diff --git a/static/v3/v3.css b/static/v3/v3.css
index 7337fcc..996c072 100644
--- a/static/v3/v3.css
+++ b/static/v3/v3.css
@@ -425,6 +425,13 @@ html[data-scoreboard="off"] #v3-live-performance-hud { display: none !important;
     width: 96px;
     pointer-events: auto;
 }
+/* The Section Map plugin pins a ~20px clickable bar to the very top of #player
+   (#section-map, z-index:5). The rail catcher above is full-height at z-index:30,
+   so its top-left corner swallows clicks on the section map's first section. When
+   the bar is present, drop the catcher below it so the top strip stays clickable;
+   the rail still reveals from anywhere below the bar. Mirrors the core
+   `#section-map ~ #player-hud` special-case in static/style.css. */
+#section-map ~ #v3-railzone::before { top: 20px; }
 
 .v3-rail {
     position: relative;
diff --git a/tests/browser/v3-section-map-leftmost-click.spec.ts b/tests/browser/v3-section-map-leftmost-click.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f7a807
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/browser/v3-section-map-leftmost-click.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+
+// Regression coverage for the v3 Section Map "leftmost section unclickable" bug.
+//
+// The Section Map plugin pins a ~20px clickable bar (#section-map, z-index:5)
+// to the very top of #player. The v3 chrome has a full-height invisible rail
+// "catcher" (.v3-railzone::before, z-index:30, width:96px, pinned left/top:0)
+// that reveals the hover rail. Because the catcher sat at top:0 and outranks
+// the bar, its top-left corner swallowed every click on the section map's first
+// section. Fix (static/v3/v3.css): `#section-map ~ #v3-railzone::before { top: 20px }`
+// drops the catcher below the bar when the section map is present.
+//
+// We reproduce the plugin's bar exactly (first child of #player, the rendered
+// position:relative / z-index:5 / 20px-tall state) and hit-test the top-left
+// corner with elementFromPoint — that is precisely what a real click resolves
+// against. A negative control re-raises the catcher to prove the test catches
+// the bug.
+
+// A fresh profile shows the blocking onboarding overlay; onboard via the API so
+// it isn't (re)created over the player. Idempotent once onboarded.
+test.beforeEach(async ({ request }) => {
+  await request.post('/api/profile', { data: { display_name: 'Section Map Tester' } });
+  await request.post('/api/progression/paths', { data: { add: ['guitar'] } });
+  await request.post('/api/progression/onboarding', { data: { action: 'skip' } });
+});
+
+async function openPlayerWithSectionMap(page) {
+  await page.goto('/');
+  await page.waitForSelector('.screen.active', { timeout: 10000 });
+  // The bug affects an already-onboarded user mid-song. The API skip above
+  // handles the common path; this persistent hide also covers a slow async
+  // profile render that could otherwise re-create the full-screen overlay and
+  // intercept the top-left hit-test (mirrors settings-tabbed.spec.ts).
+  await page.addStyleTag({ content: '#v3-onboarding{display:none!important;pointer-events:none!important}' });
+  await page.evaluate(() => {
+    // @ts-ignore — show the player screen (static #v3-railzone markup lives here).
+    window.showScreen('player');
+    const player = document.getElementById('player');
+    if (!player) throw new Error('#player missing');
+
+    // Reproduce the section_map plugin's rendered bar: first child of #player,
+    // 20px tall, full width, z-index:5, position:relative (its post-_smRender
+    // state), with a left-edge "first section" block at left:0.
+    const bar = document.createElement('div');
+    bar.id = 'section-map';
+    bar.style.cssText =
+      'position:relative;top:0;left:0;right:0;z-index:5;height:20px;background:rgba(8,8,16,0.7);cursor:pointer;';
+    const block = document.createElement('div');
+    block.id = 'sm-first-block';
+    block.style.cssText =
+      'position:absolute;left:0;width:30%;top:0;bottom:0;background:#3b82f6;';
+    bar.appendChild(block);
+    player.insertBefore(bar, player.firstChild);
+  });
+  await page.waitForSelector('#section-map', { state: 'attached', timeout: 5000 });
+  await page.waitForSelector('#v3-railzone', { state: 'attached', timeout: 5000 });
+}
+
+// What element does a click at the top-left strip land on? (x within the 96px
+// catcher, y within the 20px bar.)
+function hitTopLeft(page, x = 10, y = 8) {
+  return page.evaluate(({ x, y }) => {
+    const el = document.elementFromPoint(x, y) as HTMLElement | null;
+    return el ? { id: el.id, cls: el.className, tag: el.tagName } : null;
+  }, { x, y });
+}
+
+test('top-left of the section map receives clicks, not the rail catcher (fix present)', async ({ page }) => {
+  await openPlayerWithSectionMap(page);
+
+  const hit = await hitTopLeft(page);
+  // Click must resolve to the section map (the bar or its first-section block),
+  // never the rail hover-zone.
+  expect(hit).not.toBeNull();
+  expect(hit!.id).not.toBe('v3-railzone');
+  expect(['section-map', 'sm-first-block']).toContain(hit!.id);
+});
+
+test('negative control: re-raising the catcher to top:0 reproduces the bug', async ({ page }) => {
+  await openPlayerWithSectionMap(page);
+
+  // Undo the fix at runtime (highest-specificity inline-ish override) so the
+  // catcher again covers the bar's top-left — this is the pre-fix layout.
+  await page.evaluate(() => {
+    const style = document.createElement('style');
+    style.textContent = '#section-map ~ #v3-railzone::before { top: 0 !important; }';
+    document.head.appendChild(style);
+  });
+
+  const hit = await hitTopLeft(page);
+  // Without the fix, the rail catcher swallows the click.
+  expect(hit!.id).toBe('v3-railzone');
+});