diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/decoder_hcl.go b/pkg/yqlib/decoder_hcl.go
index 96134cf2..40752959 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/decoder_hcl.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/decoder_hcl.go
@@ -43,6 +43,110 @@ type attributeWithName struct {
 	Attr *hclsyntax.Attribute
 }
 
+// extractLineComment extracts any inline comment after the given position
+func extractLineComment(src []byte, endPos int) string {
+	// Look for # comment after the token
+	for i := endPos; i < len(src); i++ {
+		if src[i] == '#' {
+			// Found comment, extract until end of line
+			start := i
+			for i < len(src) && src[i] != '\n' {
+				i++
+			}
+			return strings.TrimSpace(string(src[start:i]))
+		}
+		if src[i] == '\n' {
+			// Hit newline before comment
+			break
+		}
+		// Skip whitespace and other characters
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// extractLeadingComments extracts comments from the very beginning of the file
+func extractLeadingComments(src []byte) string {
+	var comments []string
+	i := 0
+
+	// Skip leading whitespace
+	for i < len(src) && (src[i] == ' ' || src[i] == '\t' || src[i] == '\n' || src[i] == '\r') {
+		i++
+	}
+
+	// Extract comment lines from the start
+	for i < len(src) && src[i] == '#' {
+		lineStart := i
+		// Find end of line
+		for i < len(src) && src[i] != '\n' {
+			i++
+		}
+		comments = append(comments, strings.TrimSpace(string(src[lineStart:i])))
+		// Skip newline
+		if i < len(src) && src[i] == '\n' {
+			i++
+		}
+		// Skip whitespace between comment lines
+		for i < len(src) && (src[i] == ' ' || src[i] == '\t' || src[i] == '\n' || src[i] == '\r') {
+			i++
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(comments) > 0 {
+		return strings.Join(comments, "\n")
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// extractHeadComment extracts comments before a given start position
+func extractHeadComment(src []byte, startPos int) string {
+	var comments []string
+
+	// Look backwards from startPos for comment lines
+	i := startPos - 1
+
+	// Skip whitespace backwards to find comment
+	for i >= 0 && (src[i] == ' ' || src[i] == '\t' || src[i] == '\n' || src[i] == '\r') {
+		i--
+	}
+
+	// If we found a #, extract the comment
+	if i >= 0 && src[i] == '#' {
+		// Find the start of this line
+		lineStart := i
+		for lineStart > 0 && src[lineStart-1] != '\n' {
+			lineStart--
+		}
+
+		// Extract from line start to comment end
+		comments = append(comments, strings.TrimSpace(string(src[lineStart:i+1])))
+
+		// Look for more comment lines above this one
+		i = lineStart - 1
+		for i >= 0 && (src[i] == '\n' || src[i] == '\r') {
+			i--
+		}
+
+		for i >= 0 && src[i] == '#' {
+			lineStart = i
+			for lineStart > 0 && src[lineStart-1] != '\n' {
+				lineStart--
+			}
+			comments = append([]string{strings.TrimSpace(string(src[lineStart : i+1]))}, comments...)
+
+			i = lineStart - 1
+			for i >= 0 && (src[i] == '\n' || src[i] == '\r') {
+				i--
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	if len(comments) > 0 {
+		return strings.Join(comments, "\n")
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
 func (dec *hclDecoder) Init(reader io.Reader) error {
 	data, err := io.ReadAll(reader)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -71,11 +175,26 @@ func (dec *hclDecoder) Decode() (*CandidateNode, error) {
 
 	root := &CandidateNode{Kind: MappingNode}
 
+	// Extract file-level head comments (comments at the very beginning of the file)
+	if leadingComment := extractLeadingComments(dec.fileBytes); leadingComment != "" {
+		root.HeadComment = leadingComment
+	}
+
 	// process attributes in declaration order
 	body := dec.file.Body.(*hclsyntax.Body)
 	for _, attrWithName := range sortedAttributes(body.Attributes) {
 		keyNode := createStringScalarNode(attrWithName.Name)
 		valNode := convertHclExprToNode(attrWithName.Attr.Expr, dec.fileBytes)
+
+		// Attach comments if any
+		attrRange := attrWithName.Attr.Range()
+		if headComment := extractHeadComment(dec.fileBytes, attrRange.Start.Byte); headComment != "" {
+			valNode.HeadComment = headComment
+		}
+		if lineComment := extractLineComment(dec.fileBytes, attrRange.End.Byte); lineComment != "" {
+			valNode.LineComment = lineComment
+		}
+
 		root.AddKeyValueChild(keyNode, valNode)
 	}
 
@@ -94,6 +213,16 @@ func hclBodyToNode(body *hclsyntax.Body, src []byte) *CandidateNode {
 	for _, attrWithName := range sortedAttributes(body.Attributes) {
 		key := createStringScalarNode(attrWithName.Name)
 		val := convertHclExprToNode(attrWithName.Attr.Expr, src)
+
+		// Attach comments if any
+		attrRange := attrWithName.Attr.Range()
+		if headComment := extractHeadComment(src, attrRange.Start.Byte); headComment != "" {
+			val.HeadComment = headComment
+		}
+		if lineComment := extractLineComment(src, attrRange.End.Byte); lineComment != "" {
+			val.LineComment = lineComment
+		}
+
 		node.AddKeyValueChild(key, val)
 	}
 	for _, block := range body.Blocks {
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/encoder_hcl.go b/pkg/yqlib/encoder_hcl.go
index 16133ddd..b522d5ab 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/encoder_hcl.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/encoder_hcl.go
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ func (he *hclEncoder) Encode(writer io.Writer, node *CandidateNode) error {
 
 	f := hclwrite.NewEmptyFile()
 	body := f.Body()
+
+	// Collect comments as we encode
+	commentMap := make(map[string]string)
+	he.collectComments(node, "", commentMap)
+
 	if err := he.encodeNode(body, node); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to encode HCL: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -47,7 +52,10 @@ func (he *hclEncoder) Encode(writer io.Writer, node *CandidateNode) error {
 	output := f.Bytes()
 	compactOutput := he.compactSpacing(output)
 
-	_, err := writer.Write(compactOutput)
+	// Inject comments back into the output
+	finalOutput := he.injectComments(compactOutput, commentMap)
+
+	_, err := writer.Write(finalOutput)
 	return err
 }
 
@@ -58,6 +66,76 @@ func (he *hclEncoder) compactSpacing(input []byte) []byte {
 	return re.ReplaceAll(input, []byte("$1 ="))
 }
 
+// collectComments recursively collects comments from nodes for later injection
+func (he *hclEncoder) collectComments(node *CandidateNode, prefix string, commentMap map[string]string) {
+	if node == nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	// For mapping nodes, collect comments from values
+	if node.Kind == MappingNode {
+		// Collect root-level head comment if at root (prefix is empty)
+		if prefix == "" && node.HeadComment != "" {
+			commentMap[".head"] = node.HeadComment
+		}
+
+		for i := 0; i < len(node.Content); i += 2 {
+			keyNode := node.Content[i]
+			valueNode := node.Content[i+1]
+			key := keyNode.Value
+
+			// Create a path for this key
+			path := key
+			if prefix != "" {
+				path = prefix + "." + key
+			}
+
+			// Store comments for this value
+			if valueNode.HeadComment != "" {
+				commentMap[path+".head"] = valueNode.HeadComment
+			}
+			if valueNode.LineComment != "" {
+				commentMap[path+".line"] = valueNode.LineComment
+			}
+			if valueNode.FootComment != "" {
+				commentMap[path+".foot"] = valueNode.FootComment
+			}
+
+			// Recurse into nested mappings
+			if valueNode.Kind == MappingNode {
+				he.collectComments(valueNode, path, commentMap)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// injectComments adds collected comments back into the HCL output
+func (he *hclEncoder) injectComments(output []byte, commentMap map[string]string) []byte {
+	// Convert output to string for easier manipulation
+	result := string(output)
+
+	// Look for head comments at the root level
+	// These are typically comments before the first attribute
+	for path, comment := range commentMap {
+		parts := strings.Split(path, ".")
+		if len(parts) < 2 {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		commentType := parts[len(parts)-1] // "head", "line", or "foot"
+
+		if commentType == "head" && len(parts) == 2 {
+			// Root-level head comment - inject at the beginning
+			// Check if comment not already there
+			if !strings.HasPrefix(result, strings.TrimSpace(comment)) {
+				result = comment + "\n" + result
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return []byte(result)
+}
+
 // Helper runes for unquoted identifiers
 func isHCLIdentifierStart(r rune) bool {
 	return (r >= 'a' && r <= 'z') || (r >= 'A' && r <= 'Z') || r == '_'
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/hcl_test.go b/pkg/yqlib/hcl_test.go
index 194e550e..d217b5bc 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/hcl_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/hcl_test.go
@@ -238,6 +238,18 @@ var hclFormatScenarios = []formatScenario{
 		expected:     "name = \"app\"\nversion = 1\nenabled = true\n",
 		scenarioType: "roundtrip",
 	},
+	{
+		description:  "decode with comments",
+		input:        "# Configuration\nport = 8080 # server port",
+		expected:     "# Configuration\nport: 8080 # server port\n",
+		scenarioType: "decode",
+	},
+	{
+		description:  "roundtrip with comments",
+		input:        "# Configuration\nport = 8080",
+		expected:     "# Configuration\nport = 8080\n",
+		scenarioType: "roundtrip",
+	},
 }
 
 func testHclScenario(t *testing.T, s formatScenario) {