diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/autoLaunch.test.ts b/packages/desktop/src/autoLaunch.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f3d0e9f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/autoLaunch.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import {
+  deriveStartMinimizedFromArgs,
+  parseExecPathFromDesktopFile,
+  shouldReapplyAppImage,
+} from './autoLaunch';
+
+describe('deriveStartMinimizedFromArgs', () => {
+  it('returns true when --hidden is present', () => {
+    expect(deriveStartMinimizedFromArgs(['--hidden'])).toBe(true);
+    expect(deriveStartMinimizedFromArgs(['--foo', '--hidden', '--bar'])).toBe(true);
+  });
+  it('returns false when --hidden is absent', () => {
+    expect(deriveStartMinimizedFromArgs([])).toBe(false);
+    expect(deriveStartMinimizedFromArgs(['--other'])).toBe(false);
+  });
+  it('handles undefined safely', () => {
+    expect(deriveStartMinimizedFromArgs(undefined)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('parseExecPathFromDesktopFile', () => {
+  it('extracts an unquoted path', () => {
+    const content = [
+      '[Desktop Entry]',
+      'Type=Application',
+      'Name=Backspace',
+      'Exec=/opt/Backspace/backspace --hidden',
+      'X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true',
+    ].join('\n');
+    expect(parseExecPathFromDesktopFile(content)).toBe('/opt/Backspace/backspace');
+  });
+
+  it('extracts a double-quoted path (handles spaces in path)', () => {
+    const content = 'Exec="/home/user/Apps/Backspace 1.0.AppImage" --hidden\n';
+    expect(parseExecPathFromDesktopFile(content)).toBe('/home/user/Apps/Backspace 1.0.AppImage');
+  });
+
+  it('returns null when no Exec= line is present', () => {
+    expect(parseExecPathFromDesktopFile('[Desktop Entry]\nName=X\n')).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('ignores commented Exec lines', () => {
+    expect(parseExecPathFromDesktopFile('#Exec=/wrong\nExec=/right\n')).toBe('/right');
+  });
+
+  it('returns null on empty input', () => {
+    expect(parseExecPathFromDesktopFile('')).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
+
+describe('shouldReapplyAppImage', () => {
+  it('returns true when AppImage path differs from recorded path', () => {
+    expect(shouldReapplyAppImage('/home/u/Backspace-2.0.AppImage', '/home/u/Backspace-1.0.AppImage')).toBe(true);
+  });
+  it('returns false when paths match', () => {
+    expect(shouldReapplyAppImage('/home/u/Backspace-2.0.AppImage', '/home/u/Backspace-2.0.AppImage')).toBe(false);
+  });
+  it('returns false when no recorded path exists — treat missing autostart entry as user-disabled', () => {
+    // A missing .desktop file is a user signal (they disabled via their DE's startup manager
+    // or removed it manually), not a stale-path-needs-refresh signal. The OS-authoritative
+    // architecture must treat this as "OS state changed, do not override".
+    expect(shouldReapplyAppImage('/home/u/Backspace.AppImage', null)).toBe(false);
+  });
+  it('returns false when there is no current AppImage env (not in AppImage runtime)', () => {
+    expect(shouldReapplyAppImage(null, '/anything')).toBe(false);
+    expect(shouldReapplyAppImage(null, null)).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/desktop/src/autoLaunch.ts b/packages/desktop/src/autoLaunch.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..808cfcab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/desktop/src/autoLaunch.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+export function deriveStartMinimizedFromArgs(args: string[] | undefined): boolean {
+  if (!args) return false;
+  return args.includes('--hidden');
+}
+
+/**
+ * Extracts the executable path from a freedesktop .desktop file's Exec= line.
+ * Handles double-quoted paths (which may contain spaces). Ignores commented
+ * lines (leading #). Returns null if no Exec= line is present or parseable.
+ *
+ * The .desktop spec also defines field codes (%f, %u, etc.) and backslash
+ * escapes; we don't need to honour them here because we only ever compare the
+ * leading executable token, never re-execute it.
+ */
+export function parseExecPathFromDesktopFile(content: string): string | null {
+  const lines = content.split(/\r?\n/);
+  for (const raw of lines) {
+    const line = raw.trim();
+    if (!line || line.startsWith('#')) continue;
+    if (!line.startsWith('Exec=')) continue;
+    const value = line.slice('Exec='.length).trimStart();
+    if (!value) continue;
+    if (value.startsWith('"')) {
+      const end = value.indexOf('"', 1);
+      if (end === -1) return null;
+      return value.slice(1, end);
+    }
+    const sp = value.indexOf(' ');
+    return sp === -1 ? value : value.slice(0, sp);
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns true iff the existing autostart entry's recorded executable path differs
+ * from the current AppImage path (i.e., the AppImage moved and the entry is stale).
+ *
+ * A missing recorded path (recordedExecPath === null, i.e. the .desktop file does
+ * not exist) is intentionally treated as "do nothing" — it represents the user
+ * disabling autostart via their desktop environment's startup manager or removing
+ * the file manually. Re-creating it would override OS-level user intent, which is
+ * exactly the bug class this whole refactor exists to fix.
+ */
+export function shouldReapplyAppImage(
+  currentAppImagePath: string | null,
+  recordedExecPath: string | null,
+): boolean {
+  if (!currentAppImagePath) return false;
+  if (!recordedExecPath) return false;
+  return currentAppImagePath !== recordedExecPath;
+}