diff --git a/test/ui/README.md b/test/ui/README.md
index 4407da4..7f893a2 100644
--- a/test/ui/README.md
+++ b/test/ui/README.md
@@ -71,6 +71,24 @@ wire.
 | restart | the restart chip on a stack's page: a new podman install restarts unless stopped, an AppJail install starts at boot and its chip offers only the boot choices, Don't start at boot saved and kept; each policy saved, applied, in the compose and shown after a reload; a crash left down under Don't restart (crash restarts under the others SKIP while the host check fdescfs fails: without fdescfs on /dev/fd conmon cannot free the port) | t-restart, t-restart-aj |
 | lnms-admin | opt-in: LibreNMS's admin password is honoured as given (needs a librenms image from 2026-09-30 or later) | t-lnms |
 
+### reboot (by hand)
+
+Start on boot across a real reboot of the host, one stack per rule on both
+engines. Not in the suite and not run by the runner: the host reboots
+between the two steps, and that is yours to do.
+
+    cd /root/fjord-ui-tests     # on the host, with reboot.js copied there
+    podman run --rm --network host -e STEP=setup -v $PWD/reboot.js:/app/t.js:ro \
+      -v $PWD/out:/out ghcr.io/daemonless/playwright:latest node /app/t.js
+    shutdown -r now
+    # back up, once fjordd has started its stacks:
+    podman run --rm --network host -e STEP=check -v $PWD/reboot.js:/app/t.js:ro \
+      -v $PWD/out:/out ghcr.io/daemonless/playwright:latest node /app/t.js
+
+Then delete the `t-rb-*` stacks. On a host with `podman_enable=YES`,
+podman's own rc script also starts the `always` stack at boot and can
+collide with fjordd's start.
+
 Not here: `wire-persist` (the warning kept across a restart) needs the
 wrong-wire `lan-range` fixture, which netlab no longer has.
 
diff --git a/test/ui/reboot.js b/test/ui/reboot.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0da9573
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/ui/reboot.js
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+// Start on boot follows each stack's restart policy, on both engines, across
+// a real host reboot. Not in the suite: the host reboots between its two
+// steps (see README). STEP=setup: one stack per rule, set through the page's
+// chip and Stop. STEP=check: which came back. Delete the t-rb-* stacks by
+// hand after.
+const { chromium } = require('playwright-core');
+const BASE = 'http://127.0.0.1:3567';
+const sleep = (ms) => new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, ms));
+const note = (id, ok, msg) => console.log(`${ok ? 'PASS' : 'FAIL'} ${id}: ${msg}`);
+const detail = async (page, name) => (await page.request.get(BASE + '/api/stacks/' + name)).json();
+const chip = (page) => page.locator('[data-restart-policy] > button');
+const policy = (page) => chip(page).getAttribute('data-policy');
+const LABEL = { 'unless-stopped': 'Restart unless stopped', 'on-failure': 'Restart after a crash', no: "Don't restart" };
+async function settle(page, name) {
+  let d;
+  for (let i = 0; i < 80; i++) { d = await detail(page, name).catch(() => ({})); if (!d?.busy && (d?.status?.state === 'running' || d?.state?.last_failure)) break; await sleep(3000); }
+  return d;
+}
+async function install(page, name, engine, port) {
+  await page.goto(BASE + '/?t=' + Date.now() + '#/store', { waitUntil: 'networkidle' });
+  await page.getByPlaceholder(/Search apps/).fill('openspeedtest');
+  await sleep(800);
+  await page.getByRole('button', { name: /^Install/ }).first().click();
+  const install = page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Install', exact: true });
+  await install.waitFor();
+  await page.getByLabel('Name').fill(name);
+  if (!(await page.locator('#WEB_PORT').isVisible().catch(() => false))) await page.getByRole('button', { name: /^Options/ }).first().click();
+  await page.locator('#WEB_PORT').fill(port);
+  if (engine === 'appjail') {
+    const sel = page.locator('select').filter({ hasText: 'appjail' }).first();
+    if (!(await sel.isVisible().catch(() => false))) await page.getByText('Advanced', { exact: true }).click();
+    await sel.selectOption('appjail');
+    await sleep(1500);
+  }
+  await install.click();
+  const d = await settle(page, name);
+  note(`${engine}: ${name} installed`, d?.status?.state === 'running', `state ${d?.status?.state}`);
+  await page.goto(BASE + '/?t=' + Date.now() + '#/stacks/' + name, { waitUntil: 'networkidle' });
+  await sleep(1500);
+}
+// [name, engine, port, chip choice (its words), stopped by the user, up after the reboot]
+const CASES = [
+  ['t-rb-keep', 'podman', '3131', '', false, true],
+  ['t-rb-stopped', 'podman', '3132', '', true, false],
+  ['t-rb-always', 'podman', '3133', 'Always restart', true, true],
+  ['t-rb-never', 'podman', '3134', "Don't restart", false, false],
+  ['t-rb-aj-always', 'appjail', '3135', 'Always start at boot', true, true],
+  ['t-rb-aj-never', 'appjail', '3136', "Don't start at boot", false, false],
+];
+async function stopped(page, name) {
+  for (let i = 0; i < 40; i++) {
+    const d = await detail(page, name).catch(() => ({}));
+    if (!d?.busy && d?.status?.state === 'stopped') return true;
+    await sleep(3000);
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+(async () => {
+  const b = await chromium.launch({ args: ['--no-sandbox'] });
+  const page = await (await b.newContext({ viewport: { width: 1400, height: 1100 } })).newPage();
+  page.setDefaultTimeout(30000);
+  try {
+    if (process.env.STEP === 'setup') {
+      for (const [name, engine, port, choice, stop] of CASES) {
+        await install(page, name, engine, port);
+        // A podman install watches that it stays up for a minute; the page
+        // re-renders the whole time, so wait for it before using the chip.
+        if (engine === 'podman') await page.getByText(/has stayed up/).waitFor({ timeout: 150000 }).catch(() => {});
+        if (choice) {
+          await chip(page).click();
+          await page.getByRole('menuitemradio', { name: choice }).click();
+          await sleep(1500);
+          // A compose change is taken at Apply; a boot-only one needs none.
+          const apply = page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Apply Changes', exact: true });
+          if (engine === 'podman') {
+            await apply.click();
+            await sleep(2000);
+            await settle(page, name);
+          }
+        }
+        if (stop) {
+          await page.goto(BASE + '/?t=' + Date.now() + '#/stacks/' + name, { waitUntil: 'networkidle' });
+          await sleep(1500);
+          await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Stop…' }).click();
+          await page.getByRole('button', { name: 'Stop', exact: true }).click();
+        }
+        const d = await detail(page, name);
+        const ok = stop ? await stopped(page, name) : d.status?.state === 'running';
+        note(`setup ${name}: ${engine}, ${choice || 'the default'}${stop ? ', stopped' : ''}`, ok, `policy ${d.restart?.policy}, state ${(await detail(page, name)).status?.state}`);
+      }
+    } else {
+      for (const [name, engine, , choice, stop, up] of CASES) {
+        // A stack meant to stay down is never running: settle would wait out
+        // its four minutes on each.
+        const d = (up ? await settle(page, name) : await detail(page, name)) || {};
+        const state = d.status?.state;
+        const desc = `${engine}, ${choice || 'the default'}${stop ? ', stopped before' : ''}`;
+        note(`${name} (${desc}): ${up ? 'up' : 'down'} after the reboot`, up ? state === 'running' : state !== 'running', `state ${state}, desired ${d.state?.desired_state}`);
+        // Left down by its policy, it reads as stopped, not as a stack that
+        // failed to come up.
+        if (!up && !stop) note(`${name}: recorded as stopped, not failed`, d.state?.desired_state === 'stopped', `desired ${d.state?.desired_state}`);
+      }
+      await page.goto(BASE + '/?t=' + Date.now() + '#/stacks', { waitUntil: 'networkidle' });
+      await sleep(2000);
+      await page.screenshot({ path: '/out/reboot-stacks.png', fullPage: true });
+    }
+  } catch (e) {
+    note('run', false, e.message.split('\n')[0]);
+    await page.screenshot({ path: '/out/reboot-error.png', fullPage: true }).catch(() => {});
+  }
+  await b.close();
+})();