diff --git a/airc b/airc
index 024bf6c..18fef0d 100755
--- a/airc
+++ b/airc
@@ -1626,419 +1626,17 @@ else
   exit 1
 fi
 
-# ── cmd_rooms: list open airc invite gists on this gh account ────────
-# Issue #38. The gist namespace IS the room registry — every airc invite
-# pushed via the default gist transport (#37) shows up here. Filter is
-# the description prefix `"airc invite for "` that push-image side writes.
-#
-# The Claude Code skill (/list, /rooms) calls this and lets the AI use
-# conversation context to pick. The CLI itself stays orthogonal — it
-# emits the menu, doesn't decide.
-cmd_rooms() {
-  # Parse flags (#142). Default hides items already marked stale (older
-  # than the threshold in _is_stale) so an active user with several
-  # rooms + several days of test runs doesn't have stale-invite count
-  # dominating the active-rooms count. --all / --include-stale shows
-  # everything (the pre-#142 behavior); --prune deletes stale gists.
-  local include_stale=0
-  local prune=0
-  while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
-    case "$1" in
-      --all|--include-stale) include_stale=1; shift ;;
-      --prune) prune=1; include_stale=1; shift ;;
-      -h|--help)
-        echo "Usage: airc list [--all|--include-stale] [--prune]"
-        echo "  --all / --include-stale  show stale items (default: hidden)"
-        echo "  --prune                  delete stale gists from your gh account"
-        return 0 ;;
-      *) echo "  Unknown flag: $1 (try: airc list --help)" >&2; return 1 ;;
-    esac
-  done
-
-  if ! command -v gh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    echo "  airc rooms requires the 'gh' CLI: https://cli.github.com" >&2
-    echo "  airc IS aIRC — github gist is the coordination layer; gh is mandatory." >&2
-    return 1
-  fi
-  # Match BOTH the persistent IRC-style rooms (#39, prefix `airc room:`)
-  # and the legacy single-pair invites (#37/#38, prefix `airc invite for`).
-  # Show kind explicitly so the AI / human can tell them apart.
-  # gh gist list columns: id  description  files  visibility  updated_at
-  # Use $5 (timestamp) for the updated field — pre-#82 we were using
-  # $4 (visibility, "secret") under the "updated:" label, which is a
-  # display bug fixed here on the way to adding stale markers.
-  local raw; raw=$(gh gist list --limit 50 2>/dev/null \
-    | awk -F'\t' '
-        /airc room:/        { print "room\t"   $1 "\t" $2 "\t" $5 }
-        /airc invite for/   { print "invite\t" $1 "\t" $2 "\t" $5 }
-      ')
-  local count; count=$(printf '%s' "$raw" | grep -c . || true)
-  if [ "$count" = "0" ]; then
-    echo "  No open airc rooms or invites on your gh account."
-    echo "  Host the default room:  airc connect"
-    echo "  Host a named room:      airc connect --room <name>"
-    return 0
-  fi
-  # First pass: count how many are stale vs fresh, so we can show an
-  # accurate header AND a hint about --all when items got hidden.
-  local stale_count=0 fresh_count=0
-  while IFS=$'\t' read -r _kind _id _desc updated; do
-    [ -z "$_kind" ] && continue
-    if _is_stale "$updated"; then
-      stale_count=$((stale_count + 1))
-    else
-      fresh_count=$((fresh_count + 1))
-    fi
-  done <<< "$raw"
-
-  echo ""
-  if [ "$include_stale" = "1" ]; then
-    echo "  $count open on your gh account ($fresh_count active, $stale_count stale):"
-  elif [ "$stale_count" -gt 0 ]; then
-    echo "  $fresh_count active on your gh account ($stale_count stale hidden — see 'airc list --all')"
-  else
-    echo "  $count open on your gh account:"
-  fi
-  echo ""
-
-  local pruned=0
-  while IFS=$'\t' read -r kind id desc updated; do
-    [ -z "$kind" ] && continue
-    local is_stale=0
-    _is_stale "$updated" && is_stale=1
-    # Default: skip stale entries. --all/--include-stale shows all.
-    if [ "$is_stale" = "1" ] && [ "$include_stale" = "0" ]; then
-      continue
-    fi
-    if [ "$prune" = "1" ] && [ "$is_stale" = "1" ]; then
-      if gh gist delete "$id" --yes >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        echo "    pruned: $desc (id: $id)"
-        pruned=$((pruned + 1))
-      else
-        echo "    prune FAILED for $desc (id: $id)" >&2
-      fi
-      continue
-    fi
-    local hh; hh=$(humanhash "$id" 2>/dev/null)
-    local marker
-    case "$kind" in
-      room)   marker="#" ;;     # persistent channel
-      invite) marker="(1:1)" ;; # ephemeral pairing
-    esac
-    local age_str; age_str=$(_format_relative_time "$updated")
-    local stale_marker=""
-    [ "$is_stale" = "1" ] && stale_marker="  (stale)"
-    printf '    %s %s%s\n      id:       %s\n      mnemonic: %s\n      updated:  %s\n\n' \
-      "$marker" "$desc" "$stale_marker" "$id" "$hh" "$age_str"
-  done <<< "$raw"
-
-  if [ "$prune" = "1" ]; then
-    echo "  pruned $pruned stale gist(s)."
-    return 0
-  fi
-  echo "  Join (auto-resolves on same gh account): airc connect"
-  echo "  Join by id (cross-account share):        airc connect <id>"
-  echo ""
-}
-
-# Convert an ISO 8601 timestamp into a relative-time string ("12m ago",
-# "3h ago", "2d ago"). Falls back to the raw timestamp on parse failure.
-# Used by cmd_rooms to display gist activity (#82). Date parsing goes
-# through iso_to_epoch so the BSD/GNU/python fallback chain is shared.
-_format_relative_time() {
-  local ts="${1:-}"
-  [ -z "$ts" ] && { echo "(unknown)"; return; }
-  local epoch; epoch=$(iso_to_epoch "$ts")
-  if [ -z "$epoch" ]; then echo "$ts"; return; fi
-  local now; now=$(date -u +%s)
-  local diff=$((now - epoch))
-  if [ "$diff" -lt 0 ]; then echo "$ts"; return; fi
-  if [ "$diff" -lt 60 ]; then       echo "${diff}s ago"
-  elif [ "$diff" -lt 3600 ]; then   echo "$((diff / 60))m ago"
-  elif [ "$diff" -lt 86400 ]; then  echo "$((diff / 3600))h ago"
-  else                              echo "$((diff / 86400))d ago"
-  fi
-}
-
-# Return 0 if the given ISO timestamp is older than AIRC_STALE_HOURS
-# (default 24h). Used to mark abandoned rooms in cmd_rooms output (#82).
-# Shares iso_to_epoch with _format_relative_time so a future date-parse
-# fix lands once.
-_is_stale() {
-  local ts="${1:-}"
-  local threshold_hours="${AIRC_STALE_HOURS:-24}"
-  [ -z "$ts" ] && return 1
-  local epoch; epoch=$(iso_to_epoch "$ts")
-  [ -z "$epoch" ] && return 1
-  local now; now=$(date -u +%s)
-  local diff=$((now - epoch))
-  [ "$diff" -gt $((threshold_hours * 3600)) ]
-}
-
-# ── cmd_part: leave the current room ──────────────────────────────────
-# Issue #39. Two paths, distinguished by config.json's host_target:
-#   - Host (no host_target): delete the room gist if we created one, then
-#     teardown. Joiners watching us will see SSH die — IRC's "ircd
-#     restart" — and the next reconnect re-elects a new host.
-#   - Joiner (host_target set): just teardown local processes; host's
-#     gist stays open for other joiners (we're one of N).
-# Either way, local config + identity + peer records persist (use
-# `airc teardown --flush` for nuclear).
-#
-# Detection note: we use config.json::host_target as the host-vs-joiner
-# signal, NOT presence of room_gist_id. The gist file may be absent for
-# a legitimate host case (`--no-gist`, or gh push failed) — falling back
-# to "you're a joiner" would be wrong.
-cmd_part() {
-  ensure_init
-
-  local gist_id_file="$AIRC_WRITE_DIR/room_gist_id"
-  local room_name_file="$AIRC_WRITE_DIR/room_name"
-  local room_name="(unnamed)"
-  [ -f "$room_name_file" ] && room_name=$(cat "$room_name_file")
-
-  local host_target; host_target=$(get_config_val host_target "")
-
-  if [ -z "$host_target" ]; then
-    # ── Host path ──
-    if [ -f "$gist_id_file" ]; then
-      local gid; gid=$(cat "$gist_id_file")
-      if command -v gh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        echo "  Host of #${room_name} parting — deleting room gist ${gid}..."
-        gh gist delete "$gid" --yes 2>/dev/null \
-          && echo "  ✓ Room gist deleted." \
-          || echo "  ⚠  Couldn't delete gist ${gid} (already gone? gh auth?). Continuing teardown."
-      else
-        echo "  ⚠  gh CLI not available — can't delete room gist ${gid} automatically."
-        echo "     Delete it manually:  gh gist delete ${gid} --yes"
-      fi
-    else
-      # Host but no gist (--no-gist or gh-push failed). Nothing to delete
-      # in the gh namespace; just clean local state.
-      echo "  Host of #${room_name} parting (no gist was published; nothing to clean up in gh)."
-    fi
-    rm -f "$gist_id_file" "$room_name_file"
-  else
-    # ── Joiner path ──
-    echo "  Joiner of #${room_name} parting — host's gist stays open for others."
-    # Clear our cached gist_id too, matching the comment on the joiner-
-    # side cache write site (PR #92 Copilot feedback). Without this, a
-    # parted joiner that later reconnects via the same scope would
-    # incorrectly trigger the stale-pairing-detect path on the next
-    # resume even though they parted intentionally.
-    rm -f "$room_name_file" "$gist_id_file"
-  fi
-
-  # Issue #136: persist the /part. Record the room into the PRIMARY
-  # scope's parted_rooms list so a later `airc join` won't auto-
-  # resubscribe. Only meaningful for sidecar rooms (general, future
-  # opt-in #repo etc.) — parting your project's primary scope means
-  # the whole scope is gone, so persistence there is moot.
-  local _primary_scope; _primary_scope=$(_primary_scope_for "$AIRC_WRITE_DIR")
-  if [ "$_primary_scope" != "$AIRC_WRITE_DIR" ] && [ "$room_name" != "(unnamed)" ]; then
-    _record_parted_room "$_primary_scope" "$room_name"
-    echo "  /part persisted — #${room_name} won't auto-resubscribe. Rejoin with: airc join --${room_name}"
-  fi
-
-  # IRC `/part` semantics — leave THIS room only; the #general sidecar
-  # (or any other sibling subscription) keeps running. cmd_teardown
-  # respects AIRC_TEARDOWN_PART_ONLY=1 by skipping its sidecar block,
-  # so the kill is scope-local. cmd_teardown without this guard remains
-  # the "kill everything in this scope tree" command.
-  local AIRC_TEARDOWN_PART_ONLY=1
-  cmd_teardown
-}
-
-cmd_send_file() {
-  local peer_name="${1:-}" filepath="${2:-}"
-  [ -z "$peer_name" ] || [ -z "$filepath" ] && die "Usage: airc send-file <peer> <path>"
-  [ -f "$filepath" ] || die "File not found: $filepath"
-  ensure_init
-
-  local host_target my_name
-  host_target=$(get_config_val host_target "")
-  my_name=$(get_name)
-
-  local filename; filename=$(basename "$filepath")
-  local target_host="$host_target"
-  [ -z "$target_host" ] && target_host="localhost"
-
-  local rhome; rhome=$(remote_home)
-  relay_ssh "$target_host" "mkdir -p $rhome/files/${my_name}" 2>/dev/null
-  # Use the airc identity key for scp — same key relay_ssh uses. Without -i,
-  # scp falls back to system ssh_config (~/.ssh/id_* etc), which doesn't know
-  # about isolated AIRC_HOME identities. Surfaced by m5-test's send-file test.
-  local ssh_key="$IDENTITY_DIR/ssh_key"
-  local scp_out
-  if [ -f "$ssh_key" ]; then
-    scp_out=$(scp -i "$ssh_key" -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new -q "$filepath" "${target_host}:${rhome}/files/${my_name}/${filename}" 2>&1)
-  else
-    scp_out=$(scp -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new -q "$filepath" "${target_host}:${rhome}/files/${my_name}/${filename}" 2>&1)
-  fi
-  if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
-    die "Failed to transfer $filename: $scp_out"
-  fi
-
-  local filesize; filesize=$(file_size "$filepath")
-  cmd_send "$peer_name" "Sent file: $filename ($filesize bytes)"
-  echo "Sent $filename ($filesize bytes)"
-}
-
-cmd_invite() {
-  ensure_init
-  local host_target pubkey_b64 join_string
-  host_target=$(get_config_val host_target "")
-
-  if [ -n "$host_target" ]; then
-    # Joiner: reconstruct the HOST's join string from stored pairing info.
-    # Any connected peer can share the same join string — everyone converges
-    # on the same host.
-    local host_name host_port host_ssh_pub
-    host_name=$(get_config_val host_name "")
-    host_port=$(get_config_val host_port 7547)
-    host_ssh_pub=$(get_config_val host_ssh_pub "")
-    if [ -z "$host_name" ] || [ -z "$host_ssh_pub" ]; then
-      die "Host info missing from config. Re-pair with 'airc teardown' then 'airc connect <join-string>'."
-    fi
-    pubkey_b64=$(printf '%s\n' "$host_ssh_pub" | base64 | tr -d '\n')
-    local port_suffix=""
-    [ "$host_port" != "7547" ] && port_suffix=":$host_port"
-    join_string="${host_name}@${host_target}${port_suffix}#${pubkey_b64}"
-  else
-    # Host: build own join string from live state.
-    local my_name user host port
-    my_name=$(get_name)
-    user=$(whoami)
-    host=$(get_host)
-    port=$(cat "$AIRC_WRITE_DIR/host_port" 2>/dev/null || echo 7547)
-    local port_suffix=""
-    [ "$port" != "7547" ] && port_suffix=":$port"
-    pubkey_b64=$(base64 < "$IDENTITY_DIR/ssh_key.pub" | tr -d '\n')
-    join_string="${my_name}@${user}@${host}${port_suffix}#${pubkey_b64}"
-  fi
-
-  echo "$join_string"
-}
-
-cmd_peers() {
-  ensure_init
-  # `airc peers --prune` — remove stale records that share a host with a
-  # newer record (cruft left from rename chain-breaks before the stable-host
-  # matching logic landed).
-  if [ "${1:-}" = "--prune" ]; then
-    "$AIRC_PYTHON" -c "
-import json, os, sys
-peers_dir = os.path.expanduser('$PEERS_DIR')
-if not os.path.isdir(peers_dir):
-    sys.exit(0)
-# Group records by host; keep the most-recently-paired, remove the rest.
-by_host = {}
-for entry in sorted(os.listdir(peers_dir)):
-    if not entry.endswith('.json'): continue
-    p = os.path.join(peers_dir, entry)
-    try:
-        d = json.load(open(p))
-    except Exception:
-        continue
-    host = d.get('host', '')
-    if not host: continue
-    by_host.setdefault(host, []).append((d.get('paired', ''), entry, d.get('name', entry[:-5])))
-removed = []
-for host, records in by_host.items():
-    if len(records) < 2: continue
-    records.sort(reverse=True)  # newest paired first
-    for _, entry, name in records[1:]:
-        for ext in ('.json', '.pub'):
-            f = os.path.join(peers_dir, entry[:-5] + ext)
-            if os.path.isfile(f):
-                try: os.remove(f)
-                except Exception: pass
-        removed.append((name, host))
-if removed:
-    for name, host in removed:
-        print(f'  pruned: {name} -> {host}')
-else:
-    print('  No stale records to prune.')
-"
-    return
-  fi
-
-  # Walk scopes that count as "subscribed rooms" for this tab: primary
-  # (current AIRC_WRITE_DIR) plus any sibling sidecar scopes (.airc.<room>
-  # pattern under the project scope's parent). For each, read peers/
-  # records and annotate with the scope's room_name. Same peer in both
-  # scopes folds into one line with both room tags.
-  #
-  # Intent (issue #121 follow-up): multi-room presence shouldn't fragment
-  # the operator's view of "who am I connected to" into separate per-scope
-  # listings. From the user's perspective they're in N rooms; airc peers
-  # should reflect that as one unified roster with room context per peer.
-  "$AIRC_PYTHON" -c "
-import json, os, sys, re
-
-primary_scope = os.path.expanduser('$AIRC_WRITE_DIR')
-parent = os.path.dirname(primary_scope)
-self_basename = os.path.basename(primary_scope)
-
-# Prefix detection: a sidecar scope is named like \`<prefix>.<room>\`
-# (e.g. .airc.general). Strip a trailing .<word> to recover the
-# primary scope's basename. Works for both production layout
-# (.airc / .airc.general) and test ad-hoc paths (state / state.general)
-# without baking in the .airc literal.
-prefix_match = re.match(r'(.+?)\.[a-z0-9-]+\$', self_basename)
-prefix = prefix_match.group(1) if prefix_match else self_basename
-
-# Collect: the primary scope itself, plus every sibling whose name is
-# <prefix>.<something>. We additionally require room_name + peers/ on
-# each candidate so unrelated dirs in the same parent (e.g. .airc-old,
-# .airc.bak) don't pollute the listing.
-candidates = []
-if os.path.isdir(parent):
-    for entry in sorted(os.listdir(parent)):
-        if entry == prefix or entry.startswith(prefix + '.'):
-            candidates.append(os.path.join(parent, entry))
-scopes = [s for s in candidates
-          if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(s, 'room_name'))
-          and os.path.isdir(os.path.join(s, 'peers'))]
-# Always include primary even if it doesn't have room_name yet — that's
-# the legacy 1:1 invite mode case (use_room=0).
-if primary_scope not in scopes and os.path.isdir(os.path.join(primary_scope, 'peers')):
-    scopes.insert(0, primary_scope)
-
-# Build {(name, host): [room1, room2, ...]} by walking each scope's peers/.
-peers_by_id = {}
-for scope in scopes:
-    peers_dir = os.path.join(scope, 'peers')
-    if not os.path.isdir(peers_dir):
-        continue
-    rn_file = os.path.join(scope, 'room_name')
-    room = '(?)'
-    if os.path.isfile(rn_file):
-        try: room = open(rn_file).read().strip()
-        except Exception: pass
-    for f in sorted(os.listdir(peers_dir)):
-        if not f.endswith('.json'): continue
-        try:
-            d = json.load(open(os.path.join(peers_dir, f)))
-        except Exception:
-            continue
-        key = (d.get('name', f[:-5]), d.get('host', ''))
-        peers_by_id.setdefault(key, []).append(room)
-
-if not peers_by_id:
-    print('  No peers yet.')
-    sys.exit(0)
-
-# Render. Each peer once, with room annotations sorted + deduped.
-for (name, host), rooms in sorted(peers_by_id.items()):
-    seen = set(); ordered = []
-    for r in rooms:
-        if r not in seen:
-            ordered.append(r); seen.add(r)
-    tags = ', '.join('#' + r for r in ordered)
-    print(f'  {name} → {host}   [{tags}]')
-"
-}
+# Channel/peer cluster (cmd_rooms + cmd_part + cmd_send_file + cmd_invite +
+# cmd_peers) extracted to lib/airc_bash/cmd_rooms.sh (#152 Phase 3 file
+# split). Bundled because in IRC mental model these are all the same
+# conceptual surface — channel/peer ops belong together.
+if [ -n "${_airc_lib_dir:-}" ] && [ -f "$_airc_lib_dir/airc_bash/cmd_rooms.sh" ]; then
+  # shellcheck source=lib/airc_bash/cmd_rooms.sh
+  source "$_airc_lib_dir/airc_bash/cmd_rooms.sh"
+else
+  echo "ERROR: airc_bash/cmd_rooms.sh not found via lib-dir resolver." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
 
 # cmd_teardown + cmd_disconnect extracted to lib/airc_bash/cmd_teardown.sh
 # (#152 Phase 3 file split).
diff --git a/lib/airc_bash/cmd_rooms.sh b/lib/airc_bash/cmd_rooms.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e56852b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/airc_bash/cmd_rooms.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,441 @@
+# Sourced by airc. Channel/peer cluster — IRC-style channel + peer ops.
+#
+# Functions exported back to airc's dispatch:
+#   cmd_rooms      — list open airc invite gists on this gh account.
+#                    The gist namespace IS the room registry; this is
+#                    the /list verb. Walks the gist API, filters for
+#                    `airc invite for ` description prefix, pretty-prints.
+#   cmd_part       — leave the current room. If we're the host, deletes
+#                    the room gist (channel dissolves). If we're a
+#                    joiner, just local teardown. Records parted_rooms
+#                    so re-join doesn't auto-resume.
+#   cmd_send_file  — host-mediated file transfer to a peer. Pre-pairing-
+#                    aware: writes to the host's files/<peer>/ dir.
+#   cmd_invite     — print the long join string for cross-account share
+#                    (the historical fallback when gist isn't reachable).
+#   cmd_peers      — list paired peers in the current scope, with
+#                    last-seen + role/status from peer files.
+#
+# External cross-references (call-time): die, ensure_init, get_config_val,
+# set_config_val, unset_config_keys, get_host, resolve_name, relay_ssh,
+# remote_home, AIRC_HOME, AIRC_WRITE_DIR, AIRC_PYTHON, plus cmd_teardown
+# (which cmd_part calls to do the actual local kill).
+#
+# Extracted from airc as part of #152 Phase 3 file split. Bundled because
+# in IRC mental model these are all the same conceptual surface: "what
+# rooms exist? who's in this one? how do I leave/invite/transfer?" One
+# domain = one file.
+
+# ── cmd_rooms: list open airc invite gists on this gh account ────────
+# Issue #38. The gist namespace IS the room registry — every airc invite
+# pushed via the default gist transport (#37) shows up here. Filter is
+# the description prefix `"airc invite for "` that push-image side writes.
+#
+# The Claude Code skill (/list, /rooms) calls this and lets the AI use
+# conversation context to pick. The CLI itself stays orthogonal — it
+# emits the menu, doesn't decide.
+cmd_rooms() {
+  # Parse flags (#142). Default hides items already marked stale (older
+  # than the threshold in _is_stale) so an active user with several
+  # rooms + several days of test runs doesn't have stale-invite count
+  # dominating the active-rooms count. --all / --include-stale shows
+  # everything (the pre-#142 behavior); --prune deletes stale gists.
+  local include_stale=0
+  local prune=0
+  while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+      --all|--include-stale) include_stale=1; shift ;;
+      --prune) prune=1; include_stale=1; shift ;;
+      -h|--help)
+        echo "Usage: airc list [--all|--include-stale] [--prune]"
+        echo "  --all / --include-stale  show stale items (default: hidden)"
+        echo "  --prune                  delete stale gists from your gh account"
+        return 0 ;;
+      *) echo "  Unknown flag: $1 (try: airc list --help)" >&2; return 1 ;;
+    esac
+  done
+
+  if ! command -v gh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "  airc rooms requires the 'gh' CLI: https://cli.github.com" >&2
+    echo "  airc IS aIRC — github gist is the coordination layer; gh is mandatory." >&2
+    return 1
+  fi
+  # Match BOTH the persistent IRC-style rooms (#39, prefix `airc room:`)
+  # and the legacy single-pair invites (#37/#38, prefix `airc invite for`).
+  # Show kind explicitly so the AI / human can tell them apart.
+  # gh gist list columns: id  description  files  visibility  updated_at
+  # Use $5 (timestamp) for the updated field — pre-#82 we were using
+  # $4 (visibility, "secret") under the "updated:" label, which is a
+  # display bug fixed here on the way to adding stale markers.
+  local raw; raw=$(gh gist list --limit 50 2>/dev/null \
+    | awk -F'\t' '
+        /airc room:/        { print "room\t"   $1 "\t" $2 "\t" $5 }
+        /airc invite for/   { print "invite\t" $1 "\t" $2 "\t" $5 }
+      ')
+  local count; count=$(printf '%s' "$raw" | grep -c . || true)
+  if [ "$count" = "0" ]; then
+    echo "  No open airc rooms or invites on your gh account."
+    echo "  Host the default room:  airc connect"
+    echo "  Host a named room:      airc connect --room <name>"
+    return 0
+  fi
+  # First pass: count how many are stale vs fresh, so we can show an
+  # accurate header AND a hint about --all when items got hidden.
+  local stale_count=0 fresh_count=0
+  while IFS=$'\t' read -r _kind _id _desc updated; do
+    [ -z "$_kind" ] && continue
+    if _is_stale "$updated"; then
+      stale_count=$((stale_count + 1))
+    else
+      fresh_count=$((fresh_count + 1))
+    fi
+  done <<< "$raw"
+
+  echo ""
+  if [ "$include_stale" = "1" ]; then
+    echo "  $count open on your gh account ($fresh_count active, $stale_count stale):"
+  elif [ "$stale_count" -gt 0 ]; then
+    echo "  $fresh_count active on your gh account ($stale_count stale hidden — see 'airc list --all')"
+  else
+    echo "  $count open on your gh account:"
+  fi
+  echo ""
+
+  local pruned=0
+  while IFS=$'\t' read -r kind id desc updated; do
+    [ -z "$kind" ] && continue
+    local is_stale=0
+    _is_stale "$updated" && is_stale=1
+    # Default: skip stale entries. --all/--include-stale shows all.
+    if [ "$is_stale" = "1" ] && [ "$include_stale" = "0" ]; then
+      continue
+    fi
+    if [ "$prune" = "1" ] && [ "$is_stale" = "1" ]; then
+      if gh gist delete "$id" --yes >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "    pruned: $desc (id: $id)"
+        pruned=$((pruned + 1))
+      else
+        echo "    prune FAILED for $desc (id: $id)" >&2
+      fi
+      continue
+    fi
+    local hh; hh=$(humanhash "$id" 2>/dev/null)
+    local marker
+    case "$kind" in
+      room)   marker="#" ;;     # persistent channel
+      invite) marker="(1:1)" ;; # ephemeral pairing
+    esac
+    local age_str; age_str=$(_format_relative_time "$updated")
+    local stale_marker=""
+    [ "$is_stale" = "1" ] && stale_marker="  (stale)"
+    printf '    %s %s%s\n      id:       %s\n      mnemonic: %s\n      updated:  %s\n\n' \
+      "$marker" "$desc" "$stale_marker" "$id" "$hh" "$age_str"
+  done <<< "$raw"
+
+  if [ "$prune" = "1" ]; then
+    echo "  pruned $pruned stale gist(s)."
+    return 0
+  fi
+  echo "  Join (auto-resolves on same gh account): airc connect"
+  echo "  Join by id (cross-account share):        airc connect <id>"
+  echo ""
+}
+
+# Convert an ISO 8601 timestamp into a relative-time string ("12m ago",
+# "3h ago", "2d ago"). Falls back to the raw timestamp on parse failure.
+# Used by cmd_rooms to display gist activity (#82). Date parsing goes
+# through iso_to_epoch so the BSD/GNU/python fallback chain is shared.
+_format_relative_time() {
+  local ts="${1:-}"
+  [ -z "$ts" ] && { echo "(unknown)"; return; }
+  local epoch; epoch=$(iso_to_epoch "$ts")
+  if [ -z "$epoch" ]; then echo "$ts"; return; fi
+  local now; now=$(date -u +%s)
+  local diff=$((now - epoch))
+  if [ "$diff" -lt 0 ]; then echo "$ts"; return; fi
+  if [ "$diff" -lt 60 ]; then       echo "${diff}s ago"
+  elif [ "$diff" -lt 3600 ]; then   echo "$((diff / 60))m ago"
+  elif [ "$diff" -lt 86400 ]; then  echo "$((diff / 3600))h ago"
+  else                              echo "$((diff / 86400))d ago"
+  fi
+}
+
+# Return 0 if the given ISO timestamp is older than AIRC_STALE_HOURS
+# (default 24h). Used to mark abandoned rooms in cmd_rooms output (#82).
+# Shares iso_to_epoch with _format_relative_time so a future date-parse
+# fix lands once.
+_is_stale() {
+  local ts="${1:-}"
+  local threshold_hours="${AIRC_STALE_HOURS:-24}"
+  [ -z "$ts" ] && return 1
+  local epoch; epoch=$(iso_to_epoch "$ts")
+  [ -z "$epoch" ] && return 1
+  local now; now=$(date -u +%s)
+  local diff=$((now - epoch))
+  [ "$diff" -gt $((threshold_hours * 3600)) ]
+}
+
+# ── cmd_part: leave the current room ──────────────────────────────────
+# Issue #39. Two paths, distinguished by config.json's host_target:
+#   - Host (no host_target): delete the room gist if we created one, then
+#     teardown. Joiners watching us will see SSH die — IRC's "ircd
+#     restart" — and the next reconnect re-elects a new host.
+#   - Joiner (host_target set): just teardown local processes; host's
+#     gist stays open for other joiners (we're one of N).
+# Either way, local config + identity + peer records persist (use
+# `airc teardown --flush` for nuclear).
+#
+# Detection note: we use config.json::host_target as the host-vs-joiner
+# signal, NOT presence of room_gist_id. The gist file may be absent for
+# a legitimate host case (`--no-gist`, or gh push failed) — falling back
+# to "you're a joiner" would be wrong.
+cmd_part() {
+  ensure_init
+
+  local gist_id_file="$AIRC_WRITE_DIR/room_gist_id"
+  local room_name_file="$AIRC_WRITE_DIR/room_name"
+  local room_name="(unnamed)"
+  [ -f "$room_name_file" ] && room_name=$(cat "$room_name_file")
+
+  local host_target; host_target=$(get_config_val host_target "")
+
+  if [ -z "$host_target" ]; then
+    # ── Host path ──
+    if [ -f "$gist_id_file" ]; then
+      local gid; gid=$(cat "$gist_id_file")
+      if command -v gh >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "  Host of #${room_name} parting — deleting room gist ${gid}..."
+        gh gist delete "$gid" --yes 2>/dev/null \
+          && echo "  ✓ Room gist deleted." \
+          || echo "  ⚠  Couldn't delete gist ${gid} (already gone? gh auth?). Continuing teardown."
+      else
+        echo "  ⚠  gh CLI not available — can't delete room gist ${gid} automatically."
+        echo "     Delete it manually:  gh gist delete ${gid} --yes"
+      fi
+    else
+      # Host but no gist (--no-gist or gh-push failed). Nothing to delete
+      # in the gh namespace; just clean local state.
+      echo "  Host of #${room_name} parting (no gist was published; nothing to clean up in gh)."
+    fi
+    rm -f "$gist_id_file" "$room_name_file"
+  else
+    # ── Joiner path ──
+    echo "  Joiner of #${room_name} parting — host's gist stays open for others."
+    # Clear our cached gist_id too, matching the comment on the joiner-
+    # side cache write site (PR #92 Copilot feedback). Without this, a
+    # parted joiner that later reconnects via the same scope would
+    # incorrectly trigger the stale-pairing-detect path on the next
+    # resume even though they parted intentionally.
+    rm -f "$room_name_file" "$gist_id_file"
+  fi
+
+  # Issue #136: persist the /part. Record the room into the PRIMARY
+  # scope's parted_rooms list so a later `airc join` won't auto-
+  # resubscribe. Only meaningful for sidecar rooms (general, future
+  # opt-in #repo etc.) — parting your project's primary scope means
+  # the whole scope is gone, so persistence there is moot.
+  local _primary_scope; _primary_scope=$(_primary_scope_for "$AIRC_WRITE_DIR")
+  if [ "$_primary_scope" != "$AIRC_WRITE_DIR" ] && [ "$room_name" != "(unnamed)" ]; then
+    _record_parted_room "$_primary_scope" "$room_name"
+    echo "  /part persisted — #${room_name} won't auto-resubscribe. Rejoin with: airc join --${room_name}"
+  fi
+
+  # IRC `/part` semantics — leave THIS room only; the #general sidecar
+  # (or any other sibling subscription) keeps running. cmd_teardown
+  # respects AIRC_TEARDOWN_PART_ONLY=1 by skipping its sidecar block,
+  # so the kill is scope-local. cmd_teardown without this guard remains
+  # the "kill everything in this scope tree" command.
+  local AIRC_TEARDOWN_PART_ONLY=1
+  cmd_teardown
+}
+
+cmd_send_file() {
+  local peer_name="${1:-}" filepath="${2:-}"
+  [ -z "$peer_name" ] || [ -z "$filepath" ] && die "Usage: airc send-file <peer> <path>"
+  [ -f "$filepath" ] || die "File not found: $filepath"
+  ensure_init
+
+  local host_target my_name
+  host_target=$(get_config_val host_target "")
+  my_name=$(get_name)
+
+  local filename; filename=$(basename "$filepath")
+  local target_host="$host_target"
+  [ -z "$target_host" ] && target_host="localhost"
+
+  local rhome; rhome=$(remote_home)
+  relay_ssh "$target_host" "mkdir -p $rhome/files/${my_name}" 2>/dev/null
+  # Use the airc identity key for scp — same key relay_ssh uses. Without -i,
+  # scp falls back to system ssh_config (~/.ssh/id_* etc), which doesn't know
+  # about isolated AIRC_HOME identities. Surfaced by m5-test's send-file test.
+  local ssh_key="$IDENTITY_DIR/ssh_key"
+  local scp_out
+  if [ -f "$ssh_key" ]; then
+    scp_out=$(scp -i "$ssh_key" -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new -q "$filepath" "${target_host}:${rhome}/files/${my_name}/${filename}" 2>&1)
+  else
+    scp_out=$(scp -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new -q "$filepath" "${target_host}:${rhome}/files/${my_name}/${filename}" 2>&1)
+  fi
+  if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+    die "Failed to transfer $filename: $scp_out"
+  fi
+
+  local filesize; filesize=$(file_size "$filepath")
+  cmd_send "$peer_name" "Sent file: $filename ($filesize bytes)"
+  echo "Sent $filename ($filesize bytes)"
+}
+
+cmd_invite() {
+  ensure_init
+  local host_target pubkey_b64 join_string
+  host_target=$(get_config_val host_target "")
+
+  if [ -n "$host_target" ]; then
+    # Joiner: reconstruct the HOST's join string from stored pairing info.
+    # Any connected peer can share the same join string — everyone converges
+    # on the same host.
+    local host_name host_port host_ssh_pub
+    host_name=$(get_config_val host_name "")
+    host_port=$(get_config_val host_port 7547)
+    host_ssh_pub=$(get_config_val host_ssh_pub "")
+    if [ -z "$host_name" ] || [ -z "$host_ssh_pub" ]; then
+      die "Host info missing from config. Re-pair with 'airc teardown' then 'airc connect <join-string>'."
+    fi
+    pubkey_b64=$(printf '%s\n' "$host_ssh_pub" | base64 | tr -d '\n')
+    local port_suffix=""
+    [ "$host_port" != "7547" ] && port_suffix=":$host_port"
+    join_string="${host_name}@${host_target}${port_suffix}#${pubkey_b64}"
+  else
+    # Host: build own join string from live state.
+    local my_name user host port
+    my_name=$(get_name)
+    user=$(whoami)
+    host=$(get_host)
+    port=$(cat "$AIRC_WRITE_DIR/host_port" 2>/dev/null || echo 7547)
+    local port_suffix=""
+    [ "$port" != "7547" ] && port_suffix=":$port"
+    pubkey_b64=$(base64 < "$IDENTITY_DIR/ssh_key.pub" | tr -d '\n')
+    join_string="${my_name}@${user}@${host}${port_suffix}#${pubkey_b64}"
+  fi
+
+  echo "$join_string"
+}
+
+cmd_peers() {
+  ensure_init
+  # `airc peers --prune` — remove stale records that share a host with a
+  # newer record (cruft left from rename chain-breaks before the stable-host
+  # matching logic landed).
+  if [ "${1:-}" = "--prune" ]; then
+    "$AIRC_PYTHON" -c "
+import json, os, sys
+peers_dir = os.path.expanduser('$PEERS_DIR')
+if not os.path.isdir(peers_dir):
+    sys.exit(0)
+# Group records by host; keep the most-recently-paired, remove the rest.
+by_host = {}
+for entry in sorted(os.listdir(peers_dir)):
+    if not entry.endswith('.json'): continue
+    p = os.path.join(peers_dir, entry)
+    try:
+        d = json.load(open(p))
+    except Exception:
+        continue
+    host = d.get('host', '')
+    if not host: continue
+    by_host.setdefault(host, []).append((d.get('paired', ''), entry, d.get('name', entry[:-5])))
+removed = []
+for host, records in by_host.items():
+    if len(records) < 2: continue
+    records.sort(reverse=True)  # newest paired first
+    for _, entry, name in records[1:]:
+        for ext in ('.json', '.pub'):
+            f = os.path.join(peers_dir, entry[:-5] + ext)
+            if os.path.isfile(f):
+                try: os.remove(f)
+                except Exception: pass
+        removed.append((name, host))
+if removed:
+    for name, host in removed:
+        print(f'  pruned: {name} -> {host}')
+else:
+    print('  No stale records to prune.')
+"
+    return
+  fi
+
+  # Walk scopes that count as "subscribed rooms" for this tab: primary
+  # (current AIRC_WRITE_DIR) plus any sibling sidecar scopes (.airc.<room>
+  # pattern under the project scope's parent). For each, read peers/
+  # records and annotate with the scope's room_name. Same peer in both
+  # scopes folds into one line with both room tags.
+  #
+  # Intent (issue #121 follow-up): multi-room presence shouldn't fragment
+  # the operator's view of "who am I connected to" into separate per-scope
+  # listings. From the user's perspective they're in N rooms; airc peers
+  # should reflect that as one unified roster with room context per peer.
+  "$AIRC_PYTHON" -c "
+import json, os, sys, re
+
+primary_scope = os.path.expanduser('$AIRC_WRITE_DIR')
+parent = os.path.dirname(primary_scope)
+self_basename = os.path.basename(primary_scope)
+
+# Prefix detection: a sidecar scope is named like \`<prefix>.<room>\`
+# (e.g. .airc.general). Strip a trailing .<word> to recover the
+# primary scope's basename. Works for both production layout
+# (.airc / .airc.general) and test ad-hoc paths (state / state.general)
+# without baking in the .airc literal.
+prefix_match = re.match(r'(.+?)\.[a-z0-9-]+\$', self_basename)
+prefix = prefix_match.group(1) if prefix_match else self_basename
+
+# Collect: the primary scope itself, plus every sibling whose name is
+# <prefix>.<something>. We additionally require room_name + peers/ on
+# each candidate so unrelated dirs in the same parent (e.g. .airc-old,
+# .airc.bak) don't pollute the listing.
+candidates = []
+if os.path.isdir(parent):
+    for entry in sorted(os.listdir(parent)):
+        if entry == prefix or entry.startswith(prefix + '.'):
+            candidates.append(os.path.join(parent, entry))
+scopes = [s for s in candidates
+          if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(s, 'room_name'))
+          and os.path.isdir(os.path.join(s, 'peers'))]
+# Always include primary even if it doesn't have room_name yet — that's
+# the legacy 1:1 invite mode case (use_room=0).
+if primary_scope not in scopes and os.path.isdir(os.path.join(primary_scope, 'peers')):
+    scopes.insert(0, primary_scope)
+
+# Build {(name, host): [room1, room2, ...]} by walking each scope's peers/.
+peers_by_id = {}
+for scope in scopes:
+    peers_dir = os.path.join(scope, 'peers')
+    if not os.path.isdir(peers_dir):
+        continue
+    rn_file = os.path.join(scope, 'room_name')
+    room = '(?)'
+    if os.path.isfile(rn_file):
+        try: room = open(rn_file).read().strip()
+        except Exception: pass
+    for f in sorted(os.listdir(peers_dir)):
+        if not f.endswith('.json'): continue
+        try:
+            d = json.load(open(os.path.join(peers_dir, f)))
+        except Exception:
+            continue
+        key = (d.get('name', f[:-5]), d.get('host', ''))
+        peers_by_id.setdefault(key, []).append(room)
+
+if not peers_by_id:
+    print('  No peers yet.')
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+# Render. Each peer once, with room annotations sorted + deduped.
+for (name, host), rooms in sorted(peers_by_id.items()):
+    seen = set(); ordered = []
+    for r in rooms:
+        if r not in seen:
+            ordered.append(r); seen.add(r)
+    tags = ', '.join('#' + r for r in ordered)
+    print(f'  {name} → {host}   [{tags}]')
+"
+}