diff --git a/packages/core/src/runtime/init.ts b/packages/core/src/runtime/init.ts
index 14c973e735..0bcaf6b25e 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/runtime/init.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/runtime/init.ts
@@ -2259,15 +2259,14 @@ export function initSandboxRuntimeModular(): void {
         bindMediaMetadataListeners();
       }
 
-      // Keep clock duration in sync with the resolved timeline duration.
-      // Catches async timeline rebinds that happen outside the 60-tick
-      // branch (metadata hydration, deferred setTimeout). Note: this reads
-      // the DOM each tick (duration floors query authored windows + the
-      // root's declared data-duration), which also keeps live edits to
-      // data-duration in the studio reflected without a rebind.
+      // Sync clock duration with the resolved timeline each tick (catches async
+      // rebinds, live data-duration edits). Never shrink while playing — transient
+      // short reads cause reachedEnd() → playhead jumps to end (#1636).
       if (state.capturedTimeline) {
         const dur = getSafeTimelineDurationSeconds(state.capturedTimeline, 0);
-        if (dur > 0) clock.setDuration(dur);
+        if (dur > 0 && (!clock.isPlaying() || dur >= clock.getDuration())) {
+          clock.setDuration(dur);
+        }
       }
 
       // Audio-master clock: three tiers of timing precision.
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/renderChunk.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/renderChunk.ts
index c6effc1fdb..b1cc2588d9 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/renderChunk.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/distributed/renderChunk.ts
@@ -707,7 +707,7 @@ export async function renderChunk(
     // Clean up only after the hash + perf sidecar landed. Any failure above
     // leaves the framesDir in place for inspection.
     try {
-      rmSync(workDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+      rmSync(workDir, { recursive: true, force: true, maxRetries: 3, retryDelay: 100 });
     } catch (err) {
       log.warn("[renderChunk] failed to remove work dir", {
         workDir,
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/render/cleanup.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/render/cleanup.ts
index cd5de79399..ce3f7aa677 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/render/cleanup.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/render/cleanup.ts
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export async function cleanupRenderResources(input: {
     // `force: true` swallows ENOENT, so no need to existsSync first.
     await safeCleanup(
       `remove workDir (${label})`,
-      () => rmSync(workDir, { recursive: true, force: true }),
+      () => rmSync(workDir, { recursive: true, force: true, maxRetries: 3, retryDelay: 100 }),
       log,
     );
   }
diff --git a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
index b43d2198be..5670de9ab2 100644
--- a/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
+++ b/packages/producer/src/services/renderOrchestrator.ts
@@ -1699,7 +1699,7 @@ export async function executeRenderJob(
       await safeCleanup(
         "remove workDir",
         () => {
-          rmSync(workDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+          rmSync(workDir, { recursive: true, force: true, maxRetries: 3, retryDelay: 100 });
         },
         log,
       );
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/manualEditingAvailability.ts b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/manualEditingAvailability.ts
index 020de0b853..785eaa7727 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/editor/manualEditingAvailability.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/editor/manualEditingAvailability.ts
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ export const STUDIO_COLOR_GRADING_ENABLED = resolveStudioBooleanEnvFlag(
 export const STUDIO_KEYFRAMES_ENABLED = resolveStudioBooleanEnvFlag(
   env,
   ["VITE_STUDIO_ENABLE_KEYFRAMES", "VITE_STUDIO_KEYFRAMES_ENABLED"],
-  false,
+  true,
 );
 
 export const STUDIO_RAZOR_TOOL_ENABLED = resolveStudioBooleanEnvFlag(
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/panels/SlideshowPanel.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/panels/SlideshowPanel.tsx
index 9f5a999033..c4a30f0f37 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/panels/SlideshowPanel.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/panels/SlideshowPanel.tsx
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import type { SlideshowManifest, SlideHotspot } from "@hyperframes/core/slidesho
 import { usePlayerStore } from "../../player";
 import { useDomEditSelectionContext } from "../../contexts/DomEditContext";
 import { useFileManagerContext } from "../../contexts/FileManagerContext";
+import { generateId } from "../../utils/generateId";
 import {
   SectionHeader,
   SlideList,
@@ -325,7 +326,7 @@ export function SlideshowPanel({ scenes, onPersist, onPersistNotes }: SlideshowP
 
   const handleCreateSequence = useCallback(
     (label: string) => {
-      const id = `seq-${crypto.randomUUID()}`;
+      const id = `seq-${generateId()}`;
       applyManifest(createSequence(manifestRef.current, id, label)).catch(() => {});
     },
     [applyManifest],
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/panels/SlideshowSubPanels.tsx b/packages/studio/src/components/panels/SlideshowSubPanels.tsx
index 39aaa11fdc..580e75e9c2 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/panels/SlideshowSubPanels.tsx
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/panels/SlideshowSubPanels.tsx
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { useState, useCallback, useId } from "react";
 import type { SlideRef, SlideHotspot, SlideSequence } from "@hyperframes/core/slideshow";
 import type { DomEditSelection } from "../editor/domEditing";
 import type { SceneInfo } from "./slideshowPanelHelpers";
+import { generateId } from "../../utils/generateId";
 
 // ── Section header (accordion toggle) ────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -425,7 +426,7 @@ export function HotspotTool({
   // fallow-ignore-next-line complexity
   const handleMakeHotspot = useCallback(() => {
     if (!selectedSceneId || !targetSequenceId || !elementKey) return;
-    const id = `hotspot-${elementKey}-${crypto.randomUUID()}`;
+    const id = `hotspot-${elementKey}-${generateId()}`;
     const label = hotspotLabel.trim() || elementKey;
     onAddHotspot(selectedSceneId, { id, label, target: targetSequenceId });
     setHotspotLabel("");
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/components/renders/useRenderQueue.ts b/packages/studio/src/components/renders/useRenderQueue.ts
index 79188da579..d135e4a6e8 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/components/renders/useRenderQueue.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/components/renders/useRenderQueue.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { useState, useEffect, useCallback, useRef, useMemo } from "react";
 import { trackStudioRenderStart } from "../../telemetry/events";
 import { getAnonymousId } from "../../telemetry/config";
+import { generateId } from "../../utils/generateId";
 
 export interface RenderJob {
   id: string;
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ export function useRenderQueue(projectId: string | null) {
         });
       } catch {
         const failedJob: RenderJob = {
-          id: crypto.randomUUID(),
+          id: generateId(),
           status: "failed",
           progress: 0,
           error: "Could not reach render server. Use `hyperframes render` from the CLI instead.",
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ export function useRenderQueue(projectId: string | null) {
       }
       if (!res.ok) {
         const failedJob: RenderJob = {
-          id: crypto.randomUUID(),
+          id: generateId(),
           status: "failed",
           progress: 0,
           error: `Server error (${res.status}). Check the terminal for details.`,
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/hooks/gsapDragCommit.test.ts b/packages/studio/src/hooks/gsapDragCommit.test.ts
index cc0cd4479c..06461d2879 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/hooks/gsapDragCommit.test.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/hooks/gsapDragCommit.test.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 import { describe, expect, it, beforeEach } from "vitest";
 import type { GsapAnimation } from "@hyperframes/core/gsap-parser";
 import type { DomEditSelection } from "../components/editor/domEditingTypes";
+import { commitGsapPositionFromDrag } from "./gsapDragPositionCommit";
 import {
   commitStaticGsapPosition,
   commitStaticGsapRotation,
   parkPlayheadOnKeyframe,
   type GsapDragCommitCallbacks,
 } from "./gsapDragCommit";
-import { commitGsapPositionFromDrag } from "./gsapDragPositionCommit";
 import { usePlayerStore } from "../player/store/playerStore";
 
 // Minimal selection whose element has no drag-baseline attributes (origX/Y = 0).
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/telemetry/config.ts b/packages/studio/src/telemetry/config.ts
index 658cb2b3b0..2e26813230 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/telemetry/config.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/telemetry/config.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 //   localStorage.setItem('hyperframes-studio:telemetryDisabled','1')
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+import { generateId } from "../utils/generateId";
+
 const ANON_ID_KEY = "hyperframes-studio:anonymousId";
 const OPT_OUT_KEY = "hyperframes-studio:telemetryDisabled";
 const NOTICE_KEY = "hyperframes-studio:telemetryNoticeShown";
@@ -18,8 +20,7 @@ function safeLocalStorage(): Storage | null {
 }
 
 function newAnonymousId(): string {
-  if (typeof crypto !== "undefined" && "randomUUID" in crypto) return crypto.randomUUID();
-  return `anon-${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 10)}`;
+  return generateId();
 }
 
 export function getAnonymousId(): string {
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/utils/generateId.ts b/packages/studio/src/utils/generateId.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bd22e466d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/studio/src/utils/generateId.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+// ponytail: crypto.randomUUID is undefined on plain HTTP non-localhost origins
+export function generateId(): string {
+  if (typeof crypto !== "undefined" && typeof crypto.randomUUID === "function") {
+    return crypto.randomUUID();
+  }
+  return `${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2)}`;
+}
diff --git a/packages/studio/src/utils/studioTelemetry.ts b/packages/studio/src/utils/studioTelemetry.ts
index a3e789de98..b736919c39 100644
--- a/packages/studio/src/utils/studioTelemetry.ts
+++ b/packages/studio/src/utils/studioTelemetry.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { generateId } from "./generateId";
+
 // PostHog public ingest key — write-only, safe to ship in the client bundle
 const POSTHOG_API_KEY = "phc_zjjbX0PnWxERXrMHhkEJWj9A9BhGVLRReICgsfTMmpx";
 const POSTHOG_HOST = "https://us.i.posthog.com";
@@ -29,7 +31,7 @@ function getDistinctId(): string {
   } catch {
     // localStorage may be unavailable
   }
-  distinctId = crypto.randomUUID();
+  distinctId = generateId();
   try {
     localStorage.setItem("hf-studio-anon-id", distinctId);
   } catch {