fix: initialise wifi-status throttle state in __init__

Codacy (pylint access-member-before-definition) on #403: the throttled
early-return read _wifi_status_last_result relying on the non-local
invariant that the first call always passes the throttle window and
assigns it. Correct at runtime, but fragile — initialise both throttle
fields in the constructor and drop the getattr fallback.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01FqzC1nzTWL4kaqgMaQZFam

src/common/snapshot_policy.py

@@ -1,68 +0,0 @@
-"""Snapshot write policy for the display preview mirror.
-
-The display service mirrors frames to /tmp/led_matrix_preview.png, which
-serves two consumers with different needs:
-
-- The web UI's live preview (SSE reader in web_interface/app.py) wants
-  fresh frames — but only while a browser is actually watching.
-- The health check (web_interface/blueprints/api_v3.py, hardware status)
-  uses the file's AGE as a liveness proxy: age >= 60s reads as degraded.
-
-PNG-encoding every frame at 5 fps forever — identical frames, no viewers —
-was one of the biggest fixed CPU costs on the Pi. This module is the pure
-decision logic (extracted so it's unit-testable off-Pi; display_manager
-imports rgbmatrix unconditionally and can't be):
-
-    WRITE  — encode + atomically replace the snapshot file
-    TOUCH  — os.utime only: keeps the health-check mtime fresh and lets
-             the SSE reader (mtime-gated) resend at a low rate, without
-             paying for a PNG encode of an unchanged frame
-    SKIP   — do nothing
-
-Policy:
-- With a fresh viewer marker: changed frames write at up to 1/VIEWER_INTERVAL.
-- Without viewers: changed frames still write at 1/IDLE_INTERVAL so the
-  preview page shows something recent on open.
-- Unchanged frames are never re-encoded; the mtime is touched every
-  TOUCH_INTERVAL so the health check (60s threshold) never degrades.
-
-If any constant here changes, re-check the health threshold in
-api_v3.py (get_hardware_status) — TOUCH_INTERVAL must stay well under it.
-"""
-
-from enum import Enum
-
-# Snapshot cadence with a browser preview open (seconds).
-VIEWER_INTERVAL = 0.2
-# Snapshot cadence with no viewers — cheap freshness for page-open (seconds).
-IDLE_INTERVAL = 30.0
-# Max age of the last write/touch before bumping mtime for the health
-# check. MUST stay well under api_v3's 60s degraded threshold.
-TOUCH_INTERVAL = 20.0
-# A viewer marker older than this no longer counts as a live viewer.
-VIEWER_MARKER_FRESH_SEC = 5.0
-
-
-class SnapshotAction(Enum):
-    WRITE = "write"
-    TOUCH = "touch"
-    SKIP = "skip"
-
-
-def decide(now: float, last_write_ts: float, last_touch_ts: float,
-           viewer_fresh: bool, frame_changed: bool) -> SnapshotAction:
-    """Decide what to do with the current frame.
-
-    Args:
-        now: current monotonic-ish timestamp (same clock as the ts args)
-        last_write_ts: when a frame was last actually encoded+written
-        last_touch_ts: when the file mtime was last bumped (write or touch)
-        viewer_fresh: a browser preview is currently watching
-        frame_changed: the frame differs from the last WRITTEN frame
-    """
-    interval = VIEWER_INTERVAL if viewer_fresh else IDLE_INTERVAL
-    if frame_changed and (now - last_write_ts) >= interval:
-        return SnapshotAction.WRITE
-    if (now - max(last_write_ts, last_touch_ts)) >= TOUCH_INTERVAL:
-        return SnapshotAction.TOUCH
-    return SnapshotAction.SKIP

src/display_controller.py

@@ -199,6 +199,10 @@ class DisplayController:
         self.wifi_status_file = WIFI_STATUS_FILE
         self.wifi_status_active = False
         self.wifi_status_expires_at: Optional[float] = None
+        # _check_wifi_status_message throttle state (checked at frame rate,
+        # stat'd at most once per second)
+        self._wifi_status_check_ts = 0.0
+        self._wifi_status_last_result: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None
 
         # Plugin display() signature cache — must be initialised before the plugin
         # loading loop below so the .pop() invalidation at load time is always safe.
@@ -1635,7 +1639,7 @@ class DisplayController:
                     self._sleep_with_plugin_updates(60)
                     continue
                 
-                logger.info(f"Display active, processing mode: {self.current_display_mode}")
+                logger.debug("Display active, processing mode: %s", self.current_display_mode)
                 
                 # Plugins update on their own schedules - no forced sync updates needed
                 # Each plugin has its own update_interval and background services
@@ -1803,7 +1807,7 @@ class DisplayController:
                         if self.plugin_manager and hasattr(self.plugin_manager, 'health_tracker') and self.plugin_manager.health_tracker:
                             should_skip = self.plugin_manager.health_tracker.should_skip_plugin(plugin_id)
                             if should_skip:
-                                logger.info(f"Skipping plugin {plugin_id} due to circuit breaker (mode: {active_mode})")
+                                logger.info("Skipping plugin %s due to circuit breaker (mode: %s)", plugin_id, active_mode)
                                 display_result = False
                                 # Skip to next mode - let existing logic handle it
                                 manager_to_display = None
@@ -1861,7 +1865,7 @@ class DisplayController:
                             if isinstance(result, bool):
                                 display_result = result
                                 if not display_result:
-                                    logger.info(f"Plugin {plugin_id} display() returned False for mode {active_mode}")
+                                    logger.info("Plugin %s display() returned False for mode %s", plugin_id, active_mode)
                         
                         # Record success if display completed without exception
                         if self.plugin_manager and hasattr(self.plugin_manager, 'health_tracker') and self.plugin_manager.health_tracker:
@@ -2354,6 +2358,16 @@ class DisplayController:
             Returns None on any error or if message is expired/invalid.
         """
         try:
+            # Throttle the existence stat to ~1 Hz: this runs on every render
+            # iteration (60+ fps), and the file usually doesn't exist — the
+            # status message's lifetime is measured in seconds anyway.
+            # Both attributes are initialised in __init__.
+            now = time.time()
+            if (now - self._wifi_status_check_ts) < 1.0:
+                return self._wifi_status_last_result
+            self._wifi_status_check_ts = now
+            self._wifi_status_last_result = None
+
             # Check if file exists
             if not self.wifi_status_file or not self.wifi_status_file.exists():
                 return None
@@ -2404,13 +2418,14 @@ class DisplayController:
                     pass
                 return None
             
-            # Message is valid and not expired
+            # Message is valid and not expired — cache for the throttle window
-            return {
+            self._wifi_status_last_result = {
                 'message': message,
                 'timestamp': timestamp,
                 'duration': duration,
                 'expires_at': expires_at
             }
+            return self._wifi_status_last_result
             
         except Exception as e:
             # Catch-all for any unexpected errors - log but don't break the display

src/display_manager.py

@@ -31,23 +31,13 @@ if os.getenv("EMULATOR", "false") == "true":
 else:
     from rgbmatrix import RGBMatrix, RGBMatrixOptions
 from contextlib import contextmanager
-from pathlib import Path
 from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
 import time
 from typing import Dict, Any, List, Optional
 import logging
 import math
-import zlib
 import freetype
 
-from src.common import snapshot_policy
-from src.common.permission_utils import (
-    ensure_directory_permissions,
-    ensure_file_permissions,
-    get_assets_dir_mode,
-    get_assets_file_mode,
-)
-
 # Get logger without configuring
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)  # Set to INFO level
@@ -194,19 +184,10 @@ class DisplayManager:
         # Avoids re-measuring the same string+font on every display() call.
         # Cleared on _load_fonts() so stale entries don't survive a font reload.
         self._text_width_cache: Dict[tuple, int] = {}
-        # Snapshot mirror for web preview + health check (service writes, web
+        # Snapshot settings for web preview integration (service writes, web reads)
-        # reads). Cadence/skip decisions live in src/common/snapshot_policy.py:
-        # full rate only while the web SSE broadcaster keeps the viewer marker
-        # fresh; unchanged frames are never re-encoded, only mtime-touched.
         self._snapshot_path = "/tmp/led_matrix_preview.png"  # nosec B108 - fixed path intentional; web UI reads same path
-        self._viewer_marker_path = "/tmp/led_matrix_preview_viewer"  # nosec B108 - touched by web SSE broadcaster
+        self._snapshot_min_interval_sec = 0.2  # max ~5 fps
         self._last_snapshot_ts = 0.0
-        self._last_snapshot_touch_ts = 0.0
-        self._last_snapshot_digest: Optional[int] = None
-        self._snapshot_dir_prepared = False
-        self._viewer_check_ts = 0.0
-        self._viewer_fresh = False
-        self._viewer_was_fresh = False
         
         # Scrolling state tracking for graceful updates
         self._scrolling_state = {
@@ -1147,56 +1128,27 @@ class DisplayManager:
             'deferred_update_ttl': self._scrolling_state['deferred_update_ttl']
         }
 
-    def _viewer_is_fresh(self, now: float) -> bool:
-        """True when a browser preview is watching (marker file touched by
-        the web SSE broadcaster). The marker is stat'd at most once per
-        second — at 125 fps loops a per-call stat would be pure overhead."""
-        if (now - self._viewer_check_ts) >= 1.0:
-            self._viewer_check_ts = now
-            try:
-                marker_age = now - os.stat(self._viewer_marker_path).st_mtime
-                self._viewer_fresh = marker_age < snapshot_policy.VIEWER_MARKER_FRESH_SEC
-            except OSError:
-                self._viewer_fresh = False
-        return self._viewer_fresh
-
     def _write_snapshot_if_due(self) -> None:
-        """Mirror the current frame to the preview snapshot when the policy
+        """Write the current image to a PNG snapshot file at a limited frequency."""
-        says it's worth it — see src/common/snapshot_policy.py. Unchanged
-        frames are never re-encoded; without viewers the cadence drops to
-        the idle keepalive."""
         try:
             now = time.time()
-            viewer_fresh = self._viewer_is_fresh(now)
+            if (now - self._last_snapshot_ts) < self._snapshot_min_interval_sec:
-            if viewer_fresh and not self._viewer_was_fresh:
-                # A preview just opened: let the next changed frame through
-                # immediately instead of waiting out the idle interval.
-                self._last_snapshot_ts = 0.0
-            self._viewer_was_fresh = viewer_fresh
-
-            digest = zlib.adler32(self.image.tobytes())
-            action = snapshot_policy.decide(
-                now, self._last_snapshot_ts, self._last_snapshot_touch_ts,
-                viewer_fresh, digest != self._last_snapshot_digest)
-            if action is snapshot_policy.SnapshotAction.SKIP:
                 return
-            if action is snapshot_policy.SnapshotAction.TOUCH:
+            # Ensure directory exists with proper permissions
-                # mtime bump only: keeps the health check (snapshot age)
+            from pathlib import Path
-                # green without paying for a PNG encode of an unchanged frame
+            from src.common.permission_utils import (
-                os.utime(self._snapshot_path, None)
+                ensure_directory_permissions,
-                self._last_snapshot_touch_ts = now
+                ensure_file_permissions,
-                return
+                get_assets_dir_mode,
-
+                get_assets_file_mode
-            # WRITE: ensure directory permissions once, not per frame
+            )
             snapshot_path_obj = Path(self._snapshot_path)
-            if not self._snapshot_dir_prepared:
+            # Only ensure permissions on non-system directories
-                # Never modify /tmp permissions - it has special system
+            # Never modify /tmp permissions - it has special system permissions (1777)
-                # permissions (1777) that must not be changed or it breaks
+            # that must not be changed or it breaks apt and other system tools
-                # apt and other system tools
+            parent_dir = snapshot_path_obj.parent
-                parent_dir = snapshot_path_obj.parent
+            if parent_dir and str(parent_dir) != '/tmp':  # nosec B108 - guard to skip /tmp for permission ops
-                if parent_dir and str(parent_dir) != '/tmp':  # nosec B108 - guard to skip /tmp for permission ops
+                ensure_directory_permissions(parent_dir, get_assets_dir_mode())
-                    ensure_directory_permissions(parent_dir, get_assets_dir_mode())
-                self._snapshot_dir_prepared = True
             # Write atomically: temp then replace
             tmp_path = f"{self._snapshot_path}.tmp"
             self.image.save(tmp_path, format='PNG')
@@ -1211,8 +1163,6 @@ class DisplayManager:
             except Exception:
                 pass
             self._last_snapshot_ts = now
-            self._last_snapshot_touch_ts = now
-            self._last_snapshot_digest = digest
         except Exception as e:
             # Snapshot failures should never break display; log at debug to avoid noise
             logger.debug(f"Snapshot write skipped: {e}")

src/vegas_mode/render_pipeline.py

@@ -66,6 +66,10 @@ class RenderPipeline:
             else display_manager.height
         )
 
+        # Reusable blank frame for cycle-end pushes (allocated lazily,
+        # re-blacked before each reuse)
+        self._blank_frame = None
+
         # ScrollHelper for optimized scrolling
         self.scroll_helper = ScrollHelper(
             self.display_width,
@@ -234,11 +238,19 @@ class RenderPipeline:
                     )
                     # Push blank immediately so the hardware never shows any
                     # post-wrap content while the coordinator recomposes the
-                    # next cycle (~100 ms).
+                    # next cycle (~100 ms). The blank is allocated once and
+                    # reused across cycle wraps (fresh paste each time in case
+                    # a consumer drew on the previous one).
                     try:
-                        from PIL import Image as _Image
+                        if self._blank_frame is None or self._blank_frame.size != (
-                        blank = _Image.new('RGB', (self.display_width, self.display_height))
+                                self.display_width, self.display_height):
-                        self.display_manager.image = blank
+                            self._blank_frame = Image.new(
+                                'RGB', (self.display_width, self.display_height))
+                        else:
+                            self._blank_frame.paste(
+                                (0, 0, 0),
+                                (0, 0, self.display_width, self.display_height))
+                        self.display_manager.image = self._blank_frame
                         self.display_manager.update_display()
                     except Exception:
                         logger.exception("Failed to write blank frame to display at cycle end")

test/test_snapshot_policy.py

@@ -1,93 +0,0 @@
-"""Tests for the snapshot write policy (src/common/snapshot_policy.py).
-
-The invariants that matter:
-- unchanged frames are NEVER re-encoded (the old code PNG-encoded identical
-  frames at 5 fps, 24/7)
-- the file mtime never goes stale enough to trip the health check's 60s
-  degraded threshold (api_v3 get_hardware_status)
-- a viewer gets full cadence; no viewer drops to the idle keepalive
-"""
-
-import os
-import sys
-
-import pytest
-
-sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), ".."))
-
-from src.common.snapshot_policy import (  # noqa: E402
-    IDLE_INTERVAL,
-    TOUCH_INTERVAL,
-    VIEWER_INTERVAL,
-    SnapshotAction,
-    decide,
-)
-
-
-class TestViewerCadence:
-    def test_changed_frame_with_viewer_writes_at_full_rate(self):
-        assert decide(now=100.0, last_write_ts=100.0 - VIEWER_INTERVAL,
-                      last_touch_ts=0, viewer_fresh=True,
-                      frame_changed=True) is SnapshotAction.WRITE
-
-    def test_changed_frame_with_viewer_respects_min_interval(self):
-        assert decide(now=100.0, last_write_ts=100.0 - VIEWER_INTERVAL / 2,
-                      last_touch_ts=100.0, viewer_fresh=True,
-                      frame_changed=True) is SnapshotAction.SKIP
-
-    def test_unchanged_frame_with_viewer_never_writes(self):
-        """A static screen with a viewer must not burn PNG encodes."""
-        assert decide(now=100.0, last_write_ts=90.0, last_touch_ts=90.0,
-                      viewer_fresh=True,
-                      frame_changed=False) is SnapshotAction.SKIP
-
-
-class TestIdleCadence:
-    def test_changed_frame_without_viewer_waits_for_idle_interval(self):
-        assert decide(now=100.0, last_write_ts=100.0 - IDLE_INTERVAL / 2,
-                      last_touch_ts=100.0, viewer_fresh=False,
-                      frame_changed=True) is SnapshotAction.SKIP
-
-    def test_changed_frame_without_viewer_writes_at_idle_rate(self):
-        assert decide(now=100.0, last_write_ts=100.0 - IDLE_INTERVAL,
-                      last_touch_ts=0, viewer_fresh=False,
-                      frame_changed=True) is SnapshotAction.WRITE
-
-
-class TestHealthKeepalive:
-    def test_stale_mtime_gets_touched(self):
-        """Whatever else happens, mtime must be bumped within TOUCH_INTERVAL
-        so the health check (60s threshold) never reads the display as dead."""
-        assert decide(now=100.0, last_write_ts=100.0 - TOUCH_INTERVAL,
-                      last_touch_ts=100.0 - TOUCH_INTERVAL, viewer_fresh=False,
-                      frame_changed=False) is SnapshotAction.TOUCH
-
-    def test_touch_applies_with_viewer_too(self):
-        """Viewer watching a static screen: no writes, but health stays green."""
-        assert decide(now=100.0, last_write_ts=100.0 - TOUCH_INTERVAL - 1,
-                      last_touch_ts=100.0 - TOUCH_INTERVAL - 1, viewer_fresh=True,
-                      frame_changed=False) is SnapshotAction.TOUCH
-
-    def test_recent_touch_suppresses_another(self):
-        assert decide(now=100.0, last_write_ts=0.0,
-                      last_touch_ts=100.0 - TOUCH_INTERVAL / 2, viewer_fresh=False,
-                      frame_changed=False) is SnapshotAction.SKIP
-
-    def test_touch_interval_stays_under_health_threshold(self):
-        """api_v3's hardware status treats snapshot age >= 60s as degraded.
-        Keep a 2x margin so scheduling jitter can't trip it."""
-        assert TOUCH_INTERVAL <= 30
-
-    def test_worst_case_mtime_age_is_bounded(self):
-        """Simulate any interleaving: from any state, within one policy call
-        after TOUCH_INTERVAL elapses, mtime gets refreshed (WRITE or TOUCH)."""
-        for viewer in (True, False):
-            for changed in (True, False):
-                action = decide(now=1000.0, last_write_ts=900.0,
-                                last_touch_ts=900.0, viewer_fresh=viewer,
-                                frame_changed=changed)
-                assert action in (SnapshotAction.WRITE, SnapshotAction.TOUCH)
-
-
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    sys.exit(pytest.main([__file__, "-v"]))

web_interface/app.py

@@ -610,22 +610,8 @@ def display_preview_generator():
     import io
     
     snapshot_path = "/tmp/led_matrix_preview.png"  # nosec B108 - fixed path matches display_manager; only read here
-    # Viewer marker: this generator only runs while the broadcaster has
-    # subscribers (it exits with no clients), so touching the marker each
-    # loop tells the DISPLAY service a browser is actually watching — it
-    # only pays for full-rate PNG snapshot encodes while this stays fresh
-    # (see src/common/snapshot_policy.py).
-    viewer_marker_path = "/tmp/led_matrix_preview_viewer"  # nosec B108 - fixed path matches display_manager
     last_modified = None
     
-    def _touch_viewer_marker():
-        try:
-            with open(viewer_marker_path, 'a'):
-                pass
-            os.utime(viewer_marker_path, None)
-        except OSError:
-            pass  # display side treats a missing marker as "no viewer"
-    
     # Get display dimensions from config
     try:
         main_config = config_manager.load_config()
@@ -641,7 +627,6 @@ def display_preview_generator():
     
     while True:
         try:
-            _touch_viewer_marker()
             # Check if snapshot file exists and has been modified
             if os.path.exists(snapshot_path):
                 current_modified = os.path.getmtime(snapshot_path)