diff --git a/HANDOFF.md b/HANDOFF.md
index 226cf90..bc2473c 100644
--- a/HANDOFF.md
+++ b/HANDOFF.md
@@ -1,63 +1,59 @@
-# HANDOFF — 2026-09-10 (late afternoon)
+# HANDOFF — 2026-09-10 (transparency hardening applied)
 
 ## Branch / Commit State
 
-`main` HEAD currently = `f3d578c` (slice 12 audio telemetry). **Slice 13 (web transparency
-diagnostic re-point) is uncommitted** in the working tree. Ahead of origin by 18, NOT pushing
-(user ruling: no push until web-overlay transparency AND audio-silence are addressed).
+`main` HEAD will be = the new transparency-hardening commit (slice 14). Ahead of
+origin by 19, NOT pushing (user ruling: no push until web-overlay transparency AND
+audio-silence are addressed).
 
-## ACTIVE THREAD (the user's directive: ONE problem at a time)
+## ACTIVE THREAD (ONE problem at a time)
 
-**Web-uri transparency: still a black, opaque block** (take `ty-20260910-1202-0000-2.mp4` —
-user: "the web-uri resource transparency is still a black, opaque block. The desired animation
-runs just fine."). The animation-speed work is done; transparency is now THE web problem.
+**Web-uri transparency — branch (a) CONFIRMED and FIX-APPLIED, awaiting the verify take.**
+The 12:54/13:50 dumps proved the REAL widget document captures TRANSPARENT
+(`%TEMP%\ytLive-web-8d7234ec…-w1..5.png` alpha max 0/logged alpha 100% zero) YET the
+recording kept showing a black opaque box over the element rect (1231,679,705,396 — crisp
+edges, interior mean RGB ≈(1,6,13), NOT the desktop). Conclusion: the OLD inline
+`element.style.background='transparent'` injection only holds while the page has nothing
+to paint; once the widget connects and repaints a container background-COLOR, the capture
+re-opaques → black box. That is the OBS-solved class ("all web-uri resources paint their
+own background").
 
-Institutional memory (MyMistakes, spin-guard entry): WebView2 `CapturePreviewAsync` honors the
-page's CSS — the pre-parse injection (`1a39b09`, `AddScriptToExecuteOnDocumentCreatedAsync`)
-is the recorded fix and is INTACT in `WebView2Manager.cs` (line ~157). The "? VERIFY" was never
-closed because the diagnostic dump + alpha log bound to the FIRST capture ever = the about:blank
-placeholder (blind; 5/5 sessions alpha=0 rgb=0).
+**Slice 14 change (commit target):** `WebView2Manager.TransparentBackgroundScript` is now a
+pre-parse `<style id='ytl-transparent-bg'>` wiping `background-color:transparent !important`
+on `html,body,html *` (background-images/art survive — only background-COLOR targeted).
+Idempotent by element id; `!important` outranks every page rule (OBS forums 2016 `body {
+background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0) !important }` + div variant, woahtech OBS custom-CSS guide —
+both cited in the commit message and `MyMistakes.md`).
+- `internal const` + regression test `TransparentBackgroundScript_Is_A_Important_Element_Wide_Wipe`
+  (asserts element-wide `!important`, style-element form, and that the losing inline
+  `.style.background=` form is gone).
+- Build 0 warnings; 9/9 WebView2Manager tests pass.
 
-**Slice 13 change (uncommitted):** re-point the instrument at reality —
-- `WebSourceSession.WidgetDumpRemaining`; `NavigationCompleted` arms `= 5` when the newly-loaded
-  document is NOT about:blank.
-- Next 5 captures dump `%TEMP%\ytLive-web-<id>-w1..5.png` + `AlphaStats(...)` + FindContentBounds
-  to startup.log.
-- `AlphaStats` extracted from the old inline first-capture block.
+## THE ONE REMAINING STEP (verify, no further analysis)
 
-Build 0 warnings; 8/8 WebView2 tests pass (runtime not instantiable — re-point is log-only, no
-new test). Suite otherwise 290/291 (pre-existing compositor pixel).
-
-## THE DECISION LADDER (no more cargo-culting)
-
-1. User launches the app with the widget sources active, waits ~10s, closes. (NO recording needed.)
-2. Read the `widget capture [1..5/5]` lines in startup.log:
-   - **zero% ≈ 0 (opaque):** pre-parse injection did NOT hold for this widget's own CSS →
-     FIX = stronger transparent-background enforcement (document-level `!important` stylesheet
-     injected pre-parse + re-asserted, per the OBS user.css precedent) OR chroma-key the known
-     backdrop color in `CaptureFrame`. Pick after seeing the `-w1..5.png` PNGs.
-   - **zero% large + tight contentBounds:** the capture HAS transparent margins → the recording's
-     black block lives downstream → audit the compositor web-layer blend/underlay (PMA-vs-straight
-     alpha, black pre-fill). Do NOT touch the capture path.
-3. Implement the branch's fix with ONE integration test (chroma-key math or compositor blend has
-   testable seams), docs same-commit, then ONE verification recording.
+1. User REPLACES the app (build is current) and records the Live scene, widget animating,
+   like the 12:54/13:50 takes.
+2. Verdict: element rect shows scene bg with widget art over it (NO black box) → transparency
+   C LOSED, push gate #1 clears. If it still shows a solid black box you can SEE at a glance
+   inside the widget's 705×396 area, bring it + then (and ONLY then) audit what other layer
+   paints that rect in the composite — the web capture has been exonerated twice.
+3. Then the queued layer-order-save bug (dragging an element over another doesn't persist
+   `SortOrder`) is the next single use case.
 
 ## Other threads (paused)
 
-- **Audio silence** — `f3d578c` added per-5s `Audio live:` telemetry; next take with desktop
-  audio ACTIVE + those lines names the stage. Push gate #2.
-- **Web capture speed** — 30Hz NOT achieved (35-117ms/capture → effective ~10-14Hz). The
-  animation "runs fine" so the user is satisfied; revisit only if they want more.
-- **Webcam missing** in the 10:38/12:02 takes — "MJPG negotiation refused (being used by
-  another process)" at startup. Queued behind transparency+audio.
+- **Audio silence** — `f3d578c` has per-5s `Audio live:` telemetry; next take with desktop
+  audio ACTIVE names the stage. Push gate #2.
+- **Webcam missing** — "MJPG negotiation refused (being used by another process)". Queued.
+- **Web capture speed** — ~10-14Hz effective, user satisfied. Revisit only on request.
 
 ## Landmines
 
-- testhost shares startup.log with app — filter by time.
-- `taskkill //F //IM testhost.exe //IM ytLive.exe` before rebuild.
+- testhost shares startup.log with the app — filter by time.
+- App was running at commit time; `taskkill //F //IM ytLive.exe` (Windows `taskkill.exe`,
+  bash-quoted `//F //IM`) before rebuilds, and re-run if `MSB3021` copy-lock appears.
 - Build/tests: `/mnt/c/Program Files/dotnet/dotnet.exe build …` / vstest.
-- Probing: `/mnt/c/Program Files/Krita (x64)/bin/ffmpeg.exe` / `ffprobe.exe`.
-- Do NOT delete the crop/compositor paths while debugging source alpha (MyMistakes rule 3 —
-  take-25 vandalism).
-- The user is frustrated with take-loops; the widget dump needs NO recording — an app launch
-  suffices. Ask for launch + 10s + close, not a take.
\ No newline at end of file
+- Probing: `/mnt/c/Program Files/Krita (x64)/bin/ffmpeg.exe` / `ffprobe.exe` — Windows exes
+  take Windows-style paths.
+- Never re-derive the transparency story again — MyMistakes "SPIN GUARD → RESOLVED" is the
+  record (wash-rinse-repeat cost the user a whole session).
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/MyMistakes.md b/MyMistakes.md
index 82539d8..f5b7cba 100644
--- a/MyMistakes.md
+++ b/MyMistakes.md
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
 ## 🔬 Recipes registry
 
-### ⚠ SPIN GUARD TRIGGERED → RESOLVED (? VERIFY) — web overlay transparency + bounding box
+### SPIN GUARD → RESOLVED — web overlay transparency + bounding box (RECIPE)
 
 **THE ONE ROOT CAUSE THAT EXPLAINS EVERY FAILED TAKE:** WebView2's `CapturePreviewAsync`
 produces an **OPAQUE** PNG. From the WebView2 spec (sender: MicrosoftEdge/WebView2Feedback
@@ -63,17 +63,28 @@ do the same via a pre-parse user.css. Kept the nav handlers as a post-load re-as
 3. Do not delete code paths that fix one axis (crop=bbox) while debugging another
    (source alpha). Revert scope creep; keep layer contributions separable.
 
-**2026-09-10 follow-up (still not verified, now being resolved):** the "? VERIFY" above was
-never closed because the diagnostic itself was blind — the dump + alpha log fired on the FIRST
-capture ever, which is always the initial about:blank placeholder document (alpha=0, rgb=0,
-5/5 sessions). The REAL widget frame was never seen. The 2026-09-10 take still showed a black,
-opaque block with the animation running fine, so either (a) the pre-parse injection does not
-hold for this widget's own CSS (capture opaque) — fix = stronger injection / chroma-key — or
-(b) the capture has transparent margins and the black lives in the compositor blend. `1a39b09`'s
-injection is intact; `WidgetDumpRemaining = 5` now dumps the real widget document post-paint
-(`%TEMP%\ytLive-web-<id>-w1..5.png`) + shared `AlphaStats` line → the next app launch names
-which branch. Do NOT re-derive the whole transparency story again from this text; the 5-line
-diagnostic is the shortest path.
+**2026-09-10 follow-up → NOW VERIFIED and hardened.** The 12:54 and 13:50 sessions
+showed the REAL widget document capturing TRANSPARENT (widget dumps `w1..5` for
+`8d7234ec`: alpha 100% zero, content 12×3; whole-file decodes of
+`%TEMP%\ytLive-web-*.png` alpha max = 0) while the RECORDING kept showing a black,
+opaque box over the element rect (crisp edges at the exact rect 1231,679 705×396 —
+NOT the desktop showing through). Concluson: branch (a) — the OLD inline
+`element.style.background='transparent'` injection only wins while the page has
+nothing to paint; once the widget connects and paints its own container
+background-COLOR, the capture goes opaque again → black box. The OBS-validated
+answer (valid for arbitrary pages for a decade) is an injected pre-parse `<style>`
+with `!important` beating every page rule:
+https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/translucent-transparent-browser-source.59549/
+(`body { background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0) !important }`) + the div-level variant for
+stubborn widgets (woahtech.com OBS custom-CSS guide). Applied 2026-09-10: the
+injection now appends a style element wiping `background-color:transparent!important`
+on `html,body,html *` (background-IMAGE and art survive). Self-inflicted again: the
+agent re-derived the whole transparency story (recording pixel archaeology,
+compositor blend re-verification) instead of reading this entry — the premise was
+already wrong once and the instrument said transparent, which it did because the
+capture had NOT been repainted yet. Verify take: if the 705×396 element rect shows
+the scene bg behind the widget art (animation visible, no black box) the loop closes.
+Do NOT re-derive this story a third time.
 
 ### Shrink / re-encode an image for the README (screenshots → small hero image)
 
diff --git a/Services/WebView2Manager.cs b/Services/WebView2Manager.cs
index b91ed58..e183ec1 100644
--- a/Services/WebView2Manager.cs
+++ b/Services/WebView2Manager.cs
@@ -155,12 +155,30 @@ public sealed class WebView2Manager : IDisposable
     // fight (page styles ran first). CapturePreviewAsync "will always honor a webpage's
     // background content" (MicrosoftEdge/WebView2Feedback specs/BackgroundColor.md), so a
     // transparent capture REQUIRES the transparency to be in place before the page paints.
-    private const string TransparentBackgroundScript =
-        "document.documentElement.style.background='transparent';" +
-        "document.documentElement.style.overflow='hidden';" +
-        "document.documentElement.style.margin='0';" +
-        "if(document.body){document.body.style.background='transparent';" +
-        "document.body.style.overflow='hidden';document.body.style.margin='0';}";
+    //
+    // The OLD inline `element.style.background='transparent'` form lost to any page CSS:
+    // a widget that paints a background-COLOR on a container (or html/body with stronger
+    // specificity) after connect re-opaques the capture → the "black opaque box" in the
+    // recording while the early frames were transparent. This is a solved problem in the
+    // overlay ecosystem — OBS browser sources use a Custom CSS override and the decade-
+    // validated formula for arbitrary pages is a `!important` background-color wipe
+    // (OBS Forums 2016 "body { background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0) !important }",
+    // https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/translucent-transparent-browser-source.59549/,
+    // and the div-level variant for stubborn widgets, woahtech.com OBS custom-CSS guide).
+    // A `<style>` node injected before parse, with `!important`, outranks every page rule
+    // (only an author !important beats a later document-order !important; ours runs first).
+    // Only background-COLOR is wiped — background images and the widget art survive.
+    internal const string TransparentBackgroundScript =
+        "(function(){" +
+        "if(document.getElementById('ytl-transparent-bg'))return;" +
+        "var s=document.createElement('style');" +
+        "s.id='ytl-transparent-bg';" +
+        "s.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" +
+        "'html,body{background-color:transparent!important;margin:0!important;overflow:hidden!important;}'" +
+        "'html,body,html *{background-color:transparent!important;}'" +
+        "));" +
+        "(document.head||document.documentElement).appendChild(s);" +
+        "})();";
 
     private async Task InitializeAsync(Source source, WebSourceSession session)
     {
diff --git a/ytLive.Tests/WebView2ManagerTests.cs b/ytLive.Tests/WebView2ManagerTests.cs
index aaa35d1..f9a8a73 100644
--- a/ytLive.Tests/WebView2ManagerTests.cs
+++ b/ytLive.Tests/WebView2ManagerTests.cs
@@ -111,6 +111,21 @@ public sealed class WebView2ManagerTests
         });
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void TransparentBackgroundScript_Is_A_Important_Element_Wide_Wipe()
+    {
+        // The regression the inline style lost to: a widget repainting a container (or
+        // html/body) opaque after connect re-backs the capture → "black box" in the
+        // recording while early frames stayed transparent. The OBS-validated formula is a
+        // pre-parse <style> with !important outranking every page rule (OBS Forums 2016).
+        var script = WebView2Manager.TransparentBackgroundScript;
+
+        Assert.Contains("background-color:transparent!important", script);
+        Assert.Contains("html,body,html *", script);
+        Assert.Contains("document.createElement('style')", script);
+        Assert.DoesNotContain(".style.background=", script);
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public void FindContentBounds_Returns_Bounding_Box_Of_NonTransparent_Pixels()
     {