Game audio bar is now ALWAYS visible (TASK 4 gating removed, 2026-08-15): the show/hide machinery kept hiding the desktop/game meter whenever no full-screen game with sound was up or no TRAX music played, which the creator read as the meter being lost. Deleted IGameAudioDetector/GameAudioDetector/GameAudioHysteresis (Services/), the VM's 250ms DispatcherTimer poll + OnGameAudioActiveChanged/OnGameAudioPollTick + IsGameAudioBarVisible + _gameAudioBarActive/_gameAudioTimer/_gameAudioDetector, and the two detector test files (GameAudioDetectorTests, GameAudioHysteresisTests); MainWindow.xaml drops the Visibility binding so the bar renders unconditionally. Desktop audio is just automatic WASAPI loopback now. Docs in the same commit: ai.md (audio section + Services inventory), Services/index.md, ViewModels/index.md, TASKS.md TASK 9 item 7 follow-up, HANDOFF.md shipped state + stale poll-timer landmine removed. Build 0 warnings, 189 tests passing (8 detector tests removed)

ViewModels/MainViewModel.cs

@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
     private readonly DispatcherTimer _liveTimer;
     private readonly DispatcherTimer _volumeFlashTimer;
     private readonly DispatcherTimer _gameVolumeFlashTimer;
-    private readonly DispatcherTimer _gameAudioTimer;
 
     private Scene? _activeScene;
     private SceneElement? _selectedElement;
@@ -50,7 +49,6 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
     private double _gameVolume = 1.0;
     private bool _gameMuted;
     private double? _gameVolumeBeforeMute;
-    private bool _gameAudioBarActive;
 
     // TRAX (TASK 9): free background music at a fixed quiet volume, playing to
     // the default device so it rides the loopback into the stream. The dot is
@@ -122,7 +120,6 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
     private readonly IFullScreenDetector _fullScreenDetector;
     private readonly ScreenCaptureManager _screenCaptureManager;
     private readonly ScreenCaptureSourceFactory _screenCaptureFactory;
-    private readonly IGameAudioDetector _gameAudioDetector;
     private int? _lastForegroundFullScreenMonitor;
     private CancellationTokenSource? _deactivateCts;
     private ImageSource? _backdropImage;
@@ -491,14 +488,8 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
         _ => "No mic connected — click to choose a microphone",
     };
 
-    // ─── Game audio bar (desktop/game): visible only while a full-screen game
-    // ─── is producing sound (IGameAudioDetector). Meter + mute + volume mirror
-    // ─── the mic bar. ───
-
-    /// <summary>True while the game audio bar should be shown: a full-screen game
-    /// producing sound (IGameAudioDetector) OR background music playing (TASK 9)
-    /// — the meter bounces during scene setup even with no game up.</summary>
-    public bool IsGameAudioBarVisible => _gameAudioBarActive || IsMusicPlaying;
+    // ─── Game audio bar (desktop/game): always visible — a mirror of the mic bar
+    // ─── (meter + mute + volume). Desktop/game audio is automatic (WASAPI loopback). ───
 
     /// <summary>True while the TRAX background track is playing.</summary>
     public bool IsMusicPlaying
@@ -510,7 +501,6 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
             {
                 OnPropertyChanged(nameof(TraxDotBrush));
                 OnPropertyChanged(nameof(TraxToolTip));
-                OnPropertyChanged(nameof(IsGameAudioBarVisible));
             }
         }
     }
@@ -1202,13 +1192,6 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
         foreach (var display in _fullScreenDetector.GetDisplays())
             Displays.Add(display);
 
-        _gameAudioDetector = new GameAudioDetector(
-            () => _fullScreenDetector.GetForegroundFullScreenMonitorIndex(),
-            () => (float)GameAudioLevel);
-        _gameAudioDetector.IsGameAudioActiveChanged += OnGameAudioActiveChanged;
-        _gameAudioTimer = new DispatcherTimer { Interval = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(250) };
-        _gameAudioTimer.Tick += OnGameAudioPollTick;
-        _gameAudioTimer.Start();
         _screenCaptureFactory = new ScreenCaptureSourceFactory(
             () => new WindowInteropHelper(System.Windows.Application.Current?.MainWindow).Handle);
         _screenCaptureManager = new ScreenCaptureManager(
@@ -1546,7 +1529,6 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
     {
         _saveDebounce?.Stop();
         SaveLayoutNow();
-        _gameAudioTimer.Stop();
         _audioMixer.Dispose();
         _framePump.Dispose();
         _cameraManager.Dispose();
@@ -2261,24 +2243,6 @@ public class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
         }
     }
 
-    private void OnGameAudioActiveChanged(bool active)
-    {
-        _gameAudioBarActive = active;
-        OnPropertyChanged(nameof(IsGameAudioBarVisible));
-    }
-
-    private void OnGameAudioPollTick(object? sender, EventArgs e)
-    {
-        try
-        {
-            _gameAudioDetector.Poll();
-        }
-        catch (Exception ex)
-        {
-            AppLog.Write($"Game audio detection failed: {ex.Message}");
-        }
-    }
-
     // Scene-element → latest frame, for the live compositor. The map mirrors the
     // preview: webcam by DeviceId, live captures (the backdrop) by CaptureKey,
     // images/background by AssetId. A null frame leaves the element transparent.