diff --git a/.github/workflows/windows-session-import.yml b/.github/workflows/windows-session-import.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a6d40433
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/windows-session-import.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+name: windows-session-import
+
+# The Windows half of the browser session-import path can only be proven on Windows: it talks to
+# DPAPI through crypt32, and every mock of that agrees with whatever we already believed. This job
+# runs the round-trip tests on a real windows runner, so a layout mistake fails here instead of in
+# a user's onboarding.
+
+on:
+  push:
+    paths:
+      - 'backend/apps/onboarding/usage/browser_cookies.py'
+      - 'backend/tests/test_browser_cookies_windows_live.py'
+      - '.github/workflows/windows-session-import.yml'
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+jobs:
+  verify:
+    runs-on: windows-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.13'
+
+      - name: Install the two things the module actually needs
+        run: pip install cryptography typeguard pytest
+
+      - name: Prove the DPAPI + AES-GCM round trip on real Windows
+        run: python -m pytest backend/tests/test_browser_cookies_windows_live.py -v
+
+      - name: Fail if the suite skipped itself
+        shell: pwsh
+        run: |
+          # A skip reads as green. On a windows runner these tests MUST run, so an all-skipped
+          # result means the platform gate is wrong and the job is proving nothing.
+          $out = python -m pytest backend/tests/test_browser_cookies_windows_live.py -q 2>&1 | Out-String
+          if ($out -match 'skipped') {
+            Write-Error "Windows tests skipped on a Windows runner; the platform gate is broken:`n$out"
+            exit 1
+          }
+          Write-Host "Ran on real Windows, no skips."
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_browser_cookies_windows_live.py b/backend/tests/test_browser_cookies_windows_live.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..726bcc04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/test_browser_cookies_windows_live.py
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+"""The Windows cookie path, exercised against the real DPAPI on a real Windows machine.
+
+`test_browser_cookies_windows.py` covers the same code with the OS calls mocked, which proves the
+branching and nothing about the layout. Every assumption that could actually be wrong is an
+agreement with Windows itself:
+
+  - CryptUnprotectData through ctypes/crypt32 (struct layout, the LocalFree, the out-blob copy)
+  - the "DPAPI" prefix on the base64 key in Local State
+  - AES-256-GCM framing: nonce at [3:15], tag bundled at the tail
+  - LOCALAPPDATA resolution for the four Chromium roots
+
+A mock can agree with a wrong belief forever, so these skip everywhere except Windows and are run
+by the windows-verify CI job. They build a Local State and a cookie blob with the OS's own
+CryptProtectData, then read them back with the shipping code: if our idea of the layout is wrong
+the round trip fails, which is exactly the signal that cannot be faked from a Mac.
+"""
+import base64
+import json
+import os
+
+import pytest
+
+from backend.apps.onboarding.usage import browser_cookies as bc
+
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.skipif(not bc.IS_WIN, reason="real DPAPI; Windows only")
+
+
+def p_dpapi_protect(data: bytes) -> bytes:
+    """CryptProtectData, the exact mirror of the shipping unprotect. Deliberately written against
+    the same ctypes surface so a struct-layout mistake shows up as a failed round trip."""
+    import ctypes
+    from ctypes import wintypes
+
+    class DATA_BLOB(ctypes.Structure):
+        _fields_ = [("cbData", wintypes.DWORD), ("pbData", ctypes.POINTER(ctypes.c_char))]
+
+    buf = ctypes.create_string_buffer(data, len(data))
+    blob_in = DATA_BLOB(len(data), ctypes.cast(buf, ctypes.POINTER(ctypes.c_char)))
+    blob_out = DATA_BLOB()
+    ok = ctypes.windll.crypt32.CryptProtectData(
+        ctypes.byref(blob_in), None, None, None, None, 0, ctypes.byref(blob_out))
+    assert ok, "CryptProtectData failed; the test harness itself is broken"
+    n = int(blob_out.cbData)
+    out = ctypes.create_string_buffer(n)
+    ctypes.memmove(out, blob_out.pbData, n)
+    ctypes.windll.kernel32.LocalFree(blob_out.pbData)
+    return out.raw
+
+
+def test_dpapi_round_trips_through_the_shipping_unprotect():
+    secret = os.urandom(32)
+    assert bc.win_dpapi_unprotect(p_dpapi_protect(secret)) == secret
+
+
+def test_unprotecting_garbage_returns_none_rather_than_raising():
+    """A corrupt or foreign-user blob must degrade to "no key", never take the process down."""
+    assert bc.win_dpapi_unprotect(b"not a dpapi blob") is None
+
+
+def test_storage_key_is_read_from_a_real_local_state(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """Local State holds base64("DPAPI" + protected key). This pins the prefix strip and the
+    base64 handling against a file Windows itself produced."""
+    key = os.urandom(32)
+    root = tmp_path / "User Data"
+    root.mkdir()
+    (root / "Local State").write_text(json.dumps(
+        {"os_crypt": {"encrypted_key": base64.b64encode(b"DPAPI" + p_dpapi_protect(key)).decode()}}),
+        encoding="utf-8")
+    monkeypatch.setitem(bc.CHROMIUM_ROOTS, "Chrome", str(root))
+    assert bc.win_storage_key("Chrome") == key
+
+
+def test_a_local_state_without_the_dpapi_prefix_is_refused(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    root = tmp_path / "User Data"
+    root.mkdir()
+    (root / "Local State").write_text(json.dumps(
+        {"os_crypt": {"encrypted_key": base64.b64encode(b"NOPE" + os.urandom(16)).decode()}}),
+        encoding="utf-8")
+    monkeypatch.setitem(bc.CHROMIUM_ROOTS, "Chrome", str(root))
+    assert bc.win_storage_key("Chrome") is None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("version", [b"v10", b"v11"])
+def test_a_v10_cookie_decrypts_with_the_windows_gcm_framing(version):
+    """The framing claim: nonce at [3:15], ciphertext+tag from [15:]."""
+    from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.ciphers.aead import AESGCM
+
+    key, nonce = os.urandom(32), os.urandom(12)
+    blob = version + nonce + AESGCM(key).encrypt(nonce, b"session-token-xyz", None)
+    assert bc.decrypt_value(blob, key) == "session-token-xyz"
+
+
+def test_the_32_byte_domain_hash_prefix_is_stripped():
+    """Newer Chromium prepends a 32-byte domain hash inside the plaintext."""
+    from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.ciphers.aead import AESGCM
+
+    key, nonce = os.urandom(32), os.urandom(12)
+    plain = os.urandom(32) + b"session-token-xyz"
+    blob = b"v10" + nonce + AESGCM(key).encrypt(nonce, plain, None)
+    assert bc.decrypt_value(blob, key) == "session-token-xyz"
+
+
+def test_v20_is_reported_unreachable_rather_than_guessed():
+    """App-bound encryption cannot be read without the browser. Saying so is the honest answer;
+    returning a wrong string here would silently corrupt a borrowed session."""
+    assert bc.decrypt_value(b"v20" + os.urandom(40), os.urandom(32)) is None
+
+
+def test_the_wrong_key_fails_closed():
+    from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.ciphers.aead import AESGCM
+
+    nonce = os.urandom(12)
+    blob = b"v10" + nonce + AESGCM(os.urandom(32)).encrypt(nonce, b"session-token-xyz", None)
+    assert bc.decrypt_value(blob, os.urandom(32)) is None
+
+
+def test_every_chromium_root_resolves_under_localappdata():
+    """Path resolution is the other half a Mac cannot check: these must sit under the real
+    LOCALAPPDATA, not a POSIX-shaped guess."""
+    local = os.environ.get("LOCALAPPDATA", "")
+    assert local, "LOCALAPPDATA is unset; the roots below would silently fall back"
+    for name in ("Chrome", "Brave", "Edge"):
+        root = bc.CHROMIUM_ROOTS[name]
+        assert root.startswith(local), f"{name} root {root!r} is not under {local!r}"
+        assert "\\" in root, f"{name} root {root!r} is not a Windows path"