feat: Implement interactive font selection by scanning the fonts/ directory for .otf, .ttf, and .ttc files, adding new fonts and updating documentation.

README.md

@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ 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_PATH` | hardcoded path | Path to your OTF/TTF display font |
+| `FONT_DIR` | `fonts/` | Folder scanned for `.otf`, `.ttf`, `.ttc` files used by the font picker |
+| `FONT_PATH` | first supported font in `fonts/` | Active display font file selected at startup |
 | `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) |
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ 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:** `FONT_PATH` is hardcoded to a local path. Update it to point to whatever display font you want — anything with strong contrast and wide letterforms works well.
+**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.
 
 ---
 

engine/app.py

@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def _draw_font_picker(faces, selected):
     print()
     print(f"  {G_HI}FONT PICKER{RST}")
     print(f"  {W_GHOST}{'─' * (w - 4)}{RST}")
-    print(f"  {W_DIM}{config.FONT_PATH[:max_preview_w]}{RST}")
+    print(f"  {W_DIM}{config.FONT_DIR[:max_preview_w]}{RST}")
     print(f"  {W_GHOST}↑/↓ move · Enter select · q accept current{RST}")
     print()
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ def _draw_font_picker(faces, selected):
         active = pos == selected
         pointer = "▶" if active else " "
         color = G_HI if active else W_DIM
-        print(f"  {color}{pointer} [{face['index']}] {face['name']}{RST}")
+        print(f"  {color}{pointer} {face['name']}{RST}{W_GHOST} · {face['file_name']}{RST}")
 
     if top > 0:
         print(f"  {W_GHOST}… {top} above{RST}")
@@ -108,53 +108,93 @@ def _draw_font_picker(faces, selected):
 
     print()
     print(f"  {W_GHOST}{'─' * (w - 4)}{RST}")
-    print(f"  {W_DIM}Preview: {faces[selected]['name']}{RST}")
+    print(
+        f"  {W_DIM}Preview: {faces[selected]['name']} · {faces[selected]['file_name']}{RST}"
+    )
     preview_rows = faces[selected]["preview_rows"][:preview_h]
     for row in preview_rows:
         shown = row[:max_preview_w]
         print(f"    {shown}")
 
 def pick_font_face():
-    """Interactive startup picker for selecting a face from a font file."""
+    """Interactive startup picker for selecting a face from repo OTF files."""
     if not config.FONT_PICKER:
         return
 
-    print(CLR, end="")
+    font_files = config.list_repo_font_files()
-    print(CURSOR_OFF, end="")
+    if not font_files:
-    print()
+        print(CLR, end="")
-    print(f"  {G_HI}FONT PICKER{RST}")
+        print(CURSOR_OFF, end="")
-    print(f"  {W_GHOST}{'─' * (tw() - 4)}{RST}")
+        print()
-    print(f"  {W_DIM}{config.FONT_PATH}{RST}")
+        print(f"  {G_HI}FONT PICKER{RST}")
-    print()
+        print(f"  {W_GHOST}{'─' * (tw() - 4)}{RST}")
-
+        print(f"  {G_DIM}> no .otf/.ttf/.ttc files found in: {config.FONT_DIR}{RST}")
-    try:
+        print(f"  {W_GHOST}> add font files to the fonts folder, then rerun{RST}")
-        faces = render.list_font_faces(config.FONT_PATH, max_faces=64)
+        time.sleep(1.8)
-    except Exception as exc:
-        print(f"  {G_DIM}> unable to load font file: {exc}{RST}")
-        print(f"  {W_GHOST}> startup aborted (font selection is required){RST}")
-        time.sleep(1.4)
         sys.exit(1)
 
-    face_ids = [face["index"] for face in faces]
-    default = config.FONT_INDEX if config.FONT_INDEX in face_ids else faces[0]["index"]
-
     prepared = []
-    for face in faces:
+    for font_path in font_files:
-        idx = face["index"]
-        name = face["name"]
         try:
-            fnt = render.load_font_face(config.FONT_PATH, idx)
+            faces = render.list_font_faces(font_path, max_faces=64)
-            rows = _normalize_preview_rows(render.render_line(name, fnt))
         except Exception:
-            rows = ["(preview unavailable)"]
+            fallback = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(font_path))[0]
-        prepared.append({"index": idx, "name": name, "preview_rows": rows})
+            faces = [{"index": 0, "name": fallback}]
+        for face in faces:
+            idx = face["index"]
+            name = face["name"]
+            file_name = os.path.basename(font_path)
+            try:
+                fnt = render.load_font_face(font_path, idx)
+                rows = _normalize_preview_rows(render.render_line(name, fnt))
+            except Exception:
+                rows = ["(preview unavailable)"]
+            prepared.append(
+                {
+                    "font_path": font_path,
+                    "font_index": idx,
+                    "name": name,
+                    "file_name": file_name,
+                    "preview_rows": rows,
+                }
+            )
+
+    if not prepared:
+        print(CLR, end="")
+        print(CURSOR_OFF, end="")
+        print()
+        print(f"  {G_HI}FONT PICKER{RST}")
+        print(f"  {W_GHOST}{'─' * (tw() - 4)}{RST}")
+        print(f"  {G_DIM}> no readable font faces found in: {config.FONT_DIR}{RST}")
+        time.sleep(1.8)
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    def _same_path(a, b):
+        try:
+            return os.path.samefile(a, b)
+        except Exception:
+            return os.path.abspath(a) == os.path.abspath(b)
+
+    selected = next(
+        (
+            i
+            for i, f in enumerate(prepared)
+            if _same_path(f["font_path"], config.FONT_PATH)
+            and f["font_index"] == config.FONT_INDEX
+        ),
+        0,
+    )
 
-    selected = next((i for i, f in enumerate(prepared) if f["index"] == default), 0)
     if not sys.stdin.isatty():
-        selected_index = prepared[selected]["index"]
+        selected_font = prepared[selected]
-        config.set_font_selection(font_index=selected_index)
+        config.set_font_selection(
+            font_path=selected_font["font_path"],
+            font_index=selected_font["font_index"],
+        )
         render.clear_font_cache()
-        print(f"  {G_DIM}> using face {selected_index}{RST}")
+        print(
+            f"  {G_DIM}> using {selected_font['name']} ({selected_font['file_name']}){RST}"
+        )
         time.sleep(0.8)
         print(CLR, end="")
         print(CURSOR_OFF, end="")
@@ -179,11 +219,13 @@ def pick_font_face():
     finally:
         termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, old_settings)
 
-    selected = prepared[selected]["index"]
+    selected_font = prepared[selected]
-
+    config.set_font_selection(
-    config.set_font_selection(font_index=selected)
+        font_path=selected_font["font_path"],
+        font_index=selected_font["font_index"],
+    )
     render.clear_font_cache()
-    print(f"  {G_DIM}> using face {selected}{RST}")
+    print(f"  {G_DIM}> using {selected_font['name']} ({selected_font['file_name']}){RST}")
     time.sleep(0.8)
     print(CLR, end="")
     print(CURSOR_OFF, end="")

engine/config.py

@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ Configuration constants, CLI flags, and glyph tables.
 import sys
 
 from pathlib import Path
+_REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+_FONT_EXTENSIONS = {".otf", ".ttf", ".ttc"}
 
 
 def _arg_value(flag):
@@ -31,8 +33,24 @@ def _resolve_font_path(raw_path):
     p = Path(raw_path).expanduser()
     if p.is_absolute():
         return str(p)
-    repo_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
+    return str((_REPO_ROOT / p).resolve())
-    return str((repo_root / p).resolve())
+
+
+def _list_font_files(font_dir):
+    """List supported font files within a font directory."""
+    font_root = Path(font_dir)
+    if not font_root.exists() or not font_root.is_dir():
+        return []
+    return [
+        str(path.resolve())
+        for path in sorted(font_root.iterdir())
+        if path.is_file() and path.suffix.lower() in _FONT_EXTENSIONS
+    ]
+
+
+def list_repo_font_files():
+    """Public helper for discovering repository font files."""
+    return _list_font_files(FONT_DIR)
 # ─── RUNTIME ──────────────────────────────────────────────
 HEADLINE_LIMIT = 1000
 FEED_TIMEOUT = 10
@@ -46,9 +64,13 @@ NTFY_POLL_INTERVAL = 15   # seconds between polls
 MESSAGE_DISPLAY_SECS = 30 # how long a message holds the screen
 
 # ─── FONT RENDERING ──────────────────────────────────────
-FONT_PATH = _resolve_font_path(
+FONT_DIR = _resolve_font_path(_arg_value('--font-dir') or "fonts")
-    _arg_value('--font-file')
+_FONT_FILE_ARG = _arg_value('--font-file')
-    or "/Users/genejohnson/Documents/CS Bishop Drawn/CSBishopDrawn-Italic.otf"
+_FONT_FILES = _list_font_files(FONT_DIR)
+FONT_PATH = (
+    _resolve_font_path(_FONT_FILE_ARG)
+    if _FONT_FILE_ARG
+    else (_FONT_FILES[0] if _FONT_FILES else "")
 )
 FONT_INDEX = max(0, _arg_int('--font-index', 0))
 FONT_PICKER = '--no-font-picker' not in sys.argv

engine/render.py

@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ _FONT_CACHE = {}
 def font():
     """Lazy-load the primary OTF font (path + face index aware)."""
     global _FONT_OBJ, _FONT_OBJ_KEY
+    if not config.FONT_PATH:
+        raise FileNotFoundError(
+            f"No primary font selected. Add .otf/.ttf/.ttc files to {config.FONT_DIR}."
+        )
     key = (config.FONT_PATH, config.FONT_INDEX, config.FONT_SZ)
     if _FONT_OBJ is None or _FONT_OBJ_KEY != key:
         _FONT_OBJ = ImageFont.truetype(