fix a couple room routes

apps/api/src/test/integration/api.test.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,12 @@ import { adminSecretsStore, env } from 'cloudflare:test'
 import { exports } from 'cloudflare:workers'
 import { beforeAll, describe, expect, test } from 'vitest'
 
-import { GAME_VERSION, seedRoomWithSubRooms, SUBROOM_SCHEMA_DDL } from '@repo/domain'
+import {
+	GAME_VERSION,
+	ROOM_SCHEMA_DDL,
+	seedRoomWithSubRooms,
+	SUBROOM_SCHEMA_DDL,
+} from '@repo/domain'
 
 import '../../api.app'
 
@@ -44,14 +49,9 @@ const TEST_ROOMS = [
 beforeAll(async () => {
 	// Seed the shared JWT signing key into the local Secrets Store so .get() resolves.
 	await adminSecretsStore(env.JWT_SECRET).create('test-signing-key')
-	await env.DB.prepare(
-		`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS room (
-			data TEXT NOT NULL,
-			room_id INTEGER GENERATED ALWAYS AS (json_extract(data, '$.RoomId')) VIRTUAL,
-			name_lower TEXT GENERATED ALWAYS AS (lower(json_extract(data, '$.Name'))) VIRTUAL,
-			creator_account_id INTEGER GENERATED ALWAYS AS (json_extract(data, '$.CreatorAccountId')) VIRTUAL
-		)`
-	).run()
+	// The rooms worker's schema (room + interaction) — reading a room aggregates its
+	// cheer/favorite Stats from `interaction`, so both tables have to be here.
+	for (const stmt of ROOM_SCHEMA_DDL) await env.DB.prepare(stmt).run()
 	// Subrooms live in their own table now; getRoomById hydrates from it, so create it and
 	// split each seeded room's subrooms into it (mirrors the rooms worker's 0007 migration).
 	for (const stmt of SUBROOM_SCHEMA_DDL) await env.DB.prepare(stmt).run()

apps/api/static/community-board.json

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
   },
   "CurrentAnnouncement": {
     "Message": "Server powered by RecFlare",
-    "MoreInfoUrl": "https://github.com/djdevin/recflare"
+    "MoreInfoUrl": "https://recflare.net"
   },
   "InstagramImages": [
     {

apps/auth/src/test/integration/api.test.ts

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import {
 	getAccountsByDeviceId,
 	hashPassword,
 	PRESENCE_SCHEMA_DDL,
+	ROOM_SCHEMA_DDL,
 	SCHEMA_DDL,
 	seedRoomWithSubRooms,
 	SUBROOM_SCHEMA_DDL,
@@ -60,12 +61,9 @@ beforeAll(async () => {
 			.bind(JSON.stringify({ accountId: id, username: `Player${id}`, passwordHash: hash }))
 			.run()
 	}
-	await env.DB.prepare(
-		`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS room (
-			data TEXT NOT NULL,
-			room_id INTEGER GENERATED ALWAYS AS (json_extract(data, '$.RoomId')) VIRTUAL
-		)`
-	).run()
+	// The rooms worker's schema (room + interaction) — reading a room aggregates its
+	// cheer/favorite Stats from `interaction`, so both tables have to be here.
+	for (const stmt of ROOM_SCHEMA_DDL) await env.DB.prepare(stmt).run()
 	// Subrooms live in their own table; seed the Orientation room and split its subroom into it.
 	for (const stmt of SUBROOM_SCHEMA_DDL) await env.DB.prepare(stmt).run()
 	await seedRoomWithSubRooms(env.DB, {

apps/match/src/test/integration/api.test.ts

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import {
 	getRoomInstance,
 	PRESENCE_SCHEMA_DDL,
 	ROOM_INSTANCE_SCHEMA_DDL,
+	ROOM_SCHEMA_DDL,
 	seedRoomWithSubRooms,
 	SUBROOM_SCHEMA_DDL,
 } from '@repo/domain'
@@ -83,15 +84,9 @@ const TEST_ROOMS = [
 beforeAll(async () => {
 	// Seed the shared JWT signing key into the local Secrets Store so .get() resolves.
 	await adminSecretsStore(env.JWT_SECRET).create('test-signing-key')
-	await env.DB.prepare(
-		`CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS room (
-			data TEXT NOT NULL,
-			room_id INTEGER GENERATED ALWAYS AS (json_extract(data, '$.RoomId')) VIRTUAL,
-			name_lower TEXT GENERATED ALWAYS AS (lower(json_extract(data, '$.Name'))) VIRTUAL,
-			creator_account_id INTEGER GENERATED ALWAYS AS (json_extract(data, '$.CreatorAccountId')) VIRTUAL,
-			is_dorm INTEGER GENERATED ALWAYS AS (json_extract(data, '$.IsDorm')) VIRTUAL
-		)`
-	).run()
+	// The rooms worker's schema (room + interaction) — reading a room aggregates its
+	// cheer/favorite Stats from `interaction`, so both tables have to be here.
+	for (const stmt of ROOM_SCHEMA_DDL) await env.DB.prepare(stmt).run()
 	// Subrooms live in their own table now; seed each room and split its subrooms into it.
 	for (const stmt of SUBROOM_SCHEMA_DDL) await env.DB.prepare(stmt).run()
 	for (const r of TEST_ROOMS) await seedRoomWithSubRooms(env.DB, r as Record<string, unknown>)

apps/rooms/src/openapi.ts

@@ -132,7 +132,11 @@ export const RoomTagDto = z.object({
 	Type: z.int().describe('0 = owner-set, 2 = auto'),
 })
 
-/** A room's engagement counters. Nothing increments these yet, so they stay at 0. */
+/**
+ * A room's engagement counters. `CheerCount`/`FavoriteCount` are aggregated from the
+ * per-player `interaction` rows on every read; nothing records visits yet, so
+ * `VisitorCount`/`VisitCount` stay at 0.
+ */
 export const RoomStatsDto = z.object({
 	CheerCount: z.int(),
 	FavoriteCount: z.int(),

apps/rooms/src/rooms.app.ts

@@ -504,19 +504,27 @@ const app = new Hono<App>()
 		}
 	)
 
-	// "Hot" rooms feed — public, non-dorm rooms ordered by engagement, optionally
-	// filtered to a single `tag` (e.g. `rro`). Paginated via skip/take (take
-	// defaults to 100). Returns `{ Results, TotalResults }` like search.
+	// "Hot" rooms feed — public, non-dorm rooms ordered by live player count (their
+	// instances' presence), then stored engagement, optionally filtered to a single
+	// `tag` (e.g. `rro`). `tag=new` is a pseudo-tag no room carries: it serves the
+	// player-made (non-RRO) rooms newest-first. Paginated via skip/take (take defaults
+	// to 100). Returns `{ Results, TotalResults }` like search.
 	.get(
 		'/rooms/hot',
 		describeRoute({
 			tags: ['Discovery'],
 			summary: 'The “hot” rooms feed',
 			description: [
-				'Public, non-dorm rooms ordered by engagement, optionally narrowed to a single `tag`',
-				'(the browse screen’s filter chips post one, e.g. `rro`).',
+				'Public, non-dorm rooms ordered by how many players are in them right now — live',
+				'presence summed across each room’s instances — falling back to stored engagement',
+				'for rooms nobody is in. Optionally narrowed to a single `tag` (the browse screen’s',
+				'filter chips post one, e.g. `rro`). The `new` chip is a pseudo-tag — no room carries',
+				'a `new` tag — and instead serves the player-made (non-RRO) rooms, newest first.',
 			].join(' '),
-			parameters: [stringQuery('tag', 'Restrict to rooms carrying this tag'), ...pageParams(100)],
+			parameters: [
+				stringQuery('tag', 'Restrict to rooms carrying this tag (or `new`, a pseudo-tag)'),
+				...pageParams(100),
+			],
 			responses: { 200: json(PagedRooms, 'The feed page') },
 		}),
 		async (c) => {

apps/rooms/src/test/integration/api.test.ts

@@ -368,6 +368,49 @@ describe('rooms endpoints', () => {
 		expect(body.TotalResults).toBeGreaterThan(body.Results.length)
 	})
 
+	it('GET /rooms/hot ranks rooms by the live presence in their instances', async () => {
+		const feed = async (): Promise<number[]> =>
+			(
+				(await (await SELF.fetch(`${ORIGIN}/rooms/hot?skip=0&take=100`)).json()) as {
+					Results: Array<{ RoomId: number }>
+				}
+			).Results.map((r) => r.RoomId)
+
+		// Two rooms from the tail of the engagement-ordered feed, so any move to the
+		// front can only come from presence.
+		const before = await feed()
+		const busiest = before[before.length - 1]
+		const quieter = before[before.length - 2]
+
+		// Two players in two different instances of `busiest`, one in `quieter`, plus a
+		// lobby presence (no instance) that must not count for anyone.
+		const expiresAt = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) + 900
+		const seed = env.DB.prepare('INSERT OR REPLACE INTO presence (data) VALUES (?1)')
+		await env.DB.batch(
+			[
+				{ accountId: 90001, roomInstance: { roomInstanceId: 1000901, roomId: busiest } },
+				{ accountId: 90002, roomInstance: { roomInstanceId: 1000902, roomId: busiest } },
+				{ accountId: 90003, roomInstance: { roomInstanceId: 1000903, roomId: quieter } },
+				{ accountId: 90004, roomInstance: null },
+			].map((p) => seed.bind(JSON.stringify({ ...p, expiresAt })))
+		)
+
+		expect((await feed()).slice(0, 2)).toEqual([busiest, quieter])
+
+		// Expired presence doesn't count — the feed falls back to engagement order.
+		await env.DB.prepare(
+			`UPDATE presence SET data = json_set(data, '$.expiresAt', ?1)
+			 WHERE account_id IN (90001, 90002, 90003, 90004)`
+		)
+			.bind(Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) - 1)
+			.run()
+		expect(await feed()).toEqual(before)
+
+		await env.DB.prepare(
+			'DELETE FROM presence WHERE account_id IN (90001, 90002, 90003, 90004)'
+		).run()
+	})
+
 	it('GET /rooms/hot aliases #recroomoriginal to the rro tag', async () => {
 		const aliased = (await (
 			await SELF.fetch(`${ORIGIN}/rooms/hot?tag=recroomoriginal`)
@@ -379,6 +422,66 @@ describe('rooms endpoints', () => {
 		expect(aliased.TotalResults).toBeGreaterThan(0)
 	})
 
+	it('GET /rooms/hot?tag=new serves player-made rooms newest-first (pseudo-tag)', async () => {
+		type Feed = { Results: Array<{ Name: string }>; TotalResults: number }
+		const feed = async (): Promise<Feed> =>
+			(await (await SELF.fetch(`${ORIGIN}/rooms/hot?tag=new&skip=0&take=100`)).json()) as Feed
+		const names = async (): Promise<string[]> => (await feed()).Results.map((r) => r.Name)
+
+		// No room carries a `new` tag, and every seeded room is a Rec Room Original — so
+		// the feed is empty until a player makes something.
+		expect(await feed()).toEqual({ Results: [], TotalResults: 0 })
+
+		const seeded: number[] = []
+		const seed = async (room: Record<string, unknown>) => {
+			seeded.push(Number(room.RoomId))
+			await seedRoomWithSubRooms(env.DB, { Accessibility: 1, IsDorm: false, IsRRO: false, ...room })
+		}
+
+		// Two player-made public rooms and one that isn't public.
+		await seed({ RoomId: 9001, Name: 'OlderPlayerRoom', CreatedAt: '2026-07-01T00:00:00Z' })
+		await seed({ RoomId: 9002, Name: 'NewerPlayerRoom', CreatedAt: '2026-07-02T00:00:00Z' })
+		await seed({
+			RoomId: 9003,
+			Name: 'UnlistedPlayerRoom',
+			CreatedAt: '2026-07-03T00:00:00Z',
+			Accessibility: 2,
+		})
+
+		// Newest first, and the non-public room is excluded as it is everywhere else.
+		expect(await feed()).toMatchObject({
+			Results: [{ Name: 'NewerPlayerRoom' }, { Name: 'OlderPlayerRoom' }],
+			TotalResults: 2,
+		})
+
+		// An RRO stays out even when it's the newest room in the database — by the flag,
+		// or by the auto-derived `rro` tag alone.
+		await seed({
+			RoomId: 9004,
+			Name: 'BrandNewRRO',
+			CreatedAt: '2026-07-04T00:00:00Z',
+			IsRRO: true,
+		})
+		await seed({
+			RoomId: 9005,
+			Name: 'TaggedRRO',
+			CreatedAt: '2026-07-05T00:00:00Z',
+			Tags: [{ Tag: 'rro', Type: 2 }],
+		})
+		expect(await names()).toEqual(['NewerPlayerRoom', 'OlderPlayerRoom'])
+
+		// Paging comes off the same order.
+		const page = (await (
+			await SELF.fetch(`${ORIGIN}/rooms/hot?tag=new&skip=1&take=1`)
+		).json()) as Feed
+		expect(page).toMatchObject({ Results: [{ Name: 'OlderPlayerRoom' }], TotalResults: 2 })
+
+		// Leave the shared feeds as they were for the tests that follow.
+		const ids = seeded.join(',')
+		await env.DB.prepare(`DELETE FROM room WHERE room_id IN (${ids})`).run()
+		await env.DB.prepare(`DELETE FROM subroom WHERE room_id IN (${ids})`).run()
+	})
+
 	it('GET /rooms/base returns a bare array of base/template rooms (incl. non-public)', async () => {
 		const res = await SELF.fetch(`${ORIGIN}/rooms/base`)
 		expect(res.status).toBe(200)
@@ -1595,6 +1698,55 @@ describe('rooms endpoints', () => {
 		expect(otherGet).toMatchObject({ Cheered: false, Favorited: false })
 	})
 
+	it('room Stats aggregate cheers/favorites from the interaction table', async () => {
+		type Stats = {
+			CheerCount: number
+			FavoriteCount: number
+			VisitorCount: number
+			VisitCount: number
+		}
+		// Room 15 (CrimsonCauldron) is untouched by the other interaction tests.
+		const searched = async (): Promise<Stats> => {
+			const body = (await (
+				await SELF.fetch(`${ORIGIN}/rooms/search?query=crimsoncauldron`)
+			).json()) as { Results: Array<{ Stats: Stats }> }
+			return body.Results[0]!.Stats
+		}
+		const direct = async (): Promise<Stats> =>
+			((await (await SELF.fetch(`${ORIGIN}/rooms/15`)).json()) as { Stats: Stats }).Stats
+		const interact = async (player: string, action: string, method: string) =>
+			SELF.fetch(`${ORIGIN}/rooms/15/interactionby/me/${action}`, {
+				method,
+				headers: await bearer(player),
+			})
+
+		// Nobody has interacted with it yet.
+		expect(await searched()).toEqual({
+			CheerCount: 0,
+			FavoriteCount: 0,
+			VisitorCount: 0,
+			VisitCount: 0,
+		})
+
+		// Two players cheer it; one of them also favorites it.
+		await interact('561', 'cheer', 'PUT')
+		await interact('562', 'cheer', 'PUT')
+		await interact('561', 'favorite', 'PUT')
+
+		// Both the search results and the room itself report the aggregate.
+		expect(await searched()).toMatchObject({ CheerCount: 2, FavoriteCount: 1 })
+		expect(await direct()).toMatchObject({ CheerCount: 2, FavoriteCount: 1 })
+
+		// Clearing a cheer decrements it. Nothing records visits, so those stay 0.
+		await interact('562', 'cheer', 'DELETE')
+		expect(await direct()).toEqual({
+			CheerCount: 1,
+			FavoriteCount: 1,
+			VisitorCount: 0,
+			VisitCount: 0,
+		})
+	})
+
 	it('DELETE /rooms/:id/interactionby/me/cheer clears the cheer (auth-gated, idempotent)', async () => {
 		type Interaction = { Cheered: boolean; Favorited: boolean }
 		const headers = await bearer('557')

packages/domain/src/presence-db.ts

@@ -152,6 +152,28 @@ export async function countPlayersInInstance(
 	return row?.n ?? 0
 }
 
+/**
+ * Live head-count per ROOM, keyed by room id — the players standing in any of a
+ * room's instances right now. One grouped query rather than a count per room, so
+ * feeds that rank by "who's playing" (the hot feed) stay a single read. Counts
+ * only unexpired presence; rooms nobody is in are simply absent from the map, and
+ * lobby (null-instance) presence is excluded.
+ */
+export async function countPlayersByRoom(
+	db: D1Database,
+	now = nowSeconds()
+): Promise<Map<number, number>> {
+	const { results } = await db
+		.prepare(
+			`SELECT room_id AS roomId, COUNT(*) AS n FROM presence
+			 WHERE expires_at > ?1 AND room_instance_id IS NOT NULL AND room_id IS NOT NULL
+			 GROUP BY room_id`
+		)
+		.bind(now)
+		.all<{ roomId: number; n: number }>()
+	return new Map(results.map((r) => [r.roomId, r.n]))
+}
+
 /**
  * The room instances that expired presence rows still point at — the instances a
  * player was in when they stopped heartbeating (a crash or a hard quit, where no

packages/domain/src/rooms-db.ts

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  */
 
 import { Accessibility, Role } from './enums'
+import { countPlayersByRoom } from './presence-db'
 
 /** Schema DDL (mirror of the head migration schema, sans the seed INSERT). */
 export const ROOM_SCHEMA_DDL: string[] = [
@@ -177,6 +178,9 @@ export async function cloneRoom(
 		// client renders a virtual "RRO" tag on the clone.
 		IsRRO: false,
 		Roles: roles,
+		// A fresh room has no engagement of its own — don't inherit the source's counters
+		// (the derived ones are recomputed per read, but the clone is returned as-is here).
+		Stats: storedStats(source.Stats),
 		CreatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
 	}
 
@@ -783,11 +787,13 @@ const serializeSubRoom = (sub: SubRoom, roomId: number): string => {
 
 /**
  * Serialize a room for a full-blob write, dropping any hydrated `SubRooms` so it never
- * gets denormalized back into the room JSON (subrooms are the `subroom` table's job).
+ * gets denormalized back into the room JSON (subrooms are the `subroom` table's job) and
+ * zeroing the derived engagement counters (those are the `interaction` table's job — see
+ * {@link attachStats}), so a write can't bake a snapshot of them into the blob.
  */
 const serializeRoom = (room: Room): string => {
-	const { SubRooms: _subRooms, ...rest } = room
-	return JSON.stringify(rest)
+	const { SubRooms: _subRooms, Stats: stats, ...rest } = room
+	return JSON.stringify({ ...rest, Stats: storedStats(stats) })
 }
 
 /**
@@ -854,15 +860,108 @@ async function attachSubRooms(db: D1Database, rooms: Room[]): Promise<void> {
 	for (const room of rooms) room.SubRooms = byRoom.get(Number(room.RoomId)) ?? []
 }
 
-/** Hydrate a single room's `SubRooms` (no-op for null). */
+// ---- Room stats -----------------------------------------------------------
+// A room's cheer/favorite counters are DERIVED from the `interaction` table rather than
+// stored: they're recomputed on every read, so a cheer shows up immediately and the
+// counts can't drift from the per-player rows they're made of. The blob keeps them at 0
+// (see {@link serializeRoom}). `VisitorCount`/`VisitCount` are left as the blob has them
+// — nothing records a visit yet, and `interaction.last_visited_at` is only stamped by the
+// cheer/favorite toggles, so counting those rows would report cheerers as visitors.
+
+/** One room's derived engagement counters (the aggregate maps below key these by RoomId). */
+export interface RoomStats {
+	CheerCount: number
+	FavoriteCount: number
+}
+
+interface RoomStatsRow {
+	room_id: number
+	cheers: number
+	favorites: number
+}
+
+/** The counters a room starts life with (and the shape the client expects). */
+const ZERO_STATS = { CheerCount: 0, FavoriteCount: 0, VisitorCount: 0, VisitCount: 0 }
+
+/** D1 caps a query at 100 bound parameters, and a feed page can carry more ids than that. */
+const STATS_ID_LIMIT = 90
+
+/** A room's RoomId, or 0 for a blob without one. */
+const roomIdOf = (room: Room): number => (typeof room.RoomId === 'number' ? room.RoomId : 0)
+
+/**
+ * The `Stats` object to persist: whatever the room carried, with the derived counters
+ * back at 0 so the blob never holds a stale copy of them.
+ */
+function storedStats(stats: unknown): Record<string, unknown> {
+	const stored =
+		typeof stats === 'object' && stats !== null ? (stats as Record<string, unknown>) : {}
+	return { ...ZERO_STATS, ...stored, CheerCount: 0, FavoriteCount: 0 }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Cheer/favorite counts per room, aggregated from `interaction` in ONE grouped query.
+ * Restricted to `roomIds` when given (a feed page), otherwise covering every room —
+ * which is also what a page too large to bind gets, since scanning the whole table is
+ * cheaper than splitting the query. Rooms nobody has interacted with are absent.
+ */
+export async function getRoomStats(
+	db: D1Database,
+	roomIds?: number[]
+): Promise<Map<number, RoomStats>> {
+	const byRoom = new Map<number, RoomStats>()
+	if (roomIds && roomIds.length === 0) return byRoom
+	const ids = roomIds && roomIds.length <= STATS_ID_LIMIT ? roomIds : []
+	const where =
+		ids.length > 0 ? `WHERE room_id IN (${ids.map((_, i) => `?${i + 1}`).join(',')})` : ''
+	const { results } = await db
+		.prepare(
+			`SELECT room_id, SUM(cheered) AS cheers, SUM(favorited) AS favorites
+			 FROM interaction ${where} GROUP BY room_id`
+		)
+		.bind(...ids)
+		.all<RoomStatsRow>()
+	for (const r of results) {
+		byRoom.set(r.room_id, { CheerCount: r.cheers ?? 0, FavoriteCount: r.favorites ?? 0 })
+	}
+	return byRoom
+}
+
+/**
+ * Overwrite each room's derived counters from the interaction table, in one query for
+ * the whole batch. Callers that already aggregated (the feeds rank by these counts, so
+ * they need them before paging) pass their map in rather than paying for a second query.
+ */
+async function attachStats(
+	db: D1Database,
+	rooms: Room[],
+	stats?: Map<number, RoomStats>
+): Promise<void> {
+	if (rooms.length === 0) return
+	const byRoom = stats ?? (await getRoomStats(db, [...new Set(rooms.map(roomIdOf))]))
+	for (const room of rooms) {
+		const counts = byRoom.get(roomIdOf(room))
+		room.Stats = {
+			...storedStats(room.Stats),
+			CheerCount: counts?.CheerCount ?? 0,
+			FavoriteCount: counts?.FavoriteCount ?? 0,
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+/** Hydrate a single room's `SubRooms` and derived `Stats` (no-op for null). */
 async function hydrateRoom(db: D1Database, room: Room | null): Promise<Room | null> {
-	if (room) await attachSubRooms(db, [room])
+	if (room) await hydrateRooms(db, [room])
 	return room
 }
 
-/** Hydrate many rooms' `SubRooms` in one batched query. */
-async function hydrateRooms(db: D1Database, rooms: Room[]): Promise<Room[]> {
-	await attachSubRooms(db, rooms)
+/** Hydrate many rooms' `SubRooms` and derived `Stats` (one batched query each). */
+async function hydrateRooms(
+	db: D1Database,
+	rooms: Room[],
+	stats?: Map<number, RoomStats>
+): Promise<Room[]> {
+	await Promise.all([attachSubRooms(db, rooms), attachStats(db, rooms, stats)])
 	return rooms
 }
 
@@ -1472,20 +1571,51 @@ export async function searchRooms(
 	}
 }
 
-/** Engagement score used to order the hot feed (cheers weigh most, then favorites). */
-function hotScore(room: Room): number {
-	const stats = room.Stats as Record<string, unknown> | null | undefined
-	const n = (v: unknown): number => (typeof v === 'number' ? v : 0)
-	return n(stats?.CheerCount) * 3 + n(stats?.FavoriteCount) * 2 + n(stats?.VisitorCount)
+/**
+ * Engagement score used to order the hot feed (cheers weigh most, then favorites).
+ * Cheers/favorites come from the caller's aggregated {@link getRoomStats} map — ranking
+ * happens before hydration, so the room blob's copies are still zero at this point.
+ */
+function hotScore(room: Room, stats: Map<number, RoomStats>): number {
+	const counts = stats.get(roomIdOf(room))
+	const stored = room.Stats as Record<string, unknown> | null | undefined
+	const visitors = typeof stored?.VisitorCount === 'number' ? stored.VisitorCount : 0
+	return (counts?.CheerCount ?? 0) * 3 + (counts?.FavoriteCount ?? 0) * 2 + visitors
+}
+
+/**
+ * The browse screen's "New" chip posts `tag=new` to the hot feed, but `new` is a
+ * PSEUDO-tag: no room carries it. It means "recently created by a player", so it
+ * selects the non-RRO rooms and orders them newest-first instead of by population.
+ */
+const NEW_TAG = 'new'
+
+/**
+ * True if the room is a Rec Room Original. `IsRRO` is the flag the client renders a
+ * virtual "RRO" tag from; the auto-derived `rro` tag is checked too so a room that only
+ * carries the tag isn't mistaken for player-made.
+ */
+function isRRO(room: Room): boolean {
+	return room.IsRRO === true || roomHasAnyTag(room, new Set(['rro']))
+}
+
+/** A room's CreatedAt as epoch millis; 0 (i.e. oldest) when it's missing or unparseable. */
+function createdAt(room: Room): number {
+	const ts = typeof room.CreatedAt === 'string' ? Date.parse(room.CreatedAt) : NaN
+	return Number.isNaN(ts) ? 0 : ts
 }
 
 /**
  * The "hot" rooms feed: public, non-dorm rooms not excluded from lists, ordered
- * by engagement and optionally filtered to a single `tag` (with the same aliases
- * as search). Paginated via skip/take; returns `{ Results, TotalResults }` like
- * search. Ties (and the all-zero seed data) fall back to RoomId order so paging
- * is stable. The dataset is small, so this filters/sorts in memory rather than
- * in SQL.
+ * by how many players are in them RIGHT NOW (live presence summed across the
+ * room's instances), and optionally filtered to a single `tag` (with the same
+ * aliases as search). "Hot" is a live-population feed, so current players lead;
+ * rooms nobody is in — and the all-zero seed data — fall back to the stored
+ * engagement score, then to RoomId order so paging stays stable. Paginated via
+ * skip/take; returns `{ Results, TotalResults }` like search. The dataset is
+ * small, so this filters/sorts in memory rather than in SQL.
+ *
+ * `tag=new` is the one filter that isn't a tag lookup — see {@link NEW_TAG}.
  */
 export async function getHotRooms(
 	db: D1Database,
@@ -1499,15 +1629,34 @@ export async function getHotRooms(
 	)
 
 	const t = tag.trim().toLowerCase()
+	if (t === NEW_TAG) {
+		// Newest player-made rooms first; RoomId (which is minted in creation order)
+		// breaks ties so rooms created in the same instant still page stably.
+		const fresh = rooms
+			.filter((r) => !isRRO(r))
+			.sort((a, b) => createdAt(b) - createdAt(a) || roomIdOf(b) - roomIdOf(a))
+		return {
+			Results: await hydrateRooms(db, fresh.slice(skip, skip + take)),
+			TotalResults: fresh.length,
+		}
+	}
+
 	if (t !== '') {
 		const accepted = new Set([t, ...(TAG_ALIASES[t] ?? [])])
 		rooms = rooms.filter((r) => roomHasAnyTag(r, accepted))
 	}
 
-	const roomId = (r: Room): number => (typeof r.RoomId === 'number' ? r.RoomId : 0)
-	rooms.sort((a, b) => hotScore(b) - hotScore(a) || roomId(a) - roomId(b))
+	const players = await countPlayersByRoom(db)
+	const playerCount = (r: Room): number => players.get(roomIdOf(r)) ?? 0
+	const stats = await getRoomStats(db)
+	rooms.sort(
+		(a, b) =>
+			playerCount(b) - playerCount(a) ||
+			hotScore(b, stats) - hotScore(a, stats) ||
+			roomIdOf(a) - roomIdOf(b)
+	)
 	return {
-		Results: await hydrateRooms(db, rooms.slice(skip, skip + take)),
+		Results: await hydrateRooms(db, rooms.slice(skip, skip + take), stats),
 		TotalResults: rooms.length,
 	}
 }
@@ -1526,13 +1675,14 @@ export async function getRecommendedRooms(
 	take: number
 ): Promise<Room[]> {
 	const { results } = await db.prepare('SELECT data FROM room').all<RoomRow>()
-	const roomId = (r: Room): number => (typeof r.RoomId === 'number' ? r.RoomId : 0)
+	const stats = await getRoomStats(db)
 	return hydrateRooms(
 		db,
 		parseAll(results)
 			.filter((r) => r.IsDorm !== true && r.Accessibility === 1 && r.ExcludeFromLists !== true)
-			.sort((a, b) => hotScore(b) - hotScore(a) || roomId(a) - roomId(b))
-			.slice(skip, skip + take)
+			.sort((a, b) => hotScore(b, stats) - hotScore(a, stats) || roomIdOf(a) - roomIdOf(b))
+			.slice(skip, skip + take),
+		stats
 	)
 }
 
@@ -1611,7 +1761,7 @@ export async function getSimilarRooms(
 
 	const { results } = await db.prepare('SELECT data FROM room').all<RoomRow>()
 	const sharedCount = (r: Room): number => roomTags(r).filter((t) => targetTags.has(t)).length
-	const roomIdOf = (r: Room): number => (typeof r.RoomId === 'number' ? r.RoomId : 0)
+	const stats = await getRoomStats(db)
 
 	const scored = parseAll(results)
 		.filter(
@@ -1627,12 +1777,12 @@ export async function getSimilarRooms(
 	scored.sort(
 		(a, b) =>
 			b.shared - a.shared ||
-			hotScore(b.room) - hotScore(a.room) ||
+			hotScore(b.room, stats) - hotScore(a.room, stats) ||
 			roomIdOf(a.room) - roomIdOf(b.room)
 	)
 	const rooms = scored.map((x) => x.room)
 	return {
-		Results: await hydrateRooms(db, rooms.slice(skip, skip + take)),
+		Results: await hydrateRooms(db, rooms.slice(skip, skip + take), stats),
 		TotalResults: rooms.length,
 	}
 }
@@ -1647,7 +1797,6 @@ export async function getSimilarRooms(
 export async function getBaseRooms(db: D1Database, skip: number, take: number): Promise<Room[]> {
 	const { results } = await db.prepare('SELECT data FROM room').all<RoomRow>()
 	const base = new Set(['base'])
-	const roomIdOf = (r: Room): number => (typeof r.RoomId === 'number' ? r.RoomId : 0)
 	return hydrateRooms(
 		db,
 		parseAll(results)
@@ -1722,6 +1871,8 @@ export async function getOrCreateDormRoom(db: D1Database, accountId: number): Pr
 		Roles: [
 			{ AccountId: accountId, Role: Role.Creator, LastChangedByAccountId: null, InvitedRole: 0 },
 		],
+		// Counters start at zero rather than inheriting the template dorm's (see cloneRoom).
+		Stats: storedStats(template?.Stats),
 		CreatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
 	}
 	// serializeRoom drops any SubRooms carried over from the template; the dorm's own