ffx/SCRATCHPAD.md

# Scratchpad

## Goal

- Capture a compact, project-wide list of optimization candidates after a broad scan of the current FFX codebase, tooling, and requirements.

## Settled

- The biggest near-term wins are in startup cost, repeated subprocess work, repeated database query patterns, and general repo hygiene.
- This list is intentionally optimization-oriented rather than bug-oriented. Some items below also improve correctness or maintainability, but they were selected because they can reduce runtime cost, operator friction, or iteration overhead.
- A first modern integration slice now exists under [`tests/integration/subtrack_mapping`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/tests/integration/subtrack_mapping). Remaining test-suite cleanup is now mostly about migrating and shrinking the legacy harness surface under [`tests/legacy`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/tests/legacy).
- Shared CLI defaults for container/output tokens now live outside [`src/ffx/ffx_controller.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/ffx_controller.py), and a focused unit test locks in the lazy-import contract.
- Helper filename and rich-text utilities now use compiled raw regexes plus translate-based filename filtering, with unit coverage for TMDB suffix rewriting and Rich color stripping.
- Process resource limiting now has explicit disabled/default states in the CLI and requirements, and combined CPU-plus-niceness wrapping now executes as `cpulimit -- nice -n ... <command>` instead of a less explicit prefix chain.
- FFX logger setup now reuses named handlers, and fallback logger access no longer mutates handlers in ordinary constructors and helpers.
- The process wrapper now uses `subprocess.run(...)` with centralized command formatting plus stable timeout and missing-command error mapping.
- Pattern matching now uses cached compiled regexes plus explicit duplicate-match errors, and pattern creation flows no longer persist zero-track patterns.

## Focused Snapshot

- Highest-leverage application optimizations:
  - Decide whether placeholder help/settings screens should ship or disappear.
  - Trim dead helpers and other dormant surface that still looks active.

- Highest-leverage repo and workflow optimizations:
  - Continue migrating the oversized legacy test/combinator surface into focused modern tests so it is easier to run, debug, and extend.

## Optimization Candidates

1. Placeholder UI surfaces should either ship or disappear
- [`src/ffx/help_screen.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/help_screen.py) and [`src/ffx/settings_screen.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/settings_screen.py) are placeholders.
- Optimization:
  - Either remove them from the active UI surface or complete them.
  - Avoid paying ongoing maintenance cost for unfinished navigation targets.
- Expected value:
  - Leaner interface.
  - Lower UX ambiguity.

2. Several helper functions are unfinished or dead-weight
- [`src/ffx/helper.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/helper.py) contains `permutateList(...): pass`.
- There are many combinator and conversion placeholders across tests and migrations.
- Optimization:
  - Remove dead code, finish it, or isolate it behind a clearly dormant area.
  - Avoid carrying stubbed utility surface that looks reusable but is not.
- Expected value:
  - Smaller mental model.
  - Less time spent re-evaluating inactive paths.

3. Test suite shape is expensive to understand and likely expensive to run
- The project still carries a large legacy matrix of combinator files under [`tests/legacy`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/tests/legacy), several placeholder `pass` implementations, and at least one suspicious filename with an embedded space: [`tests/legacy/disposition_combinator_2_3 .py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/tests/legacy/disposition_combinator_2_3 .py).
- A first focused replacement slice now exists in [`tests/integration/subtrack_mapping/test_cli_bundle.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/tests/integration/subtrack_mapping/test_cli_bundle.py), so the remaining work is migration and consolidation rather than creating the modern test shape from scratch.
- Optimization:
  - Continue replacing broad combinator matrices with focused parametrized integration and unit tests.
  - Retire the bespoke legacy discovery and runner path once equivalent coverage exists.
  - Normalize file naming and test discovery conventions.
- Expected value:
  - Faster contributor onboarding.
  - Easier CI adoption later.

## Open

- Should optimization work focus first on operator-perceived latency, internal maintainability, or correctness-risk cleanup that also has performance upside?
- Is the long-term supported model still “local Linux workstation plus Textual UI,” or should optimization decisions bias toward a more scriptable/headless CLI?

## Gaps Right Now

- No explicit prioritization owner or milestone for the optimization backlog.
- No benchmark or timing harness exists for startup, probe, DB, or conversion orchestration overhead.
- Repo hygiene is still mixed with generated artifacts and some clearly unfinished files.
- The legacy TMDB-backed `Scenario 4` path is currently blocked by a pattern/track regression: `Patterns must define at least one track before they can be stored.` This surfaced while rerunning TMDB-dependent checks after the zero-track pattern hardening.

## Next

1. Triage the list into quick wins, medium refactors, and long-horizon cleanup.
2. Tackle the cheapest remaining product-surface cleanup first:
   - placeholder UI surfaces and dead helper cleanup.
3. Continue replacing oversized legacy test matrices with focused modern integration and unit coverage.
4. Triage the legacy `Scenario 4` pattern/track failure and decide whether to fix the harness, adapt it to the zero-track guard, or retire that path during the ongoing test-suite migration.

## Shifted Season Status (2026-04-12)

- Current assessment:
  - The shifted-season subsystem is present end to end and looks feature-complete in shape, but it is not yet hardened.
  - The storage, TUI CRUD surface, and CLI/TMDB filename application path all exist, so this is no longer a stubbed or half-started area.
  - The main gap is correctness and direct verification rather than missing surface area.

- Implemented surface confirmed:
  - Requirements still treat shifted seasons as part of the accepted product surface in [`requirements/project.md`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/requirements/project.md) and [`requirements/architecture.md`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/requirements/architecture.md).
  - Persistence exists via [`src/ffx/model/shifted_season.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/model/shifted_season.py) plus the `Show.shifted_seasons` relationship in [`src/ffx/model/show.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/model/show.py).
  - CRUD logic exists in [`src/ffx/shifted_season_controller.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/shifted_season_controller.py).
  - Textual add/edit/delete flows are wired through [`src/ffx/shifted_season_details_screen.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/shifted_season_details_screen.py), [`src/ffx/shifted_season_delete_screen.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/shifted_season_delete_screen.py), and the show details table in [`src/ffx/show_details_screen.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/show_details_screen.py).
  - CLI conversion applies season shifts before TMDB lookup and output suffix generation in [`src/ffx/cli.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/cli.py).

- Verified current behavior:
  - `~/.local/share/ffx.venv/bin/python -m unittest discover -s tests/unit -p 'test_*.py'` passed on 2026-04-12: `75` tests in `0.795s`.
  - That run emitted `ResourceWarning` messages for unclosed SQLite connections, so the suite is green but not perfectly clean.
  - There is almost no direct shifted-season coverage in the modern tests:
    - [`tests/unit/test_cli_rename_only.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/tests/unit/test_cli_rename_only.py) stubs `ShiftedSeasonController` rather than exercising it.
    - [`tests/unit/test_screen_support.py`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/tests/unit/test_screen_support.py) only verifies controller bootstrap wiring.
  - Net effect: the subsystem is integrated, but its core rules are effectively untested by the current modern suite.

- Reproduced correctness gaps:
  - Overlap validation is broken in [`src/ffx/shifted_season_controller.py:41`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/shifted_season_controller.py:41) because `getOriginalSeason` is compared as a method object instead of being called.
  - Reproduction on 2026-04-12 with a temp SQLite DB:
    - Added `S1 E1-E10`.
    - `checkShiftedSeason(...)` incorrectly returned `True` for overlapping `S1 E5-E15`.
    - `addShiftedSeason(...)` then stored the overlapping row successfully.
  - `updateShiftedSeason(...)` in [`src/ffx/shifted_season_controller.py:93`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/shifted_season_controller.py:93) does not enforce episode ordering, so an invalid range like `first_episode=20`, `last_episode=10` was accepted in the same reproduction.
  - Because [`src/ffx/shifted_season_controller.py:213`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/shifted_season_controller.py:213) returns the first matching sibling and [`src/ffx/shifted_season_controller.py:163`](/home/osgw/.local/src/codex/ffx/src/ffx/shifted_season_controller.py:163) applies no explicit ordering, overlapping rows would also make runtime shifting ambiguous.

- Progress summary:
  - Good progress:
    - The subsystem exists across requirements, schema, UI, and conversion flow.
    - It appears fully integrated into the show-editing workflow rather than parked as dead code.
  - Incomplete progress:
    - Validation logic is not trustworthy yet.
    - Modern tests do not currently protect the subsystem's real behavior.
    - User-facing error feedback in the shifted-season screens still has placeholder `#TODO: Meldung` branches.

- Recommended next slice:
  1. Add direct controller tests for overlap rejection, episode-order validation, and `shiftSeason(...)` selection behavior.
  2. Fix `checkShiftedSeason(...)` and add the same range/order validation to `updateShiftedSeason(...)`.
  3. Make sibling selection deterministic or enforce non-overlap strongly enough that ordering no longer matters in practice.
  4. Add at least one focused integration test that proves a stored shifted season changes TMDB lookup and/or generated filename numbering during conversion.

## Delete When

- Delete this scratchpad once the optimization backlog is either converted into issues/work items or distilled into durable project guidance.