diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/automationStoreSync.test.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/automationStoreSync.test.ts
index 78148dbb3..1786c3cd7 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/automationStoreSync.test.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/automationStoreSync.test.ts
@@ -80,4 +80,30 @@ describe("syncStoredAutomationFromPreview", () => {
     syncStoredAutomationFromPreview(null);
     expect(usePlayerStore.getState().elements[0]?.automation).toBe(TWO_POINTS);
   });
+  // The reported symptom: automate a parameter on a GROUP from the FX rack and
+  // the group's row shows no automation. The rack is not group-aware — it
+  // writes the attribute on the group node through the ordinary element path —
+  // and the timeline reads a group's lanes from the mirrors its MEMBERS carry,
+  // which that path used to leave untouched.
+  it("re-reads what the group carries onto every member that belongs to it", () => {
+    const chain = '{"version":1,"nodes":[{"type":"gain","id":"n1","params":{"gain":0}}]}';
+    const groupAutomation =
+      '{"version":1,"lanes":[{"target":"fx.n1.gain","points":[{"t":0,"v":0}]}]}';
+    const doc = document.implementation.createHTMLDocument("preview");
+    const group = doc.createElement("hf-audio-group");
+    group.id = "voiceover";
+    group.setAttribute("data-fx-chain", chain);
+    group.setAttribute("data-automation", groupAutomation);
+    const audio = doc.createElement("audio");
+    audio.id = "bgm";
+    audio.setAttribute("data-audio-group", "voiceover");
+    doc.body.append(group, audio);
+
+    usePlayerStore.setState({ elements: [el({ audioGroup: "voiceover" })] });
+    syncStoredAutomationFromPreview(doc);
+
+    const stored = usePlayerStore.getState().elements[0];
+    expect(stored?.audioGroupAutomation).toBe(groupAutomation);
+    expect(stored?.audioGroupFxChain).toBe(chain);
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/automationStoreSync.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/automationStoreSync.ts
index 02894699d..2b7f79762 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/automationStoreSync.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/automationStoreSync.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import { HF_AUDIO_AUTOMATION_ATTR } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-automation";
 import { HF_AUDIO_FX_ATTR } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-fx";
 import { usePlayerStore, type TimelineElement } from "../store/playerStore";
+import { groupInfoFor } from "./timelineGroupInfo";
 
 /** The preview node an element stands for, by dom id and then by `data-hf-id`. */
 function previewNodeFor(doc: Document, element: TimelineElement): Element | null {
@@ -38,6 +39,27 @@ function previewNodeFor(doc: Document, element: TimelineElement): Element | null
  * Reads rather than being told: an undo restores whole files, so the attribute it
  * reverted is only known by looking.
  */
+/**
+ * What an element's four synced fields SHOULD read, given the preview.
+ *
+ * Its own two come off its node; the other two are its copy of what its group
+ * carries. The timeline derives a group's lanes and chain from these mirrors,
+ * never from the group element — and the FX rack is not group-aware: selecting
+ * a group and automating one of its parameters writes `data-automation` on the
+ * group node through the ordinary element path, which used to refresh an
+ * element's own two fields and nothing else. So the group's row went on reading
+ * the value it was born with, and its `∿` never appeared.
+ */
+function syncedFields(doc: Document, element: TimelineElement, node: Element) {
+  const group = element.audioGroup ? groupInfoFor(doc, element.audioGroup) : null;
+  return {
+    automation: node.getAttribute(HF_AUDIO_AUTOMATION_ATTR) ?? undefined,
+    fxChain: node.getAttribute(HF_AUDIO_FX_ATTR) ?? undefined,
+    audioGroupAutomation: group?.automation,
+    audioGroupFxChain: group?.fxChain,
+  };
+}
+
 export function syncStoredAutomationFromPreview(doc: Document | null | undefined): void {
   if (!doc) return;
   usePlayerStore.setState((state) => {
@@ -45,11 +67,13 @@ export function syncStoredAutomationFromPreview(doc: Document | null | undefined
     const elements = state.elements.map((element) => {
       const node = previewNodeFor(doc, element);
       if (!node) return element;
-      const automation = node.getAttribute(HF_AUDIO_AUTOMATION_ATTR) ?? undefined;
-      const fxChain = node.getAttribute(HF_AUDIO_FX_ATTR) ?? undefined;
-      if (automation === element.automation && fxChain === element.fxChain) return element;
+      const fields = syncedFields(doc, element, node);
+      // Same array back when nothing moved: `elements` keys memos all over the
+      // timeline, and a fresh object per sync would re-render every one.
+      const keys = Object.keys(fields) as (keyof typeof fields)[];
+      if (keys.every((key) => fields[key] === element[key])) return element;
       changed = true;
-      return { ...element, automation, fxChain };
+      return { ...element, ...fields };
     });
     return changed ? { elements } : {};
   });
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/runtimeAudioId.test.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/runtimeAudioId.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c88e10f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/runtimeAudioId.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+// @vitest-environment jsdom
+
+/**
+ * The studio → runtime boundary, which nothing else crosses.
+ *
+ * Studio addresses rows by `buildTimelineElementKey`'s composite
+ * `<sourceFile>#<domId>`; every audio predicate in `@hyperframes/core` keys off
+ * the live document instead. Both halves have their own passing tests — one
+ * with composite keys, one with bare ids — and the mismatch between them lived
+ * in the gap. These parse a real document, take the ids the way the UI does,
+ * and hand them to the real core predicates.
+ */
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { resolveAudioGroups } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-groups";
+import { parseTimelineFromDOM } from "./timelineDOM";
+import { runtimeAudioId } from "./timelineElementHelpers";
+
+function docWith(body: string): Document {
+  const doc = document.implementation.createHTMLDocument("comp");
+  doc.body.innerHTML = body;
+  return doc;
+}
+
+const COMPOSITION = `
+  <div data-composition-id="root" data-duration="30"></div>
+  <audio id="voice-1" data-start="0" data-duration="10" data-audio-group="voiceover"></audio>
+  <audio id="voice-2" data-start="10" data-duration="10" data-audio-group="voiceover"></audio>
+  <audio id="music-bed" data-start="0" data-duration="30"></audio>
+  <hf-audio-group id="voiceover"></hf-audio-group>
+`;
+
+describe("group membership ids cross into the runtime", () => {
+  it("the ids the timeline hands to onGroupClips are the ids resolveAudioGroups reads back", () => {
+    const doc = docWith(COMPOSITION);
+    const trackElements = parseTimelineFromDOM(doc, 30).filter(
+      (el) => el.tag.toLowerCase() === "audio",
+    );
+    const clipIds = trackElements.map(runtimeAudioId).filter((id): id is string => id !== null);
+    expect(clipIds).toEqual(["voice-1", "voice-2", "music-bed"]);
+
+    // Same space membership is read back in — a composite key here produces a
+    // group whose members nothing can find.
+    const memberIds = resolveAudioGroups(doc).flatMap((g) => g.memberIds);
+    expect(memberIds.every((id) => doc.getElementById(id) !== null)).toBe(true);
+    for (const id of memberIds) expect(clipIds).toContain(id);
+  });
+
+  it("an element with no DOM id is not groupable", () => {
+    const doc = docWith(`
+      <div data-composition-id="root" data-duration="10"></div>
+      <audio data-start="0" data-duration="5"></audio>
+    `);
+    const [clip] = parseTimelineFromDOM(doc, 10);
+    expect(clip).toBeDefined();
+    expect(runtimeAudioId(clip)).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineDOM.test.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineDOM.test.ts
index 78a0bc7ec..b33c81244 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineDOM.test.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineDOM.test.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import {
   createImplicitTimelineLayersFromDOM,
   mergeTimelineElementsPreservingDowngrades,
 } from "./timelineDOM";
+import { isTimelineIgnoredElement } from "./timelineElementHelpers";
+import { invalidateGroupInfoCache } from "./timelineGroupInfo";
 import type { TimelineElement } from "../store/playerStore";
 
 function el(id: string, extra: Partial<TimelineElement> = {}): TimelineElement {
@@ -110,6 +112,92 @@ describe("parseTimelineFromDOM — hfId from data-hf-id", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("group info cache", () => {
+  const parseMember = (doc: Document) =>
+    createTimelineElementFromManifestClip({
+      clip: {
+        id: "voice-1",
+        label: "voice-1",
+        kind: "element",
+        tagName: "audio",
+        start: 0,
+        duration: 5,
+        track: 0,
+        compositionId: null,
+        parentCompositionId: null,
+        compositionSrc: null,
+        assetUrl: null,
+      },
+      fallbackIndex: 0,
+      doc,
+      hostEl: doc.getElementById("voice-1"),
+    });
+
+  // Group edits are applied as LIVE patches so the preview iframe never
+  // reloads, which means the document identity this cache is keyed on never
+  // changes either. Without an explicit drop, a muted group could never be
+  // unmuted: the header kept reading the cached `hidden: false` and re-wrote
+  // `data-hidden` forever.
+  it("re-reads group state after an invalidation", () => {
+    const doc = makeDoc(`
+      <div data-composition-id="root">
+        <audio id="voice-1" data-start="0" data-duration="5" data-audio-group="voiceover"></audio>
+        <hf-audio-group id="voiceover" data-label="Voices"></hf-audio-group>
+      </div>
+    `);
+
+    expect(parseMember(doc).audioGroupHidden).toBe(false);
+
+    doc.getElementById("voiceover")?.setAttribute("data-hidden", "");
+    expect(parseMember(doc).audioGroupHidden).toBe(false); // still the cached scan
+
+    invalidateGroupInfoCache(doc);
+    expect(parseMember(doc).audioGroupHidden).toBe(true);
+
+    doc.getElementById("voiceover")?.removeAttribute("data-hidden");
+    invalidateGroupInfoCache(doc);
+    expect(parseMember(doc).audioGroupHidden).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  // The explicit invalidator is a convenience, not the contract. A cache whose
+  // only defence is "every writer must remember to call this" rots the first
+  // time a writer does not know it exists — which is precisely what happened
+  // with the FX rack, whose group writes go through the DOM editor rather than
+  // the timeline's own writers. The scan carries the DOM revision it was taken
+  // at, so a forgotten call costs a re-scan rather than a wrong answer.
+  it("expires itself on a group edit nobody announced", async () => {
+    const doc = makeDoc(`
+      <div data-composition-id="root">
+        <audio id="voice-1" data-start="0" data-duration="5" data-audio-group="voiceover"></audio>
+        <hf-audio-group id="voiceover" data-label="Voices"></hf-audio-group>
+      </div>
+    `);
+
+    expect(parseMember(doc).audioGroupHidden).toBe(false);
+
+    // No invalidateGroupInfoCache call anywhere in this test.
+    doc.getElementById("voiceover")?.setAttribute("data-hidden", "");
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 0)); // observer microtask
+
+    expect(parseMember(doc).audioGroupHidden).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("notices a member joining the group, not just an attribute edit", async () => {
+    const doc = makeDoc(`
+      <div data-composition-id="root">
+        <audio id="voice-1" data-start="0" data-duration="5" data-audio-group="voiceover"></audio>
+        <hf-audio-group id="voiceover" data-label="Voices"></hf-audio-group>
+      </div>
+    `);
+    expect(parseMember(doc).audioGroupLabel).toBe("Voices");
+
+    doc.getElementById("voiceover")?.setAttribute("data-label", "Narration");
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 0));
+
+    expect(parseMember(doc).audioGroupLabel).toBe("Narration");
+  });
+});
+
 describe("parseTimelineFromDOM — canonical playback rate", () => {
   it.each([
     ["10", 5],
@@ -207,6 +295,33 @@ describe("createTimelineElementFromManifestClip — source-scoped selector ident
   });
 });
 
+// Caught by looking at the studio, not by reading: a grouped composition drew
+// "Voiceover • 0.0s – 12.0s" as a full-duration clip row directly above its own
+// group header. `<hf-audio-group>` is a mixer bus — no timing, drawn as a group
+// row by the group derivation — but it is still a body child with an id, so the
+// implicit-layer fallback happily gave it a track. Draggable and trimmable, and
+// writing timing onto a bus means nothing.
+describe("<hf-audio-group> is not a timeline layer", () => {
+  it("gets no implicit row of its own", () => {
+    const doc = makeDoc(`
+      <div data-composition-id="root">
+        <audio id="voice-1" data-start="0" data-duration="6" data-audio-group="voiceover"></audio>
+        <hf-audio-group id="voiceover" data-label="Voiceover"></hf-audio-group>
+      </div>
+    `);
+
+    const implicit = createImplicitTimelineLayersFromDOM(doc, 12, []);
+
+    expect(implicit.map((el) => el.domId)).not.toContain("voiceover");
+  });
+
+  it("is excluded by the shared ignore predicate", () => {
+    const doc = makeDoc(`<hf-audio-group id="vo"></hf-audio-group><div id="panel"></div>`);
+    expect(isTimelineIgnoredElement(doc.getElementById("vo") as Element)).toBe(true);
+    expect(isTimelineIgnoredElement(doc.getElementById("panel") as Element)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
 describe("createImplicitTimelineLayersFromDOM — hfId from data-hf-id", () => {
   it("uses the runtime root paint scope for implicit siblings of manifest clips", () => {
     const doc = makeDoc(`
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineDOM.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineDOM.ts
index a6632ead0..0131ffe60 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineDOM.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineDOM.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import type { TimelineElement } from "../store/playerStore";
 import type { ClipManifestClip } from "./playbackTypes";
 import { resolveCssStackingContextId } from "@hyperframes/core/runtime/stacking-context";
 import { readClipTiming } from "@hyperframes/core/composition-contract";
-import { resolveAudioGroups } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-groups";
+import { groupInfoFor } from "./timelineGroupInfo";
 import {
   resolveMediaElement,
   applyMediaMetadataFromElement,
@@ -68,37 +68,6 @@ function resolveClipTag(clip: ClipManifestClip): string {
   return clip.tagName || clip.kind || "div";
 }
 
-// One `<hf-audio-group>` scan per document, not per clip — resolveAudioGroups
-// walks the whole tree, and a parse touches every clip in it.
-interface GroupInfo {
-  label: string;
-  volume: number;
-  hidden: boolean;
-  fxChain?: string;
-}
-
-const groupInfoCache = new WeakMap<Document, Map<string, GroupInfo>>();
-
-function groupInfoFor(doc: Document | null | undefined, groupId: string): GroupInfo {
-  if (!doc) return { label: groupId, volume: 1, hidden: false };
-  let info = groupInfoCache.get(doc);
-  if (!info) {
-    info = new Map(
-      resolveAudioGroups(doc).map((group) => [
-        group.id,
-        {
-          label: group.label,
-          volume: group.volume,
-          hidden: group.hidden,
-          ...(group.fxChain ? { fxChain: group.fxChain } : {}),
-        },
-      ]),
-    );
-    groupInfoCache.set(doc, info);
-  }
-  return info.get(groupId) ?? { label: groupId, volume: 1, hidden: false };
-}
-
 // fallow-ignore-next-line complexity
 export function createTimelineElementFromManifestClip(params: {
   clip: ClipManifestClip;
@@ -178,6 +147,7 @@ export function createTimelineElementFromManifestClip(params: {
       entry.audioGroupVolume = info.volume;
       entry.audioGroupHidden = info.hidden;
       if (info.fxChain) entry.audioGroupFxChain = info.fxChain;
+      if (info.automation) entry.audioGroupAutomation = info.automation;
     }
     const fxChain = hostEl.getAttribute("data-fx-chain");
     if (fxChain) entry.fxChain = fxChain;
@@ -405,6 +375,7 @@ export function parseTimelineFromDOM(doc: Document, rootDuration: number): Timel
       entry.audioGroupVolume = domGroupInfo.volume;
       entry.audioGroupHidden = domGroupInfo.hidden;
       if (domGroupInfo.fxChain) entry.audioGroupFxChain = domGroupInfo.fxChain;
+      if (domGroupInfo.automation) entry.audioGroupAutomation = domGroupInfo.automation;
     }
 
     // Sub-compositions
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineElementHelpers.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineElementHelpers.ts
index fc403f9b2..24c93f3dd 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineElementHelpers.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineElementHelpers.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import type { TimelineElement } from "../store/playerStore";
 import type { ClipManifestClip } from "./playbackTypes";
 import { isFinitePositive } from "./playbackAdapter";
 import { getSourceScopedSelectorIndex } from "../../utils/sourceScopedSelectorIndex";
+import { HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-groups";
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Layer-reveal lift transparency
@@ -81,6 +82,14 @@ function normalizePlaybackRate(raw: number): number {
 }
 
 export function isTimelineIgnoredElement(el: Element): boolean {
+  // An `<hf-audio-group>` is a mixer bus, not a clip: it carries the group's
+  // label, fader, mute and FX chain, has no timing of its own, and is drawn as
+  // a GROUP ROW by the group derivation. Left in, the implicit-layer fallback
+  // also gave it an ordinary full-duration track — so a grouped composition
+  // showed "Voiceover • 0.0s – 12.0s" as a phantom clip directly above the real
+  // group header. Harmless-looking, but that row is draggable and trimmable,
+  // and writing timing onto the bus is meaningless.
+  if (el.tagName.toLowerCase() === HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG) return true;
   return Boolean(
     el.closest(
       [
@@ -346,6 +355,24 @@ export function getTimelineElementIdentity(element: { key?: string | null; id: s
   return element.key ?? element.id;
 }
 
+/**
+ * The id space the RUNTIME matches on — a bare DOM id, never a store key.
+ *
+ * Studio addresses rows by `buildTimelineElementKey`'s composite
+ * `<sourceFile>#<domId>`, but everything audio in `@hyperframes/core` keys off
+ * the live document: `resolveAudioGroups` collects `member.id`,
+ * `resolveCarveSourceIds` goes through `getElementById`. Anything crossing into
+ * that space — a group membership list, a carve source — has to be
+ * converted here first; a composite key silently matches nothing.
+ *
+ * `null` for a row with no DOM id at all (selector-addressed elements): such an
+ * element cannot be grouped, because `resolveAudioGroups` skips
+ * members without an `id` and would build a group that is half there.
+ */
+export function runtimeAudioId(element: { domId?: string | null }): string | null {
+  return element.domId || null;
+}
+
 /**
  * Timeline store key for a z-reorder entry built OUTSIDE the timeline
  * expansion (canvas context menu / LayersPanel), so the reorder commit can
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineGroupInfo.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineGroupInfo.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c4f3026b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineGroupInfo.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+/**
+ * The audio-group scan cached per preview document, and the mechanism that
+ * keeps it honest.
+ *
+ * Split out of `timelineDOM.ts` (600-line studio ceiling). Self-contained: the
+ * cache, its revision counter, the observer that bumps it, and the one reader.
+ */
+
+import {
+  HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR,
+  HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG,
+  resolveAudioGroups,
+} from "@hyperframes/core/audio-groups";
+import { HF_AUDIO_AUTOMATION_ATTR } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-automation";
+import { HF_AUDIO_FX_ATTR } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-fx";
+
+// One `<hf-audio-group>` scan per document, not per clip — resolveAudioGroups
+// walks the whole tree, and a parse touches every clip in it.
+interface GroupInfo {
+  label: string;
+  volume: number;
+  hidden: boolean;
+  fxChain?: string;
+  automation?: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * The cached scan, plus the DOM revision it was taken at.
+ *
+ * Keeping the revision beside the entry is what makes staleness *detectable*
+ * rather than a documented obligation. The cache is keyed on the document, and
+ * group edits are applied as live patches precisely so the iframe never
+ * reloads, so the key alone never changes: an explicit "remember to invalidate"
+ * contract silently rots the first time a new writer forgets — which is exactly
+ * what happened with the FX rack, whose group writes go through the DOM editor
+ * rather than the timeline's own writers.
+ */
+const groupInfoCache = new WeakMap<
+  Document,
+  { revision: number; entries: Map<string, GroupInfo> }
+>();
+
+/** Bumped by every observed mutation to group state in a document. */
+const groupRevisions = new WeakMap<Document, number>();
+const groupObservers = new WeakSet<Document>();
+
+/**
+ * Watch a document for any change to group state, so the cache expires itself.
+ *
+ * One observer per document, attached the first time a group is read from it.
+ * It watches the attributes a group's identity is made of, anywhere in the
+ * tree, plus added/removed nodes — which covers a group element appearing, a
+ * member joining or leaving, and any group attribute being edited, by any
+ * writer, without that writer having to know this cache exists.
+ */
+function observeGroupState(doc: Document): void {
+  if (groupObservers.has(doc) || typeof MutationObserver === "undefined" || !doc.body) return;
+  groupObservers.add(doc);
+  const observer = new MutationObserver((records) => {
+    // `childList` fires for EVERY node added or removed anywhere in the live
+    // preview, which on a composition that churns nodes during playback
+    // (SplitText, a typewriter, anything runtime-inserted) would expire this
+    // cache permanently and put it back to one whole-tree scan per parse. Only
+    // a group ELEMENT appearing or leaving actually changes the answer, so
+    // childList records are filtered rather than trusted; attribute records
+    // always count, because the filter below already narrowed them.
+    const relevant = records.some(
+      (record) =>
+        record.type !== "childList" ||
+        [...record.addedNodes, ...record.removedNodes].some(
+          (node) =>
+            node instanceof Element &&
+            (node.tagName.toLowerCase() === HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG ||
+              node.hasAttribute(HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR) ||
+              node.querySelector?.(`${HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG},[${HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR}]`) != null),
+        ),
+    );
+    if (relevant) groupRevisions.set(doc, (groupRevisions.get(doc) ?? 0) + 1);
+  });
+  observer.observe(doc.body, {
+    subtree: true,
+    childList: true,
+    attributes: true,
+    // Every attribute `resolveAudioGroups`/`buildGroup` reads, including
+    // `data-automation` — which `GroupInfo` does not cache TODAY, so omitting it
+    // was inert, but group automation lanes already exist and the first person
+    // to cache one would have got a silently never-firing observer. That is the
+    // precise rot this observer replaced.
+    attributeFilter: [
+      HF_AUDIO_GROUP_ATTR,
+      HF_AUDIO_FX_ATTR,
+      HF_AUDIO_AUTOMATION_ATTR,
+      "data-label",
+      "data-volume",
+      "data-hidden",
+      "id",
+    ],
+  });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Drop the cached group scan for a document.
+ *
+ * Belt to the observer's braces: a caller that has just written and wants the
+ * very next read to be honest cannot wait for the observer's microtask. Callers
+ * that forget are no longer punished — the revision check catches them.
+ */
+export function invalidateGroupInfoCache(doc: Document | null | undefined): void {
+  if (doc) groupInfoCache.delete(doc);
+}
+
+export function groupInfoFor(doc: Document | null | undefined, groupId: string): GroupInfo {
+  if (!doc) return { label: groupId, volume: 1, hidden: false };
+  observeGroupState(doc);
+  const revision = groupRevisions.get(doc) ?? 0;
+  const cached = groupInfoCache.get(doc);
+  let info = cached && cached.revision === revision ? cached.entries : undefined;
+  if (!info) {
+    info = new Map(
+      resolveAudioGroups(doc).map((group) => [
+        group.id,
+        {
+          label: group.label,
+          volume: group.volume,
+          hidden: group.hidden,
+          ...(group.fxChain ? { fxChain: group.fxChain } : {}),
+          ...(group.automation ? { automation: group.automation } : {}),
+        },
+      ]),
+    );
+    groupInfoCache.set(doc, { revision, entries: info });
+  }
+  return info.get(groupId) ?? { label: groupId, volume: 1, hidden: false };
+}
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineIframeHelpers.test.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineIframeHelpers.test.ts
index 354d47d76..4aa69a826 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineIframeHelpers.test.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineIframeHelpers.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // @vitest-environment jsdom
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import {
+  applyPreviewAudioFlags,
   buildMissingCompositionElements,
   scrubPreviewAudio,
   setPreviewMediaVolume,
@@ -87,3 +88,23 @@ describe("scrubPreviewAudio", () => {
     stopScrubPreviewAudio();
   });
 });
+
+describe("applyPreviewAudioFlags", () => {
+  // Everything pushed here is state the runtime loses on reload and nothing else
+  // re-sends, so the push has to carry all of it every time. Volume in
+  // particular: the transport comes back at unity, so a preview the author had
+  // turned down came back loud.
+  it("re-pushes mute and volume together", () => {
+    const iframe = document.createElement("iframe");
+    document.body.append(iframe);
+    const postMessage = vi.spyOn(iframe.contentWindow!, "postMessage");
+
+    applyPreviewAudioFlags(iframe, true, 0.4);
+
+    const actions = postMessage.mock.calls.map(
+      (call) => (call[0] as { action?: string }).action ?? "",
+    );
+    expect(actions).toContain("set-muted");
+    expect(actions).toContain("set-volume");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineIframeHelpers.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineIframeHelpers.ts
index 209acf2a6..c2845dff6 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineIframeHelpers.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/lib/timelineIframeHelpers.ts
@@ -142,6 +142,23 @@ export function setPreviewMediaVolume(iframe: HTMLIFrameElement | null, volume:
   } catch {}
 }
 
+/**
+ * Everything the preview runtime has to be told about audio after it loads.
+ * Called from `applyPreviewAudioState`, which is the path that re-runs after a
+ * preview reload — the runtime comes back with the transport at its defaults
+ * and nothing else pushes them again.
+ */
+export function applyPreviewAudioFlags(
+  iframe: HTMLIFrameElement | null,
+  muted: boolean,
+  volume: number,
+): void {
+  setPreviewMediaMuted(iframe, muted);
+  // Volume too: the transport comes back at unity after a reload, so a preview
+  // the author had turned down came back loud.
+  setPreviewMediaVolume(iframe, volume);
+}
+
 export function setPreviewPlaybackRate(
   iframe: HTMLIFrameElement | null,
   playbackRate: number,
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/store/keyframeSlice.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/store/keyframeSlice.ts
index 0e8a5b786..7732e3f3e 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/store/keyframeSlice.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/store/keyframeSlice.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,27 @@ export interface FocusedEaseSegment {
 
 type FocusedEaseSegmentTarget = Omit<FocusedEaseSegment, "projectId" | "sessionEpoch" | "nonce">;
 
+/**
+ * A request to reveal one automated parameter in the audio FX rack.
+ *
+ * `elementKey` is the timeline element whose rack it belongs to — a group's own
+ * id for a group lane, the clip's key otherwise — so the panel can refuse a
+ * request aimed at something it is not showing.
+ */
+export interface RevealedAudioFxTarget {
+  elementKey: string;
+  /** The lane's own `fx.<node>.<param>` / `volume` target. */
+  automationTarget: string;
+  projectId: string | null;
+  sessionEpoch: number;
+  nonce: number;
+}
+
+export type RevealedAudioFxTargetRequest = Omit<
+  RevealedAudioFxTarget,
+  "projectId" | "sessionEpoch" | "nonce"
+>;
+
 interface TimelineSessionIdentity {
   timelineProjectId: string | null;
   timelineSessionEpoch: number;
@@ -80,6 +101,19 @@ export interface KeyframeSlice {
   setFocusedEaseSegment: (target: FocusedEaseSegmentTarget) => void;
   clearFocusedEaseSegment: (nonce: number) => void;
 
+  /**
+   * "Show me this automated parameter in the rack" — raised by clicking an
+   * automation lane's label in the timeline, consumed by the property panel.
+   *
+   * Session-stamped and nonce-guarded exactly like `focusedEaseSegment`: a
+   * request outlives the click, so one made against a different project or
+   * before a reload must not reopen a rack on whatever is mounted later.
+   */
+  revealedAudioFxTarget: RevealedAudioFxTarget | null;
+  revealedAudioFxNonce: number;
+  setRevealedAudioFxTarget: (target: RevealedAudioFxTargetRequest) => void;
+  clearRevealedAudioFxTarget: (nonce: number) => void;
+
   /** Keyframe data per element id, populated from parsed GSAP animations. */
   keyframeCache: Map<string, KeyframeCacheEntry>;
   /** Unmerged source tweens per element; expanded property lanes read this, never keyframeCache. */
@@ -166,6 +200,27 @@ export function createKeyframeSlice(
         state.focusedEaseSegment?.nonce === nonce ? { focusedEaseSegment: null } : state,
       ),
 
+    revealedAudioFxTarget: null,
+    revealedAudioFxNonce: 0,
+    setRevealedAudioFxTarget: (target) =>
+      set((state) => {
+        const nonce = state.revealedAudioFxNonce + 1;
+        const { timelineProjectId, timelineSessionEpoch } = getTimelineSessionIdentity();
+        return {
+          revealedAudioFxNonce: nonce,
+          revealedAudioFxTarget: {
+            ...target,
+            projectId: timelineProjectId,
+            sessionEpoch: timelineSessionEpoch,
+            nonce,
+          },
+        };
+      }),
+    clearRevealedAudioFxTarget: (nonce) =>
+      set((state) =>
+        state.revealedAudioFxTarget?.nonce === nonce ? { revealedAudioFxTarget: null } : state,
+      ),
+
     keyframeCache: new Map(),
     setKeyframeCache: (elementId, data) =>
       set((state) => {
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/store/playerStore.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/store/playerStore.ts
index bc797f731..70654f139 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/store/playerStore.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/store/playerStore.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import { create } from "zustand";
+import { attachPlayerStoreDevHandle } from "./playerStoreDevHandle";
+import { nextSelectionSet, revealTargetsSelection } from "./playerStoreSelection";
 import type { MusicBeatAnalysis } from "@hyperframes/core/beats";
 import type { GsapAnimation } from "@hyperframes/core/gsap-parser";
 import type { BeatEditState } from "../../utils/beatEditing";
@@ -14,15 +16,15 @@ import {
   createAutomationSelectionSlice,
   type AutomationSelectionSlice,
 } from "./automationSelectionSlice";
+import { createEditingModeSlice, type EditingModeSlice } from "./editingModeSlice";
 import { createTimelineFocusRequest, type TimelineFocusRequest } from "./timelineFocusState";
 import { createThumbnailSlice, type ThumbnailSlice } from "./thumbnailSlice";
 import { createAudioSoloSlice, type AudioSoloSlice } from "./audioSoloSlice";
-import { createEditingModeSlice, type EditingModeSlice } from "./editingModeSlice";
 
 export type { KeyframeCacheEntry } from "./keyframeSlice";
 export { liveTime } from "./liveTime";
 
-import type { TimelineElement } from "./timelineElement";
+import type { TimelineElement, TimelineElementPatch } from "./timelineElement";
 
 export type { TimelineElement };
 export type ZoomMode = "fit" | "manual";
@@ -135,22 +137,7 @@ interface PlayerState
   setSelectedElementId: (id: string | null, options?: SelectElementOptions) => void;
   /** Move the selection anchor within an active multi-selection without collapsing it. */
   setSelectionAnchor: (id: string | null) => void;
-  updateElement: (
-    elementId: string,
-    updates: Partial<
-      Pick<
-        TimelineElement,
-        | "start"
-        | "duration"
-        | "track"
-        | "zIndex"
-        | "hasExplicitZIndex"
-        | "playbackStart"
-        | "hidden"
-        | "audioGroup"
-      >
-    >,
-  ) => void;
+  updateElement: (elementId: string, updates: TimelineElementPatch) => void;
   setZoomMode: (mode: ZoomMode) => void;
   setManualZoomPercent: (percent: number) => void;
   bumpZEditVersion: () => void;
@@ -241,6 +228,19 @@ export interface DomClipChild {
   hostId: string;
   label: string;
   stackingContextId: string;
+  /**
+   * The child's audio-group state, read off its live element during the DOM
+   * walk — the only place that sees it. A sub-composition can declare a group
+   * and its members entirely within itself, and those members never reach the
+   * flat store, so an expanded child has no twin to inherit membership from.
+   */
+  audioGroup?: string;
+  audioGroupLabel?: string;
+  audioGroupVolume?: number;
+  audioGroupHidden?: boolean;
+  audioGroupFxChain?: string;
+  /** The group element's `data-automation`, mirrored the same way. */
+  audioGroupAutomation?: string;
 }
 
 interface BeatHistoryEntry {
@@ -274,6 +274,7 @@ export function createTimelineResetState() {
     expandedGroupIds: new Set<string>(),
     expandedLaneOwnerIds: new Set<string>(),
     focusedEaseSegment: null,
+    revealedAudioFxTarget: null,
     selectedElementIds: new Set<string>(),
     requestedSeekTime: null,
     lintFindingsByElement: new Map<string, { count: number; messages: string[] }>(),
@@ -519,18 +520,23 @@ export const usePlayerStore = create<PlayerState>((set, get) => ({
   // echoes that must preserve a group go through setSelectionAnchor instead.
   setSelectedElementId: (id, options) =>
     set((s) => {
-      const preserveSet = Boolean(options?.preserveSet && id && s.selectedElementIds.has(id));
-      const selectedElementIds = preserveSet
-        ? new Set(s.selectedElementIds)
-        : options?.preserveSet
-          ? new Set<string>()
-          : id
-            ? new Set([id])
-            : new Set<string>();
+      const selectedElementIds = nextSelectionSet(s.selectedElementIds, id, options?.preserveSet);
       // Selecting a different element drops any active keyframe selection — otherwise
       // a stale activeKeyframePct from a prior diamond click would force the next drag
       // to "modify" a keyframe on the new element. A diamond click sets the pct AFTER
       // calling setSelectedElementId, so this never clobbers a genuine keyframe select.
+      // A reveal request survives the selection it is FOR. `openClipFxRack`
+      // raises the request and then selects the clip asynchronously, so the
+      // selection lands afterwards and used to clear the very request that
+      // caused it — the panel then read null and the section never opened.
+      // Any OTHER selection still drops it: a request aimed elsewhere is stale.
+      //
+      // Compared across the ID-SPACE BOUNDARY, which is why this needs saying:
+      // a request carries the BARE dom id (`runtimeAudioId`, because the panel
+      // and the runtime speak that), while this store's ids are
+      // `sourceFile#domId`. A direct `===` was silently never true — the exact
+      // shape of failure the id-space split produces.
+      const revealSurvives = revealTargetsSelection(s.revealedAudioFxTarget, id);
       return id !== s.selectedElementId
         ? {
             selectedElementId: id,
@@ -538,6 +544,7 @@ export const usePlayerStore = create<PlayerState>((set, get) => ({
             activeKeyframePct: null,
             motionPathArmed: false,
             focusedEaseSegment: null,
+            ...(revealSurvives ? {} : { revealedAudioFxTarget: null }),
           }
         : { selectedElementId: id, selectedElementIds };
     }),
@@ -579,15 +586,4 @@ export const usePlayerStore = create<PlayerState>((set, get) => ({
   reset: () => set(createTimelineResetState()),
 }));
 
-function isDevBuild(): boolean {
-  try {
-    return import.meta.env.DEV === true;
-  } catch {
-    // Turbopack and other non-Vite bundlers may not provide import.meta.env.
-    return false;
-  }
-}
-if (isDevBuild() && typeof window !== "undefined") {
-  // Console handle for dumping live Studio state during bug-bash reproduction.
-  (window as unknown as { __playerStore?: typeof usePlayerStore }).__playerStore = usePlayerStore;
-}
+attachPlayerStoreDevHandle(usePlayerStore);
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/store/playerStoreDevHandle.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/store/playerStoreDevHandle.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ee2c6fde9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/store/playerStoreDevHandle.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/**
+ * A console handle on the live store, dev builds only.
+ *
+ * Split out of `playerStore.ts` to keep it under the studio's 600-line cap. The
+ * dev check is its own function because `import.meta.env` is absent under
+ * Turbopack and other non-Vite bundlers, where reading it throws.
+ */
+
+function isDevBuild(): boolean {
+  try {
+    return import.meta.env.DEV === true;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+/** Expose `store` as `window.__playerStore` for dumping live Studio state
+ *  during bug-bash reproduction. No-op outside a dev build or a browser. */
+export function attachPlayerStoreDevHandle(store: unknown): void {
+  if (!isDevBuild() || typeof window === "undefined") return;
+  (window as unknown as { __playerStore?: unknown }).__playerStore = store;
+}
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/store/playerStoreSelection.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/store/playerStoreSelection.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ab514399b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/store/playerStoreSelection.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/**
+ * Selection-set arithmetic for the player store, and the reveal request's
+ * cross-id-space match.
+ *
+ * Its own module so `playerStore.ts` stays under the studio's 600-line cap.
+ */
+
+import { splitTimelineElementKey } from "../lib/timelineElementHelpers";
+
+/**
+ * The id set a selection change leaves behind.
+ *
+ * `preserveSet` means "keep the multi-selection if this id is already in it" —
+ * a DOM→store echo re-announcing a member must not collapse the set — and
+ * anything else is a genuine single selection.
+ */
+export function nextSelectionSet(
+  current: ReadonlySet<string>,
+  id: string | null,
+  preserveSet: boolean | undefined,
+): Set<string> {
+  if (preserveSet) return id && current.has(id) ? new Set(current) : new Set<string>();
+  return id ? new Set([id]) : new Set<string>();
+}
+
+/**
+ * Is a pending reveal request aimed at the element being selected?
+ *
+ * Compared across the ID-SPACE BOUNDARY, which is why it is a named function:
+ * a request carries the BARE dom id (`runtimeAudioId` — the panel and the
+ * runtime speak that), while the store's ids are `sourceFile#domId`. A direct
+ * `===` between the two is silently never true, which is the exact shape of
+ * failure the split produces and how the reveal came to be dead.
+ */
+export function revealTargetsSelection(
+  request: { elementKey: string } | null,
+  id: string | null,
+): boolean {
+  if (!request || id === null) return false;
+  return request.elementKey === splitTimelineElementKey(id).domId;
+}
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/player/store/timelineElement.ts b/packages/studio/src/player/store/timelineElement.ts
index 2564f16b8..76e40c13e 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/player/store/timelineElement.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/player/store/timelineElement.ts
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ export interface TimelineElement {
   audioGroupHidden?: boolean;
   /** The owning group's serialized `data-fx-chain`, when set — resolved once per parse. */
   audioGroupFxChain?: string;
+  audioGroupAutomation?: string;
   /**
    * Set by useExpandedTimelineElements on an inline-expanded sub-composition
    * child: the absolute master-timeline start of the sub-comp host the child
@@ -86,3 +87,34 @@ export interface TimelineElement {
   expandedParentStart?: number;
   expandedHostKey?: string;
 }
+
+/**
+ * The fields `updateElement` may write.
+ *
+ * Deliberately a narrow allow-list rather than `Partial<TimelineElement>`: most
+ * of an element is derived from the document at parse time, and letting a
+ * caller poke those would put the store out of step with the file it mirrors.
+ *
+ * The `audioGroup*` entries are the GROUP's state, mirrored onto every member —
+ * a group row derives its label, fader, mute and chain from these, so a group
+ * write has to be able to land here or the header goes on rendering whatever it
+ * parsed at load.
+ */
+export type TimelineElementPatch = Partial<
+  Pick<
+    TimelineElement,
+    | "start"
+    | "duration"
+    | "track"
+    | "zIndex"
+    | "hasExplicitZIndex"
+    | "playbackStart"
+    | "hidden"
+    | "audioGroup"
+    | "audioGroupLabel"
+    | "audioGroupVolume"
+    | "audioGroupHidden"
+    | "audioGroupFxChain"
+    | "audioGroupAutomation"
+  >
+>;
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineInspector.test.ts b/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineInspector.test.ts
index 318f3cbb0..fb5cef015 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineInspector.test.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineInspector.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
+// @vitest-environment happy-dom
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { isAudioTimelineElement, isMusicTrack, resolveBeatSourceTrack } from "./timelineInspector";
+import {
+  canHideSelections,
+  isAudioDomElement,
+  isAudioTimelineElement,
+  isMusicTrack,
+  resolveBeatSourceTrack,
+} from "./timelineInspector";
 import type { TimelineElement } from "../player";
 
 // Minimal element factory for tests
@@ -119,3 +126,30 @@ describe("resolveBeatSourceTrack", () => {
     expect(result!.isFallback).toBe(true);
   });
 });
+
+describe("isAudioDomElement / canHideSelections", () => {
+  const el = (tag: string, src?: string): Element => {
+    const node = document.createElement(tag);
+    if (src) node.setAttribute("src", src);
+    return node;
+  };
+
+  it("agrees with isAudioTimelineElement about tags and source extensions", () => {
+    expect(isAudioDomElement(el("audio"))).toBe(true);
+    expect(isAudioDomElement(el("div", "narration.mp3"))).toBe(true);
+    expect(isAudioDomElement(el("div"))).toBe(false);
+    expect(isAudioDomElement(null)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("counts a group bus as audio, the way the single-selection panel does", () => {
+    expect(isAudioDomElement(el("hf-audio-group"))).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  // `data-hidden` on audio is what mutes it — preview silences it and the render
+  // drops it from the mix. A control labelled "Hide all" must not reach that.
+  it("refuses to hide a selection holding any audio, and allows a layout one", () => {
+    expect(canHideSelections([{ element: el("div") }, { element: el("span") }])).toBe(true);
+    expect(canHideSelections([{ element: el("div") }, { element: el("audio") }])).toBe(false);
+    expect(canHideSelections([{ element: el("hf-audio-group") }])).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineInspector.ts b/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineInspector.ts
index 4a33e8fc2..af4b053b9 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineInspector.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/utils/timelineInspector.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,30 @@
+import { HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG } from "@hyperframes/core/audio-groups";
 import type { TimelineElement } from "../player";
 
 const AUDIO_TIMELINE_TAGS = new Set(["audio", "music", "sfx", "sound", "narration"]);
 const AUDIO_SOURCE_EXT_RE = /\.(aac|flac|m4a|mp3|ogg|opus|wav)(?:[?#].*)?$/i;
 const MUSIC_ID_RE = /\b(music|bgm|soundtrack|background[-_]?music)\b/i;
 
+/**
+ * Is this DOM node an audio clip, judged the way `isAudioTimelineElement`
+ * judges a timeline element?
+ *
+ * The selection layer holds real elements rather than timeline records, and
+ * layout grouping is decided there — so it needs the same question asked of a
+ * node. Same tag set and same source-extension fallback, so the two cannot
+ * drift into disagreeing about what counts as audio.
+ */
+export function isAudioDomElement(node: Element | null | undefined): boolean {
+  if (!node) return false;
+  // A group bus counts: it is audio-only, and the panel's single-select path
+  // already treats `<hf-audio-group>` as audio for exactly these decisions.
+  if (node.tagName.toLowerCase() === HF_AUDIO_GROUP_TAG) return true;
+  return isAudioTimelineElement({
+    tag: node.tagName,
+    src: node.getAttribute("src") ?? undefined,
+  });
+}
+
 export function isAudioTimelineElement(
   element: Pick<TimelineElement, "tag" | "src"> | null | undefined,
 ): boolean {
@@ -60,3 +81,20 @@ export function resolveBeatSourceTrack(
   }
   return best ? { element: best, isFallback: true } : null;
 }
+
+/**
+ * May this multi-selection be hidden as one action?
+ *
+ * Audio has no visual to hide, and `data-hidden` on an audio element is what
+ * MUTES it — preview silences it and the render drops it from the mix. The
+ * timeline withholds the eye on an audio track for that reason
+ * (`visible={!isAudioTrack}`), and the single-selection panel gates the same
+ * write on `audioSelection`. The multi-selection "Hide all" was the one path
+ * left back to it, on a control whose label promises visibility.
+ *
+ * A shared predicate rather than a check in the handler so the panel's button
+ * and the handler's refusal cannot disagree — the button is not the only caller.
+ */
+export function canHideSelections(selections: readonly { element?: Element | null }[]): boolean {
+  return !selections.some((selection) => isAudioDomElement(selection.element));
+}