plain_pages

Minimalist base classes for microservice servers and matrix display pages.

plain_pages is a lightweight Python package that provides two foundational classes—ServerPage and DisplayPage—designed to orchestrate real-time data collection and visual display in homelab environments. It’s built for clarity, composability, and just enough abstraction to stay out of your way.

✨ Why plain_pages?

This project grew out of a desire to keep things simple—but not simplistic. In a homelab where services talk over Redis, update displays via RGB matrices, and pull secrets from Vault or Kubernetes, plain_pages offers a clean interface for:

• Scheduling periodic updates
• Fetching and publishing data
• Rendering to LED panels or web displays
• Managing secrets and state with minimal ceremony

🧱 Core Components

ServerPage

A base class for microservices that:

• Reads secrets from Vault, Kubernetes, or environment
• Connects to Redis and a backing database (Postgres, SQLite, MongoDB)
• Periodically fetches data from external APIs
• Writes state to the backing database, and
• Publishes updates via Redis pub/sub
• Supports liveness probes and production/development modes

DisplayPage

A base class for display clients that:

• Reads data from the database
• Tracks freshness and avoids redundant redraws
• Provides helper methods for text alignment, color formatting, and time parsing
• Supports both RGB LED matrix output and static image generation (for testing without RGB LED hardware)

🌕 Example: Moon Phase Tracker

The examples/moon_clock/ directory (coming soon) includes:

• MoonServer: Fetches sun/moon data from MET Norway’s API and publishes it
• MoonDisplay: Renders current time, moon phase, and next moonrise/set on an RGB matrix
• clientdisplay.py: Drives the LED panel and handles display cycling, pause/play, and override logic via Redis

📦 Installation

pip install dekeyrej-plain-pages

🛠️ Usage

from pages.serverpage import ServerPage
from pages.displaypage import DisplayPage

class MyServer(ServerPage):
    def update(self):
        # Fetch data, write to DB, publish to Redis
        pass

class MyDisplay(DisplayPage):
    def display(self):
        # Render data to matrix or image
        pass

🔐 Secrets & Config

ServerPage supports multiple secret sources from dekeyrej-secretmanager:

• KubeVault - encrypted Kubernetes Secrets with Vault Transit decrypt
• Kubernetes Secrets
• Vault static keys - coming soon!
• Environment variables
• Local JSON files

🧪 Status

This project is under active development. Expect updates, refinements, and the occasional moonbeam.

📄 License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.