# Don't manage audio from the root account

This Pi is a PipeWire audio hub, but **the audio system does not run as root.** It
runs as the **`user`** account (uid 1000). PipeWire is a per-user service, so
`pactl`, `wpctl`, `bluetoothctl`, and `systemctl --user` only work when you are
logged in as `user` — run as root they talk to an empty session and everything
looks broken even when it's fine.

## Log in as `user` instead

```bash
ssh user@<pi-host>.local      # or: ssh user@<pi-ip>
```

Then read **`/home/user/README.md`** — that's the maintenance guide explaining how
the whole system is wired together and how to keep it running.

## If you are already stuck at a root shell

You can reach the audio session without logging out by prefixing commands:

```bash
sudo -u user XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000 pactl info
```

But prefer just logging in as `user`. Root is only needed for the handful of
system-level pieces (Bluetooth daemon, Avahi, firmware config in
`/boot/firmware/config.txt`); those are documented in `/home/user/README.md` too.

---

> This file is deployed to `/root/README.md` on the Pi. In the project repo it's
> `root-README.md`; the maintenance guide it points to is `MAINTENANCE.md`.