feat: migrate Ntfy message retrieval from polling to SSE streaming, replacing poll_interval with reconnect_delay for continuous updates.

Reviewed-on: #18

README.md

@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ python3 mainline.py --poetry             # literary consciousness mode
 python3 mainline.py -p                   # same
 python3 mainline.py --firehose           # dense rapid-fire headline mode
 python3 mainline.py --refresh            # force re-fetch (bypass cache)
+python3 mainline.py --no-font-picker     # skip interactive font picker
+python3 mainline.py --font-file path.otf # use a specific font file
+python3 mainline.py --font-dir ~/fonts   # scan a different font folder
+python3 mainline.py --font-index 1       # select face index within a collection
 ```
 
 First run bootstraps a local `.mainline_venv/` and installs deps (`feedparser`, `Pillow`, `sounddevice`, `numpy`). Subsequent runs start immediately, loading from cache.
@@ -29,8 +33,10 @@ All constants live in `engine/config.py`:
 | `HEADLINE_LIMIT` | `1000` | Total headlines per session |
 | `FEED_TIMEOUT` | `10` | Per-feed HTTP timeout (seconds) |
 | `MIC_THRESHOLD_DB` | `50` | dB floor above which glitches spike |
-| `FONT_DIR` | `fonts/` | Folder scanned for `.otf`, `.ttf`, `.ttc` files used by the font picker |
+| `FONT_DIR` | `fonts/` | Folder scanned for `.otf`, `.ttf`, `.ttc` files |
-| `FONT_PATH` | first supported font in `fonts/` | Active display font file selected at startup |
+| `FONT_PATH` | first file in `FONT_DIR` | Active display font (overridden by picker or `--font-file`) |
+| `FONT_INDEX` | `0` | Face index within a font collection file |
+| `FONT_PICKER` | `True` | Show interactive font picker at boot (`--no-font-picker` to skip) |
 | `FONT_SZ` | `60` | Font render size (affects block density) |
 | `RENDER_H` | `8` | Terminal rows per headline line |
 | `SSAA` | `4` | Super-sampling factor (render at 4× then downsample) |
@@ -42,15 +48,24 @@ All constants live in `engine/config.py`:
 | `NTFY_POLL_INTERVAL` | `15` | Seconds between ntfy polls |
 | `MESSAGE_DISPLAY_SECS` | `30` | How long an ntfy message holds the screen |
 
-**Font:** Put your `.otf`, `.ttf`, or `.ttc` files in `fonts/`. Startup opens the font picker from that folder and applies your selected font before streaming.
+---
+
+## Fonts
+
+A `fonts/` directory is bundled with demo faces (AlphatronDemo, CSBishopDrawn, CyberformDemo, KATA, Microbots, Neoform, Pixel Sparta, Robocops, Xeonic, and others). On startup, an interactive picker lists all discovered faces with a live half-block preview rendered at your configured size.
+
+Navigation: `↑`/`↓` or `j`/`k` to move, `Enter` or `q` to select. The selected face persists for that session.
+
+To add your own fonts, drop `.otf`, `.ttf`, or `.ttc` files into `fonts/` (or point `--font-dir` at any other folder). Font collections (`.ttc`, multi-face `.otf`) are enumerated face-by-face.
 
 ---
 
 ## How it works
 
+- On launch, the font picker scans `fonts/` and presents a live-rendered TUI for face selection; `--no-font-picker` skips directly to stream
 - Feeds are fetched and filtered on startup (sports and vapid content stripped); results are cached to `.mainline_cache_news.json` / `.mainline_cache_poetry.json` for fast restarts
 - Headlines are rasterized via Pillow with 4× SSAA into half-block characters (`▀▄█ `) at the configured font size
-- A left-to-right ANSI gradient colors each character: white-hot leading edge trails off to near-black; the gradient sweeps continuously across the full scroll canvas
+- The ticker uses a sweeping white-hot → deep green gradient; ntfy messages use a complementary white-hot → magenta/maroon gradient to distinguish them visually
 - Subject-region detection runs a regex pass on each headline; matches trigger a Google Translate call and font swap to the appropriate script (CJK, Arabic, Devanagari, etc.) using macOS system fonts
 - The mic stream runs in a background thread, feeding RMS dB into the glitch probability calculation each frame
 - The viewport scrolls through a virtual canvas of pre-rendered blocks; fade zones at top and bottom dissolve characters probabilistically
@@ -75,7 +90,7 @@ engine/
   ntfy.py         NtfyPoller — standalone, zero internal deps
   mic.py          MicMonitor — standalone, graceful fallback
   scroll.py       stream() frame loop + message rendering
-  app.py          main(), boot sequence, signal handler
+  app.py          main(), font picker TUI, boot sequence, signal handler
 ```
 
 `ntfy.py` and `mic.py` have zero internal dependencies and can be imported by any other visualizer.
@@ -139,4 +154,4 @@ msg = poller.get_active_message()  # returns (title, body, timestamp) or None
 
 ---
 
-*macOS only (system font paths hardcoded). Python 3.9+.*
+*macOS only (script/system font paths for translation are hardcoded). Primary display font is user-selectable via the bundled `fonts/` picker. Python 3.9+.*

engine/app.py

@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ def main():
 
     ntfy = NtfyPoller(
         config.NTFY_TOPIC,
-        poll_interval=config.NTFY_POLL_INTERVAL,
+        reconnect_delay=config.NTFY_RECONNECT_DELAY,
         display_secs=config.MESSAGE_DISPLAY_SECS,
     )
     ntfy_ok = ntfy.start()

engine/config.py

@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ MODE = 'poetry' if '--poetry' in sys.argv or '-p' in sys.argv else 'news'
 FIREHOSE = '--firehose' in sys.argv
 
 # ─── NTFY MESSAGE QUEUE ──────────────────────────────────
-NTFY_TOPIC = "https://ntfy.sh/klubhaus_terminal_mainline/json?since=20s&poll=1"
+NTFY_TOPIC = "https://ntfy.sh/klubhaus_terminal_mainline/json"
-NTFY_POLL_INTERVAL = 15   # seconds between polls
+NTFY_RECONNECT_DELAY = 5  # seconds before reconnecting after a dropped stream
 MESSAGE_DISPLAY_SECS = 30 # how long a message holds the screen
 
 # ─── FONT RENDERING ──────────────────────────────────────

engine/ntfy.py

@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 """
-ntfy.sh message poller — standalone, zero internal dependencies.
+ntfy.sh SSE stream listener — standalone, zero internal dependencies.
 Reusable by any visualizer:
 
     from engine.ntfy import NtfyPoller
-    poller = NtfyPoller("https://ntfy.sh/my_topic/json?since=20s&poll=1")
+    poller = NtfyPoller("https://ntfy.sh/my_topic/json")
     poller.start()
     # in render loop:
     msg = poller.get_active_message()
@@ -16,21 +16,22 @@ import json
 import time
 import threading
 import urllib.request
+from urllib.parse import urlparse, parse_qs, urlencode, urlunparse
 
 
 class NtfyPoller:
-    """Background poller for ntfy.sh topics."""
+    """SSE stream listener for ntfy.sh topics. Messages arrive in ~1s (network RTT)."""
 
-    def __init__(self, topic_url, poll_interval=15, display_secs=30):
+    def __init__(self, topic_url, reconnect_delay=5, display_secs=30):
         self.topic_url = topic_url
-        self.poll_interval = poll_interval
+        self.reconnect_delay = reconnect_delay
         self.display_secs = display_secs
         self._message = None   # (title, body, monotonic_timestamp) or None
         self._lock = threading.Lock()
 
     def start(self):
-        """Start background polling thread. Returns True."""
+        """Start background stream thread. Returns True."""
-        t = threading.Thread(target=self._poll_loop, daemon=True)
+        t = threading.Thread(target=self._stream_loop, daemon=True)
         t.start()
         return True
 
@@ -50,19 +51,35 @@ class NtfyPoller:
         with self._lock:
             self._message = None
 
-    def _poll_loop(self):
+    def _build_url(self, last_id=None):
+        """Build the stream URL, substituting since= to avoid message replays on reconnect."""
+        parsed = urlparse(self.topic_url)
+        params = parse_qs(parsed.query, keep_blank_values=True)
+        params['since'] = [last_id if last_id else '20s']
+        new_query = urlencode({k: v[0] for k, v in params.items()})
+        return urlunparse(parsed._replace(query=new_query))
+
+    def _stream_loop(self):
+        last_id = None
         while True:
             try:
+                url = self._build_url(last_id)
                 req = urllib.request.Request(
-                    self.topic_url, headers={"User-Agent": "mainline/0.1"})
+                    url, headers={"User-Agent": "mainline/0.1"})
-                resp = urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=10)
+                # timeout=90 keeps the socket alive through ntfy.sh keepalive heartbeats
-                for line in resp.read().decode('utf-8', errors='replace').strip().split('\n'):
+                resp = urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=90)
-                    if not line.strip():
+                while True:
-                        continue
+                    line = resp.readline()
+                    if not line:
+                        break  # server closed connection — reconnect
                     try:
-                        data = json.loads(line)
+                        data = json.loads(line.decode('utf-8', errors='replace'))
                     except json.JSONDecodeError:
                         continue
+                    # Advance cursor on every event (message + keepalive) to
+                    # avoid replaying already-seen events after a reconnect.
+                    if "id" in data:
+                        last_id = data["id"]
                     if data.get("event") == "message":
                         with self._lock:
                             self._message = (
@@ -72,4 +89,4 @@ class NtfyPoller:
                             )
             except Exception:
                 pass
-            time.sleep(self.poll_interval)
+            time.sleep(self.reconnect_delay)