"Start a call" from a DM's video icon — a real, standalone 1:1 video call: a bare LiveKit room (execution/direct_calls.py + execution/voice.py's create_room/mint_token), no Align Room / RoomManager involved anywhere — no phases, no AI review, no quota, no join-ceremony tab, just a token for VideoCallDialog.tsx to connect with directly. (Used to mint a full kind="meet" Rooms room here; that meant every plain call dragged Align's whole review-session machinery behind it for no reason — see direct_calls.py's docstring.) Scoped to DMs — "call the person I'm talking to", not a group conference; a channel gets a clear 400 rather than silently ringing nobody in particular.

The callee's live presence never blocks this: the call is minted either way, and calleeOnline just decides the caller's toast ("ringing" vs. "share the link") — chat_sio.notify_incoming_call is a no-op emit to an empty room if they're offline.