# TASK 33 — Bandwidth auto step-down (queued 2026-09-01; v1 per the complete-v1 ruling)

> Catalog: [`TASKS.md`](../TASKS.md) — status and requirements live here.


**Goal:** when the upload can't hold the tier, drop it automatically instead of drowning viewers in
freeze frames. The `variable` reusable stream (shipped) makes this zero-API; the governor that decides
WHEN is what TASKS.md:25 always claimed existed and was never built.

1. ☐ Pure `StepDownPolicy` — sliding window over the encoder's reported dropped-frame rate
   (`StreamHealth`, already parsed): sustained overrun → downgrade exactly one 16:9 tier
   (1080p60 → 1080p30 → 720p60 → 720p30). Hysteresis cooldown; **one-way within a broadcast**
   (no oscillation — a recovered connection doesn't climb back mid-show; the creator may manually
   step up). Vertical tier stays a manual choice.
2. ☐ Restart machinery = TASK 32 slice 1 (tier change is an encoder relaunch at new W×H/FPS over the
   same pipe/URL; the master canvas is 1920×1080 regardless, so geometry never rewrites).
3. ☐ Surface: the resolution badge + dropdown update to the landed tier; ONE Info toast
   ("Quality lowered to hold your stream") — no nagging after that.
4. ☐ Tests: pure-policy units (drop-rate windows, one-way, cooldown) + the ONE integration: fake
   health stream with sustained drops → exactly one lower-tier encoder restart.