diff --git a/docs/requirements.md b/docs/requirements.md
index 46146aee..cbc3df63 100644
--- a/docs/requirements.md
+++ b/docs/requirements.md
@@ -311,6 +311,7 @@ Internal architecture, components, and application logic.
 | DR-145 | Video playback starts only once the app actually holds audio focus. Video manages focus by hand (`handleAudioFocus=false`, because ExoPlayer's automatic handling is reserved for the audio path), and the request's three outcomes were all treated as success: `AUDIOFOCUS_REQUEST_DELAYED` — which `setAcceptsDelayedFocusGain(true)` explicitly invites, and which means the system is *withholding our audio* until it calls back — and an outright `REQUEST_FAILED` were logged and then followed by `playWhenReady = true`. The picture rolled with no sound, indistinguishable to the user from a broken stream. Playback is now held when focus is not granted and started from the `AUDIOFOCUS_GAIN` callback; an explicit `play()` re-requests focus rather than resuming into a stream the system is still muting, guarded by a held-focus flag so repeated plays do not leak focus requests. A `LOSS` clears the pending flag, so an unrelated later `GAIN` cannot start playback the user never asked for | Playback | UR-004 | Done |
 | DR-146 | The no-audio-track fallback picks a track the renderer can actually play. When ExoPlayer selected no audio track, the recovery forced group 0 / track 0 unconditionally — but the most likely reason nothing was selected is that this very track cannot be decoded on this device, so the override reinstated the silence it was meant to fix. It now scans the groups for the first `isTrackSupported` track and overrides to that, and clears `setTrackTypeDisabled(TRACK_TYPE_AUDIO)` because audio may equally have been off at the type level, which an override alone does not undo. When no group holds a supported track the condition is logged as an error — the server was expected to transcode — rather than leaving a silent video with no explanation in the log | Playback | UR-004 | Done |
 | DR-148 | The video direct-play profile advertises only what the **webview** can decode. The audio codec list comes from `MediaCodecList`, which describes ExoPlayer — but video does not play through ExoPlayer on either platform: Android force-renders every video in the webview `<video>` element (the interim override in `VideoPlayer.svelte`, because the native SurfaceView sits behind an opaque webview) and Linux always has. Chromium and WebKit decode a far narrower set than the platform does, and the gap is widest on devices whose vendor licenses Dolby: a phone shipping `/vendor/etc/media_codecs_dolby_audio.xml` reports `ac3,eac3`, so Jellyfin direct-played an E-AC-3 track with `static=true` and the webview built a video decoder and no audio decoder at all — full picture, no sound. The defect is triggered by *capability*, not the lack of it, which is why it reproduced on one Motorola while a Fairphone and an Honor tablet played the same file on the same build: a device without the Dolby decoder never claims the codec, so the server transcodes to AAC and it plays. `video_audio_codecs` narrows the platform list to the webview-decodable set (`aac,mp3,opus,vorbis,flac`) for the video direct-play profile *only* — the audio-only profile keeps the full list, since that playback really is the native player's and narrowing it would transcode music that plays perfectly well. A list with nothing decodable still claims `aac` rather than going out empty, because a profile that claims nothing invites the server to give up instead of transcoding. The video codec list is deliberately untouched: HEVC direct-plays through the webview correctly, so the constraint is specific to audio | Playback | UR-004 | Done |
+| DR-149 | The client decides whether its own renderer can decode the audio, rather than trusting the server's negotiation. Advertising a webview-shaped profile (DR-148) turned out to be necessary but not sufficient: Jellyfin 10.11.5 enforces a `DirectPlayProfile`'s `Container` and `VideoCodec` — excluding either returns `SupportsDirectPlay: false` with `TranscodeReasons=ContainerNotSupported` / `VideoCodecNotSupported` — but **ignores its `AudioCodec`**, offering an E-AC-3 track for direct play against a profile listing only `aac,flac,mp3,opus,vorbis`. Neither a `VideoAudio` `CodecProfile` forbidding the codec nor a `MaxAudioChannels: 2` against a 6-channel track changes the answer, so no profile the client can send fixes it and the picture plays silent. The negotiated source's audio is therefore checked locally against what the webview decodes, and an undecodable track forces the existing h264/aac HLS transcode URL regardless of the server saying direct play is fine — `direct_play` and `needs_transcoding` are corrected to match, so the frontend and the reporting path agree with the URL actually used. The track judged is the one the server would serve: the default, or the first when nothing is marked default, since a supported track further down the list is not the one that plays. A source with no audio streams, or a stream whose codec the server did not name, is left alone — forcing a transcode on a guess spends server CPU on files that already play | Playback | UR-004 | Done |
 | DR-143 | Flipping the offline downloaded-only gate actually re-queries the listing. The gate (DR-078) is a process-wide flag in Rust consulted only *while a query runs*, but no library surface re-queried when its inputs changed: `useServerReachabilityReload` fires only on the offline → **online** transition, and `GenericMediaListPage`, `GenericGenreBrowser` and the favourites page never even called its `checkServerReachability`. So going offline left the full server catalog on screen under a now-closed gate, and toggling "Show all server media" only greyed cards — `MediaCard.isServerOnly` is a pure frontend derivation that updates instantly — without adding or removing a single row. The filter therefore read as "shows everything until I filter, then greys some of it" while the backend gate was correct and simply never exercised. `catalogFilterVersion` is the refetch signal: `pushCatalogVisibility` now awaits `set_show_server_catalog` and bumps the version only **after** the backend accepts the new flag, since a reload racing the push would re-query under the old gate and undo itself. A failed push clears `lastIncludeCatalog` instead of latching it, so the next identical transition is retried rather than skipped as a no-op and left permanently disagreeing with the backend. `useOfflineFilterReload` subscribes pages to that signal, skipping the value they already loaded under; it is wired into both generic list components and the movies/music/tv/favourites landing pages and the `/library/[id]` detail page | UI | UR-052 | Done |
 | DR-135 | A download's media type comes from the item, not a default. `download_item` — the path a media card uses to queue an item while offline — never records `media_type`, and the reconnect resolver read that NULL as `'audio'`, so a **movie** queued from a card had its URL resolved by `get_audio_stream_url`. The file that landed on disk was an audio-only transcode, which is why a "downloaded" film could never play offline no matter how the path or protocol was fixed. The resolver now falls back to the item's own `item_type` (`VIDEO_ITEM_TYPES` in Rust, so the frontend never learns which types are video) and only defaults to audio when the item is not cached locally. An explicit `media_type` on the row still wins | Downloads | UR-071, UR-052 | Done |
 | DR-136 | Rows already downloaded under the audio default are repaired, not just prevented. They are identifiable after the fact — no `media_type`, but a video item — so on reconnect they are reset to `pending` with their audio URL cleared and re-resolved by DR-135's corrected logic, overwriting the audio file in place. Without this the fix is invisible to anyone who had already queued a film: the row still reads "downloaded" and still fails to play. Rows carrying an explicit `media_type` and genuine audio downloads are left untouched | Downloads | UR-071 | Done |
@@ -541,6 +542,7 @@ Internal architecture, components, and application logic.
 | UT-139 | A failed visibility push is retried on the next identical transition rather than latched | DR-143 | Done |
 | UT-140 | `useOfflineFilterReload` skips the value a page already loaded under and reloads on each later change | DR-143 | Done |
 | UT-141 | The advertised channel cap: an unknown or zero reading falls back to stereo, a real route keeps its channels, an absurd driver reading is capped at 7.1, and mono is taken at its word | DR-141 | Done |
+| UT-148 | Forcing a transcode from the client: an undecodable default track forces one, a decodable track does not, the default track decides rather than the first, the first decides when nothing is marked default, and neither an audio-less source nor an unnamed codec is second-guessed | DR-149 | Done |
 | UT-142 | The audio codecs offered for video direct play: a Dolby device's real `MediaCodecList` output drops `ac3`/`eac3`, AMR and raw PCM are dropped too, a fully-supported list is passed through untouched, a list with nothing decodable still claims `aac`, and stray spacing or casing does not decide whether the user gets sound | DR-148 | Done |
 | UT-143 | Subtitle URLs resolve to plain strings before they reach the markup (never a Promise), unresolvable tracks are dropped, a stale selection collapses to "Off", and a server-default track is never auto-selected | UR-020, DR-023 | Done |
 | UT-144 | VideoPlayer actually renders `<track kind="subtitles">` children carrying `data-stream-index`, with no `default` attribute and no async `getSubtitleUrl()` bound to `src` | UR-020, DR-023 | Done |
diff --git a/docs/traceability.md b/docs/traceability.md
index e0dc2fc3..6acd51dc 100644
--- a/docs/traceability.md
+++ b/docs/traceability.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Code Traceability Matrix
 
-**Generated:** 8/11/2026, 7:48:06 PM
+**Generated:** 8/11/2026, 8:10:45 PM
 
 ## Summary
 
@@ -3749,6 +3749,9 @@ JA-001, JA-002, JA-003, JA-004, JA-005, JA-007, JA-008, JA-010, JA-011, JA-012,
 - **File:** [`src-tauri/src/commands/mod.rs`](src-tauri/src/commands/mod.rs#L2)
   - **Line:** 2
   - **Context:** `Unknown`
+- **File:** [`src-tauri/src/repository/online.rs`](src-tauri/src/repository/online.rs#L384)
+  - **Line:** 384
+  - **Context:** `Unknown`
 - **File:** [`src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs`](src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs#L29)
   - **Line:** 29
   - **Context:** `Unknown`
@@ -3764,9 +3767,6 @@ JA-001, JA-002, JA-003, JA-004, JA-005, JA-007, JA-008, JA-010, JA-011, JA-012,
 - **File:** [`src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs`](src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs#L127)
   - **Line:** 127
   - **Context:** `Unknown`
-- **File:** [`src-tauri/src/repository/online.rs`](src-tauri/src/repository/online.rs#L384)
-  - **Line:** 384
-  - **Context:** `Unknown`
 
 ### UR-007
 
@@ -7004,7 +7004,7 @@ JA-001, JA-002, JA-003, JA-004, JA-005, JA-007, JA-008, JA-010, JA-011, JA-012,
 
 ### UT-143
 
-**Locations:** 5 file(s)
+**Locations:** 3 file(s)
 
 - **File:** [`src/lib/components/player/VideoPlayer.svelte`](src/lib/components/player/VideoPlayer.svelte#L293)
   - **Line:** 293
@@ -7015,12 +7015,6 @@ JA-001, JA-002, JA-003, JA-004, JA-005, JA-007, JA-008, JA-010, JA-011, JA-012,
 - **File:** [`src/lib/components/player/subtitleTracks.ts`](src/lib/components/player/subtitleTracks.ts#L20)
   - **Line:** 20
   - **Context:** `Unknown`
-- **File:** [`src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs`](src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs#L105)
-  - **Line:** 105
-  - **Context:** `Unknown`
-- **File:** [`src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs`](src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs#L127)
-  - **Line:** 127
-  - **Context:** `Unknown`
 
 ### UT-147
 
@@ -7695,4 +7689,15 @@ JA-001, JA-002, JA-003, JA-004, JA-005, JA-007, JA-008, JA-010, JA-011, JA-012,
   - **Line:** 80
   - **Context:** `Unknown`
 
+### UT-148
+
+**Locations:** 2 file(s)
+
+- **File:** [`src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs`](src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs#L105)
+  - **Line:** 105
+  - **Context:** `Unknown`
+- **File:** [`src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs`](src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs#L127)
+  - **Line:** 127
+  - **Context:** `Unknown`
+
 
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs b/src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs
index 72249bbd..73c23e33 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/repository/device_profile.rs
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ pub fn video_audio_codecs(detected: &str) -> String {
 
 /// Whether the webview `<video>` element can decode this audio codec.
 ///
-/// TRACES: UR-004 | DR-149 | UT-143
+/// TRACES: UR-004 | DR-149 | UT-148
 pub fn webview_can_decode_audio(codec: &str) -> bool {
     WEBVIEW_AUDIO_CODECS
         .iter()
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ pub fn webview_can_decode_audio(codec: &str) -> bool {
 /// default, or the first when none is marked. An unknown codec is left alone —
 /// forcing a transcode on a guess would burn server CPU for files that play.
 ///
-/// TRACES: UR-004 | DR-149 | UT-143
+/// TRACES: UR-004 | DR-149 | UT-148
 pub fn audio_forces_transcode(streams: &[(Option<&str>, bool)]) -> bool {
     let served = streams
         .iter()