diff --git a/HANDOFF.md b/HANDOFF.md
index 9970f3d..bc8a3cb 100644
--- a/HANDOFF.md
+++ b/HANDOFF.md
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 - TASK 27 — YouTube Chat layer one-per-layout gate (`CanAddYouTubeChat`, AddSource refuses a second) + legacy label heal ("Chat" → "YouTube Chat" on LoadLayout; creator renames untouched; test `ChatLayerGateTests`). Creator's ask: "do the same thing with the YouTube chat layer" + make the Layers row match the (+) picklist.
 - TASK 19/23 status flip — code survey confirmed Control Surface UX fully shipped (thumbnail strip, two-state left panel, right panel gone, transitions, edit gating); map corrected.
 - **TASK 20 step 1 — global hotkeys** (`Services/GlobalHotkeys.cs`, `MainViewModel.HandleHotkey`, `MainWindow.OnSourceInitialized` wiring): F1-F5 canonical scenes, F6 start/end stream, F7 mic mute, F8 desktop mute, F9 TRAX. `IHotkeyRegistrar` seam + `RegistrarOverride`. Test `GlobalHotkeyTests.WmHotkey_StagesScene_And_TogglesMic_And_RevokesOnClose`. Hotkeys validated by creator.
-- **ON-AIR sign** (creator ask): new status light + "ON-AIR" right of REC in the top bar (`OnAirBrush`: gray offline / red public / green private); old left-of-REC hardcoded indicator removed. Test `OnAirSignTests.OnAirBrush_Follows_Offline_Public_And_Private`.
+- **ON-AIR sign** (creator ask): new status light + "ON-AIR" right of REC in the top bar (`OnAirBrush`: gray offline / red public / green private); old left-of-REC hardcoded indicator removed. Labels share one `StatusSignText` style in Controls.xaml (creator dinged inconsistency when ON-AIR text took the status color — labels are neutral, dots carry state). Test `OnAirSignTests.OnAirBrush_Follows_Offline_Public_And_Private`.
 - Suite: 227 total, 226 pass — only failure is the known pre-existing `AudioPipelineTests.Mix_HonorsProviderGains_AndGameMute_KillsTheLoopback`. Build 0 warnings. Docs shipped same-commit.
 - Visual pass on TASK 26/27 validated by creator (2026-08-24).
 
diff --git a/MainWindow.xaml b/MainWindow.xaml
index 08d1ee7..1d55e69 100644
--- a/MainWindow.xaml
+++ b/MainWindow.xaml
@@ -116,13 +116,11 @@
                             HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center">
                     <Ellipse Width="12" Height="12" VerticalAlignment="Center"
                              Fill="{Binding RecDotBrush}" Opacity="{Binding RecDotOpacity}"/>
-                    <TextBlock Text="REC" FontSize="16" FontWeight="Bold"
-                               Foreground="{Binding RecTextBrush}" VerticalAlignment="Center" Margin="8,0,0,0"/>
+                    <TextBlock Text="REC" Style="{StaticResource StatusSignText}"/>
                     <!-- ON-AIR sign: gray offline, red public, green private -->
                     <Ellipse Width="12" Height="12" VerticalAlignment="Center" Margin="16,0,0,0"
                              Fill="{Binding OnAirBrush}"/>
-                    <TextBlock Text="ON-AIR" FontSize="16" FontWeight="Bold"
-                               Foreground="{Binding OnAirBrush}" VerticalAlignment="Center" Margin="8,0,0,0"/>
+                    <TextBlock Text="ON-AIR" Style="{StaticResource StatusSignText}"/>
                     <Border Background="#8f1f1f" CornerRadius="3" Padding="6,1" Margin="8,0,0,0"
                             VerticalAlignment="Center"
                             Visibility="{Binding IsLivePrivate, Converter={StaticResource BoolToVis}}">
diff --git a/Themes/Controls.xaml b/Themes/Controls.xaml
index 6428832..6fcb7eb 100644
--- a/Themes/Controls.xaml
+++ b/Themes/Controls.xaml
@@ -562,6 +562,15 @@
         <Setter Property="Margin" Value="4,0,0,4"/>
     </Style>
 
+    <!-- Top-bar status sign label (REC / ON-AIR): one definition so the two signs can't drift -->
+    <Style x:Key="StatusSignText" TargetType="TextBlock">
+        <Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{Binding RecTextBrush}"/>
+        <Setter Property="FontSize" Value="16"/>
+        <Setter Property="FontWeight" Value="Bold"/>
+        <Setter Property="VerticalAlignment" Value="Center"/>
+        <Setter Property="Margin" Value="8,0,0,0"/>
+    </Style>
+
     <!-- Sliding pill toggle: ON = green, OFF = red (#ef4444) -->
     <Style x:Key="PillToggle" TargetType="ToggleButton">
         <Setter Property="Width" Value="36"/>
diff --git a/ai.md b/ai.md
index 170b47c..2f66b0e 100644
--- a/ai.md
+++ b/ai.md
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ C# / WPF (.NET 8) following MVVM:
 
 - `ViewModelBase.SetProperty<T>()` for property change notifications
 - `RelayCommand` for all button actions; commands gate on state (e.g. Start only when Offline). **Typed `CommandParameter`s — no stringly-typed command tokens:** menu items that pick a source type pass the enum value itself (`CommandParameter="{x:Static models:SourceType.DisplayCapture}"`), so a typo breaks the build instead of silently adding an Image; `AddSource` still falls back to `Enum.TryParse<SourceType>(..., true)` for safety. The webcam item is its own `AddWebcamCommand` (it greys out via `CanAddWebcamToActiveScene` and isn't a `SourceType` — webcams are `WebcamSceneConfig`, not `Source` rows)
-- **Audio is KISS by rule** — the whole of audio is *one knob*: **desktop/game audio is automatic** (WASAPI loopback from the default output at unity, zero UI — "it just is"); the **mic is the creator's only audio control** — sound meter + mute button + volume slider (`MicVolume`, defaults to 0.8) all sit together on the footer's top line, CENTERED beneath the preview panel. Meter: 288px, muted slate track (`#3a3b52`) with ruler graduations and muted yellow/red zone tints at 60%/80%; fill = green → yellow → red via `MeterFillWidth`/`MeterBrush`; the meter is a **READ-ONLY realtime level display** — it shows the live input level scaled by the volume (raising the volume moves ambient noise up the bar), NOT the volume setting: the fill is `Math.Min(1, AudioLevelMeter.ToDisplay(AudioLevel) * MicVolume)` — `ToDisplay` maps the raw linear RMS onto a −60..0 dBFS display scale, because real speech sits around −40..−20 dBFS (0.01..0.1 linear) which would leave a flat scale dead (`AudioLevel` is fed by the audio mixer once capture lands, 0 with no input) and 0 while muted. While the volume slider is being dragged the bar previews the slider position (`SetVolumeAdjusting`, from `PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown/Up` + `LostMouseCapture` handlers) so the creator sees where they're setting it; on release it returns to the live level — with no input it bounces back to 0, exactly as it does today. Clicking the meter does nothing; **clicking the MIC label opens the mic picker** (`OpenMicPickerCommand`), and the picked voice source name (`MicSourceName`) is shown left-justified INSIDE the meter bar (FontSize 10, ellipsized to the bar) — the fill runs at 75% opacity so the text and the ruler markings stay visible through it. Mute (`ToggleMicMuteCommand`/`MicMuted`) is a plain clickable speaker icon (`MicSpeaker_MouseLeftButtonUp` code-behind handler — not a Button, `Stretch="Uniform"` so the glyph is never clipped) that swaps to a red do-not-symbol (slashed speaker) when muted. **The slider and the speaker can never disagree:** `MicMuted` is read-only, derived from `MicVolume == 0` — sliding the volume off flips the speaker to muted (storing the prior level in `_volumeBeforeMute`), sliding it up from 0 clears the mute indicator (and the stored level); the speaker button just runs the volume to 0 or restores it (default 0.8 if unknown). Muting zeroes the meter; **unmuting flashes the meter to the restored position for ~300ms** (`BeginVolumeFlash`/`EndVolumeFlash` on a DispatcherTimer, cancelled if the slider is grabbed) before it returns to the live level. Line 2 of the footer holds everything else: stream stats (bitrate/fps/dropped/duration/health) on the left, quality dropdown + gear on the right. The slider is a slim dimensional style in `Themes/Controls.xaml` (gradient track, beveled green fill on a 5px pill, gloss-sphere thumb with drop shadow — deliberately NOT flat). No device pickers (never show device names — no "install a device you didn't know existed"), no filter stacks, no monitoring, no routing — OBS's confusion (dynamic mixer, unintuitive names, four required filters) is deliberately absent. A production-ready mic chain (high-pass → noise gate → compressor) will be applied invisibly in the mixer, unconfigurable. Capture runs only while live (privacy indicator stays off otherwise). Capture pipeline = `IAudioSource` seam + NAudio `WasapiCapture`/`WasapiLoopbackCapture` + `AudioMixer` (pending — the UI is in place now). **Mic mute icon (2026-08-13):** a second 16px clickable glyph — a microphone, red + slash when muted — sits **between the meter and the speaker** (both mutes adjacent, spacing between the icons) and reuses the same `MicSpeaker_MouseLeftButtonUp` → `ToggleMicMuteCommand` handler. **REC sign (2026-08-13):** the top-center indicator is an **always-visible REC chip** (`RecDotBrush`/`RecTextBrush`/`RecDotOpacity`/`IsLivePrivate`) — dark gray dot + dim "REC" offline, bright red (#e94560) while live, darker red (#8f1f1f) when live with a **private** stream (driven by the dialog's chosen `StreamVisibility`; the stream service still forces public — see TASK 4 ship step 7); the dot pulses while live, and the elapsed timer shows only when live. **ON-AIR sign (2026-08-24):** to the right of REC — an always-visible dot+label bound to `OnAirBrush` (notified from the `StreamStatus` and `StreamVisibility` setters): gray (#555555) offline, red (#e94560) streaming public, green (#22c55e) streaming private; it replaces the old left-of-REC hardcoded-red IsLive-only indicator. The connected account's avatar/name shows in the top bar next to Start Stream (`AccountAvatarUrl`/`AccountDisplayName` via `SyncConnectedAccount`), so the creator always sees WHICH account will go live.
+- **Audio is KISS by rule** — the whole of audio is *one knob*: **desktop/game audio is automatic** (WASAPI loopback from the default output at unity, zero UI — "it just is"); the **mic is the creator's only audio control** — sound meter + mute button + volume slider (`MicVolume`, defaults to 0.8) all sit together on the footer's top line, CENTERED beneath the preview panel. Meter: 288px, muted slate track (`#3a3b52`) with ruler graduations and muted yellow/red zone tints at 60%/80%; fill = green → yellow → red via `MeterFillWidth`/`MeterBrush`; the meter is a **READ-ONLY realtime level display** — it shows the live input level scaled by the volume (raising the volume moves ambient noise up the bar), NOT the volume setting: the fill is `Math.Min(1, AudioLevelMeter.ToDisplay(AudioLevel) * MicVolume)` — `ToDisplay` maps the raw linear RMS onto a −60..0 dBFS display scale, because real speech sits around −40..−20 dBFS (0.01..0.1 linear) which would leave a flat scale dead (`AudioLevel` is fed by the audio mixer once capture lands, 0 with no input) and 0 while muted. While the volume slider is being dragged the bar previews the slider position (`SetVolumeAdjusting`, from `PreviewMouseLeftButtonDown/Up` + `LostMouseCapture` handlers) so the creator sees where they're setting it; on release it returns to the live level — with no input it bounces back to 0, exactly as it does today. Clicking the meter does nothing; **clicking the MIC label opens the mic picker** (`OpenMicPickerCommand`), and the picked voice source name (`MicSourceName`) is shown left-justified INSIDE the meter bar (FontSize 10, ellipsized to the bar) — the fill runs at 75% opacity so the text and the ruler markings stay visible through it. Mute (`ToggleMicMuteCommand`/`MicMuted`) is a plain clickable speaker icon (`MicSpeaker_MouseLeftButtonUp` code-behind handler — not a Button, `Stretch="Uniform"` so the glyph is never clipped) that swaps to a red do-not-symbol (slashed speaker) when muted. **The slider and the speaker can never disagree:** `MicMuted` is read-only, derived from `MicVolume == 0` — sliding the volume off flips the speaker to muted (storing the prior level in `_volumeBeforeMute`), sliding it up from 0 clears the mute indicator (and the stored level); the speaker button just runs the volume to 0 or restores it (default 0.8 if unknown). Muting zeroes the meter; **unmuting flashes the meter to the restored position for ~300ms** (`BeginVolumeFlash`/`EndVolumeFlash` on a DispatcherTimer, cancelled if the slider is grabbed) before it returns to the live level. Line 2 of the footer holds everything else: stream stats (bitrate/fps/dropped/duration/health) on the left, quality dropdown + gear on the right. The slider is a slim dimensional style in `Themes/Controls.xaml` (gradient track, beveled green fill on a 5px pill, gloss-sphere thumb with drop shadow — deliberately NOT flat). No device pickers (never show device names — no "install a device you didn't know existed"), no filter stacks, no monitoring, no routing — OBS's confusion (dynamic mixer, unintuitive names, four required filters) is deliberately absent. A production-ready mic chain (high-pass → noise gate → compressor) will be applied invisibly in the mixer, unconfigurable. Capture runs only while live (privacy indicator stays off otherwise). Capture pipeline = `IAudioSource` seam + NAudio `WasapiCapture`/`WasapiLoopbackCapture` + `AudioMixer` (pending — the UI is in place now). **Mic mute icon (2026-08-13):** a second 16px clickable glyph — a microphone, red + slash when muted — sits **between the meter and the speaker** (both mutes adjacent, spacing between the icons) and reuses the same `MicSpeaker_MouseLeftButtonUp` → `ToggleMicMuteCommand` handler. **REC sign (2026-08-13):** the top-center indicator is an **always-visible REC chip** (`RecDotBrush`/`RecTextBrush`/`RecDotOpacity`/`IsLivePrivate`) — dark gray dot + dim "REC" offline, bright red (#e94560) while live, darker red (#8f1f1f) when live with a **private** stream (driven by the dialog's chosen `StreamVisibility`; the stream service still forces public — see TASK 4 ship step 7); the dot pulses while live, and the elapsed timer shows only when live. **ON-AIR sign (2026-08-24):** to the right of REC — an always-visible dot+label, dot bound to `OnAirBrush` (notified from the `StreamStatus` and `StreamVisibility` setters): gray (#555555) offline, red (#e94560) streaming public, green (#22c55e) streaming private; replaces the old left-of-REC hardcoded-red IsLive-only indicator. Both sign labels share the `StatusSignText` style (`Themes/Controls.xaml`, Foreground = `RecTextBrush`: dim #888888 offline / white live) so REC and ON-AIR can't drift apart — status color lives on the dot only, never the label. The connected account's avatar/name shows in the top bar next to Start Stream (`AccountAvatarUrl`/`AccountDisplayName` via `SyncConnectedAccount`), so the creator always sees WHICH account will go live.
 - ViewModels are constructed in XAML (`<vm:MainViewModel/>` as DataContext)
 - Services are currently instantiated in MainViewModel's constructor — no DI container yet
 - Layout persists to SQLite (`Microsoft.Data.Sqlite`); scenes/sources/asset bytes stored in the DB, asset identity is a SHA-256 content hash (1:M reuse, no file paths — assets are always available). Loaded sources always derive `IsBackground` from `Type` (OR'd with the persisted column, so legacy DisplayCapture backdrops keep their flag) — pre-derivation rows with `IsBackground=0` heal on load