diff --git a/clients/apple/Config/Info.plist b/clients/apple/Config/Info.plist
index 93224825..287533e8 100644
--- a/clients/apple/Config/Info.plist
+++ b/clients/apple/Config/Info.plist
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@
 	<array>
 		<string>_punktfunk._udp</string>
 	</array>
+	<!-- NOTE: there is deliberately NO NSAppTransportSecurity dict here. ATS stays fully ON.
+	     The host is self-signed at a user-supplied address, which default ATS can never accept
+	     (it exempts only .local, unqualified names, and RFC1918/link-local literals — notably NOT
+	     Tailscale's 100.64/10 CGNAT range), so the management API talks over MgmtTransport
+	     (Network.framework), which is outside the URL loading system and pins the host by
+	     SHA-256 fingerprint instead. That leaves cover-art CDN fetches as the app's only
+	     URLSession traffic, and they keep the full ATS policy — which is the whole reason not to
+	     reach for NSAllowsArbitraryLoads here. See MgmtTransport.swift. -->
 	<!-- Background keep-alive (opt-in, iOS/iPadOS): the ONLY sanctioned way to keep the long-lived
 	     QUIC socket + pump-thread set alive while backgrounded is the audio background mode, backed
 	     by the session's real, audible remote audio (AVAudioEngine keeps rendering). Video decode is
diff --git a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryCoverflowView.swift b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryCoverflowView.swift
index 509d3fc8..b2fbe2cc 100644
--- a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryCoverflowView.swift
+++ b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryCoverflowView.swift
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import GameController
 struct LibraryCoverflowView: View {
     @Environment(\.gamepadInk) private var ink
     let games: [GameEntry]
-    let imageSession: URLSession?
+    let artLoader: LibraryArtLoader?
     var onLaunch: ((String) -> Void)?
     /// Button B (back) — dismisses the library screen. No touch equivalent needed here (the toolbar
     /// Close button already covers that); this is what makes gamepad-only exit possible.
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ struct LibraryCoverflowView: View {
         _ game: GameEntry, width: CGFloat, height: CGFloat, entrance: CardEntrance
     ) -> some View {
         PosterImage(
-            candidates: game.art.posterCandidates, title: game.title, session: imageSession,
+            candidates: game.art.posterCandidates, title: game.title, loader: artLoader,
             onLoaded: { artSettled += 1 })
             .frame(width: width, height: height)
             .clipShape(RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 16, style: .continuous))
diff --git a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryView.swift b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryView.swift
index 13efdf4e..156f599b 100644
--- a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryView.swift
+++ b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryView.swift
@@ -24,10 +24,9 @@ struct LibraryView: View {
     @State private var games: [GameEntry] = []
     @State private var loading = false
     @State private var errorText: String?
-    /// Authenticated session for cover-art fetches (the same paired identity + host pinning as the
-    /// list fetch, reused across every poster in the grid). Built alongside `games` in `load()`;
-    /// torn down on disappear since it isn't one-shot like `LibraryClient.fetch`'s own session.
-    @State private var imageSession: URLSession?
+    /// Cover-art loader (the same paired identity + host pinning as the list fetch, reused across
+    /// every poster in the grid). Built alongside `games` in `load()`; dropped on disappear.
+    @State private var artLoader: LibraryArtLoader?
     #if os(iOS) || os(macOS) || os(tvOS)
     // Gamepad-driven browsing — see ContentView's identical gate. With no controller (or the
     // setting off) every platform keeps the plain-grid presentation of this same view.
@@ -62,8 +61,11 @@ struct LibraryView: View {
             }
             .task { await load() }
             .onDisappear {
-                imageSession?.finishTasksAndInvalidate()
-                imageSession = nil
+                // Hand the loader off before clearing it, so its pooled connections are closed
+                // rather than left open on a screen the user has left.
+                let leaving = artLoader
+                artLoader = nil
+                Task { await leaving?.close() }
             }
             #if os(iOS) || os(macOS)
             // B closes the library even before the coverflow exists (loading / error / empty):
@@ -89,7 +91,7 @@ struct LibraryView: View {
         } else {
             if gamepadUIActive {
                 LibraryCoverflowView(
-                    games: games, imageSession: imageSession, onLaunch: onLaunch,
+                    games: games, artLoader: artLoader, onLaunch: onLaunch,
                     onDismiss: { (onClose ?? { dismiss() })() },
                     controllerActive: controllerActive)
             } else {
@@ -124,10 +126,10 @@ struct LibraryView: View {
         LazyVGrid(columns: columns, spacing: 18) {
             ForEach(entries) { game in
                 if let onLaunch {
-                    Button { onLaunch(game.id) } label: { GameCard(game: game, imageSession: imageSession) }
+                    Button { onLaunch(game.id) } label: { GameCard(game: game, artLoader: artLoader) }
                         .buttonStyle(.plain)
                 } else {
-                    GameCard(game: game, imageSession: imageSession)
+                    GameCard(game: game, artLoader: artLoader)
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -206,8 +208,7 @@ struct LibraryView: View {
                 keyPEM: identity.keyPEM,
                 hostFingerprint: current.pinnedSHA256
             ).launchersFirst
-            imageSession?.finishTasksAndInvalidate()
-            imageSession = try LibraryImageLoader.session(
+            artLoader = try LibraryArtLoader(
                 address: current.address,
                 port: current.effectiveMgmtPort,
                 certPEM: identity.certPEM,
@@ -249,11 +250,11 @@ private struct LibraryBackCatcher: View {
 /// (portrait → header → hero) and finally a text placeholder.
 private struct GameCard: View {
     let game: GameEntry
-    let imageSession: URLSession?
+    let artLoader: LibraryArtLoader?
 
     var body: some View {
         VStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 6) {
-            PosterImage(candidates: game.art.posterCandidates, title: game.title, session: imageSession)
+            PosterImage(candidates: game.art.posterCandidates, title: game.title, loader: artLoader)
                 .aspectRatio(2.0 / 3.0, contentMode: .fit)
                 .frame(maxWidth: .infinity)
                 .clipShape(RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 10, style: .continuous))
diff --git a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryWidgets.swift b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryWidgets.swift
index 86d577ac..0048da24 100644
--- a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryWidgets.swift
+++ b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkClient/Home/LibraryWidgets.swift
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ private extension Image {
     }
 }
 
-/// Sequentially tries cover-art URLs over `session` (so a paired client can reach the host's own
-/// art proxy, not just public CDNs — see `LibraryImageLoader`), advancing past any that fail to
+/// Sequentially tries cover-art URLs over `loader` (so a paired client can reach the host's own
+/// art proxy, not just public CDNs — see `LibraryArtLoader`), advancing past any that fail to
 /// load, then a placeholder. The loaded image is hard-clipped to fill the card's actual frame
 /// regardless of its own aspect ratio: a portrait capsule fills it as intended, but a fallback
 /// banner (wide hero/header art, used when a title has no portrait capsule) would otherwise report
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ private extension Image {
 struct PosterImage: View {
     let candidates: [URL]
     let title: String
-    let session: URLSession?
+    let loader: LibraryArtLoader?
     /// Fires once this poster has settled — art loaded, or every candidate exhausted and the
     /// placeholder is what it will be. The gamepad coverflow waits on a few of these before
     /// playing its entrance, so the cards swing in carrying artwork rather than grey rectangles.
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ struct PosterImage: View {
             onLoaded?()
             return
         }
-        guard let session, let data = try? await session.data(from: candidates[index]).0,
+        guard let loader, let data = try? await loader.data(for: candidates[index]),
               let loaded = PlatformImage(data: data)
         else {
             index += 1 // advance to the next candidate (or past the end → placeholder)
diff --git a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/ArtCache.swift b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/ArtCache.swift
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5953be03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/ArtCache.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+// On-disk cache for library cover art.
+//
+// Posters are the bulk of what the library screen transfers and they essentially never change, so
+// re-fetching them on every visit is pure waste — the Windows client has cached them on disk for
+// this reason and Apple did not. It matters more now that host art rides `MgmtTransport`: a cache
+// hit costs no connection at all.
+//
+// Lives in the CACHES directory on purpose: every byte here is re-derivable from the host, so the
+// system is welcome to evict it under storage pressure. Entries are keyed by the SHA-256 of the
+// absolute URL, which covers both host-proxy paths and store CDN URLs without either colliding.
+//
+// Deliberately free of any Network.framework / PunktfunkCore dependency, so it can be unit-tested
+// against a temporary directory.
+
+import CryptoKit
+import Foundation
+
+/// A size- and age-bounded blob cache. An actor so disk work stays off whichever thread the
+/// SwiftUI poster view happens to be on, and so pruning can never race a write.
+actor ArtCache {
+    private let directory: URL
+    private let maxBytes: Int
+    private let maxAge: TimeInterval
+    private let fileManager = FileManager.default
+
+    /// `directory` is created on demand. Defaults: 128 MB — a 200-title library of 600×900
+    /// capsules lands far under that — and 30 days, which only matters for art a host later
+    /// replaces.
+    init(directory: URL, maxBytes: Int = 128 * 1024 * 1024, maxAge: TimeInterval = 30 * 24 * 3600) {
+        self.directory = directory
+        self.maxBytes = maxBytes
+        self.maxAge = maxAge
+    }
+
+    /// The app's standard location, or nil if the caches directory is unavailable (in which case
+    /// callers simply run without a cache rather than failing).
+    static func standard() -> ArtCache? {
+        guard let caches = FileManager.default.urls(
+            for: .cachesDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first
+        else { return nil }
+        return ArtCache(directory: caches.appendingPathComponent("PunktfunkArt", isDirectory: true))
+    }
+
+    func data(for url: URL) -> Data? {
+        let file = path(for: url)
+        guard let data = try? Data(contentsOf: file) else { return nil }
+        // Age out stale art rather than serving it forever.
+        if let modified = modificationDate(of: file), Date().timeIntervalSince(modified) > maxAge {
+            try? fileManager.removeItem(at: file)
+            return nil
+        }
+        // Touch, so eviction can order by last USE rather than last write.
+        try? fileManager.setAttributes([.modificationDate: Date()], ofItemAtPath: file.path)
+        return data
+    }
+
+    func store(_ data: Data, for url: URL) {
+        // An empty body is not art, and a `data:` URL is already inline — caching either is a
+        // pure loss.
+        guard !data.isEmpty, url.scheme?.lowercased() != "data" else { return }
+        do {
+            try fileManager.createDirectory(at: directory, withIntermediateDirectories: true)
+            try data.write(to: path(for: url), options: .atomic)
+        } catch {
+            return // a cache that can't write is a slow cache, not a broken app
+        }
+        prune()
+    }
+
+    /// Drop the oldest entries until the directory fits the budget. Also removes anything past
+    /// `maxAge` so a cache that is under budget still doesn't hoard stale art forever.
+    func prune() {
+        let keys: [URLResourceKey] = [.contentModificationDateKey, .fileSizeKey]
+        guard let entries = try? fileManager.contentsOfDirectory(
+            at: directory, includingPropertiesForKeys: keys, options: .skipsHiddenFiles)
+        else { return }
+
+        var files: [(url: URL, date: Date, size: Int)] = []
+        var total = 0
+        let now = Date()
+        for entry in entries {
+            let values = try? entry.resourceValues(forKeys: Set(keys))
+            let date = values?.contentModificationDate ?? .distantPast
+            let size = values?.fileSize ?? 0
+            if now.timeIntervalSince(date) > maxAge {
+                try? fileManager.removeItem(at: entry)
+                continue
+            }
+            files.append((entry, date, size))
+            total += size
+        }
+        guard total > maxBytes else { return }
+
+        // Oldest first — `data(for:)` touches on read, so this is least-recently-USED.
+        for file in files.sorted(by: { $0.date < $1.date }) {
+            guard total > maxBytes else { break }
+            try? fileManager.removeItem(at: file.url)
+            total -= file.size
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Wipe the cache — for a "clear cached data" affordance, and for tests.
+    func clear() {
+        try? fileManager.removeItem(at: directory)
+    }
+
+    private func path(for url: URL) -> URL {
+        let digest = SHA256.hash(data: Data(url.absoluteString.utf8))
+        let name = digest.map { String(format: "%02x", $0) }.joined()
+        return directory.appendingPathComponent(name, isDirectory: false)
+    }
+
+    private func modificationDate(of file: URL) -> Date? {
+        (try? file.resourceValues(forKeys: [.contentModificationDateKey]))?.contentModificationDate
+    }
+}
diff --git a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/ClientTLS.swift b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/ClientTLS.swift
index 28bdc499..e52888ee 100644
--- a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/ClientTLS.swift
+++ b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/ClientTLS.swift
@@ -18,9 +18,6 @@
 import CryptoKit
 import Foundation
 import Security
-import os
-
-private let tlsLog = Logger(subsystem: "io.unom.punktfunk", category: "library-tls")
 
 enum ClientTLS {
     enum TLSError: LocalizedError {
@@ -134,62 +131,8 @@ enum ClientTLS {
     }
 }
 
-/// URLSession delegate that pins the host's self-signed cert (by the fingerprint the client
-/// already trusts) and presents the client identity for the mTLS client-cert challenge — but ONLY
-/// for challenges from `host`:`port` (the punktfunk host itself). A session built with this
-/// delegate is safe to reuse for OTHER origins too (e.g. a GOG/Heroic/Xbox cover-art CDN): a
-/// non-matching origin falls through to `.performDefaultHandling`, i.e. normal system trust
-/// evaluation and no client cert — exactly what `URLSession.shared` would have done. Without the
-/// host scoping, pinning would reject every external origin's cert (its fingerprint never matches
-/// the host's) and the client identity would leak to servers that didn't ask for it.
-final class LibraryTLSDelegate: NSObject, URLSessionDelegate {
-    private let identity: SecIdentity
-    private let pinnedHostFingerprint: Data? // SHA-256 of the host cert DER; nil = accept any (TOFU)
-    private let host: String
-    private let port: Int
-
-    init(identity: SecIdentity, pinnedHostFingerprint: Data?, host: String, port: UInt16) {
-        self.identity = identity
-        self.pinnedHostFingerprint = pinnedHostFingerprint
-        self.host = host
-        self.port = Int(port)
-    }
-
-    func urlSession(
-        _ session: URLSession,
-        didReceive challenge: URLAuthenticationChallenge,
-        completionHandler: @escaping (URLSession.AuthChallengeDisposition, URLCredential?) -> Void
-    ) {
-        let space = challenge.protectionSpace
-        guard space.host == host, space.port == port else {
-            completionHandler(.performDefaultHandling, nil)
-            return
-        }
-        switch space.authenticationMethod {
-        case NSURLAuthenticationMethodServerTrust:
-            // Pin the host cert by fingerprint — the host is self-signed (the client trusts it the
-            // same way the QUIC session does). No pin yet (TOFU) → accept the presented leaf.
-            guard let trust = space.serverTrust,
-                  let leaf = (SecTrustCopyCertificateChain(trust) as? [SecCertificate])?.first
-            else {
-                completionHandler(.cancelAuthenticationChallenge, nil)
-                return
-            }
-            let der = SecCertificateCopyData(leaf) as Data
-            let fp = Data(SHA256.hash(data: der))
-            if let pinned = pinnedHostFingerprint, pinned != fp {
-                tlsLog.warning("library: host cert fingerprint mismatch — refusing")
-                completionHandler(.cancelAuthenticationChallenge, nil)
-                return
-            }
-            completionHandler(.useCredential, URLCredential(trust: trust))
-
-        case NSURLAuthenticationMethodClientCertificate:
-            completionHandler(.useCredential,
-                URLCredential(identity: identity, certificates: nil, persistence: .forSession))
-
-        default:
-            completionHandler(.performDefaultHandling, nil)
-        }
-    }
-}
+// The URLSession pinning delegate that used to live here is gone: the management API now speaks
+// over `MgmtTransport` (Network.framework), which states the same trust rule in a
+// `sec_protocol_options_set_verify_block` and — unlike the URL loading system — is not subject to
+// App Transport Security. That is what lets ATS stay ON for the cover-art CDN fetches, which are
+// the only URLSession traffic left in the app. See MgmtTransport.swift for the full rationale.
diff --git a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/HTTPResponse.swift b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/HTTPResponse.swift
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ae61ea8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/HTTPResponse.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
+// Minimal HTTP/1.1 response parsing for `MgmtTransport`.
+//
+// We speak HTTP ourselves because the management API has to be reached OUTSIDE the URL loading
+// system: App Transport Security applies to URLSession and cannot be relaxed for the arbitrary,
+// user-supplied addresses a punktfunk host lives at (see MgmtTransport for the full story). What
+// we need is GETs against one host, so this covers exactly that and nothing more — no redirects,
+// no request bodies, no content negotiation.
+//
+// It does need to find where a response ENDS without waiting for the peer to hang up, because the
+// connection is reused across a grid's worth of poster fetches (`messageLength`). Both framings
+// hyper emits are handled: `Content-Length`, and `Transfer-Encoding: chunked` for the art proxy.
+//
+// Deliberately free of any Network.framework / PunktfunkCore dependency: pure bytes-in,
+// value-out, so it can be unit-tested (and typechecked) on its own.
+
+import Foundation
+
+/// A parsed HTTP/1.1 response. `headers` keys are lowercased, so lookups are case-insensitive the
+/// way the grammar requires.
+struct HTTPResponse: Sendable {
+    let status: Int
+    let headers: [String: String]
+    let body: Data
+
+    func header(_ name: String) -> String? { headers[name.lowercased()] }
+
+    /// Did the peer ask to close? HTTP/1.1 keeps the connection open unless it says otherwise.
+    var wantsClose: Bool {
+        header("connection")?.lowercased().contains("close") ?? false
+    }
+}
+
+enum HTTPParseError: Error, Sendable {
+    /// The header block never terminated, or the body is shorter than `Content-Length` promised —
+    /// i.e. the peer hung up mid-response. Never surface a truncated body as success: a clipped
+    /// JSON array would read as "this host has no games" rather than as the failure it is.
+    case truncated
+    case malformedStatusLine
+    case malformedHeader
+    case malformedChunk
+}
+
+enum HTTPResponseParser {
+    /// Byte length of the first complete response in `raw`, or nil when more bytes are needed.
+    ///
+    /// Also nil when the response carries no framing header at all, since then the body runs
+    /// until the peer closes and has no knowable length — a connection that answers that way
+    /// cannot be reused.
+    static func messageLength(in raw: Data) throws -> Int? {
+        let b = [UInt8](raw)
+        guard let head = try parseHead(b) else { return nil }
+        if head.headers["transfer-encoding"]?.lowercased().contains("chunked") == true {
+            return try chunkedEnd(b, from: head.bodyStart)
+        }
+        if let field = head.headers["content-length"] {
+            guard let length = Int(field.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces)), length >= 0 else {
+                throw HTTPParseError.malformedHeader
+            }
+            let end = head.bodyStart + length
+            return b.count >= end ? end : nil
+        }
+        return nil // framed by connection close
+    }
+
+    /// Parse one complete response. `raw` must hold exactly one message (use `messageLength` to
+    /// slice it) or, for a close-framed response, everything read up to EOF.
+    static func parse(_ raw: Data) throws -> HTTPResponse {
+        let b = [UInt8](raw)
+        guard let head = try parseHead(b) else { throw HTTPParseError.truncated }
+        let rest = Data(b[head.bodyStart...])
+        let body: Data
+        if head.headers["transfer-encoding"]?.lowercased().contains("chunked") == true {
+            body = try decodeChunked(rest)
+        } else if let field = head.headers["content-length"] {
+            guard let length = Int(field.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces)), length >= 0 else {
+                throw HTTPParseError.malformedHeader
+            }
+            guard rest.count >= length else { throw HTTPParseError.truncated }
+            body = rest.prefix(length)
+        } else {
+            body = rest // framed by connection close: what we read is what there is
+        }
+        return HTTPResponse(status: head.status, headers: head.headers, body: body)
+    }
+
+    private struct Head {
+        let status: Int
+        let headers: [String: String]
+        /// Offset of the first body byte (just past the CRLFCRLF).
+        let bodyStart: Int
+    }
+
+    /// Status line + header block, or nil if the block hasn't fully arrived.
+    private static func parseHead(_ b: [UInt8]) throws -> Head? {
+        guard let headEnd = findHeaderEnd(b) else { return nil }
+        let text = String(decoding: b[0..<headEnd], as: UTF8.self)
+        var lines = text.components(separatedBy: "\r\n")
+        guard !lines.isEmpty else { throw HTTPParseError.malformedStatusLine }
+
+        // "HTTP/1.1 200 OK" — the reason phrase is optional and ignored.
+        let statusLine = lines.removeFirst().split(separator: " ", maxSplits: 2,
+                                                   omittingEmptySubsequences: false)
+        guard statusLine.count >= 2, statusLine[0].hasPrefix("HTTP/"),
+              let status = Int(statusLine[1])
+        else { throw HTTPParseError.malformedStatusLine }
+
+        var headers: [String: String] = [:]
+        for line in lines where !line.isEmpty {
+            // A leading space/tab marks an obsolete folded continuation line. Nothing we talk to
+            // emits them, and silently mis-parsing one as a field is worse than refusing it.
+            guard !line.hasPrefix(" "), !line.hasPrefix("\t"),
+                  let colon = line.firstIndex(of: ":")
+            else { throw HTTPParseError.malformedHeader }
+            let name = String(line[line.startIndex..<colon]).lowercased()
+            let value = String(line[line.index(after: colon)...])
+                .trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces)
+            // Repeated fields join with ", " per RFC 9110; none of ours repeat, but dropping one
+            // silently would be a lie.
+            headers[name] = headers[name].map { "\($0), \(value)" } ?? value
+        }
+        return Head(status: status, headers: headers, bodyStart: headEnd + 4)
+    }
+
+    /// Index just past the CRLFCRLF that ends the header block.
+    private static func findHeaderEnd(_ b: [UInt8]) -> Int? {
+        guard b.count >= 4 else { return nil }
+        for i in 0...(b.count - 4) where b[i] == 0x0D && b[i + 1] == 0x0A
+            && b[i + 2] == 0x0D && b[i + 3] == 0x0A {
+            return i
+        }
+        return nil
+    }
+
+    /// Offset just past a complete chunked body (terminal chunk plus any trailers), or nil if it
+    /// hasn't all arrived.
+    private static func chunkedEnd(_ b: [UInt8], from start: Int) throws -> Int? {
+        var i = start
+        while true {
+            guard let lineEnd = findCRLF(b, from: i) else { return nil }
+            guard let size = chunkSize(b, i, lineEnd) else { throw HTTPParseError.malformedChunk }
+            i = lineEnd + 2
+            if size == 0 {
+                // Terminal chunk. Trailers (if any) run to the next empty line.
+                var j = i
+                while true {
+                    guard let end = findCRLF(b, from: j) else { return nil }
+                    if end == j { return j + 2 }
+                    j = end + 2
+                }
+            }
+            guard i + size + 2 <= b.count else { return nil }
+            i += size + 2 // payload plus its trailing CRLF
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// `Transfer-Encoding: chunked` decoding. hyper streams the art proxy this way, so this is a
+    /// live path, not defensive dead code.
+    static func decodeChunked(_ data: Data) throws -> Data {
+        let b = [UInt8](data)
+        var i = 0
+        var out = Data()
+        while true {
+            guard let lineEnd = findCRLF(b, from: i) else { throw HTTPParseError.malformedChunk }
+            guard let size = chunkSize(b, i, lineEnd) else { throw HTTPParseError.malformedChunk }
+            i = lineEnd + 2
+            if size == 0 { return out } // terminal chunk; trailers are ignored
+            guard i + size <= b.count else { throw HTTPParseError.malformedChunk }
+            out.append(contentsOf: b[i..<(i + size)])
+            i += size
+            guard i + 1 < b.count, b[i] == 0x0D, b[i + 1] == 0x0A else {
+                throw HTTPParseError.malformedChunk
+            }
+            i += 2
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// "1a" or "1a;ext=value" → 26. Nil if it isn't a hex size.
+    private static func chunkSize(_ b: [UInt8], _ from: Int, _ to: Int) -> Int? {
+        let field = String(decoding: b[from..<to], as: UTF8.self)
+            .split(separator: ";", maxSplits: 1, omittingEmptySubsequences: false)[0]
+            .trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces)
+        guard let size = Int(field, radix: 16), size >= 0 else { return nil }
+        return size
+    }
+
+    private static func findCRLF(_ b: [UInt8], from: Int) -> Int? {
+        guard from >= 0, b.count >= 2 else { return nil }
+        var i = from
+        while i + 1 < b.count {
+            if b[i] == 0x0D && b[i + 1] == 0x0A { return i }
+            i += 1
+        }
+        return nil
+    }
+}
diff --git a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/LibraryClient.swift b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/LibraryClient.swift
index b7024989..91e0035c 100644
--- a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/LibraryClient.swift
+++ b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/LibraryClient.swift
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ public extension Array where Element == GameEntry {
 /// Errors surfaced to the UI so it can guide setup (the common case is "not paired yet").
 public enum LibraryError: LocalizedError {
     case unauthorized
+    /// The host's certificate didn't hash to the fingerprint pinned at pairing — an impostor, or
+    /// a host reinstalled/re-keyed since. Distinct from `unreachable` because the remedy is
+    /// completely different: re-pair, don't go hunting the network.
+    case pinMismatch
     case http(Int)
     case unreachable(String)
 
@@ -91,12 +95,22 @@ public enum LibraryError: LocalizedError {
         case .unauthorized:
             return "The host didn't recognize this device. Pair with the host first — it "
                 + "authorizes paired clients by their certificate (no token needed)."
+        case .pinMismatch:
+            return "The host's certificate doesn't match the one this device paired with. "
+                + "If the host was reinstalled, forget it here and pair again."
         case .http(let code):
             return "The management API returned HTTP \(code)."
         case .unreachable(let why):
-            return "Couldn't reach the host's management API: \(why). It binds the LAN by default, "
-                + "so check the host is updated and reachable (a host pinned to "
-                + "`--mgmt-bind 127.0.0.1` is loopback-only and can't be browsed remotely)."
+            // The library rides a DIFFERENT port than the stream (the management API, 47990 by
+            // default; the stream is QUIC on 9777), so it can fail while streaming to the same
+            // host works perfectly — say that first, because the opposite assumption has sent
+            // more than one person hunting the wrong layer. Opening that URL in a browser is the
+            // fastest way to tell "port unreachable" apart from anything client-side.
+            return "Couldn't reach the host's management API: \(why). The library uses a "
+                + "different port than the stream (47990 by default), so streaming can work "
+                + "while this doesn't. Check that port is reachable from this device, and that "
+                + "the host isn't pinned to `--mgmt-bind 127.0.0.1`, which serves it to the "
+                + "host itself only."
         }
     }
 }
@@ -115,47 +129,66 @@ public enum LibraryClient {
         keyPEM: String,
         hostFingerprint: Data?
     ) async throws -> [GameEntry] {
-        guard let url = URL(string: "https://\(address):\(port)/api/v1/library") else {
-            throw LibraryError.unreachable("invalid host address")
-        }
-        let identity: SecIdentity
-        do {
-            identity = try ClientTLS.makeIdentity(certPEM: certPEM, keyPEM: keyPEM)
-        } catch {
-            throw LibraryError.unreachable(
-                (error as? LocalizedError)?.errorDescription ?? error.localizedDescription)
-        }
-        let delegate = LibraryTLSDelegate(
-            identity: identity, pinnedHostFingerprint: hostFingerprint, host: address, port: port)
-        let session = URLSession(configuration: .ephemeral, delegate: delegate, delegateQueue: nil)
-        defer { session.finishTasksAndInvalidate() }
-
-        let req = URLRequest(url: url, timeoutInterval: 10)
-        let (data, response): (Data, URLResponse)
-        do {
-            (data, response) = try await session.data(for: req)
-        } catch {
-            throw LibraryError.unreachable(error.localizedDescription)
-        }
-        guard let http = response as? HTTPURLResponse else {
-            throw LibraryError.unreachable("not an HTTP response")
-        }
-        switch http.statusCode {
+        guard let base = URL(string: "\(baseURL(address: address, port: port))/api/v1/library")
+        else { throw LibraryError.unreachable("invalid host address") }
+        let identity = try clientIdentity(certPEM: certPEM, keyPEM: keyPEM)
+        let response = try await send(
+            path: "/api/v1/library", address: address, port: port,
+            identity: identity, hostFingerprint: hostFingerprint)
+        switch response.status {
         case 200:
-            var games = try JSONDecoder().decode([GameEntry].self, from: data)
-            // Steam art now comes back as host-relative proxy paths (`/api/v1/library/art/...`,
-            // see the host's `library::steam_art`) so they work the same regardless of which
+            var games = try JSONDecoder().decode([GameEntry].self, from: response.body)
+            // Steam art comes back as host-relative proxy paths (`/api/v1/library/art/...`, see
+            // the host's `library::steam_art`) so they work the same regardless of which
             // interface/port the client reached the host on. Resolve them against THIS host now,
             // so every other consumer just sees ordinary absolute URLs.
-            let base = url
             for i in games.indices {
                 games[i].art = games[i].art.resolved(against: base)
             }
             return games
-        case 401:
+        // 403 joins 401 here: both are the host declining this certificate, and the remedy the
+        // user needs is the same one.
+        case 401, 403:
             throw LibraryError.unauthorized
         default:
-            throw LibraryError.http(http.statusCode)
+            throw LibraryError.http(response.status)
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// `https://addr:port`, IPv6 literals bracketed — the mirror of the Rust client's `base_url`.
+    static func baseURL(address: String, port: UInt16) -> String {
+        let bare = address.hasPrefix("[") && address.hasSuffix("]")
+            ? String(address.dropFirst().dropLast()) : address
+        return bare.contains(":") ? "https://[\(bare)]:\(port)" : "https://\(bare):\(port)"
+    }
+
+    /// Build the paired identity, restating any keychain failure in the UI's vocabulary.
+    static func clientIdentity(certPEM: String, keyPEM: String) throws -> SecIdentity {
+        do {
+            return try ClientTLS.makeIdentity(certPEM: certPEM, keyPEM: keyPEM)
+        } catch {
+            throw LibraryError.unreachable(
+                (error as? LocalizedError)?.errorDescription ?? error.localizedDescription)
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// One GET against the host, with transport failures mapped onto `LibraryError`.
+    static func send(
+        path: String, address: String, port: UInt16,
+        identity: SecIdentity, hostFingerprint: Data?
+    ) async throws -> HTTPResponse {
+        do {
+            return try await MgmtTransport.get(
+                host: address, port: port, path: path,
+                identity: identity, pinnedHostFingerprint: hostFingerprint)
+        } catch MgmtTransportError.pinMismatch {
+            throw LibraryError.pinMismatch
+        } catch MgmtTransportError.timedOut {
+            throw LibraryError.unreachable("timed out")
+        } catch let error as MgmtTransportError {
+            throw LibraryError.unreachable(String(describing: error))
+        } catch {
+            throw LibraryError.unreachable(error.localizedDescription)
         }
     }
 }
@@ -179,23 +212,77 @@ extension Artwork {
     }
 }
 
-/// Builds the authenticated `URLSession` the library UI uses to fetch cover-art images — the same
-/// paired identity + host pinning as [`LibraryClient.fetch`], reused across a whole grid's worth of
-/// poster loads (this session is NOT one-shot: callers own its lifetime and should invalidate it
-/// when the view goes away). Safe to use for every candidate URL a `GameEntry`'s `Artwork` carries:
-/// `LibraryTLSDelegate` only pins/presents-cert for the host itself, deferring to normal system
-/// trust + no client cert for any other origin (an external CDN URL).
-public enum LibraryImageLoader {
-    public static func session(
+/// Loads cover art for the library UI, routing each URL to the transport that suits its origin.
+///
+/// A `GameEntry`'s art candidates mix two very different things: the host's own art proxy
+/// (`/api/v1/library/art/...`, resolved to absolute URLs against this host) and public store CDN
+/// URLs carried verbatim on custom/GOG/Heroic entries. Host URLs go over [`MgmtTransport`] with
+/// the paired identity and the pinned fingerprint — outside the URL loading system, so App
+/// Transport Security can stay ON app-wide. Every other origin keeps ordinary `URLSession` with
+/// full system trust evaluation and no client certificate, which is exactly what it should get.
+///
+/// Posters are cached on disk (`ArtCache`), so a second visit to a library costs no network at
+/// all — and the connections behind a first visit are pooled and kept alive rather than paying a
+/// TLS handshake per tile.
+///
+/// Built once per library screen and reused across a whole grid's worth of posters.
+public final class LibraryArtLoader: @unchecked Sendable {
+    private let address: String
+    private let port: UInt16
+    private let identity: SecIdentity
+    private let hostFingerprint: Data?
+    /// Third-party origins only. No delegate: these are ordinary public HTTPS URLs and get the
+    /// system's normal certificate validation.
+    private let cdn = URLSession(configuration: .default)
+    /// nil when the caches directory is unavailable — then we simply always fetch.
+    private let cache = ArtCache.standard()
+
+    public init(
         address: String,
         port: UInt16 = punktfunkDefaultMgmtPort,
         certPEM: String,
         keyPEM: String,
         hostFingerprint: Data?
-    ) throws -> URLSession {
-        let identity = try ClientTLS.makeIdentity(certPEM: certPEM, keyPEM: keyPEM)
-        let delegate = LibraryTLSDelegate(
-            identity: identity, pinnedHostFingerprint: hostFingerprint, host: address, port: port)
-        return URLSession(configuration: .default, delegate: delegate, delegateQueue: nil)
+    ) throws {
+        self.address = address
+        self.port = port
+        self.identity = try LibraryClient.clientIdentity(certPEM: certPEM, keyPEM: keyPEM)
+        self.hostFingerprint = hostFingerprint
+    }
+
+    public func data(for url: URL) async throws -> Data {
+        if let cache, let cached = await cache.data(for: url) { return cached }
+        let fetched = try await fetch(url)
+        if let cache { await cache.store(fetched, for: url) }
+        return fetched
+    }
+
+    /// Release this host's pooled connections — call when the library screen goes away, so we
+    /// don't sit on open TLS sockets the user is finished with.
+    public func close() async {
+        await MgmtConnectionPool.shared.closeAll(
+            matching: "\(MgmtTransport.unbracketed(address)):\(port):")
+    }
+
+    private func fetch(_ url: URL) async throws -> Data {
+        guard isHostOrigin(url) else { return try await cdn.data(from: url).0 }
+        var path = url.path.isEmpty ? "/" : url.path
+        if let query = url.query { path += "?\(query)" }
+        let response = try await LibraryClient.send(
+            path: path, address: address, port: port,
+            identity: identity, hostFingerprint: hostFingerprint)
+        guard response.status == 200 else { throw LibraryError.http(response.status) }
+        return response.body
+    }
+
+    /// Does this URL point at the host's own art proxy? Compared on host + port rather than a
+    /// string prefix, so a differently-spelled but equivalent URL still takes the pinned path.
+    private func isHostOrigin(_ url: URL) -> Bool {
+        guard let host = url.host else { return false }
+        let bare = address.hasPrefix("[") && address.hasSuffix("]")
+            ? String(address.dropFirst().dropLast()) : address
+        let scheme = url.scheme?.lowercased()
+        return host.caseInsensitiveCompare(bare) == .orderedSame
+            && (url.port ?? (scheme == "http" ? 80 : 443)) == Int(port)
     }
 }
diff --git a/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/MgmtTransport.swift b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/MgmtTransport.swift
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..af931cc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clients/apple/Sources/PunktfunkKit/Connection/MgmtTransport.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,377 @@
+// HTTPS transport for the host's management REST API, built on Network.framework rather than
+// URLSession.
+//
+// WHY NOT URLSession. App Transport Security governs the URL loading system, and its default
+// policy exempts only "local" destinations — `.local` names, unqualified names, and RFC1918 /
+// link-local IP literals. Everything else must present a certificate that passes system trust
+// evaluation. A punktfunk host is self-signed by construction (there is no CA that could vouch
+// for a box on someone's LAN), so the library worked at 192.168.x and died at the TLS layer on
+// every other address: a Tailscale peer (100.64/10 is CGNAT, NOT RFC1918), a WireGuard peer, or a
+// public IP. No ATS key can express "any address the user typed" — the exception keys are
+// domain-scoped — so the only ways out were disabling ATS app-wide (which also drops the TLS
+// floor and the cleartext block on third-party cover-art fetches, the one surface we did NOT want
+// to open) or leaving the URL loading system for this one origin. This is that second option.
+//
+// Network.framework is not subject to ATS, and `sec_protocol_options_set_verify_block` lets us
+// state the trust rule we actually mean: the leaf certificate must hash to the fingerprint the
+// user pinned during PIN pairing. That is a stronger check than CA trust here, not a weaker one,
+// and it is the same rule the QUIC stream plane has always applied via punktfunk-core — which is
+// precisely why streaming kept working over Tailscale while the library did not.
+//
+// Connections are POOLED and kept alive: a library screen fetches one JSON payload and then a
+// poster per title, and giving each its own TLS handshake was pure latency. `MgmtConnectionPool`
+// keeps a small number of connections per host, hands them out one request at a time, and makes
+// callers wait rather than opening an unbounded number.
+
+import CryptoKit
+import Foundation
+import Network
+import Security
+
+enum MgmtTransportError: Error, Sendable {
+    /// The host's certificate did not hash to the pinned fingerprint — an impostor, or a host
+    /// that was reinstalled/re-keyed since pairing.
+    case pinMismatch
+    case connection(String)
+    case timedOut
+    case tooLarge
+    case invalidPort(UInt16)
+}
+
+enum MgmtTransport {
+    /// Largest response we will buffer. The host's art proxy serves Steam hero images that run to
+    /// a few MB; anything past this is not a poster and not a library payload.
+    static let maxResponseBytes = 16 * 1024 * 1024
+
+    /// `GET https://host:port/path`, authenticated by mTLS (`identity`) and pinned by
+    /// `pinnedHostFingerprint` (nil = trust-on-first-use, matching the QUIC connect's semantics).
+    ///
+    /// Runs over a pooled keep-alive connection. A connection the host has since dropped is
+    /// indistinguishable from a live one until we write to it, so a REUSED connection that fails
+    /// is retried once on a fresh one; a fresh connection that fails is a real error.
+    static func get(
+        host: String,
+        port: UInt16,
+        path: String,
+        identity: SecIdentity,
+        pinnedHostFingerprint: Data?,
+        timeout: TimeInterval = 15
+    ) async throws -> HTTPResponse {
+        guard let nwPort = NWEndpoint.Port(rawValue: port) else {
+            throw MgmtTransportError.invalidPort(port)
+        }
+        let pin = pinnedHostFingerprint
+        let key = "\(unbracketed(host)):\(port):\(pin.map(hex) ?? "tofu")"
+        var lastError: Error = MgmtTransportError.connection("no attempt made")
+
+        for attempt in 0..<2 {
+            let connection = await MgmtConnectionPool.shared.acquire(key: key) {
+                MgmtConnection(host: unbracketed(host), port: nwPort, identity: identity, pin: pin)
+            }
+            let wasReused = connection.hasServedRequest
+            do {
+                let response = try await connection.perform(path: path, timeout: timeout)
+                await MgmtConnectionPool.shared.release(connection, key: key)
+                return response
+            } catch {
+                await MgmtConnectionPool.shared.release(connection, key: key)
+                lastError = error
+                // Only a reused connection earns a second try, and only once: retrying a fresh
+                // connection would just double every genuine failure's latency.
+                if !wasReused || attempt == 1 { throw error }
+            }
+        }
+        throw lastError
+    }
+
+    static func hex(_ data: Data) -> String {
+        data.map { String(format: "%02x", $0) }.joined()
+    }
+
+    /// Saved hosts store bare addresses, but a user who pasted a bracketed IPv6 literal shouldn't
+    /// get an unresolvable endpoint out of it.
+    static func unbracketed(_ host: String) -> String {
+        guard host.hasPrefix("["), host.hasSuffix("]"), host.count > 2 else { return host }
+        return String(host.dropFirst().dropLast())
+    }
+}
+
+/// A pool of keep-alive connections, at most `maxPerHost` per host. Callers past that wait for one
+/// to come back rather than opening more — a library grid can ask for dozens of posters at once,
+/// and answering that with dozens of TLS handshakes is what this exists to prevent.
+actor MgmtConnectionPool {
+    static let shared = MgmtConnectionPool()
+
+    private var available: [String: [MgmtConnection]] = [:]
+    /// Connections created and not yet closed, per host — the cap this pool enforces.
+    private var live: [String: Int] = [:]
+    private var waiters: [String: [CheckedContinuation<Void, Never>]] = [:]
+    private let maxPerHost = 4
+
+    func acquire(key: String, make: () -> MgmtConnection) async -> MgmtConnection {
+        while true {
+            if var idle = available[key], let connection = idle.popLast() {
+                available[key] = idle
+                if connection.isHealthy { return connection }
+                connection.close()
+                live[key] = max(0, (live[key] ?? 1) - 1)
+                continue
+            }
+            if (live[key] ?? 0) < maxPerHost {
+                live[key] = (live[key] ?? 0) + 1
+                return make()
+            }
+            await withCheckedContinuation { (continuation: CheckedContinuation<Void, Never>) in
+                waiters[key, default: []].append(continuation)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Always call this, on success AND on failure: a connection that is never returned leaks a
+    /// slot, and enough leaked slots would hang every later request on the waiter queue.
+    func release(_ connection: MgmtConnection, key: String) {
+        if connection.isHealthy, (available[key]?.count ?? 0) < maxPerHost {
+            available[key, default: []].append(connection)
+        } else {
+            connection.close()
+            live[key] = max(0, (live[key] ?? 1) - 1)
+        }
+        if var queue = waiters[key], !queue.isEmpty {
+            let next = queue.removeFirst()
+            waiters[key] = queue
+            next.resume()
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Drop every idle connection for a host — used when a library screen goes away, so we don't
+    /// sit on sockets the user is done with.
+    func closeAll(matching prefix: String) {
+        for (key, connections) in available where key.hasPrefix(prefix) {
+            connections.forEach { $0.close() }
+            live[key] = max(0, (live[key] ?? 0) - connections.count)
+            available[key] = []
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// One TLS connection to a host, serving requests one at a time. The pool guarantees a single
+/// caller at a time, so there is no request queueing here.
+///
+/// Everything mutable is touched only on `queue`, which also runs the connection's callbacks, the
+/// verify block and the timeout — so the state below needs no locking and two callbacks can never
+/// race to resume the same continuation.
+final class MgmtConnection: @unchecked Sendable {
+    private let queue = DispatchQueue(label: "io.unom.punktfunk.mgmt-connection")
+    private let connection: NWConnection
+    private let host: String
+    private let port: UInt16
+
+    private enum Phase { case idle, connecting, ready, dead }
+    private var phase: Phase = .idle
+    private var pending: CheckedContinuation<HTTPResponse, Error>?
+    private var pendingRequest: Data?
+    /// Bytes read past the end of the last response. Non-empty only if a host pipelines ahead of
+    /// us, which none do — but dropping them would silently corrupt the next read.
+    private var buffer = Data()
+    private var operation = 0
+    private var pinRejected = false
+    private var servedRequest = false
+
+    /// False once the connection has failed; the pool discards these instead of handing them out.
+    private(set) var isHealthy = true
+    /// Has this connection completed at least one request? Drives the retry-once rule in
+    /// `MgmtTransport.get` — only a connection the host may have dropped since is worth retrying.
+    var hasServedRequest: Bool { servedRequest }
+
+    init(host: String, port: NWEndpoint.Port, identity: SecIdentity, pin: Data?) {
+        self.host = host
+        self.port = port.rawValue
+        let options = NWProtocolTLS.Options()
+        let sec = options.securityProtocolOptions
+        sec_protocol_options_set_min_tls_protocol_version(sec, .TLSv12)
+        // Our half of the mTLS handshake: the same paired identity the host authorizes the
+        // read-only library routes by (mgmt/auth.rs `cert_may_access`).
+        if let secIdentity = sec_identity_create(identity) {
+            sec_protocol_options_set_local_identity(sec, secIdentity)
+        }
+        let rejected = RejectionFlag()
+        // Replaces system trust evaluation wholesale, which is the point: the host is self-signed
+        // and carries no SAN, so there is nothing for the system policy to succeed at. Pinning the
+        // leaf's SHA-256 is the real check.
+        sec_protocol_options_set_verify_block(sec, { _, trust, complete in
+            let secTrust = sec_trust_copy_ref(trust).takeRetainedValue()
+            guard let chain = SecTrustCopyCertificateChain(secTrust) as? [SecCertificate],
+                  let leaf = chain.first
+            else {
+                rejected.value = true
+                complete(false)
+                return
+            }
+            guard let pin else {
+                complete(true) // trust-on-first-use: no pin recorded for this host yet
+                return
+            }
+            let fingerprint = Data(SHA256.hash(data: SecCertificateCopyData(leaf) as Data))
+            let matches = fingerprint == pin
+            if !matches { rejected.value = true }
+            complete(matches)
+        }, queue)
+        self.connection = NWConnection(
+            to: .hostPort(host: NWEndpoint.Host(host), port: port),
+            using: NWParameters(tls: options, tcp: NWProtocolTCP.Options()))
+        self.rejection = rejected
+        self.connection.stateUpdateHandler = { [weak self] state in
+            self?.handle(state)
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Set from the verify block, read when mapping the resulting handshake failure. Its own
+    /// object because the block is built before `self` exists.
+    private let rejection: RejectionFlag
+    private final class RejectionFlag: @unchecked Sendable { var value = false }
+
+    func perform(path: String, timeout: TimeInterval) async throws -> HTTPResponse {
+        try await withCheckedThrowingContinuation { continuation in
+            queue.async {
+                guard self.phase != .dead else {
+                    continuation.resume(throwing: MgmtTransportError.connection("connection closed"))
+                    return
+                }
+                self.operation += 1
+                let op = self.operation
+                self.pending = continuation
+                self.pendingRequest = self.requestBytes(path: path)
+                self.buffer.removeAll(keepingCapacity: true)
+                self.queue.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + timeout) { [weak self] in
+                    guard let self, self.operation == op else { return }
+                    self.finish(.failure(MgmtTransportError.timedOut))
+                }
+                switch self.phase {
+                case .idle:
+                    self.phase = .connecting
+                    self.connection.start(queue: self.queue)
+                case .ready:
+                    self.send()
+                case .connecting, .dead:
+                    break // `.ready` (or a failure) will pick the pending request up
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    func close() {
+        queue.async {
+            self.phase = .dead
+            self.isHealthy = false
+            self.connection.cancel()
+        }
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Queue-confined internals
+
+    private func handle(_ state: NWConnection.State) {
+        switch state {
+        case .ready:
+            phase = .ready
+            if pendingRequest != nil { send() }
+        case .failed(let error):
+            phase = .dead
+            isHealthy = false
+            finish(.failure(mapped(error)))
+        case .cancelled:
+            phase = .dead
+            isHealthy = false
+            finish(.failure(MgmtTransportError.connection("cancelled")))
+        default:
+            break
+        }
+    }
+
+    private func send() {
+        guard let request = pendingRequest else { return }
+        pendingRequest = nil
+        connection.send(content: request, completion: .contentProcessed { [weak self] error in
+            guard let self else { return }
+            if let error {
+                self.isHealthy = false
+                self.finish(.failure(self.mapped(error)))
+                return
+            }
+            self.receive()
+        })
+    }
+
+    private func receive() {
+        connection.receive(minimumIncompleteLength: 1, maximumLength: 64 * 1024) {
+            [weak self] chunk, _, isComplete, error in
+            guard let self else { return }
+            if let chunk, !chunk.isEmpty { self.buffer.append(chunk) }
+            if self.buffer.count > MgmtTransport.maxResponseBytes {
+                self.isHealthy = false
+                self.finish(.failure(MgmtTransportError.tooLarge))
+                return
+            }
+            if let error {
+                self.isHealthy = false
+                self.finish(.failure(self.mapped(error)))
+                return
+            }
+            do {
+                if let length = try HTTPResponseParser.messageLength(in: self.buffer) {
+                    let message = self.buffer.prefix(length)
+                    self.buffer = Data(self.buffer.dropFirst(length))
+                    let response = try HTTPResponseParser.parse(message)
+                    // A response the peer means to be last leaves nothing reusable behind. Nor
+                    // does a stream with bytes left over: we never pipeline, so anything trailing
+                    // means we are out of sync, and reusing the connection would misread the next
+                    // response rather than fail cleanly.
+                    if response.wantsClose || !self.buffer.isEmpty { self.isHealthy = false }
+                    self.servedRequest = true
+                    self.finish(.success(response))
+                    return
+                }
+                if isComplete {
+                    // No framing header: the body ran to EOF, so what we have is the whole thing
+                    // and the connection is spent.
+                    self.isHealthy = false
+                    let response = try HTTPResponseParser.parse(self.buffer)
+                    self.servedRequest = true
+                    self.finish(.success(response))
+                    return
+                }
+            } catch {
+                self.isHealthy = false
+                self.finish(.failure(error))
+                return
+            }
+            self.receive()
+        }
+    }
+
+    private func finish(_ result: Result<HTTPResponse, Error>) {
+        guard let continuation = pending else { return }
+        pending = nil
+        operation += 1 // invalidate this operation's timeout
+        continuation.resume(with: result)
+    }
+
+    /// A rejected pin surfaces as a generic handshake failure; the flag is how we recover what
+    /// actually happened, so the UI can say "re-pair" instead of "offline".
+    private func mapped(_ error: NWError) -> MgmtTransportError {
+        rejection.value ? .pinMismatch : .connection(String(describing: error))
+    }
+
+    private func requestBytes(path: String) -> Data {
+        // An IPv6 literal is bracketed in the Host header (RFC 9110 §7.2); a name or IPv4 is not.
+        let authority = host.contains(":") ? "[\(host)]:\(port)" : "\(host):\(port)"
+        let request = """
+            GET \(path) HTTP/1.1\r
+            Host: \(authority)\r
+            User-Agent: punktfunk-apple\r
+            Accept: */*\r
+            \r
+
+            """
+        return Data(request.utf8)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/clients/apple/Tests/PunktfunkKitTests/LibraryClientTests.swift b/clients/apple/Tests/PunktfunkKitTests/LibraryClientTests.swift
index 055a6d7b..cb71f517 100644
--- a/clients/apple/Tests/PunktfunkKitTests/LibraryClientTests.swift
+++ b/clients/apple/Tests/PunktfunkKitTests/LibraryClientTests.swift
@@ -78,4 +78,234 @@ final class LibraryClientTests: XCTestCase {
         XCTAssertEqual(resolved.hero, "https://cdn.example.com/hero.jpg") // unchanged
         XCTAssertNil(resolved.logo)
     }
+
+    // MARK: - HTTP response parsing (MgmtTransport)
+
+    // The management API is reached over Network.framework rather than URLSession (ATS cannot be
+    // relaxed for the arbitrary addresses a host lives at — see MgmtTransport), so we parse HTTP
+    // ourselves. These cover the framings hyper actually emits, plus the failure modes where
+    // getting it wrong would be silent.
+
+    private func raw(_ text: String) -> Data { Data(text.utf8) }
+
+    func testParsesContentLengthFramedJSON() throws {
+        let body = #"[{"id":"steam:570"}]"#
+        let response = try HTTPResponseParser.parse(raw(
+            "HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Type: application/json\r\n"
+                + "Content-Length: \(body.utf8.count)\r\n\r\n\(body)"))
+        XCTAssertEqual(response.status, 200)
+        XCTAssertEqual(String(decoding: response.body, as: UTF8.self), body)
+        // Field names are case-insensitive per RFC 9110.
+        XCTAssertEqual(response.header("CONTENT-TYPE"), "application/json")
+    }
+
+    func testParsesChunkedBody() throws {
+        // How hyper streams the art proxy.
+        let response = try HTTPResponseParser.parse(raw(
+            "HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nTransfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n"
+                + "5\r\nhello\r\n6\r\n world\r\n0\r\n\r\n"))
+        XCTAssertEqual(String(decoding: response.body, as: UTF8.self), "hello world")
+    }
+
+    func testChunkExtensionsAndTrailersAreIgnored() throws {
+        let response = try HTTPResponseParser.parse(raw(
+            "HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nTransfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n"
+                + "3;foo=bar\r\nabc\r\n0\r\nX-Trailer: 1\r\n\r\n"))
+        XCTAssertEqual(String(decoding: response.body, as: UTF8.self), "abc")
+    }
+
+    func testUnauthorizedStatusSurvives() throws {
+        // What an unpaired certificate gets from the host — the status is the whole signal.
+        let response = try HTTPResponseParser.parse(
+            raw("HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized\r\nContent-Length: 0\r\n\r\n"))
+        XCTAssertEqual(response.status, 401)
+        XCTAssertTrue(response.body.isEmpty)
+    }
+
+    func testBodyRunsToEOFWithoutFramingHeaders() throws {
+        let response = try HTTPResponseParser.parse(raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\n\r\nraw-to-eof"))
+        XCTAssertEqual(String(decoding: response.body, as: UTF8.self), "raw-to-eof")
+    }
+
+    func testTruncatedBodyThrowsRatherThanReturningPartialJSON() {
+        // The one that matters: a body cut short must NOT come back as success. A clipped JSON
+        // array would decode to fewer games — "this host has no games" — instead of an error.
+        XCTAssertThrowsError(
+            try HTTPResponseParser.parse(raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: 99\r\n\r\nshort")))
+    }
+
+    func testOverLongBodyIsClippedToContentLength() throws {
+        let response = try HTTPResponseParser.parse(
+            raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: 3\r\n\r\nabcdef"))
+        XCTAssertEqual(String(decoding: response.body, as: UTF8.self), "abc")
+    }
+
+    func testMalformedResponsesThrow() {
+        // Header block never terminated (peer hung up), a non-HTTP greeting, and a chunked stream
+        // cut mid-chunk.
+        XCTAssertThrowsError(
+            try HTTPResponseParser.parse(raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: 3\r\n")))
+        XCTAssertThrowsError(try HTTPResponseParser.parse(raw("NOT-HTTP\r\n\r\n")))
+        XCTAssertThrowsError(try HTTPResponseParser.parse(raw(
+            "HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nTransfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n9\r\nabc")))
+    }
+
+    func testMultiWordReasonPhraseParses() throws {
+        let response = try HTTPResponseParser.parse(
+            raw("HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found\r\nContent-Length: 0\r\n\r\n"))
+        XCTAssertEqual(response.status, 404)
+    }
+
+    func testBinaryBodySurvivesByteForByte() throws {
+        // Posters are PNG/JPEG: the body must never be round-tripped through a String.
+        let png: [UInt8] = [0x89, 0x50, 0x4E, 0x47, 0x0D, 0x0A, 0x1A, 0x0A, 0x00, 0xFF, 0x0D, 0x0A]
+        var message = raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: \(png.count)\r\n\r\n")
+        message.append(contentsOf: png)
+        let response = try HTTPResponseParser.parse(message)
+        XCTAssertEqual([UInt8](response.body), png)
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Message framing (keep-alive)
+
+    // Connections are pooled and reused, so a response has to be delimited WITHOUT waiting for
+    // the peer to hang up. Getting this wrong either truncates a response or bleeds one response
+    // into the next, and both would be silent.
+
+    func testMessageLengthDelimitsContentLengthFraming() throws {
+        let complete = raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: 5\r\n\r\nhello")
+        XCTAssertEqual(try HTTPResponseParser.messageLength(in: complete), complete.count)
+        XCTAssertNil(try HTTPResponseParser.messageLength(
+            in: raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: 5\r\n\r\nhel")))
+    }
+
+    func testMessageLengthDelimitsChunkedFraming() throws {
+        let complete = raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nTransfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n5\r\nhello\r\n0\r\n\r\n")
+        XCTAssertEqual(try HTTPResponseParser.messageLength(in: complete), complete.count)
+        // Mid-chunk, and terminal chunk without its closing blank line.
+        XCTAssertNil(try HTTPResponseParser.messageLength(
+            in: raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nTransfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n5\r\nhel")))
+        XCTAssertNil(try HTTPResponseParser.messageLength(
+            in: raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nTransfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n5\r\nhello\r\n0\r\n")))
+        // Trailers belong to the message and must be consumed with it.
+        let trailered = raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nTransfer-Encoding: chunked\r\n\r\n"
+            + "3\r\nabc\r\n0\r\nX-Trailer: 1\r\n\r\n")
+        XCTAssertEqual(try HTTPResponseParser.messageLength(in: trailered), trailered.count)
+    }
+
+    func testMessageLengthIsNilWithoutFraming() throws {
+        // No Content-Length and not chunked ⇒ the body runs to EOF and the connection can't be
+        // reused. Partial header blocks are likewise "not yet".
+        XCTAssertNil(try HTTPResponseParser.messageLength(in: raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\n\r\nto-eof")))
+        XCTAssertNil(try HTTPResponseParser.messageLength(in: raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Len")))
+    }
+
+    func testBackToBackResponsesSplitExactly() throws {
+        // The reuse case that matters: two responses arriving in one read.
+        let first = raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: 5\r\n\r\nhello")
+        let second = raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: 3\r\n\r\nbye")
+        let both = first + second
+        XCTAssertEqual(try HTTPResponseParser.messageLength(in: both), first.count)
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            String(decoding: try HTTPResponseParser.parse(both.prefix(first.count)).body,
+                   as: UTF8.self), "hello")
+        XCTAssertEqual(
+            String(decoding: try HTTPResponseParser.parse(both.dropFirst(first.count)).body,
+                   as: UTF8.self), "bye")
+    }
+
+    func testConnectionCloseIsDetected() throws {
+        let response = try HTTPResponseParser.parse(
+            raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nConnection: close\r\nContent-Length: 0\r\n\r\n"))
+        XCTAssertTrue(response.wantsClose)
+        // HTTP/1.1 keeps the connection open unless told otherwise.
+        XCTAssertFalse(try HTTPResponseParser.parse(
+            raw("HTTP/1.1 200 OK\r\nContent-Length: 0\r\n\r\n")).wantsClose)
+    }
+
+    // MARK: - Art cache
+
+    private func temporaryCacheDirectory() -> URL {
+        URL(fileURLWithPath: NSTemporaryDirectory())
+            .appendingPathComponent("pf-art-test-\(UUID().uuidString)", isDirectory: true)
+    }
+
+    func testArtCacheRoundTripsBinaryAndSeparatesKeys() async throws {
+        let directory = temporaryCacheDirectory()
+        defer { try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: directory) }
+        let cache = ArtCache(directory: directory)
+
+        let png = Data([0x89, 0x50, 0x4E, 0x47, 0x00, 0xFF, 0x0D, 0x0A])
+        let portrait = URL(string: "https://100.64.1.2:47990/api/v1/library/art/steam:570/portrait")!
+        let header = URL(string: "https://100.64.1.2:47990/api/v1/library/art/steam:570/header")!
+
+        var hit = await cache.data(for: portrait)
+        XCTAssertNil(hit, "cold cache must miss")
+        await cache.store(png, for: portrait)
+        hit = await cache.data(for: portrait)
+        XCTAssertEqual(hit, png, "posters are binary; the body must survive byte-for-byte")
+        // Sibling art of the same title must not collide.
+        let sibling = await cache.data(for: header)
+        XCTAssertNil(sibling)
+    }
+
+    func testArtCacheRefusesEmptyAndInlineData() async throws {
+        let directory = temporaryCacheDirectory()
+        defer { try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: directory) }
+        let cache = ArtCache(directory: directory)
+
+        let empty = URL(string: "https://cdn.example.com/empty.jpg")!
+        await cache.store(Data(), for: empty)
+        let emptyHit = await cache.data(for: empty)
+        XCTAssertNil(emptyHit, "an empty body is not art")
+
+        let inline = URL(string: "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgo=")!
+        await cache.store(Data("x".utf8), for: inline)
+        let inlineHit = await cache.data(for: inline)
+        XCTAssertNil(inlineHit, "a data: URL is already inline — caching it is a pure loss")
+    }
+
+    func testArtCacheAgesEntriesOut() async throws {
+        let directory = temporaryCacheDirectory()
+        defer { try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: directory) }
+        let cache = ArtCache(directory: directory, maxAge: 0.4)
+        let url = URL(string: "https://cdn.example.com/stale.jpg")!
+
+        await cache.store(Data("stale".utf8), for: url)
+        let fresh = await cache.data(for: url)
+        XCTAssertNotNil(fresh)
+        try await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 700_000_000)
+        let expired = await cache.data(for: url)
+        XCTAssertNil(expired)
+    }
+
+    func testArtCacheEvictsLeastRecentlyUsedOverBudget() async throws {
+        let directory = temporaryCacheDirectory()
+        defer { try? FileManager.default.removeItem(at: directory) }
+        // Budget holds three of these; the fourth store must evict.
+        let cache = ArtCache(directory: directory, maxBytes: 300)
+        let blob = Data(repeating: 0x41, count: 100)
+        var urls: [URL] = []
+        for i in 0..<4 {
+            let url = URL(string: "https://cdn.example.com/blob\(i).jpg")!
+            urls.append(url)
+            await cache.store(blob, for: url)
+            try await Task.sleep(nanoseconds: 60_000_000) // distinct mtimes for LRU ordering
+        }
+        let evicted = await cache.data(for: urls[0])
+        XCTAssertNil(evicted, "the oldest entry should have been evicted")
+        let newest = await cache.data(for: urls[3])
+        XCTAssertEqual(newest, blob)
+    }
+
+    func testBaseURLBracketsIPv6Only() {
+        XCTAssertEqual(LibraryClient.baseURL(address: "192.168.1.70", port: 47990),
+                       "https://192.168.1.70:47990")
+        XCTAssertEqual(LibraryClient.baseURL(address: "100.101.102.103", port: 47990),
+                       "https://100.101.102.103:47990")
+        XCTAssertEqual(LibraryClient.baseURL(address: "fd7a:115c::1", port: 47990),
+                       "https://[fd7a:115c::1]:47990")
+        // An address the user pasted already bracketed must not end up double-bracketed.
+        XCTAssertEqual(LibraryClient.baseURL(address: "[fd7a:115c::1]", port: 47990),
+                       "https://[fd7a:115c::1]:47990")
+    }
 }