diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b78c005..f1b71b9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ All notable changes to Wafersmith are recorded here. The format follows
 
 ### Added
 
+- **Release rehearsal** ([docs/release-rehearsal.md](docs/release-rehearsal.md)): the counter, UART
+  receiver and FIFO starters taken to a clean layout in the browser, timed, with no code typed and
+  no AI: 1 to 4 minutes each, every case tried and every planted mistake caught.
 - **Find examples for everything**: Health searches for examples for every untried case and every
   planted mistake that slipped through at once. Each example found is checked against the targets
   still open, so one example covers several (on the up/down counter with one example, 2 examples
@@ -149,6 +152,11 @@ All notable changes to Wafersmith are recorded here. The format follows
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- The sign-in no longer runs out after 30 minutes: the web app renews its access token with the
+  refresh token before it expires, without leaving the page. Before, the first request after
+  expiry reloaded the page through the sign-in server and lost what was on screen.
+- Choosing a starter suggests its title as the project name; clicking into the name now selects
+  it, so typing replaces it instead of adding to it.
 - The Blocks step no longer throws away an unsaved chip when the project changes underneath it
   (a commit by someone else, or adding a block).
 - The spec check refuses an example that runs longer than the simulator's 50 µs limit (it could
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7d1cfe0..80a88dd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ Then open http://localhost:5173.
 | [Pilot deployment](deploy/pilot/README.md) | One-host HTTPS deployment, backups and restore |
 | [Security review](docs/security-review.md) | What was reviewed, fixed and accepted before the pilot |
 | [Phase 0 gate](docs/phase0-gate.md) | The first end-to-end milestone |
+| [Release rehearsal](docs/release-rehearsal.md) | Three starters to a clean layout, timed, before 0.1.0 |
 
 Contributions follow [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md); report vulnerabilities as described in
 [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md).
diff --git a/apps/web/src/auth.ts b/apps/web/src/auth.ts
index b3cc182..1c09083 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/auth.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/auth.ts
@@ -14,10 +14,28 @@ export const userManager = new UserManager({
   userStore: new WebStorageStateStore({ store: window.sessionStorage }),
 });
 
+/** Renew this long before the access token expires, so a request doesn't go out with one about to.
+ * Rauthy accepts a refresh token only from 60 s before the access token expires. */
+const RENEW_BEFORE_S = 45;
+let renewing: Promise<User | null> | null = null;
+
+/** The signed-in user with a usable access token, or null. A token that has expired or is about to
+ * is renewed with the refresh token, without leaving the page (a sign-in redirect would lose
+ * unsaved work); only when that fails does the caller have to sign in again. */
 export async function currentUser(): Promise<User | null> {
   const user = await userManager.getUser();
-  if (!user || user.expired) return null;
-  return user;
+  if (!user) return null;
+  if ((user.expires_in ?? 0) > RENEW_BEFORE_S) return user;
+  if (!user.refresh_token) return user.expired ? null : user;
+  renewing ??= userManager
+    .signinSilent()
+    .catch(() => null)
+    .finally(() => {
+      renewing = null;
+    });
+  const renewed = await renewing;
+  if (renewed && !renewed.expired) return renewed;
+  return user.expired ? null : user;
 }
 
 export function login(returnTo: string = window.location.pathname) {
diff --git a/apps/web/src/pages/Projects.tsx b/apps/web/src/pages/Projects.tsx
index 01525bd..99c450e 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/pages/Projects.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/pages/Projects.tsx
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ export function ProjectsPage() {
             placeholder="Project name, e.g. UART transmitter"
             value={name}
             onChange={(e) => setName(e.target.value)}
+            // A name suggested from a starter is selected on click, so typing replaces it.
+            onFocus={(e) => starter && name === starter.title && e.target.select()}
+            onMouseUp={(e) => starter && name === starter.title && e.preventDefault()}
             autoFocus
           />
           <select aria-label="Visibility" value={visibility} onChange={(e) => setVisibility(e.target.value as "private" | "public")}>
diff --git a/docs/release-rehearsal.md b/docs/release-rehearsal.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b011149
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/release-rehearsal.md
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# Release rehearsal: three starters to a clean layout, no code typed
+
+**Result: passed on 6 Nov 2026.** The up/down counter, the UART receiver and the small FIFO each
+went from the start page to "Ready for expert review" (examples passing on the synthesised gates,
+every case tried, every planted mistake caught, timing met, DRC and LVS clean) in 1 to 3 minutes,
+without typing any Verilog or testbench code and without AI.
+
+This is step 2 of the plan to release 0.1.0. It is done as a person who doesn't read Verilog would
+do it, in the browser, and timed like the [phase 0 gate](phase0-gate.md).
+
+Setup: local stack (Postgres, Rauthy, API, web app) on one aarch64 machine (NVIDIA GB10, 20 cores),
+LibreLane 3.0.16 with the IHP SG13G2 PDK; one user (Dev User).
+
+## The runs
+
+Each run: pick the starter on the start page and create the project; **Run examples**; Health →
+**Plant mistakes and check**; **Find examples for everything** if anything is open, check the
+examples found, **Add**, **Save spec**; **Build and check**.
+
+| Design | Examples | Cases tried | Planted mistakes caught | Found by the search | Build | Start to ready |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| Up/down counter | 4 of 4 | 14 of 14 | 12 of 12 | nothing open | 43 s | 1 min 28 s |
+| UART receiver | 6 of 6 | 20 of 20 | 34 of 34 (32 before the search) | 1 example, catching both slipped mistakes | about 60 s | 3 min 50 s, of which about 1 min lost to an expired sign-in (fixed, below) |
+| Small FIFO | 3 of 3 | 18 of 18 | 23 of 23 | nothing open | 41 s | 1 min 16 s |
+
+What was built, from the Health page:
+
+| Design | Cells | Area | Power | Clock |
+| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
+| Up/down counter | 40 | 0.0027 mm² | 0.06 mW | meets 50 MHz, about 3.2× headroom |
+| UART receiver | 268 | 0.0120 mm² | 0.31 mW | meets 50 MHz, about 3.0× headroom |
+| Small FIFO | 223 | 0.0125 mm² | 0.38 mW | meets 50 MHz, about 3.0× headroom |
+
+The UART receiver's starter examples let two mistakes slip through, both counters one off
+(`cnt == CLKS_PER_BIT / 2 - 1` and `cnt == CLKS_PER_BIT - 1`). The search found one example that
+catches both: it sends 0xAA on `rx` and expects `data` = 170 and `valid` = 1. Read as a sentence,
+it is checkable without knowing Verilog.
+
+## What broke or confused, and what was done
+
+- **The sign-in expired mid-task and reloaded the page.** The access token lasts 30 minutes and
+  was never renewed, so the first request after that sent the whole page to the sign-in server.
+  Rauthy still had a session and sent it straight back, but what was on screen (here a search in
+  progress; it could have been unsaved spec edits) was lost. **Fixed:** the web app now renews
+  the token with its refresh token in the last 45 seconds before it expires (Rauthy accepts a
+  refresh only from 60 seconds before), without leaving the page; only if that fails does it
+  sign in again.
+- **Choosing a starter fills in the project name, and typing added to it** ("Up/down
+  counterRehearsal counter"). **Fixed:** a name suggested from a starter is selected when you
+  click into the field, so typing replaces it.
+- **The page's commit marker didn't move after saving the spec** ("Built from an older version"
+  although the build was of the latest). Not a product problem: the rehearsal drove a browser
+  pane that was hidden, where the page's per-frame updates don't run. A page someone is looking
+  at updates at once.
+
+## Not covered
+
+- **A change made with the AI.** The starters were used as they come; changing a design in words
+  uses the AI and costs money, so it was left out. Whether 0.1.0's rehearsal should include one
+  is an open decision in the plan.
+- More than one person at a time (covered by the phase 0 gate), and real network latency.
+- A sign-in older than the refresh token's 48 hours, which still needs a fresh sign-in.