diff --git a/extension/src/background/index.ts b/extension/src/background/index.ts
index 9820628..1dcbc7f 100644
--- a/extension/src/background/index.ts
+++ b/extension/src/background/index.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,12 @@ import {
 } from './context-menus.js';
 import { MediaBridge, notifyTab } from './media-bridge.js';
 import { createTransport, transportStorage, type TransportStatus, type VeloxTransport } from './transport/index.js';
-import type { CaptureOfferParams, CaptureRules, DownloadSpec } from '../shared/protocol/index.js';
+import {
+  SESSION_SUBSCRIBE_PARAMS_EVENTS_ITEM_VALUES,
+  type CaptureOfferParams,
+  type CaptureRules,
+  type DownloadSpec,
+} from '../shared/protocol/index.js';
 
 let transport: VeloxTransport | undefined;
 let rules: CaptureRules = DEFAULT_CAPTURE_RULES;
@@ -75,10 +80,31 @@ async function refreshRules(): Promise<void> {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * "Nothing is delivered until this is called" (session.subscribe's own description) —
+ * without it, event.task.progress et al. never reach this connection at all, no matter
+ * how many listeners bridge.ts registers locally. Requests the whole set every time
+ * because any popup/options document could open at any moment and none of them narrow
+ * per-tab; a fresh connection (first connect, or after a drop) starts with nothing
+ * subscribed until this runs again.
+ */
+async function subscribeToEvents(): Promise<void> {
+  try {
+    await mustTransport().call('session.subscribe', {
+      events: [...SESSION_SUBSCRIBE_PARAMS_EVENTS_ITEM_VALUES],
+    });
+  } catch {
+    // Best-effort; a reconnect (or the next event.settings.changed-driven refresh) retries.
+  }
+}
+
 function onTransportState(status: TransportStatus): void {
   const detail = status.fatal ?? (status.needsPairing ? 'needs pairing' : '');
   console.debug(`[velox] transport ${status.state}${detail ? ` — ${detail}` : ''}`);
-  if (status.state === 'connected') void refreshRules();
+  if (status.state === 'connected') {
+    void refreshRules();
+    void subscribeToEvents();
+  }
 }
 
 async function setOverride(override: 'auto' | 'ws' | 'uds'): Promise<void> {
diff --git a/extension/tests/live/real-veloxd.test.ts b/extension/tests/live/real-veloxd.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf49465
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extension/tests/live/real-veloxd.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,389 @@
+// Runs the transport, the capture hook, and the popup event path against a REAL veloxd
+// — not FakeDaemon. Everything else in this suite is faithful to the documented wire
+// protocol, but "faithful" isn't "real"; this is what actually proves it.
+//
+// Requires VELOXD_BIN (path to a built veloxd) in the environment. Skips itself with a
+// clear message otherwise, so `npm test` and CI (no daemon binary lying around) are
+// unaffected. Run it like:
+//
+//   VELOXD_BIN=/path/to/build/dev/bin/veloxd npx vitest run tests/live
+//
+// Each veloxd instance gets its own scratch XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/XDG_DATA_HOME/
+// XDG_CONFIG_HOME/HOME (main.cpp's single-instance lock is keyed to the runtime dir, so
+// this can run alongside another developer's or CI's own veloxd on the same machine).
+// VELOX_PAIR_AUTO=1 stands in for the GUI's Allow-prompt approver during dev/test
+// (rpc/pairing.hpp's EnvAutoApprover) — pairing itself is exercised for real, only the
+// human click is stubbed.
+import { spawn, type ChildProcessWithoutNullStreams } from 'node:child_process';
+import { mkdtempSync, mkdirSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
+import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { WebSocket as WsClient } from 'ws';
+
+import { RpcError, TransportClosedError } from '../../src/background/transport/types.js';
+import { WebSocketTransport, type WebSocketCtor, type WebSocketTransportDeps } from '../../src/background/transport/websocket.js';
+import { CaptureHook } from '../../src/background/capture/index.js';
+import type { OnHeadersReceivedDetails } from '../../src/background/capture/index.js';
+import type { CaptureRules, DownloadSpec, TaskProgressEvent, TaskStateEvent } from '../../src/shared/protocol/index.js';
+
+const VELOXD_BIN = process.env.VELOXD_BIN;
+const REPO_ROOT = resolve(dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '../../..');
+const TESTSERVER_PY = join(REPO_ROOT, 'tools/testserver/testserver.py');
+
+// A fixed moz-extension origin, used both as session.pair's extensionId and as the WS
+// upgrade's Origin header — real Firefox sets the latter itself; ws's client needs it
+// spelled out (docs/05 §4: the daemon refuses the upgrade without a moz-extension:// Origin).
+const EXTENSION_ID = '11111111-2222-3333-4444-555555555555';
+const ORIGIN = `moz-extension://${EXTENSION_ID}`;
+
+class OriginWebSocket extends WsClient {
+  constructor(url: string) {
+    super(url, { origin: ORIGIN });
+  }
+}
+const CTOR = OriginWebSocket as unknown as WebSocketCtor;
+
+function sleep(ms: number): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, ms));
+}
+
+async function waitFor(cond: () => Promise<boolean> | boolean, timeoutMs: number, what: string): Promise<void> {
+  const deadline = Date.now() + timeoutMs;
+  for (;;) {
+    if (await cond()) return;
+    if (Date.now() > deadline) throw new Error(`timed out waiting for ${what}`);
+    await sleep(50);
+  }
+}
+
+interface VeloxdInstance {
+  proc: ChildProcessWithoutNullStreams;
+  scratch: string;
+  wsPort: number;
+  /** True once the process has actually exited, by signal or otherwise. Node only sets
+   *  `proc.exitCode` for a normal exit — a signal-killed process reports its death via
+   *  `signalCode` and an `exit` event instead, never a non-null `exitCode`. */
+  hasExited(): boolean;
+  kill(signal?: NodeJS.Signals): void;
+}
+
+async function startVeloxd(bin: string): Promise<VeloxdInstance> {
+  const scratch = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'velox-live-'));
+  const runtime = join(scratch, 'rt');
+  const data = join(scratch, 'data');
+  const config = join(scratch, 'cfg');
+  const home = join(scratch, 'home');
+  mkdirSync(runtime, { mode: 0o700 });
+  mkdirSync(data, { recursive: true });
+  mkdirSync(config, { recursive: true });
+  mkdirSync(join(home, 'Downloads'), { recursive: true });
+
+  const proc = spawn(bin, [], {
+    env: {
+      ...process.env,
+      VELOX_PAIR_AUTO: '1',
+      XDG_RUNTIME_DIR: runtime,
+      XDG_DATA_HOME: data,
+      XDG_CONFIG_HOME: config,
+      HOME: home,
+    },
+  });
+  let exited = false;
+  proc.on('exit', () => {
+    exited = true;
+  });
+  let stderr = '';
+  proc.stderr.on('data', (d) => {
+    stderr += String(d);
+  });
+
+  const portFile = join(runtime, 'velox', 'ws.port');
+  try {
+    await waitFor(async () => {
+      if (exited) throw new Error(`veloxd exited early (code ${proc.exitCode}, signal ${proc.signalCode}): ${stderr}`);
+      try {
+        await readFile(portFile);
+        return true;
+      } catch {
+        return false;
+      }
+    }, 10_000, 'veloxd to write ws.port');
+  } catch (e) {
+    proc.kill('SIGKILL');
+    rmSync(scratch, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    throw e;
+  }
+  const wsPort = Number((await readFile(portFile, 'utf8')).trim());
+
+  return {
+    proc,
+    scratch,
+    wsPort,
+    hasExited: () => exited,
+    kill(signal: NodeJS.Signals = 'SIGTERM') {
+      proc.kill(signal);
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+interface TestServerInstance {
+  proc: ChildProcessWithoutNullStreams;
+  baseUrl: string;
+}
+
+async function startTestServer(): Promise<TestServerInstance> {
+  const proc = spawn('python3', [TESTSERVER_PY, '--port', '0'], {});
+  let stdout = '';
+  let port: number | null = null;
+  proc.stdout.on('data', (d) => {
+    stdout += String(d);
+    const m = /^(\d+)\s*$/m.exec(stdout);
+    if (m) port = Number(m[1]);
+  });
+  await waitFor(() => port !== null, 5_000, 'testserver to print its port');
+  const baseUrl = `http://127.0.0.1:${port}`;
+  await waitFor(async () => {
+    try {
+      const res = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/__health`);
+      return res.ok;
+    } catch {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }, 5_000, 'testserver /__health');
+  return { proc, baseUrl };
+}
+
+function memDeps(init: { token?: string | null } = {}): { deps: WebSocketTransportDeps; store: { token: string | null } } {
+  const store = { token: init.token ?? null };
+  return {
+    store,
+    deps: {
+      getToken: async () => store.token,
+      setToken: async (t) => {
+        store.token = t;
+      },
+      getCachedPort: async () => null,
+      setCachedPort: async () => undefined,
+      extensionId: EXTENSION_ID,
+    },
+  };
+}
+
+function makeTransport(port: number, deps: WebSocketTransportDeps, extra: Partial<WebSocketTransportDeps> = {}): WebSocketTransport {
+  return new WebSocketTransport({
+    ...deps,
+    ...extra,
+    webSocketCtor: CTOR,
+    portRange: { start: port, end: port },
+    openTimeoutMs: 2000,
+  });
+}
+
+const maybeDescribe = VELOXD_BIN ? describe : describe.skip;
+
+if (!VELOXD_BIN) {
+  console.warn('tests/live/real-veloxd.test.ts: VELOXD_BIN not set — skipping (see file header).');
+}
+
+maybeDescribe('WebSocketTransport against a real veloxd', () => {
+  let daemon: VeloxdInstance;
+  let testserver: TestServerInstance;
+  // The mid-test fail-open case kills `daemon` and a later test starts a replacement —
+  // every scratch dir that ever existed gets cleaned up here, not just the last one.
+  const allScratchDirs: string[] = [];
+
+  async function freshVeloxd(): Promise<VeloxdInstance> {
+    const d = await startVeloxd(VELOXD_BIN!);
+    allScratchDirs.push(d.scratch);
+    return d;
+  }
+
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    daemon = await freshVeloxd();
+    testserver = await startTestServer();
+  }, 20_000);
+
+  afterAll(() => {
+    daemon?.kill('SIGKILL');
+    testserver?.proc.kill('SIGKILL');
+    for (const dir of allScratchDirs) rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  });
+
+  it('session.hello without a token surfaces NotPaired / needsPairing', async () => {
+    const { deps } = memDeps();
+    const t = makeTransport(daemon.wsPort, deps, { autoPair: false });
+    await expect(t.connect()).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(RpcError);
+    expect(t.status.needsPairing).toBe(true);
+    t.disconnect();
+  });
+
+  let pairedToken: string;
+
+  it('pairs (VELOX_PAIR_AUTO=1 stands in for the human Allow click) and hellos with the issued token', async () => {
+    const { deps, store } = memDeps();
+    const t = makeTransport(daemon.wsPort, deps); // autoPair: true (default)
+    await t.connect();
+    expect(t.state).toBe('connected');
+    expect(t.status.daemonVersion).toBeTruthy();
+    expect(store.token).toBeTruthy();
+    pairedToken = store.token!;
+    t.disconnect();
+  });
+
+  it('the pairing token survives a reconnect: a fresh transport reuses it with no fresh pairing', async () => {
+    const { deps } = memDeps({ token: pairedToken });
+    // autoPair: false — if this succeeds at all, it can only be because the stored
+    // token from the previous test was accepted outright, not because this transport
+    // silently re-paired.
+    const t = makeTransport(daemon.wsPort, deps, { autoPair: false });
+    await t.connect();
+    expect(t.state).toBe('connected');
+    t.disconnect();
+  });
+
+  it('a wrong token is rejected, and repeating it rate-limits the next pairing attempt', async () => {
+    // Five failed session.hello attempts from this origin (ws_server.cpp records a
+    // rate-limiter failure on every not-paired hello, not only on a failed session.pair)
+    // exhausts the window; the sixth thing this origin tries — a pairing attempt — gets
+    // RateLimited rather than a fresh token.
+    for (let i = 0; i < 5; i += 1) {
+      const { deps } = memDeps({ token: 'not-the-real-token' });
+      const t = makeTransport(daemon.wsPort, deps, { autoPair: false });
+      await expect(t.connect()).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(RpcError);
+      t.disconnect();
+    }
+
+    const { deps } = memDeps(); // no token -> autoPair kicks in -> session.pair
+    const t = makeTransport(daemon.wsPort, deps);
+    await expect(t.connect()).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(RpcError);
+    expect(t.status.needsPairing).toBe(true);
+    expect(t.status.retryAfterSec).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    t.disconnect();
+  });
+
+  it('download.add creates a real task the engine picks up', async () => {
+    const { deps } = memDeps({ token: pairedToken });
+    const t = makeTransport(daemon.wsPort, deps, { autoPair: false });
+    await t.connect();
+    try {
+      const spec: DownloadSpec = { url: `${testserver.baseUrl}/plain/file/64K`, filename: 'plain-download.bin' };
+      const added = await t.call('download.add', spec);
+      expect(added.taskId).toBeTruthy();
+
+      await waitFor(async () => {
+        const detail = await t.call('download.get', { taskId: added.taskId });
+        const state = detail.summary.state;
+        return state === 'complete' || state === 'downloading' || state === 'verifying';
+      }, 10_000, 'the task to leave the queued state');
+    } finally {
+      t.disconnect();
+    }
+  }, 15_000);
+
+  it('capture.offer end to end: the real capture path takes a monitored download, ignores its own duplicate, and fails open when the daemon dies mid-offer', async () => {
+    const { deps } = memDeps({ token: pairedToken });
+    const t = makeTransport(daemon.wsPort, deps, { autoPair: false });
+    await t.connect();
+
+    const rules: CaptureRules = await t.call('capture.getRules', {});
+    expect(rules.monitoredExtensions).toContain('zip'); // seeded default (0001_initial.sql)
+
+    const hook = new CaptureHook({
+      offer: (params, opts) => t.call('capture.offer', params, opts),
+      stash: { take: () => undefined, peek: () => undefined },
+      getCookies: async () => [],
+      getRules: () => rules,
+      origin: ORIGIN,
+    });
+
+    // A throttled URL so the task the first offer creates is still active (not yet
+    // complete) when the dedupe offer for the same URL follows immediately after.
+    const url = `${testserver.baseUrl}/throttled/file/512K`;
+    const details: OnHeadersReceivedDetails = {
+      requestId: 'live-1',
+      url,
+      method: 'GET',
+      type: 'other',
+      statusCode: 200,
+      tabId: 1,
+      responseHeaders: [{ name: 'content-disposition', value: 'attachment; filename="live-capture.zip"' }],
+    };
+
+    const first = await hook.handle(details);
+    expect(first).toEqual({ cancel: true }); // the daemon took it — Firefox never starts its own download
+
+    const list = await t.call('download.list', { filter: { query: 'live-capture' } });
+    expect(list.items.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    const task = list.items[0]!;
+    expect(task.categoryId).toBe('programs'); // "zip" routes to the built-in Programs category
+    expect(task.saveDir).toContain('Downloads/Programs');
+
+    // Same URL again, task still active: the daemon's own dedupe (has_active_duplicate)
+    // says Ignore, so the hook proceeds instead of cancelling a second time.
+    const dup = await hook.handle({ ...details, requestId: 'live-2' });
+    expect(dup).toEqual({});
+
+    // Now kill the daemon mid-offer and prove fail-open holds against the REAL binary,
+    // not just FakeDaemon: the hook must still resolve to {} (Firefox downloads
+    // normally) well inside its own 750 ms budget.
+    daemon.kill('SIGKILL');
+    await waitFor(() => daemon.hasExited(), 5_000, 'veloxd to actually die');
+
+    const started = Date.now();
+    const afterDeath = await hook.handle({ ...details, requestId: 'live-3', url: `${url}?after-death=1` });
+    const elapsedMs = Date.now() - started;
+    expect(afterDeath).toEqual({}); // fail open — never {cancel: true} with a dead daemon
+    expect(elapsedMs).toBeLessThan(900); // budget is 750ms; the hook's own timer bounds this
+
+    t.disconnect();
+  }, 20_000);
+
+  it('event.task.progress reaches a subscribed client (the popup\'s own path)', async () => {
+    if (daemon.hasExited()) {
+      // The previous test kills the daemon on purpose to prove fail-open; start a fresh
+      // one so this test still exercises the real event path end to end.
+      daemon = await freshVeloxd();
+    }
+    const { deps } = memDeps();
+    const t = makeTransport(daemon.wsPort, deps); // fresh daemon instance -> fresh pairing
+    await t.connect();
+    try {
+      await t.call('session.subscribe', {
+        events: ['event.task.added', 'event.task.state', 'event.task.progress'],
+      });
+
+      const progressEvents: TaskProgressEvent[] = [];
+      const stateEvents: TaskStateEvent[] = [];
+      t.on('event.task.progress', (p) => progressEvents.push(p as TaskProgressEvent));
+      t.on('event.task.state', (p) => stateEvents.push(p as TaskStateEvent));
+
+      const spec: DownloadSpec = { url: `${testserver.baseUrl}/throttled/file/1M`, filename: 'progress-check.bin' };
+      const added = await t.call('download.add', spec);
+
+      // /throttled defaults to 1 MiB/s, so a 1 MiB file takes ~1s — long enough that at
+      // least one 4 Hz progress tick (event.task.progress's documented cap) lands before
+      // it completes, exactly the path popup/store.ts consumes in the real extension.
+      await waitFor(
+        () => progressEvents.some((e) => e.tasks.some((row) => row.taskId === added.taskId)),
+        8_000,
+        'a live event.task.progress tick for our task',
+      );
+      expect(stateEvents.some((e) => e.taskId === added.taskId)).toBe(true);
+    } finally {
+      t.disconnect();
+    }
+  }, 15_000);
+
+  it('fail-open also holds through the transport itself: a call against a dead socket rejects, never hangs past its deadline', async () => {
+    const { deps } = memDeps();
+    const t = makeTransport(daemon.wsPort, deps);
+    await t.connect();
+    t.disconnect(); // closes the socket without telling the daemon anything is wrong
+    await expect(t.call('capture.offer', { url: 'https://example.com/x.zip', method: 'GET', tabUrl: '' }, { timeoutMs: 200 })).rejects.toBeInstanceOf(
+      TransportClosedError,
+    );
+  });
+});