diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index af8dca5..6ced56b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -148,7 +148,11 @@ chromium --headless --virtual-time-budget=8000 --dump-dom \
   http://127.0.0.1:8777/selftest.html | grep -oE '(PASS|FAIL) [0-9/]+'
 ```
 
-Or open `selftest.html`. 29 assertions over the stages below detection.
+Or open `selftest.html`. 41 assertions over the stages below detection, plus a
+wiring cross-check: every `el('id')` in `app.js` must exist in `index.html`. A
+knob wired in one but not the other throws during wiring, which aborts the rest
+of the module and leaves a blank page — a symptom that points nowhere near its
+cause, and which has happened twice.
 
 The ring-simplicity check is the load-bearing one. Because `hold` parts *cut*
 between poses instead of interpolating, a ring whose vertex order is wrong
diff --git a/js/selftest.js b/js/selftest.js
index 06b01e0..24cae67 100644
--- a/js/selftest.js
+++ b/js/selftest.js
@@ -45,6 +45,37 @@ const spreadX = (frames, slot) => {
 
 /* ---- the tests ---- */
 
+// Cross-check every el('id') in app.js against the ids in index.html.
+//
+// This bug class has bitten twice: a knob wired in app.js but absent from the
+// markup throws during wiring, which aborts the rest of the module and leaves a
+// blank page. The symptom ("nothing happens") points nowhere near the cause, so
+// it is worth an automated check rather than vigilance.
+export async function runWiring() {
+  const out = [];
+  try {
+    const [app, html] = await Promise.all([
+      fetch('./js/app.js').then((r) => r.text()),
+      fetch('./index.html').then((r) => r.text()),
+    ]);
+    const ids = new Set([...app.matchAll(/\bel\(\s*['"]([\w-]+)['"]\s*\)/g)].map((m) => m[1]));
+    const list = app.match(/for \(const id of \[([\s\S]*?)\]\)/);
+    if (list) {
+      for (const m of list[1].matchAll(/'([\w]+)'/g)) { ids.add(m[1]); ids.add(m[1] + 'v'); }
+    }
+    const have = new Set([...html.matchAll(/id="([\w-]+)"/g)].map((m) => m[1]));
+    const missing = [...ids].filter((i) => !have.has(i));
+    out.push({ name: `every el() id exists in index.html (${ids.size} checked)`,
+               pass: missing.length === 0, detail: missing.join(', ') });
+    const unused = [...have].filter((i) => !ids.has(i));
+    out.push({ name: 'no orphaned ids in index.html', pass: unused.length === 0,
+               detail: unused.join(', ') });
+  } catch (e) {
+    out.push({ name: 'wiring check ran', pass: false, detail: e.message });
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
 export function run() {
   results.length = 0;
 
diff --git a/selftest.html b/selftest.html
index 7fa7360..0fa0d31 100644
--- a/selftest.html
+++ b/selftest.html
@@ -7,10 +7,11 @@
 </style></head><body>
 <h1 id="head">running…</h1><ul id="out"></ul>
 <script type="module">
-import { run } from './js/selftest.js';
+import { run, runWiring } from './js/selftest.js';
 let res;
 try { res = run(); }
 catch (e) { res = [{ name: 'harness threw: ' + e.message, pass: false, detail: String(e.stack).split('\n')[1] || '' }]; }
+res = res.concat(await runWiring());
 const pass = res.filter(r => r.pass).length;
 const fail = res.length - pass;
 document.getElementById('head').textContent = `${fail === 0 ? 'PASS' : 'FAIL'} — ${pass}/${res.length} assertions`;