RendererGL.Immediate.js
index 31ce48f630..b222670ea5 100644
--- a/src/webgl/p5.RendererGL.Immediate.js
+++ b/src/webgl/p5.RendererGL.Immediate.js
@@ -313,6 +313,25 @@ p5.RendererGL.prototype._processVertices = function(mode) {
     this.immediateMode.shapeMode !== constants.LINES;
 
   if (shouldTess) {
+    const vertexCount = this.immediateMode.geometry.vertices.length;
+    const MAX_SAFE_TESSELLATION_VERTICES = 50000;
+
+    if (vertexCount > MAX_SAFE_TESSELLATION_VERTICES) {
+      if (!p5.disableFriendlyErrors && !this._largeTessellationAcknowledged) {
+        const proceed = window.confirm(
+          '🌸 p5.js says:\n\n' +
+          `This shape has ${vertexCount} vertices. Tessellating shapes with this ` +
+          'many vertices can be very slow and may cause your browser to become ' +
+          'unresponsive.\n\n' +
+          'Do you want to continue tessellating this shape?'
+        );
+        if (!proceed) {
+          return;
+        }
+        this._largeTessellationAcknowledged = true;
+      }
+    }
+
     this._tesselateShape();
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/webgl/p5.RendererGL.js b/src/webgl/p5.RendererGL.js
index 27583e036a..24072bdd78 100644
--- a/src/webgl/p5.RendererGL.js
+++ b/src/webgl/p5.RendererGL.js
@@ -637,6 +637,8 @@ p5.RendererGL = class RendererGL extends p5.Renderer {
       }
     };
 
+    this._largeTessellationAcknowledged = false;
+
     this.curStrokeWeight = 1;
     this.pointSize = this.curStrokeWeight;
     this.curStrokeCap = constants.ROUND;
diff --git a/test/unit/webgl/p5.RendererGL.js b/test/unit/webgl/p5.RendererGL.js
index 3c7e3df1a2..f1e9a57ed2 100644
--- a/test/unit/webgl/p5.RendererGL.js
+++ b/test/unit/webgl/p5.RendererGL.js
@@ -1686,6 +1686,119 @@ suite('p5.RendererGL', function() {
       done();
     });
 
+    test('TESS mode prompts user before tessellating >50k vertices', function(done) {
+      var renderer = myp5.createCanvas(10, 10, myp5.WEBGL);
+      var confirmStub = sinon.stub(window, 'confirm').returns(false);
+
+      renderer.beginShape(myp5.TESS);
+      for (let i = 0; i < 60000; i++) {
+        renderer.vertex(i % 100, Math.floor(i / 100), 0);
+      }
+      renderer.endShape();
+
+      assert.isTrue(
+        confirmStub.called,
+        'window.confirm should be called when vertex count exceeds threshold'
+      );
+      assert.isTrue(
+        confirmStub.args[0][0].includes('60000'),
+        'confirm message should include the actual vertex count'
+      );
+      // Shape mode must NOT be changed to TRIANGLE_FAN — draw nothing on cancel
+      assert.notEqual(
+        renderer.immediateMode.shapeMode,
+        myp5.TRIANGLE_FAN,
+        'Shape mode should not fall back to TRIANGLE_FAN when user cancels'
+      );
+
+      confirmStub.restore();
+      done();
+    });
+
+    test('TESS mode only prompts once when user approves large tessellation', function(done) {
+      var renderer = myp5.createCanvas(10, 10, myp5.WEBGL);
+      var confirmStub = sinon.stub(window, 'confirm').returns(true);
+      var tessellateStub = sinon.stub(renderer, '_tesselateShape');
+
+      renderer.beginShape(myp5.TESS);
+      for (let i = 0; i < 60000; i++) {
+        renderer.vertex(i % 100, Math.floor(i / 100), 0);
+      }
+      renderer.endShape();
+
+      assert.equal(confirmStub.callCount, 1, 'confirm should be called once on first large shape');
+      assert.isTrue(
+        renderer._largeTessellationAcknowledged,
+        '_largeTessellationAcknowledged should be set after user approves'
+      );
+
+      renderer.beginShape(myp5.TESS);
+      for (let i = 0; i < 60000; i++) {
+        renderer.vertex(i % 100, Math.floor(i / 100), 0);
+      }
+      renderer.endShape();
+
+      assert.equal(confirmStub.callCount, 1, 'confirm should not be called again after acknowledgement');
+
+      confirmStub.restore();
+      tessellateStub.restore();
+      done();
+    });
+
+    test('TESS mode skips prompt when p5.disableFriendlyErrors is true', function(done) {
+      var renderer = myp5.createCanvas(10, 10, myp5.WEBGL);
+      var confirmStub = sinon.stub(window, 'confirm').returns(false);
+      var tessellateStub = sinon.stub(renderer, '_tesselateShape');
+      p5.disableFriendlyErrors = true;
+
+      renderer.beginShape(myp5.TESS);
+      for (let i = 0; i < 60000; i++) {
+        renderer.vertex(i % 100, Math.floor(i / 100), 0);
+      }
+      renderer.endShape();
+
+      assert.isFalse(
+        confirmStub.called,
+        'window.confirm should not be called when p5.disableFriendlyErrors is true'
+      );
+      assert.isTrue(
+        tessellateStub.called,
+        'tessellation should proceed without prompt when p5.disableFriendlyErrors is true'
+      );
+
+      p5.disableFriendlyErrors = false;
+      confirmStub.restore();
+      tessellateStub.restore();
+      done();
+    });
+
+    test('TESS mode works normally for <50k vertices', function(done) {
+      var renderer = myp5.createCanvas(10, 10, myp5.WEBGL);
+      var confirmStub = sinon.stub(window, 'confirm').returns(false);
+
+      // use a simple shape that tessellates quickly
+      renderer.beginShape(myp5.TESS);
+      renderer.vertex(-10, -10, 0);
+      renderer.vertex(10, -10, 0);
+      renderer.vertex(10, 10, 0);
+      renderer.vertex(-10, 10, 0);
+      renderer.endShape(myp5.CLOSE);
+
+      assert.isFalse(
+        confirmStub.called,
+        'window.confirm should not be called for shapes with fewer than 50k vertices'
+      );
+
+      assert.equal(
+        renderer.immediateMode.shapeMode,
+        myp5.TRIANGLES,
+        'Shape mode should be TRIANGLES after normal tessellation'
+      );
+
+      confirmStub.restore();
+      done();
+    });
+
     test('TESS does not affect stroke colors', function(done) {
       var renderer = myp5.createCanvas(10, 10, myp5.WEBGL);