diff --git a/include/rex/system/xnet_transport.h b/include/rex/system/xnet_transport.h
index f927181..cf089bd 100644
--- a/include/rex/system/xnet_transport.h
+++ b/include/rex/system/xnet_transport.h
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ namespace system {
 
 class XSocket;
 
+// The wire structs below must match the relay's byte-for-byte (the main repo
+// packs them with #pragma pack(1); leaving padding here would inflate the
+// sizes and silently corrupt every datagram).
+#pragma pack(push, 1)
 // Header of every relay datagram ("GHST" magic, little-endian type + size).
 // Must match kGhostMagic / PacketHeader in skate3_native_ghost_proto.h.
 struct XNetRelayHeader {
@@ -69,6 +73,7 @@ struct XNetRelaySessionReply {
   uint8_t count;
   XNetRelaySessionEntry list[32];
 };
+#pragma pack(pop)
 
 // One discovered session (a member of our room).
 struct XNetSession {
@@ -143,6 +148,9 @@ class XNetTransport {
   // header stays platform-independent.
   uint8_t relay_addr_[16] = {};
   bool relay_resolved_ = false;
+  uint8_t join_pkt_[7 + sizeof(XNetRelayJoin)] = {};
+  uint16_t join_pkt_size_ = 0;
+  double last_join_ = 0.0;  // monotonic seconds (heartbeat to beat the timeout)
   std::thread thread_;
   bool running_ = false;
 
diff --git a/src/system/xnet_transport.cpp b/src/system/xnet_transport.cpp
index 000d596..04727da 100644
--- a/src/system/xnet_transport.cpp
+++ b/src/system/xnet_transport.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include <thread>
 
 #include <rex/platform.h>
+#include <rex/logging.h>
 #include <rex/system/kernel_state.h>
 #include <rex/system/xsocket.h>
 #include <rex/system/xam/user_profile.h>
@@ -29,6 +30,15 @@
 namespace rex {
 namespace system {
 
+// Pin the packed wire sizes to the values the relay expects (the game-side
+// proto packs them identically). Catches accidental un-packing or member
+// edits before they corrupt the wire.
+static_assert(sizeof(XNetRelayHeader) == 7, "relay header must be 7 bytes");
+static_assert(sizeof(XNetRelayJoin) == 31, "relay join must be 31 bytes");
+static_assert(sizeof(XNetRelayGame) == 1410, "relay game payload must be 1410 bytes");
+static_assert(sizeof(XNetRelaySessionEntry) == 25, "session entry must be 25 bytes");
+static_assert(sizeof(XNetRelaySessionReply) == 801, "session reply must be 801 bytes");
+
 namespace {
 
 // Virtual address range: 10.80.0.0/16 (host order prefix 0x0A500000).
@@ -156,14 +166,19 @@ void XNetTransport::Reconnect() {
   }
   sockaddr_in relay_addr = {};
   if (!Resolve(host_, port_, &relay_addr)) {
+    REXLOG_WARN("xnet transport: cannot resolve relay '{}:{}'", host_, port_);
     return;
   }
   std::memcpy(relay_addr_, &relay_addr, sizeof(relay_addr));
   relay_resolved_ = true;
   sock_ = SocketCreate();
   if (sock_ == -1) {
+    REXLOG_WARN("xnet transport: cannot open relay socket");
     return;
   }
+  REXLOG_INFO("xnet transport: connecting to relay '{}:{}' room '{}' (vip {}.{}.{}.{})", host_,
+              port_, room_.c_str(), (LocalVirtualIp() >> 24) & 0xFF, (LocalVirtualIp() >> 16) & 0xFF,
+              (LocalVirtualIp() >> 8) & 0xFF, LocalVirtualIp() & 0xFF);
   // Join the room so the relay routes our game traffic among its members.
   XNetRelayJoin jp = {};
   jp.version = kVersion;
@@ -184,6 +199,12 @@ void XNetTransport::Reconnect() {
   std::memcpy(pkt + 7, &jp, sizeof(jp));
   SocketSendTo(sock_, &relay_addr, pkt, sizeof(pkt));
 
+  // Keep the JOIN around for the heartbeat (the relay drops silent clients
+  // after ~8s).
+  std::memcpy(join_pkt_, pkt, sizeof(pkt));
+  join_pkt_size_ = uint16_t(sizeof(pkt));
+  last_join_ = 0.0;
+
   running_ = true;
   thread_ = std::thread(&XNetTransport::Run, this);
 }
@@ -271,6 +292,14 @@ void XNetTransport::Run() {
       if (!running_) {
         return;
       }
+      // Heartbeat: re-JOIN every ~4s so the relay never times us out.
+      const double now =
+          double(std::chrono::steady_clock::now().time_since_epoch().count()) / 1e9;
+      if (join_pkt_size_ != 0 && now - last_join_ >= 4.0) {
+        SocketSendTo(sock_, reinterpret_cast<const sockaddr_in*>(relay_addr_), join_pkt_,
+                     join_pkt_size_);
+        last_join_ = now;
+      }
     }
     uint8_t buf[7 + sizeof(XNetRelayGame)];
     sockaddr_in from = {};
@@ -307,6 +336,9 @@ void XNetTransport::HandlePacket(const uint8_t* data, int size) {
       // session_id != 0 means accepted (0 = refused).
       active_ = payload[0] != 0;
       joined_ = true;
+      REXLOG_INFO("xnet transport: relay {} (vip {}.{}.{}.{})", active_ ? "joined" : "refused",
+                  (LocalVirtualIp() >> 24) & 0xFF, (LocalVirtualIp() >> 16) & 0xFF,
+                  (LocalVirtualIp() >> 8) & 0xFF, LocalVirtualIp() & 0xFF);
       break;
     }
     case kGame: {
@@ -350,6 +382,8 @@ void XNetTransport::HandlePacket(const uint8_t* data, int size) {
       std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(mu_);
       sessions_ = std::move(fresh);
       ++reply_seq_;
+      REXLOG_INFO("xnet transport: session reply with {} session(s) in room '{}'", count,
+                  room_.c_str());
       break;
     }
     default:
diff --git a/thirdparty/imgui b/thirdparty/imgui
index cdda623..0af8f47 160000
--- a/thirdparty/imgui
+++ b/thirdparty/imgui
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit cdda62349d6068e906c2e0ee340d6ec31eedbb9c
+Subproject commit 0af8f475d1cf8b98d603702059c0c73deeb81ac2