diff --git a/scripts/start-emulator.sh b/scripts/start-emulator.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4ff36b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/start-emulator.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# start-emulator.sh — boot the JTube TV test emulator on the HOST (not inside the
+# agent container), with GPU acceleration and a window. Use this when the app should
+# be tested over scrcpy (ATD/system quirks make scrcpy fail against headless
+# in-container emulators) or when you simply want to watch it.
+#
+# The agent container bridges rutherford:5556 -> 127.0.0.1:5601 with socat, so after
+# this script the emulator is reachable as:
+#
+#     adb connect rutherford:5556 && scrcpy -s rutherford:5556
+#
+# An RSA authorization popup appears on the emulator window on first connect —
+# click "Always allow"/OK.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SDK="${ANDROID_SDK_ROOT:-$HOME/Android/Sdk}"
+EMU="$SDK/emulator/emulator"
+ADB="$SDK/platform-tools/adb"
+AVD="${1:-jtubesc}"
+PORT=5600   # console port; adbd listens on 5601 (the container bridges 5556 -> 5601)
+
+[ -x "$EMU" ] || { echo "emulator not found at $EMU"; exit 1; }
+[ -f "$HOME/.android/avd/$AVD.ini" ] || {
+  echo "AVD $AVD not found; list: (ls ~/.android/avd)"; exit 1; }
+
+# Free stale emulator instances holding our ports (only qemu from OUR SDK path).
+for pid in $(ps aux | awk '/[q]emu-system-x86_64/ {print $2}' 2>/dev/null); do
+  if tr '\0' ' ' < "/proc/$pid/cmdline" 2>/dev/null | grep -q "\-port $PORT"; then
+    echo "Killing stale emulator pid $pid"
+    kill -9 "$pid" 2>/dev/null || true
+  fi
+done
+sleep 1
+
+ACCEL=()
+if [ -e /dev/kvm ]; then
+  ACCEL+=(-accel kvm); echo "/dev/kvm found — hardware acceleration on"
+else
+  echo "no /dev/kvm — falling back to software rendering (slow)"
+fi
+
+echo "Booting AVD '$AVD' on console :$PORT (adbd :$((PORT+1))) …"
+setsid nohup "$EMU" -avd "$AVD" -port "$PORT" -gpu host "${ACCEL[@]:-}" \
+  -no-snapshot > /tmp/jtube-emu.log 2>&1 < /dev/null &
+echo "emulator PID $! — log: /tmp/jtube-emu.log"
+
+for i in $(seq 1 90); do
+  ok=$("$ADB" -s "emulator-$PORT" shell getprop sys.boot_completed 2>/dev/null | tr -d '\r')
+  [ "$ok" = "1" ] && { echo "BOOTED"; break; }
+  sleep 5
+done
+
+# Keep the JTube TV app current + running so scrcpy lands on it.
+APK="$HOME/Projects/jtube-tv/app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk"
+if [ -f "$APK" ]; then
+  echo "Installing JTube TV…"
+  "$ADB" -s "emulator-$PORT" install -r "$APK" >/dev/null && echo "installed"
+  "$ADB" -s "emulator-$PORT" shell am start -n net.jeena.jtubetv/.MainActivity && echo "app started"
+fi
+
+cat <<EOF
+
+Ready. From any machine that can reach rutherford:
+
+    adb connect rutherford:5556
+    scrcpy -s rutherford:5556
+
+If scrcpy says "unauthorized", click the RSA dialog on the emulator window.
+EOF
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