refactor(web): one thread-safe TTL cache for the web process

web_interface/cache.py becomes a small TTLCache class (lock-guarded,
monotonic clock) with the existing get_cached/set_cached/delete_cached/
invalidate_cache helpers kept on top of a shared instance, so the api_v3
callers are unchanged.

Bugs fixed:
- set_cached(ttl_seconds=...) ignored its TTL; only the reader's value
  counted and get_cached defaulted to 60s. An entry now expires after the TTL
  it was stored with; a reader's ttl_seconds can only shorten that. Both
  current callers pass the same value on both sides (fonts_catalog 300s,
  system_status 10s), so their observable TTLs are unchanged.
- get_cached deleted expired keys without a lock; two threads reading the
  same expired key could raise KeyError (reproduced), which the endpoints
  turned into a 500.

app.py's two hand-rolled systemctl caches (_ap_mode_cache, 30s, and
_ledmatrix_service_cache, 15s) now share one helper over a private
TTLCache, with the same TTLs. The AP-mode check used to retry on every
request after a failure (and log an ERROR each time); a failure now keeps the
last known answer for the TTL, as the display-service check already did. With
no systemctl at all (a dev machine) it answers False without forking.

Left alone as not TTL memoisation: the gzip cache (size-bounded, keyed by URL
and version), the settings search index (keyed by installed-plugin set), the
widget bundle (keyed by file fingerprint) and CacheManager (cross-process).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

web_interface/app.py

@@ -295,34 +295,41 @@ try:
 except ImportError:
     pass
 
-# Cached AP mode check — avoids creating a WiFiManager per request
-_ap_mode_cache = {'value': False, 'timestamp': 0}
+# systemctl answers, memoised so they are not a subprocess fork per request
+# (AP mode) or per SSE tick (display service). A failed check keeps the last
+# known answer for the same TTL rather than retrying on every request.
+from web_interface.cache import TTLCache
+_service_status_cache = TTLCache()
 _AP_MODE_CACHE_TTL = 30  # seconds — AP mode is user-initiated; 30s is fine
-
-# Cached ledmatrix service status for SSE stats stream
-_ledmatrix_service_cache = {'active': False, 'timestamp': 0}
 _LEDMATRIX_SERVICE_CACHE_TTL = 15  # seconds
 
+def _unit_is_active(unit, ttl):
+    """`systemctl is-active <unit>`, cached for ``ttl`` seconds.
+
+    False where there is no systemctl (a dev machine); on a failed check, the
+    last known answer.
+    """
+    active = _service_status_cache.get(unit)
+    if active is not None:
+        return active
+    active = _service_status_cache.peek(unit, False)
+    if _SYSTEMCTL:
+        try:
+            result = subprocess.run([_SYSTEMCTL, 'is-active', unit],
+                                    capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=2)
+            active = result.stdout.strip() == 'active'
+        except (subprocess.SubprocessError, OSError) as e:
+            logging.getLogger('web_interface').warning(
+                "systemctl is-active %s failed: %s", unit, e)
+    _service_status_cache.set(unit, active, ttl=ttl)
+    return active
+
 def is_ap_mode_active():
     """
     Check if access point mode is currently active (cached, 30s TTL).
     Uses a direct systemctl check instead of instantiating WiFiManager.
     """
-    now = time.time()
-    if (now - _ap_mode_cache['timestamp']) < _AP_MODE_CACHE_TTL:
-        return _ap_mode_cache['value']
-    try:
-        result = subprocess.run(
-            ['systemctl', 'is-active', 'hostapd'],
-            capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=2
-        )
-        active = result.stdout.strip() == 'active'
-        _ap_mode_cache['value'] = active
-        _ap_mode_cache['timestamp'] = now
-        return active
-    except (subprocess.SubprocessError, OSError) as e:
-        logging.getLogger('web_interface').error(f"AP mode check failed: {e}")
-        return _ap_mode_cache['value']
+    return _unit_is_active('hostapd', _AP_MODE_CACHE_TTL)
 
 # Captive portal detection endpoints
 # When AP mode is active, return responses that TRIGGER the captive portal popup.
@@ -672,17 +679,7 @@ def system_status_generator():
             cpu_temp = metrics['cpu_temp']
 
             # Check if display service is running (cached to avoid per-client subprocess forks)
-            now = time.time()
-            if (now - _ledmatrix_service_cache['timestamp']) >= _LEDMATRIX_SERVICE_CACHE_TTL:
-                if _SYSTEMCTL:
-                    try:
-                        result = subprocess.run([_SYSTEMCTL, 'is-active', 'ledmatrix'],
-                                                capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=2)
-                        _ledmatrix_service_cache['active'] = result.stdout.strip() == 'active'
-                    except (subprocess.SubprocessError, OSError) as e:
-                        app.logger.warning("systemctl status check failed: %s", e)
-                _ledmatrix_service_cache['timestamp'] = now
-            service_active = _ledmatrix_service_cache['active']
+            service_active = _unit_is_active('ledmatrix', _LEDMATRIX_SERVICE_CACHE_TTL)
             
             status = {
                 'timestamp': time.time(),