# HANDOFF — current state

**Branch:** `main` (pre-1.0, no feature branches — creator ruling 2026-08-24).
**Caught up 2026-09-28:** `main` is pushed to `origin/main` (was 9 commits ahead — the handoff
line below used to under-report the unpushed work by 7 commits, which is exactly the failure
`MyMistakes.md` warns about: a stale handoff makes the reader's next action wrong).

## 🚨 FIXED 2026-09-27 — "Change Account" no longer signs you out before the browser opens

**Reported as:** *"I clicked on my signed-in account pic, then clicked sign-in to another account. It
opened the browser page to login under a different account and I canceled the request. But when
returned to the app, I see logged out — and should not have happened! Cannot sign-in because the
callback url was not released."* Also reported as hitting **both** running instances.

**Two independent defects, and the second one was masking a race:**

1. **The sign-out ran first.** `ChangeAccountAsync` was `await SignOutYouTubeAsync(); await
   SignInAsync();`. `SignOutYouTubeAsync` → `TokenStore.Clear()` → **deletes** `ytLlive.auth`. So the
   working account's token was destroyed *before the browser even opened*; cancelling the chooser left
   nothing. Now `ChangeAccountAsync` is just `await SignInAsync()` — success overwrites the token via
   the `sessionChanged` hook, cancel/failure keeps the current session. No sign-out is needed at all.
2. **The retry couldn't rebind the callback port.** Abandoning the browser gives the app no signal, so
   the attempt held `localhost:8765` for its full 5-minute timeout. A new `AuthenticateAsync` now
   cancels and awaits the abandoned attempt before binding, **serialised by a `SemaphoreSlim`**
   (`_authGate`) — without the gate, the takeover window let a third caller see a free port and race
   to bind it, i.e. the takeover reproduced the original failure. My own test caught this.

**The cross-instance claim was NOT the cause** and is still open as a *separate* question: no code path
can sign out a second instance (`TokenStore` is per-`InstanceProfile.DataRoot`, `Clear()` is a local
file delete with no server-side revoke, and no second instance had a token at inspection time). Verify
both processes carried distinct `YTLIVE_INSTANCE` values and ran Debug builds before chasing it.

Test: `YouTubeAuthServiceTests.RetryingAfterAnAbandonedAttempt_ReleasesTheCallbackPort`. Full suite
**370/370**, 0 warnings (build `ytLive.Tests.csproj`, not just the app project, or VSTest runs a stale
test DLL). Added an `openBrowser` ctor seam to `YouTubeAuthService` so tests never launch a real
browser. **Coverage gap:** the *ordering* fix (defect 1) has no automated test — `_youtubeAuth` is
hardcoded in `MainViewModel` and `ChangeAccountAsync` is private, so a real test would shell out to
the browser. Wiring an auth seam into `MainViewModel` is a deliberate follow-up, not a bug-fix extra.

## 🗄 PARKED — Google OAuth verification: attempted, hit a Google-side bug, tabled by ruling

**Creator ruling: unimportant for where we currently sit.** Verification is *not* a live blocker and
**must not be re-attempted, re-derived, or re-researched** without a new ruling. The 2026-09-27 entry
that preceded this one wrongly sat at `⏭ NEXT STEP` and framed it as the top priority — that was the
plan going in, not the outcome, and the outcome was never written down. Corrected 2026-09-28.

**What happened:** the verification attempt was made and failed on a bug **on Google's side** — not
something we can fix, work around, or retry our way past. ⛔ **The exact mechanism was never recorded
and is deliberately left blank** rather than reconstructed from memory: a confidently wrong note here
is worse than none, because the next session would trust it. Do not go looking for the cause.

**Owning account (creator-confirmed): `llamachile.shop@gmail.com` ("gramps").** Cloud project number
`198374416003` (from the ClientId) — banked in `ai.md:233`, **do not re-hunt it.** The one-hop console
link is `https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials?project=198374416003` (picker defaults to
**"Recent"** — switch to **"All"**). ⛔ Not the same account as the YouTube channel signed into the app.

**What tabling costs, stated honestly:** if the consent screen is still in **Testing**, the 100-user
cap and the **7-day refresh-token expiry** both stand — that expiry is why the creator kept having to
re-consent. Parking verification does not fix that; it accepts it for the solo-use phase. It becomes
real work the moment a *second real user* needs to sign in, or at Store submission (TASK 48). The
sensitive-vs-restricted classification was never read and is moot until then.

**One of these two survives the tabling, and the other was a bad idea (corrected 2026-09-28):**
- ✅ **DONE — `Services/YouTubeAuthService.cs` no longer requests `auth/youtube.force-ssl`.**
  It is **redundant**: its grant is *"see, edit, and permanently delete your YouTube videos,
  ratings, comments and captions"*, a strict subset of `auth/youtube`'s *"Manage your YouTube
  account"*, which is the scope we keep. Google's own `liveBroadcasts.insert` reference lists
  `auth/youtube` as an accepted **alternative** to `force-ssl`, so every endpoint this app calls
  (`channels`, `liveBroadcasts`, `liveStreams`, `liveChat`, `playlistItems`) is covered.
  Two consent lines became one. **No forced re-consent** — a refresh token keeps the scopes it
  was originally granted, so existing sessions are untouched; the reduced set applies at the
  next fresh sign-in. Removing a scope cannot narrow capability when the one kept is broader.
- ❌ **NOT doing this, and the earlier note recommending it was wrong: moving
  `playlistItems.list` off the user's session token.** It was written during the verification
  hunt on the theory that "public data should not ride on user credentials". Walking the code
  kills it: `ChannelStatsService` is built as `new ChannelStatsService(_youtubeAuth)` with **one**
  `HttpClient`, and `channels?mine=true` (same service) **genuinely needs the session**. To split
  it you would need a second unauthenticated client **plus a Google API key**, because every
  YouTube Data API request needs a credential — without a key the call 403s. So the "fix" means
  **shipping a new extractable credential in the binary, subject to quota abuse, to replace a
  token the app already holds.** It buys **zero** verification-surface reduction (the data is
  public; no scope is involved) and zero correctness. Strictly worse. ⛔ Do not "fix" this later
  without a new ruling.

## ✅ DECIDED 2026-09-27 — pricing: `$10/mo` subscription, or `$400` lifetime, **no annual**

**Creator's ruling, verbatim: *"Let's just go with $10 monthly recurring subscription for option
A and, for option B, a lifetime sub for $400. No annual."* ⛔ **No `.99` prices** (earlier
ruling: *"Let's stop with the x.99 stuff - I find that irritating. Just say: ten bucks a
month"*). This **supersedes** the 2026-09-21 one-time `$29 → $49` model and the old `$99/yr`
sub. No feature gating: free gets everything, the branding flash is the only paid delta.

**✅ Store revenue share VERIFIED — 15%, and subscriptions are NOT penalised.** Read from the
ADA v8.10 PDF itself (downloaded, text-extracted — not a search excerpt). §6(b)(i) charges
**15%** on "any Apps (and any In-App Products in such Apps) that are **not listed in Section
6(b)(iii)**"; 12% is Games-only; 30% covers Xbox console apps/games, Xbox non-subscription
IAP, and Windows 8/Phone 8. LlamaCasty is a Windows PC App — not a Game, not Xbox, not Win8 —
so **6(b)(i) governs both tiers.** The agreement's own changelog (**v8.0, Oct 26 2017**) says
it outright: *"implement the **85/15 revenue share for non-Game subscriptions**."*

⇒ **`$10/mo` nets `$8.50/mo` (~$102/yr). `$400` lifetime nets `$340`.** Also confirmed: the
15% applies *after* VAT/GST (Net Receipts), payouts are monthly above a **$50** threshold, and
no better small-indie rate was found in the standard terms.

**⛔ Two obligations §6(h) attaches to the recurring tier** (why lifetime is the hedge):
(1) we must **fulfil the subscription for the entire period as marketed**, and on breach
Microsoft may refund the customer *"the full amount, plus taxes... in Microsoft's sole
discretion"*; (2) **raising the price disables auto-renew** — so `$10` is effectively locked
for the product's life absent Microsoft's price-change process.

**⏳ Still open:** the `$50` subscriber→lifetime upgrade-discount SKU was discussed and is
**not approved** — do not declare it. Individual vs Company Partner Center account still
unanswered (get it right before enrolling).

## ✅ DECIDED 2026-09-27 — distribution is the Microsoft Store: MSIX + Store IAP

**Creator's criteria, verbatim: "zero headaches, minimal maintenance (for me) while still
providing accountability and a reasonably easy upgrade flow."** Route A is the only option
where all four are solved by handing the work to Microsoft rather than to a certificate
vendor: **$0/yr, no certificate, no HSM, no annual renewal, no SmartScreen ramp**, plus Store
auto-update, Store-side payments/entitlements/refunds/support, and Microsoft review as the
accountability layer. The rejected options and their reasons are in
`TASKS/research-store-certification.md` §3 — **read that before reopening the question, not
before re-deriving it.**

**The big consequence: the whole licensing backend is deleted.** `PolarLicenseService`,
`PolarLicense`, `MainViewModel.License.cs` (`PremiumUrl`, customer portal, the
`OfflineGracePeriod = 14 days` subscription-era artifact, renewal/lapse copy) and the wrong
"Polar unlocks alerts" string all become dead code. `IsPremium` comes from the **Store
entitlement** instead of an HTTP call — which also deletes the entire "network flaky → app
thinks I'm expired" bug class. **Velopack, the update URL and the DO droplet go too.**

**What does not change: the entitlement.** Free gets everything; the branding flash stays the
ONLY paid delta. Store IAP changes how `IsPremium` is *obtained*, never what it *gates*.

**⛔ The old "still open: the price" note is retired — the price is settled, see the top of
this file.** The old "~$69 floor" and "don't break the launch-price promise" notes refer to
the old Polar storefront and are **not** current.

### ✅ DONE 2026-09-28 — TASK 48 item 1: bundle ffmpeg (was the "first code unit")

The app no longer downloads an executable at runtime. `scripts/fetch-ffmpeg.sh` populates a
gitignored `ffmpeg/` from a **SHA-256-verified** pinned month-end BtbN artifact; `ytLive.csproj`
copies it to output *and publish* and **fails the build** if it's missing; `FfmpegLocator` lost its
downloader, its zip extraction and the `%APPDATA%\ytLlive\tools` cache, and now resolves
**bundle → PATH** with a loud, actionable failure. The pin that 404'd is gone, so the
2026-09-01 failure class cannot recur. Suite **379/379 at that point** (380 now — see Test
state); 16 locator facts including an
integration test that **executes the bundled binary** (which is what proves the sibling DLLs
resolve). `THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt` corrected — it still named the *stale* tag
`autobuild-2026-08-09-13-03`, i.e. the one that 404'd.

**Fresh-clone cost, deliberately accepted:** `./scripts/fetch-ffmpeg.sh` once (~65 MB). 135 MB of
DLLs in git would tax every commit on this 9p tree; the URL + SHA-256 are the audit trail.

**Answering "other 3p binaries needing bundling?" — no, verified.** ffmpeg was the only
download-and-execute. `e_sqlite3.dll` + `WebView2Loader.dll` already ship via NuGet
(`runtimes\win-x64\native\`), OpenH264 is compiled *into* `avcodec-63.dll`, the rest are managed.
Two gaps remain that bundling cannot fix, and they are the next real risks: the **WebView2 Evergreen
runtime** is a machine prerequisite (item 2's manifest dependency + a graceful-failure path), and
**Velopack's updater downloads and executes**, so its teardown in step 3 is a compliance action.

### The next code unit: the packaging project + `Package.appxmanifest` (TASK 48 items 2–3)

Full trust, `webcam`/`microphone`, English only; Velopack deleted. Add the `DefaultRecordFolder()`
comment in the same unit (the mediumIL invariant below becomes load-bearing the moment the manifest
lands). Full-trust writes under a real package identity are still **unverified** — confirm on a
real packaged build before trusting them with recordings.

Carried over from the research unit, still open:
- **⛔ `Distribution.md:318` recommended a $400+/yr EV certificate for a SmartScreen bypass
  Microsoft removed in March 2024.** Fixed then — had it shipped, it would have cost
  $400+/yr to buy what $150 buys. Now moot anyway (MSIX is signed by Microsoft), but the
  lesson in `MyMistakes.md` stands: a policy citation is a claim about **scope**, not just
  text.
- **WebView2 Evergreen runtime** is a machine prerequisite the app will hard-fail without. The
  manifest needs the framework dependency, and WebView2 init needs a graceful error instead of a
  crash. New, found while bundling ffmpeg.

### ⛔ Two invariants that break silently if touched

- **Full trust, or recording breaks.** `DefaultRecordFolder()` writes to Downloads/MyVideos;
  that passes through unvirtualized **only** at `mediumIL`. Flip the manifest to
  `appContainer` and output vanishes with no error. A comment is owed there **when the
  manifest lands** (TASK 48 item 6) — not before.
- **Chat is rendered, never stored.** That non-persistence half is the load-bearing part of
  the 11.12 certification answer. No chat history, moderation log, analytics, or crash payload
  may be added without re-arguing 11.12 first.

## 🚨 OPEN 2026-09-28 — the RTMP push never lands: recordings reach YouTube as EMPTY placeholders

**This is a live bug, not a queued feature**, and it reframes a complaint the map previously
treated as closed. It was found on 2026-09-28 while scoping TASK 50, and the handoff had no
entry for it at all — corrected here.

**What the creator observed:** the channel carries **20+ private videos, all content-less
placeholders** (creator-inspected, 2026-09-28). This is the real explanation of the
2026-09-26 report "I still cannot get private test recordings saved" — it was never true that
the app could not *find* an archived VOD. **No video content is ever produced on the channel.**

**Mechanism (verified against the code AND the channel):** `liveBroadcasts.insert` succeeds and
creates the placeholder; everything after it is what fails. Content only exists if all three of
these land, and at least one does not:
1. broadcast reaches **LIVE** via `liveBroadcasts/transition`,
2. ffmpeg actually pushes RTMP to the bound stream key,
3. the broadcast ends and YouTube transcodes it into a VOD.

`enableAutomaticArchiving` is **never set**, so YouTube's `true` default applies — the archiving
route exists but has nothing to archive. Broadcasts are inserted `private`
(`Services/YouTubeStreamService.cs:49`), so the orphans are not public, and the app has **no
delete path** — the creator clears each one by hand in Studio.

**⛔ The one diagnostic question, worth answering before anything else queued:** during a real
test stream, **does ffmpeg reach `a.rtmp.youtube.com`, and does the broadcast reach LIVE?**
That single observation localises the failure to one of three steps. Do not go hunting beyond
it until it is answered.

**Sequencing constraint — do not flip the flag early.** `enableAutomaticArchiving: false` is the
correct end state (TASK 50 will upload the local file deliberately), but archiving is
**currently the only route a recording takes to YouTube** — flipping it before TASK 50 ships
would leave test streams with nothing at all and re-create the 2026-09-26 complaint in a worse
form. Ship the upload, flip the flag in the same task, never before.

Detail and the open 11.12 re-check: [`TASKS/task-50-publish-recording.md`](TASKS/task-50-publish-recording.md).

## Landmines

- **Stale fact inside `TASKS.md` (left alone, flagged here per the Scope Lock).** The "1.0 gates"
  section asserts "**TASK 36 is now shipped**", but the catalog row 36 reads **☐ Queued** and
  `task-36-gold-pass.md` still shows items 1–6 unchecked. The line most likely means *item 2*
  (branding flash goes live) shipped at `9761b1d`. **Needs a one-line fix, not a code change** —
  flagging rather than fixing because it is not this unit's job.
- **A stale `ytLive.exe` (PID 2544) locked `bin/.../ytLive.exe`** and broke `dotnet run` with
  MSB3027. Killed. **If the build fails to copy `ytLive.exe`, check for a running instance first.**
- **`LayerReorderPersistenceTests.RealMouseDrag_OnTheLayerList_PersistsTheReorder` is flaky by
  environment** (needs an interactive desktop session; 2 fail / 1 pass in isolation). **Run the
  suite with ytLive CLOSED.** Not a regression.
- **`RealAppHost.RunAsync` exists for a reason** — a frame-pump test MUST `await` inside it. A
  blocking wait occupies the one shared STA thread and **hangs the whole suite with no output.**
  Always background a `vstest` run and poll the log; a foreground piped `vstest` returns nothing
  in this shell even on success.
- **`GlobalHotkeys`: two instances registering the SAME global hotkey** — Windows refuses the
  second. Left alone deliberately.
- **MSIX writes under a real package identity are unverified.** The docs say full trust passes
  user-profile writes through, but confirm on a real packaged build before trusting it with
  recordings (TASK 48 item 6).

## Test state

**380/380, 0 warnings, re-verified 2026-09-28 on a clean test-project build** (the count is 380,
not the 379 recorded earlier — the `force-ssl` scope test added one). Build the **test** project,
not just the app project, or VSTest runs a stale DLL.

**⚠️ New flake, do not chase it as a regression:** on the *first* full-suite run,
`AudioPipelineTests.MasterLimiter_CapsTheLiveMix_OnThePipe` failed with `Expected 0.891,
Actual 0` — a **zero**, not a slightly-off value, which is the signature of the pipe not being
fed yet rather than the limiter misbehaving. It passed 27/27 as a class run and 380/380 on an
immediate full-suite re-run. It reads the live mix **off the named pipe**, so it is a
whole-suite scheduling artifact of the same family as the `RealAppHost` STA landmine below —
**if it ever goes red, re-run before believing it.**

## Uncommitted / untracked

- `ffmpeg/` — the 9 bundled binaries (~135 MB), **gitignored by design**. Populated by
  `scripts/fetch-ffmpeg.sh`. Do not commit it.
- `MARCOM.md`, `MONETIZATION.md` — both edited (privacy-copy guard; the Polar-obsolete banner
  and the re-opened-price note) and both **gitignored by design** (confidential business
  files, `.gitignore:10-11`). They stay local, as intended. Same for `CREDENTIALS.md` —
  **never commit those.**

## Next

1. **Answer the RTMP diagnostic — an observation, not a build** (see the OPEN entry above).
   One test stream, then read `startup.log` for whether ffmpeg reached YouTube and whether the
   broadcast went LIVE. **Cheap, and it gates a queued task**, which is why it sorts first. It
   does not reorder anything below — the packaging unit is still the next *code* unit.
2. **The packaging project + `Package.appxmanifest`** (TASK 48 items 2–3) — the next code unit.
   Full trust, `webcam`/`microphone`, English only; Velopack deleted. Add the
   `DefaultRecordFolder()` comment in the same unit, and the WebView2 framework dependency +
   graceful-failure path.
3. **TASK 50 — one-button "Publish this video"** (`TASKS/task-50-publish-recording.md`). Queued
   behind the Store submission by its own precedence note ("MSIX first, publish second — unless
   the creator reverses that"). Scoping is done; the build is not. ⛔ Do **not** flip
   `enableAutomaticArchiving` until it ships. It also carries an **open 11.12 re-check**: a
   publish feature makes the app *push* creator content to a third party, so the IARC answers
   must not go to certification describing an app that cannot publish.
4. **Declare the IAP products in Partner Center** — the price is **settled** ($10/mo, $400
   lifetime, no annual, 15% verified), so this is unblocked. **Blocks:** the Store listing and the
   `OverlayHost.xaml` copy. ⛔ The Individual-vs-Company account question is still unanswered —
   get it right before enrolling.
5. **Polar teardown** (TASK 48 item 0) — `PolarLicenseService`, `PolarLicense`,
   `MainViewModel.License.cs`, the `OverlayHost.xaml` string, the `csproj`/`App.xaml.cs`
   Velopack sites. `IsPremium` ← Store entitlement. **Do this as one unit** — a half-torn-down
   licensing path is worse than either end state.
6. **Vertical recording verification** — the compositor tier is proven by
   `Render_VerticalTier_Outputs_1080x1920_From_The_Center_Crop`; the *record* path has never
   been run. `FramePump.cs:645` flags off-size tiers as a known follow-up.
7. **WACK + certification notes + the privacy policy** (TASK 48 items 4–5) — the policy must
   state camera/mic is OS-gated, nothing is retained, and **nothing is fetched at runtime**
   (now literally true — the ffmpeg bundle is what makes that sentence defensible).
8. **Post-session efficacy report** — roll up `CurrentHealth` (dropped frames, duration, health
   message) when a stream or recording ends. `SessionTeardownTests` is the natural home.
9. **Measure whether the Windows camera toggle gates DShow** — gates all privacy-forward copy
   (`MARCOM.md` guard). Not a certification risk; a trust risk.
10. **TASK 36:212 stale "shipped" line** — one-line fix, needs a hand.

**Dropped from the list** because the ruling made them moot: multi-instance's ffmpeg tools-dir
race (item 1 deleted the tools dir entirely), `scripts/publish.sh` + the `LlamaCasty.exe` rename
(the Store packages and delivers — *revisit only if we ever ship outside the Store*), and the
alert-gating copy (the wrong string dies with the Polar teardown in step 3).

**Everything else in the v1 queue:** stream resilience (32), bandwidth step-down (33), scheduled
streams (34), scene-linked audio (35), the master limiter (12), text source (3.16), reward
events (3.20), the media picker (21), webcam identity (9.5), settings units A/C/D (40), and the
defaults split (37). Ship-checklist items live in `TASKS.md` -> "1.0 gates".