feat(remote): the app/activity picker, and a protocol transport that really connects (t15)

The user's remote displayed but offered no app picker, and the protocol
transport was never actually switched on. Both halves are fixed here.

REMOTE PARITY. The entity declares RemoteEntityFeature.ACTIVITY — exactly
what core's androidtv_remote declares — and publishes activity_list, which
is what makes the frontend render an activity picker at all. The list is
the app directory (the user's apps map, else the curated table as a floor)
in map order, then the apps ADB discovery found and something can name, in
the one name chain (user map > device label > curated > package id).
Nothing nameless is listed as a bare package id, and current_activity is
None until something is known: no activity is invented. remote.turn_on
honours activity= by waking the device when it reports itself off and then
launching through the existing launch path; a listed name resolves
case-insensitively, a package id or a detail link passes through, and
anything else raises unknown_activity naming the value instead of silently
doing nothing. An empty/absent activity keeps the previous behaviour
exactly, async_turn_off is untouched, and a configured command script still
owns the sequence.

WHY THE TRANSPORT WAS DEAD, MEASURED. androidtvremote2's keep_reconnecting
only starts _async_reconnect, whose whole body is
`while self._remote_message_protocol:` — false on the first check with
nothing connected, so the task returned immediately: no connect attempt, no
retry, and the auth callback was never reachable. HA core connects FIRST and
only then keeps it alive. Our _start_protocol called keep_reconnecting after
generating a certificate and never called async_connect anywhere, so every
send_key_command/send_launch_app_command raised ConnectionClosed internally,
the helpers swallowed it into `return False` plus a debug line, and no push
(is_available/is_on/current_app/volume_info) ever arrived.

The fix is a background connect loop: async_connect under a bounded timeout,
network failures retried with the ADB watchdog's jitter and backoff,
InvalidAuth routed into the EXISTING reauth callback (entry.async_start_reauth),
and keep_reconnecting only after a session is up. Setup never blocks on a
transport. A send that cannot run is no longer silent: it is counted, its
error recorded verbatim, and logged at WARNING with the transport state, and
the remote publishes protocol_state / protocol_connected /
protocol_ever_authenticated / protocol_last_error / protocol_failures /
protocol_certificate plus sticky per-push *_seen flags — so "sent" and
"never switched on" can never look alike again.

CASE (b) IS FIXED, NOT DOCUMENTED: switching the transport on in the options
flow for an entry that never paired now routes into the real
async_step_protocol_pair, and "continue without pairing" persists the
transport OFF. One marker carries the pairing (CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED),
written by the setup pairing step, the reauth finisher and the reconfigure
finisher, so no entry can sit enabled-but-unpaired. The certificate from the
first pairing is reused by design, so a paired entry is asked for no new PIN
— which is also why the marker, not certificate material, is the source of
truth.

ADB STAYS THE PRIMARY STATE SOURCE. Arming the protocol introduces pushes
that were never live before, so the reading now names its tier:
manager.foreground_source drives the media player's app_source and the
remote's activity_source, and the new tests prove a full protocol push set
leaves the media state, the now-playing reading and every ADB store field
untouched, while an ADB-only entry still serves media player, sensors, apps,
scripts and receiver with only the protocol surface degraded.

Copy: unknown_activity, activity_launch_failed and protocol_unavailable in
BOTH strings.json and translations/en.json, pinned by a test; the README
documents the picker, activity resolution, how to read the transport-state
attributes, the script bypass (a script-routed press is never evidence of
pairing), the connect-then-keep-alive lifecycle and cert reuse versus the
other integration's own pairing.

Evidence: 6 new real-HA FlowManager tests in tests/test_config_flow_real_ha.py
(unpaired -> pairs, PIN -> marker, skip -> off, paired -> not asked again, and
the setup flow's marker on success and on skip), a real-HA entity contract
test in tests/test_ha_api_drift.py (exact supported_features equality with
core, activity_list/current_activity reaching the state machine, live _attr_
updates) and new suites in tests/test_protocol_transport.py (connect-first,
keep_reconnecting alone is a no-op, retry, auth rejection, honest send
failures, ADB-primary precedence) and tests/test_command_routing.py (the
activity contract, turn_on(activity=), script ownership, the transport
attribute states). No device and no browser exist here: device behaviour is
inferred from the library and core source, and every UI-facing claim is
proven at the entity/registry/metadata level under real Home Assistant.

Verify: suites 719/4 and 720/3; real-HA glob (tests/test_adb_command_real_ha.py
+ tests/test_config_flow_real_ha.py) 56 passed, 0 skipped; ruff clean; drift
exit 0 (25 modules, 76 imports, 206 relative imports, 1322 statement blocks,
57 call arguments) with the floors raised 40->70, 100->195, 500->1300 and
52->55.

README.md

@@ -419,6 +419,14 @@ already submitted. The two pairing rows appear only while that transport still n
 pairing (a skip leaves its row there to retry; a successful pairing removes it), and
 the menu's description names what is still to pair.
 
+Turning **Add the Nvidia Remote Protocol** on in the **Main setup** row of the
+*options* page does not silently enable a client that cannot connect: an entry that has
+never completed a pairing is taken to the same **Pair the remote protocol** step, and
+its **Continue without pairing** escape turns the option back off. Pairing is remembered
+per entry, so switching the transport off and on again on a paired entry asks for no new
+PIN (the certificate from the first pairing is reused — see
+[is my transport paired?](#is-my-protocol-transport-paired-connected-or-not-running-at-all)).
+
 ### The Apps table
 
 The **Apps** row opens a small editor rather than one long form. Home Assistant has no
@@ -767,6 +775,88 @@ All four variables are always present, including their defaults, so a script can
 on the shape. Unset — the default — nothing changes: keys go out over the protocol
 exactly as before.
 
+### The remote entity: the app / activity picker
+
+The `remote` entity speaks Home Assistant's own remote contract, matching the
+`androidtv_remote` entity it replaces — so a replaced setup keeps its automations
+**and** gets the app picker the frontend only renders for a remote that declares it:
+
+| Piece | Value |
+| --- | --- |
+| `supported_features` | includes `RemoteEntityFeature.ACTIVITY` — without that flag Home Assistant offers **no activity picker at all**, which is why the remote card can look empty |
+| `activity_list` | the friendly app names, in your order: your **Apps table** (or the built-in table when you have none), plus the apps **ADB discovery** actually found on the device |
+| `current_activity` | the app on screen as a friendly name: the protocol's current-app push when it arrives, the ADB foreground reading otherwise. `None` while nothing is known — no activity is ever invented |
+| `turn_on` with `activity:` | wakes the Shield when it reports itself off, then launches that app over the protocol |
+
+```yaml
+# launch Netflix by the name from the activity list / Apps table
+action: remote.turn_on
+target:
+  entity_id: remote.living_room
+data:
+  activity: Netflix
+```
+
+An `activity` resolves in this order: a **name** from the activity list
+(case-insensitive), then a **package id** or a **detail link** (`https://…`,
+`market://…`) passed through unchanged — that is how an app your table does not carry
+is still launchable, and what the other integration does with a name it does not know.
+Anything else raises a clear error naming the value instead of silently doing nothing.
+Leaving `activity` out (or empty) keeps the old behaviour exactly: wake through the
+configured script, else `POWER` when the device reports it is off.
+
+**Where the list comes from, and why.** `androidtvremote2` exposes **no app-list API
+at all** (measured against the installed library) — which is exactly why
+`androidtv_remote` keeps a user-maintained app map. This integration has the same kind
+of source *plus* something the other one lacks: ADB discovery, so the picker can offer
+what is actually installed and name it through the one chain (your Apps table → the
+device's own label → the built-in table → the package id). Apps nothing can name are
+not listed as bare package ids; pass their id to `activity` if you need them.
+
+#### Is my protocol transport paired, connected, or not running at all?
+
+The library offers no `is_paired` / `is_connected`, so the remote entity publishes what
+can be **proven** (Developer Tools > States, or
+`state_attr('remote.living_room', 'protocol_state')`):
+
+| Attribute | Meaning |
+| --- | --- |
+| `protocol_state` | `off` (no transport configured), `never_connected`, `connected`, `disconnected`, or `auth_rejected` |
+| `protocol_connected` | `true` only while the device reports the protocol session up |
+| `protocol_ever_authenticated` | `true` once a session connected **or any push arrived** — the only proof of a paired client the library gives |
+| `protocol_current_app_seen` / `protocol_is_on_seen` / `protocol_volume_seen` | whether each device push has **ever** arrived (sticky: the state cache expires, these do not) |
+| `protocol_last_error` / `protocol_failures` | the last protocol connect/send failure verbatim, and how many sends could **not** run |
+| `protocol_certificate` | `present` / `missing` — the certificate from your setup pairing, which is why enabling the transport on a paired entry asks for **no new PIN** |
+| `power_on_route` / `power_off_route` | `protocol`, or `script:<script>` when a command script owns that command |
+| `activity_source` (and the media player's `app_source`) | which tier produced the app identity: `protocol` (the device's own push) or `adb` (the dumpsys parse) — the push is preferred, and it is never a silent override |
+
+Reading it:
+
+* **`auth_rejected`** — the device refused our certificate (a factory reset, or a
+  deleted `.storage/nvidia_shield/client.pem`). Home Assistant also flags the entry
+  for reauthentication; that flow re-pairs.
+* **`never_connected`** while the transport is enabled — switched on but with no
+  session. Pairing again is the answer (the options flow routes an unpaired entry
+  straight into the pairing step rather than enabling a client that cannot connect).
+* **`off`** — the transport is not configured. Everything else here still works: ADB
+  is the state source, so an ADB-only setup degrades **only** the protocol surface.
+* A send that could not run is **never silent**: it is counted, recorded verbatim in
+  `protocol_last_error`, and logged at WARNING together with `protocol_state`.
+
+**The other Android TV integration.** `androidtv_remote` pairs **its own client** and
+shares nothing with us: its certificate lives in its own storage and its entities are
+its own. Ours (`client.pem` under `.storage/nvidia_shield/`) is reused between pairing
+and runtime by design, so *not* being asked for a PIN on an already-paired entry is
+expected — and it says nothing about whether the session is up. `protocol_state`
+answers that.
+
+**A configured script bypasses the protocol.** When a command script owns `turn_on`
+(or `turn_off`), that script runs and the protocol is **never touched** — so a power
+press that worked through it is *not* evidence that the transport is paired, or even
+connected (`power_on_route` reads `script:…`). A configured **Remote command script**
+is the same story for `remote.send_command`. Only a command that went out over the
+protocol, with `protocol_state` = `connected`, exercises the transport.
+
 ## Entities
 
 | Entity | Type | Description |
@@ -774,6 +864,7 @@ exactly as before.
 | Media Player | `media_player` | Main entity with playback controls, metadata and the flat `now_playing_*` attributes (below) |
 | Current app (`sensor.current_app`) | `sensor` | Currently running app |
 | Now playing (`sensor.now_playing`) | `sensor` | Formatted now-playing string, with its own flat attributes (below) |
+| Remote | `remote` | Key commands, the activity/app picker, and the transport-state attributes (see [the activity picker](#the-remote-entity-the-app--activity-picker)) |
 | Pair ADB | `button` | Initiate or re-pair ADB connection |
 | Screen capture (`image.screen_capture`) | `image` | The Shield's current screen — **opt-in, off by default**, manual/diagnostic only (see [Screen capture](#screen-capture-opt-in-manual)) |
 

custom_components/nvidia_shield/config_flow.py

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ from .const import (
     CONF_PAIRING_CODE,
     CONF_POWER_ENTITY,
     CONF_PROTOCOL_ENABLED,
+    CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED,
     CONF_RECEIVER_ENTITY,
     CONF_RECEIVER_INPUT,
     CONF_REMOTE_COMMAND_SCRIPT,
@@ -338,6 +339,67 @@ def _build_selectors():
     }
 
 
+async def _async_start_protocol_pairing(
+    hass, host: str, client_name: str
+) -> tuple[object | None, str | None]:
+    """Build a throwaway pairing client and make the Shield show its PIN (t15).
+
+    Certificates live under ``.storage/<domain>/`` (core androidtv_remote helpers.py
+    pattern) and are SHARED between pairing and runtime — an entry paired later reuses
+    them, which is why enabling the transport on a paired entry asks for no new PIN.
+    Returns ``(client, None)`` or ``(None, error_key)``: no host, a missing
+    ``androidtvremote2`` and an unreachable Shield are all keys the form can show,
+    never an exception out of a step.
+
+    t44 F1: androidtvremote2 raises ``CannotConnect`` from both calls below, and the
+    protocol transport is ON by default, so an asleep, rebooting or mis-addressed
+    Shield is the ordinary case rather than an edge one. Left uncaught it escaped the
+    config flow entirely, and the protocol_pair form — the address field AND the
+    "continue without pairing" escape — never rendered.
+
+    Module-level (t15) because BOTH flows drive a pairing session: the setup flow on
+    its way in, and the OPTIONS flow when the transport is switched on for an entry
+    that never paired.
+    """
+    if not host:
+        return None, "protocol_no_host"
+    certfile, keyfile = await hass.async_add_executor_job(protocol_cert_paths, hass)
+    client = ShieldConnectionManager.build_protocol_client(
+        host,
+        client_name=client_name,
+        certfile=certfile,
+        keyfile=keyfile,
+    )
+    if client is None:
+        # build_protocol_client already logged the missing library; pairing cannot
+        # start, and the form still offers the skip path
+        return None, "protocol_unavailable"
+    try:
+        await client.async_generate_cert_if_missing()
+        await client.async_start_pairing()
+    except Exception as err:  # noqa: BLE001 - the library's error IS the finding
+        _LOGGER.warning(
+            "protocol pairing could not start at %s (%s: %s) — showing the "
+            "form so the address can be corrected or pairing skipped",
+            host,
+            type(err).__name__,
+            err,
+        )
+        _disconnect_pairing_client(client)
+        return None, "protocol_unreachable"
+    return client, None
+
+
+def _disconnect_pairing_client(client) -> None:
+    """Drop a THROWAWAY pairing client (t15) — both flows hold exactly one.
+
+    A pairing client never becomes the entry's runtime transport, so a session whose
+    address was corrected, or that was skipped, must be closed here rather than left
+    dangling with a live TLS connection.
+    """
+    if client is not None:
+        with contextlib.suppress(Exception):
+            client.disconnect()
 class NvidiaShieldConfigFlow(config_entries.ConfigFlow, domain=DOMAIN):
     """Handle a config flow for Nvidia Shield."""
 
@@ -542,6 +604,10 @@ class NvidiaShieldConfigFlow(config_entries.ConfigFlow, domain=DOMAIN):
                 CONF_HOST: d.get(CONF_HOST, ""),
                 CONF_ADB_PORT: d.get(CONF_ADB_PORT, DEFAULT_ADB_PORT),
                 CONF_PROTOCOL_ENABLED: d.get(CONF_PROTOCOL_ENABLED, True),
+                # t15: the pairing marker travels with the entry: the pairing step set
+                # it (True) or the skip path cleared it (False), and the options flow
+                # reads it before it lets the transport run unpaired.
+                CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED: bool(d.get(CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED, False)),
             },
         )
 
@@ -563,57 +629,20 @@ class NvidiaShieldConfigFlow(config_entries.ConfigFlow, domain=DOMAIN):
         """Drop a pairing client whose session became void (host corrected)."""
         client = self._protocol_client
         self._protocol_client = None
-        if client is not None:
-            with contextlib.suppress(Exception):
-                client.disconnect()
+        _disconnect_pairing_client(client)
 
     async def _start_protocol_pairing(self):
-        """Build a throwaway protocol client and make the Shield show its PIN.
+        """Build a throwaway protocol client and make the Shield show its PIN (t15).
 
-        Certificates live under ``.storage/<domain>/`` (core androidtv_remote
-        helpers.py pattern) and are shared between pairing and runtime. Returns
-        ``(client, None)`` or ``(None, error_key)`` — no host, a missing
-        ``androidtvremote2`` and an unreachable Shield are all keys the form can
-        show, never an exception out of the step.
-
-        t44 F1: androidtvremote2 raises ``CannotConnect`` from both calls below,
-        and the protocol transport is ON by default, so an asleep, rebooting or
-        mis-addressed Shield is the ordinary case rather than an edge one. Left
-        uncaught it escaped the config flow entirely, and the protocol_pair form
-        — the address field AND the "continue without pairing" escape — never
-        rendered.
+        Thin wrapper: the construction is module-level because the OPTIONS flow needs
+        exactly the same thing when the transport is switched on for an entry that
+        never paired (``_async_start_protocol_pairing``).
         """
-        host = self._host()
-        if not host:
-            return None, "protocol_no_host"
-        certfile, keyfile = await self.hass.async_add_executor_job(
-            protocol_cert_paths, self.hass
+        return await _async_start_protocol_pairing(
+            self.hass,
+            self._host(),
+            self._user_data.get("name", DEFAULT_NAME) or DEFAULT_NAME,
         )
-        client = ShieldConnectionManager.build_protocol_client(
-            host,
-            client_name=self._user_data.get("name", DEFAULT_NAME) or DEFAULT_NAME,
-            certfile=certfile,
-            keyfile=keyfile,
-        )
-        if client is None:
-            # build_protocol_client already logged the missing library;
-            # pairing cannot start, and the form still offers the skip path
-            return None, "protocol_unavailable"
-        try:
-            await client.async_generate_cert_if_missing()
-            await client.async_start_pairing()
-        except Exception as err:  # noqa: BLE001 - the library's error IS the finding
-            _LOGGER.warning(
-                "protocol pairing could not start at %s (%s: %s) — showing the "
-                "form so the address can be corrected or pairing skipped",
-                host,
-                type(err).__name__,
-                err,
-            )
-            with contextlib.suppress(Exception):
-                client.disconnect()
-            return None, "protocol_unreachable"
-        return client, None
 
     async def _async_begin_protocol_pairing(self):
         """Start a PIN pairing session: ``(client, None)`` or ``(None, error)``."""
@@ -647,6 +676,9 @@ class NvidiaShieldConfigFlow(config_entries.ConfigFlow, domain=DOMAIN):
         """
         self._discard_protocol_client()
         self._user_data[CONF_PROTOCOL_ENABLED] = False
+        # t15: skipped means NOT paired — the marker is what keeps an unpaired client
+        # off instead of letting it look like a dead remote later.
+        self._user_data[CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED] = False
         if self._reauth_entry is not None:
             # an existing entry cannot be re-created: leave it untouched and
             # say so instead of pretending the re-pair worked
@@ -735,6 +767,12 @@ class NvidiaShieldConfigFlow(config_entries.ConfigFlow, domain=DOMAIN):
         # t56: the protocol is paired now, so the setup menu must not offer to
         # pair it again — it returns to the menu (Receiver / Connection /
         # Finish) instead of creating the entry here.
+        #
+        # t15: and the pairing is PERSISTED. Nothing else can tell a paired entry
+        # from one that merely switched the transport on (the library has no
+        # is_paired, and certificate material is generated either way), so the
+        # options flow reads this marker before it lets the transport run unpaired.
+        self._user_data[CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED] = True
         self._paired_protocol = True
         return self._show_setup_menu()
 
@@ -851,6 +889,9 @@ class NvidiaShieldConfigFlow(config_entries.ConfigFlow, domain=DOMAIN):
             "options": {
                 **entry.options,
                 CONF_PROTOCOL_ENABLED: True,
+                # t15: this reconfigure JUST paired — persist the marker the options
+                # flow reads before it lets an unpaired transport run.
+                CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED: True,
                 CONF_HOST: self._host(),
             },
         }
@@ -874,6 +915,8 @@ class NvidiaShieldConfigFlow(config_entries.ConfigFlow, domain=DOMAIN):
             options={
                 **entry.options,
                 CONF_PROTOCOL_ENABLED: True,
+                # t15: this reauth JUST paired — persist the marker (see above).
+                CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED: True,
                 CONF_HOST: self._host(),
             },
         )
@@ -1194,6 +1237,9 @@ class NvidiaShieldOptionsFlow(config_entries.OptionsFlowWithReload):
         self._discover_note: str | None = None
         self._editing_package: str | None = None
         self._removing_package: str | None = None
+        # t15: the throwaway pairing client of a protocol_pair visit (see
+        # async_step_protocol_pair). Flow state, never an option.
+        self._protocol_client = None
 
     @property
     def _options_dict(self) -> dict:
@@ -1416,9 +1462,118 @@ class NvidiaShieldOptionsFlow(config_entries.OptionsFlowWithReload):
         """Main setup: the link, both transports and the linked entities."""
         errors: dict = {}
         if user_input is not None and self._apply_submission(dict(user_input), errors):
+            if self._protocol_enable_needs_pairing(user_input):
+                # t15: switching the transport ON for an entry that was never paired
+                # must PAIR now, not enable an unauthenticated client. The setup flow
+                # always paired (or turned the transport off); this is the way back in
+                # for an entry created in passive mode, and the only honest reading of
+                # "pair or stay off".
+                return await self.async_step_protocol_pair()
             return await self.async_step_menu_again()
         return self._show_connection_form(errors)
 
+    def _protocol_paired(self) -> bool:
+        """True when this entry's protocol client was really paired (t15).
+
+        The persisted marker is the ONLY honest source: the library exposes no
+        ``is_paired``, and certificate material proves only that something generated a
+        key — which an entry that merely enabled the transport has too (the runtime
+        calls ``async_generate_cert_if_missing``).
+        """
+        data = getattr(self.config_entry, "data", None) or {}
+        return bool(self._options_dict.get(CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED) or data.get(CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED))
+
+    def _protocol_enable_needs_pairing(self, submission: dict) -> bool:
+        """Does this submission turn the transport ON without a pairing to back it?"""
+        if CONF_PROTOCOL_ENABLED not in submission:
+            return False
+        if not self._options_dict.get(CONF_PROTOCOL_ENABLED):
+            return False  # turned off (or left off): nothing runs, nothing to pair
+        return not self._protocol_paired()
+
+    async def async_step_protocol_pair(self, user_input=None):
+        """Pair the remote protocol from the OPTIONS flow (t15).
+
+        Reached only by switching the transport ON for an entry that never paired. The
+        alternative is the state the user was stuck in: a client that connects nowhere,
+        no pushes, every send swallowed — a remote that looks unpaired whether it is or
+        not. ``skip_pairing`` leaves the transport OFF (persisted), so the entry cannot
+        end up enabled-but-unpaired either way.
+        """
+        errors: dict = {}
+
+        if user_input is None:
+            return await self._async_restart_options_pairing(errors)
+
+        if user_input.get(CONF_SKIP_PAIRING):
+            return await self._async_skip_options_pairing()
+
+        typed_host = str(user_input.get(CONF_HOST) or "").strip()
+        if typed_host and typed_host != entry_host(self.config_entry):
+            # A host typed HERE is authoritative (same rule as the setup flow): the
+            # session started against the old address is dropped and the Shield is
+            # asked for a NEW code at the corrected address.
+            self._options_dict[CONF_HOST] = typed_host
+            self._discard_options_pairing_client()
+
+        code = str(user_input.get(CONF_PAIRING_CODE, "") or "").strip()
+        if self._protocol_client is None or not code:
+            return await self._async_restart_options_pairing(errors)
+
+        try:
+            await self._protocol_client.async_finish_pairing(code)
+        except Exception:
+            errors["base"] = "protocol_pair_failed"
+            return self._show_options_pair_form(errors)
+
+        self._discard_options_pairing_client()
+        # Paired: the transport may run, and the marker keeps every later visit from
+        # asking again (the certificate is reused by design — no new PIN).
+        self._options_dict[CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED] = True
+        return await self.async_step_menu_again()
+
+    def _show_options_pair_form(self, errors=None):
+        """protocol_pair form for the OPTIONS flow: PIN, address, skip escape."""
+        host = entry_host(self.config_entry)
+        return self.async_show_form(
+            step_id="protocol_pair",
+            data_schema=vol.Schema(
+                {
+                    vol.Required(CONF_PAIRING_CODE): str,
+                    _host_field_key(CONF_HOST, host): str,
+                    vol.Optional(CONF_SKIP_PAIRING, default=False): bool,
+                }
+            ),
+            errors=errors or {},
+        )
+
+    async def _async_restart_options_pairing(self, errors: dict):
+        """Start a fresh pairing session and render the form for its code (t15)."""
+        self._discard_options_pairing_client()
+        client, error = await _async_start_protocol_pairing(
+            self.hass,
+            entry_host(self.config_entry),
+            self.config_entry.title or DEFAULT_NAME,
+        )
+        if error:
+            errors["base"] = error
+        else:
+            self._protocol_client = client
+        return self._show_options_pair_form(errors)
+
+    async def _async_skip_options_pairing(self):
+        """Continue with the transport OFF (t15) — never enabled-but-unpaired."""
+        self._discard_options_pairing_client()
+        self._options_dict[CONF_PROTOCOL_ENABLED] = False
+        self._options_dict[CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED] = False
+        return await self.async_step_menu_again()
+
+    def _discard_options_pairing_client(self) -> None:
+        """Drop the options flow's throwaway pairing client (t15)."""
+        client = self._protocol_client
+        self._protocol_client = None
+        _disconnect_pairing_client(client)
+
     def _show_connection_form(self, errors=None):
         """Main setup: the same settings the first setup form carries.
 

custom_components/nvidia_shield/connection.py

@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ from .const import (
     CONF_LOGCAT_EVENTS,
     DEFAULT_APP_DIRECTORY,
     LOGCAT_SUPPRESS_WINDOW,
+    PROTOCOL_AUTH_REJECTED,
+    PROTOCOL_CONNECT_TIMEOUT,
+    PROTOCOL_CONNECTED,
+    PROTOCOL_DISCONNECTED,
+    PROTOCOL_NEVER_CONNECTED,
+    PROTOCOL_OFF,
     STATE_STORE_TTL,
     SYSTEM_MEDIA_PACKAGES,
 )
@@ -121,6 +127,18 @@ def volume_tuple(info) -> tuple | None:
         return None
 
 
+def _protocol_error_kind(err: BaseException) -> str:
+    """Classify a protocol exception: "auth" or "network" (t15).
+
+    Classified by NAME so the manager keeps working around a test double and stays
+    importable where the optional androidtvremote2 is not installed. Only the
+    library's ``InvalidAuth`` is terminal — it means the device no longer accepts our
+    certificate, so retrying can never succeed; everything else (CannotConnect,
+    ConnectionClosed, TimeoutError, an OSError from the TLS handshake) is a transport
+    failure worth another attempt.
+    """
+    return "auth" if type(err).__name__ == "InvalidAuth" else "network"
+
 class StateStore:
     """Timed per-field state cache shared by all entities of one entry.
 
@@ -278,6 +296,18 @@ class ShieldConnectionManager:
         self._stopping = False
         self._failures = 0
         self._down_since = False  # listeners already told the connection is down
+        # t15: the protocol transport's REAL state. keep_reconnecting() only MAINTAINS
+        # a session (the library's loop is `while self._remote_message_protocol:`,
+        # None until something connects first), so before this unit the transport was
+        # never connected: no push arrived and every send raised ConnectionClosed
+        # internally. This state is what the entities publish so the difference
+        # between "never switched on", "connected" and "cert refused" is readable.
+        self._protocol_state: str = (
+            PROTOCOL_NEVER_CONNECTED if self._protocol is not None else PROTOCOL_OFF
+        )
+        self._protocol_last_error: str | None = None
+        self._protocol_ever_authenticated = False
+        self._protocol_failures = 0
 
     # ── One-shot connection test (pairing UX) ──
 
@@ -369,10 +399,84 @@ class ShieldConnectionManager:
         client.add_is_available_updated_callback(self._on_is_available)
         client.add_current_app_updated_callback(self._on_current_app)
         client.add_volume_info_updated_callback(self._on_volume_info)
-        # One owner per transport: the library's keep_reconnecting() creates
-        # and owns its reconnect task internally — we never wrap or duplicate
-        # it (the stop path closes the client, which tears the task down).
+        # t15: CONNECT FIRST, then hand maintenance to the library.
+        #
+        # Core androidtv_remote does `await api.async_connect()` (5 s timeout,
+        # InvalidAuth -> ConfigEntryAuthFailed, CannotConnect -> ConfigEntryNotReady)
+        # and ONLY THEN `api.keep_reconnecting(reauth_needed)`. The order is the
+        # whole point: the library's reconnect loop is
+        #
+        #     while self._remote_message_protocol:
+        #         exc = await self._remote_message_protocol.on_con_lost
+        #
+        # and `_remote_message_protocol` is None until a first async_connect()
+        # succeeds — so calling keep_reconnecting() alone starts a task that checks
+        # its condition once, sees None and RETURNS. That is what shipped (this
+        # method called keep_reconnecting and nothing in the tree ever called
+        # async_connect): no session, not one push, and every send raised
+        # ConnectionClosed internally. The attempt below is a background task, never
+        # setup work: an unreachable or unpaired Shield must not fail the entry —
+        # ADB is the primary transport and stays the answer (t40 ladder).
+        self._protocol_connect_task = self._create_task(
+            self._protocol_connect_loop(client), "shield_protocol_connect"
+        )
+
+    async def _protocol_connect_loop(self, client) -> None:
+        """Open the protocol session, then let the library keep it open (t15).
+
+        A NETWORK failure is retried with the ADB watchdog's backoff (nothing to
+        lose: the next attempt costs one TCP/TLS handshake). An AUTH rejection stops
+        the loop — retrying a certificate the device no longer accepts can never
+        succeed — and asks the entry to run its reauth/pair flow instead.
+        """
+        backoff = ADB_RECONNECT_BACKOFF_START
+        try:
+            while not self._stopping:
+                try:
+                    await asyncio.wait_for(
+                        client.async_connect(), timeout=PROTOCOL_CONNECT_TIMEOUT
+                    )
+                except asyncio.CancelledError:
+                    raise
+                except Exception as err:  # noqa: BLE001 - classified right here
+                    if _protocol_error_kind(err) == "auth":
+                        _LOGGER.warning(
+                            "Shield remote-protocol auth was rejected (%s) — "
+                            "pushing the entry into its reauth/pair flow",
+                            err,
+                        )
+                        self._on_invalid_auth(
+                            reason=f"connect: {type(err).__name__}: {err}"
+                        )
+                        return
+                    self._note_protocol_state(
+                        PROTOCOL_NEVER_CONNECTED,
+                        f"connect: {type(err).__name__}: {err}",
+                    )
+                    _LOGGER.debug(
+                        "Shield remote-protocol connect failed (%s) — retrying in "
+                        "%.0f s",
+                        err,
+                        backoff,
+                    )
+                    await asyncio.sleep(self._jitter(backoff))
+                    backoff = min(backoff * 2, ADB_RECONNECT_BACKOFF_CAP)
+                    continue
+                # Connected: remember it as an authenticated session and hand the
+                # socket to the library's own reconnect task (one owner per
+                # transport — the stop path closes the client, which tears it down).
+                _LOGGER.info(
+                    "Shield remote-protocol transport connected to %s",
+                    getattr(client, "host", self.entry.title if self.entry else "?"),
+                )
+                self._protocol_ever_authenticated = True
+                self._note_protocol_state(PROTOCOL_CONNECTED, None)
                 client.keep_reconnecting(self._on_invalid_auth)
+                return
+        except asyncio.CancelledError:
+            raise
+        except Exception:  # pragma: no cover - defensive: never kill the entry
+            _LOGGER.exception("Shield remote-protocol connect loop crashed")
 
     def _on_is_on(self, on) -> None:
         self._protocol_push(FIELD_IS_ON, bool(on))
@@ -386,16 +490,27 @@ class ShieldConnectionManager:
     def _on_volume_info(self, info) -> None:
         self._protocol_push(FIELD_VOLUME_INFO, volume_tuple(info))
 
-    def _on_invalid_auth(self) -> None:
+    def _on_invalid_auth(self, reason: str | None = None) -> None:
         """Device hard reset — certificates rejected.
 
         The library keeps its own backoff, but retrying can never succeed
-        since certificated auth is gone — the entry-level callback (reauth
+        since certificate auth is gone — the entry-level callback (reauth
         flow) decides the user-facing response (t9).
+
+        t15: the state and the error are recorded too — "the certificate was
+        rejected" must be readable on the entity, not only in a log line. ``reason``
+        carries the specific failure (the connect loop's exception) so the generic
+        wording is only used when the library reports a rejection by itself.
         """
+        self._note_protocol_state(
+            PROTOCOL_AUTH_REJECTED,
+            reason or "auth rejected while reconnecting (device hard reset? pair again)",
+        )
         _LOGGER.warning(
             "Shield remote-protocol auth is invalid (device hard reset?) — "
-            "notifying the entry's reauth hook"
+            "notifying the entry's reauth hook (transport: %s, last error: %s)",
+            self._protocol_state,
+            self._protocol_last_error,
         )
         if self._invalid_auth_callback is not None:
             try:
@@ -408,7 +523,17 @@ class ShieldConnectionManager:
 
         Push callbacks may arrive off the event loop (grpc worker threads);
         route the listener notification back onto the captured loop.
+
+        t15: a push is the ONLY proof the library offers that a session is
+        authenticated (it exposes no is_paired/is_connected), so receiving one marks
+        the transport authenticated — and an availability push is the transport's own
+        connected/disconnected report.
         """
+        self._protocol_ever_authenticated = True
+        if field == FIELD_IS_AVAILABLE:
+            self._protocol_state = (
+                PROTOCOL_CONNECTED if value else PROTOCOL_DISCONNECTED
+            )
         self.store.set(field, value)
         loop = self._protocol_loop
         if loop is not None and loop.is_running():
@@ -459,6 +584,75 @@ class ShieldConnectionManager:
         """
         return self._protocol is not None
 
+    @property
+    def protocol_state(self) -> str:
+        """The transport's real state, in one word (t15).
+
+        ``off`` (no client wired), ``never_connected`` (wired, no session yet),
+        ``connected``, ``disconnected`` or ``auth_rejected``. The library offers no
+        is_paired/is_connected, so these are the states we can actually prove — and
+        the pre-t15 code was permanently ``never_connected``, which is the state the
+        user was reading as "maybe unpaired".
+        """
+        return self._protocol_state
+
+    @property
+    def protocol_connected(self) -> bool:
+        """True only while an authenticated session is up (never assumed)."""
+        return self._protocol_state == PROTOCOL_CONNECTED
+
+    @property
+    def protocol_ever_authenticated(self) -> bool:
+        """True once a session connected or ANY push arrived (the only proof)."""
+        return self._protocol_ever_authenticated
+
+    @property
+    def protocol_last_error(self) -> str | None:
+        """The last connect/auth/send failure, verbatim, or None (t15).
+
+        Readable on the entity so "the transport is fine" and "the transport could
+        not run" are never the same picture — the masking this unit removed.
+        """
+        return self._protocol_last_error
+
+    @property
+    def protocol_failures(self) -> int:
+        """How many protocol sends could NOT run (never counted as successes)."""
+        return self._protocol_failures
+
+
+    def _note_protocol_state(self, state: str, error: str | None) -> None:
+        """Record the transport state (and an error when there is one) + notify."""
+        changed = state != self._protocol_state
+        self._protocol_state = state
+        if error is not None:
+            self._protocol_last_error = error
+        if changed:
+            self._notify()
+
+    def _note_protocol_send_failure(self, what: str, err) -> None:
+        """A protocol send that could NOT run must not look like one that did (t15).
+
+        Before this unit ``send_protocol_key``/``launch_app``/``send_text_ime``
+        swallowed the failure into ``return False`` + a debug line, so a transport
+        that had never connected was indistinguishable from a working one: the exact
+        masking behind the user's "could be either" pairing question. Every failure
+        is counted, recorded verbatim, and logged at WARNING carrying the transport
+        state.
+        """
+        self._protocol_failures += 1
+        detail = f"{type(err).__name__}: {err}" if isinstance(err, BaseException) else str(err)
+        self._protocol_last_error = f"{what}: {detail}"
+        _LOGGER.warning(
+            "Shield protocol %s did not run — nothing was sent (transport: %s, "
+            "last error: %s, failures: %d)",
+            what,
+            self._protocol_state,
+            self._protocol_last_error,
+            self._protocol_failures,
+        )
+        self._notify()
+
     async def async_protocol_device_info(self) -> tuple[str, str] | None:
         """(device name, MAC) via the protocol client (P5-1 migration).
 
@@ -501,6 +695,22 @@ class ShieldConnectionManager:
         (P3-2 store priority: FIELD_CURRENT_APP > FIELD_FOREGROUND)."""
         return self.store.get(FIELD_CURRENT_APP) or self.store.get(FIELD_FOREGROUND)
 
+    @property
+    def foreground_source(self) -> str | None:
+        """Which tier produced ``foreground_app``: ``"protocol"``, ``"adb"``, None (t15).
+
+        The two fields are DISJOINT, so naming the tier is exact. This is what keeps the
+        newly-reachable protocol push from silently outranking the ADB parse that the
+        user's setup is built on: the reading still prefers the push (P3-2), and the
+        entity says where it came from — see the media player's ``app_source`` and the
+        remote's ``activity_source``.
+        """
+        if self.store.get(FIELD_CURRENT_APP):
+            return "protocol"
+        if self.store.get(FIELD_FOREGROUND):
+            return "adb"
+        return None
+
     @property
     def volume_info(self) -> tuple | None:
         """Protocol volume push as ``(level, max, muted)`` — readout only
@@ -569,14 +779,19 @@ class ShieldConnectionManager:
         is up (RESEARCH_IDEAS §2 availability gate) — the call reports the
         send outcome; callers fall back to the ADB input-text path only
         when the protocol transport is down or the send failed.
+
+        t15: a send that could not run is logged at WARNING and recorded — the ADB
+        fallback still runs, but silence here is what made a never-connected
+        transport look like a working one.
         """
         if self._protocol is None:
+            self._note_protocol_send_failure("send_text", "no protocol transport")
             return False
         try:
             self._protocol.send_text(text)
             return True
         except Exception as err:
-            _LOGGER.debug("protocol send_text failed: %s", err)
+            self._note_protocol_send_failure("send_text", err)
             return False
 
     async def send_adb_input_text(self, text: str) -> bool:
@@ -1348,16 +1563,19 @@ class ShieldConnectionManager:
     async def send_protocol_key(self, key: str, direction: str = "SHORT") -> bool:
         """Send a remote-protocol key push (fast, non-blocking).
 
-        Returns False when the transport is down or the send raises — entities
-        then fall back to the ADB keyevent path.
+        Returns False when the transport could not run the send (no client, or the
+        library raised ConnectionClosed because nothing is connected) — entities then
+        fall back to the ADB keyevent path. t15: that failure is a WARNING carrying the
+        transport state, never a debug line (see ``_note_protocol_send_failure``).
         """
         if self._protocol is None:
+            self._note_protocol_send_failure(f"send_key {key}", "no protocol transport")
             return False
         try:
             self._protocol.send_key_command(key, direction)
             return True
         except Exception as err:
-            _LOGGER.debug("Protocol key %s failed: %s", key, err)
+            self._note_protocol_send_failure(f"send_key {key}", err)
             return False
 
     async def launch_app(self, app_link_or_app_id: str) -> bool:
@@ -1365,14 +1583,21 @@ class ShieldConnectionManager:
 
         ``send_launch_app_command`` auto-prefixes ``market://launch?id=`` for
         bare package ids (C-LAUNCH); deep links pass through unchanged.
+
+        t15: False means the launch DID NOT RUN (no transport, or the library raised
+        because nothing is connected) and says so at WARNING; callers that need to
+        report the outcome to a user must check it, not assume it.
         """
         if self._protocol is None:
+            self._note_protocol_send_failure(
+                f"launch {app_link_or_app_id}", "no protocol transport"
+            )
             return False
         try:
             self._protocol.send_launch_app_command(app_link_or_app_id)
             return True
         except Exception as err:
-            _LOGGER.debug("Protocol launch %s failed: %s", app_link_or_app_id, err)
+            self._note_protocol_send_failure(f"launch {app_link_or_app_id}", err)
             return False
 
     async def send_digit_key(self, digit: str) -> bool:

custom_components/nvidia_shield/const.py

@@ -37,6 +37,15 @@ CONF_PAIRING_CODE = "pairing_code"
 # steps — the entry still finishes (passive mode) instead of stranding the
 # user on a form with no way forward.
 CONF_SKIP_PAIRING = "skip_pairing"
+#: t15: a PERSISTED marker that this entry's protocol client really paired (a
+#: successful ``async_finish_pairing``). Pairing cannot be inferred from anything
+#: else: the library exposes no ``is_paired``, and certificate material proves only
+#: that SOMETHING generated a key — which an entry that merely enabled the transport
+#: without pairing has too. Written by the setup flow's pairing step, the options
+#: flow's, and the reauth/reconfigure finishers, so enabling the transport later can
+#: tell "already paired" (reuse the certificate, no new PIN) from "never paired"
+#: (must pair now, or stay off).
+CONF_PROTOCOL_PAIRED = "protocol_paired"
 DEFAULT_PROTOCOL_API_PORT = 6466
 DEFAULT_PROTOCOL_PAIR_PORT = 6467
 
@@ -52,6 +61,22 @@ ADB_RECONNECT_BACKOFF_CAP = 300   # seconds; backoff never sleeps longer
 ADB_RECONNECT_JITTER = 0.25       # ±25 % randomization against reconnect storms
 STATE_STORE_TTL = 60              # ADB-sourced fields older than this are stale
 
+# t15: the remote-protocol transport's own state machine. The library offers NO
+# ``is_paired``/``is_connected`` (measured on androidtvremote2), so these are the
+# states we can actually prove — and the one the user was reading as "maybe
+# unpaired" was ``never_connected``: keep_reconnecting() alone never connects
+# (its loop is ``while self._remote_message_protocol:``, None until a first
+# ``async_connect()``), so the transport had never been switched on at all.
+PROTOCOL_OFF = "off"                          # no client wired (disabled/no library)
+PROTOCOL_NEVER_CONNECTED = "never_connected"  # wired, no session yet, no rejection
+PROTOCOL_CONNECTED = "connected"              # device reachable at the protocol
+PROTOCOL_DISCONNECTED = "disconnected"        # session was up, now reported down
+PROTOCOL_AUTH_REJECTED = "auth_rejected"      # cert refused: pair again (reauth)
+
+#: Seconds allowed for the FIRST protocol connect before it counts as unreachable.
+#: Core androidtv_remote uses the same 5 s before deciding ready/not-ready.
+PROTOCOL_CONNECT_TIMEOUT = 5.0
+
 DEFAULT_NAME = "Nvidia Shield"
 
 # Config-entry schema version (t41): v1 → v2 added the remote-protocol fields,

custom_components/nvidia_shield/media_player.py

@@ -418,6 +418,91 @@ def resolve_app_name(
     )
 
 
+def normalize_app_directory(directory) -> dict[str, str]:
+    """The t51 rule for an apps table: strip the edges, drop blanks, keep order.
+
+    ONE implementation for every consumer (the media player's source list, the
+    remote's activity list, the reverse lookup), so display and match key stay one
+    string: an entry like ``com.x=  TiviMate  `` shows as "TiviMate" AND resolves as
+    "TiviMate". An entry whose name — or whose package — is blank is dropped, so no
+    surface offers a child with no package behind it or a name no launch can reach.
+    Two packages normalizing to the same name are BOTH KEPT (each stays reachable by
+    its own id) and the FIRST in map order wins the name (t53).
+    """
+    normalized: dict[str, str] = {}
+    for package, name in (directory or {}).items():
+        key = str(package).strip()
+        label = str(name).strip()
+        if not key or not label:
+            continue
+        normalized[key] = label
+    return normalized
+
+
+def app_directory(options) -> dict[str, str]:
+    """Launchable apps for an entry: the user's map, else the curated default (t61).
+
+    ONE source for the source list and the reverse lookup, so the dropdown can
+    never offer a name the launch path cannot resolve (``_app_directory``, and now
+    the remote's activity list, both read this).
+    """
+    return normalize_app_directory(
+        (options or {}).get(CONF_APP_NAME_MAP) or DEFAULT_APP_DIRECTORY
+    )
+
+
+def distinct_app_names(names) -> list[str]:
+    """Each name ONCE, compared case-insensitively, keeping the first spelling (t53).
+
+    ``Dup``/``dup`` would otherwise show two rows while the case-insensitive
+    reverse lookup resolves both to the first entry — one row can only launch the
+    app it shows. The shadowed package is not lost: it stays reachable by id.
+    """
+    seen: set[str] = set()
+    offered: list[str] = []
+    for name in names:
+        text = str(name)
+        folded = text.casefold()
+        if not text or folded in seen:
+            continue
+        seen.add(folded)
+        offered.append(text)
+    return offered
+
+
+def activity_names(options, discovered=()) -> list[str]:
+    """The remote entity's ACTIVITY list: friendly names, stable order (t15).
+
+    Core ``androidtv_remote`` builds its list from a user-maintained app map
+    because ``AndroidTVRemote`` exposes NO app-list API (measured on the installed
+    library, not assumed). Ours is the same shape of source plus what ADB discovery
+    actually found on THIS device:
+
+    1. the entry's app directory (the user's map, else the curated table) in map
+       order — the same names the media player's source list offers;
+    2. apps discovery found that no directory row covers, named by the one chain
+       (user map → device label → curated → id).
+
+    A discovered app NOTHING can name is skipped rather than offered as its own
+    package id (the ``pkg=pkg`` noise this contract forbids); it stays launchable by
+    id through ``remote.turn_on(activity=...)``. Nothing is invented here: an empty
+    directory with no discovery yields an empty list, and the protocol's pairing
+    state cannot add an entry.
+    """
+    directory = app_directory(options)
+    names = list(directory.values())
+    covered = set(directory)
+    for row in discovered or ():
+        package = str(row.get("package") or "").strip()
+        if not package or package in covered:
+            continue
+        covered.add(package)
+        label = str(row.get("name") or "").strip()
+        if not label or label == package:
+            continue
+        names.append(label)
+    return distinct_app_names(names)
+
 class NvidiaShieldMediaPlayer(MediaPlayerEntity):
 
     _attr_device_class = MediaPlayerDeviceClass.TV
@@ -948,44 +1033,14 @@ class NvidiaShieldMediaPlayer(MediaPlayerEntity):
 
     @property
     def _app_directory(self) -> dict:
-        """Launchable apps: the user's map, else the curated default (P4-1).
+        """Launchable apps: the user's map, else the curated default (P4-1; t15).
 
-        ONE source for the source list and the reverse lookup (t61 removed the
-        browse tree that used to be the third consumer), so the dropdown can
-        never offer a name the launch path cannot resolve.
-
-        The map is hand-editable, so it is NORMALIZED here — once, so that every
-        consumer sees the same thing (t51):
-
-        * a name is stripped, so display and match key are one string: an entry
-          like ``com.x=  TiviMate  `` shows as "TiviMate" AND resolves as
-          "TiviMate", instead of being shown padded and missing every lookup;
-        * an entry whose name — or whose package — is blank/whitespace-only is
-          dropped, so no surface can offer a child with no package behind it or a
-          name no launch can reach (the t48 invariant, extended to the table);
-        * two packages normalizing to the same name are BOTH KEPT — each stays
-          reachable by its own package id, which ``select_source`` accepts (t61:
-          the browse tree that used to publish those ids is gone) — while
-          the FIRST in map order wins the name: that is the single entry
-          source_list offers and the package select_source resolves. Map order is
-          the user's order, so the winner does not move between rebuilds. "The same
-          name" is judged case-insensitively (t53), because the reverse lookup is:
-          names differing only by case would otherwise give the dropdown a second
-          row that launches the FIRST entry's app.
-
-        A well-formed map (what the editor and the curated default produce) passes
-        through byte-identical: stripping only touches the edges, so a name like
-        "My App" keeps its inner space.
+        The rule lives in the module-level :func:`app_directory` (t51: strip the
+        edges, drop blanks, keep map order, first name wins case-insensitively, the
+        shadowed package still reachable by id) so the source list, the reverse
+        lookup AND the remote's activity list cannot disagree about it.
         """
-        directory = self._entry.options.get(CONF_APP_NAME_MAP) or DEFAULT_APP_DIRECTORY
-        normalized: dict[str, str] = {}
-        for package, name in directory.items():
-            key = str(package).strip()
-            label = str(name).strip()
-            if not key or not label:
-                continue
-            normalized[key] = label
-        return normalized
+        return app_directory(self._entry.options)
 
     @property
     def source_list(self) -> list[str]:
@@ -1004,15 +1059,7 @@ class NvidiaShieldMediaPlayer(MediaPlayerEntity):
         row per name means a row can only launch the app it shows. The shadowed
         package is not lost: ``select_source`` accepts its own package id.
         """
-        seen: set[str] = set()
-        offered: list[str] = []
-        for name in self._app_directory.values():
-            folded = name.casefold()
-            if folded in seen:
-                continue
-            seen.add(folded)
-            offered.append(name)
-        return offered
+        return distinct_app_names(self._app_directory.values())
 
     @property
     def source(self) -> str | None:
@@ -1300,6 +1347,13 @@ class NvidiaShieldMediaPlayer(MediaPlayerEntity):
         attrs = {
             "app_id": self.app_id,
             "app_name": self.app_name,
+            # t15: which tier produced the app identity ("protocol" push / ADB parse),
+            # so the newly-reachable push cannot silently outrank the ADB reading the
+            # user's setup is built on — the same disclosure now_playing_via makes.
+            "app_source": (
+                self._manager.foreground_source if self._manager is not None else None
+            ),
+
             ATTR_MEDIA_DAG_ROLE: "source",
         }
         # t65: the reading is FLATTENED into separate top-level attributes.

custom_components/nvidia_shield/remote.py

@@ -9,31 +9,58 @@ remote-protocol transport (androidtvremote2) owned by ShieldConnectionManager:
   long presses are expressed as the START_LONG/END_LONG pair instead;
 - ``num_repeats`` / ``delay_secs`` are honored; long-press duration uses the
   ``hold_secs`` parameter;
-- ``activity`` = the protocol current-app push (package; name resolution is
-  deferred app-map work);
-- turn on/off send the POWER key and honor the is_on push (no superfluous
-  toggling when the state already matches).
+- ``RemoteEntityFeature.ACTIVITY`` with an ``activity_list`` built from OUR app
+  directory — the library exposes NO app-list API (measured), which is exactly why
+  core's list is user-maintained too — so the app/activity picker matches core;
+- ``current_activity`` resolves the foreground push (protocol first, ADB parse as
+  the fallback) through the one ``resolve_app_name`` chain, and stays None while
+  nothing is known: no fabricated activity, ever;
+- ``turn_on(activity=...)`` wakes when the device says it is off and then launches
+  through the same path ``select_source`` uses; an activity name the directory does
+  not carry is a ``ServiceValidationError``, never a silent no-op;
+- the transport's REAL state is published in ``extra_state_attributes`` so a
+  never-connected transport cannot look like a paired one (no ``is_paired`` exists:
+  a session or a push is the only proof);
+- a configured command script still owns turn_on/turn_off and never touches the
+  protocol, so a press that worked through it says NOTHING about pairing — the
+  attributes name which route each power command takes.
 """
 
 import asyncio
+import os
 
-from homeassistant.components.remote import RemoteEntity
+from homeassistant.components.remote import (
+    ATTR_ACTIVITY,
+    RemoteEntity,
+    RemoteEntityFeature,
+)
 from homeassistant.config_entries import ConfigEntry
 from homeassistant.core import HomeAssistant, callback
+from homeassistant.exceptions import ServiceValidationError
 from homeassistant.helpers.entity import DeviceInfo
 from homeassistant.helpers.entity_platform import AddEntitiesCallback
 
 from .connection import ShieldConnectionManager
 from .const import (
+    CONF_APP_NAME_MAP,
     DOMAIN,
     PROTOCOL_REMOTE_KEYS,
     SCRIPT_VAR_COMMAND,
     SCRIPT_VAR_DELAY_SECS,
     SCRIPT_VAR_HOLD_SECS,
     SCRIPT_VAR_NUM_REPEATS,
+    command_scripts,
     remote_command_script,
 )
-from .media_player import async_call_script, async_run_command_script, entity_available
+from .helpers import protocol_cert_paths
+from .media_player import (
+    activity_names,
+    app_directory,
+    async_call_script,
+    async_run_command_script,
+    entity_available,
+    resolve_app_name,
+)
 
 _START_PREFIX = "START_LONG:"
 _END_PREFIX = "END_LONG:"
@@ -64,6 +91,19 @@ def _key_code_name(command: str) -> str:
     return upper  # unknown names: the library reports/validates them
 
 
+def _looks_launchable(value: str) -> bool:
+    """True for a package id or a detail link — forms the launch path accepts (t15).
+
+    The rule is the repo's own definition of a package (``_valid_app_row``: dotted,
+    no spaces) plus URL-shaped deep links, which is exactly what
+    ``send_launch_app_command`` handles. It is deliberately NOT a guess that an id
+    exists: the device answers that. It exists so "Netflx" (a typo of a listed name)
+    is refused while an app the directory does not carry can still be launched.
+    """
+    if not value or " " in value:
+        return False
+    return "." in value or "://" in value
+
 async def async_setup_entry(
     hass: HomeAssistant,
     entry: ConfigEntry,
@@ -74,11 +114,21 @@ async def async_setup_entry(
 
 
 class NvidiaShieldRemoteEntity(RemoteEntity):
-    """Remote entity over the manager's androidtvremote2 transport."""
+    """Remote entity over the manager's androidtvremote2 transport.
+
+    t15: this is the entity the app/activity picker hangs off. HA renders the picker
+    only when ``supported_features`` carries ``RemoteEntityFeature.ACTIVITY`` — the
+    user's "the UI doesn't actually show any buttons like the android tv remote
+    does" — and the list itself has to come from OUR directory, because
+    ``AndroidTVRemote`` exposes no app-list API at all (measured on the installed
+    library; core androidtv_remote keeps a user-maintained map for the same reason).
+    """
 
     _attr_has_entity_name = True
     _attr_name = None
     _attr_should_poll = False
+    #: The feature flag that makes HA offer the activity/app picker at all.
+    _attr_supported_features = RemoteEntityFeature.ACTIVITY
 
     def __init__(self, hass: HomeAssistant, entry: ConfigEntry) -> None:
         self.hass = hass
@@ -87,10 +137,58 @@ class NvidiaShieldRemoteEntity(RemoteEntity):
             entry, "runtime_data", None
         )
         self._attr_unique_id = f"{DOMAIN}_{entry.entry_id}_remote"
+        # t15: the activity list is available from the FIRST render (a real-HA state
+        # write needs no entity platform), and is refreshed with discovered apps once
+        # ADB can answer (``async_added_to_hass``).
+        self._attr_activity_list = activity_names(self._entry.options)
+        self._attr_current_activity = self._resolve_activity_name()
+        #: Which protocol pushes have EVER arrived — the only pairing evidence the
+        #: library can offer (it has no is_paired). Sticky on purpose: the store
+        #: expires every field after STATE_STORE_TTL, so "has it ever arrived?"
+        #: cannot be read from the store.
+        self._protocol_pushes_seen: set[str] = set()
+        self._note_protocol_pushes()
+        #: "present"/"missing"/"unknown" — the shared setup certificate, which is
+        #: why enabling the transport on a paired entry asks for no new PIN.
+        self._protocol_certificate = "unknown"
+        self._activity_refresh_task = None
 
     def _manager_of(self) -> ShieldConnectionManager | None:
         return getattr(self._entry, "runtime_data", None)
 
+    def _resolve_activity_name(self) -> str | None:
+        """The foreground app as a friendly name (t15), or None when nothing is known.
+
+        The same chain as the media player's ``app_name`` and the Current App sensor
+        (``resolve_app_name``): the user's map, then the cached device label, then the
+        curated table, then the raw id — so an activity and a source can never
+        disagree about what is on screen. The foreground identity prefers the protocol
+        push and falls back to the ADB parse, which keeps this entity useful on an
+        ADB-only setup (its protocol surface alone degrades).
+        """
+        manager = self._manager_of()
+        if not isinstance(manager, ShieldConnectionManager):
+            return None
+        return resolve_app_name(
+            manager.foreground_app,
+            self._entry.options.get(CONF_APP_NAME_MAP) or {},
+            manager.app_label,
+        )
+
+    def _note_protocol_pushes(self) -> None:
+        """Remember which device pushes have arrived (t15) — sticky, see __init__."""
+        manager = self._manager_of()
+        if not isinstance(manager, ShieldConnectionManager):
+            return
+        if manager.current_app is not None:
+            self._protocol_pushes_seen.add("current_app")
+        if manager.is_on is not None:
+            self._protocol_pushes_seen.add("is_on")
+        if manager.is_available is not None:
+            self._protocol_pushes_seen.add("is_available")
+        if manager.volume_info is not None:
+            self._protocol_pushes_seen.add("volume")
+
     @property
     def device_info(self) -> DeviceInfo:
         return DeviceInfo(
@@ -113,25 +211,159 @@ class NvidiaShieldRemoteEntity(RemoteEntity):
 
     @property
     def activity(self) -> str | None:
-        """Current foreground app reported by the protocol push."""
+        """The raw foreground package (protocol push; ADB parse as the fallback).
+
+        Kept alongside HA's ``current_activity``: this is the id (what
+        ``turn_on(activity=...)`` accepts and what the Current App sensor stamps),
+        while ``current_activity`` is the friendly name HA displays.
+        """
         manager = self._manager_of()
         if isinstance(manager, ShieldConnectionManager):
-            return manager.current_app
+            return manager.foreground_app
         return None
 
+    @property
+    def extra_state_attributes(self) -> dict:
+        """The transport's real state — the pairing answer, readable from HA (t15).
+
+        There is no "is it paired?" API to call (the library exposes none either,
+        measured), so everything here is a fact that can be PROVEN:
+
+        * ``protocol_state`` — ``off`` / ``never_connected`` / ``connected`` /
+          ``disconnected`` / ``auth_rejected``. ``never_connected`` is the state
+          that used to be permanent (``keep_reconnecting()`` alone never connects),
+          and it must never look like ``connected``.
+        * ``protocol_connected`` / ``protocol_ever_authenticated`` — a session or a
+          device push is the only proof of an authenticated (paired) client.
+        * ``protocol_current_app_seen`` / ``protocol_is_on_seen`` /
+          ``protocol_volume_seen`` — whether each device push has EVER arrived.
+        * ``protocol_last_error`` / ``protocol_failures`` — a send that could not
+          run is recorded here and logged, never swallowed into a debug line.
+        * ``protocol_certificate`` — the setup pairing's shared ``client.pem`` is
+          still on disk, which is exactly why enabling the transport asks for no
+          new PIN (the other Android TV integration pairs its own client).
+        * ``power_on_route`` / ``power_off_route`` — ``script:<id>`` when a command
+          script owns that command. That path never touches the protocol, so a
+          success through it says NOTHING about pairing.
+        """
+        return {
+            "activity": self.activity,
+            # t15: which tier produced it — a protocol push must never win SILENTLY
+            # over the ADB parse the user's setup is built on (see the manager's
+            # ``foreground_source``).
+            "activity_source": self._protocol_read("foreground_source"),
+            "power_on_route": self._power_route("turn_on"),
+            "power_off_route": self._power_route("turn_off"),
+            "protocol_active": self._protocol_active(),
+            "protocol_state": self._protocol_state(),
+            "protocol_connected": self._protocol_flag("protocol_connected"),
+            "protocol_ever_authenticated": self._protocol_flag(
+                "protocol_ever_authenticated"
+            ),
+            "protocol_last_error": self._protocol_read("protocol_last_error"),
+            "protocol_failures": self._protocol_read("protocol_failures"),
+            "protocol_certificate": self._protocol_certificate,
+            "protocol_current_app_seen": "current_app" in self._protocol_pushes_seen,
+            "protocol_is_on_seen": "is_on" in self._protocol_pushes_seen,
+            "protocol_volume_seen": "volume" in self._protocol_pushes_seen,
+        }
+
+    def _protocol_read(self, name: str, default=None):
+        """Read one transport fact off the manager, or the default (stub managers)."""
+        manager = self._manager_of()
+        if not isinstance(manager, ShieldConnectionManager):
+            return default
+        return getattr(manager, name, default)
+
+    def _protocol_active(self) -> bool:
+        return bool(self._protocol_read("protocol_active", False))
+
+    def _protocol_state(self) -> str:
+        """The transport state, with ``off`` for a manager that carries no client."""
+        if not self._protocol_active():
+            return "off"
+        return self._protocol_read("protocol_state", "never_connected")
+
+    def _protocol_flag(self, name: str) -> bool:
+        return bool(self._protocol_read(name, False))
+
+    def _power_route(self, command: str) -> str:
+        """Which path ``turn_on``/``turn_off`` takes: a script, or the protocol (t15).
+
+        A configured command script owns the sequence and never touches the
+        protocol — so "the power press worked" through it is NOT evidence that the
+        transport is paired, or even connected. That is the conclusion the user drew
+        and then doubted, made readable instead of inferred.
+        """
+        script = (command_scripts(self._entry.options) or {}).get(command)
+        return f"script:{script}" if script else "protocol"
+
+
     @callback
     def _refresh_state(self) -> None:
-        """Manager store changed — re-evaluate state (activity/available)."""
+        """Manager store changed — re-resolve activity, availability, transport."""
         self._manager = self._manager_of()
+        self._note_protocol_pushes()
+        self._attr_current_activity = self._resolve_activity_name()
         self.async_write_ha_state()
 
     async def async_added_to_hass(self) -> None:
         manager = self._manager_of()
         if isinstance(manager, ShieldConnectionManager):
-            self._manager_unregistered = manager.register_listener(
-                self._refresh_state
+            self._manager_unregistered = manager.register_listener(self._refresh_state)
+        self._note_protocol_pushes()
+        await self._async_note_certificate()
+        self._schedule_activity_refresh()
+
+    async def _async_note_certificate(self) -> None:
+        """Record whether the shared pairing certificate exists (t15).
+
+        This is the "no new PIN is expected" evidence, and it is a design fact, not a
+        guess: ``protocol_cert_paths`` is shared between the config flow's pairing step
+        and this runtime, so an entry paired at setup reuses that ``client.pem`` when
+        the transport is (re-)enabled. The OTHER Android TV integration pairs its own
+        client and shares nothing with us.
+        """
+        add_executor_job = getattr(self.hass, "async_add_executor_job", None)
+        if add_executor_job is None:
+            return  # a hass stand-in: leave it "unknown" rather than guess
+        try:
+            certfile, keyfile = await add_executor_job(protocol_cert_paths, self.hass)
+        except Exception:  # pragma: no cover - a filesystem we cannot read
+            return
+        self._protocol_certificate = (
+            "present" if os.path.exists(certfile) and os.path.exists(keyfile) else "missing"
         )
 
+    def _schedule_activity_refresh(self) -> None:
+        """Add the apps ADB discovery actually found to the activity list (t15).
+
+        One bounded sweep, on demand — the t57 path the options editor uses — never a
+        per-state-write shell. The list is already complete for a configured
+        directory, and a sweep that cannot run changes nothing (no fabrication).
+        """
+        manager = self._manager_of()
+        create_task = getattr(self.hass, "async_create_task", None)
+        if create_task is None or not isinstance(manager, ShieldConnectionManager):
+            return
+        if not callable(getattr(manager, "async_refresh_installed_apps", None)):
+            return  # a manager stand-in: the directory alone is the honest list
+        self._activity_refresh_task = create_task(
+            self._async_refresh_activity_list(manager),
+            "nvidia_shield_remote_activities",
+        )
+
+    async def _async_refresh_activity_list(self, manager) -> None:
+        """Fold discovered apps into the activity list (t15) — one write if it grew."""
+        try:
+            rows = await manager.async_refresh_installed_apps()
+        except Exception:  # pragma: no cover - discovery never breaks the entity
+            return
+        names = activity_names(self._entry.options, rows)
+        if names != self._attr_activity_list:
+            self._attr_activity_list = names
+            self.async_write_ha_state()
+
     async def async_will_remove_from_hass(self) -> None:
         unregistered = getattr(self, "_manager_unregistered", None)
         if unregistered is not None:
@@ -139,9 +371,31 @@ class NvidiaShieldRemoteEntity(RemoteEntity):
             self._manager_unregistered = None
 
     async def async_turn_on(self, **kwargs) -> None:
-        """Wake the device — via the configured script, else the POWER key."""
-        # t44: `turn_on` is one configuration, and the remote entity is the other
-        # route to it; a script that owns the power sequence owns it here too.
+        """Wake the device, and launch a requested activity (t15).
+
+        With NO activity — or an empty one — this behaves exactly as before: the
+        configured script owns the wake sequence when there is one, otherwise POWER
+        goes out only when the device says it is off (unknown counts as "maybe on",
+        so nothing is toggled blindly).
+
+        With ``activity``, the same wake happens first (a script that owns turn_on
+        still owns it — it never touches the protocol), and then the app is launched
+        over the protocol through the same path ``select_source`` uses. A name the
+        activity list does not carry, and that is not a package/detail link either,
+        raises ``ServiceValidationError``: an activity request that cannot launch
+        must never look like it worked.
+        """
+        activity = str(kwargs.get(ATTR_ACTIVITY) or "").strip()
+        await self._async_wake()
+        if activity:
+            await self._async_launch_activity(activity)
+
+    async def _async_wake(self) -> None:
+        """Turn the device on: the configured script first, else the POWER key (t44).
+
+        t44: `turn_on` is one configuration, and the remote entity is the other route
+        to it; a script that owns the power sequence owns it here too.
+        """
         if await async_run_command_script(self.hass, self._entry.options, "turn_on"):
             return
         manager = self._manager_of()
@@ -152,6 +406,51 @@ class NvidiaShieldRemoteEntity(RemoteEntity):
             return
         await manager.send_protocol_key(_POWER_KEY, "SHORT")
 
+    async def _async_launch_activity(self, activity: str) -> None:
+        """Launch an activity through the shared launch path (t15).
+
+        The target comes from the same directory the activity list is built from, so
+        anything the picker offers resolves. A package id or a deep link passes
+        through: that is how an app the directory does not carry can still be
+        launched, and what core does with an activity it does not know. Anything else
+        is a request nothing can launch and raises instead of doing nothing.
+        """
+        target = self._activity_target(activity)
+        manager = self._manager_of()
+        if not isinstance(manager, ShieldConnectionManager):
+            raise ServiceValidationError(
+                translation_domain=DOMAIN,
+                translation_key="protocol_unavailable",
+                translation_placeholders={"activity": activity},
+            )
+        if not await manager.launch_app(target):
+            raise ServiceValidationError(
+                translation_domain=DOMAIN,
+                translation_key="activity_launch_failed",
+                translation_placeholders={"activity": activity},
+            )
+
+    def _activity_target(self, activity: str) -> str:
+        """Activity name (or id) → what the launch path takes (t15).
+
+        A listed NAME wins, compared case-insensitively — the same rule the
+        ``source_list``/``select_source`` pair uses, so the picker can never offer a
+        name this does not resolve. A ``CONF_APP_NAME_MAP``-less entry still resolves
+        the curated names, because both read the one ``app_directory``.
+        """
+        directory = app_directory(self._entry.options)
+        wanted = activity.casefold()
+        for package, name in directory.items():
+            if name.casefold() == wanted:
+                return package
+        if activity in directory or _looks_launchable(activity):
+            return activity
+        raise ServiceValidationError(
+            translation_domain=DOMAIN,
+            translation_key="unknown_activity",
+            translation_placeholders={"activity": activity},
+        )
+
     async def async_turn_off(self, **kwargs) -> None:
         """Sleep the device — via the configured script, else the POWER key."""
         if await async_run_command_script(self.hass, self._entry.options, "turn_off"):

custom_components/nvidia_shield/strings.json

@@ -377,6 +377,18 @@
     "ambiguous_target": {
       "title": "More than one Shield selected",
       "message": "{entity_id} covers more than one adb_command target — select exactly one Shield (one media_player entity) — command not sent."
+    },
+    "unknown_activity": {
+      "title": "Unknown activity",
+      "message": "'{activity}' is not one of this Shield's activities. Use a name from the remote's activity list (the Apps map names, or the built-in list when no map is set), or pass an app's package id / a detail link."
+    },
+    "activity_launch_failed": {
+      "title": "Activity could not launch",
+      "message": "'{activity}' was not launched: the remote protocol could not run the command. Check the remote entity's protocol_* attributes (protocol_state says whether the transport is connected) — nothing was sent."
+    },
+    "protocol_unavailable": {
+      "title": "Remote-protocol transport unavailable",
+      "message": "'{activity}' was not launched: this entry has no remote-protocol transport (the option is off, or the androidtvremote2 library is missing). Turn the transport on and pair it, then try again."
     }
   },
   "entity": {

custom_components/nvidia_shield/translations/en.json

@@ -377,6 +377,18 @@
     "ambiguous_target": {
       "title": "More than one Shield selected",
       "message": "{entity_id} covers more than one adb_command target — select exactly one Shield (one media_player entity) — command not sent."
+    },
+    "unknown_activity": {
+      "title": "Unknown activity",
+      "message": "'{activity}' is not one of this Shield's activities. Use a name from the remote's activity list (the Apps map names, or the built-in list when no map is set), or pass an app's package id / a detail link."
+    },
+    "activity_launch_failed": {
+      "title": "Activity could not launch",
+      "message": "'{activity}' was not launched: the remote protocol could not run the command. Check the remote entity's protocol_* attributes (protocol_state says whether the transport is connected) — nothing was sent."
+    },
+    "protocol_unavailable": {
+      "title": "Remote-protocol transport unavailable",
+      "message": "'{activity}' was not launched: this entry has no remote-protocol transport (the option is off, or the androidtvremote2 library is missing). Turn the transport on and pair it, then try again."
     }
   },
   "entity": {

tests/entity_stublib.py

@@ -243,7 +243,40 @@ class MediaPlayerEntity:
         return None
 
 
+class RemoteEntityFeature(enum.IntFlag):
+    """homeassistant.components.remote.RemoteEntityFeature (the real values)."""
+
+    LEARN_COMMAND = 1
+    DELETE_COMMAND = 2
+    ACTIVITY = 4
+
+
 class RemoteEntity:
+    """The RemoteEntity surface HA reads, backed by the ``_attr_*`` convention.
+
+    t15: HA renders the app/activity picker off ``supported_features`` and reads
+    ``activity_list``/``current_activity``; both are cached properties on the real
+    base, reading ``_attr_*``. The stub carries that contract (the same shape as the
+    ImageEntity face above) so a test can read what the entity publishes instead of
+    asserting against our own attribute names.
+    """
+
+    _attr_activity_list: list | None = None
+    _attr_current_activity: str | None = None
+    _attr_supported_features = RemoteEntityFeature(0)
+
+    @property
+    def supported_features(self):
+        return self._attr_supported_features
+
+    @property
+    def activity_list(self):
+        return self._attr_activity_list
+
+    @property
+    def current_activity(self):
+        return self._attr_current_activity
+
     def async_write_ha_state(self) -> None:
         return None
 
@@ -474,6 +507,14 @@ def install() -> None:
 
     remote = types.ModuleType("homeassistant.components.remote")
     remote.RemoteEntity = RemoteEntity
+    # t15: the feature flag that makes HA offer the activity/app picker, the service
+    # field the picker submits, and the two attributes HA reads off the base class.
+    remote.RemoteEntityFeature = RemoteEntityFeature
+    remote.ATTR_ACTIVITY = "activity"
+    remote.RemoteEntityStateAttribute = types.SimpleNamespace(
+        ACTIVITY_LIST="activity_list",
+        CURRENT_ACTIVITY="current_activity",
+    )
     sys.modules["homeassistant.components.remote"] = remote
 
     button = types.ModuleType("homeassistant.components.button")

tests/ha_api_drift.py

@@ -142,15 +142,19 @@ HA_CALL_OWNERS: dict[str, tuple[str, str]] = {
 
 #: Non-vacuity floors — the ONE source of truth for the standalone entry point
 #: and the pytest wrapper (t39 F1). They sit below the current walk (25 modules,
-#: 73 imports, 193 relative imports, 54 checked arguments, 6 awaited HA calls,
-#: 1235 statement blocks) so a broken or mis-targeted walk fails loudly instead of
+#: 76 imports, 206 relative imports, 57 checked arguments, 6 awaited HA calls,
+#: 1322 statement blocks) so a broken or mis-targeted walk fails loudly instead of
 #: printing zeros and exiting 0.
 FLOORS: dict[str, int] = {
     # t41: the sweep is recursive, so the floor sits above the top-level-only
     # count (13) — a regression to the shallow glob trips it.
     "modules": 20,
-    "imports": 40,
-    "relative_imports": 100,
+    # t15: raised from 40/100 to just under the current 76/206, because the remote
+    # parity work is an IMPORTS-and-coupling feature: `RemoteEntityFeature`,
+    # `ATTR_ACTIVITY`, the transport-state accessors and the shared app-directory
+    # helpers all arrive as imports, and none of them may vanish unnoticed.
+    "imports": 70,
+    "relative_imports": 195,
     # t62 F2: raised from 20 to just under the current 46. A floor's job is to
     # notice an API OWNER going away, not only a broken walk: at 20, deleting
     # `async_show_menu` from HA_CALL_OWNERS left 40 checked arguments and still
@@ -163,11 +167,17 @@ FLOORS: dict[str, int] = {
     # registration added two owners (`async_register`'s `schema`/`supports_response`
     # arguments and the module-level description writer). At 44 those owners could go
     # away without the gate noticing; at 52 they are load-bearing.
-    "call_args": 52,
+    #
+    # t15: raised from 52 to just under the current 57 — the options-flow pairing
+    # step is a real flow-display surface of its own (its own async_show_form with
+    # step_id/data_schema/errors), so those call sites must not be able to vanish.
+    "call_args": 55,
     "awaited_calls": 5,
-    # t62 F2: the unreachable-statement pass walks ~1100 statement blocks. A
+    # t62 F2: the unreachable-statement pass walks ~1300 statement blocks. A
     # floor here means a pass that silently stopped parsing cannot look green.
-    "statement_blocks": 500,
+    # t15: raised 500 -> 1200 -> 1300, just under the walk, for the same reason the
+    # imports floor moved: the exhaustion pass covers the new surfaces too.
+    "statement_blocks": 1300,
 }
 
 #: The interpreter floor Home Assistant itself declares: PyPI metadata for

tests/test_command_routing.py

@@ -16,7 +16,22 @@ import pytest
 from conftest import _SHIELD_DIR
 from entity_stublib import install, load_entity_modules
 from nsh.connection import ShieldConnectionManager
-from nsh.const import APP_LABEL_EXIT_MARKER, TIVIMATE_PACKAGE
+from nsh.const import (
+    APP_LABEL_EXIT_MARKER,
+    CONF_APP_NAME_MAP,
+    CONF_COMMAND_SCRIPTS,
+    DEFAULT_APP_DIRECTORY,
+    TIVIMATE_PACKAGE,
+)
+
+
+def _service_validation_error():
+    """HA's ServiceValidationError, as the stub harness installs it (t15).
+
+    Read at TEST time: the autouse fixture installs the faces per test, so the class
+    cannot be bound at import time.
+    """
+    return sys.modules["homeassistant.exceptions"].ServiceValidationError
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
@@ -356,6 +371,241 @@ class TestRemoteEntity:
         assert protocol.key_calls == []
 
 
+class TestRemoteActivityContract:
+    """t15: the app/activity picker HA renders off ``RemoteEntityFeature.ACTIVITY``.
+
+    The user compared our remote to the default Android TV app: "it doesn't display
+    the full set of options" and "the UI ... doesn't actually show any buttons". HA
+    only offers the picker when the feature flag is set, and the list has to come
+    from OUR directory — ``AndroidTVRemote`` exposes no app-list API (measured), the
+    same reason core keeps a user-maintained map.
+    """
+
+    def test_the_activity_feature_is_declared(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        feature = modules["remote"].RemoteEntityFeature
+
+        assert entity.supported_features & feature.ACTIVITY
+
+    def test_activity_list_follows_the_directory_order(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        entity._entry.options[CONF_APP_NAME_MAP] = {
+            "com.a.one": "One",
+            "com.b.two": "Two",
+            "com.c.three": "Three",
+        }
+
+        assert modules["remote"].activity_names(
+            {CONF_APP_NAME_MAP: entity._entry.options[CONF_APP_NAME_MAP]}
+        ) == ["One", "Two", "Three"]
+
+    def test_the_curated_table_is_the_floor_and_names_nothing_else(self, modules):
+        """Nothing is fabricated: with no user map the curated table IS the list."""
+        names = modules["remote"].activity_names({})
+
+        assert names == list(DEFAULT_APP_DIRECTORY.values())
+        assert modules["remote"].activity_names({CONF_APP_NAME_MAP: {}}) == names
+
+    def test_nameless_discovered_apps_are_skipped_not_doubled(self, modules):
+        """Never "pkg=pkg": a row nothing can name is not offered as a name."""
+        names = modules["remote"].activity_names(
+            {CONF_APP_NAME_MAP: {"com.a.one": "One"}},
+            [
+                {"package": "com.a.one", "name": "One"},  # already listed
+                {"package": "com.d.four", "name": "Four"},  # a real label
+                {"package": "com.e.five", "name": ""},  # nameless
+                {"package": "com.f.six", "name": "com.f.six"},  # id as its name
+            ],
+        )
+
+        assert names == ["One", "Four"]
+
+    def test_a_duplicate_name_is_offered_once(self, modules):
+        names = modules["remote"].activity_names(
+            {CONF_APP_NAME_MAP: {"com.a.one": "One", "com.b.one": "one", "com.c.two": "Two"}}
+        )
+
+        assert names == ["One", "Two"]
+
+    def test_a_blank_row_cannot_be_offered_as_a_name(self, modules):
+        names = modules["remote"].activity_names(
+            {CONF_APP_NAME_MAP: {"com.a.one": "One"}},
+            [{"package": "com.g.seven", "name": "   "}],
+        )
+
+        assert names == ["One"]
+
+    def test_current_activity_resolves_the_foreground_app(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        entity._entry.options[CONF_APP_NAME_MAP] = {"com.netflix.ninja": "Netflix"}
+
+        assert entity._resolve_activity_name() is None, "nothing known yet"
+
+        entity._manager.store.set("foreground", "com.netflix.ninja")
+        assert entity._resolve_activity_name() == "Netflix"
+
+    def test_current_activity_uses_the_protocol_push_first(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        entity._entry.options[CONF_APP_NAME_MAP] = {
+            "com.netflix.ninja": "Netflix",
+            "com.google.android.youtube.tv": "YouTube",
+        }
+        entity._manager.store.set("foreground", "com.google.android.youtube.tv")
+        entity._manager._on_current_app("com.netflix.ninja")
+
+        assert entity._resolve_activity_name() == "Netflix"
+        assert entity.activity == "com.netflix.ninja"
+
+    async def test_turn_on_with_an_activity_launches_it(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        entity._entry.options[CONF_APP_NAME_MAP] = {"com.netflix.ninja": "Netflix"}
+        entity._manager._on_is_on(False)
+        protocol = entity._manager._protocol
+
+        await entity.async_turn_on(activity="Netflix")
+
+        assert protocol.key_calls == [("KEYCODE_POWER", "SHORT")]
+        assert protocol.launch_calls == ["com.netflix.ninja"]
+
+    async def test_turn_on_launches_an_unknown_package_verbatim(self, modules):
+        """A package id (or deep link) the directory lacks is still launchable."""
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        entity._entry.options[CONF_APP_NAME_MAP] = {"com.netflix.ninja": "Netflix"}
+        entity._manager._on_is_on(True)  # already on: no POWER
+        protocol = entity._manager._protocol
+
+        await entity.async_turn_on(activity="com.example.other")
+
+        assert protocol.key_calls == []
+        assert protocol.launch_calls == ["com.example.other"]
+
+    async def test_an_unknown_activity_name_is_a_clear_error(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        entity._entry.options[CONF_APP_NAME_MAP] = {"com.netflix.ninja": "Netflix"}
+        protocol = entity._manager._protocol
+
+        with pytest.raises(_service_validation_error()) as raised:
+            await entity.async_turn_on(activity="Netflx")
+
+        assert raised.value.translation_key == "unknown_activity"
+        assert protocol.launch_calls == [], "nothing was silently launched"
+
+    def test_an_empty_activity_keeps_the_old_behaviour(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        entity._entry.options[CONF_APP_NAME_MAP] = {"com.netflix.ninja": "Netflix"}
+        entity._manager._on_is_on(True)
+        protocol = entity._manager._protocol
+
+        asyncio.run(entity.async_turn_on(activity=""))
+
+        assert protocol.key_calls == []
+        assert protocol.launch_calls == []
+
+    async def test_a_command_script_still_owns_the_wake_sequence(self, modules):
+        """The script masks the protocol: a press through it proves nothing (t15)."""
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        served = []
+        entity.hass = SimpleNamespace(services=_script_services(served))
+        entity._entry.options[CONF_COMMAND_SCRIPTS] = {"turn_on": "script.wake"}
+        entity._manager._on_is_on(False)  # the native path would fire POWER
+
+        await entity.async_turn_on(activity="com.netflix.ninja")
+
+        assert [call[2]["entity_id"] for call in served] == ["script.wake"]
+        assert entity._manager._protocol.key_calls == [], "the script owns POWER"
+        assert entity.extra_state_attributes["power_on_route"] == "script:script.wake"
+
+    def test_the_transport_attributes_distinguish_the_states(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        attrs = entity.extra_state_attributes
+
+        assert attrs["protocol_active"] is True
+        assert attrs["protocol_state"] == "never_connected", (
+            "the pre-t15 transport state: wired, never connected. It must never "
+            "look like a healthy one"
+        )
+        assert attrs["protocol_connected"] is False
+        assert attrs["protocol_ever_authenticated"] is False
+        assert attrs["protocol_current_app_seen"] is False
+        assert attrs["protocol_last_error"] is None
+        assert attrs["protocol_failures"] == 0
+        assert attrs["power_on_route"] == "protocol"
+
+    def test_no_protocol_reads_as_off_not_as_unpaired(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        entity._manager._protocol = None
+        attrs = entity.extra_state_attributes
+
+        assert attrs["protocol_active"] is False
+        assert attrs["protocol_state"] == "off"
+        assert attrs["protocol_connected"] is False
+
+    def test_a_push_is_remembered_even_after_the_store_expires(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        entity._manager._on_current_app("com.netflix.ninja")
+
+        entity._refresh_state()
+        assert entity.extra_state_attributes["protocol_current_app_seen"] is True
+        assert entity.extra_state_attributes["protocol_ever_authenticated"] is True
+
+        entity._manager.store.clear()  # TTL expiry / a cleared store
+        entity._refresh_state()
+
+        assert entity.extra_state_attributes["protocol_current_app_seen"] is True, (
+            "\"has the current app push EVER arrived?\" cannot be answered from a "
+            "TTL-capped store"
+        )
+
+    def test_a_failed_launch_is_never_silent(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        protocol = entity._manager._protocol
+        protocol.fail_all = True
+
+        with pytest.raises(_service_validation_error()) as raised:
+            asyncio.run(entity._async_launch_activity("com.netflix.ninja"))
+
+        assert raised.value.translation_key == "activity_launch_failed"
+        assert entity._manager.protocol_failures == 1
+        assert "com.netflix.ninja" in (entity._manager.protocol_last_error or "")
+
+    async def test_discovery_grows_the_activity_list(self, modules):
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        entity._entry.options[CONF_APP_NAME_MAP] = {"com.a.one": "One"}
+        entity._attr_activity_list = modules["remote"].activity_names(
+            entity._entry.options
+        )
+        written = []
+        entity.async_write_ha_state = lambda: written.append(True)
+
+        async def _rows():
+            return [{"package": "com.d.four", "name": "Four"}]
+
+        entity._manager.async_refresh_installed_apps = _rows
+
+        await entity._async_refresh_activity_list(entity._manager)
+
+        assert entity.activity_list == ["One", "Four"]
+        assert written == [True]
+
+    async def test_a_failed_sweep_changes_nothing(self, modules):
+        """A failed sweep must not be cached as an answer (t62) — here, not a list."""
+        entity = _remote_entity(modules)
+        entity._entry.options[CONF_APP_NAME_MAP] = {"com.a.one": "One"}
+        entity._attr_activity_list = ["One"]
+        written = []
+        entity.async_write_ha_state = lambda: written.append(True)
+
+        async def _boom():
+            raise RuntimeError("sweep failed")
+
+        entity._manager.async_refresh_installed_apps = _boom
+
+        await entity._async_refresh_activity_list(entity._manager)
+
+        assert entity.activity_list == ["One"]
+        assert written == []
+
+
 class TestIntentRetryWithoutATransport:
     """t41: an intent no transport served surrenders instead of delegating."""
 
@@ -590,6 +840,7 @@ class TestStateModelT55:
     no source reported anything at all.
     """
 
+
     # ── the five states ──
 
     async def test_no_data_at_all_is_the_only_on(self, modules):
@@ -833,6 +1084,117 @@ class TestStateModelT55:
         assert np == {"state": "buffering", "title": "Sky News", "via": "app"}
 
 
+
+class TestProtocolArmedKeepsTheAdbLadder:
+    """t15: the pushes this unit turns ON must not change what ADB already answers.
+
+    The protocol had NEVER been connected here, so every media-session reading the user
+    relies on arrived while is_on / current_app / volume stayed permanently empty.
+    Arming the transport adds that traffic; these tests pin the boundary the user's
+    constraint names — ADB media-session tracking stays the state source, no ADB store
+    field is touched, and an entry with no protocol at all behaves as before with only
+    the protocol surface degraded.
+    """
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _adb_player(modules):
+        """A playing Netflix session, an ADB foreground, and no media entity."""
+        from nsh.ha_adb_common import MediaSessionInfo
+
+        player, _served, _intents = make_player(modules)
+        manager = player._manager
+        manager.store.set("awake", True)
+        manager.store.set(
+            "sessions",
+            [MediaSessionInfo(package="com.netflix.ninja", playing=True, title="Movie")],
+        )
+        manager.store.set("foreground", "com.netflix.ninja")
+        player._read = lambda eid: None
+        return player, manager
+
+    def test_a_full_protocol_push_set_leaves_state_and_now_playing_alone(self, modules):
+        player, manager = self._adb_player(modules)
+        before_state = player.state.value
+        before_now = dict(player._get_adb_now_playing())
+
+        # the transport is armed: every push the library offers arrives at once
+        manager._on_is_available(True)
+        manager._on_is_on(True)
+        manager._on_current_app("com.google.android.youtube.tv")
+        manager._on_volume_info({"level": 5, "max": 15, "muted": False})
+
+        assert player.state.value == before_state == "playing"
+        assert dict(player._get_adb_now_playing()) == before_now
+        # the ONE field whose documented priority IS the push (P3-2) — and the ADB
+        # reading it shadows is still in the store, untouched (see the manager suite)
+        assert manager.store.get("foreground") == "com.netflix.ninja"
+        assert player.app_id == "com.google.android.youtube.tv"
+        # ...and the entity NAMES the tier that won, so the push is never a silent
+        # override of the ADB reading the user's setup is built on (t15)
+        assert player.extra_state_attributes["app_source"] == "protocol"
+
+    def test_a_protocol_reported_off_is_off_while_adb_keeps_its_truth(self, modules):
+        """A device that says it is off outranks a stale session — newly reachable.
+
+        Before t15 this signal could not arrive at all, so an off Shield kept showing
+        its last session as playing. The ADB fields are still there (the push writes
+        only its own), which is why a later poll answers immediately again.
+        """
+        player, manager = self._adb_player(modules)
+        manager._on_is_on(False)
+
+        assert player.state.value == "off"
+        assert manager.store.get("sessions"), "the ADB session reading was not cleared"
+
+    def test_an_adb_only_entry_still_answers_everything_it_did(self, modules):
+        """Protocol disabled: only the protocol surface degrades (the t40 ladder)."""
+        player, manager = self._adb_player(modules)
+        manager._protocol = None  # the entry never enabled the transport
+        remote = _remote_entity(modules)
+        remote._manager = manager
+        remote._entry.runtime_data = manager
+        remote._entry.options = dict(player._entry.options)
+        remote._refresh_state()  # the manager ping that re-resolves the activity
+
+        assert player.state.value == "playing"
+        assert player.app_name == "Netflix"  # curated table, no protocol involved
+        assert player.source_list  # the app dropdown is independent of the transport
+        assert remote.available is True  # a passive transport is not a broken one
+        assert remote.activity == "com.netflix.ninja"  # the ADB parse names it
+        assert remote.current_activity == "Netflix"
+        assert remote.activity_list == player.source_list
+        assert remote.extra_state_attributes["protocol_state"] == "off"
+        assert remote.extra_state_attributes["protocol_connected"] is False
+        # an ADB-named activity says so: the tier is disclosed, not implied
+        assert remote.extra_state_attributes["activity_source"] == "adb"
+
+
+def test_the_new_exception_keys_have_copy_in_both_files():
+    """A raised translation_key with no copy shows the user a bare key (t15).
+
+    The three keys the remote raises: an activity name nothing can launch, a launch the
+    protocol could not run, and an entry with no protocol transport at all.
+    """
+    import json
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+    root = (
+        Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+        / "custom_components"
+        / "nvidia_shield"
+    )
+    for name in ("strings.json", "translations/en.json"):
+        exceptions = json.loads((root / name).read_text(encoding="utf-8"))["exceptions"]
+        for key in ("unknown_activity", "activity_launch_failed", "protocol_unavailable"):
+            assert exceptions[key]["title"], (name, key)
+            assert exceptions[key]["message"], (name, key)
+        # the placeholder the entity fills in is the one the copy names
+        assert "{activity}" in exceptions["unknown_activity"]["message"]
+        assert "{activity}" in exceptions["activity_launch_failed"]["message"]
+        # ...and the message tells the user where the answer is readable
+        assert "protocol_state" in exceptions["activity_launch_failed"]["message"]
+
+
 class TestChannelLeakGuard:
     """F1: the channel number never leaks to a non-channel foreground app."""
 
@@ -959,6 +1321,14 @@ def _remote_entity(modules):
     entity._manager = manager
     entity._attr_unique_id = None
     entity._manager_unregistered = None
+    # t15: mirrors __init__ — the activity contract and the transport evidence the
+    # attribute payload publishes (a __new__-built entity skips __init__).
+    entity._attr_supported_features = remote_module.RemoteEntityFeature.ACTIVITY
+    entity._attr_activity_list = remote_module.activity_names(entry.options)
+    entity._attr_current_activity = None
+    entity._protocol_pushes_seen = set()
+    entity._protocol_certificate = "unknown"
+    entity._activity_refresh_task = None
     return entity
 
 
@@ -966,6 +1336,16 @@ async def _noop_async(*args, **kwargs):
     return None
 
 
+def _script_services(served):
+    """A hass.services stand-in that records (domain, service, data) (t15)."""
+
+    class _RecordingServices:
+        async def async_call(self, domain, service, data=None, **kwargs):
+            served.append((domain, service, data))
+
+    return _RecordingServices()
+
+
 class FakeServices:
     """hass.services stand-in recording registrations."""
 

tests/test_config_flow_real_ha.py

@@ -862,6 +862,229 @@ class TestRealSetupMenu:
 # (``selector.text.multiline``) — the value the frontend actually reads.
 
 
+class _FakePairingClient:
+    """The async pairing surface the flows drive (t15) — a double, no socket.
+
+    Only what the flows call: generate/start/finish plus ``disconnect`` for the
+    throwaway session. ``finish_error`` reproduces a wrong PIN.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, finish_error: Exception | None = None):
+        self.finish_calls: list[str] = []
+        self.disconnect_calls = 0
+        self._finish_error = finish_error
+
+    async def async_generate_cert_if_missing(self) -> None:
+        return None
+
+    async def async_start_pairing(self) -> None:
+        return None
+
+    async def async_finish_pairing(self, code: str) -> None:
+        self.finish_calls.append(code)
+        if self._finish_error is not None:
+            raise self._finish_error
+
+    def disconnect(self) -> None:
+        self.disconnect_calls += 1
+
+    async def async_get_name_and_mac(self) -> tuple[str, str]:
+        """The setup flow asks for the device identity right after pairing (t15)."""
+        return "Shield", "AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF"
+
+
+class TestRealOptionsProtocolPairing:
+    """t15: switching the transport ON on a never-paired entry must PAIR.
+
+    The live report: the transport was switched on, NO PIN prompt appeared, and the
+    remote then looked unpaired whether it was or not. Measured cause: the certificate
+    from setup is reused by design (so a PAIRED entry correctly asks for nothing), and
+    the library has no ``is_paired`` — which is why the marker is persisted and why an
+    unpaired entry is routed into the pairing step instead of being let loose.
+    """
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _connection_page(entry, **overrides):
+        """The options Connection page as the real frontend submits it (t60)."""
+        page = {
+            "host": entry.options.get("host", "10.0.0.9"),
+            "adb_port": 5555,
+            "adb_enabled": True,
+            "adb_store_app_info": True,
+            "protocol_enabled": True,
+            "logcat_events": False,
+            "adb_command_enabled": False,
+            "screen_capture_enabled": False,
+            "jellyfin_entity": "",
+            "power_entity": "",
+        }
+        page.update(overrides)
+        return page
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _fake_pairing(monkeypatch, client):
+        """Answer the module-level pairing builder with a client double (t15)."""
+
+        async def _start(hass, host, client_name):
+            return client, None
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cf, "_async_start_protocol_pairing", _start)
+
+    async def _open_connection(self, ha, entry):
+        manager, menu = await open_options(ha, entry)
+        page = await manager.async_configure(
+            menu["flow_id"], {"next_step_id": "connection"}
+        )
+        assert page["type"] == "form" and page["step_id"] == "connection"
+        return manager, page
+
+    async def test_enabling_the_transport_on_an_unpaired_entry_pairs(self, ha, monkeypatch):
+        entry = make_entry(ha, options={"host": "10.0.0.9", "protocol_enabled": False})
+        client = _FakePairingClient()
+        self._fake_pairing(monkeypatch, client)
+        manager, page = await self._open_connection(ha, entry)
+
+        result = await manager.async_configure(
+            page["flow_id"], self._connection_page(entry, protocol_enabled=True)
+        )
+
+        assert result["type"] == "form", result
+        assert result["step_id"] == "protocol_pair", (
+            "an unpaired entry must not end up running an unauthenticated client"
+        )
+        assert result["data_schema"] is not None
+
+    async def test_the_pin_then_marks_the_entry_paired_and_keeps_it_enabled(
+        self, ha, monkeypatch
+    ):
+        entry = make_entry(ha, options={"host": "10.0.0.9", "protocol_enabled": False})
+        client = _FakePairingClient()
+        self._fake_pairing(monkeypatch, client)
+        manager, page = await self._open_connection(ha, entry)
+        pair_form = await manager.async_configure(
+            page["flow_id"], self._connection_page(entry, protocol_enabled=True)
+        )
+
+        after_code = await manager.async_configure(
+            pair_form["flow_id"], {"pairing_code": "A1B2C3", "host": "10.0.0.9"}
+        )
+
+        assert after_code["type"] == "menu", after_code
+        assert after_code["step_id"] == "init"
+        assert client.finish_calls == ["A1B2C3"]
+        assert client.disconnect_calls == 1, "the throwaway session is closed"
+
+        saved = await manager.async_configure(
+            after_code["flow_id"], {"next_step_id": "finish"}
+        )
+        assert saved["type"] == "create_entry"
+        assert saved["data"]["protocol_paired"] is True
+        assert saved["data"]["protocol_enabled"] is True
+
+    async def test_skipping_the_pairing_leaves_the_transport_off(self, ha, monkeypatch):
+        entry = make_entry(ha, options={"host": "10.0.0.9", "protocol_enabled": False})
+        self._fake_pairing(monkeypatch, _FakePairingClient())
+        manager, page = await self._open_connection(ha, entry)
+        pair_form = await manager.async_configure(
+            page["flow_id"], self._connection_page(entry, protocol_enabled=True)
+        )
+
+        after_skip = await manager.async_configure(
+            pair_form["flow_id"],
+            {"pairing_code": "", "host": "10.0.0.9", "skip_pairing": True},
+        )
+
+        assert after_skip["type"] == "menu", after_skip
+        saved = await manager.async_configure(
+            after_skip["flow_id"], {"next_step_id": "finish"}
+        )
+        assert saved["data"]["protocol_enabled"] is False, "stay off, never half-paired"
+        assert saved["data"]["protocol_paired"] is False
+
+    async def test_a_paired_entry_is_not_asked_for_a_pin_again(self, ha, monkeypatch):
+        """(a) documented: the setup certificate is REUSED, so no new PIN."""
+        entry = make_entry(
+            ha,
+            options={
+                "host": "10.0.0.9",
+                "protocol_enabled": False,
+                "protocol_paired": True,
+            },
+        )
+
+        async def _must_not_run(hass, host, client_name):  # pragma: no cover
+            raise AssertionError("a paired entry must not start a pairing session")
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(cf, "_async_start_protocol_pairing", _must_not_run)
+        manager, page = await self._open_connection(ha, entry)
+
+        result = await manager.async_configure(
+            page["flow_id"], self._connection_page(entry, protocol_enabled=True)
+        )
+
+        assert result["type"] == "menu", result
+        assert result["step_id"] == "init"
+
+
+class TestRealSetupProtocolPairing:
+    """t15: the SETUP pairing writes the marker the options flow reads.
+
+    Both halves of the pairing contract in one place: the flow that pairs records it,
+    and the skip path records the opposite, so no entry can be enabled-but-unpaired
+    after a reload — the state the old code could not tell apart from a working one.
+    """
+
+    async def _pair_through_setup(self, ha, monkeypatch, client, **form_overrides):
+        """Drive setup → protocol_pair → the PIN → the setup menu → create_entry."""
+
+        async def _begin(self):
+            return client, None
+
+        monkeypatch.setattr(
+            cf.NvidiaShieldConfigFlow, "_async_begin_protocol_pairing", _begin
+        )
+        manager, form = await open_setup(ha)
+        pairing = await manager.async_configure(
+            form["flow_id"],
+            first_form(adb_enabled=False, protocol_enabled=True, **form_overrides),
+        )
+        assert pairing["type"] == "form" and pairing["step_id"] == "protocol_pair"
+        return manager, pairing
+
+    async def test_a_successful_setup_pairing_sets_the_marker(self, ha, monkeypatch):
+        client = _FakePairingClient()
+        manager, pairing = await self._pair_through_setup(ha, monkeypatch, client)
+
+        after_code = await manager.async_configure(
+            pairing["flow_id"], {"pairing_code": "1234", "host": "10.0.0.9"}
+        )
+
+        assert after_code["type"] == "menu", after_code
+        assert client.finish_calls == ["1234"]
+        created = await manager.async_configure(
+            after_code["flow_id"], {"next_step_id": "finish"}
+        )
+        assert created["type"] == "create_entry", created
+        # t15: the marker travels with the new entry — the options flow reads it
+        # before it lets the transport run.
+        assert created["options"]["protocol_paired"] is True
+        assert created["options"]["protocol_enabled"] is True
+
+    async def test_skipping_the_setup_pairing_records_not_paired(self, ha, monkeypatch):
+        client = _FakePairingClient()
+        manager, pairing = await self._pair_through_setup(ha, monkeypatch, client)
+
+        after_skip = await manager.async_configure(
+            pairing["flow_id"],
+            {"pairing_code": "", "host": "10.0.0.9", "skip_pairing": True},
+        )
+
+        assert after_skip["type"] == "create_entry", after_skip
+        assert after_skip["options"]["protocol_enabled"] is False
+        assert after_skip["options"]["protocol_paired"] is False
+        assert client.finish_calls == []
+
+
 class TestRealAppsMultilineField:
     """t64: the apps field is a MULTILINE text field — the live bug's cause."""
 

tests/test_ha_api_drift.py

@@ -369,9 +369,69 @@ def test_the_media_player_extra_attributes_reach_the_state_machine():
 
     _entity_id, _state, attrs = _write_ha_state(entity, states)
 
-    assert {"app_id", "app_name"} <= set(attrs), sorted(attrs)
+    # t15: ``app_source`` names the tier that produced the app identity, so the
+    # protocol push can never look like the ADB reading it outranked.
+    assert {"app_id", "app_name", "app_source"} <= set(attrs), sorted(attrs)
 
 
+def test_the_remote_entity_publishes_the_activity_contract_under_real_ha():
+    """t15: the app/activity picker contract, measured against real HA.
+
+    Core androidtv_remote's remote is the parity target. HA renders the picker from
+    ``RemoteEntityFeature.ACTIVITY`` plus ``activity_list``/``current_activity``,
+    published through the base class's FINAL ``state_attributes`` — so this asserts
+    what the STATE MACHINE receives, not what our own attributes happen to say. The
+    transport evidence rides the same entity, which is what makes "paired?" and
+    "switched on?" answerable without a device test.
+    """
+    _require_installed_homeassistant()
+
+    from homeassistant.components.remote import RemoteEntityFeature
+
+    entity, states = _real_ha_entity(
+        "remote",
+        "NvidiaShieldRemoteEntity",
+        options={
+            "app_name_map": {
+                "com.netflix.ninja": "Netflix",
+                "ar.tvplayer.tv": "TiviMate",
+            }
+        },
+        entity_id="remote.shield",
+    )
+
+    assert entity.supported_features == RemoteEntityFeature.ACTIVITY  # exactly core's
+    assert entity.activity_list == ["Netflix", "TiviMate"]
+    assert entity.current_activity is None, "nothing is known yet — never fabricated"
+
+    _entity_id, _state, attrs = _write_ha_state(entity, states)
+
+    assert attrs["activity_list"] == ["Netflix", "TiviMate"]
+    assert attrs["current_activity"] is None
+    # ...and the transport's real state, on the same entity (no runtime_data here,
+    # so there is no transport at all — which must read as "off", not as unpaired)
+    assert attrs["protocol_state"] == "off"
+    assert attrs["protocol_connected"] is False
+    assert attrs["protocol_ever_authenticated"] is False
+    assert attrs["power_on_route"] == "protocol"
+    assert attrs["protocol_current_app_seen"] is False
+
+    # The LIVE update paths our entity uses: HA's own metaclass turns the class-level
+    # ``_attr_*`` declarations into properties backed by ``__attr_*`` plus cache
+    # invalidation, so both assignments must take effect on the published state. A
+    # private attribute name would leave ``activity_list``/``current_activity`` frozen
+    # at their first value — silent in a unit test, wrong in a dashboard.
+    entity._attr_current_activity = "Netflix"
+    entity._attr_activity_list = ["Netflix", "TiviMate", "YouTube"]
+
+    assert entity.current_activity == "Netflix"
+    assert entity.activity_list == ["Netflix", "TiviMate", "YouTube"]
+
+    _entity_id, _state, attrs = _write_ha_state(entity, states)
+
+    assert attrs["current_activity"] == "Netflix"
+    assert attrs["activity_list"] == ["Netflix", "TiviMate", "YouTube"]
+
 #: The same real 2x1 PNG fixture tests/test_screen_capture_image.py uses (the
 #: wire form ``screencap -p | base64`` produces) — a real PNG, not a stand-in.
 _SCREEN_PNG_B64 = (

tests/test_protocol_transport.py

@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 """Unit tests for the protocol transport (androidtvremote2, Phase 2, t8).
 
-Fake client mirrors AndroidTVRemote's surface (callback registration,
-``keep_reconnecting`` that owns its own reconnect task, sync ``disconnect``);
+Fake client mirrors AndroidTVRemote's surface (callback registration, an
+``async_connect`` that must run BEFORE ``keep_reconnecting``, a self-owned
+reconnect task that is a no-op until a session exists, sync ``disconnect``);
 no real gRPC / no Home Assistant. Also covers `volume_tuple` normalization
 against the real library's VolumeInfo TypedDict when the package is present
 (`uvx --with androidtvremote2 pytest`).
+
 """
 
 import asyncio
@@ -13,9 +15,12 @@ import time
 
 import pytest
 from nsh.connection import (
+    FIELD_AUDIO_PLAYBACK,
     FIELD_AWAKE,
+    FIELD_FOREGROUND,
     FIELD_IS_AVAILABLE,
     FIELD_IS_ON,
+    FIELD_RUNNING_APPS,
     FIELD_SESSIONS,
     FIELD_VOLUME_INFO,
     ShieldConnectionManager,
@@ -24,10 +29,38 @@ from nsh.connection import (
 )
 
 
-class FakeProtocolClient:
-    """AndroidTVRemote-shaped fake: callbacks + self-owned reconnect task."""
+class InvalidAuth(Exception):  # noqa: N818 - the library's own class name
+    """The library's InvalidAuth, matched by NAME (the manager never imports it)."""
 
-    def __init__(self):
+
+class CannotConnect(Exception):  # noqa: N818 - the library's own class name
+    """The library's CannotConnect — a retryable transport failure."""
+
+
+class ConnectionClosed(Exception):  # noqa: N818 - the library's own class name
+    """The library's ConnectionClosed — raised when nothing is connected."""
+
+
+class FakeProtocolClient:
+    """AndroidTVRemote-shaped fake: the library's ORDER, reproduced.
+
+    t15: the real ``AndroidTVRemote`` keeps ``_remote_message_protocol = None`` until
+    ``async_connect()`` succeeds, and ``keep_reconnecting()`` starts a loop whose
+    condition is ``while self._remote_message_protocol:`` — so calling it alone
+    starts a task that returns immediately and NOTHING ever connects (no push, and
+    every send raises ConnectionClosed). The fake reproduces that, and records which
+    of the two calls the manager made, so a regression back to keep_reconnecting-only
+    fails a test instead of silently disabling the transport.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, connect_error: Exception | None = None):
+        self._remote_message_protocol = None  # library attribute: None until connected
+        self._connect_error = connect_error
+        self.connect_calls = 0
+        self.keep_reconnecting_calls = 0
+        self.keys_sent: list = []
+        self.apps_launched: list = []
+        self.texts_sent: list = []
         self._is_on_callbacks: list = []
         self._is_available_callbacks: list = []
         self._current_app_callbacks: list = []
@@ -66,18 +99,50 @@ class FakeProtocolClient:
         for cb in list(self._volume_callbacks):
             cb(info)
 
+
     # -- lifecycle --
     def keep_reconnecting(self, invalid_auth_callback=None):
-        """Own task like the real library (0.1 s → 30 s backoff internally)."""
+        """Own task like the real library — and, like it, a NO-OP until connected.
+
+        The condition is the library's own: with no session the task runs once,
+        finds nothing to maintain and returns. That is exactly why
+        ``async_connect()`` has to come first.
+        """
+        self.keep_reconnecting_calls += 1
         self._invalid_auth_callback = invalid_auth_callback
         loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
         self._reconnect_task = loop.create_task(self._reconnect_loop())
 
     async def _reconnect_loop(self):
-        while True:  # the real task sleeps through its internal backoff
+        while self._remote_message_protocol:  # the library's own guard
             await asyncio.sleep(0.05)
 
+    # -- connect (t15: the call the manager used to be missing entirely) --
+    async def async_connect(self):
+        """Connect; raise ``self._connect_error`` when the test wants a failure."""
+        self.connect_calls += 1
+        if self._connect_error is not None:
+            raise self._connect_error
+        self._remote_message_protocol = object()  # library sets its RemoteProtocol
+
+    # -- sends (t15: the library raises when nothing is connected) --
+    def send_key_command(self, key, direction="SHORT"):
+        if not self._remote_message_protocol:
+            raise ConnectionClosed("Called send_key_command after disconnect")
+        self.keys_sent.append((key, direction))
+
+    def send_launch_app_command(self, app_link_or_app_id):
+        if not self._remote_message_protocol:
+            raise ConnectionClosed("Called send_launch_app_command after disconnect")
+        self.apps_launched.append(app_link_or_app_id)
+
+    def send_text(self, text):
+        if not self._remote_message_protocol:
+            raise ConnectionClosed("Called send_text after disconnect")
+        self.texts_sent.append(text)
+
     def fire_invalid_auth(self):
+        if self._invalid_auth_callback is not None:
             self._invalid_auth_callback()
 
     def disconnect(self):
@@ -95,6 +160,16 @@ async def _drain_loop():
     await asyncio.sleep(0.01)
 
 
+async def _connect(manager, client, tries: int = 40):
+    """Wait for the manager's background connect task to make its attempt (t15)."""
+    for _ in range(tries):
+        if client.connect_calls:
+            await _drain_loop()
+            return
+        await asyncio.sleep(0.005)
+    raise AssertionError("the manager never attempted to connect the protocol")
+
+
 class TestPushCallbackWiring:
     async def test_is_on_and_availability_push_into_store(self):
         client = FakeProtocolClient()
@@ -142,6 +217,7 @@ class TestInvalidAuthHook:
             client, invalid_auth_callback=lambda: fired.append(True)
         )
         await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)  # t15: a session first, then pushes/auth
 
         client.fire_invalid_auth()
 
@@ -152,10 +228,202 @@ class TestInvalidAuthHook:
         client = FakeProtocolClient()
         manager = _protocol_manager(client)
         await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
         client.fire_invalid_auth()  # no callback registered — must not raise
         await manager.async_stop()
 
 
+def _fast_backoff(manager, delay: float = 0.01) -> None:
+    """Make the connect-retry backoff fast for tests (t15), per manager."""
+    manager._jitter = lambda _delay: delay
+
+
+class TestInitialConnect:
+    """t15: the transport must CONNECT, not merely be told to keep reconnecting.
+
+    The shipped bug: `_start_protocol` called `keep_reconnecting()` and nothing in
+    the tree ever called `async_connect()`. The library's reconnect task is
+    `while self._remote_message_protocol:` — None until a first connect — so the
+    task returned immediately: no session, no push, every send raising
+    ConnectionClosed inside a swallowed handler, for every install. These tests pin
+    the order (connect first) and the state it reports.
+    """
+
+    async def test_connects_before_handing_over_to_keep_reconnecting(self):
+        client = FakeProtocolClient()
+        manager = _protocol_manager(client)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
+
+        assert client.connect_calls == 1
+        assert client.keep_reconnecting_calls == 1
+        assert client._remote_message_protocol is not None, "a session exists now"
+        assert client._reconnect_task is not None, (
+            "keep_reconnecting only maintains a session; a task with no session "
+            "would be the pre-t15 no-op"
+        )
+        assert manager.protocol_state == "connected"
+        assert manager.protocol_connected is True
+        assert manager.protocol_ever_authenticated is True
+        assert manager.protocol_last_error is None
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+    async def test_keep_reconnecting_alone_would_stay_unconnected(self):
+        """The fake reproduces the library: without async_connect nothing happens."""
+        client = FakeProtocolClient()
+        client.keep_reconnecting(lambda: None)
+        await _drain_loop()
+
+        assert client._reconnect_task.done(), (
+            "the library's loop returns at once with no session — which is why "
+            "keep_reconnecting() alone never connected anything"
+        )
+        assert client.connect_calls == 0
+
+    async def test_network_failure_keeps_retrying_and_stays_never_connected(self):
+        client = FakeProtocolClient(connect_error=CannotConnect("unreachable"))
+        manager = _protocol_manager(client)
+        _fast_backoff(manager)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
+
+        assert manager.protocol_state == "never_connected"
+        assert manager.protocol_connected is False
+        assert "CannotConnect" in (manager.protocol_last_error or "")
+        assert client.keep_reconnecting_calls == 0, (
+            "nothing to maintain until a session exists"
+        )
+
+        for _ in range(200):  # the retry loop must keep trying
+            if client.connect_calls >= 2:
+                break
+            await asyncio.sleep(0.005)
+        assert client.connect_calls >= 2, "a network failure is retried with backoff"
+        assert manager.protocol_ever_authenticated is False
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+    async def test_auth_rejection_stops_and_runs_the_reauth_hook(self):
+        client = FakeProtocolClient(connect_error=InvalidAuth("Need to pair"))
+        fired = []
+        manager = _protocol_manager(
+            client, invalid_auth_callback=lambda: fired.append(True)
+        )
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
+
+        assert manager.protocol_state == "auth_rejected"
+        assert fired == [True], "the entry's reauth/pair flow is the answer"
+        assert "InvalidAuth" in (manager.protocol_last_error or "")
+        assert client.keep_reconnecting_calls == 0
+
+        connect_calls = client.connect_calls
+        await asyncio.sleep(0.05)
+        assert client.connect_calls == connect_calls, (
+            "retrying a rejected certificate can never succeed"
+        )
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+    async def test_auth_rejection_after_a_session_marks_the_state(self):
+        client = FakeProtocolClient()
+        manager = _protocol_manager(client)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
+        assert manager.protocol_state == "connected"
+
+        client.fire_invalid_auth()
+
+        assert manager.protocol_state == "auth_rejected"
+        assert manager.protocol_last_error  # readable, not only logged
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+
+class TestHonestSendFailures:
+    """t15: a send that could not run must never look like one that did."""
+
+    async def test_send_without_a_session_warns_and_records(self, caplog):
+        client = FakeProtocolClient()
+        manager = _protocol_manager(client)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
+        client._remote_message_protocol = None  # session lost (library no-ops sends)
+
+        with caplog.at_level("WARNING"):
+            sent = await manager.send_protocol_key("POWER")
+
+        assert sent is False
+        assert manager.protocol_failures == 1
+        assert "POWER" in (manager.protocol_last_error or "")
+        assert "ConnectionClosed" in (manager.protocol_last_error or "")
+        assert any(
+            "did not run" in rec.message for rec in caplog.records
+        ), "the failure is a WARNING carrying what happened"
+        assert client.keys_sent == []
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+    async def test_launch_without_a_transport_warns_and_records(self, caplog):
+        manager = _protocol_manager(None)  # protocol disabled for this entry
+        with caplog.at_level("WARNING"):
+            sent = await manager.launch_app("com.netflix.ninja")
+
+        assert sent is False
+        assert manager.protocol_failures == 1
+        assert "no protocol transport" in (manager.protocol_last_error or "")
+        assert any("did not run" in rec.message for rec in caplog.records)
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+    async def test_a_working_send_is_not_counted_as_a_failure(self):
+        client = FakeProtocolClient()
+        manager = _protocol_manager(client)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
+
+        assert await manager.send_protocol_key("POWER") is True
+        assert await manager.launch_app("com.netflix.ninja") is True
+
+        assert client.keys_sent == [("POWER", "SHORT")]
+        assert client.apps_launched == ["com.netflix.ninja"]
+        assert manager.protocol_failures == 0
+        assert manager.protocol_last_error is None
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+    async def test_availability_push_drives_the_connected_state(self):
+        client = FakeProtocolClient()
+        manager = _protocol_manager(client)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
+        client.push_is_available(False)
+        await _drain_loop()
+        assert manager.protocol_state == "disconnected"
+        assert manager.protocol_connected is False
+
+        client.push_is_available(True)
+        await _drain_loop()
+        assert manager.protocol_state == "connected"
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+    async def test_a_push_proves_an_authenticated_session(self):
+        """The library exposes no is_paired: a push is the only proof there is."""
+        client = FakeProtocolClient(connect_error=CannotConnect("down"))
+        manager = _protocol_manager(client)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
+        assert manager.protocol_ever_authenticated is False
+
+        client.push_current_app("com.netflix.ninja")
+        await _drain_loop()
+
+        assert manager.protocol_ever_authenticated is True
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+    async def test_transport_state_is_off_without_a_client(self):
+        manager = _protocol_manager(None)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        assert manager.protocol_state == "off"
+        assert manager.protocol_connected is False
+        assert manager.protocol_ever_authenticated is False
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+
 class TestLifecycle:
     async def test_stop_disconnects_lib_owned_reconnect_task(self):
         """The library owns keep_reconnecting's task; closing the client
@@ -163,6 +431,7 @@ class TestLifecycle:
         client = FakeProtocolClient()
         manager = _protocol_manager(client)
         await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
         task = client._reconnect_task
         assert task is not None
 
@@ -315,6 +584,115 @@ class TestAdbOutageKeepsProtocolTruth:
         await manager.async_stop()
 
 
+class TestAdbStaysThePrimarySource:
+    """t15: arming the protocol must not promote its pushes over ADB's readings.
+
+    The pushes this unit turns ON (is_on / is_available / current_app / volume) had
+    NEVER been live here — ``keep_reconnecting`` alone never connected — so the whole
+    protocol surface is new traffic next to an ADB media-session poller the user
+    relies on. The store's fields are disjoint by design; these tests pin that, and
+    that an ADB-only entry keeps working with only the protocol surface degraded.
+    """
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _adbreath(manager):
+        """Every field the ADB poller owns, stamped, and read back."""
+        manager.store.set(FIELD_AWAKE, True)
+        manager.store.set(FIELD_SESSIONS, ["session-data"])
+        manager.store.set(FIELD_AUDIO_PLAYBACK, ["com.audio.last"])
+        manager.store.set(FIELD_RUNNING_APPS, [{"package": "com.run.now"}])
+        manager.store.set(FIELD_FOREGROUND, "com.adb.foreground")
+        return {
+            field: manager.store.get(field)
+            for field in (
+                FIELD_AWAKE,
+                FIELD_SESSIONS,
+                FIELD_AUDIO_PLAYBACK,
+                FIELD_RUNNING_APPS,
+                FIELD_FOREGROUND,
+            )
+        }
+
+    async def test_a_protocol_push_never_overwrites_an_adb_reading(self):
+        client = FakeProtocolClient()
+        manager = _protocol_manager(client)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
+        before = self._adbreath(manager)
+
+        client.push_is_on(True)
+        client.push_is_available(True)
+        client.push_current_app("com.protocol.foreground")
+        client.push_volume_info({"level": 5, "max": 15, "muted": False})
+        await _drain_loop()
+
+        assert {
+            field: manager.store.get(field) for field in before
+        } == before, "ADB's own fields are untouched by every protocol push"
+        # ...and the protocol wrote exactly its own four
+        assert manager.is_on is True
+        assert manager.is_available is True
+        assert manager.current_app == "com.protocol.foreground"
+        assert manager.volume_info == (5.0, 15.0, False)
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+    async def test_the_foreground_identity_falls_back_to_adb(self):
+        """No push yet: the ADB parse answers, and nothing is invented."""
+        client = FakeProtocolClient(connect_error=CannotConnect("down"))
+        manager = _protocol_manager(client)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
+        self._adbreath(manager)
+
+        assert manager.current_app is None, "no protocol push ever arrived"
+        assert manager.foreground_app == "com.adb.foreground"
+        assert manager.foreground_source == "adb", "the tier is named, not implied"
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+    async def test_a_push_wins_while_fresh_and_the_adb_reading_survives_it(self):
+        """The documented priority, and no loss: an expired push re-exposes ADB."""
+        now = [1000.0]
+        store = StateStore(ttl=60.0, clock=lambda: now[0])
+        client = FakeProtocolClient()
+        manager = _protocol_manager(client, store=store)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+        await _connect(manager, client)
+        self._adbreath(manager)
+        client.push_current_app("com.protocol.foreground")
+        await _drain_loop()
+
+        assert manager.foreground_app == "com.protocol.foreground"
+        assert manager.foreground_source == "protocol"
+        assert manager.store.get(FIELD_FOREGROUND) == "com.adb.foreground", (
+            "the push wrote its OWN field — the ADB reading was not clobbered"
+        )
+
+        now[0] += 60.1  # both fields expire on the store's own TTL, not by a push
+
+        assert manager.current_app is None
+        assert manager.store.get(FIELD_FOREGROUND) is None
+        # re-stamped (the next ADB poll), the ADB reading answers again untouched
+        manager.store.set(FIELD_FOREGROUND, "com.adb.foreground")
+        assert manager.foreground_app == "com.adb.foreground"
+        assert manager.foreground_source == "adb"
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+    async def test_an_adb_only_entry_keeps_working(self):
+        """No protocol client at all: ADB truth refreshes, only the transport degrades."""
+        poller = FakeAdbForOutage()
+        poller.connected = True
+        poller.awake = True
+        manager = ShieldConnectionManager(hass=None, entry=None, poller=poller)
+        await manager._start_protocol()
+
+        assert manager._protocol is None
+        assert manager.protocol_state == "off"
+        assert manager.protocol_connected is False
+        assert manager.protocol_ever_authenticated is False
+
+        await manager.async_stop()
+
+
 class TestImportGuard:
     def test_missing_library_degrades_to_adb_only(self, monkeypatch, caplog):
         """F1: a protocol-enabled entry without androidtvremote2 keeps