diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a237671c..1b949400 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -254,6 +254,8 @@ Contributions welcome. Please read [AGENTS.md](AGENTS.md) for coding conventions
 
 **Live instance:** [analyzer.00id.net](https://analyzer.00id.net) — all API endpoints are public, no auth required.
 
+**API Documentation:** CoreScope auto-generates an OpenAPI 3.0 spec. Browse the interactive Swagger UI at [`/api/docs`](https://analyzer.00id.net/api/docs) or fetch the machine-readable spec at [`/api/spec`](https://analyzer.00id.net/api/spec).
+
 ## License
 
 MIT
diff --git a/docs/deployment.md b/docs/deployment.md
index ff72b507..924bbd89 100644
--- a/docs/deployment.md
+++ b/docs/deployment.md
@@ -261,6 +261,38 @@ Caddy handles certificate issuance and renewal automatically.
 
 ---
 
+## API Documentation
+
+CoreScope auto-generates an OpenAPI 3.0 specification from its route definitions. The spec is always in sync with the running server — no manual maintenance required.
+
+### Endpoints
+
+| URL | Description |
+|-----|-------------|
+| `/api/spec` | OpenAPI 3.0 JSON schema — machine-readable API definition |
+| `/api/docs` | Interactive Swagger UI — browse and test all 40+ endpoints |
+
+### Usage
+
+**Browse the API interactively:**
+```
+http://your-instance/api/docs
+```
+
+**Fetch the spec programmatically:**
+```bash
+curl http://your-instance/api/spec | jq .
+```
+
+**For bot/integration developers:** The spec includes all request parameters, response schemas, and example values. Import it into Postman, Insomnia, or any OpenAPI-compatible tool.
+
+### Public instance
+The live instance at [analyzer.00id.net](https://analyzer.00id.net) has all API endpoints publicly accessible:
+- Spec: [analyzer.00id.net/api/spec](https://analyzer.00id.net/api/spec)
+- Docs: [analyzer.00id.net/api/docs](https://analyzer.00id.net/api/docs)
+
+---
+
 ## Monitoring & Health Checks
 
 ### Docker health check
diff --git a/docs/release-notes/v3.5.0.md b/docs/release-notes/v3.5.0.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..71903481
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/release-notes/v3.5.0.md
@@ -0,0 +1,248 @@
+# CoreScope v3.5.0 Release Notes
+
+**95 commits** since v3.4.1 — the biggest release yet.
+
+---
+
+## 🐳 Pre-built Docker Images — One-Line Deploy
+
+CoreScope now publishes pre-built Docker images to GitHub Container Registry. **No more building from source.**
+
+### Quick start
+```bash
+docker run -d --name corescope \
+  -p 80:80 -p 1883:1883 \
+  -v corescope-data:/app/data \
+  ghcr.io/kpa-clawbot/corescope:latest
+```
+
+### Transitioning from source builds
+
+If you're currently building your own image:
+
+1. **Stop your existing container** — `docker stop corescope && docker rm corescope`
+2. **Keep your data volume** — your SQLite DB and config.json are preserved in the bind mount
+3. **Pull the pre-built image** — `docker pull ghcr.io/kpa-clawbot/corescope:latest`
+4. **Run with your existing data** — mount the same volume:
+   ```bash
+   docker run -d --name corescope \
+     -p 80:80 -p 1883:1883 \
+     -v /path/to/your/data:/app/data \
+     ghcr.io/kpa-clawbot/corescope:latest
+   ```
+
+### Image tags
+- `ghcr.io/kpa-clawbot/corescope:latest` — latest stable release
+- `ghcr.io/kpa-clawbot/corescope:vX.Y.Z` — pinned version (recommended for production)
+- `ghcr.io/kpa-clawbot/corescope:edge` — tip of master (unstable, for testing)
+
+### Zero-config defaults
+No `config.json` required. The server starts with sensible defaults: HTTP on port 80 (via Caddy), internal MQTT broker on 1883, SQLite in `/app/data/`. Drop a `config.json` into your data volume to customize.
+
+### New environment variables
+- `DISABLE_CADDY=true` — skip the Caddy reverse proxy (if you bring your own)
+- `DISABLE_MOSQUITTO=true` — skip the internal MQTT broker (if using an external one)
+
+---
+
+## ⚡ Performance
+
+**35 performance optimizations** — CoreScope now serves HTTP within 2 minutes on any database size.
+
+### Headlines
+- **Packets page**: p50 83% faster, p95 97% faster
+- **Topology analytics**: p50 83% faster
+- **Async backfill**: resolved_path backfill runs in the background — server is responsive during startup even with millions of observations
+- **Memory**: prefix map capped at 8 chars (10x memory reduction)
+
+### Backend
+- Incremental max ID tracking — no more full table scans on ingest
+- Batched eviction index cleanup
+- Combined filter passes (single scan instead of chained)
+- Single sort for RF analytics arrays
+- Early time filter in node analytics
+- In-memory hop resolution (eliminates N+1 DB queries)
+- Incremental distance index updates
+- Region observer caching (30s TTL)
+- Store stats: 5→2 concurrent queries
+- Subpath detail index instead of full packet scan
+- Grouped packets: cached observer count, deferred map construction
+
+### Frontend
+- Coalesced WebSocket renders with requestAnimationFrame
+- Replaced N+1 API calls with bulk `expand=observations` query
+- Parallelized `replayRecent()` fetches
+- Map markers repositioned on zoom instead of full rebuild
+- Network status computed client-side
+- Combined 4 subpath API calls into single bulk endpoint
+- Batched observation fetching eliminates N+1 on sort
+- Timeline updates skipped when tab is hidden
+- Incremental DOM diff in virtual scroll
+- Lazy observation maps in `txToMap`
+- og-image compressed from 1.1MB to 235KB
+
+---
+
+## 🔬 RF Health Dashboard
+
+New **RF Health** tab on the Analytics page with comprehensive observer radio metrics:
+
+- **Small multiples grid** — one card per observer showing key metrics at a glance
+- **Noise floor column chart** — color-coded bars (green/yellow/red by threshold) replacing the old line chart. Hover tooltips show exact dBm + timestamp
+- **Airtime charts** — TX/RX airtime with delta computation
+- **Error rate tracking** — receive errors per observer over time
+- **Battery charts** — observer battery level monitoring
+- **Region filter** — filter RF metrics by geographic region
+- **Observer detail** — click any observer to see detailed metrics in a side panel
+
+---
+
+## 🗺️ Live Map Enhancements
+
+### TRACE packet real path visualization
+Trace packets now show where the trace **actually reached** vs the full intended route:
+- **Solid animated line** for completed hops
+- **Dashed/ghosted line** (25% opacity) for unreached hops
+- Helps operators see exactly where traces fail
+
+### Movable panels
+- Overlay panels (feed, legend, node detail) have corner-position toggle buttons
+- Non-scrolling panel headers keep controls accessible
+- Panels remember their position in localStorage
+
+### Collapsible panels
+- All live map panels can be collapsed to just their header bar
+- Medium breakpoint responsive layout
+
+---
+
+## 📊 Analytics & Data
+
+### Hash Stats accuracy
+- "By Repeaters" section now correctly filters to repeater-role nodes only (was including companions/rooms)
+- Hash size display correctly shows "Unknown" for zero-hop direct adverts instead of misleading "1 byte"
+
+### Prefix Tool
+- New tab on the Analytics page showing prefix collision data
+- Text consistency improvements
+
+### Paths through node accuracy
+- Fixed prefix collision bug where packets through a different node with the same 2-char prefix were incorrectly shown
+- Now uses `resolved_path` (neighbor affinity graph) for accurate disambiguation
+
+### Table sorting
+- Sortable column headers on nodes list, neighbor tables, observer tables, and packets table
+- Sort indicators (▲/▼) show active sort column and direction
+- Stable sort with timestamp tiebreaker
+
+---
+
+## 🔗 Deep Linking
+
+- **Nodes page**: URL updates with node pubkey, tab, and search state
+- **Packets page**: URL includes time window and region filter
+- **Channels page**: URL reflects selected channel and node
+- **Analytics page**: URL includes active tab
+
+*Note: Packet filter expressions and desktop node selection deep links are coming in a follow-up.*
+
+---
+
+## 🎨 UI/UX
+
+### Distance unit preference
+- Choose between km, mi, or auto (locale-based) in the Customizer → Display tab
+- Small imperial distances show in feet (not "0.0 mi")
+- Analytics, node neighbors, and all distance displays respect the setting
+
+### Channel color highlighting
+- Assign colors to channels for visual distinction in live feed and packets table
+- 8-color palette, left-border encoding
+- Color dots on channels page and live feed items for easy access
+- Persists in localStorage
+
+### Mobile accessibility
+- Touch targets minimum 44×44px
+- ARIA labels on interactive elements
+- Small viewport support improvements
+
+### Map byte-size filter
+- Filter map markers by packet size
+
+### OpenAPI / Swagger
+- Auto-generated OpenAPI 3.0 spec at **`/api/spec`** — returns the full API schema as JSON
+- Interactive Swagger UI at **`/api/docs`** — browse and test all endpoints from your browser
+- Spec is generated from route definitions, always in sync with the running server
+- Useful for bot developers, integrators, and anyone building on top of CoreScope
+- Example: `curl https://your-instance/api/spec | jq .info`
+
+---
+
+## 🔒 Security
+
+### API key enforcement
+- Weak/default API keys (e.g., "test", "admin", "password") are rejected at startup
+- Write endpoints blocked when no API key is configured
+- Startup warning when API key is missing
+
+### License
+- Changed to GPL v3
+
+---
+
+## 🐛 Bug Fixes
+
+- Fixed `originLat` out-of-scope ReferenceError killing live map animations
+- Fixed zero-hop direct adverts showing incorrect hash size
+- Fixed live map animations stuck on any advert (block-scoping bug)
+- Fixed hash stats including non-repeater nodes
+- Fixed paths-through-node showing unrelated packets (prefix collision)
+- Fixed channel color picker completely non-functional (data shape mismatch)
+- Fixed panel corner toggle buttons invisible/scrolling away
+- Fixed table sorting broken on all node tables (attribute mismatch)
+- Fixed `time.Tick` leak in prune goroutine
+- Fixed View Route on Map button on packet detail page
+- Fixed virtual scroll row height measurement
+- Fixed collision cache not respecting TTL config
+- Fixed prefix map unbounded memory growth (capped at 8 chars)
+- Fixed memory eviction using inaccurate memory estimates (now uses runtime heap stats)
+
+---
+
+## 🏗️ Infrastructure
+
+- CI pipeline consolidated: build → test → publish to GHCR → deploy staging
+- Staging compose: standard ports (80/1883), no memory limit
+- CI build time reduced from ~14 min to ~3-4 min (removed arm64 QEMU cross-compilation)
+
+---
+
+## 📖 Documentation
+
+- Deployment guide with Docker quick start, compose examples, and configuration reference
+- User guide: getting started, page descriptions, config options, FAQ
+- OpenAPI 3.0 spec (auto-generated from route definitions)
+- Security analysis: AES-128-ECB block-level vulnerability assessment
+- Lock ordering documentation for concurrent access patterns
+
+---
+
+## Upgrading
+
+### From v3.4.1
+
+1. Pull the new image: `docker pull ghcr.io/kpa-clawbot/corescope:v3.5.0`
+2. Stop and remove old container: `docker stop corescope && docker rm corescope`
+3. Start with the new image (keep your data volume):
+   ```bash
+   docker run -d --name corescope \
+     -p 80:80 -p 1883:1883 \
+     -v /your/data:/app/data \
+     ghcr.io/kpa-clawbot/corescope:v3.5.0
+   ```
+
+**First startup note:** The server will backfill `resolved_path` data for existing observations in the background. The HTTP server is available within ~2 minutes. Full backfill may take longer on large databases but does not block serving.
+
+### Breaking changes
+- None. All API endpoints are backward compatible.
+- `resolved_path` is added to API responses (new field, `omitempty` — won't break existing clients).
diff --git a/docs/test-plans/v3.4.2-manual-validation.md b/docs/test-plans/v3.4.2-manual-validation.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..74dacb15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/test-plans/v3.4.2-manual-validation.md
@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+# v3.4.2 Manual Validation Checklist
+
+**Tester:** _______________
+**Staging:** http://20.109.157.39
+**Prod:** https://analyzer.00id.net (READ ONLY — do not deploy until staging passes)
+**Browser:** Chrome + Firefox + Safari (mobile for responsive items)
+**Time estimate:** ~45 minutes
+
+---
+
+## 🔴 HIGH RISK — Test First
+
+### 1. Zero-hop hash size display (#649, #653)
+- [ ] Go to Packets page, find a DIRECT advert (route_type=2, 0 hops)
+- [ ] Open packet detail — hash size should say "Unknown (zero-hop)" or be hidden, NOT "1 byte"
+- [ ] Check "Path Length" field shows `hash_count=0 (direct advert)` 
+- [ ] Find a FLOOD advert with 0 hops — it SHOULD show hash size (this is different from DIRECT)
+
+### 2. TRACE packet real path (#651, #656)
+- [ ] Send a trace from your companion
+- [ ] Watch Live map — the animated dot should only travel along completed hops (solid line)
+- [ ] Unreached hops should show as dashed/ghosted line at reduced opacity
+- [ ] If trace completes fully, entire path should be solid
+- [ ] Ghost line should auto-clean after ~10 seconds
+
+### 3. "Paths through this node" accuracy (#655, #658)
+- [ ] Go to: http://20.109.157.39/#/nodes/c0dedad4208acb6cbe44b848943fc6d3c5d43cf38a21e48b43826a70862980e4
+- [ ] Check "Packets through this node" — packets should actually have this node in their path
+- [ ] Compare with a node that shares a 2-char prefix (e.g. C0ffee SF) — they should show DIFFERENT packets
+- [ ] Spot-check 3-4 packets: click through, verify path contains the node
+
+### 4. Hash Stats "By Repeaters" (#652, #654)
+- [ ] Go to Analytics → Hash Stats
+- [ ] "By Repeaters" section should only show repeater-role nodes
+- [ ] Compare count in "Multi-Byte Hash Adopters" vs "By Repeaters" — adopters may include companions, repeaters section should not
+- [ ] Check that companions/rooms/sensors are excluded from the repeater distribution
+
+### 5. Noise floor column chart (#600, #659)
+- [ ] Go to Analytics → RF Health
+- [ ] Noise floor chart should show vertical color-coded bars, NOT a line
+- [ ] Green bars (< -100 dBm), yellow (-100 to -85), red (≥ -85)
+- [ ] Hover over a bar — tooltip should show exact dBm + timestamp
+- [ ] Check with only 1 observer selected — chart should still render (division by zero edge case)
+- [ ] Reboot markers (if any) should show as vertical dashed lines
+
+### 6. Async backfill on startup
+- [ ] SSH to staging: `ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 runner@20.109.157.39`
+- [ ] `docker restart corescope-staging-go`
+- [ ] Within 30 seconds, hit `curl http://localhost:82/api/stats` — should return data (not hang)
+- [ ] Check `backfilling` and `backfillProgress` fields in stats response
+- [ ] Server should be serving HTTP while backfill runs in background
+
+---
+
+## 🟡 MEDIUM RISK — Features
+
+### 7. Distance unit preference (#621, #646)
+- [ ] Go to Customizer → Display tab
+- [ ] Change distance unit to "mi" — all distances should show in miles
+- [ ] Change to "km" — all distances should show in km
+- [ ] Change to "auto" — should use locale (US = miles, EU = km)
+- [ ] Check Analytics page distances update after customizer change (no page reload needed)
+- [ ] Check Node detail → Neighbors table distances
+- [ ] Very small distances (<0.1 mi) should show in feet, not "0.0 mi"
+
+### 8. Panel corner toggle (#608, #657)
+- [ ] Go to Live map page
+- [ ] Each panel (feed, legend, node detail) should have a small corner-toggle button
+- [ ] Click the button — panel should snap to next corner (TL → TR → BR → BL)
+- [ ] Refresh page — panel positions should persist (localStorage)
+- [ ] Move two panels to same corner — collision avoidance should skip to next free corner
+- [ ] On mobile viewport (<768px?) — toggle buttons should be hidden
+
+### 9. Deep linking (#536, #618)
+- [ ] Navigate to Nodes page, click a node → URL should update with pubkey hash
+- [ ] Copy URL, open in new tab → should land on same node
+- [ ] Apply packet filters → URL hash should include filter params
+- [ ] Channels page: select a node → URL should reflect selection
+- [ ] Analytics tabs: switch tabs → URL should include tab name
+- [ ] Share a deep link with someone — they should see the same view
+
+### 10. Sortable tables (#620, #638, #639)
+- [ ] Nodes list: click column headers — should sort ascending/descending
+- [ ] Sort indicator (arrow) should be visible on active column
+- [ ] Node detail → Neighbors table: sortable
+- [ ] Node detail → Observers table: sortable
+- [ ] Packets table: sortable by column headers
+
+### 11. Channel color highlighting (#271, #607, #611)
+- [ ] Go to Channels page
+- [ ] Assign a color to a channel using the color picker
+- [ ] Feed rows should highlight with that color
+- [ ] Change color — should update immediately
+- [ ] Refresh — color assignment should persist
+
+### 12. Collapsible panels (#606)
+- [ ] Live map: panels should have collapse/expand toggle
+- [ ] Collapsed panel should show just the header
+- [ ] State should persist across page navigations
+
+### 13. Mobile accessibility (#630, #633)
+- [ ] Open staging on phone (or Chrome DevTools mobile emulation)
+- [ ] Touch targets should be at least 44×44px
+- [ ] Channel color picker should work on mobile
+- [ ] No horizontal scroll on any page
+- [ ] ARIA labels present on interactive elements (inspect with accessibility tools)
+
+### 14. Map byte-size filter (#565, #568)
+- [ ] Go to Map page
+- [ ] Find the byte-size filter control
+- [ ] Filter by packet size — map should update to show only matching packets
+- [ ] Clear filter — all packets should return
+
+### 15. API key security (#532, #628)
+- [ ] Try accessing a write endpoint without API key — should be blocked
+- [ ] Try with a weak key (e.g., "test", "admin") — should be rejected at startup
+- [ ] Check staging logs for API key warning: `docker logs corescope-staging-go 2>&1 | grep -i "apiKey\|api_key\|security"`
+
+### 16. OpenAPI/Swagger (#530, #632)
+- [ ] Hit http://20.109.157.39/api/spec — should return valid OpenAPI 3.0 spec
+- [ ] Hit http://20.109.157.39/api/docs — should show Swagger UI
+- [ ] Try an endpoint from Swagger UI — should work
+
+---
+
+## 🟢 LOW RISK — Verify Quickly
+
+### 17. View Route on Map button
+- [ ] Go to any packet detail page
+- [ ] Click "View Route on Map" — should navigate to map with route highlighted
+
+### 18. og-image compression
+- [ ] Check page source or network tab — og-image.png should be < 300KB (was 1.1MB)
+
+### 19. Prefix Tool
+- [ ] Analytics → Prefix Tool tab should load
+- [ ] Should show collision data
+
+### 20. License
+- [ ] Check repo footer/LICENSE — should be GPL v3
+
+### 21. Docker DISABLE_CADDY
+- [ ] (If testable) Set DISABLE_CADDY=true — Caddy should not start
+
+### 22. Region filter on RF Health
+- [ ] RF Health tab: change region filter — charts should update
+
+---
+
+## 🏁 Sign-off
+
+| Section | Status | Notes |
+|---------|--------|-------|
+| High risk (1-6) | ☐ | |
+| Medium risk (7-16) | ☐ | |
+| Low risk (17-22) | ☐ | |
+| **Overall** | ☐ | |
+
+**Tested by:** _______________  
+**Date:** _______________  
+**Staging version:** `curl -s http://20.109.157.39/api/stats | jq .version`  
+**Ready for release:** ☐ Yes / ☐ No — blockers: _______________
diff --git a/docs/test-plans/v3.4.2-release-test-plan.md b/docs/test-plans/v3.4.2-release-test-plan.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a60013dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/test-plans/v3.4.2-release-test-plan.md
@@ -0,0 +1,309 @@
+# v3.4.2 Release Test Plan
+
+**Scope:** 90 commits since v3.4.1 (84 files, +14,931 / -1,005)  
+**Categories:** 19 perf, 19 feat, 18 fix, 15 docs, 3 chore, 1 test, 1 refactor, 1 ci  
+**Date:** 2026-04-08
+
+---
+
+## A. Automated Tests — Verify All Pass
+
+### Go Backend
+```bash
+cd cmd/server && go test -race -count=1 ./...
+cd cmd/ingestor && go test -race -count=1 ./...
+```
+
+**Test files (27 total):**
+
+| File | Tests For |
+|------|-----------|
+| `cmd/server/decoder_test.go` | Hash size zero-hop, TRACE hopsCompleted, transport direct |
+| `cmd/server/backfill_async_test.go` | **NEW** — Async chunked backfill |
+| `cmd/server/eviction_test.go` | Memory eviction with runtime heap stats |
+| `cmd/server/apikey_security_test.go` | **NEW** — Weak/default API key rejection |
+| `cmd/server/openapi_test.go` | **NEW** — OpenAPI spec generation |
+| `cmd/server/routes_test.go` | Batch observations endpoint, subpaths-bulk, expand=observations |
+| `cmd/server/cache_invalidation_test.go` | cacheTTL config wiring |
+| `cmd/server/config_knobs_test.go` | cacheTTLSec helper |
+| `cmd/server/helpers_test.go` | constantTimeEqual, IsWeakAPIKey |
+| `cmd/server/obs_dedup_test.go` | UniqueObserverCount tracking |
+| `cmd/server/neighbor_*.go` (4 files) | Neighbor graph, affinity, persistence |
+| `cmd/server/perfstats_race_test.go` | Perf stats concurrency |
+| `cmd/server/resolve_context_test.go` | Resolved path filtering |
+| `cmd/server/advert_pubkey_test.go` | Advert pubkey tracking |
+| `cmd/server/db_test.go` | SQLite operations |
+| `cmd/server/config_test.go` | Config loading |
+| `cmd/server/coverage_test.go` | Coverage helpers |
+| `cmd/server/parity_test.go` | Go/JS decoder parity |
+| `cmd/server/websocket_test.go` | WebSocket broadcast |
+| `cmd/ingestor/decoder_test.go` | Ingestor decoder (hash size zero-hop) |
+| `cmd/ingestor/db_test.go` | Ingestor DB writes |
+| `cmd/ingestor/config_test.go` | Ingestor config |
+| `cmd/ingestor/main_test.go` | Ingestor entry |
+| `cmd/ingestor/coverage_boost_test.go` | Coverage helpers |
+
+### Frontend Unit Tests
+```bash
+node test-packet-filter.js
+node test-aging.js
+node test-frontend-helpers.js
+node test-table-sort.js          # NEW — shared table sort utility
+node test-channel-colors.js      # NEW — channel color model
+node test-panel-corner.js        # NEW — panel corner toggle
+node test-packets.js             # NEW — packets page logic
+node test-hop-resolver-affinity.js
+node test-customizer-v2.js
+node test-live.js
+node test-live-dedup.js
+```
+
+### E2E / Playwright
+```bash
+BASE_URL=http://localhost:13581 node test-e2e-playwright.js
+```
+
+**Expected:** All existing tests pass + new tests added for sortable tables, deep linking, collapsible panels.
+
+---
+
+## B. Manual Browser Verification
+
+### B1. HIGH RISK — Data Correctness
+
+| # | Feature | Page | What to Check |
+|---|---------|------|---------------|
+| 1 | Hash size zero-hop | Packets detail | Find a direct (route_type=0) packet → hash_size should show 0, not a bogus computed value |
+| 2 | TRACE hopsCompleted | Packets detail / Live map | Find a TRACE packet → verify `hopsCompleted` shows in decoded JSON, live map shows real path length vs intended |
+| 3 | Transport direct hash size | Packets detail | Find route_type=RouteTransportDirect packet → hash_size=0 |
+| 4 | resolved_path filtering | Node detail → Paths tab | Verify path-hop candidates use resolved_path, no prefix collision false positives |
+| 5 | Hash stats repeater filter | Analytics → Hash Issues | "By Repeaters" should only show nodes with repeater role, not companions/sensors |
+| 6 | Async chunked backfill | Server startup | Start server with large DB → verify HTTP serves within 2 minutes, `X-CoreScope-Status: backfilling` header present, then transitions to `ready` |
+| 7 | Memory eviction (heap stats) | Admin/stats | Verify `/api/stats` shows realistic memory numbers from runtime heap, not the old estimation |
+| 8 | Distance/subpath/path-hop indexes | Analytics → Distances, Subpaths | Verify analytics data matches v3.4.1 output (no missing or extra entries) |
+| 9 | cacheTTL config wiring | Config | Set `cacheTTL.analyticsHashSizes: 300` in config → verify collision cache respects it |
+
+### B2. MEDIUM RISK — User-Facing Features
+
+| # | Feature | Page | What to Check |
+|---|---------|------|---------------|
+| 10 | Distance unit preference | Nodes detail, Map | Toggle km/mi/auto in settings → distances update throughout UI |
+| 11 | Panel corner toggle | Live page | Click corner toggle → panel moves to opposite corner, persists on reload |
+| 12 | Noise floor column chart | Analytics → RF | Verify column chart renders with color-coded thresholds, hover shows values |
+| 13 | Deep linking UI states | All pages | Navigate to `#/nodes?tab=neighbors`, `#/packets?observer=X`, `#/channels?node=Y` → correct state loads. Copy URL, open in new tab → same state |
+| 14 | Sortable tables | Nodes list, Neighbors, Observers | Click column headers → sort asc/desc, indicator arrow shows, persists correctly |
+| 15 | Channel color highlighting | Channels, Live feed | Assign color to channel → feed rows show that color, persists on reload |
+| 16 | Mobile accessibility | All pages (phone viewport) | Touch targets ≥44px, ARIA labels present, small viewport doesn't overflow |
+| 17 | Collapsible panels | Live map | Collapse/expand panels, medium breakpoint auto-collapses, state persists |
+| 18 | Byte-size map filter | Map page | Filter by byte size → markers update correctly |
+| 19 | OpenAPI/Swagger | `/api/spec`, `/api/docs` | Spec loads valid JSON, Swagger UI renders and all endpoints are documented |
+| 20 | API key rejection | Protected endpoints | Send weak key (e.g. "changeme", "test123") → 403 forbidden |
+| 21 | Channel color picker mobile | Channels (phone viewport) | Color picker usable on touch, doesn't overflow |
+| 22 | RF Health dashboard | Analytics → RF Health | Observer metrics grid, airtime charts, battery charts, error rate, region filter |
+| 23 | Prefix Tool tab | Analytics → Prefix Tool | Renders correctly, collision data consistent with Hash Issues |
+| 24 | View Route on Map | Packet detail page | Button works and shows route on map |
+
+### B3. LOWER RISK — Performance (Verify No Regressions)
+
+| # | Feature | Page | What to Check |
+|---|---------|------|---------------|
+| 25 | Incremental DOM diff | Packets (30K+) | Virtual scroll renders smoothly, no visible flicker |
+| 26 | Coalesced WS renders | Live page | Rapid packets don't cause frame drops (rAF coalescing) |
+| 27 | Marker reposition on zoom | Map | Zoom/resize → markers move smoothly, no full rebuild flash |
+| 28 | Parallel replay fetches | Live → VCR | Replay loads quickly (parallel observation fetches) |
+| 29 | Batch observations API | Packets page (sort change) | Changing sort fetches observations in batch (network tab: 1 POST not N GETs) |
+| 30 | Client-side network status | Analytics | No separate API call for network status |
+| 31 | og-image compression | `/og-image.png` | Verify loads, ~235KB not ~1.1MB |
+
+---
+
+## C. API Regression Tests
+
+Run against a local server with test-fixture DB:
+
+```bash
+BASE=http://localhost:13581
+
+# Core endpoints — verify response shape
+curl -s "$BASE/api/stats" | jq '.totalPackets, .backfilling, .backfillProgress'
+curl -s "$BASE/api/packets?limit=5" | jq '.packets[0] | keys'
+curl -s "$BASE/api/packets?limit=5&expand=observations" | jq '.packets[0].observations | length'
+curl -s "$BASE/api/nodes?limit=5" | jq '.[0] | keys'
+
+# New endpoints
+curl -s -X POST "$BASE/api/packets/observations" \
+  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
+  -d '{"hashes":["test123"]}' | jq '.results | keys'
+
+curl -s "$BASE/api/analytics/subpaths-bulk?hops=A,B&hops=B,C" | jq 'keys'
+
+curl -s "$BASE/api/observers/metrics/summary" | jq 'type'
+curl -s "$BASE/api/spec" | jq '.openapi'
+curl -s "$BASE/api/docs" | head -5  # Should return HTML
+
+# Backfill status header
+curl -sI "$BASE/api/stats" | grep X-CoreScope-Status
+
+# API key rejection
+curl -s -H 'X-API-Key: changeme' "$BASE/api/debug/vars" | jq '.error'
+curl -s -H 'X-API-Key: test' "$BASE/api/debug/vars" | jq '.error'
+
+# Existing endpoints — verify not broken
+curl -s "$BASE/api/analytics/rf?timeRange=24h" | jq 'keys'
+curl -s "$BASE/api/analytics/hash-sizes" | jq 'type'
+curl -s "$BASE/api/analytics/distances" | jq 'type'
+curl -s "$BASE/api/analytics/subpaths" | jq 'type'
+curl -s "$BASE/api/channels" | jq 'type'
+curl -s "$BASE/api/config/client" | jq 'keys'
+```
+
+### Expected response shape changes from v3.4.1:
+- `/api/stats` now includes `backfilling` (bool) and `backfillProgress` (float 0-1)
+- `/api/packets` no longer strips observations by default (lazy via `ExpandObservations` flag) — verify `observations` key absent without `expand=observations`
+- Decoded packets with route_type=direct now have `hashSize: 0`
+- TRACE packets now have `path.hopsCompleted` field
+
+---
+
+## D. Performance Regression Tests
+
+### D1. Server Startup Time
+```bash
+# Start server with production-size DB (~30K packets)
+# Measure time from process start to first successful HTTP response
+time curl -s http://localhost:13581/api/stats > /dev/null
+# Target: < 2 minutes (async backfill requirement)
+```
+
+### D2. Go Benchmarks
+```bash
+cd cmd/server && go test -bench=. -benchmem -count=3
+```
+Key benchmarks to compare with v3.4.1 baseline:
+- `BenchmarkQueryPackets` — should not regress with new indexes
+- `BenchmarkEvictStale` — batch removal from secondary indexes
+- `BenchmarkGetStoreStats` — 2 concurrent queries vs 5 sequential
+- `BenchmarkIngestNew` — additional index maintenance overhead
+
+### D3. Frontend Performance
+- Open Packets page with 30K+ packets → measure initial render time (DevTools Performance tab)
+- Scroll rapidly through virtual scroll → should maintain 60fps
+- Switch sort column on packets → single batch POST, not N+1 GETs
+- Open Analytics page → no redundant API calls in network tab
+
+### D4. Memory Usage
+- After loading 30K packets, check `/api/stats` memory figure
+- Compare with v3.4.1 baseline (prefix map cap at 8 chars should reduce ~10x)
+- Verify eviction triggers at correct memory threshold using runtime heap stats
+
+---
+
+## E. Infrastructure / Deployment Tests
+
+### E1. Docker Build
+```bash
+docker build -t corescope:test .
+docker run --rm -p 13581:13581 corescope:test
+# Verify: container starts, HTTP responds, WebSocket connects
+```
+
+### E2. GHCR Publish (CI)
+- Verify CI publishes to `ghcr.io/kpa-clawbot/corescope`
+- Verify tags: `edge` (master), `vX.Y.Z` (release)
+
+### E3. Staging Deploy
+```bash
+# Verify staging compose works with standard ports
+docker compose -f docker-compose.staging.yml up -d
+# Check: no 3GB memory limit, standard port binding
+```
+
+### E4. DISABLE_CADDY
+```bash
+docker run --rm -e DISABLE_CADDY=true corescope:test
+# Verify: Caddy not started, Go server serves directly
+```
+
+### E5. CI Pipeline
+- Verify consolidated pipeline: build → publish GHCR → deploy staging
+- Verify runs on `meshcore-runner-2`
+
+---
+
+## F. Edge Cases & Integration Tests
+
+### F1. Cross-Feature Interactions
+| Scenario | Risk |
+|----------|------|
+| Deep link to sorted table → sort state matches URL params | Medium |
+| Channel color + deep link → color persists in linked URL | Medium |
+| Panel corner toggle + collapsible panels → both states persist independently | Low |
+| Distance unit pref + neighbor table sort by distance → sort uses correct unit | Medium |
+| Noise floor chart + region filter → chart respects filter | Medium |
+| Byte-size map filter + channel color highlighting → both active simultaneously | Low |
+
+### F2. Data Correctness Edge Cases
+| Scenario | Risk |
+|----------|------|
+| Zero-hop TRACE packet (should NOT reset hashSize — TRACE exemption) | **High** |
+| Packet with all hops having same 2-char prefix → resolved_path filtering prevents false match | **High** |
+| Node that switches role (repeater → companion) → hash stats updates | Medium |
+| Backfill interrupted mid-chunk (server restart) → resumes or completes on next start | Medium |
+| Empty DB startup → no errors, backfill completes instantly | Low |
+| DB with 100K+ packets → async backfill doesn't OOM, progress reported | **High** |
+
+### F3. Concurrency / Race Conditions
+| Scenario | Risk |
+|----------|------|
+| Concurrent API requests during backfill → no deadlock (lock ordering documented) | **High** |
+| Eviction running while analytics query in progress → no stale pointer panic | **High** |
+| Multiple WebSocket clients during high ingest rate → coalesced broadcasts don't drop | Medium |
+| `time.NewTicker` cleanup on graceful shutdown (replaced `time.Tick`) | Low |
+
+### F4. API Key Security
+| Scenario | Expected |
+|----------|----------|
+| No API key configured → write endpoints disabled | 403 "write endpoints disabled" |
+| Weak key "changeme" → rejected even if configured | 403 "forbidden" |
+| Timing-safe comparison → no timing oracle | Constant-time via `crypto/subtle` |
+| Empty string key → rejected | 401 "unauthorized" |
+
+### F5. Browser Compatibility
+- Test on Chrome, Firefox, Safari (latest)
+- Test on iOS Safari, Android Chrome
+- Verify touch targets on mobile (44px minimum)
+- Verify ARIA labels with screen reader
+
+---
+
+## G. Test Coverage Gaps — Action Items
+
+| Gap | Priority | Action |
+|-----|----------|--------|
+| No automated test for distance unit preference rendering | Medium | Add Playwright test |
+| No automated test for noise floor column chart | Medium | Add Playwright test |
+| No automated test for deep link state restoration | **High** | Add Playwright tests for each deep-linkable state |
+| No automated test for channel color persistence | Medium | `test-channel-colors.js` covers model; need Playwright for UI |
+| No automated test for mobile viewport behavior | Medium | Add Playwright test with mobile viewport |
+| No automated test for backfill progress header | Low | Add to `routes_test.go` |
+| No automated test for `time.NewTicker` cleanup | Low | Add to graceful shutdown test |
+| Observer metrics endpoints not covered in route tests | Medium | Add to `routes_test.go` |
+| Subpaths-bulk endpoint needs test | Medium | Add to `routes_test.go` |
+| No load test for batch observations endpoint (200 hash limit) | Low | Add boundary test |
+
+---
+
+## H. Release Checklist
+
+- [ ] All Go tests pass with `-race` flag
+- [ ] All frontend unit tests pass
+- [ ] Playwright E2E tests pass
+- [ ] Manual browser verification (Section B) complete
+- [ ] API regression tests (Section C) pass
+- [ ] Docker build succeeds
+- [ ] Staging deploy verified
+- [ ] No console errors on any page
+- [ ] Performance spot-checks (Section D) — no regressions
+- [ ] Coverage badges updated (backend ≥85%, frontend ≥42%)
+- [ ] CHANGELOG updated
+- [ ] Tag `v3.4.2` created
diff --git a/docs/user-guide/faq.md b/docs/user-guide/faq.md
index 47c22170..34d84efa 100644
--- a/docs/user-guide/faq.md
+++ b/docs/user-guide/faq.md
@@ -52,3 +52,14 @@ CoreScope uses URL hashes for deep linking. Copy the URL from your browser — i
 - `#/packets/abc123` — a specific packet
 - `#/analytics?tab=collisions` — the hash issues tab
 - `#/nodes/pubkey123` — a specific node's detail page
+
+### Where is the API documentation?
+
+CoreScope auto-generates an OpenAPI 3.0 specification from its route definitions:
+
+- **Interactive docs (Swagger UI):** `/api/docs` — browse and test all 40+ endpoints from your browser
+- **Machine-readable spec:** `/api/spec` — import into Postman, Insomnia, or any OpenAPI tool
+
+The spec is always in sync with the running server. No manual maintenance needed.
+
+On the public instance: [analyzer.00id.net/api/docs](https://analyzer.00id.net/api/docs)