fix(ledmatrix-music): skip websocket UTF-8 validation on the YTM socket (1.5.3)

plugins.json

@@ -599,15 +599,14 @@
       "plugin_path": "plugins/ledmatrix-music",
       "stars": 0,
       "downloads": 0,
-      "last_updated": "2026-10-02",
+      "last_updated": "2026-10-03",
       "verified": true,
       "screenshot": "",
-      "latest_version": "1.5.4",
+      "latest_version": "1.5.5",
       "ledmatrix_min_version": "2.0.0",
       "aliases": [
         "ledmatrix-music"
-      ],
-      "commit": "886d2038d22a35c962beac0ea261543339cffec9"
+      ]
     },
     {
       "id": "news",

plugins/ledmatrix-music/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [1.5.5] - 2026-10-03
+
+### Fixed
+- Scrolling no longer stutters while YouTube Music is playing. websocket-client
+  validates every text frame's UTF-8 in pure Python (unless wsaccel is
+  installed), holding the GIL; the companion pushes its whole player state
+  every few seconds, and on a 512x64 Pi 4 that check was ~16% of the display
+  process's GIL time and stalled ~8% of scroll frames (0.6% without it). The
+  socket now skips it via `websocket_extra_options`; the payload is still
+  decoded and parsed as JSON, which rejects anything malformed.
+
 ## [1.5.4] - 2026-10-02
 
 ### Fixed

plugins/ledmatrix-music/manifest.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "id": "ledmatrix-music",
   "name": "Music Player - Now Playing",
-  "version": "1.5.4",
+  "version": "1.5.5",
   "description": "Real-time now playing display for Spotify and YouTube Music with album art, scrolling text, and progress bars",
   "author": "ChuckBuilds",
   "entry_point": "manager.py",
@@ -65,6 +65,12 @@
     }
   ],
   "versions": [
+    {
+      "version": "1.5.5",
+      "released": "2026-10-03",
+      "ledmatrix_min_version": "2.0.0",
+      "notes": "Scrolling no longer stutters while YouTube Music is playing. The YTM connection checked every incoming message's text in slow pure-Python code, blocking the display for tens of milliseconds every few seconds; it now skips that check (the message is still parsed as JSON, which rejects anything malformed)."
+    },
     {
       "version": "1.5.4",
       "released": "2026-10-02",

plugins/ledmatrix-music/test_ytm_skip_utf8_validation.py

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Tests that the YTM websocket skips websocket-client's UTF-8 validation.
+
+Regression under test: without wsaccel, websocket-client validates every text
+frame's UTF-8 byte by byte in pure Python while holding the GIL. The YTM
+Companion pushes its full player state every few seconds while music plays;
+on a 512x64 Pi 4 rig that validation took ~16% of the display process's GIL
+time and stalled ~8% of scroll frames (0.6% without it), visible as the
+scroll pausing and jumping.
+
+Run: <core-venv>/bin/python plugins/ledmatrix-music/test_ytm_skip_utf8_validation.py
+"""
+
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+PLUGIN_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
+sys.path.insert(0, str(PLUGIN_DIR))
+
+try:
+    import socketio  # noqa: F401
+except ImportError:
+    print("SKIP: python-socketio not installed (see requirements.txt)")
+    sys.exit(2)
+
+import ytm_client  # noqa: E402
+
+
+def test_websocket_is_opened_without_utf8_validation():
+    client = ytm_client.YTMClient()
+    options = client.sio.eio.websocket_extra_options
+    assert options.get('skip_utf8_validation') is True, options
+
+
+def main():
+    test_websocket_is_opened_without_utf8_validation()
+    print("OK")
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())

plugins/ledmatrix-music/ytm_client.py

@@ -59,10 +59,19 @@ def __init__(self, update_callback=None, logger=None):
         # class had no say in. connect_client() owns retry timing; the poll
         # loop calls it, and the backoff applies uniformly whether the
         # connection never came up or came up and went away.
+        #
+        # skip_utf8_validation: websocket-client checks every text frame's
+        # UTF-8 in pure Python unless wsaccel is installed, holding the GIL
+        # throughout. The companion pushes its whole player state every few
+        # seconds while music plays, and on a Pi 4 that check was ~16% of the
+        # display process's GIL time and stalled ~8% of scroll frames. The
+        # payload is decoded and parsed as JSON right after, which rejects
+        # anything malformed anyway.
         self.sio = socketio.Client(
             logger=False,
             engineio_logger=False,
             reconnection=False,
+            websocket_extra_options={'skip_utf8_validation': True},
         )
         self.last_known_track_data = None
         self.is_connected = False