Creator ruling 2026-11-13: "the app does three things. builds. records. live-streams." So the bar holds
three buttons that never disappear; the active one is lit and runs its own flow in place, and the other
two dim but stay clickable, so there is no state where the creator cannot see where they are or how to
step back.
Build [Build Scenes] -> editing on, nothing to start
YouTube [Live][Private] -> [Start] -> [Stop] (Private = the private-visibility test stream)
Record [Start Recording] -> [● REC hh:mm:ss][Stop Recording]
Arming and starting are separate presses on purpose (creator): Start is the last chance to tell someone
"check you are ready". Collapsing them would save one click and lose that prompt.
This replaces the two-world model (BarWorld) and its output stage outright, including the chips added
earlier today. The old pills remain the underlying state (OnAirPillOn/RecordPillOn) so the start, stop and
step-down paths are untouched; the activity only decides what the bar shows.
Closing the app no longer waits 6 s for a session that cannot stop: it waits ~2 s, then clears the state
and closes anyway. A window that refuses to close is worse than a stale flag — and that refusal is what
hung the suite in ZoomBoxInteractionTests, which sets IsRecording and closes a real window.
Test: TopBarActivityTests pins all three flows, the arm-then-start split, and that stepping back to Build
forgets the YouTube choice instead of carrying it. TopBarWorldTests is retired with the model it tested.
Build 730 (creator):
- Left pill while recording: solid #2ECC71 dot pulsing 1.0 <-> 0.2 on the existing one-second timer, and
"REC: hh:mm:ss" in Consolas so the digits cannot jitter the pill's width. Idle face unchanged.
- Right pill while recording: a stop square and "Stop Recording"; clicking it runs the normal stop, which
halts and resets the clock and returns the pair to "Local MP4" / "Start Recording".
- The separate reality line (dot + REC/LIVE + elapsed + End) is now LIVE-ONLY: a recording would otherwise
print the same three facts twice. RunningVisible is IsLive, and ShowOutputStage no longer hides itself
for a recording (it must be on screen to carry the clock and the stop).
Two rules collided and are now separated rather than merged: a creator's Stop on a recording restores the
Local MP4 pair (build 730), while a pipeline FAILURE still clears both pills (the 2026-09-01 zombie rule).
StopStream(afterFailure:) carries the difference, and the pump-failure path passes it.
RealAppHost.Run was rethrowing with `throw failure;`, which destroyed the original stack — a failing
assertion inside the action reported the wrapper's line instead of its own. ExceptionDispatchInfo now
preserves it; that is how the two failures above were located in one pass instead of five.
680 pass (one audio-pipe instance flake under full-suite load, passes alone), 0 warnings.
Scope justification: Assets/starting-background.jpg is outside this unit — the creator's replacement art,
still awaiting their visual check.
Creator on the live build: 'why do you make the youtube user icon go away?'
The TASK 42 one-surface bar had scoped the account zone to Stream only
('Record world has no YouTube identity at all'), so arming REC dropped the
avatar and the bar height bounced with it ('really fucking annoying').
Fix: ShowSignInButton / ShowAvatarButton are now plain !IsConnected /
IsConnected — app-level identity, present in both worlds, so the right
column never pops in/out and the bar height stays pinned. Test remains a
child of Stream (still stream-armed AND signed-in).
TopBarModeTests updated to the new contract: signed-out Record world shows
Sign In; flipping back to REC keeps the avatar. PillRadioTests untouched
(it only exercises the ON-AIR face). Docs corrected in-place (ai.md state
model, TASK 42 scope). Gate: clean build 0-warnings, 316/316, scope passed.
The bar now renders ONE surface from the FIRST decision the creator makes —
Record or Stream — with each world being the whole bar. Creator directive:
"I wrote the fucking thing and I still can't figure-out how to do stuff",
"forget this one dog plan bullshit". OBS/streaming-tool reference for the
one-surface paradigm: https://obsproject.com (single mode toggle + context
actions) — cited per spin-guard habit; the go-live/test pattern follows
CEV (https://cev-desktop.aSean.xyz) precedent.
- Mode: single segmented REC|ON-AIR switch (SegmentToggle/SegmentLabel in
Themes/Controls.xaml); radio-exclusive world selection, one tap to flip.
- Record world: switch + Start Recording, zero YouTube identity.
- Stream world: switch + Go Live + Test + account zone right (Sign In until
connected, then avatar with Change Account/Logout context menu).
- Test is a child of Stream: procs only stream-armed AND signed-in.
- Running: one reality line "dot word elapsed" (REC/LIVE/TEST; green/red/
gold) + End; worlds + switch retire.
- Gear moved up from bottom bar, ~3 wordmark letters past the brand, single
click opens Settings/Bug/Feature/About menu (TASK 40 Unit B shipped early).
- Fix folded in: BeginTestStream now arms OnAirPillOn explicitly (unarmed
pump booted with zero encoder outputs -> "At least one output is required"
forced-stop cascade from TASK 41's pipeline).
- VM: world/reality props + RaiseTopBarModes() wired into StreamStatus,
pill, IsRecording, IsTestStream, IsConnected setters.
Doc: ai.md top-bar model, ViewModels/index.md, Controls/index.md, TASKS.md,
HANDOFF.md, new TASKS/task-42-top-bar-redesign.md; task-40 note.
Tests: TopBarModeTests.cs (new Good Dog), PillRadioTests + TestStreamTests
gates updated. Build 0 warnings; full suite 314/315 — single abort is the
pre-existing env-dependent RealMouseDrag test (Path of Exile 2 running)
gramps