diff --git a/tests/smoke.sh b/tests/smoke.sh
index 310c0fb..2a6f69f 100755
--- a/tests/smoke.sh
+++ b/tests/smoke.sh
@@ -24,28 +24,22 @@ search zzzz-no-match | grep -q '"id":"fallback-commands"' && pass "fallback sect
 count=$($cli call system.info | python3 -I -c 'import json,sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin)["data"]["candidates"])')
 (( count > 300 )) && pass "$count candidates (apps + Omarchy menu)" || bad "only $count candidates"
 
-echo "toggle latency (show -> layer mapped, hide -> unmapped; budget 100 ms)"
-sock="$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/hypr/$HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE/.socket2.sock"
-events=$(mktemp)
-socat -u "UNIX-CONNECT:$sock" - 2>/dev/null | while IFS= read -r line; do
-  case $line in *layer\>\>omacast*) echo "$(date +%s%N) ${line%%>>*}" >>"$events" ;; esac
-done &
-watcher=$!
-sleep 0.3
-$cli hide
+# The surface stays mapped between opens, so time the commit that takes or
+# gives back the keyboard (Hyprland sends no event for it), polled over IPC.
+echo "toggle latency (show -> keyboard taken, hide -> given back; budget 100 ms)"
+ki() { hyprctl repl "for _, l in ipairs(hl.get_layers()) do if l.namespace == 'omacast' then return l.keyboard_interactivity end end return 0" 2>/dev/null; }
+until_ki() { local deadline=$(( $(date +%s%N) + 1000000000 )); until [[ $(ki) == "$1" ]]; do (( $(date +%s%N) < deadline )) || return 1; done; }
+$cli hide; sleep 0.3
 worst=0
 for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
-  t0=$(date +%s%N); $cli show; sleep 0.3
-  t1=$(date +%s%N); $cli hide; sleep 0.3
-  open=$(grep openlayer "$events" | sed -n "${i}p" | cut -d' ' -f1)
-  close=$(grep closelayer "$events" | sed -n "${i}p" | cut -d' ' -f1)
-  if [[ -z $open || -z $close ]]; then bad "run $i: no layer event seen"; continue; fi
-  show_ms=$(( (open - t0) / 1000000 )); hide_ms=$(( (close - t1) / 1000000 ))
+  t0=$(date +%s%N); $cli show; until_ki 1 || { bad "run $i: launcher never took the keyboard"; continue; }
+  show_ms=$(( ($(date +%s%N) - t0) / 1000000 )); sleep 0.3
+  t1=$(date +%s%N); $cli hide; until_ki 0 || { bad "run $i: launcher kept the keyboard"; continue; }
+  hide_ms=$(( ($(date +%s%N) - t1) / 1000000 )); sleep 0.3
   printf '        run %d: show %3d ms, hide %3d ms\n' "$i" "$show_ms" "$hide_ms"
   (( show_ms > worst )) && worst=$show_ms
   (( hide_ms > worst )) && worst=$hide_ms
 done
-kill "$watcher" 2>/dev/null; pkill -f "socat -u UNIX-CONNECT:$sock" 2>/dev/null; rm -f "$events"
 (( worst > 0 && worst < 100 )) && pass "worst toggle ${worst} ms" || bad "worst toggle ${worst} ms"
 
 exit $fail
diff --git a/ui/LauncherWindow.qml b/ui/LauncherWindow.qml
index 618a8ad..8a03702 100644
--- a/ui/LauncherWindow.qml
+++ b/ui/LauncherWindow.qml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import QtQuick
 import Quickshell
+import Quickshell.Hyprland
 import Quickshell.Wayland
 import qs.Commons
 import qs.Commons as Commons
@@ -33,13 +34,30 @@ PanelWindow {
 
   signal dismissRequested()
 
-  visible: window.shown
+  // The surface stays mapped once opened: hidden, it is fully transparent,
+  // takes no input and no keyboard. Mapping a new surface costs ~130 ms (the
+  // output's size and scale arrive a few frames late); flipping these is one
+  // commit. It is remapped only to move to another monitor.
+  property bool mapped: false
+  visible: window.mapped
+  screen: window.pinnedScreen
+  property var pinnedScreen: null
+  function focusedScreen() {
+    var monitor = Hyprland.focusedMonitor
+    var screens = Quickshell.screens
+    for (var i = 0; i < screens.length; i++) {
+      if (monitor && screens[i].name === monitor.name) return screens[i]
+    }
+    return window.pinnedScreen || (screens.length ? screens[0] : null)
+  }
+  mask: window.shown ? null : noInput
+  Region { id: noInput }
   anchors { top: true; bottom: true; left: true; right: true }
   color: "transparent"
   exclusionMode: ExclusionMode.Ignore
   WlrLayershell.namespace: "omacast"
   WlrLayershell.layer: WlrLayer.Overlay
-  WlrLayershell.keyboardFocus: WlrKeyboardFocus.Exclusive
+  WlrLayershell.keyboardFocus: window.shown ? WlrKeyboardFocus.Exclusive : WlrKeyboardFocus.None
 
   readonly property var general: {
     window.backend.storeRevision
@@ -126,11 +144,26 @@ PanelWindow {
     if (typeof payload.query === "string") window.query = payload.query
     window.closePopups()
     window.historyIndex = -1
-    window.rebuild(true)
+    // Hiding pops to root and rebuilds, so an unchanged root list is reused
+    // and the card shows on the next frame instead of after a search.
+    if (typeof payload.query === "string" || window.rootKey() !== window.builtRootKey) window.rebuild(true)
+    else window.select(window.nextSelectable(-1, 1), 0)
     Qt.callLater(function() { keyCatcher.forceActiveFocus() })
   }
 
+  // Hidden, the mapped surface draws nothing.
+  Binding {
+    target: window.contentItem
+    property: "opacity"
+    value: window.shown ? 1 : 0
+  }
+
   onShownChanged: {
+    if (window.shown) {
+      var target = window.focusedScreen()
+      if (target !== window.pinnedScreen) window.pinnedScreen = target
+      window.mapped = true
+    }
     if (window.shown) return
     window.searchSerial++
     window.backend.cancelSearch()
@@ -172,8 +205,17 @@ PanelWindow {
   }
 
 
+  // What the root list depends on; "" when not at an empty root.
+  property string builtRootKey: ""
+  function rootKey() {
+    return window.atRoot && window.query === "" && window.rootFilter === "all"
+      ? window.backend.candidatesRevision + ":" + window.backend.storeRevision : ""
+  }
+
   function rebuild(resetSelection, restoreIndex) {
     var serial = ++window.searchSerial
+    window.builtRootKey = ""
+    var key = window.rootKey()
     window.backend.cancelSearch()
     pointerGate.reset()
     var keepId = !resetSelection && window.selectedRow ? window.selectedRow.itemId : ""
@@ -185,6 +227,7 @@ PanelWindow {
       if (serial !== window.searchSerial || revision !== window.backend.candidatesRevision) return
       window.applySearch(result, keepId, restoreIndex)
       window.searchPending = false
+      if (result.ok) window.builtRootKey = key
     })
   }