diff --git a/frontend/sortof-app.jsx b/frontend/sortof-app.jsx
index 09aa68e..6827275 100644
--- a/frontend/sortof-app.jsx
+++ b/frontend/sortof-app.jsx
@@ -145,67 +145,47 @@ function WsidLink({ wsid, children, className }) {
   );
 }
 
-// Snapshot the fields needed to diff against the next sort/resort. Called
-// before each fetch fires so the snapshot captures "what the user saw
-// before this action". Polling-mid-flight ticks intentionally don't snapshot
-// (would erase the prior visible state on every 2.5s update).
-function snapshotForDiff(src) {
-  if (!src) return null;
-  return {
-    SORTED_ORDER: [...(src.SORTED_ORDER || [])],
-    MOD_DB: (src.MOD_DB || []).map(m => ({ modId: m.modId, wsid: m.wsid, name: m.name })),
-    MODS_LINE: src.MODS_LINE || '',
-    WORKSHOP_ITEMS_LINE: src.WORKSHOP_ITEMS_LINE || '',
-  };
-}
-
-function computeDiff(prev, curr) {
-  if (!prev || !curr) return null;
-  const prevSorted = prev.SORTED_ORDER || [];
-  const currSorted = curr.SORTED_ORDER || [];
-  const prevSet = new Set(prevSorted);
-  const currSet = new Set(currSorted);
-  const added = currSorted.filter(id => !prevSet.has(id));
-  const removed = prevSorted.filter(id => !currSet.has(id));
-  const prevPos = new Map(prevSorted.map((id, i) => [id, i]));
+// Compare the wsids the user pasted (input order, deduped) against the wsids
+// in WORKSHOP_ITEMS_LINE (sort order). Always available — no "previous sort"
+// required. Surfaces drops (banned / missing mod.info / unknown / collection
+// IDs that expanded), additions (collection expansion, branch picks), and
+// position changes.
+function computeDiff(inputWsids, outputWsids) {
+  if (!inputWsids || !outputWsids) return null;
+  const inSet  = new Set(inputWsids);
+  const outSet = new Set(outputWsids);
+  const added   = outputWsids.filter(w => !inSet.has(w));
+  const removed = inputWsids.filter(w => !outSet.has(w));
+  const inPos = new Map(inputWsids.map((w, i) => [w, i]));
   const movers = [];
-  currSorted.forEach((id, ci) => {
-    if (!prevSet.has(id)) return;
-    const pi = prevPos.get(id);
-    if (pi !== ci) movers.push({ id, from: pi, to: ci, delta: ci - pi });
+  outputWsids.forEach((w, oi) => {
+    if (!inSet.has(w)) return;
+    const ii = inPos.get(w);
+    if (ii !== oi) movers.push({ wsid: w, from: ii, to: oi, delta: oi - ii });
   });
   movers.sort((a, b) => Math.abs(b.delta) - Math.abs(a.delta));
-  const prevWsl = (prev.WORKSHOP_ITEMS_LINE || '').replace(/;+$/, '').split(';').filter(Boolean);
-  const currWsl = (curr.WORKSHOP_ITEMS_LINE || '').replace(/;+$/, '').split(';').filter(Boolean);
-  const prevWsidPos = new Map(prevWsl.map((w, i) => [w, i]));
-  const wsidMovers = [];
-  currWsl.forEach((w, ci) => {
-    const pi = prevWsidPos.get(w);
-    if (pi !== undefined && pi !== ci) wsidMovers.push({ wsid: w, from: pi, to: ci });
-  });
-  wsidMovers.sort((a, b) => Math.abs(b.to - b.from) - Math.abs(a.to - a.from));
-  return { added, removed, movers, wsidMovers };
+  return { added, removed, movers };
 }
 
-function DiffPanel({ prev, curr, onClose }) {
-  const diff = computeDiff(prev, curr);
+function DiffPanel({ inputWsids, outputWsids, onClose }) {
+  const diff = computeDiff(inputWsids, outputWsids);
   if (!diff) {
     return (
       <div className="diff-panel">
         <div className="diff-head">
-          <span className="diff-title">diff vs previous sort</span>
+          <span className="diff-title">diff: input → sorted</span>
           <button type="button" className="diff-close" onClick={onClose}>close</button>
         </div>
-        <div className="diff-empty">no previous sort to compare against - sort once first.</div>
+        <div className="diff-empty">no input or output yet.</div>
       </div>
     );
   }
-  const { added, removed, movers, wsidMovers } = diff;
-  const empty = !added.length && !removed.length && !movers.length && !wsidMovers.length;
+  const { added, removed, movers } = diff;
+  const empty = !added.length && !removed.length && !movers.length;
   return (
     <div className="diff-panel">
       <div className="diff-head">
-        <span className="diff-title">diff vs previous sort</span>
+        <span className="diff-title">diff: input → sorted</span>
         <span className="diff-summary">
           <span className="diff-stat add">+{added.length}</span>
           <span className="diff-stat rm">−{removed.length}</span>
@@ -213,41 +193,29 @@ function DiffPanel({ prev, curr, onClose }) {
         </span>
         <button type="button" className="diff-close" onClick={onClose}>close</button>
       </div>
-      {empty && <div className="diff-empty">nothing changed.</div>}
+      {empty && <div className="diff-empty">order matches your input. nothing dropped or added.</div>}
       {added.length > 0 && (
         <div className="diff-section">
-          <div className="diff-label">added ({added.length})</div>
-          {added.slice(0, 30).map(id => <div key={id} className="diff-row diff-add">+ {id}</div>)}
+          <div className="diff-label">added ({added.length}) — collection expansion or branch-picker</div>
+          {added.slice(0, 30).map(w => <div key={w} className="diff-row diff-add">+ {w}</div>)}
           {added.length > 30 && <div className="diff-more">…and {added.length - 30} more</div>}
         </div>
       )}
       {removed.length > 0 && (
         <div className="diff-section">
-          <div className="diff-label">removed ({removed.length})</div>
-          {removed.slice(0, 30).map(id => <div key={id} className="diff-row diff-rm">− {id}</div>)}
+          <div className="diff-label">removed ({removed.length}) — dropped, banned, missing mod.info, or a collection ID that expanded</div>
+          {removed.slice(0, 30).map(w => <div key={w} className="diff-row diff-rm">− {w}</div>)}
           {removed.length > 30 && <div className="diff-more">…and {removed.length - 30} more</div>}
         </div>
       )}
       {movers.length > 0 && (
         <div className="diff-section">
-          <div className="diff-label">moved by load order ({movers.length}, top {Math.min(10, movers.length)} shown)</div>
-          {movers.slice(0, 10).map(({ id, from, to, delta }) => (
-            <div key={id} className="diff-row diff-mv">
-              <span className="diff-arrow">{delta < 0 ? '↑' : '↓'}</span>
-              {id}
-              <span className="diff-pos">pos {from + 1} → {to + 1} ({delta > 0 ? '+' : ''}{delta})</span>
-            </div>
-          ))}
-        </div>
-      )}
-      {wsidMovers.length > 0 && (
-        <div className="diff-section">
-          <div className="diff-label">WorkshopItems= reorder ({wsidMovers.length})</div>
-          {wsidMovers.slice(0, 10).map(({ wsid, from, to }) => (
+          <div className="diff-label">reordered by load order ({movers.length}, top {Math.min(10, movers.length)} shown)</div>
+          {movers.slice(0, 10).map(({ wsid, from, to, delta }) => (
             <div key={wsid} className="diff-row diff-mv">
-              <span className="diff-arrow">{to < from ? '↑' : '↓'}</span>
+              <span className="diff-arrow">{delta < 0 ? '↑' : '↓'}</span>
               {wsid}
-              <span className="diff-pos">pos {from + 1} → {to + 1}</span>
+              <span className="diff-pos">pos {from + 1} → {to + 1} ({delta > 0 ? '+' : ''}{delta})</span>
             </div>
           ))}
         </div>
@@ -1039,7 +1007,7 @@ function BuildToggle({ value, onChange }) {
   );
 }
 
-function RightColumn({ state, counts, progress, emptyVariant, successVariant, modTableDefault, pzBuild, setPzBuild, branchSelections, onToggleBranch, expandedWsids, onToggleExpansion, inputWsids, onAddWsid, onPickBranch, onSwapWsid, onRemoveWsid, onAutoFixAddDeps, onAutoFixSwaps, onAutoFixRemoves, onRetry, previousResult, diffOpen, setDiffOpen }) {
+function RightColumn({ state, counts, progress, emptyVariant, successVariant, modTableDefault, pzBuild, setPzBuild, branchSelections, onToggleBranch, expandedWsids, onToggleExpansion, inputWsids, onAddWsid, onPickBranch, onSwapWsid, onRemoveWsid, onAutoFixAddDeps, onAutoFixSwaps, onAutoFixRemoves, onRetry, inputWsidList, diffOpen, setDiffOpen }) {
   // Phase-state mapping: legacy `success` ≈ B+F `done`; legacy `partial` ≈ B+F `queued`/`draining`.
   const isTerminalDone = state === 'success' || state === 'done';
   const isInflightPartial = state === 'partial' || state === 'queued' || state === 'draining';
@@ -1131,21 +1099,15 @@ function RightColumn({ state, counts, progress, emptyVariant, successVariant, mo
               type="button"
               className={'diff-toggle' + (diffOpen ? ' open' : '')}
               onClick={() => setDiffOpen(o => !o)}
-              disabled={!previousResult}
-              title={previousResult ? 'compare to previous sort' : 'sort once first'}
+              title="diff your input against the sorted output"
             >
               {diffOpen ? '▾ diff' : '▸ diff'}
             </button>
           </div>
           {diffOpen && (
             <DiffPanel
-              prev={previousResult}
-              curr={{
-                SORTED_ORDER: D.SORTED_ORDER || [],
-                MOD_DB: D.MOD_DB || [],
-                MODS_LINE: D.MODS_LINE || '',
-                WORKSHOP_ITEMS_LINE: D.WORKSHOP_ITEMS_LINE || '',
-              }}
+              inputWsids={inputWsidList}
+              outputWsids={(D.WORKSHOP_ITEMS_LINE || '').replace(/;+$/, '').split(';').filter(Boolean)}
               onClose={() => setDiffOpen(false)}
             />
           )}
@@ -1434,15 +1396,16 @@ function App() {
   const pollAbortRef = useRef(null);
   const [activeJobId, setActiveJobId] = useState(null);
   const [expandedWsids, setExpandedWsids] = useState(() => new Set());
-  // Diff: snapshot of the result that's about to be replaced; toggle for the
-  // panel. Snapshot is taken at the START of any sort/resort - polling-mid-flight
-  // ticks don't snapshot so the user's prior visible state stays available.
-  const previousResultRef = useRef(null);
+  // Diff toggle. The diff is input-vs-output (textarea wsids vs sorted
+  // WORKSHOP_ITEMS_LINE), recomputed live every render — no snapshot ref
+  // needed. Always available, even on the first sort.
   const [diffOpen, setDiffOpen] = useState(false);
-  // Set of wsids currently in the input textarea, used by warning rows to
-  // derive their staged state. Memoized off `input` so re-renders triggered
-  // by unrelated state changes don't churn the Set.
-  const inputWsids = useMemo(() => new Set(parseWorkshopInput(input)), [input]);
+  // Ordered list of wsids currently in the input textarea (deduped, first-seen
+  // order). The Set wrapper below is for warning rows that need O(1) `.has()`
+  // lookup when deriving their staged state. Both are memoized off `input` so
+  // re-renders triggered by unrelated state changes don't churn them.
+  const inputWsidList = useMemo(() => parseWorkshopInput(input), [input]);
+  const inputWsids = useMemo(() => new Set(inputWsidList), [inputWsidList]);
   // True when the user has staged edits since the last successful sort. Stays
   // false until the first sort completes (lastSortedInputRef starts null).
   const sortPending = lastSortedInputRef.current !== null && input !== lastSortedInputRef.current;
@@ -1589,8 +1552,6 @@ function App() {
   const onRetry = () => onSort();
 
   async function runResort(nextSelections) {
-    // Snapshot for the diff panel: capture state before this resort.
-    previousResultRef.current = snapshotForDiff(_liveSortData);
     // Compose the flat list of selected mod_ids from MOD_DB + nextSelections.
     // For wsids not in nextSelections, use the §4 default (all-ticked or
     // first-only depending on radio mode). For wsids with N=1, include the
@@ -1794,9 +1755,6 @@ function App() {
     // event as arg 0 - reject anything that isn't a string and fall back
     // to the state input.
     const submitInput = typeof inputOverride === 'string' ? inputOverride : input;
-    // Snapshot the about-to-be-replaced result so the [diff] button can
-    // surface what changed. Skip if there's nothing meaningful yet.
-    previousResultRef.current = snapshotForDiff(_liveSortData);
     clearTimers();
     setState('loading');
     setProgress(15);
@@ -2065,7 +2023,7 @@ function App() {
             onAutoFixSwaps={onAutoFixSwaps}
             onAutoFixRemoves={onAutoFixRemoves}
             onRetry={onRetry}
-            previousResult={previousResultRef.current}
+            inputWsidList={inputWsidList}
             diffOpen={diffOpen}
             setDiffOpen={setDiffOpen}
           />