docs(web): name the exact plugin keys the device location seeds

Review follow-up. The General settings help text said the device location
was "the default for every plugin that asks for a city", which overstates
what the code does: only the fully-namespaced `location_city` /
`location_state` / `location_country` keys are substituted. A plugin with
a bare `city` key gets nothing — deliberately, since `ledmatrix-elections`
uses `state` for a two-letter code. The tips now name the exact keys.

Worth noting for anyone editing these: `ui.help_tip(...)` takes a
single-quoted Jinja string, so an apostrophe in the tip text has to be
escaped or written around. The wording here avoids them.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01GNLrSZ32FNKpHRaduKEJsg

docs/CONFIG_REFERENCE.md

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ tooling against it.
 | `web_display_autostart` | bool, `true` | Whether the web interface service starts with the system | `scripts/utils/start_web_conditionally.py` |
 | `timezone` | string, `"America/New_York"` | IANA timezone for schedules and displays | `ConfigManager.get_timezone()` |
 | `target_fps` | int, `100` | Frame-rate ceiling for plugin rendering | `src/plugin_system/base_plugin.py`, `src/common/sports_scroll.py` |
-| `location` | object | `city` / `state` / `country`, offered to plugins that need a location (weather, etc.) | plugins via merged config |
+| `location` | object | `city` / `state` / `country`. Supplies the **default** for a plugin's own `location_city` / `location_state` / `location_country` setting, so weather, radar and friends follow this device without being configured twice. A value saved on the plugin itself still overrides it. | `SchemaManager.apply_device_location()`, then plugins via merged config |
 
 ## `schedule` — display on/off hours
 

src/plugin_system/plugin_manager.py

@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ class PluginManager:
         self.plugin_loader = PluginLoader(logger=self.logger)
         self.plugin_executor = PluginExecutor(default_timeout=30.0, logger=self.logger)
         self.state_manager = PluginStateManager(logger=self.logger)
-        self.schema_manager = SchemaManager(plugins_dir=self.plugins_dir, logger=self.logger)
+        self.schema_manager = SchemaManager(plugins_dir=self.plugins_dir, logger=self.logger,
+                                           config_manager=self.config_manager)
         
         # Lock protecting plugin_manifests and plugin_directories from
         # concurrent mutation (background reconciliation) and reads (requests).

src/plugin_system/schema_manager.py

@@ -26,7 +26,25 @@ class SchemaManager:
     - Cache invalidation on plugin changes
     """
     
-    def __init__(self, plugins_dir: Optional[Path] = None, project_root: Optional[Path] = None, logger: Optional[logging.Logger] = None):
+    # Plugin config keys that mean "where this device is". A plugin declaring
+    # any of these in its schema gets the device-wide ``location`` block from
+    # config.json as the *default* for that field, instead of whatever city the
+    # plugin author happened to ship. A value the user set on the plugin itself
+    # always wins -- this only ever replaces the schema default, so an explicit
+    # per-plugin location is still honoured.
+    #
+    # Only these fully-namespaced keys are substituted. A bare ``state`` or
+    # ``city`` key is deliberately left alone: plugins use those for unrelated
+    # things (ledmatrix-elections' ``state`` is a two-letter code, not a place
+    # name), and silently rewriting them would break those plugins.
+    DEVICE_LOCATION_KEYS: Dict[str, str] = {
+        'location_city': 'city',
+        'location_state': 'state',
+        'location_country': 'country',
+    }
+
+    def __init__(self, plugins_dir: Optional[Path] = None, project_root: Optional[Path] = None,
+                 logger: Optional[logging.Logger] = None, config_manager: Optional[Any] = None):
         """
         Initialize the Schema Manager.
         
@@ -34,10 +52,14 @@ class SchemaManager:
             plugins_dir: Base plugins directory path
             project_root: Project root directory path
             logger: Optional logger instance
+            config_manager: Optional config manager, used to resolve the
+                device-wide ``location`` that seeds plugin location defaults.
+                Omitting it simply leaves schema defaults untouched.
         """
         self.logger = logger or logging.getLogger(__name__)
         self.plugins_dir = plugins_dir
         self.project_root = project_root or Path.cwd()
+        self.config_manager = config_manager
         
         # Schema cache: plugin_id -> schema dict
         self._schema_cache: Dict[str, Dict[str, Any]] = {}
@@ -212,10 +234,70 @@ class SchemaManager:
         
         return defaults
     
+    def get_device_location(self) -> Optional[Dict[str, Any]]:
+        """
+        Return the device-wide ``location`` block from config.json, or None.
+
+        This is the City/State/Country the user sets once under General
+        settings. Returns None when there is no config manager wired, the
+        config can't be read, or no location has been configured.
+        """
+        if self.config_manager is None:
+            return None
+        try:
+            config = self.config_manager.load_config()
+        except Exception as e:
+            # A config that can't be read must never stop defaults being
+            # generated -- the plugin's own schema defaults still apply.
+            self.logger.debug(f"Could not read device location from config: {e}")
+            return None
+        if not isinstance(config, dict):
+            return None
+        location = config.get('location')
+        return location if isinstance(location, dict) else None
+
+    def apply_device_location(self, defaults: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        """
+        Replace location-shaped schema defaults with the device's own location.
+
+        Without this, a plugin that ships ``"location_city": "Dallas"`` as its
+        schema default silently reports Dallas weather (and centres its radar
+        there) for every user who never opened that plugin's config form --
+        even though they set their real city under General settings. The
+        substituted value is still only a *default*: ``merge_with_defaults``
+        lets any per-plugin value the user saved win over it.
+
+        Mutates and returns ``defaults`` for convenience.
+        """
+        if not defaults:
+            return defaults
+        if not any(key in defaults for key in self.DEVICE_LOCATION_KEYS):
+            return defaults
+
+        location = self.get_device_location()
+        if not location:
+            return defaults
+
+        for key, field in self.DEVICE_LOCATION_KEYS.items():
+            if key not in defaults:
+                continue
+            value = location.get(field)
+            # Only a non-empty string is a real answer; a blank or missing
+            # field means "not configured", which leaves the schema default.
+            if isinstance(value, str) and value.strip():
+                defaults[key] = value.strip()
+
+        return defaults
+
     def generate_default_config(self, plugin_id: str, use_cache: bool = True) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         """
         Generate default configuration for a plugin from its schema.
         
+        Location fields (see ``DEVICE_LOCATION_KEYS``) default to the device's
+        configured location rather than the plugin author's. That substitution
+        is applied on the way out rather than being cached, so changing the
+        device location takes effect without invalidating the defaults cache.
+        
         Args:
             plugin_id: Plugin identifier
             use_cache: If True, return cached defaults if available
@@ -225,7 +307,7 @@ class SchemaManager:
         """
         # Check cache first
         if use_cache and plugin_id in self._defaults_cache:
-            return self._defaults_cache[plugin_id].copy()
+            return self.apply_device_location(self._defaults_cache[plugin_id].copy())
         
         schema = self.load_schema(plugin_id, use_cache=use_cache)
         if not schema:
@@ -249,10 +331,11 @@ class SchemaManager:
         if 'live_priority' not in defaults:
             defaults['live_priority'] = schema.get('properties', {}).get('live_priority', {}).get('default', False)
         
-        # Cache the defaults
+        # Cache the defaults *before* the device location is layered on, so a
+        # later change to the device location is picked up by the next call.
         self._defaults_cache[plugin_id] = defaults.copy()
         
-        return defaults
+        return self.apply_device_location(defaults)
     
     def validate_config_against_schema(self, config: Dict[str, Any], schema: Dict[str, Any], 
                                       plugin_id: Optional[str] = None) -> Tuple[bool, List[str]]:

test/test_schema_manager_device_location.py

@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+"""
+Tests for the device-location default: a plugin that ships a location field in
+its schema must default to the device's configured City/State/Country, not to
+whatever place the plugin author hard-coded.
+
+The bug this pins: ledmatrix-weather ships ``"location_city": "Dallas"`` as a
+schema default, so a user who set Kansas City under General settings but never
+opened the weather plugin's own config form got Dallas weather — and a radar
+centred on Dallas — with nothing in config.json to explain it.
+"""
+
+import json
+
+import pytest
+
+from src.plugin_system.schema_manager import SchemaManager
+
+
+class FakeConfigManager:
+    """Minimal stand-in exposing the load_config() SchemaManager relies on."""
+
+    def __init__(self, config):
+        self.config = config
+        self.load_count = 0
+
+    def load_config(self):
+        self.load_count += 1
+        return self.config
+
+
+class ExplodingConfigManager:
+    def load_config(self):
+        raise OSError("config.json is unreadable")
+
+
+WEATHER_SCHEMA = {
+    "type": "object",
+    "properties": {
+        "location_city": {"type": "string", "default": "Dallas"},
+        "location_state": {"type": "string", "default": "Texas"},
+        "location_country": {"type": "string", "default": "US"},
+        "units": {"type": "string", "default": "imperial"},
+    },
+}
+
+
+def write_plugin(plugins_dir, plugin_id, schema):
+    plugin_dir = plugins_dir / plugin_id
+    plugin_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    (plugin_dir / "config_schema.json").write_text(json.dumps(schema))
+    return plugin_dir
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def plugins_dir(tmp_path):
+    d = tmp_path / "plugin-repos"
+    d.mkdir()
+    return d
+
+
+def make_sm(plugins_dir, tmp_path, location):
+    config = {} if location is None else {"location": location}
+    cm = FakeConfigManager(config)
+    sm = SchemaManager(plugins_dir=plugins_dir, project_root=tmp_path,
+                       config_manager=cm)
+    return sm, cm
+
+
+class TestDeviceLocationDefaults:
+    def test_device_location_replaces_plugin_default(self, plugins_dir, tmp_path):
+        write_plugin(plugins_dir, "ledmatrix-weather", WEATHER_SCHEMA)
+        sm, _ = make_sm(plugins_dir, tmp_path,
+                        {"city": "Kansas City", "state": "Missouri", "country": "US"})
+
+        defaults = sm.generate_default_config("ledmatrix-weather")
+
+        assert defaults["location_city"] == "Kansas City"
+        assert defaults["location_state"] == "Missouri"
+        assert defaults["location_country"] == "US"
+        # Non-location defaults are untouched.
+        assert defaults["units"] == "imperial"
+
+    def test_user_set_plugin_value_still_wins(self, plugins_dir, tmp_path):
+        write_plugin(plugins_dir, "ledmatrix-weather", WEATHER_SCHEMA)
+        sm, _ = make_sm(plugins_dir, tmp_path,
+                        {"city": "Kansas City", "state": "Missouri", "country": "US"})
+
+        defaults = sm.generate_default_config("ledmatrix-weather")
+        merged = sm.merge_with_defaults({"location_city": "Denver"}, defaults)
+
+        assert merged["location_city"] == "Denver"
+        # Fields the user did not override still follow the device.
+        assert merged["location_state"] == "Missouri"
+
+    def test_blank_and_missing_device_fields_leave_schema_default(self, plugins_dir, tmp_path):
+        write_plugin(plugins_dir, "ledmatrix-weather", WEATHER_SCHEMA)
+        sm, _ = make_sm(plugins_dir, tmp_path, {"city": "Kansas City", "state": "   "})
+
+        defaults = sm.generate_default_config("ledmatrix-weather")
+
+        assert defaults["location_city"] == "Kansas City"
+        assert defaults["location_state"] == "Texas"    # blank -> not configured
+        assert defaults["location_country"] == "US"     # absent -> schema default
+
+    def test_no_device_location_configured_is_a_no_op(self, plugins_dir, tmp_path):
+        write_plugin(plugins_dir, "ledmatrix-weather", WEATHER_SCHEMA)
+        sm, _ = make_sm(plugins_dir, tmp_path, None)
+
+        defaults = sm.generate_default_config("ledmatrix-weather")
+
+        assert defaults["location_city"] == "Dallas"
+
+    def test_no_config_manager_is_a_no_op(self, plugins_dir, tmp_path):
+        write_plugin(plugins_dir, "ledmatrix-weather", WEATHER_SCHEMA)
+        sm = SchemaManager(plugins_dir=plugins_dir, project_root=tmp_path)
+
+        assert sm.generate_default_config("ledmatrix-weather")["location_city"] == "Dallas"
+
+    def test_unreadable_config_falls_back_to_schema_defaults(self, plugins_dir, tmp_path):
+        write_plugin(plugins_dir, "ledmatrix-weather", WEATHER_SCHEMA)
+        sm = SchemaManager(plugins_dir=plugins_dir, project_root=tmp_path,
+                           config_manager=ExplodingConfigManager())
+
+        assert sm.generate_default_config("ledmatrix-weather")["location_city"] == "Dallas"
+
+
+class TestScopedToNamespacedKeys:
+    def test_bare_state_key_is_not_rewritten(self, plugins_dir, tmp_path):
+        """ledmatrix-elections' ``state`` is a two-letter code, not a place name."""
+        write_plugin(plugins_dir, "ledmatrix-elections", {
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+                "state": {"type": "string", "default": "CA"},
+                "city": {"type": "string", "default": "Springfield"},
+            },
+        })
+        sm, _ = make_sm(plugins_dir, tmp_path,
+                        {"city": "Kansas City", "state": "Missouri", "country": "US"})
+
+        defaults = sm.generate_default_config("ledmatrix-elections")
+
+        assert defaults["state"] == "CA"
+        assert defaults["city"] == "Springfield"
+
+    def test_plugin_without_location_fields_never_reads_config(self, plugins_dir, tmp_path):
+        write_plugin(plugins_dir, "clock-simple", {
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {"format": {"type": "string", "default": "12h"}},
+        })
+        sm, cm = make_sm(plugins_dir, tmp_path, {"city": "Kansas City"})
+
+        defaults = sm.generate_default_config("clock-simple")
+
+        assert defaults["format"] == "12h"
+        assert cm.load_count == 0
+
+
+class TestCachingStaysFresh:
+    def test_location_change_is_picked_up_through_the_defaults_cache(self, plugins_dir, tmp_path):
+        write_plugin(plugins_dir, "ledmatrix-weather", WEATHER_SCHEMA)
+        sm, cm = make_sm(plugins_dir, tmp_path, {"city": "Kansas City"})
+
+        assert sm.generate_default_config("ledmatrix-weather")["location_city"] == "Kansas City"
+
+        cm.config["location"]["city"] = "Omaha"
+
+        # Second call is served from the defaults cache, but must not serve a
+        # stale location.
+        assert sm.generate_default_config("ledmatrix-weather")["location_city"] == "Omaha"
+
+    def test_cached_defaults_are_not_mutated_by_the_overlay(self, plugins_dir, tmp_path):
+        write_plugin(plugins_dir, "ledmatrix-weather", WEATHER_SCHEMA)
+        sm, cm = make_sm(plugins_dir, tmp_path, {"city": "Kansas City"})
+
+        sm.generate_default_config("ledmatrix-weather")
+        assert sm._defaults_cache["ledmatrix-weather"]["location_city"] == "Dallas"
+
+        cm.config.pop("location")
+        assert sm.generate_default_config("ledmatrix-weather")["location_city"] == "Dallas"

web_interface/app.py

@@ -118,7 +118,8 @@ saved_repositories_manager = SavedRepositoriesManager()
 schema_manager = SchemaManager(
     plugins_dir=plugins_dir,
     project_root=project_root,
-    logger=None
+    logger=None,
+    config_manager=config_manager
 )
 
 # Initialize operation queue for plugin operations

web_interface/templates/v3/partials/general.html

@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@
         <!-- Location Information -->
         <div class="grid grid-cols-1 md:grid-cols-3 xl:grid-cols-3 2xl:grid-cols-3 gap-4">
             <div class="form-group" id="setting-general-city" data-setting-key="location.city">
-                <label for="city" class="block text-sm font-medium text-gray-700">City{{ ui.help_tip('City used for weather, sunrise/sunset, and other location-based content.\nExample: Dallas.', 'City') }}</label>
+                <label for="city" class="block text-sm font-medium text-gray-700">City{{ ui.help_tip('City used for weather, sunrise/sunset, radar, and other location-based content.\nExample: Kansas City.\nUsed as the default for the location_city setting on plugins that have one; a value saved on the plugin itself overrides it.', 'City') }}</label>
                 <input type="text"
                        id="city"
                        name="city"
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@
             </div>
 
             <div class="form-group" id="setting-general-state" data-setting-key="location.state">
-                <label for="state" class="block text-sm font-medium text-gray-700">State{{ ui.help_tip('State or region for your location.\nExample: Texas. Improves location-lookup accuracy.', 'State') }}</label>
+                <label for="state" class="block text-sm font-medium text-gray-700">State{{ ui.help_tip('State or region for your location.\nExample: Missouri. Improves location-lookup accuracy.\nUsed as the default for the location_state setting on plugins that have one.', 'State') }}</label>
                 <input type="text"
                        id="state"
                        name="state"
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@
             </div>
 
             <div class="form-group" id="setting-general-country" data-setting-key="location.country">
-                <label for="country" class="block text-sm font-medium text-gray-700">Country{{ ui.help_tip('Country code or name for your location.\nExample: US. Used with City and State for weather and geolocation.', 'Country') }}</label>
+                <label for="country" class="block text-sm font-medium text-gray-700">Country{{ ui.help_tip('Country code or name for your location.\nExample: US. Used with City and State for weather, radar, and geolocation.\nUsed as the default for the location_country setting on plugins that have one.', 'Country') }}</label>
                 <input type="text"
                        id="country"
                        name="country"