Earl Display Control

Earl Display Control

Skill for managing the VisuoSpatial Sketchpad — Earl's living-room TV dashboard. This covers starting the HTTP server, launching the kiosk browser, and updating earl_mind.json via the Python API.

All file paths below use {baseDir} to mean this skill's root directory (the repo root containing VisuoSpatialSketchpad/).

Quick Response Checklist

1. Wake requests ("Earl wake up", "Could not sync", "Earl is sleeping")
   • Start the local server (see Server Management)
   • Launch the kiosk browser (see Launching the Kiosk)
   • Confirm health: watch for GET /earl_mind.json ... 200 in the server log
2. Content updates (mood, house stuff, hot takes, doodles, weather)
   • Use the EarlMind API from {baseDir}/VisuoSpatialSketchpad/earl_api.py
   • Relaunch the kiosk after changes if the display looks stale

Server Management

Start the HTTP server from the VisuoSpatialSketchpad directory:

cd {baseDir}/VisuoSpatialSketchpad && python3 -m http.server 8000

Background the process so the shell prompt returns.

Killing a stuck server

macOS / Linux:

lsof -ti:8000 | xargs kill -9

Windows (PowerShell):

Get-Process -Id (Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 8000).OwningProcess | Stop-Process -Force

Launching the Kiosk

macOS:

open -a "Google Chrome" --args --kiosk http://localhost:8000/sketchpad.html

If Chrome is unavailable, Safari works too:

open -a Safari http://localhost:8000/sketchpad.html

Windows (PowerShell):

Start-Process msedge.exe '--kiosk http://localhost:8000/sketchpad.html --edge-kiosk-type=fullscreen'

Linux:

xdg-open http://localhost:8000/sketchpad.html

Or for a true kiosk with Chromium:

chromium-browser --kiosk http://localhost:8000/sketchpad.html

Always relaunch after a wake cycle — the browser may cache the old page.

EarlMind API Reference

All methods live in {baseDir}/VisuoSpatialSketchpad/earl_api.py. Run from the VisuoSpatialSketchpad directory:

from earl_api import EarlMind
mind = EarlMind()

Each mutating method auto-saves and bumps meta.last_updated / meta.update_count.

Method Reference

Common Examples

# Set mood
mind.set_mood("happy", energy=0.9, vibe="Sun's out, vibes are immaculate.")

# Post a house reminder
mind.post_house_stuff("Bins go out tonight", detail="Wednesday again.", priority="high", category="chores", icon="🗑️")

# Drop a hot take
mind.hot_take("Pineapple on pizza", "Controversial but I respect the audacity.", heat=0.6, emoji="🍕")

# Doodle on the sketchpad
mind.doodle("🌧️", x=0.3, y=0.2, size=30, note="Rain starting")

# Log a pattern
mind.learn_pattern("The cat sits by the window at 3pm", confidence=0.7, observations=5)

Weather Update

Run the weather helper to fetch live Open-Meteo data, update mood/energy, and drop a weather doodle:

cd {baseDir}/VisuoSpatialSketchpad && python3 update_weather_ping.py

earl_mind.json Schema

The dashboard reads {baseDir}/VisuoSpatialSketchpad/earl_mind.json. Top-level structure:

{
  "identity":          { name, role, mood, energy (0-1), current_vibe, avatar_expression, photo, photo_caption }
  "spatial_awareness": { house_name, location: { latitude, longitude, timezone, temperature_unit, wind_speed_unit }, last_sweep, rooms: [...] }
  "house_stuff":       { items: [{ id, title, detail, priority, category, icon }] }
  "earl_unplugged":    [{ id, topic, take, heat (0-1), emoji, date }]
  "sketchpad":         { canvas: [{ id, type ("doodle"|"note"), label, x, y, size, color, note }] }
  "long_term_patterns": [{ pattern, confidence (0-1), observations }]
  "meta":              { schema_version, last_updated (ISO 8601), update_count }
}

If you edit JSON directly, always bump meta.last_updated and meta.update_count, and write with ensure_ascii=False, indent=2.

Troubleshooting

• Server keeps dying — Check for duplicate python processes. On macOS/Linux: lsof -i:8000. On Windows: Get-Process python.
• Browser won't go fullscreen — Kill stray browser processes first. macOS: pkill -f "Google Chrome". Windows: taskkill /IM msedge.exe /F.
• Content not updating — Relaunch the kiosk to bust any cache. Verify the JSON saved correctly.
• Weather not working — Check that spatial_awareness.location.latitude and longitude are set (not 0.0) in earl_mind.json.
• Import error — Make sure you run Python from the VisuoSpatialSketchpad directory, or add it to sys.path.

Tight Loop

Restart server -> launch kiosk -> apply content changes -> relaunch kiosk if needed. Follow this every time the house texts "wake up".