Remove hover-preview; delegate to song_preview plugin

Folder Library now uses the standard data-fn/data-v3-play markup so the song_preview plugin handles hover-previews, the same way it does for grid and list views. Removes ~200 lines of preview-specific code: dedicated audio element, indicator rendering, toolbar toggle, and backend manifest checking. The preview experience is now unified across all library surfaces. Signed-off-by: Kyle <kyle.j.t@live.co.uk>
Remove outdated screen.js caching note
2026-09-11 21:14:29 +00:00 · 2026-07-23 00:51:15 -04:00 · 2026-07-23 00:51:15 -04:00 · 2026-07-23 00:51:15 -04:00 · 2026-07-23 00:51:14 -04:00 · 2026-07-23 00:51:14 -04:00
460 changed files with 110078 additions and 38580 deletions
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+## What
+
+<!-- What does this PR do, and why? Link the issue it addresses. -->
+
+## feedpak surface
+
+<!-- The feedpak spec is sacrosanct: the spec defines the format, this app implements it.
+     Delete this section ONLY if your change doesn't touch how the app reads or writes packs. -->
+
+- [ ] This PR does **not** change how the app reads/writes feedpaks (manifest keys, pack files, folder layout)
+- [ ] …or it does, and the spec change landed first via the [FEP process](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedpak-spec/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) — FEP / spec PR: `got-feedback/feedpak-spec#___` (once it merges, re-run this PR's checks and the gate goes green)
+
+## Checklist
+
+- [ ] `CHANGELOG.md` `[Unreleased]` updated (user-visible changes)
+- [ ] Tests added/updated for new behaviour
+- [ ] Commits are DCO signed off (`git commit -s`)
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ jobs:
        run: pytest

      - name: Run JS plugin-API tests
-        run: node --test tests/js/*.test.js 'tests/plugins/*/js/*.test.js'
+        run: node --test tests/js/*.test.js 'tests/plugins/*/js/*.test.js' 'plugins/*/tests/*.test.js'

  tailwind-fresh:
    # Guard that the committed static/tailwind.min.css is in sync with source.
@@ -63,11 +63,18 @@ jobs:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        # npm ci runs third-party postinstall scripts; don't leave the token in
+        # git config for them (this job never pushes).
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+
      - name: Rebuild Tailwind CSS
        run: bash scripts/build-tailwind.sh

@@ -123,3 +130,116 @@ jobs:
              sys.exit(1)
          print(f"Validated {len(manifests)} manifest(s) — OK")
          EOF
+
+  feedpak-spec:
+    # Guard that core stays faithful to the feedpak format spec, which lives in
+    # its own repo (got-feedback/feedpak-spec) and is the contract third-party
+    # packers and players build against. Four surface checks: core reads/writes
+    # only manifest keys the spec declares (and the scanned-module list can't
+    # fall behind); the exception allowlist never grows, so the FEP process is
+    # the only way a new key lands; core ingests the spec's example packs; packs
+    # committed here pass the spec's reference validator. Motivated by
+    # #933, where a manifest key (`original_audio`) shipped in core without ever
+    # reaching the spec.
+    #
+    # The gate checks against the spec repo's HEAD, deliberately: the app must
+    # conform to the LIVING spec, always. The dev flow is self-serve — a gated
+    # PR opens a FEP, the spec PR merges, re-running this job goes green; no
+    # pin file to bump, nothing to maintain. Accepted trade-off: a BREAKING
+    # spec change (rare, deliberate, MAJOR per the spec's compatibility policy)
+    # reddens every PR here until core conforms — which is the correct
+    # org-wide signal that the app is out of conformance. The normal FEP is
+    # additive and can never redden this job.
+    name: feedpak-spec
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        # This job runs repository code (tools/check_spec_conformance.py) and
+        # never pushes; don't leave the token in git config for it.
+        # fetch-depth: 0 so the base branch is available — the gate must prove
+        # the exception allowlist didn't grow in this PR.
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.12'
+          cache: 'pip'
+
+      - name: Check out feedpak-spec at HEAD
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          repository: got-feedback/feedpak-spec
+          ref: main
+          path: .feedpak-spec
+          persist-credentials: false
+
+      - name: Record the spec commit this run verified against
+        # HEAD-tracking means CI results can differ across time on the same
+        # commit. Log the exact spec SHA so a red run is reproducible.
+        run: git -C .feedpak-spec rev-parse HEAD
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: |
+          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+          pip install -r requirements.txt
+          # CI-only: the spec's reference validator needs jsonschema. Not a
+          # runtime dependency — this gate never runs on the serve/Docker path
+          # (constitution Principle I). Pinned for the same reason the spec SHA
+          # is: an upstream release must not turn this job red on a PR that
+          # changed neither this repo nor the spec.
+          pip install 'jsonschema==4.26.0'
+
+      - name: Fetch the base branch's exception allowlist
+        id: baseline
+        run: |
+          # The allowlist is closed: it grandfathers keys that predate this gate
+          # and may only shrink. Prove that by diffing against the base branch —
+          # without this, anyone could append an entry and route around the FEP
+          # process from inside this repo.
+          #
+          # Resolve the base rather than hardcoding `main`: ship-ci.yml also runs
+          # this workflow for PRs into release/** and for pushes to release/**,
+          # where a main baseline would diff against the wrong branch.
+          #   PR   -> the branch it merges into
+          #   push -> the branch itself (its tip already contains the change, so
+          #           this is a no-op; enforcement happens at PR time)
+          BASE="${{ github.event.pull_request.base.ref || github.ref_name }}"
+          echo "diffing the allowlist against origin/$BASE"
+          git fetch --no-tags --depth=1 origin "$BASE"
+          if git cat-file -e FETCH_HEAD:feedpak-spec-exceptions.yml 2>/dev/null; then
+            git show FETCH_HEAD:feedpak-spec-exceptions.yml > "$RUNNER_TEMP/baseline-exceptions.yml"
+            echo "args=--baseline-exceptions $RUNNER_TEMP/baseline-exceptions.yml" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            # Only true until the PR that introduces this gate lands.
+            echo "args=--bootstrap-allowlist" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Check feedpak spec conformance
+        run: python tools/check_spec_conformance.py --spec .feedpak-spec ${{ steps.baseline.outputs.args }}
+
+  lint:
+    # Maintainer/CI-only size + module-hygiene gate (constitution Principle I:
+    # dev tooling, never on the serve/Docker path — same category as
+    # scripts/build-tailwind.sh). max-lines WARNS (the 1,500-line size ratchet;
+    # non-blocking), while import-x/no-unresolved + no-cycle HARD-ERROR on the
+    # ES-module graphs the refactor produces. Exemptions: docs/size-exemptions.md.
+    name: lint
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        # npm ci runs third-party postinstall scripts; don't leave the token in
+        # git config for them (this job never pushes).
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
+        with:
+          node-version: '20'
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: npm ci
+
+      - name: ESLint (size norm + module hygiene)
+        run: npm run lint
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+name: Content packs
+
+# Build & publish opt-in career venue packs as per-pack, versioned, immutable
+# releases (convention: tag `venue-<id>-v<N>`, asset `<id>-pack-v<N>.zip`),
+# then open a PR bumping venues.json url/sha256/bytes. This is automation so
+# publishing packs is never a person's manual job (SLIM-NIGHTLY item 1b).
+#
+# Immutable tags → publishing is a deliberate, versioned act, so this runs on
+# manual dispatch (not push): a media change means a new version, a human call.
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      venues:
+        description: "Space-separated venue ids to (re)publish, e.g. 'club arena'"
+        required: true
+        default: "club"
+      version:
+        description: "Pack version N (tag venue-<id>-vN). Bump for new media."
+        required: true
+        default: "1"
+
+concurrency:
+  group: content-packs
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+  pull-requests: write
+
+jobs:
+  publish:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        # Media lives in-tree today; add `lfs: true` once SLIM-NIGHTLY item 4
+        # moves venue-packs/** to Git LFS.
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.12'
+
+      - name: Build & publish packs
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          # Never interpolate dispatch inputs straight into the shell — a crafted
+          # value would execute on the runner with this job's write token. Pass
+          # via env, validate the formats, and use a Bash argument array.
+          VENUES: ${{ github.event.inputs.venues }}
+          VERSION: ${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          [[ "$VERSION" =~ ^[1-9][0-9]*$ ]] || { echo "::error::version must be a positive integer"; exit 1; }
+          [[ "$VENUES" =~ ^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*(\ [a-z0-9][a-z0-9-]*)*$ ]] || { echo "::error::venues must be space-separated venue ids"; exit 1; }
+          read -r -a venues <<< "$VENUES"
+          dirs=()
+          for v in "${venues[@]}"; do
+            dirs+=("plugins/career/venue-packs/$v")
+          done
+          python tools/content_packs.py "${dirs[@]}" \
+            --version "$VERSION" \
+            --publish \
+            --manifest /tmp/packs-manifest.json
+          cat /tmp/packs-manifest.json
+
+      - name: Apply url/sha256/bytes to venues.json
+        run: |
+          python - <<'PY'
+          import json, pathlib
+          manifest = json.load(open("/tmp/packs-manifest.json"))
+          vpath = pathlib.Path("plugins/career/venues.json")
+          data = json.loads(vpath.read_text())
+          for v in data["venues"]:
+              m = manifest.get(v["id"])
+              if m and v.get("pack"):
+                  v["pack"].update(url=m["url"], sha256=m["sha256"], bytes=m["bytes"])
+          vpath.write_text(json.dumps(data, indent=4) + "\n")
+          PY
+
+      - name: Open manifest-bump PR
+        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v6
+        with:
+          commit-message: "career: refresh venue pack manifest (v${{ github.event.inputs.version }})"
+          title: "career: refresh venue pack manifest (v${{ github.event.inputs.version }})"
+          body: |
+            Automated by the content-packs workflow after publishing
+            `${{ github.event.inputs.venues }}` v${{ github.event.inputs.version }}
+            to their `venue-<id>-v${{ github.event.inputs.version }}` releases.
+            Bumps `venues.json` pack url/sha256/bytes to match the uploaded zips.
+          branch: content-packs/manifest-bump
+          delete-branch: true
@@ -1,41 +1,19 @@
 name: Nightly

+# Trunk-based: nightly always builds main — the release-branch discovery
+# from the old release-centric flow is gone (it pinned nightlies to the
+# highest release/v* branch forever, even after it shipped). Stabilization
+# builds from release/** come from rc.yml instead.
 on:
  schedule:
-    - cron: '0 2 * * *'
+    - cron: '0 23 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:

 permissions:
  contents: read

 jobs:
-  setup:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    outputs:
-      branch: ${{ steps.branch.outputs.branch }}
-      date: ${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
-
-    steps:
-      - name: Find active release branch
-        id: branch
-        env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
-        run: |
-          branch=$(gh api "repos/${{ github.repository }}/git/matching-refs/heads/release/v" \
-            --jq '[.[].ref | ltrimstr("refs/heads/")] | map(ltrimstr("refs/heads/")) | .[]' \
-            | sort -V | tail -1 || true)
-          if [[ -z "$branch" ]]; then
-            branch="main"
-          fi
-          echo "branch=$branch" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "Active branch: $branch"
-
-      - name: Get date
-        id: date
-        run: echo "date=$(date -u +%Y%m%d)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-
  build-docker:
-    needs: setup
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: read
@@ -44,9 +22,12 @@ jobs:
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
-          ref: ${{ needs.setup.outputs.branch }}
          persist-credentials: false

+      - name: Get date
+        id: date
+        run: echo "date=$(date -u +%Y%m%d)" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3

@@ -65,6 +46,6 @@ jobs:
          push: true
          tags: |
            ghcr.io/got-feedback/feedback:nightly
-            ghcr.io/got-feedback/feedback:nightly-${{ needs.setup.outputs.date }}
+            ghcr.io/got-feedback/feedback:nightly-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+name: rc
+
+# Release-candidate images for stabilization: every push to a release/**
+# branch builds and pushes ghcr.io tags :rc (moving) and
+# :rc-<version>-<date> (pinned). Final versioned images still come from
+# release.yml on tag push.
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: ['release/**']
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+# One build per branch at a time; a newer push supersedes an in-flight one.
+concurrency:
+  group: rc-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  build-docker:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      packages: write
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          persist-credentials: false
+
+      - name: Derive RC tags
+        id: meta
+        run: |
+          # release/v0.3.0 -> 0.3.0 (tolerate a missing v prefix too)
+          version="${GITHUB_REF_NAME#release/}"
+          version="${version#v}"
+          date="$(date -u +%Y%m%d)"
+          {
+            echo "tags<<TAGS_EOF"
+            echo "ghcr.io/got-feedback/feedback:rc"
+            echo "ghcr.io/got-feedback/feedback:rc-${version}-${date}"
+            echo "TAGS_EOF"
+          } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Log in to GHCR
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ghcr.io
+          username: ${{ github.actor }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Build and push Docker image
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
+        with:
+          context: .
+          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
+          push: true
+          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
+          cache-from: type=gha
+          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@ jobs:
          # stable releases (no pre-release suffix).
          {
            echo "tags<<TAGS_EOF"
-            echo "ghcr.io/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}:${version}"
+            echo "ghcr.io/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY,,}:${version}"
            if [[ "$version" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
-              echo "ghcr.io/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}:latest"
+              echo "ghcr.io/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY,,}:latest"
            fi
            echo "TAGS_EOF"
          } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ name: ship-ci
 on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main, 'release/**']
+  # Trunk-based: post-merge CI on main catches semantic conflicts between
+  # independently-green PRs; push on release/** covers stabilization
+  # cherry-picks that land without a PR.
+  push:
+    branches: [main, 'release/**']

 permissions:
  contents: read
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ plugins/*/
 !plugins/achievements/
 !plugins/achievements/**
 plugins/achievements/__pycache__/
+!plugins/career/
+!plugins/career/**
+plugins/career/__pycache__/
 !plugins/highway_3d/
 !plugins/highway_3d/**
 plugins/highway_3d/__pycache__/
@@ -44,6 +47,12 @@ plugins/minigames/__pycache__/
 plugins/tuner/__pycache__/
 !plugins/input_setup/
 !plugins/input_setup/**
+!plugins/drum_highway_3d/
+!plugins/drum_highway_3d/**
+plugins/drum_highway_3d/__pycache__/
+!plugins/keys_highway_3d/
+!plugins/keys_highway_3d/**
+plugins/keys_highway_3d/__pycache__/
 node_modules/
 test-results/
 playwright-report/
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ but not the primary supported path.

 ### II. Vanilla Frontend — No Frameworks

-The frontend (`static/app.js`, `static/highway.js`, `static/index.html`,
+The frontend (`static/app.js`, `static/highway.js`, `static/v3/index.html`,
 `static/style.css`) is plain JavaScript with the `fetch` API, direct DOM
 manipulation, and the Canvas 2D / WebGL2 APIs. The only style framework
 is Tailwind CSS, served as a prebuilt static stylesheet
@@ -48,11 +48,30 @@ output is committed, so Docker / desktop / end users never build. New
 features extend `app.js` and the existing globals (`window.playSong`,
 `window.showScreen`, `window.createHighway`, `window.feedBack`).

+Native ES modules are a first-class, build-free extension mechanism.
+Because `<script type="module">` and `import` are browser features — not
+a bundler — a large source file MAY be split into an `import`-ed module
+graph of plain source files, with **no build step and no framework**. A
+plugin opts in with `"scriptType": "module"` in `plugin.json`: its
+`screen.js` becomes a one-line `import './src/main.js'`, and the host
+serves the `src/` subtree from the sandboxed `/api/plugins/<id>/src/…`
+route and injects the entry as `<script type="module">`. The classic
+global-scope `screen.js` path remains fully supported; both coexist, and
+module scripts are still source-served — the no-bundler, no-transpiler,
+build-free-at-serve rule is unchanged. Core's own `static/` tree may
+migrate to the same module-graph shape (`static/js/…`) over time under
+this rule.
+
 **Non-negotiable rules**

 - Do not introduce a frontend framework, JSX, or a JS build pipeline in
  core. Plugins MAY ship their own bundled assets but core MUST remain
  source-served.
+- ES-module plugins remain source-served: no bundler or transpiler, and
+  their own asset URLs (worklets, WASM, images) resolve via
+  `import.meta.url` — never `document.currentScript`, which is `null`
+  inside a module. `scriptType:"module"` and the optional `minHost`
+  version floor are the only new `plugin.json` keys the module path adds.
 - Because the core Tailwind stylesheet is prebuilt, it contains only the
  classes present in core source at build time. Core's committed
  `static/tailwind.min.css` MUST stay in sync with source — CI enforces
@@ -214,6 +233,15 @@ no `..`, no absolute paths).
  runs first). Plugins MUST tolerate dependent globals being absent
  at load time and check at runtime
  (`typeof window.X === 'function'`).
+- **Module load contract**: a `scriptType:"module"` plugin is injected
+  as `<script type="module">`, whose load event fires only after its
+  whole static-import graph fetches and evaluates — so the loader's
+  completion-by-`onload` guarantee (and the `playSong` wrapper-chain
+  order above) is preserved exactly. The host loads `screen.js` once per
+  version and `showScreen` re-injects nothing, so a plugin's per-visit
+  re-initialization comes from its `screen:changed` handler, not from
+  screen.js re-running; ES-module plugins inherit this unchanged (module
+  top-level code does not re-execute on same-version re-mount).

 ## Development Workflow

@@ -256,4 +284,4 @@ no `..`, no absolute paths).
  higher-numbered principle's escape hatch is to live in a plugin
  with its own bundled assets.

-**Version**: 1.1.0 | **Ratified**: 2026-05-09 | **Last Amended**: 2026-06-01
+**Version**: 1.3.0 | **Ratified**: 2026-05-09 | **Last Amended**: 2026-07-11
@@ -1,154 +1,644 @@
-# Changelog
-
-All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
-
-The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
-and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
-
-## [Unreleased]
-
-### Added
- **Playlists get content-dependent covers + custom art.** Playlist cards were a tiny `🎵` emoji on an empty square. Now a playlist's cover reflects its contents: **empty → the icon**, **a few songs → the first song's album art**, **4+ songs → a 2×2 art mosaic**. You can also **upload a custom cover** (a "Cover" button in the playlist detail view → image picker; "Remove cover" reverts to the content view). `MetadataDB.list_playlists()` now returns each playlist's first few song `art_urls`; `GET /api/playlists` and `GET /api/playlists/{id}` add `cover_url` when a custom cover exists. New routes `POST` / `GET` / `DELETE /api/playlists/{id}/cover` store a small PNG thumbnail under `CONFIG_DIR/playlist_covers/` (PIL-converted, like song-art upload); the cover is removed with the playlist. Frontend: `playlistCoverHtml(p)` in `static/v3/playlists.js`. Tests: `tests/test_playlists_api.py` (art_urls + cover roundtrip / reject-non-image / delete-cleanup), `tests/js/v3_playlist_cover.test.js`.
- **v3 Songs: "Add to playlist" is now on each song's ⋮ "More" menu.** Previously a song could only be added to a playlist through select-mode (the checkbox → batch bar). The per-card overflow menu now has an **Add to playlist** row that targets that one song, reusing the same picker (choose a listed number or type a new name to create it). The select-mode batch flow and the single-song menu now share one extracted `addFilenamesToPlaylist(filenames)` helper in `static/v3/songs.js` (both grid and tree rows, since they share `openCardMenu`). Tests: `tests/js/v3_add_to_playlist_menu.test.js`.
- **Resume where you left off — leaving a song now snapshots your place so an exit is recoverable, not a restart-from-zero.** Exiting the player (`showScreen()` teardown, before audio unload) writes `{song, arrangement, position, speed}` to `localStorage` (`feedBack.resumeSession`), and a non-blocking **"Resume practice"** pill offers it back on the next non-player screen (and on the next app launch). Clicking Resume re-enters the song, restores the arrangement + playback speed, and seeks to the saved position via the existing `_audioSeek` funnel; `playSong()` gains a `{ resume: {position, speed} }` option that arms a `song:ready`-consumed restore instead of the normal autostart, so the two never fight over playback. The snapshot is deliberately conservative — ignored for a song you barely started (< 3s) or had basically finished (within 5s of the end), cleared on natural song-end and once consumed, and expired after 24h. The pill is self-contained (inline-styled, body-appended, works identically in the classic and v3 shells with no Tailwind rebuild), never blocks, and a dismiss forgets the current snapshot for the session. This pairs with the Escape focus fix: now that Escape reliably leaves regardless of focus, an *accidental* exit is one tap to undo. Public surface: `window.resumeLastSession()` / `window.feedBack.resumeLastSession`. (The broader nav-state work — returning to a song after wandering into Settings → Tone Builder — is a separate, larger track; this lands the player-session slice.) Tests: `tests/browser/resume-session.spec.ts` (snapshot guards, staleness, pill show/hide/dismiss, resume consumption).
- **Optional "Ask before leaving a song" confirm (Gameplay tab, default OFF).** A new client-only toggle (`confirmExitSong` in `localStorage`, in the v3 Gameplay settings + the Gameplay "Reset" set) for players who want a guard against an accidental exit. **Off by default — Escape leaves instantly, zero change for everyone else.** When on, a *user-initiated* exit (the player-scope Escape shortcut, or the player's ✕) opens a small true-modal confirm instead of leaving; auto-exit on song-end and a results screen's own Close are unaffected (they call `closeCurrentSong()` directly, which stays the unguarded actual-exit). The confirm honors the team's refined asks: **opening it pauses the song** (so it isn't running or being scored behind the prompt) and **Stay resumes exactly what was paused**; **Escape = Stay** — the dialog's capture-phase handler *dismisses* it (now consistent with every other modal and the generic `_confirmDialog`'s Esc=cancel), so a second Escape returns you to the (resumed) song rather than leaving; **Space/Enter (or click) Leave** by natively activating the default-focused "Leave" button ("just get me out"). Pause/resume run through the canonical `togglePlay()` path (HTML5 + `_juceMode`), guarded so a count-in, an already-paused song, or a teardown/seek/end behind the modal can't mis-resume. It's a real modal (`role="dialog" aria-modal="true"` / `.feedBack-modal`) with **Tab trapped inside it** and a **backdrop click that also Stays**, so the Escape/Space focus carve-outs treat it as a trap and don't fire player-back / play-pause behind it. The player Escape shortcut and the v3 ✕ route through a shared `window.requestExitSong()` gate (the ✕ also becomes origin-aware, matching Escape). Tests: `tests/browser/exit-confirm.spec.ts` (default-off instant exit, confirm-on opens + stays, second-Escape stays, backdrop stays, Stay/Leave, Enter-leaves); the audio pause/resume is verified manually on web + desktop (the mock song has no backing track).
- **Folder Library — a bundled core plugin (`plugins/folder_library/`) that browses the DLC library by its on-disk folder tree.** Surfaces top-level folders → subfolders → songs (root-level songs land in `(Unsorted)`), with in-app folder management (create / rename / delete nested folders), song moves via dialog or drag-and-drop, and sort/filter that mirrors the host library's filter state. Wired into both the classic (v2) library toolbar and the v3 Songs page as a third **Folders** view alongside grid/tree; the plugin's `screen.js` is loaded once by the host and reused (idempotent IIFEs). Supersedes the former standalone "Folder Organizer" community plugin (removed from the README list). Backend (`routes.py`) registers `/api/plugins/folder_library/{tree,folder/create,folder/rename,folder/delete,song/move}`; **all filesystem mutations are confined to `DLC_DIR` and validated against path traversal** (per-segment name validation plus a resolved-containment check on `song/move`), and folder deletion relocates every song — de-duplicating colliding names — so a name clash never destroys a song. A two-level cache keeps re-opening folders fast. Tests: `tests/plugins/folder_library/test_routes.py` (path-safety helpers + move-traversal and delete-no-data-loss end-to-end).
- **Full-screen (immersive) plugin screens — opt-in via `"fullscreen": true` in `plugin.json`.** DAW-style plugin UIs (e.g. a practice studio) need the whole viewport, not a scrolling content page below the topbar — embedded in the v3 shell they get cut off at the bottom with dead space up top. A plugin can now declare a top-level `"fullscreen": true`; `plugins/__init__.py` surfaces it as the `fullscreen` boolean on `/api/plugins` (mirroring the `settings_category` plumbing). When such a plugin's screen is active, `static/v3/shell.js` toggles `html.fb-immersive` from `syncActive()` (so it tracks every navigation incl. deep-link), and `static/v3/v3.css` hides the topbar, collapses the sidebar to a functional **icon rail** (kept reachable — Escape is bound only on player/settings scopes, so a fully-hidden sidebar would trap the user), and lets the active plugin screen fill `#v3-main`. Mirrors the existing `ss-follower-pre` chrome-hide pattern. Additive + opt-in: plugins without the flag are unaffected. Tests: `tests/test_plugins.py::test_fullscreen_flag_parsed_from_manifest`.
- **Achievements wall sync — background drain worker (epic PR3, client side).** The bundled `achievements` plugin gains a dead-letter sync worker that POSTs queued Feat unlocks (and removals) to the hosted **feedback-achievements** wall service (separate repo). Idle unless a wall URL is configured (`FEEDBACK_ACHIEVEMENTS_WALL_URL`); uses `requests` with the baked-in client-token header, mirroring `lib/lyrics_transcribe`'s outbound pattern (explicit timeout, no raise on non-2xx). **Dead-letter, never drop** (pure `engine.drain_decision`): network error / `429` / `5xx` → keep `pending` (retry); other `4xx` → `dead_letter` (diagnosable, replayable); `2xx` → delete on server ack. A row leaves the queue only on ack or a user opt-out. `remove-me` now enqueues a wall removal keyed by the reused `player_hash`. Verified by an end-to-end staging round-trip (earn a Feat → drains onto the wall with name + short hash → `remove-me` → wall empties) with **no IP** in tables or access logs. Tests: `tests/plugins/achievements/test_sync.py` (decision table + ack/retry/dead-letter retention + four-field payload on the wire). The hosted service itself (FastAPI + SQLite-on-disk, Feats-only, hidden-until-first-global-unlock, profanity filter, in-memory rate limit, Render blueprint, migration tool) lives in the new `feedback-achievements` repo.
- **Achievements wall — opt-in, privacy controls & data-minimization gate (epic PR2).** Sharing earned **Feats** on the (forthcoming) public wall is strictly opt-in. A new **onboarding step** (`static/v3/profile.js`, inserted after song-directory / before instrument paths — the wizard is now five steps) presents a plain-language card: it publishes only your display name and the Feats you earn, never songs/skills/scores, and is **off by default**. The bundled plugin's Settings panel (`plugins/achievements/settings.html`, mounted under the **System** tab via `settings.category`) carries the same toggle plus a **"Remove me from the wall"** button (`POST /api/plugins/achievements/remove-me` — wipes local synced state offline + enqueues a wall removal). Core adds `achievements_enabled` (bool, default `false`) to `_default_settings()` + the `/api/settings` validation block + `_RESETTABLE_SETTINGS_KEYS` in `server.py`, mirrored to `localStorage` in `app.js loadSettings()`. **Data-minimization contract (binding, code-enforced):** every outbound payload is built by a single explicit-dict serializer (`engine.build_wall_payload`, never `dict(row)`/`**model`) whose key-set is **exactly** `{display_name, player_hash, achievement_id, unlocked_at}` with `achievement_id` always a **Feat** id — a unit test asserts the four-field set and goes red on a fifth. Enqueue is doubly gated: it happens only when opted-in **and** a profile identity (name + the reused `player_hash`) exists; **competency unlocks never enqueue** (integration law). Tests: `tests/plugins/achievements/test_datamin.py` (key-set, opt-out/identity/competency gating) + `tests/test_settings_api.py` (flag persists/validates/resettable).
- **Achievements & Feats of Power — local engine + tabbed Profile (epic PR1).** The Profile screen (`static/v3/profile.js`) becomes **tabbed** exactly like the v3 Settings page (`.fb-tabbar` / `.fb-tab[data-tab]` / `.fb-tabpanel[data-tab]`, active-tab persisted in `localStorage 'v3-profile-tab'`): a **Profile** (main) tab carrying the existing header + best-scores cards plus a new **Feats of Power** trophy shelf mount (`#v3-profile-feats-slot`, earned-only / hidden-until-earned), and an **Achievements** tab with a plugin mount (`#v3-profile-achievements-mount`) + `[data-empty-for]` empty note. Core dispatches a new **`v3:profile-rendered`** event after every render (mirrors `v3:settings-rendered`) so the plugin re-injects on each profile entry. A new bundled **`plugins/achievements/`** plugin owns the engine: SQLite under `<config_dir>/achievements/achievements.db` (`unlocks` / `counters` / `comp_ledger` / `sync_queue`), pure threshold/criterion math in the testable sibling `engine.py` (P-V), and routes under `/api/plugins/achievements/` (`activity`, `report-unlock`, `report-criterion`, `catalog`, `earned`, `feats`, `remove-me`). **Two surfaces, one engine, structurally separated (integration law):** **Feats** (activity/volume — Note Hunter, Marathon, Untouchable, Road Warrior, Time Served, Encore, two 🥚 secrets) read activity counters only, evaluated from a batched `song:ended` activity POST (notes only when **notedetect** is present — graceful degradation, no fake progress); **competency Achievements** (baseline: First Steps / Ascendant / Steady Hands / Renaissance + per-instrument Apprentice·Journeyman·Master / Personal Best / Challenger) are evaluated from **progression events only** and never re-derived from activity. The Achievements catalogue is always shown (locked = greyed), grouped by a secondary pill row over the **real progression paths** (Global / Guitar / Bass / Drums / Keys — auto-extends to new paths) with a per-category "X / Y earned" badge, defaulting to the player's primary path. Source plugins contribute their own competency defs and report unlocks through a versioned **`window.feedBack.achievements`** API (`register`/`registerAll`/`unlock`/`progress`), load-order-safe via the `window.__feedBackAchievementsPending` queue + an `achievements:ready` event (minigames pending-queue pattern); an absent source contributes nothing (no dead greyed rows). Opt-in publishing to a hosted Feats wall, the Settings privacy toggle, and the data-minimization gate land in epic PR2/PR3. Tests: `tests/plugins/achievements/test_engine.py` + `test_routes.py` (incl. the integration-law assertion that a competency unlock never reaches the Feats shelf).
- **v3 settings page redesigned as a tabbed, card-row layout.** The single long scrolling settings screen becomes a horizontal tab bar (Gameplay / Audio / Graphics / Keybinds / Progression / Mic / Plugins / System) over card rows — each a leading icon + title + description with the control (toggle/dropdown/slider) on the right, plus a per-category "Reset" action. The markup lives in `static/v3/index.html` (so existing element ids keep hydrating through the unchanged `app.js` `loadSettings()`/`persistSetting()` path); a new `static/v3/settings.js` owns tab switching + active-tab persistence (`localStorage 'v3-settings-tab'`), the per-category reset, and a read-only **Keybinds** reference built from the live shortcut registry (`window.getAllShortcuts()`); styling is plain CSS in `static/v3/v3.css` (no Tailwind rebuild). **Plugins choose their settings tab** via a new optional `settings.category` field in `plugin.json` (`plugins/__init__.py` surfaces it as `settings_category`; `app.js` mounts each plugin's `<details>` panel into `#plugin-settings-<category>`, falling back to the generic Plugins tab) — `highway_3d` ships `category: "graphics"`; the out-of-repo notedetect/progression plugins should declare `"mic"` / `"progression"`. **New gameplay settings:** **Countdown before song** (a four-beat count-in before playback, wired end-to-end via the existing count-in engine + the song-start autostart path; key `countdown_before_song`, default off); **Miss penalty** (`miss_penalty`) and **Fail behavior** (`fail_behavior`) are persisted now but not yet consumed by scoring (shown with a "Not yet active" badge). "Note highway speed" surfaces the existing `master_difficulty` and stays in sync with the player-popover difficulty slider. New `POST /api/settings/reset` clears chosen keys back to defaults. Tests: `tests/test_settings_api.py` (new keys + reset), `tests/test_plugins.py::test_settings_category_parsed_from_manifest`, `tests/browser/settings-tabbed.spec.ts`.
- **Full-mix audio exposed alongside stems for the stem mixer's auto-switch.** `lib/sloppak.py::load_song` now parses the optional manifest `original_audio:` key (the single pre-separation mixdown, e.g. `original/full.ogg`) into a new `LoadedSloppak.original_audio` field, with the same path-traversal guard and permissive "missing → disabled" posture as the `drum_tab` loader. The highway WS `song_info` frame additively carries three new fields next to `stems`: `original_audio_url` (served by the existing `/api/sloppak/{filename}/file/{rel_path}` endpoint, `None` when the pack ships stems only), `has_original_audio`, and `has_stems` (mirroring the `has_drum_tab`/`has_keys` flag convention). The stems plugin consumes `original_audio_url` to play the untouched single file while every stem slider is at unity and switch to the separate stems the moment one drops below 100%. **Migration notes:** the `song_info` message shape is a stable contract — these are purely additive; all existing fields are unchanged. `audio_url` still points at stem[0] when stems exist (it is only the degraded native fallback); the one behavioural change is that a stem-less, full-mix-only sloppak now sets `audio_url` to the full mix instead of emitting `audio_error`, so it plays natively.
- **Autoplay & auto-exit — a global "click it, it plays; finish, you're back at the menu" option (default ON).** New single Settings toggle (`autoplayExit` in `localStorage`, surfaced in both the v3 and classic settings screens; absence of the key = enabled) that closes the friction at both ends of the play loop. **Autoplay:** `playSong()` previously loaded a chart paused, requiring a Play press; a one-shot flag armed per fresh load is now consumed by the next `song:ready` (highway.js) to auto-start via the existing `togglePlay()` path (HTML5 + `_juceMode` + count-in). Arrangement switches / seeks reuse the same `song:ready` event but never arm the flag, so they don't auto-restart. **Auto-exit:** on `song:ended`, core returns to the launching menu after a short grace delay — unless a visible full-screen results/dialog overlay is on top (detected via `[role=dialog][aria-modal]` / `.fixed.inset-0` with a `getClientRects()` visibility test that works for `position:fixed`), in which case the return is deferred so that score screen's own Close button (calling `window.closeCurrentSong()`) drives the exit. A plugin can also defer explicitly via the new `window.feedBack.holdAutoExit()` (called synchronously from its own `song:ended` handler — core's listener runs first). Both paths mean **no external plugin PR is required** for a results screen to be respected. **Context-aware destination:** the player's remembered origin (`_playerOriginScreen`) now honours any real launch screen instead of clamping to library/home/favorites, and a one-shot `window.feedBack.setReturnScreen(id)` override lets the lessons catalog (`static/v3/lessons.js`) send a finished lesson back to the lessons screen — not the song library — even though the external tutorials plugin owns the `playSong` call. Also exposes a read-only `window.feedBack.autoplayExit` getter for plugins. Songs and lessons share the same `playSong` → highway path, so both inherit the behaviour. Core-only (`static/app.js`, `static/v3/lessons.js`, both `index.html`s); the end-of-song score screen itself remains a plugin. Optional polish (not required — the overlay heuristic already covers it): external scoring/note-detection plugins (e.g. SlopScale) may call `holdAutoExit()` + `closeCurrentSong()` for an exact, heuristic-free handoff.
- **"Song Editor" promoted to a first-class v3 sidebar item.** The editor
-  plugin (`id: editor`) now gets its own dedicated sidebar entry — under the
-  Library group, just below Songs — via the existing `PROMOTED_PLUGINS`
-  mechanism in `static/v3/shell.js`, instead of being reachable only through
-  the generic Plugins gallery. Gated on the plugin actually being installed
-  (`renderPromotedNav` checks `/api/plugins`), so it appears only when the
-  editor is loaded. The displayed label comes from the plugin's manifest
-  `nav.label`.
- **Guitar Pro → notation importer (`lib/gp2notation.py`)** (feedBack#825 WS4b, epic #828). Piano/keys tracks imported from Guitar Pro (GPIF: `.gpx` GP6 / `.gp` GP7-8) now produce real Sloppak Notation Format data (sloppak-spec §5.3) alongside the `midi = string*24 + fret` guitar wire encoding. `gp2rs_gpx.convert_file` writes a `<stem>.notation.json` sidecar next to each keys arrangement XML (best-effort — a notation bug never breaks the RS-XML conversion), and `gp2notation.attach_notation_to_sloppak()` is the assembly-side helper that renames it into `notation_<id>.json` + adds the per-arrangement `notation:` manifest sub-key. Voice→staff routing salvages the logic from PR #703 (whose `stf` wire-field approach this supersedes): GP voice position 0 → `rh` staff (`G2`), positions ≥ 1 → `lh` (`F4`); a forced-LH track (the merged `Piano LH` partner from `_find_piano_pairs`, or a standalone track named `… LH`) routes everything to `lh` — preserving authored hand crossings instead of inferring hands from pitch. Emits measures with absolute `t` from the bar-indexed tempo map, change-only `ts`/`tempo`/`ks`, and `beat_groups` for compound/irregular meters (6/8 → `[3,3]`, 9/8 → `[3,3,3]`, 5/8 → `[2,3]`, 7/8 → `[2,2,3]` — cf. the feedBack#261 denominator pitfalls); beats carry `dur`/`dot`/`tu`/`rest` from GP rhythms and notes carry absolute `midi` (String+Fret resolves via the string template's concert pitches, Tone+Octave via `(octave+1)*12 + step`) with `tied` continuations kept as real beats (engraving needs the tied notehead — unlike the RS-XML walk, which drops them and extends sustain). Timing reuses the `gp2rs_gpx` machinery (bar-indexed tempo map, per-beat rhythm durations, `_note_midi`) so notation lines up with the RS XML the highway plays — with one deliberate divergence: double dots advance time ×1.75 (vs. the RS-XML walk's single-dot ×1.5 approximation) so a written `dot: 2` agrees with the emitted beat times; sharing the walk itself stays tracked in feedBack#618. Tests: `tests/test_gp2notation.py`.
- **Legacy keys → notation lifter (`scripts/lift_keys_notation.py`)** (feedBack#825 WS4c, epic #828). One-time batch converter that lifts existing **directory-form** piano/keys sloppaks from the legacy guitar wire encoding (`midi = s*24 + f`) into real Sloppak Notation Format files (sloppak-spec §5.3). Candidates are arrangements whose name matches `\b(keys|piano|keyboard|synth)\b` (case-insensitive); each gets a `notation_<id>.json` plus the per-arrangement `notation:` manifest sub-key. Measures derive from the song-level `beats` downbeats (`measure >= 0`; `song_timeline.json` preferred, first-arrangement fallback), with per-measure tempo from downbeat spacing (emitted only on a > 1 BPM change). Durations come from the wire sustain (`sus`, legacy `l` alias) when present, else the gap to the next onset in the same hand — quantized to the nearest plain/single-dotted `{1,2,4,8,16,32}` denominator at the local tempo, floored at a 32nd. Hands are split heuristically: onsets within 10 ms form a group; a group spanning > 12 semitones splits at its largest internal interval gap (low side → `lh`), otherwise the whole group goes by mean pitch vs middle C — single-staff output when everything lands on one hand. Idempotent (arrangements already carrying `notation:` are skipped; an orphan `notation_<id>.json` without the manifest key is refused, not overwritten) with `--dry-run` support; every payload is checked via `notation.validate_notation` before write. Honest caveat: the manifest is round-tripped through PyYAML (`safe_load` + `safe_dump(sort_keys=False)`) — key order survives, YAML comments/custom formatting do not (the script warns when comments are present). Zip-form `.sloppak` files are reported and skipped. Tests: `tests/test_lift_keys_notation.py`.
- **Notation schema v1 freeze — completeness batch** (feedBack#822, epic #828). Adds the low-hanging-fruit fields ahead of content production: top-level credits `rights`/`lyricist`/`arranger`; measure `pickup` (anacrusis); beat `arp` (arpeggiate), `ferm` (fermata), and **typed grace notes** — `grace: "a"` (acciaccatura, MusicXML `grace/@slash=yes`) / `"p"` (appoggiatura); note `stem` (`"up"`/`"down"` force). Pedal is settled as the existing `spd`/`sph`/`spu` trio with a documented MusicXML `<pedal start|change|stop>` mapping — no separate `ped` field. A new "v1 non-features" spec subsection pins the accepted limitations (microtonal, figured bass, mid-measure key/time/clef changes, `ott`/`barline`/ornaments/`trem`/`glis`) as additive-v1.x territory. `lib/notation.py` gains the `GRACE_TYPES`, `STEM_DIRECTIONS`, and `DYNAMICS` vocabularies; the validator stays permissive by design.
- **Notation format — standard musical notation as a first-class sloppak type.** Promotes keys, piano, violin, and any other staff-notation instrument out of the guitar wire format and into their own data structure, following the same promotion path used for drums (feedBack#344). New `lib/notation.py` defines the canonical vocabulary (`CLEFS`, `DURATIONS`, `SCHEMA_VERSION`), a permissive `validate_notation()` check, and `measures_to_wire()` / `measure_to_wire()` wire helpers. `lib/sloppak.py::load_song` reads a new per-arrangement `notation:` sub-key from each arrangement entry in the manifest (Option B: per-arrangement, not song-wide), applies path-traversal guards, validates the parsed JSON via `validate_notation()`, and surfaces all notation payloads on `LoadedSloppak.notation_by_id` (a `dict[str, dict]` keyed by arrangement id). A failed or missing notation file for one arrangement does not abort or skip the arrangement itself — partial-failure isolation mirrors the drum tab loader. `file:` is now optional when `notation:` is present: the loader creates a minimal stub arrangement so a notation-only arrangement entry does not require a guitar wire format JSON. `/ws/highway/{filename}` gains two new message types — `notation_info` (staves, instrument, total measure count) and chunked `notation_measures` (32 measures per chunk) — streamed after `sections` and before `anchors`; `song_info` carries a new `has_notation: bool` flag so viz pickers can auto-activate the notation plugin regardless of arrangement name. The notation file schema is measure-structured (`measure → staff → voice → beat → note`), uses MIDI for pitch (no string/fret/tuning indirection), and carries the full set of effects that alphaTab can render. See `docs/sloppak-spec.md` §5.3 for the full schema. Open questions resolved per the piano/keys epic (feedBack#828 / #822): Option B (per-arrangement `notation:` sub-key) and `file:`-optional-when-`notation:`-present are the endorsed design.
- **`song_timeline.json` — beats and sections as a top-level file.** A new optional top-level file pointed at by a new manifest key (`song_timeline: song_timeline.json`) provides the correct home for song-wide beats and sections, replacing the legacy convention of embedding them in the first arrangement JSON. The loader in `lib/sloppak.py` reads and validates the file (must be a dict with `beats` and `sections` as lists), clears and repopulates `Song.beats` / `Song.sections` from it when present, and stores the raw dict on `LoadedSloppak.song_timeline`. The existing arrangement-JSON fallback is fully preserved: all existing sloppaks that omit `song_timeline:` continue to load without any change. This is a prerequisite for notation-only sloppaks, which may have no arrangement JSON at all and therefore no carrier for beats/sections data. New sloppaks should put beats/sections in `song_timeline.json` only. See `docs/sloppak-spec.md` §2 and §5.3.
- **`note-detection` capability domain promoted — control plane (spec 009)** (feedBack#727/#728, epic #828). New core host `static/capabilities/note-detection.js`: provider registry (kinds `midi`/`engine`/`js`, primitives `pitch.estimate`/`verify.target`), requester-owned context-scoped detection bindings (`open-binding`/`close-binding`/`set-target`/`clear-target` — each binding carries its own redacted tuning context, independent of the host's loaded song, per spec-009 FR-003), and hit/miss/verdict observability events (consumers own judgment). The legacy chart-coupled `highway.setNoteStateProvider` surface keeps working and is wrapped for compatibility-shim hit accounting. Diagnostics (`feedBack.note_detection_capability.v1`) carry provider/binding summaries and bounded outcomes — no raw audio, device labels, or song identity. Migrating the chart path, Step Mode verify, minigames YIN, and the engine verifier onto bindings is the remainder of the spec-009 slice.
- **`visualization` capability domain promoted (cap:6)** (feedBack#828). New core host `static/capabilities/visualization.js` registers a provider-coordinator owning the highway renderer surface: commands `inspect` / `list-providers` / `select-renderer` / `clear-renderer` (selection delegates to the existing picker so persistence, WebGL2 gating, and fallback stay single-sourced), events `providers-refreshed` / `renderer-changed` / `renderer-ready` / `renderer-failed`. Legacy discovery (`type: "visualization"` manifests, `window.feedBackViz_*` globals) keeps working unchanged and is accounted as compatibility shims with hit counts. `static/app.js` attributes every renderer change (auto-match / user-select / fallback) and auto-match outcomes into the domain. Diagnostics (`feedBack.visualization_capability.v1`) carry provider ids/labels/context types, active renderer + selection source, last auto-match outcome, and last failure — no song filenames/titles. Per-panel (splitscreen) selection is a tracked follow-up.
- **Viz picker routes notation arrangements** (feedBack#826, epic #828). `window.feedBack.currentSong` gains `hasNotation` (sibling of `hasDrumTab`) from the `song_info` frame's `has_notation` flag, so notation viz plugins (Staff View, Keys Highway 3D) can gate `matchesArrangement` on data presence instead of arrangement-name heuristics. When a notation-only arrangement (no wire notes — `file:` omitted per sloppak-spec §5.3) falls through Auto with no notation plugin installed, the built-in highway still takes the canvas but the Auto label reads "no notation view installed" and a one-shot dismissable hint points at the visualization picker — never a silently blank board.
- **Keys instrument path in progression** (feedBack#828). New `data/progression/paths/keys.json` (5 levels / 15 challenges at parity with the guitar path) plus keys-flavoured daily/weekly quest pool entries (`d.keys-one` "Ivory Tower", `w.keys-three` "Grand Recital"). `lib/progression.py::instrument_for_arrangement()` now attributes `type: piano|keys` arrangements — and names matching `keys`/`piano`/`keyboard`/`synth` on a word boundary — to the new `keys` instrument, so scored keys runs advance the path automatically. Purely content + attribution: no schema or API changes.
- **v3 library: exact artist/album filters + scroll/page-depth restore** (feedBack#857). The v3 Songs toolbar gains Artist and Album dropdowns (Album populates from the selected artist and stays disabled until one is chosen), backed by new exact, case-insensitive (`COLLATE NOCASE`) `artist` / `album` query params threaded through `MetadataDB._build_where` → `query_page` / `query_artists` / `query_stats` and the `/api/library`, `/api/library/artists`, `/api/library/stats` endpoints (the free-text `q` search stays fuzzy and composes with the exact filters). The artist/album catalog is fetched independently of the active artist/album selection so the dropdowns always list the full set for the current provider/search. The toolbar is now sticky so filter controls stay reachable when browsing deep libraries, and returning from the player restores the previous scroll position **and** the loaded infinite-scroll page depth via a `sessionStorage` snapshot keyed by a filter/sort/view state hash (invalidated whenever those change, so a filter change still resets to the top). Tests: `tests/test_library_filters.py` (backend artist/album filters), `tests/js/v3_songs_scroll.test.js` (state-hash + snapshot helpers).
-
-### Fixed
- **v3 Songs grid now refreshes after a Settings rescan / DLC-folder change — no app restart needed.** On a fresh install, pointing at a DLC folder in Settings and running a scan left the Songs section empty until a restart (the scan *did* populate the library — `_background_scan` re-reads `config.json` fresh — but the v3 grid never reloaded). The Settings **Rescan / Full Rescan** handlers only refreshed the classic (v2) library via `loadLibrary()`; the v3 grid (`static/v3/songs.js`) had no listener for a scan it didn't start itself (only its own upload path self-refreshed via `watchUploadScan`), so its cached, pre-DLC (empty) DOM/snapshot survived a sidebar return until a full reload. The rescan handlers now emit a **`library:changed`** event (`static/app.js`); the v3 grid listens and **reloads if it's the active screen, else marks itself dirty** so the next entry does a full re-fetch instead of restoring the stale snapshot (a `_libraryDirty` short-circuit ahead of every cached-DOM fast-path in `onV3SongsScreenEnter`). Tests: `tests/js/v3_library_refresh.test.js` (the emit + the reload/dirty wiring).
- **Edit Metadata modal: the Year is now editable.** You could set a year when authoring a pak but the Songs → Edit Metadata modal had no Year field, so it could never be changed afterward. The backend (`POST /api/song/<f>/meta`) already accepted and normalized `year` (writes it into the file via `songmeta`, survives a rescan) — only the UI omitted it. Added a **Year** input to `openEditModal()` (populated from the song's existing year) and included `year` in `saveEditModal()`'s POST body (`static/app.js`). Both the v3 card menu and the legacy edit button already pass the year through, so both surfaces get the field.
- **Edit Metadata modal no longer closes when a click-drag is released on the backdrop.** Selecting text inside a field and releasing the mouse past the modal's edge dismissed the form without warning (the `click` event's target resolved to the backdrop), discarding the edit. Backdrop dismissal now requires the **mousedown to have started on the backdrop** too — tracked per-modal and decided by a new pure `_editModalShouldClose(clickTarget, modalEl, downOnBackdrop)` helper (`static/app.js`). Cancel / ✕ still close on a normal click. Tests: `tests/js/edit_metadata_modal.test.js` (year in the POST body + the backdrop-close decision table).
- **Built-in diagnostic sloppak rebranded "Slopsmith" → "FeedBack" in the song name.** PR #586 renamed the file to `feedBack-diagnostic-basic-guitar.sloppak` but never regenerated the archive, so the manifest inside still carried `title: Slopsmith Diagnostic — Basic Guitar` / `artist: Slopsmith` (and the same heading in `DIAGNOSTIC.md`) — the stale name testers saw in the library/player and the onboarding calibration step, even though the build script, server, and docs all already say "FeedBack Diagnostic — Basic Guitar". Regenerated `docs/diagnostics/feedBack-diagnostic-basic-guitar.sloppak` from `docs/diagnostics/build_diagnostic_basic_guitar.py` so the committed artifact matches its source generator (title/artist/heading now "FeedBack"; chart, stem, and `diagnostic:` metadata unchanged). No code change — the rename in #586 just needed the rebuild.
- **v3 song/lesson accuracy badges now refresh on the first return from a song — no restart needed.** PR #574 added a `stats:recorded` → in-place badge repaint, but the repaint never matched a card. The event (like `song:loading`) carries the filename **`encodeURIComponent`'d** — exactly as `playCard` hands it to `playSong` (the highway WS `decodeURIComponent`s it back) — whereas library cards key on the **decoded** `localFilename` (`data-fn`), and `/api/stats/best` is server-canonicalized to that same decoded key (`server.py` `_canonical_song_filename`). So `repaintAccuracy`'s `data-fn !== key` check rejected every card and `state.accuracy[encoded]` was `undefined`, leaving the just-earned badge stale until a full `render()` (app restart / search / re-enter the screen) — which is why it "came back after a restart." `static/v3/songs.js` now decodes the `stats:recorded` filename back into the card / `state.accuracy` key space via a small `decFn` helper before marking dirty and repainting (idempotent for already-decoded names; falls back to the original on malformed input so a real filename containing a literal `%` is never corrupted), so both the immediate repaint and the `onV3SongsScreenEnter` deferred path land on the right card. Tests: `tests/js/v3_songs_score_badge_refresh.test.js`.
- **Escape now exits a song (and leaves Settings) even when a transport/rail control button holds keyboard focus.** Clicking a player control (Play / FF / RW / Restart) left that `<button>` focused, and `_shortcutDispatchBlocked()` in `static/app.js` treats any focused `INPUT/SELECT/TEXTAREA/BUTTON` as an "interactive control" and bails before the shortcut registry runs — so the player-scope `Escape → Back` shortcut never fired until the user clicked empty canvas to blur the control ("Escape in song not consistent"). Space already had a player-screen carve-out (#593) that let it fire through a focused control; Escape did not. Generalized that carve-out to Escape, scoped to the player **and** settings screens (both register an `Escape = Back` shortcut, and settings had the identical latent bug). The earlier guards are preserved and still win: text inputs are exempted first (Escape there clears/blurs the field), the Section Practice popover already claims Escape before the carve-out, and a true modal layered over the screen (`[role="dialog"][aria-modal="true"]` / `.feedBack-modal`) still traps Escape so it closes the modal rather than ejecting past it. Escape becomes a reliable, focus-independent "Back" — making it monotonic groundwork for an optional exit-confirm. Plugins that register a player-scope `Escape` shortcut benefit identically (they were broken the same way). Tests: `tests/browser/keyboard-shortcuts.spec.ts` (focused-button repro, text-input no-exit, no-escape-past-modal, Section Practice popover, settings twin-bug).
- **The v3 "Up Next" pill can now be turned off — new "Show 'Up Next'" gameplay toggle (default ON).** The v0.3.0 player chrome's persistent upcoming-section pill (`#v3-upnext`, drawn by `static/v3/player-chrome.js`'s `updateUpNext()`) shipped with no off switch, so it always showed during playback whenever a section was upcoming — overlapping the top-right FPS HUD and ignoring the 3D-highway "Show 'Up Next' section card" checkbox (a *different*, in-canvas widget that was demoted to default-off precisely because this pill is the canonical readout). Users reading the pill as the same setting saw "disabled in settings but still there." Adds a real core toggle following the `autoplayExit` idiom: a client-only `showUpNext` `localStorage` pref (absence = enabled), a **Show "Up Next"** switch in the Gameplay settings tab (`static/v3/index.html`), reader/writer + `loadSettings()` hydration + a read-only `window.feedBack.showUpNext` getter in `static/app.js`, and a gate at the top of `updateUpNext()` that hides the pill when off. Disabling mid-playback hides it immediately; re-enabling re-shows it on the next chrome tick (~6 Hz). Added to `RESET_MAP.gameplay.local` in `static/v3/settings.js` so the Gameplay "Reset" restores the default-on state. Default ON = zero change for existing users. No Tailwind rebuild (plain markup + existing classes).
- **v3 list/tree view brought to parity with the grid: select mode, parts chips, and song actions — plus a stale-CSS Docker fix.** Re-lands a previously-reverted change. **Frontend (`static/v3/songs.js`):** entering select mode no longer collapses the tree — `loadTree()` now captures the expanded artist groups (`details[open]` keyed by `data-artist`) before the "Loading…" wipe and restores them on rebuild, so toggling select mode (which re-renders via `reload()`) keeps groups open and selection usable; tree rows gain a display-only checkbox + selection ring, the same fav / save-for-later / overflow-menu cluster as the grid card (always shown, all bound by `wireCards()`), and a capture-phase select guard mirroring the grid so clicking a row or arrangement chip in select mode selects instead of playing (`<summary>` headers sit outside `[data-fn]`, so native expand/collapse is untouched). **Docker fix (`static/tailwind.min.css`):** the committed Tailwind stylesheet was stale — `.sm\:flex` (and the other utilities behind #582's `hidden sm:flex` arrangement chips and the new action cluster) were never compiled in, so they rendered `display:none` on the Docker build (which serves the committed CSS as-is; Desktop rebuilds from source so it looked fine). Regenerated with the pinned `tailwindcss@3.4.19` via `scripts/build-tailwind.sh` so Docker matches Desktop and #582's chips render on every Docker deploy. Regression tests: `tests/browser/v3-tree-select.spec.ts`.
- **Space bar now plays/pauses on the player screen even when a sidebar nav link or rail button has focus.** When any `<button>` in the player rail (viz, audio, mixer, lyrics, plugins, advanced), a sidebar nav link, or a popover control held keyboard focus, pressing Space was swallowed by `_shortcutDispatchBlocked` → `_isInsideInteractiveControl` (which treats `BUTTON`/`A` as interactive), so the Space shortcut never reached the dispatcher and `togglePlay()` never ran. `_shortcutDispatchBlocked` (`static/app.js`) now extends the same carve-out already used for the Section Practice bar: while the player screen is active, Space is always routed through the shortcut system — the dispatcher calls `e.preventDefault()` before invoking the handler, so the focused element does not also activate. Text inputs (`_isTextInput`) remain exempted first, so typing space in a search/input field still works normally, and focus inside a true modal dialog (`role="dialog" aria-modal="true"` / `.feedBack-modal`) layered over the player is also exempted so Space reaches the modal's focused control (e.g. its Close button) instead of toggling playback behind it — non-modal player popovers/toasts (loop A/B, arrangement pin) stay covered. Regression tests in `tests/browser/keyboard-shortcuts.spec.ts` cover the focused-rail-button play/pause, the text-input exemption, and the modal-dialog exemption.
- **A song's accuracy badge now updates on its library card right after you play it — no restart needed.** The v3 library (`static/v3/songs.js`) loaded the best-accuracy map (`/api/stats/best`) once into `state.accuracy` at render time and only ever refreshed it on a full re-render; the play→return flow takes the screen-entry fast-path that restores the cached grid DOM without re-fetching, so a just-earned score stayed invisible until the next restart re-ran `render()`. The `stats-recorder` now emits a `stats:recorded` event (carrying `filename`/`arrangement`) once the scored `POST /api/stats` resolves on the server — the correct moment, since `song:stop` fires before the POST completes. `songs.js` listens: if the library is the active screen it re-fetches `/api/stats/best` and patches the affected card/row badge in place; otherwise it marks the filename dirty and `onV3SongsScreenEnter` applies it on return (a failed fetch keeps the entry dirty to retry). Badge markup was factored into a shared `accuracyBadge(filename, variant)` (grid pill + tree-row percentage, both tagged `.fb-acc-badge`) so the in-place `repaintAccuracy` can find and replace them without a full list re-render (scroll/pagination preserved). The old empty `song:stop` "refresh lazily next render" placeholder is replaced.
- **Changing Settings → 3D Highway → Fret spacing no longer ejects you to the home screen.** The `highway_3d` plugin's `h3dSetFretSpacing` was the lone 3D-highway setting that called `location.reload()` to apply — and since the SPA boots with `#home` as the active screen (`index.html` `.screen.active`), the reload dropped the user out of Settings onto the homescreen. It now applies live like every other 3D-highway setting: it rebinds the module-scope `_h3dFretUniform` flag (so panels mounted later this session pick up the new mode), recomputes the two `fretX`-derived scalars that were baked at init (`_fretLabelScaleRefW` for fret-label sprite scaling, `FRET_WIDTH_MID` for camera hysteresis), and broadcasts a `fretSpacing` change over the existing `_bgEmitChange` pub-sub so every mounted panel rebuilds its board via `buildBoard()`. Per-frame note geometry already reads `fretX` live and needs no rebuild. No page reload, so the Settings screen stays put. Source-level regression tests in `tests/js/highway_3d_fret_spacing.test.js` now pin the no-reload / live-rebuild behavior.
- **v3 library scroll-restore no longer breaks the classic v2 UI or drops off-screen searches** (feedBack#857). Two regressions in the scroll-restore work above: (1) `playSong` remapped `home`-launched songs to return to the `#v3-songs` screen unconditionally, but `static/app.js` is shared with the v2 UI (served at `/v2` / `FEEDBACK_UI=v2`) where that screen does not exist — Esc-from-player then called `showScreen('v3-songs')`, which threw on the missing element and stranded the user on a blank screen with playback still running; the remap now applies only when `#v3-songs` is present. (2) The Songs screen-entry fast-path skips reloading to preserve scroll, but the global topbar search routed through it, so once Songs had been visited, searching from another screen navigated there without applying the new query; the screen now tracks the state hash each fetch reflects and refetches when it has drifted, keeping the scroll-preserving no-op only when nothing changed.
- **An active custom highway renderer is no longer starved of `draw()` when it hides the canvas** (#819). The per-frame draw gate in `static/highway.js` bailed on `if (!_lastVisible) return`, which conflated two different "hidden" states: a genuine off-screen canvas (`offsetParent === null` — navigate-away / `display:none` splitscreen panel, #246) versus a renderer-set *override-hide* (`setVisible(false)`, where an opaque overlay covers the canvas but the active renderer keeps painting its own surface). The gate now only pauses everything for the off-screen case (and still pauses the default 2D renderer on an override-hide); the **active custom renderer** keeps receiving `draw()` through its own override-hide. The `highway:visibility` event still fires before the gate, so sibling overlay renderers (e.g. 3D Highway's `.h3d-wrap`) still pause. This is the core-side root cause behind the Tab View cursor freezing in single-player (feedBack#734; worked around plugin-side in feedBack-plugin-tabview#25).
- **Screensaver no longer kicks in during windowed-mode playback** (#686). While a song is playing, `static/app.js` now holds a [Screen Wake Lock](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Screen_Wake_Lock_API) (`navigator.wakeLock.request('screen')`) so the OS display/screensaver stays awake even though only audio + the highway animation are active and the keyboard/mouse are idle. The lock is acquired on `song:play`/`song:resume` and released on `song:pause`/`song:ended`/`song:stop` (kept only while actually playing), and re-acquired on `visibilitychange` when the tab refocuses (the API auto-releases a lock whenever the page is hidden). Both the HTML5 `<audio>` and JUCE desktop playback paths emit the same `song:*` events, so the fix covers both. In feedBack-desktop (Electron), where `navigator.wakeLock` is unreliable, it also drives a native `powerSaveBlocker` bridge via the optional `window.feedBackDesktop.power.setScreenAwake` hook when present; both calls degrade silently where unsupported. Note: the browser Wake Lock API is secure-context only, so in a plain browser this is active on `localhost` / HTTPS only — a session opened over plain HTTP to a LAN IP (e.g. `http://192.168.1.100:8000`) won't keep the screen awake; front it with HTTPS or use the desktop app (see README → reverse-proxy notes).
-
-### Changed
- **Practice plugin first-class sidebar slot now points at Virtuoso.** The bundled practice plugin was rebranded/re-homed from the SlopScale fork (`id: slopscale`) to `got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-virtuoso` (`id: virtuoso`); the desktop bundle swap is feedBack-desktop#31. `static/v3/shell.js` still promoted `slopscale`, whose id no longer ships — so `renderPromotedNav()` (gated on the plugin appearing in `/api/plugins`) would have found no match and the dedicated sidebar slot would have gone dark, dropping Virtuoso to the generic Plugins gallery. Update the NAV entry + `PROMOTED_PLUGINS` slot `slopscale` → `virtuoso` (`screen: plugin-virtuoso`, label "Virtuoso - Practice", same FeedBarcade anchor + `target` icon) so the practice plugin keeps its first-class entry. Also clear the now-dead `slopscale` id from the Plugins-gallery curated category map (`static/v3/plugins-page.js`) and add `virtuoso: 'practice'` as a defensive fallback (the manifest's `category: "practice"` is authoritative, so it lands on the practice board regardless), and refresh the stale SlopScale references in `README.md` + `docs/plugin-capability-inventory.md`. Must land with the bundle swap or the practice plugin regresses in the UI.
- **3D highway: realistic curved metal frets.** The fret wires are now bowed `TubeGeometry` (the middle strings push away from the camera so the row of frets reads as wrapping a cylindrical neck — a depth cue) rendered with a lit `MeshStandardMaterial` instead of the old flat, straight `MeshBasicMaterial` boxes, so the scene's ambient + directional light glints across the rounded surface for a polished-steel look. The existing per-frame highlight is preserved unchanged: frets inside the active anchor still turn gold (`0xD8A636`), which under the metallic shading reads as brass. Metalness is kept moderate (0.4, not full-metal) because the scene has no envMap — a PBR full-metal surface would reflect black — with a dim emissive floor so frets stay legible down the fogged neck. Backported from the `highway_babylon` plugin's "hit-zone fret bars". All knobs (`FRET_BOW_DZ`, metalness/roughness/emissive) are tunable constants. `plugins/highway_3d` v3.25.0.
- **3D highway: section + tone HUD cards now default OFF.** The v0.3.0 player chrome carries a persistent "Up Next" pill, making the in-canvas section card redundant by default (it doubled the readout, feedBack feedback); the tone HUD follows the same less-is-more default. Both remain available in Settings → 3D Highway (visibility/position/size unchanged); users who previously toggled either explicitly keep their stored preference — only the untouched default flips. `plugins/highway_3d` v3.24.1.
- **Perf**: replace runtime Tailwind Play CDN with a prebuilt static stylesheet (`static/tailwind.min.css`). The Play CDN's runtime JIT scanned the DOM ~1.8x/sec on the main thread (~37 ms blocking spans), dropping ~26% of frames in long playback sessions with the 3D highway as default. Theme extensions (dark/accent/gold colors, Inter font) move to `tailwind.config.js`; regen via `bash scripts/build-tailwind.sh`. No runtime build step — the generated CSS is committed. Fixes feedBack-desktop#110.
- **Perf**: reduce per-frame allocations in the 2D highway chord + lyric render paths. `_ensureChordRenderCache` now also caches `sortedNotes` / `nonZeroNotes` / `nonZeroFrets` / `allMuted` / `hasMultipleNotes` (computed once per chord, invalidated on `src` / `_inverted` / `chordTemplates` change — the third key catches a stale `isOpen`-derived classification when the WS `chord_templates` message lands after the final `chords` chunk), so `drawChords` no longer re-sorts / re-filters / spreads min-max per visible chord per frame. The in-chord unison bend classification is folded inline (no `chordPositions.filter` × 2 per frame). `drawLyrics` memoizes `ctx.measureText` results in a two-level `Map<fontSize, Map<text, width>>` so cache hits don't allocate a composite string key. Lit-sustain shimmer in `drawSustains` swaps the 4 per-note-per-frame `Math.random()` calls for a 64-entry precomputed jitter LUT (xorshift32-seeded — the LUT contents are reload-stable and test-reproducible; rendered shimmer is deterministic per `createHighway()` instance, since the seed includes that instance's `_frameIdx`) indexed by `(frameIdx + n.s + ⌊n.t·60⌋)`, visually indistinguishable and allocation-free.
- **Perf**: the load-adaptive render scale (`_adaptRenderScale`, #654) no longer visibly hunts up/down on passages that hover near the frame budget (testers saw "quality going up and down" with the 3D highway). Downscaling stays prompt to protect the frame rate, but **upscaling is now lazy**: a smaller step (×1.06 vs ×1.1) on a longer cooldown (`_AUTO_UPSCALE_COOLDOWN_MS` 2500 ms vs the 600 ms adjust cooldown), reset on any downscale, and gated by a predictive guard — it only upscales when the projected cost *after* the step (≈ cost × step², since draw cost tracks the pixel count) still clears the high budget. The scale therefore settles just inside the 7–12 ms deadband instead of oscillating across it. No new public API; the `_autoScaleMin` "Min res" floor is unchanged.
-
-### Removed
- **`c` library hotkey ("Convert to .sloppak") removed from core.** Core hardcoded a plugin-specific shortcut: a documentation-only `registerShortcut({ key: 'c', scope: 'library' })` no-op plus a `c → button.sloppak-convert-btn` entry in the library keydown handler that fired the Sloppak Converter plugin's button. Per the plugins-own-their-behavior principle, core no longer ships this hotkey — the convert button still works by click, and the Sloppak Converter plugin can register its own `c` shortcut via `window.registerShortcut()` if keyboard access is wanted. The `f` (favorite) and `e` (edit) library hotkeys, which drive core buttons, are unchanged. Help-modal/registry tests in `tests/browser/keyboard-shortcuts.spec.ts` updated to drop the `c` assertions.
-
-### Added
- **Player progression: Mastery Rank, instrument-path challenges, daily/weekly quests, Decibels currency, cosmetics shop (spec 010).** Onboarding gains two steps: pick one or more **instrument paths** (Guitar / Bass / Drums — data-driven, more can ship as content) and a **calibration challenge** offer (play the bundled FeedBack Diagnostic with note detection at 100% accuracy — or skip; either way you reach **Mastery Rank 1**, and a skipped calibration can still be completed later from the Progress screen). Each path levels by completing a content-defined number of **challenges** (any order) from that level's set; Mastery Rank = onboarding rank + the sum of path levels, starting at 0 on a fresh install. The existing unified XP backend is untouched but the frontend renames it to **Decibels (dB)** — a spendable currency earned ONLY by playing (songs, FeedBarcade rounds, quest rewards; no real-money path exists or may be added) — with spend tracked in a separate wallet so lifetime earnings stay monotonic. Rotating **daily/weekly quests** (deterministic per period, lazy instantiation, local-midnight / Monday resets) award dB and feed `quest_completed` challenges. A new **Progress** screen (rank hero, per-path checklists, quest countdowns, add-a-path) and **Shop** screen (themes via CSS-variable swaps under `html[data-fb-theme]`, avatar frames; atomic balance-checked purchases — 402 on insufficient dB, 409 on re-buy) join the v3 nav, and the topbar badge now shows Rank + challenge-set progress + dB balance. All definitions live in `data/progression/` JSON (paths/levels/challenges, quest pools, shop catalog) — adding a rank, challenge, quest, or cosmetic is a content edit + restart, never code; invalid content degrades to logged warnings. New tables (additive + idempotent): `progression_state`, `player_paths`, `challenge_progress`, `quest_state`, `wallet`, `shop_owned`, `shop_equipped`. New endpoints: `GET /api/progression`, `POST /api/progression/paths|onboarding|events` (events whitelists `minigame_run`; `song_completed` stays server-derived inside `POST /api/stats`, which now resolves the instrument server-side and reports an additive `progression` outcome key), `GET /api/shop`, `POST /api/shop/buy|equip`; equipped cosmetics ride along on `GET /api/profile`. A new **`progression` capability domain** (core-owned, kind: command, safety: safe — `inspect`, `record-event`, `list-shop`, `buy-item`/`equip-item` gated on user action) emits `challenge-completed`/`quest-completed`/`path-level-up`/`rank-changed`/`db-changed`/`calibration-completed`/`cosmetic-equipped`, mirrored as `progression:*` window events, with a redaction-safe diagnostics contributor; backend plugins get the symmetric `record_progression_event` context hook (the bundled minigames hub reports runs through it, guarded for standalone). Spec: `specs/010-progression-domain/`. Tests: `tests/test_progression.py`, `tests/test_progression_api.py`. **Migration notes:** existing XP totals carry over as lifetime dB (balance = lifetime − spent); resetting a per-source XP contribution (e.g. a minigames profile reset) after spending can clamp the spendable balance to 0 until new dB is earned; drums-path v1 content uses currently-satisfiable goals (arcade rounds, quests, any-instrument plays) until drums scoring lands.
- **3D highway score FX (notedetect game-scoring layer).** The bundled `highway_3d` renderer now visualizes the scoring layer shipped in feedBack-plugin-notedetect ≥1.13: floating **"+N" score pops** above each judged gem (sourced from the note-state provider's new `{ points, mult, popKey }` verdict fields — chord members share the chord-level `popKey`, so a chord pops once, not once per string), plus session-level FX from the new `notedetect:fx` event — a particle burst at the strike line on streak milestones (25/50/every 100), an expanding ring pulse on multiplier tier-ups (×2/×3/×4), and a brief red wash when a ≥10 streak breaks. Colors and the pop font follow the user's notedetect scoring-UI skin (`feedBack_notedetect_skin`: neon/esports/metal, refreshed live on the `notedetect:skin` bus event). Everything renders on the existing 2D overlay canvas from fixed-size slot pools — no Three.js geometry, no text-sprite cache traffic, near-zero cost when idle — and degrades to a silent no-op with older notedetect builds (the new fields/events simply never arrive). Splitscreen panels scope FX to their own detector instance via the bubbling per-panel `notedetect:fx` dispatch. `plugins/highway_3d` v3.24.1.
- **3D highway: slide direction arrows + gem-follow animation.** Slide notes now show a ›/‹ arrow indicating which way the slide goes — on the note/gem itself, as an early preview on the neck before the note arrives, and (optionally) chained further ahead for multi-leg slides — each independently toggleable in Settings → 3D Highway (`slideArrowApproachVisible`, `slideArrowNeckVisible`, `slideArrowChainPreviewVisible`). The note gem also now visually glides from its starting fret to the slide's destination over the note's sustain and holds there through the brief post-sustain linger, instead of snapping back to the starting fret — most noticeable on unpitched "slide to nothing" notes. `plugins/highway_3d` v3.25.2.
- **3D highway: up to 3 upcoming-note ghost previews per string, with fade-in/grow.** Each string now previews up to 3 upcoming notes (was 1) on a fixed 0.6 s fade-in/grow ramp, so tight same-string runs no longer pop in at full size right before impact and the player can read note order ahead of time. `isBlocked` (the pre-impact ghost suppression in a note's last 150 ms) is now scoped to chord notes only — for lead notes it had been blinking the ghost out right before each sustained note in dense runs. (Slide notes stay excluded too, per the slide-arrow work above, since their gem glides off the start fret.) `plugins/highway_3d` v3.26.0.
- **Enable/disable plugins from the v3 Pedalboard (footswitch backend).** Every `/api/plugins` entry now carries an `enabled` boolean (default `true`), and a new `POST /api/plugins/{plugin_id}/enabled` endpoint (`{"enabled": <bool>}` → `{"id", "enabled"}`) persists the choice to `CONFIG_DIR/plugin_state.json` (only non-default `enabled:false` entries are stored; a missing/corrupt file is tolerated and never crashes startup). The loader **skips disabled plugins at startup** — no requirements install, no `routes.setup()`, no screen/nav/capabilities — while still surfacing them in `/api/plugins` as a disabled entry (`status:"disabled"`, `enabled:false`) so the UI can show an "off" pedal you can switch back on. Toggling persists immediately and flips the in-memory flag so the next `/api/plugins` reflects it at once (a runtime-disabled plugin's already-mounted routes/screen remain until the next restart; re-enabling a startup-skipped plugin mounts on restart). A disabled plugin is **excluded from the capability pipeline** — its capability metadata is emptied in `/api/plugins`. Guard rails keep `capability_inspector` and `app_tour_*` always enabled (disable → `400`); unknown id → `404`; missing/non-boolean `enabled` → `400`. Backend only; the v3 Pedalboard frontend consumes this contract. Docs: `docs/plugin-v3-ui.md`.
- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 rebrand + UI redesign (opt-in, isolated).** The visible product is being renamed from **FeedBack** to **fee[dB]ack** (the `[dB]` is a decibel pun on the practice "feedback" loop) alongside a full dashboard-style UI redesign. **Rebrand scope is the app + docs wordmark only** — the repository, Python package, ghcr Docker image, `CONFIG_DIR`, and `FEEDBACK_*` env vars all keep the `feedBack` name, so existing deployments and data are unaffected. The redesigned UI is additive and served behind a feature flag: `FEEDBACK_UI=v3` flips the `/` route to the new `static/v3/` shell, and `GET /v3` always serves it; the default `/` stays byte-identical to 0.2.9 until 0.3.0 flips the default. This release adds the `static/v3/` scaffold (navy app shell + styled fee[dB]ack wordmark, brand SVG + favicon + PWA manifest with 192/512 icons), an additive `fb` Tailwind color palette (legacy `dark`/`accent`/`gold` retained) with `static/v3/**` in the content globs, and the regenerated `static/tailwind.min.css`. Vanilla JS, prebuilt Tailwind, no Play CDN (Principle II). Shell wiring, screens, profile/scoring backends, and capability-runtime integration land in subsequent v0.3.0 changes.
- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 app shell (sidebar + topbar + routing).** The v3 shell (`static/v3/index.html`) is now a re-chromed copy of the legacy app: the new left **sidebar** (HOME / LIBRARY groups) and **topbar** (secondary nav, search, Support, badge-cluster mount points) replace the hidden legacy navbar, and new `#v3-*` screens (dashboard/plugins/profile/playlists/saved) are added — while all legacy screens (`#home` library, `#favorites`, `#settings`, `#player`, `#audio`, plugin nav containers) are kept verbatim so `static/app.js` boots **unmodified** and the whole engine (player/highway, plugin loader, capabilities, audio, library, settings) is reused as-is. Navigation is the shared `window.showScreen` across `#v3-*`, reused legacy, and `#plugin-*` screens, with a responsive hamburger and a `localStorage`/`v3:`-namespaced shell. Plugin nav is mirrored into the sidebar from `/api/plugins` (UI placement is a deferred capability domain, so this uses the legacy loader, not capability dispatch). `static/v3/shell.js` wraps `window.showScreen` via the idempotent rehydration pattern to keep sidebar/topbar active-state in sync.
- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 player profile + first-run onboarding + unified XP + streak.** Adds a single-user core **profile** (`profile`/`profile_progress`/`xp_profile` tables in `web_library.db`, additive + idempotent): display name + avatar, a stable `player_hash` (SHA-256 of the first name + a once-generated salt — stable across later renames; a future-leaderboard label, never auth), and a **streak** (any session on a calendar day keeps it; a missed day resets to 1). New endpoints: `GET/POST /api/profile`, `POST /api/profile/avatar` (base64, re-encoded to a ≤512px PNG under `CONFIG_DIR/avatars/`), `GET /api/profile/avatar/{name}` (safe-joined), `GET /api/profile/avatars` (bundled defaults under `static/v3/avatars/`), `GET /api/profile/progress` (one call for the badge), and `POST /api/xp/award`. **Unified XP:** `lib/xp.py` is the single XP curve (same math the minigames plugin shipped); the core `xp_profile` store is the one source of truth the profile badge reads, exposed to plugins via `context["award_xp"]`/`get_xp_progress`/`seed_xp`. The bundled **minigames** plugin now delegates XP to the core store (seeding once from its existing `profile.json` so earned levels carry over) — so song-play, minigames, and tutorials all feed one level. Frontend: a blocking first-run onboarding overlay (name + avatar grid + upload), the topbar profile badge (avatar, 🔥 streak, level + XP bar), and the `#v3-profile` screen. Tests: `tests/test_xp.py`, `tests/test_profile_api.py`.
- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 song-stats store (best score + accuracy, plays, resume position).** A core `song_stats` table (`web_library.db`, additive + idempotent, PK `(filename, arrangement)`) records per-song/arrangement best/last score + accuracy, play count, and last position. Endpoints: `POST /api/stats` (scored session → `plays += 1`, `best_*` = max, `last_*` = new, plus **unified-XP award** `xp_for_run(score)` and a **streak** bump, both behind try/except so a side-effect failure never drops the stat write; or position-only `lastPlayPosition` → resume touch with no `plays` change), `GET /api/stats/{filename}` (aggregated across arrangements), `GET /api/stats/recent` (joined to song title/artist/art for "Jump back in"). Scoring stays frontend-driven: `static/v3/stats-recorder.js` tallies the `note:hit`/`note:miss` events the optional `feedBack-plugin-notedetect` already emits (and also accepts an explicit `note_detect:session-ended` summary), then POSTs on song end; it also persists resume position on pause/stop. No note-detect edit required — note-detection is a deferred capability domain, so the recorder uses those legacy events and degrades to "no accuracy" when the plugin isn't installed. Score/accuracy math is shared with the server via `lib/song_score.py`. Tests: `tests/test_song_score.py`, `tests/test_song_stats_api.py`.
- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 playlists, Saved for Later, and Continue-Playing.** Core playlist management (`playlists` + `playlist_songs` tables in `web_library.db`, additive + idempotent): create/rename/delete, add/remove/reorder songs, plus a reserved **Saved for Later** system playlist (created on first use; protected from rename/delete). Endpoints: `GET/POST /api/playlists`, `GET/PATCH/DELETE /api/playlists/{id}`, `POST /api/playlists/{id}/songs`, `DELETE /api/playlists/{id}/songs/{filename}`, `POST /api/playlists/{id}/reorder`, `POST /api/saved/toggle`, and `GET /api/session/continue` (derives the resume song + last position from `song_stats`, no new table). Frontend `static/v3/playlists.js` renders the `#v3-playlists` list + detail (drag-reorder, play, remove) and `#v3-saved`, and exposes `window.v3Saved.toggle()` for a "Save for later" affordance on song cards. Favorites reuse the existing favorites screen/API. Core REST, no capability domain. Tests: `tests/test_playlists_api.py`.
- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 Dashboard / Home.** The `#v3-home` dashboard (matching the v0.3.0 design target) composes the new backends: a "Welcome back, {name}!" banner with a patch-notes link (`/api/version`), a hero card (Start Playing / Create Lobby), a **Continue-Playing** card (`/api/session/continue` → art, tuning chip, 4-segment progress; click resumes via `playSong` + best-effort seek), a stats row (audio-routing widget placeholder until prompt 18, library count from `/api/library/stats`, plugins count from `/api/plugins` where `status==="ready"`), and a **Recently Played** grid (`/api/stats/recent`) with per-song accuracy badges (good/mid/low ramp). Each widget fetches + renders independently and degrades gracefully (missing/empty endpoint → placeholder, never blocks first paint). `static/v3/dashboard.js`; re-renders on return to Home and on profile update.
- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 tuner + instrument topbar badges.** The topbar gains an **instrument selector** (guitar/bass + string count + tuning + reference pitch) persisted via additive `/api/settings` fields (`reference_pitch` clamped 430–450, `instrument`, `string_count` 4–8, `tuning` name or semitone offsets); changing it emits `instrument:changed` so the note_detect scorer can re-tune (consumed once the external plugin adopts it). A **live tuner badge** stays idle until the user enables the mic (explicit gesture; `getUserMedia`), then shows a YIN note readout with a cents needle (green within ±5¢) using a new dependency-free `static/v3/tuner-core.js` (YIN + frequency→note/cents, honoring the reference pitch); clicking opens the full `feedBack-plugin-tuner` screen when installed. CPU-friendly (~20 Hz, paused when the tab is hidden, respects `prefers-reduced-motion`). Tests: `tests/test_settings_instrument.py`, `tests/js/tuner_core.test.js`.
- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 audio-routing widget (dashboard).** The dashboard's audio stat tile now reads the live audio session **through the capability runtime** — `audio-mix inspect` (route + faders + required kinds), `audio-input list-sources` (selected/available input), `audio-monitoring inspect` — and renders **Audio Input → VST/NAM/IR → Audio Output** with per-node state dots and a Connected/Not Connected line. It never touches `audio-mixer.js` internals or `nam_tone` routes directly; "Not Connected" is the honest browser default (no native route), and it degrades on `no-owner`/`no-handler`/`failed` or absent capabilities. Refreshes on `instrument:changed`, play/stop, capability audio events, and each Home visit. `static/v3/audio-routing.js`.
- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 Plugins page.** The `#v3-plugins` screen renders the enriched `/api/plugins`: a "{N} active" header (`status==="ready"`), a card grid per plugin (icon, name, version, status pill with the error on failed, capability summary badges — declared domains / validation warnings / unsupported versions / shim hits / bundled / type), an **Open →** action that navigates to the plugin's injected `#plugin-<id>` screen, and All/Bundled/Visualizations filters. Surfaces a deep-link to the bundled **Capability Inspector** rather than re-implementing the graph. No new backend. `static/v3/plugins-page.js`.
- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 Songs / Library screen (`#v3-songs`).** A native vanilla-JS library browser over the existing `/api/library*` endpoints: provider selector (via the `library` capability, not DOM scraping), grid + tree views, sort, format filter, a tri-state filter drawer (arrangements / stems / lyrics / tunings), topbar-driven search (debounced), infinite scroll, fb song cards with **accuracy badges** (good/mid/low ramp, batched via a new `GET /api/stats/best`), favorite + save-for-later affordances, and upload (reuses the existing uploader). The "Songs" sidebar nav now opens this screen. No regression to `/api/library*`. `static/v3/songs.js`.
- **`ui.library-card-injection` capability + native song-card actions (fee[dB]ack v0.3.0).** New core capability (`static/capabilities/library-card-actions.js`, owner `core.ui.library-card-injection`, exposed as `window.feedBack.libraryCardActions`) lets plugins **register** per-song library-card actions (id, label, placement, applicability, enabled state, run handler) with `action-registered`/`action-result` events — replacing the legacy `.song-card` DOM-injection pattern (roadmap domain #9, now delivered as a frontend host). The native Songs grid renders registered actions in each card's "⋮" menu; the built-in **Edit metadata** and **Convert to E Standard (retune)** actions ship through it (`static/v3/card-actions-core.js`, calling the existing `openEditModal`/`retuneSong` globals). Songs cards also gain **arrangement chips** (play a specific arrangement) and a **multi-select** mode with batch **Add to playlist** / **Save for Later**. Recipe in `docs/capability-recipes.md`; tests in `tests/js/library_card_actions.test.js`. Migrating the external card-action plugins (Sloppak Converter, Find More, editor) onto `register(...)` is a follow-up.
- **`centOffset` exposed via `getSongInfo()`** — the arrangement `<centOffset>` field (float, cents) is now parsed from all chart sources (loose folder XML, sloppak wire format) and sent as `centOffset` in the `song_info` WebSocket message. Plugins can read `getSongInfo().centOffset` to obtain the arrangement's pitch-shift offset — commonly `-1200.0` for extended-range bass (one octave down) or a small non-zero value for true-tuned content (e.g. A443 ≈ +11.8 cents). Defaults to `0.0` when absent.
- **`highway.getPhrases()` and `highway.getMastery()` public plugin API** — exposes phrase timing windows (`[{ index, start_time, end_time, max_difficulty }]`) and the current mastery slider value (`0..1`) as documented, stable plugin API. Both values were already in memory and reachable via internal names; this surfaces them with intent so plugins can implement section-aware logic (e.g. tracking accuracy per phrase, suppressing difficulty changes during a hard solo) without reaching into undocumented internals. Returns `null` when the song has no phrase data (GP imports, single-difficulty charts). Pair with the existing `hasPhraseData()` to gate phrase-aware code paths.
- **Tailwind freshness guard + wider plugin scan.** A new `tailwind-fresh` CI job (`.github/workflows/tests.yml`) rebuilds `static/tailwind.min.css` with the pinned `tailwindcss@3.4.19` and hard-fails on any diff, so the committed prebuilt stylesheet can no longer silently lag source (after PR #411 removed the runtime Play CDN, a stale file shipped unstyled elements with no guard). The `tailwind.config.js` plugin content glob is widened to `./plugins/**/*.{js,html}`, which also scans non-`screen.js` plugin JS (e.g. `plugins/app_tour_*/script.js`) that was previously invisible to the build. Regenerating under the wider glob is a no-op for runtime behaviour — it only adds classes that were already used in source. Groundwork for the plugin `styles` capability (constitution 1.1.0, Principle II): runtime-installed plugins ship their own compiled CSS rather than relying on core's build-time scan.
- **Plugin capability pipelines** — adds the first versioned capability coordination layer for plugin authors and support tooling. `/api/plugins` now exposes validated capability declarations, validation warnings, unsupported-version metadata, UI/runtime domain declarations, and compatibility shim summaries for legacy `nav` / `screen` / `settings` / `routes` / visualization surfaces. The browser runtime now tracks manifest participants separately from live handlers, explicit dispatch outcomes (`no-owner`, `no-handler`, `unsupported-command`, `incompatible-version`), claim lifecycle cleanup, manual override precedence, deterministic ownership conflicts, multi-provider ordering, shim hit counts, and a redaction-safe diagnostics snapshot capped at 64 KB. A bundled Capability Inspector plugin shows the live graph, and new docs cover the manifest schema, recipes, safety matrix, lifecycle cleanup, and diagnostics contract.
- **Audio graph/session capability slice** — promotes `audio-mix`, `audio-input`, `audio-monitoring`, and coordinated `stems` diagnostics into the capability runtime. The new audio session host records song route/fader state, redaction-safe input sources, monitoring lifecycle outcomes, stem automation claims/overrides/orphans, and compatibility bridge hits for legacy faders, song volume, Stems master volume, 3D Highway analyser taps, audio startup barriers, and input source handoffs. `core.audio.session` coordinates `stems` without replacing the Stems plugin as the owner of actual stem playback/state.
- **Audio-mix control plane** — makes `audio-mix` the player mixer source of truth. Core now exposes `list-faders`, `get-fader-value`, `set-fader-value`, `inspect-route`, and `inspect-analyser` through the capability runtime, routes native and compatibility-backed fader provider operations with a 2-second timeout, reports committed values back to the mixer UI, suppresses matching legacy faders when a native participant owns the same logical control, and expands audio-session diagnostics/Capability Inspector rendering for fader availability, source modes, bridge hits, route/analyser summaries, and timeout failures.
- **Audio-input control plane** — makes `audio-input` the redaction-safe source of truth for instrument input discovery and lifecycle. Core now exposes `list-sources`, `select-source`, `open-source`, and `close-source` through the capability runtime, persists selected logical sources, keeps inspect/list/select prompt-free, routes provider `source.open`/`source.close` operations with bounded outcomes, shares compatible open sessions across requesters, suppresses compatibility-backed duplicate sources when a native provider owns the same logical key, and expands audio-session diagnostics/Capability Inspector rendering for selected input, open sessions, bridge hits, storage status, and permission/device failures without exposing raw device labels or live audio handles.
- **Audio-monitoring control plane** — makes `audio-monitoring` the shared live-monitoring coordinator. Core now exposes provider registration/list/selection, explicit user-action `start`, requester-counted `stop`, prompt-free `inspect`/`monitoring.status`, and `set-direct-monitor` through the capability runtime. Monitoring starts integrate with selected `audio-input` readiness, background requesters can only attach to active compatible sessions, active sessions survive song/playback stops without auto-resuming after reload, native providers suppress compatibility-backed legacy monitor paths, and diagnostics/Capability Inspector now show providers, sessions, requesters, direct-monitor state, bridge hits, and distinct safe outcomes (`provider-selection-required`, `user-action-required`, `incompatible`, `unavailable`, `stopped`, etc.) without exposing raw audio/device data.
- **Playback control plane** — promotes `playback` to an active core capability domain for song transport, timing, loop, route, requester/observer, bridge, and diagnostics state. Core now exposes `inspect`, user-authorized `start`, `pause`, `resume`, `stop`, `seek`, `set-loop`, and `clear-loop` through the capability runtime while `static/app.js` keeps raw `<audio>`/JUCE handles private behind a redaction-safe adapter. Playback diagnostics use pseudonymous targets in exported bundles, local display labels only in the Capability Inspector, bounded recent outcomes/events, and bridge accounting for `window.playSong`, legacy `song:*` events, `window.feedBack` transport helpers, loop helpers, and browser/native route handoff.
- **3D highway — Tone HUD, fret dividers, chord-diagram toggle, FPS counter.** The bundled `plugins/highway_3d` gains an amber **Tone-change HUD** (shows the active tone and the next scheduled tone change; position / size / visibility configurable in settings), a **fret-dividers** toggle (vertical dividers on the highway, on by default, via `h3dBgSetFretDividersVisible`), a **chord-diagram visibility** toggle (`h3dBgSetChordDiagramVisible`), and an **FPS counter** setting migrated to `BG_DEFAULTS.fpsVisible` (drops the legacy `h3d_showFps` localStorage key). Chord-diagram position is restricted to `tl`/`tr`; legacy `bl`/`br` values are coerced on load. Perf: accent-halo shell descriptors are pre-built per string in `initScene()` and the chord-verdict cache key is encoded as a number, eliminating per-frame allocations in the `drawNote()` and chord hot paths.
- **Sloppak assembly preserves a short preview clip.** When a source chart carries a separate short browser-preview audio clip alongside the full song, the sloppak assembler now decodes it to `preview.ogg` at the sloppak root and records it under a new top-level `preview:` manifest key (POSIX relpath, same shape as `lyrics`/`cover`). A failed preview decode is logged at debug and skipped without aborting the overall build. Sources with no separate preview are unaffected. Older sloppak readers ignore the unknown `preview` key, so the change is purely additive (sloppak-spec.md §5.5 backward-compat). Documented in `docs/sloppak-spec.md` §2 alongside the other optional top-level keys. Enables [`feedBack-plugin-song-preview`](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-song-preview) to render hover-to-listen previews for sloppaks without seeking into the full audio.
- **Generic plugin asset route** — `GET /api/plugins/{plugin_id}/assets/{path}` serves arbitrary static files a plugin bundles under its own `assets/` directory (AudioWorklet modules, WASM, images, etc.), so plugins can self-host browser-fetchable assets without a CDN (Principle II). Containment is enforced by `lib/safepath.safe_join` against `<plugin>/assets/`, so `..` traversal, absolute paths, and NUL bytes cannot escape `assets/` to reach a plugin's Python modules. `.js` is served as `application/javascript`. First consumer: the stems plugin's pitch-preserving time-stretch worklet.
- **Minigames framework — bundled as a core plugin (`plugins/minigames/`).** Promotes the upstream [`feedBack-plugin-minigames`](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-minigames) repo into the core bundle so every FeedBack install gets the framework out of the box (same promotion path used for `highway_3d`). The plugin adds a top-level **Minigames** nav link (alongside Library / Favorites / Upload — not buried in the Plugins dropdown), a library-style card grid of installed minigame plugins, and a shared profile layer (XP, level, per-game leaderboards, cross-minigame unlocks) persisted under `CONFIG_DIR/minigames/` and opted into the settings export. Other plugins that want to ship a minigame add a `minigame` block to their `plugin.json` and call `window.feedBackMinigames.register(spec)`; the SDK exposes scoring (`createContinuous` runs a self-contained YIN tracker; `createDiscrete` / `createChord` wrap `note_detect`'s `createNoteDetector`), HUD primitives, run persistence, and a scheduler so individual minigames don't need their own DSP or backend. Backend endpoints live under `/api/plugins/minigames/{runs,profile,registry}`. The framework is plugin-shaped (not core code) per Principle III, but bundled so it ships with every install. First consumer: [`feedBack-plugin-flappy-bend`](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-flappy-bend), shipped separately.
- **Alpha-build heads-up banner** — when `/api/version` reports a version string containing "alpha" (case-insensitive), an amber banner appears at the top of the library section warning users that the build is in active development and may have bugs or breaking changes. The banner stays hidden on stable / beta / RC builds. No persistence or dismiss state — it's a passive notice, not a modal.
- **Drum vocabulary expanded to 18 pieces** — adds `stack` (MIDI 30, from GM's extended-percussion range, unused by real drum-kit MIDIs) and `bell` (MIDI 80 "Mute Triangle", also unused in real drum-kit MIDIs) to `lib/drums.py` PIECES. Inserted in the iteration order so the editor / highway lane ordering is *hi-hat → stack → crash → … → ride bell → bell*. Both are cymbals; default shape `circle_jagged` (stack) / `circle_dot` (bell). Old drum tabs round-trip unchanged — the schema is permissive and existing piece-ids are untouched.
- **GP / MIDI drum import surfaces unmapped notes** — `convert_drum_track_to_drumtab` (`lib/gp2rs.py`) and `convert_drum_track_from_midi` (`lib/midi_import.py`) gain an optional keyword-only `out_unmapped` parameter. Callers that pass an empty dict receive a per-MIDI record of every silently-skipped percussion note (`{midi: {"count": int, "times": [float, ...]}}`, times capped at 100 samples per note). This lets the editor plugin show a warning + manual-mapping UI on import instead of silently dropping unmapped notes. Default behavior unchanged for callers that don't opt in.
-
- **Drum support from scratch** — drums are now a first-class arrangement type with their own JSON payload on disk and their own WS stream to the highway. New `lib/drums.py` defines the closed piece-id vocabulary (kick, snare, snare_xstick, hh_closed/open/pedal, tom_hi/mid/low/floor, crash_l/r, splash, china, ride, ride_bell), default GM-MIDI mappings, three preset lane configurations, and a permissive `drum_tab.json` validator. `lib/sloppak.py::load_song` reads the manifest's optional top-level `drum_tab:` key, parses + validates the JSON, and surfaces it on `LoadedSloppak.drum_tab`; the load stays permissive so a missing or malformed tab silently disables drums rather than failing the sloppak load. `/ws/highway/{filename}` gains two new message types — `drum_tab` (metadata + kit legend) and chunked `drum_hits` (500 hits per frame, same chunking as notes) — exposed to renderers via `bundle.drumTab`. `song_info` carries a `has_drum_tab` flag so viz pickers can auto-activate the drums highway regardless of which guitar arrangement is selected. `lib/gp2rs.py::convert_drum_track_to_drumtab` converts a Guitar Pro drum track to a `drum_tab.json` dict, preserving velocity verbatim, mapping hi-hat openness through the canonical piece-ids, and flagging flam / ghost / cymbal-choke articulations from GP effects. `lib/midi_import.py` gains `list_drum_tracks` + `convert_drum_track_from_midi` (channel-9 only) with heuristic flam-collapse (≤30 ms same-piece) and choke detection (cymbal note-off ≤120 ms). `docs/sloppak-spec.md` §5.3 promotes drum_tab from worked-example to canonical with the closed piece-id table and wire format. Sloppaks without a drum_tab are unaffected; legacy drums-as-guitar-notes sloppaks keep playing via the drums plugin's fallback decoder.
- **Loose folder support** — a directory containing an audio file + arrangement XMLs, with optional `manifest.json` and album art, is now discovered, indexed, and playable as a first-class library format alongside Sloppak. The scanner walks `DLC_DIR` for non-preview audio files and treats each parent directory that also contains XMLs as a loose song. Metadata follows a `manifest.json` → XML tags → folder-name priority chain (see `lib/loosefolder.py`). Songs are tagged `format: "loose"`, render an amber `FOLDER` badge in the library, and are filterable via the new "Folder" option in the format dropdown. Audio uses the shared vgmstream/`convert_wem` pipeline, cached under `AUDIO_CACHE_DIR`. The chart `<offset>` from the first non-vocals XML is now propagated to the frontend via `song_info.offset` and applied in `highway.setTime()` so loose folders authored against non-silence-padded audio stay in sync. Pairs with the companion `feedBack-plugin-loosefolder` plugin which adds an in-player Fix Sync UI for nudging and saving offset corrections.
- Highway note-state hook (#254). New `highway.setNoteStateProvider(fn)` lets a scorer plugin publish a per-note judgment (`'hit'` / `'active'` for a sustain currently held correctly / `'miss'`, or `{ state, alpha, color }`) so the renderer lights up the **gem itself** on a correct hit and keeps a sustain trail glowing while it's still being played right — instead of a separate overlay ring near the note. The built-in 2D highway honors it in `drawNote` / `drawSustains` / the chord-frame path (bright string colour + additive halo on hits, bright vs dim sustain trail, faint red wash on misses); the bundled 3D highway reads the same data via `bundle.getNoteState` (bright string-tinted outline + bright body + glowing sustain on hit/active, red outline + suppressed body on miss). Custom renderers opt in by calling `bundle.getNoteState(note, chartTime)`. note_detect registers the provider (and still owns its HUD / diagnostic miss markers / "currently detected" indicator); renderers that ignore the hook simply don't light gems. On a confirmed hit/active the renderers add a contained "sparkle/sizzle" on the note — the 2D highway: additive throbbing halo + flickering hot core + crackling spark lines (+ an expanding shockwave ring on a fresh strike) on the gem and a glowing/jittery sustain trail; the 3D highway: a few twinkling bright dots and short crackling arc segments hugging the note's rectangle (no bloom past the note), drawn on its overlay and projected through the camera so they ride the note. Also adds `highway.isDefaultRenderer()` so overlays that position with the 2D-highway helpers (`project` / `fretX`) can skip rendering when a custom renderer is active — fixes note_detect's miss markers appearing in random places over the 3D highway. New 3D-highway setting **Show note preview on the fretboard** (on by default) toggles the board-projection ghost — the translucent preview of the upcoming note on the fretboard surface. (Note: the companion change in the **note_detect plugin repo** turns its full-screen green/red edge flash off by default and adds a toggle to re-enable it — ships separately with note_detect, not in this feedBack release.)
- Diagnostic bundle export (#166). New "Export Diagnostics" + "Preview Bundle" buttons in Settings produce a single redacted zip combining server logs (tail of `LOG_FILE`), system info (Python/OS/version), hardware probe (CPU model + cores + freq + RAM, GPU via `nvidia-smi`/`rocm-smi`/`system_profiler`, container/Electron/bare runtime detection), full plugin inventory with git SHA + remote URL (read directly from `.git/HEAD` so it works in minimal runtime images without `git` installed) + orphan/failed-to-load detection, the browser console transcript (all levels: log/info/warn/error/debug + window.onerror + unhandledrejection, 500-entry ring buffer), browser hardware (WebGL/WebGPU adapter info, navigator + userAgentData), filtered localStorage, and per-plugin contributed diagnostics. Top-level `manifest.json` lists every file with its versioned schema id (`system.hardware.v1`, `client.console.v1`, etc.) so AI agents can dispatch by schema. Redaction is on by default: DLC paths, song filenames (`<song:HASH8>` stable per-bundle), IPv4/IPv6 addresses, bearer tokens, and `key=`/`token=` query strings are replaced. Plugins opt their backend diagnostics in via a new `diagnostics` manifest field (`server_files` allowlist mirroring `settings.server_files` semantics, plus an optional `callable: "<module>:<function>"` resolved lazily via `load_sibling`). Frontend plugins push diagnostics via `window.feedBack.diagnostics.contribute(plugin_id, payload)`. Three new endpoints: `POST /api/diagnostics/export`, `GET /api/diagnostics/preview`, `GET /api/diagnostics/hardware`. Full bundle format spec in `docs/diagnostics-bundle-spec.md`.
- Structured logging bootstrap (phase 1 of #155). Three new environment variables control server log output: `LOG_LEVEL` (default `INFO`), `LOG_FORMAT` (`text` for coloured console, `json` for one-JSON-object-per-line suitable for Loki/ELK/Promtail), and `LOG_FILE` (optional path, rotated at 10 MB with 5 backups). HTTP responses now include a `X-Request-ID` correlation header (via `CorrelationIdMiddleware`); the same request ID appears as `request_id` in structured log lines emitted via the stdlib `logging` / `structlog` APIs during that request.
- Structured logging migration completed (phase 2 of #155, #159, #242). The 42 `print()` calls and 6 `traceback.print_exc()` calls across `server.py` and `lib/` have been migrated to levelled `feedBack.*` loggers. Silent `except: pass` blocks in `lib/sloppak.py` and `lib/sloppak_convert.py` now surface as `log.warning` / `log.debug` with the exception attached. WebSocket handlers (`highway_ws`, `ws_retune`) bind a `ws_conn_id` contextvar at accept time so every log line within a session carries a connection ID. A CI grep guard in `.github/workflows/tests.yml` fails the build if either `print(` or `traceback.print_exc(` reappears in `server.py` or `lib/`.
- **Lyrics Karaoke plugin** — end-to-end karaoke setup for Sloppak songs in one workflow. The setup screen shows a per-song checklist (vocals stem / synced lyrics / per-syllable pitch) and a single "Build Karaoke" button that runs whatever's missing: Whisper alignment of pasted lyric text against the vocals stem, then `librosa.pyin` pitch extraction. Both artifacts persist inside the Sloppak (`lyrics.json`, `vocal_pitch.json`). In the player, a "Karaoke" toggle swaps the text-lyrics overlay for a horizontal pitch ribbon (one bar per syllable, vertically positioned by pitch, sweeping playhead).
- Settings export/import (#113). Two buttons on the Settings page bundle server config, browser localStorage, and opted-in plugin server-side files into a single versioned JSON file for backup, migration, or sharing a calibrated setup. Server-side import is all-or-nothing for safety-critical failures: phase-1 validates the entire bundle (schema, path-traversal, encoding) before any disk writes; phase-2 commits each file via temp+rename. Plugin-state mismatches between export and import are handled leniently: files referenced for a plugin that isn't loaded are skipped with a warning, files referenced for a plugin whose manifest no longer declares them are skipped with a warning, and localStorage is merged (not cleared) so first-run defaults from plugins installed after the export are preserved. Path-traversal, absolute paths, schema mismatch, and decode failures remain hard refusals. Plugins opt their server-side files in by declaring `settings.server_files` in `plugin.json` (list of relpaths under `CONFIG_DIR`; trailing `/` denotes a directory).
- Library filtering by parts present or missing (#129, #69). New right-side Filters drawer (single button next to the format/sort row, with active-filter count badge and dismissible chips below) lets you require or exclude arrangements (Lead/Rhythm/Bass/Combo), specific stems on Sloppaks (drums/bass/vocals/piano/other), lyrics, and tuning. Multi-select within an axis is OR (Lead OR Rhythm); cross-axis is AND. State persists across reloads. New endpoint `GET /api/library/tuning-names` returns distinct tunings present in the library, ordered by musical distance.
- Sort library by year (#128). Two new options in the sort dropdown: "Year (newest)" and "Year (oldest)". Songs without a year are pushed to the bottom for both directions.
- **`highway.getLyrics()` accessor.** `createHighway()` now exposes the parsed timed lyric syllables (`[{t, d, w}]`) via `getLyrics()`, mirroring `getBeats()`/`getSections()`, so overlay plugins can render karaoke without opening a second highway WebSocket. Pure accessor; no behavior change.
-
-### Changed
- **Perf (3D highway, feedBack#226)**: pre-warm `plugins/highway_3d/screen.js` object pools at board init. Previously the pool factory grew lazily on first `.get()` past the high-water mark, allocating a fresh `T.Mesh` mid-rAF on dense 7/8-string charts and stalling those frames; the meshes were then permanently added to `noteG` (the pool only hides on `reset()`, never removes), bloating the scene graph for the rest of the session. Pre-warming spends the cost up front. Fold the per-frame `updateStringHighlights()` per-string loop with the post-call `mGlow`/`mAccentCore` emissive writes — one walk over the per-string scratch arrays instead of two. Replace `longestConsecutiveRun`'s per-call array allocations with a `{start, len}` index pair (trades two per-call sub-array allocations for one small 2-key object — net reduction in per-visible-chord allocation churn). Opt-in perf bench harness via `?h3dbench=1` URL param: `console.log` p50/p95/max for six update() segments every 5 seconds; when the URL flag is absent the mark helpers are bound to empty functions at renderer-instance init (each `createHighway()` panel re-checks the flag), so the hot-path calls are no-ops with negligible overhead (typically JIT-inlined).
- **License**: Relicensed to AGPL-3.0-only. Prior versions claimed MIT in the README, but the bundled desktop build statically links JUCE 8 (AGPL-3.0), so AGPL terms have effectively governed the desktop distribution since JUCE was added. AGPL-3.0-only is now the canonical license for the project — see [LICENSE](LICENSE) and [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) (DCO sign-off + plugin licensing policy). Bundled and vendored third-party code keeps its original license.
- Tuning sort is now ordered by musical distance from E Standard (#22) instead of alphabetical: E Standard first, then Drop D / F Standard at distance 2, then Eb Standard / F# Standard at distance 6, etc. Within a magnitude tier, down-tuned variants come before up-tuned, then alphabetical.
- Settings page restructured into separate "FeedBack" (core) and "Plugins" sections, with each plugin's settings rendered as a collapsible panel (collapsed by default). "Plugin Updates" moved into the Plugins section.
- **Lyrics Sync** is now a redirect stub. Its alignment + save endpoints moved into the new Lyrics Karaoke plugin alongside the pitch extraction. Existing nav entries and bookmarks land on a "moved" page that auto-redirects to the merged plugin.
-
-### Security
- **Path traversal in archive extractors and library path resolution.** `lib/sloppak.py::_unpack_zip` and `server.py::_resolve_dlc_path` previously concatenated attacker-controlled entry names or filenames directly onto the extraction or library directory, so a crafted sloppak zip member or library filename with `..` segments, an absolute path, or backslash separators could write or read outside the intended directory. Any code path that unpacks a user-supplied archive (library upload, click-to-play, retune) or resolves a library path was reachable. Both locations now delegate to a new `lib/safepath.py::safe_join` helper that resolves each destination once and rejects entries that don't fall under the target directory; rejected entries are logged and skipped, the rest of the archive still extracts. The stem-split paths in `lib/sloppak_convert.py::split_stems` and `scripts/split_stems.py` previously called `ZipFile.extractall()` directly on user-supplied sloppaks; both now delegate to the same hardened `lib/sloppak.py::_unpack_zip` so every sloppak-unzip site in the codebase shares one containment guarantee. Tests in `tests/test_archive_traversal.py` and `tests/test_safepath.py` pin the contract for `../`, deep traversal, absolute paths, mixed `subdir/../../` forms, Windows-style separators, NUL bytes, names that resolve to the unpack root, and symlinked roots.
-
-### Fixed
- E Standard retune now stays metadata-consistent across a chart's arrangement files (feedBack-plugin-notedetect#50). Previously the retune path could shift the audio and update manifests while leaving some arrangement metadata untouched, so `load_song()` later exposed the *original* tuning at runtime. `lib/retune.py` now updates every arrangement's tuning metadata consistently before applying the E Standard tuning, and raises on a partial update instead of silently packing split tuning metadata. EStd files generated before this fix should be re-converted so their metadata is consistent.
- Keyboard shortcut help now opens from the Player/3D Highway context when Linux/Electron reports Shift+Slash as `key="/"`, including while player controls such as the visualization picker are focused (#598).
- 3D Highway left-handed mode now has regression coverage for fret-axis mirroring, board rebuilds on runtime lefty changes, and mirrored camera state including the lookahead target and shoulder offset; the maintainer guide no longer claims the renderer ignores `bundle.lefty` (#321).
- Chord-level `fretHandMute` is now parsed into each note's `fret_hand_mute` (wire `fhm`) instead of being folded into `mute` (`mt`), matching `_parse_note` and preserving wire-format fidelity for both the template-expanded (synthetic-note) and explicit-`chordNote` paths. The 3D highway renders the fret-hand-mute X for `mt` *or* `fhm` notes, so the muted-chord overlay still shows. Also fixes the per-note fret-connector label vanishing exactly at the hit line (the fade now holds full opacity through `dt = 0`).
- `gp2rs` now respects the time-signature denominator when emitting ebeat subdivisions, fixing misaligned beat grids in 6/8 and other non-quarter-note meters.
- Settings dropdowns (Default Arrangement, Platform Filter) now persist immediately when changed. Previously a dropdown selection was only written to `config.json` when an unrelated "Save" button (Library Folder or Demucs Server) was clicked, so picking a default arrangement and navigating away silently discarded it. Both `<select>` controls now POST the single changed field on `change` via the partial-merge `/api/settings` endpoint, matching the auto-save behaviour of the A/V Sync Offset and mastery sliders. The text inputs (Library Folder Path, Demucs Server URL) keep their explicit Save buttons. Autosaves are sent through a single client-side queue (one request in flight at a time, in selection order), and the `POST /api/settings` handler now serializes its read-modify-write of `config.json` under a lock so concurrent partial updates can no longer overwrite each other and drop a key. The config write is also atomic (temp + rename) and `/api/settings/import` shares the same lock, so readers never observe a half-written file and a settings import can't race a concurrent partial save.
- Demucs stem split failing on Windows desktop with `OSError: Could not load this library: libtorchcodec_core4.dll` or `ImportError: TorchCodec is required for save_with_torchcodec`. The demucs subprocess now bootstraps a `torchaudio.save` → `soundfile.write` shim before importing demucs, sidestepping the torchcodec dependency entirely. The override stays in place across torchaudio versions — soundfile's WAV writes are behaviorally equivalent for demucs's float32 outputs.
- Splitscreen pop-out windows briefly flashed the library/song grid before showing the popped panel. A popup loads the full app (whose default screen, `#home`, is the library) and only swaps to the player once the splitscreen plugin loads; app init now detects `?ssFollower=1` and switches to the player screen up front, so the popup shows player chrome the whole time.
- Sloppak assembly dropped all tone data — affected sloppaks showed no signal chain in the Tones plugin and no tone-change markers on the highway. The assembler (`lib/sloppak_convert.py`) now lifts each arrangement's tones from the source chart via the new `lib/tones.py` helper and embeds them inline in the arrangement JSON under a `tones` key (`base`, `changes`, `definitions` — see `docs/sloppak-spec.md` §3.9). The highway WebSocket reads `base`/`changes` for sloppaks, and the Tones plugin (≥ 1.1.0) reads `definitions` to render the gear chain. Sloppaks built before this release carry no tone data and must be rebuilt from their source chart to gain it.
- Tab View (feedBack-plugin-tabview ≥ 3.0.1): the bottom row of tablature was permanently hidden behind the player controls bar (#336). The overlay reserved 60px at the *top* (clearing the transparent HUD) and extended all the way to the bottom of `#player`, where the opaque `#player-controls` (z-index 10) drew over the last row. The overlay now measures `#player-hud` and `#player-controls` dynamically and insets both edges; a `ResizeObserver` on the controls bar re-runs the inset when it wraps to a second row on narrow viewports.
- Tab View (feedBack-plugin-tabview ≥ 3.0.1): the cursor highlight led playback by roughly one beat (#336). alphaTab snaps `tickPosition` to the start of the *next* beat, so the cursor would race ahead by 500ms+ at typical tempos. The plugin now sends `tickPosition` one beat earlier so the snap lands on the current beat, and the highlight overlay tracks the bar cursor (`.at-cursor-bar`) instead of the next-beat cursor (`.at-cursor-beat`).
-
-### Migration notes
- **Constitution amended to 1.1.0 (Principle II — Vanilla Frontend).** Prebuilt Tailwind (`static/tailwind.min.css`) is now codified as non-negotiable: no Play CDN / runtime CSS JIT anywhere, core or plugin. Plugin authors: a plugin that uses Tailwind classes not guaranteed in core — especially arbitrary values like `w-[37px]` — MUST ship its own compiled stylesheet via the new `styles` manifest key, built with `corePlugins.preflight = false`. Plugins that use only core-guaranteed utilities, or that ship no Tailwind at all, need no change. Contributors: after adding any Tailwind class to core or a bundled plugin, run `bash scripts/build-tailwind.sh` and commit the regenerated CSS, or the `tailwind-fresh` CI job fails.
- The library filters depend on three new columns (`stem_ids`, `tuning_name`, `tuning_sort_key`) that are populated as songs are scanned. If filters look empty after upgrading, run **Settings → Full Rescan** to repopulate; alternatively the periodic background rescan picks them up over time.
-
-## [0.2.4] - 2026-04-22
-
-### Added
- Version badge in navbar (`/api/version` endpoint + `VERSION` file)
- `CHANGELOG.md` and semantic versioning
- Step Mode plugin
- `gp2midi` improvements and expanded test coverage
- Note Detection plugin factory-pattern refactor with multi-instance/splitscreen support
- Per-panel note detection in Split Screen plugin with M/L/R channel routing for multi-input interfaces
-
-### Fixed
- `SLOPPAK_CACHE_DIR` moved to `CONFIG_DIR` for AppImage compatibility
- Improved error message when plugin requirements fail to install
+# Changelog
+
+All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
+
+The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
+and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
+
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Added
+- **Opt-in career venue packs (#122)** — higher-tier venue crowd media
+  (`club`, `arena`) is no longer bundled; the app downloads each pack on demand
+  from its release when you reach the venue (sha256-verified), keeping the
+  starter `bar` venue bundled for offline play. Trims ~678 MB from the desktop
+  download; an unpublished pack shows "coming soon" and plays on the standard
+  stage until its release lands.
+- **Session-sync relay WebSocket — `/ws/sync/{session_id}` (#1030).** A
+  deliberately dumb JSON fan-out room: a text frame received from one client is
+  forwarded verbatim to every other client on the same session id; the server
+  interprets nothing (message schemas are owned by consumers). Rooms are created
+  on first join and garbage-collected when the last socket leaves — no history,
+  no replay, no persistence, so a host that crashes and rejoins the same id
+  resumes publishing to reconnecting subscribers with no server-side
+  coordination. Session ids are client-generated (`[A-Za-z0-9_-]{4,64}`); DoS
+  hygiene for a LAN-exposed port via frame-size (16 KB), per-room (16 sockets),
+  total-room (32), and per-socket rate (120 msg/s sustained, 240 burst) caps —
+  over-limit sockets are closed with a policy code and the room carries on, and
+  a peer that dies — or stalls: fan-out sends are bounded by a 5 s timeout —
+  mid-fan-out is dropped without disturbing delivery to the rest. `main.py`
+  also caps inbound WS frames at the transport (`ws_max_size=64 KB`, down from
+  uvicorn's 16 MB default) so oversized frames never materialize server-side. First consumer: splitscreen's "pop out to LAN" follower mode
+  (feedBack-plugin-splitscreen#21), which relays playhead/playstate/song-change
+  frames from a host window to view-only followers on other LAN devices.
+  Implementation in `lib/routers/ws_sync.py`; tests in `tests/test_ws_sync.py`.
+- **Drum-part picker (feedpak 1.17.0 "drums as arrangements").** When a song
+  carries several drum charts, a **Drum part** selector appears beside the
+  arrangement switcher (advanced settings) so a player can choose which drummer
+  to play. Selecting one re-streams that part's tab over the highway WS
+  (`?drum_part=<id>`, mirroring the arrangement switch); the choice persists
+  across an arrangement change, and the picker reflects the server's
+  authoritative part (unknown/absent selection falls back to the primary). The
+  row hides for single-drum and non-drum songs, so nothing changes there. Builds
+  on the loader below; no plugin change needed — the drum renderer just draws
+  whatever tab streams.
+- **Multiple drum parts (feedpak 1.17.0 "drums as arrangements").** The sloppak
+  loader now reads `type: drums` arrangement entries carrying per-arrangement
+  `drum_tab` file pointers — a song can ship several drum charts (a second
+  drummer, an aux-percussion layer). Parts surface as `LoadedSloppak.drum_parts`
+  (primary first; the entry aliasing the song-level `drum_tab:` key is the
+  primary and is never loaded twice), the highway WS `song_info` gains a
+  `drum_parts` name list, and `?drum_part=<id>` on the WS URL selects which
+  part's tab streams (`drum_tab` messages carry `part_id` when multiple parts
+  exist; unknown ids fall back to the primary). Pointer entries are **never**
+  loaded as fretted arrangements — the loader's file/notation gate keeps a drum
+  part out of the fretted pipeline (and out of note-detection grading), pinned
+  by test. Legacy single-drum packs read exactly as before, as a one-part list.
+- **`chart-transform` capability domain (#952)** — plugins can now remap the
+  chart before rendering and scoring through a core-owned provider
+  coordinator. Synchronous transforms run after difficulty filtering; host
+  data is isolated from providers, accepted timelines are time-sorted, and
+  failures fall back to the original chart with a fixed public reason.
+  Effective chart arrays and metadata are available to 2D/custom renderers
+  and highway getters, while `getSongInfo()` retains the original metadata.
+  Provider selection persists and applies to primary and splitscreen highways.
+- **Library filter: one-click "Not split" + a piano stem pill.** The v3 Filters drawer's
+  stems section gains a **Not split** shortcut that selects "lacks every instrument stem"
+  in one tap — the same query Stem Splitter's missing-stems view runs — instead of
+  cycling five pills to ✕ by hand. The pill row also gains `piano` (the drawer offered
+  five of the canonical six stems, so a piano-only song wrongly matched a hand-built
+  "lacks all" filter). "No lyrics" already existed in the Lyrics section.
+- **Gold tier (career passports)** — an earned badge turns **gold** when
+  Virtuoso verifies an improvised jam in the passport's style (the
+  `gold_improv` artifact relays with the drill snapshot; a genre inherits its
+  family's style, gained-only, and gold never substitutes for the badge bar
+  itself). Gold gets its own ceremony, stamp slam, foil chip, and gold ink on
+  the shelf cover, profile wall, and passport card; the bronze page's "Gold
+  rung coming" preview becomes a live invitation to jam it.
+- **Gigs (the career verb, frontend)** — book a gig from any opened passport:
+  a gig poster proposes the setlist (re-roll for a different bill; save or
+  copy the poster as a PNG), "Play the gig" hands the set to the play queue
+  with the venue on stage, a floating strip tracks the set, and finishing it
+  logs dated entries with per-song accuracies in the passport book — with an
+  encore celebration (crowd eruption + confetti) when the whole set clears
+  the bar, and a summary poster to share. Quitting mid-set simply abandons
+  it: no log, no fail state.
+- **Career on the Profile and Home pages** — the Profile gains a passport
+  wall (earned-badge covers per instrument, hours, gig count; absent until a
+  passport exists), injected through the same mount-point + rendered-event
+  seam the achievements plugin uses (now documented in docs/plugin-v3-ui.md).
+  The home page's plugin-count stat tile becomes a career trading card
+  (badges, hours, the closest stamp ask, foil shine) with the old stat as the
+  built-in fallback when career has no state. Earned passports gain **Save
+  card / Copy card** — a natively-drawn PNG passport card, downloadable or
+  copied straight to the clipboard for pasting outside the app (shared
+  `blob-io` helpers replace the download idiom previously duplicated in
+  settings-io and diagnostics-export).
+- **Gigs (backend)** — career mode gains its verb: `POST
+  /api/plugins/career/gigs/propose` builds a playable setlist for an
+  instrument+genre (your qualifying songs plus a couple of stakes songs near
+  the bar; a young passport fills from unplayed genre songs — the first gig
+  is how stubs start; re-roll by calling again), naming the room your stars
+  can book. `POST /gigs` logs a **completed** set — per-song accuracies read
+  from the set's own freshly-recorded stats, an encore flag at the
+  data-driven bar (avg ≥ 75%) — into the career state; abandoned sets never
+  log (no fail state: the gig you finished is the gig you played). Passports
+  carry their gig log; instruments their gig count.
+- **3D Highway: fret wires flash on a confirmed hit** — when a scorer (note_detect)
+  confirms a note through the `getNoteState` provider (feedBack#254), the fret wires
+  bracketing it light up. A fretted note lights the wire behind it and the wire it's
+  pressed against; a chord lights only the outermost wires of its shape; an open
+  string lights the anchor lane's edge wires (its gem is drawn as a slab spanning the
+  lane, so those are the wires it sits between); a chord likewise lights the lane's edge
+  wires — the lit lane strip can run a fret past the chord's outermost fret, and a
+  bracket one wire inside the lit lane reads as misaligned (the shape's own outer pair
+  survives only as the fallback on anchor-less charts). At most **two wires are ever lit at
+  once**: when overlapping decay tails (fast passages) would light a run of wires, the
+  flash collapses to the outermost pair of the lit span — one bracket, never a picket
+  fence. The gem's rim joins in: on a confirmed hit the outline flashes in the
+  string's own colour with the same intensity treatment as the wires, fading with the
+  scorer's alpha. With no scorer attached, nothing changes.
+- **Background controls in the player (3D Highway)** — change the highway
+  background mid-song from the player's Plugin Controls popover instead of
+  opening Settings: a style dropdown, a Reactive toggle, and an Intensity
+  slider, all kept in sync with the Settings page. Controls that the active
+  style ignores are greyed out with a reason on hover (Custom video and
+  Butterchurn use neither; Custom image uses Intensity but not Reactive), so
+  a knob is never present-but-inert. The control disappears when a non-3D
+  renderer is selected. The whole group also greys out while the Venue scene
+  override is active, since none of the three controls reach a mounted style
+  in that mode.
+
+### Changed
+- **`GET /api/song/{f}?stems=1`** (new, opt-in) — returns the pack's playable stem
+  list (`[{id, url, default}]` + `full_mix_url`), the same list the highway's WS
+  `ready` sends. The stems plugin could only learn it from that WS message, which
+  arrives once the highway is already on screen — so it decoded and then copied the
+  whole song's PCM to its audio worklet with the player visible: over half a gigabyte
+  of memcpy in one frame for a 6-stem pack, a measured 698 ms freeze right as the
+  song-credits card appeared. With the list available at `song:loading` the plugin
+  does all of it before the highway is drawn. Built by calling `load_song` itself, so
+  it cannot drift from what the WS sends. Opt-in, so the library's metadata calls pay
+  nothing.
+- **Folder library renders only the songs on screen** (#965) — a song list used to
+  render *every* song it held. On a flat 50,944-song library that was one `<div>`
+  with 50,938 children and ~1.3 **million** DOM nodes (~4.2 GB of renderer memory),
+  built even while another screen was showing. A document that size also punishes
+  unrelated code: any `document.querySelector` that misses has to walk the whole
+  tree — which is how the song-preview menu check ended up eating ~50% of the
+  renderer and dropping the app to 2.7 fps. Lists longer than 200 songs are now
+  windowed (25–31 rows in the DOM instead of 50,000); shorter lists are unchanged.
+- **3D Highway: fret wires read as a focus cue** — the contrast between the active
+  anchor lane and the rest of the neck is widened (the lane's wires brighter, the rest
+  dimmer), and the wires themselves are slightly thicker.
+- **The full mix is a stem** (#933) — core no longer depends on `original_audio:`, a
+  top-level manifest key this repo invented (#583) that the feedpak spec never had.
+  The format already carried the pre-separation mixdown as a stem; feedpak 1.15.0
+  (feedpak-spec#53) reserves the id **`full`** for it, so that is where core reads it
+  from now.
+
+  `full` is a mixdown, not a layer — it already contains every instrument — so
+  `load_song()` lifts it OUT of `LoadedSloppak.stems` onto `LoadedSloppak.full_mix`.
+  Nothing that sums stems or renders one fader per stem can see it, which is what
+  makes retaining it safe; leaving it in the list would double the whole song and
+  leave "guitar" audible with the guitar fader muted. That trap is exactly why the
+  packer invented the key instead of putting the mixdown where the format says it
+  goes — the bug was in the reader, and this fixes the reader.
+
+  Consequences worth knowing:
+  - The highway WS `song_info` frame gains `full_mix_url` / `has_full_mix`.
+    `original_audio_url` / `has_original_audio` remain as **deprecated aliases**
+    (same values) for one release so a client built against the old frame keeps
+    working; they go with the fallback below (#945).
+  - `stems` on `song_info`, and `stem_ids` / `stem_count` in the library index, now
+    describe *instrument* stems only — a separated pack that retains its mixdown no
+    longer advertises a bogus "full" stem chip or an inflated stem count.
+  - Audio fingerprinting (`lib/enrichment.py`) now resolves the mixdown the same
+    way, which **widens** its coverage: it previously returned `None` for any pack
+    without the invented key, so fingerprinting silently did nothing for the
+    overwhelming majority of packs.
+  - Core still **reads** `original_audio:` as a deprecated fallback, because every
+    pack written before the spec caught up carries it and would otherwise lose its
+    pristine mix. `tools/migrate_full_mix_stem.py` rewrites those packs into the
+    spec shape (moves `original/full.ogg` → `stems/full.ogg`, adds the `full` stem
+    at `default: off`, drops the key); the fallback and the aliases are removed once
+    they are migrated (#945).
+- **Folder Library previews on hover, like the grid and list views.** The Folders
+  view's cards and rows now carry the standard `data-fn` / `data-v3-play` markup,
+  so the existing **Song Preview** plugin previews them on hover exactly like the
+  other views (same audio, same behaviour) — Folder Library ships no preview code
+  of its own.
+
+### Added
+- **Genres fall back to MusicBrainz enrichment** — the effective genre now
+  resolves override → pack genre → the enrichment match's primary genre
+  (matched or user-pinned manual rows only). Converted packs rarely carry a `genres` manifest key,
+  which starved the library genre facet and career passports on real
+  libraries; with the fallback, every enriched song's genre is browsable and
+  passport-able immediately, and coverage grows as enrichment runs.
+- **Badge ceremony in the venue** — earning a genre badge now stages a moment:
+  the crowd layer erupts (new public `v3VenueCrowd.celebrate()` — instant
+  ecstatic loop bypassing the stability/dwell hysteresis, plus a cheer stinger;
+  a no-op without a venue pack) and a full-screen overlay drops the bronze
+  stamp with a shine sweep and a confetti burst over whatever screen is active
+  (badges land right after `stats:recorded`, while the player is still up).
+  Click or wait ~4s to dismiss; `prefers-reduced-motion` gets the existing
+  chime + notification only. The stamp still slams into the passport book on
+  next open, unchanged.
+- **Hours-per-genre odometer (career passports)** — the app now measures real
+  play time: the stats recorder accrues **wall-clock** seconds across
+  play/resume ↔ pause/stop/end spans (wall time, not song position — position
+  deltas double-count A-B loops and mis-read seeks; single spans clamp at 2h
+  against suspend/sleep inflation) and piggybacks them as `seconds` on the
+  `POST /api/stats` calls it already makes. New additive
+  `song_stats.seconds_total` column; a seconds-only POST banks time for
+  unscored plays that run to the song's natural end without touching the
+  resume position (and still counts as playing today for the streak).
+  Passports surface it honestly: "14.2 h in Blues" under the badge and on the
+  shelf cover — a true fact that only grows, never a target or a meter.
+- **Career passport drills, curated** — Bronze in blues/rock/metal/funk/jazz
+  now also asks for that genre's signature Virtuoso drill (Blues Shuffle,
+  Power Chords & Backbeat, Gallop Picking, 16th Pocket, Shell Voicings — one
+  per genre, data-driven in `passports.json` with display labels). Drill
+  lists are per-instrument (`virtuoso_nodes: {instrument: [nodes]}`; a flat
+  list still means guitar), so a keys passport never demands a guitar drill.
+  A drill counts as cleared on the first real completion artifact — a
+  top-tier clean pass in one key (`keysCleared`), any depth rung, or
+  mastery — rather than only the maxed-speed depth flips. Genres without a
+  curated drill stay songs-only.
+- **Career passport visuals pack** — earned covers and badge stamps become
+  trading cards (pointer-tracked tilt + light glint, hover-capable devices
+  only); the ghost stamp visibly "carves in" as qualifying songs land (a
+  conic ink fill, no numbers added); the Gold rung preview is a small foil
+  chip with a shimmer sweep, still honestly labeled coming. All theatrics
+  disabled under `prefers-reduced-motion`.
+- **Career passports (backend)** — the badge-journey layer on top of career stars.
+  New career-plugin endpoints: `GET /api/plugins/career/passports` (per-instrument
+  passport walls: genre badges computed on read from `song_stats` × the library's
+  effective genre — Bronze = N genre songs at K★, data-driven in
+  `plugins/career/passports.json`, default 5 songs at 2★ — plus qualifying-song
+  "ticket stubs", the library genre list, and drill status), `POST /passports/commit`
+  (instrument commitment), `POST /passports/open` (open a genre
+  passport), and `POST /drill-state` (intake for the relayed Virtuoso
+  `virtuoso.progress` snapshot, so drill requirements can gate badges
+  server-side). Badges are never stored; the only persisted state (commitments,
+  opened passports, drill snapshot) lives under `CONFIG_DIR/career/` and rides the
+  settings export/import bundle via `settings.server_files`. Instruments are
+  attributed via the existing progression arrangement→instrument mapping;
+  non-graded instruments (bass, drums) render shown-not-judged — repertoire
+  without a pass bar, never a false badge denial.
+- **Career passports (UI)** — the Career screen gains a Passports tab beside
+  Venues: a physical per-instrument passport book (embossed leather cover, 3D
+  page-turn) with a wax-seal commitment ceremony (Stage 0), rubber-stamp badge
+  slam with ink bleed and deterministic per-genre jitter, qualifying songs as
+  collected ticket stubs, and unopened genres as an "Explore next"
+  travel-brochure rack (invitations, never greyed-out slots or completion
+  meters). Badge earns chime + notify immediately; the stamp slam plays when
+  the passport is next opened. Four small synthesized sound effects ship as
+  plugin assets. The career screen also relays the Virtuoso `virtuoso.progress`
+  localStorage snapshot to the drill-state intake on `virtuoso:progress` bus
+  events (debounced, plus a one-time bootstrap), closing the
+  fires-into-a-void seam without touching the virtuoso plugin.
+- **CI gate: core must stay faithful to the feedpak spec (`feedpak-spec` job).** feedpak is published as
+  an open format with its own repo, normative spec, JSON Schemas, and reference validator — but nothing
+  stopped core from reading a manifest key the spec never defined, which is exactly what happened with
+  `original_audio` (#583 → #933). `tools/check_spec_conformance.py` now enforces four surface properties
+  in CI: (1) **key-coverage** — every manifest key core reads *or writes* is declared in the spec's
+  `manifest.schema.json`, found by walking the AST of `lib/sloppak.py`, `lib/enrichment.py`, and
+  `lib/songmeta.py`, `lib/gp2notation.py`, and `lib/routers/ws_highway.py` (writes are gated too — including
+  `setdefault()` — and reported separately: a key core writes lands in every pack we emit, so an undeclared
+  one seeds the ecosystem with non-spec data; a **readers-complete** guard fails the build if that module
+  list falls behind the codebase); (2) **allowlist-closed** — `feedpak-spec-exceptions.yml` never grows;
+  (3) **forward** — core's `load_song()` ingests every example pack the spec ships;
+  (4) **reverse** — every pack committed here passes the spec's own `tools/validate.py` (7/7 pass today).
+  The gate verifies against the spec repo's **HEAD** — the app must conform to the living spec, and the
+  flow is self-serve: a gated PR opens a FEP, the spec PR merges, re-running checks goes green. Nothing to
+  pin, nothing to bump. Each run logs the spec SHA it verified against so results are reproducible.
+  **There is no in-repo escape hatch, by design.** A blocked PR has exactly one route: land the key in the
+  spec via the [FEP process](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedpak-spec/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md), then
+  re-run the PR's checks — the gate verifies against the spec's HEAD, so it goes green once the key is real. `feedpak-spec-exceptions.yml` is a **closed
+  grandfather list** for keys that predate the gate, not a bypass: a fourth check (**allowlist-closed**)
+  diffs it against the base branch and fails any PR that *adds* an entry, so it may only shrink.
+  `original_audio` is grandfathered there against #933 so the gate lands green and starts blocking the
+  *next* instance immediately; the gate takes no position on how #933 resolves (the expected outcome is
+  removing the key, since the spec already carries the mixdown as a stem — not adopting it). Docs:
+  [docs/feedpak-spec-gate.md](docs/feedpak-spec-gate.md).
+
+### Removed
+- **The classic v2 UI shell is gone — v3 is the only UI (R3a).** `static/index.html`, the
+  `/v2` route, and the `FEEDBACK_UI` v2/legacy opt-out are deleted; `/` and `/v3` both serve
+  `static/v3/index.html`, which has been the default since 0.3.0. This is the first step of
+  the core-frontend ES-module migration (R3a): both shells load the same `static/app.js`, so
+  every subsequent step of that migration would otherwise have to be made, and verified,
+  twice. Removing the fallback now halves that surface before any of it is touched.
+  Incidentally fixes a latent bug in the old `index()` route — its guard read
+  `if getenv_compat("FEEDBACK_UI") or getenv_compat("FEEDBACK_UI") in ("v2", "legacy")`,
+  whose left operand is truthy for *any* non-empty value, so `FEEDBACK_UI=v3` actually served
+  the **v2** shell. `static/tailwind.min.css` is regenerated (the content globs scanned the
+  deleted file, so v2-only utility classes are now purged). Constitution amended to 1.3.0:
+  Principle II's frontend file list now names `static/v3/index.html`.
+  **Migration notes:** if you set `FEEDBACK_UI=v2` (or `=legacy`), or bookmarked `/v2`, there
+  is no longer a classic shell to fall back to — unset the variable and use `/`. The env var
+  itself is no longer read; the `SLOPSMITH_*`→`FEEDBACK_*` compat shim is unaffected. No
+  chart, settings, or plugin data changes, and no plugin API changes: v3 reuses the same
+  engine (`app.js`, `highway.js`, `playSong`, `showScreen`, the capability registry).
+
+### Fixed
+- **GP8 asset resolution honours the directory the registry named.**
+  `<EmbeddedFilePath>` is matched on filename stem so a format variant of the
+  same recording can win (an `.ogg` beside the declared `.mp3` is copied out
+  losslessly instead of transcoded) — but the search was not restricted to the
+  declared directory, so an unrelated file elsewhere in the archive that merely
+  shared the stem could stand in for the declared asset. That is the exact
+  substitution the registry lookup exists to prevent. Candidates are now
+  confined to the registry path's own directory; a genuinely absent asset
+  falls through as documented.
+- **Guitar Pro 8: the right backing track is extracted when a file carries more than one.**
+  `BackingTrack/AssetId` is a key into the GPIF's `<Assets>` registry — `<Asset
+  id="0"><EmbeddedFilePath>` names the exact path inside the archive — but it
+  was being matched against embedded *filename stems*. GP8 names embedded audio
+  by hash while ids are small integers, so that match essentially never hit: every
+  such file warned and fell through to "first audio asset". That was silently
+  correct while a file carried exactly one recording — with two, a backing track
+  declaring id 1 resolved to asset 0, i.e. the wrong take. Resolution now reads
+  the registry first (verifying the path is really in the archive, so a stale
+  entry falls through rather than resolving to nothing), then the legacy stem
+  match, then the first asset.
+- **Guitar Pro import no longer fails on non-ASCII song metadata (Windows).**
+  The GP→arrangement-XML writers wrote their output with `Path.write_text()`
+  and no explicit encoding, so on Windows (cp1252 default) a metadata
+  character like the © in an album name ("Chrysalis©1982") was written as a
+  lone `0xA9` byte — invalid UTF-8 — and import died with
+  `not well-formed (invalid token): line N, column 22`. All three arrangement
+  XML writes now pin `encoding="utf-8"`.
+- **3D Highway: the lane stops at the hit line** (#991) — the highway lane, its
+  dividers, and the fret boundary extension lines ran `BEHIND` seconds *past* the
+  hit line toward the player. Nothing is ever drawn in that strip (notes and chord
+  frames clamp to `Math.min(0, dZ(dt))`), so it read as lane with no notes on it.
+  The floor geometry now ends at the hit line; its far edge is unchanged, still
+  `-AHEAD*TS` at the note horizon.
+- **Career passports review polish** — the passport tabs and book overlay carry
+  proper ARIA semantics (`aria-selected`/`aria-controls`/`tabpanel`;
+  `role="dialog"` + `aria-modal` with focus moved to the close button on open
+  and restored on close), and a corrupt stored seen-badges value (e.g. a stray
+  `"null"`) can no longer throw on every passport refresh.
+- **The packaged desktop app could not start (`ModuleNotFoundError: No module named
+  'appstate'`).** feedback-desktop's `scripts/bundle-slopsmith.sh` copies a *hardcoded
+  list* of core files into the app bundle — `server.py`, `VERSION`, `lib/`, `data/`,
+  `static/`, `plugins/__init__.py`. The root-level `appstate.py` and `routers/` added in
+  R3 shipped correctly in Docker and passed every test, and were then silently dropped
+  from the packaged app, which died at startup. Both now live under **`lib/`** — the one
+  core directory the Dockerfile (`COPY lib/`), `docker-compose.yml`, and the desktop
+  bundler (`cp -r lib`) all copy wholesale, and that all three put on `sys.path` (on
+  Windows via the embeddable-Python `._pth`, where `PYTHONPATH` is ignored). This needs no
+  change in feedback-desktop and no new release to take effect. Placing them there is also
+  correct under Principle V: with the injection seam, `appstate.py` constructs nothing and
+  does no import-time IO, and a route module only builds an `APIRouter`. The
+  `Dockerfile` / `.dockerignore` / `docker-compose.yml` entries added for the root layout
+  are reverted. New `tests/test_packaging.py` walks `server.py`'s module-level imports and
+  fails if any first-party module resolves outside a directory the packagers copy, so the
+  next root-level module can't ship broken.
+
+### Added
+- **Perf harness now measures 2D-highway frame time (R3c gate).** `scripts/perf-baseline.mjs` gains a `--song` mode that reports per-frame draw-cost p50/p95/p99 (draw-tagged via `highway.addDrawHook`), the metric that gates the `highway.js` split. Maintainer/CI-only; baseline recorded in `docs/perf-baseline.md`.
+- **`routers/` — extracting `server.py`'s route layer, cheapest-first (R3).** Each PR moves a cohesive route group into a `fastapi.APIRouter` under `lib/routers/`, mounted with `app.include_router(...)` at its original site (FastAPI matches in registration order; the full route table stays byte-identical). Bodies are verbatim — only the decorator receiver (`@app` → `@router`) and singleton reads (`meta_db` → `appstate.meta_db`, resolved at call time) change. So far: `audio_effects` (5), `artist_aliases` (5), `loops` (3), `playlists` (12 + covers), `ws_highway` (the 902-line highway chart WebSocket), `chart` (split/unsplit/work/fileinfo — unblocked by the DLC-path substrate), `library_extras`, `wanted`, `shop`, `progression`, `profile`, `stats` (the `/api/stats/{path}` catch-all stays registered last so it can't shadow `/recent` `/best` `/top`), `version` (`/api/version`; VERSION-file lookup adjusted for the router subdir depth), `art` (the `/api/song/{f}/art*` serve/cover-search/candidates/upload/url + `/api/art/{f}/override` routes; the shared `_song_pack_art_exists`/`_art_override_paths`/`_art_safe_name` helpers stay in `server.py` for the song/delete routes and are reached through the `appstate` seam, the CAA/release transport as `enrichment.X`), and `settings` (`GET`/`POST /api/settings`, `/reset`, and the two-phase atomic export/import bundle `/api/settings/export|import`; the shared `_default_settings` builder stays in `server.py` and is reached through the `appstate` seam), and `song` (upload/delete + the metadata write-back, user-meta, overrides, gap-fill, and per-song info routes; the scan/ingest helpers stay in `server.py` and are reached through new `appstate` seams — `kick_scan`, `invalidate_song_caches`, `stat_for_cache`, and a `scan_status()` getter — the `get_song_info` catch-all mounts after the art routes so it can't shadow them), and `library` + collections (the provider list/art/sync endpoints, the library query surface, and collection CRUD → `lib/routers/library.py`; the `LibraryProviderRegistry`/`LocalLibraryProvider`/`SmartCollectionProvider` classes + shared query/collection helpers move to `lib/library_registry.py`, and the registry instance + local provider ride the `appstate` seam — server.py still constructs the singleton and exposes `register_library_provider`/`unregister_library_provider` to plugins via `plugin_context` unchanged), and the `enrichment` route handlers (`/api/enrichment/*`: status, kick/cancel, per-song state, the Match-Review queue, and AcoustID identify → `lib/routers/enrichment.py`; the engine already lives in `lib/enrichment.py` and is reached as `enrichment.X`), and `media` (the file-serving routes — song audio `/audio/{f}`, the local-audio-path resolver `/api/audio-local-path`, and raw sloppak-member serving `/api/sloppak/{f}/file/{rel}` → `lib/routers/media.py`; the cache/static path seams were already in `appstate`), and `artist` (the artist page + external-links payload `/api/artist/{name}/page|links|links/refresh` → `lib/routers/artist.py`; MB link enrichment reached as `enrichment.X`), and `diagnostics` (`/api/diagnostics/export|preview|hardware`; the plugins-root lookup adjusted for the router subdir depth, `_running_version` reached through the `appstate` seam, pure payload-cap helpers re-exported for the `server._diag_*` tests), and `tunings` (`/api/tunings`; the pure `config.json` reader moved to `lib/appconfig.py`, the tuning-provider registry read through the `appstate` seam so plugin-contributed tunings still merge). The DLC library-path resolution (`_get_dlc_dir`, pure `_resolve_dlc_path`) moved to `lib/dlc_paths.py`, reading paths through the seam; `config_dir`/`dlc_dir`/`dlc_dir_env` now ride the `appstate` seam (env-derived, so the pop-and-reimport fixtures reconfigure it for free), and the shared request-field sanitizer `_clean_str` moved to `lib/reqfields.py`. The next cut is picked by a dependency-closure scan that ranks groups by how many `monkeypatch.setattr(server, …)` targets they'd drag along.
+- **`routers/` — the first extracted route module (R3).** The five audio-effects mapping
+  endpoints move out of `server.py` into `lib/routers/audio_effects.py` as a
+  `fastapi.APIRouter`, mounted with `app.include_router(...)` **at the point in the file
+  where they used to be defined** — FastAPI matches routes in registration order, so the
+  mount site preserves it. Verified: the full 143-route table (paths, methods, *and*
+  order) is byte-for-byte identical to `main`. Bodies are verbatim; the only edits are
+  the decorator receiver (`@app.get` → `@router.get`) and the singleton read
+  (`audio_effect_mappings` → `appstate.audio_effect_mappings`, a module attribute
+  resolved at call time). This proves the seam from #833 under a real consumer, including
+  the second slot. The `_demo_mode_guard` middleware still blocks all four moved write
+  routes with 403, and `Query(...)` validation still 422s — both checked against a running
+  server. `server.py`: **9,445 → 9,386 lines**.
+- **`lib/enrichment.py` — the metadata-enrichment subsystem leaves `server.py` (R3, move-only).** MusicBrainz / Cover-Art-Archive / AcoustID transport, the match-scorer glue, and the background enrichment worker (~930 lines, 61 defs) move out as one cohesive unit. Bodies are verbatim; the only changes are seam reads — `meta_db`/`config_dir`/`sloppak_cache_dir`/`art_cache_dir` and the two shared art helpers (`song_pack_art_exists`, `art_override_paths`, which stay in `server.py` for the art/delete routes) are reached through `appstate` at call time, and the User-Agent VERSION lookup is corrected for the module's new depth. `server.py` drives the worker through the module (`import enrichment`; the routes + scan lifecycle call `enrichment.X`); tests that faked the network on `server` now patch the same names on `enrichment` (module attribute resolved at call time, so one `setattr` reaches both the routes and the worker's internal callers). Acyclic — `enrichment` imports no `server`. Route table byte-identical; full suite green. `server.py`: 6,917 → 5,988.
+- **`appstate.py` — the router seam (R3).** Route modules moving out of `server.py`
+  need `meta_db` and friends but must not `import server`, or the import graph goes
+  circular the moment `server` imports them back. So `server.py` keeps *constructing*
+  its singletons and now **injects** them once — `appstate.configure(meta_db=…,
+  audio_effect_mappings=…)` — and a router reads them back as module attributes at call
+  time (`import appstate; appstate.meta_db.…`). This is the Python analogue of the
+  frontend refactor's injected `configureX({…})` seams and of the plugin
+  `setup(app, context)` contract: dependencies flow one way, `server → routers →
+  appstate`. Two properties are load-bearing and pinned by `tests/test_appstate.py`:
+  (1) `import appstate` constructs nothing and touches no disk, so the ~49 test fixtures
+  that `sys.modules.pop("server")` + re-import (to rebuild `meta_db` under a patched
+  `CONFIG_DIR`) keep working untouched — a singleton *owned* by `appstate` would survive
+  that pop and go stale; (2) reads must be late-bound (`appstate.meta_db`, never
+  `from appstate import meta_db`), since a `from` import freezes the binding and defeats
+  both a later `configure()` and `monkeypatch.setattr` — the same read-only-binding trap
+  as ES `import`. `configure()` rejects an unknown slot rather than silently creating a
+  global nothing reads, and the suite asserts `server` actually calls it (a seam whose
+  wiring can no-op undetected is worse than no seam). Lives at `lib/appstate.py`.
+
+### Changed
+- **`AudioEffectsMappingDB` moved out of `server.py` into `lib/audio_effects_db.py`
+  (R3, move-only).** The core-owned song/tone → provider routing index follows
+  `MetadataDB` out of the host file, byte-identical apart from the same constructor
+  seam (`__init__` takes `config_dir`; `audio_effect_mappings = AudioEffectsMappingDB(CONFIG_DIR)`),
+  so the module does no IO at import. The singleton stays in `server.py`; no route,
+  no test and no `monkeypatch.setattr(server, …)` target moves. `server.py`:
+  **9,705 → 9,433 lines**.
+- **`MetadataDB` moved out of `server.py` into `lib/metadata_db.py` (R3, move-only).**
+  The library metadata cache — the `MetadataDB` class (4,018 lines) plus the query
+  helpers it owns (keyset paging cursors, the tuning grouping key, smart-arrangement
+  naming, tag normalisation, the startup DB-restore swap) — now lives in its own flat
+  `lib/` module. `server.py` drops from **14,037 → 9,705 lines** and keeps the
+  `meta_db` singleton, so `server.meta_db` and `server.app` resolve exactly as before
+  and every route is untouched. The only non-verbatim change is the seam that lets the
+  class leave `server.py`: `MetadataDB.__init__` now takes `config_dir` explicitly
+  (`meta_db = MetadataDB(CONFIG_DIR)`) instead of reading the module-level `CONFIG_DIR`,
+  which also means `lib/metadata_db.py` performs no IO at import (Principle V). Logging
+  still goes through the `feedBack.server` logger, so existing log filters and `caplog`
+  assertions resolve to the same logger object. `tests/test_settings_export_library_db.py`
+  now imports `_apply_pending_db_restore` from `metadata_db` (the test moved with its
+  subject); no other test changed. Every moved block is byte-identical to its
+  `server.py` original.
+
+### Added
+- **Plugins can ship an ES-module `src/` tree (module-migration rails, R0).** The host gains three things so a plugin can move off a single global-scope `screen.js` IIFE onto native ES modules with **no build step**: (1) a new sandboxed `GET /api/plugins/{id}/src/{path}` route that serves a plugin's `src/` source subtree, containment-checked by the same `safe_join` guard as `assets/` (traversal/absolute/NUL → 404); (2) the live-edit cache contract — `Cache-Control: no-cache` + a weak mtime/size `ETag` + `If-None-Match`→`304` — applied to `src/`, `screen.js`, and `assets/` (previously `screen.js` sent no cache headers and `assets/` emitted an ETag but never revalidated), so an edited module reloads on refresh while unchanged ones `304`; and (3) `scriptType`/`minHost` passthrough from `plugin.json` to `/api/plugins`, with the loader injecting a plugin that declares `"scriptType":"module"` as `<script type="module">` (its screen.js becomes `import './src/main.js'`). A `<script type=module>` fires its load event only after its whole static-import graph evaluates, preserving the loader's completion-by-`onload` + `_loadingPluginId` contract. Classic plugins are unaffected; `minHost` is passthrough-only for now (enforcement deferred). Tests: `tests/test_plugin_src_route.py` (serve/media-type/traversal/304/no-stale-304/screen.js+assets conditional), `tests/js/plugin_loader_script_type.test.js` (guarded module injection).
+- **Module-migration governance & rails (R0).** Constitution amended to **v1.2.0**: Principle II now names native ES modules as a first-class, *build-free* extension mechanism (the `scriptType:"module"` load path, both plugins and — over time — core's `static/js/`), keeping the no-bundler/no-transpiler/source-served rule intact; Operating Constraints gains a "Module load contract" clause (a `<script type=module>` load event awaits the whole static-import graph, so completion-by-`onload` is preserved; per-visit re-init comes from the `screen:changed` event, not screen.js re-execution). Mirrored into `CLAUDE.md`. New `docs/plugin-modules.md` (the migration playbook — layering, import-time purity, `import.meta.url` assets, the ETag live-edit loop) and `docs/size-exemptions.md` (the signed 1,500-line size-norm register; Byron signs core/bundled rows, Christian the authored virtuoso row). Adds a **maintainer/CI-only** ESLint gate (`eslint.config.js` + a `lint` CI job): `max-lines` warns at 1,500 as a non-blocking ratchet (ceilings for exempt files mirror the register), and `import-x/no-unresolved` + `import-x/no-cycle` hard-error on ES-module graphs — dormant until module code lands, never on the serve/Docker path.
+- **Perf-baseline harness (R0).** `scripts/perf-baseline.mjs` (maintainer-only, Playwright-driven) captures server p50/p95/p99 latency, cold boot-to-interactive, JS-heap after an idle soak, and the injected plugin-script shape (how many are `type=module`), so every refactor phase can be checked for "screen-entry and frame-time no worse." Methodology + the R0 baseline live in `docs/perf-baseline.md`; playback frame-time and chart-loaded screen-entry rows need a seeded library and are re-taken per environment.
+- **Sort and filter the library by your personal difficulty rating — now visible at a glance, not just in the edit drawer.** `song_user_meta.user_difficulty` (the 1–5 planning rating, settable manually or seeded by a plugin like the community `difficulty_tagger`) already existed but was only readable by opening a song's per-song details drawer. The library API gains `sort=difficulty` / `sort=difficulty-desc` — a correlated subquery over `song_user_meta`, following the same unrated-rows-sort-to-the-bottom-in-both-directions pattern as the existing `mastery` sort — and library cards now show the rating as a `◆N` badge (v2 grid/tree views and the v3 grid alike), next to the tuning and lyrics badges. The classic tree view's `query_artists` batch-attaches `user_difficulty` the same way `query_page` already did for the grid, so the badge actually renders there too instead of staying dark. Tests: `tests/test_library_filters.py::test_difficulty_sort_pushes_unrated_to_bottom`, `tests/test_library_filters.py::test_tree_view_songs_carry_user_difficulty`.
+- **`lib/midi_import.py`: `convert_midi_tempo_map` — MIDI imports can finally carry
+  their bars.** The keys/drums note converters always computed a tempo-aware
+  tick→seconds map internally (to bake note times to absolute seconds) and then threw
+  it away — and never read `time_signature` meta at all — so every MIDI import landed
+  with no measures and an implied 4/4 regardless of what the file said. The new helper
+  extracts the whole grid: `tempos` (`{time, bpm}`), `time_signatures` (`{time,
+  ts:[num,den]}`, the song-timeline sidecar shape), and a full `beats` grid on the
+  editor's row shape (numbered downbeats with a `den` hint, `-1` interior beats,
+  eighth-note rows in 6/8 etc.). Event scope mirrors the existing tick map — SMF
+  type 0/1 merge meta across tracks, type 2 reads only the chosen track (independent
+  timelines must never share a grid); mid-bar signature events apply at the next bar
+  boundary; times are computed from absolute ticks through the cumulative tempo table
+  and rounded once at emit, so rounding error never accumulates with song length.
+  Consumed by the editor's upcoming multitrack MIDI import (tempo-seed dialog). Tests:
+  `tests/test_midi_tempo_map.py`.
+
+### Fixed
+- **Tuner: opening the player screen no longer throws `NotFoundError` and aborts the player render (feedBack#800).** `injectPlayerButton()` anchored the injected Tuner button with `controls.querySelector('button:last-child')`, which — unlike a `:scope`-scoped query — can match a **nested** button that is not a direct child of `#player-controls`. `controls.insertBefore(btn, nestedButton)` then throws `NotFoundError` (the reference node must be a direct child), and because the injection runs from the tuner's `screen:changed` → player handler, the throw propagated out of the player-screen transition and stalled its render (surfaced by a headless render of a notation arrangement; the v3 path was already safe via the plugin-control slot, only the classic path had the bad anchor). The anchor is now `:scope > button:last-of-type` (a direct child only) with a `parentNode === controls` guard before `insertBefore`, falling back to `appendChild`. `plugins/tuner` → 1.3.4. Tests: `tests/plugins/tuner/js/inject_player_button.test.js` (nested-last-button repro, direct-child insert, no-button append, idempotency, v3 slot path).
+- **Auto-sync: DTW step constraint — riff-based songs no longer produce garbage sync points.** `librosa.sequence.dtw`'s default step pattern allows unbounded horizontal/vertical path runs, and on music with long self-similar chroma stretches (riff-driven stoner/doom, drone sections) the flat cost surface let the warping path collapse — minutes of score mapped onto a single audio frame, so the per-bar warp imported charts wildly out of sync while reporting success (observed on a real 138 BPM tab: effective displayed tempo 159 BPM, three sync points sharing one audio timestamp). `_dtw_align` now uses the standard music-sync slope-constrained step pattern (`[[1,1],[1,2],[2,1]]`, local tempo ratio bounded to 0.5x–2x), which makes the degenerate path impossible, with a fallback to unconstrained steps when the global length ratio makes the constrained pattern infeasible (e.g. a tab aligned against a full-concert video). Validated on the failing song: coarse points track the recording 1:1, refined downbeats land on onset peaks at 3.3x background energy.
+
+### Added
+- **3D Keys Highway: key layout modes, lane-color opacity & octave lines.** A new **Highway layout** settings section rebuilds how sharps/flats and lanes draw on the 3D piano highway. **Sharps & flats layout** (`keys3d_bg_sharpMode`) picks between **floating** (the original raised-sharp look), **flat** (one plane, zero-overlap piano-shaped tiled lanes with the naturals evened out), and **realistic** (one plane, bars sized like the physical keys) — default **realistic**; the geometry lives in pure, unit-tested `laneSpanFlat()`/`laneSpanReal()` helpers. **Lane color opacity** (`keys3d_bg_laneOpacity`, 0–1, default 0) fades the pitch-class lane tint from full vivid color down to a dark floor with guide lines only at the key-block boundaries (E→F and each octave); the lane strips, per-lane separators and block lines crossfade with the value. **Octave separators** (`keys3d_bg_octaveGaps`, default on) and **Octave line contrast** (`keys3d_bg_octaveContrast`, 0–1) control the B→C octave divider, which auto-shifts from a dark to a bright layer as lane opacity fades. Settings re-read on init and apply on the next chart build. `plugins/keys_highway_3d` → 0.2.0. Tests: `plugins/keys_highway_3d/tests/fx_settings.test.js` (new defaults, sharp-mode setting, lane-geometry tiling/evening for flat, uniform/overlap for realistic, and an active-range boundary case where a white key's edge stays untrimmed when its neighboring sharp falls outside the active range).
+- **Unmapped-percussion capture now records velocities alongside times.** Both drum converters' opt-in `out_unmapped` reporting (`lib/midi_import.py` `convert_drum_track_from_midi`, `lib/gp2rs.py` `convert_drum_track_to_drumtab`) gain an index-aligned `velocities` list next to `times`, carrying each dropped note's real dynamics (MIDI velocity verbatim; GP velocity with the same 1–127 gate as mapped hits, falling back to the 100 import default). This lets a hand-mapping UI (the editor's unmapped-notes dialog) restore mapped notes at their source dynamics instead of flattening everything to `v:100`. The GP path's chronological sort now reorders times and velocities in lockstep so multi-voice measures can't silently reassign dynamics. Additive — callers that ignore the new key are unaffected. Tests: `tests/test_midi_import_drums.py`, `tests/test_gp2rs_drums.py`.
+- **Handedness (left-handed) is now a first-class choice in the instrument selector — and surfaced during onboarding.** Left-handed players could already mirror the highway, but only via a buried Settings toggle they had to find *after* setup — so a lefty hit the tour, the tuner and calibration all right-handed first. The v3 instrument badge popover now has a **Handedness: Right / Left** row alongside Instrument / Strings / Tuning (all player-orientation choices), writing the same `lefty` preference (`highway.setLefty` when a live highway exists, else the `lefty` localStorage key it reads on init; the Settings checkbox stays in sync). The first-run tour's "Choose your instrument" step — which runs **before** the tuner/audio-calibration steps — now calls it out so lefties flip it up front. Frontend-only, additive: `static/v3/badges.js`, `static/v3/onboarding-tour.js`. Tests: `tests/js/badges_handedness.test.js`.
+- **"Colorblind (deuteranope)" highway string-color preset.** Adds a one-click preset to the shared "Highway String Colors" picker, sitting next to the existing Okabe–Ito "Colorblind-friendly" preset — contributed by a deuteranopic player who found the Okabe–Ito set still hard to separate. It retunes the six main strings (red / yellow-green / blue / orange / teal / deep-purple) and keeps that set's 7/8-string colors, and applies to **both** the 2D and 3D highways via the shared picker. Frontend-only, additive: `static/app.js` (`HWC_PRESETS`).
+- **`lib/gp_autosync.py`: piecewise time-warp helpers + a working `refine_sync()`.** `auto_sync()` has always computed per-bar sync points (DTW), but consumers could only apply the scalar bar-1 `audio_offset`, so any tempo difference between the recording and the tab's authored tempo accumulated audibly over the song. New librosa-free helpers expose the full mapping: `bar_start_times(gp_path)` (per-bar score times on the same axis as the sync points — GPIF bar-resolution map for `.gp`/`.gpx`, per-tick integration for GP3/4/5), `build_warp_anchors(points, bar_starts)` (strictly-monotonic `(score, audio)` anchor pairs), `warp_time(t, anchors)` (piecewise-linear map with edge-slope extrapolation for count-ins/tails), `warp_song_times(song, warp)` (retimes a `lib.song.Song` in place: notes + sustains, chords, beats, sections, anchors, handshapes, per-phrase difficulty levels, tone changes, tempo overrides), and `gp_has_expandable_repeats(gp_path)` (detects GP3/4/5 repeat/volta/direction markup whose playback expansion the as-written sync points cannot map — callers fall back to offset-only sync). Also implements `refine_sync()`, which the editor plugin's refine-sync endpoint has imported since the snapshot but which never existed in core (the Refine button 500'd): it densifies the coarse DTW points to every Nth bar and re-times each with a local onset phase sweep (sweep radius clamped under half a beat so periodic material can't lock a full beat off; short scoring grid + median residual snap). Synthetic click-track validation: ~13ms mean / ~40ms max error from ±180ms coarse input across 117–123 BPM recordings of a 120 BPM tab. Tests: `tests/test_gp_autosync_warp.py`.
+- **Playlist shuffle.** The v3 playlist detail page gains a crossing-arrows shuffle toggle next to Play all / Play album. When on, `playQueue.start` Fisher-Yates-shuffles the queue once at start (on a copy — the stored playlist order is untouched), swapping any per-slot album arrangements in lockstep so each slot keeps its pinned arrangement. The preference is global and persists in `localStorage` (`v3PlaylistShuffle`). Tests: `tests/js/play_queue_shuffle.test.js`.
+
+### Changed
+- **Player frame-time hotspots removed (trace-backed) + weak-hardware hardening.** A Chrome performance trace of a 3D-highway session surfaced two core per-frame layout-thrash sources, now fixed: the highway's visibility check read `canvas.offsetParent` every rAF frame (forces style/layout recalc — now sampled every 10th frame with a cached value, force-refreshed on init/canvas-replace/resize/override-clear), and the v3 player chrome loop called `matches(':hover')` per frame and unconditionally rewrote the Up-Next pill's `textContent`/bar width at 6 Hz (now hover-tracked via mouseenter/mouseleave, DOM writes only on value change, progress bar moved from `width` to compositor-only `scaleX`). The 3D highway pre-warms shader programs (`ren.compile`) and deterministic label textures at init — and chart-dependent chord/section label textures on first draw — so first-appearance shader-compile/texture-upload frame spikes move into the load spinner. For weaker hardware: the per-frame renderer bundle is now a single reused object instead of a fresh ~35-field allocation per frame (object identity is stable and meaningless; array fields still swap reference on chart changes), custom viz get `bundle.lowerBoundT`/`bundle.lowerBoundTime` binary-search helpers for visible-window culling, the default 2D highway's beat lines no longer scan every beat in the song per frame, and the 3D highway stops reading `localStorage` per frame (1 Hz poll) and caches its lyrics text-measurement layout per displayed line instead of re-measuring every syllable every frame. A second, throttled-CPU trace pass additionally removed: shader-program re-resolution churn from label texture swaps (`material.needsUpdate` is now only set on a null↔texture transition — swapping between two cached label textures never changes the compiled program), the 3D highway's per-frame `getBoundingClientRect` layout read in its canvas-size self-check (now every 10th frame, still immediate on backing-store change), and the core 60 Hz HUD clock rewriting `textContent` on every tick (now write-on-change, ~1/s). The dominant residual — steady `getParameters` shader-program re-resolution (~4% of throttled main thread) — turned out to be Three r158+'s transparent-DoubleSide two-pass rendering, which sets `material.needsUpdate` twice per object per frame; all 18 of the 3D highway's transparent DoubleSide materials are flat unlit quads (labels, rails, chord frames, lanes), so they now declare `forceSinglePass: true`, eliminating the recompile churn and halving those objects' draw calls.
+
+### Fixed
+- **`playback.loop-api` bridge no longer fires dozens of times per second.** Every `window.feedBack.getLoop()` call recorded a full bridge hit — compat-shim bookkeeping, a `playback:bridge-hit` event, and a diagnostics snapshot rebuild + stringify — so a plugin polling loop state from a HUD tick (note_detect at ~30 Hz) flooded the capability inspector and burned main-thread time even with no song playing. `_recordPlaybackBridge` now throttles per bridge/surface (5 s window): bridge hits are a "surface still in use" signal, not a call counter. The manual A/B loop buttons (`setLoopEnd`) also now emit the same `loop-set` transport event as `setLoop()`, so plugins can react to loop changes via `playback:loop-set` / `playback:loop-cleared` events instead of polling `getLoop()`.
+- **3D Highway: recover from a WebGL context loss instead of crashing on alt-tab.** Switching the active window / alt-tabbing away from the app (most often on Windows) can trigger a GPU context reset; the 3D highway's WebGL renderer had **no `webglcontextlost` handler**, so a lost context was left to escalate into a render-process crash — matching the intermittent "randomly crashes when I change windows" desktop reports. The renderer now binds `webglcontextlost`/`webglcontextrestored` on its own WebGL canvas (`ren.domElement`): the loss is `preventDefault()`'d so the browser keeps the context restorable, `draw()` bails while the context is down so no GL work runs on a dead context, and on restore the viewport is re-applied and rendering resumes (Three re-uploads scene resources on the next frame). Listeners are torn down with the renderer. `plugins/highway_3d` → 3.31.3. Tests: `tests/js/highway_3d_context_loss.test.js`. (The sibling `keys_highway_3d` / `drum_highway_3d` renderers share the same gap — tracked as a follow-up in their repos.)
+- **Guitar Pro 6 (`.gpx`) import no longer fails on every real file.** The GPX BCFS container reader (`lib/gp2rs_gpx.py`) rejected any file whose final sector wasn't a full `0x1000` block — but a real `.gpx`'s BCFZ-declared decompressed size isn't sector-aligned, so the last (small) container file always lands in a partial trailing sector. The bounds check *raised* `GPX BCFS sector pointer out of range (malformed file)` instead of clamping the tail read, so `_load_gpif` threw before `score.gpif` could be extracted and **no GP6 file could be imported into the song editor** (both real test files failed identically — this wasn't file-specific). GP7/GP8 `.gp` files were unaffected — they take the ZIP path, not BCFS, which is why prior GP-import work didn't surface it. The reader now **clamps the final sector read to the buffer end** (the per-file size field trims the padding anyway), matching canonical GPX readers (alphaTab / PyGuitarPro); a sector whose *start* is past the end still raises, preserving the malformed-file guard. Verified against two real GP6 files — both now unpack to valid GPIF with all tracks. Tests: `tests/test_gp2rs_gpx.py` (partial-final-sector round-trip, multi-file container, sector-aligned baseline, and the preserved out-of-range guard).
+- **v3 Songs grid: fixed the scroll stutter that "skips every so many scrolls," up or down.** The virtualized grid rebuilt its **entire** visible window (`grid.innerHTML = …` + a full `wireCards` pass) every time it slid by one row, so each row-boundary crossing was a heavy synchronous frame that stalled the main thread and buffered held-arrow key-repeats into a visible lurch (a tester's "super fast for a second then slowed down") at fixed scroll offsets — in **both directions and regardless of whether the page was already loaded** (the cost was DOM teardown, not fetching, which is why scrolling back up over cached songs hitched too). `renderWindow()` now **reconciles the window in place**: it reuses the card nodes that stay on-screen and builds only the row that enters/leaves (~6 nodes per slide instead of ~60), keyed by absolute index with a real-vs-skeleton + select-mode signature so hole-fills (after a page fetch) and select-mode toggles still rebuild exactly the nodes that changed. `wireCards`'s `data-wired` guard then wires only the freshly-built nodes, so per-slide listener churn drops with it. Follow-up to the stage-2 virtualized grid (got-feedback/feedBack#636 item 3). Frontend-only: `static/v3/songs.js`. Tests: `tests/js/v3_songs_window_recycle.test.js` (window stays `[start,end)` contiguous + in-window node identity reused across a down-then-up scroll; select-mode toggle and rail-seek jump rebuild correctly).
+- **Starter content seeds again (and now ships The Adicts' "Ode to Joy").** `_BUILTIN_STARTER_SOURCES` still listed `beethoven-ode_to_joy.feedpak` after that pack was deleted, and never wired up its replacement `the_adicts-ode-to-joy_vst_cover.feedpak` that landed on disk. The listed-but-missing file made the all-present gate never fire, so **no** starter songs seeded on first run. Synced the manifest to what's on disk (Für Elise, Star Spangled Banner, The Adicts' Ode to Joy). Tests: `tests/test_builtin_starter_seed.py` (the present/unlisted guards were red on `main`).
+- **Edit Metadata now writes into `.feedpak` files, not just legacy `.sloppak` ones.** `lib/songmeta.py`'s suffix gate predated the format rename — core reads both suffixes everywhere else (`sloppak.SONG_EXTS`), but the metadata writer only dispatched on `.sloppak`, so editing a zip-form `.feedpak`'s title/artist/album/year silently fell back to a DB-only update. That looked fine until the next **full library rescan** re-derived metadata from the file and reverted the edit (directory-form packages were unaffected — they dispatch on manifest presence, not suffix). The gate now accepts both package suffixes. Tests: `tests/test_songmeta.py` `TestWriteSongMetadata` (both zip suffixes, mixed-case suffix, directory form, unknown-suffix fallback).
+- **3D Drum & Keys highways now re-frame on fullscreen/layout drift under splitscreen.** The guitar/bass `highway_3d` self-detects when its panel canvas changes size and re-runs `applySize()` every frame, because the splitscreen host overrides `hw.resize` and never calls `renderer.resize()`. The drum and keys highways lacked that fallback — they only re-framed when the host explicitly called `resize(w, h)` — so their panels stayed framed for the pre-fullscreen size while the guitar/bass panels adapted (visible as a too-small, off-center highway after maximizing a split-screen session). Both draw loops now port `highway_3d`'s per-frame drift check: they re-apply on backing-store change (`canvas.width/height`) AND on CSS-box drift (`clientWidth/clientHeight` vs the last applied logical size, throttled to every 10th frame), and reset the tracking in `destroy()` so a reused instance re-frames on the next song. `plugins/drum_highway_3d` → 0.3.1, `plugins/keys_highway_3d` → 0.1.1. Tests: `tests/js/drum_keys_highway_3d_resize_reframe.test.js`.
+- **Tuner: finished the "remove unused settings" cleanup and fixed the sidebar panel position.** The Floating Button and Tuning Visibility settings sections were removed, but their config was still live: `disabledTunings` still filtered the tuner menu (with no UI left to re-enable a hidden tuning — a one-way trap) and `showFloatingButton` still gated the floating launcher. Both are now fully retired — the enforcement paths in `plugins/tuner/screen.js`/`utils/ui.js` and the persistence in `plugins/tuner/routes.py` are gone (and `routes.py` strips the retired keys on write, so stale values are purged). The tuner panel opened from the v3 sidebar Plugins rail popover now anchors beside it via the host's stable plugin-control slot API (falling back to the popover id), is **clamped to the viewport** so it can't open off the right/bottom edge on narrow/short windows, and re-anchors on window resize. `plugins/tuner` → 1.3.3.
+
+### Added
+- **Host theme read surface — `window.feedBack.theme` + always-present `--fbv-*` tokens — so a plugin feature can render correctly under any theme instead of binding to whichever one the developer happened to see.** The cosmetics applier (`static/v3/theme-core.js`) previously only *applied* themes and emitted `--fbv-*` vars **only while a theme was equipped** (nothing for a plugin to read in the default, un-themed state) with no read/capability API — so plugins reinvented their own theming and a new visual *device* (a glow, a gradient) silently bound to one look. It now: (1) emits the default `fb` palette as **always-present `--fbv-*` on `:root`** (additive — the un-themed look is unchanged; the `fb-*` utilities still use their compiled defaults; this only hands plugins a stable host token to read + derive surfaces from), plus two keystone ROLES the palette lacked — **`on-accent`** (a foreground legible *on* the accent fill — the missing piece behind white-on-accent contrast bugs) and **`focus-ring`**; (2) adds **`window.feedBack.theme`** — `get()` → `{id, isThemed, tokens}`, **`capabilities()`** → `{glow, gradients, motion}` (the device-affordance signal a feature reads to choose a glow vs. a solid device; recolor-only themes report defaults, a theme may opt out via a `capabilities` block in its payload, and `motion` is additionally reduced-motion-gated), and **`prefersReducedMotion()`** (one central matchMedia wrapper); and (3) emits a normalized **`theme:changed`** event (`{id, isThemed, tokens, capabilities}`) from the single `apply()` chokepoint. All additive + feature-detected (the apply side stays on `window.v3Theme`; the read surface is attached defensively so it survives the `feedBack` bus being (re)built by `capabilities.js` regardless of load order). First slice of the host theme contract (got-feedback/feedBack#644) — the framework fix so a plugin UI feature can't accidentally carve itself into a single theme; see `docs/host-theme-contract.md`. Verified by a headless render (apply/unequip intact, defaults present + restored, capability opt-out honored, event payload correct). Tests: `tests/js/v3_theme_read_api.test.js`.
+- **3D Keys Highway: audio-reactive background ambience + score effects (parity slice 4 — completes the keys side of the visual-parity epic).** The gradient sky behind the highway gains the guitar's **background ambience styles** — drifting **Particles**, pitch-class-colored pulsing **Stage lights**, wireframe **Geometric** shapes, or Off — driven by the shared audio-analyser bridge (stems-first on sloppaks, one-shot `#audio` fallback; bass/mid/treble bands, 5 ms cache) with an **Ambience intensity** slider and an **Audio-reactive** toggle. And the score talks back: a **score-FX overlay** canvas draws rising **“+1” pops** off each scored key, an **expanding ring every 10-combo tier**, **milestone bursts** at 25/50/100 streak, and a brief **red flicker** when a 3+ streak breaks (wrong notes and swept misses both count). All settings-gated and on by default (`keys3d_bg_*`), pooled, cleared when idle, torn down with the scene. Butterchurn/image/video remain out of scope. The `#audio` analyser tap is also **shared across visualizers** now (`window.__feedBackAudioTap` — whoever taps first publishes, everyone else adopts, `highway_3d` included), so switching between or splitting the guitar/drum/keys highways can't strand a permanently non-reactive backdrop, and the tap is never created before the page has user activation (a suspended AudioContext would silence live playback). Tests: bg-style id validation + FX defaults (30 total).
+- **3D Keys Highway: the anti-plastic pass — lacquered note gems, glossy piano-black keys, a studio environment, scene themes and a gradient sky (parity slice 3).** The note gems move to `MeshPhysicalMaterial` with a full **clearcoat** (roughness 0.32, clearcoat 1.0/0.18, envMapIntensity 0.9): a sharp lacquer highlight over the colored body instead of the old dead matte surface — glass, not plastic. What sells it is **image-based lighting**: the same procedural PMREM "studio" environment as the drum highway (dark room + cool overhead / warm+cool side light strips, no addon dependency) feeds `scene.environment`, so the **black keys finally read as glossy piano black** (roughness 0.55 → 0.22, envMapIntensity 1.3) with visible strip reflections, whites keep an ivory sheen (0.42/0.55), and the highway floor gets a stage sheen (roughness 0.9 → 0.55, metalness 0.15). The flat background becomes a **vertical gradient** (lighter above the horizon → theme color → darker toward the keyboard), and the guitar highway's **11 scene themes** arrive (same names/values — your look carries across instruments; `default` preserves the original keys palette; pitch-class note/key colors are never themed — themes own the scene, Synthesia colors own the notes). Plus **Cinematic lighting** (ambient 0.55/key 1.3, on by default) and a **Glow strength** slider multiplying the note glow, key approach-glow and the sustain consume-flash (0.5 = stock). All live-applying from the Graphics settings (`keys3d_bg_theme` + `keys3d_bg_*`); the PMREM target and gradient texture are disposed with the scene. Tests: theme-table id parity + default-look preservation + fallbacks (28 total).
+- **3D Drum Highway: audio-reactive background ambience + score effects (parity slice 4 — completes the drum side of the visual-parity epic).** The empty fog band behind the kit gains the guitar highway's **background ambience styles**: drifting **Particles**, palette-colored pulsing **Stage lights**, and slowly-tumbling wireframe **Geometric** shapes (plus Off) — driven by the same audio-analyser bridge the guitar uses (prefers the stems plugin's per-song analyser on sloppaks, falls back to a one-shot `#audio` tap; bass/mid/treble bands with a 5 ms cache), with an **Ambience intensity** slider and an **Audio-reactive** toggle (off = the styles animate on time only; a permanently-tapped `#audio` in a mixed split degrades the same way). The guitar's butterchurn/image/video styles are deliberately out of scope (vendored megabytes / upload plumbing; the style enum is extensible). And your combo finally talks back: a **score-FX overlay** (2D canvas over the WebGL scene, guitar `drawScoreFx` adapted to this plugin's internal scoring) draws rising **“+1” pops** off each scored lane, an **expanding ring pulse every 10-combo tier**, **milestone particle bursts** at 25/50/100 streak, and a brief **red flicker** when a 3+ streak breaks. Everything is settings-gated (Background ambience dropdown + intensity + reactive, Score effects toggle — all on by default, live-applying, `drum_h3d_bg_*` keys), pooled (zero per-frame allocation), and torn down with the scene across kit changes. Tests: bg-style id validation + FX defaults (15 total).
+- **3D Drum Highway: real materials + scene themes (parity slice 3).** The scene gets **image-based lighting**: a procedural PMREM "studio" environment (dark room + three emissive light strips — cool overhead key, warm/cool side fills; no vendored-addon dependency) feeds `scene.environment`, so the cymbals' metalness **finally reads as metal** (retuned to roughness 0.2 / metalness 0.85 / envMapIntensity 1.2 — the old 0.7-metalness look was matte because there was nothing to reflect), drumheads get a satin sheen, and the floor (roughness 0.95 → 0.7) catches the strips without turning into a mirror. **Scene themes arrive** — the same 11 theme names as the guitar highway (Midnight, Charcoal, Deep Purple, Forest, Warm Slate, Deep Focus, Deep Sea, Cathode, Cathode Green, Hearth) retint the background/fog, floor and lane stripes so your look carries across instruments; `default` preserves the original drum palette byte-for-byte, and piece colours stay with the existing Palette picker (themes own the scene, palettes own the kit). Plus **Cinematic lighting** (dimmer ambient / stronger key, on by default), a **Glow strength** slider (0–1, 0.5 = stock) multiplying every emissive base — notes, hit line, snare wires — and a **Lane vibrancy** slider driving stripe/halo/ghost-ring strength (the hit-FX approach highlight stacks on top). Everything applies live from the plugin settings (`drum_h3d_bg_theme` + `drum_h3d_bg_*` keys); the PMREM render target is rebuilt across kit-change renderer recreation and disposed in both teardown paths — and the floor/hit-bar geometry+materials that previously leaked on every kit change are now tracked and disposed too. Tests: theme-table parity with the guitar ids + default-look preservation + fallbacks (13 total).
+- **3D Drum Highway: hit FX — sparks, timing-colored lane flashes, kick camera pulse, approach glow, and open hi-hat notation (parity slice 2).** Striking a pad now *feels* struck: a pooled additive **spark burst** fires at the lane (ported from the guitar highway's Points-cloud system, pool 160), colored by **timing** — on-time green, early cyan, late amber (same `_timingHex` vocabulary as `highway_3d`, classified against the ±50 ms hit window with the inner 40% reading as on-time); with **Streak feedback** on, bursts grow with your combo. The **lane flash** feedback that was removed when note-recoloring landed is resurrected properly: pooled additive quads with a soft gaussian falloff light up the struck lane at the hit line (timing-colored; red for wrong-pad hits), and a **kick** hit fires triple amber bursts across the bar plus a subtle **camera dip + amber floor wash** that decays exponentially. Lanes also glow ahead of time: each stripe brightens as its next note approaches the hit line, so the eye is led to where the next hit lands. **Open hi-hat finally renders distinctly** — `hh_open` chart hits get a thin warm ring around the cymbal gem (standard notation's "o"), closing the long-standing TODO; the flag is orthogonal to accents/ghosts/flams so combined cues stack. All of it is settings-gated (Graphics → Hit sparks / Timing colours / Streak feedback / a 0–1 **Hit feedback intensity** slider driving flashes, approach glow and the kick pulse; everything on by default, `drum_h3d_bg_*` keys, live-applying) and GPU-frugal: every new visual is pooled or shares geometry/materials — zero per-note allocation on top of the per-frame notes rebuild, all registered in both dispose paths (kit-change renderer recreation included). Tests: timing-classifier boundaries + FX defaults added to `plugins/drum_highway_3d/tests/data_layer.test.js` (10 total).
+- **3D Keys Highway: hit FX — vibrant note gems, timing-colored sparks, and a hit-line that reacts to your playing (parity slice 2).** The washed-out note look is gone: gem opacity is now driven by a **Note vibrancy** slider (default 0.85 → opacity 0.92, up from a fixed 0.8; lane guides scale with it too, live-applying without a chart rebuild) and the resting emissive glow rises 0.08 → 0.22, so the falling notes finally read saturated against the dark floor. Scored key presses fire a pooled additive **spark burst** at the struck key (guitar-highway port, pool 96) **colored by timing** — on-time green, early cyan, late amber, classified against the ±100 ms window with the inner 40% reading as on-time (the timing delta is recovered from the matched note's key, so `judgeHit`'s tested contract is untouched); the per-pitch-class flame sprite keeps its identity color so pitch and timing stay separate signals. With **Streak feedback** on, bursts grow with the combo. The **hit line kicks brighter** for a beat on every scored press (exponential decay, scaled by a 0–1 **Hit feedback intensity** slider). All new controls live in the plugin's Graphics settings (on by default, `keys3d_bg_*` keys, live-applying), and the spark pool is disposed with the scene like every other GPU resource. Tests: timing-classifier boundaries, the noteKey time round-trip that the delta recovery relies on, and the new FX defaults (26 total).
+- **3D Drum Highway: bloom glow + adaptive-resolution support — the first slice of visual parity with the guitar highway.** The drum highway now renders through the same post-processing path as `highway_3d`: an `UnrealBloomPass` (strength 0.65, radius 0.5, threshold 0.82 — high, so only emissive/bright surfaces bleed) on a multisampled HalfFloat target with ACES filmic tone mapping, so the white hit-line bar and proximity-lit notes get a real glow instead of a flat emissive tint. **On by default**, with a new **Graphics → "Glow (bloom)"** toggle in the plugin settings (`drum_h3d_bg_bloom`, applies live, no reload); if the vendored postprocessing addons can't load (older self-hosted core), the plugin silently falls back to the direct render path. The plugin also now honors the host's **adaptive render scale** (`bundle.renderScale` — the Quality/"Min res" controls that the guitar highway already respected), multiplying it into the device pixel ratio, and caps DPR at 1.25 when more than one viz instance is live (splitscreen) so two panels don't double the GPU fill cost. Groundwork for the rest of the parity series: an FX-settings scaffold (`FX_DEFAULTS`/`readFxSettings`/`window.drumH3dSetFx`, `drum_h3d_bg_*` localStorage keys) that the sparks/themes/backgrounds PRs extend, plus a first node test suite for the plugin (`plugins/drum_highway_3d/tests/data_layer.test.js` — vm-loaded like the keys plugin's, covering the hit-variant precedence, the Auto-mode steal-guard predicate, and FX defaults; 8 tests, runs in CI via the `plugins/*/tests/*.test.js` glob).
+- **3D Keys Highway: sharp HiDPI rendering, bloom glow, a live combo HUD, and a graphics settings panel — the first slice of visual parity with the guitar highway.** The biggest single fix is resolution: the plugin never called `setPixelRatio`, so on HiDPI/retina displays (and Windows display scaling) it rendered at CSS resolution and was upscaled — soft and aliased. It now multiplies the device pixel ratio (capped at 2, or 1.25 when two viz panels are live in splitscreen) with the host's **adaptive render scale** (`bundle.renderScale`, the Quality/"Min res" controls), exactly like `highway_3d`. On top of that: the same **bloom** post-processing path as the guitar highway (UnrealBloomPass 0.65/0.5/0.82 on a multisampled HalfFloat target + ACES tone mapping — the cyan hit-line, hit flames and the sustain "consume" glow finally bleed light instead of reading flat), **on by default** with a graceful direct-render fallback when the vendored addons can't load. The plugin gains its first **settings panel** (`settings.html`, Settings → graphics category, `"settings"` block in plugin.json) with a live-applying "Glow (bloom)" toggle (`keys3d_bg_bloom`), plus the FX scaffold (`FX_DEFAULTS`/`readFxSettings`/`window.keys3dSetFx`, `keys3d_bg_*` keys) the later parity PRs extend. And the score state the plugin was already tracking is finally visible: a **combo / accuracy / best-streak HUD** overlay (drum-highway pattern), shown only while a MIDI keyboard session is wired so it never renders a frozen 0× combo. Tests: `plugins/keys_highway_3d/tests/fx_settings.test.js` (defaults, localStorage overrides + type coercion, setter persist/dispatch/unknown-key guard; 3 tests alongside the existing 20).
+- **The 3D Drum Highway and 3D Keys Highway are now bundled core plugins** (`plugins/drum_highway_3d/`, `plugins/keys_highway_3d/`), imported from their former standalone repos (`feedBack-plugin-drum-highway-3d`, `feedBack-plugin-keys-highway-3d`, now archived) via `git subtree` so their history is preserved. They join the other in-tree plugins-as-plugins: the loader treats them identically to user-installed ones, both are marked `"bundled": true` in their manifests, and `.gitignore` gains the matching `!plugins/<id>/` exceptions. This puts all three 3D highways (guitar, drums, keys) in one repo ahead of a visual-parity pass that ports the guitar highway's polish (bloom, sparks, themes, reactive backgrounds) to the other two — shared helper code and theme tables can now be reviewed and kept in sync in a single place. The keys plugin's existing node test suite is wired into CI (the JS test step gains a `plugins/*/tests/*.test.js` glob, +20 tests), and `static/tailwind.min.css` is regenerated since the core Tailwind build scans `plugins/**`. One deliberate behavior change ships with the bundling: the drum highway's Auto-mode predicate is **narrowed** (it used to claim any pack with `has_drum_tab` — a pack-level flag — which, now that the plugin ships to everyone and sorts before `highway_3d` in first-match-wins Auto order, would have stolen full-band packs from the guitar highway even on Lead/Bass arrangements; it now claims only drum arrangements, or packs nothing more specific can render). Picking the drum highway manually from the viz picker is unchanged.
+- **The tuner now tracks what tuning your instrument is *actually* in, so it prompts you to retune in BOTH directions — down to a song's tuning, and back up when the next song needs it.** The coverage check used to compare each song against your fixed instrument-profile tuning, so it only ever prompted you *away* from "home" (e.g. E → Drop C#) and stayed silent coming back (Drop C# → E), even though you'd physically retuned. It now reads the host's live **per-instrument working tuning** (`window.feedBack.workingTuning`) — what your selected instrument is currently in — so coverage is measured against your *actual* tuning and fires both ways. When you clear an auto-opened tuner, the tuner publishes that song's tuning as your instrument's live working tuning (`assumed` — an explicit "I tuned / Skip" refines it in a later PR), so the next song is judged against where you now are. **Per-instrument** — your guitar's and bass's tunings are tracked separately (keyed like the selector), so switching instruments uses the right one. Feature-detected: on a host without the working-tuning capability it falls back to the static `/api/settings` tuning (today's behavior). `plugins/tuner/screen.js` (`_playerTuning` reads `workingTuning` keyed by the selected instrument; `_publishWorkingTuning` writes on clear). Builds on the host `workingTuning` foundation (PR 1 of the series) + the instrument→chart routing (PR 2). Tests: `tests/js/tuner_auto_open.test.js` (both-directions coverage via a live Drop-D working tuning; publish-on-clear targets the right instrument slot) — 29 pass.
+- **`.jsonc` support for feedpak data files** (feedpak-spec §8, FEP #3 / PR #13). Hand-edited packs may now use the `.jsonc` extension (JSON with C-style `//` line and `/* */` block comments) for any data file the manifest points at — arrangements, notation sidecars, `drum_tab`, `song_timeline`, `lyrics`, and `keys`. New shared `lib/jsonc.py` provides `parse_jsonc(text)` + `load_json(path)` (auto-detects `.jsonc` by suffix, string-aware so comment-like text inside JSON string values is preserved) and is now used by every reader in `lib/sloppak.py` (six side-file sites) and `scripts/lift_keys_notation.py` (three arrangement / song_timeline read sites). The strip regex mirrors the reference validator in `feedpak-spec/tools/validate.py`. This is an additive (MINOR) change: `.jsonc` is opt-in, so any pack that keeps its data files as `.json` is unaffected and needs no regeneration. Note that a `.jsonc` file containing real comments only loads on a reader that implements §8 — a pre-this-change reader calls bare `json.loads` and fails on the comments rather than ignoring them, so don't hand out `.jsonc` packs to older hosts. Tests: `tests/test_sloppak_jsonc_load.py` (covers all six side-file types, the lift helper, and the string-boundary preservation rule end-to-end).
+- **The highway now loads the part that matches your selected instrument — a bass player gets the Bass arrangement, not the default Lead/guitar chart.** When you open a song without an explicit arrangement, the WebSocket handler (`server.py` `highway_ws`) reads your selected `instrument` from `config.json` (the same file it already reads for your default-arrangement preference) and routes to the matching part: **bass → the Bass arrangement**; guitar — and any unknown/future instrument (drums, keys) — falls through to the existing preference/most-notes default, which already lands on a guitar part. Previously the instrument selector only fed the tuner, so a bass player was handed a guitar chart (and a tune/coverage check then compared a 4-string bass against a 6-string part). An **explicit arrangement request always wins** (a manual arrangement switch is untouched), and a bass player's saved default-arrangement preference is still honored **within** the bass parts (so a preferred `Bass 2` / `Alt. Bass` wins over the canonical Bass), so this only changes the *default* part chosen on load. Server-only — every launch path already flows through the WS, so there's no client change. This is the instrument↔chart-routing piece the working-tuning series leans on (otherwise coverage compares across instruments). Tests: `tests/test_highway_ws_instrument_routing.py` (bass→Bass, bass-honors-pref, bass-no-bass-part→guitar, guitar→default, explicit-wins).
+- **Host "working tuning" — a live, app-wide record of what tuning your instrument is *actually* in right now (foundation; no behavior change yet).** Introduces `window.feedBack.workingTuning`, a host-owned, session-lived state distinct from any one song's tuning and from a soft opt-in default: the offsets + string-count + reference pitch the player's instrument is currently in, plus an `assumed`/`verified` provenance flag. It's **per-instrument** — your guitar's current tuning and your bass's are kept *separately* (keyed like the instrument selector, e.g. `guitar-6` / `bass-4`), so switching instruments surfaces that instrument's own remembered tuning and you only ever deal with the one you've selected. It exists so a retune — or an instrument swap mid-session — is reflected **everywhere** (the highway, the library/song-picker, and plugins like the tuner, Virtuoso, and the minigames) instead of being re-derived per surface or wrongly assumed from a fixed profile. Modeled on the shipped `tuning` capability + the `feedBack.theme` read-API: a **synchronous `get(instrument?)`** (returns the selected instrument's state, defaulting to the seed until known), a `set(state, {provenance, instrument})` mutator (the tuner becomes the sole writer in the next change), `setCurrentInstrument()` for the selector, `resetToDefault()`, and a `working-tuning-changed` event that fires on every change **and once on hydration** (carrying which instrument changed) so a late-mounting consumer is never stuck on stale state. State is **in-memory, seeded from `/api/settings` on boot and reset on restart** — a stale "you're in drop-A" assumption is worse than re-asking. Registered as a separate `working-tuning` **exclusive-owner** capability (tuner = writer, the rest = requesters). This is the foundation (plumbing only — nothing writes to it yet) of the working-tuning series, which fixes the tuner gate only ever prompting *away from* a fixed "home" tuning (never back) and makes the current tuning a first-class signal the whole app shares. Offsets use the same per-string semitone vocabulary as song tunings, so fully custom/extended tunings (e.g. a drop-A 8-string) are first-class. Frontend-only: new `static/capabilities/working-tuning.js`, loaded from `static/index.html` + `static/v3/index.html`.
+- **The v3 Songs grid is now DOM-virtualized — card-node count stays bounded no matter how big the library is or how far you scroll.** The grid used to append every scrolled page and never let go, so a 2000-song library grew the DOM from 24 → 624 → 2001 card nodes as you scrolled (layout/memory cost scaling with depth). It now renders only the **visible window** of cards (± a small overscan); a sizer element sized to the whole library (`ceil(total/cols) × rowH`) gives the scrollbar its full geometry while the grid is absolutely positioned to the first visible row. `state.songs` is a sparse, absolutely-indexed store fetched a page at a time on demand — using the stage-1 **keyset cursor** for contiguous forward scroll (O(page)) and falling back to `OFFSET page=` for jumps/restore/non-keyset providers (collections, remote). Verified bounded (~60 nodes for a 2001-song library while the count still reads "2001 songs"). The **A–Z rail now seeks directly**: `sort_letters` gives a letter's first-row index (cumulative of prior buckets), converted to a scrollTop in O(1) — no more paging through every intervening row (a bounded forward scan covers the rare legacy provider without `sort_letters`). Select-mode selections, accuracy badges, the ⋮ card menu, plugin card actions, scroll-restore (now scrollTop-based, since geometry is stable), and the tree/folder views all survive cards leaving and re-entering the DOM. Plugins that decorate cards get a stable `window.v3Songs.visibleCards()` accessor + a `v3:library-window-rendered` event instead of assuming every card is present (the highway-stutter lesson). Stage 2 of the virtualized-grid project (got-feedback/feedBack#636 item 3), building on the stage-1 keyset data layer below. Frontend-only: `static/v3/songs.js`, `static/v3/v3.css`. Tests: `tests/browser/v3-grid-virtualization.spec.ts` (bounded-DOM invariant across a 2001-song scroll + direct rail jump), updated `tests/js/v3_az_rail.test.js` + `tests/js/v3_songs_scroll.test.js`.
+- **Keyset (cursor) pagination for the library grid — the data layer for an upcoming virtualized grid, and a latent paging bug fixed along the way.** Every library sort now carries a unique `filename` tiebreak, making the order **total** — which fixes a latent bug where rows sharing a sort key (e.g. two songs by the same artist) could be skipped or duplicated across `OFFSET` pages. `GET /api/library` gains an opaque `after` cursor + a `next_cursor` in the response: passing the cursor back fetches the next page with a **WHERE-seek** instead of `OFFSET`, so deep paging is O(page) regardless of depth. The seek is NULL-aware and exactly `OFFSET`-equivalent (verified across artist/title/recent, ascending + descending, including the legacy `dir=desc` shape and NULL sort keys); unknown/compound sorts and bad cursors fall back to `OFFSET`, and only the local provider is handed a cursor (collections/remote page by `OFFSET`). New composite `(artist NOCASE, filename)` / `(title NOCASE, filename)` / `(mtime, filename)` indexes cover the order. This is stage 1 of the virtualized-grid project (got-feedback/feedBack#636 item 3); the DOM-recycling render window builds on it next. Tests: `tests/test_library_keyset.py` (keyset==OFFSET parity, stable tiebreak, dir=desc, NULL keys, cursor fallback).
+- **Smart collections — save a set of library filters as a live, auto-updating source.** A collection is a saved `/api/library` query (e.g. "Drop-D tunings", "sloppak only", "recently added") that stays live: it's registered as a **library provider**, so it shows up in the v3 Songs source picker and inherits the whole grid UI — paging, stats, the A–Z rail, art — for free, with **no new screen**. Storage reuses the playlist subsystem (a `playlists.rules` JSON blob = a smart collection; membership is the live filter result, not stored songs, and collections are excluded from the manual-playlist list + read-only to playlist mutations). New `GET`/`POST`/`PUT`/`DELETE /api/collections`; a per-collection `SmartCollectionProvider` delegates `query_page`/`query_stats`/`query_artists` to the local DB with the stored rules applied; providers are re-registered from a boot scan so collections survive a restart. Rules mirror the raw `/api/library` query params (unknown keys dropped, never 500). Frontend: a "＋ Save as collection" action in the v3 filter drawer (shown when filters are active) names the current filter set and switches to it. The charrette's "the homelab primitive FeedBack was missing" pick (got-feedback/feedBack#636 item 2); richer rule fields (accuracy, genre, difficulty) follow as the metadata work lands. Tests: `tests/test_collections_api.py`, `tests/js/v3_collections.test.js`.
+- **The settings backup now includes your library database + custom art — your scores, favorites, playlists, and play history are no longer the one thing a backup can't save.** `GET /api/settings/export` gains an additive `core_server_files` section carrying a **consistent snapshot of `web_library.db`** (taken via the SQLite online-backup API, so it's a complete single file even while the server is running) plus any custom **playlist covers** and **avatar** (`CONFIG_DIR/playlist_covers/`, `CONFIG_DIR/avatars/`). On `POST /api/settings/import` the database is **staged** to `web_library.db.restore` rather than written over the live, open DB; it's swapped in at the next startup (`_apply_pending_db_restore`, before the connection opens), which also clears the old WAL sidecars so a stale `-wal` can't be replayed onto the restored file — the import response sets `restart_required: true` and warns accordingly. Custom art is written immediately. The bundle stays backward-compatible (older servers ignore the new section). Came out of the library design charrette (dev-ops lens's top "protect irreplaceable data" pick, got-feedback/feedBack#636). _Known gap:_ custom uploaded **song** art is still commingled with the rebuildable thumbnail cache in `art_cache/`, so it isn't bundled yet (a tracked follow-up). Tests: `tests/test_settings_export_library_db.py` (snapshot consistency, staged-not-live restore, sidecar clearing, traversal rejection, full round-trip).
+- **A persisted wishlist — keep a list of songs you want but don't own yet.** New `wanted` table + `GET`/`POST`/`DELETE /api/wanted` give FeedBack the *arr-style "Wanted/Monitored" primitive it was missing: an entry is a *not-owned* song (artist/title/source/source_ref/note), so it lives in its own table rather than the playlist subsystem (which references owned local files). The API is idempotent on identity (case-insensitive artist+title, plus source+source_ref), so a producer — the `find_more` ownership-diff, or a manual add — can re-post without duplicating. Newest-first. Backend primitive for the charrette's wishlist finding (got-feedback/feedBack#636 item 4); the consuming UI lives in the producing plugin. Tests: `tests/test_wanted_api.py`.
+- **Practice-aware library home — a "Repertoire" meter + a "Keep practicing" shelf on the v3 Songs page.** The library opened cold into a flat sorted grid; now the unfiltered grid front door leads with two practice-aware surfaces built entirely from data already on hand (no new endpoints or stored state). A **Repertoire meter** shows how much of your library you can actually play — *"Repertoire: 12 of 80 songs · 7 in progress"* with a progress bar — counting songs at or above the same mastery threshold the green accuracy badge uses (≥ 90% best accuracy) over the unfiltered library total. A **"Keep practicing" shelf** is a horizontal row of your recently-played-but-not-yet-mastered songs (newest first, click to play) — the practice-accuracy-driven "continue" rail a media server can't do. Both reuse `/api/stats/best` (already loaded for the card badges) + `/api/stats/recent`; they show **only** on the grid view when you aren't searching/filtering/selecting, refresh after a song is scored, and collapse to nothing on an empty library. Soft-gamification only — descriptive encouragement (goal-gradient / endowed-progress), never content-gating, decay, or nagging. Frontend-only: `static/v3/songs.js` (`renderLibraryHome`/`_repertoireCounts`), `static/v3/v3.css`. Came out of the library design charrette (the UX + gamification lenses' top pick). Tests: `tests/js/v3_keep_practicing.test.js`.
+- **A–Z fast-scroll rail on the v3 Songs grid.** A vertical letter rail (Plex/Radarr/iOS-contacts pattern) pinned to the right edge next to the scrollbar lets you jump the library to a starting letter — tap a letter, drag to scrub with a live letter bubble, or arrow-key between letters. It shows **only** for the grid view + alphabetical (artist/title) sorts, and only offers letters actually present in the current sort **and filter set**, so a tap always lands on a real card (absent letters are dimmed + non-interactive). Because the grid is forward-only, server-paged infinite scroll, a jump pages through to the target card and scrolls to it (a newer jump supersedes an in-flight one); a keyset-seek + virtualized window is the noted scaling follow-up for very large libraries. Backend: `/api/library/stats` now accepts `sort` and returns an additive `sort_letters` map (songs-per-first-letter of the active sort column — artist or title), filter-synced; the legacy `letters` (distinct-artist) field is unchanged for the dashboard + classic tree. Frontend: `static/v3/songs.js` (`refreshRail`/`jumpToLetter`, cards tagged with `data-letter`), `static/v3/v3.css` (`.v3-azrail`). The classic (v2) tree already had letter selection; this brings the new grid to parity. Tests: `tests/test_library_filters.py` (sort_letters artist/title + song-vs-artist counting), `tests/test_library_providers.py` (sort forwarded to providers), `tests/js/v3_az_rail.test.js`.
+- **Playlists get content-dependent covers + custom art.** Playlist cards were a tiny `🎵` emoji on an empty square. Now a playlist's cover reflects its contents: **empty → the icon**, **a few songs → the first song's album art**, **4+ songs → a 2×2 art mosaic**. You can also **upload a custom cover** (a "Cover" button in the playlist detail view → image picker; "Remove cover" reverts to the content view). `MetadataDB.list_playlists()` now returns each playlist's first few song `art_urls`; `GET /api/playlists` and `GET /api/playlists/{id}` add `cover_url` when a custom cover exists. New routes `POST` / `GET` / `DELETE /api/playlists/{id}/cover` store a small PNG thumbnail under `CONFIG_DIR/playlist_covers/` (PIL-converted, like song-art upload); the cover is removed with the playlist. Frontend: `playlistCoverHtml(p)` in `static/v3/playlists.js`. Tests: `tests/test_playlists_api.py` (art_urls + cover roundtrip / reject-non-image / delete-cleanup), `tests/js/v3_playlist_cover.test.js`.
+- **v3 Songs: "Add to playlist" is now on each song's ⋮ "More" menu.** Previously a song could only be added to a playlist through select-mode (the checkbox → batch bar). The per-card overflow menu now has an **Add to playlist** row that targets that one song, reusing the same picker (choose a listed number or type a new name to create it). The select-mode batch flow and the single-song menu now share one extracted `addFilenamesToPlaylist(filenames)` helper in `static/v3/songs.js` (both grid and tree rows, since they share `openCardMenu`). Tests: `tests/js/v3_add_to_playlist_menu.test.js`.
+- **Resume where you left off — leaving a song now snapshots your place so an exit is recoverable, not a restart-from-zero.** Exiting the player (`showScreen()` teardown, before audio unload) writes `{song, arrangement, position, speed}` to `localStorage` (`feedBack.resumeSession`), and a non-blocking **"Resume practice"** pill offers it back on the next non-player screen (and on the next app launch). Clicking Resume re-enters the song, restores the arrangement + playback speed, and seeks to the saved position via the existing `_audioSeek` funnel; `playSong()` gains a `{ resume: {position, speed} }` option that arms a `song:ready`-consumed restore instead of the normal autostart, so the two never fight over playback. The snapshot is deliberately conservative — ignored for a song you barely started (< 3s) or had basically finished (within 5s of the end), cleared on natural song-end and once consumed, and expired after 24h. The pill is self-contained (inline-styled, body-appended, works identically in the classic and v3 shells with no Tailwind rebuild), never blocks, and a dismiss forgets the current snapshot for the session. This pairs with the Escape focus fix: now that Escape reliably leaves regardless of focus, an *accidental* exit is one tap to undo. Public surface: `window.resumeLastSession()` / `window.feedBack.resumeLastSession`. (The broader nav-state work — returning to a song after wandering into Settings → Tone Builder — is a separate, larger track; this lands the player-session slice.) Tests: `tests/browser/resume-session.spec.ts` (snapshot guards, staleness, pill show/hide/dismiss, resume consumption).
+- **Optional "Ask before leaving a song" confirm (Gameplay tab, default OFF).** A new client-only toggle (`confirmExitSong` in `localStorage`, in the v3 Gameplay settings + the Gameplay "Reset" set) for players who want a guard against an accidental exit. **Off by default — Escape leaves instantly, zero change for everyone else.** When on, a *user-initiated* exit (the player-scope Escape shortcut, or the player's ✕) opens a small true-modal confirm instead of leaving; auto-exit on song-end and a results screen's own Close are unaffected (they call `closeCurrentSong()` directly, which stays the unguarded actual-exit). The confirm honors the team's refined asks: **opening it pauses the song** (so it isn't running or being scored behind the prompt) and **Stay resumes exactly what was paused**; **Escape = Stay** — the dialog's capture-phase handler *dismisses* it (now consistent with every other modal and the generic `_confirmDialog`'s Esc=cancel), so a second Escape returns you to the (resumed) song rather than leaving; **Space/Enter (or click) Leave** by natively activating the default-focused "Leave" button ("just get me out"). Pause/resume run through the canonical `togglePlay()` path (HTML5 + `_juceMode`), guarded so a count-in, an already-paused song, or a teardown/seek/end behind the modal can't mis-resume. It's a real modal (`role="dialog" aria-modal="true"` / `.feedBack-modal`) with **Tab trapped inside it** and a **backdrop click that also Stays**, so the Escape/Space focus carve-outs treat it as a trap and don't fire player-back / play-pause behind it. The player Escape shortcut and the v3 ✕ route through a shared `window.requestExitSong()` gate (the ✕ also becomes origin-aware, matching Escape). Tests: `tests/browser/exit-confirm.spec.ts` (default-off instant exit, confirm-on opens + stays, second-Escape stays, backdrop stays, Stay/Leave, Enter-leaves); the audio pause/resume is verified manually on web + desktop (the mock song has no backing track).
+- **Folder Library — a bundled core plugin (`plugins/folder_library/`) that browses the DLC library by its on-disk folder tree.** Surfaces top-level folders → subfolders → songs (root-level songs land in `(Unsorted)`), with in-app folder management (create / rename / delete nested folders), song moves via dialog or drag-and-drop, and sort/filter that mirrors the host library's filter state. Wired into both the classic (v2) library toolbar and the v3 Songs page as a third **Folders** view alongside grid/tree; the plugin's `screen.js` is loaded once by the host and reused (idempotent IIFEs). Supersedes the former standalone "Folder Organizer" community plugin (removed from the README list). Backend (`routes.py`) registers `/api/plugins/folder_library/{tree,folder/create,folder/rename,folder/delete,song/move}`; **all filesystem mutations are confined to `DLC_DIR` and validated against path traversal** (per-segment name validation plus a resolved-containment check on `song/move`), and folder deletion relocates every song — de-duplicating colliding names — so a name clash never destroys a song. A two-level cache keeps re-opening folders fast. Tests: `tests/plugins/folder_library/test_routes.py` (path-safety helpers + move-traversal and delete-no-data-loss end-to-end).
+- **Full-screen (immersive) plugin screens — opt-in via `"fullscreen": true` in `plugin.json`.** DAW-style plugin UIs (e.g. a practice studio) need the whole viewport, not a scrolling content page below the topbar — embedded in the v3 shell they get cut off at the bottom with dead space up top. A plugin can now declare a top-level `"fullscreen": true`; `plugins/__init__.py` surfaces it as the `fullscreen` boolean on `/api/plugins` (mirroring the `settings_category` plumbing). When such a plugin's screen is active, `static/v3/shell.js` toggles `html.fb-immersive` from `syncActive()` (so it tracks every navigation incl. deep-link), and `static/v3/v3.css` hides the topbar, collapses the sidebar to a functional **icon rail** (kept reachable — Escape is bound only on player/settings scopes, so a fully-hidden sidebar would trap the user), and lets the active plugin screen fill `#v3-main`. Mirrors the existing `ss-follower-pre` chrome-hide pattern. Additive + opt-in: plugins without the flag are unaffected. Tests: `tests/test_plugins.py::test_fullscreen_flag_parsed_from_manifest`.
+- **Achievements wall sync — background drain worker (epic PR3, client side).** The bundled `achievements` plugin gains a dead-letter sync worker that POSTs queued Feat unlocks (and removals) to the hosted **feedback-achievements** wall service (separate repo). Idle unless a wall URL is configured (`FEEDBACK_ACHIEVEMENTS_WALL_URL`); uses `requests` with the baked-in client-token header, mirroring `lib/lyrics_transcribe`'s outbound pattern (explicit timeout, no raise on non-2xx). **Dead-letter, never drop** (pure `engine.drain_decision`): network error / `429` / `5xx` → keep `pending` (retry); other `4xx` → `dead_letter` (diagnosable, replayable); `2xx` → delete on server ack. A row leaves the queue only on ack or a user opt-out. `remove-me` now enqueues a wall removal keyed by the reused `player_hash`. Verified by an end-to-end staging round-trip (earn a Feat → drains onto the wall with name + short hash → `remove-me` → wall empties) with **no IP** in tables or access logs. Tests: `tests/plugins/achievements/test_sync.py` (decision table + ack/retry/dead-letter retention + four-field payload on the wire). The hosted service itself (FastAPI + SQLite-on-disk, Feats-only, hidden-until-first-global-unlock, profanity filter, in-memory rate limit, Render blueprint, migration tool) lives in the new `feedback-achievements` repo.
+- **Achievements wall — opt-in, privacy controls & data-minimization gate (epic PR2).** Sharing earned **Feats** on the (forthcoming) public wall is strictly opt-in. A new **onboarding step** (`static/v3/profile.js`, inserted after song-directory / before instrument paths — the wizard is now five steps) presents a plain-language card: it publishes only your display name and the Feats you earn, never songs/skills/scores, and is **off by default**. The bundled plugin's Settings panel (`plugins/achievements/settings.html`, mounted under the **System** tab via `settings.category`) carries the same toggle plus a **"Remove me from the wall"** button (`POST /api/plugins/achievements/remove-me` — wipes local synced state offline + enqueues a wall removal). Core adds `achievements_enabled` (bool, default `false`) to `_default_settings()` + the `/api/settings` validation block + `_RESETTABLE_SETTINGS_KEYS` in `server.py`, mirrored to `localStorage` in `app.js loadSettings()`. **Data-minimization contract (binding, code-enforced):** every outbound payload is built by a single explicit-dict serializer (`engine.build_wall_payload`, never `dict(row)`/`**model`) whose key-set is **exactly** `{display_name, player_hash, achievement_id, unlocked_at}` with `achievement_id` always a **Feat** id — a unit test asserts the four-field set and goes red on a fifth. Enqueue is doubly gated: it happens only when opted-in **and** a profile identity (name + the reused `player_hash`) exists; **competency unlocks never enqueue** (integration law). Tests: `tests/plugins/achievements/test_datamin.py` (key-set, opt-out/identity/competency gating) + `tests/test_settings_api.py` (flag persists/validates/resettable).
+- **Achievements & Feats of Power — local engine + tabbed Profile (epic PR1).** The Profile screen (`static/v3/profile.js`) becomes **tabbed** exactly like the v3 Settings page (`.fb-tabbar` / `.fb-tab[data-tab]` / `.fb-tabpanel[data-tab]`, active-tab persisted in `localStorage 'v3-profile-tab'`): a **Profile** (main) tab carrying the existing header + best-scores cards plus a new **Feats of Power** trophy shelf mount (`#v3-profile-feats-slot`, earned-only / hidden-until-earned), and an **Achievements** tab with a plugin mount (`#v3-profile-achievements-mount`) + `[data-empty-for]` empty note. Core dispatches a new **`v3:profile-rendered`** event after every render (mirrors `v3:settings-rendered`) so the plugin re-injects on each profile entry. A new bundled **`plugins/achievements/`** plugin owns the engine: SQLite under `<config_dir>/achievements/achievements.db` (`unlocks` / `counters` / `comp_ledger` / `sync_queue`), pure threshold/criterion math in the testable sibling `engine.py` (P-V), and routes under `/api/plugins/achievements/` (`activity`, `report-unlock`, `report-criterion`, `catalog`, `earned`, `feats`, `remove-me`). **Two surfaces, one engine, structurally separated (integration law):** **Feats** (activity/volume — Note Hunter, Marathon, Untouchable, Road Warrior, Time Served, Encore, two 🥚 secrets) read activity counters only, evaluated from a batched `song:ended` activity POST (notes only when **notedetect** is present — graceful degradation, no fake progress); **competency Achievements** (baseline: First Steps / Ascendant / Steady Hands / Renaissance + per-instrument Apprentice·Journeyman·Master / Personal Best / Challenger) are evaluated from **progression events only** and never re-derived from activity. The Achievements catalogue is always shown (locked = greyed), grouped by a secondary pill row over the **real progression paths** (Global / Guitar / Bass / Drums / Keys — auto-extends to new paths) with a per-category "X / Y earned" badge, defaulting to the player's primary path. Source plugins contribute their own competency defs and report unlocks through a versioned **`window.feedBack.achievements`** API (`register`/`registerAll`/`unlock`/`progress`), load-order-safe via the `window.__feedBackAchievementsPending` queue + an `achievements:ready` event (minigames pending-queue pattern); an absent source contributes nothing (no dead greyed rows). Opt-in publishing to a hosted Feats wall, the Settings privacy toggle, and the data-minimization gate land in epic PR2/PR3. Tests: `tests/plugins/achievements/test_engine.py` + `test_routes.py` (incl. the integration-law assertion that a competency unlock never reaches the Feats shelf).
+- **v3 settings page redesigned as a tabbed, card-row layout.** The single long scrolling settings screen becomes a horizontal tab bar (Gameplay / Audio / Graphics / Keybinds / Progression / Mic / Plugins / System) over card rows — each a leading icon + title + description with the control (toggle/dropdown/slider) on the right, plus a per-category "Reset" action. The markup lives in `static/v3/index.html` (so existing element ids keep hydrating through the unchanged `app.js` `loadSettings()`/`persistSetting()` path); a new `static/v3/settings.js` owns tab switching + active-tab persistence (`localStorage 'v3-settings-tab'`), the per-category reset, and a read-only **Keybinds** reference built from the live shortcut registry (`window.getAllShortcuts()`); styling is plain CSS in `static/v3/v3.css` (no Tailwind rebuild). **Plugins choose their settings tab** via a new optional `settings.category` field in `plugin.json` (`plugins/__init__.py` surfaces it as `settings_category`; `app.js` mounts each plugin's `<details>` panel into `#plugin-settings-<category>`, falling back to the generic Plugins tab) — `highway_3d` ships `category: "graphics"`; the out-of-repo notedetect/progression plugins should declare `"mic"` / `"progression"`. **New gameplay settings:** **Countdown before song** (a four-beat count-in before playback, wired end-to-end via the existing count-in engine + the song-start autostart path; key `countdown_before_song`, default off); **Miss penalty** (`miss_penalty`) and **Fail behavior** (`fail_behavior`) are persisted now but not yet consumed by scoring (shown with a "Not yet active" badge). "Note highway speed" surfaces the existing `master_difficulty` and stays in sync with the player-popover difficulty slider. New `POST /api/settings/reset` clears chosen keys back to defaults. Tests: `tests/test_settings_api.py` (new keys + reset), `tests/test_plugins.py::test_settings_category_parsed_from_manifest`, `tests/browser/settings-tabbed.spec.ts`.
+- **Full-mix audio exposed alongside stems for the stem mixer's auto-switch.** `lib/sloppak.py::load_song` now parses the optional manifest `original_audio:` key (the single pre-separation mixdown, e.g. `original/full.ogg`) into a new `LoadedSloppak.original_audio` field, with the same path-traversal guard and permissive "missing → disabled" posture as the `drum_tab` loader. The highway WS `song_info` frame additively carries three new fields next to `stems`: `original_audio_url` (served by the existing `/api/sloppak/{filename}/file/{rel_path}` endpoint, `None` when the pack ships stems only), `has_original_audio`, and `has_stems` (mirroring the `has_drum_tab`/`has_keys` flag convention). The stems plugin consumes `original_audio_url` to play the untouched single file while every stem slider is at unity and switch to the separate stems the moment one drops below 100%. **Migration notes:** the `song_info` message shape is a stable contract — these are purely additive; all existing fields are unchanged. `audio_url` still points at stem[0] when stems exist (it is only the degraded native fallback); the one behavioural change is that a stem-less, full-mix-only sloppak now sets `audio_url` to the full mix instead of emitting `audio_error`, so it plays natively.
+- **Autoplay & auto-exit — a global "click it, it plays; finish, you're back at the menu" option (default ON).** New single Settings toggle (`autoplayExit` in `localStorage`, surfaced in both the v3 and classic settings screens; absence of the key = enabled) that closes the friction at both ends of the play loop. **Autoplay:** `playSong()` previously loaded a chart paused, requiring a Play press; a one-shot flag armed per fresh load is now consumed by the next `song:ready` (highway.js) to auto-start via the existing `togglePlay()` path (HTML5 + `_juceMode` + count-in). Arrangement switches / seeks reuse the same `song:ready` event but never arm the flag, so they don't auto-restart. **Auto-exit:** on `song:ended`, core returns to the launching menu after a short grace delay — unless a visible full-screen results/dialog overlay is on top (detected via `[role=dialog][aria-modal]` / `.fixed.inset-0` with a `getClientRects()` visibility test that works for `position:fixed`), in which case the return is deferred so that score screen's own Close button (calling `window.closeCurrentSong()`) drives the exit. A plugin can also defer explicitly via the new `window.feedBack.holdAutoExit()` (called synchronously from its own `song:ended` handler — core's listener runs first). Both paths mean **no external plugin PR is required** for a results screen to be respected. **Context-aware destination:** the player's remembered origin (`_playerOriginScreen`) now honours any real launch screen instead of clamping to library/home/favorites, and a one-shot `window.feedBack.setReturnScreen(id)` override lets the lessons catalog (`static/v3/lessons.js`) send a finished lesson back to the lessons screen — not the song library — even though the external tutorials plugin owns the `playSong` call. Also exposes a read-only `window.feedBack.autoplayExit` getter for plugins. Songs and lessons share the same `playSong` → highway path, so both inherit the behaviour. Core-only (`static/app.js`, `static/v3/lessons.js`, both `index.html`s); the end-of-song score screen itself remains a plugin. Optional polish (not required — the overlay heuristic already covers it): external scoring/note-detection plugins (e.g. SlopScale) may call `holdAutoExit()` + `closeCurrentSong()` for an exact, heuristic-free handoff.
+- **"Song Editor" promoted to a first-class v3 sidebar item.** The editor
+  plugin (`id: editor`) now gets its own dedicated sidebar entry — under the
+  Library group, just below Songs — via the existing `PROMOTED_PLUGINS`
+  mechanism in `static/v3/shell.js`, instead of being reachable only through
+  the generic Plugins gallery. Gated on the plugin actually being installed
+  (`renderPromotedNav` checks `/api/plugins`), so it appears only when the
+  editor is loaded. The displayed label comes from the plugin's manifest
+  `nav.label`.
+- **Guitar Pro → notation importer (`lib/gp2notation.py`)** (feedBack#825 WS4b, epic #828). Piano/keys tracks imported from Guitar Pro (GPIF: `.gpx` GP6 / `.gp` GP7-8) now produce real Sloppak Notation Format data (sloppak-spec §5.3) alongside the `midi = string*24 + fret` guitar wire encoding. `gp2rs_gpx.convert_file` writes a `<stem>.notation.json` sidecar next to each keys arrangement XML (best-effort — a notation bug never breaks the RS-XML conversion), and `gp2notation.attach_notation_to_sloppak()` is the assembly-side helper that renames it into `notation_<id>.json` + adds the per-arrangement `notation:` manifest sub-key. Voice→staff routing salvages the logic from PR #703 (whose `stf` wire-field approach this supersedes): GP voice position 0 → `rh` staff (`G2`), positions ≥ 1 → `lh` (`F4`); a forced-LH track (the merged `Piano LH` partner from `_find_piano_pairs`, or a standalone track named `… LH`) routes everything to `lh` — preserving authored hand crossings instead of inferring hands from pitch. Emits measures with absolute `t` from the bar-indexed tempo map, change-only `ts`/`tempo`/`ks`, and `beat_groups` for compound/irregular meters (6/8 → `[3,3]`, 9/8 → `[3,3,3]`, 5/8 → `[2,3]`, 7/8 → `[2,2,3]` — cf. the feedBack#261 denominator pitfalls); beats carry `dur`/`dot`/`tu`/`rest` from GP rhythms and notes carry absolute `midi` (String+Fret resolves via the string template's concert pitches, Tone+Octave via `(octave+1)*12 + step`) with `tied` continuations kept as real beats (engraving needs the tied notehead — unlike the RS-XML walk, which drops them and extends sustain). Timing reuses the `gp2rs_gpx` machinery (bar-indexed tempo map, per-beat rhythm durations, `_note_midi`) so notation lines up with the RS XML the highway plays — with one deliberate divergence: double dots advance time ×1.75 (vs. the RS-XML walk's single-dot ×1.5 approximation) so a written `dot: 2` agrees with the emitted beat times; sharing the walk itself stays tracked in feedBack#618. Tests: `tests/test_gp2notation.py`.
+- **Legacy keys → notation lifter (`scripts/lift_keys_notation.py`)** (feedBack#825 WS4c, epic #828). One-time batch converter that lifts existing **directory-form** piano/keys sloppaks from the legacy guitar wire encoding (`midi = s*24 + f`) into real Sloppak Notation Format files (sloppak-spec §5.3). Candidates are arrangements whose name matches `\b(keys|piano|keyboard|synth)\b` (case-insensitive); each gets a `notation_<id>.json` plus the per-arrangement `notation:` manifest sub-key. Measures derive from the song-level `beats` downbeats (`measure >= 0`; `song_timeline.json` preferred, first-arrangement fallback), with per-measure tempo from downbeat spacing (emitted only on a > 1 BPM change). Durations come from the wire sustain (`sus`, legacy `l` alias) when present, else the gap to the next onset in the same hand — quantized to the nearest plain/single-dotted `{1,2,4,8,16,32}` denominator at the local tempo, floored at a 32nd. Hands are split heuristically: onsets within 10 ms form a group; a group spanning > 12 semitones splits at its largest internal interval gap (low side → `lh`), otherwise the whole group goes by mean pitch vs middle C — single-staff output when everything lands on one hand. Idempotent (arrangements already carrying `notation:` are skipped; an orphan `notation_<id>.json` without the manifest key is refused, not overwritten) with `--dry-run` support; every payload is checked via `notation.validate_notation` before write. Honest caveat: the manifest is round-tripped through PyYAML (`safe_load` + `safe_dump(sort_keys=False)`) — key order survives, YAML comments/custom formatting do not (the script warns when comments are present). Zip-form `.sloppak` files are reported and skipped. Tests: `tests/test_lift_keys_notation.py`.
+- **Notation schema v1 freeze — completeness batch** (feedBack#822, epic #828). Adds the low-hanging-fruit fields ahead of content production: top-level credits `rights`/`lyricist`/`arranger`; measure `pickup` (anacrusis); beat `arp` (arpeggiate), `ferm` (fermata), and **typed grace notes** — `grace: "a"` (acciaccatura, MusicXML `grace/@slash=yes`) / `"p"` (appoggiatura); note `stem` (`"up"`/`"down"` force). Pedal is settled as the existing `spd`/`sph`/`spu` trio with a documented MusicXML `<pedal start|change|stop>` mapping — no separate `ped` field. A new "v1 non-features" spec subsection pins the accepted limitations (microtonal, figured bass, mid-measure key/time/clef changes, `ott`/`barline`/ornaments/`trem`/`glis`) as additive-v1.x territory. `lib/notation.py` gains the `GRACE_TYPES`, `STEM_DIRECTIONS`, and `DYNAMICS` vocabularies; the validator stays permissive by design.
+- **Notation format — standard musical notation as a first-class sloppak type.** Promotes keys, piano, violin, and any other staff-notation instrument out of the guitar wire format and into their own data structure, following the same promotion path used for drums (feedBack#344). New `lib/notation.py` defines the canonical vocabulary (`CLEFS`, `DURATIONS`, `SCHEMA_VERSION`), a permissive `validate_notation()` check, and `measures_to_wire()` / `measure_to_wire()` wire helpers. `lib/sloppak.py::load_song` reads a new per-arrangement `notation:` sub-key from each arrangement entry in the manifest (Option B: per-arrangement, not song-wide), applies path-traversal guards, validates the parsed JSON via `validate_notation()`, and surfaces all notation payloads on `LoadedSloppak.notation_by_id` (a `dict[str, dict]` keyed by arrangement id). A failed or missing notation file for one arrangement does not abort or skip the arrangement itself — partial-failure isolation mirrors the drum tab loader. `file:` is now optional when `notation:` is present: the loader creates a minimal stub arrangement so a notation-only arrangement entry does not require a guitar wire format JSON. `/ws/highway/{filename}` gains two new message types — `notation_info` (staves, instrument, total measure count) and chunked `notation_measures` (32 measures per chunk) — streamed after `sections` and before `anchors`; `song_info` carries a new `has_notation: bool` flag so viz pickers can auto-activate the notation plugin regardless of arrangement name. The notation file schema is measure-structured (`measure → staff → voice → beat → note`), uses MIDI for pitch (no string/fret/tuning indirection), and carries the full set of effects that alphaTab can render. See `docs/sloppak-spec.md` §5.3 for the full schema. Open questions resolved per the piano/keys epic (feedBack#828 / #822): Option B (per-arrangement `notation:` sub-key) and `file:`-optional-when-`notation:`-present are the endorsed design.
+- **`song_timeline.json` — beats and sections as a top-level file.** A new optional top-level file pointed at by a new manifest key (`song_timeline: song_timeline.json`) provides the correct home for song-wide beats and sections, replacing the legacy convention of embedding them in the first arrangement JSON. The loader in `lib/sloppak.py` reads and validates the file (must be a dict with `beats` and `sections` as lists), clears and repopulates `Song.beats` / `Song.sections` from it when present, and stores the raw dict on `LoadedSloppak.song_timeline`. The existing arrangement-JSON fallback is fully preserved: all existing sloppaks that omit `song_timeline:` continue to load without any change. This is a prerequisite for notation-only sloppaks, which may have no arrangement JSON at all and therefore no carrier for beats/sections data. New sloppaks should put beats/sections in `song_timeline.json` only. See `docs/sloppak-spec.md` §2 and §5.3.
+- **`note-detection` capability domain promoted — control plane (spec 009)** (feedBack#727/#728, epic #828). New core host `static/capabilities/note-detection.js`: provider registry (kinds `midi`/`engine`/`js`, primitives `pitch.estimate`/`verify.target`), requester-owned context-scoped detection bindings (`open-binding`/`close-binding`/`set-target`/`clear-target` — each binding carries its own redacted tuning context, independent of the host's loaded song, per spec-009 FR-003), and hit/miss/verdict observability events (consumers own judgment). The legacy chart-coupled `highway.setNoteStateProvider` surface keeps working and is wrapped for compatibility-shim hit accounting. Diagnostics (`feedBack.note_detection_capability.v1`) carry provider/binding summaries and bounded outcomes — no raw audio, device labels, or song identity. Migrating the chart path, Step Mode verify, minigames YIN, and the engine verifier onto bindings is the remainder of the spec-009 slice.
+- **`visualization` capability domain promoted (cap:6)** (feedBack#828). New core host `static/capabilities/visualization.js` registers a provider-coordinator owning the highway renderer surface: commands `inspect` / `list-providers` / `select-renderer` / `clear-renderer` (selection delegates to the existing picker so persistence, WebGL2 gating, and fallback stay single-sourced), events `providers-refreshed` / `renderer-changed` / `renderer-ready` / `renderer-failed`. Legacy discovery (`type: "visualization"` manifests, `window.feedBackViz_*` globals) keeps working unchanged and is accounted as compatibility shims with hit counts. `static/app.js` attributes every renderer change (auto-match / user-select / fallback) and auto-match outcomes into the domain. Diagnostics (`feedBack.visualization_capability.v1`) carry provider ids/labels/context types, active renderer + selection source, last auto-match outcome, and last failure — no song filenames/titles. Per-panel (splitscreen) selection is a tracked follow-up.
+- **Viz picker routes notation arrangements** (feedBack#826, epic #828). `window.feedBack.currentSong` gains `hasNotation` (sibling of `hasDrumTab`) from the `song_info` frame's `has_notation` flag, so notation viz plugins (Staff View, Keys Highway 3D) can gate `matchesArrangement` on data presence instead of arrangement-name heuristics. When a notation-only arrangement (no wire notes — `file:` omitted per sloppak-spec §5.3) falls through Auto with no notation plugin installed, the built-in highway still takes the canvas but the Auto label reads "no notation view installed" and a one-shot dismissable hint points at the visualization picker — never a silently blank board.
+- **Keys instrument path in progression** (feedBack#828). New `data/progression/paths/keys.json` (5 levels / 15 challenges at parity with the guitar path) plus keys-flavoured daily/weekly quest pool entries (`d.keys-one` "Ivory Tower", `w.keys-three` "Grand Recital"). `lib/progression.py::instrument_for_arrangement()` now attributes `type: piano|keys` arrangements — and names matching `keys`/`piano`/`keyboard`/`synth` on a word boundary — to the new `keys` instrument, so scored keys runs advance the path automatically. Purely content + attribution: no schema or API changes.
+- **v3 library: exact artist/album filters + scroll/page-depth restore** (feedBack#857). The v3 Songs toolbar gains Artist and Album dropdowns (Album populates from the selected artist and stays disabled until one is chosen), backed by new exact, case-insensitive (`COLLATE NOCASE`) `artist` / `album` query params threaded through `MetadataDB._build_where` → `query_page` / `query_artists` / `query_stats` and the `/api/library`, `/api/library/artists`, `/api/library/stats` endpoints (the free-text `q` search stays fuzzy and composes with the exact filters). The artist/album catalog is fetched independently of the active artist/album selection so the dropdowns always list the full set for the current provider/search. The toolbar is now sticky so filter controls stay reachable when browsing deep libraries, and returning from the player restores the previous scroll position **and** the loaded infinite-scroll page depth via a `sessionStorage` snapshot keyed by a filter/sort/view state hash (invalidated whenever those change, so a filter change still resets to the top). Tests: `tests/test_library_filters.py` (backend artist/album filters), `tests/js/v3_songs_scroll.test.js` (state-hash + snapshot helpers).
+
+### Fixed
+- **GP8 multi-staff (piano/keys) tracks now import both hands — the bass stave was being silently dropped, and hand-splits landed on the wrong hand.** A GP8 grand-staff keyboard part is one `<Track>` with two `<Staff>` entries, and `MasterBar/Bars` lists one bar id per **stave**, not per track (`lib/gp2rs_gpx.py`). Two bugs fell out of assuming one stave per track: (1) the bar-column lookup used a raw `enumerate(Tracks)` index, so every track *after* a multi-stave track read the wrong column; (2) the string-tuning parse scanned all `.//Property` descendants and let the last stave's `<Tuning>` overwrite the first, so a treble note indexed against the 5-entry bass tuning fell out of range in `_note_midi` and was **dropped without a trace**. The importer now advances a bar-column counter by each track's stave count, reads tuning **per stave** (with a per-staff fall-back to the track-level property so an untuned staff never yields empty pitches), and folds **every** extra stave's notes into the arrangement (not just stave 1), keeping the `note_count` import-preview honest. A grand-staff track is now classified as keys end-to-end so the stave-0 and folded stave-1+ notes share one encoding. Separately, `notation_lift.split_hands` no longer forces a hard middle-C split when doing so produces a physically unplayable hand (e.g. a bass note under an Em7-shape voicing dipping below C4 would put a 19-semitone span in one hand) — it uses the middle-C boundary only when both resulting hands are within `HAND_SPLIT_SPAN_SEMITONES`, else falls back to the largest-gap heuristic. The GPX LH/RH pair merge and the GP8 stave fold now share one `_collect_column_notes` / `_merge_lh_notes` pair so the two formats can't drift in tie/timing/dedup handling. Companion editor change: got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-editor#38. Tests: `tests/test_gp2notation.py` (grand-staff fold + bar-column offset), `tests/test_notation_lift.py` (both middle-C split cases). Follow-up: `lib/gp_autosync.py` still carries the pre-fix bar-column + tuning logic (CLI/tests only, no production caller).
+- **Tuner auto-open is now opt-in and persists instead of flashing open-then-shut.** When you entered a song (or switched arrangement) whose tuning differed from the last, the tuner auto-opened and — for some testers — vanished ~1s later (reported macOS+Windows, 0.3.0). Root cause: the tuner closes itself on `song:play` (`plugins/tuner/utils/ui.js` — you don't tune while playing), so a **song switch** fired autoplay → `song:play` → the just-auto-opened tuner closed; an **arrangement switch** (which never arms autoplay) had no `song:play`, so it stayed open — exactly why two testers saw opposite behaviour (it wasn't the mic). Now: (1) the feature is a **new opt-in setting** ("Auto-open on tuning change", in the tuner's Settings panel, persisted as `autoOpenOnTuningChange`, **default OFF**); (2) an **auto**-opened tuner *persists* — it ignores the autoplay `song:play`, stray outside-clicks, and same-screen re-emits, closing only via the new in-panel **`×`** / **"Skip"** buttons or when you leave the song. A *manually* opened tuner keeps its classic click-away / play-to-close behaviour. The panel previously had no in-box close at all; this adds one (`×` + contextual Skip). All in the tuner plugin (`routes.py` config, `screen.js` gate + persist, `utils/ui.js` buttons + `song:play` guard, `settings.html` toggle) — **no core `app.js` changes**. Tests: `tests/js/tuner_auto_open.test.js` (opt-in gate, `{ auto: true }` persist mode, play/click-proofing). **Default (opt-in vs opt-out) is teed up for Byron to decide — flip one boolean.**
+- **Tuner auto-open is now tuning-coverage-aware — extended-range players aren't nagged for songs their instrument already covers.** With the opt-in auto-open on, it now prompts only when your **current physical tuning** (from your instrument selection in Settings) doesn't already cover the song. FeedBack is tune-to-song — the highway draws tab in the song's tuning — so the check aligns the song's open-string tuning string-for-string against your instrument: an **8-string F♯-standard** player gets **no** prompt for a 6- or 7-string standard song (its top strings already match those tunings), while a song needing an open string you don't have (e.g. a **Drop-A 7-string**, whose low A isn't an open string on an F♯ 8-string) **still** prompts. A whole-instrument reference difference also prompts — A440 vs A432, or an octave-down `centOffset` (which the auto-open now accounts for; it was previously ignored). The player's instrument is read from core **`/api/settings`** (the v3 instrument selector — a stable physical reference, not the tuner's song-tracking selection); when nothing's declared or the lookup is unavailable it falls back to a conservative prompt, so a real retune is never silently skipped. **v3-only** (the instrument selector is v3). All in the tuner plugin (`plugins/tuner/screen.js`) — **no core changes**. Tests: `tests/js/tuner_auto_open.test.js` (covered vs uncovered, the Drop-A case, reference-pitch mismatch, contiguous alignment). _Follow-up (E1.6): a passive "different tuning" badge cue that names the string(s) to retune, plus the splitscreen / no-usable-input guards._
+- **The tuner badge now passively flags when a song needs a different tuning — and names the retune.** Building on the coverage check: when you enter a song your current instrument doesn't cover, the topbar tuner badge gets an amber ring and a tooltip that **names the change** — e.g. *"retune B→A"* for a Drop-A song on an F♯ 8-string, or *"the reference pitch"* for an A440-vs-A432 mismatch. It's purely **advisory** (it never auto-opens the panel — tap the badge to tune), recomputed on `song:ready` and cleared when a new song loads or you leave the player. The retune diff comes from the tuner plugin's coverage report (`window._tunerAutoOpen.coverageReport` → `{ covered, retune: [{ from, to }], reference, cantCover }`); the cue is CSS-free (an inline ring + native tooltip — no Tailwind rebuild) and no-ops when the tuner plugin isn't installed. **v3-only.** Touches `static/v3/badges.js` (the cue) + `plugins/tuner/screen.js` (the report). Tests: `tests/js/tuner_auto_open.test.js` (the report names the strings; reference mismatch; the badge wiring). _(The splitscreen-suppress and no-usable-input guards move to the playback-gate stage, where they matter for its no-trap rule.)_
+- **Tuner auto-open can now gate playback until you've tuned — the "tune before you play" model — via a new core `holdAutoplay()` hook.** With the opt-in auto-open on, when a song needs a retune the tuner opens and **playback waits** for your choice — **Skip** (you've tuned → play, and record the song's tuning as your instrument's current working tuning), **Back to library** / **Esc** (leave the song; a gated retune is never a one-way trap), or press **Play** (always wins). For an auto-open the in-panel **×** is dropped — Skip / Back to library / Esc are its dismiss surface. Previously the song played with the tuner overlaid; now it holds — which also definitively kills the original flash, since autoplay's `song:play` can't fire while playback is held. Implemented as a small **core hook** `window.feedBack.holdAutoplay()` (mirrors the existing `holdAutoExit()`): a plugin claims it **synchronously on `song:loading`** (so it beats the `song:ready` autostart), and `release()` — or a **12-second fail-open backstop** — runs the deferred start. **Generation-guarded** (a new song invalidates a stale hold) and **fail-open** (a wedged or crashed plugin can never permanently strand a song); **manual Play always wins** (it doesn't flow through the autostart path). The tuner claims the gate only when the feature is on, and **releases it the instant** it decides not to open (song already covered / tuning unchanged) or when you Skip. Touches core `static/app.js` (the hook + an autostart refactor) and the tuner plugin (`plugins/tuner/screen.js` — the claim/release; `plugins/tuner/utils/ui.js` — the Skip / Back-to-library buttons, × dropped on auto-open); the hook is generic and shell-agnostic (a test asserts `app.js` still doesn't reference the tuner's internals). Tests: `tests/js/tuner_auto_open.test.js` (claim on `song:loading`, release on dismiss, feature-off no-claim, the core hook + fail-open backstop, the Skip / Back-to-library / Esc escape-hatch) + a `speed_reset.test.js` stub. ⚠️ **Needs a manual smoke-test before shipping** — this is a core playback change; verify on desktop that the tuner mic doesn't contend with note_detect's scoring input (ASIO/exclusive mode), per the design charrette.
+- **v3 Songs List View: favoriting a song now turns the heart red immediately (no re-search needed).** In the tree / "List View" (Songs → List → expand an artist), clicking the heart flipped the glyph ♡→♥ but it stayed dim grey until you re-searched the library — reported on macOS + Windows, open since 0.3.0 / 2026-06-25. One shared `wireCards()` `[data-fav]` handler (`static/v3/songs.js`) serves both the grid card and the List-View row, but the two render with different idle colours — grid `text-white`, List View `text-fb-textDim` — and the handler only ever removed the grid's `text-white`. So in List View the row kept `text-fb-textDim` alongside the freshly-added `text-fb-accent`, and the dim class won by CSS source order (glyph changed, colour didn't). Each heart now declares its idle colour via a `data-fav-idle` attribute and the handler swaps exactly that class, so only one colour class is ever present; the handler also writes the new state back onto the in-memory song model so a re-render / virtualized-grid recycle agrees instead of reverting. Tests: `tests/js/v3_favorites_toggle.test.js`.
+- **v3 Songs A–Z rail: taps now land reliably, a drag releases exactly on the let-go letter, and the rail is large enough to hit on hi-res displays.** Follow-up to the rail's debut (#634); three bugs reported on macOS + Windows (0.3.0, 2026-06-29): a tap often did nothing ("clicked O, nothing happened"), a drag "got you kind of there but where you release isn't where you get sent," and the rail was "way too small" at 1440p and didn't scale with resolution. Root causes & fixes, all in `static/v3/songs.js` + `static/v3/v3.css` (`bindRailOnce`/`jumpToLetter`/`.v3-azrail`): (1) **taps** — `pointerdown` calls `setPointerCapture`, after which the browser **retargets the follow-up `click` to the rail container**, so the click handler's `closest('.v3-azrail-letter')` resolved `null` and a plain tap (no `pointermove`) had no other path → no-op. The jump is now driven from `pointerdown` itself (seek on press); the `click` handler is reduced to **keyboard activation only** (`e.detail === 0`, Enter/Space). (2) **drag precision** — every letter crossed fired `jumpToLetter` with `behavior:'smooth'`; stacked smooth-scroll animations over the virtualized grid lagged and settled short of the release. `jumpToLetter(letter, smooth)` now scrolls **instantly while scrubbing** (`'auto'`) and only animates discrete taps/keyboard jumps, so the grid tracks the finger and the release lands on the let-go letter. (3) **size** — the letters were a fixed `.62rem` glued at `right:2px` (~13px-tall target on the screen edge); they now scale with the viewport (`clamp(.72rem, 1.4vh, 1.05rem)`), sit off the edge with taller/wider equal-width hit targets and a hover/active highlight so the scrub target is visible. Keyboard arrow-nav + the present-letter gating are unchanged. Reported by =Scr4tch= and MajorMokoto. Tests: `tests/js/v3_az_rail.test.js` (pointerdown-seek, keyboard-only click guard, instant-vs-smooth scroll).
+- **v3 player: opening another rail popover now closes the Section Practice popover (no more two stacked popovers).** Opening the **Practice** pill's popover and then clicking a different player-rail icon (e.g. **Plugins**) left the Practice popover open underneath the new one — looked broken (reported on macOS, 0.3.0 / 2026-06-28). The rail icons call `e.stopPropagation()` in their click handler (`static/v3/player-chrome.js`), which killed bubbling before it reached the Practice popover's outside-click dismiss bound on `document`. The dismiss (`_installSectionPracticeDismiss` in `static/app.js`) now binds in the **capture phase**, which runs before the target's handler so a descendant's `stopPropagation()` can't swallow it — mirroring how the audio-mixer popover already dismisses. Esc handling stays bubble-phase (the player's Escape-to-exit ordering is unchanged). v2 shares `app.js` and is only hardened (no rail `stopPropagation` there). Tests: `tests/js/section_practice_dismiss.test.js`.
+- **v3 UI no longer lets you accidentally text-select the chrome.** Dragging or double-clicking across the interface used to marquee-highlight buttons, labels, the sidebar, the transport, and the note-highway HUD — which looks broken (reported on Mac + Windows). The v3 shell now defaults to `user-select: none` on `html` (`static/v3/v3.css`), then opts *content* back in — so chrome is non-selectable but the text you actually copy still works. Decided by a 4-lens panel (UX / accessibility / dev-ops / plugin-ecosystem); the guardrails are deliberate: **form fields are always re-enabled** (never break the caret / IME — no `* { user-select:none }`, which trips a WebKit input bug); **plugin screens (`.screen[id^="plugin-"]`) stay selectable by default** so a plugin's copyable text (lyrics, chord names, results) — including community plugins that don't know about this — isn't silently locked; and **core read-only content opts back in by container** via a new hand-authored **`.fb-selectable`** class — applied to the whole **Settings** panel (paths, device names, version, diagnostics, About — answering "is settings still copyable?": yes), the **now-playing song metadata** (with `pointer-events` re-enabled so the HUD text is actually reachable), and the focused **modals / dialogs / toasts / scan banner** that carry copyable errors, IDs, paths, and file names. It's cosmetic only (it protects nothing) and never used to lock copy-worthy text — errors, IDs, paths, versions, and metadata stay selectable per WCAG 2.2 (copy-paste as a permitted mechanism). Dense card lists (library grid, dashboard, profile) stay non-selectable by design — making them selectable would reintroduce the marquee-mess across cards. **v3-only** (v2 unchanged); plain CSS, no Tailwind rebuild; no desktop changes (standard OS-framed window). Plugin authors: `.fb-selectable` is documented in `CLAUDE.md` for re-enabling copyable content rendered outside a plugin screen. Tests: `tests/js/v3_user_select_policy.test.js`.
+- **Input-setup wizard no longer collapses an audio device's driver-type variants into one entry.** On Windows the desktop engine enumerates the same interface once per host API (ASIO / Windows Audio / DirectSound), and the wizard's audio picker (`plugins/input_setup/screen.js`) de-duped the source list by display **label** — so the variants (which share a name) collapsed to a single choice, silently keeping whichever sorted first (often *not* the low-latency ASIO one the player wants). The audio-input capability already collapses true duplicates by `logicalSourceKey` (`_visibleInputSources` in `static/capabilities/audio-session.js`), and the variants each have a **distinct** key, so the wizard's extra label-collapse was redundant for real dupes and destructive for these — it also could drop the variant that was actually `selected`. Removed it; the picker now lists every selectable input. Pairs with feedBack-desktop's change to label each source with its driver type (e.g. "Focusrite (ASIO)") so the now-distinct entries are legible.
+- **3D Highway FPS counter no longer hides behind the v3 "Up Next" pill.** The on-highway FPS readout (Settings → Graphics → 3D Highway → Show FPS counter) is pinned to the top-right of the highway overlay — the same corner the v3 player chrome stacks its persistent **Up Next** pill and live-performance HUD into, on a higher layer that paints over the canvas. So the readout sat *behind* that chrome and couldn't be read — precisely when a tester had turned it on to judge performance (it also made the separate "Up Next won't turn off" complaint worse, since the default-on pill covered the counter regardless). The counter now stays top-right but drops just **below** whichever of that chrome is showing: `highway_3d`'s `screen.js` measures the lowest visible top-right v3 HUD element (`#v3-upnext` / `#v3-live-performance-hud` / `#hud-time`) and floors the FPS box's Y beneath it. Element refs are resolved once and cached (no per-frame `querySelector`, per the plugin perf rules) and only consulted while the counter is actually drawn; gated on `window.feedBack.uiVersion === 'v3'` so the classic (v2) UI is byte-for-byte unaffected. `plugins/highway_3d/plugin.json` version → `3.30.1` (cache-buster). (For reading raw perf numbers unobstructed, the core perf HUD — `localStorage.highwayPerfHud='1'` — still renders above all chrome and additionally shows the adaptive render-scale.)
+- **3D Highway fret-number row no longer clips off the bottom edge when the camera zooms in on a centred span.** The heat-coloured fret-number row is drawn as a band *below* the board (`sY(lowest) − S_GAP*1.4`), but the camera's self-correcting framing only anchors the board **centre** to the lower third of the screen — it reserved no headroom for that row. So a tight zoom on a centred active span (worst around mid-neck; fine when the span sits at either end of the neck, which is why testers saw it "only when centered" and "not every song") dropped the numbers past the bottom edge. Tilt can't fix it there (it would only trade a bottom clip for a top clip), so `camUpdate()` now **dollies the camera back just enough to bring the row back into frame**: it projects the row band with the final camera and, when it falls below a safe NDC line (`FRET_ROW_FIT_NDC_MIN`), raises a capped, hysteretic `_fretRowFitBoost` applied to the `curDist` lerp target (the span-driven zoom still owns zooming *in*). The boost rises promptly (proportional to the deficit), relaxes lazily past a deadband, and is capped (`FRET_ROW_FIT_BOOST_MAX`, +60%) so the zoom can't pop or hunt; it cooperates with the tilt loop (pull-back shrinks the scene, tilt keeps the centre anchored) and yields entirely to the Camera Director free-cam. Surgical: passages where the row is already visible never trigger it, so framing is unchanged everywhere it already worked. `plugins/highway_3d/plugin.json` version → `3.30.2` (cache-buster). Tests: `tests/js/highway_3d_camera_framing.test.js` (guard constants, the boosted `curDist` lerp, the projected-row hysteresis, free-cam yield).
+- **v3 Songs grid now refreshes after a Settings rescan / DLC-folder change — no app restart needed.** On a fresh install, pointing at a DLC folder in Settings and running a scan left the Songs section empty until a restart (the scan *did* populate the library — `_background_scan` re-reads `config.json` fresh — but the v3 grid never reloaded). The Settings **Rescan / Full Rescan** handlers only refreshed the classic (v2) library via `loadLibrary()`; the v3 grid (`static/v3/songs.js`) had no listener for a scan it didn't start itself (only its own upload path self-refreshed via `watchUploadScan`), so its cached, pre-DLC (empty) DOM/snapshot survived a sidebar return until a full reload. The rescan handlers now emit a **`library:changed`** event (`static/app.js`); the v3 grid listens and **reloads if it's the active screen, else marks itself dirty** so the next entry does a full re-fetch instead of restoring the stale snapshot (a `_libraryDirty` short-circuit ahead of every cached-DOM fast-path in `onV3SongsScreenEnter`). Tests: `tests/js/v3_library_refresh.test.js` (the emit + the reload/dirty wiring).
+- **Edit Metadata modal: the Year is now editable.** You could set a year when authoring a pak but the Songs → Edit Metadata modal had no Year field, so it could never be changed afterward. The backend (`POST /api/song/<f>/meta`) already accepted and normalized `year` (writes it into the file via `songmeta`, survives a rescan) — only the UI omitted it. Added a **Year** input to `openEditModal()` (populated from the song's existing year) and included `year` in `saveEditModal()`'s POST body (`static/app.js`). Both the v3 card menu and the legacy edit button already pass the year through, so both surfaces get the field.
+- **Edit Metadata modal no longer closes when a click-drag is released on the backdrop.** Selecting text inside a field and releasing the mouse past the modal's edge dismissed the form without warning (the `click` event's target resolved to the backdrop), discarding the edit. Backdrop dismissal now requires the **mousedown to have started on the backdrop** too — tracked per-modal and decided by a new pure `_editModalShouldClose(clickTarget, modalEl, downOnBackdrop)` helper (`static/app.js`). Cancel / ✕ still close on a normal click. Tests: `tests/js/edit_metadata_modal.test.js` (year in the POST body + the backdrop-close decision table).
+- **Built-in diagnostic sloppak rebranded "Slopsmith" → "FeedBack" in the song name.** PR #586 renamed the file to `feedBack-diagnostic-basic-guitar.sloppak` but never regenerated the archive, so the manifest inside still carried `title: Slopsmith Diagnostic — Basic Guitar` / `artist: Slopsmith` (and the same heading in `DIAGNOSTIC.md`) — the stale name testers saw in the library/player and the onboarding calibration step, even though the build script, server, and docs all already say "FeedBack Diagnostic — Basic Guitar". Regenerated `docs/diagnostics/feedBack-diagnostic-basic-guitar.sloppak` from `docs/diagnostics/build_diagnostic_basic_guitar.py` so the committed artifact matches its source generator (title/artist/heading now "FeedBack"; chart, stem, and `diagnostic:` metadata unchanged). No code change — the rename in #586 just needed the rebuild.
+- **v3 song/lesson accuracy badges now refresh on the first return from a song — no restart needed.** PR #574 added a `stats:recorded` → in-place badge repaint, but the repaint never matched a card. The event (like `song:loading`) carries the filename **`encodeURIComponent`'d** — exactly as `playCard` hands it to `playSong` (the highway WS `decodeURIComponent`s it back) — whereas library cards key on the **decoded** `localFilename` (`data-fn`), and `/api/stats/best` is server-canonicalized to that same decoded key (`server.py` `_canonical_song_filename`). So `repaintAccuracy`'s `data-fn !== key` check rejected every card and `state.accuracy[encoded]` was `undefined`, leaving the just-earned badge stale until a full `render()` (app restart / search / re-enter the screen) — which is why it "came back after a restart." `static/v3/songs.js` now decodes the `stats:recorded` filename back into the card / `state.accuracy` key space via a small `decFn` helper before marking dirty and repainting (idempotent for already-decoded names; falls back to the original on malformed input so a real filename containing a literal `%` is never corrupted), so both the immediate repaint and the `onV3SongsScreenEnter` deferred path land on the right card. Tests: `tests/js/v3_songs_score_badge_refresh.test.js`.
+- **Escape now exits a song (and leaves Settings) even when a transport/rail control button holds keyboard focus.** Clicking a player control (Play / FF / RW / Restart) left that `<button>` focused, and `_shortcutDispatchBlocked()` in `static/app.js` treats any focused `INPUT/SELECT/TEXTAREA/BUTTON` as an "interactive control" and bails before the shortcut registry runs — so the player-scope `Escape → Back` shortcut never fired until the user clicked empty canvas to blur the control ("Escape in song not consistent"). Space already had a player-screen carve-out (#593) that let it fire through a focused control; Escape did not. Generalized that carve-out to Escape, scoped to the player **and** settings screens (both register an `Escape = Back` shortcut, and settings had the identical latent bug). The earlier guards are preserved and still win: text inputs are exempted first (Escape there clears/blurs the field), the Section Practice popover already claims Escape before the carve-out, and a true modal layered over the screen (`[role="dialog"][aria-modal="true"]` / `.feedBack-modal`) still traps Escape so it closes the modal rather than ejecting past it. Escape becomes a reliable, focus-independent "Back" — making it monotonic groundwork for an optional exit-confirm. Plugins that register a player-scope `Escape` shortcut benefit identically (they were broken the same way). Tests: `tests/browser/keyboard-shortcuts.spec.ts` (focused-button repro, text-input no-exit, no-escape-past-modal, Section Practice popover, settings twin-bug).
+- **The v3 "Up Next" pill can now be turned off — new "Show 'Up Next'" gameplay toggle (default ON).** The v0.3.0 player chrome's persistent upcoming-section pill (`#v3-upnext`, drawn by `static/v3/player-chrome.js`'s `updateUpNext()`) shipped with no off switch, so it always showed during playback whenever a section was upcoming — overlapping the top-right FPS HUD and ignoring the 3D-highway "Show 'Up Next' section card" checkbox (a *different*, in-canvas widget that was demoted to default-off precisely because this pill is the canonical readout). Users reading the pill as the same setting saw "disabled in settings but still there." Adds a real core toggle following the `autoplayExit` idiom: a client-only `showUpNext` `localStorage` pref (absence = enabled), a **Show "Up Next"** switch in the Gameplay settings tab (`static/v3/index.html`), reader/writer + `loadSettings()` hydration + a read-only `window.feedBack.showUpNext` getter in `static/app.js`, and a gate at the top of `updateUpNext()` that hides the pill when off. Disabling mid-playback hides it immediately; re-enabling re-shows it on the next chrome tick (~6 Hz). Added to `RESET_MAP.gameplay.local` in `static/v3/settings.js` so the Gameplay "Reset" restores the default-on state. Default ON = zero change for existing users. No Tailwind rebuild (plain markup + existing classes).
+- **v3 list/tree view brought to parity with the grid: select mode, parts chips, and song actions — plus a stale-CSS Docker fix.** Re-lands a previously-reverted change. **Frontend (`static/v3/songs.js`):** entering select mode no longer collapses the tree — `loadTree()` now captures the expanded artist groups (`details[open]` keyed by `data-artist`) before the "Loading…" wipe and restores them on rebuild, so toggling select mode (which re-renders via `reload()`) keeps groups open and selection usable; tree rows gain a display-only checkbox + selection ring, the same fav / save-for-later / overflow-menu cluster as the grid card (always shown, all bound by `wireCards()`), and a capture-phase select guard mirroring the grid so clicking a row or arrangement chip in select mode selects instead of playing (`<summary>` headers sit outside `[data-fn]`, so native expand/collapse is untouched). **Docker fix (`static/tailwind.min.css`):** the committed Tailwind stylesheet was stale — `.sm\:flex` (and the other utilities behind #582's `hidden sm:flex` arrangement chips and the new action cluster) were never compiled in, so they rendered `display:none` on the Docker build (which serves the committed CSS as-is; Desktop rebuilds from source so it looked fine). Regenerated with the pinned `tailwindcss@3.4.19` via `scripts/build-tailwind.sh` so Docker matches Desktop and #582's chips render on every Docker deploy. Regression tests: `tests/browser/v3-tree-select.spec.ts`.
+- **Space bar now plays/pauses on the player screen even when a sidebar nav link or rail button has focus.** When any `<button>` in the player rail (viz, audio, mixer, lyrics, plugins, advanced), a sidebar nav link, or a popover control held keyboard focus, pressing Space was swallowed by `_shortcutDispatchBlocked` → `_isInsideInteractiveControl` (which treats `BUTTON`/`A` as interactive), so the Space shortcut never reached the dispatcher and `togglePlay()` never ran. `_shortcutDispatchBlocked` (`static/app.js`) now extends the same carve-out already used for the Section Practice bar: while the player screen is active, Space is always routed through the shortcut system — the dispatcher calls `e.preventDefault()` before invoking the handler, so the focused element does not also activate. Text inputs (`_isTextInput`) remain exempted first, so typing space in a search/input field still works normally, and focus inside a true modal dialog (`role="dialog" aria-modal="true"` / `.feedBack-modal`) layered over the player is also exempted so Space reaches the modal's focused control (e.g. its Close button) instead of toggling playback behind it — non-modal player popovers/toasts (loop A/B, arrangement pin) stay covered. Regression tests in `tests/browser/keyboard-shortcuts.spec.ts` cover the focused-rail-button play/pause, the text-input exemption, and the modal-dialog exemption.
+- **A song's accuracy badge now updates on its library card right after you play it — no restart needed.** The v3 library (`static/v3/songs.js`) loaded the best-accuracy map (`/api/stats/best`) once into `state.accuracy` at render time and only ever refreshed it on a full re-render; the play→return flow takes the screen-entry fast-path that restores the cached grid DOM without re-fetching, so a just-earned score stayed invisible until the next restart re-ran `render()`. The `stats-recorder` now emits a `stats:recorded` event (carrying `filename`/`arrangement`) once the scored `POST /api/stats` resolves on the server — the correct moment, since `song:stop` fires before the POST completes. `songs.js` listens: if the library is the active screen it re-fetches `/api/stats/best` and patches the affected card/row badge in place; otherwise it marks the filename dirty and `onV3SongsScreenEnter` applies it on return (a failed fetch keeps the entry dirty to retry). Badge markup was factored into a shared `accuracyBadge(filename, variant)` (grid pill + tree-row percentage, both tagged `.fb-acc-badge`) so the in-place `repaintAccuracy` can find and replace them without a full list re-render (scroll/pagination preserved). The old empty `song:stop` "refresh lazily next render" placeholder is replaced.
+- **Changing Settings → 3D Highway → Fret spacing no longer ejects you to the home screen.** The `highway_3d` plugin's `h3dSetFretSpacing` was the lone 3D-highway setting that called `location.reload()` to apply — and since the SPA boots with `#home` as the active screen (`index.html` `.screen.active`), the reload dropped the user out of Settings onto the homescreen. It now applies live like every other 3D-highway setting: it rebinds the module-scope `_h3dFretUniform` flag (so panels mounted later this session pick up the new mode), recomputes the two `fretX`-derived scalars that were baked at init (`_fretLabelScaleRefW` for fret-label sprite scaling, `FRET_WIDTH_MID` for camera hysteresis), and broadcasts a `fretSpacing` change over the existing `_bgEmitChange` pub-sub so every mounted panel rebuilds its board via `buildBoard()`. Per-frame note geometry already reads `fretX` live and needs no rebuild. No page reload, so the Settings screen stays put. Source-level regression tests in `tests/js/highway_3d_fret_spacing.test.js` now pin the no-reload / live-rebuild behavior.
+- **v3 library scroll-restore no longer breaks the classic v2 UI or drops off-screen searches** (feedBack#857). Two regressions in the scroll-restore work above: (1) `playSong` remapped `home`-launched songs to return to the `#v3-songs` screen unconditionally, but `static/app.js` is shared with the v2 UI (served at `/v2` / `FEEDBACK_UI=v2`) where that screen does not exist — Esc-from-player then called `showScreen('v3-songs')`, which threw on the missing element and stranded the user on a blank screen with playback still running; the remap now applies only when `#v3-songs` is present. (2) The Songs screen-entry fast-path skips reloading to preserve scroll, but the global topbar search routed through it, so once Songs had been visited, searching from another screen navigated there without applying the new query; the screen now tracks the state hash each fetch reflects and refetches when it has drifted, keeping the scroll-preserving no-op only when nothing changed.
+- **An active custom highway renderer is no longer starved of `draw()` when it hides the canvas** (#819). The per-frame draw gate in `static/highway.js` bailed on `if (!_lastVisible) return`, which conflated two different "hidden" states: a genuine off-screen canvas (`offsetParent === null` — navigate-away / `display:none` splitscreen panel, #246) versus a renderer-set *override-hide* (`setVisible(false)`, where an opaque overlay covers the canvas but the active renderer keeps painting its own surface). The gate now only pauses everything for the off-screen case (and still pauses the default 2D renderer on an override-hide); the **active custom renderer** keeps receiving `draw()` through its own override-hide. The `highway:visibility` event still fires before the gate, so sibling overlay renderers (e.g. 3D Highway's `.h3d-wrap`) still pause. This is the core-side root cause behind the Tab View cursor freezing in single-player (feedBack#734; worked around plugin-side in feedBack-plugin-tabview#25).
+- **Screensaver no longer kicks in during windowed-mode playback** (#686). While a song is playing, `static/app.js` now holds a [Screen Wake Lock](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Screen_Wake_Lock_API) (`navigator.wakeLock.request('screen')`) so the OS display/screensaver stays awake even though only audio + the highway animation are active and the keyboard/mouse are idle. The lock is acquired on `song:play`/`song:resume` and released on `song:pause`/`song:ended`/`song:stop` (kept only while actually playing), and re-acquired on `visibilitychange` when the tab refocuses (the API auto-releases a lock whenever the page is hidden). Both the HTML5 `<audio>` and JUCE desktop playback paths emit the same `song:*` events, so the fix covers both. In feedBack-desktop (Electron), where `navigator.wakeLock` is unreliable, it also drives a native `powerSaveBlocker` bridge via the optional `window.feedBackDesktop.power.setScreenAwake` hook when present; both calls degrade silently where unsupported. Note: the browser Wake Lock API is secure-context only, so in a plain browser this is active on `localhost` / HTTPS only — a session opened over plain HTTP to a LAN IP (e.g. `http://192.168.1.100:8000`) won't keep the screen awake; front it with HTTPS or use the desktop app (see README → reverse-proxy notes).
+
+### Changed
+- **Practice plugin first-class sidebar slot now points at Virtuoso.** The bundled practice plugin was rebranded/re-homed from the SlopScale fork (`id: slopscale`) to `got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-virtuoso` (`id: virtuoso`); the desktop bundle swap is feedBack-desktop#31. `static/v3/shell.js` still promoted `slopscale`, whose id no longer ships — so `renderPromotedNav()` (gated on the plugin appearing in `/api/plugins`) would have found no match and the dedicated sidebar slot would have gone dark, dropping Virtuoso to the generic Plugins gallery. Update the NAV entry + `PROMOTED_PLUGINS` slot `slopscale` → `virtuoso` (`screen: plugin-virtuoso`, label "Virtuoso - Practice", same FeedBarcade anchor + `target` icon) so the practice plugin keeps its first-class entry. Also clear the now-dead `slopscale` id from the Plugins-gallery curated category map (`static/v3/plugins-page.js`) and add `virtuoso: 'practice'` as a defensive fallback (the manifest's `category: "practice"` is authoritative, so it lands on the practice board regardless), and refresh the stale SlopScale references in `README.md` + `docs/plugin-capability-inventory.md`. Must land with the bundle swap or the practice plugin regresses in the UI.
+- **3D highway: realistic curved metal frets.** The fret wires are now bowed `TubeGeometry` (the middle strings push away from the camera so the row of frets reads as wrapping a cylindrical neck — a depth cue) rendered with a lit `MeshStandardMaterial` instead of the old flat, straight `MeshBasicMaterial` boxes, so the scene's ambient + directional light glints across the rounded surface for a polished-steel look. The existing per-frame highlight is preserved unchanged: frets inside the active anchor still turn gold (`0xD8A636`), which under the metallic shading reads as brass. Metalness is kept moderate (0.4, not full-metal) because the scene has no envMap — a PBR full-metal surface would reflect black — with a dim emissive floor so frets stay legible down the fogged neck. Backported from the `highway_babylon` plugin's "hit-zone fret bars". All knobs (`FRET_BOW_DZ`, metalness/roughness/emissive) are tunable constants. `plugins/highway_3d` v3.25.0.
+- **3D highway: section + tone HUD cards now default OFF.** The v0.3.0 player chrome carries a persistent "Up Next" pill, making the in-canvas section card redundant by default (it doubled the readout, feedBack feedback); the tone HUD follows the same less-is-more default. Both remain available in Settings → 3D Highway (visibility/position/size unchanged); users who previously toggled either explicitly keep their stored preference — only the untouched default flips. `plugins/highway_3d` v3.24.1.
+- **Perf**: replace runtime Tailwind Play CDN with a prebuilt static stylesheet (`static/tailwind.min.css`). The Play CDN's runtime JIT scanned the DOM ~1.8x/sec on the main thread (~37 ms blocking spans), dropping ~26% of frames in long playback sessions with the 3D highway as default. Theme extensions (dark/accent/gold colors, Inter font) move to `tailwind.config.js`; regen via `bash scripts/build-tailwind.sh`. No runtime build step — the generated CSS is committed. Fixes feedBack-desktop#110.
+- **Perf**: reduce per-frame allocations in the 2D highway chord + lyric render paths. `_ensureChordRenderCache` now also caches `sortedNotes` / `nonZeroNotes` / `nonZeroFrets` / `allMuted` / `hasMultipleNotes` (computed once per chord, invalidated on `src` / `_inverted` / `chordTemplates` change — the third key catches a stale `isOpen`-derived classification when the WS `chord_templates` message lands after the final `chords` chunk), so `drawChords` no longer re-sorts / re-filters / spreads min-max per visible chord per frame. The in-chord unison bend classification is folded inline (no `chordPositions.filter` × 2 per frame). `drawLyrics` memoizes `ctx.measureText` results in a two-level `Map<fontSize, Map<text, width>>` so cache hits don't allocate a composite string key. Lit-sustain shimmer in `drawSustains` swaps the 4 per-note-per-frame `Math.random()` calls for a 64-entry precomputed jitter LUT (xorshift32-seeded — the LUT contents are reload-stable and test-reproducible; rendered shimmer is deterministic per `createHighway()` instance, since the seed includes that instance's `_frameIdx`) indexed by `(frameIdx + n.s + ⌊n.t·60⌋)`, visually indistinguishable and allocation-free.
+- **Perf**: the load-adaptive render scale (`_adaptRenderScale`, #654) no longer visibly hunts up/down on passages that hover near the frame budget (testers saw "quality going up and down" with the 3D highway). Downscaling stays prompt to protect the frame rate, but **upscaling is now lazy**: a smaller step (×1.06 vs ×1.1) on a longer cooldown (`_AUTO_UPSCALE_COOLDOWN_MS` 2500 ms vs the 600 ms adjust cooldown), reset on any downscale, and gated by a predictive guard — it only upscales when the projected cost *after* the step (≈ cost × step², since draw cost tracks the pixel count) still clears the high budget. The scale therefore settles just inside the 7–12 ms deadband instead of oscillating across it. No new public API; the `_autoScaleMin` "Min res" floor is unchanged.
+
+### Removed
+- **`c` library hotkey ("Convert to .sloppak") removed from core.** Core hardcoded a plugin-specific shortcut: a documentation-only `registerShortcut({ key: 'c', scope: 'library' })` no-op plus a `c → button.sloppak-convert-btn` entry in the library keydown handler that fired the Sloppak Converter plugin's button. Per the plugins-own-their-behavior principle, core no longer ships this hotkey — the convert button still works by click, and the Sloppak Converter plugin can register its own `c` shortcut via `window.registerShortcut()` if keyboard access is wanted. The `f` (favorite) and `e` (edit) library hotkeys, which drive core buttons, are unchanged. Help-modal/registry tests in `tests/browser/keyboard-shortcuts.spec.ts` updated to drop the `c` assertions.
+
+### Added
+- **Player progression: Mastery Rank, instrument-path challenges, daily/weekly quests, Decibels currency, cosmetics shop (spec 010).** Onboarding gains two steps: pick one or more **instrument paths** (Guitar / Bass / Drums — data-driven, more can ship as content) and a **calibration challenge** offer (play the bundled FeedBack Diagnostic with note detection at 100% accuracy — or skip; either way you reach **Mastery Rank 1**, and a skipped calibration can still be completed later from the Progress screen). Each path levels by completing a content-defined number of **challenges** (any order) from that level's set; Mastery Rank = onboarding rank + the sum of path levels, starting at 0 on a fresh install. The existing unified XP backend is untouched but the frontend renames it to **Decibels (dB)** — a spendable currency earned ONLY by playing (songs, FeedBarcade rounds, quest rewards; no real-money path exists or may be added) — with spend tracked in a separate wallet so lifetime earnings stay monotonic. Rotating **daily/weekly quests** (deterministic per period, lazy instantiation, local-midnight / Monday resets) award dB and feed `quest_completed` challenges. A new **Progress** screen (rank hero, per-path checklists, quest countdowns, add-a-path) and **Shop** screen (themes via CSS-variable swaps under `html[data-fb-theme]`, avatar frames; atomic balance-checked purchases — 402 on insufficient dB, 409 on re-buy) join the v3 nav, and the topbar badge now shows Rank + challenge-set progress + dB balance. All definitions live in `data/progression/` JSON (paths/levels/challenges, quest pools, shop catalog) — adding a rank, challenge, quest, or cosmetic is a content edit + restart, never code; invalid content degrades to logged warnings. New tables (additive + idempotent): `progression_state`, `player_paths`, `challenge_progress`, `quest_state`, `wallet`, `shop_owned`, `shop_equipped`. New endpoints: `GET /api/progression`, `POST /api/progression/paths|onboarding|events` (events whitelists `minigame_run`; `song_completed` stays server-derived inside `POST /api/stats`, which now resolves the instrument server-side and reports an additive `progression` outcome key), `GET /api/shop`, `POST /api/shop/buy|equip`; equipped cosmetics ride along on `GET /api/profile`. A new **`progression` capability domain** (core-owned, kind: command, safety: safe — `inspect`, `record-event`, `list-shop`, `buy-item`/`equip-item` gated on user action) emits `challenge-completed`/`quest-completed`/`path-level-up`/`rank-changed`/`db-changed`/`calibration-completed`/`cosmetic-equipped`, mirrored as `progression:*` window events, with a redaction-safe diagnostics contributor; backend plugins get the symmetric `record_progression_event` context hook (the bundled minigames hub reports runs through it, guarded for standalone). Spec: `specs/010-progression-domain/`. Tests: `tests/test_progression.py`, `tests/test_progression_api.py`. **Migration notes:** existing XP totals carry over as lifetime dB (balance = lifetime − spent); resetting a per-source XP contribution (e.g. a minigames profile reset) after spending can clamp the spendable balance to 0 until new dB is earned; drums-path v1 content uses currently-satisfiable goals (arcade rounds, quests, any-instrument plays) until drums scoring lands.
+- **3D highway score FX (notedetect game-scoring layer).** The bundled `highway_3d` renderer now visualizes the scoring layer shipped in feedBack-plugin-notedetect ≥1.13: floating **"+N" score pops** above each judged gem (sourced from the note-state provider's new `{ points, mult, popKey }` verdict fields — chord members share the chord-level `popKey`, so a chord pops once, not once per string), plus session-level FX from the new `notedetect:fx` event — a particle burst at the strike line on streak milestones (25/50/every 100), an expanding ring pulse on multiplier tier-ups (×2/×3/×4), and a brief red wash when a ≥10 streak breaks. Colors and the pop font follow the user's notedetect scoring-UI skin (`feedBack_notedetect_skin`: neon/esports/metal, refreshed live on the `notedetect:skin` bus event). Everything renders on the existing 2D overlay canvas from fixed-size slot pools — no Three.js geometry, no text-sprite cache traffic, near-zero cost when idle — and degrades to a silent no-op with older notedetect builds (the new fields/events simply never arrive). Splitscreen panels scope FX to their own detector instance via the bubbling per-panel `notedetect:fx` dispatch. `plugins/highway_3d` v3.24.1.
+- **3D highway: slide direction arrows + gem-follow animation.** Slide notes now show a ›/‹ arrow indicating which way the slide goes — on the note/gem itself, as an early preview on the neck before the note arrives, and (optionally) chained further ahead for multi-leg slides — each independently toggleable in Settings → 3D Highway (`slideArrowApproachVisible`, `slideArrowNeckVisible`, `slideArrowChainPreviewVisible`). The note gem also now visually glides from its starting fret to the slide's destination over the note's sustain and holds there through the brief post-sustain linger, instead of snapping back to the starting fret — most noticeable on unpitched "slide to nothing" notes. `plugins/highway_3d` v3.25.2.
+- **3D highway: up to 3 upcoming-note ghost previews per string, with fade-in/grow.** Each string now previews up to 3 upcoming notes (was 1) on a fixed 0.6 s fade-in/grow ramp, so tight same-string runs no longer pop in at full size right before impact and the player can read note order ahead of time. `isBlocked` (the pre-impact ghost suppression in a note's last 150 ms) is now scoped to chord notes only — for lead notes it had been blinking the ghost out right before each sustained note in dense runs. (Slide notes stay excluded too, per the slide-arrow work above, since their gem glides off the start fret.) `plugins/highway_3d` v3.26.0.
+- **Enable/disable plugins from the v3 Pedalboard (footswitch backend).** Every `/api/plugins` entry now carries an `enabled` boolean (default `true`), and a new `POST /api/plugins/{plugin_id}/enabled` endpoint (`{"enabled": <bool>}` → `{"id", "enabled"}`) persists the choice to `CONFIG_DIR/plugin_state.json` (only non-default `enabled:false` entries are stored; a missing/corrupt file is tolerated and never crashes startup). The loader **skips disabled plugins at startup** — no requirements install, no `routes.setup()`, no screen/nav/capabilities — while still surfacing them in `/api/plugins` as a disabled entry (`status:"disabled"`, `enabled:false`) so the UI can show an "off" pedal you can switch back on. Toggling persists immediately and flips the in-memory flag so the next `/api/plugins` reflects it at once (a runtime-disabled plugin's already-mounted routes/screen remain until the next restart; re-enabling a startup-skipped plugin mounts on restart). A disabled plugin is **excluded from the capability pipeline** — its capability metadata is emptied in `/api/plugins`. Guard rails keep `capability_inspector` and `app_tour_*` always enabled (disable → `400`); unknown id → `404`; missing/non-boolean `enabled` → `400`. Backend only; the v3 Pedalboard frontend consumes this contract. Docs: `docs/plugin-v3-ui.md`.
+- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 rebrand + UI redesign (opt-in, isolated).** The visible product is being renamed from **FeedBack** to **fee[dB]ack** (the `[dB]` is a decibel pun on the practice "feedback" loop) alongside a full dashboard-style UI redesign. **Rebrand scope is the app + docs wordmark only** — the repository, Python package, ghcr Docker image, `CONFIG_DIR`, and `FEEDBACK_*` env vars all keep the `feedBack` name, so existing deployments and data are unaffected. The redesigned UI is additive and served behind a feature flag: `FEEDBACK_UI=v3` flips the `/` route to the new `static/v3/` shell, and `GET /v3` always serves it; the default `/` stays byte-identical to 0.2.9 until 0.3.0 flips the default. This release adds the `static/v3/` scaffold (navy app shell + styled fee[dB]ack wordmark, brand SVG + favicon + PWA manifest with 192/512 icons), an additive `fb` Tailwind color palette (legacy `dark`/`accent`/`gold` retained) with `static/v3/**` in the content globs, and the regenerated `static/tailwind.min.css`. Vanilla JS, prebuilt Tailwind, no Play CDN (Principle II). Shell wiring, screens, profile/scoring backends, and capability-runtime integration land in subsequent v0.3.0 changes.
+- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 app shell (sidebar + topbar + routing).** The v3 shell (`static/v3/index.html`) is now a re-chromed copy of the legacy app: the new left **sidebar** (HOME / LIBRARY groups) and **topbar** (secondary nav, search, Support, badge-cluster mount points) replace the hidden legacy navbar, and new `#v3-*` screens (dashboard/plugins/profile/playlists/saved) are added — while all legacy screens (`#home` library, `#favorites`, `#settings`, `#player`, `#audio`, plugin nav containers) are kept verbatim so `static/app.js` boots **unmodified** and the whole engine (player/highway, plugin loader, capabilities, audio, library, settings) is reused as-is. Navigation is the shared `window.showScreen` across `#v3-*`, reused legacy, and `#plugin-*` screens, with a responsive hamburger and a `localStorage`/`v3:`-namespaced shell. Plugin nav is mirrored into the sidebar from `/api/plugins` (UI placement is a deferred capability domain, so this uses the legacy loader, not capability dispatch). `static/v3/shell.js` wraps `window.showScreen` via the idempotent rehydration pattern to keep sidebar/topbar active-state in sync.
+- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 player profile + first-run onboarding + unified XP + streak.** Adds a single-user core **profile** (`profile`/`profile_progress`/`xp_profile` tables in `web_library.db`, additive + idempotent): display name + avatar, a stable `player_hash` (SHA-256 of the first name + a once-generated salt — stable across later renames; a future-leaderboard label, never auth), and a **streak** (any session on a calendar day keeps it; a missed day resets to 1). New endpoints: `GET/POST /api/profile`, `POST /api/profile/avatar` (base64, re-encoded to a ≤512px PNG under `CONFIG_DIR/avatars/`), `GET /api/profile/avatar/{name}` (safe-joined), `GET /api/profile/avatars` (bundled defaults under `static/v3/avatars/`), `GET /api/profile/progress` (one call for the badge), and `POST /api/xp/award`. **Unified XP:** `lib/xp.py` is the single XP curve (same math the minigames plugin shipped); the core `xp_profile` store is the one source of truth the profile badge reads, exposed to plugins via `context["award_xp"]`/`get_xp_progress`/`seed_xp`. The bundled **minigames** plugin now delegates XP to the core store (seeding once from its existing `profile.json` so earned levels carry over) — so song-play, minigames, and tutorials all feed one level. Frontend: a blocking first-run onboarding overlay (name + avatar grid + upload), the topbar profile badge (avatar, 🔥 streak, level + XP bar), and the `#v3-profile` screen. Tests: `tests/test_xp.py`, `tests/test_profile_api.py`.
+- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 song-stats store (best score + accuracy, plays, resume position).** A core `song_stats` table (`web_library.db`, additive + idempotent, PK `(filename, arrangement)`) records per-song/arrangement best/last score + accuracy, play count, and last position. Endpoints: `POST /api/stats` (scored session → `plays += 1`, `best_*` = max, `last_*` = new, plus **unified-XP award** `xp_for_run(score)` and a **streak** bump, both behind try/except so a side-effect failure never drops the stat write; or position-only `lastPlayPosition` → resume touch with no `plays` change), `GET /api/stats/{filename}` (aggregated across arrangements), `GET /api/stats/recent` (joined to song title/artist/art for "Jump back in"). Scoring stays frontend-driven: `static/v3/stats-recorder.js` tallies the `note:hit`/`note:miss` events the optional `feedBack-plugin-notedetect` already emits (and also accepts an explicit `note_detect:session-ended` summary), then POSTs on song end; it also persists resume position on pause/stop. No note-detect edit required — note-detection is a deferred capability domain, so the recorder uses those legacy events and degrades to "no accuracy" when the plugin isn't installed. Score/accuracy math is shared with the server via `lib/song_score.py`. Tests: `tests/test_song_score.py`, `tests/test_song_stats_api.py`.
+- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 playlists, Saved for Later, and Continue-Playing.** Core playlist management (`playlists` + `playlist_songs` tables in `web_library.db`, additive + idempotent): create/rename/delete, add/remove/reorder songs, plus a reserved **Saved for Later** system playlist (created on first use; protected from rename/delete). Endpoints: `GET/POST /api/playlists`, `GET/PATCH/DELETE /api/playlists/{id}`, `POST /api/playlists/{id}/songs`, `DELETE /api/playlists/{id}/songs/{filename}`, `POST /api/playlists/{id}/reorder`, `POST /api/saved/toggle`, and `GET /api/session/continue` (derives the resume song + last position from `song_stats`, no new table). Frontend `static/v3/playlists.js` renders the `#v3-playlists` list + detail (drag-reorder, play, remove) and `#v3-saved`, and exposes `window.v3Saved.toggle()` for a "Save for later" affordance on song cards. Favorites reuse the existing favorites screen/API. Core REST, no capability domain. Tests: `tests/test_playlists_api.py`.
+- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 Dashboard / Home.** The `#v3-home` dashboard (matching the v0.3.0 design target) composes the new backends: a "Welcome back, {name}!" banner with a patch-notes link (`/api/version`), a hero card (Start Playing / Create Lobby), a **Continue-Playing** card (`/api/session/continue` → art, tuning chip, 4-segment progress; click resumes via `playSong` + best-effort seek), a stats row (audio-routing widget placeholder until prompt 18, library count from `/api/library/stats`, plugins count from `/api/plugins` where `status==="ready"`), and a **Recently Played** grid (`/api/stats/recent`) with per-song accuracy badges (good/mid/low ramp). Each widget fetches + renders independently and degrades gracefully (missing/empty endpoint → placeholder, never blocks first paint). `static/v3/dashboard.js`; re-renders on return to Home and on profile update.
+- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 tuner + instrument topbar badges.** The topbar gains an **instrument selector** (guitar/bass + string count + tuning + reference pitch) persisted via additive `/api/settings` fields (`reference_pitch` clamped 430–450, `instrument`, `string_count` 4–8, `tuning` name or semitone offsets); changing it emits `instrument:changed` so the note_detect scorer can re-tune (consumed once the external plugin adopts it). A **live tuner badge** stays idle until the user enables the mic (explicit gesture; `getUserMedia`), then shows a YIN note readout with a cents needle (green within ±5¢) using a new dependency-free `static/v3/tuner-core.js` (YIN + frequency→note/cents, honoring the reference pitch); clicking opens the full `feedBack-plugin-tuner` screen when installed. CPU-friendly (~20 Hz, paused when the tab is hidden, respects `prefers-reduced-motion`). Tests: `tests/test_settings_instrument.py`, `tests/js/tuner_core.test.js`.
+- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 audio-routing widget (dashboard).** The dashboard's audio stat tile now reads the live audio session **through the capability runtime** — `audio-mix inspect` (route + faders + required kinds), `audio-input list-sources` (selected/available input), `audio-monitoring inspect` — and renders **Audio Input → VST/NAM/IR → Audio Output** with per-node state dots and a Connected/Not Connected line. It never touches `audio-mixer.js` internals or `nam_tone` routes directly; "Not Connected" is the honest browser default (no native route), and it degrades on `no-owner`/`no-handler`/`failed` or absent capabilities. Refreshes on `instrument:changed`, play/stop, capability audio events, and each Home visit. `static/v3/audio-routing.js`.
+- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 Plugins page.** The `#v3-plugins` screen renders the enriched `/api/plugins`: a "{N} active" header (`status==="ready"`), a card grid per plugin (icon, name, version, status pill with the error on failed, capability summary badges — declared domains / validation warnings / unsupported versions / shim hits / bundled / type), an **Open →** action that navigates to the plugin's injected `#plugin-<id>` screen, and All/Bundled/Visualizations filters. Surfaces a deep-link to the bundled **Capability Inspector** rather than re-implementing the graph. No new backend. `static/v3/plugins-page.js`.
+- **fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 Songs / Library screen (`#v3-songs`).** A native vanilla-JS library browser over the existing `/api/library*` endpoints: provider selector (via the `library` capability, not DOM scraping), grid + tree views, sort, format filter, a tri-state filter drawer (arrangements / stems / lyrics / tunings), topbar-driven search (debounced), infinite scroll, fb song cards with **accuracy badges** (good/mid/low ramp, batched via a new `GET /api/stats/best`), favorite + save-for-later affordances, and upload (reuses the existing uploader). The "Songs" sidebar nav now opens this screen. No regression to `/api/library*`. `static/v3/songs.js`.
+- **`ui.library-card-injection` capability + native song-card actions (fee[dB]ack v0.3.0).** New core capability (`static/capabilities/library-card-actions.js`, owner `core.ui.library-card-injection`, exposed as `window.feedBack.libraryCardActions`) lets plugins **register** per-song library-card actions (id, label, placement, applicability, enabled state, run handler) with `action-registered`/`action-result` events — replacing the legacy `.song-card` DOM-injection pattern (roadmap domain #9, now delivered as a frontend host). The native Songs grid renders registered actions in each card's "⋮" menu; the built-in **Edit metadata** and **Convert to E Standard (retune)** actions ship through it (`static/v3/card-actions-core.js`, calling the existing `openEditModal`/`retuneSong` globals). Songs cards also gain **arrangement chips** (play a specific arrangement) and a **multi-select** mode with batch **Add to playlist** / **Save for Later**. Recipe in `docs/capability-recipes.md`; tests in `tests/js/library_card_actions.test.js`. Migrating the external card-action plugins (Sloppak Converter, Find More, editor) onto `register(...)` is a follow-up.
+- **`centOffset` exposed via `getSongInfo()`** — the arrangement `<centOffset>` field (float, cents) is now parsed from all chart sources (loose folder XML, sloppak wire format) and sent as `centOffset` in the `song_info` WebSocket message. Plugins can read `getSongInfo().centOffset` to obtain the arrangement's pitch-shift offset — commonly `-1200.0` for extended-range bass (one octave down) or a small non-zero value for true-tuned content (e.g. A443 ≈ +11.8 cents). Defaults to `0.0` when absent.
+- **`highway.getPhrases()` and `highway.getMastery()` public plugin API** — exposes phrase timing windows (`[{ index, start_time, end_time, max_difficulty }]`) and the current mastery slider value (`0..1`) as documented, stable plugin API. Both values were already in memory and reachable via internal names; this surfaces them with intent so plugins can implement section-aware logic (e.g. tracking accuracy per phrase, suppressing difficulty changes during a hard solo) without reaching into undocumented internals. Returns `null` when the song has no phrase data (GP imports, single-difficulty charts). Pair with the existing `hasPhraseData()` to gate phrase-aware code paths.
+- **Tailwind freshness guard + wider plugin scan.** A new `tailwind-fresh` CI job (`.github/workflows/tests.yml`) rebuilds `static/tailwind.min.css` with the pinned `tailwindcss@3.4.19` and hard-fails on any diff, so the committed prebuilt stylesheet can no longer silently lag source (after PR #411 removed the runtime Play CDN, a stale file shipped unstyled elements with no guard). The `tailwind.config.js` plugin content glob is widened to `./plugins/**/*.{js,html}`, which also scans non-`screen.js` plugin JS (e.g. `plugins/app_tour_*/script.js`) that was previously invisible to the build. Regenerating under the wider glob is a no-op for runtime behaviour — it only adds classes that were already used in source. Groundwork for the plugin `styles` capability (constitution 1.1.0, Principle II): runtime-installed plugins ship their own compiled CSS rather than relying on core's build-time scan.
+- **Plugin capability pipelines** — adds the first versioned capability coordination layer for plugin authors and support tooling. `/api/plugins` now exposes validated capability declarations, validation warnings, unsupported-version metadata, UI/runtime domain declarations, and compatibility shim summaries for legacy `nav` / `screen` / `settings` / `routes` / visualization surfaces. The browser runtime now tracks manifest participants separately from live handlers, explicit dispatch outcomes (`no-owner`, `no-handler`, `unsupported-command`, `incompatible-version`), claim lifecycle cleanup, manual override precedence, deterministic ownership conflicts, multi-provider ordering, shim hit counts, and a redaction-safe diagnostics snapshot capped at 64 KB. A bundled Capability Inspector plugin shows the live graph, and new docs cover the manifest schema, recipes, safety matrix, lifecycle cleanup, and diagnostics contract.
+- **Audio graph/session capability slice** — promotes `audio-mix`, `audio-input`, `audio-monitoring`, and coordinated `stems` diagnostics into the capability runtime. The new audio session host records song route/fader state, redaction-safe input sources, monitoring lifecycle outcomes, stem automation claims/overrides/orphans, and compatibility bridge hits for legacy faders, song volume, Stems master volume, 3D Highway analyser taps, audio startup barriers, and input source handoffs. `core.audio.session` coordinates `stems` without replacing the Stems plugin as the owner of actual stem playback/state.
+- **Audio-mix control plane** — makes `audio-mix` the player mixer source of truth. Core now exposes `list-faders`, `get-fader-value`, `set-fader-value`, `inspect-route`, and `inspect-analyser` through the capability runtime, routes native and compatibility-backed fader provider operations with a 2-second timeout, reports committed values back to the mixer UI, suppresses matching legacy faders when a native participant owns the same logical control, and expands audio-session diagnostics/Capability Inspector rendering for fader availability, source modes, bridge hits, route/analyser summaries, and timeout failures.
+- **Audio-input control plane** — makes `audio-input` the redaction-safe source of truth for instrument input discovery and lifecycle. Core now exposes `list-sources`, `select-source`, `open-source`, and `close-source` through the capability runtime, persists selected logical sources, keeps inspect/list/select prompt-free, routes provider `source.open`/`source.close` operations with bounded outcomes, shares compatible open sessions across requesters, suppresses compatibility-backed duplicate sources when a native provider owns the same logical key, and expands audio-session diagnostics/Capability Inspector rendering for selected input, open sessions, bridge hits, storage status, and permission/device failures without exposing raw device labels or live audio handles.
+- **Audio-monitoring control plane** — makes `audio-monitoring` the shared live-monitoring coordinator. Core now exposes provider registration/list/selection, explicit user-action `start`, requester-counted `stop`, prompt-free `inspect`/`monitoring.status`, and `set-direct-monitor` through the capability runtime. Monitoring starts integrate with selected `audio-input` readiness, background requesters can only attach to active compatible sessions, active sessions survive song/playback stops without auto-resuming after reload, native providers suppress compatibility-backed legacy monitor paths, and diagnostics/Capability Inspector now show providers, sessions, requesters, direct-monitor state, bridge hits, and distinct safe outcomes (`provider-selection-required`, `user-action-required`, `incompatible`, `unavailable`, `stopped`, etc.) without exposing raw audio/device data.
+- **Playback control plane** — promotes `playback` to an active core capability domain for song transport, timing, loop, route, requester/observer, bridge, and diagnostics state. Core now exposes `inspect`, user-authorized `start`, `pause`, `resume`, `stop`, `seek`, `set-loop`, and `clear-loop` through the capability runtime while `static/app.js` keeps raw `<audio>`/JUCE handles private behind a redaction-safe adapter. Playback diagnostics use pseudonymous targets in exported bundles, local display labels only in the Capability Inspector, bounded recent outcomes/events, and bridge accounting for `window.playSong`, legacy `song:*` events, `window.feedBack` transport helpers, loop helpers, and browser/native route handoff.
+- **3D highway — Tone HUD, fret dividers, chord-diagram toggle, FPS counter.** The bundled `plugins/highway_3d` gains an amber **Tone-change HUD** (shows the active tone and the next scheduled tone change; position / size / visibility configurable in settings), a **fret-dividers** toggle (vertical dividers on the highway, on by default, via `h3dBgSetFretDividersVisible`), a **chord-diagram visibility** toggle (`h3dBgSetChordDiagramVisible`), and an **FPS counter** setting migrated to `BG_DEFAULTS.fpsVisible` (drops the legacy `h3d_showFps` localStorage key). Chord-diagram position is restricted to `tl`/`tr`; legacy `bl`/`br` values are coerced on load. Perf: accent-halo shell descriptors are pre-built per string in `initScene()` and the chord-verdict cache key is encoded as a number, eliminating per-frame allocations in the `drawNote()` and chord hot paths.
+- **Sloppak assembly preserves a short preview clip.** When a source chart carries a separate short browser-preview audio clip alongside the full song, the sloppak assembler now decodes it to `preview.ogg` at the sloppak root and records it under a new top-level `preview:` manifest key (POSIX relpath, same shape as `lyrics`/`cover`). A failed preview decode is logged at debug and skipped without aborting the overall build. Sources with no separate preview are unaffected. Older sloppak readers ignore the unknown `preview` key, so the change is purely additive (sloppak-spec.md §5.5 backward-compat). Documented in `docs/sloppak-spec.md` §2 alongside the other optional top-level keys. Enables [`feedBack-plugin-song-preview`](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-song-preview) to render hover-to-listen previews for sloppaks without seeking into the full audio.
+- **Generic plugin asset route** — `GET /api/plugins/{plugin_id}/assets/{path}` serves arbitrary static files a plugin bundles under its own `assets/` directory (AudioWorklet modules, WASM, images, etc.), so plugins can self-host browser-fetchable assets without a CDN (Principle II). Containment is enforced by `lib/safepath.safe_join` against `<plugin>/assets/`, so `..` traversal, absolute paths, and NUL bytes cannot escape `assets/` to reach a plugin's Python modules. `.js` is served as `application/javascript`. First consumer: the stems plugin's pitch-preserving time-stretch worklet.
+- **Minigames framework — bundled as a core plugin (`plugins/minigames/`).** Promotes the upstream [`feedBack-plugin-minigames`](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-minigames) repo into the core bundle so every FeedBack install gets the framework out of the box (same promotion path used for `highway_3d`). The plugin adds a top-level **Minigames** nav link (alongside Library / Favorites / Upload — not buried in the Plugins dropdown), a library-style card grid of installed minigame plugins, and a shared profile layer (XP, level, per-game leaderboards, cross-minigame unlocks) persisted under `CONFIG_DIR/minigames/` and opted into the settings export. Other plugins that want to ship a minigame add a `minigame` block to their `plugin.json` and call `window.feedBackMinigames.register(spec)`; the SDK exposes scoring (`createContinuous` runs a self-contained YIN tracker; `createDiscrete` / `createChord` wrap `note_detect`'s `createNoteDetector`), HUD primitives, run persistence, and a scheduler so individual minigames don't need their own DSP or backend. Backend endpoints live under `/api/plugins/minigames/{runs,profile,registry}`. The framework is plugin-shaped (not core code) per Principle III, but bundled so it ships with every install. First consumer: [`feedBack-plugin-flappy-bend`](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-flappy-bend), shipped separately.
+- **Alpha-build heads-up banner** — when `/api/version` reports a version string containing "alpha" (case-insensitive), an amber banner appears at the top of the library section warning users that the build is in active development and may have bugs or breaking changes. The banner stays hidden on stable / beta / RC builds. No persistence or dismiss state — it's a passive notice, not a modal.
+- **Drum vocabulary expanded to 18 pieces** — adds `stack` (MIDI 30, from GM's extended-percussion range, unused by real drum-kit MIDIs) and `bell` (MIDI 80 "Mute Triangle", also unused in real drum-kit MIDIs) to `lib/drums.py` PIECES. Inserted in the iteration order so the editor / highway lane ordering is *hi-hat → stack → crash → … → ride bell → bell*. Both are cymbals; default shape `circle_jagged` (stack) / `circle_dot` (bell). Old drum tabs round-trip unchanged — the schema is permissive and existing piece-ids are untouched.
+- **GP / MIDI drum import surfaces unmapped notes** — `convert_drum_track_to_drumtab` (`lib/gp2rs.py`) and `convert_drum_track_from_midi` (`lib/midi_import.py`) gain an optional keyword-only `out_unmapped` parameter. Callers that pass an empty dict receive a per-MIDI record of every silently-skipped percussion note (`{midi: {"count": int, "times": [float, ...]}}`, times capped at 100 samples per note). This lets the editor plugin show a warning + manual-mapping UI on import instead of silently dropping unmapped notes. Default behavior unchanged for callers that don't opt in.
+
+- **Drum support from scratch** — drums are now a first-class arrangement type with their own JSON payload on disk and their own WS stream to the highway. New `lib/drums.py` defines the closed piece-id vocabulary (kick, snare, snare_xstick, hh_closed/open/pedal, tom_hi/mid/low/floor, crash_l/r, splash, china, ride, ride_bell), default GM-MIDI mappings, three preset lane configurations, and a permissive `drum_tab.json` validator. `lib/sloppak.py::load_song` reads the manifest's optional top-level `drum_tab:` key, parses + validates the JSON, and surfaces it on `LoadedSloppak.drum_tab`; the load stays permissive so a missing or malformed tab silently disables drums rather than failing the sloppak load. `/ws/highway/{filename}` gains two new message types — `drum_tab` (metadata + kit legend) and chunked `drum_hits` (500 hits per frame, same chunking as notes) — exposed to renderers via `bundle.drumTab`. `song_info` carries a `has_drum_tab` flag so viz pickers can auto-activate the drums highway regardless of which guitar arrangement is selected. `lib/gp2rs.py::convert_drum_track_to_drumtab` converts a Guitar Pro drum track to a `drum_tab.json` dict, preserving velocity verbatim, mapping hi-hat openness through the canonical piece-ids, and flagging flam / ghost / cymbal-choke articulations from GP effects. `lib/midi_import.py` gains `list_drum_tracks` + `convert_drum_track_from_midi` (channel-9 only) with heuristic flam-collapse (≤30 ms same-piece) and choke detection (cymbal note-off ≤120 ms). `docs/sloppak-spec.md` §5.3 promotes drum_tab from worked-example to canonical with the closed piece-id table and wire format. Sloppaks without a drum_tab are unaffected; legacy drums-as-guitar-notes sloppaks keep playing via the drums plugin's fallback decoder.
+- **Loose folder support** — a directory containing an audio file + arrangement XMLs, with optional `manifest.json` and album art, is now discovered, indexed, and playable as a first-class library format alongside Sloppak. The scanner walks `DLC_DIR` for non-preview audio files and treats each parent directory that also contains XMLs as a loose song. Metadata follows a `manifest.json` → XML tags → folder-name priority chain (see `lib/loosefolder.py`). Songs are tagged `format: "loose"`, render an amber `FOLDER` badge in the library, and are filterable via the new "Folder" option in the format dropdown. Audio uses the shared vgmstream/`convert_wem` pipeline, cached under `AUDIO_CACHE_DIR`. The chart `<offset>` from the first non-vocals XML is now propagated to the frontend via `song_info.offset` and applied in `highway.setTime()` so loose folders authored against non-silence-padded audio stay in sync. Pairs with the companion `feedBack-plugin-loosefolder` plugin which adds an in-player Fix Sync UI for nudging and saving offset corrections.
+- Highway note-state hook (#254). New `highway.setNoteStateProvider(fn)` lets a scorer plugin publish a per-note judgment (`'hit'` / `'active'` for a sustain currently held correctly / `'miss'`, or `{ state, alpha, color }`) so the renderer lights up the **gem itself** on a correct hit and keeps a sustain trail glowing while it's still being played right — instead of a separate overlay ring near the note. The built-in 2D highway honors it in `drawNote` / `drawSustains` / the chord-frame path (bright string colour + additive halo on hits, bright vs dim sustain trail, faint red wash on misses); the bundled 3D highway reads the same data via `bundle.getNoteState` (bright string-tinted outline + bright body + glowing sustain on hit/active, red outline + suppressed body on miss). Custom renderers opt in by calling `bundle.getNoteState(note, chartTime)`. note_detect registers the provider (and still owns its HUD / diagnostic miss markers / "currently detected" indicator); renderers that ignore the hook simply don't light gems. On a confirmed hit/active the renderers add a contained "sparkle/sizzle" on the note — the 2D highway: additive throbbing halo + flickering hot core + crackling spark lines (+ an expanding shockwave ring on a fresh strike) on the gem and a glowing/jittery sustain trail; the 3D highway: a few twinkling bright dots and short crackling arc segments hugging the note's rectangle (no bloom past the note), drawn on its overlay and projected through the camera so they ride the note. Also adds `highway.isDefaultRenderer()` so overlays that position with the 2D-highway helpers (`project` / `fretX`) can skip rendering when a custom renderer is active — fixes note_detect's miss markers appearing in random places over the 3D highway. New 3D-highway setting **Show note preview on the fretboard** (on by default) toggles the board-projection ghost — the translucent preview of the upcoming note on the fretboard surface. (Note: the companion change in the **note_detect plugin repo** turns its full-screen green/red edge flash off by default and adds a toggle to re-enable it — ships separately with note_detect, not in this feedBack release.)
+- Diagnostic bundle export (#166). New "Export Diagnostics" + "Preview Bundle" buttons in Settings produce a single redacted zip combining server logs (tail of `LOG_FILE`), system info (Python/OS/version), hardware probe (CPU model + cores + freq + RAM, GPU via `nvidia-smi`/`rocm-smi`/`system_profiler`, container/Electron/bare runtime detection), full plugin inventory with git SHA + remote URL (read directly from `.git/HEAD` so it works in minimal runtime images without `git` installed) + orphan/failed-to-load detection, the browser console transcript (all levels: log/info/warn/error/debug + window.onerror + unhandledrejection, 500-entry ring buffer), browser hardware (WebGL/WebGPU adapter info, navigator + userAgentData), filtered localStorage, and per-plugin contributed diagnostics. Top-level `manifest.json` lists every file with its versioned schema id (`system.hardware.v1`, `client.console.v1`, etc.) so AI agents can dispatch by schema. Redaction is on by default: DLC paths, song filenames (`<song:HASH8>` stable per-bundle), IPv4/IPv6 addresses, bearer tokens, and `key=`/`token=` query strings are replaced. Plugins opt their backend diagnostics in via a new `diagnostics` manifest field (`server_files` allowlist mirroring `settings.server_files` semantics, plus an optional `callable: "<module>:<function>"` resolved lazily via `load_sibling`). Frontend plugins push diagnostics via `window.feedBack.diagnostics.contribute(plugin_id, payload)`. Three new endpoints: `POST /api/diagnostics/export`, `GET /api/diagnostics/preview`, `GET /api/diagnostics/hardware`. Full bundle format spec in `docs/diagnostics-bundle-spec.md`.
+- Structured logging bootstrap (phase 1 of #155). Three new environment variables control server log output: `LOG_LEVEL` (default `INFO`), `LOG_FORMAT` (`text` for coloured console, `json` for one-JSON-object-per-line suitable for Loki/ELK/Promtail), and `LOG_FILE` (optional path, rotated at 10 MB with 5 backups). HTTP responses now include a `X-Request-ID` correlation header (via `CorrelationIdMiddleware`); the same request ID appears as `request_id` in structured log lines emitted via the stdlib `logging` / `structlog` APIs during that request.
+- Structured logging migration completed (phase 2 of #155, #159, #242). The 42 `print()` calls and 6 `traceback.print_exc()` calls across `server.py` and `lib/` have been migrated to levelled `feedBack.*` loggers. Silent `except: pass` blocks in `lib/sloppak.py` and `lib/sloppak_convert.py` now surface as `log.warning` / `log.debug` with the exception attached. WebSocket handlers (`highway_ws`, `ws_retune`) bind a `ws_conn_id` contextvar at accept time so every log line within a session carries a connection ID. A CI grep guard in `.github/workflows/tests.yml` fails the build if either `print(` or `traceback.print_exc(` reappears in `server.py` or `lib/`.
+- **Lyrics Karaoke plugin** — end-to-end karaoke setup for Sloppak songs in one workflow. The setup screen shows a per-song checklist (vocals stem / synced lyrics / per-syllable pitch) and a single "Build Karaoke" button that runs whatever's missing: Whisper alignment of pasted lyric text against the vocals stem, then `librosa.pyin` pitch extraction. Both artifacts persist inside the Sloppak (`lyrics.json`, `vocal_pitch.json`). In the player, a "Karaoke" toggle swaps the text-lyrics overlay for a horizontal pitch ribbon (one bar per syllable, vertically positioned by pitch, sweeping playhead).
+- Settings export/import (#113). Two buttons on the Settings page bundle server config, browser localStorage, and opted-in plugin server-side files into a single versioned JSON file for backup, migration, or sharing a calibrated setup. Server-side import is all-or-nothing for safety-critical failures: phase-1 validates the entire bundle (schema, path-traversal, encoding) before any disk writes; phase-2 commits each file via temp+rename. Plugin-state mismatches between export and import are handled leniently: files referenced for a plugin that isn't loaded are skipped with a warning, files referenced for a plugin whose manifest no longer declares them are skipped with a warning, and localStorage is merged (not cleared) so first-run defaults from plugins installed after the export are preserved. Path-traversal, absolute paths, schema mismatch, and decode failures remain hard refusals. Plugins opt their server-side files in by declaring `settings.server_files` in `plugin.json` (list of relpaths under `CONFIG_DIR`; trailing `/` denotes a directory).
+- Library filtering by parts present or missing (#129, #69). New right-side Filters drawer (single button next to the format/sort row, with active-filter count badge and dismissible chips below) lets you require or exclude arrangements (Lead/Rhythm/Bass/Combo), specific stems on Sloppaks (drums/bass/vocals/piano/other), lyrics, and tuning. Multi-select within an axis is OR (Lead OR Rhythm); cross-axis is AND. State persists across reloads. New endpoint `GET /api/library/tuning-names` returns distinct tunings present in the library, ordered by musical distance.
+- Sort library by year (#128). Two new options in the sort dropdown: "Year (newest)" and "Year (oldest)". Songs without a year are pushed to the bottom for both directions.
+- **`highway.getLyrics()` accessor.** `createHighway()` now exposes the parsed timed lyric syllables (`[{t, d, w}]`) via `getLyrics()`, mirroring `getBeats()`/`getSections()`, so overlay plugins can render karaoke without opening a second highway WebSocket. Pure accessor; no behavior change.
+
+### Changed
+- **Perf (3D highway, feedBack#226)**: pre-warm `plugins/highway_3d/screen.js` object pools at board init. Previously the pool factory grew lazily on first `.get()` past the high-water mark, allocating a fresh `T.Mesh` mid-rAF on dense 7/8-string charts and stalling those frames; the meshes were then permanently added to `noteG` (the pool only hides on `reset()`, never removes), bloating the scene graph for the rest of the session. Pre-warming spends the cost up front. Fold the per-frame `updateStringHighlights()` per-string loop with the post-call `mGlow`/`mAccentCore` emissive writes — one walk over the per-string scratch arrays instead of two. Replace `longestConsecutiveRun`'s per-call array allocations with a `{start, len}` index pair (trades two per-call sub-array allocations for one small 2-key object — net reduction in per-visible-chord allocation churn). Opt-in perf bench harness via `?h3dbench=1` URL param: `console.log` p50/p95/max for six update() segments every 5 seconds; when the URL flag is absent the mark helpers are bound to empty functions at renderer-instance init (each `createHighway()` panel re-checks the flag), so the hot-path calls are no-ops with negligible overhead (typically JIT-inlined).
+- **License**: Relicensed to AGPL-3.0-only. Prior versions claimed MIT in the README, but the bundled desktop build statically links JUCE 8 (AGPL-3.0), so AGPL terms have effectively governed the desktop distribution since JUCE was added. AGPL-3.0-only is now the canonical license for the project — see [LICENSE](LICENSE) and [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) (DCO sign-off + plugin licensing policy). Bundled and vendored third-party code keeps its original license.
+- Tuning sort is now ordered by musical distance from E Standard (#22) instead of alphabetical: E Standard first, then Drop D / F Standard at distance 2, then Eb Standard / F# Standard at distance 6, etc. Within a magnitude tier, down-tuned variants come before up-tuned, then alphabetical.
+- Settings page restructured into separate "FeedBack" (core) and "Plugins" sections, with each plugin's settings rendered as a collapsible panel (collapsed by default). "Plugin Updates" moved into the Plugins section.
+- **Lyrics Sync** is now a redirect stub. Its alignment + save endpoints moved into the new Lyrics Karaoke plugin alongside the pitch extraction. Existing nav entries and bookmarks land on a "moved" page that auto-redirects to the merged plugin.
+
+### Security
+- **Path traversal in archive extractors and library path resolution.** `lib/sloppak.py::_unpack_zip` and `server.py::_resolve_dlc_path` previously concatenated attacker-controlled entry names or filenames directly onto the extraction or library directory, so a crafted sloppak zip member or library filename with `..` segments, an absolute path, or backslash separators could write or read outside the intended directory. Any code path that unpacks a user-supplied archive (library upload, click-to-play, retune) or resolves a library path was reachable. Both locations now delegate to a new `lib/safepath.py::safe_join` helper that resolves each destination once and rejects entries that don't fall under the target directory; rejected entries are logged and skipped, the rest of the archive still extracts. The stem-split paths in `lib/sloppak_convert.py::split_stems` and `scripts/split_stems.py` previously called `ZipFile.extractall()` directly on user-supplied sloppaks; both now delegate to the same hardened `lib/sloppak.py::_unpack_zip` so every sloppak-unzip site in the codebase shares one containment guarantee. Tests in `tests/test_archive_traversal.py` and `tests/test_safepath.py` pin the contract for `../`, deep traversal, absolute paths, mixed `subdir/../../` forms, Windows-style separators, NUL bytes, names that resolve to the unpack root, and symlinked roots.
+
+### Fixed
+- E Standard retune now stays metadata-consistent across a chart's arrangement files (feedBack-plugin-notedetect#50). Previously the retune path could shift the audio and update manifests while leaving some arrangement metadata untouched, so `load_song()` later exposed the *original* tuning at runtime. `lib/retune.py` now updates every arrangement's tuning metadata consistently before applying the E Standard tuning, and raises on a partial update instead of silently packing split tuning metadata. EStd files generated before this fix should be re-converted so their metadata is consistent.
+- Keyboard shortcut help now opens from the Player/3D Highway context when Linux/Electron reports Shift+Slash as `key="/"`, including while player controls such as the visualization picker are focused (#598).
+- 3D Highway left-handed mode now has regression coverage for fret-axis mirroring, board rebuilds on runtime lefty changes, and mirrored camera state including the lookahead target and shoulder offset; the maintainer guide no longer claims the renderer ignores `bundle.lefty` (#321).
+- Chord-level `fretHandMute` is now parsed into each note's `fret_hand_mute` (wire `fhm`) instead of being folded into `mute` (`mt`), matching `_parse_note` and preserving wire-format fidelity for both the template-expanded (synthetic-note) and explicit-`chordNote` paths. The 3D highway renders the fret-hand-mute X for `mt` *or* `fhm` notes, so the muted-chord overlay still shows. Also fixes the per-note fret-connector label vanishing exactly at the hit line (the fade now holds full opacity through `dt = 0`).
+- `gp2rs` now respects the time-signature denominator when emitting ebeat subdivisions, fixing misaligned beat grids in 6/8 and other non-quarter-note meters.
+- Settings dropdowns (Default Arrangement, Platform Filter) now persist immediately when changed. Previously a dropdown selection was only written to `config.json` when an unrelated "Save" button (Library Folder or Demucs Server) was clicked, so picking a default arrangement and navigating away silently discarded it. Both `<select>` controls now POST the single changed field on `change` via the partial-merge `/api/settings` endpoint, matching the auto-save behaviour of the A/V Sync Offset and mastery sliders. The text inputs (Library Folder Path, Demucs Server URL) keep their explicit Save buttons. Autosaves are sent through a single client-side queue (one request in flight at a time, in selection order), and the `POST /api/settings` handler now serializes its read-modify-write of `config.json` under a lock so concurrent partial updates can no longer overwrite each other and drop a key. The config write is also atomic (temp + rename) and `/api/settings/import` shares the same lock, so readers never observe a half-written file and a settings import can't race a concurrent partial save.
+- Demucs stem split failing on Windows desktop with `OSError: Could not load this library: libtorchcodec_core4.dll` or `ImportError: TorchCodec is required for save_with_torchcodec`. The demucs subprocess now bootstraps a `torchaudio.save` → `soundfile.write` shim before importing demucs, sidestepping the torchcodec dependency entirely. The override stays in place across torchaudio versions — soundfile's WAV writes are behaviorally equivalent for demucs's float32 outputs.
+- Splitscreen pop-out windows briefly flashed the library/song grid before showing the popped panel. A popup loads the full app (whose default screen, `#home`, is the library) and only swaps to the player once the splitscreen plugin loads; app init now detects `?ssFollower=1` and switches to the player screen up front, so the popup shows player chrome the whole time.
+- Sloppak assembly dropped all tone data — affected sloppaks showed no signal chain in the Tones plugin and no tone-change markers on the highway. The assembler (`lib/sloppak_convert.py`) now lifts each arrangement's tones from the source chart via the new `lib/tones.py` helper and embeds them inline in the arrangement JSON under a `tones` key (`base`, `changes`, `definitions` — see `docs/sloppak-spec.md` §3.9). The highway WebSocket reads `base`/`changes` for sloppaks, and the Tones plugin (≥ 1.1.0) reads `definitions` to render the gear chain. Sloppaks built before this release carry no tone data and must be rebuilt from their source chart to gain it.
+- Tab View (feedBack-plugin-tabview ≥ 3.0.1): the bottom row of tablature was permanently hidden behind the player controls bar (#336). The overlay reserved 60px at the *top* (clearing the transparent HUD) and extended all the way to the bottom of `#player`, where the opaque `#player-controls` (z-index 10) drew over the last row. The overlay now measures `#player-hud` and `#player-controls` dynamically and insets both edges; a `ResizeObserver` on the controls bar re-runs the inset when it wraps to a second row on narrow viewports.
+- Tab View (feedBack-plugin-tabview ≥ 3.0.1): the cursor highlight led playback by roughly one beat (#336). alphaTab snaps `tickPosition` to the start of the *next* beat, so the cursor would race ahead by 500ms+ at typical tempos. The plugin now sends `tickPosition` one beat earlier so the snap lands on the current beat, and the highlight overlay tracks the bar cursor (`.at-cursor-bar`) instead of the next-beat cursor (`.at-cursor-beat`).
+
+### Migration notes
+- **Constitution amended to 1.1.0 (Principle II — Vanilla Frontend).** Prebuilt Tailwind (`static/tailwind.min.css`) is now codified as non-negotiable: no Play CDN / runtime CSS JIT anywhere, core or plugin. Plugin authors: a plugin that uses Tailwind classes not guaranteed in core — especially arbitrary values like `w-[37px]` — MUST ship its own compiled stylesheet via the new `styles` manifest key, built with `corePlugins.preflight = false`. Plugins that use only core-guaranteed utilities, or that ship no Tailwind at all, need no change. Contributors: after adding any Tailwind class to core or a bundled plugin, run `bash scripts/build-tailwind.sh` and commit the regenerated CSS, or the `tailwind-fresh` CI job fails.
+- The library filters depend on three new columns (`stem_ids`, `tuning_name`, `tuning_sort_key`) that are populated as songs are scanned. If filters look empty after upgrading, run **Settings → Full Rescan** to repopulate; alternatively the periodic background rescan picks them up over time.
+
+## [0.2.4] - 2026-04-22
+
+### Added
+- Version badge in navbar (`/api/version` endpoint + `VERSION` file)
+- `CHANGELOG.md` and semantic versioning
+- Step Mode plugin
+- `gp2midi` improvements and expanded test coverage
+- Note Detection plugin factory-pattern refactor with multi-instance/splitscreen support
+- Per-panel note detection in Split Screen plugin with M/L/R channel routing for multi-input interfaces
+
+### Fixed
+- `SLOPPAK_CACHE_DIR` moved to `CONFIG_DIR` for AppImage compatibility
+- Improved error message when plugin requirements fail to install
@@ -117,19 +117,21 @@ Notes:

 **Frontend scripts** — `screen.js` runs in the global scope via a `<script>` tag. It can access `window.playSong`, `window.showScreen`, `window.createHighway`, the `<audio>` element, and the `window.feedBack` event emitter.

+**ES-module plugins (`scriptType:"module"`)** — a plugin may instead ship a native ES-module graph with **no build step**: set `"scriptType": "module"` in `plugin.json`, make `screen.js` a one-line `import './src/main.js'`, and put the module tree under `src/` (served by the sandboxed `/api/plugins/<id>/src/{path}` route). The host injects it as `<script type="module">`, whose `onload` fires only after the whole static-import graph evaluates — so the loader's completion-by-`onload` + `_loadingPluginId` + `playSong` wrapper-chain ordering all hold. Resolve your own asset URLs (worklets, WASM) with `import.meta.url` — `document.currentScript` is `null` in a module. Module top-level code does **not** re-run when the user re-enters the screen at the same version (the host loads screen.js once and `showScreen` re-injects nothing), so keep per-visit re-init in a `screen:changed` handler, exactly as classic plugins do. Classic global-scope `screen.js` remains fully supported. See `docs/plugin-modules.md`.
+
 **The playSong wrapper chain** — Plugins commonly wrap `window.playSong` to hook into song playback. Plugins load alphabetically, so the last-loaded (alphabetically later) wrapper runs first, while the alphabetically first plugin runs closest to the original. Be aware that `await` calls in inner wrappers yield to the event loop — WebSocket messages can arrive before outer wrappers finish setup.

 ## Plugin Best Practices

 ### v3 UI (fee[dB]ack v0.3.0) — player-chrome contract

-v0.3.0 ships a redesigned UI behind a flag (`FEEDBACK_UI=v3` or the `/v3` route);
-the classic UI (v2) stays the default until 0.3.0 ships, so **plugins must work in
-both**. v3 reuses the same engine (`server.py`, `app.js`, `highway.js`, `playSong`,
+v0.3.0's redesigned UI is **the only UI** — the classic v2 shell and its
+`FEEDBACK_UI` / `/v2` opt-outs are gone, so there is no second shell to support.
+v3 reuses the same engine (`server.py`, `app.js`, `highway.js`, `playSong`,
 `showScreen`, capabilities, library providers, the `window.feedBackViz_<id>` /
 `setRenderer` contract), so a plugin's **backend, capabilities, `nav`/`screen`,
 visualization renderers, diagnostics, and settings export work unchanged** — v3
-surfaces `nav` in its sidebar and mounts screens exactly as v2 does.
+surfaces `nav` in its sidebar and mounts screens as before.

 **The only thing that changed is the player chrome.** If your plugin injects a
 control into it, you must adapt:
@@ -155,7 +157,7 @@ control into it, you must adapt:
  popovers 40).

 Full guide + the canonical snippet: **[docs/plugin-v3-ui.md](docs/plugin-v3-ui.md)**.
-Verify any player-injecting plugin in **both** `/` (v2) and `/v3`.
+Verify any player-injecting plugin at `/` — it and `/v3` serve the same v3 shell.

 ### Performance — never run DOM queries on a per-frame path

@@ -231,6 +233,18 @@ window.feedBackViz_my_viz = function () {
            // toneChanges, toneBase, mastery, hasPhraseData, inverted,
            // lefty, renderScale, lyricsVisible, the 2D coordinate
            // helpers project and fretX, and getNoteState (see below).
+            // The bundle OBJECT is reused across frames (mutated in
+            // place — no per-frame allocation): never cache it or
+            // compare its identity between frames; field values are
+            // only valid for the current draw call. Array FIELDS still
+            // swap reference when chart data changes, so field-identity
+            // caches (`myRef !== bundle.chords`) remain valid.
+            // Windowed-iteration helpers (stable fn refs): bundle
+            // .lowerBoundT(arr, time) is a lower-bound binary search on
+            // `.t` (notes/chords); bundle.lowerBoundTime(arr, time) on
+            // `.time` (beats/anchors/sections). Use these to cull to
+            // the visible window instead of full-scanning chart arrays
+            // per frame.
            // `stringCount` is the active arrangement's string count (4
            // for bass, 6 for guitar, 7+ for extended-range GP imports —
            // size string-indexed geometry against this, not a hardcoded
@@ -386,6 +400,14 @@ highway.setNoteStateProvider((note, chartTime) => {
 - The built-in 2D highway consults it in `drawNote` / `drawSustains` / the chord-frame path: 'hit'/'active' → bright string colour + additive halo + a contained "sizzle" (crackling sparks, throbbing core, a shockwave ring on a fresh strike) on the gem and a bright (vs dim) sustain trail; 'miss' → faint red wash. The bundled **3D highway** reads the same data via `bundle.getNoteState` (bright string-tinted outline + bright body + glowing sustain + a contained sparkle hugging the note rect on hit/active; red outline + suppressed body on miss). Custom renderers that want it call `bundle.getNoteState(note, chartTime)` — it null-guards and returns the normalized `{ state, alpha, color }` (or null).
 - This is orthogonal to the overlay contract: note_detect remains an overlay (HUD, diagnostic miss markers, the "currently detected" indicator) *and* a scorer that feeds this provider. A renderer that ignores `getNoteState` simply doesn't light gems — nothing breaks.

+#### 4. Chart-transform provider — remap the chart before rendering AND scoring (feedBack#952)
+
+The core-owned `chart-transform` provider coordinator applies synchronous chart substitutions after difficulty filtering. Register and select providers through the capability domain; it owns persistence, refresh, splitscreen propagation, failure attribution, and diagnostics.
+
+Provider inputs and staged outputs are isolated copies. Async returns or provider errors fail back to the original chart and expose only a fixed public failure reason. `getSongInfo()` remains the original chart contract; transform-aware consumers use the renderer bundle or `getStringCount()`, `getTuning()`, `getCapo()`, and `getCentOffset()`.
+
+See [docs/capability-recipes.md](docs/capability-recipes.md#chart-transform-provider) for the manifest and registration example.
+
 ### Audio mixer fader registration (feedBack#87)

 Plugins that produce audio outside the song's `<audio>` element (NAM amp output, synth voices, etc.) can register a labeled fader so users can balance them against the song from one mixer popover in the player controls.
@@ -451,6 +473,40 @@ window.feedBack.diagnostics.contribute('my_plugin', {

 Loaded from `static/diagnostics.js` ASAP in `<head>` so the console-wrap is in place before any other script runs. Available on the `window.feedBack.diagnostics` namespace alongside `snapshotConsole()`, `snapshotHardware()`, `snapshotUa()`, `snapshotLocalStorage()`, `snapshotContributions()`. Keep your payload small (< 100 KB) and don't include secrets — bundles are shared with maintainers.

+### Detachable panes — pop your panel out into its own window
+
+If your plugin has a floating panel that sits over the player — a mixer, a camera rig, a settings board — you can let the user pop it out into its own OS window and leave it there: while they play, across song switches, on a second monitor, minimized to the tray. Two calls:
+
+```js
+feedBack.panes.register({
+    id: 'camera_director',
+    title: 'Camera Director',
+    icon: '🎥',
+    element: () => panelEl,          // your existing panel, exactly as it is
+});
+feedBack.panes.attachChip(panelEl, 'camera_director');
+```
+
+**The host moves your real element.** Not a copy, not a re-render — the actual DOM node, adopted into the pop-out window, keeping its listeners and its closures. Your panel goes on running *your* code against *your* state. It looks and behaves like what was popped out because it **is** what was popped out. Nothing to mirror, nothing to keep in sync.
+
+The rules below are all things that have already gone wrong. Full contract: **[docs/plugin-panes.md](docs/plugin-panes.md)**.
+
+- **Your code still runs in the main window.** The element is *displayed* elsewhere; its closures, timers and `document` references still belong to the main realm. That is exactly why everything keeps working — and exactly why `document.body.appendChild(myPopover)` lands in the **main window, not the pane**. Anchor tooltips, popovers and menus to your panel, not to `document.body`. Measure with `el.ownerDocument.defaultView`, never a cached `window`.
+
+- **Don't hide your panel yourself when it pops out.** Core hides it and leaves a "bring it back" stub. If you also hide it, you will hide the node that just moved — and blank the pane window.
+
+- **Prefer `hidden` or a class over inline `display` for show/hide.** While popped out, core neutralises *placement* with `.fb-paned` (`position`, `inset`, `width`, `z-index`, `box-shadow`). An inline `display:none` on your panel reasserts itself the moment the pane docks back and the class is removed, so your panel returns invisible.
+
+- **`element` is a function so it can be resolved late.** Return the *live* node. If you rebuild your panel (Camera Director rebuilds on every mode change), re-run `attachChip` — it returns a `detach()`; call it before re-attaching, and again in your teardown.
+
+- **`isConnected` does not mean "docked".** A panel sitting in a pane window is very much connected — just not to *this* document. Test `el.ownerDocument === document`, or take the `onHost(hostId, el)` callback.
+
+- **rAF is throttled while the main window is backgrounded** — and it will be, whenever the user is looking at your pane. Event-driven panels (sliders, buttons) are unaffected. A panel that *animates continuously* may run slowly while it is the only thing on screen.
+
+- **Don't reach for BroadcastChannel, `postMessage`, or a second copy of your state.** There is one realm and one panel. If you find yourself synchronising, you have misunderstood the model.
+
+- **Nothing is required.** No panes API on the host → skip both calls, and your panel behaves exactly as it does today.
+
 ### Keyboard Shortcuts

 Plugins can register keyboard shortcuts via the global `window.registerShortcut()` function. Shortcuts appear in the `?` help panel.
@@ -540,6 +596,21 @@ tab, key/scale annotations, etc.). Published as **feedpak**; this codebase still
 **sloppak** name internally — same on-disk format. [docs/sloppak-spec.md](docs/sloppak-spec.md) is
 a local pointer + code map.

+**The spec is sacrosanct — read it BEFORE changing how this app reads or writes packs.** The
+spec repo defines the format; this app merely implements it ("a change is not part of the format
+until it lands here" — feedpak-spec/GOVERNANCE.md). Any new manifest key, file, or directory the
+app touches must land in the spec **first**, via the
+[FEP process](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedpak-spec/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) (proposal
+issue → one spec PR updating spec + schemas + example + changelog → then re-run your PR's checks
+here; the gate verifies against the spec's HEAD, so it goes green the moment your key is real).
+CI enforces this: the `feedpak-spec` job
+([docs/feedpak-spec-gate.md](docs/feedpak-spec-gate.md)) fails any PR whose code touches a
+manifest key the spec doesn't declare, and there is **no in-repo bypass** — the exceptions
+file is a closed grandfather list that only shrinks. If the format seems to be missing something
+you need, that's a FEP conversation, not a workaround. (Cautionary tale: `original_audio`, #933 —
+shipped without a spec entry, and third-party packers reverse-engineered a folder convention out
+of a code comment.)
+
 **Key code:**
 - `lib/sloppak.py` — format detection, zip/directory resolution, metadata extraction, song loading
 - `lib/sloppak_convert.py` — sloppak assembly pipeline, Demucs stem splitting
@@ -552,6 +623,7 @@ a local pointer + code map.
 - **Storage** — `localStorage` for all user preferences
 - **Styling** — Tailwind CSS utility classes, dark theme (`bg-dark-600`, `text-gray-300`, accent `#4080e0`, gold `#e8c040`). Tailwind is served as a **prebuilt** stylesheet (`static/tailwind.min.css`, regenerated by `bash scripts/build-tailwind.sh`), **never** the runtime Play CDN — the CDN's on-the-fly JIT rescanned the DOM on the main thread and dropped ~26% of frames with the 3D highway (feedBack-desktop#110). The committed CSS only contains classes the build scanner saw, so CI (`tailwind-fresh`) rebuilds and diffs it; run the build script and commit when you add new classes. A plugin that uses classes not guaranteed in core (notably arbitrary values like `w-[37px]`) MUST ship its own compiled stylesheet via the `styles` manifest key, built with `corePlugins.preflight = false` (utilities only — core ships the one base reset). Plugins MUST NOT load the Tailwind Play CDN or any runtime CSS JIT. See constitution Principle II.
 - **Naming** — camelCase for JS functions, kebab-case for CSS classes, snake_case for plugin IDs
+- **Text selection (v3)** — the v3 UI defaults to `user-select: none` on `html` (in `static/v3/v3.css`) so accidental drag/double-click selection of chrome never looks broken. Form fields are always re-enabled, and a **plugin's mounted screen subtree (`.screen[id^="plugin-"]`) stays selectable by default**, so a plugin's copy-worthy text (lyrics, chord names, results, diagnostics) is unaffected — *unless your plugin renders copyable content OUTSIDE its `plugin-<id>` screen* (e.g. injected into the player chrome / a HUD overlay), which inherits the non-select default. Opt such content back in with the core-served **`.fb-selectable`** class (it sets `user-select: text` on the element + descendants; works for runtime-installed plugins since it's hand-authored in core CSS, not a scanned Tailwind utility). Never use a `* { user-select: none }` rule (breaks input carets/IME), and never use `user-select: none` to "lock" text — keep errors, IDs, paths, versions, and metadata selectable.
 - **Player layout** — `#player` is `display:flex; flex-direction:column; position:fixed; inset:0`. `#highway` is `flex:1`. `#player-controls` sits at the bottom. Hiding the highway collapses the layout — use `margin-top: auto` on controls if you need to hide it.

 ## Backend Conventions
@@ -47,11 +47,11 @@ RUN cmake -S /tmp/vgmstream -B /tmp/vgmstream/build \
 # and update FFMPEG_RELEASE + both SHA256 ARGs below.
 FROM alpine:3.20 AS ffmpeg-fetcher
 ARG TARGETARCH
-ARG FFMPEG_RELEASE=autobuild-2026-06-19-23-17
-ARG FFMPEG_BUILD_AMD64=ffmpeg-n7.1.4-145-g4cbf7a4b3d-linux64-gpl-7.1.tar.xz
-ARG FFMPEG_BUILD_ARM64=ffmpeg-n7.1.4-145-g4cbf7a4b3d-linuxarm64-gpl-7.1.tar.xz
-ARG FFMPEG_SHA256_AMD64=03c0431e0d1aa75cc343d83bda9d2d4cd8eaa37f35b7b93465e9ff6864f5d7f8
-ARG FFMPEG_SHA256_ARM64=74629b88342fd94eea12b7481c8b8560ca6d497744123c0a27b98f39d767fd93
+ARG FFMPEG_RELEASE=autobuild-2026-07-03-13-21
+ARG FFMPEG_BUILD_AMD64=ffmpeg-n7.1.5-1-g7d0e842004-linux64-gpl-7.1.tar.xz
+ARG FFMPEG_BUILD_ARM64=ffmpeg-n7.1.5-1-g7d0e842004-linuxarm64-gpl-7.1.tar.xz
+ARG FFMPEG_SHA256_AMD64=1390e1c320a1e38dae106d6d0b05a6f08eb8b30f732bc1aa0d45a4aa17f13795
+ARG FFMPEG_SHA256_ARM64=53b2e30df04d56932b7782234c9bc97abfe0bb242192ca50346474a41b100ab0
 RUN apk add --no-cache curl xz \
    && arch="${TARGETARCH:-$(apk --print-arch)}" \
    && case "$arch" in \
@@ -94,9 +94,9 @@ FROM python:3.12-slim
 # Re-declare the ffmpeg ARGs so their values are available to LABEL below.
 # ARG values don't cross stage boundaries in multi-stage builds; defaults
 # must be repeated here to take effect when no --build-arg is supplied.
-ARG FFMPEG_RELEASE=autobuild-2026-06-19-23-17
-ARG FFMPEG_BUILD_AMD64=ffmpeg-n7.1.4-145-g4cbf7a4b3d-linux64-gpl-7.1.tar.xz
-ARG FFMPEG_BUILD_ARM64=ffmpeg-n7.1.4-145-g4cbf7a4b3d-linuxarm64-gpl-7.1.tar.xz
+ARG FFMPEG_RELEASE=autobuild-2026-07-03-13-21
+ARG FFMPEG_BUILD_AMD64=ffmpeg-n7.1.5-1-g7d0e842004-linux64-gpl-7.1.tar.xz
+ARG FFMPEG_BUILD_ARM64=ffmpeg-n7.1.5-1-g7d0e842004-linuxarm64-gpl-7.1.tar.xz

 # Apply latest security updates to base packages (clears glibc deb13u3 and
 # similar). Done first so any subsequent installs resolve against the
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-# fee[dB]ack
-
-## Plugins
-
-| Plugin                                                                             | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                      | Install                                                                 |
-|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
-| [Create from Tab](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-ug)             | Search Ultimate Guitar for GP tabs and convert to playable songs                                                                                                                                                                 | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-ug.git ultimate_guitar`                  |
-| [Import Tab](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-tabimport)           | Drag and drop Guitar Pro files to create songs                                                                                                                                                                                   | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-tabimport.git tab_import`                |
-| [Practice Journal](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-practice)      | Auto-track practice time, speed, loops. Dashboard with charts                                                                                                                                                                    | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-practice.git practice_journal`           |
-| [Setlist Builder](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-setlist)        | Create ordered playlists with sequential playback                                                                                                                                                                                | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-setlist.git setlist`                     |
-| [Metronome](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-metronome)            | Audible click and visual beat flash synced to song tempo                                                                                                                                                                         | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-metronome.git metronome`                 |
-| [Tone Player](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-tones)              | View amp/pedal/cab signal chains with gear artwork                                                                                                                                                                               | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-tones.git tones`                         |
-| [Fretboard View](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-fretboard)       | Live fretboard overlay showing active notes in real-time                                                                                                                                                                         | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-fretboard.git fretboard`                 |
-| [Tab View](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-tabview)               | Scrolling guitar tablature notation via alphaTab                                                                                                                                                                                 | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-tabview.git tab_view`                    |
-| [MIDI Amp Control](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-midi)          | Auto-switch amp/modeler presets via MIDI on tone changes                                                                                                                                                                         | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-midi.git midi_amp`                       |
-| [Section Map](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-sectionmap)         | Color-coded song structure minimap with clickable navigation                                                                                                                                                                     | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-sectionmap.git section_map`              |
-| [Arrangement Editor](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-editor)      | DAW-like visual editor for creating and editing song note charts                                                                                                                                                                 | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-editor.git editor`                       |
-| [MIDI Capo](https://github.com/masc0t/slopsmith-plugin-midi-capo)                  | MIDI capo control for real-time transposition                                                                                                                                                                                    | `git clone ...slopsmith-plugin-midi-capo.git midi_capo`                 |
-| [Note Detection](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-notedetect)      | Real-time pitch detection and scoring against highway notes                                                                                                                                                                      | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-notedetect.git note_detect`              |
-| [Find More](https://github.com/masc0t/slopsmith-plugin-find-more)                  | Search for more songs by the same artist                                                                                                                                                                                         | `git clone ...slopsmith-plugin-find-more.git find_more`                 |
-| [Piano Highway](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-piano)            | Scrolling piano/keyboard view for Keys arrangements with MIDI input                                                                                                                                                              | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-piano.git piano`                         |
-| [Studio](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-studio)                  | Collaborative band recording and multi-track mixing                                                                                                                                                                              | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-studio.git studio`                       |
-| [Drum Highway](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-drums)             | Lane-based drum highway with MIDI drum pad input and built-in sounds                                                                                                                                                             | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-drums.git drums`                         |
-| [Invert Highway](https://github.com/masc0t/slopsmith-plugin-invert-highway)        | Flip the highway note direction                                                                                                                                                                                                  | `git clone ...slopsmith-plugin-invert-highway.git invert_highway`       |
-| [Jumping Tab](https://github.com/renanboni/slopsmith-plugin-jumpingtab)            | Yousician-style 2D horizontal tab with trajectory arcs and hopping ball                                                                                                                                                          | `git clone ...slopsmith-plugin-jumpingtab.git jumpingtab`               |
-| [Step Mode](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-stepmode)             | Step-by-step practice mode — highway freezes at each note until played (via Note Detection) or Space                                                                                                                             | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-stepmode.git step_mode`                  |
-| [Lyrics Sync](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-lyrics-sync)        | Generate synced LRC lyrics from text + vocals stem via Whisper alignment                                                                                                                                                         | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-lyrics-sync.git lyrics_sync`             |
-| [Lyrics Karaoke](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-lyrics-karaoke)  | Per-syllable karaoke pitch ribbon for sloppak songs (Whisper alignment + librosa pYIN)                                                                                                                                           | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-lyrics-karaoke.git lyrics_karaoke`       |
-| [NAM Tone Engine](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-nam-tone)       | In-browser amp modeling with NAM WASM, cabinet IRs, tone auto-switching                                                                                                                                                          | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-nam-tone.git nam_tone`                   |
-| [Guitar Theory Lab](https://github.com/topkoa/slopsmith-plugin-guitar-theory)      | Explore scales, chords, intervals, tunings, and voicings on a fully interactive fretboard                                                                                                                                        | `git clone ...slopsmith-plugin-guitar-theory.git guitar-theory-lab`          |
-| [Themes](https://github.com/masc0t/slopsmith-plugin-themes)                        | Offers several basic recolorings of the interface                                                                                                                                                                                | `git clone ...slopsmith-plugin-themes.git themes`                       |
-| [Update Manager](https://github.com/masc0t/slopsmith-update-manager)               | Installs, updates, and uninstalls other plugins and the feedBack core itself                                                                                                                                                    | `git clone ...slopsmith-update-manager.git update_manager`              |
-| [Simplify Chords](https://github.com/bkranendonk/slopsmith-plugin-simplify-chords) | Changes complex chords on the note highway to simpler ones. Inspired by Ultimate Guitar's Simplify button.                                                                                                                       | `git clone ...slopsmith-plugin-simplify-chords.git simplify-chords`     |
-| [Key Bindings](https://github.com/jackipicco/slopsmith-plugin-key-bindings)        | Highway key bindings for keyboard and TV remote                                                                                                                                                                                  | `git clone ...slopsmith-plugin-key-bindings.git key_bindings`           |
-| [Virtuoso](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-virtuoso)               | Practice studio for guitar & bass — scale, technique, and rhythm drills, timed workouts, and jam backing that teach skills you take off the screen.                                                                              | `git clone ...feedBack-plugin-virtuoso.git virtuoso`                    |
-| [Audio Preview](https://github.com/saleemk/slopsmith-plugin-audio-preview)         | Quick audio previews from library cards with configurable start time, volume, and duration                                                                                                                                       | `git clone ...slopsmith-plugin-audio-preview.git audio_preview`         |
-| [Song Mastery](https://github.com/jamesgaiser/slopsmith-plugin-song-mastery)       | Auto-adjusts difficulty based on your rolling note accuracy and saves the slider position per song                                                                                                                               | `git clone ...slopsmith-plugin-song-mastery.git song_mastery`           |
-| [Mobile Note Highway](https://github.com/saleemk/slopsmith-plugin-mobile-note-highway) | Touch-optimized player with collapsible controls, highway gestures, and device-adaptive layouts for phones and tablets | `git clone ...slopsmith-plugin-mobile-note-highway.git mobile_note_highway` |
-
-Install any plugin by cloning it into your `plugins/` directory and restarting:
-
-```bash
-cd plugins
-git clone https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack-plugin-ug.git ultimate_guitar
-docker compose restart
-```
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.3.0
+0.3.0-alpha.1
@@ -153,6 +153,14 @@ The legacy chart-coupled surface — `highway.setNoteStateProvider(fn)`, the sin

 Diagnostics live under `feedBack.note_detection_capability.v1` and contain provider ids/labels/kinds, binding summaries (requester, provider, redacted context, target size), availability, and the last bounded outcome (event, binding, provider, MIDI number, hit flag) — never raw audio buffers, sample data, device labels, or song identity.

+## Chart-Transform Domain
+
+The chart-transform slice (#952) is a core-owned provider coordinator implemented by [static/capabilities/chart-transform.js](../static/capabilities/chart-transform.js). Its commands register, select, clear, and refresh providers; `chart.transform` is the provider operation. Selection persists by provider id and applies to the primary highway and announced splitscreen instances.
+
+The synchronous `highway.setChartTransform` data-plane hook runs at chart ready, mastery changes, and refresh—not per frame. Transforms receive isolated chart data after difficulty filtering and may replace notes, chords, anchors, hand shapes, chord templates, string count, tuning, capo, and cent offset. Outputs are isolated and timeline arrays are time-sorted before the built-in renderer, renderer bundle, or public getters read them. Async returns and other provider failures clear the stage and retain the original chart.
+
+`getSongInfo()` retains original metadata; effective values are exposed by the renderer bundle and dedicated highway getters. Diagnostics under `feedBack.chart_transform.diagnostics.v1` contain provider selection/install state and a fixed public failure reason, never chart data, song identity, or raw exceptions. The domain has no compatibility shim because no earlier chart-substitution surface exists.
+
 ## MIDI-Input Domain

 The MIDI-input slice (spec 012, issues #873/#880) promotes `midi-input` as a **core-owned** provider-coordinator implemented by [static/capabilities/midi-input.js](../static/capabilities/midi-input.js) — the MIDI analog of `audio-input`. It is deliberately separate from `audio-input` (whose source/`open` contract is audio-frame-centric: channel shapes, sample buffers) because MIDI carries discrete messages, not audio; and it is **not** owned by any feature plugin, so the device-access boundary outlives the input-setup wizard (exactly as `audio-input` is `core.audio.session`-owned). Consumers — the `input_setup` onboarding wizard, the `piano`/keys and `drums` plugins, and (as a follow-up, #881) note-detection's Web-MIDI provider — converge here on ONE device-access boundary: one permission prompt, one source list, one redaction boundary, retiring private per-plugin `navigator.requestMIDIAccess()` calls.
@@ -192,7 +200,7 @@ Core domains include review metadata in diagnostics:
 - `active`: wired to current FeedBack behavior and expected to work as an integration point.
 - `diagnostic`: support/inspection-only runtime surfaces.

-PR1 includes only the delivered domains listed in [capability-roadmap.md](capability-roadmap.md): `pipeline`, `diagnostics`, and `library`. The follow-up audio graph/session slice promotes `audio-mix`, `audio-input`, `audio-monitoring`, and a coordinated `stems` surface. The playback slice promotes `playback` as an active transport control plane. The audio-effects slice promotes provider-selected effect-chain planning while leaving physical processor loading to compatible executors such as trusted Desktop native audio or a browser/WASM executor. The visualization slice promotes `visualization` as the highway renderer provider-coordinator, and the note-detection slice (spec 009) promotes `note-detection` as the detection-binding control plane. Backend routes, app UI, settings, and other hardware-facing domains remain documented in the roadmap and safety matrix until their own host workflow/provider slice exists.
+PR1 includes only the delivered domains listed in [capability-roadmap.md](capability-roadmap.md): `pipeline`, `diagnostics`, and `library`. The follow-up audio graph/session slice promotes `audio-mix`, `audio-input`, `audio-monitoring`, and a coordinated `stems` surface. The playback slice promotes `playback` as an active transport control plane. The audio-effects slice promotes provider-selected effect-chain planning while leaving physical processor loading to compatible executors such as trusted Desktop native audio or a browser/WASM executor. The visualization slice promotes `visualization` as the highway renderer provider-coordinator, the note-detection slice (spec 009) promotes `note-detection` as the detection-binding control plane, and the chart-transform slice (#952) promotes `chart-transform` as the pre-render/pre-scoring chart substitution coordinator. Backend routes, app UI, settings, and other hardware-facing domains remain documented in the roadmap and safety matrix until their own host workflow/provider slice exists.

 Capability metadata is versioned by the `capability-pipelines.v1` standard. Invalid roles, commands, operations, requests, observes, emits, events, owner kinds, compatibility modes, ownership policies, safety classes, or version fields are excluded from the capability graph and surfaced through `capability_validation_warnings`; legacy plugin fields continue to load through their existing app paths. Plugins that declare a future `capability-pipelines` version are reported through `capability_unsupported_versions` and their runtime handlers are marked incompatible.

@@ -248,7 +256,7 @@ UI placement and settings contributions are real FeedBack surfaces, but they are

 The library provider workflow is the PR1 core adapter and is implemented natively as the `library` capability module. Provider refresh, selection, and sync run through `library` owner commands; backend provider registration remains the way providers enter the library registry, and the browser module turns that registry into provider participants. The app event bus continues to dispatch local `window.feedBack` events for legacy listeners; playback now mirrors song transport, route, seek, and loop lifecycle into `playback`, and visualization attributes renderer selection/failure, while navigation, note, and route-only surfaces remain outside capability domains until their own slices land.

-The direct `window.highway` object remains the renderer data plane. Per-frame reads such as notes, chords, beats, and renderer hooks should not be moved behind asynchronous capability commands until there is a dedicated chart/render facade.
+The direct `window.highway` object remains the renderer data plane. Per-frame reads such as notes, chords, beats, and renderer hooks should not be moved behind asynchronous capability commands until there is a dedicated chart/render facade. The `chart-transform` domain follows this doctrine: its substitution runs through the synchronous `highway.setChartTransform` hook (staged once per chart change), while the capability surface owns only registration, selection, and diagnostics.

 ## First-Party Management Plugins

@@ -295,8 +303,9 @@ From the `feedBack/` directory:
 ```bash
 node --check static/app.js
 node --check static/capabilities.js
+node --check static/capabilities/chart-transform.js
 node --check static/diagnostics.js
 node --check plugins/capability_inspector/screen.js
 node --test tests/js/*.test.js
 pytest tests/test_plugin_runtime_idempotence.py tests/test_plugins.py tests/test_diagnostics_bundle.py -q
-```
+```
@@ -499,6 +499,57 @@ window.feedBack.on('progression:quest-completed', (e) => {
 });
 ```

+## Chart-Transform Provider
+
+Plugins that transpose, simplify, annotate, or otherwise rewrite chart data register as `chart-transform` providers (#952). The effective chart reaches the built-in highway, custom renderers, and highway getters on primary and splitscreen instances.
+
+```json
+{
+  "id": "my_transform",
+  "name": "My Transform",
+  "standards": ["capability-pipelines.v1"],
+  "capabilities": {
+    "chart-transform": {
+      "roles": ["provider"],
+      "operations": ["chart.transform"],
+      "mode": "active",
+      "compatibility": "none",
+      "ownership": "multi-provider",
+      "safety": "safe",
+      "version": 1
+    }
+  }
+}
+```
+
+```js
+const api = window.feedBack.capabilities;
+
+await api.dispatch({
+  capability: 'chart-transform',
+  command: 'register-provider',
+  source: 'my_transform',
+  payload: {
+    providerId: 'my_transform',
+    label: 'My Transform',
+    transform(input) {
+      const notes = rewriteNotes(input.notes);
+      const allNotes = input.allNotes === input.notes ? notes : rewriteNotes(input.allNotes);
+      return { notes, allNotes };
+    },
+  },
+});
+
+await api.dispatch({ capability: 'chart-transform', command: 'select-provider',
+  source: 'my_transform', payload: { providerId: 'my_transform' } });
+
+await api.dispatch({ capability: 'chart-transform', command: 'refresh', source: 'my_transform' });
+```
+
+`transform(input)` receives filtered `notes`, `chords`, `anchors`, and `handShapes`, plus full-difficulty `allNotes`/`allChords`, `chordTemplates`, `stringCount`, and `songInfo`. It may synchronously return any subset of those arrays plus `tuning`, `capo`, or `centOffset`; null leaves the chart unchanged. The host isolates provider inputs and outputs, time-sorts accepted timelines, and falls back to the original chart on failure.
+
+Transforms run at chart ready, mastery recompute, and explicit `refresh`, never per frame. Selection persists by provider id. `getSongInfo()` retains original metadata; effective metadata is available through the renderer bundle and `getStringCount()`, `getTuning()`, `getCapo()`, and `getCentOffset()`.
+
 ## Future Expansion Domains

 Some domain names are reserved for expected future contracts, but they are not registered in the runtime graph yet. For example, `ui.player-panels` is documented as a likely panel-host surface, but FeedBack does not currently expose a capability command for panel contributions. See [capability-roadmap.md](capability-roadmap.md) for the PR1 domain set and deferred-domain checklist.
@@ -60,6 +60,10 @@ The progression slice (spec 010) promotes `progression` as an active exclusive-o

 Deferred follow-up slices: a `contributor` role so plugins ship their own challenge/quest content (drums challenges from a drums-scoring plugin, quest-pool entries from minigame plugins), and drums scoring wiring so `song_completed {instrument: "drums"}` goals become satisfiable.

+## Chart-Transform Control Plane Slice
+
+The chart-transform slice (#952) is an active provider-coordinator domain. It owns provider lifecycle, persisted selection, refresh, failure attribution, and redaction-safe diagnostics. Its synchronous highway hook applies isolated provider output after difficulty filtering to built-in, custom-renderer, and getter consumers across primary and splitscreen highways. No compatibility shim is needed; per-panel independent selection remains a follow-up.
+
 ## Recommended Next Slices

 The plugin inventory suggests this migration order after the audio graph/session and playback slices:
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ Core domains also have a review scope. **Active contract** domains are wired to
 | visualization | provider-coordinator | safe | inspect, list-providers, select-renderer, clear-renderer | renderer.create, renderer.destroy | Highway renderer provider registry, picker-delegated selection, auto-match attribution, and failure fallback. `renderer.create` maps to the legacy `window.feedBackViz_*` factory `init(canvas, ctx)` call; `renderer.destroy` maps to the factory `destroy()` teardown. Legacy `type: "visualization"` manifests and `window.feedBackViz_*` globals are accounted compatibility shims. Diagnostics carry provider ids/labels, selection source, last auto-match outcome, and last failure — no song filenames, titles, or arrangement names. |

 | note-detection | provider-coordinator | sensitive | inspect, register-provider, unregister-provider, open-binding, close-binding, set-target, clear-target | pitch.estimate, verify.target | Detection-binding control plane (spec 009): providers (midi/engine/js) serve primitives; each requester binds its own redacted tuning context; consumers own judgment, hit/miss flow as observability events. Legacy `highway.setNoteStateProvider` is an accounted shim. Diagnostics carry provider/binding summaries and bounded outcomes — no raw audio, sample data, device labels, or song identity. |
-
+| chart-transform | provider-coordinator | safe | inspect, list-providers, register-provider, unregister-provider, select-provider, clear-provider, refresh | chart.transform | Synchronous chart substitution after difficulty filtering (#952). Provider data is isolated, timelines are sorted, and failures retain the original chart with a fixed public reason. Diagnostics contain provider and selection state, never chart data, song identity, or raw exceptions. |
 | midi-input | provider-coordinator | sensitive | inspect, list-sources, discover, select-source, open-source, close-source | source.enumerate, source.describe, source.open, source.close | Core-owned MIDI device control plane (spec 012), the MIDI analog of `audio-input`. Inspect/list/select are prompt-free; `discover` is the Web-MIDI permission boundary (`requestMIDIAccess()` gates the whole input list) and records denied/unavailable outcomes; `open-source` attaches a shared listener session and never re-prompts. Selection persists by redaction-safe `logicalSourceKey`. Diagnostics redact device labels and never include raw MIDI messages or live handles. |

 Privileged commands are roadmap-only until they have: a visible user confirmation path, diagnostics redaction rules, failure recovery, and tests that prove disabled or incompatible participants cannot execute handlers.
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+# The feedpak spec-conformance gate
+
+`tools/check_spec_conformance.py`, run in CI as the `feedpak-spec` job.
+
+## Why
+
+feedpak is published as an **open format**: its own repo
+([got-feedback/feedpak-spec](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedpak-spec)), a normative spec, JSON
+Schemas, and a reference validator. That is a promise to everyone outside this codebase — third-party
+packers, converters, and players build against the spec, and the spec is meant to be the complete and
+authoritative description of a pack.
+
+The moment core reads a manifest key the spec doesn't define, that promise breaks silently:
+
+- A spec-compliant pack is no longer guaranteed to be a fully-working pack.
+- The reference validator can't warn authors about a key it has never heard of — it will happily green-light
+  the key, and every misspelling of it.
+- The format's real definition drifts into our source tree. In the case that motivated this gate
+  ([#933](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedback/issues/933)), third-party tooling started emitting an
+  `original/` directory that no code anywhere requires — the convention was reverse-engineered from an
+  example in a *code comment*.
+
+The rule this gate enforces: **any manifest key core reads _or writes_ must be in the spec before core
+ships code that depends on it.** Spec first, implementation second. Writes are not exempt — a key core
+writes lands in every pack we emit, so an undeclared one seeds the ecosystem with non-spec data.
+
+Note that "get it into the spec" is not automatically the right fix for an existing violation — for
+`original_audio` it isn't. The spec already carries the pre-separation mixdown as a stem
+(`{id: full, file: stems/full.ogg}`), so that key added a *second, redundant* location for audio to a format
+that already had one, and the resolution is to remove it rather than bless it. The gate takes no position on
+which way a violation resolves; it only insists that one of the two happens deliberately, in the open,
+before the code merges.
+
+## What it checks
+
+We can't mechanically prove core *interprets* a key the way the spec means. We can prove four surface
+properties, and they cover the drift that actually occurs.
+
+| Layer | Check | Catches |
+|---|---|---|
+| 1. key-coverage | Every manifest key core reads **or writes** is declared in the spec's `manifest.schema.json`. | Core growing a key the spec never defined — the #933 class. |
+| 2. allowlist-closed | `feedpak-spec-exceptions.yml` has not **grown** relative to the base branch. | Someone routing around the FEP process by allowlisting their own new key. |
+| 3. forward | Core's `load_song()` ingests every example pack the spec ships. | The spec adding or tightening something core ignores or breaks on. |
+| 4. reverse | Every pack committed to this repo passes the spec's `tools/validate.py`. | Core (or a contributor) committing a pack the spec would reject. |
+
+Layer 1 works by walking the AST of the modules listed in `READERS` and collecting every literal key touched
+on a manifest dict (`manifest.get("x")`, `manifest["x"]`, and the wrapped
+`(load_manifest(p) or {}).get("x")` form used in `lib/enrichment.py`).
+
+**Reads and writes are both checked, and reported differently.** A key core *writes*
+(`manifest["x"] = v`, as `lib/songmeta.py` does) is spec surface pointed outward: it puts a key into every
+pack we emit, so an undeclared one seeds the ecosystem with non-spec data. Subscripts are classified by AST
+context — `Store` is a write, `Load` is a read — so `manifest["year"] = ...` is not miscounted as a read.
+
+## When it fails
+
+You added a manifest key the spec doesn't define. **There is exactly one way forward, and it is not in this
+repo.**
+
+Land the key in the spec through the **feedpak Enhancement Proposal (FEP)** process
+([feedpak-spec/CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedpak-spec/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md)):
+
+1. **Open a FEP issue** on `got-feedback/feedpak-spec` — the problem, the proposed on-disk shape (manifest
+   key and/or side-file), backward compatibility, and the version bump it implies.
+2. **Discuss**, until it has a clear shape and rough consensus.
+3. **Land one PR there** that updates the normative spec (`spec/feedpak-v1.md`), the relevant JSON
+   Schema(s), an example in `examples/` that exercises it, and the changelog — *together*. A PR touching
+   only one of those is incomplete.
+4. **Back here**, just re-run your PR's checks. The gate verifies against the spec's HEAD, so the moment
+   your key is genuinely part of the format, your PR goes green — nothing to bump, nothing to maintain.
+
+That's deliberately the only route — no experimental prefix, no self-serve allowlist — and it's usually a
+quick one for additive keys. The reason it's worth the round-trip: the gate checks the whole repo against
+the living spec, so if non-conformance ever lands, it shows up as red CI on *every* teammate's open PR, and
+only the person who introduced it can clear it. Going through the FEP keeps your change clean and keeps
+everyone else unblocked.
+
+The spec's own governance says the same thing:
+
+> This repository defines the format only. Applications that read or write feedpak ... track this spec as a
+> dependency; they do not drive it. **A change is not part of the format until it lands here.**
+> — [feedpak-spec/GOVERNANCE.md](https://github.com/got-feedback/feedpak-spec/blob/main/GOVERNANCE.md)
+
+### `feedpak-spec-exceptions.yml` is a closed grandfather list, not a hatch
+
+It exists solely because `original_audio` predates the gate. **CI fails any PR that adds an entry** (layer 2
+diffs it against the base branch), so the list can only ever shrink. Entries are debt, each carries a
+tracking issue, and each disappears when the underlying key is removed from core. The gate also fails on a
+*stale* entry — the spec caught up, or core stopped touching the key — so the file cannot quietly become
+somewhere drift accumulates.
+
+Deleting an entry does not, by itself, get you past the gate: layer 1 still fails while core reads the key.
+The entry goes when the **code** goes.
+
+## Tracking the spec's HEAD
+
+The gate checks out `feedpak-spec` at **HEAD**, on purpose: the app must conform to the *living* spec, and
+nobody should have to maintain a pin. The dev flow is fully self-serve — gated PR → FEP → spec merge →
+re-run checks → green.
+
+Two properties to know about:
+
+- **The normal FEP is additive** (a new optional key), which only ever makes the gate *looser* — it cannot
+  redden anyone's PR. Only a **breaking** spec change (removing/renaming a key the app uses, tightening the
+  validator against committed packs) turns PRs red repo-wide — and per the spec's compatibility policy that
+  is a rare, deliberate MAJOR event, exactly when an org-wide "the app is out of conformance" signal is the
+  right outcome. The CI job logs the exact spec SHA each run verified against, so a red run is reproducible.
+- **CI results can change over time on the same commit** — that is inherent to tracking a living contract,
+  and it is the point: green means "conformant *now*", not "conformant when written".
+
+## Limitations
+
+Known, and worth fixing in follow-ups rather than blocking on:
+
+- **Layer 1's receiver detection is heuristic.** Locals *assigned from* `load_manifest(...)` are discovered
+  flow-aware whatever they're called (chart.py's `m` taught us that), and the inline
+  `(load_manifest(p) or {}).get(...)` form is recognised — but a manifest that arrives as a **function
+  parameter** is only recognised by name (`MANIFEST_VARS`: `manifest`, `mf`). A parameter called something
+  else would slip. The hardening step is to route all manifest access through a single declared
+  `KNOWN_MANIFEST_KEYS` registry in `lib/sloppak.py`; the gate then compares registry against schema exactly
+  instead of inferring.
+- **Layer 1 covers top-level keys only.** Nested structure (`arrangements[].file`, `.id`, `.notation`) isn't
+  checked. Extending to it means walking the schema's `$ref` subschemas.
+- **Layer 1 recognises `get`, `setdefault`, subscripts, and the known gap-fill helper** as key access.
+  `update()` and `pop()` aren't used against a feedpak manifest anywhere in the tree, so they're deliberately
+  not special-cased rather than speculatively handled. `readers-complete` reuses the same scanner
+  (`keys_touched()`), so this blind spot is shared, not doubled: a module using only unrecognised access forms
+  would evade both.
+- **Layer 4 can't catch unknown keys**, because `manifest.schema.json` sets `additionalProperties: true` and
+  the reference validator deliberately "treats unknown keys/files as forward-compatible". Fixing this
+  properly belongs in the spec (tighten the schema, or give the validator a `--strict` mode). Until then,
+  layer 1 is the only thing standing between us and the next `original_audio`.
@@ -0,0 +1,246 @@
+# Host Theme Contract — design proposal
+
+**Status:** proposal (charrette output, 2026-06-29) · **Owner area:** core v3 + plugin UI
+**Trigger:** a plugin UI feature accidentally "carved itself into a single theme."
+
+## 1. Problem
+
+A results-card feature in the `note_detect` plugin (a glow-ring hero button + a
+gradient-filled accuracy number) was built and visually verified against **only the
+default skin** ("neon"). On the other skins it broke: on "esports" — a deliberately
+glow-less, near-monochrome design language — the glow ring and the colour gradient
+simply **vanished**. The colours adapted (everything used CSS custom-property tokens),
+but the **visual devices themselves did not port**, because nothing in the system says
+"this theme does / doesn't do glow rings."
+
+### Root cause (three findings)
+
+1. **Themes are design *languages*, not palettes.** neon = glow + animation + gradients;
+   esports = no-glow, square, near-monochrome amber; metal = brushed steel + hard bevels +
+   drop-shadows. Tokens made *colour* portable; they never made a *device* portable.
+2. **Tokens are named by *device*, not *intent*.** e.g. `--nd-glow-*` holds a glow in neon
+   but a **hard drop-shadow** in metal — the metal skin is already repurposing a
+   device-named slot to express a different language. The cure is to finish that move:
+   name slots by intent, with "off" (`none`) a legal value.
+3. **No "text-legible-on-accent" role.** White-on-accent was hardcoded in several places;
+   on esports' amber accent that's a contrast failure. And `--nd-accent2` was
+   **double-booked** (gradient-end *and* S-grade colour), so the hero gradient resolved
+   amber→near-white and washed out.
+
+A process gap compounds it: **verification covered one skin**, so the regression was
+invisible until a user switched themes. And this recurs ecosystem-wide — other plugins
+ship their own independent skin systems too.
+
+## 2. Current state (two disconnected systems)
+
+| System | What it is | Limits |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| **Host themes** (`static/v3/theme-core.js`, `html[data-fb-theme]`) | Cosmetic "shop" themes that recolour `fb-*` Tailwind tokens (surfaces/text/borders). | Apply-only & recolour-only. `--fbv-*` vars exist **only while a theme is equipped** (nothing to read in the default state). No read API, no capability signal, no normalized `theme:changed` event. Comment explicitly says it *leaves decorative accents (rings/shadows) at defaults* → **devices are an ownerless gap.** |
+| **Plugin skins** (e.g. `note_detect` `data-nd-skin`) | Full per-plugin design languages (neon/esports/metal) as CSS-var blocks. | Each plugin reinvents the wheel; disconnected from host themes; a feature can't see both. |
+
+## 3. Goals / non-goals
+
+- **Goal:** a feature, authored once, renders correctly in **any** theme — including ones not
+  yet invented — and degrades **intentionally** (neon ring → esports border), never accidentally.
+- **Goal:** the host owns a canonical contract so plugins consume instead of reinventing.
+- **Non-goal:** forcing every plugin skin to become a host theme. Skins stay plugin-local but
+  **implement** the contract.
+- **Non-goal:** backward-compat with pre-v3 hosts. Everything here is additive + feature-detected.
+
+## 4. The contract — three layers
+
+### Layer 1 — Semantic colour **roles** (always present)
+
+The host writes default `--fb-*` role tokens on `:root` **unconditionally** (not only under
+`[data-fb-theme]`), seeded from the canonical `fb` palette, so `var(--fb-accent, …)` always
+resolves — themed or not. Roles:
+
+**Namespace (normative).** The public contract lives under one prefix, **`--fb-*`**, written on
+`:root` by a host-owned *contract stylesheet* (see §6 / §8) so it is present **themed or not**.
+The existing `--fbv-*` vars stay **internal plumbing** — `theme-core.js` uses them only to
+recolour the Tailwind `.bg-fb-*/.text-fb-*/.border-fb-*` utilities under `html[data-fb-theme]`;
+they are **not** part of this contract and plugins must not read them. (Implementation may seed
+`--fb-*` from the same source the `--fbv-*` overrides use, so an equipped theme moves both.)
+
+**Value grammar (normative).** Colour roles are a **space-separated `r g b` triplet** (matching
+today's `--fbv-*` and the Tailwind utilities), consumed as `rgb(var(--fb-accent))` with optional
+alpha `rgb(var(--fb-accent) / .5)`. Recipe slots (Layer 2) hold **full CSS values** for their
+device (a `box-shadow`, a `border` shorthand, a length, a paint), with `none` legal **except**
+where noted.
+
+**Normative role tokens** (all `--fb-*`, all always present):
+
+| Role | Token | Notes |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| surface / card / border | `--fb-surface` `--fb-card` `--fb-border` | structural |
+| text / dim | `--fb-text` `--fb-text-dim` | |
+| accent / second hue | `--fb-accent` `--fb-accent-2` | `accent-2` is **just a second hue** — never an assumed gradient end |
+| status | `--fb-good` `--fb-warn` `--fb-bad` | maps onto today's palette `good / mid / low` (mid→warn, low→bad) — implementation aliases both |
+| **on-fill (new)** | `--fb-on-accent` `--fb-on-good` `--fb-on-warn` `--fb-on-bad` | **Rule: every role used as a fill behind text gets a paired `--fb-on-*`** (fixes white-on-amber). Required + contrast-linted (§6). |
+| **focus (new)** | `--fb-focus-ring` | focus indicator independent of `accent`, so focus stays visible when `accent ≈ surface` |
+
+### Layer 2 — Capability **recipes** (intent-named slots; "off" is legal)
+
+A theme declares its design *language* by filling intent-named slots (all `--fb-*`-prefixed,
+same namespace as the roles). A feature applies the slot bundle **unconditionally**; it never
+branches on "is this theme glowy?". Atomic slots (renames-by-intent of today's tokens):
+`--fb-corner-radius`, `--fb-corner-clip`, `--fb-panel-shadow`, `--fb-text-emph-shadow`,
+`--fb-panel-texture`, `--fb-motion-decorative` (reduced-motion-gated). For these, `none` is legal.
+
+Two **composite recipes** carry the load:
+
+- **EMPHASIS** — how this theme makes a primary action special:
+  `--fb-emph-fill / --fb-emph-border / --fb-emph-halo / --fb-emph-on`.
+  neon → halo (glow ring); esports → border (solid accent); metal → fill + drop-shadow.
+  Any individual slot may be `none` — but a theme **must** emphasise *somehow* (at least one of
+  fill/border/halo non-`none`), so a primary action is never visually flat.
+- **ACCENT-TEXT** — how this theme fills a big accent number: `--fb-acc-text-fill`
+  (decoupled from `accent-2`). neon/metal → a gradient; esports → a solid accent.
+  **`--fb-acc-text-fill` is the one slot where `none` is illegal** — it is always a valid paint
+  (solid colour or gradient), defaulting to `rgb(var(--fb-accent))`. Reason: the number is
+  rendered with `background-clip: text` + transparent text-fill, so a `none` paint would make
+  the digits **invisible** (transparent fill, nothing to clip) — which would violate the DoD
+  "a device stays legible when its slot resolves to `none`". The feature also feature-detects
+  `background-clip: text` and keeps a solid `color` base (see §5), so the digits are legible
+  even where clip-text is unsupported.
+
+> These generalize the interim per-skin tokens already shipped in `note_detect`
+> (`--nd-hero-ring-idle/on`, `--nd-hero-border`, `--nd-acc-fill`).
+
+### Layer 3 — JS read API + reconciliation
+
+**The JS API is only for renderers that can't use CSS (canvas / WebGL), never for DOM/CSS
+consumers** — those use the tokens and slots directly (§5). Critically, it exposes *resolved
+token values*, **not** theme-style booleans: a `glow:false` flag can't tell a canvas whether to
+draw a border, a bevel, a drop-shadow, or flat text, so there is **no** `capabilities()` of
+booleans. On the existing `window.feedBack` bus:
+
+- `feedBack.theme.get()` → `{ id, isThemed, tokens }` where `tokens` is the **resolved** map of
+  every `--fb-*` role + recipe slot (the computed values, so a canvas reads the actual device,
+  e.g. the gradient stops for `--fb-acc-text-fill`, not a boolean).
+- `feedBack.theme.prefersReducedMotion()` → boolean (host wraps `matchMedia` once). **This is the
+  single approved JS reduced-motion gate going forward** — existing direct `matchMedia` callers
+  (`venue-mood-fx.js`, `pedal-cables.js`) migrate to it; `--fb-motion-decorative` covers the
+  CSS-authored decorative motion.
+- `theme:changed` event → `{ id, tokens }`.
+
+**Lifecycle (normative).** `get()` always returns the **current effective theme synchronously**
+and is valid at any time — before any theme is applied it returns the default/unthemed roles
+(which always exist on `:root`). Theme application is async (it follows a `/api/profile` refresh);
+`theme:changed` fires **only after** the DOM vars/classes are committed, and **once on initial
+hydration** so a late-mounting plugin isn't stuck on stale state. **Plugin rule:** read `get()`
+on mount, then subscribe to `theme:changed` — never assume an order between your mount and the
+first theme apply.
+
+**Reconciliation rule (ends the two-disconnected-systems problem):** a plugin skin
+**derives surface/text/border from host tokens** (`--nd-bg: rgb(var(--fb-card))`, etc.) and
+**owns only its accent + its devices**, selecting the device via the recipe. A host theme then
+pulls plugin chrome along (one truth for surfaces), while the plugin layers identity on top and
+never imposes a device the active theme neutralizes.
+
+**Propagation scope (normative).** The contract is **same-document light-DOM**: `:root` `--fb-*`
+inheritance and the central focus/motion rules (§6) reach any normal plugin screen. A plugin that
+renders into a **shadow root or iframe** is responsible for bridging — copy the resolved
+`get().tokens` into its sub-root and re-subscribe to `theme:changed` (host `:root` vars don't
+cross those boundaries).
+
+## 5. Consumption pattern (the rule for feature authors)
+
+> **A feature may reference a colour *role* or a recipe *slot*. It may never write a raw
+> device — no literal glow `box-shadow`, no literal `linear-gradient`, no hex.** Devices live
+> in slots; the theme owns the slots.
+
+```css
+.hero-cta {
+  background: var(--fb-emph-fill);
+  border:     var(--fb-emph-border);
+  box-shadow: var(--fb-emph-halo);   /* neon→ring · esports→none · metal→drop-shadow */
+  color:      var(--fb-emph-on);     /* never hardcoded #fff again */
+  border-radius: var(--fb-corner-radius);
+}
+.accuracy-number {
+  /* Always-legible solid base; survives no-clip-text support too. */
+  color: rgb(var(--fb-accent));
+}
+/* Apply the clipped paint ONLY where supported — and --fb-acc-text-fill is
+   guaranteed a real paint (never `none`, per Layer 2), so the digits can't go
+   invisible. */
+@supports ((background-clip: text) or (-webkit-background-clip: text)) {
+  .accuracy-number {
+    background: var(--fb-acc-text-fill);
+    -webkit-background-clip: text; background-clip: text;
+    -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent;
+  }
+}
+```
+
+**Where the contract physically lives.** A **host-owned static contract stylesheet** (e.g.
+`static/v3/theme-contract.css`, hand-authored, linked from `static/v3/index.html`) holds the
+always-present `:root --fb-*` defaults **plus** the two central a11y rules below. It is **not** a
+Tailwind file, so it never touches the prebuilt `static/tailwind.min.css` artifact the
+`tailwind-fresh` CI check diffs (and it's independent of `theme-core.js`, which keeps
+runtime-injecting only the `--fbv-*` utility overrides under `[data-fb-theme]`).
+
+- **Reduced motion:** `--fb-motion-decorative` is the *only* place CSS decorative animation is
+  named; one central rule in the contract sheet sets it to `none` under
+  `@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)`, so no theme can forget the gate. (JS-driven motion
+  uses `feedBack.theme.prefersReducedMotion()` — §4.3.)
+- **Focus parity:** one contract-level `:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid rgb(var(--fb-focus-ring)) }`
+  for contract consumers; themes recolour `--fb-focus-ring` but may not author their own focus
+  styling. *Migration:* v3 already ships component-specific focus + reduced-motion rules in
+  `v3.css`; those are reconciled onto the contract token (not magically replaced) as a tracked
+  cleanup — "one rule" describes the end state, not day one.
+- **On-fill contrast:** every `--fb-on-*` is required and **lintable**
+  (`contrast(on-X, X) ≥ 4.5:1`, 3:1 large) for each fill role (`accent / good / warn / bad`).
+  Contrast is the theme's job, computed once — not re-judged per feature.
+
+## 7. Verification gate (prevent recurrence)
+
+- A committed **render-matrix** tool, driven off the runtime skin list, that renders the key
+  surfaces (hero CTA, accent number, **and the canvas share-image card**) across **every skin ×
+  key states** (rest / hover / focus / reduced-motion).
+- The gate is **computed-style invariant assertions** (deterministic, CI-safe) — e.g. "emphasis
+  present and text legible in each theme" — **not** pixel-snapshot diffing (the animated ring +
+  fonts + AA make snapshots flaky); a contact-sheet montage is the human backstop.
+- Triggered on the version bump that CSS changes already require; skins enumerated at runtime +
+  a guard test so the matrix can't silently go stale.
+
+**Definition-of-done for any theme-touching UI change** (the few items that would have caught this):
+expressed via tokens not hardcoded values · rendered across all skins · **a new visual *device*
+stays legible when its slot resolves to `none`** · reduced-motion + focus parity · on-accent contrast.
+
+## 8. Back-compat & rollout
+
+All additive: the new always-present `--fb-*` tokens (in the contract sheet, §6) + a new
+`feedBack.theme` namespace + a new event with no current listeners. Existing plugins (those
+reading `fb-*` Tailwind utility classes, or shipping their own skins) are untouched unless they
+opt in. On a host too old to ship the contract sheet, a consumer still degrades cleanly: the
+two-arg fallback `rgb(var(--fb-accent, 224 128 32))` resolves to the literal, and
+`window.feedBack?.theme?.get?.()` is feature-detected — so older hosts behave exactly as today.
+
+**Workstream (sub-tasks):**
+1. **Host minimal surface** — the contract stylesheet's always-present default `--fb-*` tokens + `feedBack.theme.{get, prefersReducedMotion}` (`get().tokens` = resolved values; no boolean `capabilities()`) + `theme:changed`. *(the smallest thing that would have prevented the incident)*
+2. **note_detect refactor** — rename device tokens by intent (EMPHASIS + ACCENT-TEXT recipes), add `on-accent` + `focus-ring`, derive surfaces from host tokens.
+3. **Verification gate** — commit the render-matrix + DoD checklist; add the canvas share-card surface.
+4. **Ecosystem migration guide** — document the contract + the consumption rule for community plugin authors.
+
+## 9. Cross-apply status (already done)
+
+- `note_detect` results-card hero + accuracy number — fixed via per-skin device tokens
+  (the Layer-2 prototype) and verified across neon/esports/metal.
+- The **canvas share-image card** — re-checked across all three skins: **theme-robust**
+  (reads per-skin colour tokens via computed style, draws skin-neutral solid devices). Minor
+  fidelity gap only: it uses flat `--nd-bg` and skips metal's brushed-steel *texture*.
+
+## 10. Open questions
+
+- Should plugin skins eventually become *selectable host themes* (one picker), or stay
+  plugin-local forever? (This proposal assumes plugin-local + contract-implementing.)
+- Component-recipe **bundles** (per named component) are the richer end-state; intent-named
+  slots are the right seed. When/whether to graduate.
+
+*(Resolved during review and folded into the sections above: the token namespace + value grammar
+and normative role table (§4.1); the `none`-is-illegal carve-out for `--fb-acc-text-fill` (§4.2);
+JS exposes resolved tokens, not booleans (§4.3); `theme:changed` lifecycle + shadow/iframe
+propagation (§4.3); the physical home of the role tokens + central focus/motion rules — a
+host-owned contract stylesheet outside Tailwind (§6).)*
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+# Perf baseline — module-migration refactor
+
+The refactor promises "measured runtime wins, no hand-waved perf claims" and
+"screen-entry and frame-time no worse." This is the baseline to hold it to.
+Rerun the harness after every phase (R0 → R3c) and compare.
+
+## Running it
+
+```
+# 1. start core against a library with real charts (see caveat below)
+CONFIG_DIR=… DLC_DIR=/path/to/songs PYTHONPATH=lib \
+  python3 -m uvicorn server:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000
+
+# 2. capture (maintainer/CI-only; uses the committed Playwright chromium)
+node scripts/perf-baseline.mjs --base http://127.0.0.1:8000 --n 60 --soak 30
+```
+
+The script prints a markdown block; paste it under "Results" below with the date
+and the commit it was taken at.
+
+## What it measures
+
+- **Server latency** — p50/p95/p99 over N requests for `/api/version`,
+  `/api/plugins`, `/api/library`, `/api/library/artists`.
+- **Cold boot → interactive** — full page load to `networkidle`.
+- **JS heap** — `performance.memory.usedJSHeapSize` after load and after an idle
+  soak (a leak signal across a session).
+- **Plugin-script shape** — how many plugin `<script>`s the loader injected (a
+  "the app booted with its plugins" sanity signal).
+
+**Not yet captured — needs a seeded library with charts** (fill in when run
+against a real environment): playback **frame-time p95** on the 2D and 3D
+highway, and **screen-entry** (plugin inject → interactive) for
+editor / notedetect / highway_3d with a chart loaded. These are the
+perf-sensitive numbers that gate the `highway.js` split (R3c); the harness has
+the hooks, they just need real songs in `DLC_DIR`.
+
+## Results
+
+### R3c pre-lift baseline — 2026-07-10 (2D highway draw cost)
+
+The gate for the `highway.js` split. Captured on a seeded library (the 33 MB
+Arcturus feedpak) with the new `--song` mode, which measures **per-frame draw
+cost** — rAF callbacks are tagged via `highway.addDrawHook`, so only frames the
+highway actually painted count (the other ~half are cheap no-op loops that would
+otherwise mask a regression). Any `highway.js` change must re-run this on the
+same machine and stay within noise of these numbers.
+
+```bash
+node scripts/perf-baseline.mjs --base http://127.0.0.1:8300 \
+    --song "Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors - Kinetic.feedpak"
+```
+
+| run | draw frames | p50 | p95 | p99 | max |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| 1 | 53/106 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
+| 2 | 50/100 | 2.2 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
+| 3 | 53/106 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
+
+**p50 ≈ 2.2 ms · p95 spread 2.7–3.2 ms** (3 runs × 10 s playback, headless
+chromium on the dev box). The `H`-container lift changes each closure-slot read
+to a `H.<slot>` property load; this is the number that proves it doesn't cost the
+hot loop.
+
+### R0 baseline — 2026-07-08 (branch `feat/r0-plugin-module-rails`)
+
+> ⚠️ A quick capture (`--n 50 --soak 8`) against an **empty** library (no charts
+> in `DLC_DIR`), so the `/api/library*` and boot numbers are floor values —
+> re-take on a seeded environment with the recommended `--n 60 --soak 30` for the
+> real R0 baseline before comparing R1+ against it. Recorded here to prove the
+> harness and lock the methodology.
+
+Server latency (ms), n=50:
+
+| Endpoint | status | p50 | p95 | p99 |
+|---|---|---|---|---|
+| `/api/version` | 200 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 22.3 |
+| `/api/plugins` | 200 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 3.4 |
+| `/api/library?limit=60` | 200 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 2.9 |
+| `/api/library/artists` | 200 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 2.7 |
+
+Client:
+
+| Metric | Value |
+|---|---|
+| Cold boot → networkidle | 1268 ms |
+| JS heap after load | 10.1 MB |
+| JS heap after idle soak | 10.1 MB (no idle growth) |
+| Plugin scripts injected | 12 |
+
+No plugin has migrated yet, so all 12 are classic. When the R1 pilot (stems)
+lands, cold-boot / heap should not regress.
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+# Plugin ES-module migration playbook
+
+How to move a plugin off a single global-scope `screen.js` IIFE onto a native
+ES-module graph — **no build step, no framework, no bundler**. This is the
+mechanism the monolith-killing refactor uses; the host rails for it shipped in
+R0 (see `.specify/memory/constitution.md` Principle II + the "Module load
+contract" in Operating Constraints).
+
+## The shape
+
+```
+my-plugin/
+  plugin.json      +  "scriptType": "module"        ← opt in
+  screen.js           import './src/main.js';        ← the entire file
+  src/
+    state.js          (0) module state + accessors
+    util/…            (1) pure helpers — real-import testable
+    …/…               (2..4) model → render/audio/io → input
+    globals.js        (5) THE ONLY file that writes window.*
+    main.js           (5) boot: wire modules, register screen:changed
+  assets/…            worklets / WASM / images (unchanged, served as today)
+```
+
+`screen.js` becomes a one-line static `import`. The host injects it as
+`<script type="module">`, whose load event fires **only after the whole
+static-import graph fetches and evaluates** — so the loader's
+completion-by-`onload` + `_loadingPluginId` window + `playSong` wrapper-chain
+order are all preserved. (A classic IIFE that fired a fire-and-forget
+`import()` would break that contract — don't do that; use `scriptType:"module"`.)
+
+## Non-negotiable rules
+
+1. **Source-served, no build.** Modules are plain source files fetched from
+   `/api/plugins/<id>/src/<path>`. No bundler, transpiler, or TypeScript.
+2. **Layering points downward** — `state → util → commands/model →
+   render/audio/io → input → globals/main`. A lint check (`import-x/no-cycle`)
+   enforces acyclicity; extract bottom-up so each move only imports
+   already-extracted layers.
+3. **`globals.js` is the only writer of `window.*`.** The deliberate global
+   surface shrinks to one auditable file; everything else is module-scoped.
+4. **Import-time purity.** `node --test` runs a module's top-level code on
+   import, so a module you want to unit-test must be side-effect-free at import:
+   no `document` / `window` / `localStorage` at module top level — lift init
+   into an exported `init()` called by `main.js`. (Constitution Principle V's
+   "no implicit IO at import time", applied to the frontend.) Tests are `.mjs`
+   and use real `import`, retiring the regex/`extractFunction` harness.
+5. **Assets resolve via `import.meta.url`.** `document.currentScript` is `null`
+   inside a module. `assets/` lives at the plugin root, so a `src/` module must
+   climb out of `src/`: from `src/main.js`, `new URL('../assets/x.js',
+   import.meta.url)` (deeper modules need more `../`). Simpler and
+   depth-independent: the absolute route `/api/plugins/<id>/assets/x.js`.
+   Worklets run in a *separate* module graph (`AudioWorkletGlobalScope`) and
+   cannot share modules with `src/`.
+6. **Re-init comes from `screen:changed`, not re-execution.** The host loads
+   `screen.js` once per version and `showScreen` re-injects nothing, so module
+   top-level code does **not** re-run when the user re-enters the screen at the
+   same version. Keep per-visit setup/teardown in a `window.feedBack.on(
+   'screen:changed', …)` handler — exactly as classic plugins (tuner,
+   minigames) already do. Do not rely on the IIFE re-running.
+7. **Inline `onclick=` keeps working** during migration via `globals.js` (which
+   keeps every referenced symbol on `window`); retire inline handlers to
+   module-side `addEventListener` opportunistically, never as a blocking step.
+
+## The live-edit loop
+
+The host serves `screen.js`, `src/**`, and `assets/**` with
+`Cache-Control: no-cache` + a weak `ETag` and honors `If-None-Match` → `304`.
+So: edit a `src/` file → **refresh the browser** → the edited module returns
+`200` and reloads while every unchanged module `304`s. There is no hot-reload;
+the loop is edit → refresh → see change, exactly as before. The `?v=<version>`
+query on `screen.js` is the legacy version buster; it does **not** propagate
+into the `src/` graph and does not need to — ETag/mtime is the correctness
+authority for the whole graph.
+
+## Host-version floor (`minHost`)
+
+A migrated plugin *requires* a host new enough to serve `src/` and inject
+`type=module`. Declare the floor with `"minHost": "X.Y.Z"` in `plugin.json`.
+(R0 plumbs the field through `/api/plugins`; enforcement — refuse-with-message
+on an older host — is deferred, so bundled plugins are unaffected. Community
+plugins should state the floor and not migrate below it.)
+
+## Migration mechanics
+
+- **Move-only PRs.** One slice extracts one module: cut code, add
+  imports/exports, update `globals.js` — zero behavior change. Behavior fixes
+  are separate PRs. (Init-lifts for import purity are the one non-pure move —
+  budget them.)
+- **Bottom-up, layer by layer.** Within a layer, independent modules are
+  independent PRs (a DAG, not a chain); use a git worktree per branch.
+- Tests move with their subject and convert to real `.mjs` imports in the same
+  PR (assertions unchanged).
+- Size norm: no source file over **1,500 lines**; legitimate exceptions
+  (hot renderers, etc.) go in the signed register at `docs/size-exemptions.md`.
+
+## Verifying a migration
+
+`node --test <plugin>/tests/*.mjs`; load the plugin on the `:8000` testbed and
+confirm it boots (`<script type=module>` in DevTools, the `src/` graph in
+Network); edit a `src/` file → refresh → change visible (`200` on the edited
+file, `304` on the rest); leave and re-enter the screen at the same version →
+it re-inits via `screen:changed`. The R1 pilots (stems, then studio) certify
+this end-to-end before the flagship repos migrate.
@@ -0,0 +1,354 @@
+# Detachable panes (`window.feedBack.panes`)
+
+Pop a panel out of the app into its own OS window, and leave it there: while you
+play, across song switches, on a second monitor, minimized to the system tray.
+
+Panes exist because the player's rail popovers are **exclusive** — opening one
+closes the last. You cannot watch the mixer while riding the camera, and both
+vanish the moment you want to look at the highway.
+
+---
+
+## The whole idea, in one sentence
+
+**We move the real element.**
+
+Not a copy of your panel. Not a re-implementation of it in the pop-out window.
+The actual DOM node. Same-origin windows can adopt each other's nodes, and an
+adopted node keeps its event listeners and its closures — so your panel goes on
+running *your* code, against *your* state, in *your* realm. The app's stylesheets
+are copied into the pane window, so it looks identical too.
+
+What you popped out is what you get. That is the promise, and it is the reason
+there is no `ctx`, no state mirroring, no cross-window RPC and no second copy of
+your UI to keep in step with the first. Those are all solutions to a problem we
+simply do not have.
+
+---
+
+## Adding a pane to your plugin
+
+Two lines.
+
+```js
+// Guard: the panes API is optional. On a host without it, skip both calls and
+// your panel behaves exactly as it does today.
+const panes = window.feedBack && window.feedBack.panes;
+if (panes && typeof panes.register === 'function') {
+    panes.register({
+        id: 'camera_director',
+        title: 'Camera Director',
+        icon: '🎥',
+        element: () => panelEl,      // your existing panel, as it is
+    });
+    panes.attachChip(panelEl, 'camera_director');
+}
+```
+
+`attachChip()` injects **the** standard pop-out chip (`⇱`) — same glyph, same
+place, same behaviour in every plugin. Clicking it moves your panel to whichever
+**host** the router picks — usually a pop-out window, but the dock when a window
+can't be had (a blocked pop-up, or `defaultHost: 'dock'`) — and leaves a
+"⇲ … is popped out" stub in its place. Clicking the stub brings the panel back, to
+exactly the spot it left. Core owns the chip, the hiding and the stub, so you write
+no show/hide logic.
+
+That's it. Your sliders, your presets, your tabs, your CSS, your event handlers,
+your state — all of it comes along, because none of it moved anywhere except into
+a different window's document.
+
+### `element` is a function for a reason
+
+It is resolved at open time, not at registration. Plugins commonly build their
+panel lazily on first use, or rebuild it wholesale when something changes (Camera
+Director rebuilds its panel on every mode change). Asking for it when we need it
+means we always move the live one.
+
+**If you rebuild your panel, re-attach the chip.** Rebuilding takes the chip with
+it. `attachChip()` returns a `detach()`; call it before re-attaching, and again in
+your teardown — otherwise you leave a stub pointing at DOM that no longer exists.
+
+```js
+if (chipDetach) chipDetach();
+chipDetach = panes.attachChip(panel, PANE_ID, { header: toolsEl });
+```
+
+Re-attaching is safe while the pane is popped out: the chip reconciles against the
+pane's real state, so a panel rebuilt mid-pop-out stays correctly stubbed.
+
+### The two things core changes about your element
+
+**1. Placement.** `.fb-paned` is added while the pane is out:
+
+```css
+position: static; inset: auto; margin: 0; width: 100%;
+max-width: none; max-height: none; z-index: auto; box-shadow: none;
+```
+
+Your panel was almost certainly a fixed overlay pinned to a corner of the app
+(`position:fixed; top:72px; right:18px; width:288px`). Alone in its own window,
+every one of those is wrong — it would float 72px down from the top of a 380px
+window, still 288px wide, still casting a shadow over nothing.
+
+Note there is deliberately **no `display` override**: a panel that is
+`display:flex` or `grid` stays that way. Colours, borders, radius, padding, fonts
+and your panel's own internal layout are untouched.
+
+**2. Visibility.** A panel is usually hidden until its launcher is clicked, and a
+pane can be opened from the tray or the rail without that ever happening — so core
+un-hides it, in the two ways a panel is actually hidden:
+
+```js
+el.hidden = false;
+if (el.style.display === 'none') el.style.display = '';
+```
+
+**Both are restored exactly as they were when the pane docks**, along with the
+`.fb-paned` class. A panel that was closed when you opened its pane from the tray
+goes back to being closed; one that was open stays open.
+
+---
+
+## Spec
+
+```js
+feedBack.panes.register({
+    id,                    // required, unique
+    element,               // required — an Element, or a function returning one
+    title,                 // shown in the pane window's title bar, the dock card, the tray
+    icon,                  // one glyph, for the dock/tray/launcher lists
+    width, height,         // the pane window's initial size (it remembers yours after that)
+    defaultHost,           // 'window' (default) or 'dock'
+    onHost,                // optional (hostId | null, el) => void — re-measure/re-anchor
+});
+```
+
+```js
+feedBack.panes.attachChip(el, paneId, { header })   // → detach()
+feedBack.panes.open(id, { host }) / close(id) / detach(id) / dock(id) / focus(id)
+feedBack.panes.isOpen(id) / hostOf(id) / get(id) / list()
+```
+
+`attachChip` puts the chip in the `header` element you pass, else in
+`el.querySelector('[data-pane-header]')` if it finds one, else at the top of `el`.
+An explicit `header` always wins.
+
+---
+
+## Hosts
+
+`detach(id)` puts a pane in the best host available:
+
+| host | | |
+|---|---|---|
+| `window` | 10 | A real OS window. In the desktop app: remembered bounds, always-on-top, system tray. |
+| `dock` | 0 | A card in the in-window stack. **The floor** — always available, so opening a pane can never fail. |
+
+You don't pick; you declare `defaultHost` and the router does the rest.
+
+In the **desktop app** a pane you left popped out comes back popped out on next
+launch. In a **browser** it comes back **docked** — a browser blocks
+`window.open()` without a user gesture, so restoring it would only ever produce a
+"pop-up blocked" toast. The chip pops it out again on your next click.
+
+---
+
+## Best practices
+
+Every item below is something that has already gone wrong, in this codebase, on
+this feature. They are cheap to get right up front and confusing to diagnose later
+— a broken pane usually *looks* perfect.
+
+### 1. Your code still runs in the main window
+
+The element is *displayed* in the pane window, but its closures, its timers and its
+`document` references all still belong to the main realm. **That is precisely why
+everything keeps working** — and it has one sharp consequence:
+
+```js
+// WRONG — lands in the MAIN window, not the pane the user is looking at.
+document.body.appendChild(myTooltip);
+
+// RIGHT — anchored to the panel, so it travels with it.
+panelEl.appendChild(myTooltip);
+```
+
+**And every lookup for something inside your panel.** Once the panel has moved,
+`document.getElementById('my-panel-thing')` returns `null` — so every update it
+guards silently stops happening, precisely while the user is looking at the panel.
+No error. Just a UI that quietly goes dead.
+
+```js
+// WRONG — null once the panel is popped out.
+document.getElementById('my-panel-hint').textContent = msg;
+
+// RIGHT — search FROM the panel; works in either document.
+panelEl.querySelector('#my-panel-hint').textContent = msg;
+```
+
+Elements that live outside your panel (your plugin's *screen*, host chrome) never
+move, and should keep using `document.getElementById`. Audit which is which — in
+the stem mixer, four ids were inside the panel and a dozen were not.
+
+Same for measuring and popovers. `window.innerWidth` is the *main* window's, and a
+dismiss listener on `window` watches a window the user isn't clicking in. Use
+`el.ownerDocument` / `el.ownerDocument.defaultView` when you need the window your
+panel is actually in.
+
+### 2. Don't hide your panel yourself
+
+Core hides it and leaves a "bring it back" stub. If your plugin *also* hides it,
+you are hiding the node that just moved — and the pane window renders nothing.
+(This is not hypothetical: core's own chip did exactly this, and the first
+pop-out shipped blank because of it.)
+
+### 3. Prefer `hidden` or a class for show/hide
+
+Core makes your panel visible while it's hosted — it clears `hidden`, and clears an
+inline `display: none` if that's how you hide — and **restores both on dock**. So
+either style works.
+
+`hidden` is still the better choice: it composes with everything, and it leaves
+your panel's `display` mode (`flex`, `grid`, whatever it is) entirely alone. Core
+deliberately does not override `display` for exactly that reason.
+
+```js
+panel.hidden = true;                  // best
+panel.style.display = 'none';         // works — core saves and restores it
+```
+
+### 4. `element` is a function — return the *live* node
+
+It is resolved when the pane opens, not when you register. Plugins build panels
+lazily, and rebuild them wholesale (Camera Director rebuilds on every mode
+change). If you rebuild yours, **re-attach the chip**:
+
+```js
+if (chipDetach) chipDetach();            // attachChip returns a detach()
+chipDetach = feedBack.panes.attachChip(panel, PANE_ID, { header: toolsEl });
+```
+
+Call `chipDetach()` in your teardown too, or you leave a stub pointing at DOM that
+no longer exists.
+
+### 5. `isConnected` lies about a panel that is a pane
+
+This one has cost more debugging than everything else on this page combined, and
+it lies in **both directions**.
+
+**It says `true` when your panel is not here.** A panel sitting in a pane window is
+`isConnected` — just not to *this* document. Code asking "am I still mounted?" gets
+`true` and then acts on a panel that is somewhere else entirely.
+
+**It says `false` when your panel is perfectly fine.** The host *detaches* the
+element the moment a pop-out starts, before the new window has even loaded. In that
+gap `isConnected` is `false` — and any code that rebuilds on that basis builds a
+**second panel**, while the host is still holding the first.
+
+That second panel is the one your module variables now point at. The one the user
+can *see* is the original, owned by nobody. So:
+
+- its close button closes the *other*, invisible panel — "the X doesn't work"
+- your chip gets re-attached to the impostor — "the pop-out icon vanished"
+
+Two baffling symptoms, one duplicate, and nothing in the stack trace to suggest it.
+
+**Ask the pane system, not the DOM.** It knows where your element is:
+
+```js
+function paneOwnsPanel() {
+    const panes = window.feedBack && window.feedBack.panes;
+    return !!(panes && panes.isOpen && panes.isOpen(MY_PANE_ID));
+}
+
+// "Is my panel gone?" — not "is it in this document?"
+if (panel && (panel.isConnected || paneOwnsPanel())) return panel;   // alive; possibly elsewhere
+```
+
+Every `isConnected` check on a panel that can be a pane needs this. In the stem
+mixer that was `ensureMixerPanel()` (which rebuilt) *and* the MutationObserver's
+fast path (which decided the UI was unmounted and swept on every mutation).
+
+For "which document is it in right now", use `el.ownerDocument === document`, or
+take the optional `onHost(hostId, el)` callback, which fires on both moves.
+
+### 6. If your plugin can be re-injected, it must be able to remove itself
+
+The host may run your script more than once — a screen re-entry, a version change.
+Without a teardown, the second run builds a second panel while the first one is
+still on screen, and every module variable in the new instance points at the new,
+invisible one. The user clicks the panel they can see; nothing happens.
+
+Everything stateful duplicates: observers, timers, listeners. And one thing is
+worse than duplicated — **your pane registration**:
+
+```js
+panes.register({ id, element: () => panel });   // resolved LAZILY, at open time
+```
+
+First registration wins, so a stale one hands the host `panel` from a **dead
+instance**. Popping out then moves a panel nobody owns.
+
+So publish a teardown handle and call it at the top of your script:
+
+```js
+if (window.__myPluginInstance?.destroy) {
+    try { window.__myPluginInstance.destroy(); } catch (e) { /* tear down what we can */ }
+}
+
+window.__myPluginInstance = {
+    destroy() {
+        observer?.disconnect();
+        clearTimeout(myTimer);
+        chipDetach?.();                       // attachChip() returned this
+        panes?.unregister?.(MY_PANE_ID);      // ← the one people forget
+        document.querySelectorAll('#my-panel').forEach((n) => n.remove());
+    },
+};
+```
+
+Belt and braces: when you build your panel, remove any node carrying its id that
+isn't yours. A zombie panel is worse than no panel — it looks alive and does
+nothing.
+
+### 7. Expect rAF to be throttled while your pane has focus
+
+Chromium throttles a **backgrounded** window's `requestAnimationFrame` — and the
+main window is exactly what's backgrounded while the user is looking at your pane.
+Your rAF lives in the main window.
+
+Event-driven panels (sliders, buttons, presets) don't care. A panel that
+*animates continuously* may run slowly precisely when it's the only thing on
+screen. Drive such animation from data you already have, or accept the stutter.
+
+### 8. Don't synchronise anything
+
+No `BroadcastChannel`, no `postMessage`, no second copy of your state, no mirrored
+UI. There is **one** realm and **one** panel. If you find yourself writing sync
+code, you have misunderstood the model — the whole point is that there is nothing
+to sync.
+
+### 9. Nothing here is required
+
+On a host without the panes API, `feedBack.panes` is `undefined`. Skip both calls
+and your panel behaves exactly as it does today. Guard, don't depend:
+
+```js
+const panes = window.feedBack && window.feedBack.panes;
+if (!panes || typeof panes.register !== 'function') return;
+```
+
+---
+
+## Things core guarantees
+
+- **The element goes home exactly where it came from** — same parent, same position
+  among its siblings. Don't move it yourself while it's popped out.
+- **It comes home alive.** Core evacuates the element *before* the pane window's
+  document is destroyed. (Get this wrong — dock after the window dies — and the
+  node returns looking perfect with every listener in its subtree silently gone.
+  That bug is why this section exists.)
+- **A pane window the user closes, or that crashes, is reaped** and the element
+  docked back. Your panel is never stranded in a dead document.
+- **The app's stylesheets are copied into the pane window**, so your panel looks
+  identical — including your plugin's own `styles` sheet.
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # Plugin styling — the `styles` capability

-> Building for the redesigned **v3 UI** (`FEEDBACK_UI=v3` / `/v3`)? v3 uses `fb-*`
-> design tokens and a restructured player chrome with a dedicated plugin-control
-> slot. See **[plugin-v3-ui.md](plugin-v3-ui.md)** for the player-chrome contract
-> plugins must follow in v3.
+> The **v3 UI** is the only UI — it uses `fb-*` design tokens and a restructured
+> player chrome with a dedicated plugin-control slot. See
+> **[plugin-v3-ui.md](plugin-v3-ui.md)** for the player-chrome contract plugins
+> must follow.

 FeedBack serves Tailwind as a **prebuilt** stylesheet
 (`static/tailwind.min.css`), never the runtime Play CDN. The CDN's on-the-fly
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 # Building plugins for the v3 UI (fee[dB]ack v0.3.0)

-v0.3.0 ("fee[dB]ack") ships a redesigned UI **behind a flag** — `FEEDBACK_UI=v3`
-or the `/v3` route. The classic UI (v2) remains the default until 0.3.0 ships, so
-plugins must work in **both**.
+v0.3.0 ("fee[dB]ack") ships a redesigned UI. It is **the only UI** — the classic v2
+shell and its `FEEDBACK_UI` / `/v2` opt-outs have been removed, so there is no
+longer a second shell to support.

-The good news: v3 **reuses the same engine** as v2 — same `server.py`, `app.js`,
-`highway.js`, `playSong`, `showScreen`, capability registry, library providers,
-and the `window.feedBackViz_<id>` / `setRenderer` visualization contract. So your
-plugin's **backend, capabilities, library providers, `nav`/`screen`, visualization
-renderers, diagnostics, and settings export all work unchanged in v3.** v3 surfaces
-your `nav` entry in the new sidebar (via `shell.js` `renderPluginNav`) and your
-screen mounts exactly as before.
+The good news: v3 **reuses the same engine** the classic UI did — same `server.py`,
+`app.js`, `highway.js`, `playSong`, `showScreen`, capability registry, library
+providers, and the `window.feedBackViz_<id>` / `setRenderer` visualization contract.
+So your plugin's **backend, capabilities, library providers, `nav`/`screen`,
+visualization renderers, diagnostics, and settings export all work unchanged.** v3
+surfaces your `nav` entry in the new sidebar (via `shell.js` `renderPluginNav`) and
+your screen mounts exactly as before.

 **The one thing that changed is the player chrome** — and only if your plugin
 injects controls into it.
@@ -188,4 +188,24 @@ out of the capability graph.
 - [ ] Dropdowns positioned via `getBoundingClientRect()`, not `#player-controls`.
 - [ ] `#player` overlays keep `z-index` ≤ the chrome layers (transport/HUD 20,
      rail 30, popovers 40).
- [ ] Verify in **both** `/` (v2) and `/v3`.
+- [ ] Verify at `/` — it and `/v3` serve the same (and only) v3 shell.
+
+## Injecting into core shells (profile, dashboard)
+
+Core screens that accept plugin sections render **mount points** — usually
+empty, sometimes holding core's own **fallback content** (the Dashboard's
+career slot ships the plugin-count stat) — and announce each (re)build with a
+DOM event, because their `innerHTML` swap wipes anything previously injected.
+A plugin listens for the event and **replaces the mount's content** (never
+append — a fallback may be present) by id — the same seam every time:
+
+| Shell | Event | Mounts |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| Profile | `v3:profile-rendered` | `#v3-profile-passports-mount` (career wall), `#v3-profile-feats-slot`, `#v3-profile-achievements-mount` |
+| Dashboard | `v3:dashboard-rendered` | `#v3-dash-career-slot` (career card; core's plugin-count stat is the fallback content a plugin may replace) |
+| Settings | `v3:settings-rendered` | per-plugin `settings.html` panels |
+
+Rules: inject on every event (the mount is fresh), keep the section
+**absent-not-empty** (no state → leave the mount alone / empty), and guard
+re-wired listeners with a `dataset` flag when your own refresh path can run
+against an unwiped mount.
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+# Size-exemption register
+
+The working norm (constitution Principle II; enforced by the `max-lines` lint
+gate) is **no source file over 1,500 lines**. A few files are allowed to exceed
+it because splitting them would do more harm than good — hot per-frame
+renderers, C++, offline generators, cohesive registries. This register is the
+list of those exceptions: each row is a **deliberate, signed** decision with a
+ceiling, a rationale, and a review trigger. Without it, "no file over 1,500
+without a *signed* exemption" is unenforceable.
+
+**Rules**
+- One row per file: a ceiling, a rationale, a signer, a review trigger.
+- The `max-lines` per-file ceilings in `eslint.config.js` mirror this table —
+  keep them in sync (this register is canonical).
+- Files with a scheduled split **plan** are *not* exempt — they live in
+  "Planned, not exempt" at the bottom so nothing falls between the two states.
+- **Signers** (decided 2026-07-08): **Byron** signs core + bundled rows;
+  **Christian** signs the authored-plugin row (virtuoso, its own repo/track).
+
+## Permanent exemptions (structural rationale)
+
+| Repo / file | Lines (7-07) | Ceiling | Rationale | Signer | Review |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| core `static/highway.js` → residual `renderer-2d.js` (post-split) | ~2,400–2,900 est. | **3,000** | 60 fps hot path; no module boundary inside the per-frame loop | Byron | after the highway.js split |
+| core `plugins/highway_3d/` → residual renderer | sized at split; likely **>3,000** | set at split, flagged now | same hot-path rule; the draw core can't be cut without behavior risk | Byron | after the highway_3d split |
+| core `static/capabilities.js` | 1,538 | 1,600 | cohesive registry + `window.feedBack` bus, 38 lines over; a split spends credibility for nothing | Byron | R4 |
+| tutorials `builtin/reading-the-highway/generate.py` | 1,818 | 2,000 | offline content generator, never imported at runtime, deps not in runtime requirements | Byron | if a 3rd builtin pack appears |
+| desktop `src/audio/NodeAddon.cpp` | 3,542 | as-is | C++, outside the ESM/routes playbooks; under active use-after-free crash work — do not churn | Byron | after crash-class work settles |
+| desktop `src/audio/AudioEngine.cpp` | 2,977 | as-is | same | Byron | same |
+| desktop `src/vst-host/main.cpp` | 1,928 | as-is | same | Byron | same |
+| virtuoso `screen.js` (authored, own track) | 25,741 | as-is until its own split | authored plugin on a separate roadmap; migrates on its own schedule | Christian | virtuoso split kickoff |
+
+## Split-when-touched (no scheduled train; row retires when split)
+
+| Repo / file | Lines | Ceiling | Rationale | Signer | Review |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| core `lib/gp2rs_gpx.py` | 2,540 | as-is | import converter, off the serve-path hot loop | Byron | when next touched |
+| core `lib/gp2rs.py` | 2,055 | as-is | same | Byron | when next touched |
+| core `lib/song.py` | 1,689 | as-is | data models + wire format; cohesive | Byron | when next touched |
+| core `lib/gp_autosync.py` | 1,572 | as-is | under active dev (#787/#791) — don't collide | Byron | after in-flight work lands |
+| core `plugins/capability_inspector/screen.js` | 1,752 | as-is | bundled diagnostics plugin, low churn | Byron | when next touched |
+| core `plugins/folder_library/screen.js` | 1,672 | as-is | bundled plugin, low churn | Byron | when next touched |
+
+## Temporary rows (cleared by a scheduled PR)
+
+| Repo / file | Lines | Cleared by |
+|---|---|---|
+| core `plugins/__init__.py` | ~2,470 (grew under R0) | the `plugins/_routes.py` + `plugins/_registry.py` split (rides the server.py router work) |
+
+## Watch list (under the norm — no row needed, re-census each phase)
+
+`musicxml-import/mxml2notation.py` (1,456) · core `static/capabilities/audio-effects.js`
+(1,436) · `studio routes.py` (1,399) · `update-manager screen.js` (1,492 — zero headroom).
+
+## Planned, NOT exempt (owned by split plans — listed so nothing falls between states)
+
+core `static/app.js` (11,852) · `static/highway.js` (4,168, whole file) · `server.py`
+(2,413 — was 14,037; ratcheted by the R3 `MetadataDB` + `AudioEffectsMappingDB`
+extractions and twenty-two `routers/` modules, plus lib/library_registry.py for the provider-registry classes (album-art in `lib/routers/art.py`, the settings + export/import bundle in `lib/routers/settings.py`); the ~930-line metadata-enrichment subsystem — MB/CAA/AcoustID transport, matcher, background worker — now lives in `lib/enrichment.py`) ·
+`lib/metadata_db.py` (4,373 — new in R3; the `MetadataDB` class alone is 4,018 lines
+and is a monolith in its own right, to be split per-table once the router train
+lands) · `static/v3/songs.js` (4,134) · `static/capabilities/audio-session.js`
+(2,974) · `plugins/highway_3d/screen.js` (15,656) · `plugins/keys_highway_3d/screen.js`
+(3,780) · `plugins/drum_highway_3d/screen.js` (3,597) · `plugins/career/screen.js`
+(1,530 — career v3 gigs + gold pushed it over; split plan: carve the gig block into a
+`scriptType: module` file when career work next touches it) — and every monolith with a PR
+train in the refactor plan. Test files (e.g. `tests/test_plugins.py`) are out of scope
+by policy — the norm governs source files.
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+# Working-tuning — on-device test checklist
+
+The working-tuning series (PRs 1–9) ships with headless unit tests for every state
+machine (`tests/js/working_tuning*.test.js`, `tests/js/tuner_auto_open.test.js`). The
+items below are the parts that **cannot** be covered headlessly — they need a real mic,
+a real instrument, and (for the ASIO item) a specific audio backend. Run these on a
+build before shipping the feature to users.
+
+Prereq: enable the opt-in in **Tuner → settings → "Auto-open on tuning change"** (it's
+off by default). Have a guitar (and a bass, for the per-instrument checks) on hand.
+
+## 1. Auto-open + gate ("tune before you play")
+- [ ] Load a song whose tuning differs from your instrument's current tuning → the tuner
+      **auto-opens** and playback **waits** (does not start underneath it).
+- [ ] Load a song already covered by your tuning → **no** auto-open, playback starts.
+- [ ] **Skip** ("I've tuned") → playback starts, and the tuner badge stops flagging this
+      song's tuning (a working tuning was recorded).
+- [ ] **Back to library** / **Esc** → leaves the song, records **nothing** (re-enter the
+      same song → it still prompts).
+- [ ] Take **longer than 12 s** to tune with the panel open → playback does **not** start
+      underneath you (the fail-open backstop was settled once the panel opened).
+- [ ] Hit **Play** manually while the panel is open → Play wins; no double-start.
+
+## 2. Both-directions retune prompt
+- [ ] From standard, load a Drop-C# song → prompted **down** (E→C#). Tune down, Skip.
+- [ ] Now load a standard song → prompted **back up** (C#→E). (Pre-series, this direction
+      was silent.)
+- [ ] Switch guitar↔bass in the instrument card → each instrument remembers its **own**
+      working tuning; the card label follows the selection (dim = home, amber = retuned).
+
+## 3. Mic-verify (assumed → verified)
+- [ ] With a selected (non-free) tuning, tap **Verify tuning** and play each string in tune.
+      Each string needs ~8 stable in-tune frames (±6 ¢); the per-string progress advances.
+- [ ] Play a string **out of tune** → it never completes; drifting out mid-streak resets it.
+- [ ] Complete all strings → the instrument card's provenance glyph flips to the **filled**
+      (verified) diamond, and the recorded working tuning carries the tuning you verified
+      (not a stale one).
+- [ ] Load the **next** song → the verified state **decays to assumed** (per-session only).
+- [ ] Verify against a **manually-selected** tuning (tuner opened off a song) → the stamped
+      offsets match that tuning, not the last song's.
+
+## 4. Mic contention with note-detection (the ASIO / exclusive-mode risk)
+This is the item flagged in the design charrette: the tuner's mic capture must not starve
+note_detect's scoring input.
+- [ ] Desktop, **ASIO / WASAPI-exclusive** device: auto-open the tuner mid-song, tune, Skip
+      → scoring resumes cleanly; no dropped input, no device-in-use error, no crash.
+- [ ] Shared/`auto` device: same flow → both the tuner and scoring read the mic without a
+      stall.
+- [ ] Leave the tuner's background badge audio running + start a scored song → note_detect
+      still scores (the badge auto-start doesn't hold the device exclusively).
+
+Log the build hash and OS/audio backend with results; file any failure against the
+working-tuning series.
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+// Flat ESLint config — MAINTAINER / CI ONLY. Never runs on the serve or Docker
+// path (constitution Principle I: dev-only tooling is exempt, same category as
+// scripts/build-tailwind.sh). It enforces the module-migration guardrails:
+//
+//   * max-lines — the 1,500-line size norm, as a WARNING ratchet. Legacy
+//     monoliths warn (the "this is over the norm, split it" signal) and shrink
+//     as the refactor lands; warnings do not fail CI. Genuinely-large files are
+//     exempted below, mirroring the signed register in docs/size-exemptions.md.
+//   * import-x/no-unresolved + no-cycle — module hygiene, scoped to the real
+//     ES-module graphs the refactor produces (a plugin's src/ tree, .mjs
+//     tests). no-unresolved (a HARD error) catches broken import paths;
+//     no-cycle enforces the downward-only layering rule. Core's classic scripts
+//     have no import graph, so both are dormant today and become live gates the
+//     moment module code appears — validated against the first real module
+//     plugin (R1 pilot).
+
+const importX = require('eslint-plugin-import-x');
+
+// Per-file size ceilings — a mirror of docs/size-exemptions.md (canonical).
+// Keep in sync; each entry corresponds to a signed row in the register.
+const SIZE_EXEMPTIONS = [
+    { files: ['**/static/capabilities.js'], max: 1600 },
+    { files: ['**/plugins/capability_inspector/screen.js'], max: 100000 },
+    { files: ['**/plugins/folder_library/screen.js'], max: 100000 },
+];
+
+const sizeRule = (max) => ['warn', { max, skipBlankLines: false, skipComments: false }];
+
+module.exports = [
+    {
+        ignores: [
+            'node_modules/**',
+            'static/vendor/**',
+            'plugins/**/assets/vendor/**',
+            '**/*.min.js',
+            'static/tailwind.min.css',
+        ],
+    },
+    // Size norm across all first-party JS. Classic scripts are parsed as
+    // scripts (no import/export); module files get their own block below.
+    {
+        files: ['**/*.js', '**/*.cjs'],
+        languageOptions: { ecmaVersion: 'latest', sourceType: 'script' },
+        rules: { 'max-lines': sizeRule(1500) },
+    },
+    // ES-module graphs (a plugin's src/ tree, .mjs tests, core's own static/js/
+    // tree): module parsing + the acyclic-imports hard gate + the size norm. A
+    // migrated bundled plugin's entry `import './src/main.js'` screen.js must
+    // parse as a module — add its glob here in that plugin's migration PR
+    // (classic screen.js stays a script).
+    //
+    // `static/app.js` is listed explicitly: it is served as
+    // <script type="module"> (R3a) and now `import`s its carved-out modules, so
+    // parsing it as a script would be a syntax error. It is the ENTRY of core's
+    // module graph, which is what makes no-cycle meaningful here — a carved
+    // module that imports app.js back would close a cycle and fail this gate.
+    {
+        files: ['**/src/**/*.js', '**/*.mjs', 'static/app.js', 'static/js/**/*.js', 'static/highway.js'],
+        languageOptions: { ecmaVersion: 'latest', sourceType: 'module' },
+        plugins: { 'import-x': importX },
+        // v4 flat-config resolver (resolver-next + createNodeResolver). Without
+        // it the import rules silently skip imports they can't resolve.
+        settings: { 'import-x/resolver-next': [importX.createNodeResolver()] },
+        rules: {
+            'max-lines': sizeRule(1500),
+            'import-x/no-unresolved': 'error',
+            'import-x/no-cycle': 'error',
+        },
+    },
+    // Signed size exemptions (docs/size-exemptions.md) — raise the ceiling so
+    // registered files don't warn below it.
+    ...SIZE_EXEMPTIONS.map(({ files, max }) => ({ files, rules: { 'max-lines': sizeRule(max) } })),
+];
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+# CLOSED grandfather list — manifest keys core reads or writes that predate the
+# spec-conformance gate and that the feedpak spec does not define.
+#
+# Please don't add entries here — CI will flag any PR that grows this list, so
+# it can only shrink over time. That's by design, not distrust: the moment the
+# app touches a key the spec doesn't define, every teammate's PR starts failing
+# the conformance gate too, and whoever added the key is the only person who
+# can fix it. The FEP process below avoids putting anyone in that spot. The
+# feedpak spec's own governance is explicit:
+#
+#   "This repository defines the format only. Applications that read or write
+#    feedpak ... track this spec as a dependency; they do not drive it.
+#    A change is not part of the format until it lands here."
+#     — got-feedback/feedpak-spec, GOVERNANCE.md
+#
+# So a new manifest key goes through the feedpak Enhancement Proposal (FEP)
+# process — see feedpak-spec/CONTRIBUTING.md:
+#
+#   1. Open a FEP issue on got-feedback/feedpak-spec describing the problem, the
+#      on-disk shape, backward compatibility, and the version bump implied.
+#   2. Land one PR there updating the normative spec, the JSON Schemas, an
+#      example that exercises it, and the changelog — together.
+#   3. Back here, re-run this PR's checks. The gate verifies against the spec's
+#      HEAD, so once your key is in the spec, the gate goes green.
+#
+# That's the supported route — and usually a quick one for additive keys. If
+# your PR is blocked by this gate, a FEP will get you unblocked properly; an
+# entry here won't (CI rejects it).
+#
+# Entries below exist ONLY because they predate the gate. Each is debt with a
+# tracking issue, and each disappears when its issue is fixed. The gate also
+# fails if an entry goes stale — the spec caught up, or core no longer reads or
+# writes the key — so this file cannot quietly become a place drift hides.
+
+exceptions:
+  - key: original_audio
+    issue: https://github.com/got-feedback/feedback/issues/945
+    reason: >-
+      Added by #583 (the full mix played while every stem fader sits at unity,
+      since demucs recombination is lossy). It never went through a FEP and the
+      spec does not define it — the drift this gate exists to prevent.
+
+      #933 fixed the drift: feedpak 1.15.0 RESERVES the stem id `full` for the
+      complete mixdown (feedpak-spec#53), and core now reads the full mix from
+      that stem. Nothing depends on this key any more — not the loader, not
+      lib/enrichment.py, not the stems plugin, and the packer no longer writes it.
+
+      What remains is a READ-ONLY deprecated fallback in lib/sloppak.py
+      (_legacy_full_mix), kept for one release because every pack produced before
+      the spec caught up carries `original_audio: original/full.ogg` and would
+      otherwise silently lose its pristine mix. tools/migrate_full_mix_stem.py
+      rewrites those packs into the spec shape.
+
+      This entry disappears with that fallback — tracked by #945, which cannot be
+      forgotten: the gate fails if the entry goes stale, and deleting the read is
+      what makes it stale.
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+"""AcoustID audio-fingerprint identification for MusicBrainz enrichment.
+
+A flat MusicBrainz *text* search ties every take of a song at the same score —
+studio, a dozen live bootlegs, and every compilation — so "AC/DC — Highway to
+Hell" returns junk (see lib/mb_match.py's canonical re-ranking, which mitigates
+it). The definitive fix is content-based: fingerprint the actual audio with
+Chromaprint (`fpcalc`) and look it up on AcoustID, which maps the fingerprint
+straight to the *exact* MusicBrainz recording — the same approach Lidarr uses.
+
+This module is the PURE half (no network, no subprocess): response parsing +
+config gating, so it is unit-testable in isolation. server.py owns the `fpcalc`
+subprocess and the throttled HTTP GET to api.acoustid.org.
+
+Operational requirements (both optional — absent ⇒ this path is a graceful
+no-op and the text matcher still runs):
+  * `fpcalc` (Chromaprint) on PATH or at $FPCALC — generates the fingerprint.
+  * an AcoustID application API key in $ACOUSTID_API_KEY — free from
+    https://acoustid.org/new-application ; AcoustID etiquette limits to ~3 req/s.
+"""
+
+import os
+
+ACOUSTID_API_ROOT = "https://api.acoustid.org/v2"
+
+# The `meta` fields we ask AcoustID to return so a hit resolves to displayable
+# metadata without a second MusicBrainz round-trip. SPACE-separated, not
+# `+`-joined: a literal `+` in the value gets percent-encoded to %2B, which
+# AcoustID does NOT split into flags — it then attaches no recording metadata
+# and every hit comes back empty (verified: `+` → 0 recordings, space → 28).
+# `releases` is what carries the per-release DATE (nested under each
+# releasegroup), which we need to pick the earliest original album + fill year.
+LOOKUP_META = "recordings releasegroups releases compress"
+
+# Mirror mb_match._SECONDARY_SKIP: release-group secondary types that mark a
+# non-canonical (live/comp/remix) release, so we can flag the studio take.
+_SECONDARY_SKIP = {
+    "live", "compilation", "remix", "dj-mix", "mixtape/street",
+    "demo", "interview", "audiobook", "spokenword",
+}
+
+
+def api_key(explicit: str | None = None) -> str:
+    """The AcoustID application API key: an explicit value (e.g. a host setting)
+    wins, else $ACOUSTID_API_KEY, else "" (⇒ fingerprinting disabled)."""
+    return (explicit or os.environ.get("ACOUSTID_API_KEY") or "").strip()
+
+
+def is_configured(explicit_key: str | None = None) -> bool:
+    """True when an API key is available. `fpcalc` presence is checked by
+    server.py (it owns the binary lookup); both are required to actually run."""
+    return bool(api_key(explicit_key))
+
+
+def _rg_is_studio(rg: dict) -> bool:
+    if str(rg.get("type", "")).lower() != "album":
+        return False
+    secs = {str(s).lower() for s in (rg.get("secondarytypes") or [])}
+    return not (secs & _SECONDARY_SKIP)
+
+
+def _rg_earliest_year(rg: dict) -> "int | None":
+    """Earliest release YEAR in a release-group (min over its nested releases'
+    dates). None when no release carries a date. This is what separates the
+    original pressing from later reissues/comps sharing the same group."""
+    years = []
+    for rel in (rg.get("releases") or []):
+        d = (rel or {}).get("date")
+        if isinstance(d, dict) and d.get("year"):
+            try:
+                years.append(int(d["year"]))
+            except (TypeError, ValueError):
+                pass
+    return min(years) if years else None
+
+
+def _best_group(recording: dict) -> dict:
+    """Pick the display album: a clean studio Album first, and among those the
+    EARLIEST-released one — the original, not a later reissue or a compilation
+    that happens to be typed 'Album' (e.g. a soundtrack). This is what pulls
+    "Machine Head" ahead of a later comp for "Smoke on the Water". Falls back to
+    the first group when nothing is a studio album or nothing carries a date."""
+    groups = [g for g in (recording.get("releasegroups") or []) if isinstance(g, dict)]
+    if not groups:
+        return {}
+
+    def sort_key(g):
+        yr = _rg_earliest_year(g)
+        # studio (0) before non-studio (1); then earliest year (undated last).
+        return (0 if _rg_is_studio(g) else 1, yr if yr is not None else 9999)
+
+    return sorted(groups, key=sort_key)[0]
+
+
+def _first_artist(recording: dict) -> str:
+    for a in (recording.get("artists") or []):
+        if isinstance(a, dict) and a.get("name"):
+            return str(a["name"])
+    return ""
+
+
+def parse_lookup_response(body: dict) -> list[dict]:
+    """Normalize an AcoustID /v2/lookup response into the same flat candidate
+    shape as mb_match (recording_id / title / artist / album / year / duration /
+    studio / mb_score / score), so the review UI and the editor's Match popup
+    render fingerprint hits and text hits identically. `mb_score` carries the
+    AcoustID confidence (0-100) — a fingerprint hit is high-signal by nature."""
+    if not isinstance(body, dict) or body.get("status") != "ok":
+        return []
+    out: list[dict] = []
+    seen: set[str] = set()
+    for result in (body.get("results") or []):
+        if not isinstance(result, dict):
+            continue
+        try:
+            score = float(result.get("score") or 0.0)
+        except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            score = 0.0
+        for rec in (result.get("recordings") or []):
+            if not isinstance(rec, dict) or not rec.get("id"):
+                continue
+            rid = str(rec["id"])
+            if rid in seen:
+                continue
+            seen.add(rid)
+            rg = _best_group(rec)
+            _yr = _rg_earliest_year(rg)
+            year = str(_yr) if _yr else ""
+            dur = rec.get("duration")
+            try:
+                duration = int(round(float(dur))) if dur else None
+            except (TypeError, ValueError):
+                duration = None
+            out.append({
+                "recording_id": rid,
+                "title": str(rec.get("title", "") or ""),
+                "artist": _first_artist(rec),
+                "album": str(rg.get("title", "") or ""),
+                "year": year,
+                "duration": duration,
+                "isrc": "",
+                "genres": [],
+                "studio": _rg_is_studio(rg),
+                "acoustid_score": round(score, 4),
+                # Fingerprint hits are content-verified, not text-guessed — carry
+                # the AcoustID confidence as the display score band.
+                "mb_score": int(round(score * 100)),
+                "score": round(score, 4),
+                "source": "acoustid",
+            })
+    # Best AcoustID confidence first; studio take breaks ties.
+    out.sort(key=lambda c: (c["acoustid_score"], 1 if c["studio"] else 0), reverse=True)
+    return out
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+"""Reading the app's config.json — the one shared, pure helper (R3).
+
+Extracted verbatim from server.py so route modules that need a config value
+(reference pitch, server_config, …) can read it without reaching back into the
+host file. server.py re-imports it, so its ~11 call sites and any
+`server._load_config` test reference keep resolving unchanged.
+"""
+
+import json
+
+
+def _load_config(config_file):
+    """Read and parse config.json. Returns the parsed dict, or None if
+    the file is missing, unreadable, invalid JSON, or parses to a
+    non-dict (e.g. the file contains `[]` or `42`). Callers treat None
+    as "fall back to defaults". Shared between GET and POST so both
+    handle bad files the same way."""
+    if not config_file.exists():
+        return None
+    try:
+        # Explicit UTF-8: save_settings()/import write config.json as
+        # UTF-8 bytes, so the read must not depend on the platform's
+        # default text encoding (cp1252 on Windows would mojibake or
+        # UnicodeDecodeError on a non-ASCII DLC path).
+        parsed = json.loads(config_file.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    except Exception:
+        return None
+    return parsed if isinstance(parsed, dict) else None
@@ -0,0 +1,154 @@
+"""Shared application state — the seam that lets route modules reach core
+singletons without importing ``server``.
+
+``server.py`` is the host: it owns the FastAPI ``app``, constructs the DB
+singletons, and runs the lifecycle. As routes move out into ``routers/`` (R3),
+those modules need ``meta_db`` and friends — but they must not ``import
+server``, or the import graph goes circular the moment ``server`` imports them
+back.
+
+So ``server`` **injects** its singletons here once, at the point it builds them::
+
+    # server.py
+    meta_db = MetadataDB(CONFIG_DIR)
+    appstate.configure(meta_db=meta_db, ...)
+
+and a router reads them back as **module attributes, at call time**::
+
+    # routers/artists.py
+    import appstate
+
+    @router.get("/api/artist/{name}/page")
+    def artist_page(name):
+        return appstate.meta_db.artist_page(name)
+
+This is the Python analogue of the injected `configureX({...})` seams the
+frontend refactor uses (stems' ``configureStreaming``, studio's
+``configureAudioGraph``, the editor's ``src/host.js``), and of the plugin
+``setup(app, context)`` contract in Principle III: dependencies flow one way,
+``server -> routers -> appstate``, and nothing imports back up.
+
+Two properties this shape buys, both load-bearing:
+
+* **``import appstate`` performs no IO and constructs nothing.** ``server``
+  still owns construction, so the ~49 test fixtures that do
+  ``sys.modules.pop("server")`` + re-import (to rebuild ``meta_db`` under a
+  patched ``CONFIG_DIR``) keep working untouched — a singleton *owned* here
+  would survive that pop and go stale.
+* **Reads are late-bound.** Routers must use ``appstate.meta_db``, never
+  ``from appstate import meta_db`` — a ``from`` import freezes the binding at
+  its current value, so a later ``configure()`` (or a
+  ``monkeypatch.setattr(appstate, "meta_db", fake)``) would not reach the
+  router. This is the same read-only-binding trap as ES ``import``.
+
+Defaults are ``None`` on purpose: they are inert but *type-honest*, so a router
+that runs before ``configure()`` fails loudly on ``NoneType`` instead of
+quietly operating on a stand-in.
+
+Slots are added here only when a router actually needs one — this is a seam,
+not a grab-bag for everything in ``server.py``.
+
+**Why this lives in ``lib/`` and not the repo root.** Because it constructs
+nothing and does no import-time IO, it satisfies Principle V's rule for ``lib/``
+modules — and ``lib/`` is the only core directory every packaging path already
+copies: the Dockerfile (``COPY lib/``), ``docker-compose.yml``, and
+feedback-desktop's ``bundle-slopsmith.sh`` (``cp -r lib``). All three also put
+both the bundle root and ``lib/`` on ``sys.path``. A root-level module ships in
+Docker but is silently dropped from the packaged desktop app, whose bundler
+copies a hardcoded file list — that regression is what moved this file here.
+"""
+
+# The singletons routers may read. Every name here must also be a `_SLOTS` key.
+meta_db = None
+audio_effect_mappings = None
+# The tuning-provider registry instance (built-ins + plugin-contributed). A
+# stable object mutated in place via register()/unregister() — injected here by
+# reference so routers read the same registry plugins populate.
+tuning_providers = None
+# The library-provider registry instance + the local provider, constructed in
+# server.py (LocalLibraryProvider needs meta_db) and injected by reference. The
+# classes live in lib/library_registry.py; plugins register their own providers
+# through the registry via plugin_context.
+library_providers = None
+local_library_provider = None
+
+# Config paths. server.py derives these from the environment (fresh on every
+# import, so the ~49 pop-and-reimport fixtures keep working) and injects them
+# here. Routers read them as `appstate.config_dir` etc. — a module attribute at
+# call time. NOTE: config_dir/dlc_dir are env-derived, so a `setenv`+reimport
+# test reconfigures them for free; STATIC_DIR/SLOPPAK_CACHE_DIR are patched via
+# `setattr(server, …)` in a few tests, so those slots (when added) need their
+# tests retargeted to appstate in the same PR.
+config_dir = None
+dlc_dir = None          # the DLC_DIR env value as a Path (Path("") if unset)
+dlc_dir_env = None      # the raw DLC_DIR env string, "" if unset — distinguishes
+                        # "unset" from Path("")→"." (see dlc_paths._get_dlc_dir)
+# Cache/asset dirs. static_dir + sloppak_cache_dir are patched via
+# `setattr(server, …)` in a few tests, so a router reading them here needs those
+# setattr sites retargeted to `setattr(appstate, …)` in the same PR (ws_highway
+# retargets the 3 test_highway_ws_* SLOPPAK sites). config_dir-derived dirs are
+# reconfigured for free on a setenv+reimport.
+static_dir = None
+sloppak_cache_dir = None
+audio_cache_dir = None
+
+# Injected callables (not values): server owns the impl + its state, routers call
+# through the seam. get_progression_content wraps a lazy content cache that stays
+# in server.py (its `setattr(server, "_progression_content")` test is untouched).
+get_progression_content = None
+builtin_diagnostic_filename = None
+running_version = None
+# Art helpers that stay in server.py (shared with the art/delete routes) but are
+# also called by the enrichment worker in lib/enrichment.py — injected as
+# callables to keep enrichment acyclic. art_cache_dir is server's ART_CACHE_DIR.
+art_cache_dir = None
+song_pack_art_exists = None
+art_override_paths = None
+art_safe_name = None
+# The canonical settings-defaults builder — stays in server.py (shared with the
+# scan/artist-links code) but the settings router calls it through the seam.
+default_settings = None
+# Scan/ingest seam for the song routes (routers/song.py). kick_scan/
+# invalidate_song_caches/stat_for_cache stay in server.py (scan lifecycle owns
+# them); scan_status is a GETTER (the underlying dict is reassigned, so a value
+# would go stale) — call appstate.scan_status() to read the live status.
+kick_scan = None
+invalidate_song_caches = None
+stat_for_cache = None
+scan_status = None
+
+# The directory containing server.py: the repo root in dev, resources/feedBack when
+# bundled — the tree that actually holds docs/ and data/.
+#
+# It is published HERE, by server.py, precisely so no module under lib/ ever computes it.
+# `Path(__file__).resolve().parent` is correct in server.py and silently WRONG anywhere in
+# lib/ (it yields lib/, which has no docs/ or data/), and it fails by finding nothing
+# rather than by raising — the builtin-content seeds would just quietly never run. See
+# lib/builtin_content.py's header. Read it; never re-derive it.
+server_root = None
+
+_SLOTS = frozenset({
+    "meta_db", "audio_effect_mappings", "tuning_providers",
+    "library_providers", "local_library_provider",
+    "config_dir", "dlc_dir", "dlc_dir_env",
+    "static_dir", "sloppak_cache_dir", "audio_cache_dir",
+    "get_progression_content", "builtin_diagnostic_filename",
+    "running_version",
+    "art_cache_dir", "song_pack_art_exists", "art_override_paths", "art_safe_name",
+    "default_settings",
+    "kick_scan", "invalidate_song_caches", "stat_for_cache", "scan_status",
+    "server_root",
+})
+
+
+def configure(**kwargs) -> None:
+    """Publish `server`'s singletons into this module. Called once per
+    `server` import (and again on re-import), so it must be idempotent."""
+    unknown = set(kwargs) - _SLOTS
+    if unknown:
+        raise TypeError(
+            f"appstate.configure() got unknown slot(s): {sorted(unknown)}. "
+            f"Known slots: {sorted(_SLOTS)}. Add the name to _SLOTS if a router "
+            f"genuinely needs it."
+        )
+    globals().update(kwargs)
@@ -0,0 +1,287 @@
+"""Core-owned song/tone -> audio-effect-provider mapping index.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3). ``server.py`` still owns the
+``audio_effect_mappings`` singleton; this module only supplies the class, so
+nothing here touches config paths at import time — the caller passes
+``config_dir`` in.
+"""
+
+import json
+import sqlite3
+import threading
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+class AudioEffectsMappingDB:
+    """Core-owned public song/tone -> provider mapping index.
+
+    Providers own the preset/chain rows addressed by provider_ref. Core owns
+    the cross-provider routing index and the active mapping per song/tone.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, config_dir: Path):
+        config_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        self.db_path = str(config_dir / "audio_effects.db")
+        self.conn = sqlite3.connect(self.db_path, check_same_thread=False)
+        self.conn.execute("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL")
+        self.conn.execute("PRAGMA foreign_keys=ON")
+        self.conn.execute("""
+            CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS audio_effect_mappings (
+                id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
+                song_key TEXT NOT NULL,
+                filename TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+                tone_key TEXT NOT NULL,
+                provider_id TEXT NOT NULL,
+                provider_ref TEXT NOT NULL,
+                label TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '',
+                source TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT 'manual',
+                metadata_json TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '{}',
+                created_at TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT (datetime('now')),
+                updated_at TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT (datetime('now')),
+                UNIQUE(song_key, tone_key, provider_id)
+            )
+        """)
+        self.conn.execute("""
+            CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS audio_effect_active_mappings (
+                song_key TEXT NOT NULL,
+                tone_key TEXT NOT NULL,
+                mapping_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
+                updated_at TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT (datetime('now')),
+                PRIMARY KEY (song_key, tone_key),
+                FOREIGN KEY (mapping_id) REFERENCES audio_effect_mappings(id) ON DELETE CASCADE
+            )
+        """)
+        self.conn.execute(
+            "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_audio_effect_mappings_provider "
+            "ON audio_effect_mappings(provider_id)"
+        )
+        self.conn.execute(
+            "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS idx_audio_effect_mappings_filename "
+            "ON audio_effect_mappings(filename)"
+        )
+        self.conn.commit()
+        self._lock = threading.Lock()
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _text(value, *, field: str, limit: int, allow_empty: bool = False) -> str:
+        if value is None:
+            text = ""
+        elif not isinstance(value, str):
+            raise ValueError(f"{field} must be a string")
+        else:
+            text = value.strip()
+        if not text and not allow_empty:
+            raise ValueError(f"{field} is required")
+        if len(text) > limit:
+            raise ValueError(f"{field} is too long")
+        return text
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _mapping_id(value) -> int | None:
+        # Bind only values SQLite can store as an INTEGER; an out-of-range id is a
+        # clean miss (404), not a 500 at bind time.
+        if isinstance(value, int) and not isinstance(value, bool) and -(2 ** 63) <= value < 2 ** 63:
+            return value
+        return None
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _field(data: dict, *keys):
+        # Select the first present snake/camel alias by key, not by truthiness, so a
+        # falsey non-string value (false/0) still reaches _text() and is rejected
+        # instead of being silently swallowed by an `or` chain.
+        for key in keys:
+            if key in data:
+                return data[key]
+        return None
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _metadata(value) -> str:
+        if value is None:
+            return "{}"
+        if not isinstance(value, dict):
+            raise ValueError("metadata must be an object")
+        encoded = json.dumps(value, ensure_ascii=True, sort_keys=True)
+        if len(encoded) > 8192:
+            raise ValueError("metadata is too large")
+        return encoded
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _row(row) -> dict | None:
+        if row is None:
+            return None
+        metadata = {}
+        try:
+            metadata = json.loads(row[8]) if row[8] else {}
+        except Exception:
+            metadata = {}
+        return {
+            "id": int(row[0]),
+            "song_key": row[1],
+            "filename": row[2] or "",
+            "tone_key": row[3],
+            "provider_id": row[4],
+            "provider_ref": row[5],
+            "label": row[6] or "",
+            "source": row[7] or "manual",
+            "metadata": metadata if isinstance(metadata, dict) else {},
+            "created_at": row[9] or "",
+            "updated_at": row[10] or "",
+            "active": bool(row[11]),
+        }
+
+    def _select_sql(self) -> str:
+        return """
+            SELECT m.id, m.song_key, m.filename, m.tone_key, m.provider_id,
+                   m.provider_ref, m.label, m.source, m.metadata_json,
+                   m.created_at, m.updated_at,
+                   CASE WHEN a.mapping_id IS NULL THEN 0 ELSE 1 END AS active
+            FROM audio_effect_mappings m
+            LEFT JOIN audio_effect_active_mappings a
+              ON a.song_key = m.song_key AND a.tone_key = m.tone_key AND a.mapping_id = m.id
+        """
+
+    def list(self, *, song_key: str = "", filename: str = "", tone_key: str = "", provider_id: str = "") -> list[dict]:
+        clauses: list[str] = []
+        params: list[str] = []
+        song_key = self._text(song_key, field="song_key", limit=240, allow_empty=True)
+        filename = self._text(filename, field="filename", limit=500, allow_empty=True)
+        tone_key = self._text(tone_key, field="tone_key", limit=160, allow_empty=True)
+        provider_id = self._text(provider_id, field="provider_id", limit=96, allow_empty=True)
+        if song_key and filename:
+            clauses.append("(m.song_key = ? OR m.filename = ?)")
+            params.extend([song_key, filename])
+        elif song_key:
+            clauses.append("m.song_key = ?")
+            params.append(song_key)
+        elif filename:
+            clauses.append("(m.song_key = ? OR m.filename = ?)")
+            params.extend([filename, filename])
+        if tone_key:
+            clauses.append("m.tone_key = ?")
+            params.append(tone_key)
+        if provider_id:
+            clauses.append("m.provider_id = ?")
+            params.append(provider_id)
+        sql = self._select_sql()
+        if clauses:
+            sql += " WHERE " + " AND ".join(clauses)
+        sql += " ORDER BY m.song_key COLLATE NOCASE, m.tone_key COLLATE NOCASE, m.provider_id COLLATE NOCASE"
+        with self._lock:
+            rows = self.conn.execute(sql, params).fetchall()
+        return [self._row(row) for row in rows]
+
+    def get(self, mapping_id: int) -> dict | None:
+        mapping_id = self._mapping_id(mapping_id)
+        if mapping_id is None:
+            return None
+        with self._lock:
+            row = self.conn.execute(self._select_sql() + " WHERE m.id = ?", (mapping_id,)).fetchone()
+        return self._row(row)
+
+    def upsert(self, data: dict) -> dict:
+        if not isinstance(data, dict):
+            raise ValueError("mapping body must be an object")
+        filename = self._text(data.get("filename", ""), field="filename", limit=500, allow_empty=True)
+        song_key_raw = self._field(data, "song_key", "songKey")
+        if song_key_raw is None or song_key_raw == "":
+            song_key_raw = filename
+        song_key = self._text(song_key_raw, field="song_key", limit=240)
+        tone_key = self._text(self._field(data, "tone_key", "toneKey"), field="tone_key", limit=160, allow_empty=True)
+        provider_id = self._text(self._field(data, "provider_id", "providerId"), field="provider_id", limit=96)
+        provider_ref = self._text(self._field(data, "provider_ref", "providerRef"), field="provider_ref", limit=240)
+        label = self._text(data.get("label", ""), field="label", limit=160, allow_empty=True)
+        source = self._text(data.get("source", "manual"), field="source", limit=40, allow_empty=True) or "manual"
+        metadata_json = self._metadata(data.get("metadata", {}))
+        with self._lock:
+            self.conn.execute(
+                """
+                INSERT INTO audio_effect_mappings
+                    (song_key, filename, tone_key, provider_id, provider_ref, label, source, metadata_json, updated_at)
+                VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, datetime('now'))
+                ON CONFLICT(song_key, tone_key, provider_id) DO UPDATE SET
+                    -- Only overwrite filename when a non-empty one was supplied; an
+                    -- omitted/empty filename must preserve the stored value (it's an
+                    -- alternate lookup key for list(..., filename=...)).
+                    filename=CASE WHEN excluded.filename <> '' THEN excluded.filename ELSE audio_effect_mappings.filename END,
+                    provider_ref=excluded.provider_ref,
+                    label=excluded.label,
+                    source=excluded.source,
+                    metadata_json=excluded.metadata_json,
+                    updated_at=datetime('now')
+                """,
+                (song_key, filename, tone_key, provider_id, provider_ref, label, source, metadata_json),
+            )
+            row = self.conn.execute(
+                "SELECT id FROM audio_effect_mappings WHERE song_key = ? AND tone_key = ? AND provider_id = ?",
+                (song_key, tone_key, provider_id),
+            ).fetchone()
+            if row is None:
+                raise ValueError("failed to create audio-effects mapping")
+            mapping_id = int(row[0])
+            if data.get("active") is True:
+                self.conn.execute(
+                    """
+                    INSERT INTO audio_effect_active_mappings (song_key, tone_key, mapping_id, updated_at)
+                    VALUES (?, ?, ?, datetime('now'))
+                    ON CONFLICT(song_key, tone_key) DO UPDATE SET
+                        mapping_id=excluded.mapping_id,
+                        updated_at=datetime('now')
+                    """,
+                    (song_key, tone_key, mapping_id),
+                )
+            self.conn.commit()
+        return self.get(mapping_id)
+
+    def delete(self, mapping_id: int, *, provider_id: str = "") -> bool:
+        mapping_id = self._mapping_id(mapping_id)
+        if mapping_id is None:
+            return False
+        provider_id = self._text(provider_id, field="provider_id", limit=96, allow_empty=True)
+        with self._lock:
+            if provider_id:
+                cur = self.conn.execute(
+                    "DELETE FROM audio_effect_mappings WHERE id = ? AND provider_id = ?",
+                    (mapping_id, provider_id),
+                )
+            else:
+                cur = self.conn.execute("DELETE FROM audio_effect_mappings WHERE id = ?", (mapping_id,))
+            self.conn.commit()
+            return cur.rowcount > 0
+
+    def activate(self, mapping_id: int, *, provider_id: str = "") -> dict | None:
+        mapping_id = self._mapping_id(mapping_id)
+        if mapping_id is None:
+            return None
+        provider_id = self._text(provider_id, field="provider_id", limit=96, allow_empty=True)
+        with self._lock:
+            row = self.conn.execute(
+                self._select_sql() + " WHERE m.id = ?",
+                (mapping_id,),
+            ).fetchone()
+            mapping = self._row(row)
+            if not mapping or (provider_id and mapping["provider_id"] != provider_id):
+                return None
+            self.conn.execute(
+                """
+                INSERT INTO audio_effect_active_mappings (song_key, tone_key, mapping_id, updated_at)
+                VALUES (?, ?, ?, datetime('now'))
+                ON CONFLICT(song_key, tone_key) DO UPDATE SET
+                    mapping_id=excluded.mapping_id,
+                    updated_at=datetime('now')
+                """,
+                (mapping["song_key"], mapping["tone_key"], mapping_id),
+            )
+            self.conn.commit()
+            selected = self.conn.execute(self._select_sql() + " WHERE m.id = ?", (mapping_id,)).fetchone()
+        return self._row(selected)
+
+    def clear_active(self, *, song_key: str, tone_key: str) -> bool:
+        song_key = self._text(song_key, field="song_key", limit=240)
+        tone_key = self._text(tone_key, field="tone_key", limit=160, allow_empty=True)
+        with self._lock:
+            cur = self.conn.execute(
+                "DELETE FROM audio_effect_active_mappings WHERE song_key = ? AND tone_key = ?",
+                (song_key, tone_key),
+            )
+            self.conn.commit()
+            return cur.rowcount > 0
@@ -0,0 +1,378 @@
+"""Builtin content seeding: the calibration/diagnostic sloppaks and the starter library.
+
+Carved VERBATIM out of server.py (R3b) — with ONE deliberate signature change, and it is
+the whole reason this module is safe.
+
+━━━ WHY THE ROOT IS A PARAMETER ━━━
+
+server.py had `_feedBack_server_root()` = `Path(__file__).resolve().parent`. That is
+correct *in server.py*: the repo root in dev, resources/feedBack when bundled — the tree
+that actually holds docs/ and data/.
+
+Move that body here unchanged and it keeps working, silently, and returns `lib/`. There is
+no docs/diagnostics under lib/, so every seed would quietly find nothing and log "source
+missing" — a verbatim move whose meaning changed because `__file__` did. Nothing would
+fail; the starter library would just never appear.
+
+So this module CANNOT compute a root: it takes `server_root` as a parameter, and server.py
+— the only place that legitimately knows where it lives — passes it in. The trap is now
+structurally impossible rather than merely avoided. (_copy_builtin_packs already took the
+root this way; the two seed helpers now do too.)
+
+Everything else is byte-identical. `log` is this module's own logger under the same
+`feedBack.` hierarchy, and CONFIG_DIR is read late as `appstate.config_dir` — see appstate.py
+for why those reads must be late-bound (tests monkeypatch it).
+"""
+import logging
+import os
+import secrets
+import shutil
+import stat
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import appstate
+from dlc_paths import _get_dlc_dir
+
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.builtin_content")
+
+
+BUILTIN_DIAGNOSTIC_SUBDIR = "diagnostics-builtin"
+
+
+BUILTIN_DIAGNOSTIC_SOURCES: list[tuple[str, str]] = [
+    (
+        "feedBack-diagnostic-basic-guitar.sloppak",
+        "docs/diagnostics/feedBack-diagnostic-basic-guitar.sloppak",
+    ),
+]
+
+
+def builtin_diagnostic_filename() -> str:
+    """Library filename (DLC-relative POSIX path) of the calibration sloppak —
+    the onboarding challenge target (spec 010)."""
+    return f"{BUILTIN_DIAGNOSTIC_SUBDIR}/{BUILTIN_DIAGNOSTIC_SOURCES[0][0]}"
+
+
+def _copy_builtin_packs(
+    root: Path,
+    dest_dir: Path,
+    sources: list[tuple[str, str]],
+    label: str,
+    update_existing: bool = True,
+) -> int:
+    """Symlink-safe, mtime-aware copy of bundled packs into ``dest_dir``.
+
+    ``sources`` is a list of ``(dest_name, rel_source)`` pairs; each source is
+    resolved under ``root`` (the repo root in dev, ``resources/feedBack`` when
+    bundled). A pack is copied when its destination is missing. Never deletes
+    user files; refuses to follow a symlinked seed directory or destination and
+    refuses to clobber a non-regular destination (any would let a copy escape
+    ``dest_dir`` or destroy user data). Logs and continues on error. ``label``
+    prefixes every log line.
+
+    ``update_existing`` controls what happens when a *regular* destination file
+    already exists: when True (diagnostic seed) a bundle copy newer than the
+    destination refreshes it; when False (one-time starter content) an existing
+    file is always left as-is so the user's copy is never overwritten.
+
+    Returns the number of ``sources`` that are present at their destination
+    afterwards (freshly seeded, refreshed, or already current) — so callers can
+    tell whether every pack made it. A skip (missing source, symlink/non-regular
+    refusal, copy error) does not count.
+    """
+    # Refuse a symlinked seed directory: mkdir(exist_ok=True) would accept it
+    # and copies would land at the link target, outside the DLC tree. The
+    # per-file symlink guard below cannot catch this.
+    if dest_dir.is_symlink():
+        log.warning("%s: %s is a symlink, skipping all seeding", label, dest_dir.name)
+        return 0
+    dest_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    # Pin the seed directory by an O_NOFOLLOW fd so a symlink swapped in for
+    # dest_dir *after* the check above cannot redirect the per-file stat /
+    # temp-create / replace outside the DLC tree (parent-directory TOCTOU).
+    # os.replace accepts dir_fd on POSIX even though it isn't listed in
+    # os.supports_dir_fd, so gate on os.rename (the reliable proxy); platforms
+    # without dir_fd/O_NOFOLLOW (e.g. Windows) fall back to path-based ops.
+    dir_fd = None
+    if (
+        hasattr(os, "O_NOFOLLOW")
+        and hasattr(os, "O_DIRECTORY")
+        and os.open in os.supports_dir_fd
+        and os.rename in os.supports_dir_fd
+    ):
+        try:
+            dir_fd = os.open(dest_dir, os.O_RDONLY | os.O_NOFOLLOW | os.O_DIRECTORY)
+        except OSError as exc:
+            log.warning("%s: cannot open seed dir %s: %s", label, dest_dir, exc)
+            return 0
+
+    try:
+        present = 0
+        for dest_name, rel_source in sources:
+            source = root / rel_source
+            if not source.is_file():
+                log.warning("%s: source missing, skipping %s (%s)", label, dest_name, source)
+                continue
+
+            # lstat the destination without following symlinks. Pinned by dir_fd
+            # this resolves within the real seed dir, immune to a parent swap.
+            try:
+                if dir_fd is not None:
+                    dstat = os.lstat(dest_name, dir_fd=dir_fd)
+                else:
+                    dstat = os.lstat(dest_dir / dest_name)
+                dest_exists = True
+                dest_islink = stat.S_ISLNK(dstat.st_mode)
+            except FileNotFoundError:
+                dest_exists = False
+                dest_islink = False
+            except OSError as exc:
+                log.warning("%s: cannot stat %s: %s", label, dest_name, exc)
+                continue
+
+            # Refuse to seed through a symlink at the destination name.
+            if dest_islink:
+                log.warning("%s: destination is a symlink, skipping %s", label, dest_name)
+                continue
+
+            # A non-regular destination (directory, fifo, …) the user placed
+            # there: never clobber it, and never count it as present — otherwise
+            # a one-time seed would mark itself done without a real pack on disk.
+            if dest_exists and not stat.S_ISREG(dstat.st_mode):
+                log.warning("%s: destination is not a regular file, skipping %s", label, dest_name)
+                continue
+
+            if dest_exists:
+                # A regular file is already there. One-time seeds (starter
+                # content) must never overwrite the user's copy; refreshing
+                # seeds (diagnostics) replace it only when the bundle is newer.
+                if not update_existing:
+                    log.info("%s: already present %s", label, dest_name)
+                    present += 1
+                    continue
+                try:
+                    src_mtime = source.stat().st_mtime
+                except OSError as exc:
+                    log.warning("%s: cannot stat source %s: %s", label, source, exc)
+                    continue
+                if src_mtime <= dstat.st_mtime:
+                    log.info("%s: already present %s", label, dest_name)
+                    present += 1
+                    continue
+                action = "updated"
+            else:
+                action = "seeded"
+
+            if _write_builtin_pack(source, dest_dir, dest_name, dir_fd):
+                present += 1
+                log.info("%s: %s %s -> %s", label, action, source.name, dest_name)
+            else:
+                log.warning("%s: failed to copy %s -> %s/%s", label, source, dest_dir.name, dest_name)
+
+        return present
+    finally:
+        if dir_fd is not None:
+            os.close(dir_fd)
+
+
+def _write_builtin_pack(
+    source: Path,
+    dest_dir: Path,
+    dest_name: str,
+    dir_fd: int | None,
+) -> bool:
+    """Atomically write ``source`` to ``dest_name`` inside ``dest_dir``.
+
+    Writes to a temp file then ``os.replace()``s onto the final name so a
+    symlink raced in at the destination is overwritten (rename semantics), not
+    followed, and a crash never leaves a half-written pack. When ``dir_fd`` is
+    given, every step is anchored to that fd (O_NOFOLLOW temp create + dir_fd
+    replace), closing the parent-directory TOCTOU; otherwise falls back to
+    path-based temp+replace. Returns True on success. Never raises.
+    """
+    # Unique per-attempt name (O_EXCL create) so a crash that orphans a temp
+    # can't permanently block later seeds via an EEXIST collision.
+    tmp_name = f".seed-{dest_name}.{os.getpid()}.{secrets.token_hex(4)}.tmp"
+    try:
+        src_stat = source.stat()
+    except OSError as exc:
+        log.debug("builtin pack: cannot stat source %s: %s", source, exc)
+        return False
+    if dir_fd is not None:
+        tmp_fd = None
+        try:
+            tmp_fd = os.open(
+                tmp_name,
+                os.O_CREAT | os.O_EXCL | os.O_WRONLY | os.O_NOFOLLOW,
+                0o644,
+                dir_fd=dir_fd,
+            )
+            with open(source, "rb") as sf, os.fdopen(tmp_fd, "wb") as tf:
+                tmp_fd = None  # fdopen now owns the descriptor
+                shutil.copyfileobj(sf, tf)
+            os.replace(tmp_name, dest_name, src_dir_fd=dir_fd, dst_dir_fd=dir_fd)
+            # Preserve the bundle mtime (copyfileobj doesn't) so the mtime-based
+            # refresh check matches the shutil.copy2 fallback path. Best-effort.
+            try:
+                os.utime(
+                    dest_name,
+                    ns=(src_stat.st_atime_ns, src_stat.st_mtime_ns),
+                    dir_fd=dir_fd,
+                    follow_symlinks=False,
+                )
+            except OSError as exc:
+                log.debug("builtin pack: could not set mtime on %s: %s", dest_name, exc)
+            return True
+        except OSError as exc:
+            log.debug("builtin pack write (dir_fd) failed for %s: %s", dest_name, exc)
+            if tmp_fd is not None:
+                try:
+                    os.close(tmp_fd)
+                except OSError:
+                    pass
+            try:
+                os.unlink(tmp_name, dir_fd=dir_fd)
+            except OSError:
+                pass
+            return False
+
+    tmp = None
+    try:
+        fd, tmp = tempfile.mkstemp(dir=dest_dir, prefix=".seed-", suffix=".tmp")
+        os.close(fd)
+        shutil.copy2(source, tmp)
+        os.replace(tmp, dest_dir / dest_name)
+        tmp = None
+        return True
+    except OSError as exc:
+        log.debug("builtin pack write failed for %s: %s", dest_name, exc)
+        return False
+    finally:
+        if tmp is not None:
+            try:
+                os.unlink(tmp)
+            except OSError:
+                pass
+
+
+def seed_builtin_diagnostic_sloppaks(server_root: Path, dlc: Path | None = None) -> None:
+    """Copy bundled diagnostic sloppaks into DLC before library scan.
+
+    Creates ``DLC_DIR/diagnostics-builtin/`` and copies each bundled sloppak
+    when the destination is missing or older than the repo/bundle source.
+    Never deletes user files or touches manually copied paths (e.g.
+    ``diagnostics-test/``). Re-seeds whenever the destination is missing so the
+    diagnostic target is always available. Logs and continues on errors.
+    """
+    try:
+        if dlc is None:
+            dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+        if dlc is None:
+            log.debug("Builtin diagnostic seed: no DLC folder configured, skipping")
+            return
+        _copy_builtin_packs(
+            server_root,
+            dlc / BUILTIN_DIAGNOSTIC_SUBDIR,
+            BUILTIN_DIAGNOSTIC_SOURCES,
+            "Builtin diagnostic seed",
+        )
+    except Exception:
+        log.warning("Builtin diagnostic seed: unexpected error", exc_info=True)
+
+
+# Starter content: bundled songs copied into ``DLC_DIR/starter/`` exactly ONCE,
+# on first run, as a welcome library so a fresh install isn't empty. Unlike the
+# diagnostic seed this is one-time — guarded by a marker in CONFIG_DIR — so if
+# the user deletes the starter song it stays gone. ``starter/`` is NOT in the
+# library scan carve-out (unlike diagnostics-builtin/ / tutorials-builtin/), so
+# seeded packs surface as ordinary library songs.
+BUILTIN_STARTER_SUBDIR = "starter"
+
+
+BUILTIN_STARTER_SOURCES: list[tuple[str, str]] = [
+    (
+        "beethoven-fur_elise.feedpak",
+        "content/starter/beethoven-fur_elise.feedpak",
+    ),
+    (
+        "star_spangled_banner.feedpak",
+        "content/starter/star_spangled_banner.feedpak",
+    ),
+    (
+        "the_adicts-ode-to-joy_vst_cover.feedpak",
+        "content/starter/the_adicts-ode-to-joy_vst_cover.feedpak",
+    ),
+]
+
+
+STARTER_SEED_MARKER = ".starter-content-seeded"
+
+
+def seed_builtin_starter_content(server_root: Path, dlc: Path | None = None) -> None:
+    """Copy bundled starter songs into ``DLC_DIR/starter/`` exactly once.
+
+    Guarded by ``CONFIG_DIR/.starter-content-seeded``: the first run with a DLC
+    folder configured seeds the packs and writes the marker; subsequent runs are
+    no-ops, so a user who deletes the starter song does not get it back on the
+    next launch. Symlink-safe; never deletes user files. Logs, never raises.
+    """
+    try:
+        marker = appstate.config_dir / STARTER_SEED_MARKER
+        # Already seeded? The marker is a sentinel: any existing path there
+        # (regular file, or a symlink/dir a user deliberately planted to opt
+        # out) means "done" — lstat so we detect it without following a symlink.
+        # Worst case of a planted marker is simply no starter content, never a
+        # data write; the O_EXCL|O_NOFOLLOW create below refuses to write
+        # *through* a symlink regardless.
+        try:
+            os.lstat(marker)
+            return
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            pass
+        except OSError as exc:
+            log.warning("Starter content seed: cannot stat marker %s: %s", marker, exc)
+            return
+        if dlc is None:
+            dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+        if dlc is None:
+            # No DLC yet — leave the marker unwritten so we retry once a
+            # library folder is configured.
+            log.debug("Starter content seed: no DLC folder configured, skipping")
+            return
+        present = _copy_builtin_packs(
+            server_root,
+            dlc / BUILTIN_STARTER_SUBDIR,
+            BUILTIN_STARTER_SOURCES,
+            "Starter content seed",
+            update_existing=False,
+        )
+        # Only mark seeding complete once every starter pack is actually in
+        # place. If a source was missing or a copy failed, leave the marker
+        # unwritten so the next launch retries rather than permanently skipping.
+        if present < len(BUILTIN_STARTER_SOURCES):
+            log.info(
+                "Starter content seed: %d/%d packs present, will retry next launch",
+                present,
+                len(BUILTIN_STARTER_SOURCES),
+            )
+            return
+        # Record completion with an exclusive, no-follow create so a planted or
+        # raced symlink at the marker path can't redirect the write outside
+        # CONFIG_DIR. O_EXCL fails (EEXIST) on any existing path including a
+        # symlink, so we never write through one.
+        try:
+            appstate.config_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+            flags = os.O_CREAT | os.O_EXCL | os.O_WRONLY | getattr(os, "O_NOFOLLOW", 0)
+            fd = os.open(marker, flags, 0o644)
+            try:
+                os.write(fd, b"1\n")
+            finally:
+                os.close(fd)
+        except FileExistsError:
+            pass  # already marked (or a non-regular path is squatting) — fine
+        except OSError as exc:
+            log.warning("Starter content seed: could not write marker %s: %s", marker, exc)
+    except Exception:
+        log.warning("Starter content seed: unexpected error", exc_info=True)
@@ -0,0 +1,380 @@
+"""Demo mode: the read-only request guard and the hourly session janitor.
+
+Carved VERBATIM out of server.py (R3b). Bodies are byte-identical — including a bug, see
+below.
+
+━━━ THE MIDDLEWARE NEEDS `app`, SO THIS MODULE TAKES IT ━━━
+
+`_demo_mode_guard` is an @app.middleware("http"), and a middleware has to be attached to an
+app object. Rather than reach for a global, this module exposes install(app): server.py
+owns the app and hands it over. Same direction as every other seam here — server.py knows
+things lib/ must not have to guess.
+
+The janitor is symmetrical: start_janitor() / stop_janitor(), called from server.py's
+startup and shutdown hooks, which is where the process lifecycle actually lives.
+
+━━━ register_demo_janitor_hook IS PART OF THE PLUGIN CONTRACT ━━━
+
+It is a key in plugin_context, so plugins hold it as a LIVE REFERENCE from setup(). Moving
+the function is fine; wrapping or renaming it is not. server.py imports this exact object
+and puts it in the dict unchanged, so callable identity is preserved —
+tests/test_plugin_context_contract.py (#898) fails if that ever stops being true.
+
+━━━ A BUG MOVED VERBATIM, ON PURPOSE ━━━
+
+The janitor start guard in server.py reads:
+
+    if getenv_compat("FEEDBACK_DEMO_MODE") or getenv_compat("FEEDBACK_DEMO_MODE") == "1" \
+            and not _DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED:
+
+`and` binds tighter than `or`, so that is `A or (B and C)` — the `not _DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED`
+re-entry guard is DEAD whenever the env var is truthy, which is the only case that runs. A
+second startup leaks a janitor thread (the handle is overwritten, so shutdown joins only
+the last). Preserved exactly as-is here and filed as issue #902: a carve whose value is
+being provably behaviour-neutral is not the place to change behaviour.
+"""
+import inspect
+import logging
+import re
+import threading
+import uuid
+import warnings
+
+from fastapi import Request
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
+from env_compat import getenv_compat
+
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.demo_mode")
+
+
+# Plugins that maintain session stores can register a cleanup callback here.
+# The demo-mode janitor calls every registered hook once per hour so stale
+# sessions are swept without the core needing to know plugin internals.
+_DEMO_JANITOR_HOOKS: list = []
+
+
+_DEMO_JANITOR_HOOKS_LOCK = threading.Lock()
+
+
+_DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED = False
+
+
+_DEMO_JANITOR_STOP = threading.Event()
+
+
+_DEMO_JANITOR_THREAD: threading.Thread | None = None
+
+
+def register_demo_janitor_hook(fn) -> None:
+    """Register a zero-argument callable to be invoked hourly by the demo
+    janitor.  Plugins call this from their ``setup(app, context)`` when they
+    want to participate in session cleanup under demo mode.
+
+    The callable must accept no required arguments.  Async (coroutine)
+    functions are rejected: the janitor runs in a plain thread and cannot
+    await coroutines.
+    """
+    if not callable(fn):
+        raise TypeError(
+            f"register_demo_janitor_hook expects a callable, got {type(fn).__name__!r}"
+        )
+    # Reject coroutine functions — check both the callable itself and its
+    # __call__ method so objects with an async __call__ (e.g. class instances,
+    # functools.partial wrappers around async functions) are also caught.
+    _call = getattr(fn, "__call__", None)
+    if inspect.iscoroutinefunction(fn) or (
+        _call is not None and inspect.iscoroutinefunction(_call)
+    ):
+        raise TypeError(
+            "register_demo_janitor_hook does not accept async functions; "
+            "the janitor runs in a plain thread and cannot await coroutines"
+        )
+    # Validate that the callable accepts zero required arguments so it won't
+    # crash at sweep time (hourly, far from the registration site).
+    try:
+        sig = inspect.signature(fn)
+    except ValueError:
+        # inspect.signature() raises ValueError for built-in C callables whose
+        # signature cannot be determined.  Accept them as-is; if they fail at
+        # runtime the janitor will catch and log the exception.
+        pass
+    else:
+        required = [
+            p for p in sig.parameters.values()
+            if p.default is inspect.Parameter.empty
+            and p.kind not in (
+                inspect.Parameter.VAR_POSITIONAL,
+                inspect.Parameter.VAR_KEYWORD,
+            )
+        ]
+        if required:
+            raise TypeError(
+                f"register_demo_janitor_hook expects a zero-argument callable; "
+                f"{fn!r} has {len(required)} required parameter(s): "
+                + ", ".join(p.name for p in required)
+            )
+    with _DEMO_JANITOR_HOOKS_LOCK:
+        _DEMO_JANITOR_HOOKS.append(fn)
+
+
+def _run_janitor_hook(hook) -> None:
+    """Run a single janitor hook inline, swallowing and logging any exception.
+
+    If the hook returns an awaitable (e.g. a coroutine slipped through the
+    async-function guard), the coroutine is closed immediately to avoid
+    ``RuntimeWarning: coroutine was never awaited`` noise, and a warning is
+    emitted so the plugin author knows to fix their hook.
+    """
+    try:
+        result = hook()
+    except Exception:
+        log.exception("janitor hook %r raised", hook)
+        return
+    if inspect.iscoroutine(result):
+        # A coroutine slipped through the async-function guard (e.g. via a
+        # wrapper/partial).  Close it to suppress "coroutine never awaited",
+        # then warn so the plugin author knows to fix their hook.
+        try:
+            result.close()
+        except Exception:
+            log.exception("error closing coroutine from janitor hook %r", hook)
+        warnings.warn(
+            f"janitor hook {hook!r} returned a coroutine; "
+            "hooks must be plain synchronous callables — "
+            "register_demo_janitor_hook does not accept async functions",
+            RuntimeWarning,
+            stacklevel=1,
+        )
+    elif inspect.isawaitable(result):
+        # Future/Task: no .close() method; just warn and leave it alone.
+        warnings.warn(
+            f"janitor hook {hook!r} returned an awaitable (Future/Task); "
+            "hooks must be plain synchronous callables",
+            RuntimeWarning,
+            stacklevel=1,
+        )
+
+
+_DEMO_BLOCKED: list[tuple[str, re.Pattern]] = [
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/settings$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/settings/import$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/settings/reset$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/rescan$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/rescan/full$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/songs/upload$")),
+    ("DELETE", re.compile(r"^/api/song/.+$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/favorites/toggle$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/loops$")),
+    ("DELETE", re.compile(r"^/api/loops/[^/]+$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/audio-effects/mappings$")),
+    ("DELETE", re.compile(r"^/api/audio-effects/mappings/[^/]+$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/audio-effects/mappings/[^/]+/activate$")),
+    ("DELETE", re.compile(r"^/api/audio-effects/active-mapping$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/song/.*/meta$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/song/.*/art/upload$")),
+    ("PUT",    re.compile(r"^/api/song/.+/overrides$")),
+    ("GET",    re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/updates$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/[^/]+/update$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/editor/save$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/editor/build$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/editor/upload-art$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/editor/upload-audio$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/editor/youtube-audio$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/editor/import-gp$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/editor/import-midi$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/lyrics_karaoke/align$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/lyrics_karaoke/generate-pitch$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/lyrics_karaoke/save-lyrics$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/lyrics_sync/align$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/lyrics_sync/save$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/studio/sessions/[^/]+/extract-drums$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/diagnostics/export$")),
+    ("GET",    re.compile(r"^/api/diagnostics/preview$")),
+    ("GET",    re.compile(r"^/api/diagnostics/hardware$")),
+    # Bundled core plugin — video background upload/delete
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/highway_3d/files$")),
+    ("DELETE", re.compile(r"^/api/plugins/highway_3d/files$")),
+    # fee[dB]ack v0.3.0 write endpoints — demo mode is read-only, so block the
+    # new profile / XP / stats / playlists / saved mutators too.
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/profile$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/profile/avatar$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/xp/award$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/stats$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/playlists$")),
+    ("PATCH",  re.compile(r"^/api/playlists/[^/]+$")),
+    ("DELETE", re.compile(r"^/api/playlists/[^/]+$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/playlists/[^/]+/songs$")),
+    ("DELETE", re.compile(r"^/api/playlists/[^/]+/songs/.+$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/playlists/[^/]+/reorder$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/playlists/[^/]+/cover$")),
+    ("DELETE", re.compile(r"^/api/playlists/[^/]+/cover$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/saved/toggle$")),
+    # Progression (spec 010) write endpoints — demo mode stays read-only.
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/progression/paths$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/progression/onboarding$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/progression/events$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/shop/buy$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/shop/equip$")),
+    # Enrichment (P8): review writes mutate the local match cache, and the
+    # search proxy / manual kick relay to MusicBrainz — none of it belongs to
+    # anonymous demo visitors (they'd spend the shared rate limit).
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/enrichment/review/.+$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/enrichment/kick$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/enrichment/cancel$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/enrichment/rematch$")),
+    ("GET",    re.compile(r"^/api/enrichment/search$")),
+    # AcoustID audio fingerprinting: both identify endpoints run fpcalc (CPU)
+    # and spend the shared AcoustID rate budget on the caller's behalf — same
+    # rule as the search/kick relays above; not for anonymous demo visitors.
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/enrichment/identify$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/enrichment/identify/.+$")),
+    # Context menus (R2): the per-song re-match mutates the cache + spends
+    # rate limit; Get-info exposes filesystem paths.
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/enrichment/refresh/.+$")),
+    ("GET",    re.compile(r"^/api/chart/.+/fileinfo$")),
+    # Gap-fill (R4a) rewrites pack files on disk — never for demo visitors.
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/song/.+/gap-fill$")),
+    # Art layer (R3): all three mutate server state / touch the network on a
+    # visitor's behalf — the base64 upload writes files, the URL fetch makes the
+    # server request arbitrary images, and the override delete removes files.
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/song/.+/art/upload$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/song/.+/art/url$")),
+    ("DELETE", re.compile(r"^/api/art/.+/override$")),
+    # Cover picker (PR-C): read-only, but a cache-miss open spends 1-3
+    # throttled Cover Art Archive calls — anonymous demo visitors don't get
+    # to spend the shared rate budget (same rule as enrichment search/kick).
+    ("GET",    re.compile(r"^/api/song/.+/art/candidates$")),
+    # Artist pages (PR-B): the links GET lazily fetches from MusicBrainz on a
+    # visitor's behalf AND writes the artist_enrichment cache; refresh
+    # re-spends the shared rate limit. The /page route stays open (all-local
+    # read). Same rationale as /api/enrichment/search above.
+    ("GET",    re.compile(r"^/api/artist/.+/links$")),
+    ("POST",   re.compile(r"^/api/artist/.+/links/refresh$")),
+]
+
+
+async def _demo_mode_guard(request: Request, call_next):
+    if getenv_compat("FEEDBACK_DEMO_MODE") or getenv_compat("FEEDBACK_DEMO_MODE") == "1":
+        path = request.url.path
+        for method, pattern in _DEMO_BLOCKED:
+            if request.method == method and pattern.match(path):
+                return JSONResponse({"error": "demo mode: read-only"}, status_code=403)
+        response = await call_next(request)
+        if request.method == "GET" and path == "/" and "feedBack_demo_session" not in request.cookies:
+            forwarded_proto = (request.headers.get("x-forwarded-proto") or "").split(",")[0].strip()
+            is_secure = request.url.scheme == "https" or forwarded_proto.lower() == "https"
+            response.set_cookie(
+                "feedBack_demo_session", str(uuid.uuid4()),
+                max_age=86400, httponly=True, samesite="lax",
+                secure=is_secure,
+            )
+        return response
+    return await call_next(request)
+
+
+def install(app) -> None:
+    """Attach the demo-mode request guard to `app`.
+
+    Called by server.py, which owns the app. A middleware cannot exist without one, and a
+    module under lib/ should not be reaching for a global to find it.
+    """
+    app.middleware("http")(_demo_mode_guard)
+
+
+def demo_mode_enabled() -> bool:
+    """True when demo mode is on. Read at CALL time, never captured — tests set and unset
+    FEEDBACK_DEMO_MODE with monkeypatch, so a value cached at import pins the wrong one."""
+    return bool(getenv_compat("FEEDBACK_DEMO_MODE"))
+
+
+def start_janitor() -> None:
+    """Start the hourly session janitor, at most one at a time. server.py's startup hook.
+
+    ━━━ THE GUARD ASKS "IS A HEALTHY JANITOR RUNNING?", AND NOTHING ELSE ━━━
+
+    Three ways to get this wrong, and #902 plus two Codex passes found all three:
+
+    1. NO GUARD (the original #902 bug). The re-entry check lived at the call site as
+       `A or (B and C)`, so it never ran, and a second startup started a SECOND thread,
+       overwrote the handle, and left the first to fire hooks forever, unjoinable.
+
+    2. GUARD ON THE FLAG (`if _DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED: return`). stop_janitor() deliberately
+       leaves that flag True when a hook outruns its join timeout — so once that hook
+       finishes and the thread exits, the flag is stale and a later startup would refuse to
+       start a replacement. Demo cleanup silently dead for the rest of the process.
+
+    3. GUARD ON LIVENESS ALONE (`if thread.is_alive(): return`). A timed-out stop leaves the
+       old thread ALIVE BUT DOOMED — its stop event is set, and it exits the moment its
+       current hook returns. Treating it as a running janitor means the replacement is never
+       started, and we are back at (2) a second later.
+
+    So a janitor counts as running only if its thread is alive AND it has not been told to
+    stop.
+
+    ━━━ AND WHY EACH JANITOR OWNS ITS STOP EVENT ━━━
+
+    This used to `_DEMO_JANITOR_STOP.clear()` a single shared Event. If a replacement were
+    started while a doomed thread was still finishing a hook, clearing the shared event would
+    RESURRECT it — it loops back to `stop.wait()`, sees the flag cleared, and carries on.
+    Two janitors, which is the exact bug we started from.
+
+    A fresh Event per janitor makes that impossible: the old thread waits on its OWN event,
+    which stays set forever, so it can only exit.
+    """
+    global _DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED, _DEMO_JANITOR_THREAD, _DEMO_JANITOR_STOP
+
+    thread = _DEMO_JANITOR_THREAD
+    if thread is not None and thread.is_alive() and not _DEMO_JANITOR_STOP.is_set():
+        return   # a healthy janitor is already running
+
+    # Either there is no janitor, or the previous one is dead / dying. Give the new one its
+    # OWN stop event so the old one stays stopped no matter what we do to ours.
+    stop = threading.Event()
+    _DEMO_JANITOR_STOP = stop
+    _DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED = True
+
+    def _janitor():
+        # Closes over `stop`, NOT the module global — a later start_janitor() rebinds
+        # _DEMO_JANITOR_STOP, and this thread must keep watching the event it was born with.
+        while not stop.wait(timeout=3600):
+            with _DEMO_JANITOR_HOOKS_LOCK:
+                hooks = list(_DEMO_JANITOR_HOOKS)
+            for hook in hooks:
+                _run_janitor_hook(hook)
+
+    _DEMO_JANITOR_THREAD = threading.Thread(target=_janitor, daemon=True, name="demo-janitor")
+    _DEMO_JANITOR_THREAD.start()
+
+
+def janitor_started() -> bool:
+    return _DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED
+
+
+def stop_janitor(timeout: float = 5) -> bool:
+    """Signal the janitor to stop, join it, and drop the registered hooks.
+
+    Returns True if it stopped, False if it outlived the join (the caller warns).
+
+    THE ORDER HERE IS LOAD-BEARING and preserved exactly from server.py. When the thread
+    does NOT die within the timeout we return WITHOUT clearing _DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED and
+    WITHOUT dropping the thread handle — deliberately — so a subsequent startup does not
+    spawn a SECOND janitor alongside the one still running. Clearing the flag first (the
+    obvious way to write this) would quietly reintroduce exactly the double-janitor leak
+    the flag exists to prevent.
+    """
+    global _DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED, _DEMO_JANITOR_THREAD
+    if not _DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED:
+        return True
+    _DEMO_JANITOR_STOP.set()
+    thread = _DEMO_JANITOR_THREAD
+    if thread is not None:
+        thread.join(timeout=timeout)
+        if thread.is_alive():
+            # Leave _DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED True so a new janitor is not spawned by a
+            # subsequent startup while the old one is alive.
+            return False
+        _DEMO_JANITOR_THREAD = None
+    _DEMO_JANITOR_STARTED = False
+    with _DEMO_JANITOR_HOOKS_LOCK:
+        _DEMO_JANITOR_HOOKS.clear()
+    return True
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ _QSTRING_SECRET_RE = re.compile(
    r"(?i)\b(api[_-]?key|key|token|secret|password|pwd|auth)=([^\s&\"']+)"
 )
 _SONG_FILENAME_RE = re.compile(
-    r"\b[\w()'\-+&,.!?\[\]]+\.(?:psarc|sloppak|wem|ogg|mp3|wav)\b",
+    r"\b[\w()'\-+&,.!?\[\]]+\.(?:psarc|sloppak|feedpak|wem|ogg|mp3|wav)\b",
    re.IGNORECASE,
 )

@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+"""DLC library path resolution — where the song files live, plus safe containment.
+
+Extracted from ``server.py`` (R3). ``_resolve_dlc_path`` is pure and moved
+verbatim. ``_get_dlc_dir`` reads the env-derived paths through the ``appstate``
+seam (``server.py`` configures ``dlc_dir``/``dlc_dir_env``/``config_dir`` at
+import, fresh on every re-import), so this module does no import-time IO and the
+pop-and-reimport fixtures keep working. ``server.py`` re-exports both names, so
+existing ``server._get_dlc_dir`` / ``server._resolve_dlc_path`` references
+(tests, other handlers) resolve unchanged.
+"""
+
+import json
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import appstate
+from safepath import resolved_root
+
+
+def _get_dlc_dir(cfg: dict | None = None) -> Path | None:
+    # Only consider DLC_DIR if the env var was non-empty. `Path("")` collapses
+    # to `.` and reports `.is_dir() == True`, which would silently shadow the
+    # config.json fallback. Checking the raw env string preserves
+    # `DLC_DIR=.` as a valid opt-in for cwd while keeping unset/empty out.
+    if appstate.dlc_dir_env and appstate.dlc_dir.is_dir():
+        return appstate.dlc_dir
+    if cfg is None:
+        config_file = appstate.config_dir / "config.json"
+        if config_file.exists():
+            try:
+                cfg = json.loads(config_file.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+            except Exception:
+                pass
+    if isinstance(cfg, dict):
+        raw = str(cfg.get("dlc_dir", "")).strip()
+        if raw:
+            p = Path(raw)
+            if p.is_dir():
+                return p
+    return None
+
+
+def _resolve_dlc_path(dlc: Path, filename: str) -> Path | None:
+    """Resolve `filename` under DLC_DIR and refuse anything that escapes.
+
+    `filename` arrives from `:path` route params and can contain `..`
+    segments. The Sloppak and archive paths happen to fail safely later
+    because their loaders raise on missing/invalid files, but loose-
+    folder format detection (`is_loose_song`) globs and parses XML on
+    disk first, which lets a crafted path trigger filesystem reads
+    outside DLC_DIR before any guard fires. Centralise the containment
+    check so every filename-bound handler validates before touching the
+    filesystem.
+
+    Containment here is LEXICAL (normalize `.`/`..` WITHOUT following
+    symlinks), not `safe_join`'s `.resolve()`-based check — because users
+    commonly mount their song library through a directory JUNCTION/symlink
+    (a library shared across app installs; the desktop app's own mounts).
+    `.resolve()` follows that junction to its real target, sees it sits
+    outside DLC_DIR, and wrongly rejects every song reached through it — the
+    scanner's `rglob` indexes those songs, but art/load then 403/404s (broken
+    covers, unplayable songs). Lexical normalization still rejects the only
+    escapes a `:path` filename can express — `..` traversal and absolute
+    paths — which the traversal tests pin. `safe_join` stays strict (it is
+    the zip-slip / plugin-asset guard, where following a symlink out IS the
+    defense); the loose-folder art handler keeps its own per-file symlink
+    re-check for defence-in-depth.
+
+    Returns the validated Path (not necessarily link-resolved), or None if
+    the filename is empty, contains a NUL, or escapes the DLC root.
+    """
+    if not filename:
+        return None
+    # Backslashes → forward slashes so a Windows-style `..\\x` traversal is
+    # rejected identically on POSIX (mirrors safe_join's normalisation).
+    safe = filename.replace("\\", "/")
+    if "\x00" in safe:
+        return None
+    # Reject drive-letter / absolute paths in BOTH conventions. A POSIX "/x" is
+    # caught by the containment check below (the `/` operator discards `root`),
+    # but a Windows drive-absolute "C:/x" is treated as a relative "C:" dir on
+    # POSIX and would otherwise slip in as `<root>/C:/x` — so the contract must
+    # hold cross-platform (a shared library is reached from either OS).
+    from pathlib import PurePosixPath, PureWindowsPath
+    if (PurePosixPath(safe).is_absolute()
+            or PureWindowsPath(safe).is_absolute()
+            or PureWindowsPath(safe).drive):
+        return None
+    try:
+        # The library root is fixed for the life of the process, but this
+        # function runs once per song / art fetch / scanned row — and
+        # `.resolve()` lstats every path component. Re-resolving here was
+        # ~23,500 stat calls/sec on a 50,944-song library, which pins a core
+        # when the library sits on a FUSE mount (NTFS-3G, SMB, sshfs) where each
+        # stat is a userspace round trip. Resolve the root once; see
+        # safepath.resolved_root for the caching contract.
+        root = resolved_root(dlc)
+        # normpath collapses `.`/`..`/duplicate separators purely lexically —
+        # it never touches the filesystem, so an in-library junction component
+        # is preserved (allowed) while `..`/absolute segments still escape and
+        # get caught by the containment check below.
+        candidate = Path(os.path.normpath(root / safe))
+        if not candidate.is_relative_to(root):
+            return None
+    except (ValueError, OSError):
+        return None
+    return candidate
@@ -1114,7 +1114,7 @@ def _build_xml(
    ET.SubElement(root, "arrangement").text = arrangement
    ET.SubElement(root, "offset").text = f"{audio_offset:.3f}"
    ET.SubElement(root, "songLength").text = f"{song_length:.3f}"
-    ET.SubElement(root, "startBeat").text = f"{beats[0].time:.3f}" if beats else "0.000"
+    ET.SubElement(root, "startBeat").text = f"{beats[0].time:.6f}" if beats else "0.000000"
    ET.SubElement(root, "averageTempo").text = str(tempo)
    ET.SubElement(root, "artistName").text = artist
    ET.SubElement(root, "albumName").text = album
@@ -1139,10 +1139,17 @@ def _build_xml(
        tuning_el.set(f"string{i}", str(tuning[i] if i < len(tuning) else 0))
    ET.SubElement(root, "capo").text = "0"

-    # Ebeats
+    # Ebeats — write beat times at MICROSECOND (6-decimal) precision, not
+    # millisecond (3-decimal). The editor/timeline DERIVES per-bar BPM from beat
+    # spans (bpm = beats·60/span), which amplifies any rounding: at 3 decimals a
+    # constant-tempo GP (e.g. 140) shows a spurious ±0.05–0.7 BPM per-bar drift
+    # (worse for fast/odd meters) because most bar lengths don't land on a ms
+    # boundary. gp2rs computes these times exactly from the GP tempo map, so the
+    # only loss is this format string — 6 decimals makes the derived tempo match
+    # GP's authored value. (Everything else stays at :.3f; only beats drive tempo.)
    ebeats = ET.SubElement(root, "ebeats", count=str(len(beats)))
    for b in beats:
-        ET.SubElement(ebeats, "ebeat", time=f"{b.time:.3f}", measure=str(b.measure))
+        ET.SubElement(ebeats, "ebeat", time=f"{b.time:.6f}", measure=str(b.measure))

    # Sections
    sections_el = ET.SubElement(root, "sections", count=str(len(sections)))
@@ -1836,9 +1843,10 @@ def convert_drum_track_to_drumtab(
    drum strings. Unknown percussion sounds (cowbell, tambourine etc.) are
    skipped — round-tripping them would require teaching `lib/drums.py` first.
    Callers can pass an empty dict as ``out_unmapped`` to receive a per-MIDI
-    record of every skipped note (``{midi: {"count": int, "times": [...]}}``,
-    times capped at 100 samples per note) so they can surface a warning or
-    offer a manual mapping UI.
+    record of every skipped note (``{midi: {"count": int, "times": [...],
+    "velocities": [...]}}``, times/velocities index-aligned and capped at
+    100 samples per note — velocities carry the source notes' real dynamics)
+    so they can surface a warning or offer a manual mapping UI.

    Honours GP repeat brackets and D.S./D.C./Coda/Fine jumps when
    ``expand_repeats`` is true — same `_build_playback_schedule` machinery
@@ -1894,18 +1902,29 @@ def convert_drum_track_to_drumtab(
                            # NB: do NOT shadow the outer `entry` loop
                            # variable from `for entry in schedule:`.
                            unmapped_rec = out_unmapped.setdefault(
-                                int(midi_note), {"count": 0, "times": []})
+                                int(midi_note),
+                                {"count": 0, "times": [], "velocities": []})
                            unmapped_rec["count"] += 1
                            if len(unmapped_rec["times"]) < 100:
                                unmapped_rec["times"].append(round(t, 3))
+                                # Index-aligned with times: the note's real
+                                # dynamics (same 1-127 gate as mapped hits,
+                                # falling back to the 100 import default) so
+                                # a hand-mapping UI doesn't flatten them.
+                                _uv = int(getattr(note, "velocity", 0) or 0)
+                                unmapped_rec["velocities"].append(
+                                    _uv if 1 <= _uv <= 127 else 100)
                        continue

                    hit: dict = {"t": round(t, 3), "p": piece}

-                    # Velocity: GP stores 1-127 MIDI velocity directly; default
-                    # is 95 (Velocities.default). Pass through verbatim,
-                    # clamping defensively so a corrupt file can't poison the
-                    # wire format.
+                    # Velocity: GP stores 1-127 MIDI velocity directly. Note
+                    # this is GP's *authoring* default (95, Velocities.default)
+                    # — unrelated to the drumtab render default of 100
+                    # (DEFAULT_VELOCITY, lib/drums.py:179), which only applies
+                    # when `v` is omitted from a hit. Pass the GP value through
+                    # verbatim, clamping defensively so a corrupt file can't
+                    # poison the wire format.
                    vel = int(getattr(note, "velocity", 0) or 0)
                    if 1 <= vel <= 127:
                        hit["v"] = vel
@@ -1946,9 +1965,21 @@ def convert_drum_track_to_drumtab(
    # Times for unmapped notes were collected in beat-iteration order;
    # multi-voice measures can produce out-of-order beats, so sort each
    # entry's `times` list chronologically before returning to the caller.
+    # Velocities are index-aligned with times, so they must sort in
+    # LOCKSTEP — sorting times alone would silently reassign dynamics.
    if out_unmapped is not None:
        for _rec in out_unmapped.values():
-            _rec["times"].sort()
+            _vels = _rec.get("velocities")
+            if _vels and len(_vels) == len(_rec["times"]):
+                _pairs = sorted(zip(_rec["times"], _vels))
+                _rec["times"] = [p[0] for p in _pairs]
+                _rec["velocities"] = [p[1] for p in _pairs]
+            else:
+                # Belt-and-suspenders: times & velocities are always appended
+                # together under the same `len(times) < 100` guard above, so
+                # in practice the lengths can't diverge. Kept as a defensive
+                # fallback, not a real divergence case.
+                _rec["times"].sort()

    return {
        "version": drums_mod.SCHEMA_VERSION,
@@ -2049,7 +2080,7 @@ def convert_file(
        safe_name = track.name.strip().replace(" ", "_").replace("/", "_")
        filename = f"{safe_name}_{arr_name or 'arr'}.xml"
        filepath = out / filename
-        filepath.write_text(xml_str)
+        filepath.write_text(xml_str, encoding="utf-8")
        output_files.append(str(filepath))

    return output_files
@@ -121,10 +121,18 @@ def _parse_bcfs(bcfs: bytes) -> dict:
            while sc <= max_sectors:
                s = _gi(po + 4 * sc); sc += 1
                if s == 0: break
-                so = s * SECTOR
-                if HDR + so + SECTOR > len(data):
+                start = HDR + s * SECTOR
+                # Real .gpx files' final sector is a few bytes short of a full
+                # 0x1000 block: the BCFZ-declared decompressed size isn't
+                # sector-aligned, so the last (small) container file lands in a
+                # partial trailing sector. Clamp the read to the buffer end —
+                # the per-file size field (`fs`, applied below) trims any
+                # padding — matching canonical GPX readers (alphaTab /
+                # PyGuitarPro slice-and-clamp). Only a sector whose *start* is
+                # past the end is genuinely malformed.
+                if start < 0 or start >= len(data):
                    raise ValueError("GPX BCFS sector pointer out of range (malformed file)")
-                fb.extend(data[HDR + so: HDR + so + SECTOR])
+                fb.extend(data[start: min(start + SECTOR, len(data))])
            else:
                raise ValueError("GPX BCFS sector chain too long (malformed file)")
            files[fn] = bytes(fb[:fs])
@@ -229,12 +237,29 @@ def _build_tempo_map(root: ET.Element) -> list[tuple[int, float]]:
    return events


+def _parse_tuning(el: ET.Element) -> list[int]:
+    """Return the string-tuning MIDI pitches from the first ``Tuning`` Property
+    at or below ``el`` (a Track or a single Staff), high string first. ``[]`` if
+    there is no Tuning property or its Pitches text is unparseable."""
+    for prop in el.findall('.//Property'):
+        if prop.get('name') == 'Tuning':
+            pe = prop.find('Pitches')
+            if pe is not None and pe.text:
+                try:
+                    return [int(p) for p in pe.text.split()]
+                except ValueError:
+                    return []
+            break
+    return []
+
+
 def _gpif_tracks(root: ET.Element) -> list[dict]:
    """Return a list of raw track dicts from the GPIF Tracks element."""
    # Lookups for per-track note counting. MasterBar/Bars lists one bar id per
-    # track in raw Tracks order, so the enumerate index below (which counts
-    # skipped pseudo-tracks) is the correct bar-lookup index — same mapping
-    # convert_file uses via filtered_to_raw.
+    # *stave* (not per Track element) in document order. A multi-stave track
+    # (e.g. GP8 piano with treble + bass) occupies N consecutive columns; the
+    # bar_column counter below advances by num_staves per track so every track
+    # gets the correct column regardless of neighbour stave counts.
    _masterbars = list(root.find('MasterBars') or [])
    _bars_by_id = {b.get('id'): b for b in (root.find('Bars') or [])}
    _voices_by_id = {v.get('id'): v for v in (root.find('Voices') or [])}
@@ -279,10 +304,17 @@ def _gpif_tracks(root: ET.Element) -> list[dict]:
        return n

    result = []
-    for raw_idx, t in enumerate(root.find('Tracks') or []):
+    bar_column = 0
+    for t in (root.find('Tracks') or []):
+        # Count staves: each Staff occupies one column in MasterBar/Bars.
+        # Default to 1 for tracks with no explicit <Staves> (GP3/4/5, old GPX).
+        num_staves = max(1, len(list(t.findall('Staves/Staff'))))
+        stave_columns = list(range(bar_column, bar_column + num_staves))
+
        name = (t.findtext('Name') or '').strip()
        if name.startswith('@$') and name.endswith('$@'):
-            continue  # GP internal pseudo-tracks (raw_idx still advances)
+            bar_column += num_staves
+            continue  # GP internal pseudo-tracks (bar_column still advances)

        gm = t.find('GeneralMidi')
        midi_program = 0
@@ -319,27 +351,37 @@ def _gpif_tracks(root: ET.Element) -> list[dict]:
                except (ValueError, TypeError):
                    pass

-        # String tuning
-        string_pitches: list[int] = []
-        for prop in t.findall('.//Property'):
-            if prop.get('name') == 'Tuning':
-                pe = prop.find('Pitches')
-                if pe is not None and pe.text:
-                    try:
-                        string_pitches = [int(p) for p in pe.text.split()]
-                    except ValueError:
-                        pass
+        # String tuning — one list per stave, in stave order.  Reading all
+        # `.//Property` descendants across every stave meant the last stave's
+        # tuning overwrote the first; for a GP8 piano (treble 6-string +
+        # bass 5-string) that caused stave-0 notes with String=5 to be
+        # out-of-range against the 5-entry bass tuning and silently dropped.
+        # A staff with no Tuning of its own falls back to the track-level
+        # property (never to []) — an empty list silently drops every fretted
+        # note on that stave in `_note_midi`.  The list stays parallel to
+        # `stave_columns` so a per-stave column always has a matching tuning.
+        _track_tuning = _parse_tuning(t)
+        _staff_els = list(t.findall('Staves/Staff'))
+        if _staff_els:
+            stave_pitches = [(_parse_tuning(s) or _track_tuning) for s in _staff_els]
+        else:
+            # No <Staves> (GP3/4/5 or old GPX): single track-level tuning.
+            stave_pitches = [_track_tuning]

        result.append({
            '_el': t,
            'id': t.get('id', ''),
            'name': name,
-            'string_pitches': string_pitches,
+            'string_pitches': stave_pitches[0],   # primary stave (existing key)
+            'num_staves': num_staves,
+            'stave_columns': stave_columns,
+            'stave_pitches': stave_pitches,
            'is_drums': is_drums,
            'midi_program': midi_program,
            'midi_channel': midi_channel,
-            'note_count': _note_count_for_raw(raw_idx),
+            'note_count': sum(_note_count_for_raw(c) for c in stave_columns),
        })
+        bar_column += num_staves
    return result


@@ -367,6 +409,121 @@ def _beat_dur_secs(beat_el: ET.Element, rhythms_dict: dict, tempo_bpm: float) ->
    return dur_qn * (60.0 / tempo_bpm)


+def _collect_column_notes(
+    col: int,
+    string_pitches: list[int],
+    *,
+    masterbars: list,
+    bars_by_id: dict,
+    voices_dict: dict,
+    beats_dict: dict,
+    notes_dict: dict,
+    rhythms_dict: dict,
+    tempo_map: list,
+    tempo_bpm: float,
+    audio_offset: float,
+) -> list['RsNote']:
+    """Walk one ``MasterBar/Bars`` column (a single stave / hand) and return its
+    notes as keys-encoded ``RsNote`` (``string = midi // 24``, ``fret = midi %
+    24``). Tie destinations extend the matching prior note's sustain (keyed by
+    pitch, so polyphonic parts are handled) rather than emitting a new note —
+    mirroring the main ``convert_file`` builder, including its full-precision
+    timing and the 0.2s sustain threshold.
+
+    Shared by the GPX LH/RH pair merge and the GP8 multi-stave (grand-staff)
+    fold so the two code paths can never drift in tie / timing / dedup handling.
+    """
+    from gp2rs import RsNote  # lazy: gp2rs<->gpx circular import (see convert_file)
+
+    notes: list[RsNote] = []
+    last_per_key: dict[int, RsNote] = {}
+    tempo_iter = iter(tempo_map)
+    next_bar, next_bpm = next(tempo_iter, (999999, tempo_bpm))
+    cur_tempo = tempo_bpm
+    t_cursor = 0.0
+
+    for mb_idx, mb in enumerate(masterbars):
+        while mb_idx >= next_bar:
+            cur_tempo = next_bpm
+            next_bar, next_bpm = next(tempo_iter, (999999, cur_tempo))
+        ts = mb.findtext('Time', '4/4')
+        try:
+            nb, db = [int(x) for x in ts.split('/')]
+        except ValueError:
+            nb, db = 4, 4
+        bar_dur = nb * (4.0 / db) * (60.0 / cur_tempo)
+        bar_ids = mb.findtext('Bars', '').split()
+        bid = bar_ids[col] if col < len(bar_ids) else '-1'
+        if bid != '-1' and bid:
+            bar = bars_by_id.get(bid)
+            if bar is not None:
+                for vid in bar.findtext('Voices', '').split():
+                    if vid == '-1':
+                        continue
+                    voice = voices_dict.get(vid)
+                    if voice is None:
+                        continue
+                    vt = t_cursor
+                    for beat_id in voice.findtext('Beats', '').split():
+                        beat = beats_dict.get(beat_id)
+                        if beat is None:
+                            continue
+                        dur = _beat_dur_secs(beat, rhythms_dict, cur_tempo)
+                        for nid in beat.findtext('Notes', '').strip().split():
+                            note_el = notes_dict.get(nid)
+                            if note_el is None:
+                                continue
+                            if _note_is_tie(note_el):
+                                tie_midi = _note_midi(note_el, string_pitches)
+                                if tie_midi is not None:
+                                    prev = last_per_key.get(tie_midi)
+                                    tie_t = vt + audio_offset
+                                    if prev is not None and prev.time < tie_t:
+                                        prev.sustain = max(
+                                            prev.sustain, (tie_t + dur) - prev.time)
+                                continue
+                            midi = _note_midi(note_el, string_pitches)
+                            if midi is None:
+                                continue
+                            rn = RsNote(
+                                time=vt + audio_offset,
+                                string=midi // 24,
+                                fret=midi % 24,
+                                sustain=dur if dur > 0.2 else 0.0,
+                            )
+                            notes.append(rn)
+                            last_per_key[midi] = rn
+                        vt += dur
+        t_cursor += bar_dur
+    return notes
+
+
+def _merge_lh_notes(rs_notes: list, rs_chords: list, lh_notes: list) -> None:
+    """Fold ``lh_notes`` (a second stave / left hand) into ``rs_notes`` in
+    place, de-duplicating simultaneous same-pitch notes and keeping the LONGER
+    sustain when both hands strike the same key at the same instant. Seeds the
+    dedup set from chord notes too (polyphonic RH beats live in
+    ``rs_chords[*].notes``). No-op for an empty ``lh_notes``."""
+    if not lh_notes:
+        return
+    seen: dict[tuple, RsNote] = {}
+    for n in rs_notes:
+        seen.setdefault((round(n.time, 3), n.string, n.fret), n)
+    for c in rs_chords:
+        for cn in c.notes:
+            seen.setdefault((round(cn.time, 3), cn.string, cn.fret), cn)
+    for rn in lh_notes:
+        k = (round(rn.time, 3), rn.string, rn.fret)
+        existing = seen.get(k)
+        if existing is None:
+            rs_notes.append(rn)
+            seen[k] = rn
+        elif rn.sustain > existing.sustain:
+            # Mutating the RsNote also updates it in place inside any RH chord.
+            existing.sustain = rn.sustain
+    rs_notes.sort(key=lambda n: (n.time, n.string))
+
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Drum encoding tables — ported from alphaTab PercussionMapper (MIT licensed)
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1349,6 +1506,10 @@ def convert_file(
    # Surface that to the caller rather than only the docstring: if the score
    # actually uses repeats, the produced bar count/timing will differ from the
    # equivalent .gp5. Warn once so plugin code/logs don't silently drift.
+    # NB: lib/gp_autosync.gp_has_expandable_repeats() encodes this single-pass
+    # behaviour (.gp/.gpx never expand). Implementing GPIF expansion here MUST
+    # update that helper in the same change, or the editor's per-bar sync warp
+    # would silently retime repeated sections onto the wrong bars.
    if expand_repeats and any(
        mb.find('Repeat') is not None or mb.find('AlternateEndings') is not None
        for mb in masterbars
@@ -1366,17 +1527,16 @@ def convert_file(
    rhythms_dict = {r.get('id'): r for r in (root.find('Rhythms') or [])}
    _bend_divisor = _gpx_bend_scale(root)   # GPIF bend value -> semitones

-    # Map filtered track index -> raw track index (needed for bar lookup)
-    raw_tracks = list(root.find('Tracks') or [])
-    filtered_to_raw: dict[int, int] = {}
-    filtered_pos = 0
-    for raw_idx, t_el in enumerate(raw_tracks):
-        name = (t_el.findtext('Name') or '').strip()
-        if name.startswith('@$') and name.endswith('$@'):
-            continue
-        filtered_to_raw[filtered_pos] = raw_idx
-        filtered_pos += 1
-
+    # Map filtered track index -> bar column (MasterBar/Bars position for
+    # stave 0 of that track). `_gpif_tracks` already computed the per-stave
+    # column layout (advancing by num_staves per track, pseudo-tracks skipped),
+    # so reuse its `stave_columns[0]` rather than re-deriving the counting rule
+    # here — divergence in stave counting *is* the bug class this fix closes.
+    # NB: despite the historical name, the value is a bar *column*, not a raw
+    # Track index — do not index `root.find('Tracks')` with it.
+    filtered_to_raw: dict[int, int] = {
+        i: t['stave_columns'][0] for i, t in enumerate(tracks)
+    }

    # Detect and merge Piano LH+RH pairs into single full-keyboard arrangements
    track_indices, _piano_merge_map = _find_piano_pairs(track_indices, tracks, names)
@@ -1468,7 +1628,16 @@ def convert_file(
        is_keys = (
            not is_drum and not is_vocal
            and (
-                any(kw in track['name'].lower() for kw in ('piano', 'keys', 'keyboard', 'organ'))
+                # A multi-stave track is a grand staff (treble + bass) — i.e. a
+                # keyboard-family part. Treating it as keys end-to-end keeps the
+                # stave-0 encoding and the folded stave-1+ encoding consistent
+                # (both midi//24, midi%24) and makes the `note_count` preview
+                # (which sums every stave column) match what actually imports,
+                # even for instruments the name/program heuristics miss (harp,
+                # celesta, marimba). GPIF writes guitars as a single Staff, so
+                # this does not sweep in ordinary fretted tracks.
+                track.get('num_staves', 1) > 1
+                or any(kw in track['name'].lower() for kw in ('piano', 'keys', 'keyboard', 'organ'))
                or arr_name.lower().startswith('keys')
                or (
                    not track['string_pitches']
@@ -1511,7 +1680,7 @@ def convert_file(
            filepath = safe_join(out, filename)
            if filepath is None:
                raise ValueError(f"unsafe output filename from track name: {track['name']!r}")
-            filepath.write_text(xml_str)
+            filepath.write_text(xml_str, encoding="utf-8")
            output_files.append(str(filepath))
            continue

@@ -1534,7 +1703,6 @@ def convert_file(
        pending_slides: list = []         # (RsNote, rs_string, gp_slide_flags) — resolved post-loop

        current_time = 0.0
-        num_raw_tracks = len(raw_tracks)

        # Resolve current tempo per bar from the tempo map
        _tempo_iter = iter(tempo_map)
@@ -1866,112 +2034,20 @@ def convert_file(
            tuning = _gpx_tuning(track)

        # Merge Piano LH notes into this (RH) arrangement if a pair was detected
+        _walk_kwargs = dict(
+            masterbars=masterbars, bars_by_id=bars_by_id,
+            voices_dict=voices_dict, beats_dict=beats_dict,
+            notes_dict=notes_dict, rhythms_dict=rhythms_dict,
+            tempo_map=tempo_map, tempo_bpm=tempo_bpm, audio_offset=audio_offset,
+        )
        if is_keys and track_idx in _piano_merge_map:
+            # GPX LH/RH pair: the left hand is a *separate* Track element. Walk
+            # its column and fold it into this (right-hand) arrangement.
            lh_idx = _piano_merge_map[track_idx]
            lh_track = tracks[lh_idx]
            lh_raw_idx = filtered_to_raw.get(lh_idx, lh_idx)
-
-            _lh_notes: list[RsNote] = []
-            _lh_last_per_key: dict[int, RsNote] = {}
-            _lh_tempo_iter = iter(tempo_map)
-            _lh_next_bar, _lh_next_bpm = next(_lh_tempo_iter, (999999, tempo_bpm))
-            _lh_cur_tempo = tempo_bpm
-            _lh_time = 0.0
-
-            for _lh_mb_idx, _lh_mb in enumerate(masterbars):
-                while _lh_mb_idx >= _lh_next_bar:
-                    _lh_cur_tempo = _lh_next_bpm
-                    _lh_next_bar, _lh_next_bpm = next(_lh_tempo_iter, (999999, _lh_cur_tempo))
-                _lh_ts = _lh_mb.findtext('Time', '4/4')
-                try:
-                    _lh_nb, _lh_db = [int(x) for x in _lh_ts.split('/')]
-                except ValueError:
-                    _lh_nb, _lh_db = 4, 4
-                _lh_bar_dur = _lh_nb * (4.0 / _lh_db) * (60.0 / _lh_cur_tempo)
-                _lh_bar_ids = _lh_mb.findtext('Bars', '').split()
-                _lh_bid = _lh_bar_ids[lh_raw_idx] if lh_raw_idx < len(_lh_bar_ids) else '-1'
-                if _lh_bid != '-1' and _lh_bid:
-                    _lh_bar = bars_by_id.get(_lh_bid)
-                    if _lh_bar is not None:
-                        for _lh_vid in _lh_bar.findtext('Voices', '').split():
-                            if _lh_vid == '-1':
-                                continue
-                            _lh_voice = voices_dict.get(_lh_vid)
-                            if _lh_voice is None:
-                                continue
-                            _lh_vt = _lh_time
-                            for _lh_beat_id in _lh_voice.findtext('Beats', '').split():
-                                _lh_beat = beats_dict.get(_lh_beat_id)
-                                if _lh_beat is None:
-                                    continue
-                                _lh_dur = _beat_dur_secs(_lh_beat, rhythms_dict, _lh_cur_tempo)
-                                for _lh_nid in _lh_beat.findtext('Notes', '').strip().split():
-                                    _lh_note_el = notes_dict.get(_lh_nid)
-                                    if _lh_note_el is None:
-                                        continue
-                                    if _note_is_tie(_lh_note_el):
-                                        # Extend the matching prior note (same
-                                        # pitch), mirroring the main builder's
-                                        # last_note_per_key handling — blindly
-                                        # extending the last-emitted note
-                                        # mishandles polyphonic (chord) LH parts.
-                                        _tie_midi = _note_midi(_lh_note_el, lh_track['string_pitches'])
-                                        if _tie_midi is not None:
-                                            _prev = _lh_last_per_key.get(_tie_midi)
-                                            # Full-precision comparison (matching
-                                            # the main builder); rounding only
-                                            # happens at XML serialization. Rounding
-                                            # here could make a short note appear to
-                                            # start at the tie time and skip the
-                                            # sustain extension.
-                                            _tie_t = _lh_vt + audio_offset
-                                            if _prev is not None and _prev.time < _tie_t:
-                                                _prev.sustain = max(
-                                                    _prev.sustain,
-                                                    (_tie_t + _lh_dur) - _prev.time,
-                                                )
-                                        continue
-                                    _lh_midi = _note_midi(_lh_note_el, lh_track['string_pitches'])
-                                    if _lh_midi is None:
-                                        continue
-                                    # Keep full-precision time (like the main
-                                    # convert_file() builder — rounding happens at
-                                    # serialization); same 0.2s sustain threshold.
-                                    _lh_rn = RsNote(
-                                        time=_lh_vt + audio_offset,
-                                        string=_lh_midi // 24,
-                                        fret=_lh_midi % 24,
-                                        sustain=_lh_dur if _lh_dur > 0.2 else 0.0,
-                                    )
-                                    _lh_notes.append(_lh_rn)
-                                    _lh_last_per_key[_lh_midi] = _lh_rn
-                                _lh_vt += _lh_dur
-                _lh_time += _lh_bar_dur
-
-            # Merge: combine and deduplicate simultaneous same-pitch notes, then
-            # sort by time. Map each (time, string, fret) to its existing RsNote
-            # so that when both hands hit the same key at the same instant we
-            # keep the LONGER sustain instead of arbitrarily discarding the LH
-            # one. Seed from both single notes and chord notes — polyphonic RH
-            # beats live in rs_chords[*].notes, so seeding from rs_notes alone
-            # would let an identical LH note slip in as a duplicate.
-            _seen: dict[tuple, RsNote] = {}
-            for _n in rs_notes:
-                _seen.setdefault((round(_n.time, 3), _n.string, _n.fret), _n)
-            for _c in rs_chords:
-                for _cn in _c.notes:
-                    _seen.setdefault((round(_cn.time, 3), _cn.string, _cn.fret), _cn)
-            for _lh_rn in _lh_notes:
-                _k = (round(_lh_rn.time, 3), _lh_rn.string, _lh_rn.fret)
-                _existing = _seen.get(_k)
-                if _existing is None:
-                    rs_notes.append(_lh_rn)
-                    _seen[_k] = _lh_rn
-                elif _lh_rn.sustain > _existing.sustain:
-                    # Same key both hands — preserve the longer sustain (mutating
-                    # the RsNote also updates it in place inside any RH chord).
-                    _existing.sustain = _lh_rn.sustain
-            rs_notes.sort(key=lambda n: (n.time, n.string))
+            _merge_lh_notes(rs_notes, rs_chords, _collect_column_notes(
+                lh_raw_idx, lh_track['string_pitches'], **_walk_kwargs))

            # Collapse "Keys 2" -> "Keys": the merged LH+RH is a single
            # keyboard arrangement. Keep the standard "Keys" name (not "Piano")
@@ -1979,6 +2055,18 @@ def convert_file(
            # auto-select (which keys on arr_name.startswith("keys")) still work.
            arr_name = re.sub(r'\s*\d+$', '', arr_name).strip() or 'Keys'

+        elif track.get('num_staves', 1) > 1:
+            # GP8 grand-staff keyboard: staves 1+ (bass clef, and any further
+            # staves) are extra MasterBar/Bars columns for the SAME Track
+            # element. Fold each one in, exactly like the GPX LH merge above.
+            # (num_staves > 1 implies is_keys, set above.) Iterating every
+            # extra column — not just stave_columns[1] — keeps the arrangement
+            # consistent with note_count, which sums all columns.
+            for _col, _sp in zip(track['stave_columns'][1:],
+                                 track['stave_pitches'][1:]):
+                _merge_lh_notes(rs_notes, rs_chords, _collect_column_notes(
+                    _col, _sp, **_walk_kwargs))
+
        # Resolve pending slides now that every note on each string is known.
        # GPIF slide flags: 1=shift, 2=legato (both slide to the NEXT note on the
        # string); 4=slide out downwards, 8=slide out upwards (unpitched).
@@ -2020,7 +2108,7 @@ def convert_file(
        filepath = safe_join(out, filename)
        if filepath is None:
            raise ValueError(f"unsafe output filename from track name: {track['name']!r}")
-        filepath.write_text(xml_str)
+        filepath.write_text(xml_str, encoding="utf-8")
        output_files.append(str(filepath))

        # Keys/piano tracks additionally get a standard-notation sidecar
@@ -2032,19 +2120,24 @@ def convert_file(
            try:
                import gp2notation as _gp2notation
                _lh_idx = _piano_merge_map.get(track_idx)
+                if _lh_idx is not None:
+                    # GPX LH/RH pair (two separate Track elements)
+                    _nt_lh_raw = filtered_to_raw.get(_lh_idx, _lh_idx)
+                    _nt_lh_sp  = tracks[_lh_idx]['string_pitches']
+                elif track.get('num_staves', 1) > 1:
+                    # GP8 two-stave piano (one Track with multiple <Staves>)
+                    _nt_lh_raw = track['stave_columns'][1]
+                    _nt_lh_sp  = (track['stave_pitches'][1]
+                                  if len(track.get('stave_pitches', [])) > 1 else [])
+                else:
+                    _nt_lh_raw, _nt_lh_sp = None, []
                _payload = _gp2notation.convert_track_to_notation(
                    root, raw_idx, track['string_pitches'],
                    instrument='piano',
                    audio_offset=audio_offset,
                    track_name=track['name'],
-                    lh_raw_idx=(
-                        filtered_to_raw.get(_lh_idx, _lh_idx)
-                        if _lh_idx is not None else None
-                    ),
-                    lh_string_pitches=(
-                        tracks[_lh_idx]['string_pitches']
-                        if _lh_idx is not None else None
-                    ),
+                    lh_raw_idx=_nt_lh_raw,
+                    lh_string_pitches=_nt_lh_sp or None,
                )
                _gp2notation.write_notation_sidecar(filepath, _payload)
            except Exception:
@@ -72,15 +72,59 @@ def _parse_gpif(data: bytes):
        return ET.fromstring(data)


+def _asset_path_from_registry(root, asset_id: str) -> str | None:
+    """The ZIP path an ``<Asset id=...>`` declares, or None.
+
+    GPIF shape::
+
+        <Assets>
+          <Asset id="0">
+            <EmbeddedFilePath>Content/Assets/&lt;hash&gt;.mp3</EmbeddedFilePath>
+
+    Separators are normalised (a writer may emit backslashes) and the
+    result is returned as-is for the caller to verify against the
+    archive — this function never decides that a path exists.
+    """
+    if root is None or not asset_id:
+        return None
+    try:
+        for asset in root.iter('Asset'):
+            if (asset.get('id') or '').strip() != asset_id:
+                continue
+            node = asset.find('EmbeddedFilePath')
+            path = (node.text or '').strip() if node is not None else ''
+            if not path:
+                return None
+            return path.replace('\\', '/').lstrip('./')
+    except Exception:
+        # A malformed registry is not fatal — the caller has two more
+        # resolution steps behind this one.
+        return None
+    return None
+
+
 def _resolve_audio_asset(zf, root=None) -> tuple[str, str | None]:
    """Resolve the embedded backing-track audio asset inside a .gp ZIP.

-    Matches ``BackingTrack/AssetId`` against the audio files under
-    ``Content/Assets/`` (OGG, MP3, M4A, …) and falls back to the first
-    audio asset when the declared id is missing or unmatched. Returns
-    ``(asset_stem, audio_zip_path)``, or ``('', None)`` when the archive
-    has no audio asset. Shared by ``extract_sync`` and ``extract_audio``
-    so the matching logic can't drift between them.
+    ``BackingTrack/AssetId`` is a key into the GPIF's ``<Assets>``
+    registry — ``<Asset id="0"><EmbeddedFilePath>`` names the exact path
+    inside the ZIP — NOT a filename stem. Resolution order:
+
+    1. the registry entry for the declared id (authoritative);
+    2. a filename-stem match (files whose stem IS the id);
+    3. the archive's first audio asset.
+
+    Step 2 was previously the only lookup, which mattered because GP8
+    names embedded files by hash while ids are small integers, so the
+    stem match essentially never hit: every such file logged a warning
+    and fell through to step 3. That was silently correct only because a
+    file almost always carries exactly ONE audio asset — with two, a
+    backing track declaring id 1 resolved to asset 0, i.e. the wrong
+    recording.
+
+    Returns ``(asset_stem, audio_zip_path)``, or ``('', None)`` when the
+    archive has no audio asset. Shared by ``extract_sync`` and
+    ``extract_audio`` so the matching logic can't drift between them.
    """
    audio_files = [
        n for n in zf.namelist()
@@ -115,6 +159,32 @@ def _resolve_audio_asset(zf, root=None) -> tuple[str, str | None]:
            declared = (aid.text or '').strip() if aid is not None else ''

    if declared:
+        # 1. The <Assets> registry is authoritative: it maps the id to the
+        #    embedded path directly. Membership in the archive is verified
+        #    rather than trusted — the path comes out of the file, and a
+        #    stale/edited entry must fall through, not resolve to nothing.
+        registry_path = _asset_path_from_registry(root, declared)
+        if registry_path:
+            # Matched on STEM, not the whole path, so a format variant of the
+            # same recording can win (see _prefer_ogg) — but constrained to the
+            # directory the registry actually named. Without that constraint an
+            # unrelated file that merely shares the stem could stand in for the
+            # declared asset, which is the failure the registry lookup exists
+            # to prevent.
+            declared_path = Path(registry_path)
+            same_stem = [
+                n for n in audio_files
+                if Path(n).stem == declared_path.stem
+                and Path(n).parent == declared_path.parent
+            ]
+            if same_stem:
+                return declared_path.stem, _prefer_ogg(same_stem)
+            _log.warning(
+                'gp8_audio_sync: AssetId %r maps to %r, which is not an audio '
+                'asset in the archive; falling back',
+                declared, registry_path,
+            )
+        # 2. Legacy shape: files whose stem IS the declared id.
        matched = [n for n in audio_files if Path(n).stem == declared]
        if matched:
            return declared, _prefer_ogg(matched)
@@ -18,8 +18,22 @@ plugin is installed; graceful ImportError otherwise with clear message).
 Public API:
    is_available()                          -> bool
    auto_sync(gp_path, audio_path, ...)    -> GpSyncData
+    refine_sync(sync, audio_path, ...)     -> GpSyncData
    estimate_audio_offset(gp_path,
                          audio_path)      -> float
+    bar_start_times(gp_path)               -> list[float]
+    gp_has_expandable_repeats(gp_path)     -> bool
+    build_warp_anchors(sync_points,
+                       bar_starts)         -> list[tuple[float, float]]
+    warp_time(t, anchors)                  -> float
+    warp_song_times(song, warp)            -> None
+
+The warp helpers (bar_start_times / build_warp_anchors / warp_time /
+warp_song_times) are librosa-free: they turn a GpSyncData produced by
+auto_sync (or extracted from a GP8 file) into a piecewise-linear
+score-time -> audio-time mapping and apply it to a lib.song.Song, so
+converted charts follow the recording's actual tempo drift instead of a
+single scalar offset.
 """

 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -353,15 +367,22 @@ def _synthesise_score_chroma(
    return chroma

 _GP345_TICKS_PER_QUARTER = 960
+# PyGuitarPro absolute ticks start at quarterTime (measure 1 begins at tick
+# 960, not 0). All tick math in this module runs on a 0-based axis (cumulative
+# measure starts), so raw beat.start values must be shifted by this origin —
+# mixing the two axes applied every mid-song tempo change a quarter note late
+# and skewed the synthesised chroma against the bar timeline.
+_GP345_TICK_ORIGIN = 960


 def _gp345_tempo_events(song) -> list[tuple[int, float]]:
    """Sorted, tick-deduplicated ``[(tick, bpm)]`` tempo events for a GP3/4/5 song.

    Seeds with the song's initial tempo at tick 0, then appends every
-    ``mixTableChange`` tempo. Shared by chroma synthesis and bar-time
-    computation so both use one identical tempo model (mirrors
-    ``gp2rs._build_tempo_map``).
+    ``mixTableChange`` tempo. Ticks are normalised to the 0-based axis
+    (raw ``beat.start`` minus ``_GP345_TICK_ORIGIN``). Shared by chroma
+    synthesis and bar-time computation so both use one identical tempo
+    model (mirrors ``gp2rs._build_tempo_map``).
    """
    events: list[tuple[int, float]] = [(0, float(song.tempo))]
    for track in song.tracks:
@@ -371,7 +392,10 @@ def _gp345_tempo_events(song) -> list[tuple[int, float]]:
                    if beat.effect and beat.effect.mixTableChange:
                        mtc = beat.effect.mixTableChange
                        if mtc.tempo and mtc.tempo.value > 0:
-                            events.append((beat.start, float(mtc.tempo.value)))
+                            events.append((
+                                max(0, beat.start - _GP345_TICK_ORIGIN),
+                                float(mtc.tempo.value),
+                            ))
    events.sort(key=lambda e: e[0])
    seen_ticks: set[int] = set()
    unique: list[tuple[int, float]] = []
@@ -459,8 +483,9 @@ def _synthesise_score_chroma_gp345(
                for beat in voice.beats:
                    if not beat.notes:
                        continue
-                    beat_secs = tick_to_secs(beat.start)
-                    cur_tempo = tempo_at_tick(beat.start)
+                    beat_tick = max(0, beat.start - _GP345_TICK_ORIGIN)
+                    beat_secs = tick_to_secs(beat_tick)
+                    cur_tempo = tempo_at_tick(beat_tick)
                    dur_secs = duration_to_secs(beat.duration, cur_tempo)

                    for note in beat.notes:
@@ -513,13 +538,75 @@ def _dtw_align(
    Returns wp where wp[i] = [score_frame_index, audio_frame_index].
    """
    import librosa
+    import numpy as np
    cs = _safe_normalise(chroma_score)
    ca = _safe_normalise(chroma_audio)
-    _D, wp = librosa.sequence.dtw(cs, ca, metric='cosine')
+    # Slope-constrained step pattern ([[1,1],[1,2],[2,1]], Müller's standard
+    # music-sync config): every step advances BOTH axes, bounding the local
+    # tempo ratio to 0.5x-2x. librosa's default steps allow pure
+    # horizontal/vertical runs, and on riff-based music (long self-similar
+    # chroma stretches, e.g. stoner/doom) the flat cost surface let the path
+    # collapse — whole minutes of score mapped onto a single audio frame,
+    # producing garbage sync points. The constrained pattern makes that
+    # degenerate path impossible.
+    steps = np.array([[1, 1], [1, 2], [2, 1]])
+    weights = np.array([1.0, 1.0, 1.0])
+    try:
+        _D, wp = librosa.sequence.dtw(
+            cs, ca, metric='cosine',
+            step_sizes_sigma=steps, weights_mul=weights,
+        )
+    except Exception as exc:
+        # The constrained pattern needs the global length ratio within its
+        # 0.5x-2x slope bounds; a pathological pairing (e.g. a 3-minute tab
+        # against a 20-minute video) is infeasible and librosa raises. Fall
+        # back to the unconstrained path rather than failing the whole sync.
+        _log.warning("gp_autosync: constrained DTW infeasible (%s) — "
+                     "falling back to unconstrained steps", exc)
+        _D, wp = librosa.sequence.dtw(cs, ca, metric='cosine')
    return wp[::-1]  # reverse to forward order

 # ── Sync point extraction from DTW path ──────────────────────────────────────

+def _gpif_bar_starts(root: ET.Element) -> list[float]:
+    """Score-time (seconds) at the start of each masterbar in a GPIF score.
+
+    Integrates bar durations from the bar-resolution tempo map and each
+    masterbar's time signature — the same time model _synthesise_score_chroma
+    uses, so bar times land where the bars sit in the synthesised chroma.
+    """
+    tempo_map = _get_tempo_map(root)
+    masterbars = _children(root, 'MasterBars')
+    tempo_iter = iter(tempo_map)
+    next_tb, next_bpm = next(tempo_iter, (999999, tempo_map[0][1]))
+    ct = tempo_map[0][1]
+    t_cur = 0.0
+    bar_starts: list[float] = []
+    for mb_idx, mb in enumerate(masterbars):
+        while mb_idx >= next_tb:
+            ct = next_bpm
+            next_tb, next_bpm = next(tempo_iter, (999999, ct))
+        bar_starts.append(t_cur)
+        ts = mb.findtext('Time', '4/4')
+        try:
+            n_b, d_b = [int(x) for x in ts.split('/')]
+        except ValueError:
+            n_b, d_b = 4, 4
+        t_cur += n_b * (4.0 / d_b) * (60.0 / ct)
+    return bar_starts
+
+
+def _gp345_measure_start_ticks(song) -> list[int]:
+    """Cumulative start tick of each measure in a PyGuitarPro song."""
+    starts: list[int] = []
+    cum = 0
+    for mh in song.measureHeaders:
+        starts.append(cum)
+        ts = mh.timeSignature
+        cum += int(ts.numerator * (4.0 / ts.denominator.value) * _GP345_TICKS_PER_QUARTER)
+    return starts
+
+
 def _extract_sync_points(
    wp: 'np.ndarray',
    root: ET.Element,
@@ -565,22 +652,7 @@ def _extract_sync_points(
    if bar_starts_override is not None:
        bar_starts_score = list(bar_starts_override)
    else:
-        tempo_iter = iter(tempo_map)
-        next_tb, next_bpm = next(tempo_iter, (999999, tempo_map[0][1]))
-        ct = tempo_map[0][1]
-        t_cur = 0.0
-        bar_starts_score = []
-        for mb_idx, mb in enumerate(masterbars):
-            while mb_idx >= next_tb:
-                ct = next_bpm
-                next_tb, next_bpm = next(tempo_iter, (999999, ct))
-            bar_starts_score.append(t_cur)
-            ts = mb.findtext('Time', '4/4')
-            try:
-                n_b, d_b = [int(x) for x in ts.split('/')]
-            except ValueError:
-                n_b, d_b = 4, 4
-            t_cur += n_b * (4.0 / d_b) * (60.0 / ct)
+        bar_starts_score = _gpif_bar_starts(root)

    # Map each sampled bar to its audio time via the DTW path
    sync_points: list[SyncPoint] = []
@@ -663,6 +735,224 @@ def _tempo_at_bar(tempo_map: list[tuple[int, float]], bar: int) -> float:

 # ── Audio offset estimation ───────────────────────────────────────────────────

+# ── Piecewise time warp (librosa-free) ───────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# auto_sync's per-bar sync points describe where each sampled bar of the tab
+# falls in the real recording. Applying only the scalar audio_offset (bar 1)
+# assumes the recording holds the authored tempo for the whole song — any
+# drift accumulates. These helpers build the full piecewise-linear
+# score-time -> audio-time mapping and apply it to a converted Song, so the
+# chart follows the recording bar by bar (Songsterr-style sync).
+
+def bar_start_times(gp_path: str) -> list[float]:
+    """Score-time (seconds) at the start of every bar of a GP file.
+
+    Uses the same tempo models as auto_sync's chroma synthesis (GPIF
+    bar-resolution map for .gp/.gpx, per-tick integration for .gp3/4/5), so
+    the returned times share an axis with auto_sync's sync points.
+
+    Raises ValueError if the file cannot be parsed, ImportError if the file
+    is GP3/4/5 and PyGuitarPro is not installed.
+    """
+    try:
+        root = _load_gpif(gp_path)
+    except _Gp345FileError:
+        import guitarpro
+        try:
+            song = guitarpro.parse(gp_path)
+        except Exception as exc:
+            raise ValueError(f"Cannot parse GP3/4/5 file {gp_path!r}: {exc}") from exc
+        tempo_events = _gp345_tempo_events(song)
+        return [
+            _gp345_tick_to_secs(tempo_events, tick)
+            for tick in _gp345_measure_start_ticks(song)
+        ]
+    return _gpif_bar_starts(root)
+
+
+def gp_has_expandable_repeats(gp_path: str) -> bool:
+    """True when converting `gp_path` expands repeats into a longer timeline
+    than the as-written score auto_sync aligned against.
+
+    gp2rs.convert_file walks the GP3/4/5 playback graph (repeat brackets,
+    voltas, D.S./D.C. directions), so a file using any of those produces an
+    as-performed timeline that auto_sync's as-written sync points cannot be
+    mapped onto. GPIF (.gp/.gpx) conversion is single-pass as-written today,
+    so those files always return False — both sides share one bar order.
+
+    Returns False when the file cannot be parsed (callers fall back to
+    offset-only sync on parse failure anyway).
+    """
+    if Path(gp_path).suffix.lower() in ('.gp', '.gpx'):
+        return False
+    try:
+        import guitarpro
+        song = guitarpro.parse(gp_path)
+    except Exception:
+        return False
+    for mh in song.measureHeaders:
+        if mh.isRepeatOpen or mh.repeatClose >= 0 or mh.repeatAlternative:
+            return True
+        # Both jump SOURCES (fromDirection: D.C., D.S., Da Coda) and jump
+        # TARGETS (direction: Segno, Coda, Fine) count — a plain Da Capo
+        # needs no target marker, so checking `direction` alone would miss
+        # it while gp2rs's playback walker still expands the jump.
+        if (getattr(mh, 'direction', None) is not None
+                or getattr(mh, 'fromDirection', None) is not None):
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
+def build_warp_anchors(
+    sync_points: list[SyncPoint],
+    bar_starts: list[float],
+) -> list[tuple[float, float]]:
+    """Turn sync points into (score_secs, audio_secs) anchor pairs.
+
+    Drops points whose bar index is out of range, points that would break
+    strict monotonicity on either axis (DTW can locally fold on noisy audio;
+    a non-monotonic anchor would make the warp non-invertible and reorder
+    notes), and points whose segment slope implies a physically implausible
+    tempo ratio (outside 0.2x-5x authored). Returns [] when fewer than 2
+    usable anchors remain — callers should fall back to scalar-offset sync
+    in that case.
+    """
+    anchors: list[tuple[float, float]] = []
+    for sp in sorted(sync_points, key=lambda p: p.bar):
+        if not 0 <= sp.bar < len(bar_starts):
+            continue
+        score_t = bar_starts[sp.bar]
+        audio_t = float(sp.time_secs)
+        if anchors and (score_t <= anchors[-1][0] + 1e-6
+                        or audio_t <= anchors[-1][1] + 1e-3):
+            continue
+        if anchors:
+            # Slope sanity gate: a segment whose audio/score tempo ratio is
+            # outside [0.2, 5] is not a performance — it's a DTW fold onto a
+            # repeated section, an abridged recording, or a run of
+            # monotonicity-clamped refine points. Keeping it would crush (or
+            # absurdly stretch) every bar in the span, which is far worse
+            # than interpolating through from the neighbouring anchors.
+            slope = (audio_t - anchors[-1][1]) / (score_t - anchors[-1][0])
+            if not 0.2 <= slope <= 5.0:
+                continue
+        anchors.append((score_t, audio_t))
+    return anchors if len(anchors) >= 2 else []
+
+
+def warp_time(t: float, anchors: list[tuple[float, float]]) -> float:
+    """Map a score-time (seconds) to audio-time via piecewise-linear anchors.
+
+    Between anchors: linear interpolation. Outside the anchor range: the
+    nearest segment's slope is extended, so a count-in before bar 1 and the
+    tail after the last sampled bar keep the local tempo ratio.
+
+    `anchors` must be the >=2-point strictly-monotonic list produced by
+    build_warp_anchors.
+    """
+    lo = 0
+    hi = len(anchors) - 1
+    if t <= anchors[0][0]:
+        seg = (anchors[0], anchors[1])
+    elif t >= anchors[hi][0]:
+        seg = (anchors[hi - 1], anchors[hi])
+    else:
+        # Binary search for the segment containing t
+        while hi - lo > 1:
+            mid = (lo + hi) // 2
+            if anchors[mid][0] <= t:
+                lo = mid
+            else:
+                hi = mid
+        seg = (anchors[lo], anchors[hi])
+    (s0, a0), (s1, a1) = seg
+    slope = (a1 - a0) / (s1 - s0)
+    return a0 + (t - s0) * slope
+
+
+def warp_song_times(song, warp) -> None:
+    """Apply a monotonic time-mapping callable to every absolute time in a
+    lib.song.Song, in place.
+
+    Covers beats, sections, song_length, and per-arrangement notes (onset +
+    sustain), chords (incl. chord notes), anchors, hand shapes, per-phrase
+    difficulty levels, tone changes, and tempo overrides. Durations (note
+    sustain, handshape span) are warped as end-start so they stretch with the
+    local tempo ratio; sub-second intra-note envelopes (bend curves, which are
+    relative to the note onset) are left untouched.
+
+    Duck-typed: accepts any object with the lib.song.Song surface.
+
+    Identity-safe: parse_arrangement shares the SAME Note/Chord/Anchor/
+    HandShape objects between the flat arrangement lists and the
+    max-difficulty phrase level, so each object is warped at most once no
+    matter how many containers reference it.
+    """
+    seen: set[int] = set()
+
+    def _once(obj) -> bool:
+        key = id(obj)
+        if key in seen:
+            return False
+        seen.add(key)
+        return True
+
+    def _warp_notes(notes):
+        for n in notes or []:
+            if not _once(n):
+                continue
+            end = warp(n.time + n.sustain)
+            n.time = warp(n.time)
+            n.sustain = max(0.0, end - n.time)
+
+    def _warp_chords(chords):
+        for c in chords or []:
+            if not _once(c):
+                continue
+            c.time = warp(c.time)
+            _warp_notes(c.notes)
+
+    def _warp_anchors(anchors):
+        for a in anchors or []:
+            if _once(a):
+                a.time = warp(a.time)
+
+    def _warp_handshapes(shapes):
+        for h in shapes or []:
+            if not _once(h):
+                continue
+            start = warp(h.start_time)
+            end = warp(h.end_time)
+            h.start_time = start
+            h.end_time = max(start, end)
+
+    song.song_length = max(0.0, warp(song.song_length))
+    for b in song.beats:
+        b.time = warp(b.time)
+    for s in song.sections:
+        s.start_time = warp(s.start_time)
+    for arr in song.arrangements:
+        _warp_notes(arr.notes)
+        _warp_chords(arr.chords)
+        _warp_anchors(arr.anchors)
+        _warp_handshapes(arr.hand_shapes)
+        for ph in arr.phrases or []:
+            ph.start_time = warp(ph.start_time)
+            ph.end_time = warp(ph.end_time)
+            for lvl in ph.levels or []:
+                _warp_notes(lvl.notes)
+                _warp_chords(lvl.chords)
+                _warp_anchors(lvl.anchors)
+                _warp_handshapes(lvl.hand_shapes)
+        if arr.tones and isinstance(arr.tones, dict):
+            for change in arr.tones.get('changes') or []:
+                if isinstance(change, dict) and isinstance(change.get('t'), (int, float)):
+                    change['t'] = warp(float(change['t']))
+        for tempo_ev in arr.tempos or []:
+            if isinstance(tempo_ev, dict) and isinstance(tempo_ev.get('time'), (int, float)):
+                tempo_ev['time'] = warp(float(tempo_ev['time']))
+
+
 def _estimate_audio_offset(
    root: ET.Element,
    audio_path: str,
@@ -932,12 +1222,7 @@ def auto_sync(
        # below line up with the chroma timeline.
        _tempo_events_gp345 = _gp345_tempo_events(_gp345x_song)
        # Convert tick events to bar events using actual measure start ticks
-        _measure_starts = []  # cumulative tick at start of each bar
-        _cum = 0
-        for _mh2 in _gp345x_song.measureHeaders:
-            _measure_starts.append(_cum)
-            _ts = _mh2.timeSignature
-            _cum += int(_ts.numerator * (4.0 / _ts.denominator.value) * _GP345_TICKS_PER_QUARTER)
+        _measure_starts = _gp345_measure_start_ticks(_gp345x_song)

        def _tick_to_bar(tick):
            """Return 0-based bar index for a given tick position."""
@@ -1024,6 +1309,216 @@ def auto_sync(
        sync_points=sync_points,
    )

+def refine_sync(
+    sync: GpSyncData,
+    audio_path: str,
+    bars_per_point: int = 8,
+    gp_path: str | None = None,
+    sr: int = _SR,
+    search_radius: float = 0.35,
+    phase_step: float = 0.005,
+    onset_tolerance: float = 0.05,
+) -> GpSyncData:
+    """Refine coarse DTW sync points with a per-bar onset phase sweep.
+
+    auto_sync's mid-song points inherit the DTW frame granularity (~186ms at
+    the default hop). This pass re-times a denser grid of bars — every
+    `bars_per_point`-th bar plus the first and last — by sweeping a local
+    beat grid (±`search_radius`s in `phase_step` steps) against detected
+    onsets and keeping the phase that aligns best, narrowing each kept point
+    to roughly the phase-step resolution on percussive material.
+
+    Args:
+        sync:            Coarse sync data from auto_sync (or a prior refine).
+        audio_path:      The same audio file auto_sync aligned against.
+        bars_per_point:  Refined-point density; every Nth bar gets a point.
+        gp_path:         Optional path to the GP file. When given, exact
+                         per-bar score times (bar_start_times) drive the
+                         densified grid; without it the grid is limited to
+                         a 4/4 approximation built from the points' authored
+                         tempos, and accuracy degrades on odd meters.
+        sr:              Analysis sample rate.
+        search_radius:   ±seconds around each coarse estimate to sweep.
+        phase_step:      Sweep resolution in seconds.
+        onset_tolerance: Max onset-to-click distance that counts as aligned.
+
+    Returns:
+        A new GpSyncData with the refined (and usually denser) points and a
+        recomputed audio_offset. Returns `sync` unchanged when it has no
+        usable points. Quiet bars (fewer than 4 onsets nearby) keep their
+        coarse interpolated time rather than locking onto noise.
+    """
+    if not sync.sync_points:
+        return sync
+
+    pts = sorted(sync.sync_points, key=lambda p: p.bar)
+
+    bar_starts: list[float] | None = None
+    if gp_path:
+        try:
+            bar_starts = bar_start_times(gp_path)
+        except Exception as exc:
+            _log.warning("refine_sync: bar_start_times(%s) failed (%s) — "
+                         "falling back to 4/4 tempo model", gp_path, exc)
+    if bar_starts is None:
+        # Approximate score bar starts from the points' authored tempos,
+        # assuming 4 beats per bar (all GpSyncData carries without the file).
+        max_bar = pts[-1].bar
+        bar_starts = [0.0]
+        ti = 0
+        cur_bpm = pts[0].original_tempo or 120.0
+        for b in range(1, max_bar + 1):
+            while ti + 1 < len(pts) and pts[ti + 1].bar <= b - 1:
+                ti += 1
+                cur_bpm = pts[ti].original_tempo or cur_bpm
+            bar_starts.append(bar_starts[-1] + 4 * 60.0 / max(cur_bpm, 1e-3))
+
+    anchors = build_warp_anchors(pts, bar_starts)
+    if len(anchors) < 2:
+        _log.warning("refine_sync: fewer than 2 usable anchors — returning "
+                     "input unchanged")
+        return sync
+
+    # Authored-tempo lookup via the shared bar-map scan (_tempo_at_bar) so
+    # boundary semantics can't drift from the rest of the module.
+    _orig_map = [(p.bar, p.original_tempo or 120.0) for p in pts]
+
+    def _orig_bpm_at(bar: int) -> float:
+        return max(_tempo_at_bar(_orig_map, bar), 1e-3)
+
+    n_bars = len(bar_starts)
+    step = max(1, int(bars_per_point))
+    targets = sorted(set(range(0, n_bars, step)) | {n_bars - 1})
+
+    # Deferred past the pure early-return paths above so degenerate inputs
+    # (no points, <2 anchors) resolve without librosa installed.
+    import librosa
+    import numpy as np
+
+    y, _ = librosa.load(audio_path, sr=sr, mono=True)
+    audio_dur = len(y) / sr
+    hop = 512  # ~23ms at 22050Hz — fine enough for onset timing
+    onset_frames = librosa.onset.onset_detect(
+        y=y, sr=sr, hop_length=hop, backtrack=True
+    )
+    onset_times = np.asarray(
+        librosa.frames_to_time(onset_frames, sr=sr, hop_length=hop)
+    )
+
+    refined: list[tuple[int, float]] = []
+    for b in targets:
+        score_t = bar_starts[b]
+        coarse = warp_time(score_t, anchors)
+        if coarse > audio_dur + 1.0:
+            break  # bar falls past the end of the recording
+        # Local beat period in AUDIO time: authored beat period scaled by the
+        # local warp slope (recording tempo / authored tempo around this bar).
+        slope = warp_time(score_t + 1.0, anchors) - coarse
+        slope = min(max(slope, 0.25), 4.0)
+        beat_period = (60.0 / _orig_bpm_at(b)) * slope
+
+        # Keep the scoring grid short: beat_period is estimated from the
+        # coarse anchors (a few % off), and grid drift grows linearly with
+        # distance — 16 beats at 2% error is already ~150ms of skew at the
+        # far end, which drags the sweep. 8 beats bounds that to ~beat noise.
+        grid_span = 8 * beat_period
+        # Clamp the sweep window below half a beat so the neighbouring beat
+        # is never a candidate — on periodic material (steady drums) a grid
+        # shifted by one whole beat scores identically and the sweep could
+        # lock a full beat off. DTW coarse error is ~1 analysis frame, which
+        # this window still covers at all but extreme tempos.
+        radius = min(search_radius, 0.45 * beat_period)
+        w_lo = coarse - radius - onset_tolerance
+        w_hi = coarse + radius + grid_span + onset_tolerance
+        local = onset_times[(onset_times >= w_lo) & (onset_times <= w_hi)]
+        if len(local) < 4:
+            refined.append((b, coarse))
+            continue
+
+        best_t, best_score, best_dist = coarse, -1, 0.0
+        for phase in np.arange(coarse - radius, coarse + radius + 1e-9,
+                               phase_step):
+            clicks = np.arange(phase, phase + grid_span, beat_period)
+            score = int(sum(
+                1 for t in local
+                if float(np.min(np.abs(clicks - t))) < onset_tolerance
+            ))
+            dist = abs(float(phase) - coarse)
+            # Ties break toward the coarse estimate so a flat score surface
+            # (sustained pads, sparse onsets) can't drag the point sideways.
+            if score > best_score or (score == best_score and dist < best_dist):
+                best_score, best_t, best_dist = score, float(phase), dist
+
+        # A sweep that matched almost nothing found a spurious edge
+        # alignment, not the beat grid — this happens when the true phase
+        # lies outside the (ambiguity-clamped) window, e.g. fast tempos
+        # where the DTW coarse error exceeds half a beat. Keeping the
+        # coarse estimate degrades gracefully instead of locking a
+        # fraction of a beat off.
+        if best_score < 3:
+            refined.append((b, coarse))
+            continue
+
+        # The onset-count score is flat within ±onset_tolerance of the true
+        # phase, so the sweep alone can be off by up to the tolerance. Snap
+        # inside that plateau: shift by the median residual between matched
+        # onsets and their nearest grid click. Only the first few beats
+        # count here — they are nearly insensitive to beat_period error,
+        # while far clicks would leak that error into the residuals.
+        if best_score > 0:
+            clicks = np.arange(best_t, best_t + 4 * beat_period + 1e-9,
+                               beat_period)
+            residuals = []
+            for t in local:
+                d = clicks - float(t)
+                j = int(np.argmin(np.abs(d)))
+                if abs(d[j]) < onset_tolerance:
+                    residuals.append(-float(d[j]))  # onset minus click
+            if residuals:
+                best_t += float(np.median(residuals))
+        refined.append((b, best_t))
+
+    if not refined:
+        return sync
+
+    # Enforce monotonicity: a point refined earlier than its predecessor
+    # would fold the warp. Clamp to a small positive gap.
+    mono: list[tuple[int, float]] = []
+    prev_t: float | None = None
+    for b, t in refined:
+        t = max(t, 0.0)
+        if prev_t is not None and t <= prev_t + 0.02:
+            t = prev_t + 0.02
+        mono.append((b, t))
+        prev_t = t
+
+    # Recompute per-segment modified tempos from the refined times (same
+    # formula _extract_sync_points uses; the last point carries the previous
+    # segment's tempo forward).
+    new_points: list[SyncPoint] = []
+    for i, (b, t) in enumerate(mono):
+        obpm = _orig_bpm_at(b)
+        if i + 1 < len(mono):
+            b2, t2 = mono[i + 1]
+            score_seg = bar_starts[b2] - bar_starts[b]
+            audio_seg = t2 - t
+            mod = obpm * (score_seg / audio_seg) if audio_seg > 1e-3 else obpm
+            mod = max(20.0, min(300.0, mod))
+        else:
+            mod = new_points[-1].modified_tempo if new_points else obpm
+        new_points.append(SyncPoint(
+            bar=b, time_secs=t, modified_tempo=mod, original_tempo=obpm,
+        ))
+
+    _log.info("refine_sync: %d points (was %d), audio_offset=%.3fs",
+              len(new_points), len(pts), -new_points[0].time_secs)
+    return GpSyncData(
+        audio_offset=-new_points[0].time_secs,
+        audio_asset_id=sync.audio_asset_id,
+        sync_points=new_points,
+    )
+
+
 def estimate_audio_offset(gp_path: str, audio_path: str) -> float:
    """
    Estimate the audio_offset for a GP file aligned to an audio file.
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+"""JSONC support — JSON with C-style comments.
+
+Per feedpak-spec §8: when a manifest pointer resolves to a ``.jsonc`` file, a
+Reader MUST strip ``//`` line comments and ``/* */`` block comments before
+parsing the JSON content. This module implements that stripping in a single
+shared place so every sloppak/feedpak reader in this repo parses ``.jsonc``
+the same way (string-aware so comment-like text inside JSON strings survives).
+
+The regex mirrors the reference implementation in ``feedpak-spec/tools/validate.py``.
+``load_json(path)`` auto-detects ``.jsonc`` by suffix; plain ``.json`` (and any
+other extension) goes straight through ``json.loads``. Use it as a drop-in
+replacement for ``json.loads(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))``.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+
+# Match JSON string literals (preserved), // line comments, and /* block */
+# comments. A single combined alternation processed by `sub` with a callback
+# that keeps strings and replaces comments with the empty string — so
+# comment-like text inside a string literal is never stripped.
+_JSONC_STRIP_RE = re.compile(
+    r'"(?:[^"\\]|\\.)*"|'   # string literal — keep as-is
+    r'//.*|'                 # // line comment — strip
+    r'/\*[\s\S]*?\*/',       # /* block comment */ — strip
+)
+
+
+def parse_jsonc(text: str) -> object:
+    """Parse a JSONC string, stripping C-style comments before JSON parsing.
+
+    Handles ``//`` line comments and ``/* */`` block comments, respecting
+    string boundaries so that comment-like text inside strings is preserved.
+    Raises ``json.JSONDecodeError`` on malformed JSON (after stripping).
+    """
+    stripped = _JSONC_STRIP_RE.sub(
+        lambda m: m.group(0) if m.group(0).startswith('"') else '',
+        text,
+    )
+    return json.loads(stripped)
+
+
+def load_json(path: Path) -> object:
+    """Read and parse a JSON/JSONC file by path.
+
+    Files ending in ``.jsonc`` are stripped of comments via :func:`parse_jsonc`;
+    all other files are parsed as plain JSON. UTF-8 encoded, matching every
+    other reader in this repo.
+    """
+    raw = path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    if path.name.lower().endswith(".jsonc"):
+        return parse_jsonc(raw)
+    return json.loads(raw)
@@ -0,0 +1,496 @@
+"""The library-provider registry — the plugin extension point for song sources.
+
+`LocalLibraryProvider` wraps the local `MetadataDB`; third-party plugins register
+their own providers (duck-typed: any object with the advertised methods) through
+`LibraryProviderRegistry`, and smart collections are surfaced as
+`SmartCollectionProvider`s over the local one. server.py constructs the singleton
+(`library_providers`), injects it + the local provider into appstate, and exposes
+`register_library_provider`/`unregister_library_provider` to plugins via
+plugin_context (with per-plugin ownership scoping in plugins/__init__.py).
+
+Moved verbatim out of server.py (R3). The shared query/collection helpers live
+here too so routers/library.py can import them without reaching into server.
+"""
+
+import re
+import threading
+from typing import ClassVar
+
+import appstate
+from metadata_db import (
+    MetadataDB, _effective_tuning_cols_sql, _perspective_is_inferred_sql,
+    _tuning_group_key_sql,
+)
+import tunings as tunings_mod
+from tunings import DEFAULT_PERSPECTIVE, PERSPECTIVES
+from routers import art as art_router
+
+import logging
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+
+def _safe_art_redirect_url(url: str) -> str | None:
+    """Return the URL if it is safe to redirect to (http/https only), else None."""
+    from urllib.parse import urlparse
+    if not url or not isinstance(url, str):
+        return None
+    try:
+        parsed = urlparse(url)
+        if parsed.scheme.lower() not in ("http", "https"):
+            return None
+        if not parsed.hostname:
+            return None
+        return url
+    except Exception:
+        return None
+
+
+class LocalLibraryProvider:
+    id = "local"
+    label = "My Library"
+    kind = "local"
+    capabilities = (
+        "library.read",
+        "art.read",
+        "song.play",
+        "favorite.write",
+        "metadata.write",
+    )
+
+    def __init__(self, db: MetadataDB):
+        self._db = db
+
+    def query_page(self, **kwargs) -> tuple[list[dict], int]:
+        return self._db.query_page(**kwargs)
+
+    def query_artists(self, **kwargs) -> tuple[list[dict], int]:
+        return self._db.query_artists(**kwargs)
+
+    def query_albums(self, **kwargs) -> tuple[list[dict], int]:
+        return self._db.query_albums(**kwargs)
+
+    def query_stats(self, **kwargs) -> dict:
+        return self._db.query_stats(**kwargs)
+
+    def tuning_names(self, instrument: str = DEFAULT_PERSPECTIVE) -> dict:
+        # Group custom tunings on their raw offsets so distinct ones stay
+        # distinct (tuning_name collapses them all to "Custom Tuning"); named
+        # tunings keep grouping by name (stable across the rescan boundary, no
+        # offsets/name split). `key` is the value the client sends back as the
+        # filter selector — equal to the name for named tunings, the offsets
+        # string for customs; offsets also feed the client's custom-pill label.
+        #
+        # `instrument=bass` swaps every column for its effective bass-facing
+        # expression (bass arrangement's tuning, guitar fallback) — the SAME
+        # expressions _build_intrinsic_where filters on, so a facet entry
+        # always selects exactly the songs it counted.
+        name_sql, offsets_sql, sort_sql = _effective_tuning_cols_sql("songs", instrument)
+        gkey_sql = _tuning_group_key_sql("songs", instrument)
+        # How many of a row's songs are showing an INFERRED tuning — i.e. have
+        # no bass chart of their own and are falling back to the guitar-derived
+        # one. Reported per entry so the UI can be honest about it instead of
+        # presenting a borrowed tuning as a measured one. Always 0 for guitar.
+        inferred_sql = f"SUM({_perspective_is_inferred_sql('songs', instrument)})"
+        with self._db._lock:
+            rows = self._db.conn.execute(
+                f"SELECT {name_sql}, {gkey_sql} AS gkey, "
+                f"MIN({sort_sql}), COUNT(*), MIN({offsets_sql}), {inferred_sql} "
+                f"FROM songs WHERE title != '' AND COALESCE({name_sql}, '') != '' "
+                "GROUP BY gkey COLLATE NOCASE "
+                f"ORDER BY ABS(COALESCE(MIN({sort_sql}), 0)), "
+                f"COALESCE(MIN({sort_sql}), 0) ASC, "
+                f"{name_sql} COLLATE NOCASE"
+            ).fetchall()
+        return {
+            "instrument": instrument,
+            "tunings": [
+                {"name": name, "key": gkey, "offsets": offs or "",
+                 "sort_key": int(sk or 0), "count": count,
+                 # Portion of `count` borrowed from the guitar chart.
+                 "inferred_count": int(inferred or 0)}
+                for name, gkey, sk, count, offs, inferred in rows
+            ],
+        }
+
+    async def get_art(self, song_id: str):
+        return await art_router.get_song_art(song_id)
+
+
+class LibraryProviderRegistry:
+    # Methods required per declared capability — only validated when the
+    # provider advertises the corresponding capability so action-only providers
+    # (e.g. art.read + song.sync without library.read) don't need to implement
+    # unused stubs.
+    _CAPABILITY_METHODS: ClassVar[dict[str, tuple[str, ...]]] = {
+        "library.read": ("query_page", "query_artists", "query_stats", "tuning_names"),
+        "art.read": ("get_art",),
+        "song.sync": ("sync_song",),
+    }
+    _ID_RE: ClassVar[re.Pattern[str]] = re.compile(r"^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9_.:-]{0,127}$")
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self._providers: dict[str, object] = {}
+        # Capabilities inferred at registration for legacy providers that omit
+        # the `capabilities` field.  Merged with provider_capabilities() so that
+        # runtime capability checks see the complete effective capability set.
+        self._inferred_caps: dict[str, set[str]] = {}
+        self._owner_plugin_ids: dict[str, str] = {}
+        self._lock = threading.RLock()
+
+    def register(self, provider: object, *, replace: bool = False, owner_plugin_id: str | None = None) -> object:
+        provider_id = self.provider_id(provider)
+        if not self._ID_RE.match(provider_id):
+            raise ValueError(
+                "library provider id must start with an alphanumeric character "
+                "and contain only letters, digits, _, ., :, or -"
+            )
+        if not self.provider_label(provider):
+            raise ValueError("library provider label must be a non-empty string")
+        # Use declared-only caps during validation — never include stale inferred
+        # caps from a previous provider registered under the same id (replace=True).
+        caps = self._declared_capabilities(provider)
+        # Backward compatibility: providers that predate explicit capability
+        # declarations may omit `capabilities` entirely. If the browse methods
+        # are all present, infer `library.read` so they still work unchanged.
+        # If capabilities are absent but the browse surface is also absent,
+        # raise a clear error rather than letting the provider register and
+        # then fail on every API call with a late 501.
+        inferred: set[str] = set()
+        if not caps:
+            browse_methods = self._CAPABILITY_METHODS["library.read"]
+            if all(callable(self.provider_method(provider, m)) for m in browse_methods):
+                # Legacy provider without explicit capabilities — infer library.read
+                # from the presence of all browse methods.  Store in _inferred_caps
+                # so that runtime capability checks see the full effective set.
+                inferred = {"library.read"}
+                caps = inferred
+            else:
+                raise TypeError(
+                    f"library provider {provider_id!r} must declare at least one capability "
+                    f"(or implement the {browse_methods!r} browse methods for backward compatibility)"
+                )
+        for cap, methods in self._CAPABILITY_METHODS.items():
+            if cap not in caps:
+                continue
+            for method_name in methods:
+                if not callable(self.provider_method(provider, method_name)):
+                    raise TypeError(f"library provider {provider_id!r} declares {cap!r} but is missing callable {method_name}()")
+        with self._lock:
+            if provider_id == "local" and provider_id in self._providers and self._providers[provider_id] is not provider:
+                raise ValueError("the local library provider cannot be replaced")
+            if provider_id in self._providers and not replace:
+                raise ValueError(f"library provider {provider_id!r} is already registered")
+            self._providers[provider_id] = provider
+            # owner_plugin_id is attribution that flows into the browser
+            # capability participant id. The scoped register_library_provider
+            # wrappers force it to the trusted loading plugin id, so the spoof
+            # vector is closed there. Here we only normalize: trim and require a
+            # non-empty string. We deliberately do NOT apply the provider-id
+            # grammar (_ID_RE) — plugin ids aren't constrained to it at load
+            # time, so that would silently drop attribution for valid plugins.
+            owner = owner_plugin_id.strip() if isinstance(owner_plugin_id, str) else ""
+            owner = owner or None
+            if owner:
+                self._owner_plugin_ids[provider_id] = owner
+            else:
+                self._owner_plugin_ids.pop(provider_id, None)
+            if inferred:
+                self._inferred_caps[provider_id] = inferred
+            else:
+                self._inferred_caps.pop(provider_id, None)
+        return provider
+
+    def unregister(self, provider_id: str) -> bool:
+        if provider_id == "local":
+            raise ValueError("the local library provider cannot be unregistered")
+        with self._lock:
+            self._inferred_caps.pop(provider_id, None)
+            self._owner_plugin_ids.pop(provider_id, None)
+            return self._providers.pop(provider_id, None) is not None
+
+    def get(self, provider_id: str = "local") -> object | None:
+        with self._lock:
+            return self._providers.get(provider_id or "local")
+
+    def list(self) -> list[dict]:
+        with self._lock:
+            providers = list(self._providers.values())
+        return [self.describe(provider) for provider in providers]
+
+    def describe(self, provider: object) -> dict:
+        provider_id = self.provider_id(provider)
+        with self._lock:
+            owner_plugin_id = self._owner_plugin_ids.get(provider_id)
+        return {
+            "id": provider_id,
+            "label": self.provider_label(provider),
+            "kind": self.provider_field(provider, "kind", "local" if provider_id == "local" else "remote"),
+            "capabilities": sorted(self.provider_capabilities(provider)),
+            "owner_plugin_id": owner_plugin_id,
+            "default": provider_id == "local",
+        }
+
+    def provider_field(self, provider: object, name: str, default=None):
+        if isinstance(provider, dict):
+            return provider.get(name, default)
+        return getattr(provider, name, default)
+
+    def provider_id(self, provider: object) -> str:
+        provider_id = self.provider_field(provider, "id", "")
+        if not isinstance(provider_id, str) or not provider_id:
+            raise ValueError("library provider id must be a non-empty string")
+        return provider_id
+
+    def provider_label(self, provider: object) -> str:
+        label = self.provider_field(provider, "label", self.provider_field(provider, "name", ""))
+        if not isinstance(label, str):
+            return ""
+        return label.strip()
+
+    def _declared_capabilities(self, provider: object) -> set[str]:
+        """Return only the capabilities explicitly declared on the provider object."""
+        raw = self.provider_field(provider, "capabilities", ())
+        if raw is None:
+            raw = ()
+        if isinstance(raw, str):
+            raw = (raw,) if raw else ()
+        return {str(cap) for cap in raw if cap}
+
+    def provider_capabilities(self, provider: object) -> set[str]:
+        # Guard against a common plugin authoring mistake: passing a single string
+        # instead of a list/tuple. Iterating a string produces individual characters,
+        # none of which would match a valid capability name.
+        declared = self._declared_capabilities(provider)
+        # Merge with any capabilities inferred at registration time for legacy
+        # providers that omit the `capabilities` field but implement browse methods.
+        provider_id = self.provider_id(provider)
+        with self._lock:
+            inferred = self._inferred_caps.get(provider_id, set())
+        return declared | inferred
+
+    def provider_method(self, provider: object, name: str):
+        if isinstance(provider, dict):
+            return provider.get(name)
+        return getattr(provider, name, None)
+
+
+# Keys `_library_filter_args` (and a smart collection's stored `rules`) accept.
+_LIBRARY_FILTER_PARAM_KEYS = frozenset((
+    "q", "favorites", "format", "artist", "album",
+    "arrangements_has", "arrangements_lacks", "stems_has", "stems_lacks",
+    "has_lyrics", "tunings",
+))
+
+
+# Rules mirror the raw /api/library query params (so the provider can feed them
+# straight through `_library_filter_args`, and the frontend can build a rule from
+# the same query string it already constructs). Multi-value filters are CSV
+# strings; `favorites` is 0/1; the rest are plain strings.
+_RULE_CSV_KEYS = frozenset((
+    "tunings", "arrangements_has", "arrangements_lacks", "stems_has", "stems_lacks",
+))
+
+
+_RULE_STR_KEYS = frozenset(("q", "format", "artist", "album", "has_lyrics", "sort"))
+
+
+def _sanitize_collection_rules(raw) -> dict:
+    """Normalize rules to the raw query-param format, keeping only known keys. A
+    list for a multi-value filter is joined to CSV; `favorites` becomes 0/1.
+    Unknown keys are dropped so a rule survives a filter-vocab change rather than
+    500-ing. Applied at API ingress AND when a provider loads a persisted row, so
+    a hand-edited / imported bad value (e.g. an int where a string is expected,
+    or a list for `sort`) can never crash a query."""
+    if not isinstance(raw, dict):
+        return {}
+    out: dict = {}
+    for k, v in raw.items():
+        if k in _RULE_CSV_KEYS:
+            if isinstance(v, list):
+                vals = [str(x) for x in v if isinstance(x, (str, int)) and not isinstance(x, bool)]
+            elif isinstance(v, str):
+                vals = [s for s in (p.strip() for p in v.split(",")) if s]
+            else:
+                continue
+            if vals:
+                out[k] = ",".join(vals)
+        elif k == "favorites":
+            if v:
+                out[k] = 1
+        elif k in _RULE_STR_KEYS:
+            if isinstance(v, (str, int)) and not isinstance(v, bool):
+                s = str(v).strip()
+                if s:
+                    out[k] = s
+    return out
+
+
+class SmartCollectionProvider:
+    """A saved library filter, surfaced as a source (#636 item 2). Browse/stats
+    delegate to the local DB with the collection's stored `rules` applied — so
+    selecting it in the v3 source picker shows exactly that filtered slice with
+    the whole Songs UI (paging, stats, A–Z rail, art) for free. P1: the rules
+    ARE the query (live in-collection search is a P2 nicety). The matched songs
+    are local rows, so `kind="local"` keeps the client's play/art paths on the
+    local (not remote-sync) branch and art delegates straight through."""
+    kind = "local"
+    capabilities = ("library.read", "art.read")
+
+    def __init__(self, collection: dict, local: "LocalLibraryProvider"):
+        self._local = local
+        self.update(collection)
+
+    def update(self, collection: dict) -> None:
+        self.id = f"collection:{collection['id']}"
+        self.collection_id = collection["id"]
+        self.label = collection.get("name") or "Collection"
+        # Re-sanitize on load: persisted JSON may predate the current vocab or
+        # have been hand-edited; never let a bad value reach a query.
+        self._rules = _sanitize_collection_rules(collection.get("rules") or {})
+
+    def _filter_kwargs(self, instrument: str = "", playable_from_pitch=None) -> dict:
+        # `instrument` is the CALLER's play perspective (rides every request),
+        # never part of the saved rules — a collection saved by a guitarist
+        # must still read in bass tunings for a bass player, and vice versa.
+        args = _library_filter_args(**{k: v for k, v in self._rules.items()
+                                       if k in _LIBRARY_FILTER_PARAM_KEYS})
+        args["instrument"] = _normalize_instrument(instrument)
+        # The caller's CURRENT tuning is likewise per-request, never a saved rule.
+        args["playable_from_pitch"] = playable_from_pitch
+        return args
+
+    def _sort(self, fallback: str) -> str:
+        # A collection may pin its own sort (e.g. "recently added"); query_page
+        # falls back safely for an unknown value, so no validation needed here.
+        return self._rules.get("sort") or fallback
+
+    def query_page(self, *, page=0, size=24, sort="artist", direction="asc",
+                   naming_mode="legacy", instrument="", playable_from_pitch=None, **_ignore):
+        return self._local._db.query_page(
+            page=page, size=size, sort=self._sort(sort), direction=direction,
+            naming_mode=naming_mode, **self._filter_kwargs(instrument, playable_from_pitch))
+
+    def query_artists(self, *, letter="", page=0, size=50, naming_mode="legacy",
+                      instrument="", playable_from_pitch=None, **_ignore):
+        return self._local._db.query_artists(
+            letter=letter, page=page, size=size, naming_mode=naming_mode,
+            **self._filter_kwargs(instrument, playable_from_pitch))
+
+    def query_albums(self, *, page=0, size=120, naming_mode="legacy",
+                     instrument="", playable_from_pitch=None, **_ignore):
+        return self._local._db.query_albums(
+            page=page, size=size, naming_mode=naming_mode,
+            **self._filter_kwargs(instrument, playable_from_pitch))
+
+    def query_stats(self, *, sort="artist", want_sort_letters=False,
+                    naming_mode="legacy", instrument="", playable_from_pitch=None, **_ignore):
+        return self._local._db.query_stats(
+            sort=self._sort(sort), want_sort_letters=want_sort_letters,
+            naming_mode=naming_mode, **self._filter_kwargs(instrument, playable_from_pitch))
+
+    def tuning_names(self, instrument: str = "guitar"):
+        return self._local.tuning_names(instrument=_normalize_instrument(instrument))
+
+    async def get_art(self, song_id: str):
+        return await self._local.get_art(song_id)
+
+
+def _split_csv(raw: str) -> list[str]:
+    """Parse a comma-separated query-string list. Empty / whitespace-only
+    entries are dropped so `arrangements_has=` (no value) and
+    `arrangements_has=,` both mean 'no filter'."""
+    if not raw:
+        return []
+    return [s.strip() for s in raw.split(",") if s.strip()]
+
+
+def _parse_has_lyrics(raw: str) -> int | None:
+    """Tri-state parse for has_lyrics. `1` → require, `0` → exclude,
+    anything else (including empty) → no filter."""
+    if raw == "1":
+        return 1
+    if raw == "0":
+        return 0
+    return None
+
+
+def _library_filter_args(q: str = "", favorites: int = 0, format: str = "",
+                         artist: str = "", album: str = "",
+                         arrangements_has: str = "", arrangements_lacks: str = "",
+                         stems_has: str = "", stems_lacks: str = "",
+                         has_lyrics: str = "", tunings: str = "",
+                         instrument: str = "", tuning_match: str = "",
+                         playable_offsets: str = "", playable_instrument: str = "",
+                         playable_string_count: str = "") -> dict:
+    fmt = format if format in ("archive", "sloppak", "loose") else ""
+    return {
+        "q": q,
+        "favorites_only": bool(favorites),
+        "format_filter": fmt,
+        "artist_filter": (artist or "").strip(),
+        "album_filter": (album or "").strip(),
+        "arrangements_has": _split_csv(arrangements_has),
+        "arrangements_lacks": _split_csv(arrangements_lacks),
+        "stems_has": _split_csv(stems_has),
+        "stems_lacks": _split_csv(stems_lacks),
+        "has_lyrics": _parse_has_lyrics(has_lyrics),
+        "tunings": _split_csv(tunings),
+        # Which perspective the tuning facet/filter/sort speaks for (the
+        # caller's play role, NOT a saved rule — see _sanitize_collection_rules).
+        "instrument": _normalize_instrument(instrument),
+        # "Playable without retuning" mode: the caller's CURRENT tuning,
+        # resolved to the one number the comparison needs. None = exact-match
+        # mode (the default), so the tuning pills behave exactly as before.
+        "playable_from_pitch": (
+            _playable_from_pitch(playable_offsets, playable_instrument,
+                                 playable_string_count)
+            if tuning_match == "playable" else None),
+    }
+
+
+def _playable_from_pitch(offsets_csv: str, instrument: str, string_count: str):
+    """Lowest open-string MIDI pitch of the CALLER's current tuning.
+
+    The client sends its live working tuning (offsets + instrument + string
+    count) rather than a precomputed pitch, so the pitch tables stay in one
+    place (lib/tunings.py) instead of being duplicated in JS.
+
+    Returns None for anything unusable — the caller then applies NO playable
+    filter at all. That is the neutral state, not a claim: a malformed tuning
+    must not silently assert that everything is playable OR that nothing is.
+    """
+    try:
+        offsets = [int(x) for x in _split_csv(offsets_csv)]
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        return None
+    if not offsets:
+        return None
+    inst = "bass" if instrument == "bass" else "guitar"
+    try:
+        sc = int(string_count)
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        sc = len(offsets)
+    key = tunings_mod.instrument_key(inst, sc)
+    if key not in tunings_mod.STANDARD_OPEN_MIDIS or len(offsets) != sc:
+        return None
+    midis = tunings_mod.tuning_midis_from_offsets(key, offsets)
+    return min(midis) if midis else None
+
+
+def _normalize_instrument(raw: str) -> str:
+    """Resolve a tuning PERSPECTIVE id (guitar-lead | guitar-rhythm | bass).
+
+    Tolerates the legacy two-valued vocabulary ("guitar" -> guitar-lead) and
+    falls back to the default for anything unknown — an unrecognised value
+    must never silently change filter semantics."""
+    return raw if raw in PERSPECTIVES else (
+        DEFAULT_PERSPECTIVE if raw != "bass" else "bass")
+
+
+def _sync_collection_provider(collection: dict) -> None:
+    """Register (or replace) the provider for one collection."""
+    appstate.library_providers.register(
+        SmartCollectionProvider(collection, appstate.local_library_provider), replace=True)
+
+
+def _unregister_collection_provider(pid: int) -> None:
+    appstate.library_providers.unregister(f"collection:{pid}")
@@ -225,13 +225,18 @@ def _detect_arrangements(path: Path) -> tuple[list[dict], dict]:
    Returns (arrangements_list, shared_meta).
    shared_meta contains title/artist/album/year/duration/tuning_offsets
    sourced from the highest-priority arrangement (lead > combo > rhythm >
-    bass) — picking the guitar tuning when both bass and lead are present.
+    bass) — picking the guitar tuning when both bass and lead are present —
+    plus `bass_tuning_offsets` from the first bass arrangement (None when the
+    folder has none), so the index can carry both tunings.
    """
    arrangements = []
    # Track which arrangement priority sourced shared_meta so a later,
    # higher-priority arrangement (lead < bass in sort order) overrides.
    shared_meta = {}
    shared_priority = None
+    # First tuning seen per arrangement ROLE, kept alongside the guitar-first
+    # song tuning so the library can answer for the part a player plays.
+    role_tunings: dict[str, list[int] | None] = {"bass": None, "rhythm": None}

    for xml in sorted(_iter_local_xmls(path)):
        # Trust the XML root over the filename — a custom named
@@ -269,6 +274,10 @@ def _detect_arrangements(path: Path) -> tuple[list[dict], dict]:
                            "duration", "tuning_offsets")}
            shared_priority = priority

+        if (arr_type in role_tunings and role_tunings[arr_type] is None
+                and meta.get("tuning_offsets")):
+            role_tunings[arr_type] = list(meta["tuning_offsets"])
+
        arrangements.append({
            "type":     arr_type,
            "name":     arr_name,
@@ -281,6 +290,8 @@ def _detect_arrangements(path: Path) -> tuple[list[dict], dict]:
        a["index"] = i
        del a["priority"]

+    for role, offs in role_tunings.items():
+        shared_meta[f"{role}_tuning_offsets"] = offs
    return arrangements, shared_meta


@@ -412,6 +423,14 @@ def extract_meta(path: Path, dlc_root: Path | None = None) -> dict:
                                xml_meta.get("duration", 0))
    tuning_offsets = _coerce_tuning_offsets(manifest.get("tuning_offsets"),
                                            xml_meta.get("tuning_offsets"))
+    # Per-role tunings: XML-derived only. A manifest `tuning_offsets` overrides
+    # the SONG tuning (above) but says nothing about WHICH chart it describes,
+    # so it must never be mistaken for a specific part's tuning.
+    role_tunings = {}
+    for role in ("bass", "rhythm"):
+        offs = xml_meta.get(f"{role}_tuning_offsets")
+        role_tunings[f"{role}_tuning_offsets"] = (
+            offs if isinstance(offs, list) and offs else None)

    manifest_arr = _validate_manifest_arrangements(manifest.get("arrangements"))
    if manifest_arr is not None:
@@ -427,6 +446,7 @@ def extract_meta(path: Path, dlc_root: Path | None = None) -> dict:
        "year":           year,
        "duration":       duration,
        "tuning_offsets": tuning_offsets,
+        **role_tunings,   # None = no arrangement in that role
        "arrangements":   arrangements,
        "audio_path":     str(audio) if audio else None,
        "art_path":       str(art)   if art   else None,
@@ -23,9 +23,18 @@ Engine selection
 Two transcription paths share a common output:

 * `transcribe_vocals_remote(path, server_url, ...)` — POST the vocal
-  stem to the `/align` endpoint on a feedBack-demucs-server (got-feedBack's
-  reference server already hosts WhisperX alongside Demucs at the same
-  URL).
+  stem to the `/transcribe` endpoint on a feedBack-demucs-server
+  (got-feedBack's reference server already hosts WhisperX alongside
+  Demucs at the same URL).
+
+  It used to POST to `/align`, which is *forced alignment* — "here are
+  the lyrics, tell me when each word is sung". Its `text` field is
+  required and we have no lyrics (transcribing them is the point), so
+  the server answered 422 from FastAPI's validation layer before its
+  handler ran, and remote transcription never worked for anyone
+  (feedBack-plugin-stem-splitter#17). `/transcribe` takes only audio.
+  Requires feedBack-demucs-server ≥ the revision adding that endpoint;
+  an older server answers 404 and the error says so.

 * `transcribe_vocals_local(path, ...)` — load WhisperX in-process. Heavy
  (~3 GB of model weights for `large-v2` + the wav2vec2 aligner) and
@@ -416,6 +425,38 @@ def transcribe_vocals_local(

 # ── Remote transcription ────────────────────────────────────────────────────

+_MAX_ERR_BODY = 4000
+
+
+def _err_body(resp) -> str:
+    """The server's error body, whole if it plausibly is one, and marked when it isn't.
+
+    This was capped at 300 chars, which is enough for "Internal Server Error" and not much else.
+    The bodies carrying the most diagnosis are the long ones — a FastAPI validation body naming
+    the field it rejected, a 500 whose traceback answers on its LAST line — and those are exactly
+    the ones a 300-char cap decapitates. The cap survives so a server answering with a 2 MB HTML
+    error page can't dump a novel into a log line.
+    """
+    # Strip FIRST, then measure: a body that is 300 chars of JSON and 3900 of trailing whitespace
+    # is not a long body, and truncating it would cut real content to make room for blanks.
+    text = (getattr(resp, "text", "") or "").strip()
+    if len(text) <= _MAX_ERR_BODY:
+        return text
+
+    # Keep the HEAD **and the TAIL**. Head-only truncation throws away the exception line — and
+    # on a traceback the exception line is the answer. This docstring said as much while the code
+    # did the opposite: it cut off precisely the part it exists to preserve, which is the same
+    # mistake, one level up, as the 300-char cap it replaced.
+    #
+    # The marker sits inside the bound, not past it: otherwise _MAX_ERR_BODY is a suggestion, and
+    # the callers who trust it (a log line, a job record persisted to disk) are the ones surprised.
+    marker = f"\n… [truncated, {len(text)} chars total] …\n"
+    budget = max(0, _MAX_ERR_BODY - len(marker))
+    head = budget * 2 // 3          # context: what was being attempted
+    tail = budget - head            # verdict: what actually went wrong
+    return text[:head].rstrip() + marker + text[len(text) - tail:].lstrip()
+
+
 def transcribe_vocals_remote(
    vocals_path: Path,
    server_url: str,
@@ -426,7 +467,17 @@ def transcribe_vocals_remote(
    min_word_score: float = 0.35,
    progress_cb: ProgressCB = None,
 ) -> list[dict]:
-    """POST the vocal stem to `{server_url}/align` and parse the response.
+    """POST the vocal stem to `{server_url}/transcribe` and parse the response.
+
+    NOT `/align` — that endpoint is forced alignment ("here are the lyrics,
+    tell me when each word is sung") and its `text` field is required. We
+    have no lyrics; producing them is the point. Posting there returned a
+    422 from FastAPI's validation layer before the server's handler ran, so
+    remote transcription never worked at all
+    (feedBack-plugin-stem-splitter#17).
+
+    Requires a feedBack-demucs-server carrying `/transcribe`; an older one
+    answers 404 and the raised error says so.

    Expects the server to respond with a JSON object carrying a `words` (or
    `segments`) field in WhisperX's native shape; `_whisperx_to_sloppak`
@@ -454,21 +505,53 @@ def transcribe_vocals_remote(
    if api_key:
        headers["Authorization"] = f"Bearer {api_key}"

-    params: dict[str, str] = {}
+    # POST to /transcribe, not /align.
+    #
+    # /align is FORCED ALIGNMENT: "here are the lyrics, tell me when each word is sung". Its
+    # `text` field is required, and we have no lyrics — transcription is the whole point. So the
+    # server rejected every request with a 422 in FastAPI's validation layer, before its handler
+    # ever ran, and remote transcription has never worked for anyone. /transcribe answers the
+    # question we are actually asking and takes only the audio.
+    # (feedBack-plugin-stem-splitter#17; endpoint added in feedBack-demucs-server#14.)
+    #
+    # `language` goes in the FORM BODY, not the query string: the server reads it with
+    # Form(""), and a query param would be silently ignored — so an explicit language hint would
+    # do nothing and Whisper's auto-detection would quietly decide instead, which is exactly the
+    # kind of "it works but it's wrong" that hides for months.
+    form: dict[str, str] = {}
    if language:
-        params["language"] = language
+        form["language"] = language

-    with open(vocals_path, "rb") as f:
-        resp = requests.post(
-            f"{server_url}/align",
-            files={"file": (vocals_path.name, f, "audio/ogg")},
-            params=params,
-            headers=headers or None,
-            timeout=timeout,
+    # Everything that can go wrong out here comes back as RuntimeError, which is what the
+    # docstring promises and what the caller catches. A DNS failure, a timeout, a reset
+    # connection or an unreadable stem file would otherwise surface as requests.RequestException
+    # or OSError and escape the one handler written to log-and-continue — turning "this song's
+    # lyrics failed" into "the whole batch died".
+    try:
+        with open(vocals_path, "rb") as f:
+            resp = requests.post(
+                f"{server_url}/transcribe",
+                files={"file": (vocals_path.name, f, "audio/ogg")},
+                data=form or None,
+                headers=headers or None,
+                timeout=timeout,
+            )
+    except requests.RequestException as e:
+        raise RuntimeError(f"could not reach the WhisperX server at {server_url}: {e}") from e
+    except OSError as e:
+        raise RuntimeError(f"could not read the vocal stem {vocals_path.name}: {e}") from e
+
+    if resp.status_code == 404:
+        # The endpoint isn't there. Say what that means, because "404" on its own sends someone
+        # hunting for a typo in their URL when the real answer is that their server predates the
+        # feature. (feedBack-demucs-server#14 added /transcribe.)
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            f"the WhisperX server at {server_url} has no /transcribe endpoint (404) — it "
+            f"predates remote transcription support. Update the server, or use 'Check for "
+            f"update' if it is the plugin-managed one."
        )
-
    if resp.status_code != 200:
-        raise RuntimeError(f"WhisperX server error ({resp.status_code}): {resp.text[:300]}")
+        raise RuntimeError(f"WhisperX server error ({resp.status_code}): {_err_body(resp)}")

    data = resp.json()

@@ -0,0 +1,406 @@
+"""Text-matching engine for MusicBrainz metadata enrichment (P8).
+
+Pure functions only — no network, no database, no server imports — so the
+whole matching pipeline is unit-testable in isolation. server.py owns the
+throttled HTTP transport and the song_enrichment writes; this module owns:
+
+* denoise/tokenize: fold community chart-title noise (author suffixes,
+  ``(440Hz)``/``(Live)``/``(No Lead)``/``(v2)`` parentheticals, punctuation,
+  diacritics, ``AC DC``/``ACDC``/``AC/DC`` spelling drift) into a comparable
+  token form,
+* similarity + scoring: token-set similarity on artist+title with year and
+  duration proximity as corroborating bonuses,
+* tier classification: auto (high) / review (medium) / none (low) — the
+  design rule is that a WRONG match is worse than no match, so the auto
+  tier is deliberately strict and medium confidence goes to a human,
+* MusicBrainz JSON parsing: normalize ``/ws/2`` recording documents into
+  the flat candidate dicts the review UI and song_enrichment store.
+"""
+
+import re
+import unicodedata
+
+# ── Tier thresholds ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# Combined score = 0.5*artist_sim + 0.5*title_sim + corroboration bonuses
+# (capped at 1.0). Wrong-match is worse than slow (design §5), so `auto`
+# additionally requires BOTH fields to individually agree — a perfect title
+# with a mismatched artist (a cover) must never auto-canonicalize, whatever
+# the combined threshold is set to. AUTO_MIN is only the DEFAULT: the host
+# surfaces it as the user-configurable "auto-apply confidence" setting and
+# passes the chosen value into classify(auto_min=…).
+AUTO_MIN = 0.90
+AUTO_ARTIST_MIN = 0.8
+AUTO_TITLE_MIN = 0.6
+REVIEW_MIN = 0.65
+
+YEAR_BONUS = 0.05        # candidate year within ±1 of the chart's year
+DURATION_BONUS = 0.05    # candidate length within 5s of the chart's audio
+DURATION_BONUS_LOOSE = 0.025   # …within 15s
+_DURATION_TIGHT = 5
+_DURATION_LOOSE = 15
+
+# Release-group secondary types that mark a NON-canonical release (a live album,
+# a greatest-hits comp, a remix/DJ set, …). Used both to pick the canonical
+# studio album for display and to reward studio recordings in ranking.
+_SECONDARY_SKIP = {
+    "live", "compilation", "remix", "dj-mix", "mixtape/street",
+    "demo", "interview", "audiobook", "spokenword",
+}
+
+# ── Denoise ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# A parenthetical/bracketed group is dropped when it contains any of these
+# noise terms as a whole word (chart-variant markers, tuning/pitch notes,
+# performance qualifiers) or when it reads as an author credit ("by X",
+# "charted by X"). Both sides of a comparison are denoised symmetrically, so
+# over-stripping a meaningful group costs a little precision but never
+# produces an asymmetric mismatch.
+_NOISE_TERMS = (
+    r"440\s*hz", r"a440", r"432\s*hz",
+    r"live", r"acoustic", r"instrumental",
+    r"no\s+(?:lead|rhythm|bass|vocals?|drums)",
+    r"(?:lead|rhythm|bass)\s+only",
+    r"v\d+", r"ver(?:sion)?\s*\d+",
+    r"remaster(?:ed)?(?:\s*\d{4})?", r"re-?recorded?",
+    r"fix(?:ed)?", r"updated?",
+    r"bonus", r"custom",
+)
+_NOISE_GROUP_RE = re.compile(
+    r"[(\[][^)\]]*\b(?:" + "|".join(_NOISE_TERMS) + r")\b[^)\]]*[)\]]",
+    re.IGNORECASE,
+)
+# Author credits: "(by SomeCharter)", "[charted by X]", "(chart by X)".
+_AUTHOR_GROUP_RE = re.compile(
+    r"[(\[]\s*(?:chart(?:ed)?\s+)?by\s+[^)\]]*[)\]]", re.IGNORECASE)
+# Trailing "- by SomeCharter" outside parens.
+_AUTHOR_TAIL_RE = re.compile(r"\s+-\s+(?:chart(?:ed)?\s+)?by\s+.+$", re.IGNORECASE)
+
+_PUNCT_RE = re.compile(r"[^\w\s]|_")
+_WS_RE = re.compile(r"\s+")
+
+
+def _strip_diacritics(s: str) -> str:
+    return "".join(
+        ch for ch in unicodedata.normalize("NFKD", s)
+        if not unicodedata.combining(ch)
+    )
+
+
+def denoise(s, *, strip_leading_the: bool = False) -> str:
+    """Fold a community metadata string into its comparable form:
+    lowercase, diacritics stripped, noise parentheticals and author credits
+    removed, punctuation collapsed to spaces. ``strip_leading_the`` drops a
+    leading "The " — used for ARTIST comparison only ("The Beatles" ==
+    "Beatles"), never titles ("The Trooper" must keep its "the")."""
+    s = str(s or "")
+    s = _NOISE_GROUP_RE.sub(" ", s)
+    s = _AUTHOR_GROUP_RE.sub(" ", s)
+    s = _AUTHOR_TAIL_RE.sub(" ", s)
+    s = _strip_diacritics(s).casefold()
+    s = s.replace("&", " and ")
+    s = _PUNCT_RE.sub(" ", s)
+    s = _WS_RE.sub(" ", s).strip()
+    if strip_leading_the and s.startswith("the "):
+        s = s[4:]
+    return s
+
+
+def tokens(s, **kw) -> list[str]:
+    d = denoise(s, **kw)
+    return d.split() if d else []
+
+
+def _compact(toks: list[str]) -> str:
+    return "".join(toks)
+
+
+def similarity(a, b, *, artist: bool = False) -> float:
+    """Token-set similarity in [0, 1]. Dice coefficient over the denoised
+    token sets, with a compacted-string equality fold so spelling drift that
+    only moves token boundaries ("ACDC" / "AC DC" / "AC/DC", "Greenday" /
+    "Green Day") counts as identical."""
+    kw = {"strip_leading_the": artist}
+    ta, tb = tokens(a, **kw), tokens(b, **kw)
+    if not ta or not tb:
+        return 0.0
+    if _compact(ta) == _compact(tb):
+        return 1.0
+    sa, sb = set(ta), set(tb)
+    return 2.0 * len(sa & sb) / (len(sa) + len(sb))
+
+
+def _year_int(v):
+    try:
+        y = int(str(v)[:4])
+        return y if y > 0 else None
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        return None
+
+
+def _duration_int(v):
+    try:
+        d = int(round(float(v)))
+        return d if d > 0 else None
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        return None
+
+
+def cand_artist_sim(song: dict, cand: dict) -> float:
+    """Best artist similarity between the song's reference artist and the
+    candidate's PRIMARY name OR any of its `artist_aliases` (romanized/alternate
+    names). MusicBrainz stores many artists under a non-Latin primary name
+    (大橋純子) with the romanized form ("Junko Ohashi") only as an alias, so a
+    reference typed/derived in romaji scores 0 against the primary but 1.0
+    against the alias. The caller (server) attaches `artist_aliases` only for
+    promising near-misses, so this is a plain max when they're present and the
+    original single comparison when they're not."""
+    best = similarity(song.get("artist"), cand.get("artist"), artist=True)
+    for alias in cand.get("artist_aliases") or []:
+        if best >= 1.0:
+            break
+        s = similarity(song.get("artist"), alias, artist=True)
+        if s > best:
+            best = s
+    return best
+
+
+def score_candidate(song: dict, cand: dict) -> float:
+    """Combined confidence that MusicBrainz candidate `cand` is the song the
+    chart transcribes. 0.5*artist + 0.5*title, plus small year/duration
+    corroboration bonuses, capped at 1.0. Missing fields score 0 on their
+    half — classify() separately refuses to auto-match without both."""
+    artist_sim = cand_artist_sim(song, cand)
+    title_sim = similarity(song.get("title"), cand.get("title"))
+    score = 0.5 * artist_sim + 0.5 * title_sim
+    sy, cy = _year_int(song.get("year")), _year_int(cand.get("year"))
+    if sy and cy and abs(sy - cy) <= 1:
+        score += YEAR_BONUS
+    sd, cd = _duration_int(song.get("duration")), _duration_int(cand.get("duration"))
+    if sd and cd:
+        diff = abs(sd - cd)
+        if diff <= _DURATION_TIGHT:
+            score += DURATION_BONUS
+        elif diff <= _DURATION_LOOSE:
+            score += DURATION_BONUS_LOOSE
+    # NB: the studio-vs-live distinction is deliberately NOT scored here — a live
+    # take is still the RIGHT SONG (same title/artist), so it must not change the
+    # auto/review confidence. Canonical-version preference lives in the RANK sort
+    # (rank_candidates) instead, where it only reorders same-song candidates.
+    return min(score, 1.0)
+
+
+def classify(song: dict, cand: dict, score: float, auto_min: float | None = None) -> str:
+    """Tier for a scored candidate: 'auto' | 'review' | 'none'.
+
+    `auto` (tier-2) needs the combined score AND per-field agreement AND
+    both fields present — a perfect-title/wrong-artist cover, or a chart
+    with no artist at all, is at best a review item, never an auto match.
+    `auto_min` overrides the default combined-score threshold (the user's
+    "auto-apply confidence" setting); the per-field floors always apply.
+    """
+    if auto_min is None:
+        auto_min = AUTO_MIN
+    artist_sim = cand_artist_sim(song, cand)
+    title_sim = similarity(song.get("title"), cand.get("title"))
+    if (score >= auto_min and artist_sim >= AUTO_ARTIST_MIN
+            and title_sim >= AUTO_TITLE_MIN):
+        return "auto"
+    if score >= REVIEW_MIN:
+        return "review"
+    return "none"
+
+
+def rank_candidates(song: dict, candidates: list[dict]) -> list[dict]:
+    """Score every candidate against the song and return them sorted best-first.
+    The combined `score` caps at 1.0, so a perfect-text-match query (every "AC/DC
+    Highway to Hell" recording) ties at the top — there the studio flag and, when
+    the caller knows the audio length, the duration match break the tie so the
+    canonical studio take wins over live/promo/extended cuts. Each returned dict
+    is a copy carrying `score` (rounded — it's displayed and stored)."""
+    sd = _duration_int(song.get("duration"))
+    # For a chart that IS a live take (build_recording_query keeps live
+    # recordings for these) the studio take is the WRONG recording, so drop the
+    # studio tiebreak — duration proximity + text/mb score then pick the right
+    # live version instead of auto-matching the studio one.
+    prefer_studio = not _LIVE_GROUP_RE.search(str(song.get("title") or ""))
+
+    def _dur_diff(c):
+        cd = _duration_int(c.get("duration"))
+        return abs(sd - cd) if (sd and cd) else 10 ** 6
+
+    ranked = []
+    for cand in candidates or []:
+        c = dict(cand)
+        c["score"] = round(score_candidate(song, cand), 4)
+        ranked.append(c)
+    ranked.sort(
+        key=lambda c: (c["score"],
+                       (1 if c.get("studio") else 0) if prefer_studio else 0,
+                       -_dur_diff(c),                 # closest to the audio length
+                       c.get("mb_score") or 0),
+        reverse=True)
+    return ranked
+
+
+# ── MusicBrainz query + response parsing ──────────────────────────────────────
+
+def _lucene_escape_phrase(s: str) -> str:
+    """Escape a string for use inside a quoted Lucene phrase."""
+    return s.replace("\\", "\\\\").replace('"', '\\"')
+
+
+# A parenthetical/bracketed "(Live …)" marker — the live signal denoise() strips
+# from the title. Mirrors _NOISE_GROUP_RE but for the `live` term only.
+_LIVE_GROUP_RE = re.compile(r"[(\[][^)\]]*\blive\b[^)\]]*[)\]]", re.IGNORECASE)
+
+
+def build_recording_query(artist, title, *, loose: bool = False) -> str:
+    """Lucene query for /ws/2/recording. Built from the DENOISED fields —
+    the noise we strip (author credits, "(Live)", "(v2)") would otherwise
+    poison the search server's own scoring.
+
+    ``loose=True`` drops the field-scoped quoted PHRASES for plain AND-ed
+    term groups (``(telephone number) AND (junko ohashi)``). The point:
+    a field phrase like ``artist:"Junko Ohashi"`` only matches MusicBrainz's
+    *primary* artist name — it never searches ALIASES — so a recording stored
+    under a non-Latin primary (大橋純子) whose romanized name is only an alias
+    is invisible to the strict query. A loose term query searches the whole
+    document, aliases included, and surfaces it. Lower precision by design: it
+    is a FALLBACK for when the strict query returns nothing, and its results
+    are re-scored by ``rank_candidates`` (and, for auto-match, gated by the
+    per-field floors), so noise never auto-applies."""
+    t = denoise(title)
+    a = denoise(artist)
+    if loose:
+        # denoise() already reduced each field to lowercase [a-z0-9 and] tokens
+        # (punctuation → spaces, diacritics stripped, & → "and"), so no
+        # Lucene-special character survives to need escaping. Group each field's
+        # terms and require both groups.
+        q = " AND ".join("(%s)" % g for g in (t, a) if g)
+        # Keep the SAME live exclusion as the strict path: the loose query is
+        # lower-precision, and score_candidate doesn't penalize a live take, so
+        # without this a studio chart whose strict query missed could fall back
+        # to — and auto-confirm — a live-only recording. Skipped only when the
+        # source title is itself a live take (mirrors the strict path).
+        if q and not _LIVE_GROUP_RE.search(str(title or "")):
+            q += " AND -secondarytype:Live"
+        return q
+    parts = []
+    if t:
+        parts.append('recording:"%s"' % _lucene_escape_phrase(t))
+    if a:
+        parts.append('artist:"%s"' % _lucene_escape_phrase(a))
+    q = " AND ".join(parts)
+    # Drop live-ONLY recordings (bootlegs, live albums) — the canonical studio
+    # take is never tagged Live, and this is the single biggest source of junk in
+    # a flat recording search. Compilations are deliberately NOT excluded: they
+    # REUSE the studio recording, so filtering them would drop the very recording
+    # we want (verified against MusicBrainz — `-secondarytype:Compilation` cut the
+    # AC/DC studio "Highway to Hell" recording entirely).
+    #
+    # EXCEPT when the source chart is itself a live take: denoise() strips the
+    # "(Live at …)" qualifier from the query, so filtering Live would leave the
+    # genuinely-live chart with NO correct recording. Only a parenthetical marker
+    # counts — a bare title word ("Live and Let Die") is a real word, not a live
+    # tag — mirroring what denoise removes.
+    if q and not _LIVE_GROUP_RE.search(str(title or "")):
+        q += " AND -secondarytype:Live"
+    return q
+
+
+def _artist_credit(doc: dict) -> tuple[str, str, str]:
+    """(display name, artist mbid, sort name) from an artist-credit array."""
+    credits = doc.get("artist-credit") or []
+    name = ""
+    for part in credits:
+        if isinstance(part, dict):
+            name += str(part.get("name", "")) + str(part.get("joinphrase", "") or "")
+        else:  # ws/2 can emit bare join strings in older serializations
+            name += str(part)
+    first = next((p for p in credits if isinstance(p, dict)), None) or {}
+    artist = first.get("artist") or {}
+    return name, str(artist.get("id", "") or ""), str(artist.get("sort-name", "") or "")
+
+
+def _is_clean_studio_album(rg: dict) -> bool:
+    """A release-group that is a primary-type Album with NO non-canonical
+    secondary type (Live / Compilation / Remix / …) — i.e. a studio album."""
+    if str(rg.get("primary-type", "")).lower() != "album":
+        return False
+    secs = {str(s).lower() for s in (rg.get("secondary-types") or [])}
+    return not (secs & _SECONDARY_SKIP)
+
+
+def _best_release(doc: dict) -> dict:
+    """Pick the release used for canon album/year: prefer an OFFICIAL studio
+    Album (primary Album with no Live/Compilation/… secondary type), then the
+    earliest date. Falls back to any release when none is clean. {} if none."""
+    releases = [r for r in (doc.get("releases") or []) if isinstance(r, dict)]
+    if not releases:
+        return {}
+
+    def sort_key(r):
+        rg = r.get("release-group") or {}
+        clean = 0 if _is_clean_studio_album(rg) else 1
+        status_ok = 0 if str(r.get("status", "")).lower() == "official" else 1
+        date = str(r.get("date", "") or "9999")
+        # Official FIRST, then prefer a clean studio album: this still surfaces
+        # the studio album over an (official) live/comp album for the display
+        # album/year, but never lets an UNofficial bootleg album outrank an
+        # official single/EP/comp — which `(clean, status_ok, …)` would.
+        return (status_ok, clean, date)
+
+    return sorted(releases, key=sort_key)[0]
+
+
+def _genres(doc: dict, limit: int = 5) -> list[str]:
+    """Genre names from a recording doc. Search results carry folksonomy
+    `tags`; lookups with inc=genres carry curated `genres`. Both are
+    [{name, count}] — take the most-voted few."""
+    raw = doc.get("genres") or doc.get("tags") or []
+    entries = [e for e in raw if isinstance(e, dict) and e.get("name")]
+    entries.sort(key=lambda e: e.get("count") or 0, reverse=True)
+    return [str(e["name"]) for e in entries[:limit]]
+
+
+def parse_recording_doc(doc: dict) -> dict | None:
+    """Normalize one /ws/2 recording document (search hit or direct lookup)
+    into the flat candidate dict stored in song_enrichment.candidates and
+    rendered by the review drawer. Returns None for malformed docs."""
+    if not isinstance(doc, dict) or not doc.get("id") or not doc.get("title"):
+        return None
+    artist_name, artist_id, artist_sort = _artist_credit(doc)
+    release = _best_release(doc)
+    studio = _is_clean_studio_album(release.get("release-group") or {})
+    length = doc.get("length")
+    try:
+        duration = int(round(float(length) / 1000.0)) if length else None
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        duration = None
+    isrcs = doc.get("isrcs") or []
+    isrcs = [str(i) for i in isrcs if isinstance(i, (str,))]
+    return {
+        "recording_id": str(doc["id"]),
+        "title": str(doc.get("title", "")),
+        "artist": artist_name,
+        "artist_id": artist_id,
+        "artist_sort": artist_sort,
+        "release_id": str(release.get("id", "") or ""),
+        "album": str(release.get("title", "") or ""),
+        "year": str(release.get("date", "") or "")[:4],
+        "duration": duration,
+        "isrc": isrcs[0] if isrcs else "",
+        "genres": _genres(doc),
+        "mb_score": int(doc.get("score") or 0),
+        "studio": studio,
+    }
+
+
+def parse_search_response(body: dict) -> list[dict]:
+    """Candidates from a /ws/2/recording search response."""
+    docs = (body or {}).get("recordings") or []
+    out = []
+    for doc in docs:
+        cand = parse_recording_doc(doc)
+        if cand:
+            out.append(cand)
+    return out
@@ -203,7 +203,13 @@ def convert_midi_track_to_keys_wire(
    #     a foreign track's tempo events do NOT apply to the chosen
    #     track. Merging would mis-time the notes — restrict the tempo
    #     scan to the selected track only.
-    ticks_per_beat = midi.ticks_per_beat
+    # ``ticks_per_beat`` is 0 for a malformed header and NEGATIVE for SMPTE
+    # division (mido returns the signed short as-is). Both feed the two
+    # divisions below (tempo-table build + tick_to_seconds), so guard here:
+    # 0 would raise ZeroDivisionError and a negative value would yield
+    # negative/garbage times. Use ``> 0`` (not ``or``) so the negative SMPTE
+    # case also falls back to the SMF default.
+    ticks_per_beat = midi.ticks_per_beat if midi.ticks_per_beat > 0 else 480
    raw_events: list[tuple[int, int]] = [(0, 500000)]  # default 120 BPM
    midi_type = getattr(midi, "type", 1)
    tempo_source = (
@@ -352,7 +358,14 @@ def _build_tick_to_seconds(midi: mido.MidiFile, track_index: int) -> Callable[[i
      - type 1: parallel tracks share the timeline; merge tempo events.
      - type 2: independent timelines; tempo only from the chosen track.
    """
-    ticks_per_beat = midi.ticks_per_beat
+    # A metrical header carries positive ticks-per-beat. mido reads the SMF
+    # division as a signed short, so an SMPTE-division file surfaces as a
+    # negative value and a malformed header as 0 — both make the two division
+    # sites below divide by a non-positive number (ZeroDivisionError, or
+    # negative seconds that send the bar walk off the rails). Fall back to the
+    # SMF default here, the single place every caller routes ticks through, so
+    # each caller's own fallback is real rather than cosmetic.
+    ticks_per_beat = midi.ticks_per_beat if midi.ticks_per_beat > 0 else 480
    raw_events: list[tuple[int, int]] = [(0, 500000)]  # default 120 BPM
    midi_type = getattr(midi, "type", 1)
    tempo_source = (
@@ -393,6 +406,141 @@ def _build_tick_to_seconds(midi: mido.MidiFile, track_index: int) -> Callable[[i
    return tick_to_seconds


+# Safety valve for the bar walk below: a malformed SMF (absurd tempo + long
+# trailing meta) could otherwise imply millions of bars. Real charts sit
+# orders of magnitude below this.
+_TEMPO_MAP_MAX_BARS = 20000
+
+
+def convert_midi_tempo_map(midi_path: str, track_index: int = 0) -> dict:
+    """Extract the song-timeline grid a `.mid` file carries: tempos, time
+    signatures, and a full beat grid — the data the note converters here
+    always computed internally (to bake note times) and then threw away,
+    which left every MIDI import with no bars, no measures, and an implied
+    4/4 no matter what the file said.
+
+    Returns ``{"tempos": [...], "time_signatures": [...], "beats": [...]}``:
+
+    - ``tempos``: ``{time, bpm}`` per tempo event (deduped per tick).
+    - ``time_signatures``: ``{time, ts: [num, den]}`` per signature event —
+      the song-timeline sidecar shape (feedpak-spec §7.4).
+    - ``beats``: one row per beat on the editor grid shape — downbeats carry
+      a running ``measure`` (1, 2, 3, …) plus a ``den`` hint (the signature
+      denominator), interior beats carry ``measure: -1``. The beat unit
+      follows the active signature (6/8 ⇒ six eighth-note rows per bar).
+
+    Event scope mirrors ``_build_tick_to_seconds``: SMF type 0/1 merge meta
+    from all tracks (shared timeline); type 2 reads ONLY ``track_index``
+    (independent timelines — callers must never share one grid across
+    type-2 tracks). Signature changes apply at the NEXT bar boundary when a
+    file places one mid-bar (ill-formed but seen in the wild). All times
+    are computed from absolute ticks through the cumulative tempo table and
+    rounded once at emit — rounding error never accumulates with song
+    length. An SMF with no note events yields empty ``beats``.
+    """
+    midi = mido.MidiFile(midi_path)
+    # Positive for metrical files; 0 (malformed) or negative (SMPTE division,
+    # read as a signed short) otherwise — fall back so beat_ticks below stays
+    # sane, mirroring the guard inside _build_tick_to_seconds.
+    ticks_per_beat = midi.ticks_per_beat if midi.ticks_per_beat > 0 else 480
+    midi_type = getattr(midi, "type", 1)
+    # Same scope both converters use: type 2 reads only the chosen track
+    # (independent timelines); type 0/1 merge all tracks (shared timeline).
+    source_tracks = (
+        [midi.tracks[track_index]] if midi_type == 2 else midi.tracks
+    )
+    tick_to_seconds = _build_tick_to_seconds(midi, track_index)
+
+    # ── collect meta + the end of musical content in one pass ────────────
+    sig_events: list[tuple[int, int, int]] = []
+    tempo_events: list[tuple[int, int]] = []
+    end_tick = 0
+    for tr in source_tracks:
+        abs_tick = 0
+        for msg in tr:
+            abs_tick += msg.time
+            if msg.type == "time_signature":
+                num = int(getattr(msg, "numerator", 4) or 4)
+                den = int(getattr(msg, "denominator", 4) or 4)
+                if num > 0 and den > 0:
+                    sig_events.append((abs_tick, num, den))
+            elif msg.type == "set_tempo":
+                tempo_events.append((abs_tick, int(msg.tempo)))
+            elif msg.type in ("note_on", "note_off"):
+                end_tick = max(end_tick, abs_tick)
+
+    # Dedupe at equal ticks (last wins), matching the tempo-table rule.
+    sig_events.sort(key=lambda e: e[0])
+    sigs: list[tuple[int, int, int]] = []
+    for ev in sig_events:
+        if sigs and sigs[-1][0] == ev[0]:
+            sigs[-1] = ev
+        else:
+            sigs.append(ev)
+    if not sigs or sigs[0][0] > 0:
+        sigs.insert(0, (0, 4, 4))
+
+    tempo_events.sort(key=lambda e: e[0])
+    seen_tempo_ticks: dict[int, int] = {}
+    for ev_tick, ev_tempo in tempo_events:
+        seen_tempo_ticks[ev_tick] = ev_tempo
+    sorted_tempo_ticks = sorted(seen_tempo_ticks)
+    tempos_out: list[dict] = []
+    # Seed the MIDI default (120 BPM) at time 0 when the first tempo event
+    # lands after the start (or there are none). The beat grid already runs
+    # at 120 for the head of the song, so the sidecar must say so too —
+    # symmetric with the (0, 4, 4) default seeded into the signatures above.
+    if not sorted_tempo_ticks or sorted_tempo_ticks[0] > 0:
+        tempos_out.append({"time": 0.0, "bpm": 120.0})
+    for ev_tick in sorted_tempo_ticks:
+        tempos_out.append({
+            "time": round(tick_to_seconds(ev_tick), 3),
+            "bpm": round(60_000_000.0 / seen_tempo_ticks[ev_tick], 3),
+        })
+
+    time_signatures_out = [
+        {"time": round(tick_to_seconds(t), 3), "ts": [num, den]}
+        for t, num, den in sigs
+    ]
+
+    # ── walk bars from tick 0 to the end of the notes ────────────────────
+    beats: list[dict] = []
+    if end_tick > 0:
+        cur_tick = 0.0
+        measure = 1
+        sig_idx = 0
+        while cur_tick < end_tick and measure <= _TEMPO_MAP_MAX_BARS:
+            # Active signature: the latest event at or before this bar's
+            # start. Mid-bar events wait for the next boundary by
+            # construction (we only re-read between bars).
+            while (sig_idx + 1 < len(sigs)
+                    and sigs[sig_idx + 1][0] <= cur_tick + 1e-6):
+                sig_idx += 1
+            _, num, den = sigs[sig_idx]
+            beat_ticks = ticks_per_beat * 4.0 / den
+            beats.append({
+                "time": round(tick_to_seconds(int(round(cur_tick))), 3),
+                "measure": measure,
+                "den": den,
+            })
+            for k in range(1, num):
+                sub_tick = cur_tick + k * beat_ticks
+                if sub_tick >= end_tick:
+                    break
+                beats.append({
+                    "time": round(tick_to_seconds(int(round(sub_tick))), 3),
+                    "measure": -1,
+                })
+            cur_tick += num * beat_ticks
+            measure += 1
+
+    return {
+        "tempos": tempos_out,
+        "time_signatures": time_signatures_out,
+        "beats": beats,
+    }
+
+
 # ── Drum track listing (channel-9 only) ──────────────────────────────────────

 # Velocity below this is treated as a ghost note. GM doesn't have an explicit
@@ -486,10 +634,12 @@ def convert_drum_track_from_midi(

    Callers can pass an empty dict as ``out_unmapped`` to receive a
    per-MIDI record of every channel-9 note_on that didn't resolve to a
-    piece-id (``{midi: {"count": int, "times": [float, ...]}}``, times
-    capped at 100 samples per note). The default path skips this
-    capture entirely so MIDIs heavy with cowbell/tambourine/etc. take
-    no extra work.
+    piece-id (``{midi: {"count": int, "times": [float, ...],
+    "velocities": [int, ...]}}``, times/velocities index-aligned and
+    capped at 100 samples per note — velocities carry the source notes'
+    real dynamics so a hand-mapping UI doesn't have to flatten them to a
+    default). The default path skips this capture entirely so MIDIs
+    heavy with cowbell/tambourine/etc. take no extra work.
    """
    offset = float(audio_offset)
    if not math.isfinite(offset):
@@ -527,10 +677,13 @@ def convert_drum_track_from_midi(
                    continue
                t = tick_to_seconds(abs_tick) + offset
                entry = out_unmapped.setdefault(
-                    midi_note, {"count": 0, "times": []})
+                    midi_note, {"count": 0, "times": [], "velocities": []})
                entry["count"] += 1
                if len(entry["times"]) < 100:
                    entry["times"].append(round(t, 3))
+                    # Index-aligned with times: the note's real dynamics,
+                    # so hand-mapping doesn't flatten everything to 100.
+                    entry["velocities"].append(int(msg.velocity))
                continue
            # Mapped note: compute t once for the raw entry.
            t = tick_to_seconds(abs_tick) + offset
@@ -54,15 +54,20 @@ MIDDLE_C = 60

 def decode_wire_notes(arr_data: dict) -> list[dict]:
    """Decode an arrangement JSON's notes + chord notes to
-    ``[{"t": float, "midi": int, "sus": float}, ...]`` sorted by time.
+    ``[{"t": float, "midi": int, "sus": float, "hand": str|None}, ...]``
+    sorted by time.

    Keys content packs absolute MIDI as ``midi = s*24 + f`` (sloppak-spec
    §5.3 legacy fallback). Sustain is the ``sus`` field (``l`` accepted as a
-    legacy alias). Entries with malformed fields are skipped.
+    legacy alias). ``hand`` is the authored per-note hand assignment
+    (``'lh'``/``'rh'`` — e.g. from a MusicXML grand-staff import via the
+    editor); a strict enum decode, anything else reads as ``None``
+    (unassigned) so junk can never steer the hand split. Entries with
+    malformed fields are skipped.
    """
    out: list[dict] = []

-    def _push(t, s, f, sus):
+    def _push(t, s, f, sus, hand):
        try:
            t = float(t)
            midi = int(s) * 24 + int(f)
@@ -70,11 +75,15 @@ def decode_wire_notes(arr_data: dict) -> list[dict]:
        except (TypeError, ValueError):
            return
        if 0 <= midi <= 127:
-            out.append({"t": t, "midi": midi, "sus": max(0.0, sus)})
+            out.append({
+                "t": t, "midi": midi, "sus": max(0.0, sus),
+                "hand": hand if hand in ("lh", "rh") else None,
+            })

    for n in arr_data.get("notes") or []:
        if isinstance(n, dict):
-            _push(n.get("t"), n.get("s"), n.get("f"), n.get("sus", n.get("l")))
+            _push(n.get("t"), n.get("s"), n.get("f"), n.get("sus", n.get("l")),
+                  n.get("hand"))
    for ch in arr_data.get("chords") or []:
        if not isinstance(ch, dict):
            continue
@@ -83,7 +92,7 @@ def decode_wire_notes(arr_data: dict) -> list[dict]:
            if isinstance(cn, dict):
                # Chord notes carry no own time — they sound at the chord's t.
                _push(cn.get("t", ch_t), cn.get("s"), cn.get("f"),
-                      cn.get("sus", cn.get("l")))
+                      cn.get("sus", cn.get("l")), cn.get("hand"))

    out.sort(key=lambda n: (n["t"], n["midi"]))
    return out
@@ -103,22 +112,55 @@ def group_simultaneous(notes: list[dict]) -> list[list[dict]]:


 def split_hands(notes: list[dict]) -> dict[str, list[dict]]:
-    """Assign every note to ``rh`` or ``lh`` per the heuristic.
+    """Assign every note to ``rh`` or ``lh``.

-    Per simultaneous group: a span > 12 semitones splits at the largest
-    internal interval gap (low side → lh); otherwise the whole group goes by
-    mean pitch vs middle C (≥ 60 → rh).
+    An AUTHORED per-note ``hand`` ('lh'/'rh' — a MusicXML grand-staff import
+    or a hand edit in the editor) always wins: those notes go straight to
+    their hand and are REMOVED from the group before any heuristic math runs,
+    so one explicit assignment can never skew its chordmates' guesses (e.g.
+    an authored LH melody note above middle C must not drag the group mean
+    down and flip the remaining notes).
+
+    The remaining unassigned notes take the heuristic, per simultaneous
+    group: a span > 12 semitones splits at the largest internal interval gap
+    (low side → lh); otherwise the whole group goes by mean pitch vs middle C
+    (≥ 60 → rh).
    """
    hands: dict[str, list[dict]] = {"rh": [], "lh": []}
-    for group in group_simultaneous(notes):
+    for full_group in group_simultaneous(notes):
+        # Authored hands first — explicit notes leave the group entirely.
+        group = []
+        for n in full_group:
+            if n.get("hand") in ("lh", "rh"):
+                hands[n["hand"]].append(n)
+            else:
+                group.append(n)
+        if not group:
+            continue
        pitches = sorted(n["midi"] for n in group)
        span = pitches[-1] - pitches[0]
        if len(pitches) > 1 and span > HAND_SPLIT_SPAN_SEMITONES:
-            # Largest internal gap; ties resolve to the lowest such gap so the
-            # left hand keeps the tight low cluster.
-            gaps = [pitches[i + 1] - pitches[i] for i in range(len(pitches) - 1)]
-            split_after = gaps.index(max(gaps))
-            threshold = pitches[split_after]  # lh: midi <= threshold
+            # Prefer middle C as the split boundary when notes straddle it —
+            # this correctly handles bass+treble chords from piano imports where
+            # the largest-gap heuristic picks the wrong split point (e.g.
+            # [G2, E3, C4]: largest gap is G2→E3 but the real split is E3|C4).
+            # BUT only when both resulting hands are themselves playable: a bass
+            # note under a treble voicing that merely dips below C4 (e.g.
+            # [E2, B3, D4, G4]) would otherwise land E2+B3 in one hand — a
+            # 19-semitone span that re-violates HAND_SPLIT_SPAN_SEMITONES. When
+            # the middle-C split produces an unplayable hand, fall back to the
+            # largest internal gap (which correctly isolates E2 there).
+            threshold = None
+            if pitches[0] < MIDDLE_C <= pitches[-1]:
+                _lh = [p for p in pitches if p < MIDDLE_C]
+                _rh = [p for p in pitches if p >= MIDDLE_C]
+                if (_lh[-1] - _lh[0] <= HAND_SPLIT_SPAN_SEMITONES
+                        and _rh[-1] - _rh[0] <= HAND_SPLIT_SPAN_SEMITONES):
+                    threshold = MIDDLE_C - 1  # lh: midi < MIDDLE_C
+            if threshold is None:
+                gaps = [pitches[i + 1] - pitches[i] for i in range(len(pitches) - 1)]
+                split_after = gaps.index(max(gaps))
+                threshold = pitches[split_after]
            for n in group:
                hands["lh" if n["midi"] <= threshold else "rh"].append(n)
        else:
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+"""Request-field coercion helpers shared by the raw-`dict` POST handlers.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3). Pure — no IO, no globals — so it
+imports cleanly from both ``server`` and any ``routers/`` module.
+"""
+
+
+def _clean_str(value) -> str:
+    """Trim a request field to a string; non-strings (or missing) → ''.
+    Lets the raw-`dict` POST handlers treat wrong-typed JSON (an int/list/etc.
+    where a string was expected) as "empty" and answer 400, instead of raising
+    AttributeError/TypeError → 500 on a later .strip()/`in`."""
+    return value.strip() if isinstance(value, str) else ""
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+"""FastAPI route modules extracted from ``server.py`` (R3).
+
+Each module here exposes a module-level ``router`` (a ``fastapi.APIRouter``)
+that ``server.py`` mounts with ``app.include_router(...)`` at the point in the
+file where those routes used to be defined — FastAPI matches routes in
+registration order, so keeping the mount site preserves it.
+
+**Routers must never ``import server``.** They reach core singletons through
+the injected seam instead::
+
+    import appstate
+
+    @router.get("/api/thing")
+    def get_thing():
+        return appstate.meta_db.thing()
+
+and always as a **module attribute, at call time** — never
+``from appstate import meta_db``, which freezes the binding and defeats both a
+later ``appstate.configure()`` and ``monkeypatch.setattr``. See ``appstate.py``.
+
+Dependencies flow one way: ``server -> routers -> appstate``.
+
+**Why this lives under ``lib/``.** ``lib/`` is the only core directory every
+packaging path already copies wholesale — the Dockerfile (``COPY lib/``),
+``docker-compose.yml``, and feedback-desktop's ``bundle-slopsmith.sh``
+(``cp -r lib``) — and all three put it on ``sys.path``. A root-level package
+ships in Docker but is silently dropped from the packaged desktop app, whose
+bundler copies a hardcoded file list. Route modules import nothing at module
+scope beyond FastAPI and ``appstate``, so they do no import-time IO and satisfy
+Principle V's rule for ``lib/``.
+"""
@@ -0,0 +1,513 @@
+"""Album-art routes: serve / cover-search / candidates / upload / url / remove
+(/api/song/{filename}/art*, /api/art/{filename}/override).
+
+Extracted verbatim from server.py (R3). Only the decorators (@app -> @router) and
+the seam reads change: meta_db -> appstate.meta_db, ART_CACHE_DIR ->
+appstate.art_cache_dir, and the three shared art helpers that stay in server.py
+(they are also used by the song/delete routes) -> appstate.<callable>
+(_song_pack_art_exists, _art_override_paths, _art_safe_name). The CAA / release
+search transport lives in lib/enrichment.py and is reached as enrichment.X.
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import hashlib
+import ipaddress
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException, Request
+from fastapi.responses import FileResponse, JSONResponse, Response
+
+import appstate
+import enrichment
+import loosefolder as loosefolder_mod
+import sloppak as sloppak_mod
+from dlc_paths import _get_dlc_dir, _resolve_dlc_path
+
+import logging
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+router = APIRouter()
+
+def _if_none_match_hits(header: str | None, etag: str) -> bool:
+    """True if an If-None-Match header matches `etag` (weak comparison).
+
+    Handles the `*` wildcard and comma-separated lists, and ignores a weak
+    `W/` prefix on either side — the standard semantics for a conditional GET.
+    """
+    if not header:
+        return False
+    bare = etag.removeprefix("W/")
+    for tok in header.split(","):
+        t = tok.strip()
+        if t == "*" or t.removeprefix("W/") == bare:
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
+# Album art is served with a strong validator (an ETag on the sloppak byte
+# path; FileResponse's own ETag/Last-Modified on the file paths) and revalidated
+# with `no-cache`. That keeps re-scroll cheap — a conditional GET returns a
+# bodyless 304 — without ever serving a stale cover. A long `immutable` max-age
+# was rejected: the frontend's `?v=<mtime>` buster is only second-resolution, so
+# a same-second cover rewrite would keep the URL and pin the old bytes for the
+# cache lifetime. Validation cost is negligible for a localhost backend.
+_ART_CACHE_HEADERS = {"Cache-Control": "no-cache"}
+
+
+def _art_etag(path: Path) -> str | None:
+    """Strong validator for an art file: nanosecond mtime + size (so a
+    same-second rewrite still changes it). None if the file can't be stat'd."""
+    try:
+        st = path.stat()
+        return f'"{st.st_mtime_ns}-{st.st_size}"'
+    except OSError:
+        return None
+
+
+def _art_conditional(etag: str | None, request: Request | None):
+    """Return (headers, not_modified) for an art response. `not_modified` is
+    True when the client's If-None-Match already matches `etag` → caller should
+    return a bodyless 304. Starlette's FileResponse emits an ETag but does NOT
+    itself evaluate If-None-Match, so every art path routes through here to get
+    real conditional handling."""
+    headers = dict(_ART_CACHE_HEADERS)
+    if etag:
+        headers["ETag"] = etag
+    inm = request.headers.get("if-none-match") if request is not None else None
+    return headers, bool(etag) and _if_none_match_hits(inm, etag)
+
+
+def _file_art_response(path: Path, media_type: str, request: Request | None):
+    """FileResponse for an on-disk art file, with no-cache + ETag and a bodyless
+    304 when the client's validator still matches."""
+    headers, not_modified = _art_conditional(_art_etag(path), request)
+    if not_modified:
+        return Response(status_code=304, headers=headers)
+    return FileResponse(str(path), media_type=media_type, headers=headers)
+
+
+@router.get("/api/song/{filename:path}/art")
+async def get_song_art(filename: str, request: Request = None, source: str = ""):
+    """Serve album art for a song, walking the R3 override chain:
+
+      1. USER OVERRIDE (upload / URL-fetch, {safe_name}.gif|.png in the art
+         cache) — art the user explicitly pinned outranks everything, pack
+         art included. GIF is allowed HERE only: an animated cover is a
+         local-only bonus; packs stay jpg/png/webp and nothing ever writes
+         art into a pack file.
+      2. PACK ART — sloppak cover (single member read, no full unpack) or
+         the loose folder's discovered image.
+      3. COVER ART ARCHIVE cache — fetched by the enrichment art worker for
+         matched songs that lack pack art, keyed by release MBID.
+
+    `?source=pack` narrows the chain to step 2 only (no override, no CAA):
+    the cover picker's "Pack original" tile must show the pack's own art
+    even while a user override is what the plain route serves. 404 when the
+    song ships no art of its own.
+    """
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    if not dlc:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not configured"}, 404)
+
+    song_path = _resolve_dlc_path(dlc, filename)
+    if song_path is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "forbidden"}, 403)
+    if not song_path.exists():
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, 404)
+
+    pack_only = source == "pack"
+
+    # 1. User override — GIF first (it wins over a stale PNG override).
+    if not pack_only:
+        for cached in appstate.art_override_paths(filename):
+            mt = "image/gif" if cached.suffix == ".gif" else "image/png"
+            return _file_art_response(cached, mt, request)
+
+    # 2a. Sloppak: read the cover (manifest-declared or default) straight from
+    # the package. For a zip-form sloppak this opens just the cover member —
+    # NOT the whole archive — so the library grid never triggers a full unpack
+    # of stems just to paint a thumbnail.
+    if sloppak_mod.is_sloppak(song_path):
+        # Read the cover (cheap — single member, no full unpack) and validate by
+        # its CONTENT. A stat-based ETag would be wrong for directory-form
+        # sloppaks: editing cover.jpg in place changes the file's mtime, not the
+        # directory's, so a dir-stat ETag could emit a stale 304. Content hashing
+        # is correct for both dir- and zip-form. Raw byte Response lacks
+        # FileResponse's validators, so we attach the ETag + honor If-None-Match.
+        try:
+            art = await asyncio.to_thread(sloppak_mod.read_cover_bytes, song_path)
+        except Exception:
+            art = None
+        if art is not None:
+            data, mt = art
+            etag = f'"{hashlib.sha1(data).hexdigest()}"'
+            headers, not_modified = _art_conditional(etag, request)
+            if not_modified:
+                return Response(status_code=304, headers=headers)
+            return Response(content=data, media_type=mt, headers=headers)
+
+    # 2b. Loose folder: serve the discovered art file directly.
+    # song_path is already validated against DLC_DIR by _resolve_dlc_path.
+    elif loosefolder_mod.is_loose_song(song_path):
+        art_path = loosefolder_mod.find_art(song_path)
+        if art_path:
+            # Re-resolve in case the matched file is a symlink — a crafted
+            # custom song could put `album_art.jpg` as a symlink to anywhere on
+            # disk. Insist the final target stays inside the song folder.
+            art_resolved = art_path.resolve()
+            try:
+                art_resolved.relative_to(song_path)
+            except ValueError:
+                return JSONResponse({"error": "forbidden"}, 403)
+            if art_resolved.is_file():
+                mt = {
+                    ".jpg": "image/jpeg", ".jpeg": "image/jpeg",
+                    ".png": "image/png", ".webp": "image/webp",
+                }.get(art_resolved.suffix.lower(), "image/jpeg")
+                return _file_art_response(art_resolved, mt, request)
+
+    # 3. Cover Art Archive cache (the enrichment art worker's fetch).
+    if not pack_only:
+        row = appstate.meta_db.get_enrichment(filename)
+        if row and row.get("art_state") == "caa" and row.get("art_cache_path"):
+            caa = Path(row["art_cache_path"])
+            if caa.is_file():
+                return _file_art_response(caa, "image/jpeg", request)
+
+    return JSONResponse({"error": "no art"}, 404)
+
+
+# ── Cover picker (PR-C): candidate assembly ───────────────────────────────────
+# Enumerated ON OPEN, never at scan time (charrette §8), and NO image bytes
+# are fetched here — Cover Art Archive release INDEX jsons only (1-3 throttled
+# calls on a cache miss); the tiles' thumbnails load straight from the archive
+# in the client. Applying a pick never grows a new write path: the client
+# POSTs the chosen thumb URL to the EXISTING …/art/url route (the override
+# lane — never evicted, survives a re-match), "Pack original" DELETEs the
+# override, uploads keep the existing upload route.
+_ART_PICKER_MAX_CAA = 12
+
+
+@router.get("/api/song/{filename:path}/art/cover-search")
+def api_art_cover_search(filename: str, q: str = ""):
+    """Search Cover Art Archive (via MusicBrainz release-groups) for album covers
+    — powers the Change-cover picker's search box, so a cover can be found even
+    for a song with no metadata match (the unmatched city-pop pile, where
+    /art/candidates is empty). `q` defaults to the song's own artist + album/
+    title (romaji fallback applied). Read-only; the picker renders the thumbs and
+    applies a pick through the existing /art/url route."""
+    query = (q or "").strip()
+    if not query:
+        pack = appstate.meta_db.pack_fields(appstate.meta_db._canonical_song_filename(filename))
+        query = " ".join(x for x in (pack.get("artist"), pack.get("album") or pack.get("title")) if x).strip()
+    if not query:
+        return {"query": "", "covers": []}
+    try:
+        return {"query": query, "covers": enrichment._mb_search_release_groups(query, limit=8)}
+    except enrichment.EnrichTransportError:
+        return {"query": query, "covers": [], "error": "unavailable"}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/song/{filename:path}/art/candidates")
+def get_song_art_candidates(filename: str):
+    """Everything the cover picker can offer for one song, without fetching a
+    single image: the current cover (with its provenance), the pack original
+    when the song ships art, and CAA candidates for the matched/manual
+    release plus any distinct releases among the stored review candidates.
+    Sync route on purpose (the CAA index fetch sleeps in the shared
+    throttle — FastAPI runs `def` routes in the threadpool). One response,
+    `pending` always False — the client shows a spinner for the request's own
+    latency; offline / CAA-down just means an empty caa tail (the instant
+    tiles keep working), never an error."""
+    from urllib.parse import quote
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    song_path = _resolve_dlc_path(dlc, filename) if dlc else None
+    if song_path is None or not song_path.exists():
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="unknown song")
+
+    row = appstate.meta_db.get_enrichment(filename) or {}
+    has_pack = appstate.song_pack_art_exists(filename)
+    art_url = f"/api/song/{quote(filename)}/art"
+
+    # What the plain art route would serve right now — the serve chain's
+    # order (override > pack > CAA cache) restated as provenance.
+    if appstate.art_override_paths(filename):
+        provenance = "yours"
+    elif has_pack:
+        provenance = "pack"
+    elif row.get("art_state") == "caa" and row.get("art_cache_path"):
+        provenance = "matched"
+    else:
+        provenance = "none"
+
+    candidates: list[dict] = [{
+        "id": "current", "kind": "current", "label": "Current",
+        "thumb_url": art_url, "provenance": provenance,
+    }]
+    if has_pack:
+        candidates.append({
+            "id": "pack", "kind": "pack", "label": "Pack original",
+            "thumb_url": art_url + "?source=pack", "provenance": "pack",
+        })
+
+    # Releases worth asking the archive about: the matched/manual release
+    # first (it seeds the best candidates), then any distinct release among
+    # the stored review candidates (a review row has no mb_release_id of its
+    # own — its releases live in the candidates JSON).
+    # Only spend the shared CAA rate budget on rows whose match warrants it:
+    # a matched/manual release seeds the best candidates, and a review row's
+    # stored candidates are still live proposals. A failed/rejected (or
+    # unscanned) row has no accepted match — asking would burn the budget and
+    # surface releases already rejected as non-matches. The Current + Pack
+    # tiles above serve regardless, so those songs still get a picker.
+    rids: list[str] = []
+    if row.get("match_state") in ("matched", "manual", "review"):
+        if row.get("match_state") in ("matched", "manual") and row.get("mb_release_id"):
+            rids.append(str(row["mb_release_id"]))
+        for cand in (row.get("candidates") or []):
+            rid = str(cand.get("release_id") or "") if isinstance(cand, dict) else ""
+            if rid and rid not in rids:
+                rids.append(rid)
+
+    caa_entries: list[dict] = []
+    for rid in rids:
+        if len(caa_entries) >= _ART_PICKER_MAX_CAA:
+            break
+        try:
+            imgs = enrichment._caa_index_cached(rid)
+        except enrichment.EnrichTransportError:
+            # Offline / archive down — stop asking (each further miss would
+            # only burn a timeout). The instant tiles still serve; a later
+            # picker-open retries naturally (failures are never cached).
+            break
+        # Front covers first, approved before pending, otherwise index order
+        # (the picker grammar is a RANKED list — §7/§9).
+        def _rank(img):
+            types = img.get("types") or []
+            is_front = bool(img.get("front")) or "Front" in types
+            return (not is_front, not bool(img.get("approved")))
+        for img in sorted((i for i in imgs if isinstance(i, dict)), key=_rank):
+            if len(caa_entries) >= _ART_PICKER_MAX_CAA:
+                break
+            thumbs = img.get("thumbnails") or {}
+            if not isinstance(thumbs, dict):
+                continue
+            thumb = (thumbs.get("500") or thumbs.get("large")
+                     or thumbs.get("250") or thumbs.get("small"))
+            if not thumb:
+                continue
+            types = [str(t) for t in (img.get("types") or []) if isinstance(t, str)]
+            caa_entries.append({
+                "id": f"caa-{rid}-{img.get('id', '')}",
+                "kind": "caa",
+                "label": ", ".join(types) or "Cover",
+                "thumb_url": str(thumb),
+                "provenance": "matched",
+                "types": types,
+                "approved": bool(img.get("approved")),
+                "release_id": rid,
+            })
+
+    return {"candidates": candidates + caa_entries, "pending": False}
+
+
+def _save_art_override(filename: str, img_data: bytes) -> dict:
+    """Persist a user art override into the art cache (R3). One override per
+    song: GIF input is validated and kept VERBATIM as .gif (animation intact —
+    the local-only bonus; it is never written into the pack file), everything
+    else is normalized to RGB PNG via PIL. Saving either kind removes the
+    other so the serve chain has exactly one user file to find."""
+    appstate.art_cache_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    stem = appstate.art_safe_name(filename)
+    png_path = appstate.art_cache_dir / f"{stem}.png"
+    gif_path = appstate.art_cache_dir / f"{stem}.gif"
+    from PIL import Image
+    import io as _io
+    if img_data[:6] in (b"GIF87a", b"GIF89a"):
+        try:
+            probe = Image.open(_io.BytesIO(img_data))
+            probe.verify()   # decodes headers/frames without keeping the image
+            if probe.format != "GIF":
+                raise ValueError("not a GIF")
+        except Exception as e:
+            return {"error": f"Invalid image: {e}"}
+        gif_path.write_bytes(img_data)
+        png_path.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+        return {"ok": True, "kind": "gif"}
+    try:
+        img = Image.open(_io.BytesIO(img_data)).convert("RGB")
+        img.save(str(png_path), "PNG")
+    except Exception as e:
+        return {"error": f"Invalid image: {e}"}
+    gif_path.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+    return {"ok": True, "kind": "png"}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/song/{filename:path}/art/upload")
+async def upload_song_art_b64(filename: str, data: dict):
+    """Upload a custom cover as base64 (PNG/JPG/WebP → normalized PNG;
+    GIF → kept animated, local-only). The override outranks pack art in the
+    serve chain; remove it via DELETE …/art/override."""
+    import base64
+    # Reject art for a filename that doesn't resolve to a real song (mirrors the
+    # url route's guard) — no writing stray override files for unknown keys.
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    song_path = _resolve_dlc_path(dlc, filename) if dlc else None
+    if song_path is None or not song_path.exists():
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="unknown song")
+    b64 = data.get("image", "")
+    if not b64:
+        return {"error": "No image data"}
+    # Strip data URL prefix if present
+    if "," in b64:
+        b64 = b64.split(",", 1)[1]
+    try:
+        img_data = base64.b64decode(b64)
+    except Exception:
+        return {"error": "Invalid base64"}
+    if len(img_data) > _ART_URL_MAX_BYTES:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="image larger than 10 MB")
+    return _save_art_override(filename, img_data)
+
+
+# Art-by-URL fetch cap — a cover, not a wallpaper pack.
+_ART_URL_MAX_BYTES = 10 * 1024 * 1024
+
+
+def _url_host_is_internal(url: str) -> bool:
+    """True when a user-supplied URL's host resolves to a loopback, private,
+    link-local, reserved, multicast or unspecified address — an SSRF target we
+    refuse to fetch on the user's behalf (e.g. 169.254.169.254 metadata, LAN
+    services). Fails CLOSED: an unresolvable or unparseable host is treated as
+    internal. Every resolved address must be public for the URL to pass."""
+    from urllib.parse import urlparse
+    import socket
+    host = urlparse(url).hostname
+    if not host:
+        return True
+    try:
+        infos = socket.getaddrinfo(host, None)
+    except OSError:
+        return True
+    if not infos:
+        return True
+    for info in infos:
+        raw = info[4][0].split("%", 1)[0]  # strip any zone id
+        try:
+            ip = ipaddress.ip_address(raw)
+        except ValueError:
+            return True
+        if (ip.is_private or ip.is_loopback or ip.is_link_local
+                or ip.is_reserved or ip.is_multicast or ip.is_unspecified):
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
+# Art-by-URL redirect budget. Cover hosts commonly answer with a redirect —
+# the Cover Art Archive (whose thumbs the cover picker applies through this
+# very route) 307s every image to archive.org — so redirects must work; 5
+# hops is generous for any real CDN chain while still bounding the walk.
+_ART_URL_MAX_REDIRECTS = 5
+
+
+def _fetch_art_url(url: str) -> bytes:
+    """The one place art-by-URL touches the network (tests fake this seam).
+    User-initiated, so not throttled like the background workers — but the
+    same offline guard applies (pytest can never fetch), the host is checked
+    against internal/reserved ranges (SSRF), redirects are followed MANUALLY
+    with the scheme + internal-host guard re-applied to every hop (so a
+    redirect can't smuggle the request to an internal target — a blanket
+    no-redirect rule would break every Cover Art Archive pick, which always
+    redirects to archive.org), and the size cap is enforced while streaming
+    so a huge response never fully downloads.
+
+    Residual, accepted: each hop's host is resolved here and again by
+    requests, so a rebinding DNS name is a theoretical TOCTOU. Not closed
+    with an IP-pinned connection because (a) this is a single-user, no-auth
+    app (constitution §I) and the route is demo-blocked, so there is no
+    untrusted submission path, and (b) no other in-tree client (MusicBrainz,
+    CAA) pins either — a bespoke pinned+SNI adapter here would be
+    inconsistent and disproportionate. The cheap guards above still stop the
+    realistic vectors (direct internal URL, redirect-to-internal)."""
+    if not enrichment._enrich_network_enabled():
+        raise enrichment.EnrichTransportError("art fetch disabled (offline)")
+    import requests
+    from urllib.parse import urljoin, urlparse
+    for _hop in range(_ART_URL_MAX_REDIRECTS + 1):
+        # Re-validate EVERY hop, not just the user's original URL: the whole
+        # point of handling redirects ourselves is that each target gets the
+        # same scheme + SSRF gate before any request is made.
+        if urlparse(url).scheme not in ("http", "https"):
+            raise ValueError("url must be http(s)")
+        if _url_host_is_internal(url):
+            raise ValueError("url host is not allowed")
+        try:
+            with requests.get(url, timeout=15, stream=True, allow_redirects=False,
+                              headers={"User-Agent": enrichment._enrich_user_agent()}) as resp:
+                if resp.status_code in (301, 302, 303, 307, 308):
+                    loc = resp.headers.get("Location") or ""
+                    if not loc:
+                        raise enrichment.EnrichTransportError(
+                            f"HTTP {resp.status_code} without a Location")
+                    url = urljoin(url, loc)
+                    continue
+                if resp.status_code != 200:
+                    raise enrichment.EnrichTransportError(f"HTTP {resp.status_code}")
+                data = b""
+                for chunk in resp.iter_content(65536):
+                    data += chunk
+                    if len(data) > _ART_URL_MAX_BYTES:
+                        raise ValueError("image larger than 10 MB")
+                return data
+        except requests.RequestException as e:
+            raise enrichment.EnrichTransportError(str(e)) from e
+    raise enrichment.EnrichTransportError("too many redirects")
+
+
+@router.post("/api/song/{filename:path}/art/url")
+def set_song_art_from_url(filename: str, data: dict):
+    """Paste-a-link cover art (the media-server idiom): the server fetches the
+    image and stores it as this song's local override — identical result to an
+    upload, including the GIF-stays-local rule. http(s) only."""
+    url = str((data or {}).get("url") or "").strip()
+    from urllib.parse import urlparse
+    parsed = urlparse(url)
+    if parsed.scheme not in ("http", "https") or not parsed.hostname:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="url must be http(s)")
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    song_path = _resolve_dlc_path(dlc, filename) if dlc else None
+    if song_path is None or not song_path.exists():
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="unknown song")
+    try:
+        img_data = _fetch_art_url(url)
+    except enrichment.EnrichTransportError as e:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "could not fetch image", "detail": str(e)},
+                            status_code=502)
+    except ValueError as e:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail=str(e))
+    return _save_art_override(filename, img_data)
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/art/{filename:path}/override")
+def remove_song_art_override(filename: str):
+    """Drop the user art override — the serve chain falls back to pack art,
+    then the Cover Art Archive cache. Lives under /api/art (NOT /api/song) so
+    the greedy DELETE /api/song/{path} catch-all can't shadow it — the same
+    dodge the chart split/unsplit routes use."""
+    removed = False
+    for p in appstate.art_override_paths(filename):
+        try:
+            p.unlink()
+            removed = True
+        except OSError:
+            pass
+    if removed:
+        # The art worker may have settled this row as 'user' (override present,
+        # no pack art). Reset it so the next enrichment pass re-evaluates and the
+        # CAA fallback resumes — otherwise a removed override strands the row
+        # (enrichment_art_pending only re-queues art_state IS NULL) and the song
+        # is left with no art at all.
+        try:
+            appstate.meta_db.set_enrichment_art(filename, None, None)
+        except Exception:
+            log.exception("art override delete: failed to reset enrichment state")
+    return {"ok": True, "removed": removed}
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+"""Artist routes: the artist page + external-links payload
+(/api/artist/{name}/page, /links, /links/refresh).
+
+Extracted verbatim from server.py (R3) except @app->@router and the seam reads
+(meta_db->appstate.meta_db, CONFIG_DIR->appstate.config_dir, _default_settings->
+appstate.default_settings). MusicBrainz link enrichment is reached as
+enrichment.X; the shared URL-safety validator lives in lib/library_registry.py.
+"""
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+
+import appstate
+import enrichment
+from appconfig import _load_config
+from library_registry import _safe_art_redirect_url
+
+import logging
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+router = APIRouter()
+
+# MB artist url-relation types → the page's link slots (locked position 4:
+# whitelist only, links-only forever). Everything not listed is dropped.
+_ARTIST_URL_REL_SLOTS = {
+    "official homepage": "official",
+    "setlistfm": "tour",
+    "concerts": "tour",
+    "youtube": "video",
+    "video channel": "video",
+    "social network": "social",
+    "bandcamp": "social",
+    "soundcloud": "social",
+    "wikipedia": "wikipedia",
+    "wikidata": "wikipedia",
+}
+
+
+def _artist_links_from_mb(body: dict) -> tuple[dict, list]:
+    """Whitelist an MB artist doc's url-relations into the page's link slots:
+    {official, tour, video, social: [...], wikipedia}. Every URL passes the
+    same http(s)-scheme gate as art redirects (_safe_art_redirect_url) so a
+    hostile javascript:/data:/file: resource can never reach an href. First
+    URL wins per single slot; social collects up to 5; wikipedia is preferred
+    over wikidata when both exist. Also returns MB's genre names (capped)."""
+    links: dict = {}
+    social: list = []
+    wikidata_url = None
+    for rel in (body or {}).get("relations") or []:
+        if not isinstance(rel, dict):
+            continue
+        rtype = str(rel.get("type") or "").strip().lower()
+        slot = _ARTIST_URL_REL_SLOTS.get(rtype)
+        if not slot:
+            continue
+        url = rel.get("url")
+        url = url.get("resource") if isinstance(url, dict) else url
+        if _safe_art_redirect_url(url) is None:
+            continue
+        if slot == "social":
+            if url not in social and len(social) < 5:
+                social.append(url)
+        elif rtype == "wikidata":
+            wikidata_url = wikidata_url or url
+        elif slot not in links:
+            links[slot] = url
+    if social:
+        links["social"] = social
+    if "wikipedia" not in links and wikidata_url:
+        links["wikipedia"] = wikidata_url
+    genres = [str(g.get("name")) for g in (body or {}).get("genres") or []
+              if isinstance(g, dict) and g.get("name")]
+    return links, genres[:8]
+
+
+def _artist_links_payload(name: str, force: bool = False) -> dict:
+    """Shared by GET links + POST refresh. Order of gates: the user's opt-in
+    setting (external links are OFF by default — the dev-chat thread's call),
+    then a known mb_artist_id (no id → nothing to look up), then the cache
+    (unless force), then the offline guard, then ONE throttled fetch."""
+    cfg = _load_config(appstate.config_dir / "config.json") or appstate.default_settings()
+    if cfg.get("artist_external_links") is not True:
+        return {"links": {}, "matched": False, "disabled": True}
+    canonical = appstate.meta_db._terminal_canonical((name or "").strip())
+    mbid = appstate.meta_db.artist_known_mb_id(appstate.meta_db._raw_variants_for(canonical))
+    mbid = (mbid or "").strip().lower()
+    # The id is interpolated into the MB request path — same strict-shape rule
+    # as the manifest identity keys (_MBID_RE), so a junk/hostile value stored
+    # via a hand-rolled /pick body can never reach the request line.
+    if not mbid or not enrichment._MBID_RE.match(mbid):
+        return {"links": {}, "matched": False}
+    if not force:
+        cached = appstate.meta_db.get_artist_enrichment(mbid)
+        if cached:
+            return {"links": cached["url_rels"], "genres": cached["genres"],
+                    "matched": True, "cached": True, "mb_artist_id": mbid}
+    if not enrichment._enrich_network_enabled():
+        return {"links": {}, "matched": True, "offline": True, "mb_artist_id": mbid}
+    try:
+        body = enrichment._mb_http_get(f"artist/{mbid}", {"inc": "url-rels+genres+tags"})
+    except enrichment.EnrichTransportError:
+        return {"links": {}, "matched": True, "offline": True, "mb_artist_id": mbid}
+    links, genres = _artist_links_from_mb(body or {})
+    appstate.meta_db.put_artist_enrichment(mbid, links, genres)
+    return {"links": links, "genres": genres, "matched": True, "cached": False,
+            "mb_artist_id": mbid}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/artist/{name:path}/page")
+def api_artist_page(name: str):
+    """The artist page's all-LOCAL payload — counts, albums, aliases, similar-
+    in-library, mosaic art, play-all seed. Never touches the network; an
+    unmatched or even unknown artist still returns a functional page."""
+    return appstate.meta_db.artist_page(name)
+
+
+@router.get("/api/artist/{name:path}/links")
+def api_artist_links(name: str):
+    """External links for a matched artist — cached after the first call.
+    Sync route on purpose (like /api/enrichment/search): FastAPI runs it in
+    the threadpool so the MB throttle's sleep never blocks the event loop."""
+    return _artist_links_payload(name)
+
+
+@router.post("/api/artist/{name:path}/links/refresh")
+def api_artist_links_refresh(name: str):
+    """Explicit re-fetch of the cached links (the page's manual Refresh)."""
+    return _artist_links_payload(name, force=True)
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+"""Artist aliases / Tidy-up (P4) — canonicalize messy artist tags at DISPLAY
+("ACDC" -> "AC/DC") without touching feedpak files or the scanner-derived
+songs.artist. All DB-only.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3); only the decorator receiver
+(``@app`` -> ``@router``) and the singleton read (``meta_db`` ->
+``appstate.meta_db``) changed. The read stays a module attribute so a re-imported
+``server`` re-publishes a fresh DB into the seam — see ``appstate.py``.
+"""
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
+
+import appstate
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+@router.get("/api/artist-aliases")
+def list_artist_aliases():
+    """Existing raw→canonical overrides (the Tidy-up 'current merges' list)."""
+    return {"aliases": appstate.meta_db.list_artist_aliases()}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/artists/raw")
+def list_raw_artists(limit: int = 2000):
+    """Distinct RAW artist names + song counts + current canonical — the Tidy-up
+    picker (you merge raw variants into one canonical)."""
+    return {"artists": appstate.meta_db.raw_artists(limit)}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/artist-aliases")
+def set_artist_alias(data: dict):
+    """Upsert one override: {raw_name, canonical_name, mb_artist_id?}. A self-alias
+    (raw == canonical) clears the row instead (un-merge)."""
+    raw = (data.get("raw_name") or "").strip()
+    canon = (data.get("canonical_name") or "").strip()
+    if not raw or not canon:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "raw_name and canonical_name are required"}, 400)
+    result = appstate.meta_db.set_artist_alias(raw, canon, (data.get("mb_artist_id") or None))
+    if not result.get("ok"):
+        # Would form a cycle (raw → … → raw) — refuse rather than corrupt the chain.
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": "alias would create a cycle", "raw_name": raw, "canonical_name": canon},
+            409)
+    return {"ok": True, "raw_name": raw, "canonical_name": result.get("canonical_name", canon)}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/artist-aliases/merge")
+def merge_artist_aliases(data: dict):
+    """Merge several raw artist variants into one canonical:
+    {raw_names: [...], canonical_name}. The canonical's own self-alias is skipped.
+    Returns {merged: N}."""
+    canon = (data.get("canonical_name") or "").strip()
+    raws = data.get("raw_names")
+    if not canon:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "canonical_name is required"}, 400)
+    if not isinstance(raws, list) or not raws:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "raw_names must be a non-empty array"}, 400)
+    n = appstate.meta_db.merge_artists(raws, canon)
+    return {"merged": n, "canonical_name": canon}
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/artist-aliases/{raw_name:path}")
+def delete_artist_alias(raw_name: str):
+    """Remove one override so that raw artist stands on its own again."""
+    appstate.meta_db.remove_artist_alias(raw_name)
+    return {"ok": True}
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+"""Audio-effects mapping API — the core-owned song/tone -> provider routing index.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3); only the decorator receiver
+(``@app`` -> ``@router``) and the singleton read (``audio_effect_mappings`` ->
+``appstate.audio_effect_mappings``) changed. The read must stay a module
+attribute so a re-imported ``server`` re-publishes a fresh DB into the seam and
+`monkeypatch.setattr` reaches this module — see ``appstate.py``.
+"""
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Body, Query
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
+
+import appstate
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+def _audio_effects_error(exc: Exception):
+    return JSONResponse({"error": str(exc)}, status_code=400)
+
+
+@router.get("/api/audio-effects/mappings")
+def list_audio_effect_mappings(
+    song_key: str = Query(""),
+    filename: str = Query(""),
+    tone_key: str = Query(""),
+    provider_id: str = Query(""),
+):
+    try:
+        return {
+            "mappings": appstate.audio_effect_mappings.list(
+                song_key=song_key,
+                filename=filename,
+                tone_key=tone_key,
+                provider_id=provider_id,
+            )
+        }
+    except ValueError as exc:
+        return _audio_effects_error(exc)
+
+
+@router.post("/api/audio-effects/mappings")
+def upsert_audio_effect_mapping(data: dict = Body(...)):
+    try:
+        mapping = appstate.audio_effect_mappings.upsert(data)
+    except ValueError as exc:
+        return _audio_effects_error(exc)
+    return {"ok": True, "mapping": mapping}
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/audio-effects/mappings/{mapping_id}")
+def delete_audio_effect_mapping(mapping_id: int, provider_id: str = Query("")):
+    try:
+        deleted = appstate.audio_effect_mappings.delete(mapping_id, provider_id=provider_id)
+    except ValueError as exc:
+        return _audio_effects_error(exc)
+    if not deleted:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "mapping not found"}, status_code=404)
+    return {"ok": True}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/audio-effects/mappings/{mapping_id}/activate")
+def activate_audio_effect_mapping(mapping_id: int, data: dict = Body(default_factory=dict)):
+    try:
+        provider_id = data.get("provider_id") if "provider_id" in data else data.get("providerId")
+        mapping = appstate.audio_effect_mappings.activate(mapping_id, provider_id="" if provider_id is None else provider_id)
+    except ValueError as exc:
+        return _audio_effects_error(exc)
+    if not mapping:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "mapping not found"}, status_code=404)
+    return {"ok": True, "mapping": mapping}
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/audio-effects/active-mapping")
+def clear_audio_effect_active_mapping(song_key: str = Query(...), tone_key: str = Query("")):
+    try:
+        cleared = appstate.audio_effect_mappings.clear_active(song_key=song_key, tone_key=tone_key)
+    except ValueError as exc:
+        return _audio_effects_error(exc)
+    return {"ok": True, "cleared": cleared}
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+"""Chart-level endpoints — split/unsplit a chart from its work, resolve work
+membership, and the context-menu "Get info" file inspector.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3); edits: ``@app`` -> ``@router``,
+``meta_db`` -> ``appstate.meta_db``. DLC path resolution comes from
+``dlc_paths``; sloppak/loose detection from the shared lib modules.
+"""
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException
+
+import appstate
+from dlc_paths import _get_dlc_dir, _resolve_dlc_path
+import sloppak as sloppak_mod
+import loosefolder as loosefolder_mod
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+@router.post("/api/chart/{filename:path}/split")
+def api_split_chart(filename: str):
+    """'These aren't the same song' — split this chart out as its own singleton
+    work. Under /api/chart (NOT /api/song) so the DELETE /api/song/{path}
+    catch-all can't shadow it."""
+    key = appstate.meta_db._canonical_song_filename(filename)
+    appstate.meta_db.split_chart(key)
+    return {"ok": True, "filename": key}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/chart/{filename:path}/unsplit")
+def api_unsplit_chart(filename: str):
+    """Undo a split — rejoin the chart to its work."""
+    key = appstate.meta_db._canonical_song_filename(filename)
+    appstate.meta_db.unsplit_chart(key)
+    return {"ok": True, "filename": key}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/chart/{filename:path}/work")
+def api_get_chart_work(filename: str):
+    """Resolve a chart's work membership: {work_key, chart_count}. For openers
+    on rows that came from an ungrouped query (the tree view) — grouped grid
+    rows already carry both fields inline."""
+    return appstate.meta_db.chart_work(filename)
+
+
+@router.get("/api/chart/{filename:path}/fileinfo")
+def api_chart_fileinfo(filename: str):
+    """The context menu's "Get info": where the file lives + what the pack
+    contains. Under /api/chart — the GET /api/song/{path} catch-all would
+    swallow a /api/song/…/fileinfo suffix. Read-only; demo-mode blocks it
+    because it exposes filesystem paths."""
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    if not dlc:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="not configured")
+    p = _resolve_dlc_path(dlc, filename)
+    if p is None:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=403, detail="forbidden")
+    if not p.exists():
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="not found")
+    # Restrict to actual charts — sloppak or loose song. Without this the route
+    # would stat ANY file the user happens to keep under DLC_DIR (e.g. notes),
+    # leaking its path/size; the app only recognises these two song formats.
+    is_pak = sloppak_mod.is_sloppak(p)
+    is_loose = loosefolder_mod.is_loose_song(p)
+    if not (is_pak or is_loose):
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="not a chart")
+    st = p.stat()
+    info = {
+        "filename": filename,
+        "path": str(p),
+        "folder": str(p.parent),
+        "format": "sloppak" if is_pak else "loose",
+        # Directory-form songs report the tree's total (covers loose folders
+        # and dir-form paks); zip-form paks report the archive size. Symlinked
+        # entries are skipped so a link inside the folder can't pull in — or
+        # leak the size of — a file outside it.
+        "size": (st.st_size if p.is_file()
+                 else sum(f.stat().st_size for f in p.rglob("*")
+                          if f.is_file() and not f.is_symlink())),
+        "mtime": st.st_mtime,
+    }
+    if is_pak:
+        try:
+            m = sloppak_mod.load_manifest(p) or {}
+        except Exception:
+            m = {}
+        arrs = [str(a.get("name", a.get("id", ""))) for a in (m.get("arrangements") or [])
+                if isinstance(a, dict)]
+        stems = [str(s.get("id", "")) for s in (m.get("stems") or []) if isinstance(s, dict)]
+        try:
+            has_cover = sloppak_mod.read_cover_bytes(p, m) is not None
+        except Exception:
+            has_cover = False
+        # The optional identity/catalog keys, listed only when present — the
+        # Get-info panel's "what this pack carries vs what's missing" readout.
+        identity = {k: m.get(k) for k in
+                    ("mbid", "isrc", "genres", "track", "disc", "album_artist",
+                     "feedpak_version", "language")
+                    if m.get(k) not in (None, "", [])}
+        info["manifest"] = {
+            "title": str(m.get("title", "")), "artist": str(m.get("artist", "")),
+            "album": str(m.get("album", "")), "year": str(m.get("year", "") or ""),
+            "arrangements": arrs, "stems": stems,
+            "has_cover": has_cover, "has_lyrics": bool(m.get("lyrics")),
+            "authors": [a.get("name", "") if isinstance(a, dict) else str(a)
+                        for a in (m.get("authors") or [])],
+            "identity": identity,
+        }
+    # The enrichment verdict, so Get info can say "Matched (auto, 96%)" /
+    # "Pinned by you" / "Not matched" alongside the file facts.
+    row = appstate.meta_db.get_enrichment(filename)
+    if row:
+        info["match"] = {k: row.get(k) for k in
+                         ("match_state", "match_source", "match_score",
+                          "canon_artist", "canon_title", "canon_album", "canon_year")}
+    return info
@@ -0,0 +1,295 @@
+"""Diagnostic bundle export + hardware probe (/api/diagnostics/*).
+
+One-click "Export Diagnostics" in Settings produces a redacted zip combining
+server logs, system info, hardware (CPU/GPU/RAM), plugin inventory, and the
+browser-side console transcript + hardware probe. Bundle format is specified in
+docs/diagnostics-bundle-spec.md.
+
+Extracted verbatim from server.py (R3) except:
+  - the decorators (@app -> @router),
+  - CONFIG_DIR -> appstate.config_dir and _running_version() ->
+    appstate.running_version() (both read through the appstate seam),
+  - the builtin-plugins lookup in _diag_plugins_roots: Path(__file__).parent
+    (the app root when this lived at the top level) ->
+    Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] (routers -> lib -> app root). The
+    plugins/ dir ships at the app root in every packaging path.
+
+The pure helpers + caps here are re-exported from server.py so the existing
+`server._diag_*` / `server._DIAG_*` tests keep resolving (none monkeypatch them).
+"""
+
+import json
+import logging
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Body, Response
+
+import appstate
+from dlc_paths import _get_dlc_dir
+from diagnostics_bundle import build_bundle as _diag_build, preview_bundle as _diag_preview
+from diagnostics_hardware import collect as _diag_hardware
+from env_compat import getenv_compat
+
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+def _diag_log_file() -> Path | None:
+    raw = os.environ.get("LOG_FILE", "").strip()
+    if not raw:
+        return None
+    return Path(raw)
+
+
+def _diag_plugins_roots() -> list[Path]:
+    """Return all plugin root directories for orphan scanning.
+
+    Includes both the built-in ``plugins/`` directory and
+    ``FEEDBACK_PLUGINS_DIR`` when set, so user-installed plugins and
+    orphans in the external dir are reflected in the bundle.
+    """
+    roots: list[Path] = []
+    user_dir = getenv_compat("FEEDBACK_PLUGINS_DIR", "").strip()
+    if user_dir:
+        p = Path(user_dir)
+        if p.is_dir():
+            roots.append(p)
+    builtin = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / "plugins"  # R3: app root from lib/routers/
+    if builtin not in roots:
+        roots.append(builtin)
+    return roots
+
+
+def _diag_coerce_bool(v, *, default: bool = True) -> bool:
+    """Coerce a request-side value to bool, accepting both JSON booleans and
+    string representations.
+
+    - Falsy strings: ``"false"``, ``"0"``, ``"no"``, ``""`` → ``False``
+    - ``None`` → *default*
+    - Everything else (including ``"true"``, ``"1"``) → ``True``
+    """
+    if v is None:
+        return default
+    if isinstance(v, bool):
+        return v
+    if isinstance(v, str):
+        return v.strip().lower() not in ("false", "0", "no", "")
+    return bool(v)
+
+
+def _diag_normalize_include(include: dict | None) -> dict:
+    """Coerce request-side flags to the booleans build_bundle expects.
+    Missing keys default to True so a bare {} request still produces
+    the full bundle.
+
+    Accepts both JSON booleans (``true``/``false``) and string
+    representations so callers that serialize flags as strings behave
+    consistently with the preview endpoint:
+    - Falsy strings: ``"false"``, ``"0"``, ``"no"``, ``""`` → ``False``
+    - Everything else (including ``"true"``, ``"1"``, ``"yes"``) → ``True``
+    """
+    keys = ("system", "hardware", "logs", "console", "plugins")
+    if not isinstance(include, dict):
+        return {k: True for k in keys}
+
+    return {k: _diag_coerce_bool(include.get(k), default=True) for k in keys}
+
+
+# Server-side caps on client-supplied payload sections.  diagnostics.js
+# enforces a 500-entry / ~250 KB ring buffer on the browser side; these
+# bounds give generous headroom while still preventing a crafted POST from
+# forcing the server to allocate arbitrarily large in-memory bundles.
+_DIAG_MAX_CONSOLE_ENTRIES = 1000          # hard cap: truncate silently
+_DIAG_MAX_CONSOLE_BYTES = 2 * 1024 * 1024  # 2 MB hard cap on total console list
+_DIAG_MAX_CLIENT_PAYLOAD_BYTES = 2 * 1024 * 1024   # 2 MB per dict section
+_DIAG_MAX_CONTRIBUTIONS_BYTES = 4 * 1024 * 1024    # 4 MB aggregate cap for contributions
+
+
+def _diag_cap_console(v) -> list | None:
+    """Return *v* if it is a list, truncated to _DIAG_MAX_CONSOLE_ENTRIES entries
+    and _DIAG_MAX_CONSOLE_BYTES total.  Entries are accumulated until either cap
+    is reached; no partial-entry splitting occurs."""
+    if not isinstance(v, list):
+        return None
+    result = v[:_DIAG_MAX_CONSOLE_ENTRIES]
+    # Also enforce a byte cap — the count cap alone does not bound memory when
+    # entries contain arbitrarily large strings.
+    try:
+        out = []
+        total = 0
+        for entry in result:
+            encoded = json.dumps(entry, separators=(",", ":")).encode("utf-8", errors="replace")
+            if total + len(encoded) > _DIAG_MAX_CONSOLE_BYTES:
+                break
+            out.append(entry)
+            total += len(encoded)
+        return out
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        return None
+
+
+def _diag_cap_dict(v) -> dict | None:
+    """Return *v* if it is a dict whose JSON serialisation fits within
+    _DIAG_MAX_CLIENT_PAYLOAD_BYTES, otherwise return None."""
+    if not isinstance(v, dict):
+        return None
+    try:
+        encoded = json.dumps(v, separators=(",", ":")).encode("utf-8", errors="replace")
+    except (TypeError, ValueError) as e:
+        log.warning("diagnostics client payload is not JSON-serialisable, dropping: %s", e)
+        return None
+    if len(encoded) > _DIAG_MAX_CLIENT_PAYLOAD_BYTES:
+        return None
+    return v
+
+
+def _diag_cap_contributions(v, known_ids=None) -> dict | None:
+    """Apply per-plugin and aggregate size caps on client_contributions.
+
+    Unlike _diag_cap_dict(), which drops the whole dict when any plugin
+    exceeds the limit, this function caps each plugin independently so
+    one noisy plugin does not silence every other plugin's contribution.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    v:
+        The raw contributions dict from the POST payload.
+    known_ids:
+        When provided, contributions from plugins not in this set are
+        skipped *before* serialisation, preventing a malicious caller
+        from forcing the server to JSON-encode hundreds of near-limit
+        payloads that ``build_bundle()`` would later discard anyway.
+        ``None`` means "accept all plugin ids" (used in tests / preview).
+    """
+    if not isinstance(v, dict):
+        return None
+    result = {}
+    total_bytes = 0
+    for pid, contribution in v.items():
+        if not isinstance(pid, str):
+            continue
+        # Filter unknown plugin ids early — before serialising — so a
+        # crafted request cannot force large allocations for plugins that
+        # build_bundle() would drop.
+        if known_ids is not None and pid not in known_ids:
+            continue
+        try:
+            encoded = json.dumps(contribution, separators=(",", ":")).encode("utf-8", errors="replace")
+        except (TypeError, ValueError) as e:
+            log.warning(
+                "client_contributions[%r] is not JSON-serialisable, dropping: %s", pid, e
+            )
+            continue
+        if len(encoded) > _DIAG_MAX_CLIENT_PAYLOAD_BYTES:
+            log.warning(
+                "client_contributions[%r] exceeds %d bytes, dropping",
+                pid, _DIAG_MAX_CLIENT_PAYLOAD_BYTES,
+            )
+            continue
+        if total_bytes + len(encoded) > _DIAG_MAX_CONTRIBUTIONS_BYTES:
+            log.warning(
+                "client_contributions aggregate size limit (%d bytes) reached, "
+                "dropping remaining entries",
+                _DIAG_MAX_CONTRIBUTIONS_BYTES,
+            )
+            break
+        result[pid] = contribution
+        total_bytes += len(encoded)
+    return result or None
+
+
+@router.post("/api/diagnostics/export")
+def export_diagnostics(payload: dict = Body(default_factory=dict)):
+    """Build a diagnostic bundle and stream it back as a zip download.
+
+    The browser layers in `client_console`, `client_hardware`,
+    `client_ua`, and `local_storage` before posting; the server adds
+    server logs, hardware, plugin inventory, and packages everything
+    into a single zip.
+
+    Errors during plugin diagnostics callables are caught and logged
+    to the bundle's manifest `notes` rather than failing the export.
+    """
+    from plugins import LOADED_PLUGINS, PLUGINS_LOCK
+
+    redact = _diag_coerce_bool(payload.get("redact", True), default=True)
+    include = _diag_normalize_include(payload.get("include"))
+    client_console = _diag_cap_console(payload.get("client_console"))
+    client_hardware = _diag_cap_dict(payload.get("client_hardware"))
+    client_ua = _diag_cap_dict(payload.get("client_ua"))
+    local_storage = _diag_cap_dict(payload.get("local_storage"))
+    # Fetch the plugin list first so we can filter contributions to known
+    # plugin ids before serialising — prevents a crafted request from
+    # forcing large allocations for plugins build_bundle() would drop.
+    with PLUGINS_LOCK:
+        plugins_snapshot = list(LOADED_PLUGINS)
+    known_ids = {p.get("id") for p in plugins_snapshot if isinstance(p.get("id"), str)}
+    client_contributions = _diag_cap_contributions(
+        payload.get("client_contributions"), known_ids=known_ids
+    )
+
+    zip_bytes, filename, _manifest = _diag_build(
+        feedBack_version=appstate.running_version(),
+        config_dir=appstate.config_dir,
+        dlc_dir=_get_dlc_dir(),
+        log_file=_diag_log_file(),
+        loaded_plugins=plugins_snapshot,
+        include=include,
+        redact=redact,
+        client_console=client_console,
+        client_hardware=client_hardware,
+        client_ua=client_ua,
+        local_storage=local_storage,
+        client_contributions=client_contributions,
+        log=log,
+        plugins_root=_diag_plugins_roots(),
+    )
+    return Response(
+        content=zip_bytes,
+        media_type="application/zip",
+        headers={"Content-Disposition": f'attachment; filename="{filename}"'},
+    )
+
+
+@router.get("/api/diagnostics/preview")
+def preview_diagnostics(
+    redact: bool = True,
+    system: bool = True,
+    hardware: bool = True,
+    logs: bool = True,
+    console: bool = True,
+    plugins: bool = True,
+):
+    """Return what `/api/diagnostics/export` would produce, minus the
+    actual file contents — file tree, sizes, schemas, redaction counts.
+    Lets the Settings UI show the user what's about to be sent."""
+    from plugins import LOADED_PLUGINS, PLUGINS_LOCK
+
+    include = {
+        "system": system,
+        "hardware": hardware,
+        "logs": logs,
+        "console": console,
+        "plugins": plugins,
+    }
+    with PLUGINS_LOCK:
+        plugins_snapshot = list(LOADED_PLUGINS)
+    return _diag_preview(
+        feedBack_version=appstate.running_version(),
+        config_dir=appstate.config_dir,
+        dlc_dir=_get_dlc_dir(),
+        log_file=_diag_log_file(),
+        loaded_plugins=plugins_snapshot,
+        include=include,
+        redact=redact,
+        log=log,
+        plugins_root=_diag_plugins_roots(),
+    )
+
+
+@router.get("/api/diagnostics/hardware")
+def diagnostics_hardware():
+    """Backend hardware probe (cross-platform). Reusable independently
+    of the bundle export — handy for "what's my GPU" plugin queries."""
+    return _diag_hardware()
@@ -0,0 +1,346 @@
+"""Metadata-enrichment route handlers (/api/enrichment/*): status, kick/cancel,
+per-song state, the Match-Review queue (accept/reject/pick/search), and AcoustID
+fingerprint identify.
+
+Extracted verbatim from server.py (R3) except @app->@router and the seam reads
+(meta_db->appstate.meta_db, CONFIG_DIR->appstate.config_dir). The enrichment
+engine itself — transport, matcher, the background worker, and the upload caps —
+lives in lib/enrichment.py and is reached here as enrichment.X.
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import os
+import shutil
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Body, HTTPException, Request, UploadFile
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
+
+import appstate
+import enrichment
+import mb_match
+from appconfig import _load_config
+
+import logging
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+router = APIRouter()
+
+@router.get("/api/enrichment/status")
+def enrichment_status():
+    """Enrichment pipeline state: worker flags + row counts by match_state.
+    Ambient tool-state for the match-review UI (never a home-screen score —
+    design §11); also what tests poke."""
+    return {
+        "running": enrichment._enrich_status["running"],
+        "processed": enrichment._enrich_status["processed"],
+        "last_pass_at": enrichment._enrich_status["last_pass_at"],
+        "states": appstate.meta_db.enrichment_state_counts(),
+        "total_songs": appstate.meta_db.count(),
+        # Per-pass matching progress for the "Refresh Metadata" batch bar +
+        # per-tile badges (total = songs queued to match this pass, matched =
+        # done so far, current = the one being matched now).
+        "total": enrichment._enrich_status.get("total", 0),
+        "matched": enrichment._enrich_status.get("matched", 0),
+        "current": enrichment._enrich_status.get("current"),
+        "cancelling": enrichment._enrich_cancel.is_set(),
+    }
+
+
+@router.get("/api/enrichment/song/{filename:path}")
+def api_enrichment_song(filename: str):
+    """Read-only per-song match provenance for the Details drawer (launch
+    polish): which canonical identity this chart matched and how. A tiny
+    projection of the cache row — no candidates, no cache paths."""
+    row = appstate.meta_db.get_enrichment(filename)
+    if not row:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="no enrichment row")
+    return {k: row.get(k) for k in
+            ("match_state", "canon_artist", "canon_title",
+             "match_source", "match_score")}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/enrichment/kick")
+def api_enrichment_kick():
+    """The Settings "Match now" button AND the library's "Refresh Metadata"
+    button: request an enrichment pass without waiting for a scan to complete.
+    Processes the songs that still need it (unscanned/changed + retriable
+    failures) — already-matched songs are left alone, so on a fully-matched
+    library this is a fast no-op. Single-flight + coalescing like every other
+    kick — spamming it queues at most one follow-up pass."""
+    return {"started": enrichment._kick_enrich()}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/enrichment/cancel")
+def api_enrichment_cancel():
+    """Stop button on the "Refresh Metadata" batch: signal the running pass to
+    halt after the current song (an in-flight ≤1/s lookup can't be interrupted,
+    but no new one is started) and drop any coalesced follow-up. A no-op when
+    nothing is running."""
+    was_running = enrichment._enrich_status["running"]
+    if was_running:
+        enrichment._enrich_cancel.set()
+    return {"ok": True, "was_running": was_running}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/enrichment/rematch")
+def api_enrichment_rematch(data: dict = Body(...)):
+    """The library "Refresh Metadata" button: force a fresh re-match of the
+    songs the grid is SHOWING (its visible/filtered window). Resets each to
+    `unscanned` so the next pass re-fetches it from scratch — EXCEPT user-pinned
+    `manual` rows, which are never auto-overwritten (apply_enrichment_match
+    guards that) — then kicks one pass. Scoped to the visible set on purpose:
+    fast (dozens of songs), visible (tiles animate), and it can't blow the whole
+    ≤1/s rate budget on a 1000-song library the way a full re-sweep would.
+    Returns the filenames actually queued so the UI badges exactly those."""
+    raw = (data or {}).get("filenames") or []
+    fns = [str(f) for f in raw if isinstance(f, str)][:500]
+    queued: list[str] = []
+    for fn in fns:
+        song = appstate.meta_db.enrichment_song_row(fn)
+        if not song:
+            continue
+        h = appstate.meta_db.enrichment_content_hash(
+            song["artist"], song["title"], song["album"], song["duration"])
+        # allow_manual_overwrite=False → a manual pin is left as-is (returns
+        # False), everything else resets to unscanned (returns True).
+        if appstate.meta_db.apply_enrichment_match(fn, h, "unscanned",
+                                          allow_manual_overwrite=False):
+            queued.append(fn)
+    started = enrichment._kick_enrich() if queued else False
+    return {"queued": queued, "count": len(queued), "started": started}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/enrichment/states")
+def api_enrichment_states(data: dict = Body(...)):
+    """Per-tile match states for the grid's VISIBLE window during a metadata
+    refresh: the client posts the filenames it is showing and gets back each
+    one's match_state (+ the song being matched right now, + whether a pass is
+    running), so a card can animate queued→working→result without a per-song
+    round-trip. Read-only — safe for demo visitors (no network, no mutation)."""
+    raw = (data or {}).get("filenames") or []
+    # Bound the batch: a visible grid window is dozens of cards; cap defensively.
+    fns = [str(f) for f in raw if isinstance(f, str)][:500]
+    return {
+        "states": appstate.meta_db.enrichment_states_for(fns),
+        "current": enrichment._enrich_status.get("current"),
+        "running": enrichment._enrich_status["running"],
+    }
+
+
+@router.post("/api/enrichment/refresh/{filename:path}")
+def api_enrichment_refresh(filename: str):
+    """The context menu's "Refresh metadata": reset THIS song's match to
+    unscanned (canonical values + candidates cleared, backoff zeroed) and
+    kick a pass so it re-matches immediately. An EXPLICIT user action, so it
+    may discard a manual pin — the automation never does, but the user
+    asking for a re-match is the one party who owns that pin."""
+    song = appstate.meta_db.enrichment_song_row(filename)
+    if not song:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="unknown song")
+    h = appstate.meta_db.enrichment_content_hash(
+        song["artist"], song["title"], song["album"], song["duration"])
+    appstate.meta_db.apply_enrichment_match(filename, h, "unscanned",
+                                   allow_manual_overwrite=True)
+    return {"ok": True, "started": enrichment._kick_enrich()}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/enrichment/review")
+def api_enrichment_review(limit: int = 200):
+    """The Match-Review queue: songs whose text match landed in the medium-
+    confidence review tier, each with its stored candidate list — the drawer
+    renders straight from this, no MusicBrainz round-trip. Ordered by the
+    user's enrich_review_order setting."""
+    limit = max(1, min(int(limit), 500))
+    cfg = _load_config(appstate.config_dir / "config.json") or {}
+    order = cfg.get("enrich_review_order", "missing_first")
+    return {
+        "songs": appstate.meta_db.enrichment_review_queue(limit=limit, order=order),
+        "total_review": appstate.meta_db.enrichment_state_counts().get("review", 0),
+    }
+
+
+@router.post("/api/enrichment/review/{filename:path}/accept")
+def api_enrichment_accept(filename: str, data: dict = Body(...)):
+    """Accept one of the stored review candidates: the row becomes a
+    user-pinned `manual` match (never auto-reset). Display-only, like every
+    enrichment write — nothing touches the pack file."""
+    recording_id = str((data or {}).get("recording_id") or "")
+    row = appstate.meta_db.get_enrichment(filename)
+    if not row or row["match_state"] != "review":
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="no review row for this song")
+    cand = next((c for c in (row.get("candidates") or [])
+                 if c.get("recording_id") == recording_id), None)
+    if not cand:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="candidate not in the stored list")
+    if not appstate.meta_db.set_enrichment_manual(filename, cand, source="review"):
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="unknown song")
+    return {"ok": True, "enrichment": appstate.meta_db.get_enrichment(filename)}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/enrichment/review/{filename:path}/reject")
+def api_enrichment_reject(filename: str):
+    """"None of these" — clears any canonical values and parks the row as
+    failed/rejected (never auto-retried; editing the song's metadata
+    re-queues it). Valid from `review` or `matched`, never from `manual`."""
+    if not appstate.meta_db.set_enrichment_rejected(filename):
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="no rejectable match for this song")
+    return {"ok": True, "enrichment": appstate.meta_db.get_enrichment(filename)}
+
+
+# The candidate fields a manual pick is allowed to carry — the payload comes
+# from our own /api/enrichment/search proxy, but the route re-sanitizes so a
+# hand-rolled client can't stuff arbitrary keys/types into the cache row.
+_CAND_STR_FIELDS = ("recording_id", "title", "artist", "artist_id",
+                    "artist_sort", "release_id", "album", "year", "isrc")
+
+
+def _sanitize_candidate(raw: dict) -> dict | None:
+    if not isinstance(raw, dict):
+        return None
+    out = {k: str(raw.get(k) or "") for k in _CAND_STR_FIELDS}
+    if not out["recording_id"] or not out["title"]:
+        return None
+    genres = raw.get("genres") or []
+    out["genres"] = [str(g) for g in genres if isinstance(g, str)][:5] \
+        if isinstance(genres, list) else []
+    return out
+
+
+@router.post("/api/enrichment/review/{filename:path}/pick")
+def api_enrichment_pick(filename: str, data: dict = Body(...)):
+    """Fix-match / manual search-and-pick: pin a candidate the user found via
+    /api/enrichment/search (not limited to the stored review list — this is
+    the escape hatch for a wrong auto-match too). Sets `manual`, the
+    highest-authority state."""
+    cand = _sanitize_candidate((data or {}).get("candidate"))
+    if not cand:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="candidate needs recording_id + title")
+    if not appstate.meta_db.set_enrichment_manual(filename, cand, source="search"):
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="unknown song")
+    return {"ok": True, "enrichment": appstate.meta_db.get_enrichment(filename)}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/enrichment/search")
+def api_enrichment_search(artist: str = "", title: str = "", limit: int = 8,
+                          filename: str = "", duration: float = 0.0):
+    """Manual-search proxy to MusicBrainz (throttled + identified like the
+    background matcher — a user typing in the drawer must not sidestep the
+    rate limit). `filename` optionally scores results against that song's
+    stored identity (year/duration corroboration) instead of just the typed
+    text. `duration` (seconds) lets a caller that HAS the audio but no library
+    row — e.g. the editor's create modal, which holds the master track — pass
+    its length so the studio take ranks above live/extended cuts. Sync route on
+    purpose: FastAPI runs it in the threadpool, so the throttle's sleep never
+    blocks the event loop."""
+    if not (artist.strip() or title.strip()):
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="artist or title required")
+    limit = max(1, min(int(limit), 25))
+    try:
+        cands = enrichment._mb_search_recordings(artist, title, limit=limit)
+    except enrichment.EnrichTransportError as e:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "musicbrainz unavailable", "detail": str(e)},
+                            status_code=503)
+    ref = None
+    if filename:
+        ref = appstate.meta_db.enrichment_song_row(filename)
+    if ref is None:
+        ref = {"artist": artist, "title": title}
+    # A caller-supplied duration corroborates the take even without a library row.
+    if duration and duration > 0 and not ref.get("duration"):
+        ref = dict(ref)
+        ref["duration"] = duration
+    # Alias-enrich so a non-Latin-primary artist (大橋純子) ranks by its
+    # romanized alias against the typed query ("Junko Ohashi") instead of
+    # sinking to the bottom with a 0 artist score.
+    try:
+        enrichment._alias_enrich(ref, cands)
+    except enrichment.EnrichTransportError:
+        pass   # aliases are a ranking nicety here; fall back to primary-name scoring
+    return {"candidates": mb_match.rank_candidates(ref, cands)}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/enrichment/identify")
+async def api_enrichment_identify(request: Request):
+    """Identify a song by AUDIO FINGERPRINT (AcoustID) rather than text — the
+    reliable way to get the EXACT recording/version (the studio take, not a live
+    bootleg or an extended cut). Upload the master audio; returns candidates in
+    the same shape as /search, so the review UI and the editor's Match popup can
+    render fingerprint hits identically. 412 `needs_setup` when the user hasn't
+    opted in / has no key (the UI nudges them to Settings); 503 when it's set up
+    but the fpcalc Chromaprint binary is missing or the network is off. Async so
+    the multipart is size-capped BEFORE spooling; the blocking fpcalc subprocess
+    + AcoustID HTTP run in the threadpool via run_in_executor."""
+    gate = enrichment._acoustid_gate()
+    if gate is not None:
+        return gate
+    # Pre-parse Content-Length guard — reject an oversized body before Starlette
+    # spools the multipart to temp disk (mirrors the song-upload endpoint). The
+    # per-part cap below is the authoritative limit; this is the fast up-front no.
+    cl = request.headers.get("content-length")
+    if cl is not None:
+        try:
+            cl_int = int(cl)
+        except ValueError:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "Invalid Content-Length header"}, status_code=400)
+        if cl_int > enrichment._ACOUSTID_MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES + enrichment._MULTIPART_OVERHEAD_SLACK:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "audio upload too large (256 MB max)"}, status_code=413)
+    try:
+        form = await request.form(max_part_size=enrichment._ACOUSTID_MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES)
+    except Exception:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "audio upload too large (256 MB max)"}, status_code=413)
+    file = form.get("file")
+    if not isinstance(file, UploadFile):
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="missing file upload")
+    import tempfile
+    ext = (Path(file.filename or "").suffix or ".bin").lower()
+    tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="feedback_acoustid_")
+    tmp = os.path.join(tmpdir, "audio" + ext)
+    try:
+        total = 0
+        with open(tmp, "wb") as fh:
+            while True:
+                chunk = await file.read(1024 * 1024)
+                if not chunk:
+                    break
+                total += len(chunk)
+                if total > enrichment._ACOUSTID_MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES:
+                    return JSONResponse(
+                        {"error": "audio upload too large (256 MB max)"}, status_code=413)
+                fh.write(chunk)
+        if total == 0:
+            raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="empty upload")
+        # fpcalc subprocess + AcoustID HTTP are blocking — off the event loop.
+        cands = await asyncio.get_event_loop().run_in_executor(
+            None, enrichment._identify_by_fingerprint, tmp)
+    except enrichment.EnrichTransportError as e:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "acoustid unavailable", "detail": str(e)},
+                            status_code=503)
+    finally:
+        shutil.rmtree(tmpdir, ignore_errors=True)
+    return {"candidates": cands}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/enrichment/identify/{filename:path}")
+def api_enrichment_identify_song(filename: str):
+    """Identify an EXISTING library song by AUDIO FINGERPRINT — the library-side
+    counterpart to /api/enrichment/identify (which takes an upload). Fingerprints
+    the song's own master audio on disk (the manual "Identify by audio" action in
+    the Fix-metadata / match-review flow). Same candidate shape as /search, so the
+    review UI renders fingerprint hits like text hits. Same 412/503 gating; 404
+    when the song has no full-mix audio to fingerprint."""
+    gate = enrichment._acoustid_gate()
+    if gate is not None:
+        return gate
+    audio = enrichment._song_audio_file(filename)
+    if not audio:
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": "no audio",
+             "detail": "couldn't find this song's master audio to fingerprint "
+                       "(a stems-only pack has no full mix to identify)."},
+            status_code=404)
+    try:
+        cands = enrichment._identify_by_fingerprint(audio)
+    except enrichment.EnrichTransportError as e:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "acoustid unavailable", "detail": str(e)},
+                            status_code=503)
+    return {"candidates": cands}
@@ -0,0 +1,514 @@
+"""Library + smart-collection routes: the provider list/art/sync endpoints, the
+library query surface (songs, albums, artists, stats, genres, tuning-names,
+practice-suggestions), and collection CRUD.
+
+Extracted verbatim from server.py (R3) except @app->@router and the seam reads:
+meta_db->appstate.meta_db, and the registry singletons ->
+appstate.library_providers / appstate.local_library_provider (constructed +
+owned by server.py; plugins register providers through plugin_context). The
+provider classes + shared query/collection helpers live in lib/library_registry.py.
+"""
+
+import inspect
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException
+from fastapi.responses import FileResponse, JSONResponse, RedirectResponse, Response
+from starlette.concurrency import run_in_threadpool
+
+import appstate
+from library_registry import (
+    _library_filter_args, _normalize_instrument, _sanitize_collection_rules,
+    _safe_art_redirect_url, _split_csv, _sync_collection_provider,
+    _unregister_collection_provider,
+)
+from metadata_db import _effective_keyset_sort, next_library_cursor
+from reqfields import _clean_str
+
+import logging
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+
+
+
+def _get_library_provider(provider: str = "local") -> object:
+    library_provider = appstate.library_providers.get(provider or "local")
+    if library_provider is None:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail=f"Unknown library provider: {provider}")
+    return library_provider
+
+
+def _require_library_provider_capability(provider: object, capability: str) -> None:
+    if capability in appstate.library_providers.provider_capabilities(provider):
+        return
+    provider_id = appstate.library_providers.provider_id(provider)
+    raise HTTPException(
+        status_code=501,
+        detail=f"Library provider {provider_id!r} does not declare capability {capability!r}",
+    )
+
+
+_OPTIONAL_NEW_PROVIDER_KWARGS = ("naming_mode", "sort", "want_sort_letters", "after",
+                                 "mastery", "match_states", "instrument",
+                                 "playable_from_pitch")
+
+
+def _filter_provider_kwargs(method: object, kwargs: dict) -> dict:
+    """Drop kwargs that the method's signature does not declare.
+
+    Provides backward-compat for third-party library providers whose
+    query_page/query_artists/query_stats methods were written before
+    naming_mode was added — calling them with the extra kwarg would
+    raise TypeError and return a 500 to the client.
+
+    When ``inspect.signature`` cannot introspect the method (rare: C
+    extensions / built-ins / exotic callables), fall back to stripping
+    only the kwargs we know were added later — older providers won't
+    accept them, anything else stays so the call still works.
+    """
+    try:
+        sig = inspect.signature(method)  # type: ignore[arg-type]
+        for p in sig.parameters.values():
+            if p.kind == inspect.Parameter.VAR_KEYWORD:
+                return kwargs  # method accepts **kwargs, pass everything
+        return {k: v for k, v in kwargs.items() if k in sig.parameters}
+    except (ValueError, TypeError):
+        return {k: v for k, v in kwargs.items() if k not in _OPTIONAL_NEW_PROVIDER_KWARGS}
+
+
+def _call_library_provider(provider: object, method_name: str, **kwargs) -> Any:
+    method = appstate.library_providers.provider_method(provider, method_name)
+    if not callable(method):
+        provider_id = appstate.library_providers.provider_id(provider)
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=501,
+            detail=f"Library provider {provider_id!r} does not support {method_name}",
+        )
+    try:
+        return method(**_filter_provider_kwargs(method, kwargs))
+    except HTTPException:
+        raise
+    except Exception as exc:
+        provider_id = appstate.library_providers.provider_id(provider)
+        # A provider with an explicit kind="local" is treated as local even if
+        # its id is not "local" (e.g. a kind="local" plugin variant). Otherwise
+        # fall back to provider_id comparison so providers that omit `kind` are
+        # still wrapped correctly — the safe default for unknown providers is to
+        # surface an offline message rather than leaking raw exceptions.
+        provider_kind = str(appstate.library_providers.provider_field(provider, "kind", "") or "")
+        if provider_kind:
+            is_remote = provider_kind not in ("", "local")
+        else:
+            is_remote = provider_id != "local"
+        if is_remote:
+            detail = f"This source appears to be offline ({provider_id})."
+            message = str(exc).strip()
+            if message:
+                detail = f"{detail} {message}"
+            raise HTTPException(status_code=503, detail=detail) from exc
+        raise
+
+
+def _is_async_callable(obj: object) -> bool:
+    """Return True if obj is an async function or a callable object with an async __call__.
+
+    ``inspect.iscoroutinefunction`` only recognises bare coroutine functions; it returns
+    False for class instances whose ``__call__`` method is defined as ``async def``.
+    Checking both handles the common plugin pattern of wrapping an async method in a
+    callable object.
+    """
+    if inspect.iscoroutinefunction(obj):
+        return True
+    _call = getattr(obj, "__call__", None)
+    return _call is not None and inspect.iscoroutinefunction(_call)
+
+
+async def _call_library_provider_async(provider: object, method_name: str, **kwargs) -> Any:
+    method = appstate.library_providers.provider_method(provider, method_name)
+    if _is_async_callable(method):
+        # Async provider method — call directly on the event loop.
+        try:
+            return await method(**_filter_provider_kwargs(method, kwargs))
+        except HTTPException:
+            raise
+        except Exception as exc:
+            provider_id = appstate.library_providers.provider_id(provider)
+            provider_kind = str(appstate.library_providers.provider_field(provider, "kind", "") or "")
+            if provider_kind:
+                is_remote = provider_kind not in ("", "local")
+            else:
+                is_remote = provider_id != "local"
+            if is_remote:
+                detail = f"This source appears to be offline ({provider_id})."
+                message = str(exc).strip()
+                if message:
+                    detail = f"{detail} {message}"
+                raise HTTPException(status_code=503, detail=detail) from exc
+            raise
+    # Synchronous provider method — run in a threadpool so the event loop stays free.
+    return await run_in_threadpool(_call_library_provider, provider, method_name, **kwargs)
+
+
+def _library_art_response(result: Any) -> Response:
+    if result is None:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Library provider returned no art")
+    if isinstance(result, Response):
+        return result
+    if isinstance(result, (bytes, bytearray, memoryview)):
+        return Response(content=bytes(result), media_type="image/png")
+    if isinstance(result, str):
+        safe_url = _safe_art_redirect_url(result)
+        if safe_url is not None:
+            return RedirectResponse(safe_url)
+        # If the string looks like a URL (contains a scheme separator) but
+        # didn't pass the http/https check, refuse it rather than treating
+        # it as a filesystem path — a provider returning ftp:// or file://
+        # should get a 400, not a 500 from FileResponse failing on a URL.
+        if "://" in result:
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=400,
+                detail="Library provider returned an unsupported URL scheme for art",
+            )
+        if not Path(result).is_file():
+            raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Library provider returned an unreadable art path")
+        return FileResponse(result)
+    if isinstance(result, Path):
+        if not result.is_file():
+            raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Library provider returned an unreadable art path")
+        return FileResponse(str(result))
+    if isinstance(result, dict):
+        url = result.get("url") or result.get("art_url") or result.get("artUrl")
+        if isinstance(url, str) and url:
+            safe_url = _safe_art_redirect_url(url)
+            if safe_url is None:
+                raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail="Library provider returned an unsafe art URL")
+            return RedirectResponse(safe_url)
+        path = result.get("path") or result.get("file")
+        if isinstance(path, (str, Path)):
+            media_type = result.get("media_type") or result.get("content_type")
+            if not Path(path).is_file():
+                raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Library provider returned an unreadable art path")
+            return FileResponse(str(path), media_type=media_type)
+        content = result.get("content") or result.get("bytes")
+        if isinstance(content, (bytes, bytearray, memoryview)):
+            media_type = result.get("media_type") or result.get("content_type") or "image/png"
+            return Response(content=bytes(content), media_type=media_type)
+    raise HTTPException(status_code=500, detail="Library provider returned unsupported art data")
+
+
+@router.get("/api/library/providers")
+def list_library_providers():
+    """List registered library providers."""
+    return {"providers": appstate.library_providers.list()}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/library/providers/{provider_id}/songs/{song_id:path}/art")
+async def get_library_provider_song_art(provider_id: str, song_id: str):
+    """Return album art for a song owned by a library provider."""
+    library_provider = _get_library_provider(provider_id)
+    _require_library_provider_capability(library_provider, "art.read")
+    result = await _call_library_provider_async(library_provider, "get_art", song_id=song_id)
+    return _library_art_response(result)
+
+
+@router.post("/api/library/providers/{provider_id}/songs/{song_id:path}/sync")
+async def sync_library_provider_song(provider_id: str, song_id: str):
+    """Ask a provider to sync a remote song into the local library/cache."""
+    library_provider = _get_library_provider(provider_id)
+    _require_library_provider_capability(library_provider, "song.sync")
+    result = await _call_library_provider_async(library_provider, "sync_song", song_id=song_id)
+    if result is None:
+        return {"ok": True}
+    if isinstance(result, dict):
+        return result
+    return {"ok": True, "result": result}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/library")
+async def list_library(q: str = "", page: int = 0, size: int = 24, sort: str = "artist",
+                       dir: str = "asc", favorites: int = 0, format: str = "",
+                       artist: str = "", album: str = "",
+                       arrangements_has: str = "", arrangements_lacks: str = "",
+                       stems_has: str = "", stems_lacks: str = "",
+                       has_lyrics: str = "", tunings: str = "", provider: str = "local",
+                       mastery: str = "", tags: str = "", user_difficulty: str = "",
+                       match: str = "", genre: str = "", after: str = "", group: int = 0,
+                       naming_mode: str = "legacy", instrument: str = "",
+                       tuning_match: str = "", playable_offsets: str = "",
+                       playable_instrument: str = "", playable_string_count: str = ""):
+    """Paginated library search through the selected library provider.
+
+    `instrument` is the tuning PERSPECTIVE ("guitar-lead" default |
+    "guitar-rhythm" | "bass"): which arrangement's tuning the tuning
+    filter/sort speaks for, with a guitar fallback when a song has no chart in
+    that role.
+
+    `tuning_match=playable` switches the tuning filter from exact-match to
+    "playable without retuning" against the caller's current tuning
+    (`playable_offsets` + `playable_instrument` + `playable_string_count`).
+
+    `after` is an opaque keyset cursor (feedBack#636 item 3): pass back the
+    `next_cursor` from the previous response to fetch the next page with a
+    WHERE-seek instead of OFFSET. Providers that don't support it ignore it and
+    page by OFFSET, so the client can always fall back."""
+    size = min(size, 100)
+    library_provider = _get_library_provider(provider)
+    _require_library_provider_capability(library_provider, "library.read")
+    # Only the true local provider keysets: it's the one whose effective sort is
+    # exactly the request `sort`. A smart collection may pin its own sort and
+    # remote providers don't keyset — both must page by OFFSET, so never hand
+    # them a cursor (a mismatched one would mis-seek).
+    is_local = getattr(library_provider, "id", "") == "local"
+    songs, total = await _call_library_provider_async(
+        library_provider,
+        "query_page",
+        page=page,
+        size=size,
+        sort=sort,
+        direction=dir,
+        after=((after or None) if is_local else None),
+        group=bool(group),
+        naming_mode=naming_mode,
+        mastery=_split_csv(mastery),
+        tags_has=_split_csv(tags),
+        user_difficulty_in=_split_csv(user_difficulty),
+        match_states=_split_csv(match),
+        genre=_split_csv(genre),
+        **_library_filter_args(
+            q=q, favorites=favorites, format=format,
+            artist=artist, album=album,
+            arrangements_has=arrangements_has, arrangements_lacks=arrangements_lacks,
+            stems_has=stems_has, stems_lacks=stems_lacks,
+            has_lyrics=has_lyrics, tunings=tunings, instrument=instrument,
+            tuning_match=tuning_match, playable_offsets=playable_offsets,
+            playable_instrument=playable_instrument,
+            playable_string_count=playable_string_count,
+        ),
+    )
+    # The cursor to resume after this page (effective sort folds in dir=desc).
+    next_cursor = (next_library_cursor(_effective_keyset_sort(sort, dir), songs[-1])
+                   if (is_local and songs) else None)
+    # Drop the private raw-title stash query_page attached for the cursor — it's
+    # an internal keyset detail, not part of the card payload.
+    for s in songs:
+        s.pop("_sort_title", None)
+    return {"songs": songs, "total": total, "page": page, "size": size,
+            "next_cursor": next_cursor}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/library/albums")
+async def list_library_albums(q: str = "", page: int = 0, size: int = 120,
+                              favorites: int = 0, format: str = "",
+                              artist: str = "", album: str = "",
+                              arrangements_has: str = "", arrangements_lacks: str = "",
+                              stems_has: str = "", stems_lacks: str = "",
+                              has_lyrics: str = "", tunings: str = "", mastery: str = "",
+                              match: str = "", genre: str = "",
+                              provider: str = "local", instrument: str = ""):
+    """Album-condensed browse: distinct (artist, album) groups with a track count
+    and a representative cover song. Paged by album. Same filters as /api/library."""
+    size = min(size, 500)
+    library_provider = _get_library_provider(provider)
+    _require_library_provider_capability(library_provider, "library.read")
+    albums, total = await _call_library_provider_async(
+        library_provider, "query_albums",
+        page=page, size=size, mastery=_split_csv(mastery),
+        match_states=_split_csv(match), genre=_split_csv(genre),
+        **_library_filter_args(
+            q=q, favorites=favorites, format=format, artist=artist, album=album,
+            arrangements_has=arrangements_has, arrangements_lacks=arrangements_lacks,
+            stems_has=stems_has, stems_lacks=stems_lacks,
+            has_lyrics=has_lyrics, tunings=tunings, instrument=instrument,
+        ),
+    )
+    return {"albums": albums, "total": total, "page": page, "size": size}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/library/artists")
+async def list_artists(letter: str = "", q: str = "", favorites: int = 0, page: int = 0,
+                       size: int = 50, format: str = "",
+                       artist: str = "", album: str = "",
+                       arrangements_has: str = "", arrangements_lacks: str = "",
+                       stems_has: str = "", stems_lacks: str = "",
+                       has_lyrics: str = "", tunings: str = "", provider: str = "local",
+                       naming_mode: str = "legacy", instrument: str = "",
+                       tuning_match: str = "", playable_offsets: str = "",
+                       playable_instrument: str = "", playable_string_count: str = ""):
+    """Get artists grouped by letter with albums and songs (for tree view)."""
+    size = min(size, 100)
+    library_provider = _get_library_provider(provider)
+    _require_library_provider_capability(library_provider, "library.read")
+    artists, total = await _call_library_provider_async(
+        library_provider,
+        "query_artists",
+        letter=letter,
+        page=page,
+        size=size,
+        naming_mode=naming_mode,
+        **_library_filter_args(
+            q=q, favorites=favorites, format=format,
+            artist=artist, album=album,
+            arrangements_has=arrangements_has, arrangements_lacks=arrangements_lacks,
+            stems_has=stems_has, stems_lacks=stems_lacks,
+            has_lyrics=has_lyrics, tunings=tunings, instrument=instrument,
+        ),
+    )
+    return {"artists": artists, "total_artists": total, "page": page, "size": size}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/library/stats")
+async def library_stats(favorites: int = 0, q: str = "", format: str = "",
+                        artist: str = "", album: str = "",
+                        arrangements_has: str = "", arrangements_lacks: str = "",
+                        stems_has: str = "", stems_lacks: str = "",
+                        has_lyrics: str = "", tunings: str = "", provider: str = "local",
+                        match: str = "",
+                        sort: str = "artist", sort_letters: int = 0,
+                        group: int = 0, naming_mode: str = "legacy",
+                        instrument: str = "", tuning_match: str = "",
+                        playable_offsets: str = "", playable_instrument: str = "",
+                        playable_string_count: str = ""):
+    """Aggregate stats for the UI. Accepts the same filter params as
+    /api/library so the letter bar mirrors the active grid filter set.
+    `sort` selects the column the jump rail's `sort_letters` keys on;
+    `sort_letters=1` opts into that breakdown (the rail), so non-rail
+    callers skip the extra per-letter aggregate. `group=1` counts works not
+    charts (mirrors the grouped grid)."""
+    library_provider = _get_library_provider(provider)
+    _require_library_provider_capability(library_provider, "library.read")
+    return await _call_library_provider_async(
+        library_provider,
+        "query_stats",
+        naming_mode=naming_mode,
+        sort=sort,
+        want_sort_letters=bool(sort_letters),
+        group=bool(group),
+        # The match facet rides the stats call too — the A–Z rail's letter
+        # counts must agree with the grid under the facet or its cumulative
+        # seek + sizer geometry break.
+        match_states=_split_csv(match),
+        **_library_filter_args(
+            q=q, favorites=favorites, format=format,
+            artist=artist, album=album,
+            arrangements_has=arrangements_has, arrangements_lacks=arrangements_lacks,
+            stems_has=stems_has, stems_lacks=stems_lacks,
+            has_lyrics=has_lyrics, tunings=tunings, instrument=instrument,
+            tuning_match=tuning_match, playable_offsets=playable_offsets,
+            playable_instrument=playable_instrument,
+            playable_string_count=playable_string_count,
+        ),
+    )
+
+
+@router.get("/api/library/genres")
+def library_genres(provider: str = "local"):
+    """Distinct non-empty genres for the filter facet.
+
+    Genres are a local-library facet: they're populated from the feedpak
+    `genres` field at scan time and live in the local meta DB. Local-backed
+    providers (the local library and its smart collections, kind="local")
+    share that DB, so they surface the same set. Remote providers don't
+    expose genres here, so return an empty facet for them — the client then
+    hides the filter rather than offering local genres that don't apply to
+    the remote grid. Mirrors the local/remote gating used elsewhere for
+    provider calls (see `_call_library_provider`)."""
+    library_provider = _get_library_provider(provider)
+    kind = str(appstate.library_providers.provider_field(library_provider, "kind", "") or "")
+    is_remote = kind not in ("", "local") if kind else provider != "local"
+    if is_remote:
+        return {"genres": []}
+    with appstate.meta_db._lock:
+        g = appstate.meta_db._effective_genre_expr()
+        rows = appstate.meta_db.conn.execute(
+            f"SELECT g FROM (SELECT DISTINCT ({g}) AS g FROM songs) "
+            "WHERE g IS NOT NULL AND g != '' ORDER BY g COLLATE NOCASE"
+        ).fetchall()
+    return {"genres": [r[0] for r in rows]}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/library/tuning-names")
+async def list_tuning_names(provider: str = "local", instrument: str = ""):
+    """Distinct tuning names present in the library, with per-tuning
+    counts. Powers the tuning multi-select. Sorted by `tuning_sort_key`
+    so names appear in the same musical order the sort uses
+    (feedBack#22) — E Standard first, then nearest neighbors.
+
+    `instrument=bass` groups by each song's bass-arrangement tuning
+    (guitar-derived fallback for songs without a bass chart) so bass
+    players see the tunings they'd actually play. Providers that predate
+    the kwarg simply don't receive it (signature-filtered)."""
+    library_provider = _get_library_provider(provider)
+    _require_library_provider_capability(library_provider, "library.read")
+    return await _call_library_provider_async(
+        library_provider, "tuning_names", instrument=_normalize_instrument(instrument))
+
+
+@router.get("/api/library/practice-suggestions")
+def api_practice_suggestions(limit: int = 8):
+    """Growth-edge 'practice next' shelf (P3): attempted-but-not-mastered songs
+    ranked by difficulty-appropriateness × mastery-proximity, joined to song
+    metadata. Replaces the recency-only 'Keep practicing' shelf ordering. Local
+    library only — reads local practice stats."""
+    from urllib.parse import quote
+    out = []
+    for r in appstate.meta_db.growth_edge_suggestions(limit):
+        meta = appstate.meta_db.conn.execute(
+            "SELECT title, artist, tuning_name FROM songs WHERE filename = ?",
+            (r["filename"],),
+        ).fetchone()
+        title, artist, tuning_name = meta if meta else (None, None, None)
+        out.append({
+            **r,
+            "title": title or r["filename"],
+            "artist": artist or "",
+            "tuning_name": tuning_name or "",
+            "art_url": f"/api/song/{quote(r['filename'])}/art",
+        })
+    return out
+
+
+@router.get("/api/collections")
+def api_list_collections():
+    """Smart/dynamic collections (saved live library filters)."""
+    return {"collections": appstate.meta_db.list_collections()}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/collections")
+def api_create_collection(data: dict):
+    """Create a collection from a name + a set of library filter rules. It
+    immediately appears as a source in the library provider picker."""
+    if not isinstance(data, dict):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "body must be an object"}, status_code=400)
+    name = _clean_str(data.get("name"))
+    if not name:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "name required"}, status_code=400)
+    col = appstate.meta_db.create_collection(name, _sanitize_collection_rules(data.get("rules")))
+    _sync_collection_provider(col)
+    return {"ok": True, "collection": col}
+
+
+@router.put("/api/collections/{pid}")
+def api_update_collection(pid: int, data: dict):
+    """Rename a collection and/or replace its rules."""
+    if not isinstance(data, dict):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "body must be an object"}, status_code=400)
+    name = _clean_str(data.get("name")) or None
+    rules = _sanitize_collection_rules(data["rules"]) if "rules" in data else None
+    col = appstate.meta_db.update_collection(pid, name=name, rules=rules)
+    if col is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "collection not found"}, status_code=404)
+    _sync_collection_provider(col)
+    return {"ok": True, "collection": col}
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/collections/{pid}")
+def api_delete_collection(pid: int):
+    """Delete a collection and unregister its provider."""
+    if not appstate.meta_db.is_collection(pid):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "collection not found"}, status_code=404)
+    appstate.meta_db.delete_playlist(pid)
+    _unregister_collection_provider(pid)
+    return {"ok": True}
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+"""Small meta_db-backed library / user-state endpoints — work keeper-chart
+prefs, favorites, personal tags, saved-for-later, and continue-playing.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3); edits: ``@app`` -> ``@router``,
+``meta_db`` -> ``appstate.meta_db``, ``_clean_str`` from ``reqfields``. All paths
+are distinct and non-overlapping, so mounting them together (rather than at each
+original scattered site) does not change routing.
+"""
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
+
+import appstate
+from reqfields import _clean_str
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+@router.get("/api/work/{work_key:path}/charts")
+def api_get_work_charts(work_key: str):
+    """All charts in a work + which is the keeper (your pick vs auto-pick)."""
+    return appstate.meta_db.work_charts(work_key)
+
+
+@router.put("/api/work/{work_key:path}/preferred")
+def api_set_work_preferred(work_key: str, data: dict):
+    """Set the keeper chart of a work: body {filename}. The filename must be a
+    current member of the work. Returns the refreshed chart list."""
+    fn = (data.get("filename") or "").strip()
+    if not fn:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "filename is required"}, 400)
+    members = {c["filename"] for c in appstate.meta_db.work_charts(work_key)["charts"]}
+    if fn not in members:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "filename is not a chart of this work"}, 400)
+    appstate.meta_db.set_chart_preferred(work_key, fn)
+    return appstate.meta_db.work_charts(work_key)
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/work/{work_key:path}/preferred")
+def api_reset_work_preferred(work_key: str):
+    """Reset a work to auto-pick (drop the explicit preferred)."""
+    appstate.meta_db.clear_chart_preferred(work_key)
+    return appstate.meta_db.work_charts(work_key)
+
+
+@router.post("/api/favorites/toggle")
+def toggle_favorite(data: dict):
+    """Toggle a song's favorite status."""
+    filename = data.get("filename", "")
+    if not filename:
+        return {"error": "No filename"}
+    new_state = appstate.meta_db.toggle_favorite(filename)
+    return {"favorite": new_state}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/tags")
+def list_tags():
+    """All personal tags in use (over still-present songs), most-used first —
+    powers the tag filter UI."""
+    return {"tags": appstate.meta_db.all_tags()}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/saved/toggle")
+def api_toggle_saved(data: dict):
+    """Add/remove a song on the reserved Saved-for-Later playlist."""
+    filename = _clean_str(data.get("filename"))
+    if not filename:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "filename required"}, status_code=400)
+    return {"saved": appstate.meta_db.toggle_saved(filename)}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/session/continue")
+def api_session_continue():
+    """The Continue-Playing card's song (most recent play) or null."""
+    return appstate.meta_db.continue_session()
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+"""Practice loops — saved A/B regions per song.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3); only the decorator receiver
+(``@app`` -> ``@router``) and the singleton reads (``meta_db`` ->
+``appstate.meta_db``) changed. See ``appstate.py`` for why the reads stay
+module attributes.
+"""
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+
+import appstate
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+@router.get("/api/loops")
+def list_loops(filename: str):
+    # Hold the DB lock for the read: the shared single connection
+    # (check_same_thread=False) is serialized through meta_db._lock by every
+    # writer, so an unlocked SELECT here can overlap a POST/DELETE commit.
+    db = appstate.meta_db
+    with db._lock:
+        rows = db.conn.execute(
+            "SELECT id, name, start_time, end_time FROM loops WHERE filename = ? ORDER BY start_time",
+            (filename,)
+        ).fetchall()
+    return [{"id": r[0], "name": r[1], "start": r[2], "end": r[3]} for r in rows]
+
+
+@router.post("/api/loops")
+def save_loop(data: dict):
+    filename = data.get("filename", "")
+    name = data.get("name", "").strip()
+    start = data.get("start")
+    end = data.get("end")
+    if not filename or start is None or end is None:
+        return {"error": "Missing fields"}
+    db = appstate.meta_db
+    with db._lock:
+        # COUNT + INSERT under one lock so two unnamed POSTs can't read the same
+        # count and both mint "Loop N" (the count is only used to name the row).
+        if not name:
+            count = db.conn.execute(
+                "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM loops WHERE filename = ?", (filename,)
+            ).fetchone()[0]
+            name = f"Loop {count + 1}"
+        db.conn.execute(
+            "INSERT INTO loops (filename, name, start_time, end_time) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)",
+            (filename, name, float(start), float(end))
+        )
+        db.conn.commit()
+    return {"ok": True, "name": name}
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/loops/{loop_id}")
+def delete_loop(loop_id: int):
+    with appstate.meta_db._lock:
+        appstate.meta_db.conn.execute("DELETE FROM loops WHERE id = ?", (loop_id,))
+        appstate.meta_db.conn.commit()
+    return {"ok": True}
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+"""Media/file-serving routes: song audio (/audio/{f}), the local-audio-path
+resolver (/api/audio-local-path), and raw sloppak member serving
+(/api/sloppak/{f}/file/{rel}).
+
+Extracted verbatim from server.py (R3) except @app->@router and the cache/static
+path seams (AUDIO_CACHE_DIR->appstate.audio_cache_dir, STATIC_DIR->
+appstate.static_dir, SLOPPAK_CACHE_DIR->appstate.sloppak_cache_dir).
+"""
+
+import ipaddress
+import re
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Request
+from fastapi.responses import FileResponse, JSONResponse
+
+import appstate
+import sloppak as sloppak_mod
+from dlc_paths import _get_dlc_dir, _resolve_dlc_path
+
+import logging
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+router = APIRouter()
+
+def _resolve_sloppak_local_file(filename: str, rel_path: str):
+    """Resolve a file inside a sloppak to its on-disk path.
+
+    Applies the same containment guards as ``serve_sloppak_file``. Returns the
+    resolved ``Path`` on success, or an ``(error, status)`` tuple on failure so
+    callers can produce their endpoint-appropriate response.
+    """
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    if not dlc:
+        return ("not configured", 404)
+    # `filename` is caller-controlled. Contain it under DLC_DIR before it
+    # reaches the resolver (see serve_sloppak_file for the traversal rationale).
+    resolved = _resolve_dlc_path(dlc, filename)
+    if resolved is None:
+        return ("forbidden", 403)
+    # Confine to actual sloppak bundles — otherwise any plain subdirectory
+    # would become a read-any-file-under-DLC_DIR source.
+    if not sloppak_mod.is_sloppak(resolved):
+        return ("not found", 404)
+    # Canonicalise the cache key against the resolved path so equivalent URL
+    # forms of the same sloppak converge on one _source_cache entry.
+    try:
+        filename = resolved.relative_to(dlc.resolve()).as_posix()
+    except ValueError:
+        # safe_join already proved containment; fail closed regardless.
+        return ("forbidden", 403)
+    src = sloppak_mod.get_cached_source_dir(filename)
+    if src is None:
+        try:
+            src = sloppak_mod.resolve_source_dir(filename, dlc, appstate.sloppak_cache_dir)
+        except Exception:
+            return ("not found", 404)
+    # Prevent path traversal within the sloppak.
+    target = (src / rel_path).resolve()
+    try:
+        target.relative_to(src.resolve())
+    except ValueError:
+        return ("forbidden", 403)
+    if not target.exists() or not target.is_file():
+        return ("not found", 404)
+    return target
+
+
+@router.get("/api/sloppak/{filename:path}/file/{rel_path:path}")
+def serve_sloppak_file(filename: str, rel_path: str):
+    """Serve a file from inside a sloppak (stems, cover, etc.)."""
+    result = _resolve_sloppak_local_file(filename, rel_path)
+    if isinstance(result, tuple):
+        error, status = result
+        return JSONResponse({"error": error}, status)
+    target = result
+    ext = target.suffix.lower()
+    mt = {
+        ".ogg": "audio/ogg", ".opus": "audio/ogg", ".oga": "audio/ogg",
+        ".mp3": "audio/mpeg", ".wav": "audio/wav", ".flac": "audio/flac",
+        ".m4a": "audio/mp4",
+        ".jpg": "image/jpeg", ".jpeg": "image/jpeg",
+        ".png": "image/png", ".webp": "image/webp",
+        ".json": "application/json",
+    }.get(ext)
+    return FileResponse(str(target), media_type=mt) if mt else FileResponse(str(target))
+
+
+@router.get("/api/audio-local-path")
+def audio_local_path(url: str, request: Request):
+    """Return absolute local filesystem path for a song URL (Electron desktop only).
+
+    Accepts ``/audio/<path>`` where ``<path>`` may include subdirectory segments —
+    no scheme, no host, no query string, no fragment.  The resolved path must stay
+    inside appstate.audio_cache_dir or appstate.static_dir; ``..`` traversal, backslashes, and
+    absolute ``filename`` values are rejected.
+
+    Also accepts ``/api/sloppak/<filename>/file/<rel>`` (percent-encoded, as
+    emitted by the highway song payload) and resolves it to the unpacked
+    sloppak cache file via the same containment guards as
+    ``serve_sloppak_file`` — this lets the desktop engine play a feedpak
+    full-mix natively under WASAPI-exclusive output.
+
+    This endpoint returns a raw filesystem path and is intended exclusively for
+    the Electron desktop process (which runs on loopback). Requests from non-
+    loopback clients are rejected with 403.
+    """
+    # Loopback-only — only the local Electron process should call this
+    client_host = request.client.host if request.client else None
+    try:
+        is_loopback = bool(client_host and ipaddress.ip_address(client_host).is_loopback)
+    except ValueError:
+        is_loopback = client_host == "localhost"
+    if not is_loopback:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "forbidden"}, status_code=403)
+    # Sloppak in-pack file (feedpak full-mix): /api/sloppak/<fn>/file/<rel>.
+    # Both segments arrive percent-encoded (built with urllib quote() in the
+    # highway payload); decode before handing to the shared resolver, which
+    # re-applies all containment guards on the decoded values.
+    slop_match = re.fullmatch(r"/api/sloppak/([^?#]+)/file/([^?#]+)", url)
+    if slop_match:
+        from urllib.parse import unquote
+
+        result = _resolve_sloppak_local_file(
+            unquote(slop_match.group(1)), unquote(slop_match.group(2))
+        )
+        if isinstance(result, tuple):
+            error, status = result
+            return JSONResponse({"error": error}, status_code=status)
+        return JSONResponse({"path": str(result)})
+    # Accept only simple /audio/<filename> — no scheme, no host, no query/fragment
+    if not re.fullmatch(r"/audio/[^?#]+", url):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "invalid url"}, status_code=400)
+    filename = url[len("/audio/"):]
+    # Reject traversal, absolute paths, and backslash separators
+    if ".." in filename.split("/") or filename.startswith("/") or "\\" in filename:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "invalid url"}, status_code=400)
+    for d in [appstate.audio_cache_dir, appstate.static_dir]:
+        candidate = (d / filename).resolve()
+        # Ensure resolved path is inside the allowed directory
+        try:
+            candidate.relative_to(d.resolve())
+        except ValueError:
+            continue
+        if candidate.is_file():
+            return JSONResponse({"path": str(candidate)})
+    return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+
+
+@router.get("/audio/{filename:path}")
+def serve_audio(filename: str):
+    """Serve audio files from the writable audio cache directory."""
+    # Reject traversal attempts and absolute-path components
+    if ".." in filename.split("/") or filename.startswith("/") or "\\" in filename:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    for d in [appstate.audio_cache_dir, appstate.static_dir]:
+        candidate = (d / filename).resolve()
+        try:
+            candidate.relative_to(d.resolve())
+        except ValueError:
+            continue
+        if candidate.is_file():
+            return FileResponse(str(candidate))
+    return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
@@ -0,0 +1,298 @@
+"""Playlists + custom playlist covers (fee[dB]ack v0.3.0).
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3). Edits: ``@app`` -> ``@router``,
+``meta_db`` -> ``appstate.meta_db``, ``CONFIG_DIR`` -> ``appstate.config_dir``
+(both read at call time through the seam), and ``_clean_str`` now imports from
+``reqfields``. See ``appstate.py``.
+"""
+
+import logging
+import os
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+from fastapi.responses import FileResponse, JSONResponse
+
+import appstate
+from reqfields import _clean_str
+
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+# Cache policy for the custom-cover file response: revalidate every time so a
+# replaced cover is never served stale (pairs with the mtime-ns URL token).
+_ART_CACHE_HEADERS = {"Cache-Control": "no-cache"}
+
+
+def _playlist_cover_path(pid) -> Path | None:
+    """Filesystem path of a playlist's optional custom cover image (PNG),
+    stored under CONFIG_DIR. Returns None for a non-integer id."""
+    try:
+        pid = int(pid)
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        return None
+    return appstate.config_dir / "playlist_covers" / f"{pid}.png"
+
+
+def _playlist_cover_url(pid) -> str | None:
+    cover = _playlist_cover_path(pid)
+    if not cover or not cover.exists():
+        return None
+    try:
+        # Nanosecond mtime so a same-second replace/remove/re-upload still
+        # changes the cache-bust token (int seconds could collide → stale image).
+        mt = cover.stat().st_mtime_ns
+    except OSError:
+        mt = 0
+    return f"/api/playlists/{pid}/cover?v={mt}"
+
+
+@router.get("/api/playlists")
+def api_list_playlists():
+    lists = appstate.meta_db.list_playlists()
+    for pl in lists:
+        pl["cover_url"] = _playlist_cover_url(pl["id"])
+    return lists
+
+
+@router.post("/api/playlists")
+def api_create_playlist(data: dict):
+    name = _clean_str(data.get("name"))
+    if not (1 <= len(name) <= 100):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Playlist name must be 1–100 characters."}, status_code=400)
+    # kind='album' = a curated album (§7.2): hand-picked works, a chosen chart
+    # per slot, played front-to-back on the queue. Absent/None = a regular mix.
+    kind = _clean_str(data.get("kind")) or None
+    if kind not in (None, "album"):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "kind must be 'album' or omitted"}, status_code=400)
+    return appstate.meta_db.create_playlist(name, kind=kind)
+
+
+@router.post("/api/playlists/reorder")
+def api_reorder_playlists(data: dict):
+    """Manual ordering of the playlists themselves (position = index in
+    `order`); the songs-within sibling is /api/playlists/{pid}/reorder.
+    System playlists stay pinned first and are not part of the order."""
+    order = data.get("order")
+    if not isinstance(order, list) or not all(
+            isinstance(i, int) and not isinstance(i, bool) for i in order):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "order must be a list of playlist ids"}, status_code=400)
+    # Require an exact permutation of the current non-system playlist ids: a
+    # list with duplicates, omissions, extras, unknown ids, or a system id
+    # would otherwise produce duplicate positions / a partial reorder while
+    # still returning 200 (mirrors the songs-within validation).
+    current = [p["id"] for p in appstate.meta_db.list_playlists() if not p["system_key"]]
+    if len(order) != len(current) or sorted(order) != sorted(current):
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": "order must be a permutation of your playlists' ids"},
+            status_code=400,
+        )
+    appstate.meta_db.reorder_playlists(order)
+    return api_list_playlists()
+
+
+@router.post("/api/playlists/sort-alpha")
+def api_sort_playlists_alpha():
+    """Clear every manual playlist position → back to the alphabetical
+    default (system playlists were pinned first either way)."""
+    appstate.meta_db.clear_playlist_positions()
+    return api_list_playlists()
+
+
+@router.get("/api/playlists/{pid}")
+def api_get_playlist(pid: int):
+    pl = appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid)
+    if pl is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    pl["cover_url"] = _playlist_cover_url(pid)
+    return pl
+
+
+@router.patch("/api/playlists/{pid}")
+def api_rename_playlist(pid: int, data: dict):
+    pl = appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid)
+    if pl is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    if pl["system_key"]:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "System playlists cannot be renamed."}, status_code=400)
+    name = _clean_str(data.get("name"))
+    if not (1 <= len(name) <= 100):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Playlist name must be 1–100 characters."}, status_code=400)
+    appstate.meta_db.rename_playlist(pid, name)
+    return appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid)
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/playlists/{pid}")
+def api_delete_playlist(pid: int):
+    pl = appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid)
+    if pl is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    if pl["system_key"]:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "System playlists cannot be deleted."}, status_code=400)
+    if not appstate.meta_db.delete_playlist(pid):   # vanished under us (concurrent delete)
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    cover = _playlist_cover_path(pid)       # drop any custom cover with the playlist
+    if cover and cover.exists():
+        try:
+            cover.unlink()
+        except OSError:
+            pass
+    return {"ok": True}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/playlists/{pid}/songs")
+def api_add_playlist_song(pid: int, data: dict):
+    if appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid) is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    filename = _clean_str(data.get("filename"))
+    if not filename:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "filename required"}, status_code=400)
+    if appstate.meta_db.add_playlist_song(pid, filename) is None:   # playlist vanished under us
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    pl = appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid)
+    return pl if pl is not None else JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+
+
+@router.patch("/api/playlists/{pid}/songs/{filename:path}")
+def api_update_playlist_slot(pid: int, filename: str, data: dict):
+    """Edit one curated-album slot: {"arrangement": name|null} pins/clears the
+    slot's arrangement; {"chart_filename": fn} swaps the slot to another chart
+    of the same work (position + pin kept). Albums only — a mix has no slots."""
+    pl = appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid)
+    if pl is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    if pl.get("kind") != "album":
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Slot editing is for albums."}, status_code=400)
+    kwargs = {}
+    if "chart_filename" in data:
+        new_fn = _clean_str(data.get("chart_filename"))
+        if not new_fn:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "chart_filename must be a filename"}, status_code=400)
+        kwargs["new_filename"] = new_fn
+    if "arrangement" in data:
+        arr = data.get("arrangement")
+        if arr is not None and not (isinstance(arr, str) and 1 <= len(arr.strip()) <= 100):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "arrangement must be a name or null"}, status_code=400)
+        kwargs["arrangement"] = arr.strip() if isinstance(arr, str) else None
+    if not kwargs:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "nothing to update"}, status_code=400)
+    if appstate.meta_db.update_playlist_slot(pid, filename, **kwargs) is None:
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": "no such slot, or the chart isn't a version of this song"},
+            status_code=400)
+    return appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid)
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/playlists/{pid}/songs/{filename:path}")
+def api_remove_playlist_song(pid: int, filename: str):
+    if appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid) is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    appstate.meta_db.remove_playlist_song(pid, filename)
+    pl = appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid)
+    return pl if pl is not None else JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+
+
+@router.post("/api/playlists/{pid}/reorder")
+def api_reorder_playlist(pid: int, data: dict):
+    pl = appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid)
+    if pl is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    order = data.get("order")
+    if not isinstance(order, list) or not all(isinstance(f, str) for f in order):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "order must be a list of filenames"}, status_code=400)
+    # Require an exact permutation of the playlist's current songs: a list with
+    # duplicates, omissions, or extras would otherwise produce duplicate
+    # positions / a partial reorder while still returning 200.
+    current = [s["filename"] for s in pl["songs"]]
+    if len(order) != len(current) or sorted(order) != sorted(current):
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": "order must be a permutation of the playlist's current songs"},
+            status_code=400,
+        )
+    appstate.meta_db.reorder_playlist(pid, order)
+    return appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid)
+
+
+@router.post("/api/playlists/{pid}/cover")
+async def api_set_playlist_cover(pid: int, data: dict):
+    """Set a playlist's custom cover from a base64 / data-URL image (PNG/JPG).
+    Overrides the content-dependent (song-art) cover. Stored as a small PNG
+    thumbnail under CONFIG_DIR/playlist_covers/."""
+    if appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid) is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    import base64
+    import io
+    b64 = data.get("image", "")
+    # Guard the type before the `","` membership test — a non-string image
+    # (e.g. {"image": 123} / null) would otherwise raise TypeError → 500.
+    # Mirrors the avatar/song-art upload guard.
+    if not isinstance(b64, str) or not b64:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "No image data"}, status_code=400)
+    if "," in b64:
+        b64 = b64.split(",", 1)[1]
+    if not b64:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "No image data"}, status_code=400)
+    try:
+        img_data = base64.b64decode(b64)
+    except Exception:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Invalid base64"}, status_code=400)
+    cover = _playlist_cover_path(pid)
+    cover.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    # Decode/validate the image — a bad payload is a CLIENT error (400), and the
+    # message stays generic so it can't echo internals.
+    try:
+        from PIL import Image
+        img = Image.open(io.BytesIO(img_data)).convert("RGB")
+        img.thumbnail((640, 640))                  # covers stay small
+    except Exception:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Invalid image"}, status_code=400)
+    # Persist. A save/replace failure is a SERVER error (500, logged, no
+    # filesystem detail leaked) — the pre-split handler mislabeled these as 400
+    # and echoed the exception. A unique temp name in the cover dir (not a shared
+    # `{pid}.png.tmp`) means two concurrent uploads can't clobber each other's
+    # temp file; the atomic replace publishes. Re-check the playlist still exists
+    # just before publishing so a delete that raced the decode above can't leave
+    # an orphan cover — cheap belt-and-braces; FeedBack is single-user
+    # (Principle I), so a full per-playlist lock would be for a race the
+    # deployment model precludes.
+    tmp = None
+    try:
+        # mkstemp is inside the try too: an unwritable dir / full disk raises
+        # here, and that's the same class of persistence failure as save/replace.
+        fd, tmp_name = tempfile.mkstemp(prefix=f".{pid}.", suffix=".png.tmp", dir=str(cover.parent))
+        tmp = Path(tmp_name)
+        with os.fdopen(fd, "wb") as f:
+            img.save(f, "PNG")
+        if appstate.meta_db.get_playlist(pid) is None:
+            tmp.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+        tmp.replace(cover)
+    except Exception:
+        if tmp is not None:
+            tmp.unlink(missing_ok=True)
+        log.exception("playlist cover save failed (pid=%s)", pid)
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "could not save cover"}, status_code=500)
+    return {"ok": True, "cover_url": _playlist_cover_url(pid)}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/playlists/{pid}/cover")
+def api_get_playlist_cover(pid: int):
+    cover = _playlist_cover_path(pid)
+    if not cover or not cover.exists():
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    # no-cache (revalidate) like song art, so a replaced cover is never served
+    # stale — pairs with the mtime-ns cache-bust token on the URL.
+    return FileResponse(str(cover), media_type="image/png", headers=_ART_CACHE_HEADERS)
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/playlists/{pid}/cover")
+def api_delete_playlist_cover(pid: int):
+    cover = _playlist_cover_path(pid)
+    if cover and cover.exists():
+        try:
+            cover.unlink()
+        except OSError:
+            pass
+    return {"ok": True}
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+"""Player profile — identity, avatars (bundled + custom uploads), and progress.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3); edits: ``@app`` -> ``@router``,
+``meta_db`` -> ``appstate.meta_db``, ``CONFIG_DIR``/``STATIC_DIR`` ->
+``appstate.config_dir``/``appstate.static_dir`` (seam), ``_clean_str`` from
+``reqfields``, ``_get_progression_content()`` ->
+``appstate.get_progression_content()``. The bundled-avatar lister moves with it.
+"""
+
+import logging
+import secrets
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+from fastapi.responses import FileResponse, JSONResponse
+
+import appstate
+from reqfields import _clean_str
+
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+def _list_bundled_avatars() -> list[str]:
+    """Bundled default avatar filenames under static/v3/avatars/."""
+    d = appstate.static_dir / "v3" / "avatars"
+    if not d.is_dir():
+        return []
+    exts = {".svg", ".png", ".webp"}
+    return sorted(
+        p.name for p in d.iterdir()
+        if p.is_file() and p.suffix.lower() in exts and not p.name.startswith(".")
+    )
+
+
+@router.get("/api/profile")
+def api_get_profile():
+    profile = appstate.meta_db.get_profile()
+    # Equipped cosmetics ride along (resolved to their payloads) so the theme
+    # and avatar frame apply at boot without an extra request. Never let a
+    # cosmetics/content problem break the profile read.
+    cosmetics = {}
+    try:
+        shop = appstate.get_progression_content()["shop"]
+        for slot, item_id in appstate.meta_db.get_equipped().items():
+            item = shop.get(item_id)
+            if item:
+                cosmetics[slot] = {"item_id": item_id, "payload": item["payload"]}
+    except Exception:
+        log.warning("profile cosmetics enrich failed", exc_info=True)
+    profile["cosmetics"] = cosmetics
+    return profile
+
+
+
+@router.post("/api/profile")
+def api_set_profile(data: dict):
+    """Set/update the player profile. Body: {display_name, avatar:{type,value}}.
+    avatar.type is 'default' (value = bundled filename) or 'upload' (value =
+    the /api/profile/avatar/<name> URL returned by the upload endpoint); omit
+    avatar to keep the existing one (name-only edit)."""
+    name = _clean_str(data.get("display_name"))
+    if not (1 <= len(name) <= 32):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Display name must be 1–32 characters."}, status_code=400)
+    avatar = data.get("avatar")
+    if avatar is None:
+        avatar = {}            # omitted → keep the current avatar (name-only edit)
+    elif not isinstance(avatar, dict):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "avatar must be an object."}, status_code=400)
+    atype = avatar.get("type")
+    aval = _clean_str(avatar.get("value"))
+    avatar_url = None
+    if atype == "default":
+        if aval not in _list_bundled_avatars():
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "Unknown default avatar."}, status_code=400)
+        avatar_url = f"/static/v3/avatars/{aval}"
+    elif atype == "upload":
+        from safepath import safe_join
+        fname = aval.rsplit("/", 1)[-1] if aval.startswith("/api/profile/avatar/") else ""
+        target = safe_join(appstate.config_dir / "avatars", fname) if fname else None
+        if target is None or not target.is_file():
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "Uploaded avatar not found."}, status_code=400)
+        avatar_url = f"/api/profile/avatar/{fname}"
+    elif atype:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Unknown avatar type."}, status_code=400)
+    # atype None/missing → keep the current avatar (name-only edit).
+    return appstate.meta_db.set_profile(name, avatar_url)
+
+
+@router.get("/api/profile/avatars")
+def api_list_avatars():
+    return [{"name": n, "url": f"/static/v3/avatars/{n}"} for n in _list_bundled_avatars()]
+
+
+@router.post("/api/profile/avatar")
+def api_upload_avatar(data: dict):
+    """Upload a custom avatar as base64 (mirrors the album-art upload pattern).
+    Re-encodes to a ≤512px PNG under appstate.config_dir/avatars/."""
+    import base64
+    import io
+    b64 = data.get("image", "")
+    if not isinstance(b64, str) or not b64:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "No image data"}, status_code=400)
+    if "," in b64:
+        b64 = b64.split(",", 1)[1]
+    try:
+        raw = base64.b64decode(b64)
+    except Exception:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Invalid base64"}, status_code=400)
+    if len(raw) > 6 * 1024 * 1024:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Image too large (max 6 MB)."}, status_code=400)
+    avatars_dir = appstate.config_dir / "avatars"
+    avatars_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    try:
+        from PIL import Image
+        img = Image.open(io.BytesIO(raw)).convert("RGB")
+        img.thumbnail((512, 512))
+        fname = f"upload-{secrets.token_hex(4)}.png"  # token busts caches on change
+        img.save(str(avatars_dir / fname), "PNG")
+    except Exception as e:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": f"Invalid image: {e}"}, status_code=400)
+    return {"url": f"/api/profile/avatar/{fname}"}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/profile/avatar/{name}")
+def api_get_avatar(name: str):
+    from safepath import safe_join
+    target = safe_join(appstate.config_dir / "avatars", name)
+    if target is None or not target.is_file():
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "not found"}, status_code=404)
+    return FileResponse(str(target), media_type="image/png")
+
+
+@router.get("/api/profile/progress")
+def api_profile_progress():
+    """One call for the whole profile badge: {level, xp, xp_in_level,
+    xp_to_next, current_streak, best_streak, last_active_date}."""
+    return appstate.meta_db.get_progress()
@@ -0,0 +1,230 @@
+"""Progression (spec 010) — mastery rank, challenges, quests, onboarding paths.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3); edits: ``@app`` -> ``@router``,
+``meta_db`` -> ``appstate.meta_db``, ``_clean_str`` from ``reqfields``, and the
+two shared server accessors read through the seam:
+``_get_progression_content()`` -> ``appstate.get_progression_content()`` and
+``_builtin_diagnostic_filename()`` -> ``appstate.builtin_diagnostic_filename()``.
+The exclusive helpers (_goal_ui_progress, _progression_overview) + the
+_PROGRESSION_EVENT_TYPES whitelist move with it.
+"""
+
+import math
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
+
+import appstate
+from reqfields import _clean_str
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+def _goal_ui_progress(goal: dict, state: dict, streak: int, xp_total: int) -> tuple:
+    """(count, target) for a challenge/quest progress bar. Count goals show
+    n/target; threshold goals show how far the live stat is along the line."""
+    import progression as progression_mod
+    gtype = goal.get("type")
+    if gtype in progression_mod.COUNT_GOAL_TYPES:
+        target = int(goal.get("target") or 1)
+        count = target if state.get("completed") else min(int(state.get("count") or 0), target)
+        return count, target
+    if gtype == "streak_reached":
+        target = int(goal.get("days") or 1)
+        return (target if state.get("completed") else min(streak, target)), target
+    if gtype == "db_earned":
+        target = int(goal.get("amount") or 1)
+        return (target if state.get("completed") else min(xp_total, target)), target
+    return 0, 1
+
+
+def _progression_overview() -> dict:
+    """The full GET /api/progression payload (also the capability `inspect`
+    result): rank, onboarding, per-path challenge checklists, quests, wallet."""
+    import progression as progression_mod
+    from datetime import datetime as _dt
+    content = appstate.get_progression_content()
+    now = _dt.now()
+    appstate.meta_db.ensure_quest_period(content, now)
+
+    state = appstate.meta_db.get_progression_state()
+    player_paths = appstate.meta_db.get_player_paths()
+    challenge_state = appstate.meta_db.get_challenge_state()
+    wallet = appstate.meta_db.get_wallet()
+    streak_progress = appstate.meta_db.get_progress()
+    streak = int(streak_progress.get("current_streak") or 0)
+    xp_total = wallet["lifetime_db"]
+    keys = progression_mod.period_keys(now)
+
+    def _path_order(pid):
+        pdef = content["paths"].get(pid) or {}
+        return (pdef.get("order") or 0, pid)
+
+    paths_payload = []
+    for pid in sorted(player_paths, key=_path_order):
+        pdef = content["paths"].get(pid)
+        level = player_paths[pid]
+        if not pdef:
+            # Path selected under older content that no longer ships: keep its
+            # rank contribution visible rather than silently dropping it.
+            paths_payload.append({"id": pid, "name": pid, "icon": "", "level": level,
+                                  "max_level": level, "next": None})
+            continue
+        next_block = None
+        active = progression_mod.active_challenges(content, pid, level)
+        if active:
+            level_def = next(e for e in pdef["levels"] if e["level"] == level + 1)
+            challenges = []
+            completed_count = 0
+            for ch in active:
+                st = challenge_state.get(ch["id"]) or {}
+                count, target = _goal_ui_progress(ch["goal"], st, streak, xp_total)
+                if st.get("completed"):
+                    completed_count += 1
+                challenges.append({
+                    "id": ch["id"],
+                    "title": ch["title"],
+                    "description": ch["description"],
+                    "count": count,
+                    "target": target,
+                    "completed": bool(st.get("completed")),
+                    "completed_at": st.get("completed_at"),
+                })
+            next_block = {
+                "level": level + 1,
+                "required": level_def["required"],
+                "completed": completed_count,
+                "challenges": challenges,
+            }
+        paths_payload.append({
+            "id": pid,
+            "name": pdef["name"],
+            "icon": pdef["icon"],
+            "level": level,
+            "max_level": progression_mod.path_max_level(content, pid),
+            "next": next_block,
+        })
+
+    available = [
+        {"id": pid, "name": pdef["name"], "icon": pdef["icon"]}
+        for pid, pdef in sorted(content["paths"].items(), key=lambda kv: (kv[1].get("order") or 0, kv[0]))
+        if pid not in player_paths
+    ]
+
+    quest_rows = appstate.meta_db.get_quest_rows(keys)
+    quests_payload = {}
+    for period_type in ("daily", "weekly"):
+        pool = content["quests"][period_type]["pool"]
+        quests = []
+        for row in quest_rows:
+            if row["period_type"] != period_type:
+                continue
+            qdef = pool.get(row["quest_id"])
+            if not qdef:
+                continue  # removed from the pool mid-period: hide, keep the row
+            count, target = _goal_ui_progress(qdef["goal"], row, streak, xp_total)
+            quests.append({
+                "id": row["quest_id"],
+                "title": qdef["title"],
+                "description": qdef["description"],
+                "reward_db": row["reward_db"],
+                "count": count,
+                "target": target,
+                "completed": row["completed"],
+                "completed_at": row["completed_at"],
+            })
+        quests_payload[period_type] = {
+            "period_key": keys[period_type],
+            "resets_at": progression_mod.period_resets_at(period_type, now).isoformat(),
+            "quests": quests,
+        }
+
+    return {
+        "mastery_rank": progression_mod.mastery_rank(state["calibration_status"], player_paths),
+        "onboarding": {
+            "calibration_status": state["calibration_status"],
+            "calibration_completed_at": state["calibration_completed_at"],
+            "diagnostic_filename": appstate.builtin_diagnostic_filename(),
+        },
+        "paths": paths_payload,
+        "available_paths": available,
+        "quests": quests_payload,
+        "wallet": wallet,
+    }
+
+
+@router.get("/api/progression")
+def api_progression():
+    return _progression_overview()
+
+
+@router.post("/api/progression/paths")
+def api_progression_add_paths(data: dict):
+    """Select instrument paths. Body: {add: [path_id, ...]}. Idempotent;
+    removal is unsupported (Mastery Rank never decreases)."""
+    add = data.get("add")
+    if not isinstance(add, list) or not add:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "add must be a non-empty list of path ids"}, status_code=400)
+    content = appstate.get_progression_content()
+    for pid in add:
+        if not isinstance(pid, str) or pid not in content["paths"]:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": f"unknown path: {pid!r}"}, status_code=400)
+    appstate.meta_db.add_player_paths(add)
+    return _progression_overview()
+
+
+@router.post("/api/progression/onboarding")
+def api_progression_onboarding(data: dict):
+    """Onboarding calibration choice. Body: {action: "skip"} — completing the
+    calibration needs no endpoint, it flows through the normal /api/stats path."""
+    if _clean_str(data.get("action")) != "skip":
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "action must be 'skip'"}, status_code=400)
+    # Spec invariant: onboarding requires picking at least one instrument path
+    # before finishing, so skipping straight to rank 1 with no paths would
+    # leave a rank that can never grow. Only enforced when the content bundle
+    # actually defines paths — broken/empty content must never brick onboarding.
+    if appstate.get_progression_content()["paths"] and not appstate.meta_db.get_player_paths():
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": "select at least one instrument path before skipping calibration"},
+            status_code=400,
+        )
+    appstate.meta_db.skip_calibration()
+    return _progression_overview()
+
+
+# Externally postable progression events. song_completed is deliberately NOT
+# here: it is server-derived inside /api/stats so the scored-session authority
+# stays in one place.
+_PROGRESSION_EVENT_TYPES = {"minigame_run"}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/progression/events")
+def api_progression_events(data: dict):
+    """Generic progression-event intake for plugins (capability `record-event`).
+    Body: {type, payload}. Whitelisted types, scalar payload values only."""
+    etype = _clean_str(data.get("type"))
+    if etype not in _PROGRESSION_EVENT_TYPES:
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": f"event type must be one of {sorted(_PROGRESSION_EVENT_TYPES)}"},
+            status_code=400,
+        )
+    payload = data.get("payload")
+    if payload is None:
+        payload = {}
+    if not isinstance(payload, dict) or len(payload) > 16:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "payload must be a small object"}, status_code=400)
+    clean = {}
+    for key, value in payload.items():
+        if not isinstance(key, str) or len(key) > 64:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "payload keys must be short strings"}, status_code=400)
+        if value is None:
+            continue
+        if isinstance(value, bool) or (
+            not isinstance(value, (int, float, str))
+        ) or (isinstance(value, float) and not math.isfinite(value)) or (
+            isinstance(value, str) and len(value) > 256
+        ):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "payload values must be short strings or finite numbers"}, status_code=400)
+        clean[key] = value
+    summary = appstate.meta_db.record_progression_event(etype, clean, appstate.get_progression_content())
+    return {"ok": True, "progression": summary}
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+"""Cosmetics shop (spec 010) — buy/equip avatars & themes with earned currency.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3); edits: ``@app`` -> ``@router``,
+``meta_db`` -> ``appstate.meta_db``, ``_get_progression_content()`` ->
+``appstate.get_progression_content()`` (the accessor is injected into the seam;
+its lazy content cache stays in server.py).
+"""
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
+
+import appstate
+from reqfields import _clean_str
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+@router.get("/api/shop")
+def api_shop():
+    content = appstate.get_progression_content()
+    owned = appstate.meta_db.get_owned_items()
+    equipped = appstate.meta_db.get_equipped()
+    items = [
+        {**item, "owned": iid in owned, "equipped": equipped.get(item["slot"]) == iid}
+        for iid, item in sorted(content["shop"].items())
+    ]
+    return {"items": items, "wallet": appstate.meta_db.get_wallet()}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/shop/buy")
+def api_shop_buy(data: dict):
+    """Spend Decibels on a cosmetic. Atomic: balance check + spend + ownership
+    in one transaction. Decibels are earned by playing only — never purchasable."""
+    item_id = _clean_str(data.get("item_id"))
+    item = appstate.get_progression_content()["shop"].get(item_id)
+    if not item:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": f"unknown item: {item_id!r}"}, status_code=400)
+    status, wallet = appstate.meta_db.buy_shop_item(item)
+    if status == "owned":
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "already owned", "wallet": wallet}, status_code=409)
+    if status == "insufficient":
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "insufficient balance", "wallet": wallet}, status_code=402)
+    return {"ok": True, "item_id": item_id, "wallet": wallet}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/shop/equip")
+def api_shop_equip(data: dict):
+    """Equip an owned cosmetic into its slot. Body: {slot, item_id|null}
+    (null unequips, restoring the default look)."""
+    import progression as progression_mod
+    slot = _clean_str(data.get("slot"))
+    if slot not in progression_mod.SHOP_SLOTS:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": f"slot must be one of {sorted(progression_mod.SHOP_SLOTS)}"}, status_code=400)
+    item_id = data.get("item_id")
+    if item_id is not None:
+        item_id = _clean_str(item_id)
+        item = appstate.get_progression_content()["shop"].get(item_id)
+        if not item or item["slot"] != slot:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": f"unknown item for slot {slot}: {item_id!r}"}, status_code=400)
+        if item_id not in appstate.meta_db.get_owned_items():
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "item not owned"}, status_code=403)
+    return {"ok": True, "equipped": appstate.meta_db.equip_item(slot, item_id)}
@@ -0,0 +1,932 @@
+"""Song routes: upload / delete / metadata (user-meta, overrides, catalog meta
+write-back), gap-fill proposals, and the per-song info payload.
+
+Extracted verbatim from server.py (R3) except @app->@router and the seam reads:
+meta_db->appstate.meta_db, and the scan/ingest helpers that stay in server.py
+(the scan lifecycle owns them) -> appstate.<callable>: kick_scan,
+invalidate_song_caches, stat_for_cache, scan_status() (a getter — the underlying
+dict is reassigned), plus art_override_paths. The gap-fill MBID/ISRC regexes live
+in lib/enrichment.py and are reached as enrichment.X.
+"""
+
+import os
+import shutil
+import tempfile
+import threading
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Request, UploadFile
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
+from starlette.concurrency import run_in_threadpool
+
+import appstate
+import enrichment
+import loosefolder as loosefolder_mod
+import sloppak as sloppak_mod
+from dlc_paths import _get_dlc_dir, _resolve_dlc_path
+from scan_worker import _extract_meta_for_file
+
+import logging
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+router = APIRouter()
+
+_ALLOWED_SONG_EXTS = set(sloppak_mod.SONG_EXTS)
+
+_MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES = 1024 * 1024 * 1024  # 1 GB — covers sloppaks bundled with stems
+
+
+# Per-request batch cap. Lets a user drop a whole album of sloppaks at once
+# without giving a hostile client a 1000-file DoS surface via Starlette's
+# default max_files=1000. The pre-parse Content-Length guard is sized as
+# _MAX_UPLOAD_FILES * _MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES + slack.
+_MAX_UPLOAD_FILES = 50
+
+
+# Serializes the mutating step of upload (os.replace into DLC_DIR) with
+# delete_song so the two endpoints can't interleave on the same path —
+# e.g. an upload finishing right after a concurrent delete shouldn't
+# resurrect a song the user just removed, and a delete arriving mid-
+# overwrite shouldn't strand a half-written file. threading.Lock (not
+# asyncio.Lock) because delete_song is sync (runs in the threadpool);
+# upload acquires it inside ``run_in_threadpool`` for the same reason.
+_song_io_lock = threading.Lock()
+
+
+def _commit_uploaded_song(tmp_path: Path, dest: Path, overwrite: bool, base: str):
+    """Atomically move a validated temp upload into ``dest`` under ``_song_io_lock``.
+
+    Returns ``None`` on success or an error result dict matching the upload
+    endpoint's contract. Holds the lock across the directory re-check and
+    the final ``os.replace`` so a concurrent delete or upload can't slip
+    between them. Always cleans up the temp file on the error paths.
+    """
+    with _song_io_lock:
+        if dest.exists():
+            if not overwrite:
+                # Lost the race against a concurrent upload of the same name.
+                try:
+                    tmp_path.unlink()
+                except OSError:
+                    pass
+                return {"status": "exists", "filename": base,
+                        "error": "A file with this name already exists"}
+            # Re-check directory state under the lock — the pre-check
+            # may have raced an unrelated mkdir, and a sloppak directory
+            # has to be removed before os.replace() can write over it.
+            if dest.is_dir():
+                if not sloppak_mod.is_sloppak(dest):
+                    try:
+                        tmp_path.unlink()
+                    except OSError:
+                        pass
+                    return {"status": "exists", "filename": base,
+                            "error": "A directory with this name exists and is not "
+                                     "a sloppak — refusing to overwrite"}
+                shutil.rmtree(str(dest))
+        os.replace(str(tmp_path), str(dest))
+    return None
+
+
+@router.post("/api/songs/upload")
+async def upload_song(request: Request):
+    """Upload one or more .sloppak files into the configured DLC folder.
+
+    Multipart body with one or more ``file`` fields (up to ``_MAX_UPLOAD_FILES``
+    per request). Query string:
+      ``overwrite=1`` — replace existing files with the same name.
+
+    Response shape (always HTTP 200 once we've gotten past request-level guards
+    like DLC-not-configured / payload-too-large):
+      ``{"results": [{"filename": "...", "status": "ok" | "exists" | "error",
+                       "error"?: "...", "size"?: N, "format"?: "sloppak"}, ...]}``
+    Per-file conflicts surface as ``status: "exists"`` so a batch upload can
+    surface ALL conflicts at once instead of bailing on the first one. The
+    client re-POSTs just the conflicting files with ``overwrite=1`` if the
+    user opts in.
+
+    The DLC directory is resolved via ``_get_dlc_dir()`` which honours the
+    ``DLC_DIR`` env var first and falls back to ``dlc_dir`` in
+    ``config.json`` — so uploads land in whichever folder the rest of the
+    app already considers the library root, regardless of which mechanism
+    configured it.
+    """
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    if dlc is None:
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": "DLC folder is not configured. Set DLC_DIR or configure it in Settings."},
+            status_code=503,
+        )
+    if not os.access(str(dlc), os.W_OK):
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": f"DLC folder {dlc} is not writable by the server process."},
+            status_code=500,
+        )
+
+    # Pre-parse Content-Length guard — fail fast before reading any body.
+    # Multipart Content-Length is file bytes + boundary + per-part headers, so
+    # we can't use _MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES as an exact cap here (a file right at the
+    # advertised max would be rejected before _save_uploaded_song() can apply
+    # the real per-file byte cap). For batch uploads we allow up to
+    # _MAX_UPLOAD_FILES files at _MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES each; the parser still
+    # enforces per-part size via max_part_size and per-batch count via
+    # max_files. The streaming check inside _save_uploaded_song() is the
+    # authoritative per-file size cap.
+    max_total = _MAX_UPLOAD_FILES * _MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES + enrichment._MULTIPART_OVERHEAD_SLACK
+    cl = request.headers.get("content-length")
+    if cl is not None:
+        try:
+            cl_int = int(cl)
+        except ValueError:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "Invalid Content-Length header"}, status_code=400)
+        if cl_int < 0:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "Invalid Content-Length header"}, status_code=400)
+        if cl_int > max_total:
+            return JSONResponse(
+                {"error": f"Batch upload exceeds {_MAX_UPLOAD_FILES} files × "
+                          f"{_MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES // (1024 * 1024)} MB limit"},
+                status_code=413,
+            )
+
+    overwrite = request.query_params.get("overwrite") == "1"
+    # Tighten the parser to the handler's contract: up to _MAX_UPLOAD_FILES
+    # file parts, no text parts (overwrite comes from query params).
+    # Starlette's defaults of max_files=1000 / max_fields=1000 would
+    # otherwise let a client force the parser to spool far more parts than
+    # the endpoint is willing to process.
+    form = await request.form(
+        max_files=_MAX_UPLOAD_FILES,
+        max_fields=0,
+        max_part_size=_MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES,
+    )
+    try:
+        from starlette.datastructures import UploadFile as _StarletteUploadFile
+        # form.getlist("file") returns all parts named "file" in submission
+        # order. Filter to file parts only — Starlette would yield strings
+        # for text parts, but we've capped max_fields=0 so any non-file part
+        # is already a parser error before reaching here.
+        uploads = [u for u in form.getlist("file") if isinstance(u, _StarletteUploadFile)]
+        if not uploads:
+            return JSONResponse(
+                {"error": "Expected one or more files in multipart field 'file'"},
+                status_code=400,
+            )
+
+        results = []
+        any_saved = False
+        for upload in uploads:
+            try:
+                result = await _save_uploaded_song(upload, dlc, overwrite)
+                results.append(result)
+                if result.get("status") == "ok":
+                    any_saved = True
+            except Exception as e:
+                # Per-file failure must not abort the batch — record and
+                # continue so the client gets a complete report.
+                log.exception("upload failed for %r", getattr(upload, "filename", "?"))
+                results.append({
+                    "filename": Path(getattr(upload, "filename", "") or "").name or "?",
+                    "status": "error",
+                    "error": f"Upload failed: {e}",
+                })
+            finally:
+                try:
+                    await upload.close()
+                except Exception:
+                    log.debug("failed to close upload file handle", exc_info=True)
+
+        if any_saved:
+            appstate.kick_scan()
+        return {"results": results}
+    finally:
+        try:
+            await form.close()
+        except Exception:
+            log.debug("failed to close form", exc_info=True)
+
+
+async def _save_uploaded_song(upload: UploadFile, dlc: Path, overwrite: bool) -> dict:
+    """Save one upload into ``dlc``. Returns a per-file result dict (never
+    a JSONResponse) so batch uploads can aggregate.
+
+    Shape:
+      ok:     ``{"status": "ok", "filename": base, "size": N, "format": "sloppak"}``
+      exists: ``{"status": "exists", "filename": base, "error": "..."}``
+      error:  ``{"status": "error", "filename": base, "error": "..."}``
+    """
+    # Strip any path components a client may have included in the filename —
+    # only the basename lands in the DLC root. Path traversal would otherwise
+    # let a crafted upload escape the library directory.
+    raw_name = upload.filename or ""
+    base = Path(raw_name).name
+    if not base or base in (".", "..") or "/" in base or "\\" in base:
+        return {"status": "error", "filename": raw_name or "?", "error": "Invalid filename"}
+    suffix = Path(base).suffix.lower()
+    if suffix not in _ALLOWED_SONG_EXTS:
+        return {"status": "error", "filename": base,
+                "error": "Only .feedpak files are accepted"}
+
+    dest = dlc / base
+    if dest.exists():
+        if not overwrite:
+            return {"status": "exists", "filename": base,
+                    "error": "A file with this name already exists"}
+        # overwrite=1 must handle directory-form sloppaks (the scanner and
+        # delete path both treat them as song entries). os.replace() can't
+        # clobber a non-empty directory, so without the rmtree below the
+        # whole upload would write to a temp file and then surface a late
+        # 500 at the os.replace() call. Refuse other directories so an
+        # unrelated folder isn't blown away by a same-named upload.
+        if dest.is_dir() and not sloppak_mod.is_sloppak(dest):
+            return {"status": "exists", "filename": base,
+                    "error": "A directory with this name exists and is not a sloppak — "
+                             "refusing to overwrite"}
+
+    # Temp file in the DLC dir itself so os.replace is atomic (same filesystem).
+    # Dot-prefix keeps it out of the rglob("*.sloppak") scan glob.
+    fd, tmp_name = await run_in_threadpool(
+        tempfile.mkstemp, dir=str(dlc), prefix=".upload-", suffix=".part"
+    )
+    tmp_path = Path(tmp_name)
+    bytes_read = 0
+    head = b""
+    error_result: dict | None = None
+    try:
+        try:
+            tmpf = await run_in_threadpool(os.fdopen, fd, "wb")
+        except BaseException:
+            try:
+                await run_in_threadpool(os.close, fd)
+            except OSError:
+                pass
+            raise
+        try:
+            while True:
+                chunk = await upload.read(1024 * 1024)
+                if not chunk:
+                    break
+                bytes_read += len(chunk)
+                if bytes_read > _MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES:
+                    error_result = {
+                        "status": "error", "filename": base,
+                        "error": f"Upload exceeds {_MAX_UPLOAD_BYTES // (1024 * 1024)} MB cap",
+                    }
+                    break
+                if len(head) < 4:
+                    head += chunk[: 4 - len(head)]
+                await run_in_threadpool(tmpf.write, chunk)
+        finally:
+            await run_in_threadpool(tmpf.close)
+
+        if error_result is None:
+            if bytes_read == 0:
+                error_result = {"status": "error", "filename": base,
+                                "error": "Empty upload — file is 0 bytes"}
+            elif suffix in _ALLOWED_SONG_EXTS:
+                if head[:2] != b"PK":
+                    error_result = {"status": "error", "filename": base,
+                                    "error": "Not a valid feedpak file (expected zip archive)"}
+                else:
+                    # ZIP magic alone admits any renamed zip — verify the sloppak
+                    # loader can actually parse a manifest.yaml inside. Without
+                    # this, /api/songs/upload returns "ok" for files the rest of
+                    # the backend would refuse to scan or load.
+                    try:
+                        await run_in_threadpool(sloppak_mod.load_manifest, tmp_path)
+                    except Exception as e:
+                        error_result = {"status": "error", "filename": base,
+                                        "error": f"Not a valid sloppak file: {e}"}
+
+        if error_result is not None:
+            try:
+                await run_in_threadpool(tmp_path.unlink)
+            except OSError:
+                pass
+            return error_result
+
+        # Single sync helper so the lock is held for the whole commit —
+        # ``async with _upload_lock`` would have released between every
+        # ``run_in_threadpool`` and let a concurrent delete or upload slip
+        # in between the dir check and the final ``os.replace``.
+        commit_result = await run_in_threadpool(
+            _commit_uploaded_song, tmp_path, dest, overwrite, base
+        )
+        if commit_result is not None:
+            return commit_result
+    except BaseException:
+        try:
+            await run_in_threadpool(tmp_path.unlink)
+        except OSError:
+            pass
+        raise
+
+    # Even on a fresh (non-overwrite) upload, evict any stale entries left
+    # over from a previous delete+re-upload of the same name.
+    await run_in_threadpool(appstate.invalidate_song_caches, base)
+
+    log.info("Uploaded %s (%d bytes) to %s", base, bytes_read, dlc)
+    return {"status": "ok", "filename": base, "size": bytes_read,
+            "format": suffix.lstrip(".")}
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/song/{filename:path}")
+def delete_song(filename: str):
+    """Remove a song from the DLC folder and clear its cache entries.
+
+    Works for both formats: ``.sloppak`` files OR directories, and
+    loose-folder songs (the directory containing the chart). The path is
+    resolved through ``_resolve_dlc_path`` so URL-encoded ``..`` segments
+    cannot escape the library root.
+    """
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    if dlc is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "DLC folder not configured"}, status_code=503)
+    resolved = _resolve_dlc_path(dlc, filename)
+    if resolved is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "forbidden"}, status_code=403)
+    if not resolved.exists():
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "File not found"}, status_code=404)
+    if resolved == dlc.resolve():
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Refusing to delete the DLC root"}, status_code=400)
+
+    # Only delete actual song entries. Without this, DELETE /api/song/ArtistName
+    # would recursively wipe a whole artist subfolder — far broader than the
+    # UI's per-song contract. Sloppak detection wins over loose because a
+    # sloppak dir can also contain WEM/XML (matches the scanner's precedence).
+    is_sloppak = sloppak_mod.is_sloppak(resolved)
+    is_loose = (
+        resolved.is_dir()
+        and not is_sloppak
+        and loosefolder_mod.is_loose_song(resolved)
+    )
+    if not (is_sloppak or is_loose):
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": "Not a song entry — only sloppaks "
+                      "or loose-folder songs can be deleted"},
+            status_code=400,
+        )
+
+    # Hold ``_song_io_lock`` across the filesystem removal AND the DB/cache
+    # eviction. Without it, an upload of the same filename could ``os.replace``
+    # a new file into place between our removal and DB delete, leaving the
+    # new generation stranded with no library row; or the reverse, where
+    # delete runs between an upload's directory check and its replace and
+    # the upload then resurrects the song we just removed.
+    with _song_io_lock:
+        try:
+            if resolved.is_dir():
+                shutil.rmtree(resolved)
+            else:
+                resolved.unlink()
+        except OSError as e:
+            log.error("Failed to delete %s: %s", resolved, e)
+            return JSONResponse({"error": f"Delete failed: {e}"}, status_code=500)
+
+        # Canonicalise the cache key the same way update_song_meta does so we
+        # hit the row the scanner indexed under.
+        try:
+            cache_key = resolved.relative_to(dlc.resolve()).as_posix()
+        except ValueError:
+            cache_key = filename
+        with appstate.meta_db._lock:
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.execute("DELETE FROM songs WHERE filename = ?", (cache_key,))
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.execute("DELETE FROM favorites WHERE filename = ?", (cache_key,))
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.execute("DELETE FROM loops WHERE filename = ?", (cache_key,))
+            # Purge the v3 filename-keyed state too, so the deleted song stops
+            # surfacing in stats / recent / continue / playlists immediately.
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.execute("DELETE FROM song_stats WHERE filename = ?", (cache_key,))
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.execute("DELETE FROM playlist_songs WHERE filename = ?", (cache_key,))
+            # Personal difficulty / notes / tags for this song (we hold the
+            # lock, so purge is lock-free).
+            appstate.meta_db.purge_song_user_data(cache_key)
+            # Multi-chart grouping (P5a): drop this chart's split + read-model rows,
+            # and any preferred-chart pointer that named it (the work re-auto-picks).
+            # work_key-keyed prefs for OTHER charts survive. Mark the read-model
+            # dirty so the affected work regroups on the next grouped query.
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.execute("DELETE FROM chart_group_split WHERE filename = ?", (cache_key,))
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.execute("DELETE FROM work_display WHERE filename = ?", (cache_key,))
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.execute("DELETE FROM chart_group_pref WHERE preferred_filename = ?", (cache_key,))
+            appstate.meta_db._work_display_dirty = True
+            # Enrichment is never purged on rescan (delete_missing), only here
+            # on the explicit per-song delete — the never-clobber contract.
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.execute("DELETE FROM song_enrichment WHERE filename = ?", (cache_key,))
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.commit()
+
+        # User art overrides go with the song (CAA cache files are keyed by
+        # RELEASE and may be shared with other charts — the LRU owns those).
+        for _p in appstate.art_override_paths(cache_key):
+            try:
+                _p.unlink()
+            except OSError:
+                pass
+
+        appstate.invalidate_song_caches(cache_key)
+
+    log.info("Deleted song %s", cache_key)
+    # If a scan was mid-flight when we removed the row, it may already have
+    # listed (and not yet processed) the file and will call ``appstate.meta_db.put()``
+    # for it after our DB delete — reinserting a ghost row. Coalesce a
+    # follow-up pass via ``appstate.kick_scan`` so the next scan's ``delete_missing()``
+    # purges that entry. Cheap no-op when no scan is running.
+    if appstate.scan_status()["running"]:
+        appstate.kick_scan()
+    return {"ok": True, "filename": cache_key}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/song/{filename:path}/user-meta")
+def get_song_user_meta(filename: str):
+    """Read {user_difficulty, notes, tags} for one song."""
+    return appstate.meta_db.get_song_user_meta(appstate.meta_db._canonical_song_filename(filename))
+
+
+@router.put("/api/song/{filename:path}/user-meta")
+def put_song_user_meta(filename: str, data: dict):
+    """Partial update. Send any of: `user_difficulty` (int 1–5, or null/"" to
+    clear), `notes` (string, or null to clear), `tags` (a full-replace array of
+    strings). Omitted keys are preserved. Returns the merged meta.
+
+    Tag removal is a full-replace `tags` array (send the new set) rather than a
+    granular DELETE sub-route, because `DELETE /api/song/{filename:path}` already
+    owns every DELETE under /api/song and would shadow it."""
+    key = appstate.meta_db._canonical_song_filename(filename)
+    kwargs: dict = {}
+    if "user_difficulty" in data:
+        v = data["user_difficulty"]
+        if v is None or v == "":
+            kwargs["user_difficulty"] = None
+        else:
+            # Reject bools (int subclass) and non-integral floats so 2.5 / true
+            # can't silently truncate into a valid band.
+            if isinstance(v, bool) or (isinstance(v, float) and not v.is_integer()):
+                return JSONResponse({"error": "user_difficulty must be an integer 1–5 or null"}, 400)
+            try:
+                iv = int(v)
+            except (TypeError, ValueError):
+                return JSONResponse({"error": "user_difficulty must be an integer 1–5 or null"}, 400)
+            if not (1 <= iv <= 5):
+                return JSONResponse({"error": "user_difficulty must be 1–5 or null"}, 400)
+            kwargs["user_difficulty"] = iv
+    if "notes" in data:
+        n = data["notes"]
+        if n is None:
+            kwargs["notes"] = None
+        elif isinstance(n, str):
+            kwargs["notes"] = n.strip()[:4000]
+        else:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "notes must be a string or null"}, 400)
+    tags = data.get("tags", "__absent__")
+    if tags != "__absent__" and not isinstance(tags, list):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "tags must be an array of strings"}, 400)
+    if not kwargs and tags == "__absent__":
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "No fields to update"}, 400)
+    if kwargs:
+        appstate.meta_db.set_song_user_meta(key, **kwargs)
+    if tags != "__absent__":
+        appstate.meta_db.set_song_tags(key, tags)
+    return appstate.meta_db.get_song_user_meta(key)
+
+
+# Catalog fields the Fix-metadata popup may override/lock — the intersection of
+# "displayable identity" and "safe to correct locally". Guitar/practice facts
+# and personal fields are never overrides.
+_OVERRIDE_FIELDS = frozenset({"title", "artist", "album", "year", "genre"})
+
+
+@router.get("/api/song/{filename:path}/overrides")
+def get_song_overrides(filename: str):
+    """Per-field metadata overrides + locks for one song (Fix-metadata popup):
+    {"overrides": {field: {"value": str|null, "locked": bool}},
+     "pack": {field: str}}. `pack` is the stored value each override sits on top
+    of — the popup's Details tab renders it as the revert-to-pack reference and
+    the Yours/Pack provenance."""
+    key = appstate.meta_db._canonical_song_filename(filename)
+    return {"overrides": appstate.meta_db.get_song_overrides(key),
+            "pack": appstate.meta_db.pack_fields(key)}
+
+
+@router.put("/api/song/{filename:path}/overrides")
+def put_song_overrides(filename: str, data: dict):
+    """Set/clear per-field overrides + locks. Body:
+    `{"overrides": {field: {"value": str|null, "locked": bool}}}`. Only catalog
+    fields (title/artist/album/year/genre) are accepted. A field left with no
+    value and unlocked is removed. Returns the merged override map.
+
+    Clearing rides this PUT (send value:null, locked:false) rather than a DELETE
+    sub-route, because `DELETE /api/song/{filename:path}` already owns every
+    DELETE under /api/song and would shadow it (same reason as tags)."""
+    ov = (data or {}).get("overrides")
+    if not isinstance(ov, dict) or not ov:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "overrides must be a non-empty object"}, 400)
+    bad = sorted(f for f in ov if f not in _OVERRIDE_FIELDS)
+    if bad:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "unknown field(s): " + ", ".join(bad)}, 400)
+    key = appstate.meta_db._canonical_song_filename(filename)
+    for field, spec in ov.items():
+        if not isinstance(spec, dict):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": f"'{field}' must be an object with value/locked"}, 400)
+        kwargs: dict = {}
+        if "value" in spec:
+            v = spec["value"]
+            if v is None:
+                kwargs["value"] = None
+            elif isinstance(v, (str, int, float)) and not isinstance(v, bool):
+                kwargs["value"] = str(v).strip()[:500]
+            else:
+                return JSONResponse({"error": f"'{field}' value must be a string or null"}, 400)
+        if "locked" in spec:
+            kwargs["locked"] = bool(spec["locked"])
+        if kwargs:
+            appstate.meta_db.set_song_override(key, field, **kwargs)
+    return {"overrides": appstate.meta_db.get_song_overrides(key)}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/songs/user-meta/batch")
+def batch_song_user_meta(data: dict):
+    """Bulk personal-meta edit over a selection — one request instead of N×2
+    per-song round-trips (the batch bar's apply-to-all). DB-only; never touches
+    files. Body:
+      {"filenames": [...],            # required, non-empty
+       "set_difficulty": 1-5 | null,  # optional: set on all / clear on all
+       "add_tags": [...],             # optional: add to all (never full-replace)
+       "remove_tags": [...]}          # optional: remove from all
+    Omit `set_difficulty` entirely to leave each song's difficulty as-is
+    (mixed-state "leave unchanged"). Returns {"updated": N, "tags": [...]} so the
+    caller can refresh the tag-filter list without a second call."""
+    fns = data.get("filenames")
+    if not isinstance(fns, list) or not fns:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "filenames must be a non-empty array"}, 400)
+    if not all(isinstance(f, str) and f for f in fns):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "filenames must be non-empty strings"}, 400)
+
+    kwargs: dict = {}
+    if "set_difficulty" in data:
+        v = data["set_difficulty"]
+        if v is None or v == "":
+            kwargs["set_difficulty"] = None
+        else:
+            if isinstance(v, bool) or (isinstance(v, float) and not v.is_integer()):
+                return JSONResponse({"error": "set_difficulty must be an integer 1–5 or null"}, 400)
+            try:
+                iv = int(v)
+            except (TypeError, ValueError):
+                return JSONResponse({"error": "set_difficulty must be an integer 1–5 or null"}, 400)
+            if not (1 <= iv <= 5):
+                return JSONResponse({"error": "set_difficulty must be 1–5 or null"}, 400)
+            kwargs["set_difficulty"] = iv
+
+    add_tags = data.get("add_tags")
+    remove_tags = data.get("remove_tags")
+    for name, val in (("add_tags", add_tags), ("remove_tags", remove_tags)):
+        if val is not None and not isinstance(val, list):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": f"{name} must be an array of strings"}, 400)
+    if "set_difficulty" not in data and not add_tags and not remove_tags:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "Nothing to apply"}, 400)
+
+    keys = [appstate.meta_db._canonical_song_filename(f) for f in fns]
+    n = appstate.meta_db.batch_user_meta(keys, add_tags=add_tags, remove_tags=remove_tags, **kwargs)
+    return {"updated": n, "tags": appstate.meta_db.all_tags()}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/song/{filename:path}/meta")
+def update_song_meta(filename: str, data: dict):
+    """Update song metadata, persisting it back into the underlying file.
+
+    The library scanner re-derives title/artist/album/year from the file
+    (archive manifest Attributes / sloppak manifest.yaml) on every full rescan,
+    so a DB-only edit reverts. We write the edit into the file first, then
+    refresh the cache row (including mtime/size) to match. Loose-folder and
+    unwritable songs fall back to a DB-only update (which still survives an
+    incremental rescan via the mtime/size cache hit).
+    """
+    # Canonicalise to the same key get_song_info uses so an update via
+    # one URL form (e.g. with `..` segments) lands on the row that
+    # later reads will see.
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    cache_key = filename
+    resolved = None
+    if dlc:
+        resolved = _resolve_dlc_path(dlc, filename)
+        if resolved is None:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "forbidden"}, 403)
+        try:
+            cache_key = resolved.relative_to(dlc.resolve()).as_posix()
+        except ValueError:
+            pass
+
+    fields = {k: data[k] for k in ("title", "artist", "album", "year") if k in data}
+    if not fields:
+        return {"error": "No fields to update"}
+    # Normalise the year value so the DB and file stay in sync.  The file
+    # writer (songmeta) coerces empty/non-numeric years to 0, which the
+    # scanner reads back as "".  Store "" in the DB instead of a raw
+    # non-numeric string so that if the mtime/size are updated (making the
+    # row cache-fresh) the DB still matches what the scanner would derive.
+    if "year" in fields:
+        try:
+            _yr_int = int(fields["year"])
+        except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            _yr_int = 0
+        fields = {**fields, "year": str(_yr_int) if _yr_int else ""}
+
+    # Persist into the file so the edit survives a full rescan.
+    # Hold _song_io_lock across the existence check and file write so a
+    # concurrent delete cannot remove the file between our check and the
+    # repack's atomic replace, and so a concurrent upload cannot be clobbered
+    # by our atomic rename. archive repack is slow — the lock is held longer
+    # than a simple upload/delete, but correctness requires serialisation.
+    persisted = False
+    with _song_io_lock:
+        if resolved is not None and resolved.exists():
+            try:
+                import songmeta
+                persisted = songmeta.write_song_metadata(resolved, fields)
+            except Exception:
+                log.warning("metadata file write failed for %s", cache_key, exc_info=True)
+
+        with appstate.meta_db._lock:
+            updates = [f"{field} = ?" for field in fields]
+            params = list(fields.values())
+            if persisted:
+                # The file changed — re-stat so an incremental rescan sees a
+                # consistent cache row instead of re-reading the (now matching)
+                # file.
+                try:
+                    mtime, size = appstate.stat_for_cache(resolved)
+                    updates += ["mtime = ?", "size = ?"]
+                    params += [mtime, size]
+                except OSError:
+                    pass
+            params.append(cache_key)
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.execute(
+                f"UPDATE songs SET {', '.join(updates)} WHERE filename = ?", params
+            )
+            appstate.meta_db.conn.commit()
+
+    if persisted:
+        appstate.invalidate_song_caches(cache_key)
+        # Coalesce a follow-up scan so a mid-flight scan's stale appstate.meta_db.put()
+        # for this file can't win: if a scan is running appstate.kick_scan() queues a
+        # pending pass; if not it starts a fresh one. Unconditional to avoid a
+        # race where the scan finishes between our DB commit and a guarded check.
+        appstate.kick_scan()
+    return {"ok": True, "persisted": persisted}
+
+
+# ── Gap-fill: write CONFIRMED missing metadata into the pack (R4a) ────────────
+# The agreed write-back contract (spec-alignment §7): opt-in + user-initiated
+# (nothing here runs in the background), adds ABSENT keys only (never replaces
+# an author-set value — the writer refuses, and existing manifest bytes are
+# preserved verbatim by appending), spec'd-keys allowlist, values only from a
+# CONFIRMED identity (an auto/exact match or a user pin — review-tier rows are
+# not eligible until a human confirms), atomic write + .bak. Single-song only;
+# batch write-back stays an open question with the spec chair.
+_GAP_FILL_KEYS = ("album", "year", "genres", "mbid", "isrc")
+
+
+def _gap_fill_manifest_absent(manifest: dict, key: str) -> bool:
+    """A key is a GAP only when it's genuinely MISSING from the manifest.
+
+    Gap-fill is append-only: the writer's never-clobber guard raises on ANY
+    key already present, and appending a second `album:` line to a manifest
+    that already carries `album: ''` would just create a duplicate YAML key.
+    So a present-but-empty value (None / '' / [] / year 0) is NOT a gap the
+    append-only writer can fill — offering it in the preview would only lead
+    to a POST the writer refuses. Present-but-empty keys are therefore left
+    to the metadata editor (which re-serializes and can replace in place)."""
+    return key not in manifest
+
+
+def _gap_fill_proposals(cache_key: str, resolved) -> tuple[dict, str]:
+    """What gap-fill could add for this song: (proposals, reason). Empty
+    proposals explain themselves via reason — 'not-sloppak', 'no-match'
+    (nothing confirmed yet), 'review' (a human hasn't confirmed the match),
+    or 'nothing-missing'."""
+    if resolved is None or not resolved.exists() or not sloppak_mod.is_sloppak(resolved):
+        return {}, "not-sloppak"
+    row = appstate.meta_db.get_enrichment(cache_key)
+    if not row or row.get("match_state") not in ("matched", "manual"):
+        state = (row or {}).get("match_state")
+        return {}, ("review" if state == "review" else "no-match")
+    try:
+        manifest = sloppak_mod.load_manifest(resolved) or {}
+    except Exception:
+        return {}, "not-sloppak"
+    # A LOCKED field (Fix-metadata popup) is never gap-filled — the user pinned
+    # it away from the matched value, so writing that value to the file would
+    # be exactly the clobber the lock exists to prevent. (The lock field name is
+    # `genre`; the manifest/gap-fill key is `genres`.)
+    locked = appstate.meta_db.locked_fields(cache_key)
+    out = {}
+    album = (row.get("canon_album") or "").strip()
+    if album and "album" not in locked and _gap_fill_manifest_absent(manifest, "album"):
+        out["album"] = album
+    year = (row.get("canon_year") or "").strip()
+    if (year.isdigit() and int(year) and "year" not in locked
+            and _gap_fill_manifest_absent(manifest, "year")):
+        out["year"] = int(year)
+    genres = [str(g) for g in (row.get("genres") or []) if isinstance(g, str) and g.strip()]
+    if genres and "genre" not in locked and _gap_fill_manifest_absent(manifest, "genres"):
+        out["genres"] = genres
+    # Identity keys (feedpak spec 1.14.0) — written in canonical form only.
+    mbid = (row.get("mb_recording_id") or "").strip().lower()
+    if enrichment._MBID_RE.match(mbid) and _gap_fill_manifest_absent(manifest, "mbid"):
+        out["mbid"] = mbid
+    isrc = (row.get("isrc") or "").strip().upper().replace("-", "").replace(" ", "")
+    if enrichment._ISRC_RE.match(isrc) and _gap_fill_manifest_absent(manifest, "isrc"):
+        out["isrc"] = isrc
+    return out, ("" if out else "nothing-missing")
+
+
+@router.get("/api/song/{filename:path}/gap-fill")
+def get_song_gap_fill(filename: str):
+    """Preview what "Write missing info to file" would add — the Details
+    drawer renders its confirm list straight from this. Read-only."""
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    cache_key, resolved = filename, None
+    if dlc:
+        resolved = _resolve_dlc_path(dlc, filename)
+        if resolved is None:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "forbidden"}, 403)
+        try:
+            cache_key = resolved.relative_to(dlc.resolve()).as_posix()
+        except ValueError:
+            pass
+    proposals, reason = _gap_fill_proposals(cache_key, resolved)
+    row = appstate.meta_db.get_enrichment(cache_key) or {}
+    return {
+        "eligible": bool(proposals),
+        "reason": reason,
+        "match_state": row.get("match_state"),
+        "missing": [{"key": k, "value": v} for k, v in proposals.items()],
+    }
+
+
+@router.post("/api/song/{filename:path}/gap-fill")
+def post_song_gap_fill(filename: str, data: dict):
+    """Write the user-confirmed subset of the preview into the pack file.
+    Proposals are recomputed under the io lock, so a key that gained an
+    author value between preview and confirm is skipped, never replaced."""
+    keys = (data or {}).get("keys")
+    if not isinstance(keys, list) or not keys:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "keys must be a non-empty list"}, 400)
+    bad = [k for k in keys if k not in _GAP_FILL_KEYS]
+    if bad:
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": "unknown key(s): " + ", ".join(sorted(set(map(str, bad))))}, 400)
+
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    cache_key, resolved = filename, None
+    if dlc:
+        resolved = _resolve_dlc_path(dlc, filename)
+        if resolved is None:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "forbidden"}, 403)
+        try:
+            cache_key = resolved.relative_to(dlc.resolve()).as_posix()
+        except ValueError:
+            pass
+
+    with _song_io_lock:
+        proposals, reason = _gap_fill_proposals(cache_key, resolved)
+        additions = {k: proposals[k] for k in _GAP_FILL_KEYS if k in keys and k in proposals}
+        skipped = sorted(set(keys) - set(additions))
+        if not additions:
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "nothing to write", "reason": reason,
+                                 "skipped": skipped}, 409)
+        try:
+            import songmeta
+            songmeta.gap_fill_sloppak(resolved, additions)
+        except Exception:
+            log.warning("gap-fill write failed for %s", cache_key, exc_info=True)
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "write failed"}, 500)
+
+        # Keep the cache row consistent with what the scanner would now derive
+        # (same contract as the metadata editor above): sync the columns the
+        # scan reads from the keys we appended, then re-stat so the row stays
+        # cache-fresh.
+        fields = {}
+        if "album" in additions:
+            fields["album"] = additions["album"]
+        if "year" in additions:
+            fields["year"] = str(additions["year"])
+        if "genres" in additions:
+            fields["genre"] = additions["genres"][0]
+        with appstate.meta_db._lock:
+            updates = [f"{field} = ?" for field in fields]
+            params = list(fields.values())
+            try:
+                mtime, size = appstate.stat_for_cache(resolved)
+                updates += ["mtime = ?", "size = ?"]
+                params += [mtime, size]
+            except OSError:
+                pass
+            if updates:
+                params.append(cache_key)
+                appstate.meta_db.conn.execute(
+                    f"UPDATE songs SET {', '.join(updates)} WHERE filename = ?", params)
+                appstate.meta_db.conn.commit()
+
+    appstate.invalidate_song_caches(cache_key)
+    appstate.kick_scan()
+    return {"ok": True, "written": additions, "skipped": skipped}
+
+
+def _playable_stems_payload(filename: str, dlc) -> dict:
+    """The playable stems (id/url/default) + full-mix URL for a sloppak.
+
+    Why it exists: the stems plugin could only learn its stem list from the
+    highway's WS `ready`, which arrives once the highway is already up. So it
+    decoded, and then copied the whole song's PCM to its worklet, with the player
+    on screen — half a gigabyte of memcpy in one frame, ~700 ms, freezing the
+    venue video. Given the list at `song:loading` it can do all of that BEFORE the
+    highway appears, behind the loading overlay where a stall costs nothing.
+
+    The list MUST be the same one the WS sends a moment later. If it is not, the
+    plugin preloads a graph and then throws it away and rebuilds — strictly worse
+    than not preloading. So this does not reimplement the WS's construction, it
+    calls THE SAME FUNCTION: load_song, whose LoadedSloppak already carries the
+    partitioned stems and the resolved full mix, and then builds the URLs exactly
+    as ws_highway does. Drift is impossible by construction rather than by
+    agreement — which matters, because `full_mix` in particular is not simply the
+    `full` stem: load_song falls back to the deprecated `original_audio:` key for
+    every pack written before feedpak 1.15.0, and reimplementing that (I did, at
+    first) silently dropped the pristine full mix for most real libraries.
+
+    Opt-in (`?stems=1`) so the library's own metadata calls — the hot path — pay
+    nothing for it. Non-sloppak sources (archives, loose folders) have no stems
+    to preload: load_song raises and we return the empty list.
+    """
+    from urllib.parse import quote
+
+    try:
+        loaded = sloppak_mod.load_song(filename, dlc, appstate.sloppak_cache_dir)
+    except Exception:
+        return {"stems": [], "full_mix_url": None}
+
+    q_fn = quote(filename, safe="")
+
+    def _url(rel: str) -> str:
+        return f"/api/sloppak/{q_fn}/file/{quote(rel)}"
+
+    return {
+        "stems": [
+            {"id": s["id"], "url": _url(s["file"]), "default": s["default"],
+             **{k: s[k] for k in ("name", "description") if k in s}}
+            for s in loaded.stems
+        ],
+        "full_mix_url": _url(loaded.full_mix) if loaded.full_mix else None,
+    }
+
+
+@router.get("/api/song/{filename:path}")
+async def get_song_info(filename: str, stems: int = 0):
+    """Return song metadata, from cache or by extracting it from the song source.
+
+    `?stems=1` additionally returns the playable stem list with URLs, so the
+    stems plugin can start fetching/decoding on `song:loading` instead of waiting
+    for the highway's WS `ready` (see _playable_stems_payload).
+    """
+    import asyncio
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir()
+    if not dlc:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "DLC folder not configured"}, 404)
+
+    song_path = _resolve_dlc_path(dlc, filename)
+    if song_path is None:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "forbidden"}, 403)
+    if not song_path.exists():
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "File not found"}, 404)
+
+    # Canonicalise the cache key against the resolved path so two URL
+    # forms of the same physical file (e.g. `Artist/song.sloppak` vs
+    # `Artist/../Artist/song.sloppak`) converge on a single row instead
+    # of fragmenting / shadowing each other in appstate.meta_db.
+    try:
+        cache_key = song_path.relative_to(dlc.resolve()).as_posix()
+    except ValueError:
+        cache_key = filename
+
+    mtime, size = appstate.stat_for_cache(song_path)
+    cached = appstate.meta_db.get(cache_key, mtime, size)
+    loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
+
+    # The stem list is NOT stored in the metadata cache: that is a fixed-column
+    # table, and widening it would mean a migration plus a stale row for every
+    # song already scanned. It is cheap to read on demand (the pack is unpacked
+    # by then, so this is a plain manifest read), and only the opt-in caller pays.
+    async def _with_stems(meta: dict) -> dict:
+        if not stems:
+            return meta
+        extra = await loop.run_in_executor(
+            None, _playable_stems_payload, filename, dlc)
+        return {**meta, **extra}
+
+    if cached:
+        return await _with_stems(cached)
+
+    # Extract in thread pool
+    def _extract():
+        meta = _extract_meta_for_file(song_path, dlc)
+        appstate.meta_db.put(cache_key, mtime, size, meta)
+        return meta
+
+    meta = await loop.run_in_executor(None, _extract)
+    return await _with_stems(meta)
@@ -0,0 +1,265 @@
+"""Gameplay scoring — XP award + per-song practice stats (record / recent / best /
+top / per-song). The `/api/stats/{filename:path}` route is registered LAST so its
+catch-all doesn't shadow the fixed /recent /best /top paths.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3); edits: ``@app`` -> ``@router``,
+``meta_db`` -> ``appstate.meta_db``, ``_get_progression_content()`` /
+``_builtin_diagnostic_filename()`` read through the seam.
+"""
+
+import logging
+import math
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
+
+import appstate
+from metadata_db import _as_int
+from reqfields import _clean_str
+
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+@router.post("/api/xp/award")
+def api_award_xp(data: dict):
+    """Award XP into the unified store. Body: {source, amount}. Returns the
+    new progress payload. The single XP authority — song-play, minigames, and
+    tutorials all feed this (no second curve)."""
+    try:
+        amount = _as_int(data.get("amount", 0))   # rejects bool / non-integral / inf
+    except (TypeError, ValueError, OverflowError):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "amount must be an integer"}, status_code=400)
+    # Upper-bound it: an unbounded value overflows SQLite's 64-bit INTEGER on
+    # bind (→ 500) and no real run awards anywhere near this.
+    if not (0 <= amount <= 10_000_000):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "amount must be between 0 and 10,000,000"}, status_code=400)
+    appstate.meta_db.award_xp(amount)
+    return appstate.meta_db.get_progress()
+
+
+@router.post("/api/stats")
+def api_record_stats(data: dict):
+    """Record a play. With `score`+`accuracy` → a scored session (plays += 1,
+    best_* = max, last_* = new) plus unified-XP + streak side-effects. With
+    only `lastPlayPosition`/`last_position` → a lightweight resume-position
+    touch (no plays change) so Continue-Playing works for non-scored plays."""
+    filename = _clean_str(data.get("filename"))
+    if not filename:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "filename required"}, status_code=400)
+    # The recorder hands us URL-encoded filenames; canonicalize to the library
+    # key so stored rows line up with `songs` (and so the arrangement-count bound
+    # below resolves the real song). See MetadataDB._canonical_song_filename.
+    filename = appstate.meta_db._canonical_song_filename(filename)
+    arr_raw = data.get("arrangement", 0)
+    if arr_raw is None:
+        arrangement = 0
+    else:
+        try:
+            arrangement = _as_int(arr_raw)   # rejects bool / non-integral (1.9) / inf
+        except (TypeError, ValueError, OverflowError):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "arrangement must be a non-negative integer"}, status_code=400)
+    # Reject (don't silently coerce to 0) so a malformed/out-of-range index
+    # can't corrupt arrangement 0's stats; also keeps it bindable to INTEGER.
+    if not (0 <= arrangement < 2**63):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "arrangement must be a non-negative integer"}, status_code=400)
+    # Bound against the song's real arrangement count when it's a known library
+    # song, so a bad index can't create fake arrangement buckets that poison the
+    # per-song aggregate / Continue. Skipped when the song isn't in the library
+    # yet (count unknown — dead-song reads are filtered anyway).
+    _acount = appstate.meta_db.arrangement_count(filename)
+    if _acount and arrangement >= _acount:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "arrangement out of range for this song"}, status_code=400)
+    score = data.get("score")
+    accuracy = data.get("accuracy")
+    last_pos = data.get("lastPlayPosition", data.get("last_position"))
+    if isinstance(last_pos, bool):   # float(False)=0.0 would otherwise store a bogus position
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "lastPlayPosition must be a finite number"}, status_code=400)
+    # Optional wall-clock play time (career hours odometer). Bounded per POST:
+    # the recorder flushes on pause/stop/end, so a single delta beyond 6h is a
+    # clock artifact (suspend/sleep), not practice.
+    seconds = data.get("seconds")
+    if seconds is not None:
+        if isinstance(seconds, bool):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "seconds must be a positive number"}, status_code=400)
+        try:
+            seconds = float(seconds)
+            if not math.isfinite(seconds):
+                raise ValueError("non-finite")
+        except (TypeError, ValueError, OverflowError):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "seconds must be a positive number"}, status_code=400)
+        if not (0 < seconds <= 6 * 3600):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "seconds must be between 0 and 21600"}, status_code=400)
+    seconds = seconds or 0.0
+
+    # A scored session needs BOTH score and accuracy. Exactly one provided is
+    # ambiguous — don't silently fall through to the position-only branch.
+    if (score is None) != (accuracy is None):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "score and accuracy must be provided together"}, status_code=400)
+
+    if score is not None and accuracy is not None:
+        # Reject booleans explicitly — float(True) would otherwise record a play.
+        if isinstance(score, bool) or isinstance(accuracy, bool):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "score/accuracy must be finite numbers"}, status_code=400)
+        # Reject NaN/Inf too: round(inf) raises OverflowError (→ 500), and a
+        # stored Inf/NaN later breaks JSON serialization of /api/stats reads.
+        try:
+            score = float(score)
+            accuracy = float(accuracy)
+            if not (math.isfinite(score) and math.isfinite(accuracy)):
+                raise ValueError("non-finite")
+            score = int(round(score))
+        except (TypeError, ValueError, OverflowError):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "score/accuracy must be finite numbers"}, status_code=400)
+        # A huge-but-finite score passes isfinite() yet overflows SQLite's
+        # 64-bit INTEGER on bind (→ 500). Bound it to the int64 range.
+        if not (0 <= score < 2**63):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "score out of range"}, status_code=400)
+        # accuracy is a 0..1 fraction (the recorder's contract); reject
+        # out-of-range values so they don't surface as >100% / negative in
+        # /api/stats/best and the badge UI.
+        if not (0 <= accuracy <= 1):
+            return JSONResponse({"error": "accuracy must be between 0 and 1"}, status_code=400)
+        # Validate the optional resume position in this branch too (the
+        # position-only branch below already rejects non-finite).
+        if last_pos is not None:
+            try:
+                last_pos = float(last_pos)
+                if not math.isfinite(last_pos):
+                    raise ValueError("non-finite")
+            except (TypeError, ValueError, OverflowError):
+                return JSONResponse({"error": "lastPlayPosition must be a finite number"}, status_code=400)
+        row = appstate.meta_db.record_session(filename, arrangement, score=score,
+                                     accuracy=accuracy, last_position=last_pos,
+                                     seconds=seconds)
+        # Unified XP + streak side-effects — never let these drop the stat write.
+        progress = None
+        try:
+            from xp import xp_for_run
+            from datetime import date
+            appstate.meta_db.award_xp(xp_for_run(score))
+            appstate.meta_db.record_active_day(date.today().isoformat())
+            progress = appstate.meta_db.get_progress()
+        except Exception:
+            log.warning("stats side-effects (xp/streak) failed", exc_info=True)
+        # Progression engine (spec 010) — same never-drop-the-stat-write
+        # contract. Scored sessions are the server-derived `song_completed`
+        # authority (scored == note detection by construction); instrument is
+        # resolved from library arrangement metadata, after the XP award so
+        # db_earned goals see this run's Decibels.
+        progression_summary = None
+        try:
+            import progression as progression_mod
+            instrument = progression_mod.instrument_for_arrangement(
+                appstate.meta_db.arrangement_entry(filename, arrangement)
+            )
+            progression_summary = appstate.meta_db.record_progression_event(
+                "song_completed",
+                {
+                    "filename": filename,
+                    "instrument": instrument,
+                    "accuracy": accuracy,
+                    "score": score,
+                    "is_diagnostic": filename == appstate.builtin_diagnostic_filename(),
+                },
+                appstate.get_progression_content(),
+            )
+        except Exception:
+            log.warning("stats side-effects (progression) failed", exc_info=True)
+        return {"stats": row, "progress": progress, "progression": progression_summary}
+
+    # Seconds-only accrual: an unscored play that ran to the song's natural
+    # end has play time to bank but no resume position to touch (song:ended
+    # must not overwrite Continue with the end-of-song offset). Still counts
+    # as playing today for the streak below.
+    if last_pos is None and seconds:
+        row = appstate.meta_db.add_play_seconds(filename, arrangement, seconds)
+        progress = None
+        try:
+            from datetime import date
+            appstate.meta_db.record_active_day(date.today().isoformat())
+            progress = appstate.meta_db.get_progress()
+        except Exception:
+            log.warning("stats side-effects (streak) failed", exc_info=True)
+        return {"stats": row, "progress": progress}
+
+    # Position-only touch.
+    if last_pos is None:
+        return JSONResponse(
+            {"error": "provide score+accuracy (scored) or lastPlayPosition (resume)"},
+            status_code=400,
+        )
+    try:
+        pos = float(last_pos)
+        if not math.isfinite(pos):
+            raise ValueError("non-finite")
+        row = appstate.meta_db.touch_position(filename, arrangement, pos, seconds=seconds)
+    except (TypeError, ValueError, OverflowError):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "lastPlayPosition must be a finite number"}, status_code=400)
+    # A resume session still counts as playing today: advance the streak (no XP —
+    # that's scoring-only) so a non-scored practice day keeps the streak alive,
+    # consistent with these sessions also surfacing in recent / continue.
+    progress = None
+    try:
+        from datetime import date
+        appstate.meta_db.record_active_day(date.today().isoformat())
+        progress = appstate.meta_db.get_progress()
+    except Exception:
+        log.warning("stats side-effects (streak) failed", exc_info=True)
+    return {"stats": row, "progress": progress}
+
+
+@router.get("/api/stats/recent")
+def api_recent_stats(limit: int = 12):
+    """Recently-played rows joined to song metadata for 'Jump back in'."""
+    from urllib.parse import quote
+    out = []
+    for r in appstate.meta_db.recent_stats(limit):
+        meta = appstate.meta_db.conn.execute(
+            "SELECT title, artist, tuning_name FROM songs WHERE filename = ?",
+            (r["filename"],),
+        ).fetchone()
+        title, artist, tuning_name = meta if meta else (None, None, None)
+        out.append({
+            **r,
+            "title": title or r["filename"],
+            "artist": artist or "",
+            "tuning_name": tuning_name or "",
+            "art_url": f"/api/song/{quote(r['filename'])}/art",
+        })
+    return out
+
+
+@router.get("/api/stats/best")
+def api_stats_best():
+    """{filename: best_accuracy} for all songs with a recorded best — one call
+    to badge the library grid (defined before the {filename} catch-all)."""
+    return appstate.meta_db.best_accuracy_map()
+
+
+@router.get("/api/stats/top")
+def api_top_stats(limit: int = 5):
+    """Top scored songs (best first), joined to song metadata, for the profile
+    'Your best scores' panel (defined before the {filename} catch-all)."""
+    from urllib.parse import quote
+    out = []
+    for r in appstate.meta_db.top_stats(limit):
+        meta = appstate.meta_db.conn.execute(
+            "SELECT title, artist, tuning_name FROM songs WHERE filename = ?",
+            (r["filename"],),
+        ).fetchone()
+        title, artist, tuning_name = meta if meta else (None, None, None)
+        out.append({
+            **r,
+            "title": title or r["filename"],
+            "artist": artist or "",
+            "tuning_name": tuning_name or "",
+            "art_url": f"/api/song/{quote(r['filename'])}/art",
+        })
+    return out
+
+
+@router.get("/api/stats/{filename:path}")
+def api_song_stats(filename: str):
+    return appstate.meta_db.get_song_stats(filename)
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+"""The merged tuning catalog (/api/tunings).
+
+Extracted verbatim from server.py (R3) except @app->@router, CONFIG_DIR->
+appstate.config_dir, _load_config imported from lib/appconfig, and the tuning
+registry read through the appstate seam (appstate.tuning_providers — the same
+instance plugins register into via the plugin_context in server.py).
+"""
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+
+import appstate
+from appconfig import _load_config
+from tunings import DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH, TUNING_PRESET_MIDIS, freqs_to_midis
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+@router.get("/api/tunings")
+def get_tunings():
+    cfg = _load_config(appstate.config_dir / "config.json") or {}
+    ref = cfg.get("reference_pitch", DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH)
+    try:
+        ref = float(ref)
+        if not (430.0 <= ref <= 450.0):
+            ref = DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        ref = DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH
+    merged = appstate.tuning_providers.get_merged(ref)
+    # tuningMidis: the same catalog as exact integer MIDI notes (low → high).
+    # Built-ins come straight from TUNING_PRESET_MIDIS (no float round-trip);
+    # provider-contributed entries are recovered from their frequencies at the
+    # served reference pitch. Every consumer today (the v3 badges, plugins)
+    # reconstructs midis client-side via log2 — a rounding footgun at non-440
+    # references — so serve the integers once, host-side. Additive: the
+    # existing referencePitch/tunings shape is unchanged.
+    tuning_midis: dict[str, dict[str, list[int]]] = {}
+    for key, names in merged.items():
+        builtin = TUNING_PRESET_MIDIS.get(key, {})
+        resolved: dict[str, list[int]] = {}
+        for name, freqs in names.items():
+            midis = builtin.get(name) or freqs_to_midis(freqs, ref)
+            if midis:
+                resolved[name] = list(midis)
+        if resolved:
+            tuning_midis[key] = resolved
+    return {"referencePitch": ref, "tunings": merged, "tuningMidis": tuning_midis}
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+"""App version + source/license URLs (/api/version).
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3) except the decorator (``@app`` ->
+``@router``) and the VERSION-file lookup: ``Path(__file__).parent`` (app root
+when this lived at the top level) -> ``Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]``
+(routers -> lib -> app root). VERSION ships at the app root in every packaging
+path (Dockerfile COPY, desktop bundle).
+"""
+
+import os
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+def _safe_http_url(raw):
+    """Return `raw` stripped + trailing-slash-stripped if it parses as an
+    http(s) URL with a non-empty host; else None.
+
+    Used to validate operator-supplied `APP_SOURCE_URL` / `APP_LICENSE_URL`
+    env vars before they reach `<a href>` in the UI. A bare prefix check
+    like `startswith(("http://","https://"))` accepts malformed inputs
+    such as `"https://"` (no host) or `"https:///foo"` (empty host) that
+    still produce broken hrefs — and, when used as a base for the default
+    `license_url`, garbage like `"https:///blob/main/LICENSE"`.
+    """
+    from urllib.parse import urlsplit
+    if not raw:
+        return None
+    s = raw.strip().rstrip("/")
+    if not s:
+        return None
+    try:
+        parsed = urlsplit(s)
+    except ValueError:
+        return None
+    if parsed.scheme.lower() not in ("http", "https"):
+        return None
+    # `netloc` includes any `user:pass@` and `:port` — strings like
+    # "http://:80/path" have non-empty netloc (":80") but no real
+    # hostname. Validate `hostname` so only URLs with an actual host
+    # are accepted.
+    if not parsed.hostname:
+        return None
+    return s
+
+
+@router.get("/api/version")
+def get_version():
+    env_version = os.environ.get("APP_VERSION", "").strip()
+    if env_version:
+        version = env_version
+    else:
+        version_file = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2] / "VERSION"  # R3: app root from lib/routers/
+        version = "unknown"
+        if version_file.exists():
+            try:
+                version = version_file.read_text().strip()
+            except (OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+                pass
+    default_source_url = "https://github.com/got-feedback/feedBack"
+    # APP_SOURCE_URL / APP_LICENSE_URL flow straight into <a href> in the UI,
+    # so validate with urllib.parse rather than a bare prefix check — a prefix
+    # check accepts malformed values like "https://" (no host) which produce
+    # broken hrefs (and a constructed license_url like "https:///blob/main/LICENSE").
+    # _safe_http_url requires scheme in {http,https} AND a non-empty hostname
+    # (not just netloc — that would still accept port-only authorities like
+    # "http://:80/path"); fall back to the safe default otherwise.
+    source_url = _safe_http_url(os.environ.get("APP_SOURCE_URL")) or default_source_url
+    # APP_LICENSE_URL: explicit override for the LICENSE link. The default
+    # constructed value (source_url + "/blob/main/LICENSE") is GitHub-
+    # specific and assumes the repo's default branch is `main`; non-GitHub
+    # hosts (GitLab, Gitea, self-hosted) need an explicit value.
+    license_url = _safe_http_url(os.environ.get("APP_LICENSE_URL")) or (source_url + "/blob/main/LICENSE")
+    return {
+        "version": version,
+        "source_url": source_url,
+        "license_url": license_url,
+    }
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+"""Wishlist / "wanted" API (feedBack#636) — songs the user wants but doesn't own.
+
+Extracted verbatim from ``server.py`` (R3); edits: ``@app`` -> ``@router``,
+``meta_db`` -> ``appstate.meta_db``, ``_clean_str`` from ``reqfields``.
+"""
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
+
+import appstate
+from reqfields import _clean_str
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+
+@router.get("/api/wanted")
+def api_list_wanted():
+    """The wishlist — songs the user wants but doesn't own yet (newest first)."""
+    return {"wanted": appstate.meta_db.list_wanted()}
+
+
+@router.post("/api/wanted")
+def api_add_wanted(data: dict):
+    """Add a not-owned song to the wishlist. `artist`/`title` are required (at
+    least one non-empty); `source`/`source_ref`/`note` are optional. Idempotent
+    on identity so producers (find_more ownership-diff, manual add) can re-post."""
+    if not isinstance(data, dict):
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "body must be an object"}, status_code=400)
+    artist = _clean_str(data.get("artist"))
+    title = _clean_str(data.get("title"))
+    if not artist and not title:
+        return JSONResponse({"error": "artist or title required"}, status_code=400)
+    row = appstate.meta_db.add_wanted(
+        artist=artist, title=title,
+        source=_clean_str(data.get("source")) or "manual",
+        source_ref=_clean_str(data.get("source_ref")),
+        note=_clean_str(data.get("note")),
+    )
+    return {"ok": True, "wanted": row}
+
+
+@router.delete("/api/wanted/{wanted_id}")
+def api_remove_wanted(wanted_id: int):
+    """Remove a wishlist entry by id."""
+    return {"ok": appstate.meta_db.remove_wanted(wanted_id)}
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+"""Session-sync relay WebSocket — /ws/sync/{session_id} (feedBack#1030).
+
+A deliberately dumb fan-out room: a JSON text frame received from one client
+is forwarded verbatim to every OTHER client connected to the same session id.
+The server interprets nothing beyond the limits below — message schemas are
+owned entirely by consumers. First consumer: splitscreen's LAN follower mode
+(feedBack-plugin-splitscreen#21), which relays playhead/playstate/song-change
+frames from a host window to view-only followers on other LAN devices.
+
+Design points (full spec in the issue):
+
+- Rooms are created on first join and garbage-collected when the last socket
+  leaves. No history, no replay, no persistence — a late joiner simply waits
+  for the next frame. Consumers that need state on join re-send it themselves
+  (splitscreen answers every follower ``hello`` with a fresh ``config``).
+- That statelessness is what makes consumer crash-recovery work: a host that
+  relaunches and rejoins the same session id resumes publishing to its
+  reconnecting subscribers with no server-side coordination, and an idle room
+  is indistinguishable from a nonexistent one.
+- ``session_id`` is client-generated and opaque (``[A-Za-z0-9_-]{4,64}``);
+  consumers pick their own id policy (splitscreen uses a short typeable,
+  persistent room key).
+- DoS hygiene for a port that may be LAN-exposed: frame-size cap, per-room and
+  total-room caps, and a per-socket inbound token-bucket rate cap. Over-limit
+  sockets are closed with a policy code; the room carries on. A peer that dies
+  mid-fan-out is dropped without wedging delivery to the rest.
+"""
+
+import asyncio
+import logging
+import re
+import time
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, WebSocket
+
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.server")
+
+router = APIRouter()
+
+_SESSION_ID_RE = re.compile(r"^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{4,64}$")
+
+# Limits. Sized generously above the first consumer's needs (splitscreen
+# publishes time frames at ~15-20 Hz to a handful of viewers) while bounding
+# what an open LAN port can be made to do. All module-level so tests (and a
+# desperate operator) can override them.
+MAX_FRAME_BYTES = 16 * 1024
+MAX_CLIENTS_PER_ROOM = 16
+MAX_ROOMS = 32
+RATE_MSGS_PER_SEC = 120.0  # sustained inbound frames per socket
+RATE_BURST = 240.0  # token-bucket burst headroom
+# A peer that stops draining its socket would leave send_text() pending
+# forever — and since publishers await the fan-out gather, one stalled peer
+# would stall every publisher's receive loop behind it. Bounding the send
+# turns the stall into an eviction through the normal failed-send drop path.
+SEND_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 5.0
+
+# RFC 6455 close codes.
+_WS_UNSUPPORTED_DATA = 1003  # binary frame on a text-only relay
+_WS_POLICY_VIOLATION = 1008  # invalid session id / rate cap exceeded
+_WS_MSG_TOO_BIG = 1009
+_WS_TRY_AGAIN_LATER = 1013  # room or server at capacity
+
+# session_id → {socket: per-socket send lock}. The lock serializes concurrent
+# fan-out sends to the same peer (two publishers relaying at once must not
+# interleave writes on a third socket's transport).
+_rooms: dict[str, dict[WebSocket, asyncio.Lock]] = {}
+
+
+async def _send_locked(peer: WebSocket, lock: asyncio.Lock, text: str) -> None:
+    async with lock:
+        await asyncio.wait_for(peer.send_text(text), timeout=SEND_TIMEOUT_SECONDS)
+
+
+@router.websocket("/ws/sync/{session_id}")
+async def sync_ws(websocket: WebSocket, session_id: str):
+    """Join the fan-out room *session_id*; relay every inbound text frame."""
+    await websocket.accept()
+
+    if not _SESSION_ID_RE.fullmatch(session_id):
+        await websocket.close(code=_WS_POLICY_VIOLATION, reason="invalid session id")
+        return
+
+    # Capacity checks and insertion run with no await between them, so
+    # concurrent joiners on the event loop can't race past the caps.
+    room = _rooms.get(session_id)
+    if room is None:
+        if len(_rooms) >= MAX_ROOMS:
+            await websocket.close(code=_WS_TRY_AGAIN_LATER, reason="too many active sessions")
+            return
+        room = _rooms[session_id] = {}
+        log.debug("ws_sync: room %s created", session_id)
+    elif len(room) >= MAX_CLIENTS_PER_ROOM:
+        await websocket.close(code=_WS_TRY_AGAIN_LATER, reason="session full")
+        return
+    room[websocket] = asyncio.Lock()
+
+    tokens = RATE_BURST
+    last_refill = time.monotonic()
+
+    try:
+        while True:
+            message = await websocket.receive()
+            if message["type"] == "websocket.disconnect":
+                break
+            text = message.get("text")
+            if text is None:
+                await websocket.close(code=_WS_UNSUPPORTED_DATA, reason="text frames only")
+                break
+            if len(text.encode("utf-8", errors="ignore")) > MAX_FRAME_BYTES:
+                await websocket.close(code=_WS_MSG_TOO_BIG, reason="frame too large")
+                break
+
+            now = time.monotonic()
+            tokens = min(RATE_BURST, tokens + (now - last_refill) * RATE_MSGS_PER_SEC)
+            last_refill = now
+            tokens -= 1.0
+            if tokens < 0:
+                await websocket.close(code=_WS_POLICY_VIOLATION, reason="rate cap exceeded")
+                break
+
+            peers = [(ws, lock) for ws, lock in room.items() if ws is not websocket]
+            if not peers:
+                continue
+            results = await asyncio.gather(
+                *(_send_locked(ws, lock, text) for ws, lock in peers),
+                return_exceptions=True,
+            )
+            # A peer that failed mid-send is dropped from the room here; its
+            # own handler finishes cleanup (the finally below) when its
+            # receive loop observes the disconnect.
+            for (peer, _lock), result in zip(peers, results):
+                if isinstance(result, Exception):
+                    room.pop(peer, None)
+    finally:
+        room.pop(websocket, None)
+        # Guard against deleting a NEW room another joiner created after this
+        # one emptied (only possible for a dict that is no longer ours).
+        if not room and _rooms.get(session_id) is room:
+            del _rooms[session_id]
+            log.debug("ws_sync: room %s closed", session_id)
@@ -4,9 +4,34 @@ under a server-owned root.

 from __future__ import annotations

+from functools import lru_cache
 from pathlib import Path


+@lru_cache(maxsize=16)
+def resolved_root(root: Path) -> Path:
+    """Canonical (link-resolved) form of a server-owned root directory.
+
+    ``Path.resolve()`` is a filesystem call: it lstats every component of the
+    path. The roots we join against — the DLC library, a plugin's asset dir —
+    are fixed for the life of the process, but the containment helpers below
+    (and ``dlc_paths._resolve_dlc_path``) were re-resolving them on EVERY call,
+    and those are called once per song, per art fetch, per scanned row.
+
+    On a real 50,944-song library that cost ~23,500 stat/lstat calls per second,
+    pinning a core. It is brutal when the library lives on a FUSE mount
+    (NTFS-3G, SMB, sshfs), where every stat is a userspace round trip: the same
+    three parent directories were being walked over and over.
+
+    Cached because a root is a constant here, not because resolution is cheap.
+    Consequence: if a root's symlink/junction is re-pointed at a NEW target
+    while the server is running, the old target stays in effect until restart.
+    That is fine for a library path fixed at startup, and the cache is keyed on
+    the Path, so switching to a different library dir is a different key.
+    """
+    return root.resolve()
+
+
 def safe_join(root: Path, name: str) -> Path | None:
    """Resolve ``name`` under ``root`` and return the resolved Path, or
    ``None`` if it would escape ``root`` or is unrepresentable.
@@ -26,11 +51,21 @@ def safe_join(root: Path, name: str) -> Path | None:
    """
    if not name:
        return None
+    # Reject embedded NULs explicitly. This used to ride on `.resolve()`
+    # raising ValueError, but on Python 3.13 (Windows) resolve() no longer
+    # raises for an embedded NUL, so the byte would otherwise leak through
+    # containment. An explicit guard is strictly-more-rejection (no effect on
+    # the zip-slip / traversal contract).
+    if "\x00" in name:
+        return None
    safe = name.replace("\\", "/")
    try:
-        root_resolved = root.resolve()
-        candidate = (root_resolved / safe).resolve()
-        if not candidate.is_relative_to(root_resolved):
+        # The ROOT is a constant — resolve it once (see resolved_root). The
+        # CANDIDATE must still be resolved on every call: following its symlinks
+        # is exactly the zip-slip / traversal defence, so it is never cached.
+        root_res = resolved_root(root)
+        candidate = (root_res / safe).resolve()
+        if not candidate.is_relative_to(root_res):
            return None
    except (ValueError, OSError):
        return None
@@ -0,0 +1,490 @@
+"""The library scanner: the background scan, its process pool, and the kick/runner
+plumbing that serialises passes.
+
+Carved VERBATIM out of server.py (R3b) except the seam reads. Everything shared is read
+LATE off appstate — the same contract every module in lib/routers/ uses, and it is not
+cosmetic: tests monkeypatch CONFIG_DIR and swap meta_db, so a value captured at import
+time would pin the wrong one for the life of the process.
+
+    CONFIG_DIR        -> appstate.config_dir
+    meta_db           -> appstate.meta_db
+    _default_settings -> appstate.default_settings()
+    _stat_for_cache   -> appstate.stat_for_cache()
+    _feedBack_server_root() -> appstate.server_root      <- see below
+
+━━━ THE SCAN STATUS IS REBOUND, NOT MUTATED ━━━
+
+`_background_scan` does `global _scan_status; _scan_status = {**INIT, ...}` at every stage
+transition. It REPLACES the dict; it does not update it in place. So nothing may hold the
+dict by value — a reference captured once goes permanently stale at the first stage change,
+and would report "listing" forever while the scan ran to completion.
+
+That is why this module exports `status()`, a getter, and why appstate publishes
+`scan_status` as a CALLABLE rather than a dict. appstate.py already says so in a comment;
+this is the code that makes it true.
+
+━━━ AND WHY THE SERVER ROOT IS READ, NEVER DERIVED ━━━
+
+`_background_scan` seeds the builtin content, which needs the directory holding server.py.
+`Path(__file__).resolve().parent` is correct in server.py and silently WRONG here (it
+yields lib/, which has no docs/ or data/) — and it fails by finding nothing rather than by
+raising, so the seeds would just quietly never run. server.py publishes the root once, as
+appstate.server_root. Read it; never re-derive it.
+"""
+import concurrent.futures
+import logging
+import multiprocessing
+import os
+import sys
+import threading
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import appstate
+import builtin_content
+import enrichment
+import loosefolder as loosefolder_mod
+import sloppak as sloppak_mod
+from appconfig import _load_config
+from dlc_paths import _get_dlc_dir
+from env_compat import getenv_compat
+from scan_worker import _relpath, _scan_one
+
+log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.scan")
+
+import json
+
+
+# ── Directory-signature fast path ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# A startup scan globs the whole library twice (*.feedpak, *.wem) and stats every
+# file to detect what changed. On a 50k-song library that lives on a slow mount
+# (an NTFS-3G FUSE volume here) it is ~100k filesystem round trips every launch —
+# the "big drive churns on every startup" report.
+#
+# But adds / removes / renames of songs all bump the mtime of the DIRECTORY that
+# holds them (verified on the target NTFS-3G mount), and so does the addition of
+# a subdirectory (a new entry in its parent). So after a scan we record every
+# library directory and its mtime; on the next scan we re-stat ONLY those
+# directories (a handful, vs 100k file ops). If none changed, the file set is
+# unchanged and the whole listing/stat pass is skipped.
+#
+# The one thing this cannot see is a file edited IN PLACE under the same name —
+# that bumps the file's mtime but not its directory's. That is rare for a song
+# library (you add and remove packs, you don't rewrite them under the same name),
+# and the manual Refresh forces a full scan (force=True) for exactly that case.
+def _dir_signature_file() -> Path:
+    return appstate.config_dir / "scan_dir_signature.json"
+
+
+def _load_dir_signature() -> dict | None:
+    try:
+        data = json.loads(_dir_signature_file().read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+        if isinstance(data, dict) and isinstance(data.get("dirs"), dict):
+            return data
+    except (OSError, ValueError):
+        pass
+    return None
+
+
+def _save_dir_signature(dlc: Path, dirs: dict[str, int]) -> None:
+    # Keyed by the DLC path so switching libraries never matches a stale
+    # signature. Best-effort: a failed write just means the next scan is a full
+    # one, never a wrong one.
+    try:
+        _dir_signature_file().write_text(
+            json.dumps({"dlc": str(dlc), "dirs": dirs}), encoding="utf-8")
+    except OSError as e:
+        log.debug("scan: could not persist dir signature: %s", e)
+
+
+def _library_dirs(all_songs, dlc: Path) -> set[str]:
+    """Every directory whose mtime reflects an add/remove of a library song:
+    each song's containing directory and all of its ancestors up to the DLC
+    root (the root itself always included, as "."). Derived from the already-
+    listed songs — no extra filesystem walk. The builtin carve-outs
+    (tutorials-builtin / minigames-builtin) are absent because the caller
+    already excluded them from `all_songs`, so a minigame writing a drill there
+    never invalidates the fast path.
+
+    Directory-form songs (loose-song folders, directory sloppak bundles) also
+    record their OWN directory: a file added/removed/replaced INSIDE the folder
+    bumps that folder's mtime but not its parent's, so tracking only the parent
+    would miss an in-place change to such a song. File-form sloppaks (a single
+    .feedpak zip) aren't dirs, so they add nothing here — the flat file library
+    stays at a handful of dir stats."""
+    rels = {"."}
+    for f in all_songs:
+        rel = Path(_relpath(f, dlc))
+        if f.is_dir():
+            rels.add(rel.as_posix())
+        parent = rel.parent
+        rels.add(parent.as_posix())
+        for anc in parent.parents:
+            rels.add(anc.as_posix())
+    return rels
+
+
+def _has_unextracted_columns() -> bool:
+    """True while any `songs` row still carries NULL in a column added by an
+    additive migration — i.e. metadata the current extractor would fill but
+    that no existing row has yet (currently `bass_tuning_name`).
+
+    The tree-signature fast path only asks "did the file set change"; on a
+    settled library the answer is no forever, so a schema addition would never
+    reach extraction. This one-row probe forces the full pass exactly until the
+    backfill completes — `put()` writes '' rather than NULL, so it self-clears
+    after the rescan instead of disabling the fast path permanently."""
+    try:
+        from metadata_db import MetadataDB
+        cond = " OR ".join(f"{c} IS NULL" for c in MetadataDB._EXTRACTION_MARKER_COLS)
+        row = appstate.meta_db.conn.execute(
+            f"SELECT 1 FROM songs WHERE {cond} LIMIT 1").fetchone()
+    except Exception as e:
+        # A probe failure must not take the scan down; falling back to the fast
+        # path costs at most a delayed backfill.
+        log.debug("scan: unextracted-column probe failed: %s", e)
+        return False
+    return row is not None
+
+
+def _record_dir_signature(all_songs, dlc: Path) -> None:
+    sig = _stat_dirs(dlc, _library_dirs(all_songs, dlc))
+    if sig is not None:   # a dir vanished mid-scan → skip; next scan is full
+        _save_dir_signature(dlc, sig)
+
+
+def _stat_dirs(dlc: Path, rels) -> dict[str, int] | None:
+    """{reldir: mtime_ns} for the given library dirs, or None if any is gone or
+    unreadable — a vanished recorded dir means the tree changed, so fail to a
+    full scan rather than a false match."""
+    out: dict[str, int] = {}
+    for rel in rels:
+        try:
+            out[rel] = (dlc if rel == "." else dlc / rel).stat().st_mtime_ns
+        except OSError:
+            return None
+    return out
+
+
+_SCAN_STATUS_INIT = {"running": False, "stage": "idle", "total": 0, "done": 0, "current": "", "error": None, "is_first_scan": False, "added": 0, "removed": 0}
+
+
+_scan_status = dict(_SCAN_STATUS_INIT)
+
+
+def _make_scan_executor():
+    """Build the executor for the background metadata scan.
+
+    A `spawn` ProcessPoolExecutor in production. `spawn` (not the platform
+    default) is mandatory: _background_scan runs on a non-main daemon
+    thread, and forking a multithreaded process from a non-main thread can
+    deadlock on locks held by other threads at fork time (the default on
+    Linux). `spawn` boots a clean interpreter that imports only scan_worker
+    (+ its pure lib deps) to unpickle the worker — never this module — so
+    workers don't re-run server.py's import-time side effects (reopening
+    SQLite, attaching a second RotatingFileHandler, re-registering routes).
+
+    Tests monkeypatch this to a ThreadPoolExecutor so the scan runs
+    in-process and metadata extraction can be mocked.
+    """
+    mp_ctx = multiprocessing.get_context("spawn")
+    # Default to one worker per core so CPU-bound metadata parsing uses the
+    # whole machine (the point of moving to processes).
+    # FEEDBACK_MAX_SCAN_WORKERS (set by the Desktop launcher to cap memory
+    # usage on low-RAM machines — e.g. 8 GB M2 MacBook Air) takes priority;
+    # SCAN_MAX_WORKERS is a legacy override for Docker/bare installs.
+    # A malformed override falls back to the core count rather than crashing.
+    try:
+        max_workers = int(
+            getenv_compat("FEEDBACK_MAX_SCAN_WORKERS")
+            or os.environ.get("SCAN_MAX_WORKERS")
+            or (os.cpu_count() or 1)
+        )
+    except ValueError:
+        max_workers = os.cpu_count() or 1
+    # ProcessPoolExecutor raises ValueError on Windows when max_workers > 61
+    # (the WaitForMultipleObjects handle limit), so clamp there — otherwise
+    # a high-core Windows host can't construct the pool and the scan never
+    # starts.
+    if sys.platform == "win32":
+        max_workers = min(max_workers, 61)
+    return concurrent.futures.ProcessPoolExecutor(
+        max_workers=max(1, max_workers), mp_context=mp_ctx,
+    )
+
+
+def background_scan(force: bool = False):
+    """Scan the library and cache song metadata on startup. Uses a process pool to bypass the GIL for CPU-bound metadata parsing.
+
+    `force` skips the directory-signature fast path and always does the full
+    listing/stat pass — the manual Refresh sets it (see _dir_signature_file).
+
+    Never sets `_scan_status["running"] = False` — ownership of that flag
+    lives in `_scan_runner` so a `kick_scan()` racing this function's
+    terminal write cannot observe a stale False and start a second runner.
+    """
+    global _scan_status
+    _scan_status = {**_SCAN_STATUS_INIT, "running": True, "stage": "listing"}
+
+    # Load config once so both the DLC-dir lookup and the platform filter
+    # read from the same snapshot, avoiding a redundant parse of config.json.
+    _cfg = _load_config(appstate.config_dir / "config.json") or appstate.default_settings()
+    dlc = _get_dlc_dir(_cfg)
+    if not dlc:
+        _scan_status = {**_SCAN_STATUS_INIT, "running": True, "stage": "idle", "error": "DLC folder not configured"}
+        log.warning("Scan: no DLC folder configured")
+        return
+
+    builtin_content.seed_builtin_diagnostic_sloppaks(appstate.server_root, dlc)
+    builtin_content.seed_builtin_starter_content(appstate.server_root, dlc)
+
+    # Fast path: if every library directory recorded by the last scan still has
+    # the same mtime, nothing was added, removed, or renamed, so the whole
+    # glob-and-stat pass below can be skipped (see the signature comment above).
+    # `force` (manual Refresh) always does the full pass. Seeding above is
+    # idempotent — it only writes when a builtin is missing — so it does not
+    # perturb the mtimes on a settled library.
+    if not force and not _has_unextracted_columns():
+        stored = _load_dir_signature()
+        if stored is not None and stored.get("dlc") == str(dlc):
+            current = _stat_dirs(dlc, stored["dirs"].keys())
+            if current is not None and current == stored["dirs"]:
+                _scan_status = {**_SCAN_STATUS_INIT, "running": True, "stage": "complete"}
+                log.info("Scan: library tree unchanged (%d dirs) — skipped the full listing/stat pass",
+                         len(current))
+                return
+
+    # Listing can fail on macOS without Full Disk Access, or on Docker if the
+    # path isn't shared. Report the failure explicitly rather than silently
+    # appearing to scan nothing.
+    try:
+        # Generated-content sloppaks that the highway WS must resolve by path
+        # but that are NOT library songs. Two conventions share this carve-out:
+        #   - tutorials-builtin/  — lesson drills seeded by the tutorials plugin
+        #     (see plugins/tutorials/routes.py::_seed_builtin_packs).
+        #   - minigames-builtin/  — exercise charts generated on demand by
+        #     minigame plugins (e.g. Chord Sprint writes alternating-chord
+        #     drills here). Cached/reused per exercise, never browsed.
+        # Both are kept out of the scan; _resolve_dlc_path still loads them by
+        # path for playback.
+        def _is_excluded_from_library(p: Path) -> bool:
+            return "tutorials-builtin" in p.parts or "minigames-builtin" in p.parts
+        # Sloppaks: match both file (zip) and directory form, across both the
+        # `.feedpak` and legacy `.sloppak` suffixes.
+        _cands = sorted(p for ext in sloppak_mod.SONG_EXTS for p in dlc.rglob(f"*{ext}"))
+        sloppaks = [f for f in _cands
+                    if sloppak_mod.is_sloppak(f)
+                    and not _is_excluded_from_library(f)]
+
+        # Loose song folders: any directory containing a non-preview *.wem + *.xml.
+        # Skip directories that are actually sloppak bundles — those are
+        # already in `sloppaks`; the dispatcher's sloppak-first precedence
+        # would route them to the sloppak path anyway, but adding them
+        # here would inflate the scan queue and over-count the total.
+        loose_songs = []
+        seen_loose = set()
+        sloppak_dirs = {p for p in sloppaks if p.is_dir()}
+        for wem in sorted(dlc.rglob("*.wem")):
+            if "preview" in wem.stem.lower():
+                continue
+            if _is_excluded_from_library(wem):
+                continue
+            d = wem.parent
+            if d in sloppak_dirs or d.name.lower().endswith(sloppak_mod.SONG_EXTS):
+                continue
+            if d not in seen_loose and loosefolder_mod.is_loose_song(d):
+                loose_songs.append(d)
+                seen_loose.add(d)
+    except PermissionError as e:
+        msg = (f"Permission denied reading {dlc}. "
+               "On macOS: grant Full Disk Access to the app in System Settings → Privacy & Security. "
+               "With Docker: share this path in Docker Desktop → Settings → Resources → File Sharing.")
+        log.error("Scan failed: %s (%s)", msg, e)
+        _scan_status = {**_SCAN_STATUS_INIT, "running": True, "stage": "error", "error": msg}
+        return
+    except OSError as e:
+        log.error("Scan failed listing %s: %s", dlc, e)
+        _scan_status = {**_SCAN_STATUS_INIT, "running": True, "stage": "error", "error": f"Unable to list {dlc}: {e}"}
+        return
+
+    all_songs = sloppaks + loose_songs
+    log.info("Scan: listed %d sloppaks and %d loose folders in %s",
+             len(sloppaks), len(loose_songs), dlc)
+
+    current_files = {_relpath(f, dlc) for f in all_songs}
+
+    # Clean up stale DB entries. delete_missing reports both deltas (rows pruned
+    # + genuinely-new files) so the scan can surface an added/removed summary.
+    _delta = appstate.meta_db.delete_missing(current_files)
+    removed, added = _delta["removed"], _delta["added"]
+    if removed:
+        log.info("Removed %d stale DB entries", removed)
+
+    # Figure out which need scanning
+    to_scan = []
+    for f in all_songs:
+        # Skip entries that vanish or become unreadable between listing
+        # and stat. Without this, one concurrent move/delete in DLC_DIR
+        # would crash the scan thread and leave `_scan_status["running"]`
+        # stuck true with no path to recover.
+        try:
+            mtime, size = appstate.stat_for_cache(f)
+        except OSError as e:
+            log.debug("scan: skipping %s (%s)", f, e)
+            continue
+        cache_key = _relpath(f, dlc)
+        try:
+            cached = appstate.meta_db.get(cache_key, mtime, size)
+        except Exception as e:
+            # Keep scanning even if a single metadata lookup fails.
+            # The file will be re-scanned and cache repaired by put().
+            log.warning("scan cache lookup failed for %s: %s", cache_key, e)
+            cached = None
+        if not cached:
+            to_scan.append((f, mtime, size, dlc))
+        elif any(cached.get(c) is None for c in appstate.meta_db._EXTRACTION_MARKER_COLS):
+            # Row predates one of the per-perspective tuning columns (NULL
+            # from the additive migration), so that perspective's tuning was
+            # never extracted for it. Without this
+            # re-queue an existing library would keep every bass column empty
+            # forever — mtime/size still match, so nothing else would ever
+            # bring the row back through extraction. Converges: put() always
+            # writes '' (never NULL), so a rescanned row is never re-queued.
+            to_scan.append((f, mtime, size, dlc))
+        elif cached.get("arrangements") and any(
+            "smart_name" not in a for a in cached["arrangements"]
+        ):
+            # Row was scanned before smart naming was introduced — force a
+            # rescan so the DB picks up authoritative path flags from the
+            # manifest JSON and stores correct smart_name values. Don't
+            # re-queue rows where smart_name is explicitly null: the writer
+            # only emits that when compute_smart_names truly can't classify
+            # the arrangement (e.g. a name outside the recognised set with
+            # zero path flags), so rescanning would produce the same null
+            # forever and never converge.
+            to_scan.append((f, mtime, size, dlc))
+
+    if not to_scan:
+        # Full pass completed with the DB already up to date — record the tree
+        # signature so the next startup can take the fast path.
+        _record_dir_signature(all_songs, dlc)
+        _scan_status = {**_SCAN_STATUS_INIT, "running": True, "stage": "complete", "added": added, "removed": removed}
+        log.info("Scan: nothing new to scan (%d songs, all cached)", len(all_songs))
+        return
+
+    # Refine: all discovered songs need scanning → treat as first-time import
+    # (covers moved DLC folder / fully-stale DB as well as a genuinely empty DB).
+    is_first_scan = bool(all_songs) and len(to_scan) == len(all_songs)
+    _scan_status = {**_SCAN_STATUS_INIT, "running": True, "stage": "scanning", "total": len(to_scan),
+                    "is_first_scan": is_first_scan}
+    log.info("Library: %d sloppaks + %d loose folders, %d cached, %d to scan",
+             len(sloppaks), len(loose_songs), len(all_songs) - len(to_scan), len(to_scan))
+
+    with _make_scan_executor() as executor:
+        futures = {executor.submit(_scan_one, item): item[0].name for item in to_scan}
+        for future in concurrent.futures.as_completed(futures):
+            fname = futures[future]
+            try:
+                name, mtime, size, meta = future.result()
+                appstate.meta_db.put(name, mtime, size, meta)
+            except Exception as e:
+                log.warning("scan failed for %s: %s", fname, e)
+            _scan_status["done"] += 1
+            _scan_status["current"] = fname
+
+    # Record the tree signature after a completed full pass so the next startup
+    # can skip it when nothing has changed.
+    _record_dir_signature(all_songs, dlc)
+    log.info("Scan complete: %d songs cached", len(to_scan))
+    _scan_status = {**_SCAN_STATUS_INIT, "running": True, "stage": "complete", "added": added, "removed": removed}
+
+
+_scan_kick_lock = threading.Lock()
+
+
+_scan_rescan_pending = False
+# Set by kick_scan(force=True); consumed by _scan_runner for the next pass so a
+# manual Refresh bypasses the directory-signature fast path.
+_scan_force_next = False
+
+
+# Handles to the running scan / enrichment worker threads. Both use the shared
+# MetadataDB connection, so teardown/shutdown MUST join them before closing that
+# connection — a daemon thread mid-query on a closed SQLite conn is a native
+# use-after-free that segfaults the process (seen flaky in CI). Set by
+# _kick_scan / _kick_enrich; joined by _join_background_db_threads().
+_scan_thread: threading.Thread | None = None
+
+
+def kick_scan(force: bool = False) -> bool:
+    """Request a library rescan, single-flight + coalescing.
+
+    `force` skips the directory-signature fast path for the resulting pass (the
+    manual Refresh uses it so an in-place same-name edit — the one thing the
+    fast path can't see — is always picked up). A forced request that coalesces
+    onto a running or queued scan keeps the force intent: the pass is forced if
+    ANY pending request asked for it.
+
+    Returns True if a new scan thread was started, False if one was already
+    running. In the latter case a follow-up pass is queued and runs as soon
+    as the current scan finishes so files landing mid-scan (e.g. an upload
+    that finalizes after the scan has already listed DLC_DIR) are not lost
+    until the next periodic pass. Multiple late-arriving requests coalesce
+    into a single follow-up.
+    """
+    global _scan_rescan_pending, _scan_thread, _scan_force_next
+    with _scan_kick_lock:
+        if force:
+            _scan_force_next = True
+        if _scan_status["running"]:
+            _scan_rescan_pending = True
+            return False
+        # Mark running synchronously so a parallel kick_scan() observes it
+        # before the worker thread has a chance to reassign _scan_status.
+        _scan_status["running"] = True
+    _scan_thread = threading.Thread(target=_scan_runner, daemon=True)
+    _scan_thread.start()
+    return True
+
+
+def _scan_runner():
+    """Run _background_scan, then re-run if requests arrived mid-scan."""
+    global _scan_rescan_pending, _scan_force_next
+    while True:
+        # Consume the force flag for THIS pass; a forced request queued mid-scan
+        # sets it again for the follow-up.
+        with _scan_kick_lock:
+            forced = _scan_force_next
+            _scan_force_next = False
+        try:
+            background_scan(force=forced)
+        except Exception:
+            log.exception("background scan failed unexpectedly")
+
+        with _scan_kick_lock:
+            if not _scan_rescan_pending:
+                _scan_status["running"] = False
+                break
+            _scan_rescan_pending = False
+            _scan_status["running"] = True
+    # Enrichment rides scan completion (library-metadata design §6): the scan
+    # pool is a side-effect-free, no-network process pool by design, so
+    # enrichment is a SEPARATE post-scan pass — non-blocking, the library is
+    # usable immediately. The 5-minute periodic rescan re-kicks it, which is
+    # the natural low-priority retry hook.
+    enrichment._kick_enrich()
+
+
+def status() -> dict:
+    """The live scan status.
+
+    A GETTER, deliberately. `_scan_status` is REBOUND on every stage transition, so a
+    caller holding the dict would be reading a snapshot frozen at whatever stage it
+    happened to grab — see the module header.
+    """
+    return _scan_status
+
+
+def scan_thread():
+    """The background scan thread, or None. Read by shutdown to join it."""
+    return _scan_thread
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 This module is deliberately kept apart from ``server.py`` so that
 ``ProcessPoolExecutor`` workers can import and unpickle ``_scan_one``
 without dragging in ``server.py``'s import-time side effects
-(``configure_logging()``, ``meta_db = MetadataDB()`` opening/migrating
+(``configure_logging()``, ``meta_db = MetadataDB(CONFIG_DIR)`` opening/migrating
 SQLite, and ``register_plugin_api(app)`` registering routes).

 The background scan spawns its pool with the ``spawn`` start method (see
@@ -27,7 +27,11 @@ import logging
 from pathlib import Path

 from song import compute_smart_names
-from tunings import tuning_name
+from tunings import (
+    DEFAULT_PERSPECTIVE, PERSPECTIVES, ROLE_PERSPECTIVES, normalize_offsets,
+    perspective_low_pitch, perspective_tuning_key, perspective_tuning_name,
+    tuning_name,
+)
 import sloppak as sloppak_mod
 import loosefolder as loosefolder_mod

@@ -43,6 +47,56 @@ def _relpath(f: Path, dlc: Path) -> str:
        return f.name


+def _apply_role_tunings(meta: dict) -> None:
+    """Derive each ROLE perspective's tuning columns from the raw offsets the
+    extractor emitted (currently bass + rhythm; guitar-lead reads the
+    song-level columns the scanner has always written).
+
+    The domain rules live in `tunings` (see the PERSPECTIVES table and the
+    block above it for the evidence behind each):
+
+    1. NORMALIZE FIRST. Stored bass arrays are commonly six elements whose
+       last two slots are padding, so bass truncates to four strings before
+       anything looks at them — padding must never reach the namer or the
+       grouping key. Guitar does NOT truncate (a 7-string array is real).
+    2. Refuse to name data the perspective distrusts (bass up-tuning), so the
+       library can't send a player off to a tuning nobody plays.
+    3. Group on CANONICAL PITCHES, not the raw offsets string — the same
+       physical tuning serialized two ways must be ONE facet entry.
+
+    A song with no arrangement in that role gets EMPTY strings / 0, not NULL:
+    '' is the indexed "we looked, there is no such chart" state the library's
+    fallback keys on, while NULL means "never extracted" and re-scans.
+    """
+    for persp in ROLE_PERSPECTIVES:
+        raw = meta.pop(f"{persp.role}_tuning_offsets", None)
+        offsets = normalize_offsets(raw, persp)
+        if offsets is None:
+            meta[persp.column("name")] = ""
+            meta[persp.column("sort_key")] = 0
+            meta[persp.column("offsets")] = ""
+            meta[persp.column("key")] = ""
+            meta[persp.column("low_pitch")] = None
+            continue
+        meta[persp.column("name")] = perspective_tuning_name(offsets, persp)
+        meta[persp.column("sort_key")] = sum(offsets)
+        # The NORMALIZED offsets are what we store: padding is not data, and a
+        # client rendering target notes must not print phantom strings.
+        meta[persp.column("offsets")] = " ".join(str(o) for o in offsets)
+        meta[persp.column("key")] = perspective_tuning_key(offsets, persp)
+        meta[persp.column("low_pitch")] = perspective_low_pitch(offsets, persp)
+
+
+def _apply_song_low_pitch(meta: dict, offsets: list[int]) -> None:
+    """Lowest open-string pitch of the SONG-level (guitar-lead) tuning, for
+    the "playable without retuning" comparison. Indexed here, on the existing
+    manifest-only pass — never by reopening chart JSON."""
+    persp = PERSPECTIVES[DEFAULT_PERSPECTIVE]
+    norm = normalize_offsets(offsets, persp)
+    meta["tuning_low_pitch"] = (
+        perspective_low_pitch(norm, persp) if norm is not None else None)
+
+
 def _extract_meta_sloppak(path: Path) -> dict:
    """Extract metadata for a sloppak (file or directory)."""
    meta = sloppak_mod.extract_meta(path)
@@ -52,6 +106,8 @@ def _extract_meta_sloppak(path: Path) -> dict:
    meta["tuning_name"] = name
    meta["tuning_sort_key"] = sum(offsets)
    meta["tuning_offsets"] = " ".join(str(o) for o in offsets)
+    _apply_song_low_pitch(meta, offsets)
+    _apply_role_tunings(meta)
    meta["format"] = "sloppak"
    # `extract_meta` already populates `stem_ids` (feedBack#129);
    # default to empty for older callers / mocks.
@@ -86,6 +142,8 @@ def _extract_meta_loosefolder(path: Path, dlc_root: Path | None) -> dict:
    meta["tuning_name"] = name
    meta["tuning_sort_key"] = sum(offsets)
    meta["tuning_offsets"] = " ".join(str(o) for o in offsets)
+    _apply_song_low_pitch(meta, offsets)
+    _apply_role_tunings(meta)
    meta["format"] = "loose"
    meta.setdefault("stem_ids", [])
    # The library helper exposes absolute filesystem paths for audio/art
@@ -109,13 +167,14 @@ def _extract_meta_for_file(path: Path, dlc_root=None) -> dict:
    the root it already resolved; in-process callers can pass the resolver
    itself (e.g. `_get_dlc_dir`) to keep the lookup lazy.

-    FeedBack reads only its own `.sloppak` format and loose-folder XML
-    songs. Encrypted/proprietary archive formats are not supported and are
-    silently ignored (empty metadata) rather than decrypted.
+    FeedBack reads only its own song-package format (`.feedpak` / legacy
+    `.sloppak`) and loose-folder XML songs. Encrypted/proprietary archive
+    formats are not supported and are silently ignored (empty metadata)
+    rather than decrypted.
    """
-    # Sloppak is detected by `.sloppak` suffix only (cheap), so check it
-    # first — that way a user's loose folder named `foo.sloppak` still wins
-    # the sloppak branch instead of being misclassified.
+    # Packages are detected by suffix only (`.feedpak`/`.sloppak`, cheap), so
+    # check that first — that way a user's loose folder named `foo.feedpak`
+    # still wins the package branch instead of being misclassified.
    if sloppak_mod.is_sloppak(path):
        return _extract_meta_sloppak(path)
    if loosefolder_mod.is_loose_song(path):
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@ See the format spec in the project's sloppak plan for the full layout.

 from __future__ import annotations

-import json
 import logging
 import math
+import os
 import shutil
 import threading
 import zipfile
@@ -35,8 +35,24 @@ FEEDPAK_EXT = ".feedpak"
 SLOPPAK_EXT = ".sloppak"
 SONG_EXTS = (FEEDPAK_EXT, SLOPPAK_EXT)  # accepted on read/discovery

+# ── The full mix ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# Spec §5.3 RESERVES the stem id `full` for the song's complete mixdown: the
+# whole song in one file, as heard before source separation. It is a stem — it
+# lives in `stems` like every other audio file in a pack — but it is a *mixdown,
+# not a layer*. A reader that sums stems must never include it in the sum: it
+# already contains every instrument, so summing it doubles the whole song and
+# muting `guitar` still leaves guitar audible inside it.
+#
+# Keeping it matters because separation is lossy: re-summing guitar+bass+drums+
+# vocals does NOT reproduce the file they came from. The mixdown is the only
+# faithful rendering of the song a pack can carry, so we play it whenever every
+# stem sits at unity and nothing is muted.
+FULL_MIX_STEM_ID = "full"
+
 import yaml

+from jsonc import load_json
 from safepath import safe_join
 from song import (
    Song,
@@ -51,6 +67,111 @@ import drums as drums_mod
 import notation as notation_mod


+def find_full_mix(stems: list[dict]) -> dict | None:
+    """The RESERVED `full` stem (spec §5.3) — the pack's complete mixdown — or None.
+
+    Answers "what is this pack's master audio", which is what fingerprinting
+    wants. For playback use partition_stems() instead: a pack whose *only* stem
+    is `full` has no mixdown to play *separately from* its stems, and this
+    function still returns it.
+    """
+    return next(
+        (s for s in stems if str(s.get("id", "")) == FULL_MIX_STEM_ID), None
+    )
+
+
+def stem_default_on(raw) -> bool:
+    """Whether a manifest stem entry plays by default.
+
+    Absent means on. A string is honoured so a hand-written manifest can say
+    `default: off`. Extracted so the WS `ready` payload and the REST song-info
+    payload cannot drift: the stems plugin now preloads from REST and then has
+    to agree with what the WS says a moment later, or it would rebuild the whole
+    graph for nothing.
+    """
+    if isinstance(raw, str):
+        return raw.lower() not in ("off", "false", "0", "no")
+    return bool(raw)
+
+
+def partition_stems(stems: list[dict]) -> tuple[dict | None, list[dict]]:
+    """Split stem descriptors into (mixdown, instrument_stems) for PLAYBACK.
+
+    The mixdown is lifted OUT of the stem list because every consumer of `stems`
+    treats that list as layers to sum or to show as mixer channels, and `full` is
+    neither (spec §5.3). Leaving it in is precisely the bug that made the packer
+    invent `original_audio` in the first place: a listed full mix plays on top of
+    the stems.
+
+    A pack whose only stem is `full` is a single-mix pack, not a separated one:
+    there are no instruments to be pristine *against*, so `full` stays the sole
+    playable stem and no mixdown is surfaced. That keeps the freshly-converted
+    single-stem pack — much the most common shape — behaving exactly as before.
+
+    EVERY entry with the reserved id is removed, not just the one we surface. A
+    malformed pack that lists `full` twice would otherwise leave a copy of the
+    whole song behind in the stem list, to be summed with the instruments — the
+    precise failure this function exists to prevent, reintroduced by a duplicate.
+    """
+    if len(stems) < 2:
+        return None, stems
+    full = find_full_mix(stems)
+    if full is None:
+        return None, stems
+    return full, [s for s in stems if str(s.get("id", "")) != FULL_MIX_STEM_ID]
+
+
+def _legacy_full_mix(manifest: dict, source_dir: Path) -> str | None:
+    """Full mix from the DEPRECATED `original_audio:` manifest key, or None.
+
+    Before feedpak 1.15.0 reserved `full`, §5.3 said the mixdown was "commonly
+    replaced" by the per-instrument stems on splitting — so it had nowhere to
+    live, and this repo invented a top-level key pointing at a parallel
+    `original/` directory (#583) to hold it. That key was never in the spec, and
+    #933 removed our dependence on it: the mixdown is a stem.
+
+    We still READ it, because every pack written before the spec caught up
+    carries `original_audio: original/full.ogg` and would otherwise lose its full
+    mix. We never write it. Delete this once those packs are migrated (#945);
+    `tools/migrate_full_mix_stem.py` is the migration.
+
+    NOTE the string literal below. tools/check_spec_conformance.py AST-scans for
+    `manifest.get("<literal>")` to prove every manifest key core reads is one the
+    spec declares. Hoisting "original_audio" into a named constant would hide
+    this read from that scan — the gate would conclude core no longer touches the
+    key, and the grandfather entry that documents this debt would go stale. The
+    literal is what keeps the deprecation honest and visible to CI. Leave it.
+
+    Same permissive, path-traversal-guarded posture as the optional side-files: a
+    missing / escaping / unreadable file leaves the pack without a full mix (the
+    player falls back to the separated stems) rather than aborting the load.
+    Returns the manifest-relative string, so callers build its URL exactly as
+    they build a stem's.
+    """
+    rel_raw = manifest.get("original_audio")
+    if not isinstance(rel_raw, str) or not rel_raw.strip():
+        return None
+    rel = rel_raw.strip()
+    try:
+        target = (source_dir / rel).resolve()
+        target.relative_to(source_dir.resolve())
+    except ValueError:
+        log.warning("sloppak: original_audio path %r escapes source_dir — skipped", rel)
+        return None
+    except OSError as e:
+        log.warning("sloppak: original_audio path resolution failed (%s) — skipped", e)
+        return None
+    if not target.is_file():
+        return None
+    log.info(
+        "sloppak: pack uses the deprecated `original_audio:` key (%r) — the full mix "
+        "is a stem (id `full`, feedpak spec §5.3). Re-pack with "
+        "tools/migrate_full_mix_stem.py; support for this key will be removed.",
+        rel,
+    )
+    return rel
+
+
 # ── Format detection ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 def is_sloppak(path: Path) -> bool:
@@ -81,6 +202,116 @@ _unpack_semaphore = threading.BoundedSemaphore(_UNPACK_MAX_CONCURRENCY)
 _unpack_locks: dict[str, threading.Lock] = {}
 _unpack_locks_guard = threading.Lock()

+# Destinations with an unpack in flight right now. Eviction MUST skip these: two
+# unpacks run concurrently, so one finishing could otherwise rmtree the other's
+# half-written directory and leave that resolver caching an incomplete song.
+_unpacking: set[Path] = set()
+_unpacking_guard = threading.Lock()
+
+# Cap the unpack cache. Stems are already-compressed audio, so an unpacked song
+# is ~1.1x its zip — the cache is effectively a second, DECOMPRESSED copy of
+# every song it holds, and it used to grow without any bound at all. A tester
+# reached 60 GB from a 1800-song library: their whole library, unpacked, because
+# one caller looped the library calling load_song(). Nothing ever deleted any of
+# it — not even when the song itself was deleted.
+#
+# Default 4 GB ≈ 130 average songs of recency, which is far more than the "the
+# song I'm playing, and the last few I played" that this cache actually exists
+# to serve. Override with FEEDBACK_SLOPPAK_CACHE_MAX_MB (0 disables eviction).
+def _unpack_cache_cap_bytes() -> int:
+    raw = os.environ.get("FEEDBACK_SLOPPAK_CACHE_MAX_MB", "").strip()
+    try:
+        mb = int(raw) if raw else 4096
+    except ValueError:
+        mb = 4096
+    return max(0, mb) * 1024 * 1024
+
+
+def _dir_size(path: Path) -> int:
+    total = 0
+    for f in path.rglob("*"):
+        try:
+            if f.is_file():
+                total += f.stat().st_size
+        except OSError:
+            continue
+    return total
+
+
+def _touch(path: Path) -> None:
+    """Bump mtime so the LRU sweep below treats this song as recently used.
+
+    Reading files out of an unpacked dir doesn't change the DIRECTORY's mtime,
+    so without this the song you are actively playing looks as stale as one you
+    unpacked days ago — and a burst of unpacks could evict it mid-song.
+    """
+    try:
+        os.utime(path, None)
+    except OSError:
+        pass
+
+
+def _evict_unpack_cache(root: Path, keep: Path | None = None) -> None:
+    """Bound the unpack cache: drop least-recently-used songs until under the cap.
+
+    `keep` is never evicted — it's the song the caller just resolved, i.e. almost
+    certainly the one about to be played.
+
+    Evicting a directory MUST also drop its `_source_cache` entry. Otherwise
+    get_cached_source_dir() keeps handing out a path that no longer exists and
+    the media route 404s on every stem instead of re-unpacking (it only falls
+    back to resolve_source_dir when the cache returns None).
+    """
+    cap = _unpack_cache_cap_bytes()
+    if cap <= 0:
+        return
+    try:
+        entries = []
+        total = 0
+        for d in root.iterdir():
+            if not d.is_dir():
+                continue
+            try:
+                size = _dir_size(d)
+                mtime = d.stat().st_mtime
+            except OSError:
+                continue
+            entries.append((mtime, size, d))
+            total += size
+        if total <= cap:
+            return
+
+        keep_resolved = keep.resolve() if keep else None
+        entries.sort(key=lambda e: e[0])          # oldest first
+        for _mtime, size, d in entries:
+            if total <= cap:
+                break
+            try:
+                if keep_resolved and d.resolve() == keep_resolved:
+                    continue
+            except OSError:
+                continue
+            # Check-and-delete under ONE hold of the guard. Releasing between the
+            # two would let a resolver mark this dest in-flight and start writing
+            # into it in the gap, and we'd rmtree a song mid-unpack. A resolver
+            # that blocks here simply proceeds afterwards — _unpack_zip recreates
+            # the directory anyway.
+            with _unpacking_guard:
+                if d in _unpacking:
+                    continue                      # another thread is writing this
+                shutil.rmtree(d, ignore_errors=True)
+            if d.exists():
+                continue                          # couldn't remove — don't claim the bytes back
+            total -= size
+            with _source_lock:
+                for fn, (cached_dir, _m, _s) in list(_source_cache.items()):
+                    if cached_dir == d:
+                        _source_cache.pop(fn, None)
+            log.info("sloppak: evicted %s from the unpack cache (%.0f MB)",
+                     d.name, size / 1e6)
+    except OSError:
+        log.warning("sloppak: unpack-cache eviction failed", exc_info=True)
+

 def _unpack_lock_for(filename: str) -> threading.Lock:
    """Return a stable per-file lock so concurrent unpacks of the same sloppak
@@ -145,10 +376,17 @@ def resolve_source_dir(
                      re-unpacks if mtime/size changed, then returns that dir.

    Caches the resolution so subsequent calls are ~free.
+
+    NOTE: this writes the WHOLE pack — every stem — to disk. Only call it for a
+    song you are about to play. To read a *part* of a song (an arrangement, the
+    lyrics, a tone blob), use read_member_bytes(): unpacking a pack to read a few
+    KB of JSON is ~45x write amplification, and doing it in a loop over the
+    library fills the disk with a decompressed copy of every song.
    """
    path = dlc_root / filename
    stat = path.stat()
    mtime, size = stat.st_mtime, stat.st_size
+    guarded: Path | None = None   # a dir WE unpacked, shielded from eviction

    with _source_lock:
        cached = _source_cache.get(filename)
@@ -159,42 +397,76 @@ def resolve_source_dir(
                and cached_size == size
                and cached_dir.exists()
            ):
+                # Mark it recently-used before returning — see _touch().
+                if cached_dir != path:
+                    _touch(cached_dir)
                return cached_dir

-    if path.is_dir():
-        resolved = path
-    else:
-        # Zip form — unpack to the cache. Serialize per-file (so concurrent
-        # callers don't rmtree + re-extract the same dest at once) and cap
-        # global unpack concurrency (so a burst can't saturate disk/CPU).
-        dest = unpack_cache_root / _safe_id(filename)
-        with _unpack_lock_for(filename):
-            # Re-check the cache inside the per-file lock — a prior holder may
-            # have just finished unpacking this exact (mtime, size).
-            with _source_lock:
-                cached = _source_cache.get(filename)
-            if (
-                cached
-                and cached[1] == mtime
-                and cached[2] == size
-                and cached[0].exists()
-            ):
-                resolved = cached[0]
-            else:
-                with _unpack_semaphore:
-                    _unpack_zip(path, dest)
-                resolved = dest
+    try:
+        if path.is_dir():
+            resolved = path
+        else:
+            # Zip form — unpack to the cache. Serialize per-file (so concurrent
+            # callers don't rmtree + re-extract the same dest at once) and cap
+            # global unpack concurrency (so a burst can't saturate disk/CPU).
+            dest = unpack_cache_root / _safe_id(filename)
+            with _unpack_lock_for(filename):
+                # Re-check the cache inside the per-file lock — a prior holder may
+                # have just finished unpacking this exact (mtime, size).
+                with _source_lock:
+                    cached = _source_cache.get(filename)
+                if (
+                    cached
+                    and cached[1] == mtime
+                    and cached[2] == size
+                    and cached[0].exists()
+                ):
+                    resolved = cached[0]
+                else:
+                    # Shield `dest` from eviction from the moment we start writing
+                    # until it is safely in _source_cache. `keep` only shields it
+                    # from OUR OWN sweep — a concurrent resolver sweeping with a
+                    # different `keep` would delete it, and we would then cache and
+                    # return a path that no longer exists. The `finally` below
+                    # releases it on EVERY exit, including a failed unpack: leaving
+                    # a dest marked in-flight would make it un-evictable forever.
+                    with _unpacking_guard:
+                        _unpacking.add(dest)
+                    guarded = dest
+                    with _unpack_semaphore:
+                        _unpack_zip(path, dest)
+                    resolved = dest
+                    # The only moment this cache grows. Sweep here rather than on a
+                    # timer so it can never drift far past the cap.
+                    _evict_unpack_cache(unpack_cache_root, keep=dest)

-    with _source_lock:
-        _source_cache[filename] = (resolved, mtime, size)
-    return resolved
+        with _source_lock:
+            _source_cache[filename] = (resolved, mtime, size)
+        return resolved
+    finally:
+        if guarded is not None:
+            with _unpacking_guard:
+                _unpacking.discard(guarded)


 def get_cached_source_dir(filename: str) -> Path | None:
-    """Return the cached source dir for a sloppak if one is known."""
+    """Return the cached source dir for a sloppak if one is known AND still there.
+
+    The existence check is load-bearing: callers (media.py) only fall back to
+    resolve_source_dir() when this returns None, so handing back a path that has
+    been evicted — or that the user deleted by hand to reclaim disk — would 404
+    every stem for the rest of the process instead of re-unpacking.
+    """
    with _source_lock:
        cached = _source_cache.get(filename)
-        return cached[0] if cached else None
+        if not cached:
+            return None
+        src = cached[0]
+        if not src.is_dir():
+            _source_cache.pop(filename, None)
+            return None
+        _touch(src)
+        return src


 # ── Manifest + song loading ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -233,6 +505,82 @@ def load_manifest(path: Path) -> dict:
    return _read_manifest_from_zip(path)


+_ZIP_ROOT = Path("/_root").resolve()
+
+
+def _zip_member_key(name: str) -> str | None:
+    """Canonical lookup key for a zip member name, or None if it escapes the root.
+
+    Collapses './', 'a/../b' and backslash separators — the same normalization
+    _unpack_zip()/safe_join() apply when extracting. Both the name the caller asks
+    for AND the names the archive actually stores must go through this, or a pack
+    that stores './arrangements/lead.json' unpacks fine but reads back as missing.
+    """
+    safe = safe_join(_ZIP_ROOT, name or "")
+    # None → escapes the root; == root → a degenerate name like "." or "a/..".
+    if safe is None or safe == _ZIP_ROOT:
+        return None
+    return safe.relative_to(_ZIP_ROOT).as_posix()
+
+
+def read_member_bytes(path: Path, rel: str) -> bytes | None:
+    """Return the bytes of ONE file inside a sloppak, or None if it isn't there.
+
+    For a zipped sloppak this opens that single member instead of unpacking the
+    archive — the same trick read_cover_bytes() uses to keep the library grid
+    from exploding every pack just to show a cover.
+
+    Reach for this whenever you want a *part* of a song (an arrangement's JSON,
+    the lyrics, a tone blob) rather than a song you're about to play. The
+    alternative, load_song(), calls resolve_source_dir() and writes the WHOLE
+    pack — every stem — into the unpack cache. That is a ~45x write amplification
+    when all you wanted was a few KB of JSON, and looping the library on it
+    unpacks the entire library (got-feedBack/feedBack: a tester hit 60 GB that
+    way). Stems are already-compressed audio, so an unpacked song is ~1.1x its
+    zip: the cache becomes a second, decompressed copy of everything it touches.
+    """
+    rel = (rel or "").strip()
+    if not rel:
+        return None
+
+    if path.is_dir():
+        target = safe_join(path.resolve(), rel)
+        if target is None or not target.is_file():
+            return None
+        try:
+            return target.read_bytes()
+        except OSError:
+            return None
+
+    # Zip form — read just that member, no unpack. Zip-slip is rejected before we
+    # open anything, and both sides of the comparison are normalized, so a
+    # non-canonical-but-valid name ('./arrangements/lead.json') resolves the same
+    # way it did when we unpacked first.
+    member = _zip_member_key(rel)
+    if member is None:
+        log.warning("sloppak: rejected unsafe member name %r in %r", rel, path)
+        return None
+    try:
+        with zipfile.ZipFile(str(path), "r") as zf:
+            # Match on the NORMALIZED stored name, and take the LAST match — the
+            # archive may store './x' or a backslash path (Windows tooling), and
+            # if it stores two names that normalize to the same file, _unpack_zip
+            # writes them in order so the last one wins. Reading the raw member by
+            # exact name would miss the first case and return the wrong bytes in
+            # the second. A pack has a handful of members; the scan is free.
+            info = None
+            for cand in zf.infolist():
+                if _zip_member_key(cand.filename) == member:
+                    info = cand
+            if info is None or info.is_dir():
+                return None
+            with zf.open(info) as f:
+                return f.read()
+    except (zipfile.BadZipFile, OSError, RuntimeError) as e:
+        log.warning("sloppak: failed to read %r from %s: %s", rel, path.name, e)
+        return None
+
+
 _COVER_MEDIA_TYPES = {
    ".jpg": "image/jpeg", ".jpeg": "image/jpeg",
    ".png": "image/png", ".webp": "image/webp",
@@ -367,14 +715,140 @@ class LoadedSloppak:
    # song.arrangements (not to manifest["arrangements"]) — skipped entries are
    # absent so indexing by song.arrangements index is safe.
    arrangement_ids: list[str | None] = field(default_factory=list)
-    # Manifest-relative path to the single full-mix audio file, taken from the
-    # manifest `original_audio:` key (e.g. "original/full.ogg"). This is the
-    # pre-separation mixdown that exists alongside the per-instrument `stems`.
-    # None when the key is absent, points outside source_dir, or the file is
-    # missing on disk. Served to the front-end via the highway WS as
-    # `original_audio_url`; the stems plugin uses it to play the untouched mix
-    # when every stem slider is at unity (and the separate stems otherwise).
-    original_audio: str | None = None
+    # Manifest-relative path to the pack's complete mixdown — the whole song in
+    # one file, as heard before source separation. This is the RESERVED `full`
+    # stem (spec §5.3), lifted out of `stems` above precisely because it is NOT
+    # an instrument layer: summing it with the per-instrument stems it was split
+    # into would double the entire song. See partition_stems().
+    #
+    # None when the pack has no mixdown to offer *separately* from its stems —
+    # which includes the common single-mix pack, whose only stem IS the mixdown
+    # (there is nothing to be pristine against, so it stays in `stems`).
+    #
+    # Served to the front-end via the highway WS as `full_mix_url`; the stems
+    # plugin plays it while every stem slider sits at unity and crosses to the
+    # separated stems the moment one drops below 100% — demucs recombination is
+    # lossy, so the mixdown is strictly the better audio when nothing is muted.
+    full_mix: str | None = None
+    # The song's DRUM PARTS (feedpak 1.17.0 "drums as arrangements"): one dict
+    # {"id", "name", "drum_tab"} per part, primary FIRST. A part comes from a
+    # `type: drums` arrangement entry carrying a per-arrangement `drum_tab`
+    # file pointer and NO note `file` — entries this loader deliberately never
+    # turns into fretted Arrangements (see the file/notation gate in
+    # load_song; that skip IS the grading invariant). The primary part's
+    # payload is the SAME object as `drum_tab` above (the song-level key is
+    # its back-compat alias). None when the pack has no drums at all; a
+    # single-part list for a legacy pack with only the song-level key.
+    drum_parts: list[dict] | None = None
+
+
+def _load_drum_tab_file(source_dir: Path, rel: str, label: str) -> dict | None:
+    """Load + schema-validate one drum-tab JSON named by a manifest-relative
+    path. Shared by the song-level `drum_tab:` key and the per-arrangement
+    drum-part pointers (feedpak 1.17.0), so every tab gets the same posture:
+    permissive — a missing file disables that part silently; a traversal,
+    parse, or validation failure disables it with a warning, never aborting
+    the load."""
+    # Constrain to source_dir to prevent a crafted manifest from reading
+    # files outside the sloppak directory via path traversal (e.g. ../../etc).
+    # Wrap both resolve() calls in a broad handler: symlink loops and
+    # permission errors on .resolve() should disable drums, not abort load.
+    try:
+        dt_path = (source_dir / rel).resolve()
+        dt_path.relative_to(source_dir.resolve())
+    except ValueError:
+        log.warning("sloppak: %s path %r escapes source_dir — skipped", label, rel)
+        return None
+    except OSError as e:
+        log.warning("sloppak: %s path resolution failed (%s) — skipped", label, e)
+        return None
+    if not dt_path.exists():
+        return None
+    try:
+        raw = load_json(dt_path)
+    except Exception as e:
+        log.warning("sloppak: failed to parse %s %r: %s", label, rel, e)
+        return None
+    ok, reason = drums_mod.validate_drum_tab(raw)
+    if not ok:
+        log.warning("sloppak: %s %r failed validation: %s", label, rel, reason)
+        return None
+    return raw
+
+
+def _resolve_drum_parts(
+    source_dir: Path,
+    drum_tab_rel: object,
+    drum_tab_data: dict | None,
+    drum_pointer_entries: list[dict],
+) -> tuple[dict | None, list[dict] | None]:
+    """Resolve drum pointers into a primary-first list with unique ids."""
+    if drum_tab_data is None and not drum_pointer_entries:
+        return drum_tab_data, None
+
+    primary_id = "drums"
+    primary_name = None
+    extra_parts: list[dict] = []
+    seen_rels: set[str] = set()
+    # Use the same canonical, traversal-safe identity as zip member lookup so
+    # equivalent spellings ("x.json", "./x.json", or backslashes) identify
+    # one file. Otherwise an alias pointer can reload and duplicate the primary.
+    primary_rel_key = (
+        _zip_member_key(drum_tab_rel.strip())
+        if isinstance(drum_tab_rel, str) and drum_tab_rel.strip() else None
+    )
+    for entry in drum_pointer_entries:
+        rel = str(entry.get("drum_tab") or "").strip()
+        rel_key = _zip_member_key(rel) if rel else None
+        rel_identity = rel_key or rel
+        if not rel or rel_identity in seen_rels:
+            continue
+        seen_rels.add(rel_identity)
+        entry_id = str(entry.get("id") or "").strip()
+        entry_name = str(entry.get("name") or "").strip()
+        if primary_rel_key is not None and rel_key == primary_rel_key:
+            if entry_id:
+                primary_id = entry_id
+            if entry_name:
+                primary_name = entry_name
+            continue
+        tab = _load_drum_tab_file(source_dir, rel, f"drum part {entry_id or rel}")
+        if tab is None:
+            continue
+        tab_name = tab.get("name")
+        extra_parts.append({
+            "id": entry_id,
+            "name": entry_name
+                or (tab_name if isinstance(tab_name, str) and tab_name else "Drums"),
+            "drum_tab": tab,
+        })
+
+    parts: list[dict] = []
+    used_ids: set[str] = set()
+    if drum_tab_data is not None:
+        if primary_name is None:
+            tab_name = drum_tab_data.get("name")
+            primary_name = tab_name if isinstance(tab_name, str) and tab_name else "Drums"
+        parts.append({"id": primary_id, "name": primary_name, "drum_tab": drum_tab_data})
+        used_ids.add(primary_id)
+
+    next_generated_id = 2
+    for part in extra_parts:
+        part_id = part["id"]
+        if not part_id or part_id in used_ids:
+            while f"drums-{next_generated_id}" in used_ids:
+                next_generated_id += 1
+            part_id = f"drums-{next_generated_id}"
+            next_generated_id += 1
+        part["id"] = part_id
+        used_ids.add(part_id)
+        parts.append(part)
+
+    if not parts:
+        return drum_tab_data, None
+    if drum_tab_data is None:
+        drum_tab_data = parts[0]["drum_tab"]
+    return drum_tab_data, parts


 def load_song(
@@ -399,6 +873,7 @@ def load_song(
    notation_acc: dict[str, dict] = {}
    any_notation = False
    arrangement_ids_acc: list[str | None] = []  # parallel to song.arrangements
+    drum_pointer_entries: list[dict] = []  # feedpak 1.17.0 drum-part pointers
    for entry in manifest.get("arrangements", []) or []:
        if not isinstance(entry, dict):
            log.warning("sloppak: non-dict arrangement entry skipped (%r)", type(entry).__name__)
@@ -407,7 +882,30 @@ def load_song(
        rel = rel_raw.strip() if isinstance(rel_raw, str) else ""
        notation_raw = entry.get("notation")
        has_notation_key = isinstance(notation_raw, str) and bool(notation_raw.strip())
-        if not rel and not has_notation_key:
+        _etype = str(entry.get("type") or "").strip().lower()
+        is_drums = _etype in ("drums", "drum")
+        # A drums-typed entry MUST NEVER become a fretted Arrangement (grading
+        # invariant, spec §5.2/§7.5): route on `type` FIRST, not on file
+        # absence — a malformed drums entry that also carries a note file/
+        # notation would otherwise fall through and grade as garbage.
+        if is_drums or (not rel and not has_notation_key):
+            # A DRUM-PART POINTER entry (feedpak 1.17.0 "drums as
+            # arrangements"): `type: drums` with a per-arrangement `drum_tab`
+            # file. Collect it for the drum-parts load after this loop.
+            if is_drums and isinstance(entry.get("drum_tab"), str):
+                drum_pointer_entries.append(entry)
+            elif is_drums:
+                # Drums-typed but no drum_tab pointer — drop it (any note
+                # file/notation it carries is ignored), never fret it.
+                log.warning(
+                    "sloppak: drums-typed arrangement entry %r has no drum_tab pointer — dropped",
+                    entry.get("id"),
+                )
+            elif isinstance(entry.get("drum_tab"), str):
+                log.warning(
+                    "sloppak: arrangement entry has drum_tab %r but type=%r — ignored",
+                    entry.get("drum_tab"), entry.get("type"),
+                )
            continue
        data = None
        if rel:
@@ -423,7 +921,7 @@ def load_song(
            if not arr_path.exists():
                continue
            try:
-                data = json.loads(arr_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+                data = load_json(arr_path)
            except Exception as e:
                log.debug("sloppak: failed to parse arrangement %r: %s", rel, e)
                continue
@@ -437,6 +935,11 @@ def load_song(
        # the arrangement JSON (name, tuning, capo, centOffset).
        if entry.get("name"):
            arr.name = str(entry["name"])
+        # Editor-authored instrument type (feedpak-spec §5.2 / editor PR #335).
+        # Drives arrangement_string_count's bass fallback so a bass authored on
+        # an arrangement whose NAME doesn't say "bass" still reports 4 strings.
+        if entry.get("type"):
+            arr.type = str(entry["type"]).strip().lower()
        if "tuning" in entry:
            arr.tuning = list(entry["tuning"])
        if "capo" in entry:
@@ -489,7 +992,7 @@ def load_song(
        raw_nt = None
        if nt_path is not None and nt_path.exists():
            try:
-                raw_nt = json.loads(nt_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+                raw_nt = load_json(nt_path)
            except Exception as e:
                log.warning("sloppak: failed to parse notation %r: %s", notation_rel, e)
        if raw_nt is not None:
@@ -513,32 +1016,13 @@ def load_song(
    drum_tab_data: dict | None = None
    drum_tab_rel = manifest.get("drum_tab")
    if isinstance(drum_tab_rel, str) and drum_tab_rel:
-        # Constrain to source_dir to prevent a crafted manifest from reading
-        # files outside the sloppak directory via path traversal (e.g. ../../etc).
-        # Wrap both resolve() calls in a broad handler: symlink loops and
-        # permission errors on .resolve() should disable drums, not abort load.
-        try:
-            dt_path = (source_dir / drum_tab_rel).resolve()
-            dt_path.relative_to(source_dir.resolve())
-        except ValueError:
-            log.warning("sloppak: drum_tab path %r escapes source_dir — skipped", drum_tab_rel)
-            dt_path = None
-        except OSError as e:
-            log.warning("sloppak: drum_tab path resolution failed (%s) — skipped", e)
-            dt_path = None
-        if dt_path is not None and dt_path.exists():
-            try:
-                raw = json.loads(dt_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
-            except Exception as e:
-                log.warning("sloppak: failed to parse drum_tab %r: %s", drum_tab_rel, e)
-                raw = None
-            if raw is not None:
-                ok, reason = drums_mod.validate_drum_tab(raw)
-                if ok:
-                    drum_tab_data = raw
-                else:
-                    log.warning("sloppak: drum_tab %r failed validation: %s",
-                                drum_tab_rel, reason)
+        drum_tab_data = _load_drum_tab_file(source_dir, drum_tab_rel, "drum_tab")
+
+    # Keep the dense compatibility logic independently testable and guarantee
+    # ids are unique before the highway exposes them as selectors.
+    drum_tab_data, drum_parts = _resolve_drum_parts(
+        source_dir, drum_tab_rel, drum_tab_data, drum_pointer_entries,
+    )

    # Drum-only sloppak: every GP track was percussion, so it ships a
    # drum_tab but no pitched arrangements. The highway WS rejects an empty
@@ -588,7 +1072,7 @@ def load_song(
            st_path = None
        if st_path is not None and st_path.exists():
            try:
-                raw = json.loads(st_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+                raw = load_json(st_path)
            except Exception as e:
                log.warning("sloppak: failed to parse song_timeline %r: %s", song_timeline_rel, e)
                raw = None
@@ -686,7 +1170,7 @@ def load_song(
            lyr_path = None
        if lyr_path is not None and lyr_path.exists():
            try:
-                raw = json.loads(lyr_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+                raw = load_json(lyr_path)
            except Exception as e:
                log.debug("sloppak: failed to parse lyrics %r: %s", lyrics_rel, e)
                raw = None
@@ -703,20 +1187,32 @@ def load_song(
                    and isinstance(e.get("d"), (int, float))
                ]
                if song.lyrics:
-                    # Provenance — populated by the converter (xml/notechart),
-                    # the WhisperX fallback (whisperx), or hand-edits
-                    # (user). Validate against the closed enum so a
-                    # hand-edited (or otherwise malformed) manifest can't
-                    # propagate a YAML dict / list / arbitrary string
-                    # into the highway WS `lyrics.source` field and out
-                    # to plugin badges. Anything outside the enum (or
-                    # the wrong type) falls back to "xml" — the spec's
-                    # back-compat default — instead of being stringified
-                    # and trusted.
-                    _ALLOWED_LYRICS_SOURCES = {"xml", "notechart", "whisperx", "user"}
-                    # Legacy alias: older manifests labelled note-chart-derived
-                    # lyrics with the source format's name; normalise it.
-                    _LYRICS_SOURCE_ALIASES = {"sng": "notechart"}
+                    # Provenance. The feedpak spec (§7.1) vocabulary is
+                    # {authored, transcribed, user}; older manifests + the
+                    # in-tree readers also use the source-format names
+                    # (xml/notechart) and the WhisperX engine name
+                    # (whisperx). Accept the union so both spec-compliant
+                    # writers (e.g. the stem_splitter plugin emitting
+                    # `transcribed`) and legacy packs validate. Validate
+                    # against the closed enum so a hand-edited (or otherwise
+                    # malformed) manifest can't propagate a YAML dict / list /
+                    # arbitrary string into the highway WS `lyrics.source`
+                    # field and out to plugin badges. Anything outside the
+                    # enum (or the wrong type) falls back to "xml" — the
+                    # back-compat default — instead of being stringified and
+                    # trusted.
+                    # Post-alias values only: `whisperx` is normalised to
+                    # `transcribed` before the membership check below, so (like
+                    # `sng`) it is intentionally absent from this set.
+                    _ALLOWED_LYRICS_SOURCES = {
+                        "xml", "notechart", "user",
+                        "authored", "transcribed",
+                    }
+                    # Legacy aliases: older manifests labelled note-chart-derived
+                    # lyrics with the source format's name, and the WhisperX
+                    # fallback with the engine name — normalise both to the
+                    # spec vocabulary the badges now expect.
+                    _LYRICS_SOURCE_ALIASES = {"sng": "notechart", "whisperx": "transcribed"}
                    raw_source = manifest.get("lyrics_source")
                    if isinstance(raw_source, str):
                        raw_source = _LYRICS_SOURCE_ALIASES.get(raw_source, raw_source)
@@ -747,12 +1243,26 @@ def load_song(
        sfile = str(s.get("file", ""))
        if not sid or not sfile:
            continue
-        default_val = s.get("default", True)
-        if isinstance(default_val, str):
-            default_on = default_val.lower() not in ("off", "false", "0", "no")
-        else:
-            default_on = bool(default_val)
-        stems.append({"id": sid, "file": sfile, "default": default_on})
+        entry = {
+            "id": sid,
+            "file": sfile,
+            "default": stem_default_on(s.get("default", True)),
+        }
+        # Optional presentational fields (feedpak 1.16.0, spec §5.3). Omitted —
+        # not None — when absent, so payload builders can pass entries through
+        # without every stem growing null keys.
+        for key in ("name", "description"):
+            val = s.get(key)
+            if isinstance(val, str) and val.strip():
+                entry[key] = val
+        stems.append(entry)
+
+    # The complete mixdown is a stem (spec §5.3), but it is not a *layer*: lift
+    # it out so that no consumer of `stems` — the mixer, the library's stem
+    # chips, the WS payload — sums it with, or lists it beside, the instruments
+    # it was separated into. `full_mix_stem` is None for a single-mix pack,
+    # whose only stem IS the mixdown and stays in the list.
+    full_mix_stem, stems = partition_stems(stems)

    # Optional keys.json — song-level, instrument-independent key/scale track
    # (manifest `keys:` key, spec §7.7). Permissive like the other side-files:
@@ -773,7 +1283,7 @@ def load_song(
            k_path = None
        if k_path is not None and k_path.exists():
            try:
-                raw = json.loads(k_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+                raw = load_json(k_path)
            except Exception as e:
                log.warning("sloppak: failed to parse keys %r: %s", keys_rel, e)
                raw = None
@@ -816,28 +1326,22 @@ def load_song(
                    }

    _fpv = manifest.get("feedpak_version")
-    # Optional full-mix audio — manifest `original_audio:` key. The single
-    # pre-separation mixdown that ships alongside the per-instrument stems.
-    # Same permissive, path-traversal-guarded posture as drum_tab above: a
-    # missing/escaping/absent file simply leaves the full mix unavailable (the
-    # player falls back to the separate stems) rather than aborting the load.
-    # We store the manifest-relative string so server.py can build its URL the
-    # same way it builds stem URLs (via the /api/sloppak/.../file/ endpoint).
-    original_audio_data: str | None = None
-    original_audio_rel = manifest.get("original_audio")
-    if isinstance(original_audio_rel, str) and original_audio_rel.strip():
-        rel = original_audio_rel.strip()
-        try:
-            oa_path = (source_dir / rel).resolve()
-            oa_path.relative_to(source_dir.resolve())
-        except ValueError:
-            log.warning("sloppak: original_audio path %r escapes source_dir — skipped", rel)
-            oa_path = None
-        except OSError as e:
-            log.warning("sloppak: original_audio path resolution failed (%s) — skipped", e)
-            oa_path = None
-        if oa_path is not None and oa_path.is_file():
-            original_audio_data = rel
+    # The pack's full mix. Normally the RESERVED `full` stem partitioned out
+    # above (spec §5.3) — no path work needed, it was validated with the other
+    # stems and its URL is built the same way. Only when the pack has no `full`
+    # stem do we fall back to the DEPRECATED `original_audio:` key, which is the
+    # shape every pack written before feedpak 1.15.0 uses.
+    if full_mix_stem is not None:
+        full_mix_data: str | None = full_mix_stem["file"]
+    elif find_full_mix(stems) is not None:
+        # Single-mix pack: its ONE stem is the mixdown, so there is no mixdown to
+        # offer *apart from* the stems. Never fall through to the legacy key here
+        # — a pack that both carries a `full` stem and names the old key would
+        # otherwise surface the mixdown twice (once as the stem the player is
+        # already playing, once as a "pristine" track to cross to).
+        full_mix_data = None
+    else:
+        full_mix_data = _legacy_full_mix(manifest, source_dir)

    return LoadedSloppak(
        song=song,
@@ -846,13 +1350,14 @@ def load_song(
        manifest=manifest,
        feedpak_version=_fpv if isinstance(_fpv, str) and _fpv else None,
        drum_tab=drum_tab_data,
+        drum_parts=drum_parts,
        song_timeline=song_timeline_data,
        tempos=tempos_data,
        time_signatures=time_sigs_data,
        keys=keys_data,
        notation_by_id=notation_by_id_data,
        arrangement_ids=arrangement_ids_acc,
-        original_audio=original_audio_data,
+        full_mix=full_mix_data,
    )


@@ -873,6 +1378,27 @@ def _tuning_for_meta(arrangements_manifest: list[dict]) -> list[int]:
    return [0] * 6


+def _role_tuning_for_meta(arrangements_manifest: list[dict], role: str) -> list[int] | None:
+    """Per-ROLE companion to _tuning_for_meta: the tuning of the arrangement
+    playing `role` ("bass" / "rhythm"), or None when the pack has no such
+    arrangement with a tuning — the index then leaves that perspective's
+    columns empty and the library falls back to the song (guitar-first)
+    tuning, marking the row inferred.
+
+    Exact name first, then a looser containment pass so an alt/bonus chart
+    ("Bass 2", "Alt Rhythm") still beats pretending the part is in the lead
+    guitar's tuning."""
+    for match_exact in (True, False):
+        for entry in arrangements_manifest:
+            name = str(entry.get("name", "")).lower()
+            tun = entry.get("tuning")
+            if not (tun and isinstance(tun, list)):
+                continue
+            if name == role if match_exact else role in name:
+                return list(tun)
+    return None
+
+
 def extract_meta(path: Path) -> dict:
    """Fast metadata for the library scanner. Reads only the manifest."""
    manifest = load_manifest(path)
@@ -895,9 +1421,13 @@ def extract_meta(path: Path) -> dict:

    has_lyrics = bool(manifest.get("lyrics"))
    tuning_offsets = _tuning_for_meta(arr_list)
+    # Per-role tunings alongside the song-level one, so the library can answer
+    # for whichever arrangement the player actually plays.
+    role_tunings = {f"{role}_tuning_offsets": _role_tuning_for_meta(arr_list, role)
+                    for role in ("bass", "rhythm")}

    stems_list = manifest.get("stems", []) or []
-    stem_ids: list[str] = []
+    valid_stems: list[dict] = []
    for s in stems_list:
        if not isinstance(s, dict):
            continue
@@ -911,7 +1441,13 @@ def extract_meta(path: Path) -> dict:
            isinstance(sid, str) and sid
            and isinstance(sfile, str) and sfile
        ):
-            stem_ids.append(sid)
+            valid_stems.append({"id": sid, "file": sfile})
+    # Partition exactly as load_song() does, for the same reason the library
+    # filter must not lie: `full` is the mixdown, not an instrument (spec §5.3).
+    # A separated pack that retains it would otherwise offer the user a "full"
+    # stem chip alongside guitar/bass/drums and count it as a seventh stem.
+    _full, instrument_stems = partition_stems(valid_stems)
+    stem_ids = [s["id"] for s in instrument_stems]
    stem_count = len(stem_ids)

    return {
@@ -919,8 +1455,16 @@ def extract_meta(path: Path) -> dict:
        "artist": str(manifest.get("artist", "")),
        "album": str(manifest.get("album", "")),
        "year": str(manifest.get("year", "") or ""),
+        # Primary genre from the feedpak `genres` list (spec 1.12.0); [0] = primary.
+        "genre": (lambda g: str(g[0]) if isinstance(g, list) and g else "")(manifest.get("genres")),
+        # Album track order from the feedpak `track`/`disc` fields (spec 1.12.0);
+        # None when unauthored (the album view then falls back to title order).
+        "track_number": (lambda v: int(v) if str(v if v is not None else "").strip().isdigit() else None)(manifest.get("track")),
+        "disc": (lambda v: int(v) if str(v if v is not None else "").strip().isdigit() else None)(manifest.get("disc")),
        "duration": float(manifest.get("duration", 0) or 0),
        "tuning_offsets": tuning_offsets,  # caller maps to a name via tunings.tuning_name
+        # None = the pack has no arrangement in that role.
+        **role_tunings,
        "arrangements": arrangements,
        "has_lyrics": has_lyrics,
        "stem_count": stem_count,
@@ -56,6 +56,13 @@ class Note:
    strum_group: int = -1
    scale_degree: int = -1
    ignore: bool = False
+    # Keys hand assignment ('lh'/'rh', None = unassigned) — authored per-note,
+    # e.g. from a MusicXML grand staff import in the editor. Lets the notation
+    # hand split and hands-separate practice honor the author instead of the
+    # mean-pitch heuristic. Distinct from `right_hand` (the bass plucking
+    # finger); spelled-out `hand` on the wire because `rh` is taken.
+    # Default-omitted on the wire; older readers ignore it.
+    hand: str | None = None


@dataclass
@@ -175,6 +182,12 @@ class Arrangement:
    # `base`/`changes` drive the highway tone-change markers; `definitions`
    # feed the Tones plugin gear panel.
    tones: dict | None = None
+    # Editor-authored instrument type (feedpak-spec §5.2 / editor PR #335):
+    # "bass" | "guitar" | "piano" | "keys" | "drums" | "". First-class DATA that
+    # lets a user author an instrument on an arrangement whose NAME doesn't say
+    # so. Lifted from the sloppak manifest entry by sloppak.load_song(); "" for
+    # archive/loose sources, which instead carry the path_* flags below.
+    type: str = ""
    # arrangement XML <arrangementProperties> flags for smart naming (feedBack feat/arrangement).
    # Populated from the XML; default False/0 for sloppak / GP-imported sources.
    path_lead: bool = False
@@ -272,6 +285,10 @@ def note_to_wire(n: Note) -> dict:
        out["ch"] = n.strum_group
    if n.scale_degree != -1:
        out["sd"] = n.scale_degree
+    # Keys hand assignment — default-omitted; validated on emit so a
+    # directly-constructed Note can't put junk ('LH', True, …) on the wire.
+    if n.hand in ("lh", "rh"):
+        out["hand"] = n.hand
    return out


@@ -492,8 +509,8 @@ def note_pitch_midi(arr: "Arrangement", note: "Note") -> int | None:
    O(notes) via ``arrangement_string_count`` — for a whole arrangement, hoist
    the base with :func:`base_open_string_midis` and call :func:`pitch_from_base`
    per note instead."""
-    is_bass = "bass" in (arr.name or "").lower()
-    base = base_open_string_midis(arrangement_string_count(arr), is_bass)
+    base = base_open_string_midis(arrangement_string_count(arr),
+                                  arrangement_is_bass(arr))
    return pitch_from_base(base, int(getattr(arr, "capo", 0) or 0),
                           arr.tuning or [], note.string, note.fret)

@@ -532,6 +549,10 @@ def note_from_wire(d: dict, time: float | None = None) -> Note:
        strum_group=_wire_int_optional(d.get("ch"), -1),
        scale_degree=_wire_int_optional(d.get("sd"), -1),
        ignore=bool(d.get("ig", False)),
+        # Keys hand assignment — strict enum decode: anything but 'lh'/'rh'
+        # (junk, wrong case, bools) falls back to unassigned rather than
+        # poisoning downstream hand-split/practice logic.
+        hand=d.get("hand") if d.get("hand") in ("lh", "rh") else None,
    )


@@ -618,6 +639,23 @@ def phrase_from_wire(d: dict) -> Phrase:
    )


+def arrangement_is_bass(arr: Arrangement) -> bool:
+    """Whether ``arr`` is a bass, most-authoritative signal first: an
+    editor-authored ``type == "bass"`` (feedpak-spec §5.2 / editor PR #335,
+    lifted onto sloppaks by :func:`sloppak.load_song`), then the archive
+    ``path_bass`` <arrangementProperties> flag, then the legacy "bass"
+    case-insensitive substring in the name. Single source of the bass decision
+    so string-count derivation and the open-string pitch base (via
+    :func:`base_open_string_midis`) agree — a bass authored on an arrangement
+    whose NAME doesn't say "bass" must get both 4 lanes AND the bass MIDI base,
+    not 4 lanes on a guitar octave."""
+    return (
+        (arr.type or "").strip().lower() == "bass"
+        or bool(arr.path_bass)
+        or "bass" in (arr.name or "").lower()
+    )
+
+
 def arrangement_string_count(arr: Arrangement) -> int:
    """Derive the active arrangement's string count.

@@ -635,10 +673,17 @@ def arrangement_string_count(arr: Arrangement) -> int:
       But this is a LOWER BOUND only — a 6-string lead chart that
       never plays string 5 reports 5, undercounting by 1.

-    2. **Name-based fallback.** Arrangements named "Bass" (case-
-       insensitive substring match) default to 4; everything else
-       defaults to 6. This catches the partial-string-usage case
-       where notes don't span all the instrument's strings.
+    2. **Instrument-type fallback.** An arrangement whose authoritative
+       instrument signal says bass defaults to 4; everything else
+       defaults to 6. This catches the partial-string-usage case where
+       notes don't span all the instrument's strings. The bass signal is
+       any of: an editor-authored ``type == "bass"`` (feedpak-spec §5.2 /
+       editor PR #335 — lifted onto sloppaks by ``sloppak.load_song``),
+       the ``path_bass`` <arrangementProperties> flag (archive/DLC
+       sources), or the legacy "bass" case-insensitive substring in the
+       name. Trusting ``type``/``path_bass`` closes the gap where a user
+       authors a bass instrument on an arrangement whose NAME doesn't say
+       "bass" (the editor lays out 4 lanes; core must agree).

    A third signal — ``len(arr.tuning)`` when it isn't the arrangement XML
    padded value of 6 — folds in for sloppak / GP-imported sources
@@ -669,6 +714,10 @@ def arrangement_string_count(arr: Arrangement) -> int:
      max(0, 4, 0) = 4
    * Empty arrangement named "Lead" (tuning len 6) →
      max(0, 6, 0) = 6
+    * Editor-authored bass named "Low End" (type "bass", tuning len 6,
+      notes 0..3) → name_based=4 → max(4, 4, 0) = 4
+    * DLC bass named "Low End" (pathBass flag set, tuning len 6, notes
+      0..3) → name_based=4 → max(4, 4, 0) = 4

    Topkoa's issue argues plugins shouldn't do arrangement-name
    matching; server-side fallback IS the right place for it
@@ -684,7 +733,9 @@ def arrangement_string_count(arr: Arrangement) -> int:
            if cn.string > max_s:
                max_s = cn.string
    notes_count = max_s + 1 if max_s >= 0 else 0
-    name_based = 4 if "bass" in arr.name.lower() else 6
+    # Bass signal (type / pathBass / name substring) — see arrangement_is_bass.
+    # Any one being bass pulls the fallback to 4.
+    name_based = 4 if arrangement_is_bass(arr) else 6
    # Tuning-length signal — only trustworthy when NOT the arrangement XML
    # padded value of 6. Length 4/5 indicates explicit bass / 5-string
    # bass; length 7/8 indicates an extended-range guitar from GP.
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ source of truth, so the change survives both incremental and full rescans.
 only the keys present are overwritten, so an edit of just the title can't blank
 out the artist.

-Only feedBack's own ``.sloppak`` format (zip- or directory-form) is writable.
-Unknown / unsupported shapes return False and the caller keeps the DB-only
-update.
+Only feedBack's own song-package format (zip- or directory-form, ``.feedpak``
+or the legacy ``.sloppak`` suffix) is writable. Unknown / unsupported shapes
+return False and the caller keeps the DB-only update.
 """
 from __future__ import annotations

@@ -107,19 +107,75 @@ def write_sloppak_metadata(path: Path, fields: dict) -> bool:
    return _rewrite_zip_manifest(path, dumped)


+def gap_fill_sloppak(path: Path, additions: dict) -> bool:
+    """Append ABSENT top-level keys to a sloppak manifest (the gap-fill
+    contract: user-initiated, adds missing keys only, never replaces
+    anything the author set).
+
+    Unlike ``write_sloppak_metadata`` this does NOT re-serialize the
+    manifest — because every added key is absent by definition, the new
+    lines can simply be appended, so the author's existing bytes (key
+    order, comments, formatting) survive verbatim. Directory form gets a
+    one-time ``manifest.yaml.bak`` + temp + atomic replace; zip form goes
+    through the same backup/temp/replace rewriter the metadata editor
+    uses. Returns True if anything was written; raises ``ValueError`` if
+    a requested key already exists (callers are expected to have checked
+    — this is the last-line never-clobber guard)."""
+    import sloppak as sloppak_mod
+
+    path = Path(path)
+    if not additions:
+        return False
+    manifest = sloppak_mod.load_manifest(path) or {}
+    clash = sorted(k for k in additions if k in manifest)
+    if clash:
+        raise ValueError("gap-fill refused: key(s) already present: " + ", ".join(clash))
+
+    if path.is_dir():
+        mf = path / "manifest.yaml"
+        if not mf.exists() and (path / "manifest.yml").exists():
+            mf = path / "manifest.yml"
+        original = mf.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    else:
+        with zipfile.ZipFile(str(path), "r") as zin:
+            names = zin.namelist()
+            manifest_name = "manifest.yaml"
+            for cand in ("manifest.yaml", "manifest.yml"):
+                if cand in names:
+                    manifest_name = cand
+                    break
+            original = zin.read(manifest_name).decode("utf-8")
+
+    appended = original if original.endswith("\n") or not original else original + "\n"
+    appended += yaml.safe_dump(additions, sort_keys=False, allow_unicode=True)
+
+    if path.is_dir():
+        backup = mf.with_name(mf.name + ".bak")
+        if not backup.exists():
+            shutil.copy2(mf, backup)
+        tmp = mf.with_name(mf.name + ".tmp")
+        tmp.write_text(appended, encoding="utf-8")
+        tmp.replace(mf)
+        return True
+    return _rewrite_zip_manifest(path, appended)
+
+
 def write_song_metadata(path: Path, fields: dict) -> bool:
    """Persist edited title/artist/album/year into the song's file.

-    Dispatches by shape: ``.sloppak`` files and sloppak directories
+    Dispatches by shape: zip-form song packages (``.feedpak`` / legacy
+    ``.sloppak``, per ``sloppak.SONG_EXTS``) and package directories
    (manifest.yaml present). Loose-folder and unknown shapes return False
    (caller keeps the DB-only update). Returns True if the file was modified.
    """
+    from sloppak import SONG_EXTS
+
    path = Path(path)
    suffix = path.suffix.lower()
    if path.is_dir():
        if (path / "manifest.yaml").exists() or (path / "manifest.yml").exists():
            return write_sloppak_metadata(path, fields)
        return False
-    if suffix == ".sloppak":
+    if suffix in SONG_EXTS:
        return write_sloppak_metadata(path, fields)
    return False
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-"""Regenerate ``static/tailwind.min.css`` over the full installed-plugin set.
+"""Regenerate the runtime stylesheet over the full installed-plugin set.

 Core's committed (and image-baked) stylesheet is built scanning only the
 in-tree plugins. A plugin installed at runtime — into ``FEEDBACK_PLUGINS_DIR``
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ on a missing optional engine.

 from __future__ import annotations

+import hashlib
 import json
 import logging
 import os
@@ -40,12 +41,84 @@ _lock = threading.Lock()
 # in-flight build re-runs once more to pick up the newer plugin set instead of
 # every concurrent trigger stacking its own redundant build.
 _rerun = threading.Event()
+_fingerprint_cache: dict = {}

 # lib/ lives at ``<app>/lib``; the app root (static/, tailwind.config.js) is its
 # grandparent.
 APP_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent


+def _committed_css_fingerprint() -> str:
+    """Content hash of the SHIPPED stylesheet, cached on (mtime, size).
+
+    This is the marker that says WHICH CORE the runtime sheet was built against. Any change to
+    core's CSS regenerates static/tailwind.min.css, which changes this hash.
+    """
+    committed = APP_DIR / "static" / "tailwind.min.css"
+    try:
+        st = committed.stat()
+    except OSError:
+        return ""
+    key = (st.st_mtime_ns, st.st_size)
+    cached = _fingerprint_cache.get("k")
+    if cached == key:
+        return _fingerprint_cache["v"]
+    h = hashlib.sha256(committed.read_bytes()).hexdigest()
+    _fingerprint_cache["k"] = key
+    _fingerprint_cache["v"] = h
+    return h
+
+
+def runtime_meta_path() -> Path:
+    """Sidecar recording which core the runtime sheet was built against."""
+    return runtime_css_path().with_suffix(".meta.json")
+
+
+def runtime_css_is_current() -> bool:
+    """True when the runtime sheet was built against the core we are running NOW.
+
+    WHY NOT mtime. Codex [P2] on the second cut of #911, and it was right: filesystem
+    timestamps are not a freshness signal across install methods. Archives and container images
+    routinely PRESERVE SOURCE MTIMES, so a just-shipped stylesheet can carry an OLDER mtime than
+    a runtime sheet a user built days ago. The mtime comparison then reports the stale sheet as
+    fresh and it masks the new core CSS indefinitely — permanently, if no Tailwind toolchain is
+    present to trigger a rebuild.
+
+    Content answers the question timestamps only gesture at: the sidecar records the hash of the
+    committed sheet this runtime build was made from. Core ships new CSS -> that file changes ->
+    the hash changes -> the runtime sheet is correctly judged stale.
+    """
+    try:
+        meta = json.loads(runtime_meta_path().read_text())
+    except (OSError, ValueError):
+        return False
+    return bool(meta.get("committed_sha256")) and meta["committed_sha256"] == _committed_css_fingerprint()
+
+
+def runtime_css_path() -> Path:
+    """Where the RUNTIME-augmented stylesheet is written.
+
+    NOT ``static/tailwind.min.css``. That file is a BUILD ARTEFACT: committed, image-baked,
+    and generated by scanning only the in-tree plugins. This one is PER-INSTALL STATE — it
+    additionally scans whatever the user has installed into FEEDBACK_PLUGINS_DIR, so it differs
+    from machine to machine. They are different things and must not share a path.
+
+    Writing the runtime sheet over the committed one had two costs:
+
+      * IN A GIT CHECKOUT it silently modifies a TRACKED file. `git add -A` then sweeps a
+        100KB reshuffle of minified CSS into the commit and `ci/tailwind-fresh` goes red with a
+        diff that explains nothing. That is issue #911, and it cost a red run on a PR whose
+        real diff touched no Tailwind classes at all.
+      * IN A DEPLOY the app directory may be read-only. Writing app state into it is wrong on
+        principle and fatal in practice.
+
+    CONFIG_DIR is where per-install state already lives.
+    """
+    cfg = (getenv_compat("CONFIG_DIR", "") or "").strip()
+    base = Path(cfg) if cfg else (Path.home() / ".local" / "share" / "feedback")
+    return base / "tailwind.min.css"
+
+
 def _user_plugins_dir() -> Path | None:
    raw = (getenv_compat("FEEDBACK_PLUGINS_DIR", "") or "").strip()
    if not raw:
@@ -136,6 +209,14 @@ def _run_build(cmd_prefix: list[str], out: Path, src: Path) -> bool:
                cwd=str(APP_DIR), timeout=120,
            )
            os.replace(staged, out)
+            # Stamp WHICH CORE this was built against. Without it, an upgraded app cannot tell a
+            # current runtime sheet from one that predates its new CSS.
+            try:
+                runtime_meta_path().write_text(json.dumps({
+                    "committed_sha256": _committed_css_fingerprint(),
+                }))
+            except OSError:
+                log.warning("tailwind: could not write the runtime sheet's meta sidecar")
            return True
        except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, subprocess.TimeoutExpired) as e:
            stderr = (getattr(e, "stderr", "") or "")[-500:]
@@ -153,7 +234,7 @@ def _run_build(cmd_prefix: list[str], out: Path, src: Path) -> bool:


 def rebuild(reason: str = "") -> bool:
-    """Regenerate ``static/tailwind.min.css`` over baked-in + user plugins.
+    """Regenerate the RUNTIME stylesheet (see runtime_css_path) over baked-in + user plugins.

    Returns ``True`` on a successful rebuild, ``False`` on any skip/failure.
    Never raises — callers treat CSS freshness as best-effort. Concurrent
@@ -166,8 +247,13 @@ def rebuild(reason: str = "") -> bool:
        log.info("tailwind rebuild skipped — engine/inputs unavailable%s", tag)
        return False

-    out = APP_DIR / "static" / "tailwind.min.css"
+    out = runtime_css_path()
    src = APP_DIR / "static" / "_tailwind.src.css"
+    try:
+        out.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    except OSError:
+        log.warning("tailwind rebuild skipped — cannot create %s%s", out.parent, tag)
+        return False

    # If a rebuild is already running, flag a rerun and return instead of
    # queueing a redundant build behind it.
@@ -4,51 +4,150 @@ Kept separate from server.py so tests can import it without triggering
 FastAPI / SQLite module-level side effects.
 """

+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import math
+
 DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH = 440.0

-# Canonical tuning frequencies at 440 Hz reference, keyed by instrument then
-# tuning name. This is the authoritative source; tuner/routes.py previously
-# held a copy — it was removed in favour of this one.
-DEFAULT_TUNINGS: dict[str, dict[str, list[float]]] = {
+# Canonical open strings, low to high, as MIDI notes. This is the host-level
+# source of truth for guitar/bass tuning profiles; UI surfaces derive names,
+# frequencies, and semitone offsets from these absolute pitches.
+STANDARD_OPEN_MIDIS: dict[str, list[int]] = {
+    "guitar-6": [40, 45, 50, 55, 59, 64],
+    "guitar-7": [35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 59, 64],
+    "guitar-8": [30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 59, 64],
+    "bass-4": [28, 33, 38, 43],
+    "bass-5": [23, 28, 33, 38, 43],
+    "bass-6": [23, 28, 33, 38, 43, 48],
+}
+
+# Curated built-in profiles. This intentionally starts by absorbing the useful
+# Virtuoso guitar/bass coverage into host-owned data so the host selector,
+# tuner, practice tools, and plugins can converge on one profile model.
+TUNING_PRESET_MIDIS: dict[str, dict[str, list[int]]] = {
    "guitar-6": {
-        "Standard":    [82.41, 110.00, 146.83, 196.00, 246.94, 329.63],
-        "Eb Standard": [77.78, 103.83, 138.59, 185.00, 233.08, 311.13],
-        "Drop D":      [73.42, 110.00, 146.83, 196.00, 246.94, 329.63],
-        "D Standard":  [73.42,  98.00, 130.81, 174.61, 220.00, 293.66],
-        "Drop C":      [65.41,  98.00, 130.81, 174.61, 220.00, 293.66],
-        "Open G":      [73.42,  98.00, 146.83, 196.00, 246.94, 293.66],
-        "Open D":      [73.42, 110.00, 146.83, 185.00, 220.00, 293.66],
-        "DADGAD":      [73.42, 110.00, 146.83, 196.00, 220.00, 293.66],
-        "Open E":      [82.41, 123.47, 164.81, 207.65, 246.94, 329.63],
+        "Standard": [40, 45, 50, 55, 59, 64],
+        "Eb Standard": [39, 44, 49, 54, 58, 63],
+        "D Standard": [38, 43, 48, 53, 57, 62],
+        "C# Standard": [37, 42, 47, 52, 56, 61],
+        "C Standard": [36, 41, 46, 51, 55, 60],
+        "Drop D": [38, 45, 50, 55, 59, 64],
+        "Drop C": [36, 43, 48, 53, 57, 62],
+        "Drop B": [35, 42, 47, 52, 56, 61],
+        "Drop A": [33, 40, 45, 50, 54, 59],
+        "Drop Ab": [32, 39, 44, 49, 53, 58],
+        "Open G": [38, 43, 50, 55, 59, 62],
+        "Open D": [38, 45, 50, 54, 57, 62],
+        "DADGAD": [38, 45, 50, 55, 57, 62],
+        "Open E": [40, 47, 52, 56, 59, 64],
    },
    "guitar-7": {
-        "Standard":    [61.74, 82.41, 110.00, 146.83, 196.00, 246.94, 329.63],
-        "Drop A":      [55.00, 82.41, 110.00, 146.83, 196.00, 246.94, 329.63],
-        "A Standard":  [55.00, 73.42,  98.00, 130.81, 174.61, 220.00, 293.66],
-        "Drop G":      [49.00, 73.42, 110.00, 146.83, 196.00, 246.94, 329.63],
-        "Bb Standard": [58.27, 77.78, 103.83, 138.59, 185.00, 233.08, 311.13],
+        "Standard": [35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 59, 64],
+        "Bb Standard": [34, 39, 44, 49, 54, 58, 63],
+        "A Standard": [33, 38, 43, 48, 53, 57, 62],
+        "G Standard": [31, 36, 41, 46, 51, 55, 60],
+        "Drop A": [33, 40, 45, 50, 55, 59, 64],
+        "Drop G": [31, 38, 43, 48, 53, 57, 62],
+        "Drop F#": [30, 37, 42, 47, 52, 56, 61],
    },
    "guitar-8": {
-        "Standard":    [46.25, 61.74, 82.41, 110.00, 146.83, 196.00, 246.94, 329.63],
-        "Drop E":      [41.20, 61.74, 82.41, 110.00, 146.83, 196.00, 246.94, 329.63],
-        "E Standard":  [41.20, 55.00, 73.42,  98.00, 130.81, 174.61, 220.00, 293.66],
-        "Drop D":      [36.71, 55.00, 73.42,  98.00, 130.81, 174.61, 220.00, 293.66],
-        "Eb Standard": [38.89, 51.91, 69.30,  92.50, 123.47, 164.81, 207.65, 277.18],
+        "Standard": [30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 59, 64],
+        "Drop E": [28, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 59, 64],
+        "Drop A + Drop E": [28, 33, 40, 45, 50, 55, 59, 64],
+        "E Standard": [28, 33, 38, 43, 48, 53, 57, 62],
+        "Eb Standard": [27, 32, 37, 42, 47, 52, 56, 61],
+        "Drop D": [26, 33, 38, 43, 48, 53, 57, 62],
    },
    "bass-4": {
-        "Standard":    [41.20, 55.00, 73.42,  98.00],
-        "Eb Standard": [38.89, 51.91, 69.30,  92.50],
-        "Drop D":      [36.71, 55.00, 73.42,  98.00],
-        "D Standard":  [36.71, 48.99, 65.41,  87.31],
-        "Drop C":      [32.70, 48.99, 65.41,  87.31],
+        "Standard": [28, 33, 38, 43],
+        "Eb Standard": [27, 32, 37, 42],
+        "D Standard": [26, 31, 36, 41],
+        "C# Standard": [25, 30, 35, 40],
+        "C Standard": [24, 29, 34, 39],
+        "Drop D": [26, 33, 38, 43],
+        "Drop C": [24, 31, 36, 41],
+        "BEAD": [23, 28, 33, 38],
    },
    "bass-5": {
-        "Standard":    [30.87, 41.20, 55.00, 73.42,  98.00],
-        "Eb Standard": [29.14, 38.89, 51.91, 69.30,  92.50],
-        "Drop D":      [30.87, 36.71, 55.00, 73.42,  98.00],
-        "D Standard":  [27.50, 36.71, 48.99, 65.41,  87.31],
-        "Drop C":      [27.50, 32.70, 48.99, 65.41,  87.31],
+        "Standard": [23, 28, 33, 38, 43],
+        "High C": [28, 33, 38, 43, 48],
+        "Eb Standard": [22, 27, 32, 37, 42],
+        "D Standard": [21, 26, 31, 36, 41],
+        "C# Standard": [20, 25, 30, 35, 40],
+        "C Standard": [19, 24, 29, 34, 39],
+        "Drop A": [21, 28, 33, 38, 43],
    },
+    "bass-6": {
+        "Standard": [23, 28, 33, 38, 43, 48],
+        "Eb Standard": [22, 27, 32, 37, 42, 47],
+        "D Standard": [21, 26, 31, 36, 41, 46],
+        "C# Standard": [20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45],
+        "C Standard": [19, 24, 29, 34, 39, 44],
+    },
+}
+
+
+def midi_to_freq(midi: int, reference_pitch: float = DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH) -> float:
+    """Return the frequency for a MIDI note at the supplied A4 reference."""
+    return reference_pitch * math.pow(2, (midi - 69) / 12)
+
+
+def open_midis_to_freqs(midis: list[int], reference_pitch: float = DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH) -> list[float]:
+    """Return rounded frequencies for low-to-high MIDI open strings."""
+    return [round(midi_to_freq(m, reference_pitch), 2) for m in midis]
+
+
+def freqs_to_midis(freqs: list[float], reference_pitch: float = DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH) -> list[int] | None:
+    """Return absolute open-string MIDI notes for frequencies at the supplied
+    A4 reference — the inverse of open_midis_to_freqs. None if any entry is
+    non-numeric, non-finite, or non-positive (a provider could hand us
+    anything; NaN/Infinity would otherwise raise inside int(round(...)) and
+    500 the /api/tunings endpoint)."""
+    out: list[int] = []
+    for f in freqs:
+        try:
+            f = float(f)
+        except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            return None
+        if not math.isfinite(f) or f <= 0:
+            return None
+        out.append(int(round(69 + 12 * math.log2(f / reference_pitch))))
+    return out
+
+
+def tuning_offsets_from_midis(instrument_key: str, midis: list[int]) -> list[int] | None:
+    """Return semitone offsets from the instrument's standard open strings."""
+    standard = STANDARD_OPEN_MIDIS.get(instrument_key)
+    if not standard or len(standard) != len(midis):
+        return None
+    return [int(m - s) for m, s in zip(midis, standard)]
+
+
+def tuning_midis_from_offsets(instrument_key: str, offsets: list[int]) -> list[int] | None:
+    """Return absolute open-string MIDI notes for host semitone offsets."""
+    standard = STANDARD_OPEN_MIDIS.get(instrument_key)
+    if not standard or len(standard) != len(offsets):
+        return None
+    return [int(s + o) for s, o in zip(standard, offsets)]
+
+
+def tuning_preset_offsets(instrument_key: str, name: str) -> list[int] | None:
+    """Return host semitone offsets for a named preset."""
+    midis = TUNING_PRESET_MIDIS.get(instrument_key, {}).get(name)
+    if not midis:
+        return None
+    return tuning_offsets_from_midis(instrument_key, midis)
+
+
+# Canonical tuning frequencies at 440 Hz reference, keyed by instrument then
+# tuning name. Kept for the existing /api/tunings contract.
+DEFAULT_TUNINGS: dict[str, dict[str, list[float]]] = {
+    instrument: {
+        name: open_midis_to_freqs(midis)
+        for name, midis in presets.items()
+    }
+    for instrument, presets in TUNING_PRESET_MIDIS.items()
 }


@@ -67,27 +166,508 @@ def apply_reference_pitch(
    }


-def tuning_name(offsets: list[int]) -> str:
-    # All three pattern checks below are gated on `len(offsets) == 6`. The
-    # naming conventions here are 6-string-specific — e.g. a 7-string all-zeros
-    # tuning has a low B, not an E, so labeling it "E Standard" would be wrong.
-    # 7+-string community content falls through to the numeric fallback. See #43.
+PROFILE_IDS = ("guitar-lead", "guitar-rhythm", "bass")
+PROFILE_PATHWAYS = ("songs", "practice", "learn", "studio")
+DEFAULT_ACTIVE_INSTRUMENT_PROFILE = "guitar-lead"
+PROFILE_DEFAULTS: dict[str, dict] = {
+    "guitar-lead": {
+        "id": "guitar-lead",
+        "label": "Lead Guitar",
+        "instrument": "guitar",
+        "role": "lead",
+        "string_count": 6,
+        "tuning": "Standard",
+        "reference_pitch": DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH,
+        "pathway": "songs",
+    },
+    "guitar-rhythm": {
+        "id": "guitar-rhythm",
+        "label": "Rhythm Guitar",
+        "instrument": "guitar",
+        "role": "rhythm",
+        "string_count": 6,
+        "tuning": "Standard",
+        "reference_pitch": DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH,
+        "pathway": "songs",
+    },
+    "bass": {
+        "id": "bass",
+        "label": "Bass",
+        "instrument": "bass",
+        "role": "bass",
+        "string_count": 4,
+        "tuning": "Standard",
+        "reference_pitch": DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH,
+        "pathway": "songs",
+    },
+}

-    # Standard tunings (all six strings same offset)
+
+def instrument_key(instrument: str, string_count: int) -> str:
+    return f"{instrument}-{string_count}"
+
+
+def default_instrument_profiles() -> dict[str, dict]:
+    return {profile_id: dict(profile) for profile_id, profile in PROFILE_DEFAULTS.items()}
+
+
+def _valid_reference_pitch(value) -> float | None:
+    if isinstance(value, bool):
+        return None
+    try:
+        ref = float(value)
+    except (TypeError, ValueError, OverflowError):
+        return None
+    if not math.isfinite(ref) or ref < 430.0 or ref > 450.0:
+        return None
+    return ref
+
+
+def _valid_tuning_for_key(key: str, tuning):
+    if isinstance(tuning, str):
+        if len(tuning) > 64:
+            return None
+        if tuning in TUNING_PRESET_MIDIS.get(key, {}):
+            return tuning
+        # A name that IS a built-in preset for a different key is a misapplied
+        # built-in (e.g. "Drop D" on a 5-string bass, whose low string is B) —
+        # reject it. A name unknown to every built-in table is a provider/custom
+        # tuning (the tuner plugin's, exposed via /api/tunings) that this pure
+        # layer can't resolve — accept it so settings round-trip; the provider
+        # owns its validity.
+        if any(tuning in names for names in TUNING_PRESET_MIDIS.values()):
+            return None
+        return tuning
+    if isinstance(tuning, list):
+        expected = len(STANDARD_OPEN_MIDIS.get(key, []))
+        if len(tuning) != expected:
+            return None
+        if any(isinstance(o, bool) or not isinstance(o, int) or o < -12 or o > 12 for o in tuning):
+            return None
+        return list(tuning)
+    return None
+
+
+def normalize_instrument_profile(profile_id: str, raw) -> tuple[dict | None, str | None]:
+    """Validate one persisted host instrument profile."""
+    base = dict(PROFILE_DEFAULTS.get(profile_id, {}))
+    if not base:
+        return None, f"unknown instrument profile: {profile_id}"
+    if raw is None:
+        return base, None
+    if not isinstance(raw, dict):
+        return None, f"instrument_profiles.{profile_id} must be an object"
+
+    instrument = raw.get("instrument", base["instrument"])
+    if instrument not in ("guitar", "bass"):
+        return None, f"instrument_profiles.{profile_id}.instrument must be 'guitar' or 'bass'"
+
+    try:
+        string_count = int(raw.get("string_count", base["string_count"]))
+    except (TypeError, ValueError, OverflowError):
+        return None, f"instrument_profiles.{profile_id}.string_count must be valid for the instrument"
+    key = instrument_key(instrument, string_count)
+    if key not in STANDARD_OPEN_MIDIS:
+        return None, f"instrument_profiles.{profile_id}.string_count must be valid for the instrument"
+
+    tuning = _valid_tuning_for_key(key, raw.get("tuning", base["tuning"]))
+    if tuning is None:
+        return None, f"instrument_profiles.{profile_id}.tuning must match {key}"
+
+    ref = _valid_reference_pitch(raw.get("reference_pitch", base["reference_pitch"]))
+    if ref is None:
+        return None, f"instrument_profiles.{profile_id}.reference_pitch must be a number between 430 and 450"
+
+    label = raw.get("label", base["label"])
+    if not isinstance(label, str) or len(label) > 64:
+        return None, f"instrument_profiles.{profile_id}.label must be a short string"
+    role = raw.get("role", base["role"])
+    if not isinstance(role, str) or len(role) > 32:
+        return None, f"instrument_profiles.{profile_id}.role must be a short string"
+    pathway = raw.get("pathway", base["pathway"])
+    if not isinstance(pathway, str) or pathway not in PROFILE_PATHWAYS:
+        return None, f"instrument_profiles.{profile_id}.pathway must be one of songs, practice, learn, studio"
+
+    out = dict(base)
+    out.update({
+        "id": profile_id,
+        "label": label,
+        "instrument": instrument,
+        "role": role,
+        "string_count": string_count,
+        "tuning": tuning,
+        "reference_pitch": ref,
+        "pathway": pathway,
+    })
+    return out, None
+
+
+def normalize_instrument_profiles(raw_profiles=None) -> tuple[dict[str, dict] | None, str | None]:
+    """Validate persisted host profiles, filling omitted built-ins with defaults."""
+    if raw_profiles is None:
+        return default_instrument_profiles(), None
+    if not isinstance(raw_profiles, dict):
+        return None, "instrument_profiles must be an object"
+    profiles = {}
+    for profile_id in PROFILE_IDS:
+        profile, error = normalize_instrument_profile(profile_id, raw_profiles.get(profile_id))
+        if error:
+            return None, error
+        profiles[profile_id] = profile
+    return profiles, None
+
+
+def active_profile_id(raw) -> str:
+    return raw if raw in PROFILE_DEFAULTS else DEFAULT_ACTIVE_INSTRUMENT_PROFILE
+
+
+def profile_from_legacy_settings(cfg: dict) -> dict:
+    """Build an active profile from the old flat settings keys."""
+    instrument = cfg.get("instrument") if cfg.get("instrument") in ("guitar", "bass") else "guitar"
+    fallback_sc = 4 if instrument == "bass" else 6
+    try:
+        sc = int(cfg.get("string_count", fallback_sc))
+    except (TypeError, ValueError, OverflowError):
+        sc = fallback_sc
+    key = instrument_key(instrument, sc)
+    if key not in STANDARD_OPEN_MIDIS:
+        sc = fallback_sc
+        key = instrument_key(instrument, sc)
+    tuning = _valid_tuning_for_key(key, cfg.get("tuning", "Standard")) or "Standard"
+    ref = _valid_reference_pitch(cfg.get("reference_pitch", DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH)) or DEFAULT_REFERENCE_PITCH
+    pathway = cfg.get("pathway") if cfg.get("pathway") in PROFILE_PATHWAYS else "songs"
+    profile_id = "bass" if instrument == "bass" else DEFAULT_ACTIVE_INSTRUMENT_PROFILE
+    profile = dict(PROFILE_DEFAULTS[profile_id])
+    profile.update({
+        "instrument": instrument,
+        "string_count": sc,
+        "tuning": tuning,
+        "reference_pitch": ref,
+        "pathway": pathway,
+    })
+    return profile
+
+
+def settings_with_instrument_profiles(cfg: dict) -> dict:
+    """Return settings with canonical host profiles and mirrored flat keys."""
+    out = dict(cfg)
+    profiles, _error = normalize_instrument_profiles(out.get("instrument_profiles"))
+    if profiles is None:
+        profiles = default_instrument_profiles()
+    if "instrument_profiles" not in out:
+        legacy = profile_from_legacy_settings(out)
+        profiles[legacy["id"]] = legacy
+        # Default the active profile to the one migrated from the legacy flat
+        # fields, but DON'T clobber an explicit request — a fresh-config
+        # `POST {"active_instrument_profile": "bass"}` must switch, not be
+        # overwritten by the guitar-lead inferred from defaults. active_profile_id
+        # below normalizes an invalid value.
+        out.setdefault("active_instrument_profile", legacy["id"])
+    active = active_profile_id(out.get("active_instrument_profile"))
+    selected = profiles[active]
+    out["instrument_profiles"] = profiles
+    out["active_instrument_profile"] = active
+    out["instrument"] = selected["instrument"]
+    out["string_count"] = selected["string_count"]
+    out["tuning"] = selected["tuning"]
+    out["reference_pitch"] = selected["reference_pitch"]
+    out["pathway"] = selected["pathway"]
+    return out
+
+
+def apply_flat_instrument_patch_to_profiles(cfg: dict, updates: dict) -> dict:
+    """Mirror legacy flat instrument updates into the active host profile."""
+    out = settings_with_instrument_profiles(cfg)
+    if not any(k in updates for k in ("instrument", "string_count", "tuning", "reference_pitch", "pathway")):
+        return out
+    active = active_profile_id(out.get("active_instrument_profile"))
+    if "instrument" in updates:
+        active = "bass" if updates["instrument"] == "bass" else "guitar-lead"
+        out["active_instrument_profile"] = active
+    current = dict(out["instrument_profiles"][active])
+
+    if "instrument" in updates:
+        current["instrument"] = updates["instrument"]
+        if "string_count" not in updates:
+            current["string_count"] = 4 if updates["instrument"] == "bass" else 6
+    if "string_count" in updates:
+        current["string_count"] = updates["string_count"]
+    if "reference_pitch" in updates:
+        current["reference_pitch"] = updates["reference_pitch"]
+    if "pathway" in updates:
+        current["pathway"] = updates["pathway"]
+    if "tuning" in updates:
+        current["tuning"] = updates["tuning"]
+    else:
+        key = instrument_key(current["instrument"], current["string_count"])
+        if _valid_tuning_for_key(key, current.get("tuning")) is None:
+            current["tuning"] = "Standard"
+
+    profile, error = normalize_instrument_profile(active, current)
+    if error:
+        raise ValueError(error)
+    out["instrument_profiles"][active] = profile
+    out.update({
+        "instrument": profile["instrument"],
+        "string_count": profile["string_count"],
+        "tuning": profile["tuning"],
+        "reference_pitch": profile["reference_pitch"],
+        "pathway": profile["pathway"],
+    })
+    return out
+
+# ── Bass tuning normalization (library indexing) ─────────────────────────────
+#
+# Bass charts in the wild store SIX-element tuning arrays even when the chart is
+# a 4-string part: slots 4-5 are PADDING. Confirmed by inspecting the charts
+# themselves — across every pack whose bass and guitar tunings diverge, no bass
+# note ever references string index 4 or 5 (the deepest reach is index 3).
+#
+# The feedpak spec carries NO string-count field (manifest `arrangement.tuning`
+# is an untyped integer array, `minItems: 1`), and counting strings for real
+# would mean parsing the 600KB-1.2MB arrangement JSON of every song on the
+# manifest-only fast scan path — unacceptable for scan time. So we DEFAULT BASS
+# TO 4 STRINGS and truncate.
+#
+# KNOWN GAP (deliberate, documented): a genuine 5- or 6-string bass is
+# truncated to its low four. That is harmless for the overwhelmingly common
+# case — a 5-string in standard truncates to [0,0,0,0] and still names
+# "Standard" — and only misreads a tuning that DIFFERS at string 4 or above.
+# Revisit if the spec ever gains a string count.
+BASS_DEFAULT_STRING_COUNT = 4
+
+# Bassists tune DOWN, essentially never up: a whole-instrument up-tune fights
+# string tension. Anything above +1 semitone across the board is data we do not
+# trust, not a tuning a human plays (the real-world example that motivated this
+# is a bass array of [5,5,5,5,4,4] — "all four strings up a perfect fourth" —
+# on a song whose guitar chart is dead standard and whose own note content is
+# consistent with standard tuning; the offsets were almost certainly computed
+# against a 6-string-bass reference with an uninitialised tail).
+#
+# Such a tuning MUST NOT be named: printing "A Standard" would send a player
+# off to retune to something nobody plays. It degrades to the custom path,
+# where it stays visible and distinct but makes no pitch claim.
+BASS_MAX_PLAUSIBLE_OFFSET = 1
+
+
+# ── Tuning PERSPECTIVES ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# The library's tuning facet/filter/sort always answers for ONE arrangement
+# role. There are three, matching `active_instrument_profile`:
+#
+#   guitar-lead    the song-level (guitar-first) tuning — the historical
+#                  default. Its columns are the original unprefixed
+#                  `tuning_*` family, so today's behaviour is byte-identical.
+#   guitar-rhythm  the RHYTHM chart's own tuning. Lead and rhythm charts can
+#                  disagree (the same bug a bassist hit, inside guitar).
+#   bass           the BASS chart's own tuning.
+#
+# One table drives extraction, the derived columns, the SQL, and the labels —
+# rather than three near-identical column families maintained in parallel.
+class TuningPerspective:
+    __slots__ = ("id", "role", "instrument", "string_count", "column_prefix",
+                 "truncate", "guard_up_tuning", "label")
+
+    def __init__(self, id, role, instrument, string_count, column_prefix,
+                 truncate, guard_up_tuning, label):
+        self.id = id
+        self.role = role                    # arrangement name to look for ('' = song-level)
+        self.instrument = instrument
+        self.string_count = string_count
+        self.column_prefix = column_prefix  # '' | 'rhythm_' | 'bass_'
+        self.truncate = truncate
+        self.guard_up_tuning = guard_up_tuning
+        self.label = label
+
+    @property
+    def instrument_key(self) -> str:
+        return instrument_key(self.instrument, self.string_count)
+
+    def column(self, suffix: str) -> str:
+        return f"{self.column_prefix}tuning_{suffix}"
+
+
+PERSPECTIVES: dict[str, TuningPerspective] = {
+    "guitar-lead": TuningPerspective(
+        "guitar-lead", "", "guitar", 6, "", False, False, "lead"),
+    "guitar-rhythm": TuningPerspective(
+        "guitar-rhythm", "rhythm", "guitar", 6, "rhythm_", False, False, "rhythm"),
+    # Bass alone truncates (padded arrays) and guards against up-tuned data —
+    # both are bass-specific findings, see the block above.
+    "bass": TuningPerspective(
+        "bass", "bass", "bass", BASS_DEFAULT_STRING_COUNT, "bass_", True, True, "bass"),
+}
+
+DEFAULT_PERSPECTIVE = "guitar-lead"
+
+# Perspectives that carry their OWN indexed columns (guitar-lead reads the
+# song-level ones, which the scanner has always written).
+ROLE_PERSPECTIVES = tuple(p for p in PERSPECTIVES.values() if p.column_prefix)
+
+
+def perspective(perspective_id) -> TuningPerspective:
+    """Resolve a perspective id, tolerating the legacy two-valued vocabulary
+    ('guitar' -> guitar-lead) and anything unknown (-> the default). An
+    unrecognised value must never change filter semantics."""
+    if perspective_id in PERSPECTIVES:
+        return PERSPECTIVES[perspective_id]
+    if perspective_id == "guitar":
+        return PERSPECTIVES[DEFAULT_PERSPECTIVE]
+    return PERSPECTIVES[DEFAULT_PERSPECTIVE]
+
+
+def normalize_offsets(offsets, persp: TuningPerspective) -> list[int] | None:
+    """Coerce a stored tuning array to the strings the perspective's
+    instrument actually has. Returns None for anything unusable (empty /
+    non-integer / too short), so callers leave the index empty rather than
+    record a guess."""
+    if not isinstance(offsets, list) or not offsets:
+        return None
+    if any(isinstance(o, bool) for o in offsets):
+        return None
+    try:
+        vals = [int(o) for o in offsets]
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        return None
+    if len(vals) < persp.string_count:
+        return None
+    # Only bass truncates: its arrays are padded (see above). A guitar array
+    # longer than 6 is a genuine 7/8-string chart, and cutting it to 6 would
+    # invent a tuning the chart does not have.
+    if persp.truncate:
+        return vals[:persp.string_count]
+    return vals
+
+
+def offsets_are_plausible(offsets: list[int], persp: TuningPerspective) -> bool:
+    """False for data the perspective refuses to trust — currently only the
+    bass up-tuning guard (see BASS_MAX_PLAUSIBLE_OFFSET)."""
+    if not persp.guard_up_tuning:
+        return True
+    return all(o <= BASS_MAX_PLAUSIBLE_OFFSET for o in offsets)
+
+
+def perspective_tuning_name(offsets: list[int], persp: TuningPerspective) -> str:
+    """Name a NORMALIZED tuning for this perspective, refusing to name data the
+    perspective distrusts — that becomes "Custom Tuning", which stays distinct
+    by its canonical pitches without asserting a tuning anyone plays."""
+    if not offsets_are_plausible(offsets, persp):
+        return "Custom Tuning"
+    return tuning_name(offsets)
+
+
+def perspective_tuning_key(offsets: list[int], persp: TuningPerspective) -> str:
+    """CANONICAL grouping key: the tuning's absolute open-string pitches, so
+    the same physical tuning groups as ONE facet entry no matter how it was
+    serialized. Keyed on pitch rather than the raw offsets string, which is
+    serialization-dependent and fragments.
+
+    Joined with ':' and NOT ',' — this key travels back as a `tunings` filter
+    selector, and that query param is a COMMA-separated list, so a comma here
+    would be split into meaningless fragments and match nothing.
+    """
+    midis = tuning_midis_from_offsets(persp.instrument_key, offsets)
+    if not midis:
+        return ""
+    return persp.id + ":" + ":".join(str(m) for m in midis)
+
+
+def perspective_low_pitch(offsets: list[int], persp: TuningPerspective) -> int | None:
+    """Absolute MIDI pitch of the tuning's LOWEST open string — the value the
+    "playable without retuning" comparison is built on (see
+    `chart_is_playable_in`)."""
+    midis = tuning_midis_from_offsets(persp.instrument_key, offsets)
+    if not midis:
+        return None
+    return min(midis)
+
+
+# ── "Playable without retuning" ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+#
+# What the player actually wants is "don't make me retune", not "match this
+# label". A chart is playable as-is when every pitch it needs is reachable on
+# the instrument as currently tuned.
+#
+# WHAT WE CAN HONESTLY COMPUTE. We index open-string TUNINGS, not the notes a
+# chart plays — note data lives in the 600KB-1.2MB arrangement JSON, and the
+# library scan is deliberately manifest-only, so we do not read it (indexing a
+# per-song lowest note would mean opening every chart on every scan).
+#
+# So the comparison is on OPEN-STRING PITCH, with a conservative assumption:
+# a chart may require its own lowest open string. That gives
+#
+#     playable  <=>  your lowest open pitch  <=  the chart's lowest open pitch
+#
+# On a fretted instrument every pitch ABOVE your lowest open string is
+# reachable by fretting (strings sit within an octave of each other and the
+# neck gives ~2 octaves), so the low end is the binding constraint. This is
+# exactly the dominant real case: a 5-string bass (low B) plays every 4-string
+# standard chart AND every drop-D chart untouched, because the low D is just
+# fretted on the B string.
+#
+# DELIBERATE LIMITATIONS, both erring toward NOT claiming playability:
+#   * A chart that never actually touches its lowest open string is excluded
+#     anyway. Conservative: excluding a playable chart costs a scroll;
+#     including an unplayable one costs a mid-practice retune, which is the
+#     failure this feature exists to prevent.
+#   * The UPPER bound is not checked — a chart tuned far above you could in
+#     principle exceed your neck. Checking it needs the note range we do not
+#     have. It is the rare direction (and the guard above already refuses
+#     up-tuned bass data), but it is a real gap, not an oversight.
+def chart_is_playable_in(chart_low_pitch, your_low_pitch) -> bool:
+    """True when a chart whose lowest open string is `chart_low_pitch` needs no
+    retune for a player tuned to `your_low_pitch`. Unknown chart pitch => False
+    (never claim playability we cannot support)."""
+    if chart_low_pitch is None or your_low_pitch is None:
+        return False
+    return int(your_low_pitch) <= int(chart_low_pitch)
+
+
+# Back-compat wrappers over the generic helpers — bass was the first
+# perspective and reads better spelled out at bass-specific call sites.
+def normalize_bass_offsets(offsets) -> list[int] | None:
+    return normalize_offsets(offsets, PERSPECTIVES["bass"])
+
+
+def bass_offsets_are_plausible(offsets: list[int]) -> bool:
+    return offsets_are_plausible(offsets, PERSPECTIVES["bass"])
+
+
+def bass_tuning_name(offsets: list[int]) -> str:
+    return perspective_tuning_name(offsets, PERSPECTIVES["bass"])
+
+
+def bass_tuning_key(offsets: list[int]) -> str:
+    return perspective_tuning_key(offsets, PERSPECTIVES["bass"])
+
+
+def tuning_name(offsets: list[int]) -> str:
+    # The pattern checks below are gated on `len(offsets)` being 6 or 4. The
+    # naming conventions are E-standard-rooted — e.g. a 7-string all-zeros
+    # tuning has a low B, not an E, so labeling it "E Standard" would be wrong.
+    # 7+-string community content falls through to the numeric fallback (#43).
+    #
+    # Length 4 is accepted because a bass's open strings (EADG) are the low
+    # four of the guitar, so the same standard/drop names apply at the same
+    # offsets. Bass callers must normalize FIRST (`normalize_bass_offsets`):
+    # stored bass arrays are commonly six elements with a padded tail, and the
+    # padding must never reach this namer. See the block above.
+
+    # Standard tunings (all strings same offset)
    standard = {
        0: "E Standard", -1: "Eb Standard", -2: "D Standard",
        -3: "C# Standard", -4: "C Standard", -5: "B Standard",
        -6: "Bb Standard", -7: "A Standard",
        1: "F Standard", 2: "F# Standard",
    }
-    if len(offsets) == 6 and all(o == offsets[0] for o in offsets):
+    if len(offsets) in (4, 6) and all(o == offsets[0] for o in offsets):
        name = standard.get(offsets[0])
        if name:
            return name

    # Drop tunings (low string 2 semitones below the rest)
    # Named after the low string's note: e.g. offsets[-2,0,0,0,0,0] = Drop D (low E dropped to D)
-    if len(offsets) == 6 and offsets[0] == offsets[1] - 2 and all(o == offsets[1] for o in offsets[1:]):
+    if len(offsets) in (4, 6) and offsets[0] == offsets[1] - 2 and all(o == offsets[1] for o in offsets[1:]):
        note_names = ["E", "F", "F#", "G", "Ab", "A", "Bb", "B", "C", "C#", "D", "Eb"]
        low_note = note_names[offsets[0] % 12]
        return f"Drop {low_note}"
@@ -44,6 +44,13 @@ def run() -> None:
        # record — including early startup messages — passes through the same
        # structured pipeline.
        log_config=None,
+        # Cap inbound WebSocket frames at the transport, before uvicorn
+        # materializes them in memory (its default is 16 MB). No client sends
+        # large frames to this server: the highway WS receives only small
+        # control messages, and the /ws/sync relay enforces its own tighter
+        # 16 KB application cap (routers/ws_sync.py MAX_FRAME_BYTES) — this is
+        # the defense-in-depth bound above it.
+        ws_max_size=64 * 1024,
    )


@@ -8,9 +8,13 @@
    "test:headed": "playwright test --headed",
    "test:debug": "playwright test --debug",
    "test:js": "node --test tests/js/*.test.js 'tests/plugins/*/js/*.test.js'",
-    "install:playwright": "playwright install chromium"
+    "install:playwright": "playwright install chromium",
+    "lint": "eslint ."
  },
  "devDependencies": {
-    "@playwright/test": "^1.59.1"
+    "@playwright/test": "^1.59.1",
+    "eslint": "^9.39.4",
+    "eslint-plugin-import-x": "^4.17.1",
+    "tailwindcss": "^3.4.19"
  }
 }
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import json
 import logging
 import mimetypes
 import os
+import re
 import subprocess
 import sys
 import threading
@@ -18,6 +19,54 @@ from safepath import safe_join
 log = logging.getLogger("feedBack.plugins")


+def _plugin_media_type(path: Path) -> str:
+    """Best-effort Content-Type for a served plugin file. `.js`/`.css` must come
+    back as JavaScript/CSS so `<script type=module>` / `addModule()` / a `<link>`
+    accept them; `mimetypes.guess_type` can miss these on a stripped platform
+    registry, so fall back explicitly (mirrors the assets/ route)."""
+    media_type = mimetypes.guess_type(path.name)[0]
+    if media_type is None and path.suffix == ".js":
+        return "application/javascript"
+    if media_type is None and path.suffix == ".css":
+        return "text/css"
+    return media_type or "application/octet-stream"
+
+
+def _plugin_file_etag(path: Path) -> str | None:
+    """Weak ETag from mtime+size — cheap, stable across reads, changes on edit.
+    This is what makes the live-edit loop work for module graphs: a conditional
+    GET revalidates and 304s unchanged files on refresh instead of re-downloading
+    the whole `src/` tree. Returns None if the file can't be stat'd."""
+    try:
+        st = path.stat()
+    except OSError:
+        return None
+    return f'W/"{st.st_mtime_ns:x}-{st.st_size:x}"'
+
+
+def _if_none_match(request: Request, etag: str) -> bool:
+    """True when the client's If-None-Match already holds `etag`."""
+    # ponytail: we serve one weak ETag; the browser echoes it back verbatim, so
+    # a direct compare is enough (comma-split tolerates a proxy concatenation).
+    return etag in [t.strip() for t in request.headers.get("if-none-match", "").split(",")]
+
+
+def _plugin_file_response(request: Request, path: Path, media_type: str) -> Response:
+    """Serve a plugin source/asset file with the live-edit cache contract:
+    `Cache-Control: no-cache` (browser may store but MUST revalidate) + a weak
+    ETag, and a bodyless 304 when the client's If-None-Match already matches.
+    Starlette's `FileResponse` emits an ETag but never evaluates If-None-Match
+    itself, so the conditional handling has to live here."""
+    headers = {"Cache-Control": "no-cache"}
+    etag = _plugin_file_etag(path)
+    if etag:
+        headers["ETag"] = etag
+        if _if_none_match(request, etag):
+            return Response(status_code=304, headers=headers)
+    # FileResponse sets etag/last-modified via setdefault, so the ETag above wins.
+    return FileResponse(path, media_type=media_type, headers=headers)
+
+
 PLUGINS_DIR = Path(__file__).parent
 # Holds only *ready* (loaded) plugins — those whose dependencies installed
 # and whose routes registered. A plugin GRADUATES from PENDING_PLUGINS into
@@ -1373,6 +1422,12 @@ def load_plugins(app: FastAPI, context: dict, progress_cb=None, route_setup_fn=N
            "version": manifest.get("version"),
            "has_screen": bool(manifest.get("screen")),
            "has_script": bool(manifest.get("script")),
+            # Module-migration (R0): `scriptType:"module"` tells the loader to
+            # inject screen.js as <script type="module">; `minHost` is the
+            # min core version a migrated plugin needs (passthrough only in R0 —
+            # enforcement is deferred to R4, master §4b). None when unset.
+            "script_type": manifest.get("scriptType"),
+            "min_host": manifest.get("minHost"),
            "has_settings": bool(manifest.get("settings")),
            "settings_category": _settings_category,
            # Drives the v3 shell's immersive (full-screen) mode for this
@@ -2089,6 +2144,11 @@ def register_plugin_api(app: FastAPI):
                "fallback": p.get("fallback", False),
                "has_screen": p["has_screen"],
                "has_script": p["has_script"],
+                # Module-migration passthrough (R0). Re-read from the manifest
+                # like `version` above so stubbed test entries (built without
+                # _nav_entry) don't need the key.
+                "script_type": (p.get("_manifest") or {}).get("scriptType"),
+                "min_host": (p.get("_manifest") or {}).get("minHost"),
                "has_settings": p["has_settings"],
                # v3 immersive screen opt-in (full-screen plugin UI).
                "fullscreen": p.get("fullscreen", False),
@@ -2142,6 +2202,9 @@ def register_plugin_api(app: FastAPI):
                "fallback": False,
                "has_screen": e.get("has_screen", False),
                "has_script": e.get("has_script", False),
+                # Pending entries come from _nav_entry, so they carry these.
+                "script_type": e.get("script_type"),
+                "min_host": e.get("min_host"),
                "has_settings": e.get("has_settings", False),
                "settings_category": e.get("settings_category"),
                "fullscreen": e.get("fullscreen", False),
@@ -2307,7 +2370,7 @@ def register_plugin_api(app: FastAPI):
        return HTMLResponse("", status_code=404)

    @app.get("/api/plugins/{plugin_id}/screen.js")
-    def plugin_screen_js(plugin_id: str):
+    def plugin_screen_js(request: Request, plugin_id: str):
        with PLUGINS_LOCK:
            snapshot = list(LOADED_PLUGINS)
        for p in snapshot:
@@ -2315,10 +2378,60 @@ def register_plugin_api(app: FastAPI):
                if p.get("status", "ready") != "ready":
                    break
                script_file = p["_dir"] / p["_manifest"].get("script", "screen.js")
-                if script_file.exists():
-                    return Response(script_file.read_text(encoding="utf-8"), media_type="application/javascript")
+                if script_file.is_file():
+                    # no-cache + ETag/304 so an edited screen.js reloads on
+                    # refresh while an unchanged one revalidates cheaply — the
+                    # same live-edit contract the src/ module graph relies on.
+                    return _plugin_file_response(request, script_file, "application/javascript")
        return Response("", status_code=404)

+    # ── Module-graph cache busting (#879) ────────────────────────────────
+    #
+    # ES modules are evaluated ONCE PER URL PER DOCUMENT. Re-inserting a
+    # <script type="module"> whose src the module map has already seen fires
+    # `load` but does NOT re-run the body. So re-loading a plugin — a rollback,
+    # and (see below) an upgrade too — silently kept the OLD module live while
+    # the loader recorded success: a no-op that reported it worked.
+    #
+    # Busting the ENTRY url does not help. A module plugin's screen.js is a
+    # one-line `import './src/main.js'`, and a relative specifier resolves
+    # against the base URL WITH THE QUERY DROPPED — so a ?v= token never reaches
+    # the graph. Driving a real browser through install -> upgrade -> rollback and
+    # counting evaluations of src/main.js gives ONE. The upgrade re-runs the shim
+    # at its new ?v= URL; the shim imports './src/main.js'; that resolves to the
+    # same URL; the module map returns the already-evaluated old module.
+    #
+    # So the token goes in the PATH: /api/plugins/<id>/g/<n>/screen.js. Every
+    # relative import inherits it at every depth — for free, with no
+    # import-specifier rewriting (which could never see `import(expr)` anyway).
+    #
+    # WHY A PATH REWRITE AND NOT TWO MIRRORED ROUTES. The token shifts the base
+    # URL, so EVERYTHING a module resolves relatively moves with it — not just
+    # imports. `new URL('../assets/worklet.js', import.meta.url)` from
+    # /api/plugins/x/g/1/src/main.js resolves to /api/plugins/x/g/1/assets/... .
+    # Mirroring only screen.js and src/ would fix imports and 404 every asset,
+    # worklet and wasm file the graph reaches — and would silently break again the
+    # next time someone adds a plugin route. Stripping the segment before routing
+    # makes every plugin route, present and future, work under the prefix.
+    #
+    # The token is opaque: it is never joined into a filesystem path (and is gone
+    # by the time any handler runs), so containment still rests entirely on the
+    # same safe_join the un-prefixed routes use.
+    _GEN_PREFIX = re.compile(r"^(/api/plugins/[^/]+)/g/[^/]+(/.+)$")
+
+    @app.middleware("http")
+    async def _strip_plugin_generation_prefix(request: Request, call_next):
+        m = _GEN_PREFIX.match(request.scope.get("path", ""))
+        if m:
+            # Starlette routes on scope["path"] alone. raw_path is deliberately left
+            # ALONE: it is informational, and re-encoding the rewritten str back to
+            # bytes would have to guess a codec — `.encode("latin-1")` raises
+            # UnicodeEncodeError on a perfectly valid plugin file like src/工具.js,
+            # 500ing a request the un-prefixed route serves fine. Leaving raw_path as
+            # the client actually sent it is also simply more truthful for logs.
+            request.scope["path"] = m.group(1) + m.group(2)
+        return await call_next(request)
+
    @app.get("/api/plugins/{plugin_id}/settings.html")
    def plugin_settings_html(plugin_id: str):
        with PLUGINS_LOCK:
@@ -2377,7 +2490,7 @@ def register_plugin_api(app: FastAPI):
        return Response("{}", status_code=404, media_type="application/json")

    @app.get("/api/plugins/{plugin_id}/assets/{asset_path:path}")
-    def plugin_asset(plugin_id: str, asset_path: str):
+    def plugin_asset(request: Request, plugin_id: str, asset_path: str):
        """Serve a static file a plugin bundles under its own ``assets/``
        directory (e.g. an AudioWorklet module, WASM, or image). Unlike the
        fixed screen.js/settings.html handlers above, this is a generic
@@ -2399,16 +2512,35 @@ def register_plugin_api(app: FastAPI):
                    log.warning("Plugin %r: asset path rejected: %r", plugin_id, asset_path)
                    break
                if target.is_file():
-                    media_type = mimetypes.guess_type(target.name)[0]
-                    # .js must come back as JavaScript so addModule() / <script>
-                    # accept it; guess_type can miss this on some platforms.
-                    if media_type is None and target.suffix == ".js":
-                        media_type = "application/javascript"
-                    # .css must come back as text/css so a <link rel=stylesheet>
-                    # (the styles capability) is honoured; guess_type can miss it
-                    # on a stripped platform mimetypes registry, same as .js.
-                    elif media_type is None and target.suffix == ".css":
-                        media_type = "text/css"
-                    return FileResponse(target, media_type=media_type or "application/octet-stream")
+                    # no-cache + ETag/304 so a live-edited worklet/asset reloads
+                    # on refresh (bare FileResponse emits an ETag but never 304s).
+                    return _plugin_file_response(request, target, _plugin_media_type(target))
+                break
+        return Response("", status_code=404)
+
+    @app.get("/api/plugins/{plugin_id}/src/{src_path:path}")
+    def plugin_src(request: Request, plugin_id: str, src_path: str):
+        """Serve a file from a plugin's ES-module source tree under ``src/``.
+
+        This is the R0 host capability that lets a migrated plugin's
+        ``screen.js`` (a one-line ``import './src/main.js'``) load its whole
+        module graph. Containment mirrors the assets/ route exactly —
+        ``safe_join`` against ``<plugin>/src`` rejects ``..``, absolute paths,
+        and NUL bytes — and the live-edit cache contract (no-cache + ETag/304)
+        makes an edited module reload on refresh while unchanged ones 304.
+        Read-only; the src/ tree is source files, never executed server-side.
+        """
+        with PLUGINS_LOCK:
+            snapshot = list(LOADED_PLUGINS)
+        for p in snapshot:
+            if p["id"] == plugin_id:
+                if p.get("status", "ready") != "ready":
+                    break
+                target = safe_join(p["_dir"] / "src", src_path)
+                if target is None:
+                    log.warning("Plugin %r: src path rejected: %r", plugin_id, src_path)
+                    break
+                if target.is_file():
+                    return _plugin_file_response(request, target, _plugin_media_type(target))
                break
        return Response("", status_code=404)
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@
        Object.freeze({
            id: 'player-audio',
            label: 'Player and Audio Runtime',
-            summary: 'Playback, renderer, mixer, monitoring, effects, and note-detection surfaces.',
-            domains: Object.freeze(['playback', 'visualization', 'audio-mix', 'audio-input', 'audio-monitoring', 'audio-effects', 'stems', 'note-detection']),
+            summary: 'Playback, renderer, chart-transform, mixer, monitoring, effects, and note-detection surfaces.',
+            domains: Object.freeze(['playback', 'visualization', 'chart-transform', 'audio-mix', 'audio-input', 'audio-monitoring', 'audio-effects', 'stems', 'note-detection']),
        }),
        Object.freeze({
            id: 'plugin-defined',
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
        'audio-monitoring': 'headphones',
        stems: 'sliders',
        'note-detection': 'activity',
+        'chart-transform': 'box',
        diagnostics: 'fileSearch',
        pipeline: 'activity',
        'ui.navigation': 'list',
@@ -0,0 +1,791 @@
+/* Career plugin — only what the prebuilt core Tailwind doesn't ship
+   (plugin files are outside the core content glob, so responsive grid
+   variants and cyan button shades live here under plugin-prefixed names). */
+
+.career-venues {
+    display: grid;
+    gap: 1rem;
+    grid-template-columns: 1fr;
+}
+@media (min-width: 768px) {
+    .career-venues { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, minmax(0, 1fr)); }
+}
+
+.career-btn {
+    font-size: 0.75rem;
+    line-height: 1rem;
+    padding: 0.25rem 0.5rem;
+    border-radius: 0.375rem;
+    transition: background-color 0.15s ease;
+}
+.career-btn-primary { background-color: #0891b2; color: #fff; }
+.career-btn-primary:hover { background-color: #06b6d4; }
+.career-btn-ghost { background-color: rgba(31, 41, 55, 0.7); color: #d1d5db; }
+.career-btn-ghost:hover { background-color: rgba(55, 65, 81, 0.9); }
+
+.career-bar-track {
+    height: 0.5rem;
+    border-radius: 0.25rem;
+    background-color: rgba(31, 41, 55, 0.9);
+    overflow: hidden;
+}
+.career-bar-fill {
+    height: 100%;
+    background-color: #06b6d4;
+    transition: width 0.3s ease;
+}
+
+.career-star-list {
+    display: grid;
+    gap: 0.375rem;
+}
+.career-star-row {
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: baseline;
+    gap: 0.75rem;
+    padding: 0.375rem 0.625rem;
+    border-radius: 0.5rem;
+    background-color: rgba(31, 41, 55, 0.4);
+    font-size: 0.8rem;
+}
+.career-star-row .stars {
+    color: #facc15;
+    letter-spacing: 0.1em;
+    min-width: 3.2em;
+}
+.career-star-row .stars .off { color: rgba(250, 204, 21, 0.25); }
+.career-star-row .song {
+    color: #e5e7eb;
+    flex: 1;
+    overflow: hidden;
+    text-overflow: ellipsis;
+    white-space: nowrap;
+}
+.career-star-row .song .artist { color: #9ca3af; }
+.career-star-row .hint { color: #6b7280; white-space: nowrap; }
+.career-star-row .hint.close { color: #22d3ee; }
+
+/* ── Passports (badge journey) ─────────────────────────────────────────── */
+
+.career-tabs {
+    display: flex;
+    gap: 0.25rem;
+    margin-bottom: 1rem;
+    border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(55, 65, 81, 0.6);
+}
+.career-tab {
+    padding: 0.375rem 0.875rem;
+    font-size: 0.85rem;
+    color: #9ca3af;
+    border-bottom: 2px solid transparent;
+    margin-bottom: -1px;
+}
+.career-tab:hover { color: #e5e7eb; }
+.career-tab.active { color: #fff; border-bottom-color: #06b6d4; }
+
+.pp-instruments { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 0.5rem; }
+.pp-inst {
+    padding: 0.3rem 0.8rem;
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    font-size: 0.8rem;
+    color: #d1d5db;
+    background-color: rgba(31, 41, 55, 0.7);
+    border: 1px solid transparent;
+}
+.pp-inst:hover { background-color: rgba(55, 65, 81, 0.9); }
+.pp-inst.active { border-color: #06b6d4; color: #fff; }
+.pp-inst.uncommitted { color: #6b7280; border-style: dashed; border-color: rgba(107, 114, 128, 0.5); }
+.pp-inst-badges { color: #fbbf24; font-size: 0.7rem; }
+.pp-inst-plus { color: #6b7280; }
+
+/* Leather covers — per-instrument hue, embossed with layered shadows and a
+   subtle grain gradient (no image assets). Keep the hex pairs in sync with
+   PP_LEATHER_HEX in screen.js (the canvas card draws the same leather). */
+.pp-leather-guitar { background: linear-gradient(160deg, #5c2321, #401412); }
+.pp-leather-bass { background: linear-gradient(160deg, #1f3252, #131f36); }
+.pp-leather-keys { background: linear-gradient(160deg, #1e4034, #122a21); }
+.pp-leather-drums { background: linear-gradient(160deg, #3f3f46, #26262b); }
+
+.pp-shelf { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 1rem; align-items: flex-end; }
+.pp-cover, .pp-commit-cover {
+    position: relative;
+    width: 9.5rem;
+    height: 13rem;
+    border-radius: 0.5rem 0.75rem 0.75rem 0.5rem;
+    box-shadow:
+        inset 0 0 0 1px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.06),
+        inset 0.5rem 0 0.75rem -0.5rem rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8),
+        0 6px 16px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.45);
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    gap: 0.35rem;
+    padding: 0.75rem;
+    text-align: center;
+}
+.pp-cover { transition: transform 0.15s ease, box-shadow 0.15s ease; }
+.pp-cover:not(.pp-tilt):hover { transform: translateY(-4px) !important; box-shadow: 0 10px 22px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.55); }
+.pp-cover-title {
+    font-weight: 700;
+    font-size: 0.85rem;
+    letter-spacing: 0.14em;
+    color: rgba(240, 226, 195, 0.92);
+    text-shadow: 0 1px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7), 0 -1px 0 rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.12);
+    overflow-wrap: anywhere;
+}
+.pp-cover-inst {
+    font-size: 0.6rem;
+    letter-spacing: 0.2em;
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    color: rgba(240, 226, 195, 0.55);
+}
+.pp-cover-sub {
+    position: absolute;
+    bottom: 0.6rem;
+    font-size: 0.6rem;
+    color: rgba(240, 226, 195, 0.5);
+}
+
+.pp-commit-card {
+    display: flex;
+    gap: 1.25rem;
+    align-items: center;
+    padding: 1rem;
+    border-radius: 0.75rem;
+    border: 1px solid rgba(55, 65, 81, 0.6);
+    background-color: rgba(31, 41, 55, 0.35);
+}
+.pp-commit-card .pp-commit-cover { width: 7rem; height: 9.5rem; flex: none; }
+
+.pp-rack { display: grid; gap: 0.75rem; grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(10.5rem, 1fr)); }
+.pp-brochure {
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    align-items: flex-start;
+    gap: 0.15rem;
+    padding: 0.75rem 0.875rem;
+    border-radius: 0.5rem;
+    text-align: left;
+    background: linear-gradient(165deg, rgba(45, 55, 72, 0.55), rgba(31, 41, 55, 0.55));
+    border: 1px solid rgba(75, 85, 99, 0.5);
+    transition: transform 0.15s ease, border-color 0.15s ease;
+}
+.pp-brochure:hover { transform: translateY(-2px); border-color: #06b6d4; }
+.pp-brochure-art { font-size: 1.4rem; }
+.pp-brochure-name { color: #e5e7eb; font-size: 0.85rem; font-weight: 600; }
+.pp-brochure-sub { color: #6b7280; font-size: 0.65rem; }
+
+/* The open book */
+.pp-overlay { position: fixed; inset: 0; z-index: 60; }
+.pp-book-wrap {
+    position: absolute;
+    inset: 0;
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    background: rgba(3, 7, 18, 0.72);
+    backdrop-filter: blur(2px);
+}
+.pp-book {
+    position: relative;
+    width: min(92vw, 720px);
+    height: min(72vh, 470px);
+    perspective: 1800px;
+}
+.pp-page {
+    position: absolute;
+    top: 0;
+    bottom: 0;
+    width: 50%;
+    background:
+        linear-gradient(105deg, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08), transparent 12%),
+        #efe6d0;
+    color: #3f3428;
+    padding: 1.1rem 1.2rem;
+    overflow: hidden;
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    gap: 0.75rem;
+}
+.pp-page-left { left: 0; border-radius: 0.6rem 0 0 0.6rem; opacity: 0; transition: opacity 0.35s ease 0.3s; align-items: center; }
+.pp-page-right { right: 0; border-radius: 0 0.6rem 0.6rem 0; box-shadow: inset 0.4rem 0 0.6rem -0.4rem rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.35); }
+.pp-book.open .pp-page-left { opacity: 1; }
+.pp-book-cover {
+    position: absolute;
+    top: 0;
+    bottom: 0;
+    left: 50%;
+    width: 50%;
+    border-radius: 0 0.6rem 0.6rem 0;
+    transform-origin: left center;
+    transform: rotateY(0deg);
+    backface-visibility: hidden;
+    transition: transform 0.8s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.1, 0.2, 1);
+    z-index: 5;
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    gap: 0.35rem;
+    box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 1px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.06), 0 6px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
+}
+.pp-book.open .pp-book-cover { transform: rotateY(-180deg); }
+.pp-book-close {
+    position: absolute;
+    top: -0.75rem;
+    right: -0.75rem;
+    z-index: 8;
+    width: 2rem;
+    height: 2rem;
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    background: rgba(17, 24, 39, 0.95);
+    color: #d1d5db;
+    border: 1px solid rgba(107, 114, 128, 0.5);
+}
+.pp-book-close:hover { color: #fff; border-color: #06b6d4; }
+.pp-page-head {
+    font-size: 0.7rem;
+    letter-spacing: 0.18em;
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    color: #8a7a5e;
+    border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(138, 122, 94, 0.35);
+    padding-bottom: 0.4rem;
+    width: 100%;
+    text-align: center;
+}
+
+/* The rubber stamp */
+.pp-stamp {
+    --pp-rot: 0deg;
+
+    position: relative;
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    gap: 0.1rem;
+    width: 9rem;
+    height: 9rem;
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    border: 3px solid #9a5b16;
+    box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 3px #efe6d0, inset 0 0 0 4px #9a5b16;
+    color: #9a5b16;
+    transform: rotate(var(--pp-rot));
+    margin-top: 1.25rem;
+    text-align: center;
+    padding: 0.75rem;
+    opacity: 0.92;
+}
+.pp-stamp-genre { font-size: 0.72rem; font-weight: 800; letter-spacing: 0.16em; overflow-wrap: anywhere; }
+.pp-stamp-tier { font-size: 0.58rem; letter-spacing: 0.3em; }
+.pp-stamp-ghost {
+    border-style: dashed;
+    box-shadow: none;
+    border-color: #b3a68b;
+    color: #b3a68b;
+    opacity: 0.8;
+}
+.pp-stamp-hidden { opacity: 0; }
+.pp-stamp-mini {
+    position: absolute;
+    top: 0.5rem;
+    right: 0.5rem;
+    width: auto;
+    height: auto;
+    border-width: 2px;
+    box-shadow: none;
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    font-size: 0.5rem;
+    font-weight: 800;
+    letter-spacing: 0.2em;
+    color: #d9a253;
+    border-color: #d9a253;
+    padding: 0.2rem 0.4rem;
+    margin: 0;
+    display: inline-block;
+    transform: rotate(var(--pp-rot));
+    opacity: 0.95;
+}
+.pp-stamp-page::after {
+    content: '';
+    position: absolute;
+    inset: -10%;
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    background: radial-gradient(closest-side, rgba(154, 91, 22, 0.25), transparent 72%);
+    filter: blur(5px);
+    opacity: 0;
+    pointer-events: none;
+}
+.pp-slam { animation: pp-slam 0.5s cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.8, 0.3, 1) forwards; }
+.pp-slam::after { animation: pp-ink 0.45s ease-out 0.12s forwards; }
+@keyframes pp-slam {
+    0% { transform: rotate(calc(var(--pp-rot) - 15deg)) scale(2.5); opacity: 0; }
+    55% { transform: rotate(var(--pp-rot)) scale(0.92); opacity: 1; }
+    75% { transform: rotate(var(--pp-rot)) scale(1.05); }
+    100% { transform: rotate(var(--pp-rot)) scale(1); opacity: 0.92; }
+}
+@keyframes pp-ink {
+    from { opacity: 0; transform: scale(0.6); }
+    to { opacity: 1; transform: scale(1); }
+}
+.pp-shake { animation: pp-shake 0.4s ease-out 0.28s; }
+@keyframes pp-shake {
+    0%, 100% { transform: translate(0, 0) rotate(0); }
+    25% { transform: translate(2px, 1px) rotate(0.3deg); }
+    50% { transform: translate(-2px, 2px) rotate(-0.25deg); }
+    75% { transform: translate(1px, -1px) rotate(0.15deg); }
+}
+
+.pp-invite, .pp-snj, .pp-gold-note { font-size: 0.75rem; text-align: center; }
+.pp-invite { color: #6d5d40; }
+.pp-snj { color: #6d5d40; margin-top: 2rem; font-style: italic; max-width: 15rem; }
+.pp-gold-note { color: #a8946d; font-size: 0.62rem; margin-top: 0.5rem; }
+.pp-drills { display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 0.25rem; font-size: 0.7rem; color: #6d5d40; }
+.pp-drill.cleared { color: #4d7c0f; }
+
+/* Ticket stubs */
+.pp-stubs { flex: 1; overflow-y: auto; display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 0.5rem; padding-right: 0.25rem; }
+.pp-stub {
+    background: #f7f1e3;
+    border: 1px solid #d8cbaa;
+    border-left: 2px dashed #b6a98c;
+    border-radius: 0.25rem 0.4rem 0.4rem 0.25rem;
+    padding: 0.4rem 0.6rem 0.4rem 0.75rem;
+    display: grid;
+    grid-template-columns: auto 1fr;
+    column-gap: 0.6rem;
+    align-items: baseline;
+    box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(63, 52, 40, 0.15);
+}
+.pp-stub-stars { color: #b8860b; font-size: 0.7rem; letter-spacing: 0.08em; grid-row: span 2; }
+.pp-stub-title { font-size: 0.78rem; font-weight: 600; color: #3f3428; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; }
+.pp-stub-artist { grid-column: 2; font-size: 0.65rem; color: #6d5d40; }
+.pp-stub-meta { grid-column: 2; font-size: 0.6rem; color: #8a7a5e; }
+.pp-stub-empty { font-size: 0.72rem; color: #8a7a5e; font-style: italic; padding: 0.75rem 0.25rem; }
+
+/* Wax-seal commitment ceremony */
+.pp-ceremony { width: 11rem; height: 15rem; }
+.pp-wax {
+    position: absolute;
+    bottom: 1.4rem;
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    width: 3.4rem;
+    height: 3.4rem;
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    background:
+        radial-gradient(circle at 32% 30%, #d24545 0%, #a41f1f 42%, #7c1414 100%);
+    box-shadow:
+        inset 0 0 0 4px rgba(124, 20, 20, 0.9),
+        inset 0 2px 4px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.25),
+        0 3px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.55);
+    color: rgba(255, 235, 235, 0.9);
+    font-weight: 700;
+    font-size: 1.15rem;
+    animation: pp-seal-drop 0.9s cubic-bezier(0.25, 0.9, 0.3, 1.15) 0.35s backwards;
+}
+@keyframes pp-seal-drop {
+    0% { transform: translateY(-120px) scale(2.1); opacity: 0; }
+    60% { transform: translateY(0) scale(0.9); opacity: 1; }
+    80% { transform: translateY(0) scale(1.05); }
+    100% { transform: translateY(0) scale(1); }
+}
+
+/* Small screens: the spread stacks; the flip cover would straddle both
+   pages, so the book simply opens. */
+@media (max-width: 640px) {
+    .pp-book { height: min(80vh, 620px); }
+    .pp-page { position: static; width: 100%; height: 50%; border-radius: 0; }
+    .pp-page-left { border-radius: 0.6rem 0.6rem 0 0; opacity: 1; }
+    .pp-page-right { border-radius: 0 0 0.6rem 0.6rem; }
+    .pp-book-cover { display: none; }
+    .pp-book { display: flex; flex-direction: column; }
+}
+
+@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+    .pp-book-cover, .pp-page-left, .pp-cover { transition: none; }
+    .pp-slam, .pp-slam::after, .pp-shake, .pp-wax { animation: none; }
+    .pp-slam, .pp-stamp-page::after { opacity: 1; }
+    .pp-stamp-hidden { opacity: 0.92; }
+}
+
+/* Badge ceremony (body-level overlay — shows over the player) */
+.pp-ceremony-overlay {
+    position: fixed;
+    inset: 0;
+    z-index: 220;
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    background: rgba(3, 7, 18, 0.55);
+    backdrop-filter: blur(1.5px);
+    animation: pp-ceremony-in 0.3s ease-out;
+    cursor: pointer;
+}
+.pp-ceremony-out { opacity: 0; transition: opacity 0.3s ease-out; }
+.pp-confetti { position: absolute; inset: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; pointer-events: none; }
+.pp-ceremony-card {
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    align-items: center;
+    gap: 0.5rem;
+    text-align: center;
+}
+.pp-ceremony-stamp {
+    position: relative;
+    overflow: hidden;
+    background: rgba(239, 230, 208, 0.97);
+    transform: rotate(var(--pp-rot)) scale(1.25);
+    animation: pp-slam 0.55s cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.8, 0.3, 1) 0.15s backwards;
+    margin-top: 0;
+}
+.pp-ceremony-stamp::before {
+    content: '';
+    position: absolute;
+    inset: -40%;
+    background: linear-gradient(115deg, transparent 42%, rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.55) 50%, transparent 58%);
+    transform: translateX(-120%);
+    animation: pp-shine 1.1s ease-out 0.75s forwards;
+    pointer-events: none;
+}
+@keyframes pp-shine {
+    to { transform: translateX(120%); }
+}
+@keyframes pp-ceremony-in {
+    from { opacity: 0; }
+    to { opacity: 1; }
+}
+.pp-ceremony-title {
+    margin-top: 1rem;
+    font-size: 1.15rem;
+    font-weight: 700;
+    letter-spacing: 0.18em;
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    color: #f0e2c3;
+    text-shadow: 0 2px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8);
+}
+.pp-ceremony-sub { font-size: 0.8rem; color: #d1d5db; text-shadow: 0 1px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); }
+
+/* Hours odometer (Stage 5 post-cap — a true fact, never a meter) */
+.pp-hours {
+    font-size: 0.72rem;
+    letter-spacing: 0.08em;
+    color: #8a7a5e;
+    margin-top: 0.75rem;
+    font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
+}
+
+/* ── Visuals pack: trading-card tilt, emerging ink, gold foil ──────────── */
+
+/* Trading-card tilt (earned artifacts; JS feeds --pp-tilt-* on hover-capable
+   pointers only). */
+.pp-tilt {
+    position: relative;
+    overflow: hidden;
+    will-change: transform;
+}
+.pp-cover.pp-tilt {
+    transform: perspective(700px)
+        rotateX(var(--pp-tilt-x, 0deg)) rotateY(var(--pp-tilt-y, 0deg))
+        rotate(var(--pp-cover-rot, 0deg));
+    transition: transform 0.12s ease, box-shadow 0.15s ease;
+}
+.pp-cover.pp-tilt:hover { box-shadow: 0 12px 26px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6); }
+.pp-stamp-page.pp-tilt {
+    overflow: visible;
+    transform: perspective(600px)
+        rotateX(var(--pp-tilt-x, 0deg)) rotateY(var(--pp-tilt-y, 0deg))
+        rotate(var(--pp-rot));
+    transition: transform 0.12s ease;
+}
+.pp-tilt::after {
+    content: '';
+    position: absolute;
+    inset: 0;
+    border-radius: inherit;
+    background: linear-gradient(105deg,
+        transparent calc(var(--pp-glint-x, 50%) - 14%),
+        rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.16) var(--pp-glint-x, 50%),
+        transparent calc(var(--pp-glint-x, 50%) + 14%));
+    opacity: 0;
+    transition: opacity 0.2s ease;
+    pointer-events: none;
+}
+.pp-tilt:hover::after { opacity: 1; }
+
+/* Emerging-stamp ink: the ghost fills as qualifying songs land. */
+.pp-stamp-ghost::before {
+    content: '';
+    position: absolute;
+    inset: 7%;
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    background: conic-gradient(rgba(154, 91, 22, 0.16) var(--pp-fill, 0%), transparent 0);
+    pointer-events: none;
+}
+
+/* Gold ink — a REAL gold badge (comb-verified improv). */
+.pp-stamp-gold {
+    border-color: #b8860b;
+    color: #a97b1b;
+    box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 3px #f3e8c8, inset 0 0 0 4px #b8860b;
+}
+.pp-stamp-mini.pp-stamp-gold {
+    color: #f0c75e;
+    border-color: #f0c75e;
+    box-shadow: none;
+}
+/* Gold foil chip — rendered only alongside an earned gold stamp. */
+.pp-gold-foil {
+    position: relative;
+    overflow: hidden;
+    display: inline-flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    margin-top: 0.9rem;
+    padding: 0.28rem 0.85rem;
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    border: 2px solid #d9a253;
+    color: #c89040;
+    font-size: 0.58rem;
+    font-weight: 700;
+    letter-spacing: 0.32em;
+}
+.pp-gold-foil::after {
+    content: '';
+    position: absolute;
+    inset: 0;
+    background: linear-gradient(100deg, transparent 40%, rgba(255, 223, 128, 0.35) 50%, transparent 60%);
+    transform: translateX(-120%);
+    animation: pp-foil 3.4s ease-in-out infinite;
+}
+@keyframes pp-foil {
+    0%, 55% { transform: translateX(-120%); }
+    100% { transform: translateX(120%); }
+}
+
+@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+    .pp-gold-foil::after { animation: none; }
+    .pp-cover.pp-tilt, .pp-stamp-page.pp-tilt { transition: none; }
+    /* The hover glint is motion theatrics too — not just the JS tilt. */
+    .pp-tilt::after { display: none; }
+}
+
+/* Practice invitations — closest stamps + bring-these-up */
+.pp-closest {
+    border: 1px solid rgba(75, 85, 99, 0.45);
+    border-radius: 0.6rem;
+    background: linear-gradient(165deg, rgba(45, 55, 72, 0.4), rgba(31, 41, 55, 0.4));
+    padding: 0.6rem 0.75rem;
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    gap: 0.3rem;
+}
+.pp-closest-head {
+    font-size: 0.62rem;
+    letter-spacing: 0.22em;
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    color: #9ca3af;
+}
+.pp-closest-row {
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: baseline;
+    gap: 0.75rem;
+    text-align: left;
+    font-size: 0.8rem;
+    padding: 0.15rem 0.25rem;
+    border-radius: 0.35rem;
+}
+.pp-closest-row:hover { background: rgba(55, 65, 81, 0.5); }
+.pp-closest-genre { color: #e5e7eb; font-weight: 600; white-space: nowrap; }
+.pp-closest-ask { color: #9ca3af; font-size: 0.72rem; }
+.pp-closest-ask em { color: #cbd5e1; font-style: italic; }
+
+.pp-nearest { margin-top: 0.6rem; border-top: 1px dashed rgba(138, 122, 94, 0.4); padding-top: 0.5rem; }
+.pp-nearest-head {
+    font-size: 0.58rem;
+    letter-spacing: 0.22em;
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    color: #8a7a5e;
+    margin-bottom: 0.25rem;
+}
+.pp-nearest-row { font-size: 0.7rem; color: #6d5d40; padding: 0.1rem 0; }
+.pp-nearest-row em { color: #3f3428; }
+/* ── Career surfaces outside the plugin: profile wall + home card ───────── */
+
+.pp-wall { display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 0.6rem; }
+.pp-wall-head {
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: baseline;
+    justify-content: space-between;
+    font-weight: 600;
+    color: #e5e7eb;
+    font-size: 0.9rem;
+}
+.pp-wall-meta { color: #9ca3af; font-size: 0.7rem; font-weight: 400; }
+.pp-wall-shelf {
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    flex-wrap: wrap;
+    gap: 0.5rem;
+    padding: 0.35rem 0;
+    border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(75, 85, 99, 0.25);
+}
+.pp-wall-inst {
+    font-size: 0.62rem;
+    letter-spacing: 0.18em;
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    color: #6b7280;
+    min-width: 3.6rem;
+}
+.pp-wall-cover {
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    gap: 0.1rem;
+    width: 4.2rem;
+    height: 5.6rem;
+    border-radius: 0.3rem 0.45rem 0.45rem 0.3rem;
+    box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 1px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.07),
+        inset 0.25rem 0 0.4rem -0.25rem rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8),
+        0 3px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);
+    padding: 0.3rem;
+    transition: transform 0.15s ease;
+}
+.pp-wall-cover:hover { transform: translateY(-3px); }
+.pp-wall-cover span {
+    font-size: 0.5rem;
+    font-weight: 700;
+    letter-spacing: 0.1em;
+    color: rgba(240, 226, 195, 0.9);
+    overflow-wrap: anywhere;
+    text-align: center;
+}
+.pp-wall-cover em {
+    font-size: 0.42rem;
+    letter-spacing: 0.22em;
+    font-style: normal;
+    color: #d9a253;
+}
+.pp-wall-none { font-size: 0.7rem; color: #6b7280; font-style: italic; }
+.pp-wall-link {
+    align-self: flex-end;
+    font-size: 0.72rem;
+    color: #22d3ee;
+    padding: 0.15rem 0.3rem;
+}
+.pp-wall-link:hover { text-decoration: underline; }
+
+/* The home-page career card — a trading card among stat tiles. */
+.pp-dash-card {
+    position: relative;
+    overflow: hidden;
+    width: 100%;
+    height: 100%;
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    justify-content: center;
+    gap: 0.2rem;
+    text-align: left;
+    padding: 1rem;
+    border-radius: 0.5rem;
+    border: 1px solid rgba(217, 162, 83, 0.35);
+    background:
+        linear-gradient(135deg, rgba(92, 35, 33, 0.85), rgba(30, 27, 34, 0.92)),
+        linear-gradient(160deg, #2b1414, #17111c);
+    box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 1px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.05), 0 4px 14px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.35);
+    transition: transform 0.15s ease, box-shadow 0.15s ease;
+}
+.pp-dash-card:hover { transform: translateY(-2px); box-shadow: 0 8px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5); }
+.pp-dash-shine {
+    position: absolute;
+    inset: 0;
+    background: linear-gradient(105deg, transparent 42%, rgba(255, 223, 128, 0.18) 50%, transparent 58%);
+    transform: translateX(-130%);
+    pointer-events: none;
+}
+.pp-dash-card:hover .pp-dash-shine { animation: pp-foil 1.4s ease-out; }
+.pp-dash-head {
+    font-size: 0.58rem;
+    letter-spacing: 0.3em;
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    color: #d9a253;
+}
+.pp-dash-badges { color: #f3ead2; font-size: 1.05rem; }
+.pp-dash-badges b { font-weight: 700; margin: 0 0.25rem 0 0.35rem; }
+.pp-dash-meta { color: #b5a488; font-size: 0.72rem; }
+.pp-dash-ask { color: #8d9aa8; font-size: 0.66rem; }
+.pp-dash-ask em { color: #cbd5e1; }
+
+.pp-card-actions { display: flex; gap: 0.5rem; margin-top: 0.9rem; }
+
+@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+    .pp-dash-card:hover .pp-dash-shine { animation: none; }
+    .pp-wall-cover, .pp-dash-card { transition: none; }
+}
+
+/* ── Gigs: poster, runner strip, summary, log ───────────────────────────── */
+
+.pp-poster {
+    position: relative;
+    width: min(92vw, 420px);
+    padding: 2rem 1.6rem 1.4rem;
+    border-radius: 0.5rem;
+    background: linear-gradient(180deg, #141019, #241318);
+    border: 2px solid rgba(217, 162, 83, 0.45);
+    box-shadow: 0 10px 32px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6);
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    align-items: center;
+    gap: 0.35rem;
+    text-align: center;
+}
+.pp-poster-venue { color: rgba(240, 226, 195, 0.7); font-size: 0.95rem; letter-spacing: 0.08em; }
+.pp-poster-presents { color: rgba(240, 226, 195, 0.4); font-size: 0.58rem; letter-spacing: 0.4em; text-transform: uppercase; }
+.pp-poster-title {
+    color: #d9a253;
+    font-size: 1.7rem;
+    font-weight: 800;
+    letter-spacing: 0.1em;
+    line-height: 1.15;
+    overflow-wrap: anywhere;
+}
+.pp-poster-inst { color: rgba(240, 226, 195, 0.5); font-size: 0.68rem; letter-spacing: 0.2em; text-transform: uppercase; }
+.pp-poster-bill { margin: 0.9rem 0 0.5rem; display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 0.35rem; width: 100%; }
+.pp-poster-line { color: rgba(240, 226, 195, 0.85); font-size: 0.85rem; }
+.pp-poster-line span { color: rgba(217, 162, 83, 0.7); margin-right: 0.35rem; }
+.pp-poster-line em { color: rgba(240, 226, 195, 0.5); font-style: italic; font-size: 0.72rem; }
+.pp-poster-line b { color: #f3d179; margin-left: 0.3rem; }
+.pp-poster-actions { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 0.5rem; justify-content: center; margin-top: 0.6rem; }
+.pp-poster-summary { cursor: default; }
+
+.pp-gig-strip {
+    position: fixed;
+    top: 0.5rem;
+    left: 50%;
+    transform: translateX(-50%);
+    z-index: 35; /* above the rail (30), under popovers (40) — the chrome invariant */
+    background: rgba(10, 8, 14, 0.85);
+    border: 1px solid rgba(217, 162, 83, 0.4);
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    color: rgba(240, 226, 195, 0.85);
+    font-size: 0.72rem;
+    padding: 0.3rem 0.9rem;
+    pointer-events: none;
+    backdrop-filter: blur(2px);
+}
+.pp-gig-strip b { color: #d9a253; letter-spacing: 0.2em; }
+.pp-gig-strip em { color: #f3ead2; font-style: italic; }
+
+.pp-giglog { margin-top: 0.6rem; border-top: 1px dashed rgba(138, 122, 94, 0.4); padding-top: 0.5rem; }
+.pp-giglog-head {
+    font-size: 0.58rem;
+    letter-spacing: 0.22em;
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    color: #8a7a5e;
+    margin-bottom: 0.25rem;
+}
+.pp-giglog-row { font-size: 0.7rem; color: #6d5d40; padding: 0.1rem 0; }
+.pp-giglog-row b { color: #9a5b16; letter-spacing: 0.06em; }
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+{
+    "badge_requirement": {
+        "songs": 5,
+        "min_stars": 2
+    },
+    "gig": {
+        "min_songs": 3,
+        "max_songs": 5,
+        "stakes_songs": 2,
+        "encore_accuracy": 0.75
+    },
+    "families": [
+        { "key": "metal", "match": ["metal", "djent", "grindcore", "thrash", "doom"] },
+        { "key": "blues", "match": ["blues"] },
+        { "key": "jazz", "match": ["jazz", "bebop", "swing", "bossa"] },
+        { "key": "funk", "match": ["funk", "disco"] },
+        { "key": "rock", "match": ["rock", "punk", "grunge", "shoegaze"] }
+    ],
+    "genres": {
+        "blues": { "virtuoso_nodes": { "guitar": ["blues_shuffle"] } },
+        "rock": { "virtuoso_nodes": { "guitar": ["rock_power_backbeat"] } },
+        "metal": { "virtuoso_nodes": { "guitar": ["melodic_metal_gallop"] } },
+        "funk": { "virtuoso_nodes": { "guitar": ["sixteenth_pocket"] } },
+        "jazz": { "virtuoso_nodes": { "guitar": ["vl_shells"] } }
+    },
+    "drill_labels": {
+        "blues_shuffle": "Blues Shuffle",
+        "rock_power_backbeat": "Power Chords & Backbeat",
+        "melodic_metal_gallop": "Gallop Picking",
+        "sixteenth_pocket": "16th Pocket",
+        "vl_shells": "Shell Voicings"
+    },
+    "graded_instruments": [
+        "guitar",
+        "keys"
+    ],
+    "instruments": [
+        "guitar",
+        "bass",
+        "keys",
+        "drums"
+    ]
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+{
+    "id": "career",
+    "name": "Career",
+    "version": "0.2.0",
+    "bundled": true,
+    "private": false,
+    "description": "Career mode — gig your way from a local bar to the arena, and build a passport wall of genre badges per instrument. Earn stars per song; the crowd reacts to how you play.",
+    "screen": "screen.html",
+    "script": "screen.js",
+    "styles": "assets/career.css",
+    "settings": {
+        "html": "settings.html",
+        "server_files": [
+            "career/"
+        ]
+    },
+    "routes": "routes.py"
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,997 @@
+"""Career mode — venue progression driven by per-song stars.
+
+Stars come straight from ``song_stats`` (meta.db): per song, the best
+accuracy across arrangements crosses 0/1/2/3 of the thresholds in
+``venues.json`` (data-driven so tuning never touches code). Cumulative
+stars unlock venue tiers (bar → club → arena).
+
+Venue packs (crowd-loop videos rendered offline in UE) may be bundled with
+the plugin under ``venue-packs/<id>/`` or downloaded on demand into
+``CONFIG_DIR/plugin_uploads/career/venues/<id>/``. Downloaded packs override
+bundled packs so release assets can replace a built-in starter venue.
+
+Passports (badge journey per instrument × genre — the identity layer on top
+of the same stars): badges are COMPUTED on read from ``song_stats`` × the
+library's effective genre, never stored. The only persisted career state is
+what cannot be derived — instrument commitment, opened passports, and the
+relayed virtuoso drill snapshot — as JSON under ``CONFIG_DIR/career/``
+(exported via ``settings.server_files``).
+
+Endpoints (all under /api/plugins/career/):
+  GET    /state                       stars + per-venue unlock/install/download status
+  POST   /packs/{venue_id}/download   start background pack download (409 if running)
+  DELETE /packs/{venue_id}            remove an installed pack
+  GET    /venues/{venue_id}/{filename} serve pack files (manifest.json, loops, stingers)
+  GET    /passports                   passport walls: badges, stubs, genres, drill status
+  POST   /passports/commit            commit to an instrument (the wax seal, Stage 0)
+  POST   /passports/open              open a genre passport for an instrument
+  POST   /drill-state                 relayed virtuoso.progress snapshot (drill intake)
+  POST   /gigs/propose                build a playable setlist for a genre gig
+  POST   /gigs                        log a COMPLETED gig (abandoned sets never log)
+"""
+
+import hashlib
+import json
+import logging
+import random
+import re
+import shutil
+import tempfile
+import threading
+import urllib.request
+import zipfile
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from fastapi import Body, HTTPException
+from fastapi.responses import FileResponse
+
+import sloppak
+from dlc_paths import _resolve_dlc_path
+from progression import instrument_for_arrangement
+
+PLUGIN_ID = "career"
+VENUE_ID_RE = re.compile(r"^[a-z0-9_-]{1,40}$")
+PACK_FILENAME_RE = re.compile(r"^[a-z0-9_-]{1,64}\.(mp4|webm|mp3|json)$")
+REQUIRED_LOOPS = ("bored", "neutral", "engaged", "ecstatic")
+DOWNLOAD_CHUNK = 1024 * 256
+# A setlist is a handful of songs; this endpoint unpacks zips, so cap the work an
+# arbitrary caller can ask for.
+MAX_GIG_SONGS = 32
+
+_lock = threading.Lock()
+_state = {
+    "content": None,        # parsed venues.json
+    "plugin_dir": None,     # plugin root; bundled packs live below it
+    "venues_dir": None,     # CONFIG_DIR/plugin_uploads/career/venues
+    "meta_db": None,        # MetadataDB (song_stats reads are lock-free / WAL)
+    "log": logging.getLogger("feedBack.plugin.career"),
+    "downloads": {},        # venue_id -> {status, bytes_done, bytes_total, error}
+}
+
+
+def _venue(venue_id):
+    for v in _state["content"]["venues"]:
+        if v["id"] == venue_id:
+            return v
+    return None
+
+
+def _venue_dir(venue_id) -> Path:
+    return _state["venues_dir"] / venue_id
+
+
+def _bundled_venue_dir(venue_id) -> Path:
+    return _state["plugin_dir"] / "venue-packs" / venue_id
+
+
+def _pack_dir(venue_id):
+    """Runtime pack location: downloaded override first, bundled fallback."""
+    local = _venue_dir(venue_id)
+    if (local / "manifest.json").is_file():
+        return local
+    bundled = _bundled_venue_dir(venue_id)
+    if (bundled / "manifest.json").is_file():
+        return bundled
+    return local
+
+
+def _installed(venue_id):
+    return (_pack_dir(venue_id) / "manifest.json").is_file()
+
+
+def _bundled(venue_id):
+    return (_bundled_venue_dir(venue_id) / "manifest.json").is_file()
+
+
+def _pack_published(pack):
+    """A remote pack is downloadable only once a publish has stamped its real
+    size — the committed manifest carries a 0-byte placeholder (and an all-zero
+    sha) until then, so don't offer a download that can't succeed yet."""
+    return bool(pack and (pack.get("bytes") or 0) > 0)
+
+
+def _stars():
+    """(total, per-song dict, detail rows). Accuracy is a 0..1 fraction."""
+    db = _state["meta_db"]
+    if db is None:
+        return 0, {}, []
+    thresholds = _state["content"]["star_accuracy_thresholds"]
+    # Existing-song filter: a scan hides (not deletes) stats of songs removed
+    # from the library, so orphaned rows must not keep counting toward stars.
+    rows = db.conn.execute(
+        "SELECT s.filename, MAX(s.best_accuracy), "
+        "       COALESCE(MAX(sg.title), ''), COALESCE(MAX(sg.artist), '') "
+        "FROM song_stats s JOIN songs sg ON sg.filename = s.filename "
+        "GROUP BY s.filename"
+    ).fetchall()
+    per_song = {}
+    detail = []
+    for filename, acc, title, artist in rows:
+        acc = acc or 0.0
+        stars, next_at = _star_progress(acc, thresholds)
+        if stars:
+            per_song[filename] = stars
+        detail.append({
+            "filename": filename,
+            "title": title or filename,
+            "artist": artist,
+            "stars": stars,
+            "best_accuracy": round(acc, 4),
+            "next_star_at": next_at,
+        })
+    # closest-to-next-star first (a practice worklist), maxed songs last
+    detail.sort(key=lambda r: (r["next_star_at"] is None,
+                               (r["next_star_at"] or 1.0) - r["best_accuracy"]))
+    return sum(per_song.values()), per_song, detail
+
+
+# ── Passports ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+GENRE_MAX_LEN = 64
+DRILL_SNAPSHOT_MAX_BYTES = 256 * 1024
+
+
+def _now_iso():
+    return datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(timespec="seconds")
+
+
+def _genre_display(genre):
+    return " ".join(str(genre or "").strip().split())
+
+
+def _genre_key(genre):
+    return _genre_display(genre).lower()
+
+
+def _state_file() -> Path:
+    return _state["state_dir"] / "passports-state.json"
+
+
+def _drill_file() -> Path:
+    return _state["state_dir"] / "drill-state.json"
+
+
+def _load_json(path: Path, default):
+    try:
+        return json.loads(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    except (OSError, ValueError):
+        return default
+
+
+def _save_json(path: Path, obj):
+    tmp = path.with_name(path.name + ".tmp")
+    tmp.write_text(json.dumps(obj, indent=2), encoding="utf-8")
+    tmp.replace(path)
+
+
+def _career_state():
+    st = _load_json(_state_file(), {})
+    if not isinstance(st, dict):
+        st = {}
+    if not isinstance(st.get("instruments"), dict):
+        st["instruments"] = {}
+    if not isinstance(st.get("passports"), dict):
+        st["passports"] = {}
+    return st
+
+
+def _genre_expr(db):
+    # Reuse the host's override-aware effective-genre SQL (Fix-metadata popup
+    # overrides); plain `genre` on stand-ins that don't implement it.
+    fn = getattr(db, "_effective_genre_expr", None)
+    return fn() if callable(fn) else "genre"
+
+
+def _instrument_of(arrangements, arrangement):
+    """Progression's arrangement→instrument mapping, via the song_stats
+    arrangement index into the song's arrangements JSON."""
+    entry = None
+    try:
+        idx = int(arrangement)
+        if isinstance(arrangements, list) and 0 <= idx < len(arrangements):
+            entry = arrangements[idx]
+    except (TypeError, ValueError):
+        entry = None
+    return instrument_for_arrangement(entry)
+
+
+def _played_by_instrument_genre():
+    """((instrument, genre_key) → {filename: stub dict},
+        (instrument, genre_key) → total played seconds).
+    Best accuracy per (instrument, song); seconds sum across every
+    arrangement row; the JOIN keeps the same dead-song filter as _stars()."""
+    db = _state["meta_db"]
+    if db is None:
+        return {}, {}
+    thresholds = _state["content"]["star_accuracy_thresholds"]
+    rows = db.conn.execute(
+        "SELECT s.filename, s.arrangement, s.best_accuracy, s.last_played_at, "
+        "       s.seconds_total, songs.title, songs.artist, songs.arrangements, "
+        f"      {_genre_expr(db)} "
+        "FROM song_stats s JOIN songs ON songs.filename = s.filename"
+    ).fetchall()
+    arrs_cache = {}
+    out = {}
+    seconds = {}
+    for filename, arrangement, acc, played_at, secs, title, artist, arrs_json, genre in rows:
+        gkey = _genre_key(genre)
+        if not gkey:
+            continue
+        if filename not in arrs_cache:
+            try:
+                arrs_cache[filename] = json.loads(arrs_json) if arrs_json else None
+            except (TypeError, ValueError):
+                arrs_cache[filename] = None
+        instrument = _instrument_of(arrs_cache[filename], arrangement)
+        key = (instrument, gkey)
+        seconds[key] = seconds.get(key, 0.0) + (secs or 0.0)
+        acc = acc or 0.0
+        stub = out.setdefault(key, {}).get(filename)
+        if stub is None:
+            out[key][filename] = {
+                "filename": filename,
+                "title": title or filename,
+                "artist": artist or "",
+                "best_accuracy": acc,
+                "last_played_at": played_at,
+            }
+        else:
+            stub["best_accuracy"] = max(stub["best_accuracy"], acc)
+            stub["last_played_at"] = max(stub["last_played_at"] or "", played_at or "") or None
+    for stubs in out.values():
+        for stub in stubs.values():
+            acc = stub["best_accuracy"]
+            stub["best_accuracy"] = round(acc, 4)
+            stub["stars"], stub["next_star_at"] = _star_progress(acc, thresholds)
+    return out, seconds
+
+
+def _star_progress(acc, thresholds):
+    """(stars, next_star_at) — the one place the ascending-thresholds
+    assumption lives; _stars() and the passport stubs both use it."""
+    stars = sum(1 for t in thresholds if acc >= t)
+    next_at = next((t for t in thresholds if acc < t), None)
+    return stars, next_at
+
+
+def _library_genres():
+    """Distinct effective genres across the live library (the brochure rack)."""
+    db = _state["meta_db"]
+    if db is None:
+        return []
+    rows = db.conn.execute(
+        f"SELECT {_genre_expr(db)} AS g, COUNT(*) FROM songs GROUP BY g").fetchall()
+    by_key = {}
+    for genre, count in rows:
+        display = _genre_display(genre)
+        key = display.lower()
+        if not key:
+            continue
+        cur = by_key.get(key)
+        if cur:  # case-variant duplicates collapse onto the first-seen casing
+            cur["songs_in_library"] += count
+        else:
+            by_key[key] = {"genre_key": key, "genre": display,
+                           "songs_in_library": count}
+    return sorted(by_key.values(),
+                  key=lambda r: (-r["songs_in_library"], r["genre_key"]))
+
+
+def _genre_family(gkey):
+    """First family whose keyword appears in the genre key (substring — MB's
+    vocabulary is open: 'metalcore' must hit the 'metal' family without an
+    exact alias). List order decides ambiguity: families are checked top to
+    bottom, so 'blues rock' lands on whichever of blues/rock is listed first."""
+    for fam in _state["passports_content"].get("families") or []:
+        if not isinstance(fam, dict):
+            continue
+        for kw in fam.get("match") or []:
+            if isinstance(kw, str) and kw and kw in gkey:
+                return fam.get("key")
+    return None
+
+
+def _badge_requirement(gkey, instrument="guitar"):
+    cfg = _state["passports_content"]
+    req = dict(cfg.get("badge_requirement") or {})
+    req.setdefault("songs", 5)
+    req.setdefault("min_stars", 2)
+    # Exact per-genre override wins; otherwise the genre inherits its FAMILY's
+    # requirement — so 'death metal' / 'metalcore' passports carry the metal
+    # drill without curating every MB sub-genre by hand.
+    genres_cfg = cfg.get("genres") or {}
+    override = genres_cfg.get(gkey)
+    if not isinstance(override, dict):
+        family = _genre_family(gkey)
+        override = genres_cfg.get(family) if family else None
+    if isinstance(override, dict):
+        req.update(override)
+    # virtuoso_nodes: {instrument: [node_ids]} — a passport only carries its
+    # own instrument's drills. A flat list keeps meaning guitar (back-compat;
+    # virtuoso's drill content is guitar-first).
+    nodes = req.get("virtuoso_nodes") or []
+    if isinstance(nodes, dict):
+        nodes = nodes.get(instrument) or []
+    elif instrument != "guitar":
+        nodes = []
+    req["virtuoso_nodes"] = [n for n in nodes if isinstance(n, str)]
+    return req
+
+
+def _drill_by_node():
+    doc = _load_json(_drill_file(), {})
+    if not isinstance(doc, dict):
+        return None, {}, {}
+    snapshot = doc.get("snapshot") if isinstance(doc.get("snapshot"), dict) else {}
+    by_node = snapshot.get("byNode") if isinstance(snapshot.get("byNode"), dict) else {}
+    gold = snapshot.get("goldImprov") if isinstance(snapshot.get("goldImprov"), dict) else {}
+    return doc.get("received_at"), by_node, gold
+
+
+def _merge_drill_nodes(old, new):
+    """Gained-only merge of virtuoso byNode snapshots: a completion artifact
+    once relayed never un-earns via a stale snapshot (multi-browser races,
+    settings import, the once-per-session boot relay). Incoming wins the
+    descriptive fields; masteredAt / depth flips / keysCleared only grow."""
+    out = dict(old)
+    for node_id, incoming in new.items():
+        if not isinstance(incoming, dict):
+            continue
+        cur = out.get(node_id)
+        if not isinstance(cur, dict):
+            out[node_id] = incoming
+            continue
+        merged = dict(cur)
+        merged.update(incoming)
+        merged["masteredAt"] = cur.get("masteredAt") or incoming.get("masteredAt")
+        d_old = cur.get("depth") if isinstance(cur.get("depth"), dict) else {}
+        d_new = incoming.get("depth") if isinstance(incoming.get("depth"), dict) else {}
+        depth = dict(d_new)
+        for axis, val in d_old.items():
+            if val and not depth.get(axis):
+                depth[axis] = val
+        if depth:
+            merged["depth"] = depth
+        keys_old = cur.get("keysCleared") if isinstance(cur.get("keysCleared"), list) else []
+        keys_new = incoming.get("keysCleared") if isinstance(incoming.get("keysCleared"), list) else []
+        merged["keysCleared"] = keys_old + [k for k in keys_new if k not in keys_old]
+        out[node_id] = merged
+    return out
+
+
+def _merge_gold(old, new):
+    """Gained-only merge of goldImprov artifacts: a minted style never
+    un-mints via a stale relay; the FIRST artifact per style is kept."""
+    out = dict(old)
+    for style_id, art in (new or {}).items():
+        if isinstance(art, dict) and style_id not in out:
+            out[style_id] = art
+    return out
+
+
+def _node_cleared(by_node, node_id):
+    """A drill counts as cleared on real completion evidence: mastered, any
+    depth rung flipped true, or a key cleared (a top-tier clean pass in one
+    key — virtuoso's first gained-only artifact, and an achievable Bronze
+    bar; the depth rungs additionally require a maxed speed tier)."""
+    entry = by_node.get(node_id)
+    if not isinstance(entry, dict):
+        return False
+    depth = entry.get("depth") if isinstance(entry.get("depth"), dict) else {}
+    keys = entry.get("keysCleared")
+    return (bool(entry.get("masteredAt"))
+            or any(bool(v) for v in depth.values())
+            or bool(isinstance(keys, list) and keys))
+
+
+def _passports_view():
+    cfg = _state["passports_content"]
+    graded = set(cfg.get("graded_instruments") or [])
+    st = _career_state()
+    all_gigs = st.get("gigs") if isinstance(st.get("gigs"), list) else []
+    played, played_seconds = _played_by_instrument_genre()
+    received_at, by_node, gold_improv = _drill_by_node()
+    instruments = {}
+    for inst in cfg.get("instruments") or []:
+        committed_at = (st["instruments"].get(inst) or {}).get("committed_at")
+        opened = st["passports"].get(inst)
+        opened = opened if isinstance(opened, dict) else {}
+        passports = []
+        for gkey, meta in sorted(opened.items(),
+                                 key=lambda kv: ((kv[1] or {}).get("opened_at") or "", kv[0])):
+            meta = meta if isinstance(meta, dict) else {}
+            req = _badge_requirement(gkey, inst)
+            songs = list(played.get((inst, gkey), {}).values())
+            for s in songs:
+                s["qualifies"] = s["stars"] >= req["min_stars"]
+            songs.sort(key=lambda s: (not s["qualifies"], -s["stars"],
+                                      s["title"].lower()))
+            qualifying = sum(1 for s in songs if s["qualifies"])
+            required = req["virtuoso_nodes"]
+            cleared = [n for n in required if _node_cleared(by_node, n)]
+            is_graded = inst in graded
+            if not is_graded:
+                # Where the engine can't fairly grade the instrument's job
+                # (bass pocket, feel) the passport shows repertoire, never a
+                # false badge denial — the doc's shown-not-judged rule.
+                badge = "shown_not_judged"
+            elif qualifying >= req["songs"] and len(cleared) == len(required):
+                # Bronze is earned; GOLD upgrades it when a verified improv
+                # artifact exists for this genre's jam style. Virtuoso mints
+                # under raw STYLE_PALETTES ids ('punk', 'djent', 'disco', ...),
+                # which are mostly NOT family keys — so match in family space:
+                # the same keyword bucketing genres get ('punk' and 'punk
+                # rock' both bucket to 'rock'), with the exact key as a direct
+                # hit. Bronze remains a standalone win; gold never becomes an
+                # obligation.
+                fam = _genre_family(gkey)
+                gold = any(
+                    s == gkey or (fam is not None and _genre_family(s) == fam)
+                    for s in gold_improv
+                )
+                badge = "gold" if gold else "earned"
+            else:
+                badge = "in_progress"
+            # Practice invitation: the non-qualifying songs closest to the
+            # QUALIFYING bar (the badge ask), nearest first — invitation
+            # data, the UI voices it without meters.
+            thresholds = _state["content"]["star_accuracy_thresholds"]
+            bar = (thresholds[req["min_stars"] - 1]
+                   if 0 < req["min_stars"] <= len(thresholds) else None)
+            nearest = [] if bar is None else sorted(
+                (s for s in songs if not s["qualifies"]),
+                key=lambda s: bar - s["best_accuracy"])[:3]
+            for s in nearest:
+                s["bar_at"] = bar
+            passports.append({
+                "genre_key": gkey,
+                "genre": meta.get("genre") or gkey,
+                "opened_at": meta.get("opened_at"),
+                "requirement": req,
+                "graded": is_graded,
+                "songs": songs,
+                "qualifying_count": qualifying,
+                "nearest": nearest,
+                # Honest hours odometer (Stage 5 post-cap): a true fact that
+                # only grows — never a target, never a meter.
+                "seconds_total": round(played_seconds.get((inst, gkey), 0.0), 1),
+                "drills": {"required": required, "cleared": cleared},
+                "badge": badge,
+            })
+        inst_gigs = [g for g in all_gigs if g.get("instrument") == inst]
+        for p in passports:
+            p["gigs"] = [g for g in inst_gigs if g.get("genre_key") == p["genre_key"]][-20:][::-1]
+        instruments[inst] = {"committed_at": committed_at, "passports": passports,
+                             "gig_count": len(inst_gigs)}
+    return {
+        "config": {
+            "badge_requirement": cfg.get("badge_requirement") or {},
+            "graded_instruments": sorted(graded),
+            "instruments": list(cfg.get("instruments") or []),
+            # Career-side display names for virtuoso drill node ids.
+            "drill_labels": dict(cfg.get("drill_labels") or {}),
+        },
+        "instruments": instruments,
+        "genres": _library_genres(),
+        "drill_state": {"received_at": received_at},
+    }
+
+
+def _gig_config():
+    cfg = _state["passports_content"].get("gig")
+    cfg = cfg if isinstance(cfg, dict) else {}
+
+    def _num(key, default, cast):
+        # Tuning data, not code: junk falls back instead of 500ing both gig
+        # endpoints, and a legitimate 0 (stakes_songs: 0) is respected.
+        val = cfg.get(key)
+        if isinstance(val, bool) or not isinstance(val, (int, float)):
+            return default
+        return cast(val)
+
+    return {
+        "min_songs": max(1, _num("min_songs", 3, int)),
+        "max_songs": max(1, _num("max_songs", 5, int)),
+        "stakes_songs": max(0, _num("stakes_songs", 2, int)),
+        "encore_accuracy": _num("encore_accuracy", 0.75, float),
+    }
+
+
+def _current_venue():
+    """Highest unlocked venue (the room you can book today)."""
+    stars_total, _, _ = _stars()
+    best = None
+    for v in _state["content"]["venues"]:
+        if stars_total >= v["star_threshold"]:
+            if best is None or v["star_threshold"] >= best["star_threshold"]:
+                best = v
+    return best
+
+
+def _fill_genre_songs(gkey, exclude, limit):
+    """Library songs of a genre to round out a gig — ANY song of the genre the
+    set hasn't already picked.
+
+    Was `_unplayed_genre_songs`, restricted to `filename NOT IN song_stats`.
+    That restriction created a hole: a song you'd played on a DIFFERENT
+    instrument's arrangement has a stats row, so it was excluded here — and it
+    lives in the played bucket for THAT instrument, not this passport's, so it
+    was excluded there too. It could never be gigged. A player with 137 metalcore
+    songs, all played on another instrument, got a 404 (reproduced). The player's
+    library is the pool; whether a song has stats on some other instrument has no
+    bearing on whether it can be in THIS gig.
+
+    Shuffled, so re-roll actually changes the set. The old version returned the
+    library's first N in table order every time, so re-roll was a no-op for any
+    set drawn from the filler (reproduced).
+
+    ponytail: full genre scan + python-side match + shuffle (a few ms at 7k
+    songs, single-user); push into SQL if propose ever feels slow.
+    """
+    db = _state["meta_db"]
+    if db is None:
+        return []
+    rows = db.conn.execute(
+        f"SELECT filename, title, artist, {_genre_expr(db)} AS g FROM songs"
+    ).fetchall()
+    pool = [
+        {"filename": filename, "title": title or filename, "artist": artist or ""}
+        for filename, title, artist, genre in rows
+        if _genre_key(genre) == gkey and filename not in exclude
+    ]
+    random.shuffle(pool)   # re-roll must vary; free per call
+    return pool[:limit]
+
+
+def _validate_pack_dir(pack_dir: Path):
+    """Raise ValueError unless pack_dir holds a complete venue pack."""
+    manifest_path = pack_dir / "manifest.json"
+    if not manifest_path.is_file():
+        raise ValueError("pack has no manifest.json")
+    manifest = json.loads(manifest_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    loops = manifest.get("loops") or {}
+    for state in REQUIRED_LOOPS:
+        name = loops.get(state)
+        if not name or not PACK_FILENAME_RE.fullmatch(name):
+            raise ValueError(f"manifest is missing the '{state}' loop")
+        if not (pack_dir / name).is_file():
+            raise ValueError(f"loop file '{name}' missing from pack")
+    for name in (manifest.get("stingers") or {}).values():
+        if name and (not PACK_FILENAME_RE.fullmatch(name) or not (pack_dir / name).is_file()):
+            raise ValueError(f"stinger file '{name}' invalid or missing")
+    for name in (manifest.get("intro") or {}).values():
+        if name and (not PACK_FILENAME_RE.fullmatch(name) or not (pack_dir / name).is_file()):
+            raise ValueError(f"intro file '{name}' invalid or missing")
+
+
+def _download_pack(venue_id, pack, progress):
+    """Worker thread: stream → sha256 verify → extract → validate → swap in."""
+    log = _state["log"]
+    final_dir = _venue_dir(venue_id)
+    staging = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix=f"career-{venue_id}-",
+                                    dir=str(_state["venues_dir"])))
+    zip_path = staging / "pack.zip"
+    try:
+        digest = hashlib.sha256()
+        req = urllib.request.Request(pack["url"], headers={"User-Agent": "feedBack-career"})
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=60) as resp, open(zip_path, "wb") as out:
+            total = int(resp.headers.get("Content-Length") or pack.get("bytes") or 0)
+            progress["bytes_total"] = total
+            while True:
+                chunk = resp.read(DOWNLOAD_CHUNK)
+                if not chunk:
+                    break
+                digest.update(chunk)
+                out.write(chunk)
+                progress["bytes_done"] += len(chunk)
+        if digest.hexdigest() != pack["sha256"]:
+            raise ValueError("sha256 mismatch — corrupt or tampered download")
+
+        extract_dir = staging / "pack"
+        extract_dir.mkdir()
+        with zipfile.ZipFile(zip_path) as zf:
+            for info in zf.infolist():
+                # Zip-slip guard: only flat, whitelisted names get extracted.
+                if info.is_dir():
+                    continue
+                name = Path(info.filename).name
+                if name != info.filename or not PACK_FILENAME_RE.fullmatch(name):
+                    raise ValueError(f"unexpected file in pack: {info.filename!r}")
+                with zf.open(info) as src, open(extract_dir / name, "wb") as dst:
+                    shutil.copyfileobj(src, dst)
+        zip_path.unlink()
+        _validate_pack_dir(extract_dir)
+
+        if final_dir.exists():
+            shutil.rmtree(final_dir)
+        extract_dir.rename(final_dir)
+        progress["status"] = "done"
+        log.info("career: venue pack '%s' installed", venue_id)
+    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 — surface any failure to the UI
+        progress["status"] = "error"
+        progress["error"] = str(exc)
+        log.warning("career: venue pack '%s' download failed: %s", venue_id, exc)
+    finally:
+        shutil.rmtree(staging, ignore_errors=True)
+
+
+def setup(app, context):
+    plugin_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
+    _state["plugin_dir"] = plugin_dir
+    _state["content"] = json.loads((plugin_dir / "venues.json").read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    _state["venues_dir"] = (
+        Path(context["config_dir"]) / "plugin_uploads" / PLUGIN_ID / "venues")
+    _state["venues_dir"].mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    _state["passports_content"] = json.loads(
+        (plugin_dir / "passports.json").read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+    # Persisted career state (commitment / opened passports / drill snapshot)
+    # lives under CONFIG_DIR/career/ — declared in settings.server_files so it
+    # rides the settings export/import bundle. Packs stay out (they're media).
+    _state["state_dir"] = Path(context["config_dir"]) / PLUGIN_ID
+    _state["state_dir"].mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    _state["meta_db"] = context.get("meta_db")
+    _state["log"] = context.get("log") or _state["log"]
+    for v in _state["content"]["venues"]:
+        if _bundled(v["id"]):
+            _validate_pack_dir(_bundled_venue_dir(v["id"]))
+
+    @app.get(f"/api/plugins/{PLUGIN_ID}/state")
+    def get_state():
+        stars_total, per_song, star_detail = _stars()
+        venues = []
+        for v in _state["content"]["venues"]:
+            with _lock:
+                dl = dict(_state["downloads"].get(v["id"]) or {"status": "idle"})
+            venues.append({
+                "id": v["id"],
+                "name": v["name"],
+                "description": v.get("description", ""),
+                "star_threshold": v["star_threshold"],
+                "unlocked": stars_total >= v["star_threshold"],
+                "installed": _installed(v["id"]),
+                "bundled": _bundled(v["id"]),
+                "has_pack": _bundled(v["id"]) or _pack_published(v.get("pack")),
+                "download": dl,
+            })
+        return {
+            "stars_total": stars_total,
+            "stars_per_song": per_song,
+            "star_detail": star_detail,
+            "star_accuracy_thresholds": _state["content"]["star_accuracy_thresholds"],
+            "venues": venues,
+        }
+
+    @app.get(f"/api/plugins/{PLUGIN_ID}/passports")
+    def get_passports():
+        with _lock:
+            return _passports_view()
+
+    @app.post(f"/api/plugins/{PLUGIN_ID}/passports/commit")
+    def commit_instrument(body: dict = Body(...)):
+        inst = str((body or {}).get("instrument") or "")
+        if inst not in (_state["passports_content"].get("instruments") or []):
+            raise HTTPException(400, "Unknown instrument.")
+        with _lock:
+            st = _career_state()
+            entry = st["instruments"].setdefault(inst, {})
+            # Idempotent: the wax seal is pressed once; re-commits keep the
+            # original date (only-gained-never-lost).
+            if not entry.get("committed_at"):
+                entry["committed_at"] = _now_iso()
+                _save_json(_state_file(), st)
+        return {"ok": True, "instrument": inst,
+                "committed_at": entry["committed_at"]}
+
+    @app.post(f"/api/plugins/{PLUGIN_ID}/passports/open")
+    def open_passport(body: dict = Body(...)):
+        inst = str((body or {}).get("instrument") or "")
+        genre = _genre_display((body or {}).get("genre"))
+        gkey = genre.lower()
+        if inst not in (_state["passports_content"].get("instruments") or []):
+            raise HTTPException(400, "Unknown instrument.")
+        if not gkey or len(genre) > GENRE_MAX_LEN:
+            raise HTTPException(400, "Provide a genre.")
+        with _lock:
+            st = _career_state()
+            # Opening a passport implies the instrument commitment (permissive
+            # server, ceremony ordering is the UI's job).
+            st["instruments"].setdefault(inst, {}).setdefault(
+                "committed_at", _now_iso())
+            genres = st["passports"].setdefault(inst, {})
+            if gkey not in genres:
+                genres[gkey] = {"genre": genre, "opened_at": _now_iso()}
+                _save_json(_state_file(), st)
+        return {"ok": True, "instrument": inst, "passport": genres[gkey]}
+
+    @app.post(f"/api/plugins/{PLUGIN_ID}/drill-state")
+    def post_drill_state(body: dict = Body(...)):
+        # The relayed virtuoso.progress snapshot (career's screen.js listens to
+        # the virtuoso:progress bus event and forwards the localStorage doc).
+        # Only the fields the badge check reads are kept.
+        if not isinstance(body, dict) or not isinstance(body.get("byNode"), dict):
+            raise HTTPException(400, "Expected a progress snapshot with byNode.")
+        # Bound the INCOMING snapshot before the merge — the gained-only merge
+        # drops junk entries, which must not become a size-guard bypass.
+        if len(json.dumps(body["byNode"])) > DRILL_SNAPSHOT_MAX_BYTES:
+            raise HTTPException(413, "Snapshot too large.")
+        gold_in = body.get("goldImprov", {})
+        if not isinstance(gold_in, dict):
+            # A relay bug must be LOUD, not a silent 200 that drops gold.
+            raise HTTPException(400, "goldImprov must be an object keyed by style id.")
+        # Keep only plausible artifacts: a dict that names its verifier —
+        # an empty {} must not mint an evidence-free gold.
+        gold_in = {k: v for k, v in gold_in.items()
+                   if isinstance(v, dict) and v.get("verifier")}
+        # Same pre-merge bound byNode gets: the gained-only merge dropping
+        # junk must not become a size-guard bypass (nor lock-held CPU burn).
+        if len(json.dumps(gold_in)) > DRILL_SNAPSHOT_MAX_BYTES:
+            raise HTTPException(413, "Snapshot too large.")
+        with _lock:
+            _, existing, existing_gold = _drill_by_node()
+            snapshot = {"mode": body.get("mode"), "xp": body.get("xp"),
+                        "byNode": _merge_drill_nodes(existing, body["byNode"]),
+                        "goldImprov": _merge_gold(existing_gold, gold_in)}
+            if len(json.dumps(snapshot)) > DRILL_SNAPSHOT_MAX_BYTES:
+                raise HTTPException(413, "Snapshot too large.")
+            _save_json(_drill_file(), {"received_at": _now_iso(),
+                                       "snapshot": snapshot})
+        return {"ok": True}
+
+    @app.post(f"/api/plugins/{PLUGIN_ID}/gigs/prepare")
+    def prepare_gig(body: dict = Body(...)):
+        """Unpack every song of the set BEFORE the gig starts.
+
+        A feedpak is a zip: the first play of one pays for its extraction into
+        sloppak_cache. Inside a set that cost landed BETWEEN songs — the player
+        finished a number and then sat waiting for the next one to unpack, mid-
+        gig. A set is a known list up front, so extract it all while the player
+        is still looking at the poster.
+
+        Idempotent and cheap on a warm cache: resolve_source_dir() returns the
+        already-unpacked dir without rewriting it. Best-effort per song — one
+        bad feedpak must not block the set from starting (the play itself will
+        surface the error, exactly as it does outside a gig).
+        """
+        raw = (body or {}).get("songs")
+        # A str is iterable: without the list check, "abc" would prepare three
+        # one-character "songs". Cap the count too — this endpoint unpacks zips,
+        # so an oversized list is real work, and a setlist is a handful of songs.
+        if not isinstance(raw, list):
+            return {"ok": True, "prepared": 0, "failed": []}
+        files = [f for f in raw if isinstance(f, str) and f.strip()][:MAX_GIG_SONGS]
+        if not files:
+            return {"ok": True, "prepared": 0, "failed": []}
+
+        # .get, not []: a host that doesn't hand us the resolvers (or has no
+        # library configured) must degrade to "extract lazily, as before" — this
+        # is an optimisation, and it is never allowed to be the thing that stops
+        # a gig from starting.
+        get_dlc = context.get("get_dlc_dir")
+        get_cache = context.get("get_sloppak_cache_dir")
+        dlc_root = get_dlc() if callable(get_dlc) else None
+        cache_root = get_cache() if callable(get_cache) else None
+        if dlc_root is None or cache_root is None:
+            return {"ok": False, "prepared": 0, "failed": files, "error": "no library"}
+
+        root = Path(dlc_root)
+        prepared, failed = 0, []
+        for fn in files:
+            # CONTAINMENT FIRST. resolve_source_dir() does a bare
+            # `dlc_root / filename` with no guard, so a crafted `../..` would
+            # walk straight out of the library. Every other filename-bound
+            # handler validates through _resolve_dlc_path; so does this one.
+            safe = _resolve_dlc_path(root, fn)
+            if safe is None:
+                _state["log"].warning("career: gig pre-extract rejected unsafe path %r", fn)
+                failed.append(fn)
+                continue
+            try:
+                sloppak.resolve_source_dir(fn, root, Path(cache_root))
+                prepared += 1
+            except Exception as exc:   # noqa: BLE001 — one bad pak can't sink the set
+                _state["log"].warning("career: gig pre-extract failed for %s: %s", fn, exc)
+                failed.append(fn)
+        return {"ok": True, "prepared": prepared, "failed": failed}
+
+    @app.post(f"/api/plugins/{PLUGIN_ID}/gigs/propose")
+    def propose_gig(body: dict = Body(...)):
+        inst = str((body or {}).get("instrument") or "")
+        genre = _genre_display((body or {}).get("genre"))
+        gkey = genre.lower()
+        if inst not in (_state["passports_content"].get("instruments") or []):
+            raise HTTPException(400, "Unknown instrument.")
+        if not gkey or len(genre) > GENRE_MAX_LEN:
+            raise HTTPException(400, "Provide a genre.")
+        cfg = _gig_config()
+        try:
+            size = int((body or {}).get("size") or 4)
+        except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            raise HTTPException(400, "size must be a number.")
+        size = max(cfg["min_songs"], min(cfg["max_songs"], size))
+        played, _seconds = _played_by_instrument_genre()
+        stubs = list(played.get((inst, gkey), {}).values())
+        req = _badge_requirement(gkey, inst)
+        qualifying = [s for s in stubs if s["stars"] >= req["min_stars"]]
+        rest = [s for s in stubs if s["stars"] < req["min_stars"]]
+        # The set: mostly songs you own, plus a couple of stakes songs near
+        # the bar; a young passport fills from unplayed genre songs so the
+        # first gig is how stubs start. random per call = free re-roll.
+        random.shuffle(qualifying)
+        rest.sort(key=lambda s: -s["best_accuracy"])
+        qtaken = max(1, size - cfg["stakes_songs"])
+        picks = qualifying[:qtaken]
+        for s in rest:
+            if len(picks) >= size:
+                break
+            picks.append(s)
+        # Surplus qualifying songs backfill a short set — a mature passport
+        # with no near-bar songs left must still fill the bill. Offset by how
+        # many QUALIFYING songs were taken, not len(picks): rest's stakes
+        # additions would otherwise skip eligible qualifying songs entirely.
+        for s in qualifying[qtaken:]:
+            if len(picks) >= size:
+                break
+            picks.append(s)
+        if len(picks) < size:
+            exclude = {s["filename"] for s in picks}
+            picks.extend(_fill_genre_songs(gkey, exclude, size - len(picks)))
+        if not picks:
+            raise HTTPException(404, "No songs of this genre in the library.")
+        venue = _current_venue()
+        return {
+            "instrument": inst,
+            "genre": genre,
+            "genre_key": gkey,
+            "venue_id": venue["id"] if venue else None,
+            "venue_name": venue["name"] if venue else "",
+            "songs": [{"filename": s["filename"], "title": s.get("title") or s["filename"],
+                       "artist": s.get("artist") or ""} for s in picks[:size]],
+        }
+
+    @app.post(f"/api/plugins/{PLUGIN_ID}/gigs")
+    def log_gig(body: dict = Body(...)):
+        # Called by the runner ONLY when the set completed — an abandoned set
+        # never logs (no fail state; the gig you finished is the gig you
+        # played). Accuracies come from song_stats, freshly written by the
+        # set's own plays.
+        inst = str((body or {}).get("instrument") or "")
+        genre = _genre_display((body or {}).get("genre"))
+        gkey = genre.lower()
+        venue_id = str((body or {}).get("venue_id") or "")
+        songs = (body or {}).get("songs")
+        if inst not in (_state["passports_content"].get("instruments") or []):
+            raise HTTPException(400, "Unknown instrument.")
+        if not gkey or len(genre) > GENRE_MAX_LEN:
+            raise HTTPException(400, "Provide a genre.")
+        if venue_id and (not VENUE_ID_RE.fullmatch(venue_id) or _venue(venue_id) is None):
+            raise HTTPException(400, "Unknown venue.")
+        if (not isinstance(songs, list) or not songs or len(songs) > 8
+                or not all(isinstance(f, str) and f.strip() for f in songs)):
+            raise HTTPException(400, "songs must be 1-8 filenames.")
+        db = _state["meta_db"]
+        entries = []
+        accuracies = []
+        for filename in songs:
+            title = filename
+            accuracy = None
+            if db is not None:
+                # The NEWEST row is the set's own just-recorded play — a
+                # MAX(last_accuracy) across arrangements would happily log a
+                # stale higher score from another instrument's old session.
+                row = db.conn.execute(
+                    "SELECT last_accuracy FROM song_stats WHERE filename = ? "
+                    "ORDER BY last_played_at DESC LIMIT 1",
+                    (filename,)).fetchone()
+                if row and row[0] is not None:
+                    accuracy = round(float(row[0]), 4)
+                    accuracies.append(accuracy)
+                trow = db.conn.execute(
+                    "SELECT title FROM songs WHERE filename = ?", (filename,)).fetchone()
+                if trow and trow[0]:
+                    title = trow[0]
+            entries.append({"filename": filename, "title": title, "accuracy": accuracy})
+        # Encore needs the WHOLE set scored at the bar — one scored song must
+        # not earn an encore for a set that was 4/5 unheard.
+        encore = (len(accuracies) == len(songs) and
+                  sum(accuracies) / len(accuracies) >= _gig_config()["encore_accuracy"])
+        gig = {
+            "at": _now_iso(),
+            "venue_id": venue_id or None,
+            "instrument": inst,
+            "genre": genre,
+            "genre_key": gkey,
+            "songs": entries,
+            "encore": encore,
+        }
+        with _lock:
+            st = _career_state()
+            if not isinstance(st.get("gigs"), list):
+                st["gigs"] = []
+            st["gigs"].append(gig)
+            # ponytail: hard cap — nothing reads past the last 20 per
+            # passport; the state file must not grow (and export) forever.
+            st["gigs"] = st["gigs"][-500:]
+            _save_json(_state_file(), st)
+        return {"ok": True, "gig": gig}
+
+    @app.post(f"/api/plugins/{PLUGIN_ID}/packs/{{venue_id}}/download")
+    def start_download(venue_id: str):
+        venue = _venue(venue_id) if VENUE_ID_RE.fullmatch(venue_id) else None
+        if venue is None:
+            raise HTTPException(404, "Unknown venue.")
+        pack = venue.get("pack")
+        if not _pack_published(pack):
+            raise HTTPException(404, "No pack published for this venue yet.")
+        stars_total, _, _ = _stars()
+        if stars_total < venue["star_threshold"]:
+            raise HTTPException(403, "Venue not unlocked yet.")
+        with _lock:
+            running = _state["downloads"].get(venue_id)
+            if running and running["status"] == "running":
+                raise HTTPException(409, "Download already running.")
+            progress = {"status": "running", "bytes_done": 0,
+                        "bytes_total": pack.get("bytes") or 0, "error": None}
+            _state["downloads"][venue_id] = progress
+        threading.Thread(target=_download_pack, args=(venue_id, pack, progress),
+                         name=f"career-pack-{venue_id}", daemon=True).start()
+        return {"ok": True}
+
+    @app.delete(f"/api/plugins/{PLUGIN_ID}/packs/{{venue_id}}")
+    def delete_pack(venue_id: str):
+        if not VENUE_ID_RE.fullmatch(venue_id) or _venue(venue_id) is None:
+            raise HTTPException(404, "Unknown venue.")
+        with _lock:
+            running = _state["downloads"].get(venue_id)
+            if running and running["status"] == "running":
+                raise HTTPException(409, "Download in progress.")
+            _state["downloads"].pop(venue_id, None)
+        shutil.rmtree(_venue_dir(venue_id), ignore_errors=True)
+        return {"ok": True}
+
+    @app.get(f"/api/plugins/{PLUGIN_ID}/venues/{{venue_id}}/{{filename}}")
+    async def get_pack_file(venue_id: str, filename: str):
+        if not VENUE_ID_RE.fullmatch(venue_id) or not PACK_FILENAME_RE.fullmatch(filename):
+            raise HTTPException(404, "Not found.")
+        pack_dir = _pack_dir(venue_id)
+        path = pack_dir / filename
+        # Defense-in-depth beyond the regexes (same recipe as highway_3d):
+        # the resolved path must stay inside the selected pack dir.
+        try:
+            resolved = path.resolve()
+            resolved.relative_to(pack_dir.resolve())
+        except (OSError, ValueError):
+            raise HTTPException(404, "Not found.")
+        if not resolved.is_file():
+            raise HTTPException(404, "Not found.")
+        media = {"mp4": "video/mp4", "webm": "video/webm", "mp3": "audio/mpeg",
+                 "json": "application/json"}[resolved.suffix.lstrip(".").lower()]
+        return FileResponse(
+            resolved,
+            media_type=media,
+            # Pack files are immutable per version, but a re-download after a
+            # pack update overwrites in place — no-cache + ETag revalidation
+            # keeps browsers honest for the price of a 304.
+            headers={"Cache-Control": "no-cache",
+                     "X-Content-Type-Options": "nosniff"},
+        )
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<div class="max-w-5xl mx-auto px-4 py-6">
+    <div class="flex items-end justify-between flex-wrap gap-3 mb-1">
+        <h1 class="text-2xl font-bold text-white">Career</h1>
+        <div id="career-stars-summary" class="text-sm text-gray-400"></div>
+    </div>
+    <div class="career-tabs" role="tablist">
+        <button class="career-tab" data-career-tab="venues" role="tab" id="career-tab-btn-venues" aria-controls="career-tab-venues">Venues</button>
+        <button class="career-tab" data-career-tab="passports" role="tab" id="career-tab-btn-passports" aria-controls="career-tab-passports">Passports</button>
+    </div>
+
+    <div id="career-tab-venues" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="career-tab-btn-venues">
+        <p class="text-sm text-gray-400 mb-4">Earn stars by playing songs well — 60% accuracy is a star, 75% two, 85% three. Stars unlock bigger stages, and the crowd plays along with you.</p>
+        <div id="career-progress-wrap" class="mb-6">
+            <div class="career-bar-track">
+                <div id="career-progress-bar" class="career-bar-fill" style="width:0%"></div>
+            </div>
+            <div id="career-progress-label" class="text-xs text-gray-500 mt-1"></div>
+        </div>
+        <div id="career-venues" class="career-venues"></div>
+        <div class="mt-8">
+            <div class="flex items-end justify-between flex-wrap gap-2 mb-2">
+                <h2 class="text-lg font-semibold text-white">Your star collection</h2>
+                <div id="career-star-summary" class="text-xs text-gray-400"></div>
+            </div>
+            <div id="career-star-list" class="career-star-list"></div>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <div id="career-tab-passports" class="hidden" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="career-tab-btn-passports">
+        <p class="text-sm text-gray-400 mb-4">Commit to an instrument, pick a genre, and stamp your way to its badge — five ★★ songs mint a Bronze. Your passport wall is who you are as a musician.</p>
+        <div id="pp-instruments" class="pp-instruments"></div>
+        <div id="pp-closest" class="mt-4"></div>
+        <div id="pp-shelf-wrap" class="mt-5">
+            <div id="pp-shelf" class="pp-shelf"></div>
+        </div>
+        <div id="pp-rack-wrap" class="mt-8">
+            <h2 class="text-lg font-semibold text-white mb-1">Explore next</h2>
+            <p class="text-xs text-gray-500 mb-3">More genres, whenever you want them — your wall is complete as it is.</p>
+            <div id="pp-rack" class="pp-rack"></div>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+</div>
+<div id="pp-overlay" class="pp-overlay hidden"></div>
--- a/Show More
+++ b/Show More