diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index f397000..1fcf267 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -19,6 +19,108 @@ if hasattr(sys.stderr, "reconfigure"):
 
 from loguru import logger
 
+# ── Windows startup-freeze fix ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+# asyncio.run() → ProactorEventLoop.__init__ calls socket.socketpair(). On
+# Windows Python 3.12 that goes through _fallback_socketpair(), which does a
+# loopback (127.0.0.1) TCP connect/accept dance. Under the run_bot.bat console
+# path, security software filters that loopback handshake → accept() blocks
+# FOREVER → the bot hangs before start() ever runs (2 init lines on console,
+# log file stays empty, process idle at 0 CPU). Windows 10+ supports AF_UNIX
+# sockets, which need no loopback TCP at all, so build the self-pipe pair over
+# AF_UNIX and fall back to the stock socketpair if AF_UNIX is unavailable.
+if sys.platform == "win32":
+    import ctypes as _ctypes
+    import os as _os
+    import socket as _socket_mod
+    import tempfile as _tempfile
+
+    # Python builds (incl. python.org 3.12) don't expose socket.AF_UNIX on
+    # Windows even though Winsock has supported it since Win10 17063, so we
+    # call ws2_32 directly. socket.socket(fileno=N) on Windows interprets N as
+    # a raw SOCKET handle (proven empirically), so the pair wraps cleanly.
+    _ws2 = _ctypes.WinDLL("ws2_32", use_last_error=True)
+    _ws2.socket.argtypes = [_ctypes.c_int, _ctypes.c_int, _ctypes.c_int]
+    _ws2.socket.restype = _ctypes.c_size_t
+    _ws2.bind.argtypes = [_ctypes.c_size_t, _ctypes.c_void_p, _ctypes.c_int]
+    _ws2.bind.restype = _ctypes.c_int
+    _ws2.listen.argtypes = [_ctypes.c_size_t, _ctypes.c_int]
+    _ws2.listen.restype = _ctypes.c_int
+    _ws2.connect.argtypes = [_ctypes.c_size_t, _ctypes.c_void_p, _ctypes.c_int]
+    _ws2.connect.restype = _ctypes.c_int
+    _ws2.accept.argtypes = [_ctypes.c_size_t, _ctypes.c_void_p, _ctypes.POINTER(_ctypes.c_int)]
+    _ws2.accept.restype = _ctypes.c_size_t
+    _ws2.closesocket.argtypes = [_ctypes.c_size_t]
+    _ws2.closesocket.restype = _ctypes.c_int
+
+    class _SockAddrUn(_ctypes.Structure):
+        _fields_ = [
+            ("sun_family", _ctypes.c_ushort),
+            ("sun_path", _ctypes.c_char * 260),  # Windows uses MAX_PATH
+        ]
+
+    _AF_UNIX = 1  # Winsock2.h: AF_UNIX == 1
+    _SOCK_STREAM = 1
+    _INVALID_SOCKET = _ctypes.c_size_t(-1).value
+
+    def _unix_socketpair():
+        path = _os.path.join(
+            _tempfile.gettempdir(),
+            f"xau_sp_{_os.getpid()}_{_os.urandom(4).hex()}.sock",
+        )
+        server = _ws2.socket(_AF_UNIX, _SOCK_STREAM, 0)
+        if server == _INVALID_SOCKET:
+            raise _ctypes.OSError(_ctypes.get_last_error(), "socket(AF_UNIX)")
+        client = _INVALID_SOCKET
+        accepted = _INVALID_SOCKET
+        ok = False
+        try:
+            addr = _SockAddrUn()
+            addr.sun_family = _AF_UNIX
+            path_b = path.encode("utf-8")
+            if len(path_b) >= 260:
+                raise ValueError("AF_UNIX path too long")
+            addr.sun_path = path_b + b"\x00"
+            addr_len = _ctypes.sizeof(_ctypes.c_ushort) + len(path_b) + 1
+            if _ws2.bind(server, _ctypes.byref(addr), addr_len) != 0:
+                raise _ctypes.OSError(_ctypes.get_last_error(), "bind AF_UNIX")
+            if _ws2.listen(server, 1) != 0:
+                raise _ctypes.OSError(_ctypes.get_last_error(), "listen AF_UNIX")
+            client = _ws2.socket(_AF_UNIX, _SOCK_STREAM, 0)
+            if client == _INVALID_SOCKET:
+                raise _ctypes.OSError(_ctypes.get_last_error(), "socket(AF_UNIX) client")
+            if _ws2.connect(client, _ctypes.byref(addr), addr_len) != 0:
+                raise _ctypes.OSError(_ctypes.get_last_error(), "connect AF_UNIX")
+            accepted = _ws2.accept(server, None, None)
+            if accepted == _INVALID_SOCKET:
+                raise _ctypes.OSError(_ctypes.get_last_error(), "accept AF_UNIX")
+            # Ownership of both raw handles transfers to the Python sockets.
+            result = (_socket_mod.socket(fileno=accepted), _socket_mod.socket(fileno=client))
+            ok = True
+            return result
+        finally:
+            if server != _INVALID_SOCKET:
+                _ws2.closesocket(server)
+            if not ok:
+                for h in (accepted, client):
+                    if h != _INVALID_SOCKET:
+                        _ws2.closesocket(h)
+            try:
+                _os.unlink(path)
+            except OSError:
+                pass  # unique temp name → leftovers never collide
+
+    _orig_socketpair = _socket_mod.socketpair
+
+    def _safe_socketpair(*args, **kwargs):
+        try:
+            return _unix_socketpair()
+        except Exception:
+            # Rare fallback (pre-17063 Windows without AF_UNIX) — same
+            # behavior as before the patch.
+            return _orig_socketpair(*args, **kwargs)
+
+    _socket_mod.socketpair = _safe_socketpair
+
 
 def parse_args():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(