diff --git a/.ai/contexts/README.md b/.ai/contexts/README.md
index fa2b48cc..d6b91f74 100644
--- a/.ai/contexts/README.md
+++ b/.ai/contexts/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # Context engineering — Switchboard
 
-Seven sub-system docs, ~150 lines each, written for AI agents who need to make a focused change without re-reading 1800 LOC of `main.js`.
+Seven sub-system docs (76 to 526 lines as of 2026-09, most have grown well past
+their original size), written for AI agents who need to make a focused change
+without re-reading `main.js`, now ~2600 LOC.
 
 ## When to read which
 
diff --git a/.ai/contexts/ipc-bridge.md b/.ai/contexts/ipc-bridge.md
index ba90836e..bdc57b2f 100644
--- a/.ai/contexts/ipc-bridge.md
+++ b/.ai/contexts/ipc-bridge.md
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ This file is the **canonical inventory** of the IPC surface. When you add a new
 
 | File | LOC | Role |
 |---|---|---|
-| `preload.js` | ~130 | The `contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('api', {...})` block. Every renderer-facing function. |
-| `main.js` | ~1850 | The `ipcMain.handle('<name>', ...)` and `ipcMain.on('<name>', ...)` handlers, scattered throughout. |
+| `preload.js` | ~150 | The `contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('api', {...})` block. Every renderer-facing function. |
+| `main.js` | ~2600 | The `ipcMain.handle('<name>', ...)` and `ipcMain.on('<name>', ...)` handlers, scattered throughout. |
 
 ## Public surface (IPC inventory)
 
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ session object exists.
 
 `cli-busy-state` is emitted **strictly on transitions** (`main.js` OSC 0 / OSC 9;4 handlers only send when `session._cliBusy` flips). A renderer that misses one — reload, mis-keyed id, a `session-forked` re-key — stays wrong forever, because no further event is coming. That is why `get-active-sessions` carries `busy`: `pollActiveSessions()` (3s while any PTY runs, 30s otherwise) hands the snapshot to `reconcileBusyState()` in `public/session-activity.js`, which realigns `sessionBusyState` and the sidebar classes.
 
-> `session-detected` (tempId → realId) has a preload bridge and an `app.js` listener but **no emitter in main today** — `session-transitions.js:336` only sends `session-forked`. The `rekeyActivityState` call in `onSessionDetected` is therefore unreachable; it is kept so the handler stays correct if the channel comes back, not because it runs.
+> `session-detected` (tempId → realId) has a preload bridge and an `app.js` listener but **no emitter in main today** — `session-transitions.js:427` only sends `session-forked`. The `rekeyActivityState` call in `onSessionDetected` is therefore unreachable; it is kept so the handler stays correct if the channel comes back, not because it runs.
 
 Three things make that safe:
 
diff --git a/.ai/contexts/schedule-runner.md b/.ai/contexts/schedule-runner.md
index e0a67d4c..e9a21002 100644
--- a/.ai/contexts/schedule-runner.md
+++ b/.ai/contexts/schedule-runner.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 | File | LOC | Role |
 |---|---|---|
-| `schedule-runner.js` | ~220 | The cron loop, cron parser, file scanner, session pre-seeder, command builder. |
+| `schedule-runner.js` | ~310 | The cron loop, cron parser, file scanner, session pre-seeder, command builder. |
 | `schedule-ipc.js` | ~220 | IPC handlers + the inline `SCHEDULE_CREATOR_TEMPLATE` (an embedded Claude command that teaches Claude how to write schedule files). |
 
 ## Public surface
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ cli:
 - `public/memory-workfiles-view.js` brain tab — lists existing `schedule-*.md` files, surfaces the "run now" play button
 - `public/sidebar.js` — `.project-schedule-btn` clock icon wiring per project
 - `schedule-ipc.js` `SCHEDULE_CREATOR_TEMPLATE` — if you change the schedule file format, update the template's instructions
-- `main.js:1618` (or wherever `startScheduler(log, runScheduleCommand)` is invoked at app boot)
+- `main.js:2517` (or wherever `startScheduler(log, runScheduleCommand)` is invoked at app boot — checked 2026-09, it moves as main.js grows)
 - The `runScheduleCommand` factory in `main.js` — uses `child_process.spawn`, `cleanPtyEnv`, and the global shell profile. Schedules don't get their own shell selector.
 
 ## Limitations worth knowing
diff --git a/.ai/contexts/session-cache.md b/.ai/contexts/session-cache.md
index bac45bb2..03794422 100644
--- a/.ai/contexts/session-cache.md
+++ b/.ai/contexts/session-cache.md
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@
 
 | File | LOC | Role |
 |---|---|---|
-| `db.js` | ~450 | SQLite (better-sqlite3) schema + prepared statements. Owns `session_cache`, `session_meta`, `cache_meta`, `settings`, `search_fts` (FTS5 + trigram tokenizer). |
-| `session-cache.js` | ~525 | Indexer + watcher. Reads `~/.claude/projects/<folder>/*.jsonl` (+ subagents subdir), populates rows, emits projects-changed events. |
-| `read-session-file.js` | ~280 | Streaming JSONL reader. `readSessionFile()` (full) + `readSessionDisplayHeader()` (256 KB / 500 lines — cheap header for huge files). |
-| `encode-project-path.js` | 14 | `/path/to/project` → `-path-to-project` folder name. Mirrors Claude CLI's encoding. |
-| `derive-project-path.js` | 64 | Inverse: read `cwd` field from JSONL, derive original projectPath. **Collapses worktrees back to parent repo** via `resolveWorktreePath`. |
+| `db.js` | ~895 | SQLite (better-sqlite3) schema + prepared statements. Owns `session_cache`, `session_meta`, `cache_meta`, `settings`, `search_fts` (FTS5 + trigram tokenizer). |
+| `session-cache.js` | ~690 | Indexer + watcher. Reads `~/.claude/projects/<folder>/*.jsonl` (+ subagents subdir), populates rows, emits projects-changed events. |
+| `read-session-file.js` | ~420 | Streaming JSONL reader. `readSessionFile()` (full) + `readSessionDisplayHeader()` (256 KB / 500 lines — cheap header for huge files). |
+| `encode-project-path.js` | 28 | `/path/to/project` → `-path-to-project` folder name. Mirrors Claude CLI's encoding. |
+| `derive-project-path.js` | ~155 | Inverse: read `cwd` field from JSONL, derive original projectPath. **Collapses worktrees back to parent repo** via `resolveWorktreePath`. |
 
 ## Public surface
 
diff --git a/.ai/contexts/subagent-observability.md b/.ai/contexts/subagent-observability.md
index 135898e6..68fb0cae 100644
--- a/.ai/contexts/subagent-observability.md
+++ b/.ai/contexts/subagent-observability.md
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ This is the **#1 fork-specific feature** (upstream PR #47 still pending). It per
   `pruneStaleGridSubagents()` in `grid-view.js`, pruned from `wrapInGridCard()`
   rather than on a timer). Renderer files are plain non-module `<script>`s
   sharing one global scope and `sidebar.js` loads *after* `grid-view.js`
-  (`index.html:132` then `:136`), so a top-level function declared under the
+  (`index.html:135` then `:139`), so a top-level function declared under the
   same name in both is silently shadowed — that is what froze the grid's TTL
   prune until PR #137. Keep cross-file names distinct;
   `test/dom-grid-sidebar-prune-collision.test.js` pins the pair.
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ invariant enforced anywhere.
   the resurrection guards above
 - `test/dom-grid-subagent-pills.test.js` — pins the grid-view IPC handler arity
   (`preload.js` passes the payload as the callback's only argument)
-- `public/sidebar.js:771` (the routing branch) — the one-line decision that makes the whole feature work
+- `public/sidebar.js:1082` (the routing branch) — the one-line decision that makes the whole feature work
 - IPC handler security: `read-subagent-jsonl` MUST validate that `agentId` and `parentSessionId` are filename-safe (see `resolveJsonlPath` calls in main.js — fixed in PR #8 hardening)
 
 ## History
diff --git a/.ai/contexts/trigger-watcher.md b/.ai/contexts/trigger-watcher.md
index b6b13aaf..00069b2b 100644
--- a/.ai/contexts/trigger-watcher.md
+++ b/.ai/contexts/trigger-watcher.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 | File | LOC | Role |
 |---|---|---|
-| `trigger-watcher.js` | ~800 | The entire module: directory setup, `fs.watch` listener, idle-wait logic, single + chained trigger processing, submit-with-verify busy-rise/fall polling, input validation, PTY write, result file. |
+| `trigger-watcher.js` | ~1050 | The entire module: directory setup, `fs.watch` listener, idle-wait logic, single + chained trigger processing, submit-with-verify busy-rise/fall polling, input validation, PTY write, result file. |
 | `trigger-context.js` | ~35 | `createTriggerContext({ activeSessions, log })` — builds the whole `ctx` object out of `main.js`'s session map. |
 | `terminal-input.js` | ~20 | `handleTerminalInput(activeSessions, sessionId, data, now)` — the body of the `terminal-input` IPC handler; feeds `session.composerState`. |
 | `main.js` (wiring) | 3 | `require('./trigger-watcher').start(createTriggerContext({ activeSessions, log }))` in the `app.whenReady` block, right after `startScheduler`, plus the one-line `terminal-input` registration. |
@@ -169,16 +169,33 @@ jq -r 'select(.cat=="pty.input") | "\(.wall)\t\(.len)\t\(.at // "-")\t\(.cp // "
 jq -r 'select(.cat=="pty.input" and .cp) | .cp' $TRACE | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn
 ```
 
-**Take four control shots, not two.** The two measurements taken so far were
-n=1 per condition and varied the pointer while the CLI's own activity varied
-with it, so they could not tell the two apart — and the fix they motivated
-addressed the wrong factor. Run the full grid: {CLI idle, CLI busy — a task
-spawning subagents} × {pointer resting over the terminal, pointer moved off the
-window}. In each cell: empty the composer with Ctrl+U, touch nothing, drop a
-trigger, and record both the result (`waited_ms`, refusal or not) and the
-`pty.input` lines in that window. The culprit is whichever factor moves the
-chunk rate, and the chunks to look for push the quiet clock while leaving
-`pending` at 0 — which excludes X10 and history recall by construction.
+**Corrected — the pointer was never the axis to vary.** The paragraph above
+already rules it out on its own terms: Claude Code never turns on motion
+tracking and xterm.js de-duplicates identical motion, so a resting pointer
+cannot put anything on `pty.input` to begin with. A grid that varies pointer
+position measures nothing the CLI's own querying doesn't already explain — the
+2026-09-02 measurement that seemed to implicate the pointer (§ above, PR #160)
+most likely compared two runs where the CLI's own background querying happened
+to differ, not two pointer positions; that confound is exactly why n=1 per
+condition couldn't tell the two apart.
+
+**What actually resolved it: arm the trace on a session with nobody at the
+keyboard.** The absence of a human, not the pointer, is the control — everything
+`pty.input` records in that window is machine-originated by construction. A
+340 s trace of two idle sessions this way (2026-09-04) put a number on the
+suspects this section used to call unproven: of 2,422 chunks, 1,427 (59%) were
+CPR / DECXCPR (`CSI [?] row;col[;page] R`) — the terminal answering a
+cursor-position query the CLI issues on its own roughly every 240 ms — against
+495 (20%) SGR mouse reports, which PR #160 already excluded correctly and which
+were not the cause. `reportLength()` did not recognise CPR, so every one of
+those chunks kept resetting the quiet clock, and any session left open on
+screen could keep the 3000 ms window from ever opening. See PR #170 (open at
+the time of writing) for the fix and the full breakdown.
+
+One reading pitfall worth flagging for whoever re-runs this: `pty.input`'s `cp`
+field is capped at 10 code points (see `docs/activity-trace.md`), so a longer
+escape sequence can show up in the trace without its final byte. Classify a
+shape from the full chunk or its length, not from a truncated `cp` alone.
 
 The SGR-and-focus exemption above (PR #160) is correct and worth keeping, but it
 **cannot** be the cause of this symptom: exempting mouse reports cannot quiet a
diff --git a/.ai/contexts/viewer-panel.md b/.ai/contexts/viewer-panel.md
index ccd94cc3..06c07f85 100644
--- a/.ai/contexts/viewer-panel.md
+++ b/.ai/contexts/viewer-panel.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 | File | LOC | Role |
 |---|---|---|
-| `public/viewer-panel.js` | ~365 | The `ViewerPanel` class. Owns CodeMirror state, toolbar wiring, file watch lifecycle, save/format/delete logic. |
+| `public/viewer-panel.js` | ~415 | The `ViewerPanel` class. Owns CodeMirror state, toolbar wiring, file watch lifecycle, save/format/delete logic. |
 | `public/viewer-toolbar.js` | ~265 | Pure factory `createViewerToolbar(opts)` — builds the toolbar DOM + returns API. No state of its own. |
 
 ## Public surface
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ The toolbar factory builds all configured buttons up front; `open()` toggles vis
 - **Markdown preview mode is persisted per-storageKey** in `localStorage`. Memory uses `'markdownPreviewMode'`; .work-files uses `'workFilesPreviewMode'`.
 - **Line-wrap default depends on file type**: markdown wraps, code doesn't. Wrap state is NOT persisted — resets per file.
 - **`format` for `.jsonl` is intentionally non-standard**: each line is pretty-printed and joined with `\n---\n`. This produces human-readable output but is no longer valid JSON. The button is for *viewing*, not for converting files to a different format.
-- **Cmd/Ctrl+S keybinding**: CodeMirror dispatches a `cm-save` custom event which the ViewerPanel listens for. Chromium's "Save Page" default is blocked globally in `viewer-toolbar.js:230` (`keydown` listener with `preventDefault`).
+- **Cmd/Ctrl+S keybinding**: CodeMirror dispatches a `cm-save` custom event which the ViewerPanel listens for. Chromium's "Save Page" default is blocked globally in `viewer-toolbar.js:256` (`keydown` listener with `preventDefault`).
 - **The toolbar API exposes button refs directly** (`toolbar.saveBtn`, `toolbar.formatBtn`, …). The ViewerPanel reads `null` checks instead of asking the toolbar — slightly leaky encapsulation, but harmless.
 
 ## If you change this, also check
diff --git a/.ai/shared-guidelines.md b/.ai/shared-guidelines.md
index 8567006d..d1e1ec80 100644
--- a/.ai/shared-guidelines.md
+++ b/.ai/shared-guidelines.md
@@ -23,7 +23,20 @@ For a guided tour of the codebase architecture, start at [contexts/README.md](co
 
 ## Critical invariants for AI agents
 
-### 1. Don't spawn a second Electron while JB's AppImage is running
+**Invariants #1, #2 and part of #6 below were written against a Linux AppImage
+deployment** (`~/Applications/Switchboard.AppImage`, `npm run build:linux`,
+`appimagelauncherd`). This repo checkout is on Windows
+(`C:\Serveur\switchboard`, Windows 11) — do not follow their commands or paths
+literally here. They are kept, not deleted, because they document real
+production incidents (a build that killed a running instance, a `cp` that got
+an instance killed by `appimagelauncherd`) whose underlying principle — don't
+touch a native module or executable a live process has open — applies on any
+platform. **The Windows equivalent (packaged `.exe` via NSIS, per
+`README.md` "Download") has not been field-tested for the same failure
+modes**: whether rebuilding native modules or replacing the installed binary
+can kill a running Windows instance is unverified, not "safe by omission."
+
+### 1. Don't spawn a second Electron while JB's AppImage is running (Linux-specific example — see note above)
 
 The user runs `~/Applications/Switchboard.AppImage` daily. **PR #13 (`requestSingleInstanceLock`) means a second `npx electron .` from your worktree quits immediately and focuses the user's window** — your dev session never starts. Use `SWITCHBOARD_DATA_DIR` isolation if you genuinely need a live process, otherwise stay read-only / unit-test-driven.
 
@@ -38,7 +51,7 @@ The AppImage uses `~/.switchboard/switchboard.db`. The dev electron uses `~/.swi
 
 To test a specific PR live, alongside the running AppImage, use `task test-pr PR=<number>` — it isolates the DB, the automation triggers dir, and warns about the schedule-runner duplicate-fire risk. See [docs/testing-a-pr.md](docs/testing-a-pr.md) for the full procedure; do not improvise the isolation env vars by hand.
 
-### 2. Running `npm run build:linux` CAN kill the running instance — and so can the `cp` to ~/Applications
+### 2. Running `npm run build:linux` CAN kill the running instance — and so can the `cp` to ~/Applications (Linux-specific example — see note above)
 
 **Corrected 2026-05-31** — the previous version of this section claimed the build was safe. It isn't.
 
@@ -69,7 +82,7 @@ Workspace-level rule (`~/workspace/CLAUDE.md`). Applies to commits and MR/PR des
 
 ### 6. Overnight / unattended work: don't touch the live app while a session is mid-run
 
-If you're working autonomously (overnight, AFK mode) while the user's AppImage is live with an active session open, treat the app as **read-only from the outside** for the duration: no `npm run build:linux` / `task build` without the `--config.npmRebuild=false` flag (§2), no `cp` to `~/Applications/Switchboard.AppImage` (§2 — `appimagelauncherd` can silently kill the running instance), and no second `npx electron .` (§1 — it just quits and steals focus instead of giving you a usable dev process). None of these produce an obvious error at the time you run them; the damage shows up later as a dead session the user didn't ask to lose. If you need a live process to test against, use `SWITCHBOARD_DATA_DIR` isolation (§1) and only do the disruptive steps (uncontrolled rebuild, `cp` swap) once the user is ready to restart.
+If you're working autonomously (overnight, AFK mode) while the user's app is live with an active session open, treat it as **read-only from the outside** for the duration. On the Linux AppImage deployment §1/§2 describe: no `npm run build:linux` / `task build` without the `--config.npmRebuild=false` flag (§2), no `cp` to `~/Applications/Switchboard.AppImage` (§2 — `appimagelauncherd` can silently kill the running instance), and no second `npx electron .` (§1 — it just quits and steals focus instead of giving you a usable dev process). None of these produce an obvious error at the time you run them; the damage shows up later as a dead session the user didn't ask to lose. If you need a live process to test against, use `SWITCHBOARD_DATA_DIR` isolation (§1) and only do the disruptive steps (uncontrolled rebuild, binary swap) once the user is ready to restart. The general principle — don't rebuild or replace a binary a live process has open — is platform-independent even though the concrete commands above are not; on Windows, treat `task build` / replacing the installed `.exe` with the same caution until someone actually measures what happens here.
 
 > This is a Switchboard-specific writeup of a more general pattern — "don't touch shared mutable state a human is actively using" applies to any AI agent working unattended alongside a live app.
 
@@ -115,7 +128,7 @@ These exist on `devsuitup/switchboard` main but not on `doctly/switchboard` main
 - `node:test` runner via `npm test` / `task test`.
 - Renderer tests use jsdom via `test/dom-setup.js` + `vm.runInContext` to evaluate `public/*.js` in isolation.
 - Pitfall: `installSpies: false` is required when the eval defines functions you also spy on — function declarations from eval overwrite property spies.
-- Always test in the **primary checkout** (`~/workspace/switchboard`), not inside `.claude/worktrees/agent-*`. Worktrees may have incomplete `node_modules` and produce false negatives on tests that require native modules (e.g. `morphdom`).
+- Always test in the **primary checkout** (`C:\Serveur\switchboard` on this machine), not inside `.claude/worktrees/agent-*`. Worktrees may have incomplete `node_modules` and produce false negatives on tests that require native modules (e.g. `morphdom`).
 
 ## When you finish work
 
@@ -136,7 +149,7 @@ These exist on `devsuitup/switchboard` main but not on `doctly/switchboard` main
 The fork has features upstream maintainers might want. When adapting a fork-only feature for upstream:
 
 1. Branch off `upstream/main` (NOT fork main), name `upstream/<topic>`.
-2. Cherry-pick the relevant commit(s). Expect manual merges — our `main.js` is ~1850 LOC vs upstream's ~350; insertion points exist but contexts differ.
+2. Cherry-pick the relevant commit(s). Expect manual merges — our `main.js` is ~2600 LOC (measured 2026-09) vs upstream's ~350; insertion points exist but contexts differ.
 3. Strip fork-specific dependencies (subagent groups, work-files IPC, etc.) — keep the patch minimally scoped.
 4. PR against `doctly/switchboard:main`. Link the originating fork PR.
 
@@ -144,7 +157,7 @@ Example: fork PR #13 → upstream PR #56 (`upstream/fix-single-instance-lock` br
 
 ## When in doubt
 
-- Read the [README.md](README.md) for what the app does.
+- Read the [README.md](../README.md) for what the app does.
 - `git log --oneline upstream/main..main` shows everything the fork carries.
 - `.work-files/switchboard/` has session notes from past compaction events.
 - Recent merged PRs on the fork are the highest-signal "how do we do things" reference.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cf0998d6..e0bdbf3c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ If your `~/Applications/Switchboard.AppImage` is open while you develop:
 
 ### For AI agents
 
-If you're an AI working in this repo, read [CLAUDE.md](CLAUDE.md) at the project root — it documents the fork-specific features, invariants (no double Electron, no `Co-Authored-By`, worktree isolation pattern), and the helpers worth reusing (`enumerateSessionFiles`, `encodeProjectPath`, `ViewerPanel`).
+If you're an AI working in this repo, read [CLAUDE.md](CLAUDE.md) at the project root — it's a one-line `@.ai/shared-guidelines.md` include, and it's [.ai/shared-guidelines.md](.ai/shared-guidelines.md) itself that documents the fork-specific features, invariants (no double Electron, no `Co-Authored-By`, worktree isolation pattern), and the helpers worth reusing (`enumerateSessionFiles`, `encodeProjectPath`, `ViewerPanel`).
 
 ## Building
 
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
index 523978e5..2b9744dd 100644
--- a/docs/README.md
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -32,6 +32,6 @@ Grab the latest release for your platform from the [GitHub Releases page](https:
 
 ## For Developers
 
-See [../CLAUDE.md](../CLAUDE.md) for fork-specific conventions, architecture invariants, and AI agent guidance.
+See [../.ai/shared-guidelines.md](../.ai/shared-guidelines.md) (the file `../CLAUDE.md` includes) for fork-specific conventions, architecture invariants, and AI agent guidance.
 
 See [decisions/](decisions/README.md) for architecture decision records (e.g. why there's no full Go rewrite).