captchakraken 2.4.0 → 2.6.1

package/dist/solver.js

@@ -33,8 +33,9 @@ var __importStar = (this && this.__importStar) || (function () {
     };
 })();
 Object.defineProperty(exports, "__esModule", { value: true });
-exports.CaptchaKrakenSolver = void 0;
-const cursory_ts_1 = require("cursory-ts");
+exports.CaptchaKrakenSolver = exports.SOLVE_DEFAULTS = void 0;
+const watcher_1 = require("./watcher");
+const trajectory_js_1 = require("./trajectory.js");
 const child_process_1 = require("child_process");
 const util_1 = require("util");
 const fs = __importStar(require("fs"));
@@ -43,17 +44,34 @@ const os = __importStar(require("os"));
 const crypto_1 = require("crypto");
 const token_usage_1 = require("./token-usage");
 const errors_1 = require("./errors");
+const limits_1 = require("./limits");
+const python_command_1 = require("./python-command");
+const cli_invocation_1 = require("./cli-invocation");
+const slide_geometry_1 = require("./slide-geometry");
+const model_name_1 = require("./model-name");
 const execAsync = (0, util_1.promisify)(child_process_1.exec);
 const execFileAsync = (0, util_1.promisify)(child_process_1.execFile);
-function getBundledCliRoot() {
-    // When installed from npm, this file is in `<pkgRoot>/dist` (compiled) or `<pkgRoot>/src` (dev).
-    // Published packages bundle the python engine at `<pkgRoot>/python` (copied in
-    // by scripts/copy-python.mjs at build time). In the source monorepo it instead
-    // lives at the sibling `../python`, so fall back to that for local dev/tests.
-    const bundled = path.resolve(__dirname, '..', 'python');
-    if (fs.existsSync(bundled))
-        return bundled;
-    return path.resolve(__dirname, '..', '..', 'python');
+/**
+ * Centre of an [x1, y1, x2, y2] 0–1 box, as the (x, y) 0–1 point the animated
+ * wait gate compares around. The solver builds these boxes as a small square
+ * around the model's point, so the centre recovers that point exactly.
+ */
+function bboxCenter(bbox) {
+    return [(bbox[0] + bbox[2]) / 2, (bbox[1] + bbox[3]) / 2];
+}
+/**
+ * Is `command` runnable? Probed with `--version`, which every candidate
+ * interpreter answers cheaply and without side effects. `shell: false` so a
+ * command name can never be interpreted by /bin/sh.
+ */
+function commandExists(command) {
+    try {
+        const probe = (0, child_process_1.spawnSync)(command, ['--version'], { stdio: 'ignore', shell: false });
+        return !probe.error && probe.status === 0;
+    }
+    catch {
+        return false;
+    }
 }
 function getVenvPython(cliRoot) {
     const venvDir = path.join(cliRoot, '.venv');
@@ -88,11 +106,15 @@ const delay = (ms) => new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
 /**
  * Lifecycle state of the challenge the solver is driving. Tracked so behaviours
  * can be gated on it — in particular so we never feed a mid-transition or
- * still-loading frame to the model, and so a frame that never settles is
- * classified as an animated/video challenge rather than an unsupported one.
+ * still-loading frame to the model.
  *
  *   Detecting → Loading → Ready → Solving → Acting → Submitting → Transitioning
- *   → (Loading → …) | Solved,   with Animated as a terminal "it's a video" exit.
+ *   → (Loading → …) | Solved
+ *
+ * `Animated` used to be the terminal "it's a video, give up" exit. It no longer
+ * is: a challenge that never settles gets RECORDED and solved from keyframes, so
+ * the normal path absorbs it. The state now means only that the recording was
+ * impossible, or that `videoSolveEnabled` is off.
  */
 var CaptchaState;
 (function (CaptchaState) {
@@ -106,8 +128,133 @@ var CaptchaState;
     CaptchaState["Solved"] = "solved";
     CaptchaState["Animated"] = "animated";
 })(CaptchaState || (CaptchaState = {}));
+/**
+ * Vendors with no checkbox/challenge split — one container, one interactive
+ * surface. Checked in detectCaptcha() after the five hard-coded reCAPTCHA /
+ * hCaptcha / Turnstile checks above, so those keep first refusal. Selectors
+ * lifted from src/captchaCollection/sources.py, which already drives these 8
+ * vendors nightly in the collector. Mirror of PYTHON_VENDOR_WIDGET_LOCATORS in
+ * page_solver.py — keep both in the same order with the same selectors.
+ */
+const VENDOR_WIDGET_LOCATORS = [
+    { puzzleSource: 'geetest', selectors: ['.geetest_box', '.geetest_panel_box', '.geetest_popup_window', '.geetest_widget'] },
+    { puzzleSource: 'tencent', selectors: ['iframe#tcaptcha_iframe_dy', 'iframe[id*="tcaptcha"]', 'iframe[src*="captcha.gtimg.com"]', 'iframe[src*="captcha.qq.com"]'] },
+    { puzzleSource: 'yidun', selectors: ['.yidun_panel', '.yidun'] },
+    { puzzleSource: 'yandex', selectors: ['.CheckboxCaptcha'] },
+    { puzzleSource: 'lemin', selectors: ['#lemin-cropped-captcha', '.lemin-captcha-popup'] },
+    { puzzleSource: 'prosopo', selectors: ['.prosopo-modalInner', '.procaptcha-checkbox'] },
+    { puzzleSource: 'mtcaptcha', selectors: ['.mtcap'] },
+    { puzzleSource: 'botdetect', selectors: ['.BDC_CaptchaDiv'] },
+];
+/**
+ * Where the answer goes, when it is not a click. Mirrors TEXT_INPUT_SELECTORS /
+ * SLIDER_HANDLE_SELECTORS / DRAGGABLE_PIECE_SELECTORS in page_solver.py — keep
+ * both in the same order with the same selectors.
+ *
+ * Ordered VENDOR-FIRST, GENERIC-LAST, and the driver takes the first visible
+ * match. That order is the design: a named vendor selector is unambiguous,
+ * while the generic patterns are guesses that happen to be right most of the
+ * time. Trying the guess first would, on a page hosting a captcha *and* a login
+ * form, type the captcha's answer into the username box.
+ *
+ * The generic tail is not a nicety either — it is what actually fires on most
+ * pages. Vendors rename these classes without notice, and our own Tier 3
+ * fixtures render neither vendor's DOM.
+ */
+const TEXT_INPUT_SELECTORS = [
+    // BotDetect — the input is application-defined, so match the id fragment its
+    // own docs and samples use (the three the nightly collector already drives).
+    'input[id*=captchaCode]',
+    'input#captchaCode',
+    'input[id*=validateCaptcha]',
+    '.BDC_CaptchaDiv input[type=text]',
+    // MTCaptcha
+    'input.mtcap-inputtext',
+    '.mtcap input[type=text]',
+    // Yandex SmartCaptcha
+    '.AdvancedCaptcha-Input input',
+    'input.Textinput-Control',
+    'input[name="rep"]',
+    // Generic — an input the page itself labels as the captcha answer.
+    'input[name*="captcha" i]',
+    'input[id*="captcha" i]',
+    'input[aria-label*="captcha" i]',
+    'input[placeholder*="code" i]',
+    'input[autocomplete="off"][type=text]',
+    // Last resort: the only text box in the widget. Scoped to the challenge
+    // frame/container by the caller, never to the whole page — see findControl.
+    'input[type=text]',
+    'input:not([type])',
+    'input[type=tel]',
+    'textarea',
+];
+/**
+ * The handle you drag on a puzzle-piece slider. NOT the piece: on every one of
+ * these vendors the piece is inert decoration that the handle carries, so a
+ * drag starting on the piece moves nothing at all.
+ */
+const SLIDER_HANDLE_SELECTORS = [
+    // GeeTest v3 / v4
+    '.geetest_slider_button',
+    '.geetest_btn',
+    '.geetest_slider .geetest_arrow',
+    // Tencent
+    '#tcaptcha_drag_thumb',
+    '.tc-slider-normal',
+    '[id*=slideBlock]',
+    // Yidun (NetEase)
+    '.yidun_slider',
+    '.yidun_jigsaw',
+    // Lemin
+    '.lemin-slider-handle',
+    '#lemin-cropped-captcha .slider',
+    // Generic — an ARIA slider, or a class that says handle/thumb/button on a
+    // track. `[draggable=true]` is deliberately absent: it is the HTML5
+    // drag-and-drop opt-in, which fires dragstart rather than pointermove, and no
+    // slider captcha uses it.
+    '[role="slider"]',
+    '[aria-valuenow]',
+    '[class*="slider"][class*="btn"]',
+    '[class*="slider"][class*="button"]',
+    '[class*="slide"][class*="handle"]',
+    '[class*="drag"][class*="thumb"]',
+];
+/**
+ * Fallback for the sliderless members of the family. Lemin's "cropped" puzzle
+ * has no track at all — you drag the piece itself onto the gap — and the model
+ * answers it with the same sourceless drag, because from the picture the two
+ * are indistinguishable. Tried only after SLIDER_HANDLE_SELECTORS finds nothing.
+ */
+const DRAGGABLE_PIECE_SELECTORS = [
+    '.lemin-cropped-puzzle-piece',
+    '#lemin-cropped-captcha canvas + canvas',
+    '[class*="puzzle"][class*="piece"]',
+    '[class*="jigsaw"]',
+];
+/**
+ * Puzzle-piece slider tuning. Mirrors the `slide_*` fields of
+ * PageSolverConfig in page_solver.py.
+ */
+const SLIDE_PROBE_OFFSETS_PX = [24, 64];
+const SLIDE_TOLERANCE_PX = 2;
+const SLIDE_MAX_CORRECTIONS = 2;
+/**
+ * The two numbers that bound a solve, together, because they only make sense
+ * together: `maxSolveLoops` is the count that FITS inside the timeout at the
+ * ~4-7s a round costs, and the timeout is the backstop for when it does not.
+ * Named rather than inlined as `??` defaults so the relationship between them
+ * can be pinned by a test — see no-progress.test.ts. The Python port keeps the
+ * same pair on `PageSolverConfig`.
+ */
+exports.SOLVE_DEFAULTS = {
+    maxSolveLoops: 6,
+    overallSolveTimeoutMs: 45000,
+};
 class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
     constructor(config = {}) {
+        /** Extra ms this solve has been granted for a recording; see recordKeyframeBurst. */
+        this.videoBudgetMs = 0;
+        this.videoBudgetGranted = false;
         this.imageCounter = 0; // Track images sent to CLI for debugging
         this.sessionDebugDir = null;
         // onStep instrumentation: monotonic step index + solve-start wall clock.
@@ -132,6 +279,29 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
         // the model about it, re-querying is wasted work — reuse the prior answer.
         // Cleared at the top of each solve. See getSolution().
         this.solutionCache = new Map();
+        // Set when a screenshot we have ALREADY answered comes back this solve.
+        //
+        // Every answer getSolution returns is executed — there is no speculative
+        // call — so an identical picture on a later round cannot mean "nothing
+        // changed, reuse it". It means the answer we already tried changed nothing.
+        // On a board that CYCLES (GeeTest's svg variant advances through screens and
+        // dwells ~1.5s on each) the pixels come back around, the settle probe reads
+        // that dwell as static, and the driver replayed a failed answer every round:
+        // 81 solve loops, 12 model calls, 69 cache hits, 0 solves across 16 live
+        // attempts. So a repeat is treated as EVIDENCE the still reading was wrong,
+        // and the challenge is re-solved from a recorded burst. See
+        // repeated-answer.test.ts.
+        this.repeatedAnswerSeen = false;
+        // Slicing mode of the burst the current answer came from, as reported by
+        // `solve-animated`. `waitForKeyframe` reads it: `even` means the slicer found
+        // no state that RECURS, so there is nothing for the page to come back to and
+        // the gate can only ever time out. See test_even_clips_do_not_wait.py.
+        this.keyframeMode = null;
+        // Repeat detection; see `maxNoProgressRounds`. `lastAnswerSig` is the answer
+        // the previous round EXECUTED, `noProgressRounds` how many rounds running
+        // have re-executed it.
+        this.lastAnswerSig = null;
+        this.noProgressRounds = 0;
         // Current challenge lifecycle state (see CaptchaState). Diagnostic + used to
         // gate behaviours; transitions are logged via gridDebug when CAPTCHA_DEBUG=1.
         this.state = CaptchaState.Detecting;
@@ -165,21 +335,41 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             this.solveSessionId = null;
         }
     }
+    /**
+     * Install an auto-solver: probe `page` on a timer and solve any captcha that
+     * becomes visible, until `stop()`.
+     *
+     * Returns immediately — the watching happens in the background, so your
+     * automation carries on and captchas are handled underneath it.
+     *
+     * Nothing is injected into the page on any platform; see watcher.ts for why,
+     * and for the note on Camoufox, where the probe's DOM reads land in its
+     * isolated world by default.
+     *
+     * ```typescript
+     * const solver = new CaptchaKrakenSolver();
+     * const watcher = solver.watch(page);
+     * await page.goto('https://example.com/protected');   // solved as it appears
+     * await watcher.stop();
+     * ```
+     */
+    watch(page, options = {}) {
+        return (0, watcher_1.watchPage)(this, page, options);
+    }
     async solveImpl(page) {
-        const maxSolveLoops = this.config.maxSolveLoops ?? 10;
+        const maxSolveLoops = this.config.maxSolveLoops ?? exports.SOLVE_DEFAULTS.maxSolveLoops;
         const postSolveDelayMs = this.config.postSolveDelayMs ?? 1200;
-        const overallSolveTimeoutMs = this.config.overallSolveTimeoutMs ?? 120000;
+        const overallSolveTimeoutMs = this.config.overallSolveTimeoutMs ?? exports.SOLVE_DEFAULTS.overallSolveTimeoutMs;
         const start = Date.now();
         let cumulativeTokenUsage = [];
         this.imageCounter = 0;
         this.stepIndex = 0;
         this.solveStartMs = start;
-        this.solutionCache.clear();
-        this.lastSubmitFrameHash = null;
+        this.resetSolveState();
         this.setState(CaptchaState.Detecting);
         // Initialize session debug directory if debugging is enabled
         if (process.env.CAPTCHA_DEBUG === '1') {
-            const cliRoot = this.config.repoPath ?? getBundledCliRoot();
+            const cliRoot = this.config.repoPath ?? (0, model_name_1.getBundledCliRoot)();
             const debugRunsDir = path.join(cliRoot, '..', 'debug_runs');
             if (!fs.existsSync(debugRunsDir)) {
                 fs.mkdirSync(debugRunsDir, { recursive: true });
@@ -216,10 +406,43 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
         let hasInteracted = false;
         // Bounded wait for an in-DOM-but-still-rendering widget (Stage 1).
         let renderWaits = 0;
-        const MAX_RENDER_WAITS = 6;
+        // Strictly FEWER than the solve loops. A render wait consumes an attempt,
+        // so at parity the loop runs out first and the "no interactive captcha
+        // widget" branch below never fires — the correct, benign answer for a
+        // reCAPTCHA v3 / invisible page gets reported as "still detected after N
+        // solve loops" instead. Mirrors page_solver.py's max_render_waits.
+        const MAX_RENDER_WAITS = Math.min(6, maxSolveLoops - 1);
         for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxSolveLoops; attempt++) {
-            if (Date.now() - start > overallSolveTimeoutMs) {
-                throw new Error(`Captcha solve timed out after ${overallSolveTimeoutMs}ms (attempt ${attempt}/${maxSolveLoops}).`);
+            // `videoBudgetMs` is 0 until this solve records something, so a solve
+            // that never escalates gets exactly the deadline the caller configured.
+            const budgetMs = overallSolveTimeoutMs + this.videoBudgetMs;
+            if (Date.now() - start > budgetMs) {
+                throw new Error(`Captcha solve timed out after ${budgetMs}ms (attempt ${attempt}/${maxSolveLoops})`
+                    + (this.videoBudgetMs ? `, including ${this.videoBudgetMs}ms granted for recording an animated challenge` : '')
+                    + '.');
+            }
+            /*
+             * ASK THE VENDOR BEFORE DOING ANY MORE WORK.
+             *
+             * Once we have interacted, the cheapest possible question is "did that
+             * already work?" — a hidden response field on the page, no iframe, no
+             * screenshot, microseconds. Skipping it meant a solved reCAPTCHA still
+             * paid a full re-detect on the challenge iframe the vendor was tearing
+             * down: settle probe, grid poll, each screenshot waiting on an element
+             * that would never go stable again, ~10s after the answer was already
+             * accepted.
+             *
+             * Gated on hasInteracted for the same reason the post-interaction branch
+             * below is: before we touch anything, a response token belongs to
+             * somebody else's earlier solve and says nothing about this one.
+             */
+            if (hasInteracted && await this.isCaptchaSolved(page)) {
+                console.log('Vendor reports solved; returning without another detect pass.');
+                return {
+                    isSolved: true,
+                    finalMousePosition: this.lastMousePosition,
+                    tokenUsage: (0, token_usage_1.aggregateTokenUsage)(cumulativeTokenUsage),
+                };
             }
             const captchaElement = await this.detectCaptcha(page);
             if (!captchaElement) {
@@ -259,13 +482,14 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                 ({ didInteract, tokenUsage } = await this.solveSingle(page, captchaElement, attempt, retryModeThisLoop));
             }
             catch (e) {
-                // The settle monitor decided the challenge never stops moving → it's an
-                // animated / video challenge, which we can't solve. Distinct from
-                // "unsupported" (a static puzzle of the wrong type).
+                // `.animated` no longer means "the challenge moves" — moving challenges are
+                // recorded and solved from keyframes. It now means the RECORDING itself was
+                // impossible (the element refused to screenshot), or that the caller turned
+                // the path off with `videoSolveEnabled: false`. Either way there is nothing
+                // left to try.
                 if (e?.animated) {
                     this.setState(CaptchaState.Animated);
-                    throw new Error('Animated/video challenge detected — the puzzle never settles, so it '
-                        + 'is almost certainly a video challenge (unsupported).');
+                    throw new Error(`Animated challenge could not be solved: ${e.message ?? 'recording failed'}`);
                 }
                 // Stage 2: we screenshotted a settled frame and the CLI says the puzzle
                 // TYPE is unsupported (e.g. hCaptcha click/drag). Normally a definitive
@@ -276,22 +500,36 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                     if (hasInteracted && unsupportedRetries < maxUnsupportedRetries) {
                         unsupportedRetries++;
                         // Almost certainly a not-yet-settled next round. Actively wait for
-                        // it to settle before retrying; if it never settles it's a video.
+                        // it to settle before retrying; if it never settles it's animated.
                         const el = await this.detectCaptcha(page);
                         if (el) {
                             const s = await this.waitForElementSettled(el);
                             if (s === 'animated') {
-                                this.setState(CaptchaState.Animated);
-                                throw new Error('Animated/video challenge detected — the puzzle never settles '
-                                    + '(likely a video challenge).');
+                                // Used to be terminal. Now it just means the next round is an
+                                // animated puzzle: retry the loop and solveSingle takes the
+                                // recording path. `unsupportedRetries` still bounds it, so a
+                                // widget that is animated AND unsolvable cannot spin here.
+                                if (this.config.videoSolveEnabled === false) {
+                                    this.setState(CaptchaState.Animated);
+                                    throw new Error('Animated/video challenge detected — the puzzle never settles '
+                                        + 'and videoSolveEnabled is off.');
+                                }
+                                console.log('"unsupported" mid-solve and the next round is animated; '
+                                    + 'retrying into the recording path.');
+                                continue;
                             }
                         }
                         console.log(`"unsupported" mid-solve (not-yet-settled next round); settled and `
                             + `retrying (${unsupportedRetries}/${maxUnsupportedRetries}).`);
                         continue;
                     }
-                    throw new Error('Cannot solve this kind of captcha — the rendered puzzle is not a '
-                        + 'supported grid or checkbox (likely an hCaptcha click/drag puzzle).');
+                    // The solver's OWN message, not a guess about what it saw. This
+                    // used to substitute "likely an hCaptcha click/drag puzzle" for
+                    // every unsupported verdict, including the ones that already said
+                    // exactly what was wrong and how to fix it. A wrong guess reported
+                    // in place of a right answer costs whoever reads the gate an
+                    // investigation, every time.
+                    throw new Error(`Cannot solve this kind of captcha — ${e?.message ?? e}`);
                 }
                 // Stale/detached challenge handle: hCaptcha swapped in the next round
                 // while we held the old iframe, so a screenshot on it fails "not
@@ -312,6 +550,15 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                 throw e;
             }
             hasInteracted = hasInteracted || didInteract;
+            // Give up on a solve that is repeating itself, rather than letting the
+            // clock do it. The alternative is not "one more chance" — it is the same
+            // click, again, until overallSolveTimeoutMs.
+            if (this.noProgressRounds >= (this.config.maxNoProgressRounds ?? 2)) {
+                throw new Error(`No progress: the model returned the same answer ${this.noProgressRounds + 1} `
+                    + `times running and the challenge is still up `
+                    + `(attempt ${attempt}/${maxSolveLoops}). Total usage: `
+                    + JSON.stringify((0, token_usage_1.aggregateTokenUsage)(cumulativeTokenUsage)));
+            }
             renderWaits = 0;
             cumulativeTokenUsage.push(...tokenUsage);
             // After acting, poll for the vendor's SOLVED signal (anchor checkbox
@@ -324,7 +571,7 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             // re-solves, so it can't loop. If not solved in the window, the original
             // detectCaptcha path below handles a genuine next round exactly as before.
             const settleMs = didInteract
-                ? (this.config.postSolveOutcomeTimeoutMs ?? 2500)
+                ? (this.config.postSolveOutcomeTimeoutMs ?? 1000)
                 : postSolveDelayMs + Math.random() * 300;
             if (didInteract) {
                 const deadline = Date.now() + settleMs;
@@ -338,7 +585,7 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                     // (keeps multi-round solves fast instead of burning the full window).
                     if (await this.isChallengeFreshlyRendered(page))
                         break;
-                    await delay(200);
+                    await delay(this.config.postSolveOutcomePollMs ?? 75);
                 }
                 if (solved) {
                     return {
@@ -446,6 +693,23 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                 : src.includes('recaptcha/api2/anchor') || src.includes('frame=checkbox')
                     ? 'checkbox'
                     : 'unknown';
+        // Everything the answer might have to be delivered INTO — a text box, a
+        // slider handle — is looked up against this, never against the page. For
+        // the iframed vendors it is the challenge document; for the ones that
+        // render into the host page (GeeTest, Yidun, BotDetect, …) it is the widget
+        // element, whose subtree is the same boundary.
+        const scope = (await captchaElement.contentFrame()) ?? captchaElement;
+        // Does this puzzle want a STRING rather than a place to click? Only the DOM
+        // can say. The picture cannot: BotDetect's warped code and hCaptcha's
+        // "click the matching character" are the same genre of image and want
+        // opposite answers. Restricted to `unknown` because neither hCaptcha nor
+        // reCAPTCHA has ever served a typed challenge, so a match inside one of
+        // their frames would be a false positive by definition.
+        const textMode = puzzleSource === 'unknown'
+            && (await this.findControl(scope, TEXT_INPUT_SELECTORS)) !== null;
+        if (textMode) {
+            console.log('Widget has a text box; solving as a distorted-text captcha.');
+        }
         // hCaptcha swaps the challenge images in asynchronously — the iframe is
         // "visible" the instant the frame opens, but the task tiles paint a beat
         // later, and on multi-round puzzles it REUSES the same iframe: after a
@@ -457,6 +721,7 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
         //      transition starting) so we're past the previous round.
         //   2. Wait for the tiles to paint (DOM) AND for the pixels to stop moving
         //      (settle monitor). If it never settles, it's an animated/video puzzle.
+        let isAnimated = false;
         if (puzzleSource === 'hcaptcha' && src && src.includes('frame=challenge')) {
             if (this.lastSubmitFrameHash) {
                 this.setState(CaptchaState.Transitioning);
@@ -467,12 +732,52 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             await this.waitForHcaptchaChallengeImages(captchaElement);
             const settle = await this.waitForElementSettled(captchaElement);
             if (settle === 'animated') {
-                const e = new Error('ANIMATED_CHALLENGE: the challenge never settles (likely a video/animated puzzle).');
-                e.animated = true;
-                throw e;
+                // A challenge that never settles is animated BY DESIGN — hCaptcha's
+                // "select the odd animal" fades its sprites on independent cycles, and
+                // "unique motion pattern" spins identical meshes. This used to end the
+                // solve; it now routes to the recording path below.
+                if (this.config.videoSolveEnabled === false) {
+                    const e = new Error('ANIMATED_CHALLENGE: the challenge never settles and videoSolveEnabled is off.');
+                    e.animated = true;
+                    throw e;
+                }
+                console.log('[animated] challenge never settles — recording it');
+                isAnimated = true;
+            }
+            // Those three waits total ~21s and none of them watches for success, so
+            // the vendor's token routinely lands DURING them. Ask once more before
+            // spending an inference: last free moment to notice the captcha is
+            // already accepted, and inference is the most expensive step in the loop.
+            if (await this.isCaptchaSolved(page)) {
+                console.log('[captchakraken] solved while waiting for the next round; skipping inference.');
+                return { didInteract: false, tokenUsage: [] };
             }
             this.setState(CaptchaState.Ready);
         }
+        else if (puzzleSource === 'unknown' && this.config.videoSolveEnabled !== false) {
+            // Non-hCaptcha, non-reCAPTCHA widgets (GeeTest, Tencent, …). The settle probe
+            // was never run for these, so an animated one — GeeTest's svg board cycles its
+            // glyph set — was screenshotted mid-cycle and answered from whatever single
+            // moment we happened to catch. reCAPTCHA is excluded on purpose: it has its own
+            // readiness gate below, its grids are never animated, and a second probe would
+            // only add latency to a path that already works.
+            if (await this.waitForElementSettled(captchaElement) === 'animated') {
+                console.log('[animated] challenge never settles — recording it');
+                isAnimated = true;
+            }
+        }
+        /*
+         * A board that cycles but DWELLS defeats the settle probe: it holds each
+         * screen still for far longer than the ~440ms of stillness that declares a
+         * challenge static, so it is read as a picture and answered from whichever
+         * screen we caught. The tell arrives a round later, when a screenshot we
+         * have already answered comes back — proof that the answer ran and moved
+         * nothing. Record it from here on instead of guessing at another still.
+         */
+        if (!isAnimated && this.shouldRetryAsAnimated(puzzleSource)) {
+            console.log('[animated] a picture we already answered came back — recording it');
+            isAnimated = true;
+        }
         // Only the image-challenge frame (bframe) holds a grid. The anchor checkbox
         // (api2/anchor) has none — running the grid settle/detect on it just wastes
         // an 8s timeout + a find-grid subprocess before the checkbox click. Gate the
@@ -484,21 +789,18 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
         // blank/partial grid. Poll until the grid's cells have settled before
         // grabbing the frame. Best-effort — falls through on timeout. The in-place
         // refresh re-enters solveSingle each loop, so this guard covers it too.
-        // True only for a one-shot reCAPTCHA grid (4x4): click all matching tiles,
-        // then submit in the same pass — these never blank/fade, so there's no
-        // dynamic-refresh loop to run.
-        let isRecaptchaOneShotGrid = false;
         // Grid size the solver establishes for this challenge, surfaced in the
         // baseline step's meta so callers (e.g. the demo recorder) can bucket
         // reCAPTCHA attempts into 3x3 vs 4x4 without scraping debug logs.
         let establishedGridSize = null;
         if (isRecaptchaChallenge) {
             await this.waitForGridCellsLoaded(captchaElement);
-            // 3x3 reCAPTCHA puzzles refresh tiles in place (blank/fade → new image),
-            // so they need the multi-round driver: click → hover/wait for fades →
-            // re-solve, submitting only when the CLI says `done`. 4x4 puzzles only ever
-            // return `checked` (no in-place refresh) and are one-shot like hCaptcha.
-            // Falls through if the grid can't be established.
+            // Only a 3x3 reCAPTCHA ever refreshes its tiles in place (blank/fade →
+            // new image), so only a 3x3 can need the multi-round driver: click →
+            // hover/wait for fades → re-solve. Whether THIS one does is decided inside
+            // the driver, by what the widget does with the first click. A 4x4 never
+            // refreshes and is one-shot like hCaptcha: click all matching tiles, then
+            // submit in the same pass. Falls through if the grid can't be established.
             const grid = await this.getGridBoxes(captchaElement);
             if (grid && grid.size === 3) {
                 establishedGridSize = 3;
@@ -509,7 +811,6 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             }
             else if (grid && grid.size === 4) {
                 establishedGridSize = 4;
-                isRecaptchaOneShotGrid = true;
             }
         }
         // 1. Take Screenshot
@@ -528,14 +829,26 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             await this.emitStep(captchaElement, 'initial', 'initial (pre-action)', puzzleSource, frameRole, attempt, establishedGridSize ? { gridSize: establishedGridSize } : undefined);
         }
         let performedAction = false;
+        let slid = false;
+        let placed = false;
+        let clicked = false;
+        let typed = false;
         let allTokenUsage = [];
+        let burstDir = null;
         try {
             // 2. Call CLI — while the model generates (the main idle window), drift
             //    the cursor over the challenge like a human weighing the options,
             //    instead of freezing it in place. Wrapped in the freshness guard: if
             //    the frame changes mid-inference (a tile fades in), the answer is for
             //    a stale frame, so we re-screenshot and re-solve on the developed one.
-            const response = await this.solveFrameFreshnessGuarded(captchaElement, screenshotPath, (imagePath) => this.withIdleWander(page, captchaElement, () => this.getSolution(imagePath, puzzleSource, retryMode)));
+            let response;
+            if (isAnimated) {
+                burstDir = await this.recordKeyframeBurst(captchaElement);
+                response = await this.withIdleWander(page, captchaElement, () => this.getAnimatedSolution(burstDir));
+            }
+            else {
+                response = await this.solveFrameFreshnessGuarded(captchaElement, screenshotPath, (imagePath) => this.withIdleWander(page, captchaElement, () => this.getSolution(imagePath, puzzleSource, retryMode, textMode)));
+            }
             const actions = response.actions;
             allTokenUsage = response.token_usage;
             // Archive debug artifacts if enabled
@@ -547,6 +860,11 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             if (!elementBox) {
                 throw new Error('Could not get bounding box of captcha element');
             }
+            // Recorded at the moment of EXECUTION, which is what makes a repeat mean
+            // something: this exact answer is about to be performed, so if it matches
+            // the last one, the last one already ran and the page is still asking the
+            // same question.
+            this.noteAnswer(actionList, retryMode);
             console.log(`Executing ${actionList.length} actions.`);
             const frame = await captchaElement.contentFrame();
             let verifyButton = null;
@@ -562,6 +880,13 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                     }
                     if (bboxes.length) {
                         for (const bbox of bboxes) {
+                            // On an animated challenge, hold each click until the widget is back
+                            // in the state the model answered about. Per-click, not once per
+                            // action: these puzzles keep cycling, so by the time click 2 comes
+                            // round the state has moved on again.
+                            if (c.await_keyframe) {
+                                await this.waitForKeyframe(captchaElement, c.await_keyframe, ...bboxCenter(bbox));
+                            }
                             await this.executeClick(page, captchaElement, { ...c, target_bounding_box: bbox }, elementBox);
                             await delay(Math.random() * 80 + 80);
                         }
@@ -570,13 +895,40 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                         await this.executeClick(page, captchaElement, c, elementBox);
                     }
                     performedAction = true;
+                    clicked = true;
                     await this.emitStep(captchaElement, 'click', `clicked ${bboxes.length || 1} target(s)`, puzzleSource, frameRole, attempt, { bboxes });
                 }
+                else if (action.action === 'drag' && !action.source_bounding_box) {
+                    // No source — a puzzle-piece slider. What you grab is not what has to
+                    // arrive, so this cannot go through executeDrag: pressing the gap the
+                    // model named and dragging from there picks up nothing at all.
+                    if (await this.executeSlide(page, captchaElement, scope, action, elementBox)) {
+                        performedAction = true;
+                        slid = true;
+                        await this.emitStep(captchaElement, 'drag', 'slid the piece into the slot', puzzleSource, frameRole, attempt, { action });
+                    }
+                }
                 else if (action.action === 'drag') {
+                    const d = action;
+                    // Wait on the SOURCE: the piece has to be there to be picked up. The
+                    // destination is not gated — by the time the mouse arrives the animation
+                    // has moved on regardless, and a drop is judged by where it lands, not by
+                    // what the slot looked like on pickup.
+                    if (d.await_keyframe && d.source_bounding_box) {
+                        await this.waitForKeyframe(captchaElement, d.await_keyframe, ...bboxCenter(d.source_bounding_box));
+                    }
                     await this.executeDrag(page, captchaElement, action, elementBox);
                     performedAction = true;
+                    placed = true;
                     await this.emitStep(captchaElement, 'drag', 'drag', puzzleSource, frameRole, attempt, { action });
                 }
+                else if (action.action === 'type') {
+                    if (await this.executeType(page, scope, action)) {
+                        performedAction = true;
+                        typed = true;
+                        await this.emitStep(captchaElement, 'type', 'typed the code', puzzleSource, frameRole, attempt, { action });
+                    }
+                }
                 else if (action.action === 'wait') {
                     if (action.duration_ms > 0) {
                         console.log(`Waiting for ${action.duration_ms}ms as requested by CLI`);
@@ -585,29 +937,71 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                         await this.emitStep(captchaElement, 'wait', `waited ${action.duration_ms}ms`, puzzleSource, frameRole, attempt, { action });
                     }
                 }
-                if (frame) {
-                    verifyButton = await this.getVerifyButton(frame);
-                    if (verifyButton) {
-                        await this.move(page, verifyButton);
-                    }
+            }
+            // Resolve the widget's submit control AFTER the action loop, not inside
+            // it. An empty plan — the correct answer to reCAPTCHA 3x3's
+            // `none_present` variation, where nothing matches and the control reads
+            // SKIP — never enters that loop, so the lookup never ran, the press below
+            // found `verifyButton` null, and the round aborted on 'performed no
+            // interactions'. The finder was never the problem: 'Skip' has always been
+            // in its list. It was simply never called for the one answer shape that
+            // performs no other action.
+            // `scope` when there is no vendor iframe. Eight vendors render into the
+            // HOST PAGE — GeeTest, Yidun, Tencent, Yandex, Lemin, Prosopo,
+            // MTCaptcha, BotDetect — so `contentFrame()` is null for all of them
+            // and the button was never even SEARCHED FOR, while the text box and
+            // the slider handle it sits beside were both found through `scope`
+            // above. Two containers for two halves of one interaction.
+            //
+            // `scope` is the widget container and getVerifyButton's xpaths are
+            // RELATIVE, so the submit of the FORM the captcha guards is out of
+            // reach by construction. The press itself is bounded by
+            // `shouldClickSubmit` below, which is where that hazard belongs.
+            const lookup = frame ?? (slid ? null : scope);
+            if (lookup) {
+                verifyButton = await this.getVerifyButton(lookup);
+                if (verifyButton) {
+                    await this.move(page, verifyButton);
                 }
-                // 'done' actions intentionally fall through to the Verify-button block below.
-            }
-            // Submit policy:
-            //   - hCaptcha: every puzzle is one-shot. Tiles don't refresh in place;
-            //     we must click Verify after our selection to submit and advance.
-            //   - reCAPTCHA 4x4: one-shot too — never blanks/fades — so submit right
-            //     after clicking. (3x3 is dynamic and never reaches this path; it's
-            //     handled by solveRecaptchaGrid above.)
-            //   - Otherwise (no action / 'done'): submit to advance.
-            const shouldClickSubmit = !performedAction
-                || puzzleSource === 'hcaptcha'
-                || isRecaptchaOneShotGrid;
-            if (shouldClickSubmit && frame && verifyButton) {
+            }
+            // 'done' actions fall through to the submit block below, same as before.
+            // Submit policy: press the widget's own submit control whenever we have
+            // put an ANSWER into it — a selection, a placed piece, a typed code — or
+            // when we had nothing to do and want the round to advance.
+            //
+            // Two exclusions, and they are the whole rule:
+            //
+            //   a completed SLIDE has already submitted. Letting go of the handle is
+            //     the gesture these puzzles grade; none of them ships a Verify
+            //     button, so anything the generic finder turns up afterwards belongs
+            //     to the HOST page, and pressing it would submit the form the captcha
+            //     guards while the verdict is still in flight.
+            //   a round that only WAITED has answered nothing.
+            //
+            // hCaptcha and the reCAPTCHA 4x4 used to be named here as one-shot
+            // special cases; they are ordinary click rounds and this covers them.
+            // (reCAPTCHA 3x3 never reaches here — solveRecaptchaGrid owns its
+            // fade-and-re-round rounds.)
+            //
+            // A click round used to be excluded, on the reasoning that these boards
+            // re-round and a half-made selection spends the attempt. They do not: the
+            // ones that grade themselves mid-selection draw no submit control, so
+            // verifyButton is null and nothing is pressed either way. What the
+            // exclusion bought was an extra model call per puzzle, asking a board we
+            // had already answered correctly whether it was `done`.
+            const answered = clicked || placed || typed;
+            const shouldClickSubmit = !slid && (answered || !performedAction);
+            if (shouldClickSubmit && verifyButton) {
                 console.log(performedAction
                     ? `Actions executed; clicking Verify to submit (${puzzleSource}).`
                     : 'No active actions performed (empty or done). Checking for Verify/Next button...');
                 await this.moveAndClick(page, verifyButton);
+                // The press IS an interaction, and saying so is load-bearing: the
+                // caller aborts a round that reports none, so submitting a `done`
+                // answer and then reporting false re-arms the very guard this
+                // satisfies — the puzzle is sent and the solve gives up on it one line
+                // later, which is what `prosopo_grid_3x3` did.
+                performedAction = true;
                 await this.emitStep(captchaElement, 'submit', 'submitted (Verify/Next)', puzzleSource, frameRole, attempt);
                 // Snapshot the frame at submit time so the NEXT attempt waits for the
                 // real transition (next round loading / frame closing) before treating
@@ -621,17 +1015,35 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             if (fs.existsSync(screenshotPath)) {
                 fs.unlinkSync(screenshotPath);
             }
+            // Only now: the wait gate re-reads the keyframe PNGs (which live inside this
+            // directory) on every poll, so removing it any earlier would break the click
+            // it is gating.
+            if (burstDir) {
+                try {
+                    fs.rmSync(burstDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+                }
+                catch { /* best-effort */ }
+            }
         }
         return { didInteract: performedAction, tokenUsage: allTokenUsage };
     }
     async getVerifyButton(frame) {
         let submitted = false;
         // 1. Try generic button selectors by text
+        //
+        // `.//` — RELATIVE. `frame` is an ElementHandle whenever the widget is
+        // markup on the host page rather than a vendor iframe (all eight inline
+        // vendors), and a document-rooted `//button` does not resolve against an
+        // element handle: the query returns nothing even with the button sitting
+        // inside that very element. On a Frame the context node is the document,
+        // where `.//` and `//` mean the same thing, so the vendor paths are
+        // unaffected — and scoping is the point on an element, since a
+        // document-rooted match would reach the host page's own form submit.
         const buttonTexts = ['Verify', 'Next', 'Submit', 'Skip'];
         for (const text of buttonTexts) {
             try {
                 // Case-insensitive contains for text
-                const btn = await frame.$(`xpath=//button[contains(translate(., 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'), '${text.toLowerCase()}')] | //div[@role="button" and contains(translate(., 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'), '${text.toLowerCase()}')]`);
+                const btn = await frame.$(`xpath=.//button[contains(translate(., 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'), '${text.toLowerCase()}')] | .//div[@role="button" and contains(translate(., 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'), '${text.toLowerCase()}')]`);
                 if (btn && await btn.isVisible()) {
                     return btn;
                 }
@@ -654,6 +1066,28 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                 return hcaptchaVerify;
             }
         }
+        if (!submitted) {
+            // 4. GeeTest: `<div class="geetest_submit geetest_disable">OK</div>`.
+            //
+            // Invisible to BOTH shapes above — a bare div carries no role="button",
+            // and "OK" is on none of the four word lists. So nothing was ever pressed
+            // on the puzzles that need pressing, and since a GeeTest board does not
+            // grade until you do, the solve loop re-read the same unchanged panel and
+            // re-answered it identically until the round cap. Ordered icon-click
+            // scored 0/31 and 0/13 that way while the model was answering correctly:
+            // measured on 2026-08-19, three returned points landed on the three
+            // reference icons in order and the cursor arrived within 0.005 normalised
+            // of each. A driver that discards a right answer is indistinguishable
+            // from a model that cannot solve the puzzle, which is how this hid.
+            //
+            // Matched by CLASS, not by the word: `geetest_submit_tips` sits beside it
+            // and also reads "OK", and pressing the tooltip does nothing at all.
+            // `.geetest_submit` is a distinct class token, so it cannot match it.
+            const geetestSubmit = await frame.$('.geetest_submit');
+            if (geetestSubmit && await geetestSubmit.isVisible()) {
+                return geetestSubmit;
+            }
+        }
         return null;
     }
     async hasNonEmptyFieldValue(page, selector) {
@@ -752,17 +1186,32 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
      */
     async isCaptchaSolved(page) {
         try {
+            // The token FIRST, and unconditionally. It is a hidden field on the PAGE,
+            // not inside the widget, so it never needed the anchor iframe to be on
+            // screen — and the moment it matters most is precisely when the anchor is
+            // NOT on screen, because hCaptcha keeps its challenge overlay up for a
+            // couple of seconds after the winning submit. Gating this on the anchor's
+            // visibility meant the one signal that was already true went unread, and
+            // the loop ground on against a frame being torn down. Mirrors the Python
+            // driver; pinned by tests/test_solved_detection.py in the finetune repo.
+            if (await this.hasNonEmptyFieldValue(page, '[name="h-captcha-response"]'))
+                return true;
+            if (await this.hasNonEmptyFieldValue(page, '[name="g-recaptcha-response"]'))
+                return true;
+            // Turnstile. detectCaptcha already reads this exact field to decide a
+            // Turnstile widget is UNSOLVED, so the signal was known to one half of
+            // the driver and ignored by the other. Mirrors the Python driver.
+            if (await this.hasNonEmptyFieldValue(page, '[name="cf-turnstile-response"]'))
+                return true;
+            // Anchor state is the fallback, and this one DOES need the iframe: it is
+            // read out of the anchor's own document.
             const hc = await page.$('iframe[src*="hcaptcha"][src*="frame=checkbox"]');
             if (hc && await hc.isVisible().catch(() => false)) {
-                if (await this.hasNonEmptyFieldValue(page, '[name="h-captcha-response"]'))
-                    return true;
                 if (await this.isHcaptchaAnchorChecked(hc))
                     return true;
             }
             const rc = await page.$('iframe[src*="recaptcha/api2/anchor"]');
             if (rc && await rc.isVisible().catch(() => false)) {
-                if (await this.hasNonEmptyFieldValue(page, '[name="g-recaptcha-response"]'))
-                    return true;
                 if (await this.isRecaptchaAnchorChecked(rc))
                     return true;
             }
@@ -780,6 +1229,18 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
         try {
             const hc = await page.$('iframe[src*="hcaptcha"][src*="frame=challenge"]');
             if (hc && await hc.isVisible().catch(() => false)) {
+                // "Prompt painted" alone does NOT mean a next round. hCaptcha leaves
+                // the round you just answered on screen while it verifies, so this
+                // fired on the CLOSING frame and broke the post-submit poll out of its
+                // solved-check immediately — committing the solver to ~21s of
+                // readiness waits and a full inference against a dying frame. The
+                // frame must have actually CHANGED since the submit, which we already
+                // snapshot at submit time. Mirrors the Python driver.
+                if (this.lastSubmitFrameHash) {
+                    const current = await this.elementFrameHash(hc).catch(() => null);
+                    if (current && current === this.lastSubmitFrameHash)
+                        return false;
+                }
                 const frame = await hc.contentFrame();
                 const prompt = frame && await frame.$('.prompt-text');
                 if (prompt && await prompt.isVisible().catch(() => false)) {
@@ -790,6 +1251,17 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             }
             const rc = await page.$('iframe[src*="recaptcha/api2/bframe"]');
             if (rc && await rc.isVisible().catch(() => false)) {
+                // The SAME gate as hCaptcha above, and for the same reason. reCAPTCHA
+                // also leaves the answered board on screen while it verifies, and its
+                // instructions stay visible throughout — so "instructions are showing"
+                // fired on the closing frame and reported a fresh round that was not
+                // coming. This branch simply never got the fix when the hCaptcha one
+                // did.
+                if (this.lastSubmitFrameHash) {
+                    const current = await this.elementFrameHash(rc).catch(() => null);
+                    if (current && current === this.lastSubmitFrameHash)
+                        return false;
+                }
                 const frame = await rc.contentFrame();
                 const instr = frame && await frame.$('.rc-imageselect-instructions, #rc-imageselect');
                 if (instr && await instr.isVisible().catch(() => false))
@@ -821,7 +1293,10 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                 return;
             // Prompt must be present and non-empty first — it's the cheapest signal
             // that the challenge frame has rendered its content at all.
-            await frame.waitForSelector('.prompt-text', { state: 'visible', timeout: 8000 });
+            await frame.waitForSelector('.prompt-text', {
+                state: 'visible',
+                timeout: this.config.hcaptchaImagesTimeoutMs ?? 3000,
+            });
             // Then wait for the actual imagery to load. Grid tiles expose a
             // background-image; click/drag puzzles expose a canvas or example image.
             await frame.waitForFunction(() => {
@@ -839,8 +1314,19 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                     return true;
                 }
                 const example = document.querySelector('.challenge-example img, .image-wrapper img');
-                return !!(example && example.complete && example.naturalWidth > 0);
-            }, { timeout: 8000 });
+                if (example)
+                    return example.complete && example.naturalWidth > 0;
+                // NOTHING TO WAIT FOR IS READY. This used to be
+                // `return !!(example && ...)`, false when there was no example image at
+                // all — so a challenge with no tile grid, no canvas and no example
+                // polled out the whole timeout and then carried on regardless.
+                // Measured in the Python port, which had the identical clause: 24.0s of
+                // a 45.2s solve, the full window three times, spent asking about
+                // elements that were not on the page. A gate can only report on what it
+                // can see; with nothing to check it has no opinion, and no opinion must
+                // not read as "not ready".
+                return true;
+            }, { timeout: this.config.hcaptchaImagesTimeoutMs ?? 3000 });
         }
         catch {
             // Timed out or frame detached mid-load; fall through to the screenshot.
@@ -879,6 +1365,24 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             return true;
         if (await page.$('iframe[src*="hcaptcha"][src*="frame=challenge"]'))
             return true;
+        // The eight inline vendors, same table detectCaptcha uses. Without them
+        // this answered "no widget" for every GeeTest / Yidun / Yandex / Lemin /
+        // Prosopo / MTCaptcha / BotDetect / Tencent page whose puzzle had not
+        // painted yet — and the caller reads that as "reCAPTCHA v3 / invisible"
+        // and throws "No interactive captcha widget detected. Failing fast." in
+        // under a second, instead of granting the render wait this method exists
+        // to grant. The Python port has no such fail-fast, so the two ports
+        // disagreed on every inline vendor (CLAUDE.md 1c) and Tier 3 scored it as
+        // an unsolvable puzzle on the JS side only.
+        //
+        // Presence, not visibility — "in the DOM but not finished rendering" is
+        // the entire question here; detectCaptcha still does the visibility check.
+        for (const { selectors } of VENDOR_WIDGET_LOCATORS) {
+            for (const selector of selectors) {
+                if (await page.$(selector))
+                    return true;
+            }
+        }
         return false;
     }
     async detectCaptcha(page) {
@@ -928,6 +1432,15 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             if (!hasToken)
                 return cloudflareContainer;
         }
+        // Vendors with one interactive surface (no checkbox/challenge split) —
+        // GeeTest, Tencent, Yidun, Yandex, Lemin, Prosopo, MTCaptcha, BotDetect.
+        for (const { selectors } of VENDOR_WIDGET_LOCATORS) {
+            for (const selector of selectors) {
+                const el = await page.$(selector);
+                if (el && await el.isVisible())
+                    return el;
+            }
+        }
         return null;
     }
     /**
@@ -943,7 +1456,7 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             return;
         }
         try {
-            const cliRoot = this.config.repoPath ?? getBundledCliRoot();
+            const cliRoot = this.config.repoPath ?? (0, model_name_1.getBundledCliRoot)();
             const base = path.join(cliRoot, 'latestDebugRun_grid');
             const stamp = new Date().toISOString().replace(/[:.]/g, '-').slice(0, -5);
             this.gridDebugDir = path.join(base, `griddrv_${stamp}_${Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e6)}`);
@@ -989,7 +1502,7 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             return;
         }
         try {
-            const cliRoot = this.config.repoPath ?? getBundledCliRoot();
+            const cliRoot = this.config.repoPath ?? (0, model_name_1.getBundledCliRoot)();
             // Save input images to a separate directory that won't be cleared by the Python CLI
             // The Python CLI clears latestDebugRun, so we use a sibling directory
             const inputImagesDir = path.join(cliRoot, 'latestDebugRun_inputs');
@@ -1015,7 +1528,7 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
         if (!this.sessionDebugDir)
             return;
         try {
-            const cliRoot = this.config.repoPath ?? getBundledCliRoot();
+            const cliRoot = this.config.repoPath ?? (0, model_name_1.getBundledCliRoot)();
             const latestDebugDir = path.join(cliRoot, 'latestDebugRun');
             const inputImagesDir = path.join(cliRoot, 'latestDebugRun_inputs');
             const attemptDir = path.join(this.sessionDebugDir, `attempt_${attempt}`);
@@ -1047,13 +1560,21 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
      * is missing — callers that must not throw (e.g. runCliTool) wrap this.
      */
     resolveCli() {
-        const { repoPath, pythonCommand = 'python' } = this.config;
-        const cliRoot = repoPath ?? getBundledCliRoot();
+        const { repoPath, pythonCommand } = this.config;
+        const cliRoot = repoPath ?? (0, model_name_1.getBundledCliRoot)();
         if (!fs.existsSync(cliRoot)) {
             throw new Error(`CaptchaKraken CLI folder not found at ${cliRoot}. ` +
                 `If you installed from npm, ensure the package ships 'python/'.`);
         }
-        const py = getVenvPython(cliRoot) ?? pythonCommand;
+        // Was `getVenvPython(cliRoot) ?? 'python'`. Debian-family systems have no
+        // bare `python`, so with no bundled venv every solve died at
+        // `/bin/sh: 1: python: not found` — before reaching the model, and only on
+        // the JS side, which made it read as an endpoint fault. See python-command.ts.
+        const py = (0, python_command_1.resolvePythonCommand)({
+            configured: pythonCommand,
+            venvPython: getVenvPython(cliRoot),
+            exists: commandExists,
+        });
         return { cliRoot, py };
     }
     /**
@@ -1232,7 +1753,35 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
         try {
             while (Date.now() - start < timeout) {
                 const f = tmp();
-                await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: f });
+                /*
+                 * AN EXPLICIT, SHORT TIMEOUT — and the loop's own budget is not one.
+                 *
+                 * Playwright defaults to 30s and waits for the element to be visible
+                 * and stable first. Right after the grid driver clicks Verify, this
+                 * element is a challenge iframe the vendor is tearing down, so that
+                 * wait runs to the full default. The `while` above is consulted only
+                 * BETWEEN iterations, so one hung screenshot sails straight past the
+                 * 8s cap it looks protected by: measured live, submit at 24.5s and the
+                 * solved verdict at 64.7s, a 38.5s tail on a solve whose real work took
+                 * twelve seconds — paid on every multi-round reCAPTCHA.
+                 *
+                 * waitForElementSettled already carries this fix and the note
+                 * explaining it; this poll was written in the same shape without it.
+                 */
+                const left = timeout - (Date.now() - start);
+                try {
+                    await captchaElement.screenshot({
+                        path: f,
+                        timeout: Math.max(500, Math.min(2500, left)),
+                        animations: 'disabled',
+                    });
+                }
+                catch {
+                    // The challenge cannot be photographed: it is gone or going. There is
+                    // no grid here to finish loading, so stop rather than spend the rest
+                    // of the budget proving it again.
+                    return false;
+                }
                 frames.push(f);
                 if (frames.length >= 2) {
                     const a = frames[frames.length - 2];
@@ -1313,7 +1862,9 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
     async getGridBoxes(captchaElement) {
         const f = path.join(os.tmpdir(), `findgrid_${Date.now()}_${Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e9)}.png`);
         try {
-            await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: f });
+            // Explicit timeout — the challenge may be mid-teardown and Playwright's
+            // 30s default waits for it to go stable. See screenshot-timeouts.test.ts.
+            await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: f, timeout: 2500, animations: 'disabled' });
             const res = await this.runCvTool('find-grid', { image: f }, ['find-grid', f]);
             if (!Array.isArray(res) || (res.length !== 9 && res.length !== 16)) {
                 return null;
@@ -1419,17 +1970,37 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
         return ordered;
     }
     /**
-     * Detect whether any tiles are blank or fading, watching for the ONSET of the
-     * reCAPTCHA refresh over a short grace window. The blank/fade transition lags
-     * the click by a beat, so a single snapshot right after clicking misses it
-     * (the tile still shows its old image — not yet white, not yet changing). We
-     * poll consecutive frames and mark a cell loading if it is `empty` (≥97%
-     * near-white) OR `changing` (>2% pixels differ). HOVERS a clicked tile each
-     * poll so the mouse keeps moving (no unnatural pauses). Returns the loading
-     * cells (priority/clicked first) as soon as any appears, or [] if the whole
-     * window passes with nothing loading (→ solved). Logs every poll + frame.
+     * Watch the just-clicked tiles until the widget says what it did with them.
+     *
+     * Two answers because reCAPTCHA gives a click one of exactly two replies, and
+     * they are the two kinds of board:
+     *
+     *   - `chipped`: the small blue chip landed in the tiles' top-left corners —
+     *     the photos were KEPT. Nothing is on its way in, the selection is the
+     *     answer, and the caller should press Verify.
+     *   - `loading`: the photos are blanking or dissolving under a large centred
+     *     check — those tiles are being SWAPPED, and what lands may match too, so
+     *     the board has to be read again.
+     *
+     * A widget that swaps one clicked cell swaps them all, so the two never share
+     * a board and one look at the tiles we just clicked settles it. The chip is
+     * what the CV layer reports as `selected` (top-left corner only, behind a
+     * circularity and a centroid test a centred check fails), and we already read
+     * it on every poll. `chipped` needs EVERY watched tile: a partial reading is a
+     * misread, and calling a swapping board finished submits half an answer and
+     * burns the attempt, where calling a chipped board unfinished costs one
+     * inference.
+     *
+     * The blank/fade transition lags the click by a beat, so a single snapshot
+     * right after clicking misses it (the tile still shows its old image — not yet
+     * white, not yet changing). We poll consecutive frames and mark a cell loading
+     * if it is `empty` (≥97% near-white) OR `changing` (>2% pixels differ). HOVERS
+     * a clicked tile each poll so the mouse keeps moving (no unnatural pauses).
+     * Returns as soon as either verdict is in, or `{loading: [], chipped: false}`
+     * if the whole window passes with nothing happening (→ solved). Logs every
+     * poll + frame.
      */
-    async currentLoadingCells(page, captchaElement, session, priority = []) {
+    async watchClickedTiles(page, captchaElement, session, priority = []) {
         const grace = this.config.recaptchaFadeOnsetGraceMs ?? 4000;
         const interval = this.config.recaptchaDynamicFadePollMs ?? 250;
         const start = Date.now();
@@ -1444,7 +2015,14 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
         let hoverIdx = 0;
         try {
             const first = tmp();
-            await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: first });
+            try {
+                await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: first, timeout: 2500, animations: 'disabled' });
+            }
+            catch {
+                // Cannot photograph the challenge: it is gone or going, so no tile is
+                // loading and none was chipped. Same verdict as an empty window.
+                return { loading: [], chipped: false };
+            }
             frames.push(first);
             this.gridDebug('fade-onset:baseline', {}, first);
             let polls = 0;
@@ -1462,7 +2040,17 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                 if (elapsed < interval)
                     await delay(interval - elapsed);
                 const f = tmp();
-                await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: f });
+                /*
+                 * Explicit timeout: this element is a challenge iframe that may be
+                 * mid-teardown, and Playwright's 30s default waits for it to become
+                 * stable first. See screenshot-timeouts.test.ts.
+                 */
+                try {
+                    await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: f, timeout: 2500, animations: 'disabled' });
+                }
+                catch {
+                    break; // challenge gone — let the post-loop verdict stand
+                }
                 frames.push(f);
                 polls++;
                 const a = frames[frames.length - 2];
@@ -1480,22 +2068,31 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                     empty: st?.empty ?? null, changing: st?.changing ?? null,
                     loaded: st?.loaded ?? null, selected: st?.selected ?? null,
                 }, b);
+                // Chip first: a chip landing on a tile ZOOMS its photo out, which reads
+                // as `changing` on the very frame that shows the chip. Test the swap
+                // first and every chipped board looks like a swapping one for as long as
+                // that animation runs.
+                const selected = st?.selected ?? [];
+                if (priority.length && priority.every(c => selected.includes(c))) {
+                    this.gridDebug('fade-onset:chipped', { chipped: priority, afterMs: Date.now() - start });
+                    return { loading: [], chipped: true };
+                }
                 const loading = [...new Set([...emptyW, ...changingW])];
                 if (loading.length) {
                     const ordered = this.orderByPriority(loading, priority);
                     this.gridDebug('fade-onset:loading-detected', { loading: ordered, afterMs: Date.now() - start });
-                    return ordered;
+                    return { loading: ordered, chipped: false };
                 }
                 const stale = frames.shift();
                 if (stale && fs.existsSync(stale))
                     fs.unlinkSync(stale);
             }
             this.gridDebug('fade-onset:none', { afterMs: Date.now() - start, polls });
-            return [];
+            return { loading: [], chipped: false };
         }
         catch (e) {
             this.gridDebug('fade-onset:error', { error: String(e) });
-            return [];
+            return { loading: [], chipped: false };
         }
         finally {
             for (const f of frames) {
@@ -1542,7 +2139,17 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                 if (elapsed < interval)
                     await delay(interval - elapsed);
                 const f = tmp();
-                await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: f });
+                /*
+                 * Explicit timeout: this element is a challenge iframe that may be
+                 * mid-teardown, and Playwright's 30s default waits for it to become
+                 * stable first. See screenshot-timeouts.test.ts.
+                 */
+                try {
+                    await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: f, timeout: 2500, animations: 'disabled' });
+                }
+                catch {
+                    break; // challenge gone — nothing left to wait for
+                }
                 frames.push(f);
                 if (frames.length >= 2) {
                     const a = frames[frames.length - 2];
@@ -1596,13 +2203,19 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
      * and on a `wait`, it hovers the just-clicked / currently blank+fading tiles
      * (in click order) and waits for at least one to finish reloading before
      * re-screenshotting and re-solving — so we don't burn a solver call on a grid
-     * that's still mid-fade. It submits only on `done`.
+     * that's still mid-fade.
+     *
+     * Only a board that SWAPS a clicked tile out is worth those extra rounds. One
+     * that ticks the tile and keeps the photo has been fully answered by the round
+     * that clicked it — same as the 4x4 — so `watchClickedTiles` reports the chip
+     * and this submits there and then. Rounds 2..N exist for the fading board and
+     * nothing else. It submits on `done`, and on a board that ticked our clicks.
      *
      * Returns the same shape as solveSingle so the outer solve loop — including the
      * under-selection retry and post-solve detectCaptcha — wraps it unchanged.
      */
     async solveRecaptchaGrid(page, captchaElement, attempt, retryMode, grid, elementBox) {
-        const maxRounds = this.config.recaptchaMaxDynamicRounds ?? 8;
+        const maxRounds = this.config.recaptchaMaxDynamicRounds ?? limits_1.DEFAULT_RECAPTCHA_MAX_DYNAMIC_ROUNDS;
         const session = {
             gridBoxes: grid.boxes,
             elementBox,
@@ -1627,7 +2240,17 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             // 1. Settle and screenshot.
             await this.waitForGridCellsLoaded(captchaElement);
             const shotA = path.join(os.tmpdir(), `recap_${Date.now()}_${Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e9)}.png`);
-            await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: shotA });
+            try {
+                // Explicit timeout — after a Verify this element is being torn down,
+                // and the 30s default waits for it to go stable first. See
+                // screenshot-timeouts.test.ts.
+                await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: shotA, timeout: 2500, animations: 'disabled' });
+            }
+            catch {
+                // The board is gone. Stop driving rounds and let the outer loop
+                // re-detect — which, having interacted, reads "nothing left" as solved.
+                break;
+            }
             this.saveImageForDebug(shotA);
             // Per-round boundary snapshot for onStep observers. Round 1's snapshot is
             // the baseline (pre-action) for the 3x3 dynamic path.
@@ -1679,8 +2302,8 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                 // Tiles are still loading; the CLI explicitly told us NOT to submit.
                 // Find what's loading, hover it, and wait for at least one to settle.
                 console.log(`[recaptcha-grid] round ${round}: CLI says wait (${action.duration_ms ?? 0}ms).`);
-                const loadingCells = await this.currentLoadingCells(page, captchaElement, session, clickedOrder);
-                await this.waitForAnyClickedTileLoaded(page, captchaElement, session, loadingCells);
+                const { loading } = await this.watchClickedTiles(page, captchaElement, session, clickedOrder);
+                await this.waitForAnyClickedTileLoaded(page, captchaElement, session, loading);
                 continue;
             }
             if (action.action === 'click') {
@@ -1710,23 +2333,25 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                 console.log(`[recaptcha-grid] round ${round}: clicked ${bboxes.length} tile(s) -> cells ${JSON.stringify(clickedThisRound)}.`);
                 this.gridDebug(`round-${round}:clicked`, { bboxes, clickedThisRound });
                 await this.emitStep(captchaElement, 'click', `round-${round}:clicked ${bboxes.length} tile(s)`, 'recaptcha', 'challenge', attempt, { round, clickedThisRound, bboxes });
-                // 5. The clicked tiles may go blank / fade out for a replacement
-                //    (dynamic puzzle), or they may just stay checked (the puzzle is
-                //    fully solved). reCAPTCHA's blank/fade transition lags the click, so
-                //    we watch a grace window (not a single instant-after snapshot).
-                const loadingCells = await this.currentLoadingCells(page, captchaElement, session, clickedThisRound);
-                if (!loadingCells.length) {
-                    // Nothing is loading/fading within the grace window → the model fully
-                    // solved it; submit immediately rather than burning another round.
-                    console.log(`[recaptcha-grid] round ${round}: no tiles loading after click; submitting.`);
-                    this.gridDebug(`round-${round}:no-loading-submit`, {});
+                // 5. The clicked tiles either wear the chip (the widget kept the photo:
+                //    this board is answered) or go blank / fade out for a replacement
+                //    (dynamic puzzle: read it again). reCAPTCHA's reply lags the click,
+                //    so we watch a grace window, not a single instant-after snapshot.
+                const { loading, chipped } = await this.watchClickedTiles(page, captchaElement, session, clickedThisRound);
+                if (chipped || !loading.length) {
+                    // Either the widget ticked our clicks and kept the photos — a board
+                    // that does that is fully answered by the round that clicked it — or
+                    // nothing loaded within the grace window. Submit rather than paying
+                    // for another round to be told the same thing.
+                    console.log(`[recaptcha-grid] round ${round}: ${chipped ? 'tiles chipped' : 'no tiles loading'} after click; submitting.`);
+                    this.gridDebug(`round-${round}:${chipped ? 'chipped-submit' : 'no-loading-submit'}`, {});
                     shouldSubmit = true;
                     break;
                 }
                 // Tiles are reloading — wait (while hovering) for at least one to settle
                 // before re-solving, so we don't feed the model a mid-fade grid.
-                console.log(`[recaptcha-grid] round ${round}: tiles loading ${JSON.stringify(loadingCells)}; waiting.`);
-                await this.waitForAnyClickedTileLoaded(page, captchaElement, session, loadingCells);
+                console.log(`[recaptcha-grid] round ${round}: tiles loading ${JSON.stringify(loading)}; waiting.`);
+                await this.waitForAnyClickedTileLoaded(page, captchaElement, session, loading);
                 continue;
             }
             // Unexpected action type for a grid (drag/type) — re-solve.
@@ -1734,8 +2359,9 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
             this.gridDebug(`round-${round}:unexpected-action`, { action });
         }
         // Submit: click Verify if present (no-op if the grid is gone). Only when the
-        // CLI signalled `done` — never on a timeout/round-cap exit, which leaves the
-        // outer loop to re-detect and decide.
+        // CLI signalled `done` or the widget chipped our clicks — never on a
+        // timeout/round-cap exit, which leaves the outer loop to re-detect and
+        // decide.
         if (shouldSubmit) {
             const frame = await captchaElement.contentFrame();
             if (frame) {
@@ -1744,71 +2370,398 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                     console.log('[recaptcha-grid] clicking Verify to submit.');
                     await this.moveAndClick(page, verifyButton);
                     await this.emitStep(captchaElement, 'submit', 'submitted (Verify)', 'recaptcha', 'challenge', attempt);
+                    // Snapshot the submitted frame, exactly as the one-shot path does.
+                    // Without it isChallengeFreshlyRendered reads the CLOSING board as a
+                    // fresh round, breaks the post-submit solved-poll on its first tick,
+                    // and commits the solver to a full re-detect against a dying iframe —
+                    // measured at 13s per solve, on top of a 12s solve.
+                    this.lastSubmitFrameHash = await this.elementFrameHash(captchaElement).catch(() => null);
                 }
             }
         }
         return { didInteract: performedAction, tokenUsage: allTokenUsage };
     }
-    async getSolution(imagePath, puzzleSource = 'unknown', retryMode = null) {
-        // v2 ships a single provider: the JobHarvest vLLM server via the bundled
+    /**
+     * Record the animated challenge and return the directory holding the burst.
+     *
+     * The driver owns the browser, so it does the recording; the CLI does the
+     * slicing (`solve-animated`). One zero-padded PNG per frame, because the slicer
+     * sorts by name and reads the clip's temporal structure — `frame_9.png` sorting
+     * after `frame_10.png` would shuffle the burst and turn a detectable cycle into
+     * noise.
+     *
+     * Geometry comes from config and defaults to the collector's (4s @ 10fps), so a
+     * challenge recorded here is the same shape of artifact the model trained on.
+     * The caller must remove the directory when the actions are done with — the
+     * keyframes the wait gate re-reads on every poll live inside it.
+     */
+    async recordKeyframeBurst(captchaElement) {
+        const fps = Math.max(1, this.config.videoBurstFps ?? 10);
+        const durationMs = this.config.videoBurstDurationMs ?? 4000;
+        /*
+         * THE ESCALATION BUYS ITS OWN BUDGET, once per solve.
+         *
+         * `overallSolveTimeoutMs` counts rounds and a recording is not a round —
+         * see `videoExtraInferenceMs` for the arithmetic and for what it cost not
+         * to have it. Recorded as an EXTENSION rather than by loosening the config,
+         * so a solve that never escalates keeps the deadline the caller asked for.
+         *
+         * Same one-shot, same total, same reason as page_solver.py's
+         * `video_budget_ms`: the ports must not disagree about how long a video
+         * solve may take, or the same fixture passes on one and times out on the
+         * other and it reads as a driver bug.
+         */
+        if (this.config.videoSolveEnabled !== false && !this.videoBudgetGranted) {
+            this.videoBudgetGranted = true;
+            this.videoBudgetMs =
+                durationMs +
+                    (this.config.keyframeWaitTimeoutMs ?? 6000) +
+                    (this.config.videoExtraInferenceMs ?? 8000);
+        }
+        const total = Math.max(1, Math.round(durationMs / (1000 / fps)));
+        const intervalMs = 1000 / fps;
+        const dir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'ck_burst_'));
+        let captured = 0;
+        for (let i = 0; i < total; i++) {
+            const started = Date.now();
+            const frame = path.join(dir, `frame_${String(i).padStart(4, '0')}.png`);
+            try {
+                await captchaElement.screenshot({
+                    path: frame,
+                    timeout: this.config.elementScreenshotTimeoutMs ?? 8000,
+                    // ANIMATIONS STAY ON. Everywhere else in this file screenshots are
+                    // taken with animations: 'disabled', which is right when the goal is
+                    // a stable still — it fast-forwards finite animations and FREEZES
+                    // infinite ones. Here the motion IS the subject, so freezing it
+                    // records the same picture forty times: GeeTest's svg board cycles in
+                    // CSS, and the slicer correctly reported the burst as `mode=static`
+                    // and cut it down to a single keyframe, putting us back to answering
+                    // a still. hCaptcha's animated challenges hid this because they
+                    // animate in canvas, which that flag does not touch.
+                    animations: 'allow',
+                });
+                captured++;
+            }
+            catch {
+                // A dropped frame costs a sample, not the recording.
+            }
+            // Drift-corrected: a slow screenshot must not stretch the clip, or the
+            // burst covers more wall-clock than the model trained on and a cycle's
+            // period lands differently across the frames.
+            const wait = intervalMs - (Date.now() - started);
+            if (wait > 0 && i < total - 1)
+                await delay(wait);
+        }
+        if (!captured) {
+            fs.rmSync(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+            const e = new Error('ANIMATED_CHALLENGE: could not record the animated challenge (no frame screenshotted).');
+            e.animated = true;
+            throw e;
+        }
+        console.log(`[animated] recorded ${captured} frames at ${fps}fps -> ${dir}`);
+        return dir;
+    }
+    /**
+     * Slice a recorded burst into keyframes and solve them in ONE model request.
+     *
+     * Deliberately not routed through `solveFrameFreshnessGuarded`. That guard
+     * re-solves when the frame changes during inference, and an animated challenge
+     * changes by definition — every attempt would be judged stale and the whole
+     * re-solve budget would burn without ever acting. The `frame` in the answer is
+     * the real guard: it names the state to act in, and `waitForKeyframe` enforces it.
+     *
+     * Also not deduped by screenshot hash: there is no single screenshot, and two
+     * recordings of the same widget are never byte-identical anyway.
+     */
+    async getAnimatedSolution(framesDir) {
+        // resolveCli() FIRST: the default model is read out of the bundled engine's
+        // models.json, so the name and the prompt generation it selects come from
+        // the same place the Python port reads them. See model-name.ts.
+        const { cliRoot, py } = this.resolveCli();
+        const { model = (0, model_name_1.resolveLoraName)({ cliRoot }), apiKey = process.env.CAPTCHA_KRAKEN_API_KEY ?? process.env.VLLM_API_KEY, } = this.config;
+        const args = [
+            '-m', 'captchakraken.cli', 'solve-animated',
+            '--frames-dir', framesDir,
+            '--fps', String(this.config.videoBurstFps ?? 10),
+            '--model', model,
+        ];
+        // NOT `args.push('--api-key', apiKey)`: a flag value is argv just as much as
+        // a positional is, and argv is world-readable on Linux. Env, same as the
+        // still-image path.
+        try {
+            // execFile (no shell): the temp dir path is ours but still goes through
+            // literally, with no quoting hazard.
+            const { stdout, stderr } = await execFileAsync(py, args, {
+                cwd: cliRoot,
+                env: (0, cli_invocation_1.solveEnv)(cliEnv(cliRoot, this.solveSessionId ? { CAPTCHA_KRAKEN_SESSION: this.solveSessionId } : undefined), apiKey),
+                maxBuffer: 10 * 1024 * 1024,
+            });
+            if (stderr)
+                console.error('CaptchaKraken CLI stderr:', stderr);
+            const parsed = JSON.parse(stdout.trim());
+            this.keyframeMode = parsed.keyframe_mode ?? null;
+            console.log(`[animated] ${parsed.source_frames} frames -> ${(parsed.keyframes ?? []).length} `
+                + `keyframe(s) (mode=${parsed.keyframe_mode})`);
+            return { actions: parsed.actions ?? [], token_usage: parsed.token_usage ?? [] };
+        }
+        catch (error) {
+            const stderr = error.stderr ?? '';
+            if (/"unsupported"\s*:\s*true/.test(stderr)) {
+                const e = new Error('UNSUPPORTED_CAPTCHA: Cannot solve this animated captcha');
+                e.unsupported = true;
+                throw e;
+            }
+            const apiError = (0, errors_1.parseApiError)(stderr);
+            if (apiError)
+                throw apiError;
+            console.error('Error executing CaptchaKraken solve-animated:', error);
+            throw new Error(`Failed to execute the animated captcha solver: ${error.message}`);
+        }
+    }
+    /**
+     * Hold until the widget looks like `keyframePath` around the 0–1 point (cx, cy).
+     *
+     * This is the reason an animated answer names a frame. The model picked the
+     * moment its target was visible, and the coordinates are only correct at that
+     * moment; clicking as soon as the answer arrives lands on whatever the sprite
+     * happens to be doing, which for a cross-fade is usually background.
+     *
+     * Only the neighbourhood of the action point is compared, with the same box and
+     * metric the training label's frame was chosen with. Local rather than
+     * whole-frame because everything ELSE in these puzzles is also moving: a
+     * whole-frame match would need every unrelated sprite to align too, and would
+     * essentially never open.
+     *
+     * Never throws. Returns whether the state was reached; on timeout the caller
+     * clicks anyway (see `keyframeWaitTimeoutMs`).
+     *
+     * NOT ATTEMPTED on an `even` clip. The slicer picks that mode precisely when
+     * the clip never revisits a picture it has already shown — a rotation, a
+     * one-way fade, a sprite crossing — so there is no state to come back to and
+     * this can only run out its full 6s, PER CLICK, before clicking the
+     * coordinates it already had. It is also the normal case, not a corner: all
+     * 116 real clips under cleanSamples/test/raw are `even` and `cycle` has never
+     * fired on real footage. Measured on hcaptcha_rotating_obj_video: 6.0s of a
+     * 28.8s solve, closest region diff 0.0721 against a 0.05 tolerance, then the
+     * same click, then solved. Kept for `cycle`/`static`, where the state does
+     * come back and waiting is the difference between the sprite and background.
+     */
+    async waitForKeyframe(captchaElement, keyframePath, cx, cy) {
+        if (this.keyframeMode === 'even') {
+            console.log('[animated] clip is mode=even (no state recurs); '
+                + "acting on the model's frame without waiting");
+            return false;
+        }
+        const timeout = this.config.keyframeWaitTimeoutMs ?? 6000;
+        const interval = this.config.keyframeWaitPollMs ?? 120;
+        const deadline = Date.now() + timeout;
+        const probe = path.join(os.tmpdir(), `ck_kfwait_${Date.now()}_${Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e9)}.png`);
+        let best = 1;
+        try {
+            while (Date.now() < deadline) {
+                try {
+                    await captchaElement.screenshot({
+                        path: probe,
+                        timeout: this.config.elementScreenshotTimeoutMs ?? 8000,
+                        animations: 'disabled',
+                    });
+                    const r = await this.runCvTool('match-region', { ref: keyframePath, live: probe, cx, cy }, ['match-region', keyframePath, probe, String(cx), String(cy)]);
+                    if (typeof r?.diff === 'number')
+                        best = Math.min(best, r.diff);
+                    if (r?.match) {
+                        console.log(`[animated] widget matched the chosen keyframe (diff=${r.diff.toFixed(4)})`);
+                        return true;
+                    }
+                }
+                catch {
+                    // A failed probe is one lost poll, not a failed solve.
+                }
+                await delay(interval);
+            }
+        }
+        finally {
+            if (fs.existsSync(probe)) {
+                try {
+                    fs.unlinkSync(probe);
+                }
+                catch { /* best-effort */ }
+            }
+        }
+        console.log(`[animated] widget never matched the chosen keyframe within ${timeout}ms `
+            + `(closest diff=${best.toFixed(4)}); clicking on the model's coordinates anyway`);
+        return false;
+    }
+    /**
+     * Per-solve state that must not leak into the next challenge on the page.
+     *
+     * A repeat is a fact about ONE challenge. Carrying it forward would make the
+     * captcha after a cycling one record a burst it does not need.
+     */
+    resetSolveState() {
+        this.solutionCache.clear();
+        this.repeatedAnswerSeen = false;
+        this.lastSubmitFrameHash = null;
+        this.keyframeMode = null;
+        this.lastAnswerSig = null;
+        this.noProgressRounds = 0;
+        // Per SOLVE, not per process: a grant leaking into the next captcha would
+        // silently hand a still puzzle 18s it was never meant to have.
+        this.videoBudgetMs = 0;
+        this.videoBudgetGranted = false;
+    }
+    /**
+     * A stable identity for "the answer this round is about to execute".
+     *
+     * Keyed on the retry mode too: the missed-tiles retry deliberately re-asks
+     * about the same board and its answer legitimately overlaps the previous one,
+     * so counting that as a repeat would abandon the one path built to recover
+     * from an under-selection.
+     *
+     * Coordinates are ROUNDED rather than compared exactly — the same tile chosen
+     * twice can differ in the last float digit after the normalise/clamp
+     * round-trip, and a repeat that reads as "different" is a repeat that costs a
+     * round. Returns null when the answer cannot be summarised, which counts as
+     * "not a repeat": an unreadable answer must never be why a solve is
+     * abandoned. Mirrors page_solver.py `_answer_signature`.
+     */
+    static answerSignature(actions, retryMode) {
+        const round3 = (v) => {
+            if (typeof v === 'number')
+                return Math.round(v * 1000) / 1000;
+            if (Array.isArray(v))
+                return v.map(round3);
+            return v ?? null;
+        };
+        try {
+            return JSON.stringify([retryMode ?? null, actions.map((a) => [
+                    a?.action ?? null,
+                    round3(a?.target_bounding_boxes),
+                    round3(a?.target_bounding_box),
+                    round3(a?.target_coordinates),
+                    round3(a?.source_bounding_box),
+                    a?.text ?? null,
+                ])]);
+        }
+        catch {
+            return null;
+        }
+    }
+    /** Count consecutive identical answers; see `maxNoProgressRounds`. */
+    noteAnswer(actions, retryMode) {
+        const sig = CaptchaKrakenSolver.answerSignature(actions, retryMode);
+        if (sig !== null && sig === this.lastAnswerSig) {
+            this.noProgressRounds++;
+            console.log(`[no-progress] the model returned the same answer again `
+                + `(${this.noProgressRounds}/${this.config.maxNoProgressRounds ?? 2}) — `
+                + `the previous one already ran and changed nothing`);
+            // A board that reads the same every round is the signature of a CYCLING
+            // challenge answered as a still. Let the recording path have a go before
+            // giving up on the solve entirely.
+            this.repeatedAnswerSeen = true;
+        }
+        else {
+            this.noProgressRounds = 0;
+            this.lastAnswerSig = sig;
+        }
+    }
+    /**
+     * The answer for this picture, asking the model only if we have not already.
+     *
+     * The cache saving is real and is kept: a byte-identical picture costs no
+     * second inference. What changed is what a hit MEANS. It used to mean
+     * "nothing has changed, so this answer still stands"; it actually means the
+     * answer already ran and moved nothing, because every answer this returns is
+     * executed. So the hit is served (it is free) and recorded, and the round
+     * after it stops guessing at a still frame — see `shouldRetryAsAnimated`.
+     */
+    async answerFor(cacheKey, ask) {
+        const cached = this.solutionCache.get(cacheKey);
+        if (cached) {
+            console.log('[dedup] this exact picture was already answered and the answer already ran — '
+                + 'the challenge is cycling, not still; re-solving it as animated.');
+            this.repeatedAnswerSeen = true;
+            // Reuse the actions but drop the token usage (no new tokens were spent).
+            return { actions: cached.actions, token_usage: [] };
+        }
+        const fresh = await ask();
+        this.solutionCache.set(cacheKey, fresh);
+        return fresh;
+    }
+    /**
+     * Should this round be recorded and solved from keyframes instead of read as
+     * a still?
+     *
+     * reCAPTCHA is excluded deliberately. Its dynamic 3x3 REPLACES tiles in place
+     * and has its own multi-round driver with its own fade gates; its grids are
+     * never animated, so escalating there would swap a path that works for one
+     * that cannot read a grid.
+     */
+    shouldRetryAsAnimated(puzzleSource) {
+        if (!this.repeatedAnswerSeen)
+            return false;
+        if (puzzleSource === 'recaptcha')
+            return false;
+        return this.config.videoSolveEnabled !== false;
+    }
+    async getSolution(imagePath, puzzleSource = 'unknown', retryMode = null, textMode = false) {
+        // v2 ships a single provider: the CaptchaKraken vLLM server via the bundled
         // CaptchaKraken CLI. The CLI's planner reads VLLM_BASE_URL and the bearer
         // token (CAPTCHA_KRAKEN_API_KEY, falling back to VLLM_API_KEY) from the
         // environment; we also forward the key explicitly as a CLI arg below so it
-        // works even when the subprocess doesn't inherit it.
-        const { 
-        // vLLM LoRA name. Defaults to the full-puzzle `captcha` adapter
-        // (JobHarvest/qwen3.5-9b-captcha-lora — solves grids AND click/drag/pixel
-        // puzzles). Override in code or via CAPTCHA_LORA_NAME (e.g. `captcha-grid`
-        // for the older grids-only adapter). Most users only set the endpoint URL
-        // and, for the hosted API, CAPTCHA_KRAKEN_API_KEY.
-        model = process.env.CAPTCHA_LORA_NAME ?? 'captcha', apiKey = process.env.CAPTCHA_KRAKEN_API_KEY ?? process.env.VLLM_API_KEY, } = this.config;
-        // Dedup: if we've already asked the model about a byte-identical screenshot
-        // under the same prompt (puzzle source + retry mode), the page hasn't
-        // changed and another vLLM call would be wasted work. Reuse the answer.
-        // The image bytes ARE the cache key — any real page change (tile refresh,
-        // new challenge, fade) alters pixels and misses the cache, so this never
-        // stales a genuinely-changed puzzle.
+        // works even when the subprocess doesn't inherit it. The LoRA name defaults
+        // to whatever models.json calls `latest` — NOT a literal; a hardcoded
+        // `captcha` here is what sent generation-1 prompts to a generation-2
+        // adapter. Override via CAPTCHA_LORA_NAME.
+        // Dedup on the screenshot's bytes under the same prompt (puzzle source +
+        // retry mode). A hit costs no inference; what it MEANS is answerFor's job,
+        // and it is not "nothing changed" — see the note on repeatedAnswerSeen.
         let cacheKey = null;
         try {
             const imgHash = (0, crypto_1.createHash)('sha1').update(fs.readFileSync(imagePath)).digest('hex');
-            cacheKey = `${imgHash}|${puzzleSource}|${retryMode ?? ''}`;
-            const cached = this.solutionCache.get(cacheKey);
-            if (cached) {
-                console.log('[dedup] identical screenshot already solved this session — skipping vLLM query.');
-                // Reuse the actions but drop the token usage (no new tokens were spent).
-                return { actions: cached.actions, token_usage: [] };
-            }
+            cacheKey = `${imgHash}|${puzzleSource}|${retryMode ?? ''}|${textMode ? 'text' : ''}`;
         }
         catch {
             cacheKey = null; // hashing failed — fall through to a normal query
         }
+        if (cacheKey)
+            return this.answerFor(cacheKey, () => this.askModel(imagePath, puzzleSource, retryMode, textMode));
+        return this.askModel(imagePath, puzzleSource, retryMode, textMode);
+    }
+    /** One inference: build the CLI invocation, run it, parse what comes back. */
+    async askModel(imagePath, puzzleSource = 'unknown', retryMode = null, textMode = false) {
+        // resolveCli() FIRST — see getAnimatedSolution.
         const { cliRoot, py } = this.resolveCli();
-        const cmdParts = [
-            py,
-            '-m',
-            'captchakraken.cli',
-            `"${imagePath}"`,
+        const { model = (0, model_name_1.resolveLoraName)({ cliRoot }), apiKey = process.env.CAPTCHA_KRAKEN_API_KEY ?? process.env.VLLM_API_KEY, } = this.config;
+        // An ARGV ARRAY for execFile, not a string for a shell.
+        //
+        // This was `cmdParts.join(' ')` handed to `exec`, so the bearer token sat in
+        // argv — world-readable at /proc/<pid>/cmdline for the life of the solve —
+        // and the same string was then printed to stdout, putting it in CI logs and
+        // scrollback. The key now travels in the environment (see cli-invocation.ts),
+        // and dropping the shell also removes the quoting hazard: `"${imagePath}"`
+        // was hand-quoted, which a path containing a quote defeats.
+        //
+        // The vendor hint goes on as --puzzle-source=<vendor>; the CLI's argparse
+        // falls through to the flag form for unknown trailing args.
+        const args = (0, cli_invocation_1.buildSolveArgs)({
+            imagePath,
             model,
-            'captchaKrakenApi',
-        ];
-        if (apiKey) {
-            cmdParts.push(apiKey);
-        }
-        // Always pass the vendor hint at the end as --puzzle-source=<vendor>; the
-        // CLI's argparse falls through to the flag form for unknown trailing args.
-        cmdParts.push(`--puzzle-source=${puzzleSource}`);
-        if (retryMode) {
-            cmdParts.push(`--retry-mode=${retryMode}`);
-        }
-        const command = cmdParts.join(' ');
-        console.log(`Executing CaptchaKraken CLI: ${command}`);
+            puzzleSource,
+            retryMode,
+            // The DOM said this puzzle has a text box, so the CLI must send the
+            // distorted-text prompt and skip grid detection. The picture alone cannot
+            // decide this — see the textMode note in solveSingle.
+            textMode,
+        });
+        console.log(`Executing CaptchaKraken CLI: ${(0, cli_invocation_1.redactCommand)([py, ...args].join(' '), apiKey)}`);
         try {
-            const { stdout, stderr } = await execAsync(command, {
+            const { stdout, stderr } = await execFileAsync(py, args, {
                 cwd: cliRoot,
                 // Only this call reaches the model, so it's the only one that needs the
                 // session id — the other cliEnv() call sites run pure-OpenCV subcommands
-                // that never touch the inference endpoint.
-                env: cliEnv(cliRoot, this.solveSessionId ? { CAPTCHA_KRAKEN_SESSION: this.solveSessionId } : undefined),
+                // that never touch the inference endpoint. `solveEnv` adds the bearer
+                // token here, which is what keeps it out of argv.
+                env: (0, cli_invocation_1.solveEnv)(cliEnv(cliRoot, this.solveSessionId ? { CAPTCHA_KRAKEN_SESSION: this.solveSessionId } : undefined), apiKey),
                 maxBuffer: 10 * 1024 * 1024 // Increase buffer for large outputs if needed
             });
             console.log('CaptchaKraken CLI stdout:', stdout);
@@ -1843,12 +2796,8 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                         // Not json or not relevant
                     }
                 }
-                const response = { actions, token_usage: tokenUsage };
-                // Cache under the screenshot hash so a byte-identical re-query this
-                // session reuses this answer instead of hitting vLLM again.
-                if (cacheKey)
-                    this.solutionCache.set(cacheKey, response);
-                return response;
+                // Caching is answerFor's, so that what a hit MEANS lives in one place.
+                return { actions, token_usage: tokenUsage };
             }
             catch (parseError) {
                 throw new Error(`Failed to parse CLI output: ${stdout}\nStderr: ${stderr}`);
@@ -1922,7 +2871,7 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
                 }
                 const fresh = path.join(os.tmpdir(), `freshsolve_${Date.now()}_${Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e9)}.png`);
                 try {
-                    await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: fresh });
+                    await captchaElement.screenshot({ path: fresh, timeout: 2500, animations: 'disabled' });
                 }
                 catch {
                     break; // can't grab a fresh frame — act on the answer we have.
@@ -2106,7 +3055,7 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
     /**
      * Run `fn` (typically the model query) while idly drifting the cursor over
      * the captcha, so the mouse behaves like a human weighing the options instead
-     * of freezing during inference. Uses the same cursory-ts trajectories as real
+     * of freezing during inference. Uses the same generate_trajectory paths as real
      * clicks; cancelled the instant `fn` resolves. Best-effort — any wander error
      * is swallowed and never fails the solve. Disable via config.idleMouseWander.
      */
@@ -2183,8 +3132,8 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
         await page.mouse.up();
     }
     async performSmoothMove(page, x, y) {
-        // Generate trajectory using cursory-ts with 60Hz frequency for better control
-        const [points, timings] = (0, cursory_ts_1.generate_trajectory)([this.lastMousePosition.x, this.lastMousePosition.y], [x, y], 60 // 60 points per second
+        // 60Hz sampling; see src/trajectory.ts
+        const [points, timings] = (0, trajectory_js_1.generate_trajectory)([this.lastMousePosition.x, this.lastMousePosition.y], [x, y], 60 // 60 points per second
         );
         const SPEED_MULTIPLIER = 1;
         const vectors = [];
@@ -2292,5 +3241,216 @@ class CaptchaKrakenSolver {
         await page.waitForTimeout(Math.random() * 50 + 50);
         await page.mouse.up();
     }
+    // ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── typing + sliding
+    // Mirrors _find_control / _execute_type / _execute_slide in page_solver.py.
+    /**
+     * First VISIBLE match for `selectors`, tried in order.
+     *
+     * `scope` is the challenge frame, or — for the vendors that render into the
+     * host page rather than an iframe — the widget element itself. Never the
+     * page: the generic tail of both selector tables would otherwise happily
+     * match a login form's text box or a carousel's drag handle somewhere else on
+     * the document, and the answer would go there.
+     */
+    async findControl(scope, selectors) {
+        for (const selector of selectors) {
+            try {
+                const el = await scope.$(selector);
+                if (el && await el.isVisible())
+                    return el;
+            }
+            catch {
+                // A selector this adapter can't parse must not end the search.
+            }
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+    /** Put the model's reading of a distorted-text captcha into its box. */
+    async executeType(page, scope, action) {
+        const text = action.text ?? '';
+        if (!text)
+            return false;
+        const field = await this.findControl(scope, TEXT_INPUT_SELECTORS);
+        if (!field) {
+            console.warn('Type action, but no text box in the widget; skipping.');
+            return false;
+        }
+        await this.moveAndClick(page, field); // travel there, then press to focus
+        // A retry round arrives with the previous attempt still in the box, and
+        // typing would APPEND to it — submitting a string the model never read.
+        try {
+            await page.keyboard.press('Control+A');
+        }
+        catch { /* an adapter without a keyboard shortcut path */ }
+        // Per character rather than one type(text, {delay}) call: a constant
+        // inter-key delay is itself a signal, and these are the vendors that score
+        // typing cadence.
+        for (const ch of text) {
+            try {
+                await page.keyboard.type(ch);
+            }
+            catch (e) {
+                console.warn('Could not type into the captcha field:', e);
+                return false;
+            }
+            await page.waitForTimeout(Math.random() * 90 + 45);
+        }
+        console.log(`Typed ${text.length} character(s) into the captcha field.`);
+        return true;
+    }
+    /** `captchakraken track-piece` — box of what moved, handle masked out. */
+    async trackPiece(element, beforePath, afterPath, exclude) {
+        try {
+            await element.screenshot({
+                path: afterPath,
+                timeout: this.config.elementScreenshotTimeoutMs ?? 8000,
+                animations: 'disabled',
+            });
+            const res = await this.runCvTool('track-piece', { before: beforePath, after: afterPath, exclude }, ['track-piece', beforePath, afterPath, JSON.stringify(exclude)]);
+            return res && res.bbox ? res.bbox : null;
+        }
+        catch (e) {
+            console.warn('track-piece failed:', e);
+            return null;
+        }
+    }
+    /**
+     * Drive a puzzle-piece slider until the PIECE reaches the model's slot.
+     *
+     * The model is asked for one thing here — the centre of the gap — because it
+     * is the only thing the picture can tell it. What it cannot know is how far
+     * the handle must travel to put the piece there: the handle is elsewhere on
+     * the widget, and the ratio between the two is a vendor implementation detail
+     * that several of them deliberately vary.
+     *
+     * So this is closed-loop, not a calculation. Press the handle, nudge it twice
+     * by known amounts, and watch the screen: union(before, after) spans the
+     * piece's ORIGINAL left edge to its CURRENT right edge, so its width is
+     * pieceWidth + ratio x nudge. Two nudges, two widths, two unknowns — solve for
+     * both, then steer the remaining distance and re-measure. The mouse is not
+     * released until the piece is home, because on every one of these puzzles
+     * releasing IS the submit; there is no Verify button to reconsider at.
+     *
+     * Returns false if there is nothing here to drag, leaving the caller's normal
+     * no-op handling to deal with it.
+     */
+    async executeSlide(page, element, scope, action, elementBox) {
+        const targetX = ((action.target_bounding_box[0] + action.target_bounding_box[2]) / 2)
+            * elementBox.width;
+        const handle = await this.findControl(scope, SLIDER_HANDLE_SELECTORS);
+        if (!handle) {
+            // No track — the sliderless members of the family (Lemin's "cropped")
+            // want the piece dragged directly. Same answer from the model, because
+            // the two look identical; different gesture. Nothing to close a loop on,
+            // since the piece is under the cursor and moves with it one for one.
+            const piece = await this.findControl(scope, DRAGGABLE_PIECE_SELECTORS);
+            const box = piece ? await piece.boundingBox() : null;
+            if (!box) {
+                console.warn('Slide action, but the widget has neither a slider nor a draggable piece.');
+                return false;
+            }
+            // BOTH axes. The rail members travel horizontally and nothing else, so
+            // the handle's own y is the only y there is — but a free drag carries the
+            // piece across the card, and holding the piece's row here slid it along
+            // the TRAY and released it there, well below the slot, every time.
+            const targetY = ((action.target_bounding_box[1] + action.target_bounding_box[3]) / 2)
+                * elementBox.height;
+            console.log('No slider track; dragging the piece to the slot directly.');
+            await this.performSmoothMove(page, box.x + box.width / 2, box.y + box.height / 2);
+            await page.mouse.down();
+            await page.waitForTimeout(Math.random() * 50 + 50);
+            await this.performSmoothMove(page, elementBox.x + targetX, elementBox.y + targetY);
+            await page.waitForTimeout(Math.random() * 50 + 50);
+            await page.mouse.up();
+            return true;
+        }
+        const hbox = await handle.boundingBox();
+        if (!hbox)
+            return false;
+        const startX = hbox.x + hbox.width / 2;
+        const holdY = hbox.y + hbox.height / 2;
+        // Mask the whole horizontal BAND the handle runs in, not just where it is
+        // now: it is about to move across that band, and most vendors fill the
+        // track behind it as it goes. Either would otherwise be the largest moving
+        // thing in frame, and we would track the handle instead of the piece.
+        const pad = Math.max(4, hbox.height * 0.35);
+        const exclude = [
+            0,
+            hbox.y - elementBox.y - pad,
+            elementBox.width,
+            hbox.y + hbox.height - elementBox.y + pad,
+        ];
+        const shots = Array.from({ length: 4 }, (_, i) => path.join(os.tmpdir(), `slide_${Date.now()}_${i}_${Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e9)}.png`));
+        try {
+            await this.move(page, handle, { paddingPercentage: 30 });
+            await page.mouse.down();
+            await page.waitForTimeout(Math.random() * 60 + 60);
+            await element.screenshot({
+                path: shots[0],
+                timeout: this.config.elementScreenshotTimeoutMs ?? 8000,
+                animations: 'disabled',
+            });
+            const widths = [];
+            let lastBox = null;
+            for (let i = 0; i < SLIDE_PROBE_OFFSETS_PX.length; i++) {
+                const offset = SLIDE_PROBE_OFFSETS_PX[i];
+                await this.performSmoothMove(page, startX + offset, holdY);
+                await page.waitForTimeout(Math.random() * 40 + 40);
+                const box = await this.trackPiece(element, shots[0], shots[i + 1], exclude);
+                if (box) {
+                    widths.push([offset, box[2] - box[0]]);
+                    lastBox = box;
+                }
+            }
+            const { pieceWidth, ratio } = (0, slide_geometry_1.solveSlideGeometry)(widths, elementBox.width);
+            if (!lastBox || pieceWidth === null) {
+                // Never saw the piece — a canvas the screenshot cannot separate, a
+                // widget that redraws wholesale, or a press the handle refused. Fall
+                // back on the geometry every one of these puzzles shares: piece and
+                // handle both start flush left, so the handle's travel is the piece's.
+                console.warn('Slider: piece never resolved on screen; steering by handle travel alone.');
+                await this.performSmoothMove(page, startX + (targetX - (startX - elementBox.x)), holdY);
+            }
+            else {
+                // The offset lastBox was MEASURED at — not the final probe, and not
+                // indexed by how many measurements succeeded. If the first probe failed
+                // to resolve and the second worked, those two disagree, and steering
+                // from a base the reading does not belong to sends the piece somewhere
+                // neither the model nor the screen asked for.
+                let offset = widths[widths.length - 1][0];
+                for (let i = 0; i < SLIDE_MAX_CORRECTIONS; i++) {
+                    const pieceCentre = lastBox[2] - pieceWidth / 2;
+                    const error = targetX - pieceCentre;
+                    if (Math.abs(error) <= SLIDE_TOLERANCE_PX)
+                        break;
+                    offset += error / ratio;
+                    await this.performSmoothMove(page, startX + offset, holdY);
+                    await page.waitForTimeout(Math.random() * 40 + 40);
+                    const box = await this.trackPiece(element, shots[0], shots[3], exclude);
+                    if (!box)
+                        break; // ran out of track; release where we are
+                    lastBox = box;
+                }
+            }
+            // Settle before letting go. A release in the same tick as the last move
+            // reads as a machine, and some vendors sample the final milliseconds of
+            // the gesture.
+            await page.waitForTimeout(Math.random() * 120 + 90);
+        }
+        finally {
+            try {
+                await page.mouse.up();
+            }
+            catch { /* the page may have navigated */ }
+            for (const shot of shots) {
+                try {
+                    if (fs.existsSync(shot))
+                        fs.unlinkSync(shot);
+                }
+                catch { /* best-effort */ }
+            }
+        }
+        return true;
+    }
 }
 exports.CaptchaKrakenSolver = CaptchaKrakenSolver;