diff --git a/app/catalogue/demos.js b/app/catalogue/demos.js
index 3cf4d768..2b538c93 100644
--- a/app/catalogue/demos.js
+++ b/app/catalogue/demos.js
@@ -334,6 +334,11 @@ export const DEMOS = {
     { at: 0, label: "1", hint: "0" }, { at: 0.4, label: "2", hint: "96" },
     { at: 0.75, label: "3", hint: "180" },
   ] },
+  "track.default": { label: "Timeline", pxPerSecond: 40, playhead: 6.5, selection: ["2"], items: [
+    { id: "1", icon: "▦", label: "Scene 1", badge: "1", start: 0, duration: 4 },
+    { id: "2", icon: "▦", label: "Scene 2", badge: "2", start: 4, duration: 6, rating: "liked" },
+    { id: "3", icon: "▦", label: "Scene 3", badge: "3", start: 10, duration: 3, excluded: true },
+  ] },
   "wheel.half": { edge: "right", items: [
     { icon: "✂", label: "Split" }, { icon: "⧉", label: "Duplicate" },
     { icon: "★", label: "Rate" }, { icon: "◐", label: "Anchor" },
diff --git a/app/composer/composer.css b/app/composer/composer.css
index 6d74b0f3..ff344820 100644
--- a/app/composer/composer.css
+++ b/app/composer/composer.css
@@ -14,4 +14,5 @@
 @import "./elements/status.css";
 @import "./elements/overlay.css";
 @import "./elements/gallery.css";
+@import "./elements/track.css";
 @import "./elements/wheel.css";
diff --git a/app/composer/elements/gallery.js b/app/composer/elements/gallery.js
index 624eb788..6b1b4f6f 100644
--- a/app/composer/elements/gallery.js
+++ b/app/composer/elements/gallery.js
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 import { define } from "../internals/register.js";
 import { el } from "../internals/el.js";
 import { applyDensity, recallCols, rememberCols, normaliseCols } from "../internals/density.js";
+import { wireDragReorder } from "../internals/dragReorder.js";
 
 const EMPTY = "Nothing here yet";
 
@@ -222,45 +223,7 @@ define("gallery", "strip", ({ onReorder, ...props } = {}) => {
     return cell;
   });
 
-  // Delegated on the container rather than per-cell: cells are torn down and
-  // rebuilt on every setItems/setValue, and listeners bound to them would have
-  // to be reattached every time. One set here survives all of that.
-  //
-  // The dragged item's id lives on `dataTransfer`, not in a closure variable.
-  // A closure var tracks by NOTHING the browser understands, so nothing keeps
-  // it in step with the actual drag session: `dragend` fires on the ORIGINAL
-  // source element, and a redraw mid-drag (an unrelated remove/undo firing on
-  // its own input channel while the mouse is still held down) can detach that
-  // element from the tree -- its `dragend` then never bubbles here, and a
-  // closure var set at dragstart is never cleared, ready to be picked up by
-  // the next unrelated drop that lands on this strip from somewhere else
-  // entirely. `dataTransfer` has no such gap: it belongs to the actual OS-level
-  // drag session, unaffected by which DOM node currently receives the events,
-  // and a drop from any OTHER session simply never had this MIME type set.
-  const MIME = "text/x-funpack-reorder";
-  const cellOf = (e) => e.target.closest(".cx-strip-cell");
-  node.addEventListener("dragstart", (e) => {
-    const cell = cellOf(e);
-    if (!cell || !e.dataTransfer) return;
-    e.dataTransfer.effectAllowed = "move";
-    e.dataTransfer.setData(MIME, cell.dataset.id || "");
-    cell.classList.add("cx-dragging");
-  });
-  node.addEventListener("dragend", (e) => { cellOf(e)?.classList.remove("cx-dragging"); });
-  node.addEventListener("dragover", (e) => {
-    // `getData` only returns the real value on "drop" (a browser security
-    // restriction during drag) -- `types` is what dragover can actually read.
-    if (e.dataTransfer && e.dataTransfer.types.includes(MIME)) e.preventDefault();
-  });
-  node.addEventListener("drop", (e) => {
-    if (!e.dataTransfer) return;
-    const draggedId = e.dataTransfer.getData(MIME);
-    if (!draggedId) return;
-    e.preventDefault();
-    const cell = cellOf(e);
-    const targetId = cell ? cell.dataset.id : null;
-    if (onReorder && targetId && targetId !== draggedId) onReorder(draggedId, targetId);
-  });
+  wireDragReorder(node, ".cx-strip-cell", onReorder);
 
   return {
     node,
diff --git a/app/composer/elements/index.js b/app/composer/elements/index.js
index ef005a1e..78e56aa3 100644
--- a/app/composer/elements/index.js
+++ b/app/composer/elements/index.js
@@ -16,4 +16,5 @@ import "./modal.js";
 import "./popover.js";
 import "./floating.js";
 import "./gallery.js";
+import "./track.js";
 import "./wheel.js";
diff --git a/app/composer/elements/track.css b/app/composer/elements/track.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f85501f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/composer/elements/track.css
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/* A real timeline: a ruler in seconds, clips as wide as they play for, and a
+ * playhead over both. Pixel-positioned rather than percent/flex-grow -- what
+ * makes the ruler's ticks and the clips underneath actually line up. */
+.cx-track { overflow-x: auto; min-inline-size: 0; }
+.cx-track-inner { position: relative; min-inline-size: 100%; }
+
+.cx-track-ruler {
+  position: relative; block-size: var(--lh-8); min-inline-size: 100%;
+  border-block-end: var(--bw) solid var(--line-2);
+}
+.cx-track-tick {
+  position: absolute; inset-block-start: 0;
+  padding-inline-start: var(--sp-1);
+  border-inline-start: var(--bw) solid var(--line);
+  font-size: var(--fs-8); line-height: var(--lh-8); color: var(--faint);
+  font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
+}
+
+/* A fixed row height, not aspect-ratio off the clip's own width -- a clip's
+   width now tracks real duration and can run to hundreds of pixels, and
+   16:10 off THAT would make a half-minute scene taller than the window. */
+.cx-track-clips { display: flex; min-inline-size: 100%; block-size: 45px; }
+.cx-track-clip {
+  flex: none; padding: 0; block-size: 100%;
+  border: var(--bw) solid var(--line); border-radius: var(--r-2);
+  background: var(--void); overflow: hidden; cursor: grab;
+  display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;
+}
+.cx-track-clip + .cx-track-clip { border-inline-start: none; }
+.cx-track-face { position: relative; inline-size: 100%; block-size: 100%; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; }
+.cx-track-clip:hover { border-color: var(--accent); }
+.cx-track-clip.cx-on { border-color: var(--accent); box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 1px var(--accent); }
+.cx-track-clip.cx-dragging { opacity: 0.4; cursor: grabbing; }
+/* Still on the timeline, still there to bring back -- excluded from a batch
+   run reads as dimmed, not gone, the way a deleted scene would be. */
+.cx-track-clip.cx-excluded { opacity: 0.45; }
+/* A clip carries its rating as a colour on its edge -- the one thing about a
+   result you want to see without selecting it. */
+.cx-track-clip.cx-rated { border-color: var(--muted); }
+.cx-track-clip[data-rating="liked"]    { border-color: var(--good); }
+.cx-track-clip[data-rating="disliked"] { border-color: var(--danger); }
+
+/* Spans both rows, so where the ruler reads and where the clip sits are
+   visibly the same point -- a plain marker on just one of them would not
+   read as "this is where you are" the way a line through both does. */
+.cx-track-playhead {
+  position: absolute; inset-block: 0; inline-size: 0;
+  border-inline-start: 2px solid var(--accent-hi);
+  pointer-events: none; z-index: 1;
+}
diff --git a/app/composer/elements/track.js b/app/composer/elements/track.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..de28ccc4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/composer/elements/track.js
@@ -0,0 +1,164 @@
+// A single time-based track: clips laid out by real duration, a ruler in
+// seconds, and a playhead -- the shape of an actual video timeline, not a
+// filmstrip of equal-sized thumbnails with a tick per item.
+//
+// One track, on purpose: v5 generates one clip per scene, in order, with no
+// separate audio/overlay layers to line up against it. A second track is a
+// different, larger feature (waveforms, compositing, independent trims) --
+// this is only ever asked to place things that already play back to back.
+
+import { define } from "../internals/register.js";
+import { el } from "../internals/el.js";
+import { wireDragReorder } from "../internals/dragReorder.js";
+
+/** A clip's face: the result so far, or the glyph that stands in for one --
+ *  the same visual language cx-cell-thumb uses elsewhere in the kit, but
+ *  filling the clip's own fixed-height box rather than a 16:10 box of its
+ *  own: a clip's width tracks real duration, and that box can run to
+ *  hundreds of pixels wide. */
+function faceOf(item) {
+  const thumb = el("div", { cls: "cx-track-face" });
+  const glyph = () => el("span", { cls: "cx-cell-glyph", text: item.icon || "▦", attrs: { "aria-hidden": "true" } });
+  if (item.thumb) {
+    const img = el("img", { cls: "cx-cell-img", attrs: { src: item.thumb, alt: "", loading: "lazy" } });
+    // A thumbnail that fails to load falls back to the glyph, not the
+    // browser's broken-image icon -- which would read as a damaged file.
+    img.addEventListener("error", () => img.replaceWith(glyph()));
+    thumb.append(img);
+  } else {
+    thumb.append(glyph());
+  }
+  if (item.badge) thumb.append(el("span", { cls: "cx-cell-badge", text: item.badge }));
+  return thumb;
+}
+
+// A tick every 1/2/5/10... seconds, whichever is the smallest that still
+// leaves room to read the label beside it. Fixed intervals rather than a tick
+// per clip: what a person reads off a ruler is elapsed TIME, and a tick per
+// scene is the scene-index ruler this replaces.
+const NICE_INTERVALS = [1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, 120, 300, 600, 900, 1800, 3600];
+const MIN_TICK_PX = 56;
+
+function tickInterval(pxPerSecond) {
+  for (const s of NICE_INTERVALS) if (s * pxPerSecond >= MIN_TICK_PX) return s;
+  return NICE_INTERVALS[NICE_INTERVALS.length - 1];
+}
+
+function formatTime(seconds) {
+  const whole = Math.max(0, Math.round(seconds));
+  const m = Math.floor(whole / 60);
+  const s = whole % 60;
+  return `${m}:${String(s).padStart(2, "0")}`;
+}
+
+// A floor, not a cap: a scene under a second would otherwise render as a
+// sliver nothing could click or even see next to a normal one. Everything
+// else stays exactly proportional -- this only rescues the degenerate case.
+const MIN_CLIP_PX = 24;
+
+/**
+ * track.default({ items, pxPerSecond, selection, playhead, label,
+ *                  onSeek, onReorder })
+ *
+ * `items`: [{ id, label, thumb, icon, badge, rating, excluded, start,
+ *             duration }] -- start/duration in SECONDS, contiguous (each
+ * item's start is the previous one's start + duration), which is what lets
+ * one click handler double as both "seek" and "select": every point on the
+ * track belongs to exactly one clip. The track's own span is read off the
+ * items themselves (the last one's start + duration) -- nothing else here
+ * knows the project's length.
+ *
+ * `onSeek(seconds, item)` fires on any click on the track -- the ruler, the
+ * empty background, or a clip. `item` is whichever clip's span the point
+ * (or, for a clip itself, the clip clicked) falls in.
+ */
+define("track", "default", ({
+  items = [], pxPerSecond: initialPxPerSecond = 40, selection = [], playhead = 0,
+  label, onSeek, onReorder,
+} = {}) => {
+  let pxPerSecond = initialPxPerSecond;
+  const chosen = new Set(selection);
+  let current = items;
+  const spanOf = () => current.reduce((max, i) => Math.max(max, i.start + i.duration), 0);
+
+  const node = el("div", { cls: "cx-track", attrs: { role: "presentation", "aria-label": label } });
+  const inner = el("div", { cls: "cx-track-inner" });
+  const ruler = el("div", { cls: "cx-track-ruler", attrs: { role: "presentation" } });
+  const clips = el("div", { cls: "cx-track-clips", attrs: { role: "listbox", "aria-label": label } });
+  const head = el("div", { cls: "cx-track-playhead", attrs: { "aria-hidden": "true" } });
+  inner.append(ruler, clips, head);
+  node.append(inner);
+
+  function drawRuler(span) {
+    ruler.replaceChildren();
+    const interval = tickInterval(pxPerSecond);
+    for (let t = 0; t <= span; t += interval) {
+      const tick = el("span", { cls: "cx-track-tick", text: formatTime(t) });
+      tick.style.insetInlineStart = `${t * pxPerSecond}px`;
+      ruler.append(tick);
+    }
+  }
+
+  function drawClips() {
+    clips.replaceChildren();
+    for (const item of current) {
+      const on = chosen.has(item.id);
+      const cell = el("button", {
+        cls: ["cx-track-clip", on ? "cx-on" : null, item.rating ? "cx-rated" : null,
+              item.excluded ? "cx-excluded" : null, "cx-focusable"],
+        attrs: {
+          type: "button", role: "option", "aria-selected": String(on), title: item.label,
+          "aria-label": item.label, "data-rating": item.rating || undefined,
+          "data-id": item.id,
+          // Draggable whether or not `onReorder` is given, matching the
+          // strip: a drag with nowhere to report to is inert, not wired.
+          draggable: "true",
+        },
+        children: [faceOf(item)],
+      });
+      cell.style.width = `${Math.max(MIN_CLIP_PX, item.duration * pxPerSecond)}px`;
+      clips.append(cell);
+    }
+  }
+
+  function setPlayhead(seconds) {
+    head.style.insetInlineStart = `${Math.max(0, seconds) * pxPerSecond}px`;
+  }
+
+  function draw() {
+    const span = spanOf();
+    inner.style.width = `${span * pxPerSecond}px`;
+    drawRuler(span);
+    drawClips();
+    setPlayhead(playhead);
+  }
+
+  wireDragReorder(clips, ".cx-track-clip", onReorder);
+
+  // One handler for the whole track: a click's OWN position is turned into a
+  // time, the same way a scrub bar would, whether it landed on the ruler, the
+  // empty background, or a clip -- a clip covers most of the track's area, so
+  // reading its id instead of where on it the click landed would make the
+  // ruler the only place a real, exact-second seek ever reaches. Keyboard
+  // activation (Enter/Space on a focused clip) still resolves correctly: the
+  // browser reports the click at that button's own on-screen position, which
+  // is well inside the right clip's span even if not at its exact start.
+  inner.addEventListener("click", (e) => {
+    if (!onSeek) return;
+    const rect = inner.getBoundingClientRect();
+    const seconds = Math.min(spanOf(), Math.max(0, (e.clientX - rect.left) / pxPerSecond));
+    const item = current.find((i) => seconds < i.start + i.duration) || current[current.length - 1] || null;
+    onSeek(seconds, item);
+  });
+
+  draw();
+
+  return {
+    node,
+    setItems(next = []) { current = next; draw(); },
+    setValue(next = []) { chosen.clear(); for (const id of next) chosen.add(id); drawClips(); },
+    setPlayhead(seconds) { playhead = seconds; setPlayhead(seconds); },
+    setZoom(next) { pxPerSecond = next; draw(); },
+    destroy: () => node.remove(),
+  };
+});
diff --git a/app/composer/internals/dragReorder.js b/app/composer/internals/dragReorder.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e0e93af2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/composer/internals/dragReorder.js
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+// Reordering a row of id-tagged children by drag, shared by every element that
+// has one (the scene strip, the timeline track).
+//
+// Delegated on the container: cells are torn down and rebuilt on every redraw,
+// and listeners bound to them would have to be reattached every time. One set
+// here survives all of that.
+//
+// The dragged item's id lives on `dataTransfer`, not in a closure variable. A
+// closure var tracks by NOTHING the browser understands, so nothing keeps it in
+// step with the actual drag session: `dragend` fires on the ORIGINAL source
+// element, and a redraw mid-drag (an unrelated remove/undo firing on its own
+// input channel while the mouse is still held down) can detach that element
+// from the tree -- its `dragend` then never bubbles here, and a closure var set
+// at dragstart is never cleared, ready to be picked up by the next unrelated
+// drop that lands on this row from somewhere else entirely. `dataTransfer` has
+// no such gap: it belongs to the actual OS-level drag session, unaffected by
+// which DOM node currently receives the events, and a drop from any OTHER
+// session simply never had this MIME type set.
+const MIME = "text/x-funpack-reorder";
+
+/** wireDragReorder(node, ".cx-cell-selector", (draggedId, targetId) => {}) */
+export function wireDragReorder(node, cellSelector, onReorder) {
+  const cellOf = (e) => e.target.closest(cellSelector);
+  node.addEventListener("dragstart", (e) => {
+    const cell = cellOf(e);
+    if (!cell || !e.dataTransfer) return;
+    e.dataTransfer.effectAllowed = "move";
+    e.dataTransfer.setData(MIME, cell.dataset.id || "");
+    cell.classList.add("cx-dragging");
+  });
+  node.addEventListener("dragend", (e) => { cellOf(e)?.classList.remove("cx-dragging"); });
+  node.addEventListener("dragover", (e) => {
+    // `getData` only returns the real value on "drop" (a browser security
+    // restriction during drag) -- `types` is what dragover can actually read.
+    if (e.dataTransfer && e.dataTransfer.types.includes(MIME)) e.preventDefault();
+  });
+  node.addEventListener("drop", (e) => {
+    if (!e.dataTransfer) return;
+    const draggedId = e.dataTransfer.getData(MIME);
+    if (!draggedId) return;
+    e.preventDefault();
+    const cell = cellOf(e);
+    const targetId = cell ? cell.dataset.id : null;
+    if (onReorder && targetId && targetId !== draggedId) onReorder(draggedId, targetId);
+  });
+}
diff --git a/app/composer/tests/elements_behaviour.test.js b/app/composer/tests/elements_behaviour.test.js
index 09b9f259..52cb493d 100644
--- a/app/composer/tests/elements_behaviour.test.js
+++ b/app/composer/tests/elements_behaviour.test.js
@@ -498,6 +498,124 @@ test("a bin's thumbnails are lazy", () => {
   }
 });
 
+// --- track -------------------------------------------------------------
+
+const CLIPS = [
+  { id: "a", label: "Scene 1", start: 0, duration: 4 },
+  { id: "b", label: "Scene 2", start: 4, duration: 6 },
+  { id: "c", label: "Scene 3", start: 10, duration: 2 },
+];
+
+test("a clip's width is proportional to its duration, not equal to its neighbours'", () => {
+  // The third clip is 2s at 10px/s = 20px, under the 24px floor -- widened to
+  // stay clickable, which is why it is not exactly proportional to the other
+  // two the way the first two are to each other.
+  const t = mount(composer.track.default({ items: CLIPS, pxPerSecond: 10 }));
+  const widths = [...t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip")].map((c) => parseFloat(c.style.width));
+  assert.deepEqual(widths, [40, 60, 24]);
+});
+
+test("a clip under the pixel floor is not squeezed to nothing", () => {
+  const t = mount(composer.track.default({
+    items: [{ id: "a", label: "Sliver", start: 0, duration: 0.1 }], pxPerSecond: 10,
+  }));
+  const width = parseFloat(t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-clip").style.width);
+  assert.ok(width >= 24, `a 0.1s clip at 10px/s rendered ${width}px wide`);
+});
+
+test("the ruler reads real elapsed time, not a tick per clip", () => {
+  // Three clips, but the ruler's ticks are seconds -- there is no reason their
+  // count should match the clip count in either direction.
+  const t = mount(composer.track.default({ items: CLIPS, pxPerSecond: 40 }));
+  const ticks = [...t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-tick")].map((n) => n.textContent);
+  assert.deepEqual(ticks, ["0:00", "0:02", "0:04", "0:06", "0:08", "0:10", "0:12"]);
+});
+
+test("clicking partway into a clip seeks to that exact second, not to the clip's start", () => {
+  // A clip covers most of the track's own area -- if a click on one only
+  // ever resolved to its START, an exact-second seek would only ever be
+  // reachable from the thin ruler strip above it.
+  const seen = [];
+  const t = mount(composer.track.default({
+    items: CLIPS, pxPerSecond: 40, onSeek: (seconds, item) => seen.push([seconds, item && item.id]),
+  }));
+  // Clip "b" spans 4s-10s -> 160px-400px at 40px/s. 250px is 6.25s into it.
+  t.node.querySelector('[data-id="b"]')
+    .dispatchEvent(new window.MouseEvent("click", { bubbles: true, clientX: 250 }));
+  assert.deepEqual(seen, [[6.25, "b"]]);
+});
+
+test("clicking empty track (the ruler, the gap past the clips) seeks by position", () => {
+  const seen = [];
+  const t = mount(composer.track.default({
+    items: CLIPS, pxPerSecond: 10, onSeek: (seconds, item) => seen.push([seconds, item && item.id]),
+  }));
+  const inner = t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-inner");
+  inner.dispatchEvent(new window.MouseEvent("click", { bubbles: true, clientX: 45 }));
+  // 45px at 10px/s = 4.5s, which falls inside clip "b" (4s..10s).
+  assert.deepEqual(seen, [[4.5, "b"]]);
+});
+
+test("a seek past the last clip clamps to the track's own end", () => {
+  const seen = [];
+  const t = mount(composer.track.default({
+    items: CLIPS, pxPerSecond: 10, onSeek: (seconds, item) => seen.push([seconds, item && item.id]),
+  }));
+  t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-inner")
+    .dispatchEvent(new window.MouseEvent("click", { bubbles: true, clientX: 9999 }));
+  assert.deepEqual(seen, [[12, "c"]]);
+});
+
+test("setPlayhead moves the marker without redrawing the clips", () => {
+  const t = mount(composer.track.default({ items: CLIPS, pxPerSecond: 10, playhead: 0 }));
+  const before = t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-clip");
+  t.setPlayhead(7);
+  const head = t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-playhead");
+  assert.equal(head.style.insetInlineStart, "70px");
+  assert.equal(t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-clip"), before, "the clip row was rebuilt for a playhead move");
+});
+
+test("setValue redraws the selected clip without a fresh setItems call", () => {
+  const t = mount(composer.track.default({ items: CLIPS, pxPerSecond: 10 }));
+  assert.equal(t.node.querySelectorAll('[aria-selected="true"]').length, 0);
+  t.setValue(["b"]);
+  const on = t.node.querySelector('[aria-selected="true"]');
+  assert.equal(on && on.dataset.id, "b");
+});
+
+test("dragging a clip onto another reports the reorder by id, not by position", () => {
+  const reordered = [];
+  const t = mount(composer.track.default({ items: CLIPS, pxPerSecond: 10, onReorder: (from, to) => reordered.push([from, to]) }));
+  const cells = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip");
+  const store = {};
+  const dt = {
+    effectAllowed: null,
+    setData: (type, v) => { store[type] = v; },
+    getData: (type) => store[type] || "",
+    get types() { return Object.keys(store); },
+  };
+  const fireDrag = (node, type) => {
+    const e = new window.Event(type, { bubbles: true, cancelable: true });
+    e.dataTransfer = dt;
+    node.dispatchEvent(e);
+  };
+  fireDrag(cells[0], "dragstart");
+  fireDrag(cells[2], "drop");
+  assert.deepEqual(reordered, [["a", "c"]]);
+});
+
+test("an excluded clip is dimmed, a rated one carries its rating", () => {
+  const t = mount(composer.track.default({
+    items: [
+      { id: "a", label: "A", start: 0, duration: 1, excluded: true },
+      { id: "b", label: "B", start: 1, duration: 1, rating: "liked" },
+    ], pxPerSecond: 10,
+  }));
+  const [a, b] = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip");
+  assert.equal(a.classList.contains("cx-excluded"), true);
+  assert.equal(b.getAttribute("data-rating"), "liked");
+});
+
 test("Enter is a newline in a textarea, not a commit", () => {
   // A one-line field commits on Enter. A textarea holds the longest thing
   // anyone types here -- the prompt -- and stealing Enter there means a
diff --git a/app/shell/projects.js b/app/shell/projects.js
index 1e232d21..1e220870 100644
--- a/app/shell/projects.js
+++ b/app/shell/projects.js
@@ -368,7 +368,14 @@ export function createProject({ onChange, onError, onOpen } = {}) {
       // would put it somewhere the user was not looking.
       remember();
       const at = project.scenes.findIndex((s) => s.id === selected);
-      const scene = { id: newId(), text: "", result: null, length: null, rating: null };
+      const scene = {
+        id: newId(), text: "", result: null, length: null, rating: null,
+        // Matching core's Scene dataclass shape exactly: the Inspector reads
+        // scene.references unconditionally (a list to map over, never a
+        // maybe-undefined field), and a scene born here has to look the same
+        // as one that came back from the server.
+        source_image: null, references: [],
+      };
       project.scenes.splice(at < 0 ? project.scenes.length : at + 1, 0, scene);
       selected = scene.id;                // you add a scene in order to fill it
       scheduleSave();
diff --git a/app/shell/tests/projects.test.js b/app/shell/tests/projects.test.js
index 2cccb28f..4926fb9b 100644
--- a/app/shell/tests/projects.test.js
+++ b/app/shell/tests/projects.test.js
@@ -122,6 +122,20 @@ test("setting the negative prompt to what it already is saves nothing", async ()
   assert.equal(sent.length, 1);
 });
 
+test("a scene added on the client has the same shape as one the server sent", async () => {
+  // core's Scene dataclass always has source_image/references -- the
+  // Inspector reads scene.references unconditionally (a list to map over,
+  // never a maybe-undefined field). A scene born here that skipped them
+  // crashed the very next thing that tried to draw it.
+  server();
+  const p = createProject({});
+  await p.start();
+  p.addScene();
+  const scene = p.selected;
+  assert.equal(scene.source_image, null);
+  assert.deepEqual(scene.references, []);
+});
+
 test("a run's result lands on the scene it was started for, not the current one", async () => {
   // A run takes minutes and the user goes on clicking. Reading "the selected
   // scene" when it finishes attaches the picture to whatever they wandered to.
diff --git a/app/shell/tests/timeline.test.js b/app/shell/tests/timeline.test.js
index 0b99b7c5..577977d4 100644
--- a/app/shell/tests/timeline.test.js
+++ b/app/shell/tests/timeline.test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-// The timeline: reorder by drag, and the zoom that changes clip width.
+// The timeline: real seconds, drag reorder, and the zoom that changes clip
+// width.
 
 import test from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
@@ -30,15 +31,17 @@ test.before(async () => {
 });
 test.after(() => teardownDom());
 
-/** Just enough of the store for the timeline to read and act on. */
-function fakeProject(scenes) {
+/** Just enough of the store for the timeline to read and act on. Video length
+ *  is 24 frames at the 24fps fallback -- one second per scene by default,
+ *  which keeps the maths in each test readable. */
+function fakeProject(scenes, video = { length: 24 }) {
   let selected = scenes[0] ? scenes[0].id : null;
   const moved = [];
   return {
     get scenes() { return scenes; },
     get selectedId() { return selected; },
     get selected() { return scenes.find((s) => s.id === selected) || null; },
-    video: {},
+    video,
     moved,
     addScene() { const s = { id: `s${scenes.length}`, text: "", result: null, length: null }; scenes.push(s); selected = s.id; },
     removeScene(id) { const at = scenes.findIndex((s) => s.id === id); if (at >= 0) scenes.splice(at, 1); },
@@ -50,7 +53,7 @@ function fakeProject(scenes) {
       const [scene] = scenes.splice(at, 1);
       scenes.splice(to, 0, scene);
     },
-    select(id) { selected = id; },
+    select(id) { if (!scenes.some((s) => s.id === id) || id === selected) return; selected = id; },
   };
 }
 
@@ -61,7 +64,7 @@ test("dragging a clip onto another reorders by the distance dropped, not just on
   const t = createTimeline({ project });
   document.body.append(t.node);
 
-  const cells = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-strip-cell");
+  const cells = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip");
   assert.equal(cells.length, 4);
 
   // Drag the first clip (s0) onto the fourth cell's position.
@@ -77,7 +80,7 @@ test("dragging a clip onto another reorders by the distance dropped, not just on
 
 test("a redraw mid-drag (a remove fired from the keyboard, say) still resolves to the clip actually picked up", () => {
   // The mouse held down and a keyboard shortcut are two different input
-  // channels -- nothing stops project.removeScene firing, and the strip
+  // channels -- nothing stops project.removeScene firing, and the track
   // redrawing, while a drag is still in flight. Tracking BY POSITION would
   // have this act on whatever now sits where the drag started, not on what
   // was actually grabbed.
@@ -86,12 +89,12 @@ test("a redraw mid-drag (a remove fired from the keyboard, say) still resolves t
   document.body.append(t.node);
 
   const dt = fakeDataTransfer();
-  dragFire(t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-strip-cell")[1], "dragstart", dt);   // grabs s1
+  dragFire(t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip")[1], "dragstart", dt);   // grabs s1
 
   project.removeScene("s0");                        // s1 s2 s3 -- s1 is now cell 0
   t.draw();                                          // the redraw a real remove triggers
 
-  const after = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-strip-cell");
+  const after = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip");
   dragFire(after[2], "dragover", dt);                // drop on whatever cell now shows s3
   dragFire(after[2], "drop", dt);
 
@@ -106,7 +109,7 @@ test("dropping a clip on itself does nothing", () => {
   const t = createTimeline({ project });
   document.body.append(t.node);
 
-  const cells = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-strip-cell");
+  const cells = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip");
   const dt = fakeDataTransfer();
   dragFire(cells[1], "dragstart", dt);
   dragFire(cells[1], "drop", dt);
@@ -120,79 +123,140 @@ test("a drop outside any cell is not a reorder", () => {
   const t = createTimeline({ project });
   document.body.append(t.node);
 
-  const strip = t.node.querySelector(".cx-strip");
-  const cells = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-strip-cell");
+  const track = t.node.querySelector(".cx-track");
+  const cells = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip");
   const dt = fakeDataTransfer();
   dragFire(cells[0], "dragstart", dt);
-  dragFire(strip, "drop", dt);     // the strip's own background, not a cell
+  dragFire(track, "drop", dt);     // the track's own background, not a cell
 
   assert.deepEqual(project.moved, []);
   t.destroy();
 });
 
 test("dragend firing on a node a redraw already detached does not leave anything for an unrelated drop to pick up", () => {
-  // dragend fires on the ORIGINAL source element, wherever it now is -- a
-  // redraw mid-drag can detach it from the tree, and an event on a detached
-  // node does not bubble to a listener on an ancestor it no longer has. A
-  // closure variable set at dragstart and only ever cleared by that dragend
-  // would be left stuck; the fix does not depend on dragend firing at all, so
-  // there is nothing to leave stuck. This drop's dataTransfer belongs to a
-  // DIFFERENT, unrelated drag session (its own fresh, empty one) -- exactly
-  // what a later, disconnected drag looks like.
   const project = fakeProject(scenes(4));            // s0 s1 s2 s3
   const t = createTimeline({ project });
   document.body.append(t.node);
 
   const started = fakeDataTransfer();
-  dragFire(t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-strip-cell")[1], "dragstart", started);   // grabs s1
+  dragFire(t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip")[1], "dragstart", started);   // grabs s1
 
   project.addScene();                                 // unrelated change, still redraws
   t.draw();
-  // No drop ever reached the strip for `started` -- dropped outside the
-  // window, Escape, anything. Its dragend, even if it fires, cannot reach
-  // this delegated listener once its source node is gone.
 
   const unrelated = fakeDataTransfer();                // a completely separate drag
-  const after = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-strip-cell");
+  const after = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip");
   dragFire(after[3], "drop", unrelated);
 
   assert.deepEqual(project.moved, [], "an unrelated drop moved a scene from an abandoned drag");
   t.destroy();
 });
 
-test("zoom sets the clip width and remembers it for next time", () => {
+test("zoom sets pixels-per-second and remembers it for next time", () => {
   window.localStorage.clear();
   const project = fakeProject(scenes(2));
   const t = createTimeline({ project });
   document.body.append(t.node);
 
-  const strip = t.node.querySelector(".cx-strip");
+  const before = parseFloat(t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-clip").style.width);
   t.node.querySelector('[role="radio"][aria-checked="false"]').click(); // any non-default level
-  assert.ok(strip.style.getPropertyValue("--strip-w"), "zoom did not touch the strip");
+  const after = parseFloat(t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-clip").style.width);
+  assert.notEqual(after, before, "zoom did not change a clip's width");
   assert.ok(window.localStorage.getItem("funpack.timeline.zoom"));
   t.destroy();
 });
 
 test("zoom picked earlier is applied when the timeline is rebuilt", () => {
   window.localStorage.setItem("funpack.timeline.zoom", "lg");
-  const project = fakeProject(scenes(2));
+  const project = fakeProject(scenes(2));             // 1s scenes, lg = 80px/s
   const t = createTimeline({ project });
   document.body.append(t.node);
 
-  const strip = t.node.querySelector(".cx-strip");
-  assert.equal(strip.style.getPropertyValue("--strip-w"), "128px");
+  assert.equal(t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-clip").style.width, "80px");
   t.destroy();
   window.localStorage.clear();
 });
 
-test("an excluded scene is dimmed in the strip, an included one is not", () => {
+test("an excluded scene is dimmed in the track, an included one is not", () => {
   const project = fakeProject(scenes(2));
   project.scenes[1].excluded = true;
   const t = createTimeline({ project });
   document.body.append(t.node);
 
-  const cells = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-strip-cell");
+  const cells = t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip");
   assert.equal(cells[0].classList.contains("cx-excluded"), false);
   assert.equal(cells[1].classList.contains("cx-excluded"), true);
   t.destroy();
 });
+
+// --- real time ---------------------------------------------------------
+
+test("a clip's width comes from its own length in frames, not a fixed size", () => {
+  const s = scenes(2);
+  s[0].length = 48;   // 2s at the 24fps fallback
+  s[1].length = 24;   // 1s
+  const project = fakeProject(s);
+  const t = createTimeline({ project });
+  document.body.append(t.node);
+
+  const widths = [...t.node.querySelectorAll(".cx-track-clip")].map((c) => parseFloat(c.style.width));
+  // md zoom = 40px/s.
+  assert.deepEqual(widths, [80, 40]);
+  t.destroy();
+});
+
+test("a scene with no length of its own uses the project's", () => {
+  const s = scenes(1);
+  const project = fakeProject(s, { length: 48 });   // 2s at 24fps
+  const t = createTimeline({ project });
+  document.body.append(t.node);
+
+  assert.equal(parseFloat(t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-clip").style.width), 80);
+  t.destroy();
+});
+
+test("clicking a scene's clip selects it and reports the change", () => {
+  const seen = [];
+  const project = fakeProject(scenes(3));            // 1s scenes at 40px/s: s0 0-40, s1 40-80, s2 80-120
+  const t = createTimeline({ project, onSelect: (scene) => seen.push(scene && scene.id) });
+  document.body.append(t.node);
+
+  t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-inner")
+    .dispatchEvent(new window.MouseEvent("click", { bubbles: true, clientX: 100 }));
+  assert.equal(project.selectedId, "s2");
+  assert.deepEqual(seen, ["s2"]);
+  t.destroy();
+});
+
+test("the playhead follows a selection made from outside the track", () => {
+  // Add/Remove/Move and a pick made elsewhere in the app all just change
+  // project.selectedId -- the same path this exercises directly, rather than
+  // depending on the fake store's own reselection fallback.
+  const project = fakeProject(scenes(3));            // 1s scenes: s0 0-1, s1 1-2, s2 2-3
+  const t = createTimeline({ project });
+  document.body.append(t.node);
+
+  t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-inner")                 // s2 starts at 80px (2s)
+    .dispatchEvent(new window.MouseEvent("click", { bubbles: true, clientX: 80 }));
+  assert.equal(t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-playhead").style.insetInlineStart, "80px");
+
+  project.select("s0");
+  t.draw();
+  assert.equal(t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-playhead").style.insetInlineStart, "0px",
+    "the playhead did not follow a selection made outside the track");
+  t.destroy();
+});
+
+test("clicking mid-clip moves the playhead to that exact second without changing the selection", () => {
+  const project = fakeProject(scenes(2));             // s0 0-1s, s1 1-2s
+  const t = createTimeline({ project });               // starts selected on s0
+  document.body.append(t.node);
+
+  const inner = t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-inner");
+  // 20px at 40px/s = 0.5s, inside s0's own span -- a pure seek, no reselect.
+  inner.dispatchEvent(new window.MouseEvent("click", { bubbles: true, clientX: 20 }));
+
+  assert.equal(project.selectedId, "s0", "a click within the selected clip changed the selection");
+  assert.equal(t.node.querySelector(".cx-track-playhead").style.insetInlineStart, "20px");
+  t.destroy();
+});
diff --git a/app/shell/timeline.js b/app/shell/timeline.js
index 4a47eecb..a0e91b70 100644
--- a/app/shell/timeline.js
+++ b/app/shell/timeline.js
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
 // scene. v4 had one prompt for the whole project and split it by markers in the
 // text, which meant the text was both the content and the structure: editing a
 // scene could re-cut every other one.
+//
+// A real single-track timeline: clips as wide as they play for, a ruler in
+// seconds, and a playhead -- composer's `track.default` does the drawing, this
+// file only turns scenes into seconds and seconds back into a selected scene.
 
 import { composer } from "../composer/composer.js";
 
@@ -17,11 +21,20 @@ const EMPTY = {
   hint: "What you generate lands here, in the order it plays.",
 };
 
-// How wide a clip is at rest, in pixels -- what "zoom" changes. Persisted per
+// How wide a second is, in pixels -- what "zoom" changes. Persisted per
 // browser like the media bin's own view choice: a per-viewer convenience, not
 // state a run depends on, so nothing breaks if storage is unavailable.
 const ZOOM_KEY = "funpack.timeline.zoom";
-const ZOOM_LEVELS = { sm: 48, md: 72, lg: 128 };
+const ZOOM_LEVELS = { sm: 20, md: 40, lg: 80 };
+
+// No module declares an `fps` role today -- the one pipeline that ships
+// (minimax_h3) hands CreateVideo a literal 24.0 rather than a project.video
+// input, so there is nothing to read it FROM yet. This mirrors that literal
+// rather than inventing a setting nothing produces.
+// ponytail: becomes a real per-pipeline value the day a module declares a
+// role at project.video.fps, the same way length/target_width/target_height
+// already are -- read here with a fallback so that day needs no change here.
+const FPS_FALLBACK = 24;
 
 function recallZoom() {
   try { return ZOOM_LEVELS[window.localStorage.getItem(ZOOM_KEY)] ? window.localStorage.getItem(ZOOM_KEY) : "md"; }
@@ -40,7 +53,15 @@ function rememberZoom(level) {
 export function createTimeline({ project, onSelect } = {}) {
   const host = composer.region.stack({ gap: "sm", fill: true });
   const empty = composer.emptyState.default(EMPTY);
-  let strip = null;
+  let track = null;
+  let pxPerSecond = ZOOM_LEVELS[recallZoom()];
+  // The playhead's own position, in seconds -- decoupled from which scene is
+  // selected so a click partway through a clip reads as that exact second,
+  // not snapped to whichever scene it landed in. Re-synced to the selected
+  // scene's start whenever the selection changes from somewhere OTHER than a
+  // track click (Add/Remove/Move, or a selection made elsewhere in the app) --
+  // see draw().
+  let playhead = 0;
 
   // Rebuilt on every draw, so a stale handler cannot act on a scene that has
   // moved. The buttons that act on "the current scene" read it at click time
@@ -53,20 +74,20 @@ export function createTimeline({ project, onSelect } = {}) {
       composer.iconButton.sm({ icon: "◀", label: "Move earlier", onClick: () => move(-1) }),
       composer.iconButton.sm({ icon: "▶", label: "Move later", onClick: () => move(1) }),
     ],
-    // Zoom changes clip WIDTH, not the frame counts behind them -- a bigger
-    // strip to work with, not a different one.
+    // Zoom changes seconds->pixels, not the durations behind them -- a bigger
+    // track to work with, not a different one.
     trailing: [composer.segmented.sm({
       label: "Zoom",
       value: recallZoom(),
       options: [{ value: "sm", label: "S" }, { value: "md", label: "M" }, { value: "lg", label: "L" }],
-      onChange: (level) => { rememberZoom(level); applyZoom(level); },
+      onChange: (level) => {
+        rememberZoom(level);
+        pxPerSecond = ZOOM_LEVELS[level] || ZOOM_LEVELS.md;
+        if (track) track.setZoom(pxPerSecond);
+      },
     })],
   });
 
-  function applyZoom(level) {
-    if (strip) strip.node.style.setProperty("--strip-w", `${ZOOM_LEVELS[level] || ZOOM_LEVELS.md}px`);
-  }
-
   function add() {
     project.addScene();
     announce();
@@ -90,67 +111,79 @@ export function createTimeline({ project, onSelect } = {}) {
   }
 
   /** Frames this clip runs for: its own crop, or the project's length. */
-  const lengthOf = (scene) => scene.length || project.video.length || 1;
+  const framesOf = (scene) => scene.length || project.video.length || 1;
+  const fps = () => (Number(project.video.fps) > 0 ? Number(project.video.fps) : FPS_FALLBACK);
+  const secondsOf = (scene) => framesOf(scene) / fps();
 
-  function items() {
-    return project.scenes.map((scene, i) => ({
-      id: scene.id,
-      // The number is what a scene is called before it has any text, and the
-      // text is what it is called after -- a strip of "Scene 1..8" is a strip
-      // nobody can read their own project off.
-      label: scene.text ? `${i + 1}. ${scene.text}` : `Scene ${i + 1}`,
-      badge: String(i + 1),
-      thumb: scene.result || null,
-      icon: "▦",
-      // A clip as wide as it is long, so the strip reads as time rather than as
-      // a row of equal boxes. Bounded: one very long scene beside several short
-      // ones must not squeeze the rest to nothing.
-      weight: lengthOf(scene),
-      rating: scene.rating || null,
-      excluded: Boolean(scene.excluded),
-    }));
-  }
-
-  /** Where each scene starts, in frames. The ruler is drawn from this. */
-  function marks() {
+  /** Where each scene starts, in seconds -- contiguous, so a click anywhere
+   *  on the track belongs to exactly one of them. */
+  function spans() {
     let at = 0;
     return project.scenes.map((scene) => {
       const start = at;
-      at += lengthOf(scene);
-      return { id: scene.id, start, length: lengthOf(scene) };
+      const duration = secondsOf(scene);
+      at += duration;
+      return { scene, start, duration };
     });
   }
 
-  // The ruler. Its ticks are the scene boundaries rather than a fixed interval:
-  // what a person looks for on this timeline is where one scene becomes the
-  // next, and at 24fps a tick per second is a picket fence.
-  const ruler = composer.ruler.default({ label: "Scenes" });
-
-  function drawRuler() {
-    const spans = marks();
-    const total = spans.reduce((sum, m) => sum + m.length, 0) || 1;
-    ruler.set(spans.map((m, i) => ({
-      at: m.start / total,
-      label: `${i + 1}`,
-      hint: `${m.start}`,
-    })), total);
+  function items() {
+    return project.scenes.map((scene, i) => {
+      const { start, duration } = spans()[i];
+      return {
+        id: scene.id,
+        // The number is what a scene is called before it has any text, and the
+        // text is what it is called after -- a strip nobody can read their own
+        // project off.
+        label: scene.text ? `${i + 1}. ${scene.text}` : `Scene ${i + 1}`,
+        badge: String(i + 1),
+        thumb: scene.result || null,
+        icon: "▦",
+        start, duration,
+        rating: scene.rating || null,
+        excluded: Boolean(scene.excluded),
+      };
+    });
   }
 
   function draw() {
     const scenes = project.scenes;
     if (!scenes.length) {
       host.set([empty]);
-      strip = null;
+      track = null;
       return;
     }
-    if (!strip) {
-      strip = composer.gallery.strip({
-        label: "Scenes",
-        items: items(),
+    const built = items();
+    // The invariant: the playhead always lies within the SELECTED scene's
+    // span. A track click asserts both at once (see onSeek below) and stays
+    // exactly where it was clicked; anything else that changes the selection
+    // -- Add, Remove, Move, a pick made elsewhere -- only moves the selection,
+    // so this is what pulls the playhead back to match it.
+    const current = built.find((i) => i.id === project.selectedId);
+    if (current && !(playhead >= current.start && playhead < current.start + current.duration)) {
+      playhead = current.start;
+    }
+    if (!track) {
+      track = composer.track.default({
+        label: "Timeline",
+        items: built,
         selection: project.selectedId ? [project.selectedId] : [],
-        onActivate: (item) => { project.select(item.id); announce(); },
+        playhead,
+        pxPerSecond,
+        onSeek: (seconds, item) => {
+          playhead = seconds;
+          // select() no-ops, without announcing, when the click landed
+          // inside the scene already current -- the common case for a pure
+          // seek. The playhead still needs to move, so it is set directly
+          // rather than only through whatever redraw a real selection
+          // change would have triggered.
+          if (item) project.select(item.id);
+          announce();
+          track.setPlayhead(playhead);
+          track.setValue(project.selectedId ? [project.selectedId] : []);
+        },
         // Ids, resolved to a position HERE, now -- not carried from whenever
-        // the drag started. A remove or an undo can redraw the strip while a
+        // the drag started. A remove or an undo can redraw the track while a
         // drag is still in flight (the mouse held down is a different input
         // channel from the keyboard shortcut that triggers one), and a
         // position captured at dragstart would then name whatever has since
@@ -163,17 +196,12 @@ export function createTimeline({ project, onSelect } = {}) {
           announce();
         },
       });
-      host.set([controls, ruler, strip]);
-      applyZoom(recallZoom());
-      drawRuler();
+      host.set([controls, track]);
       return;
     }
-    drawRuler();
-    // setItems then setValue: setValue redraws against whatever items are
-    // current, so seeding the selection first marks a row that is about to be
-    // replaced and the strip comes back with nothing on.
-    strip.setItems(items());
-    strip.setValue(project.selectedId ? [project.selectedId] : []);
+    track.setItems(built);
+    track.setValue(project.selectedId ? [project.selectedId] : []);
+    track.setPlayhead(playhead);
   }
 
   draw();
@@ -182,8 +210,7 @@ export function createTimeline({ project, onSelect } = {}) {
     node: host.node,
     draw,
     destroy() {
-      if (strip) strip.destroy();
-      ruler.destroy();
+      if (track) track.destroy();
       controls.destroy();
       empty.destroy();
       host.destroy();