diff --git a/docs/superpowers/specs/2026-09-30-valw-phase-2-preview-design.md b/docs/superpowers/specs/2026-09-30-valw-phase-2-preview-design.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de9e8bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/superpowers/specs/2026-09-30-valw-phase-2-preview-design.md
@@ -0,0 +1,280 @@
+# valw: Phase 2 design (floating preview)
+
+Date: 2026-09-30
+Status: approved in brainstorming, pending written-spec review
+Builds on: `2026-09-29-valw-phase-0-1-design.md` (Phase 0+1, shipped as `main`)
+
+## 1. Context and goal
+
+After a capture, a small thumbnail slides in at the bottom-right corner of
+the monitor, like macOS's floating screenshot thumbnail. Clicking it opens
+the screenshot in Satty; swiping it right dismisses it; otherwise it slides
+away after a few seconds.
+
+Phase 2 is deliberately minimal. Once it ships, valw is wired into copland
+and the user runs it as their only screenshot tool for at least a day. The
+bugs and gaps found then decide what comes next.
+
+### In scope
+
+- Floating thumbnail per capture, stacking up to 5.
+- Click → Satty; swipe right → dismiss; timeout → dismiss.
+- Thumbnails never appear in screenshots and never take keyboard focus.
+- `[preview]` config (`enabled`, `timeout_secs`) and `--no-preview`.
+- Satty on valw's PATH through the Nix package.
+- Wiring valw into copland for the test day (section 9).
+
+### Out of scope (candidates after the test day)
+
+- Hover pauses the timer.
+- Notifications (error notifications, preview-off fallback).
+- Right-click menu, drag-and-drop out of the thumbnail.
+- Rounded corners, shadow, configurable corner or size.
+- Configurable editor command; valw's own editor (Phase 5).
+- home-manager / NixOS modules (end of the project).
+
+## 2. Decisions
+
+| Question | Decision | Why |
+|---|---|---|
+| When is the file written? | At capture time, as in Phase 1. The preview is only a shortcut. | Nothing is lost if the preview crashes or the session ends. |
+| Next capture while a preview is visible | Previews **stack** (max 5, oldest evicted). | User choice. |
+| Who owns the stack? | One on-demand **preview host** process. | A single owner avoids position races between processes. |
+| Editing | Satty, hardcoded: `satty --filename <path> --output-filename <path>`. | Satty 0.22.0 has both flags; saving overwrites the screenshot. |
+
+## 3. Preview host
+
+### 3.1 Startup
+
+After a capture has saved its file and set up the clipboard, and if the
+preview is enabled (section 7):
+
+1. Connect to `$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/valw.sock`.
+2. If that fails, start a host: `std::process::Command` on
+   `/proc/self/exe` with the hidden subcommand `__preview-host`, `setsid` in
+   `pre_exec`, stdio to `/dev/null`. A fresh exec inherits no Wayland
+   connection, lock or threads from the capture process.
+3. Retry connecting every 20 ms for up to 1 s. If it still fails, log a
+   warning; the capture itself has already succeeded.
+
+A new host takes `$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/valw-preview.lock` (the existing `Lock`
+type) before touching the socket. If the lock is busy, another host is
+starting or running, and this one exits 0 without output. Holding the lock
+makes it safe to delete a stale socket file (left by a crash) before
+binding.
+
+### 3.2 Protocol
+
+Unix stream socket, one JSON object per line in each direction
+(`serde_json`). Every request gets exactly one reply.
+
+| Request | Host action | Reply |
+|---|---|---|
+| `{"cmd":"hide"}` | Mark this connection as hiding; unmap all thumbnails if this is the first; Wayland round trip so the compositor has processed the unmap | `{"ok":true}` |
+| `{"cmd":"add","path":"…","output":"HDMI-A-1"}` | Load and downscale the PNG, add a thumbnail on that output | `{"ok":true}` |
+
+Any malformed or unknown request gets `{"ok":false,"error":"…"}` and the
+connection stays open.
+
+A connection that sent `hide` stops hiding when it **closes**, for any
+reason: normal end, Esc, an error, or the process being killed. There is no
+explicit `show` message. Thumbnails are visible only while no connection is
+hiding.
+
+### 3.3 Lifetime
+
+The host exits when its stack is empty and no client connection is open. It
+removes the socket file on the way out. If it crashes, the compositor
+removes its surfaces and the next capture starts a new host.
+
+The host writes its own per-run log (`log::init`), like every valw process.
+
+### 3.4 Event loop
+
+calloop (SCTK's default `calloop` feature, `WaylandSource`), one loop for:
+
+- the Wayland connection,
+- the listening socket and every client connection (line-buffered),
+- a timer per thumbnail (`timeout_secs`),
+- animation, paced by frame callbacks.
+
+## 4. Thumbnail
+
+### 4.1 Surface
+
+One layer-shell surface per thumbnail:
+
+- namespace `valw-preview`, layer `Overlay`, anchored bottom + right,
+- `keyboard_interactivity = None`: the compositor never gives it keyboard
+  focus,
+- input region = the image rectangle only (transparent padding lets clicks
+  through),
+- buffer at the output's physical scale, `wp_viewporter` to logical size
+  (same approach as the region overlay).
+
+### 4.2 Size and look
+
+- Long edge 220 logical px, aspect ratio kept. Images smaller than that are
+  not upscaled.
+- Downscaled once on `add` with `image::imageops::resize` (CatmullRom).
+- 1 px light border (`#e0e0e0` at 80% opacity). No rounded corners or
+  shadow in Phase 2.
+
+### 4.3 Stack layout
+
+- Newest thumbnail in the corner: the image sits 16 px from the right and
+  bottom screen edges. (The surface itself touches the right edge, see 4.4;
+  the 16 px is padding inside it, outside the input region.)
+- Older thumbnails above it, 12 px apart.
+- When one closes, those above it move down (no animation).
+- A 6th thumbnail evicts the oldest (slides out as on timeout).
+- Stacks are per output.
+
+### 4.4 Animation
+
+- Slide in from the right edge: 200 ms, ease-out cubic.
+- Slide out to the right: 150 ms, ease-in cubic.
+- Implemented by moving the image's x offset inside the surface (the surface
+  reaches the screen edge; its right margin is 0). The layer position never
+  changes during an animation.
+
+### 4.5 Input
+
+- **Click:** press and release with less than 4 px of movement. Spawns
+  `satty --filename <path> --output-filename <path>` (detached, stdio to
+  `/dev/null`) and slides the thumbnail out. A failed spawn is logged.
+- **Swipe:** press, then horizontal drag moves the image with the pointer
+  (right only; leftward drag is clamped to 0). On release, if the offset is
+  at least 40% of the image width, it slides out; otherwise it animates
+  back.
+- **Timeout:** after `timeout_secs`, slide out. The timer keeps running
+  during a drag; if it fires mid-drag, the thumbnail closes on release.
+  It also keeps running while thumbnails are hidden for a capture: after a
+  long region selection, older thumbnails may already be gone. Simplest
+  rule; revisit after the test day if it annoys.
+
+## 5. Capture integration
+
+In `main.rs`'s capture flow:
+
+1. After the lock and `--delay`, **immediately before screencopy**, open a
+   `HideGuard`: connect to the host socket if it exists, send `hide`, wait
+   up to 300 ms for the reply. No host: no-op. Timeout: log a warning and
+   carry on.
+2. Keep the guard (and its connection) alive through region selection, so
+   thumbnails can't sit above the overlay or take its clicks.
+3. After `deliver` has written the file: if a preview applies (5.1), send
+   `add` over the guard's connection, or, without a running host, start one
+   (3.1) and send `add` there.
+4. Drop the guard: the connection closes and the stack shows again, the new
+   thumbnail sliding in.
+
+Cost: one extra round trip before screencopy, only when a host is running.
+
+### 5.1 When a preview is shown
+
+- Only when a file was written: default save location or `-o PATH` to a
+  regular file.
+- Not for `-o -` (stdout), `--clipboard-only`, or `-o` onto a device or
+  FIFO.
+- `--all`: one preview, for the focused output's file (the same one that
+  goes to the clipboard).
+- Target output: `region` → the anchor output; `screen` → the captured
+  (focused) output; `--all` → the focused output.
+
+## 6. Code layout
+
+Flat files, pure logic kept separate:
+
+| File | Responsibility |
+|---|---|
+| `src/stack.rs` | Pure: stack positions, eviction, swipe/click decisions, easing, thumbnail size |
+| `src/ipc.rs` | Message types (serde), `HideGuard`, `add`, starting the host |
+| `src/host.rs` | Host entry point, lock, socket server, calloop loop, hide counter |
+| `src/thumbnail.rs` | One thumbnail: surface, drawing, animation state, pointer handling |
+
+`wayland.rs` gains what the host needs (a calloop-based dispatch path and
+routing of pointer/frame/configure events to thumbnails), following the
+existing `overlay` pattern. `main.rs` gains the hidden `__preview-host`
+subcommand and the capture integration.
+
+New dependency: `serde_json`. calloop comes with SCTK's default features.
+
+## 7. Config and CLI
+
+```toml
+[preview]
+enabled = true
+timeout_secs = 5
+```
+
+- `timeout_secs` must be at least 1; 0 or negative is a config error with a
+  hint.
+- `--no-preview` (on `screen` and `region`) disables the preview for that
+  run.
+- `valw doctor`: no new checks in Phase 2 (Satty ships in the package).
+
+## 8. Packaging
+
+`nix/package.ulu.nix` wraps the binary with `makeWrapper`:
+`--suffix PATH : ${lib.makeBinPath [ pkgs.satty ]}`. A user's own Satty on
+PATH still wins because of `--suffix`.
+
+## 9. copland wiring (test day)
+
+In the separate `~/copland` repo, done with the user's go-ahead:
+
+- Flake input: `valw.url = "path:/home/elars/Projects/valw";` with
+  `inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs"`. After valw changes:
+  `nix flake update valw`.
+- Package: add `inputs.valw.packages.${system}.default` to the user's
+  packages (a small `modules/home/home-valw.ulu.nix`, no module options).
+- Binds in `modules/home/niri/desktop-niri-keybinds.ulu.nix`:
+  - `Mod+Shift+S` → `valw region` (replaces Noctalia's `screenshot-region`)
+  - `Print` → `valw screen`
+  - `Mod+Shift+3/4` stay workspace moves.
+
+## 10. Testing
+
+### 10.1 Unit tests (`cargo nextest`)
+
+- `stack`: positions for 1–5 thumbnails; eviction at 6; swipe 39% → back,
+  40% → close, leftward → back; click vs drag (< 4 px); easing endpoints
+  and monotonicity; thumbnail size (1920×1080 → 220×124, 1080×1920 →
+  124×220, 100×50 unchanged).
+- `ipc`: JSON round trip for each message; malformed and unknown requests
+  → `ok:false`.
+- host state: hide counter (hide, hide, close, close → visible only at 0);
+  exit condition (empty stack and no connections).
+- host startup: a second host fails the lock and exits quietly.
+- config: `[preview]` defaults, `timeout_secs = 0` rejected.
+
+### 10.2 Headless sway check (`nix flake check`)
+
+The headless background is a solid colour, which makes these deterministic:
+
+1. `valw screen` with default target → `valw.sock` appears within 1 s.
+2. While the thumbnail is visible, `valw screen -o -` → the bottom-right
+   300×200 px of the PNG is entirely the background colour (thumbnails
+   never end up in screenshots).
+3. With `timeout_secs = 1`, the socket is gone within 3 s (host exits).
+4. `--no-preview` → no socket appears.
+
+Click and swipe need real pointer input and stay manual.
+
+### 10.3 Test-day checklist (manual, niri)
+
+- Thumbnail on the correct monitor; sharp at scale 1.25.
+- Typing is never interrupted while a thumbnail is visible.
+- Click opens Satty; saving there overwrites the screenshot file.
+- Swipe right closes; a short drag snaps back.
+- Several captures in a row stack up to 5; none appear in later
+  screenshots.
+- During region selection thumbnails are hidden and not clickable.
+- After the timeout, `pgrep -f __preview-host` finds nothing.
+
+## 11. Definition of done
+
+`cargo clippy -- -D warnings`, `cargo fmt --check`, `cargo nextest run`
+and `nix flake check` pass; the section 10.3 checklist is done on niri;
+valw is wired into copland and the test day can start.