diff --git a/pkg/development/wave9_graph_cycle_test.go b/pkg/development/wave9_graph_cycle_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..98e65bb6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/development/wave9_graph_cycle_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+package development
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestWave9GraphCycleDetectionGuard(t *testing.T) {
+	visited := make(map[string]bool)
+	recursionStack := make(map[string]bool)
+
+	graph := map[string][]string{
+		"user:1":  {"group:engineering"},
+		"group:engineering": {"group:admins"},
+		"group:admins":      {"group:engineering"}, // cycle
+	}
+
+	var hasCycle func(node string) bool
+	hasCycle = func(node string) bool {
+		visited[node] = true
+		recursionStack[node] = true
+
+		for _, neighbor := range graph[node] {
+			if !visited[neighbor] {
+				if hasCycle(neighbor) {
+					return true
+				}
+			} else if recursionStack[neighbor] {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+
+		recursionStack[node] = false
+		return false
+	}
+
+	cycleDetected := hasCycle("user:1")
+	if !cycleDetected {
+		t.Errorf("expected cycle detection in recursive group hierarchy")
+	}
+}