diff --git a/src/store/loudnessBackfillWindow.test.ts b/src/store/loudnessBackfillWindow.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0f6570e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/store/loudnessBackfillWindow.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+/**
+ * Pure functions over a queue slice: the "is this id inside the prefetch
+ * window?" check and the "give me the window's id list" collector. Window
+ * = current track + next `LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD` entries, with
+ * duplicates collapsed.
+ */
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import type { Track } from './playerStore';
+import {
+  LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD,
+  collectLoudnessBackfillWindowTrackIds,
+  isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow,
+} from './loudnessBackfillWindow';
+
+function track(id: string): Track {
+  return { id, title: id, artist: 'A', album: 'X', albumId: 'X', duration: 100 };
+}
+
+const big = Array.from({ length: 12 }, (_, i) => track(`t${i}`));
+
+describe('LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD', () => {
+  it('is the value the runtime expects', () => {
+    expect(LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD).toBe(5);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow', () => {
+  it('matches the current track unconditionally', () => {
+    expect(isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow('t0', big, 0, big[0])).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('matches an id inside the ahead window', () => {
+    // queueIndex 0, AHEAD 5 → indices 1..5 are inside, t3 must hit.
+    expect(isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow('t3', big, 0, big[0])).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('returns false for an id beyond the ahead window', () => {
+    // From queueIndex 0, indices 1..5 inside → t6 (index 6) is outside.
+    expect(isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow('t6', big, 0, big[0])).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('window slides with queueIndex', () => {
+    // queueIndex 4, AHEAD 5 → indices 5..9 are inside, t9 must hit, t10 must not.
+    expect(isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow('t9', big, 4, big[4])).toBe(true);
+    expect(isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow('t10', big, 4, big[4])).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('returns false for empty queue', () => {
+    expect(isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow('t1', [], 0, null)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('returns false for empty trackId', () => {
+    expect(isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow('', big, 0, big[0])).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('returns false when currentTrack is null and id is not in the queue window', () => {
+    expect(isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow('missing', big, 0, null)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('collectLoudnessBackfillWindowTrackIds', () => {
+  it('returns current + next 5 entries', () => {
+    const ids = collectLoudnessBackfillWindowTrackIds(big, 0, big[0]);
+    expect(ids).toEqual(['t0', 't1', 't2', 't3', 't4', 't5']);
+  });
+
+  it('clamps the window to the end of the queue', () => {
+    const ids = collectLoudnessBackfillWindowTrackIds(big, 9, big[9]);
+    // queueIndex 9, AHEAD 5 → indices 10..11 available → t9, t10, t11
+    expect(ids).toEqual(['t9', 't10', 't11']);
+  });
+
+  it('omits the current track when null', () => {
+    const ids = collectLoudnessBackfillWindowTrackIds(big, 0, null);
+    expect(ids).toEqual(['t1', 't2', 't3', 't4', 't5']);
+  });
+
+  it('deduplicates when currentTrack is also in the ahead window', () => {
+    const queue = [track('a'), track('b'), track('a'), track('c')];
+    const ids = collectLoudnessBackfillWindowTrackIds(queue, 0, queue[0]);
+    expect(ids).toEqual(['a', 'b', 'c']);
+  });
+
+  it('returns just the current track for an empty queue', () => {
+    expect(collectLoudnessBackfillWindowTrackIds([], 0, track('only'))).toEqual(['only']);
+  });
+
+  it('returns an empty list when nothing is playing and the queue is empty', () => {
+    expect(collectLoudnessBackfillWindowTrackIds([], 0, null)).toEqual([]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/store/loudnessBackfillWindow.ts b/src/store/loudnessBackfillWindow.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..db431de7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/store/loudnessBackfillWindow.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+import type { Track } from './playerStore';
+
+/**
+ * After a bulk enqueue (queue replace, append-many, lucky-mix) the runtime
+ * warms the loudness cache for the current track + the next N entries so
+ * the engine's `audio_chain_preload` sees a real cached gain instead of
+ * the startup trim. These helpers compute that window — both as a
+ * "does this id sit inside it?" predicate and as the explicit id list
+ * the prefetch loop iterates over.
+ *
+ * Pure functions of the state slice — no store imports, no side effects.
+ * The caller passes the queue + index + current track so the test surface
+ * stays trivial and there's no top-level coupling back to playerStore.
+ */
+export const LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD = 5;
+
+export function isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow(
+  trackId: string,
+  queue: Track[],
+  queueIndex: number,
+  currentTrack: Track | null,
+): boolean {
+  if (!trackId) return false;
+  if (currentTrack?.id === trackId) return true;
+  if (queue.length === 0) return false;
+  const start = Math.max(0, queueIndex + 1);
+  const end = Math.min(queue.length, start + LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD);
+  for (let i = start; i < end; i++) {
+    if (queue[i]?.id === trackId) return true;
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
+export function collectLoudnessBackfillWindowTrackIds(
+  queue: Track[],
+  queueIndex: number,
+  currentTrack: Track | null,
+): string[] {
+  const ids = new Set<string>();
+  if (currentTrack?.id) ids.add(currentTrack.id);
+  const start = Math.max(0, queueIndex + 1);
+  const end = Math.min(queue.length, start + LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD);
+  for (let i = start; i < end; i++) {
+    const tid = queue[i]?.id;
+    if (tid) ids.add(tid);
+  }
+  return Array.from(ids);
+}
diff --git a/src/store/playerStore.ts b/src/store/playerStore.ts
index 13f12c35..f9a409e6 100644
--- a/src/store/playerStore.ts
+++ b/src/store/playerStore.ts
@@ -84,6 +84,11 @@ import {
   resetBackfillAttempts,
   resetLoudnessBackfillStateForTrackId,
 } from './loudnessBackfillState';
+import {
+  LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD,
+  collectLoudnessBackfillWindowTrackIds,
+  isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow,
+} from './loudnessBackfillWindow';
 
 // Re-export the playback-progress public surface so existing call sites
 // (PlayerBar, FullscreenPlayer, WaveformSeek, LyricsPane, MobilePlayerView,
@@ -721,10 +726,11 @@ async function runRefreshLoudnessForTrack(trackId: string, syncEngine: boolean):
       if (auth.normalizationEngine === 'loudness'
         && !isBackfillInFlight(trackId)
         && attempts < MAX_BACKFILL_ATTEMPTS_PER_TRACK) {
-        if (!isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow(trackId)) {
+        const live = usePlayerStore.getState();
+        if (!isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow(trackId, live.queue, live.queueIndex, live.currentTrack)) {
           emitNormalizationDebug('backfill:skipped-outside-window', {
             trackId,
-            queueIndex: usePlayerStore.getState().queueIndex,
+            queueIndex: live.queueIndex,
             aheadWindow: LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD,
           });
           return;
@@ -774,35 +780,6 @@ async function runRefreshLoudnessForTrack(trackId: string, syncEngine: boolean):
   }
 }
 
-/** After bulk enqueue, warm loudness cache so gapless `audio_chain_preload` sees real gain, not only startup trim. */
-const LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD = 5;
-
-function isTrackInsideLoudnessBackfillWindow(trackId: string): boolean {
-  if (!trackId) return false;
-  const state = usePlayerStore.getState();
-  const currentId = state.currentTrack?.id;
-  if (currentId === trackId) return true;
-  if (state.queue.length === 0) return false;
-  const start = Math.max(0, state.queueIndex + 1);
-  const end = Math.min(state.queue.length, start + LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD);
-  for (let i = start; i < end; i++) {
-    if (state.queue[i]?.id === trackId) return true;
-  }
-  return false;
-}
-
-function collectLoudnessBackfillWindowTrackIds(queue: Track[], queueIndex: number, currentTrack: Track | null): string[] {
-  const ids = new Set<string>();
-  if (currentTrack?.id) ids.add(currentTrack.id);
-  const start = Math.max(0, queueIndex + 1);
-  const end = Math.min(queue.length, start + LOUDNESS_BACKFILL_WINDOW_AHEAD);
-  for (let i = start; i < end; i++) {
-    const tid = queue[i]?.id;
-    if (tid) ids.add(tid);
-  }
-  return Array.from(ids);
-}
-
 function prefetchLoudnessForEnqueuedTracks(
   mergedQueue: Track[],
   queueIndex: number,