Re-measure coverage after wave 2, and write down how a stacked PR merges

COVERAGE. 87.1% line / 69.1% branch, 502 tests -> 88.9% line (2087/2348), 75.4%
branch (1011/1340), 546 tests in 76 classes, as #153's five children land.

The branch figure moved for two reasons and the entry now says so, because only
one of them is new tests. The numerator rose 974 -> 1011; the denominator *fell*
1410 -> 1340. Both are the seam work: pulling a `when` out of a lambda inside a
`collect` deletes the coroutine state machine's synthesized branches around it,
and leaves a plain function whose branches a test can choose.
`ConversionViewModel$observe$1$1` went from carrying the whole mapping to six
branches, while the extracted `ConversionViewModelKt` covers 41 of 42 and
`JoinViewModelKt` 38 of 39.

That is worth stating rather than quoting the percentage alone. A number that
rises because the denominator shrank is a different claim from one that rises
because more branches are tested, and this entry has a documented history of
explaining its own movements wrongly.

STACKED PRS. A new Conventions entry, from two traps measured on 2026-08-27
while landing #144-#151.

`gh pr merge` refuses a stacked PR outright -- "must be merged using the
asynchronous merge REST API" -- and so does the plain `/merge` endpoint. The one
that works is `PUT .../pulls/N/merge-async`, which returns a uuid to poll.

The second is worse because nothing looks wrong. GitHub retargets a stacked PR's
base to main when the one below it merges, but asynchronously. Merging five about
thirty seconds apart outran it, so each merged into its own already-merged base
branch. Every call returned `status: merged`, every PR read MERGED, `gh pr list
--state open` was empty, and none of the content was on main.

What caught it was a coverage re-measure two points below what the same tree had
produced an hour earlier -- a fresh `git pull` changed nothing, which is what
made it a question rather than a stale checkout. `git merge-base --is-ancestor`
answers it in one line. #160 is what the recovery cost.

Also recorded: the auto-retarget belongs to the stacking feature. A PR opened
with a plain `--base some-branch` does not retarget when that branch merges, and
has to be moved by hand -- which is what #163 needed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

CLAUDE.md

@@ -130,9 +130,9 @@ install for code that can never run — and on API 37 the full APK does not fit
 - The `model` package is excluded from `ReturnCount` and `CyclomaticComplexMethod` only. It is the
   decision layer, where one branch is one documented user-visible outcome and the metric counts
   answers rather than complexity. Every other rule still applies there.
-- **Coverage is reported, not gated** — **87.1% of lines (2025/2324), 69.1% of branches
+- **Coverage is reported, not gated** — **88.9% of lines (2087/2348), 75.4% of branches
-  (974/1410)**, measured 2026-08-27 with `./gradlew :app:jacocoTestReport`, against 502 JVM tests
+  (1011/1340)**, measured 2026-08-29 with `./gradlew :app:jacocoTestReport`, against 546 JVM tests
-  in 71 classes.
+  in 76 classes.
 
   **Every figure this file carried before 2026-08-24 was an artifact, roughly half the real one.**
   Robolectric loads classes through its own sandbox classloader with no source location, JaCoCo
@@ -159,6 +159,21 @@ install for code that can never run — and on API 37 the full APK does not fit
   chooses a branch the suite had never taken. Line coverage barely notices; branch coverage is the
   whole point.
 
+  Then #153's five children on 2026-08-29 — 87.1% -> 88.9% line, 69.1% -> **75.4%** branch, 502 ->
+  546 tests.
+
+  **That last branch figure moved for two reasons, and only one of them is new tests.** The
+  numerator rose 974 -> 1011; the denominator *fell* 1410 -> 1340. Both are the seam work. Pulling
+  a `when` out of a lambda inside a `collect` deletes the coroutine state machine's synthesized
+  branches around it, and what is left is a plain function whose branches a test can choose:
+  `ConversionViewModel$observe$1$1` went from carrying the whole mapping to 6 branches, while the
+  extracted `ConversionViewModelKt` covers 41 of 42 and `JoinViewModelKt` 38 of 39. So a seam is
+  worth more than the tests it enables — it also stops the measurement counting scaffolding.
+
+  Be careful quoting a branch move on its own for that reason. A percentage that rises because the
+  denominator shrank is not the same claim as one that rises because more branches are tested, and
+  this entry has a history of explaining its own numbers wrongly.
+
   And **re-measure before quoting**: this entry was once written quoting 81.4%, measured four hours
   earlier, and was already three points stale by the time it was ready to merge.
 - **Testable code is not done until it is tested.** If a piece is unit testable, it gets unit
@@ -182,6 +197,32 @@ install for code that can never run — and on API 37 the full APK does not fit
 
 - `kotlin.code.style=official`. Gradle stays Kotlin DSL.
 
+- **A stacked PR does not merge with `gh pr merge`, and `MERGED` is not proof it reached `main`.**
+  Two separate traps, both measured on 2026-08-27 while landing #144-#151.
+
+  `gh pr merge` uses the GraphQL mutation, which refuses a stacked PR outright: *"This pull request
+  is part of a stack and must be merged using the asynchronous merge REST API."* So does
+  `PUT .../pulls/{n}/merge`. The one that works is
+  `gh api -X PUT repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/N/merge-async -f merge_method=merge`, which returns a uuid
+  to poll at `.../merge-async/{uuid}` until `status` is `merged` or `failed`.
+
+  **The second trap is worse, because nothing looks wrong.** GitHub retargets a stacked PR's base
+  to `main` when the PR below it merges, but *asynchronously*. Merge a stack faster than that
+  settles — five PRs about thirty seconds apart, in the case that found this — and each one merges
+  into its own base branch, which has itself already been merged and left behind. Every call
+  returns `status: merged` and every one is true. `gh pr list --state open` comes back empty, every
+  PR shows `MERGED`, and **none of the content is on `main`**.
+
+  What caught it was a coverage re-measure reading two points lower than the same tree had measured
+  an hour earlier; a fresh `git pull` changed nothing, which is what turned it into a question.
+  `git merge-base --is-ancestor <merge-sha> origin/main` answers it in one line. Do that after
+  merging a stack, or merge one at a time and re-read `baseRefName` between. #160 is what the
+  recovery cost.
+
+  The auto-retarget belongs to the stacking feature specifically. A PR opened with a plain
+  `gh pr create --base some-branch` does **not** retarget when that branch merges — it is left
+  pointing at a dead base and has to be moved by hand.
+
 - **File one-off issues with `tools/github/file-issue.sh`, not `gh issue create`.** `gh issue
   create` does not touch the project board, so the issue exists, carries its labels, and is
   invisible in the Kanban — indistinguishable from never having been filed. Measured 2026-08-24:

app/src/main/java/org/libremediaconverter/convert/ConverterScreen.kt

@@ -94,24 +94,61 @@ fun ConverterScreen(modifier: Modifier = Modifier, viewModel: ConversionViewMode
         state = state,
         settings = settings,
         validation = validation,
-        actions = ConverterActions(
+        actions = converterActions(
+            viewModel = viewModel,
             onPickInput = { pickInput.launch(arrayOf("*/*")) },
-            onPreset = viewModel::setPreset,
-            onContainer = viewModel::setContainer,
-            onVideoCodec = viewModel::setVideoCodec,
-            onAudioCodec = viewModel::setAudioCodec,
-            onSuggestion = viewModel::applySuggestion,
-            onQuality = viewModel::setQuality,
-            onEnginePreference = viewModel::setEnginePreference,
             onConvert = { requestNotifications.launch(Manifest.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS) },
-            onCancel = viewModel::cancel,
             onSave = { suggestedName -> chooseDestination.launch(suggestedName) },
-            onReset = viewModel::reset,
         ),
         modifier = modifier,
     )
 }
 
+/**
+ * Which of the ViewModel's methods each affordance on the screen calls.
+ *
+ * ## Why this is a function rather than an argument list
+ *
+ * It was an argument list, inside [ConverterScreen], which no test reached: `ConverterScreenContent`
+ * builds its own [ConverterActions], so every test in the suite drove the stateless inner and none
+ * of them ever saw the wiring.
+ *
+ * Most of the list is safe without a test, and saying so is more useful than pretending otherwise:
+ * `onContainer`, `onVideoCodec`, `onAudioCodec`, `onPreset`, `onSuggestion`, `onQuality` and
+ * `onEnginePreference` each take a distinct type, so binding one to another's setter does not
+ * compile. Verified rather than assumed — swapping `onVideoCodec` and `onAudioCodec` fails with
+ * *"Inapplicable candidate(s): fun setAudioCodec(codec: AudioCodec)"*.
+ *
+ * **[ConverterActions.onCancel] and [ConverterActions.onReset] are the exception.** Both are
+ * `() -> Unit`, so swapping them compiles silently — also verified — and ships a Cancel button that
+ * throws the conversion away and a Start-over button that leaves it on screen. That pair is what
+ * `ConverterWiringTest` exists for.
+ *
+ * The three launcher-backed actions stay parameters: they need an `ActivityResultLauncher`, which
+ * is the part that genuinely needs the composition, and keeping them out means the rest can be
+ * checked without one.
+ */
+@UnstableApi
+internal fun converterActions(
+    viewModel: ConversionViewModel,
+    onPickInput: () -> Unit,
+    onConvert: () -> Unit,
+    onSave: (suggestedName: String) -> Unit,
+): ConverterActions = ConverterActions(
+    onPickInput = onPickInput,
+    onPreset = viewModel::setPreset,
+    onContainer = viewModel::setContainer,
+    onVideoCodec = viewModel::setVideoCodec,
+    onAudioCodec = viewModel::setAudioCodec,
+    onSuggestion = viewModel::applySuggestion,
+    onQuality = viewModel::setQuality,
+    onEnginePreference = viewModel::setEnginePreference,
+    onConvert = onConvert,
+    onCancel = viewModel::cancel,
+    onSave = onSave,
+    onReset = viewModel::reset,
+)
+
 /**
  * Everything [ConverterScreenContent] can ask for, in one value.
  *

app/src/main/java/org/libremediaconverter/join/JoinScreen.kt

@@ -56,17 +56,38 @@ fun JoinScreen(modifier: Modifier = Modifier, viewModel: JoinViewModel = viewMod
 
     JoinScreenContent(
         state = state,
-        actions = JoinActions(
+        actions = joinActions(
+            viewModel = viewModel,
             onPickInputs = { pickInputs.launch(arrayOf("video/*")) },
-            onJoin = viewModel::join,
-            onCancel = viewModel::cancel,
             onSave = { suggestedName -> chooseDestination.launch(suggestedName) },
-            onReset = viewModel::reset,
         ),
         modifier = modifier,
     )
 }
 
+/**
+ * Which of the ViewModel's methods each affordance on the join screen calls.
+ *
+ * The join-side twin of `converterActions`, and the transposition risk here is worse: **three**
+ * `() -> Unit` bindings rather than two. `onJoin`, `onCancel` and `onReset` are mutually
+ * interchangeable as far as the compiler is concerned, so a Join button that cancels, or a Cancel
+ * button that starts the job, is a swap nothing but a test would catch.
+ *
+ * See `converterActions` for why the launcher-backed actions stay parameters.
+ */
+@UnstableApi
+internal fun joinActions(
+    viewModel: JoinViewModel,
+    onPickInputs: () -> Unit,
+    onSave: (suggestedName: String) -> Unit,
+): JoinActions = JoinActions(
+    onPickInputs = onPickInputs,
+    onJoin = viewModel::join,
+    onCancel = viewModel::cancel,
+    onSave = onSave,
+    onReset = viewModel::reset,
+)
+
 /**
  * Everything [JoinScreenContent] can ask for, in one value.
  *

app/src/test/java/org/libremediaconverter/convert/ScreenWiringTest.kt

@@ -0,0 +1,241 @@
+package org.libremediaconverter.convert
+
+import android.app.Application
+import android.net.Uri
+import androidx.media3.common.util.UnstableApi
+import androidx.work.Data
+import androidx.work.workDataOf
+import org.junit.After
+import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
+import org.junit.Assert.assertNotEquals
+import org.junit.Assert.assertTrue
+import org.junit.Before
+import org.junit.Test
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith
+import org.libremediaconverter.join.JoinState
+import org.libremediaconverter.join.JoinViewModel
+import org.libremediaconverter.join.joinActions
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.AudioCodec
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.Container
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.EnginePreference
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.OutputFormat
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.QualityTier
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.VideoCodec
+import org.libremediaconverter.work.ConcatWorker
+import org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner
+import org.robolectric.RuntimeEnvironment
+
+/**
+ * That each affordance is wired to the ViewModel method it is named after.
+ *
+ * ## What this covers that no other test can
+ *
+ * `ConverterScreenContentTest`, `ConverterStateAffordancesTest` and `JoinScreenContentTest` all
+ * drive the **stateless** content composables, which build their own `ConverterActions`. So the
+ * wiring — the list of `viewModel::` references the stateful outer hands down — was seen by nothing
+ * in the suite.
+ *
+ * ## The hazard is narrower than "seventeen bindings", and this says so
+ *
+ * #156 was filed claiming a transposition of any two bindings would survive the suite. That is not
+ * true, and it was worth checking rather than testing on the assumption:
+ *
+ * | swap | result |
+ * |---|---|
+ * | `onVideoCodec` ↔ `onAudioCodec` | **rejected by the compiler** |
+ * | `onCancel` ↔ `onReset` | **compiles** |
+ *
+ * Every typed binding — container, both codecs, preset, suggestion, quality, engine preference —
+ * takes a distinct parameter type, so the compiler is already the test. Writing assertions for
+ * those would be theatre.
+ *
+ * **The `() -> Unit` bindings are the real gap**, because they are interchangeable to the compiler:
+ * two on the converter screen (`onCancel`, `onReset`) and three on the join screen (`onJoin`,
+ * `onCancel`, `onReset`). A Cancel that discards the finished file, or a Join that cancels, is a
+ * one-character mistake that ships.
+ *
+ * ## How they are told apart
+ *
+ * By effect, not by a recording double. `reset()` sets the state to `Idle`; `cancel()` with no
+ * active job leaves it alone (`ConversionViewModel.cancel` is `activeWorkId?.let(...)`, and
+ * `SettingsEditsTest` pins that). Driving each from a non-`Idle` state is therefore enough to say
+ * which one ran.
+ */
+@UnstableApi
+@RunWith(RobolectricTestRunner::class)
+class ScreenWiringTest {
+
+    private lateinit var app: Application
+
+    @Before
+    fun setUp() {
+        app = RuntimeEnvironment.getApplication()
+        ConversionDependencies.publisher = { RecordingPublisher(app) }
+        ConversionDependencies.probe = { _, _ -> org.libremediaconverter.model.InputProbe() }
+    }
+
+    @After
+    fun tearDown() {
+        ConversionDependencies.reset()
+    }
+
+    // --- the converter screen ----------------------------------------------
+
+    @Test
+    fun `Start over resets, and Cancel does not`() {
+        // The transposition that compiles. If onReset were bound to cancel, this stays on Ready.
+        installTestWorkManager(app, Data.EMPTY)
+        val pick = ParkedPickDispatcher()
+        val viewModel = ConversionViewModel(app, pickDispatcher = pick)
+        val actions = converterActions(viewModel, onPickInput = {}, onConvert = {}, onSave = {})
+        viewModel.onInputPicked(INPUT_URI)
+        pick.runAll()
+        assertNotEquals(
+            "the fixture needs a non-Idle state or neither action is observable",
+            ConversionState.Idle,
+            viewModel.state.value,
+        )
+
+        actions.onReset()
+
+        assertEquals(ConversionState.Idle, viewModel.state.value)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `Cancel leaves the picked file on screen`() {
+        // The other half. Without it, a wiring with BOTH actions bound to reset passes the test
+        // above -- and that is exactly what a copy-paste of the wrong line produces.
+        installTestWorkManager(app, Data.EMPTY)
+        val pick = ParkedPickDispatcher()
+        val viewModel = ConversionViewModel(app, pickDispatcher = pick)
+        val actions = converterActions(viewModel, onPickInput = {}, onConvert = {}, onSave = {})
+        viewModel.onInputPicked(INPUT_URI)
+        pick.runAll()
+        val before = viewModel.state.value
+
+        actions.onCancel()
+
+        assertEquals(
+            "Cancel must not throw away the pick the way Start over does",
+            before,
+            viewModel.state.value,
+        )
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `each settings affordance reaches the setting it is named after`() {
+        // The typed bindings. The compiler already rejects a transposition among these, so this is
+        // not that assertion -- it is the cheaper one that each is bound to *something*, and that a
+        // binding dropped to `{}` during an edit would be caught.
+        installTestWorkManager(app, Data.EMPTY)
+        val pick = ParkedPickDispatcher()
+        val viewModel = ConversionViewModel(app, pickDispatcher = pick)
+        val actions = converterActions(viewModel, onPickInput = {}, onConvert = {}, onSave = {})
+
+        actions.onPreset(OutputFormat.WEBM_VP9)
+        assertEquals(OutputFormat.WEBM_VP9.spec, viewModel.settings.value.spec)
+
+        actions.onContainer(Container.MKV)
+        assertEquals(Container.MKV, viewModel.settings.value.spec.container)
+
+        actions.onVideoCodec(VideoCodec.H264)
+        assertEquals(VideoCodec.H264, viewModel.settings.value.spec.videoCodec)
+
+        actions.onAudioCodec(AudioCodec.FLAC)
+        assertEquals(AudioCodec.FLAC, viewModel.settings.value.spec.audioCodec)
+
+        actions.onQuality(QualityTier.BEST)
+        assertEquals(QualityTier.BEST, viewModel.settings.value.quality)
+
+        actions.onEnginePreference(EnginePreference.FORCE_SOFTWARE)
+        assertEquals(EnginePreference.FORCE_SOFTWARE, viewModel.settings.value.enginePreference)
+
+        actions.onSuggestion(OutputFormat.MP4_H264.spec)
+        assertEquals(OutputFormat.MP4_H264.spec, viewModel.settings.value.spec)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `the launcher-backed actions are the ones the screen supplies`() {
+        // Not wired to the ViewModel at all, deliberately -- they need an ActivityResultLauncher.
+        // Asserted so that a later edit routing one of them at the ViewModel is noticed.
+        installTestWorkManager(app, Data.EMPTY)
+        val pick = ParkedPickDispatcher()
+        val viewModel = ConversionViewModel(app, pickDispatcher = pick)
+        val called = mutableListOf<String>()
+        val actions = converterActions(
+            viewModel,
+            onPickInput = { called += "pick" },
+            onConvert = { called += "convert" },
+            onSave = { called += "save:$it" },
+        )
+
+        actions.onPickInput()
+        actions.onConvert()
+        actions.onSave("holiday.mp4")
+
+        assertEquals(listOf("pick", "convert", "save:holiday.mp4"), called)
+    }
+
+    // --- the join screen, where three are interchangeable -------------------
+
+    @Test
+    fun `Start over resets the join, and Cancel does not`() {
+        installTestWorkManager(app, workDataOf(ConcatWorker.KEY_OUTPUT_PATH to "/dev/null"))
+        val pick = ParkedPickDispatcher()
+        val viewModel = JoinViewModel(app, pickDispatcher = pick)
+        val actions = joinActions(viewModel, onPickInputs = {}, onSave = {})
+        viewModel.onInputsPicked(TWO_INPUTS)
+        pick.runAll()
+        assertTrue(
+            "the fixture needs a non-Idle state: ${viewModel.state.value}",
+            viewModel.state.value !is JoinState.Idle,
+        )
+
+        actions.onReset()
+
+        assertEquals(JoinState.Idle, viewModel.state.value)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `Cancel leaves the picked files on screen`() {
+        installTestWorkManager(app, workDataOf(ConcatWorker.KEY_OUTPUT_PATH to "/dev/null"))
+        val pick = ParkedPickDispatcher()
+        val viewModel = JoinViewModel(app, pickDispatcher = pick)
+        val actions = joinActions(viewModel, onPickInputs = {}, onSave = {})
+        viewModel.onInputsPicked(TWO_INPUTS)
+        pick.runAll()
+        val before = viewModel.state.value
+
+        actions.onCancel()
+
+        assertEquals(before, viewModel.state.value)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `Join starts the job rather than cancelling or resetting it`() {
+        // The third of the join screen's interchangeable trio, and the one whose transposition is
+        // worst: a Join button bound to cancel does nothing at all, which reads as a dead button.
+        installTestWorkManager(app, workDataOf(ConcatWorker.KEY_OUTPUT_PATH to "/dev/null"))
+        val pick = ParkedPickDispatcher()
+        val viewModel = JoinViewModel(app, pickDispatcher = pick)
+        val actions = joinActions(viewModel, onPickInputs = {}, onSave = {})
+        viewModel.onInputsPicked(TWO_INPUTS)
+        pick.runAll()
+
+        actions.onJoin()
+
+        assertTrue(
+            "Join must leave Ready for a running state, not sit still and not go Idle: " +
+                "${viewModel.state.value}",
+            viewModel.state.value is JoinState.Joining || viewModel.state.value is JoinState.Joined,
+        )
+    }
+
+    private companion object {
+        val INPUT_URI: Uri = Uri.parse("content://test/holiday.mov")
+        val TWO_INPUTS = listOf(
+            Uri.parse("content://test/a.mp4"),
+            Uri.parse("content://test/b.mp4"),
+        )
+    }
+}

app/src/test/java/org/libremediaconverter/convert/SettingsEditsTest.kt

@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+package org.libremediaconverter.convert
+
+import android.app.Application
+import androidx.media3.common.util.UnstableApi
+import androidx.work.Data
+import org.junit.After
+import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
+import org.junit.Assert.assertNotEquals
+import org.junit.Assert.assertNull
+import org.junit.Before
+import org.junit.Test
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.AudioCodec
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.Container
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.EnginePreference
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.OutputFormat
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.QualityTier
+import org.libremediaconverter.model.VideoCodec
+import org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner
+import org.robolectric.RuntimeEnvironment
+
+/**
+ * The seven one-line edits the settings sheet makes, and what each one leaves alone.
+ *
+ * ## Why these needed a file of their own
+ *
+ * `setPreset` was covered. The six beside it — `setContainer`, `setVideoCodec`, `setAudioCodec`,
+ * `applySuggestion`, `setQuality`, `setEnginePreference` — and `cancel()` had **no coverage at
+ * all**, which is the tell: they are reachable from the JVM suite by exactly the route `setPreset`
+ * already takes, and nothing had asked.
+ *
+ * ## What is actually being asserted
+ *
+ * Not "the setter sets something". Each of these copies into a nested `OutputSpec`, so the failure
+ * worth catching is **a setter that writes the right value into the wrong field, or that rebuilds
+ * the spec and silently discards the other two**. So every test here asserts the field it changed
+ * *and* that the rest of the spec survived — a `setContainer` implemented as
+ * `it.copy(spec = OutputFormat.MP4_H265.spec.copy(container = container))` would pass a test that
+ * only checked the container.
+ *
+ * `ConverterScreenContentTest` cannot cover this: it builds `ConverterActions` itself and never
+ * touches the ViewModel. That the *screen* calls these is #156's, and neither implies the other.
+ */
+@UnstableApi
+@RunWith(RobolectricTestRunner::class)
+class SettingsEditsTest {
+
+    private lateinit var app: Application
+    private lateinit var viewModel: ConversionViewModel
+
+    @Before
+    fun setUp() {
+        app = RuntimeEnvironment.getApplication()
+        installTestWorkManager(app, Data.EMPTY)
+        viewModel = ConversionViewModel(app)
+    }
+
+    @After
+    fun tearDown() {
+        ConversionDependencies.reset()
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `choosing a preset replaces the whole spec`() {
+        viewModel.setPreset(OutputFormat.WEBM_VP9)
+
+        assertEquals(OutputFormat.WEBM_VP9.spec, viewModel.settings.value.spec)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `changing the container leaves both codecs alone`() {
+        // Moved off the default spec first, and that is load-bearing rather than tidiness. The
+        // default IS `OutputFormat.MP4_H265.spec`, so a `setContainer` that rebuilt the spec from
+        // that preset instead of from the current one produced an identical answer and the
+        // mutation went green. Editing the codecs away from the default first is what makes
+        // "the other two survived" an assertion rather than a coincidence.
+        viewModel.setPreset(OutputFormat.WEBM_VP9)
+        val before = viewModel.settings.value.spec
+
+        viewModel.setContainer(Container.MKV)
+
+        val after = viewModel.settings.value.spec
+        assertEquals(Container.MKV, after.container)
+        assertEquals("the video codec is not the container's to change", before.videoCodec, after.videoCodec)
+        assertEquals("the audio codec is not the container's to change", before.audioCodec, after.audioCodec)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `changing the video codec leaves the container and the audio codec alone`() {
+        // The transposition this guards against is real: setVideoCodec and setAudioCodec take
+        // different enum types, but a copy(...) naming the wrong field compiles wherever the types
+        // happen to line up, and the picker would silently set the other one.
+        val before = viewModel.settings.value.spec
+
+        viewModel.setVideoCodec(VideoCodec.VP9)
+
+        val after = viewModel.settings.value.spec
+        assertEquals(VideoCodec.VP9, after.videoCodec)
+        assertEquals(before.container, after.container)
+        assertEquals(before.audioCodec, after.audioCodec)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `changing the audio codec leaves the container and the video codec alone`() {
+        val before = viewModel.settings.value.spec
+
+        viewModel.setAudioCodec(AudioCodec.OPUS)
+
+        val after = viewModel.settings.value.spec
+        assertEquals(AudioCodec.OPUS, after.audioCodec)
+        assertEquals(before.container, after.container)
+        assertEquals(before.videoCodec, after.videoCodec)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `applying a suggestion replaces the spec without disturbing quality or engine`() {
+        // A suggestion comes from ContainerCapabilities when the current spec is invalid, so it is
+        // a whole spec by construction. What it must not do is reset the two settings beside it.
+        viewModel.setQuality(QualityTier.BEST)
+        viewModel.setEnginePreference(EnginePreference.FORCE_SOFTWARE)
+
+        viewModel.applySuggestion(OutputFormat.MKV_H264.spec)
+
+        val settings = viewModel.settings.value
+        assertEquals(OutputFormat.MKV_H264.spec, settings.spec)
+        assertEquals(QualityTier.BEST, settings.quality)
+        assertEquals(EnginePreference.FORCE_SOFTWARE, settings.enginePreference)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `changing the quality leaves the spec and the engine preference alone`() {
+        // Both neighbours are moved off their defaults first. Asserting against AUTO -- which is
+        // what `ConversionSettings` starts with -- let a `setQuality` that also reset the engine
+        // preference to AUTO pass, because the reset and the survival looked identical.
+        viewModel.setPreset(OutputFormat.WEBM_VP9)
+        viewModel.setEnginePreference(EnginePreference.FORCE_SOFTWARE)
+        val before = viewModel.settings.value.spec
+
+        viewModel.setQuality(QualityTier.BEST)
+
+        val settings = viewModel.settings.value
+        assertEquals(QualityTier.BEST, settings.quality)
+        assertEquals(before, settings.spec)
+        assertEquals(
+            "quality is not the engine preference's to change",
+            EnginePreference.FORCE_SOFTWARE,
+            settings.enginePreference,
+        )
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `changing the engine preference leaves the spec and the quality alone`() {
+        // Off the defaults for the same reason as the test above: QualityTier.FAST is the starting
+        // value, so asserting it here would have been satisfied by a reset as readily as by a
+        // survival.
+        viewModel.setPreset(OutputFormat.WEBM_VP9)
+        viewModel.setQuality(QualityTier.BEST)
+        val before = viewModel.settings.value.spec
+
+        viewModel.setEnginePreference(EnginePreference.FORCE_SOFTWARE)
+
+        val settings = viewModel.settings.value
+        assertEquals(EnginePreference.FORCE_SOFTWARE, settings.enginePreference)
+        assertEquals(before, settings.spec)
+        assertEquals(
+            "the engine preference is not the quality's to change",
+            QualityTier.BEST,
+            settings.quality,
+        )
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `editing past every preset leaves no matching preset`() {
+        // `matchingPreset` is what the settings sheet reads to decide whether to show a preset as
+        // selected or to say "Custom". Editing one field of a preset must drop it out of the list
+        // rather than leaving the old one highlighted.
+        viewModel.setPreset(OutputFormat.MP4_H265)
+        assertEquals(OutputFormat.MP4_H265, viewModel.settings.value.matchingPreset)
+
+        viewModel.setAudioCodec(AudioCodec.FLAC)
+
+        assertNull(
+            "an edited spec is no longer any preset, and the sheet says Custom",
+            viewModel.settings.value.matchingPreset,
+        )
+        assertNotEquals(OutputFormat.MP4_H265.spec, viewModel.settings.value.spec)
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun `cancelling with no active job does nothing rather than throwing`() {
+        // `activeWorkId?.let(...)` -- the null side. A user can reach Cancel through a state that
+        // has already finished, and taking the app down for it would be worse than doing nothing.
+        viewModel.cancel()
+
+        assertEquals(ConversionState.Idle, viewModel.state.value)
+    }
+}