[jherforth]

Implements #325, with the decisions from the issue:

• Counters: one per kind of data (coarse).
• Check interval: a fixed 15 seconds.
• Phones: they check only when they become visible.

What it does

A change on one display (a chore ticked, a prize approved, vacation turned on, a calendar event added) shows on every other display:

• within 15 seconds on any install;
• within a second where the event stream reaches the browser.

The nightly job and calendar sync reach every display the same way.

Server: utils/householdChanges.js

• The counters: one revision counter each for chores, users, prizes, settings and calendar.
• Writes through a request: an onResponse hook moves the counters for every successful write under the household routes, so no route can forget to.
  • Clam totals: a chore or prize write also moves users, because it changes clam totals.
  • Excluded: reads, failed writes, device-scoped routes and plugin storage move nothing, and neither do the two POSTs that only read (/api/settings/search, a calendar source's test).
• Writes without a request move them explicitly:
  • the nightly job;
  • calendar sync, only when a source's cached events actually changed;
  • calendar routines, only when a sync added, retimed or removed days;
  • the demo reset.
• Clock-only changes need no counter: a snooze ending, an expiry and midnight are worked out by each display.
• GET /api/changes: { chores, users, prizes, settings, calendar } with an ETag, and 304 when nothing moved. The counters start from a random base, so after a restart every display reloads everything once.
• The event stream: each burst of changes goes out as household.changed { domains, revisions }, coalesced over 100 ms. It's a new catalog event that plugins can declare.

Client: utils/householdChanges.js

• A wall display or desktop checks every 15 seconds while visible, and at once when it becomes visible again.
• A phone (the mobile layout) checks only when it becomes visible.
• The stream's household.changed feeds the same notification, so a change is reported once, whichever saw it first.
• What subscribes:
  • the Chores widget: chores, users, prizes or settings. It runs one batched reload, and the reload guard from perf(client): instant chore toggles and fewer widget re-renders #324 keeps a tap in progress from flickering.
  • the calendar and the screensaver agenda: calendar.
  • household settings (appearance, vacation, control limits): settings. The 5-minute poll stays as a safety net.
  • plugins that declare household.changed: they're told which kinds changed.

Left out on purpose

• The shared data store from the issue's phase 2: one per-page cache that widgets read instead of fetching their own copy. It would cut duplicate fetches between widgets and on tab switches, but every display already stays in step without it. It's a larger refactor of each widget, better done on its own.
• Admin Panel forms don't reload when another display changes something, because that would overwrite edits in progress.
• The tapping display reloads once more on its next check, after its own write moved the counter. It's harmless, and suppressing it would mean tracking which writes were whose.

Worth knowing: every display now keeps the event stream open, not only those with event-subscribing plugins. Where the stream doesn't reach the browser, nothing breaks; the 15-second checks carry it.

Testing

• Edge, two displays on one server, demo data. 8 of 8 checks pass:

  • without the event stream (blocked in both browsers): a chore ticked in the kitchen shows in the hallway in 12.7 s, and a household appearance change in 14.0 s;
  • the checks: the hallway checks every 15.0 s and gets 304 while nothing changes;
  • with the event stream: the tap shows in 0.1 s;
  • a phone (390 px) left open made no checks in 20 s, and caught up 0.1 s after becoming visible again;
  • page errors: none.

• Server tests:

  • householdChanges.test.js: the route mapping, reads and failures, coalescing, the random base;
  • householdChangesRoutes.test.js, on a real server: 304 with the ETag, each write moving its kinds (a completion moves chores and users), reads and failures moving nothing, the nightly job, and the stream event;
  • a calendar sync calls back only when the cache changed.

  Server npm test: 656 pass.

• Client tests: householdChanges.test.js: notifications only for the kinds asked for, the baseline, If-None-Match and 304, a restart, the 15-second cadence and visibility, the phone mode, stopping with the last subscriber, and recovery after a failed check. Client vitest (795), check:i18n and build pass.

• Dev setup: the dev server is cross-origin, so If-None-Match is allowed and ETag exposed for it. Production is same-origin.

Closes #325.

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