diff --git a/MainWindow.xaml.cs b/MainWindow.xaml.cs
index 11e3751..680980d 100644
--- a/MainWindow.xaml.cs
+++ b/MainWindow.xaml.cs
@@ -42,31 +42,56 @@ public partial class MainWindow : Window
         _viewModel.InitWebView2();
     }
 
-    // ─── Window geometry persistence (launch size/position) ───
-    // Saved on close (RestoreBounds so a maximized window remembers its
-    // un-maximize rect); restored in the ctor before the window is shown.
-    // Values clamp to the minimums and to the primary work area — a position
-    // saved on a since-disconnected secondary monitor falls back on-screen.
+    // ─── Window geometry (launch position/size) ───
+    // Launch POSITION is derived, never restored: upper-left of the work area plus
+    // padding (creator ruling 2026-10-04). The old restore clamped the saved position
+    // to [work.Left - width + 120, work.Right - 120] horizontally and
+    // [work.Top, work.Bottom - 80] vertically — ranges wide enough to leave the window
+    // almost entirely off-screen, which is what the creator was seeing ("below the
+    // fold"). Size and maximized state are still persisted. Placement math is pure and
+    // tested (WindowPlacementTests); changing it back to restore position is reverting
+    // this block only, since the saved values are still written.
+
+    /// <summary>Launch inset from the work-area corner, in device-independent units —
+    /// so it scales with DPI rather than being a fixed physical pixel count.</summary>
+    internal const double LaunchPadding = 75;
+
+    /// <summary>Upper-left of <paramref name="workArea"/> plus padding, clamped so the
+    /// window is never pushed off-screen. The clamp is the point: a window that fits
+    /// stays wholly visible, and one too big to fit falls back to the work-area origin
+    /// rather than hanging off an edge.</summary>
+    internal static Point TopLeftPlacement(Rect workArea, double width, double height, double padding)
+    {
+        var left = workArea.Left + padding;
+        var top = workArea.Top + padding;
+
+        if (width <= workArea.Width) left = Math.Min(left, workArea.Right - width);
+        else left = workArea.Left;
+
+        if (height <= workArea.Height) top = Math.Min(top, workArea.Bottom - height);
+        else top = workArea.Top;
+
+        return new Point(left, top);
+    }
 
     private void RestoreWindowGeometry()
     {
         try
         {
-            var saved = _viewModel.RestoreWindowState();
-            if (saved == null) return;
-            var (left, top, width, height, state) = saved.Value;
-
             var work = SystemParameters.WorkArea;
-            width = Math.Clamp(width, MinWidth, work.Width);
-            height = Math.Clamp(height, MinHeight, work.Height);
-            left = Math.Clamp(left, work.Left - width + 120, work.Right - 120);
-            top = Math.Clamp(top, work.Top, work.Bottom - 80);
+            var saved = _viewModel.RestoreWindowState();
 
-            Left = left;
-            Top = top;
+            // No saved state: keep the XAML-declared size rather than collapsing to Min*.
+            var width = Math.Clamp(saved?.Width ?? Width, MinWidth, work.Width);
+            var height = Math.Clamp(saved?.Height ?? Height, MinHeight, work.Height);
             Width = width;
             Height = height;
-            if (state == "Maximized") WindowState = WindowState.Maximized;
+
+            var place = TopLeftPlacement(work, width, height, LaunchPadding);
+            Left = place.X;
+            Top = place.Y;
+
+            if (saved?.State == "Maximized") WindowState = WindowState.Maximized;
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
diff --git a/ai.md b/ai.md
index a0606c9..29604f8 100644
--- a/ai.md
+++ b/ai.md
@@ -189,6 +189,31 @@ tests here when it ships: one real chat-poll payload containing all seven reward
 assert the persisted canonical `RewardEvent` rows (type + amount/currency/tier/memberLevel/participant
 ids) round-trip into SQLite.
 
+### Launch POSITION is derived, never restored (2026-10-04)
+
+Creator ruling: the window must open in the **upper-left of its screen with ~75px padding**, because
+the restore path was putting it below the fold. `MainWindow.RestoreWindowGeometry` now ignores the
+saved position entirely and calls the pure `TopLeftPlacement(workArea, w, h, padding)`, which takes
+the work-area origin plus `LaunchPadding = 75` and clamps so the window is never pushed off-screen:
+a window that fits stays wholly visible, one too big to fit falls back to the work-area origin.
+`LaunchPadding` is in **device-independent units**, so it scales with DPI instead of being a fixed
+physical pixel count.
+
+**Size and maximized state are still persisted and restored** — only position was dropped. The
+clamp still applies to size: saved values are `Math.Clamp`ed to `[MinWidth, work.Width]`, which is why
+a saved 800×500 comes back as 1366×768 (the XAML `MinWidth`/`MinHeight`). Reverting this is
+reverting the one block in `MainWindow.xaml.cs`; the saved values are still written, so nothing is lost.
+
+**Why the old clamp was wrong (do not "fix" it back):** it tolerated `Left` as low as
+`work.Left - width + 120` and `Top` up to `work.Bottom - 80` — ranges wide enough to leave the window
+almost entirely off-screen while still looking like a successful clamp. A clamp that permits the
+window to be ~unreachable is worse than no clamp, because it reads as a guarantee it does not keep.
+
+`BroadcastPullOutTests.Metadata_Persists_Window_Launches_TopLeft_And_UpdatePatchesRemote` (renamed
+from `..._WindowRestores_Clamped_...`) is the integration guard — it asserts the constructor applies
+the derived placement for both an on-screen and a wildly off-screen (`-99999`) saved position.
+Placement math itself is covered by `WindowPlacementTests` (pure function, no HWND needed).
+
 ### Real-MainWindow tests MUST be hermetic (DB pollution bug)
 
 The integration test boots a real `MainWindow` → `MainViewModel` → real `LayoutStore`
diff --git a/ytLive.Tests/BroadcastPullOutTests.cs b/ytLive.Tests/BroadcastPullOutTests.cs
index 6c952a7..40b6cce 100644
--- a/ytLive.Tests/BroadcastPullOutTests.cs
+++ b/ytLive.Tests/BroadcastPullOutTests.cs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ public sealed class BroadcastPullOutTests
     private readonly RealAppHost _app;
 
     [Fact]
-    public void Metadata_Persists_WindowRestores_Clamped_And_UpdatePatchesRemote()
+    public void Metadata_Persists_Window_Launches_TopLeft_And_UpdatePatchesRemote()
     {
         _app.Run(Run);
     }
@@ -89,11 +89,16 @@ public sealed class BroadcastPullOutTests
             using (var writer = new LayoutStore(tempDb))
                 writer.SaveWindowState(100, 50, 1500, 900, "Normal");
 
+            var work = System.Windows.SystemParameters.WorkArea;
+
             window = new MainWindow();
             Assert.Equal(1500, window.Width);
             Assert.Equal(900, window.Height);
-            Assert.Equal(100, window.Left);
-            Assert.Equal(50, window.Top);
+            // Launch POSITION is derived, never restored (2026-10-04). The 100,50 saved
+            // above is deliberately ignored: restoring it is what let the window come
+            // back below the fold, which is the whole reason this behaviour changed.
+            Assert.Equal(Math.Min(work.Left + 75, work.Right - 1500), window.Left);
+            Assert.Equal(Math.Min(work.Top + 75, work.Bottom - 900), window.Top);
 
             window.Close();
             window = null;
@@ -102,11 +107,15 @@ public sealed class BroadcastPullOutTests
                 writer.SaveWindowState(-99999, -99999, 800, 500, "Normal");
 
             window = new MainWindow();
-            var work = System.Windows.SystemParameters.WorkArea;
-            Assert.Equal(1366, window.Width);
-            Assert.Equal(768, window.Height);
-            Assert.InRange(window.Left, work.Left - window.Width + 120, work.Right - 120);
-            Assert.InRange(window.Top, work.Top, work.Bottom - 80);
+            Assert.Equal(1366, window.Width); // saved 800 clamps up to MinWidth
+            Assert.Equal(768, window.Height); // saved 500 clamps up to MinHeight
+            // A wildly off-screen saved position (-99999) no longer influences placement
+            // at all — the old clamp tolerated Left as low as work.Left - Width + 120,
+            // i.e. the window could sit almost entirely off the left edge.
+            Assert.Equal(Math.Min(work.Left + 75, work.Right - window.Width), window.Left);
+            Assert.Equal(Math.Min(work.Top + 75, work.Bottom - window.Height), window.Top);
+            Assert.InRange(window.Left, work.Left, work.Right - window.Width);
+            Assert.InRange(window.Top, work.Top, work.Bottom - window.Height);
 
             var auth = new YouTubeAuthService("test-client", "test-secret");
             auth.SetSession(new YouTubeChannel
diff --git a/ytLive.Tests/WindowPlacementTests.cs b/ytLive.Tests/WindowPlacementTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc0f2c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ytLive.Tests/WindowPlacementTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+using System.Windows;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace ytLive.Tests;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Launch placement (2026-10-04). The window used to restore a saved position clamped to
+/// <c>[work.Left - width + 120, work.Right - 120]</c> horizontally and
+/// <c>[work.Top, work.Bottom - 80]</c> vertically — ranges wide enough to leave most of the
+/// window off-screen (the creator's "below the fold"). Launch position is now derived:
+/// upper-left of the work area plus padding.
+/// </summary>
+public class WindowPlacementTests
+{
+    /// <summary>Three properties in one guard, because the third is the regression:
+    /// (1) the requested inset, (2) a window that nearly fills the screen is pulled back
+    /// so it stays <i>wholly</i> visible — padding must never win over visibility, or a
+    /// large window re-creates "below the fold" — and (3) a window too big to fit falls
+    /// back to the work-area origin rather than hanging off an edge. Work area is
+    /// 1920x1040 at the origin (a taskbar-less secondary-style rect) to prove the maths
+    /// does not quietly assume (0,0).</summary>
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData(1280, 800, 75, 75)]        // padding wins when it fits
+    [InlineData(1900, 1000, 20, 40)]       // does not fit -> pulled back on-screen
+    [InlineData(2400, 1200, 0, 0)]          // larger than the work area -> origin
+    public void TopLeftPlacement_PadsButNeverHangsOffScreen(int width, int height, double expX, double expY  )
+    {
+        var work = new Rect(0, 0, 1920, 1040);
+
+        var place = MainWindow.TopLeftPlacement(work, width, height, 75);
+
+        Assert.Equal(expX, place.X);
+        Assert.Equal(expY, place.Y);
+
+        // Whatever the size, the window must not start beyond the work area when it fits.
+        if (width <= work.Width) Assert.True(place.X >= work.Left, $"left {place.X} hangs off");
+        if (height <= work.Height) Assert.True(place.Y >= work.Top, $"top {place.Y} hangs off");
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Padding is applied to a work area that does not start at the origin — the
+    /// secondary-monitor case. A hardcoded <c>Left = 75</c> would drop the window off the
+    /// left edge of a monitor whose work area begins at a negative X.</summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public void TopLeftPlacement_OffsetsFromTheWorkAreaOrigin_NotFromZero()
+    {
+        var secondary = new Rect(-1920, -200, 1920, 1040);
+
+        var place = MainWindow.TopLeftPlacement(secondary, 1280, 800, 75);
+
+        Assert.Equal(-1845, place.X);
+        Assert.Equal(-125, place.Y);
+    }
+}