diff --git a/HANDOFF.md b/HANDOFF.md
index 0253886..2816eaa 100644
--- a/HANDOFF.md
+++ b/HANDOFF.md
@@ -35,6 +35,6 @@
 - Pack URIs for bundled assets must be assembly-qualified (`/LlamaCasty;component/Assets/…`): the
   unqualified form resolves against the entry assembly, which is the test host under `dotnet test`.
 - Media sessions are keyed by **path + look** (`MainViewModel.MediaSessionKey`); never acquire by raw path.
-- **The audio pipe is one instance per machine.** DEBUG appends its id (`InstanceProfile.AudioPipeName`).
+- **The audio pipe allows ONE server per name**; DEBUG suffixes it (id, else pid), Release does not.
 - Integration tests constructing `MainWindow` must set a temporary `LayoutPathOverride` and clear it in `finally`.
 - Bundled FFmpeg stays outside the single-file exe (`ExcludeFromSingleFile="true"`).
diff --git a/Helpers/InstanceProfile.cs b/Helpers/InstanceProfile.cs
index d066915..d44ee96 100644
--- a/Helpers/InstanceProfile.cs
+++ b/Helpers/InstanceProfile.cs
@@ -70,13 +70,13 @@ public static class InstanceProfile
 #endif
 
     /// <summary>The audio pipe name for this process. The pipe server allows exactly ONE instance, so a
-    /// shared name meant the second app on the machine could never go live — it threw
-    /// "All pipe instances are busy" out of the Go Live click and ended the process (2026-11-06: two
-    /// instances, one recording the other). A dev instance appends its id; Release, and therefore the
-    /// first instance, keeps the plain name.</summary>
+    /// shared name means the second app on the machine can never go live — it throws "All pipe instances
+    /// are busy" (2026-11-06: Release recording, Debug trying to go live). Release keeps the plain name;
+    /// a DEBUG build ALWAYS appends a suffix — its claimed id, or the process id when it has none — so a
+    /// debug run launched straight from the IDE can never collide with the Release build beside it.</summary>
     public static string AudioPipeName(string baseName)
 #if DEBUG
-        => Id is { } id ? $"{baseName}_{id}" : baseName;
+        => Id is { } id ? $"{baseName}_{id}" : $"{baseName}_pid{Environment.ProcessId}";
 #else
         => baseName;
 #endif
diff --git a/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Streaming.Operations.cs b/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Streaming.Operations.cs
index 7332e0b..ac1ca12 100644
--- a/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Streaming.Operations.cs
+++ b/ViewModels/MainViewModel.Streaming.Operations.cs
@@ -79,9 +79,11 @@ public partial class MainViewModel : ViewModelBase
     /// </summary>
     private bool TryStartAudioPipe()
     {
+        var pipeName = InstanceProfile.AudioPipeName(EncoderOptions.DefaultAudioPipeName);
         try
         {
-            _audioMixer.StartLive(InstanceProfile.AudioPipeName(EncoderOptions.DefaultAudioPipeName));
+            _audioMixer.StartLive(pipeName);
+            AppLog.Write($"Audio pipe: {pipeName}");
             return true;
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
diff --git a/ytLive.Tests/AudioPipeInstanceTests.cs b/ytLive.Tests/AudioPipeInstanceTests.cs
index c864351..8598cb9 100644
--- a/ytLive.Tests/AudioPipeInstanceTests.cs
+++ b/ytLive.Tests/AudioPipeInstanceTests.cs
@@ -36,7 +36,14 @@ public sealed class AudioPipeInstanceTests : IDisposable
     public void ADevInstanceServesItsOwnPipeName()
     {
         Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(InstanceProfile.InstanceVariable, null);
+#if DEBUG
+        // No claimed id (launched from the IDE) must still never collide with the Release build's pipe.
+        var unnamed = InstanceProfile.AudioPipeName("ytllive_audio");
+        Assert.StartsWith("ytllive_audio_pid", unnamed);
+        Assert.Equal(unnamed, InstanceProfile.AudioPipeName("ytllive_audio"));
+#else
         Assert.Equal("ytllive_audio", InstanceProfile.AudioPipeName("ytllive_audio"));
+#endif
 
         Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(InstanceProfile.InstanceVariable, "2");
         Assert.Equal("ytllive_audio_2", InstanceProfile.AudioPipeName("ytllive_audio"));