diff --git a/MyMistakes.md b/MyMistakes.md
index 2a785f0..1378bfb 100644
--- a/MyMistakes.md
+++ b/MyMistakes.md
@@ -35,6 +35,37 @@ max 200.
 
 ## 🔬 Recipes registry
 
+### A SETTING THAT "DIDN'T STICK" — CHECK THE DEBOUNCE FIRST (RECIPE, 2026-11-12)
+
+**Symptom:** a value is set in the UI, behaves correctly for one session, and is gone after a
+restart. It looks like a wiring bug in the control; it is almost always `ScheduleSave()`.
+
+**Cause:** `MainViewModel.ScheduleSave()` restarts a debounce timer that later calls `Save()`, which
+writes the whole layout. Anything changed in the last few seconds before the app closes is lost —
+and none of it is logged, so the next session reads a value the creator never chose.
+
+**Quick fix:** for anything small and decisive (a sync offset, a toggle the creator just clicked),
+call the `_layoutStore.Save…()` method **in the setter itself**, before `ScheduleSave()`. Two rows
+cost nothing; a lost setting costs a whole reproduce-and-test cycle. Live example:
+`MainViewModel.Audio.cs` → `AudioSyncOffsetMs` / `MicSyncOffsetMs`.
+
+**Check list when a remembered setting misbehaves:** grep the property for `ScheduleSave`, confirm a
+direct save exists, then reproduce with a *restart* (not just a new session) before debugging deeper.
+
+**Bit us:** the lip-sync offset. `Audio.SyncOffsetMs` was set to −130, lost on close, and two clips
+were measured against a setting that was not in force — the numbers disagreed by ~65 ms and the
+disagreement was blamed on the audio path.
+
+### A SYNC OFFSET IS NEVER A PRODUCT DEFAULT (2026-11-12)
+
+**Mistake:** `MicSyncOffsetMs` shipped at **175 ms** because that suited one C920 on one desk. It
+shifted every creator's voice to correct one machine and hid whether a desync was the app's fault.
+
+**Rule:** offsets ship at 0 and are opt-in. `AudioSyncSettingsTests` pins it. And the tool that
+measures them, `scripts/avsync.py`, varies **±35 ms between clips** on identical settings — it can
+answer "is this 100 ms out?" but never "is this 20 ms out?". Below ~50 ms the creator's judgement is
+the better instrument, so stop tuning rather than chasing the tool's noise.
+
 ### A LOOSE FILE IN `Assets/` IS NOT AN ASSET — THE CSProj LIST IS (RECIPE, 2026-11-04)
 
 **Problem:** four untracked `Assets/llamacasty-*` exports sat in the tree for days, reported in
diff --git a/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Audio.cs b/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Audio.cs
index 40591d0..7f1e688 100644
--- a/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Audio.cs
+++ b/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Audio.cs
@@ -243,6 +243,9 @@ public partial class MainViewModel
             var clamped = Math.Clamp(value, -500, 500);
             if (!SetProperty(ref _audioSyncOffsetMs, clamped)) return;
             OnPropertyChanged(nameof(SyncOffsetLabel));
+            // Written at once, not through the debounced layout save: a sync offset set seconds before
+            // closing the app used to be lost, and losing it costs a whole record-and-measure cycle.
+            if (_layoutStore is { } store) store.SaveAudioSyncOffsetMs(clamped);
             ScheduleSave();
         }
     }
@@ -264,6 +267,7 @@ public partial class MainViewModel
             var clamped = Math.Clamp(value, 0, 500);
             if (!SetProperty(ref _micSyncOffsetMs, clamped)) return;
             OnPropertyChanged(nameof(MicSyncOffsetLabel));
+            if (_layoutStore is { } store) store.SaveMicSyncOffsetMs(clamped);   // immediate, see above
             ScheduleSave();
         }
     }
diff --git a/ytLive.Tests/AudioSyncSettingsTests.cs b/ytLive.Tests/AudioSyncSettingsTests.cs
index 6b32936..3c96d24 100644
--- a/ytLive.Tests/AudioSyncSettingsTests.cs
+++ b/ytLive.Tests/AudioSyncSettingsTests.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ using System.IO;
 using Microsoft.Data.Sqlite;
 using Xunit;
 using ytLive.Services;
+using ytLive.ViewModels;
 
 namespace ytLive.Tests;
 
@@ -11,6 +12,8 @@ namespace ytLive.Tests;
 /// not arrive with audio already shifted — a non-zero default would move every creator's voice to fix
 /// one machine and would hide whether the fault is theirs or ours.
 /// </summary>
+// The view model below touches the static LayoutPathOverride, so it shares the layout collection.
+[Collection("MainViewModelLayoutPath")]
 public sealed class AudioSyncSettingsTests : IDisposable
 {
     private readonly string _db = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), $"ytLlive-syncsettings-{Guid.NewGuid():N}.db");
@@ -44,4 +47,29 @@ public sealed class AudioSyncSettingsTests : IDisposable
         Assert.Equal(240, reopened.LoadMicSyncOffsetMs());
         Assert.Equal(-130, reopened.LoadAudioSyncOffsetMs());
     }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// A slider move is persisted as it happens. It used to ride the debounced layout save, so a value
+    /// set seconds before closing the app was lost — which cost a record-and-measure cycle on 2026-11-12
+    /// when a −130 ms offset vanished between two clips.
+    /// </summary>
+    [Fact]
+    public void A_slider_move_survives_without_any_debounce_flush()
+    {
+        MainViewModel.LayoutPathOverride = _db;
+        try
+        {
+            var vm = new MainViewModel();
+            vm.AudioSyncOffsetMs = -130;
+            vm.MicSyncOffsetMs = 240;
+
+            using var store = new LayoutStore(_db);
+            Assert.Equal(-130, store.LoadAudioSyncOffsetMs());
+            Assert.Equal(240, store.LoadMicSyncOffsetMs());
+        }
+        finally
+        {
+            MainViewModel.LayoutPathOverride = null;
+        }
+    }
 }