docs: fix .cursorrules — the file Cursor auto-loads to learn the API

This is the file that Cursor reads to learn how plugin development
works. Stale entries here directly mislead AI-assisted plugin authors
on every new plugin. Several of the same bug patterns I've been
fixing in the user-facing docs were here too.

Display Manager section (highest impact)
- "draw_image(image, x, y): Draw PIL Image" — that method doesn't
  exist on DisplayManager. Same bug already fixed in
  PLUGIN_API_REFERENCE.md, PLUGIN_DEVELOPMENT_GUIDE.md,
  ledmatrix-stocks/README.md, and .cursor/plugin_templates/QUICK_START.md.
  Removed the bullet and replaced it with a paragraph explaining the
  real pattern: paste onto display_manager.image directly, then
  update_display(). Includes the transparency-mask form.
- Added the small_font/centered args to draw_text() since they're
  the ones that matter most for new plugin authors
- Added draw_weather_icon since it's commonly used

Cache Manager section
- "delete(key): Remove cached value" — there's no delete() method
  on CacheManager. The real method is clear_cache(key=None) (also
  removes everything when called without args). Same bug as before.
- Added get_cached_data_with_strategy and get_background_cached_data
  since contributors will hit these when working on sports plugins

Plugin System Overview
- "loaded from the plugins/ directory" — clarified that the default
  is plugin-repos/ (per config.template.json:130) with plugins/ as
  the dev fallback used by scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh

Plugin Development Workflow
- ./dev_plugin_setup.sh -> ./scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh (×2)
- Manual setup step "Create directory in plugins/<plugin-id>/" ->
  plugin-repos/<plugin-id>/ as the canonical location
- "Use emulator: python run.py --emulator or ./run_emulator.sh"
  — the --emulator flag doesn't exist; ./run_emulator.sh isn't at
  root (it lives at scripts/dev/run_emulator.sh). Replaced with the
  real options: scripts/dev_server.py for dev preview, or
  EMULATOR=true python3 run.py for the full emulator path.

Configuration Management
- "Reference secrets via config_secrets key in main config" — this
  is the same fictional reference syntax I just fixed in
  .cursor/plugins_guide.md. Verified in src/config_manager.py:162-172
  that secrets are deep-merged into the main config; there's no
  separate reference field. Replaced with a clear explanation of
  the deep-merge approach.

Code Organization
- "plugins/<plugin-id>/" -> the canonical location is
  plugin-repos/<plugin-id>/ (or its dev-time symlink in plugins/)
- "see plugins/hockey-scoreboard/ as reference" — the canonical
  source for example plugins is the ledmatrix-plugins repo. Updated
  the pointer.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Chuck
2026-04-07 10:22:41 -04:00
parent 93e2d29af6
commit 8b838ff366

View File

@@ -2,7 +2,13 @@
## Plugin System Overview
The LEDMatrix project uses a plugin-based architecture. All display functionality (except core calendar) is implemented as plugins that are dynamically loaded from the `plugins/` directory.
The LEDMatrix project uses a plugin-based architecture. All display
functionality (except core calendar) is implemented as plugins that are
dynamically loaded from the directory configured by
`plugin_system.plugins_directory` in `config.json` — the default is
`plugin-repos/` (per `config/config.template.json:130`), and the loader
also falls back to `plugins/` (used by `scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh`
for symlinks).
## Plugin Structure
@@ -27,14 +33,15 @@ The LEDMatrix project uses a plugin-based architecture. All display functionalit
**Option A: Use dev_plugin_setup.sh (Recommended)**
```bash
# Link from GitHub
./dev_plugin_setup.sh link-github <plugin-name>
./scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh link-github <plugin-name>
# Link local repository
./dev_plugin_setup.sh link <plugin-name> <path-to-repo>
./scripts/dev/dev_plugin_setup.sh link <plugin-name> <path-to-repo>
```
**Option B: Manual Setup**
1. Create directory in `plugins/<plugin-id>/`
1. Create directory in `plugin-repos/<plugin-id>/` (or `plugins/<plugin-id>/`
if you're using the dev fallback location)
2. Add `manifest.json` with required fields
3. Create `manager.py` with plugin class
4. Add `config_schema.json` for configuration
@@ -63,7 +70,12 @@ Plugins are configured in `config/config.json`:
### 3. Testing Plugins
**On Development Machine:**
- Use emulator: `python run.py --emulator` or `./run_emulator.sh`
- Run the dev preview server: `python3 scripts/dev_server.py` (then
open `http://localhost:5001`) — renders plugins in the browser
without running the full display loop
- Or run the full display in emulator mode:
`EMULATOR=true python3 run.py` (or `./scripts/dev/run_emulator.sh`).
There is no `--emulator` flag.
- Test plugin loading: Check logs for plugin discovery and loading
- Validate configuration: Ensure config matches `config_schema.json`
@@ -75,15 +87,22 @@ Plugins are configured in `config/config.json`:
### 4. Plugin Development Best Practices
**Code Organization:**
- Keep plugin code in `plugins/<plugin-id>/`
- Keep plugin code in `plugin-repos/<plugin-id>/` (or its dev-time
symlink in `plugins/<plugin-id>/`)
- Use shared assets from `assets/` directory when possible
- Follow existing plugin patterns (see `plugins/hockey-scoreboard/` as reference)
- Follow existing plugin patterns — canonical sources live in the
[`ledmatrix-plugins`](https://github.com/ChuckBuilds/ledmatrix-plugins)
repo (`plugins/hockey-scoreboard/`, `plugins/football-scoreboard/`,
`plugins/clock-simple/`, etc.)
- Place shared utilities in `src/common/` if reusable across plugins
**Configuration Management:**
- Use `config_schema.json` for validation
- Store secrets in `config/config_secrets.json` (not in main config)
- Reference secrets via `config_secrets` key in main config
- Store secrets in `config/config_secrets.json` under the same plugin
id namespace as the main config — they're deep-merged into the main
config at load time (`src/config_manager.py:162-172`), so plugin
code reads them directly from `config.get(...)` like any other key
- There is no separate `config_secrets` reference field
- Validate all required fields in `validate_config()`
**Error Handling:**
@@ -138,18 +157,31 @@ Located in: `src/display_manager.py`
**Key Methods:**
- `clear()`: Clear the display
- `draw_text(text, x, y, color, font)`: Draw text
- `draw_image(image, x, y)`: Draw PIL Image
- `update_display()`: Update physical display
- `draw_text(text, x, y, color, font, small_font, centered)`: Draw text
- `update_display()`: Push the buffer to the physical display
- `draw_weather_icon(condition, x, y, size)`: Draw a weather icon
- `width`, `height`: Display dimensions
**Image rendering**: there is no `draw_image()` helper. Paste directly
onto the underlying PIL Image:
```python
self.display_manager.image.paste(pil_image, (x, y))
self.display_manager.update_display()
```
For transparency, paste with a mask: `image.paste(rgba, (x, y), rgba)`.
### Cache Manager
Located in: `src/cache_manager.py`
**Key Methods:**
- `get(key, max_age=None)`: Get cached value
- `get(key, max_age=300)`: Get cached value (returns None if missing/stale)
- `set(key, value, ttl=None)`: Cache a value
- `delete(key)`: Remove cached value
- `clear_cache(key=None)`: Remove a cache entry, or all entries if `key`
is omitted. There is no `delete()` method.
- `get_cached_data_with_strategy(key, data_type)`: Cache get with
data-type-aware TTL strategy
- `get_background_cached_data(key, sport_key)`: Cache get for the
background-fetch service path
## Plugin Manifest Schema