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* test(sync): cover the display sync protocol, and fix what that surfaced DisplaySyncManager had no tests at all — it appeared in the suite only as a MagicMock() stand-in, so none of its framing, handshake, or socket handling was ever exercised. Writing that coverage surfaced three bugs. Both receive loops caught the generic Exception and immediately retried. A socket left in a bad state raises on every call, so the thread spun at 100% CPU logging the same line; the reverted-code run of the new regression test takes 24 seconds where the fixed one takes 0.2. Both now back off briefly before retrying. The follower dispatched on `data[:8] == _RAW_MAGIC or len(data) > 512`. That size threshold is not part of either wire format: a control message over 512 bytes — a hello_ack carrying a long incompatibility error, for instance — went to the image decoder and was dropped, and a raw frame under 512 bytes went to the JSON parser. Both formats are already self-describing, so dispatch on the magic prefix and treat a JSON parse failure as the legacy unmarked PNG, with the shared frame bookkeeping factored into _handle_received_frame(). _oversized_frame_warned was created on first use through getattr(self, ..., False) rather than in __init__, alone among the instance attributes. 75 tests: role parsing, the hello compatibility matrix, watchdog timeouts, both receive loops, the TCP image server's length and dimension caps and decompression-bomb guard, status shape per role, and one end-to-end loopback handshake so the wire format is exercised for real and not only against mocks. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(logos): cover LogoHelper, and stop bad downloads poisoning the cache Nothing in test/ referenced logo_helper.py, so its caching, resizing and download-fallback logic was entirely unexercised. Two bugs surfaced. _download_logo wrote response.content to disk with no size limit and no check that the bytes were an image. A logo URL is remote input, so the response chose how much went into the assets directory; worse, an undecodable one stayed there, and because load_logo() only reports the decode failure and returns None, every later call re-read the same corrupt file. The download path never retried, so a single bad response made a logo permanently blank rather than falling back to the placeholder. Cap the response, verify it decodes, and delete it if not, which lets the existing fallback in load_logo_with_download do its job. get_cache_stats() divided by self.cache_size with no guard, so a helper built with cache_size=0 raised ZeroDivisionError from what is only a stats call. 37 tests: size-qualified cache keys, LRU eviction and refresh, the four load_logo_with_download paths, download permissions and timeout, placeholder generation, and the abbreviation normalizer — including a test pinning its deliberate divergence from LogoDownloader.normalize_abbreviation, since logo filenames on existing installs depend on both behaviors staying put. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(web): cover the error and response builders, and stop dropping empty values errors.py and error_handler.py's response builders had no direct tests, though every API response passes through them. Two bugs surfaced. WebInterfaceError set suggested_fixes with `or`, so a caller passing [] to mean "I have no suggestions for this one" got the default list instead. Only None should fall back. create_success_response gated `data` on `is not None` but `message` and `metadata` on truthiness, so an explicitly-passed "" or {} vanished from the response while 0 and False survived — the response shape depended on the value. api_helpers.success_response() then re-gated metadata the same way, which is the path every api_v3 endpoint actually calls, so fixing only the inner function would have changed nothing observable. Both now use `is not None`. That wrapper also merged request timing into the caller's own metadata dict in place. A caller reusing a dict across requests would accumulate previous responses' timings; it now copies before adding. 79 tests: category inference for every error code, mapped vs fallback suggestions, the JSON shape including which keys are omitted when empty, exception-to-code inference, and the success/error builders end to end. Two behaviours are pinned as deliberate rather than fixed: an empty context stays out of the response body, and from_exception's `message` is the fixed per-code string, never the raw exception text. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(web): cover the input validators, and close three holes in them validators.py had tests for dedup_unique_arrays only; the other eight functions were untested. Three bugs surfaced. validate_image_url checked for '..' only inside its relative-path branch, so http://host/../secret passed validation while /../secret was rejected — the traversal check now runs before the branch split, which is where a safety check on the whole URL belongs. validate_file_upload lowercased the uploaded filename's extension but compared it against the caller's list verbatim, so allowed_extensions of ['.TTF'] rejected every valid .ttf file. Both sides are lowercased now. The one in-tree caller passes lowercase already, so this only widens what future callers can hand it. validate_numeric_range accepted True and False, because bool subclasses int; a boolean then compared as 1 or 0 against the range and validated cleanly. Excluded explicitly, matching how base_plugin.py already handles the same trap for display_duration. 84 tests. Two behaviours are pinned rather than changed: sanitize_plugin_config deliberately does not HTML-escape strings, since escaping at this layer would store the escaped form in config.json — the docstring said "prevent injection", which read as a promise it does not keep, and now says what it actually does. validate_font_awesome_class's second 'fa-' check is unreachable behind its own regex; harmless, so characterized rather than removed. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(api): cover wifi and registry endpoints, and fix bodyless POSTs The /wifi/* routes drive the host's real networking and the registry routes reach GitHub, and neither had endpoint-level tests. Covering them surfaced a bug affecting six endpoints. Six handlers read their body as `request.get_json() or {}`. The `or {}` says every field is optional and a missing body should fall back to defaults — but get_json() without silent=True raises UnsupportedMediaType when there is no JSON Content-Type, and it raises before `or {}` is ever evaluated. Each handler's catch-all then reported that as a 500. So POSTing with no body — what curl sends by default, and what a fetch() without options sends — failed on /plugins/store/refresh, /display/on-demand/start, /plugins/config/reset, /plugins/of-the-day/json/delete, /plugins/{id}/limits and /plugins/authenticate/spotify. The shipped UI always sends a JSON object, which is why this stayed hidden. All six now use silent=True. test_api_v3_optional_body.py covers the affected endpoints and adds a source check, since the combination of `or <default>` with a non-silent read is self-contradictory wherever it appears and is easier to catch by inspection than by exercising each endpoint by hand. Also adds test/_api_v3_test_helpers.py: the blueprint holds its managers on a module-level singleton rather than in Flask app state, so a test that mocks them leaks into every later test unless the originals are restored. The existing _make_client() does this for unittest classes; this is the pytest-fixture equivalent, for the five suites still to come. 69 endpoint tests: connect/disconnect/AP/radio including the string-aware boolean coercion these endpoints deliberately use, the radio's lockout-refusal path, registry refresh and fetch-from-URL, and a guard that WiFiManager is never constructed for real. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(api): cover the music auth endpoints, and always clean up the wrapper The Spotify step-2 handler writes a Python wrapper script to a temp file with the user's redirect URL embedded in its source, then executes it. That is the most dangerous shape in the blueprint and had no tests. The wrapper was deleted in the success/failure branch and again in the TimeoutExpired handler. Any other failure from subprocess.run — no interpreter, a fork failure, an interrupted call — reached neither, and left a world-readable temp file containing the user's redirect URL on disk. Cleanup moves to a finally block, which is what "delete this whatever happens" should have been from the start. The injection tests are the point of this file. Eight adversarial redirect URLs (embedded quotes, backslashes, newlines, triple quotes, a full `"; import os; os.system("id"); "`) are each pushed through the endpoint and the generated wrapper is parsed with ast: it must still be valid Python, the URL must still be a single string literal bound to redirect_url, and no os.system call may appear anywhere in the tree. json.dumps holds up, but nothing was checking that it does. 40 tests. Also pins that the two endpoints are not symmetrical despite the matching names — only Spotify has a two-step flow and a wrapper; YTM runs its script directly — so a later change does not "restore" a parity that was never there. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(api): cover the credentials upload, and stop it hoarding secrets The endpoint that receives the user's Google OAuth credentials file had no tests. Two bugs surfaced. The OAuth-shape check ran inside `except Exception: pass`. A JSON document that parses but is not an object — a bare 42, true, null, a list — makes `'installed' not in creds_data` raise TypeError, which the bare except swallowed, and the file was then written out as credentials.json regardless. The check now decides the outcome instead of being advisory, so anything not credentials-shaped is refused up front rather than failing later inside the calendar plugin. Every overwrite copies the old file to credentials.json.backup.<ts> and nothing removed them, so a user who re-uploaded ten times had ten complete sets of OAuth client credentials sitting in the plugin directory, indefinitely. Keep the newest five. Pruning is housekeeping, so a backup that cannot be removed logs and leaves the upload alone. 27 tests: size and extension limits, malformed JSON, the shape check, 0600 permissions on the written file, backup-on-overwrite, and pruning including the repeated-upload case that stays bounded. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(api): cover the install endpoints, and make 14 dead guards reachable /plugins/install and /plugins/install-from-url were tested only at the PluginStoreManager layer, so the route logic — the queue-versus-direct branch, schema invalidation, discovery, state and history recording — was unexercised. Covering them surfaced the wider form of the body-parsing bug fixed for the `or {}` handlers in the previous commit. Fourteen handlers read `data = request.get_json()` and immediately guard with `if not data: return 400, 'No data provided'`. That guard cannot run: get_json() without silent=True raises UnsupportedMediaType for a request with no JSON body, so the catch-all answered 500 "an error occurred; see logs for details" where the handler plainly meant to answer 400 and say which field was missing. Every one of these endpoints told a caller who simply forgot the body to go read the server logs. All fourteen now use silent=True, so the guard each author already wrote is the one that runs. This covers /config/raw/main and /config/raw/secrets among them, whose own bodyless case had the same shape. The two remaining bare reads are left alone: neither declares what a missing body should do, so there is no stated intent to honour. 31 install tests plus 17 body tests. The install pair is checked against each other rather than only individually — the same install logic is written twice, once in the queue callback and once in the fallback, so the tests assert both produce identical schema, discovery, state and history effects. They agree today; the one difference is the success message wording, which is characterized rather than changed. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(api): cover the raw config write endpoints /config/raw/main and /config/raw/secrets write whatever JSON they are given straight to config.json and config_secrets.json, bypassing the secret-separation path the rest of the config surface goes through. Given how carefully that surface keeps secrets out of config.json, the pair that skips it was worth pinning precisely. Backed by a real ConfigManager over tmp_path, so the assertions are against files on disk. 20 tests covering both routes: what lands in which file, that a raw secrets write never touches config.json and vice versa, the GitHub token reload, the uninitialized-manager and empty-body branches, and the ConfigError path that carries config_path through to the response. The bypass itself is pinned as intentional rather than changed — these back the raw JSON editor, so writing the body verbatim is the feature. The test says so explicitly, because the failure mode is someone later routing plugin config through here as a convenience and silently losing secret separation. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(api): cover backup restore and path containment, and fix restore scope Restore is the most destructive thing the web interface can do — it overwrites config, secrets, WiFi settings and fonts, then reinstalls plugins — and neither it nor the file routes beside it had tests. A malformed `options` field fell back to {}. Every RestoreOptions flag defaults to True, so a caller who asked for a narrow restore and mis-serialized the request got a full one instead, secrets included, and was told it succeeded. Valid JSON that is not an object was worse: `"null"` or `"[1,2]"` reached .get() on a non-dict and raised, so the request died as a generic 500. Both are now refused with a 400 that says what was wrong, and restore_backup is never reached. The other file routes take a filename straight out of the URL and turn it into a path — one to read, one to unlink. _safe_backup_path is the only thing keeping those inside the export directory, and it was untested. No bypass was found; the thirteen traversal shapes are pinned so a later loosening of that pattern has to argue with something. The delete route's by-name enumeration is covered too, including that a directory sharing a backup's name is not removed. 84 tests. Two behaviours are pinned as intentional: a failed plugin reinstall turns the whole restore into an error even though file restoration succeeded, and omitting `options` entirely still means restore everything — that is the documented default, and it is only the mis-serialized case that was wrong. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * ci: raise coverage floor to 52% Measured 54.45% after the Tier 1 and Tier 2 suites, up from 50%. Keeping the same two points of headroom the 45 -> 48 ratchet used. The modules this branch set out to cover: sync_manager 0 -> 97%, logo_helper 0 -> 98%, errors and error_handler 0 -> 100%, validators 0 -> 97%. api_v3 moved less in percentage terms because it is 4,341 statements, but the endpoints covered are the destructive and credential-handling ones. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(sync): probe for a free port on loopback, not every interface CodeQL flagged the ephemeral-port probe in the handshake test for binding to all interfaces. The probe only needs a free port number, so loopback is both sufficient and correct — a test should not open a port to the network to discover one. The manager under test still binds to all interfaces, which is deliberate and already marked nosec: a follower has to receive the leader's UDP broadcast. Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * fix: bound the logo download, and stop malformed input reading as a fault Review findings on the coverage branch. The download size cap I added checked len(response.content), which has already buffered the whole body -- it stopped the bytes reaching disk but not memory, which was the point. A server that omits Content-Length and never stops sending would still exhaust the process. Stream it instead, counting as it arrives, into a sibling .part file that is replaced over the target only once it decodes. A transfer that dies midway now leaves nothing behind rather than a truncated logo for load_logo() to cache. The follower's control-message handler caught three exception types, but two reachable UDP payloads raise others: a bare JSON scalar makes msg.get() raise AttributeError, and an "sx" carrying a non-numeric x raises ValueError or TypeError from float(). Those escaped to the outer handler, skipping the legacy-PNG fallback and -- since this branch added a backoff there -- charging one malformed packet a 0.1s stall on the receive path. The legacy-PNG path also decoded without the dimension cap its TCP counterpart applies, so a crafted 65KB frame could force a large allocation on the render thread; both paths now share one constant. Three repo_url handlers called .strip() on client input without checking it was a string, so {"repo_url": 12345} answered 500. The credentials upload parsed the same file twice, the second time inside a bare except that a preceding parse had already made unreachable. And both raw-config handlers kept a json.JSONDecodeError arm that get_json(silent=True) had turned into dead code, collapsing "sent something unparseable" into "sent nothing" -- they now say which. Two of the new tests were not testing what they claimed. The pruning round-trip wrote ten backups inside one second, so all ten landed on the same int(time.time()) filename and overwrote each other; it never reached the limit it asserted. And the sync clock helper patched attributes on the stdlib time module, freezing time process-wide for every daemon thread earlier tests had left running. Full suite: 3352 passed, coverage 54%. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(sync): probe broadcast by sending, not by listening The broadcast check added in the previous commit bound INADDR_ANY to receive its own probe datagram, and the free-port probe did the same to pick a port. CodeQL flagged both, correctly: a test suite has no reason to open a socket the whole network can reach. Sending is enough for what the probe is actually for. An environment that refuses broadcast raises on sendto, which is the case that occurs in sandboxes and is the one worth skipping over; confirming delivery would have required the listening socket. A network that accepts the send and silently drops it still reaches the assertion, exactly as it did before either commit. The port probe binds loopback -- it only needs a number, and the manager's own bind is the one that has to succeed, with the retry loop already covering a port taken elsewhere. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * fix: keep callback faults out of the frame-decode fallback Review follow-up on the previous two commits. Widening the control-message except tuple put the callback dispatch inside it, so an _on_new_cycle() that raised ValueError, TypeError or AttributeError sent a perfectly good control packet to the legacy PNG decoder -- which reported it as an image decode error and buried the real fault. Split the two: whether the payload parses as JSON decides frame vs control message, a second guard covers reading the fields of an attacker-shaped body, and the callback fires outside both. It still cannot kill the receive thread; the loop's own handler catches it, and now says what actually went wrong. The logo download's temp file was a fixed "<name>.part". Two plugins asking for the same logo at once would interleave writes into it, publish the mixture, or delete each other's partial. mkstemp gives each download its own name in the same directory, so os.replace stays atomic. Its descriptor is adopted by fdopen before the request runs, since a request that raises before the write would otherwise leak the fd -- quietly, because load_logo_with_download swallows that. Two test fixes: the oversized-frame test replaced PIL.Image.open process-wide, the same hazard the clock helper documents, and Ruff B007 on an unused loop variable. Full suite: 3355 passed, coverage 54%. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh * test(sync): cover the announce loop, and reject non-finite scroll positions Three review findings from the follower receive path. Non-finite scroll x reached follower rendering. json.loads accepts the bare NaN/Infinity literals and float() accepts them as strings, so "x": NaN arrived as a real float and was stored verbatim. NaN loses every comparison the scroll code makes, so a follower given one sits on a position it can never advance past. It now raises through the existing malformed-control-message guard, which logs and drops the packet and leaves the last good position in place. _broadcast_available() only proves the host accepts sendto() for a broadcast; a network that accepts the send and drops the packet would let TestRealSocketHandshake run to its five-second deadline and fail on assertions the code did not break. The deadline now distinguishes the two: if not one packet crossed in either direction, that is the environment, and the test skips rather than reporting a protocol failure. That skip could hide a real regression in the announcing side, so TestFollowerAnnounceLoop covers it on mock sockets, where no network is involved and nothing can skip: hello carries this display's hardware config and goes to the broadcast address, heartbeats follow, an empty hardware config falls back to 32x64x1, hello is not resent before its interval, and a send failure is swallowed rather than killing the loop. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01NohXi78cwsAKtN1sCfxjUh --------- Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
LEDMatrix
Welcome to LEDMatrix!
Welcome to the LEDMatrix Project! This open-source project enables you to run an information-rich display on a Raspberry Pi connected to an LED RGB Matrix panel. Whether you want to see your calendar, weather forecasts, sports scores, stock prices, or any other information at a glance, LEDMatrix brings it all together.
About This Project
LEDMatrix is a constantly evolving project that I'm building to create a customizable information display. The project is designed to be modular and extensible, with a plugin-based architecture that makes it easy to add new features and displays.
This project is open source and supports third-party plugin development. I believe that great projects get better when more people are involved, and I'm excited to see what the community can build together. Whether you want to contribute to the core project, develop your own plugins, or just use and enjoy LEDMatrix, you're welcome here!
A Note from the ChuckBuilds
I'm very new to all of this and am heavily relying on AI development tools to create this project. This means I'm learning as I go, and I'm grateful for your patience and feedback as the project continues to evolve and improve.
I'm trying to be open to constructive criticism and support, as long as it's a realistic ask and aligns with my priorities on this project. If you have ideas for improvements, find bugs, or want to add features to the base project, please don't hesitate to reach out on Discord or submit a pull request. Similarly, if you want to develop a plugin of your own, please do so! I'd love to see what you create.
Installing the LEDMatrix project on a pi video:
Setup video and feature walkthrough on Youtube (Outdated but still useful) :
Connect with ChuckBuilds
- Show support on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChuckBuilds
- Check out the write-up on my website: https://www.chuck-builds.com/led-matrix/
- Stay in touch on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ChuckBuilds/
- Want to chat? Reach out on the LEDMatrix Discord: https://discord.com/invite/uW36dVAtcT
- Feeling Generous? Consider sponsoring this project or sending a donation (these AI credits aren't cheap!)
Special Thanks to:
- Hzeller for his groundwork on controlling an LED Matrix from the Raspberry Pi
- Cursor for making this project possible
- CodeRabbit for fixing my PR's
- Everyone involved in this project for their patience, input, and support
Core Features
Core Features
LEDMatrix is a plugin platform: the displays below are plugins installed from the built-in Plugin Store (web interface → Plugins), where each can be individually enabled, ordered, and configured — display durations, teams, stocks, weather, timezones, and more. The core repo ships with just two bundled plugins (`starlark-apps` and `web-ui-info`); the official plugins live in the [ledmatrix-plugins](https://github.com/ChuckBuilds/ledmatrix-plugins) monorepo and install with one click, and third-party plugins can be installed from their own GitHub repositories. Displays available in the store include:Time and Weather
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Real-time clock display (2x 64x32 Displays 4mm Pixel Pitch)
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Current Weather, Daily Weather, and Hourly Weather Forecasts (2x 64x32 Displays 4mm Pixel Pitch)
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Google Calendar event display (2x 64x32 Displays 4mm Pixel Pitch)
Sports Information
The system supports live, recent, and upcoming game information for multiple sports leagues:
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NHL (Hockey) (2x 64x32 Displays 4mm Pixel Pitch)
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NBA (Basketball)
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MLB (Baseball) (2x 64x32 Displays 4mm Pixel Pitch)
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NFL (Football) (2x 96x48 Displays 2.5mm Pixel Pitch)
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NCAA Football (2x 96x48 Displays 2.5mm Pixel Pitch)
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NCAA Men's Basketball
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NCAA Men's Baseball
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Soccer (Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Liga Portugal, Champions League, Europa League, MLS)
-
(Note, some of these sports seasons were not active during development and might need fine tuning when games are active)
Financial Information
- Near real-time stock & crypto price updates
- Stock news headlines
- Customizable stock & crypto watchlists (2x 64x32 Displays 4mm Pixel Pitch)
Entertainment
- Music playback information from multiple sources:
- Spotify integration
- YouTube Music integration
- Album art display
- Now playing information with scrolling text (2x 64x32 Displays 4mm Pixel Pitch)
Custom Display Features
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Custom Text display (2x 64x32 Displays 4mm Pixel Pitch)
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Youtube Subscriber Count Display (2x 64x32 Displays 4mm Pixel Pitch)
Hardware
Hardware Requirements
Hardware Requirements
| ⚠️ IMPORTANT |
|---|
| This project can be finnicky! RGB LED Matrix displays are not built the same or to a high-quality standard. We have seen many displays arrive dead or partially working in our discord. Please purchase from a reputable vendor. |
Raspberry Pi
- Raspberry Pi Zero's don't have enough processing power for this project.
- Raspberry Pi 3B, 4, or 5
Amazon Affiliate Link – Raspberry Pi 4 4GB RAM
Amazon Affiliate Link – Raspberry Pi 4 8GB RAM
- Pi 5 users: the installer automatically detects Pi 5 and builds the
rpi-rgb-led-matrixlibrary with RP1 support. If you previously installed on a Pi 4 and migrated the SD card, or if you seemmaperrors in the logs, force a fresh library build:sudo RPI_RGB_FORCE_REBUILD=1 ./first_time_install.sh - Pi 5 config: leave
rp1_rioat0(PIO mode, default) and setgpio_slowdownto1or2. - 1GB models (Pi 3B / 3B+) and other low-memory boards: supported, but the
rpi-rgb-led-matrixC++ build needs more memory than the Pi has. The installer detects this automatically, compiles with fewer parallel jobs, and adds a temporary swapfile for the build which it removes afterwards. Expect that step to take 15-25 minutes instead of 2-5, and leave at least 3GB free on the SD card. If you manage swap yourself, opt out with--skip-swap. To pin the compiler down further, use--build-jobs 1.
- Pi 5 users: the installer automatically detects Pi 5 and builds the
RGB Matrix Bonnet / HAT
- Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet/HAT – supports one “chain” of horizontally connected displays
- Adafruit Triple LED Matrix Bonnet – supports up to 3 vertical “chains” of horizontally connected displays (use
regular-pi1as hardware mapping) - Electrodragon RGB HAT – supports up to 3 vertical “chains”
- Seengreat Matrix Adapter Board – single-chain LED Matrix (use
regularas hardware mapping)
LED Matrix Panels
(2x in a horizontal chain is recommended)
- Adafruit 64×32 – designed for 128×32 but works with dynamic scaling on many displays (pixel pitch is user preference)
- Waveshare 64×32 - Does not require E addressable pad
- Waveshare 96×48 – higher resolution, requires soldering the E addressable pad on the Adafruit RGB Bonnet to “8” OR toggling the DIP switch on the Adafruit Triple LED Matrix Bonnet (no soldering required!)
Amazon Affiliate Link – ChuckBuilds receives a small commission on purchases
Power Supply
- 5V 4A DC Power Supply (good for 2 -3 displays, depending on brightness and pixel density, you'll need higher amperage for more)
- 5V 10A DC Power Supply (good for 6-8 displays, depending on brightness and pixel density)
Optional but recommended mod for Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet
- By soldering a jumper between pins 4 and 18, you can run a specialized command for polling the matrix display. This provides better brightness, less flicker, and better color.
- If you do the mod, we will use the default config with led-gpio-mapping=adafruit-hat-pwm, otherwise just adjust your mapping in config.json to adafruit-hat
- More information available: https://github.com/hzeller/rpi-rgb-led-matrix/tree/master?tab=readme-ov-file
Possibly required depending on the display you are using.
- Some LED Matrix displays require an "E" addressable line to draw the display properly. The 64x32 Adafruit display does NOT require the E addressable line, however the 96x48 Waveshare display DOES require the "E" Addressable line.
- Various ways to enable this depending on your Bonnet / HAT.
Your display will look like it is "sort of" working but still messed up.
or
or
How to set addressable E line on various HATs:
-
Adafruit Single Chain HATs
or
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Adafruit Triple Chain HAT
-
ElectroDragon RGB LED Matrix Panel Drive Board
2 Matrix display with Rpi connected to Adafruit Single Chain HAT.
Mount / Stand options
Mount/Stand
I 3D printed stands to keep the panels upright and snug. STL Files are included in the Repo but are also available at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5169867 Thanks to "Randomwire" for making these for the 4mm Pixel Pitch LED Matrix.
Special Thanks for Rmatze for making:
- 3mm Pixel Pitch RGB Stand for 32x64 Display : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7149818
- 4mm Pixel Pitch RGB Stand for 32x64 Display : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7165993
These are not required and you can probably rig up something basic with stuff you have around the house. I used these screws: https://amzn.to/4mFwNJp (Amazon Affiliate Link)
Installation Steps
Preparing the Raspberry Pi
Preparing the Raspberry Pi
| ⚠️ IMPORTANT |
|---|
| It is required to use the NEW Raspberry Pi Imager tool. If your tool doesn't look like my screenshots, be sure to update it. |
-
Create RPI Image on a Micro-SD card (I use whatever I have laying around, size is not too important but I would use 8gb or more) using Raspberry Pi Imager
-
Choose your Raspberry Pi (3B+ in my case)
- For Operating System (OS), choose "Other"
- Then choose Raspbian OS (64-bit) Lite (Trixie)
- For Storage, choose your micro-sd card
| ⚠️ IMPORTANT |
|---|
| Make sure it's the correct drive! Data will be erased! |
- Choose the hostname of the device. This will be often used to access the web-ui and will be the name of the device on your network. I recommend "ledpi".
- Choose your timezone and keyboard layout.
- Set your username and password. This is your "root" password and is important, make sure you remember it! We will use it to access the Raspberry Pi via SSH.
- (Optional) Choose your Wi-fi network and enter wifi password. This can be changed in the future. This is also optional if you are going to connect it via ethermet.
- Enable SSH and opt for "Use Password Authentication". You can use public key auth if you know how but for the sake of new folks, let's use the password that we chose in Step 9.
- Disable Raspberry Pi Connect. It's a VPN / Remote Connection tool built into Raspberry Pi, it seems like there might be a subscription? Not sure but I am not using it.
- Double check your settings then confirm by clicking "Write".
- Final warning to be SURE that you have the correct micro-sd card inserted and selected as all data on the drive will be erased.
You're done with preparing the Operating System. Once the Raspberry Pi Imager has finished writing to the micro-sd card it will let you know it is safe to eject. Eject the micro-sd card and plug it into the Raspberry Pi and turn it on.
System Setup & Installation
System Setup & Installation
Once your Raspberry Pi has turned on and connected to your wifi (check your router's dhcp leases) or just give it a few minutes after plugging it in. We will connect via ssh.
Secure Shell (SSH) is a way to connect to the device and execute commands. On Windows, I recommend using Powershell. On MacOS or Linux, I recommend using Terminal.
- SSH into your Raspberry Pi:
ssh ledpi@ledpi
The format "username@hostname" is coincidentally the same for this project (which is fine) but if you changed the username, hostname, or your router's DNS doesn't recognize the hostname you would use "username@ipaddress". You can skip the username and just enter "ssh hostname" or "ssh ipaddress" and it will prompt you for a username.
Quick Install (Recommended)
Paste this single command into SSH using Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows or Shift+Command+V on Mac.
Tip
Terminal can be funky about pasting with just Ctrl+V, by right click -> paste or using Ctrl+Shift+V you will be able to paste without additional unwanted characters.
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ChuckBuilds/LEDMatrix/main/scripts/install/one-shot-install.sh | bash
This one-shot installer will automatically:
- Check system prerequisites (network, disk space, memory, sudo access)
- Install required system packages (git, python3, build tools, etc.)
- Clone or update the LEDMatrix repository
- Run the complete first-time installation script
The installation process typically takes 10-30 minutes depending on your internet connection and Pi model. Pi 3B/3B+ and other 1GB boards land at the top of that range, because the C++ library is compiled serially to stay within available memory. All errors are reported explicitly with actionable fixes.
Note: The script is safe to run multiple times and will handle existing installations gracefully.
Manual Installation (Alternative)
If you prefer to install manually or the one-shot installer doesn't work for your setup:
- SSH into your Raspberry Pi:
ssh ledpi@ledpi
- Update repositories, upgrade Raspberry Pi OS, and install prerequisites:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y git python3-pip cython3 build-essential python3-dev python3-pillow scons
- Clone this repository:
git clone https://github.com/ChuckBuilds/LEDMatrix.git
cd LEDMatrix
- Run the first-time installation script:
chmod +x first_time_install.sh
sudo bash ./first_time_install.sh
This single script installs services, dependencies, configures permissions and sudoers, and validates the setup.
It finishes by asking whether to reboot. If you run it non-interactively — piped, over a script, or with -y — there is no one to ask, so it reboots immediately without prompting. Pass --no-reboot-prompt to install without rebooting:
sudo bash ./first_time_install.sh -y --no-reboot-prompt
Configuration
Configuration
Configuration
Initial Setup
For a complete list of every key in config.json and
config_secrets.json, see
docs/CONFIG_REFERENCE.md.
For most settings I recommend using the web interface: Edit the project via the web interface at http://[IP ADDRESS or HOSTNAME]:5000 or http://ledpi:5000 .
If you need to manually edit your config file, you can follow the steps below:
Manual Config.json editing
-
First-time setup: The previous "First_time_install.sh" script should've already copied the template to create your config.json:
-
Edit your configuration:
sudo nano config/config.json
Automatic Configuration Migration
The system automatically handles configuration updates:
- New installations: Creates
config.jsonfrom the template automatically - Existing installations: Automatically adds new configuration options with default values when the system starts
- Backup protection: Creates a backup of your current config before applying updates
- No conflicts: Your custom settings are preserved while new options are added
Everything is configured via config/config.json and config/config_secrets.json and are not tracked by Git to prevent conflicts during updates.
Running the Display
Recommended: Use Web UI Quick Actions
I recommend using the web-ui "Quick Actions" to control the Display.
Plugins
LEDMatrix uses a plugin-based architecture where all display functionality is implemented as plugins. All managers that were previously built into the core system are now available as plugins through the Plugin Store.
Plugin Store
See the Plugin Store documentation for detailed installation instructions.
The easiest way to discover and install plugins is through the Plugin Store in the LEDMatrix web interface:
- Open the web interface (
http://your-pi-ip:5000) - Navigate to the Plugin Manager tab
- Browse available plugins in the Plugin Store
- Click Install on any plugin you want
- Configure and enable plugins through the web UI
Installing 3rd-Party Plugins
You can also install plugins directly from GitHub repositories:
- Single Plugin: Install from any GitHub repository URL
- Registry/Monorepo: Install multiple plugins from a single repository
See the Plugin Store documentation for detailed installation instructions.
For plugin development, check out the Hello World Plugin repository as a starter template.
Visual Skins for Scoreboards
Want a different look for a sports scoreboard without forking the plugin?
Skins restyle the live/recent/upcoming screens while the plugin keeps
handling data, scheduling, caching, and vegas mode. Install one with
git clone <skin repo> skins/<skin-id>, select it in the plugin's config,
and you're done — see docs/SKIN_SYSTEM.md (how it
works) and docs/CREATING_SKINS.md (build your own,
including a ready-made Claude Code prompt).
- Built-in Managers Deprecated: The built-in managers (hockey, football, stocks, etc.) are now deprecated and have been moved to the plugin system. You must install replacement plugins from the Plugin Store in the web interface instead. The plugin system provides the same functionality with better maintainability and extensibility.
Detailed Information
Display Settings from RGBLEDMatrix Library
Display Settings
If you are copying my exact setup, you can likely leave the defaults alone. However, if you have different hardware or want to customize the display behavior, these settings allow you to fine-tune the LED matrix configuration.
The display settings are located in config/config.json under the "display" key and are organized into three main sections: hardware, runtime, and display_durations.
Hardware Configuration (display.hardware)
These settings control the physical hardware configuration and how the matrix is driven.
Basic Panel Configuration
-
rows(integer, default: 32)- Number of LED rows (vertical pixels) in each panel
- Common values: 16, 32, 48, 64
- Must match your physical panel configuration
-
cols(integer, default: 64)- Number of LED columns (horizontal pixels) in each panel
- Common values: 32, 64, 96, 128
- Must match your physical panel configuration
-
chain_length(integer, default: 2)- Number of LED panels chained together horizontally
- If you have 2 panels side-by-side, set to 2
- If you have 4 panels in a row, set to 4
- Total display width =
cols × chain_length
-
parallel(integer, default: 1)- Number of parallel chains (panels stacked vertically)
- Use 1 for a single row of panels
- Use 2 if you have panels stacked in two rows
- Total display height =
rows × parallel
Brightness and Visual Settings
brightness(integer, 0-100, default: 90)- Display brightness level
- Lower values (0-50) are dimmer, higher values (50-100) are brighter
- Recommended: 70-90 for indoor use, 90-100 for bright environments
- Very high brightness may cause distortion or require more power
Hardware Mapping
hardware_mapping(string, default: "adafruit-hat-pwm")- Specifies which GPIO pin mapping to use for your hardware
"adafruit-hat-pwm": Use this for Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet/HAT WITH the jumper mod (PWM enabled). This is the recommended setting for Adafruit hardware with the PWM jumper soldered."adafruit-hat": Use this for Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet/HAT WITHOUT the jumper mod (no PWM). Remove-pwmfrom the value if you did not solder the jumper."regular": Standard GPIO pin mapping for direct GPIO connections (Generic)"regular-pi1": Standard GPIO pin mapping for Raspberry Pi 1 (older hardware or non-standard hat mapping)- Choose the option that matches your specific hardware setup, if aren't sure try them all.
PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) Settings
These settings affect color fidelity and smoothness of color transitions:
-
pwm_bits(integer, default: 9)- Number of bits used for PWM (affects color depth)
- Higher values (9-11) = more color levels, smoother gradients
- Lower values (7-8) = fewer color levels, but may improve stability on some hardware
- Range: 1-11, recommended: 9-10
-
pwm_dither_bits(integer, default: 1)- Additional dithering bits for smoother color transitions
- Helps reduce color banding in gradients
- Higher values (1-2) = smoother gradients but may impact performance
- Range: 0-2, recommended: 1
-
pwm_lsb_nanoseconds(integer, default: 130)- Least significant bit timing in nanoseconds
- Controls the base timing for PWM signals
- Lower values = faster PWM, higher values = slower PWM
- Typical range: 100-300 nanoseconds
- May need adjustment if you see flickering or color issues
Advanced Hardware Settings
-
scan_mode(integer, default: 0)- Panel scan mode (how rows are addressed)
- Common values: 0 (progressive), 1 (interlaced)
- Most panels use 0, but some require 1
- Check your panel datasheet if colors appear incorrect
-
limit_refresh_rate_hz(integer, default: 100)- Maximum refresh rate in Hz (frames per second)
- Caps the refresh rate for better stability
- Lower values (60-80) = more stable, less CPU usage
- Higher values (100-120) = smoother animations, more CPU usage
- Recommended: 80-100 for most setups
-
disable_hardware_pulsing(boolean, default: false)- Disables hardware pulsing (usually leave as false)
- Set to
trueonly if you experience timing issues - Most users should leave this as
false
-
inverse_colors(boolean, default: false)- Inverts all colors (red becomes cyan, etc.)
- Useful if your panel has inverted color channels
- Set to
trueonly if colors appear inverted
-
show_refresh_rate(boolean, default: false)- Displays the current refresh rate on the matrix (for debugging)
- Set to
trueto see FPS on the display - Useful for troubleshooting performance issues
Advanced Panel Configuration (Advanced Users Only)
These settings are typically only needed for non-standard panels or custom configurations:
-
led_rgb_sequence(string, default: "RGB")- Color channel order for your LED panel
- Common values: "RGB", "RBG", "GRB", "GBR", "BRG", "BGR"
- Most panels use "RGB", but some use "GRB" or other orders
- Check your panel datasheet if colors appear wrong
-
pixel_mapper_config(string, default: "")- Advanced pixel mapping configuration
- Used for custom panel layouts, rotations, or transformations
- Examples: "U-mapper", "Rotate:90", "Mirror:H"
- Leave empty unless you need custom mapping
- See rpi-rgb-led-matrix documentation for full options
-
orientation(string, default: "normal")- Rotates the rendered image to match how the panel is physically mounted
- Set to
"180"(or use the "Upside Down" option in the web UI's Display settings) if the panel is mounted upside down — useful for optimizing where the Raspberry Pi and wiring sit relative to the mounting location - Applied independently of
pixel_mapper_config(appended as a trailingRotate:180mapper), so custom mapper configs keep working alongside it
-
row_address_type(integer, default: 0)- How rows are addressed on the panel
- Most panels use 0 (direct addressing)
- Some panels require 1 (AB addressing) or 2 (ABC addressing)
- Check your panel datasheet if display appears corrupted
-
multiplexing(integer, default: 0)- Panel multiplexing type
- 0 = no multiplexing (standard panels)
- Higher values for panels with different multiplexing schemes
- Check your panel datasheet for the correct value
Runtime Configuration (display.runtime)
These settings control runtime behavior and GPIO timing:
gpio_slowdown(integer, default: 3)- GPIO timing slowdown factor
- Critical setting: Must match your Raspberry Pi model for stability
- Raspberry Pi 3: Use 3
- Raspberry Pi 4: Use 4
- Raspberry Pi 5: Use 1–2 in PIO mode (
rp1_rio: 0, the default); start with1and increase if you see flickering - Raspberry Pi Zero/1: Use 1-2
- Incorrect values can cause display corruption, flickering, or system instability
- If you experience issues, try adjusting this value up or down by 1
Display Durations (display.display_durations)
Controls how long each installed plugin stays visible in seconds before switching to the next one, keyed by plugin id.
- Plugin-specific durations
- Each plugin can have its own duration setting
- Format:
"<plugin-id>": <seconds> - Example:
"hockey-scoreboard": 45shows hockey scores for 45 seconds - Example:
"weather": 20shows weather for 20 seconds - If a plugin doesn't have a duration here, it uses its default (usually 15 seconds)
- You can also set
display_durationin each plugin's individual configuration
Tips for Display Durations:
- Longer durations (30-60 seconds) = more time to read content, slower cycling
- Shorter durations (10-20 seconds) = faster cycling, less time per display
- Balance based on your preference and how much information each display shows
- For example, if you want more focus on stocks, increase the stock plugin's duration value
Display Format Settings
use_short_date_format(boolean, default: true)- Use short date format (e.g., "Jan 15") instead of long format (e.g., "January 15th")
- Set to
falsefor longer, more readable dates - Set to
trueto save space and show more information
Dynamic Duration Settings (display.dynamic_duration)
max_duration_seconds(integer, optional)- Maximum duration cap for plugins that use dynamic durations
- Some plugins can automatically adjust their display time based on content
- This setting limits how long they can extend (prevents one display from dominating)
- Example: If set to 60, a plugin can extend up to 60 seconds even if it requests longer
- Leave unset to use the default cap (typically 90 seconds)
Example Configuration
{
"display": {
"hardware": {
"rows": 32,
"cols": 64,
"chain_length": 2,
"parallel": 1,
"brightness": 90,
"hardware_mapping": "adafruit-hat-pwm",
"scan_mode": 0,
"pwm_bits": 9,
"pwm_dither_bits": 1,
"pwm_lsb_nanoseconds": 130,
"disable_hardware_pulsing": false,
"inverse_colors": false,
"show_refresh_rate": false,
"limit_refresh_rate_hz": 100
},
"runtime": {
"gpio_slowdown": 4
},
"display_durations": {
"calendar": 30,
"hockey-scoreboard": 45,
"weather": 20,
"stocks": 25
},
"use_short_date_format": true,
"dynamic_duration": {
"max_duration_seconds": 60
}
}
}
Troubleshooting Display Settings
Display is blank or shows garbage:
- Check
rows,cols,chain_length, andparallelmatch your physical setup - Verify
hardware_mappingmatches your HAT/connection type - Try adjusting
gpio_slowdown - Ensure your display doesn't need the E-Addressable line
Colors are wrong or inverted:
- Check
led_rgb_sequence(try "GRB" if "RGB" doesn't work) - Try setting
inverse_colorstotrue - Verify
hardware_mappingis correct for your hardware
Display flickers or is unstable:
- Increase
gpio_slowdownby 1-2 - Lower
limit_refresh_rate_hzto 60-80 - Check power supply (LED matrices need adequate power)
Display is too dim or too bright:
- Adjust
brightness(0-100) - Very high brightness may require better power supply
Performance issues:
- Lower
limit_refresh_rate_hz - Reduce
pwm_bitsto 8 - Set
pwm_dither_bitsto 0
Manual SSH Commands (for reference)
The quick actions essentially just execute the following commands on the Pi.
From the project root directory (ex: /home/ledpi/LEDMatrix):
sudo python3 display_controller.py
This will start the display cycle but only stays active as long as your ssh session is active.
Convenience Scripts
Two convenience scripts are provided for easy service management:
start_display.sh- Starts the LED matrix display servicestop_display.sh- Stops the LED matrix display service
Make them executable with:
chmod +x start_display.sh stop_display.sh
Then use them to control the service:
sudo ./start_display.sh
sudo ./stop_display.sh
Service Installation Details
The first time install will handle this: The LEDMatrix can be installed as a systemd service to run automatically at boot and be managed easily. The service runs as root to ensure proper hardware timing access for the LED matrix.
Installing the Service (this is included in the first_time_install.sh)
- Make the install script executable:
chmod +x scripts/install/install_service.sh
- Run the install script with sudo:
sudo ./scripts/install/install_service.sh
The script will:
- Detect your user account and home directory
- Install the service file with the correct paths
- Enable the service to start on boot
- Start the service immediately
Managing the Service
The following commands are available to manage the service:
# Stop the display
sudo systemctl stop ledmatrix.service
# Start the display
sudo systemctl start ledmatrix.service
# Check service status
sudo systemctl status ledmatrix.service
# View logs
journalctl -u ledmatrix.service
# Disable autostart
sudo systemctl disable ledmatrix.service
# Enable autostart
sudo systemctl enable ledmatrix.service
Web Interface Installation Details
The first time install will handle this: The LEDMatrix system includes Web Interface that runs on port 5000 and provides real-time display preview, configuration management, and on-demand display controls.
Installing the Web Interface Service
The first-time installer (
first_time_install.sh) already installs the web service. The steps below only apply if you need to (re)install it manually.
- Make the install script executable:
chmod +x scripts/install/install_web_service.sh
- Run the install script with sudo:
sudo ./scripts/install/install_web_service.sh
The script will:
- Copy the web service file to
/etc/systemd/system/ - Enable the service to start on boot
- Start the service immediately
- Show the service status
Web Interface Configuration
The web interface can be configured to start automatically with the main display service:
- In
config/config.json, ensure the web interface autostart is enabled:
{
"web_display_autostart": true
}
- The web interface will now start automatically when:
- The system boots
- The
web_display_autostartsetting istruein your config
Accessing the Web Interface
Once installed, you can access the web interface at:
http://your-pi-ip:5000
Managing the Web Interface Service
# Check service status
sudo systemctl status ledmatrix-web.service
# View logs
journalctl -u ledmatrix-web.service -f
# Stop the service
sudo systemctl stop ledmatrix-web.service
# Start the service
sudo systemctl start ledmatrix-web.service
# Disable autostart
sudo systemctl disable ledmatrix-web.service
# Enable autostart
sudo systemctl enable ledmatrix-web.service
Web Interface Features
- Real-time Display Preview: See what's currently displayed on the LED matrix
- Configuration Management: Edit settings through a web interface
- On-Demand Controls: Start specific displays (weather, stocks, sports) on demand
- Service Management: Start/stop the main display service
- System Controls: Restart, update code, and manage the system
- API Metrics: Monitor API usage and system performance
- Logs: View system logs in real-time
Troubleshooting Web Interface
Web Interface Not Accessible After Restart:
- Check if the web service is running:
sudo systemctl status ledmatrix-web.service - Verify the service is enabled:
sudo systemctl is-enabled ledmatrix-web.service - Check logs for errors:
journalctl -u ledmatrix-web.service -f - Ensure
web_display_autostartis set totrueinconfig/config.json
Port 5000 Not Accessible:
- Check if the service is running on the correct port
- Verify firewall settings allow access to port 5000
- Check if another service is using port 5000
Service Fails to Start:
- Check Python dependencies are installed
- Verify the virtual environment is set up correctly
- Check file permissions and ownership
If you've read this far — thanks!
License
LEDMatrix is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.
LEDMatrix builds on
rpi-rgb-led-matrix,
which is GPL-2.0-or-later. The "or later" clause makes it compatible
with GPL-3.0 distribution.
Plugin contributions in
ledmatrix-plugins
are also GPL-3.0-or-later unless individual plugins specify otherwise.
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, the PR flow, and how to add a plugin. Bug reports and feature requests go in the issue tracker. Security issues should be reported privately per SECURITY.md.