docs(next-steps): root cause was explorer-spawn elevation, fix shipped in 191b2c5

NEXT_STEPS.md

@@ -1,101 +1,129 @@
-# Where we left off — cold-start launch fix shipped (2026-05-16 morning)
+# Where we left off — explorer-spawn de-elevation shipped (2026-05-16)
 
-## What just landed (verified on this machine)
+## The actual root cause (finally)
 
-**Origin tip: `09e5b59` — fix: cold-start discovery + installer shortcuts +
+When TeamsISO is spawned by an **elevated File Explorer**, NDI Find returns
-single-instance hardening.**
+zero discovered sources even though Teams is broadcasting. The same exe
+spawned from any other parent (PowerShell, cmd, runas, another TeamsISO,
+etc.) discovers sources fine — even when that parent is itself elevated.
 
-The "I install, I click the shortcut, no participants" bug is fixed. Three
+I reproduced this multiple times with the same install:
-independent changes in one commit because all three were chasing the same
-operator report:
 
-1. **`NdiDiscoveryService.RunAsync` — immediate first poll + fast ramp.**
+| Launch parent | Integrity | Result |
-   `PeriodicTimer.WaitForNextTickAsync` waits the full interval before its
+|---|---|---|
-   first tick, so for a 500ms discovery interval the operator stared at
+| non-elevated PowerShell | medium | OK — 2 participants |
-   "no ndi sources yet" for half a second on every cold start. Now: poll
+| elevated PowerShell (via `-Verb RunAs`) | high | OK — 2 participants |
-   once up front (picks up whatever the NDI runtime has already cached),
+| `runas /trustlevel:0x20000` | medium | OK — 2 participants |
-   then run a 200ms inner loop for ~3 seconds while mDNS replies trickle
+| elevated Explorer (operator click) | high | **EMPTY** — 0 participants |
-   in, then settle to the operator-configured interval. Both loops share
-   a try/finally so the NDI finder is always disposed.
-2. **`MainViewModel.IsDiscovering` + new empty-state copy.** New boolean
-   property, true for 8s after engine start as long as no participants
-   have arrived. `MainWindow.xaml` swaps the empty-state copy on this
-   binding:
-   - `IsDiscovering=true` → "scanning for ndi sources…" with a cyan dot
-   - `IsDiscovering=false` → "no ndi sources visible — is teams in a
-     meeting?" + Refresh CTA
-   The old copy was being shown immediately at launch even when discovery
-   just hadn't run yet, which read as "broken."
-3. **Single-instance mutex moved from `Local\` to `Global\`.** On admin-user
-   boxes with UAC effectively disabled, launches from different parents
-   can land in slightly different security contexts and a `Local\` named
-   mutex can be invisible to a sibling. `Global\` is system-wide and
-   integrity-agnostic; both processes see the same mutex regardless of
-   how they were spawned.
-4. **`installer/Package.wxs` — Desktop shortcut component added.** Now
-   installs both `C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Wild Dragon\TeamsISO.lnk`
-   AND `C:\Users\Public\Desktop\TeamsISO.lnk`. Both point at the installed
-   exe under `C:\Program Files\Wild Dragon\TeamsISO\TeamsISO.exe`. (Previously
-   only the Start Menu component existed; on this machine even that wasn't
-   visibly materializing because the older WiX `Advertise` default left it
-   as a stub.)
 
-**MSI:** `installer/bin/x64/Release/TeamsISO-Setup-0.9.0-rc5.msi` (372 KB).
+Same exe, same install path, same user, same NDI runtime, same Teams
-Already installed on this machine. Force-reinstall over an existing copy
+meeting. The only differentiator is `parent.ImageName == "explorer.exe"`
-needs `REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=amus` flags on msiexec because the wxs
+combined with elevation. The suspicion is a window-station / desktop-handle
-`Version` is pinned to `1.0.0.0` and MajorUpgrade no-ops on same-version.
+inheritance quirk in NDI's mDNS implementation — explorer spawns with
+shell-specific STARTUPINFOEX attributes that NDI Find apparently can't
+work through. Not fixable from inside TeamsISO at the runtime layer.
 
-## Verified launch paths (2026-05-16 11:22)
+This is the actual reason every "I clicked the shortcut and saw no
+participants" report happened. The earlier "cold-start polling" and
+"single-instance integrity isolation" theories were both wrong — those
+fixes were independently good but not the cause.
 
-Tested by killing every TeamsISO process, then launching via each
+## The fix (`191b2c5`)
-mechanism in turn and probing `http://localhost:9755/participants` after
-4 seconds:
 
-| Mechanism | Result |
+`App.OnStartup` now runs an elevation check before any other startup work:
-|---|---|
-| Start Menu shortcut (`…\Wild Dragon\TeamsISO.lnk`) | OK — 2 participants |
-| Public Desktop shortcut (`C:\Users\Public\Desktop\TeamsISO.lnk`) | OK — 2 participants |
-| Direct `.exe` double-click in Program Files | OK — 2 participants |
 
-All three discover the Teams meeting's NDI sources (Active Speaker +
+1. If `--relaunched` is in args, skip the check (loop guard).
-Brendon Power in today's testing) within the cold-start grace window.
+2. If we're not in the Administrators role, skip.
+3. If our parent process is NOT `explorer.exe`, skip.
+4. Otherwise — re-spawn ourselves via
+   `runas.exe /trustlevel:0x20000 "<exe path>" --relaunched <forwarded args>`
+   and `Shutdown(0)` the current process.
 
-## Open items
+`runas /trustlevel:0x20000` requests a **medium-integrity restricted token**
+even when the caller is elevated. The new child appears with `runas.exe`
+as its parent (NOT explorer.exe), at medium integrity, with the
+`--relaunched` flag so the de-elevation check no-ops on the second pass.
 
-**Pre-1.0 cut is gated on:**
+The check uses `System.Management.ManagementObjectSearcher` against
+`Win32_Process` to find the parent PID — added as a `PackageReference` in
+the csproj.
+
+## What's installed right now
+
+`C:\Program Files\Wild Dragon\TeamsISO\TeamsISO.exe` — **0.9.0-rc6** with
+the de-elevation logic, timestamp `2026-05-16 11:36:28`. Shortcuts present
+at `C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Wild Dragon\TeamsISO.lnk`
+and `C:\Users\Public\Desktop\TeamsISO.lnk`, both pointing at the installed
+exe.
+
+Three stale install records were left over from previous rc1–rc5 attempts
+(all `DisplayName=TeamsISO`, three different ProductCodes). All three were
+uninstalled before -rc6 went on cleanly. Only one TeamsISO ARP entry now.
+
+## How to verify
+
+Double-click `C:\Program Files\Wild Dragon\TeamsISO\TeamsISO.exe` or click
+the Start Menu / Desktop shortcut from File Explorer. The expected sequence:
+
+1. Brief flash of a window that immediately closes (the elevated initial
+   process detecting explorer-spawn and re-launching).
+2. A second TeamsISO window appears, parented under `runas.exe`, at
+   medium integrity.
+3. Participants discover within ~3 seconds.
+
+The log file at `C:\Users\zacga\AppData\Local\TeamsISO\Logs\teamsiso<date>.log`
+will show one "TeamsISO.App starting up" line — NOT two — because the
+elevated first process exits before initializing the logger.
+
+If discovery STILL stays empty, options:
+- The `runas /trustlevel` spawn may have failed silently. Diagnostics
+  aren't great here because the logger isn't up yet at the de-elevation
+  point. We could log to a fallback raw text file.
+- The `Secondary Logon` Windows service might be disabled (it's required
+  for runas). `Get-Service seclogon | Format-List` to check; should be
+  Running.
+
+## All commits on origin (newest first)
+
+```
+191b2c5 fix(wpf): de-elevate when spawned by elevated explorer (NDI mDNS isolation)
+e01fa36 docs(next-steps): cold-start launch fix verified — 3 launch paths green
+09e5b59 fix: cold-start discovery + installer shortcuts + single-instance hardening
+f47edfb ISO toggle: widen column 110->124, tighten padding so 'Enable' fits
+47914fc ISO toggle: square corners to match the rest of the button family
+dba7dcc gear icon: swap Path glyph for U+2699 + bump column to 56px
+6c9bee7 fix(wpf): catch participant-left race in ToggleIsoAsync, toast instead of crash
+84861da test: integration — App+MainWindow STA smoke, control-surface live VM, theme XAML load
+6505a3c test: services — NotesService, UpdateChecker, PresetApplier, OscBridge, IsoController
+d91f953 test: ControlSurfaceServer route table smoke coverage
+fbcc562 test: ThemeManager + CommandPaletteViewModel.Matches coverage
+e96a30b chore: trim stale batch-commit script + drop SmokeTest placeholder
+1f07992 refactor(services): extract TeamsEmbedHost from TeamsLauncher
+2640739 refactor(control-surface): split server into endpoint partials
+e67c02c refactor(app): split App.xaml.cs into themed partial files
+d02a2c0 refactor(viewmodels): split MainViewModel into themed partial classes
+33fca8e polish(mainwindow): empty state, table widths, strings, theme tooltip
+3739002 chore(docs): reconcile to WPF-only after WinUI 3 was abandoned
+5a43c9c feat: per-ISO framerate/resolution/aspect/audio overrides + thumbnail BMP
+```
+
+246/246 tests passing on the merged main.
+
+## Pre-1.0 cut still gated on
 
 1. Code-signing the MSI. `SIGN_CERT_PFX_BASE64` + `SIGN_CERT_PASSWORD`
-   need to be added to Forgejo Actions Secrets for the release.yml
+   need to go into Forgejo Actions Secrets for `release.yml` to start
-   workflow to start producing signed MSIs. Without that, downstream
+   producing signed MSIs. Without that, downstream operators get the
-   users get the "Windows protected your PC" SmartScreen warning.
+   "Windows protected your PC" SmartScreen warning.
 2. Real-meeting smoke pass on a non-dev host with a live NDI runtime.
 
-**Other items still on the queue (from issue #1 polish-pass status):**
+## Outstanding from issue #1
 
-- **Item 21** — `TeamsLauncher` fallback chain test coverage. Needs an
+- **Item 21** — `TeamsLauncher` fallback chain test coverage. Still
-  `IProcessLauncher` seam refactor before the URI handler → AppX → process-exe
+  needs the `IProcessLauncher` seam refactor before the URI handler →
-  order can be unit-pinned. Half-day of work; not blocking.
+  AppX → process-exe order can be unit-pinned. Half-day of work.
 
-## Where the layout sits
+## Build / install cheatsheet
-
-**Shell:** Default Windows title bar; 32px header (Wild Dragon mark +
-wordmark + ⌘K / theme / settings icons); 40px transport strip
-(`● 02:14:32  PART 4 · LIVE 2  CTRL :9755`); body = alert/update banners +
-action toolbar + participants DataGrid + conditional meeting bar.
-
-**Participants DataGrid — 7 columns:** State LED (24) · Preview (106) ·
-Participant (*) · Audio (110) · Output (130) · CFG/gear (56) ·
-ISO toggle (124, rounded-rect, "Enable" / "● LIVE").
-
-**Theme:** `Themes/Theme.Dark.xaml` + `Themes/Theme.Light.xaml` split from
-`WildDragonTheme.xaml`; `ThemeManager` runtime-swaps the merged dictionary
-and follows `HKCU\...\Personalize\AppsUseLightTheme`.
-
-**Hotkeys:** F1 help, Ctrl+K / Ctrl+P command palette, Ctrl+T theme
-toggle, Ctrl+R refresh, Ctrl+Shift+S panic stop, 1–9 / NumPad 1–9 toggle
-Nth participant ISO.
-
-## Build, install, run cheatsheet
 
 ```powershell
 cd "C:\Users\zacga\Documents\Claude\Projects\Teams ISO"
@@ -111,17 +139,19 @@ dotnet publish src/TeamsISO.App/TeamsISO.App.csproj `
   -o publish/TeamsISO /p:Version=$v
 dotnet build installer/TeamsISO.Installer.wixproj -c Release /p:Version=$v
 
-# Install (force overwrite same-version)
+# Install (uninstall first if upgrading from same Version="1.0.0.0"!)
+Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*' |
+  Where-Object DisplayName -like '*TeamsISO*' |
+  ForEach-Object {
+    Start-Process msiexec.exe -Verb RunAs -Wait -ArgumentList "/x $($_.PSChildName) /qn /norestart"
+  }
 Start-Process msiexec.exe -Verb RunAs -Wait -ArgumentList `
-  '/i', '"installer\bin\x64\Release\TeamsISO-Setup-' + $v + '.msi"', `
+  '/i', '"installer\bin\x64\Release\TeamsISO-Setup-' + $v + '.msi"', '/qn', '/norestart'
-  '/qn', '/norestart', 'REINSTALL=ALL', 'REINSTALLMODE=amus'
-
-# Launch (any of these)
-Start-Process "C:\Program Files\Wild Dragon\TeamsISO\TeamsISO.exe"
-Start-Process "C:\Users\Public\Desktop\TeamsISO.lnk"
-Start-Process "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Wild Dragon\TeamsISO.lnk"
 ```
 
-If anything regresses the v2 shell, the rollback point for the WPF v1 shell
+## Rollback
-(recording axed) is `1d1ce6a`; the v2-shell-without-table-redesign rollback
+
-point is `c271303`.
+If the de-elevation logic breaks on a different machine config, revert
+just commit `191b2c5` — the earlier `e01fa36` build (with cold-start
+polling + Global mutex + dual shortcuts but no de-elevation) is the
+safe-fallback baseline.