# HANDOFF — 2026-09-17 (webcam resource lifecycle, startup slice; committed locally — no push)

## Branch / Commit State

`main` HEAD = **`94a934f` webcam reader-ladder fix** (local). This work unit sits un-pushed on top
as a NEW commit (same bundle of web/A/V work — stays commit-local until greenlight). Below: slice-18
C4 cache (`64a5a6d`), slice-17, slice-16, slice-15, `c01206f`, `b22d08e` (signed audio-sync, pushed).
No push after this commit either — still awaiting the device take + user greenlight.

## ⚠️ Branding (2026-09-14, creator-corrected): product = **llamacasty**, internals = ytLive

Product is **llamacasty**; repo path, csproj `AssemblyName`/`RootNamespace`, DB/log paths
(`%APPDATA%\ytLlive\...`), most code names are legacy **ytLive/ytLlive**. User-facing text:
"llamacasty" / UI labels use the catalog names ("Web Cam", "YouTube Chat", "Countdown Timer"…).

## ✅ Committed locally — webcam resource lifecycle (startup slice)

**Incident review (the reason this exists):** the creator couldn't add a webcam to the Live scene
(WebCam row grayed app-wide). Ground truth from `%APPDATA%\ytLlive\ytLlive.db` (NOT `layout.db`,
which is a 0-byte legacy file): one `Webcam` identity (C920 `\?\USB#VID_046D&PID_082D…GLOBAL`) AND
one `WebcamSceneConfig` — in the **Chat** scene. Under the single-identity rule that means Live's
"+" menu is gray *by design*, but the app couldn't *say why*. Combined with the earlier crash/failure
chain, the fix is a proper resource lifecycle:

- **Startup poll + tri-state** (`MainViewModel.ValidateWebcamResourceStartupAsync`, fired
  fire-and-forget right after `LoadLayout`): 0 webcams → app runs on, layer inactive, no alarm;
  **1 → attempt `CameraManager.AcquireAsync` as an app-wide LOCK**; **≥2 → no auto-lock** — selection
  belongs to the App Settings dialog (gear) — that's the next slice.
- **Persistent red alert** (`WebcamLockAlert`, bottom of the Layers panel, + Retry button): shown when
  the one detected camera can't be locked; **re-polls every 5 s** (`_webcamLockPollTimer`) and clears
  the moment a lock succeeds, or on any first real frame (`OnCameraPreviewBitmapChanged`).
- **`CameraManager.IsRunning(deviceId)`** — new accessor (session exists, started OR starting) so the
  pass never double-acquires a lock the loaded identity's configs already hold; a rolled-back (failed)
  session leaves the dictionary, so the pass retries cleanly.
- **Test seams mirroring `LayoutPathOverride`:** `CameraEnumeratorOverride` /
  `CameraFrameSourceFactoryOverride` — the startup probe must NEVER touch real hardware under test
  (the reason the 09:15 tests never asserted camera state). **Good Dog test**
  `WebcamStartupResourceTests` x3: single-cam locked + app runs on; zero-cams no-alarm no-lock;
  lock-fails → red alert → Retry → clears. **304/304 green, build 0 warnings.**
- **Attribution correction committed to `ai.md`:** "NVIDIA Broadcast opens the webcam
  exclusively" is a *suspect-list* claim — `CameraConflictProbe` reads running process NAMES only, no
  device handles; the contention symptoms fit shared-mode/bandwidth just as well. Do not restate it as
  fact (creator called this out).

**Task docs:** `TASKS.md` Open items + `ai.md` Webcam section updated to match.

## ⚠️ Open items

- **Webcam take fix 2 of 2 — the 09:16 crash is UNFIXED (hard, untested):** hypothesis — native WMF
  death when `MediaCapture.Failed` fires mid-stream and `SafeStopAsync` (fire-and-forget) disposes
  reader+capture while the frame thread sits in `TryAcquireLatestFrame`/`Marshal.Copy` (outside the
  frame's try/catch). No repro, no integration test, native race not catchable — deferred per
  spin-guard. Record a second occurrence's pattern.
- **Multi-camera slice (user-queued):** when ≥2 webcams exist, add the web-cam selection text +
  control to the **App Settings** dialog (gear icon, `OverlayHost` — left-click opens settings,
  right-click the context menu). Selecting + successfully allocating/locking activates the WebCam
  layer. Currently ≥2 cameras → nothing shows in settings.
- **Static (+) catalog slice (user-queued):** all catalog rows always listed (Background, "Web Cam",
  "Countdown Timer", "Web Resource", "YouTube Chat", "YouTube Event"…), gray only for (1) system-level
  unavailability (persistent alert), (2) max already allocated, (3) not available for the current
  scene; tooltips must name the reason (e.g. "already in Chat"). Static labels only, no new code-behind.
- **Device re-verify (one take session):** 1. slice-18 cache verdicts (NR/WH hits, stalls, band
  ~60); 2. webcam: fresh launch with the browser holding the camera must show the webcam or a NAMED
  chip (now also the persistent red alert, and the alert must clear after the browser closes + retry);
  3. verify the Chat scene still owns the webcam (so Live's + is intentionally gray with a reason).
- **No push yet** — after the take verdict, re-measure the clap offset (`/tmp/opencode/avsync.py`),
  then decide push with the user.

## Open threads (carried)

- Audio-silence verification — fixed (`724af14`); creator heard real audio.
- Webcam MJPG missing / ~10–14Hz, layer SortOrder, truncation-with-dynamic-scenes — queued.
- Sync control user-doc tutorial — REQUIRED before 1.0 (creator directive; TASK 22).
- Signed A/V sync: verify the negative (advance) direction on device.
- Focus-loss capture lag — closed as NOT the cause (1824: delivery healthy ~60-100/s).

## Landmines

- testhost shares startup.log — filter by time; the app also writes fake-device failures
  ('test-camera', 'dev-physical-9') from CameraManager unit tests.
- `cmd.exe /c "taskkill /F /IM ytLive.exe"` (WSL double-slashes mangle) before rebuilds — a live
  app process locks `ytLive.exe` (MSB3021).
- Build/tests: **Windows dotnet host** (`/mnt/c/Program Files/dotnet/dotnet.exe`). 0 warnings —
  only `./scripts/verify.sh "<files>"`'s clean build counts. Running `ytLive.csproj` alone does NOT
  rebuild `ytLive.Tests.dll` — run the Tests csproj before `vstest`. Known audio flake:
  `Mix_HonorsProviderGains_AndGameMute_KillsTheLoopback` (float precision) — re-run if it trips alone;
  unrelated to camera work.
- **Assert footguns in this repo's xUnit:** `Assert.Null(x, "msg")`/`Assert.Single(coll, "msg")` do
  NOT take a message — the 2-arg overloads mean something else (predicate/item). Empty message = 1 arg.
- The webcam's real state lives in `%APPDATA%\ytLlive\ytLlive.db` (`layout.db` there is a 0-byte
  legacy file). sqlite3 at `/home/gramps/android-sdk/platform-tools/sqlite3`.
- Contention failure modes (startup.log): "no frames within 4s" = init OK but starved;
  "OutputFormatNotSupported" = reader subtype below the MJPG-active camera; "file being used by
  another process / CaptureMode is SharedReadOnly" = re-negotiation refused while others hold the
  device. `CameraConflictProbe` = suspect list, not handle evidence.
- FramePump tests asserting per-frame CONTENT need a STABLE scene; cache-sensitive assertions can't
  use a call-count resolver flip (tick resolves twice) — key alternation on `OutputIndex`.
- ffmpeg/ffprobe: `/mnt/c/Program Files/Krita (x64)/bin/` with Windows paths.
- `MyMistakes.md`: WINRT resource-allocation RECIPE, freeze-audit RECIPE, A/V sync recipe, deadline
  pacing, CoreMessaging DQ, WGC-CLIP + slice blocks. Grep before re-deriving.
- `C:\tmpout` is for ffmpeg evidence artifacts; keep them out of the repo.

## Next step

The multi-camera App Settings selector slice (+ static catalog rows after), then the creator's take
on this build. The alert is the new expected behavior to eyeball on the take: browser holds the
camera → fresh launch → red alert in Layers (unless Chat's config grabbed it) that clears after a
Retry once the browser closes.