Merge branch 'feature/player-agent-control-plane'

2026-08-07 22:42:03 +01:00
parent 2bd47fb96a 0801c119ae
commit 7e758ecca8
62 changed files with 2440 additions and 461 deletions
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-PULSE_SIGNAGE_IMAGE=git.lzstealth.com/lzstealth/pulse-signage:latest
-PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET=
-
-DB_HOST=mysql
-DB_PORT=3306
-DB_NAME=pulse-signage
-DB_USER=pulse-signage
-DB_PASSWORD=signage_password
-MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=root_password
-
-PLAYER_PUBLIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8081
-PLAYER_INTERNAL_BASE_URL=http://player:8081
-
-SESSION_MAX_AGE_DAYS=14
-DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME=admin
-DEFAULT_ADMIN_NAME=Admin
-DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin
-PASSWORD_HASH_ITERATIONS=310000
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ media/
 !src/web/lib/media/
 !src/web/lib/media/**
 docker-compose.dev.yml
+/docker-compose/*.dev.yml
+/docker-compose/*.env
+/docker-compose/*.env.local
+/docker-compose/*.env.remote
 /dev-demo-seed.js
 .vscode/
 .env
@@ -1,81 +1,38 @@
 # Pulse Signage

-Pulse Signage is a self-hosted digital signage platform built for teams that want clear, flexible control over what appears on every screen.
+Pulse Signage is a self-hosted digital signage platform for teams that want clear, reliable control over the content on every screen.

-It gives you one place to manage playlists, slides, templates, screen assignments, announcements, data-driven content, and live player control without handing that workflow to a third-party service.
+It gives you one place to publish playlists, slides, announcements, and live updates without handing the workflow to a third-party service.

-## Why It Stands Out
+## What It Can Do

- Keep signage under your own control.
- Build polished screen experiences with reusable templates and playlists.
- Push announcements, schedules, RSS feeds, API content, and other dynamic content to screens.
- See what is live, what is queued, and what needs attention from a single admin dashboard.
- Use the same system for everyday signage, timed messages, and more structured information displays.
+- Run polished screen experiences with playlists, slides, and reusable templates.
+- Keep announcements, schedules, RSS feeds, API content, and other live data in sync.
+- Manage many screens from a single dashboard.
+- Support everyday signage, event messages, lobbies, dashboards, and other always-on displays.
+- Keep the player, dashboard, and bridge connected so updates move quickly and consistently.

-## What It Handles
+## Why It Fits

- Screens and playlist assignments.
- Slides, templates, and canvas sizes.
- Announcements and screen-specific targeting.
- RSS feeds, API sources, and schedule-based content.
- Roles and permissions for admin access.
- Background tasks and scheduled refresh jobs.
- Player onboarding and live playback control.
+- It keeps signage under your own control.
+- It is built for teams that need screens to stay current without extra manual work.
+- It works well for offices, venues, campuses, and operations teams.
+- It stays focused on display management instead of trying to be a general-purpose CMS.

-## Simple Deployment
+## Deploying

-Pulse Signage ships with a Docker Compose stack for the published image:
+Docker Compose is the recommended way to deploy Pulse Signage. It keeps the web app, player, bridge, and database together in a predictable setup.

- Published-image stack: `docker compose -f docker-compose.yml up -d`
+If you want the details, start with the [Compose guide](docker-compose/README.md).

-Use this stack when you want to run the tagged image instead of building from source.
+## Docs

-## Environment File
+- [Documentation home](docs/README.md) - the technical reference index.
+- [API reference](docs/api.md) - the player HTTP surface and onboarding endpoints.
+- [Database schema](docs/schema.md) - the tables and data model the app maintains.
+- [WebSocket reference](docs/websocket.md) - the live player and snapshot channels.
+- [Compose guide](docker-compose/README.md) - deployment options and service layout.

-The compose files read from a root `.env` file. Start by copying `.env.example` to `.env`, then adjust the values for your setup.
+## Explore The Docs

-The variables are split by who uses them:
-
-Shared across the stack:
-
- `PULSE_SIGNAGE_IMAGE`
- `PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET`
-
-Web container:
-
- `SESSION_MAX_AGE_DAYS`
- `DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME`
- `DEFAULT_ADMIN_NAME`
- `DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD`
- `PASSWORD_HASH_ITERATIONS`
-
-Player container:
-
- `PLAYER_PUBLIC_BASE_URL`
- `PLAYER_INTERNAL_BASE_URL`
-
-MySQL container:
-
- `DB_HOST`
- `DB_PORT`
- `DB_NAME`
- `DB_USER`
- `DB_PASSWORD`
- `MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD`
-
-`DB_HOST`, `DB_PORT`, `DB_NAME`, `DB_USER`, and `DB_PASSWORD` are shared in practice because both app containers talk to the same database service.
-
-`PLAYER_INTERNAL_BASE_URL` is used by the web side for server-to-player calls, while `PLAYER_PUBLIC_BASE_URL` is used for browser-facing player links.
-
-## First-Time Use
-
-The first startup seeds a default admin account if the database is empty.
-
- Username: `admin`
- Password: `admin`
-
-## In Practice
-
-Pulse Signage is designed to feel focused and reliable rather than heavy or noisy. It works well when you want a clean internal signage system for offices, venues, dashboards, or any environment where screens need to stay up to date without a lot of manual effort.
-
-The player and admin pieces stay linked, so changes made in the dashboard can flow out to screens quickly and consistently.
+The project includes a dashboard for managing content, a player runtime for rendering screens, an onboarding flow for connecting devices, and a bridge layer for remote screens. If you want to understand how the pieces fit together, the docs above cover the technical details without repeating the project overview.
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Shared application settings
+PULSE_SIGNAGE_IMAGE="git.lzstealth.com/lzstealth/pulse-signage:latest"
+PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET=""
+
+# Database settings for the web, player, and bridge services
+DB_HOST="mysql"
+DB_PORT=3306
+DB_NAME="pulse-signage"
+DB_USER="pulse-signage"
+DB_PASSWORD="signage_password"
+MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD="root_password"
+
+# Player settings
+PLAYER_IDENTIFIER="player-local"
+PLAYER_PUBLIC_BASE_URL="http://localhost:8081"
+PLAYER_INTERNAL_BASE_URL="http://player:8081"
+
+# Web app bootstrap settings
+SESSION_MAX_AGE_DAYS=14
+DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME="admin"
+DEFAULT_ADMIN_NAME="Admin"
+DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD="admin"
+PASSWORD_HASH_ITERATIONS=310000
+
+# Bridge settings for the player-bridge service
+WEB_BASE_URL="http://web:8080"
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# Shared application settings
+PULSE_SIGNAGE_IMAGE="git.lzstealth.com/lzstealth/pulse-signage:latest"
+PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET=""
+
+# Player settings
+PLAYER_IDENTIFIER="player-remote"
+PLAYER_PUBLIC_BASE_URL="http://localhost:8081"
+PLAYER_AGENT_RECONNECT_DELAY_MS=5000
+
+# Remote player connectivity settings
+THIN_CLIENT_BASE_URL="http://192.168.0.80:8090"
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+name: pulse-signage-remote
+
+services:
+
+  player:
+    image: ${PULSE_SIGNAGE_IMAGE:-git.lzstealth.com/lzstealth/pulse-signage:latest}
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    ports:
+      - "8081:8081"
+    environment:
+      PLAYER_PUBLIC_BASE_URL: ${PLAYER_PUBLIC_BASE_URL:-http://localhost:8081}
+      THIN_CLIENT_BASE_URL: ${THIN_CLIENT_BASE_URL:-}
+      PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET: ${PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET:-}
+    volumes:
+      - pulse-signage:/app/media
+    command: ["node", "src/player.js"]
+    networks:
+      - pulse_signage
+
+
+
+volumes:
+  pulse-signage:
+
+networks:
+  pulse_signage:
+    name: pulse-signage-remote
+    external: false
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+name: pulse-signage
+
 services:
  web:
    image: ${PULSE_SIGNAGE_IMAGE:-git.lzstealth.com/lzstealth/pulse-signage:latest}
@@ -7,18 +9,17 @@ services:
    environment:
      DB_HOST: ${DB_HOST:-mysql}
      DB_PORT: ${DB_PORT:-3306}
-      DB_NAME: ${DB_NAME:-signage}
-      DB_USER: ${DB_USER:-signage_user}
+      DB_NAME: ${DB_NAME:-pulse-signage}
+      DB_USER: ${DB_USER:-pulse-signage}
      DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-signage_password}
      PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET: ${PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET:-}
      SESSION_MAX_AGE_DAYS: ${SESSION_MAX_AGE_DAYS:-14}
-      DASHBOARD_REFRESH_INTERVAL_MS: ${DASHBOARD_REFRESH_INTERVAL_MS:-2000}
      DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME: ${DEFAULT_ADMIN_USERNAME:-admin}
      DEFAULT_ADMIN_NAME: ${DEFAULT_ADMIN_NAME:-Admin}
      DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD: ${DEFAULT_ADMIN_PASSWORD:-admin}
      PASSWORD_HASH_ITERATIONS: ${PASSWORD_HASH_ITERATIONS:-310000}
    volumes:
-      - media:/app/media
+      - pulse-signage:/app/media
    command: ["node", "src/web.js"]
    depends_on:
      mysql:
@@ -34,14 +35,15 @@ services:
    environment:
      PLAYER_PUBLIC_BASE_URL: ${PLAYER_PUBLIC_BASE_URL:-http://localhost:8081}
      PLAYER_INTERNAL_BASE_URL: ${PLAYER_INTERNAL_BASE_URL:-http://player:8081}
+      PLAYER_IDENTIFIER: ${PLAYER_IDENTIFIER:-player-local}
      PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET: ${PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET:-}
      DB_HOST: ${DB_HOST:-mysql}
      DB_PORT: ${DB_PORT:-3306}
-      DB_NAME: ${DB_NAME:-signage}
-      DB_USER: ${DB_USER:-signage_user}
+      DB_NAME: ${DB_NAME:-pulse-signage}
+      DB_USER: ${DB_USER:-pulse-signage}
      DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-signage_password}
    volumes:
-      - media:/app/media
+      - pulse-signage:/app/media
    command: ["node", "src/player.js"]
    depends_on:
      mysql:
@@ -49,12 +51,34 @@ services:
    networks:
      - pulse_signage

+  player-bridge:
+    image: ${PULSE_SIGNAGE_IMAGE:-git.lzstealth.com/lzstealth/pulse-signage:latest}
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    ports:
+      - "8090:8090"
+    environment:
+      WEB_BASE_URL: ${WEB_BASE_URL:-http://web:8080}
+      PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET: ${PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET:-}
+      DB_HOST: ${DB_HOST:-mysql}
+      DB_PORT: ${DB_PORT:-3306}
+      DB_NAME: ${DB_NAME:-pulse-signage}
+      DB_USER: ${DB_USER:-pulse-signage}
+      DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-signage_password}
+    command: ["node", "src/player-bridge/index.js"]
+    depends_on:
+      mysql:
+        condition: service_healthy
+    networks:
+      - pulse_signage
+
  mysql:
    image: mysql:8.4
    restart: unless-stopped
+    ports:
+      - "3306:3306"
    environment:
-      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DB_NAME:-signage}
-      MYSQL_USER: ${DB_USER:-signage_user}
+      MYSQL_DATABASE: ${DB_NAME:-pulse-signage}
+      MYSQL_USER: ${DB_USER:-pulse-signage}
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-signage_password}
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: ${MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD:-root_password}
    command:
@@ -72,9 +96,9 @@ services:

 volumes:
  mysql_data:
-  media:
+  pulse-signage:

 networks:
  pulse_signage:
-    name: pulse_signage
+    name: pulse-signage
    external: false
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# Documentation
+
+This folder contains the technical reference material for Pulse Signage.
+
+## What’s Here
+
+- [API reference](api.md) - the player HTTP surface and onboarding endpoints.
+- [Database schema](schema.md) - the tables and data model used by the app.
+- [WebSocket reference](websocket.md) - the live player and snapshot channels.
+
+## How To Read It
+
+If you want the big picture first, start with the main [project README](../README.md). It gives a plain overview of what Pulse Signage does, while the pages in this folder explain how the pieces work.
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ Primary keys are `id` unless noted otherwise. Timestamps are stored as `created_
 ## Devices

 - `d_players` - player registry and connection metadata.
- `d_screens` - screen records and playlist/player assignment.
+- `d_screens` - screen records and playlist assignment.
 - `d_onboarding_devices` - device-to-screen bindings and onboarded client names.

 ## Announcements
@@ -123,18 +123,18 @@ Primary keys are `id` unless noted otherwise. Timestamps are stored as `created_

 ### `d_players`

- `device_id`, `public_base_url`, `internal_base_url`, `last_seen_at`, `created_at`, `modified_at`
- `device_id` is the primary key.
+- `id`, `identifier`, `public_base_url`, `internal_base_url`, `last_seen_at`, `created_at`, `modified_at`
+- `id` is the primary key.
+- `identifier` is unique and is the stable player identity used by the app.
        
 ### `d_screens`

- `id`, `name`, `slug`, `playlist_id`, `player_id`, `created_at`, `created_by`, `modified_at`, `modified_by`
+- `id`, `name`, `slug`, `playlist_id`, `created_at`, `created_by`, `modified_at`, `modified_by`
 - `slug` is unique.
 - Foreign keys:
        - `playlist_id` -> `c_playlists.id` with `ON DELETE SET NULL`
-        - `player_id` -> `d_players.id` with `ON DELETE RESTRICT`

- `player_id` is required and defaults to `'1'` for the current singleton-player model.
+- Screens are no longer tied to a player foreign key directly; player registration and live connection metadata are tracked separately in `d_players`.

 ### `d_onboarding_devices`

@@ -276,7 +276,6 @@ erDiagram
        C_SLIDES ||--o{ C_PLAYLIST_SLIDES : included_in
        C_PLAYLIST_SLIDES ||--o{ C_PLAYLIST_SLIDE_SCHEDULE_RULES : has_rules

-        D_PLAYERS ||--o{ D_SCREENS : assigned_to
        C_PLAYLISTS ||--o{ D_SCREENS : uses
        D_SCREENS ||--o{ D_ONBOARDING_DEVICES : binds
        D_ANNOUNCEMENTS ||--o{ D_ANNOUNCEMENT_SCREENS : targets
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
  "name": "pulse-signage",
-  "version": "2.5.14",
+  "version": "2.6.5",
  "private": false,
  "description": "Pulse Signage application with MySQL and media storage",
  "repository": {
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ module.exports = {
  fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl: data.fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl,
  fetchScreenPlayerRecord: data.fetchScreenPlayerRecord,
  fetchTemplateById: data.fetchTemplateById,
+  fetchPlayerRegistrations: data.fetchPlayerRegistrations,
  fetchSlideById: data.fetchSlideById,
  fetchTemplatesData: data.fetchTemplatesData,
  fetchCanvasSizesData: data.fetchCanvasSizesData,
@@ -22,10 +22,9 @@ async function fetchAdminData(pool) {
    ORDER BY s.id DESC
  `);
  const [screens] = await pool.query(`
-    SELECT s.id, s.name, s.slug, s.playlist_id, s.created_at, s.modified_at, s.created_by, s.modified_by, p.name AS playlist_name, pl.public_base_url
+    SELECT s.id, s.name, s.slug, s.playlist_id, s.created_at, s.modified_at, s.created_by, s.modified_by, p.name AS playlist_name
    FROM d_screens s
    LEFT JOIN c_playlists p ON p.id = s.playlist_id
-    LEFT JOIN d_players pl ON pl.device_id = s.player_id
    ORDER BY s.id DESC
  `);
  const [playlistSlides] = await pool.query(`
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ const { fetchPlaylistById } = require('./playlists');
 const { normalizeDisplayMode, fetchTimetablesData, fetchTimetableGroupsPage, fetchTimetableGroupById, fetchTimetableEntriesByGroupId, buildTimetableGroupPayload } = require('./schedules');
 const { fetchApiSourcesData, fetchApiSourcesPage, fetchApiSourceById, fetchApiSourceResponse, buildApiSourcePayload } = require('./api-sources');
 const { fetchRssFeedsData, fetchRssFeedsPage, fetchRssFeedById, fetchRssFeedItemsByFeedId, normalizeRssFeedItem, buildRssFeedPayload, fetchRssFeedItems, replaceRssFeedItems } = require('./rss-feeds');
-const { slugify, uniqueScreenSlug, fetchScreenById, fetchScreenEditData, fetchScreenPlayerUrls, fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl, fetchScreenPlayerRecord } = require('./screens');
+const { slugify, uniqueScreenSlug, fetchScreenById, fetchScreenEditData, fetchScreenPlayerUrls, fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl, fetchScreenPlayerRecord, fetchPlayerRecordByIdentifier } = require('./screens');
+const { fetchPlayerRegistrations } = require('./player-registry');
 const { fetchTemplateById, fetchTemplatesData, extractTemplateRegions, buildTemplatePayload } = require('./templates');
 const { fetchCanvasSizesData, fetchCanvasSizeById, buildCanvasSizePayload, MAX_CANVAS_SIZE_DIMENSION } = require('./canvas-sizes');
 const { fetchSlideById, buildSlidePayload } = require('./slides');
@@ -63,6 +64,8 @@ module.exports = {
  fetchScreenPlayerUrls,
  fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl,
  fetchScreenPlayerRecord,
+  fetchPlayerRecordByIdentifier,
+  fetchPlayerRegistrations,
  fetchTemplateById,
  fetchSlideById,
  fetchTemplatesData,
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+function normalizeDeviceId(value) {
+  return String(value || '')
+    .trim()
+    .replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9_-]/g, '')
+    .slice(0, 128);
+}
+
+function normalizeBaseUrl(value) {
+  return String(value || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
+}
+
+function normalizeIdentifier(value) {
+  return String(value || '').trim().slice(0, 255);
+}
+
+async function columnExists(pool, tableName, columnName) {
+  const [rows] = await pool.query(
+    `SELECT COUNT(*) AS column_count
+     FROM information_schema.COLUMNS
+     WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = DATABASE()
+       AND TABLE_NAME = ?
+       AND COLUMN_NAME = ?`,
+    [tableName, columnName]
+  );
+
+  return Number(rows && rows[0] && rows[0].column_count) > 0;
+}
+
+async function fetchPlayerRegistrations(pool) {
+  if (!pool) {
+    return [];
+  }
+
+  const [rows] = await pool.query(
+    `SELECT id, identifier, public_base_url, internal_base_url, last_seen_at, modified_at
+     FROM d_players
+     ORDER BY modified_at DESC, identifier ASC`
+  );
+
+  return rows;
+}
+
+function getConfiguredPlayerIdentifier() {
+  return normalizeDeviceId(process.env.PLAYER_IDENTIFIER || process.env.PLAYER_DEVICE_ID || '');
+}
+
+async function resolvePlayerRegistration(pool, identifier) {
+  const normalizedIdentifier = normalizeDeviceId(identifier);
+  if (!pool || !normalizedIdentifier) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const hasIdentifierColumn = await columnExists(pool, 'd_players', 'identifier');
+  const hasDeviceIdColumn = await columnExists(pool, 'd_players', 'device_id');
+  const identifierColumn = hasIdentifierColumn ? 'identifier' : (hasDeviceIdColumn ? 'device_id' : '');
+  if (!identifierColumn) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const selectIdExpression = hasIdentifierColumn ? 'id' : 'NULL AS id';
+  const selectIdentifierExpression = hasIdentifierColumn ? 'identifier' : 'device_id AS identifier';
+  const orderByExpression = hasIdentifierColumn ? 'modified_at DESC, id DESC' : 'modified_at DESC';
+
+  const [rows] = await pool.query(
+    `SELECT ${selectIdExpression}, ${selectIdentifierExpression}, public_base_url, internal_base_url, last_seen_at
+     FROM d_players
+     WHERE ${identifierColumn} = ?
+     LIMIT 1`,
+    [normalizedIdentifier]
+  );
+
+  if (rows[0]) {
+    return rows[0];
+  }
+
+  const [fallbackRows] = await pool.query(
+    `SELECT ${selectIdExpression}, ${selectIdentifierExpression}, public_base_url, internal_base_url, last_seen_at
+     FROM d_players
+     ORDER BY ${orderByExpression}
+     LIMIT 1`
+  );
+
+  return fallbackRows[0] || null;
+}
+
+async function upsertPlayerRegistration(pool, options) {
+  const identifier = normalizeDeviceId(options && (options.identifier || options.deviceId));
+  const publicBaseUrl = normalizeBaseUrl(options && options.publicBaseUrl);
+  const internalBaseUrl = normalizeBaseUrl(options && options.internalBaseUrl);
+
+  if (!pool || !identifier) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  await pool.query(
+    `INSERT INTO d_players (identifier, public_base_url, internal_base_url, last_seen_at)
+     VALUES (?, ?, ?, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP)
+     ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE
+       public_base_url = VALUES(public_base_url),
+       internal_base_url = VALUES(internal_base_url),
+       last_seen_at = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+       modified_at = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP`,
+    [identifier, publicBaseUrl || null, internalBaseUrl || null]
+  );
+
+  return resolvePlayerRegistration(pool, identifier);
+}
+
+async function recordPlayerHeartbeat(pool, options) {
+  const identifier = normalizeDeviceId(options && (options.identifier || options.deviceId));
+  const publicBaseUrl = normalizeBaseUrl(options && options.publicBaseUrl);
+  const internalBaseUrl = normalizeBaseUrl(options && options.internalBaseUrl);
+
+  if (!pool || !identifier) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  await pool.query(
+    `INSERT INTO d_players (identifier, public_base_url, internal_base_url, last_seen_at)
+     VALUES (?, ?, ?, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP)
+     ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE
+       public_base_url = COALESCE(VALUES(public_base_url), public_base_url),
+       internal_base_url = COALESCE(VALUES(internal_base_url), internal_base_url),
+       last_seen_at = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+       modified_at = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP`,
+    [identifier, publicBaseUrl || null, internalBaseUrl || null]
+  );
+
+  return resolvePlayerRegistration(pool, identifier);
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+  normalizeDeviceId: normalizeDeviceId,
+  normalizeIdentifier: normalizeIdentifier,
+  getConfiguredPlayerIdentifier: getConfiguredPlayerIdentifier,
+  fetchPlayerRegistrations: fetchPlayerRegistrations,
+  resolvePlayerRegistration: resolvePlayerRegistration,
+  upsertPlayerRegistration: upsertPlayerRegistration,
+  recordPlayerHeartbeat: recordPlayerHeartbeat
+};
@@ -13,6 +13,27 @@ function normalizePlayerBaseUrl(value) {
  return String(value || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
 }

+function getConfiguredPlayerIdentifier() {
+  return String(process.env.PLAYER_IDENTIFIER || process.env.PLAYER_DEVICE_ID || '').trim() || null;
+}
+
+async function fetchPlayerRecordByIdentifier(pool, identifier) {
+  const normalizedIdentifier = String(identifier || '').trim();
+  if (!normalizedIdentifier) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const [rows] = await pool.query(
+    `SELECT id, identifier, public_base_url, internal_base_url, last_seen_at
+     FROM d_players
+     WHERE identifier = ?
+     LIMIT 1`,
+    [normalizedIdentifier]
+  );
+
+  return rows[0] || null;
+}
+
 function buildScreenPlayerUrl(screen, fallbackBaseUrl) {
  const slug = String(screen && screen.slug || '').trim();
  if (!slug) {
@@ -28,20 +49,21 @@ function buildScreenPlayerUrl(screen, fallbackBaseUrl) {
 }

 async function fetchScreenPlayerUrls(pool) {
+  const playerBaseUrl = await fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl(pool);
+  if (!playerBaseUrl) {
+    return {};
+  }
+
  const [rows] = await pool.query(`
-    SELECT s.slug, p.public_base_url
-    FROM d_screens s
-    LEFT JOIN d_players p ON p.device_id = s.player_id
-    WHERE p.public_base_url IS NOT NULL
-      AND TRIM(p.public_base_url) <> ''
-    ORDER BY p.modified_at DESC, s.slug ASC
+    SELECT slug
+    FROM d_screens
+    ORDER BY slug ASC
  `);

  const playerUrls = {};
  rows.forEach(function (row) {
    const slug = String(row && row.slug || '').trim();
-    const publicBaseUrl = normalizePlayerBaseUrl(row && row.public_base_url);
-    const playerUrl = buildScreenPlayerUrl({ slug: slug }, publicBaseUrl);
+    const playerUrl = buildScreenPlayerUrl({ slug: slug }, playerBaseUrl);
    if (slug && playerUrl && !playerUrls[slug]) {
      playerUrls[slug] = playerUrl;
    }
@@ -51,27 +73,32 @@ async function fetchScreenPlayerUrls(pool) {
 }

 async function fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl(pool) {
+  const configuredPlayerIdentifier = getConfiguredPlayerIdentifier();
  const [rows] = await pool.query(`
    SELECT public_base_url
    FROM d_players
-    WHERE device_id = '1'
+    WHERE identifier = ?
    LIMIT 1
-  `);
+  `, [configuredPlayerIdentifier]);

  return normalizePlayerBaseUrl(rows[0] && rows[0].public_base_url) || null;
 }

 async function fetchScreenPlayerRecord(pool, slug) {
-  const [rows] = await pool.query(`
-    SELECT p.device_id, p.public_base_url, p.internal_base_url, p.last_seen_at
-    FROM d_screens s
-    JOIN d_players p ON p.device_id = s.player_id
-    WHERE s.slug = ?
-    ORDER BY p.modified_at DESC, p.device_id ASC
-    LIMIT 1
-  `, [slug]);
+  if (slug) {
+    const [rows] = await pool.query(
+      `SELECT slug
+       FROM d_screens
+       WHERE slug = ?
+       LIMIT 1`,
+      [slug]
+    );
+    if (!rows.length) {
+      return null;
+    }
+  }

-  return rows[0] || null;
+  return fetchPlayerRecordByIdentifier(pool, getConfiguredPlayerIdentifier());
 }

 async function uniqueScreenSlug(pool, baseSlug, excludeId) {
@@ -112,6 +139,8 @@ async function fetchScreenEditData(pool) {
 module.exports = {
  slugify,
  normalizePlayerBaseUrl,
+  getConfiguredPlayerIdentifier,
+  fetchPlayerRecordByIdentifier,
  buildScreenPlayerUrl,
  fetchScreenPlayerUrls,
  fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl,
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 // Snapshot only: keep this file aligned with the current schema state.
 async function ensureSchema(pool, options) {
+  const schemaLockName = 'pulse_signage_schema_lock';
+  const schemaConnection = await pool.getConnection();
+
+  try {
+    pool = schemaConnection;
+
+    const [lockRows] = await pool.query('SELECT GET_LOCK(?, 120) AS lock_acquired', [schemaLockName]);
+    if (!Number(lockRows && lockRows[0] && lockRows[0].lock_acquired)) {
+      throw new Error('Unable to acquire the schema migration lock.');
+    }
+
+    try {
      await pool.query(`
    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS c_canvas_sizes (
      id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
@@ -116,13 +128,24 @@ async function ensureSchema(pool, options) {
    ) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci
  `);

+  await pool.query(`
+    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS d_players (
+      id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
+      identifier VARCHAR(128) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
+      public_base_url VARCHAR(512) NULL,
+      internal_base_url VARCHAR(512) NULL,
+      last_seen_at TIMESTAMP NULL,
+      created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+      modified_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
+    ) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci
+  `);
+
  await pool.query(`
    CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS d_screens (
      id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
      name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
      slug VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
      playlist_id INT NULL,
-      player_id INT NULL,
      created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
      created_by INT NULL,
      modified_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
@@ -362,6 +385,13 @@ async function ensureSchema(pool, options) {

      const { runMigrations } = require('./migrations');
      await runMigrations(pool, options);
+    } finally {
+      await pool.query('SELECT RELEASE_LOCK(?)', [schemaLockName]).catch(function () {
+      });
+    }
+  } finally {
+    schemaConnection.release();
+  }
 }

 module.exports = {
@@ -19,10 +19,6 @@ const VERSIONED_MIGRATIONS = [
        `);
      }

-      // Seed the singleton player row used by the current one-player model.
-      // For multi-player support, this seed and the hardcoded screen_id/player_id mapping will need to be replaced.
-      await pool.query(`INSERT IGNORE INTO d_players (device_id) VALUES ('1')`);
-
      // Store the player pointer on screens so we can resolve the player without needing a player-side screen_id.
      // This is the singleton-player shortcut; a multi-player model should make this relational instead of hardcoded to '1'.
      if (!(await columnExists(pool, 'd_screens', 'player_id'))) {
@@ -212,6 +208,93 @@ const VERSIONED_MIGRATIONS = [
    run: async function (pool) {
      await ensureColumn(pool, 'c_template_regions', 'animation_json', 'JSON NULL', 'lock_ratio');
    }
+  },
+  {
+    version: '2.6.2',
+    label: 'v2.6.2 player identity schema',
+    run: async function (pool) {
+      if (!(await columnExists(pool, 'd_players', 'device_id'))) {
+        await dropForeignKeyIfExists(pool, 'd_screens', 'player_id');
+
+        if (!(await columnExists(pool, 'd_players', 'identifier'))) {
+          await ensureColumn(pool, 'd_players', 'identifier', 'VARCHAR(128) NOT NULL UNIQUE', 'id');
+        }
+        if (!(await columnExists(pool, 'd_players', 'id'))) {
+          await ensureColumn(pool, 'd_players', 'id', 'INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT', null);
+          await pool.query('ALTER TABLE d_players ADD PRIMARY KEY (id)');
+        } else if (!(await columnIsAutoIncrement(pool, 'd_players', 'id'))) {
+          await pool.query('ALTER TABLE d_players MODIFY COLUMN id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT');
+        }
+        await pool.query('ALTER TABLE d_screens MODIFY COLUMN player_id INT NULL AFTER playlist_id');
+        return;
+      }
+
+      await dropForeignKeyIfExists(pool, 'd_screens', 'player_id');
+
+      await pool.query('DROP TABLE IF EXISTS d_players_rebuild');
+      await pool.query(`
+        CREATE TABLE d_players_rebuild (
+          id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
+          identifier VARCHAR(128) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
+          public_base_url VARCHAR(512) NULL,
+          internal_base_url VARCHAR(512) NULL,
+          last_seen_at TIMESTAMP NULL,
+          created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
+          modified_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
+        ) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_unicode_ci
+      `);
+
+      await pool.query(`
+        INSERT INTO d_players_rebuild (identifier, public_base_url, internal_base_url, last_seen_at, created_at, modified_at)
+        SELECT DISTINCT
+          device_id AS identifier,
+          public_base_url,
+          internal_base_url,
+          last_seen_at,
+          created_at,
+          modified_at
+        FROM d_players
+        ORDER BY COALESCE(created_at, modified_at, device_id), device_id
+      `);
+
+      await pool.query('DROP TEMPORARY TABLE IF EXISTS d_player_id_map');
+      await pool.query(`
+        CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE d_player_id_map AS
+        SELECT old_players.device_id AS old_device_id, rebuilt_players.id AS new_player_id
+        FROM d_players old_players
+        JOIN d_players_rebuild rebuilt_players ON rebuilt_players.identifier = old_players.device_id
+      `);
+
+      await pool.query(
+        `UPDATE d_screens s
+         JOIN d_player_id_map m ON m.old_device_id = CAST(s.player_id AS CHAR)
+         SET s.player_id = m.new_player_id
+         WHERE s.player_id IS NOT NULL`
+      );
+
+      await pool.query('DROP TABLE d_players');
+      await pool.query('RENAME TABLE d_players_rebuild TO d_players');
+
+      await pool.query('ALTER TABLE d_screens MODIFY COLUMN player_id INT NULL AFTER playlist_id');
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    version: '2.6.3',
+    label: 'v2.6.3 screen-player fk removal',
+    run: async function (pool) {
+      await dropForeignKeyIfExists(pool, 'd_screens', 'player_id');
+      if (await columnExists(pool, 'd_screens', 'player_id')) {
+        await pool.query('ALTER TABLE d_screens MODIFY COLUMN player_id INT NULL AFTER playlist_id');
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  {
+    version: '2.6.4',
+    label: 'v2.6.4 drop screen player id',
+    run: async function (pool) {
+      await dropForeignKeyIfExists(pool, 'd_screens', 'player_id');
+      await dropColumnIfExists(pool, 'd_screens', 'player_id');
+    }
  }
 ];

@@ -228,6 +311,20 @@ async function columnExists(pool, tableName, columnName) {
  return Number(rows && rows[0] && rows[0].column_count) > 0;
 }

+async function columnIsAutoIncrement(pool, tableName, columnName) {
+  const [rows] = await pool.query(
+    `SELECT COUNT(*) AS auto_increment_count
+     FROM information_schema.COLUMNS
+     WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = DATABASE()
+       AND TABLE_NAME = ?
+       AND COLUMN_NAME = ?
+       AND EXTRA LIKE '%auto_increment%'`,
+    [tableName, columnName]
+  );
+
+  return Number(rows && rows[0] && rows[0].auto_increment_count) > 0;
+}
+
 async function ensureColumn(pool, tableName, columnName, columnDefinition, afterColumn) {
  if (await columnExists(pool, tableName, columnName)) {
    return;
@@ -289,6 +386,32 @@ async function ensureForeignKey(pool, tableName, constraintName, columnName, ref
  }
 }

+async function dropForeignKeyIfExists(pool, tableName, columnName) {
+  const [rows] = await pool.query(
+    `SELECT CONSTRAINT_NAME AS constraint_name
+     FROM information_schema.KEY_COLUMN_USAGE
+     WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = DATABASE()
+       AND TABLE_NAME = ?
+       AND COLUMN_NAME = ?
+       AND REFERENCED_TABLE_NAME IS NOT NULL
+     LIMIT 1`,
+    [tableName, columnName]
+  );
+
+  const constraintName = String(rows && rows[0] && rows[0].constraint_name || '').trim();
+  if (!constraintName) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  try {
+    await pool.query('ALTER TABLE ' + tableName + ' DROP FOREIGN KEY ' + constraintName);
+  } catch (error) {
+    if (!error || (error.code !== 'ER_CANT_DROP_FIELD_OR_KEY' && error.errno !== 1091)) {
+      throw error;
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 async function dropColumnIfExists(pool, tableName, columnName) {
  if (await columnExists(pool, tableName, columnName)) {
    try {
@@ -443,9 +566,20 @@ async function runMigrations(pool, options) {
  // Only run migrations that are newer than the installed schema version and not beyond the app version.
  const targetVersion = String(appVersion || '0.0.0').trim();
  const currentVersion = String(options && options.currentVersion || '0.0.0').trim();
+  const legacyPlayerSchemaPresent = await columnExists(pool, 'd_players', 'device_id');
+  const screenPlayerColumnPresent = await columnExists(pool, 'd_screens', 'player_id');
+  let effectiveCurrentVersion = currentVersion;
+
+  if (!legacyPlayerSchemaPresent && compareVersions(effectiveCurrentVersion, '2.1.0') < 0) {
+    effectiveCurrentVersion = '2.1.0';
+  }
+
+  if (!screenPlayerColumnPresent && compareVersions(effectiveCurrentVersion, '2.6.3') < 0) {
+    effectiveCurrentVersion = '2.6.3';
+  }

  for (const migration of VERSIONED_MIGRATIONS) {
-    if (compareVersions(migration.version, currentVersion) > 0 && compareVersions(migration.version, targetVersion) <= 0) {
+    if (compareVersions(migration.version, effectiveCurrentVersion) > 0 && compareVersions(migration.version, targetVersion) <= 0) {
      await migration.run(pool);
    }
  }
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 // Player onboarding routes and signup flow helpers.

+const express = require('express');
 const { isClientNameAvailable, withClientNameReservation } = require('#src/data/client-name-check');
 const { createStyledQrCodeSvg } = require('#src/data/qr-code');
-const { getSharedSecret, verifyPageAuthToken } = require('#src/request-auth');
+const { getSharedSecret, verifyPageAuthToken, createRequestAuthHeaders } = require('#src/request-auth');
+const { resolvePlayerRegistration, upsertPlayerRegistration: upsertPlayerRegistrationRecord } = require('#src/data/player-registry');
 const { isTransientDbError } = require('./store');

 const ONBOARDING_SIGNUP_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS = 5 * 60 * 1000;
@@ -133,7 +135,7 @@ async function commitDeviceBinding(pool, deviceId, clientName, screenSlug, isNam
  });
 }

-async function upsertPlayerRegistration(pool, deviceId, publicBaseUrl, internalBaseUrl, screenSlug) {
+async function upsertPlayerRegistration(pool, deviceId, publicBaseUrl, internalBaseUrl) {
  const normalizedDeviceId = normalizeDeviceId(deviceId);
  const normalizedPublicBaseUrl = String(publicBaseUrl || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
  const normalizedInternalBaseUrl = String(internalBaseUrl || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
@@ -141,18 +143,11 @@ async function upsertPlayerRegistration(pool, deviceId, publicBaseUrl, internalB
    return null;
  }

-  await pool.query(
-    `INSERT INTO d_players (device_id, public_base_url, internal_base_url, last_seen_at)
-     VALUES (?, ?, ?, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP)
-     ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE public_base_url = VALUES(public_base_url), internal_base_url = VALUES(internal_base_url), last_seen_at = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, modified_at = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP`,
-    [normalizedDeviceId, normalizedPublicBaseUrl || null, normalizedInternalBaseUrl || null]
-  );
-
-  return {
-    device_id: normalizedDeviceId,
-    public_base_url: normalizedPublicBaseUrl || null,
-    internal_base_url: normalizedInternalBaseUrl || null
-  };
+  return upsertPlayerRegistrationRecord(pool, {
+    identifier: normalizedDeviceId,
+    publicBaseUrl: normalizedPublicBaseUrl || null,
+    internalBaseUrl: normalizedInternalBaseUrl || null
+  });
 }

 async function bindPlayerToScreen(pool, deviceId, screenSlug) {
@@ -167,25 +162,9 @@ async function bindPlayerToScreen(pool, deviceId, screenSlug) {
    return null;
  }

-  const screenId = Number(screenRows[0].id);
-  const connection = await pool.getConnection();
-  try {
-    await connection.beginTransaction();
-    // Current model: every screen binds to the shared player row '1'.
-    // If we introduce multiple players, resolve the correct player row here instead of hardcoding it.
-    await connection.query("UPDATE d_screens SET player_id = '1', modified_at = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP WHERE id = ?", [screenId]);
-    await connection.commit();
-  } catch (error) {
-    await connection.rollback();
-    throw error;
-  } finally {
-    connection.release();
-  }
-
  return {
-    screen_id: screenId,
-    screen_slug: normalizedScreenSlug,
-    player_id: '1'
+    screen_id: Number(screenRows[0].id),
+    screen_slug: normalizedScreenSlug
  };
 }

@@ -224,13 +203,66 @@ function registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes(app, options) {
  const common = options && options.common ? options.common : null;
  const playerRuntime = options && options.playerRuntime ? options.playerRuntime : null;
  const onboardingStore = options && options.onboardingStore ? options.onboardingStore : null;
+  const playerPublicBaseUrl = String(options && options.playerPublicBaseUrl || process.env.PLAYER_PUBLIC_BASE_URL || process.env.PLAYER_BASE_URL || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
+  const thinClientBaseUrl = String(options && options.thinClientBaseUrl || process.env.THIN_CLIENT_BASE_URL || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
+  const playerDeviceId = normalizeDeviceId(options && options.playerDeviceId);

-  if (!app || !pool || !common || !playerRuntime) {
-    throw new Error('registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes requires app, pool, common, and playerRuntime.');
+  if (!app || !common) {
+    throw new Error('registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes requires app and common.');
+  }
+
+  if (!thinClientBaseUrl && (!pool || !playerRuntime)) {
+    throw new Error('registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes requires pool and playerRuntime unless thinClientBaseUrl is configured.');
  }

  const sharedSecret = getSharedSecret();

+  async function fetchThinClient(req, pathname, options) {
+    if (!thinClientBaseUrl) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    const requestOptions = options && typeof options === 'object' ? options : {};
+    const method = String(requestOptions.method || req.method || 'GET').trim().toUpperCase();
+    const body = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(requestOptions, 'body') ? requestOptions.body : undefined;
+    const requestPathname = String(pathname || '').split('?')[0];
+    const headers = Object.assign({}, requestOptions.headers || {}, createRequestAuthHeaders({
+      method: method,
+      pathname: requestPathname,
+      body: body
+    }));
+
+    if (req.headers['x-pulse-page-auth']) {
+      headers['x-pulse-page-auth'] = String(req.headers['x-pulse-page-auth']).trim();
+    }
+    if (requestOptions.contentType) {
+      headers['content-type'] = requestOptions.contentType;
+    }
+
+    return fetch(new URL(pathname, thinClientBaseUrl).toString(), {
+      method: method,
+      headers: headers,
+      body: body === undefined || body === null || method === 'GET' || method === 'HEAD' ? undefined : body
+    });
+  }
+
+  async function readJsonResponse(response) {
+    if (!response) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    const contentType = String(response.headers && typeof response.headers.get === 'function' ? response.headers.get('content-type') : '').toLowerCase();
+    if (contentType.indexOf('application/json') === -1 && contentType.indexOf('+json') === -1) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    try {
+      return await response.json();
+    } catch (_error) {
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
+
  function requireOnboardingPageAuth(req, res, next) {
    if (!sharedSecret) {
      return next();
@@ -254,7 +286,7 @@ function registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes(app, options) {
  app.get('/onboard', async function (req, res, next) {
    res.set('Cache-Control', 'no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate');
    try {
-      res.send(common.renderPlayerOnboardingFormPage(String(req.query.deviceId || '').trim()));
+      res.send(common.renderPlayerOnboardingFormPage(String(req.query.deviceId || playerDeviceId || '').trim()));
    } catch (error) {
      next(error);
    }
@@ -272,15 +304,32 @@ function registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes(app, options) {
    next();
  }, async function (req, res, next) {
    try {
-      const status = await getOnboardingStatus(pool, req.query.deviceId);
+      const deviceId = normalizeDeviceId(req.query.deviceId) || playerDeviceId;
+      if (thinClientBaseUrl) {
+        const response = await fetchThinClient(req, '/api/onboarding/status?deviceId=' + encodeURIComponent(deviceId || ''), {
+          method: 'GET'
+        });
+        if (!response) {
+          return res.status(502).json({ error: 'Player bridge unavailable.' });
+        }
+        res.status(response.status);
+        const payload = await readJsonResponse(response);
+        if (!payload) {
+          return res.status(502).json({ error: 'Player bridge returned an invalid response.' });
+        }
+        payload.playerUrl = payload && payload.screenSlug ? `${getPublicBaseUrl(req, playerPublicBaseUrl)}/screen/${encodeURIComponent(payload.screenSlug)}` : null;
+        return res.json(payload);
+      }
+
+      const status = await getOnboardingStatus(pool, deviceId);
      res.json({
-        deviceId: normalizeDeviceId(req.query.deviceId),
+        deviceId: normalizeDeviceId(deviceId),
        onboarded: Boolean(status && status.screen_id),
        clientName: status ? status.client_name : null,
        screenId: status ? status.screen_id : null,
        screenSlug: status ? status.screen_slug : null,
        screenName: status ? status.screen_name : null,
-        playerUrl: status && status.screen_slug ? `${getPublicBaseUrl(req)}/screen/${encodeURIComponent(status.screen_slug)}` : null
+        playerUrl: status && status.screen_slug ? `${getPublicBaseUrl(req, playerPublicBaseUrl)}/screen/${encodeURIComponent(status.screen_slug)}` : null
      });
    } catch (error) {
      next(error);
@@ -289,6 +338,16 @@ function registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes(app, options) {

  app.get('/api/onboarding/screens', requireOnboardingPageAuth, async function (_req, res, next) {
    try {
+      if (thinClientBaseUrl) {
+        const response = await fetchThinClient(_req, '/api/onboarding/screens', {
+          method: 'GET'
+        });
+        res.status(response.status);
+        const text = await response.text();
+        res.type(response.headers.get('content-type') || 'application/json');
+        return res.send(text);
+      }
+
      const [rows] = await pool.query('SELECT id, name, slug FROM d_screens ORDER BY name ASC, id ASC');
      res.json({ screens: rows });
    } catch (error) {
@@ -298,11 +357,11 @@ function registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes(app, options) {

  app.get('/api/onboarding/qr', async function (req, res, next) {
    try {
-      const deviceId = normalizeDeviceId(req.query.deviceId);
+      const deviceId = normalizeDeviceId(req.query.deviceId) || playerDeviceId;
      if (!deviceId) {
        return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Device ID is required' });
      }
-      const onboardingUrl = `${getPublicBaseUrl(req, options && options.playerPublicBaseUrl)}/onboard?deviceId=${encodeURIComponent(deviceId)}`;
+      const onboardingUrl = `${getPublicBaseUrl(req, playerPublicBaseUrl)}/onboard?deviceId=${encodeURIComponent(deviceId)}`;
      const svg = await createStyledQrCodeSvg({ value: onboardingUrl, qr_margin: 20 });
      res.set('Content-Type', 'image/svg+xml; charset=utf-8');
      res.set('Cache-Control', 'no-store');
@@ -312,9 +371,9 @@ function registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes(app, options) {
    }
  });

-  app.post('/api/onboarding', requireOnboardingPageAuth, async function (req, res, next) {
+  app.post('/api/onboarding', requireOnboardingPageAuth, express.json(), async function (req, res, next) {
    try {
-      const deviceId = normalizeDeviceId(req.body && req.body.deviceId);
+      const deviceId = normalizeDeviceId(req.body && req.body.deviceId) || playerDeviceId;
      const clientName = String((req.body && req.body.clientName) || '').trim();
      const screenSlug = String((req.body && req.body.screenSlug) || '').trim();
      const retryAfterSeconds = isOnboardingSignupRateLimited(req, deviceId);
@@ -322,6 +381,30 @@ function registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes(app, options) {
        res.set('Retry-After', String(retryAfterSeconds));
        return res.status(429).json({ error: 'Too many onboarding attempts. Please try again later.' });
      }
+
+      if (thinClientBaseUrl) {
+        const forwardedBody = Object.assign({}, req.body || {}, {
+          deviceId: deviceId
+        });
+        const response = await fetch(new URL('/api/onboarding', thinClientBaseUrl).toString(), {
+          method: 'POST',
+          headers: Object.assign({
+            'content-type': 'application/json'
+          }, createRequestAuthHeaders({
+            method: 'POST',
+            pathname: '/api/onboarding',
+            body: forwardedBody
+          }), req.headers['x-pulse-page-auth'] ? { 'x-pulse-page-auth': String(req.headers['x-pulse-page-auth']).trim() } : {}),
+          body: JSON.stringify(forwardedBody)
+        });
+        res.status(response.status);
+        const payload = await readJsonResponse(response);
+        if (!payload) {
+          return res.status(502).json({ error: 'Player bridge returned an invalid response.' });
+        }
+        payload.playerUrl = payload && payload.screenSlug ? `${getPublicBaseUrl(req, playerPublicBaseUrl)}/screen/${encodeURIComponent(payload.screenSlug)}` : `${getPublicBaseUrl(req, playerPublicBaseUrl)}/screen/${encodeURIComponent(screenSlug)}`;
+        return res.json(payload);
+      }
      if (!deviceId) {
        return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Device ID is required' });
      }
@@ -340,11 +423,14 @@ function registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes(app, options) {
        screenId: status && status.screen_id ? status.screen_id : null,
        screenSlug: status ? status.screen_slug : screenSlug,
        screenName: status && status.screen_name ? status.screen_name : null,
-        playerUrl: status && status.screen_slug ? `${getPublicBaseUrl(req)}/screen/${encodeURIComponent(status.screen_slug)}` : `${getPublicBaseUrl(req)}/screen/${encodeURIComponent(screenSlug)}`,
+        playerUrl: status && status.screen_slug ? `${getPublicBaseUrl(req, playerPublicBaseUrl)}/screen/${encodeURIComponent(status.screen_slug)}` : `${getPublicBaseUrl(req, playerPublicBaseUrl)}/screen/${encodeURIComponent(screenSlug)}`,
        queued: Boolean(status && status.queued)
      });
    } catch (error) {
-      next(error);
+        const statusCode = Number(error && error.statusCode || error && error.status || 500);
+        res.status(Number.isFinite(statusCode) && statusCode >= 400 ? statusCode : 500).json({
+          error: error && error.message ? error.message : 'Onboarding failed.'
+        });
    }
  });
 }
@@ -39,8 +39,14 @@
          return screens;
        });
    }
-    if (!deviceId) { setMessage("Missing device id. Scan the QR code from the player screen again."); return; }
-    try { window.localStorage.setItem(deviceKey, deviceId); } catch (_error) {}
+    try {
+      if (!deviceId) {
+        deviceId = window.localStorage.getItem(deviceKey) || "";
+      }
+      if (deviceId) {
+        window.localStorage.setItem(deviceKey, deviceId);
+      }
+    } catch (_error) {}
    loadScreens().then(function () {
      try {
        var storedClientName = window.localStorage.getItem(clientNameKey) || "";
@@ -58,10 +64,14 @@
      if (!clientName) { setMessage("Client name is required."); return; }
      if (!screenSlug) { setMessage("Screen is required."); return; }
      setMessage("Saving client...");
+      var payload = { clientName: clientName, screenSlug: screenSlug };
+      if (deviceId) {
+        payload.deviceId = deviceId;
+      }
      fetch("/api/onboarding", {
        method: "POST",
        headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json", Accept: "application/json" },
-        body: JSON.stringify({ deviceId: deviceId, clientName: clientName, screenSlug: screenSlug })
+        body: JSON.stringify(payload)
      })
         .then(function (response) {
           if (response.ok) {
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
        if (!storedClientName && storedScreenSlug) { storedClientName = window.localStorage.getItem(getClientNameStorageKey(storedScreenSlug)) || ""; }
        if (storedClientName && localForm) {
          var clientNameInput = localForm.querySelector("input[name=\"clientName\"]");
-          if (clientNameInput && !clientNameInput.value) { clientNameInput.value = storedClientName; }
+          if (clientNameInput) { clientNameInput.value = storedClientName; }
        }
        if (storedScreenSlug && localScreenSelect) { localScreenSelect.value = storedScreenSlug; }
      } catch (_error) {}
@@ -263,20 +263,33 @@ function renderSlideMarkup(markup, shouldFade) {
    });
  }

+  function schedulePostRenderSetup(root, delayMs) {
+    if (!root) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (root.isConnected === false) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (typeof syncRtmpRegions === 'function') {
+      syncRtmpRegions(root);
+    }
+
+    if (!isThumbnailPreview()) {
+      initializeRegionInstances(root);
+    }
+
+    initializeRenderedVideoPlayback(root, delayMs);
+
+    if (typeof playRegionAnimations === 'function') {
+      playRegionAnimations(root, 'intro');
+    }
+  }
+
  if (!shouldFade) {
    app.innerHTML = markup;
-    if (typeof syncRtmpRegions === 'function') {
-      syncRtmpRegions(app);
-    }
-    if (!isThumbnailPreview()) {
-      initializeRegionInstances(app);
-    }
-    initializeRenderedVideoPlayback(app);
-    if (typeof playRegionAnimations === 'function') {
-      window.requestAnimationFrame(function () {
-        playRegionAnimations(app, 'intro');
-      });
-    }
+    schedulePostRenderSetup(app, 0);
    return app.firstElementChild;
  }

@@ -325,11 +338,7 @@ function renderSlideMarkup(markup, shouldFade) {
    app.innerHTML = '';
    nextShell.style.opacity = '1';
    app.appendChild(nextShell);
-    if (typeof syncRtmpRegions === 'function') {
-      syncRtmpRegions(nextShell);
-    }
-    initializeRegionInstances(nextShell);
-    initializeRenderedVideoPlayback(nextShell, slideFadeDurationMs / 2);
+    schedulePostRenderSetup(nextShell, slideFadeDurationMs / 2);
    return nextShell;
  }

@@ -340,24 +349,12 @@ function renderSlideMarkup(markup, shouldFade) {
  pauseRenderedVideoPlayback(previousShell, slideFadeDurationMs / 2);

  app.appendChild(nextShell);
-  void nextShell.offsetHeight;
  window.requestAnimationFrame(function () {
    nextShell.style.opacity = '1';
    previousShell.style.opacity = '0';
-    if (typeof playRegionAnimations === 'function') {
-      playRegionAnimations(nextShell, 'intro');
-    }
+    schedulePostRenderSetup(nextShell, slideFadeDurationMs / 2);
  });

-  if (typeof syncRtmpRegions === 'function') {
-    syncRtmpRegions(nextShell);
-  }
-
-  if (!isThumbnailPreview()) {
-    initializeRegionInstances(nextShell);
-  }
-  initializeRenderedVideoPlayback(nextShell, slideFadeDurationMs / 2);
-
  slideTransitionTimer = window.setTimeout(function () {
    if (previousShell && previousShell.parentNode) {
      previousShell.parentNode.removeChild(previousShell);
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ async function renderSlideAtIndex(sourceSlides, targetIndex) {
  index = currentIndex;
  var markup = buildSlideMarkup(slide);
  renderSlideMarkup(markup, currentPlaylistFadeBetweenSlides);
+  if (typeof scheduleSlideMarkupPreload === 'function') {
+    scheduleSlideMarkupPreload(availableSlides, currentIndex);
+  }
  sendCommandState(slide);
  if (!isPaused) {
    scheduleSlideAdvance(getSlideHoldDelay(Math.max(1, Number(slide.duration_seconds || 10)) * 1000));
@@ -90,6 +93,9 @@ function showCurrent() {
  if (typeof syncRtmpWarmups === 'function') {
    syncRtmpWarmups(activeSlides, index);
  }
+  if (typeof scheduleSlideMarkupPreload === 'function') {
+    scheduleSlideMarkupPreload(activeSlides, index);
+  }
  if (!activeSlides.length) {
    renderEmpty(slides.length ? 'No slides are scheduled for this time.' : 'No slides assigned to this screen yet.');
    lastRenderedViewKey = getCurrentRenderKey(activeSlides);
@@ -211,6 +217,9 @@ function refresh() {
      if (typeof syncRtmpWarmups === 'function') {
        syncRtmpWarmups(nextActiveSlides, index);
      }
+      if (typeof scheduleSlideMarkupPreload === 'function') {
+        scheduleSlideMarkupPreload(nextActiveSlides, index);
+      }
      if (nextActiveSlides.length < 2) {
        pendingPlaylistUpdate = {
          slides: nextSlides,
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ function getCurrentRenderKey(activeSlides) {
  return [currentPlaylistSignature || '', viewportKey, 'slide', slide && slide.id ? slide.id : ''].join('|');
 }

-// Pick the current slide and the next slide for webpage preloading.
+// Pick the next slide for webpage preloading.
 function getWebpagePreloadSlides(sourceSlides, targetIndex) {
  const availableSlides = Array.isArray(sourceSlides) ? sourceSlides : [];
  if (!availableSlides.length) {
@@ -97,19 +97,71 @@ function getWebpagePreloadSlides(sourceSlides, targetIndex) {
  }

  const preloadSlides = [];
-  const currentSlide = availableSlides[normalizedIndex];
  const nextSlide = availableSlides[normalizedIndex + 1];

-  if (currentSlide) {
-    preloadSlides.push(currentSlide);
-  }
-  if (nextSlide && nextSlide !== currentSlide) {
+  if (nextSlide) {
    preloadSlides.push(nextSlide);
  }

  return preloadSlides;
 }

+// Pick the next slide to warm its markup before it becomes visible.
+function getSlideMarkupPreloadSlides(sourceSlides, targetIndex) {
+  const availableSlides = Array.isArray(sourceSlides) ? sourceSlides : [];
+  if (!availableSlides.length) {
+    return [];
+  }
+
+  let normalizedIndex = Number(targetIndex || 0);
+  if (!Number.isFinite(normalizedIndex) || normalizedIndex < 0 || normalizedIndex >= availableSlides.length) {
+    normalizedIndex = 0;
+  }
+
+  const preloadSlides = [];
+  const nextSlide = availableSlides[normalizedIndex + 1];
+
+  if (nextSlide) {
+    preloadSlides.push(nextSlide);
+  }
+
+  return preloadSlides;
+}
+
+function scheduleSlideMarkupPreload(sourceSlides, targetIndex) {
+  if (window.__pulseThumbnailPreview) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const preloadSlides = getSlideMarkupPreloadSlides(sourceSlides, targetIndex);
+  if (!preloadSlides.length || typeof primeSlideMarkup !== 'function') {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const slide = preloadSlides[0];
+  const preloadSignature = [
+    currentPlaylistSignature || '',
+    slide && slide.id ? slide.id : '',
+    slide && slide.template_id ? slide.template_id : '',
+    slide && slide.modified_at ? slide.modified_at : '',
+    window.innerWidth + 'x' + window.innerHeight,
+    videoRegionRenderVersion || 0
+  ].join('|');
+
+  if (scheduleSlideMarkupPreload.signature === preloadSignature) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  scheduleSlideMarkupPreload.signature = preloadSignature;
+
+  window.setTimeout(function () {
+    if (scheduleSlideMarkupPreload.signature !== preloadSignature) {
+      return;
+    }
+    primeSlideMarkup(slide);
+  }, 0);
+}
+
 // Mount hidden iframe preloads for the chosen webpage URLs.
 function syncWebpagePreloads(sourceSlides, targetIndex) {
  const urls = getWebpageUrls(getWebpagePreloadSlides(sourceSlides, targetIndex));
@@ -893,6 +893,45 @@ function getSlideMarkupCacheKey(slide) {
  return [currentPlaylistSignature || '', slide && slide.id ? slide.id : '', slide && slide.template_id ? slide.template_id : '', slide && slide.modified_at ? slide.modified_at : '', viewportKey, videoRegionRenderVersion || 0].join('|');
 }

+function restorePlayerCanvasDimensions(width, height) {
+  if (!document || !document.documentElement) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  var style = document.documentElement.style;
+  if (width) {
+    style.setProperty('--player-canvas-width', width);
+  } else {
+    style.removeProperty('--player-canvas-width');
+  }
+
+  if (height) {
+    style.setProperty('--player-canvas-height', height);
+  } else {
+    style.removeProperty('--player-canvas-height');
+  }
+}
+
+function primeSlideMarkup(slide) {
+  if (!slide) {
+    return '';
+  }
+
+  var cachedMarkup = getCachedSlideMarkup(slide);
+  if (cachedMarkup) {
+    return cachedMarkup;
+  }
+
+  var previousWidth = document && document.documentElement && document.documentElement.style ? String(document.documentElement.style.getPropertyValue('--player-canvas-width') || '') : '';
+  var previousHeight = document && document.documentElement && document.documentElement.style ? String(document.documentElement.style.getPropertyValue('--player-canvas-height') || '') : '';
+
+  try {
+    return buildSlideMarkupForState(slide, false);
+  } finally {
+    restorePlayerCanvasDimensions(previousWidth.trim(), previousHeight.trim());
+  }
+}
+
 function notifyVideoRegionSourceReady() {
  if (typeof videoRegionRenderVersion === 'number') {
    videoRegionRenderVersion += 1;
@@ -919,9 +958,12 @@ function setCachedSlideMarkup(slide, markup) {

 // Slide rendering and markup cache helpers.
 // Choose the right slide renderer and cache the result.
-function buildSlideMarkup(slide) {
+function buildSlideMarkupForState(slide, updateCurrentState) {
+  if (updateCurrentState) {
    lastRenderedSlide = slide || null;
    syncBlackoutState();
+  }
+
  var cachedMarkup = getCachedSlideMarkup(slide);
  if (cachedMarkup) {
    return cachedMarkup;
@@ -938,3 +980,7 @@ function buildSlideMarkup(slide) {
  setCachedSlideMarkup(slide, markup);
  return markup;
 }
+
+function buildSlideMarkup(slide) {
+  return buildSlideMarkupForState(slide, true);
+}
@@ -304,13 +304,9 @@ function getRtmpWarmupSlides(sourceSlides, targetIndex) {
  }

  var warmupSlides = [];
-  var currentSlide = availableSlides[normalizedIndex];
  var nextSlide = availableSlides[normalizedIndex + 1];

-  if (currentSlide) {
-    warmupSlides.push(currentSlide);
-  }
-  if (nextSlide && nextSlide !== currentSlide) {
+  if (nextSlide) {
    warmupSlides.push(nextSlide);
  }

@@ -693,12 +689,11 @@ function startRtmpPlayback(video, sourceUrl, disableAudio, skipUnavailable, plac
    if (window.Hls && window.Hls.isSupported && window.Hls.isSupported()) {
      var hls = new window.Hls({
        enableWorker: true,
-        lowLatencyMode: true,
-        liveSyncDurationCount: 4,
-        liveMaxLatencyDurationCount: 8,
-        maxBufferLength: 20,
+        liveSyncDurationCount: 6,
+        liveMaxLatencyDurationCount: 12,
+        maxBufferLength: 30,
        maxLiveSyncPlaybackRate: 1,
-        backBufferLength: 30
+        backBufferLength: 60
      });
      video.__rtmpHls = hls;
      hls.attachMedia(video);
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ function renderVideoRegion(region, regionContent) {
      videoRegionLastGoodSrcCache[regionKey] = requestedSrc;
    }
    setVideoSourceAvailability(requestedSrc, true);
-    return '<div class="template-region video" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><video src="' + escapeHtml(requestedSrcVersioned) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label) + '" data-disable-audio="' + (disableAudio ? '1' : '0') + '" autoplay' + (disableAudio ? ' muted' : '') + ' loop playsinline preload="auto" disablepictureinpicture oncanplay="this.play().catch(function () {})" onloadedmetadata="this.play().catch(function () {})"></video></div>';
+    return '<div class="template-region video" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><video src="' + escapeHtml(requestedSrcVersioned) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label) + '" data-disable-audio="' + (disableAudio ? '1' : '0') + '" autoplay' + (disableAudio ? ' muted' : '') + ' loop playsinline preload="auto" disablepictureinpicture oncanplay="this.play().catch(function () {})"></video></div>';
  }

  var requestedState = getVideoSourceAvailability(requestedSrc);
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ function renderVideoRegion(region, regionContent) {
    if (regionKey) {
      videoRegionLastGoodSrcCache[regionKey] = requestedSrc;
    }
-    return '<div class="template-region video" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><video src="' + escapeHtml(requestedSrcVersioned) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label) + '" data-disable-audio="' + (disableAudio ? '1' : '0') + '" autoplay' + (disableAudio ? ' muted' : '') + ' loop playsinline preload="auto" disablepictureinpicture oncanplay="this.play().catch(function () {})" onloadedmetadata="this.play().catch(function () {})"></video></div>';
+    return '<div class="template-region video" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><video src="' + escapeHtml(requestedSrcVersioned) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label) + '" data-disable-audio="' + (disableAudio ? '1' : '0') + '" autoplay' + (disableAudio ? ' muted' : '') + ' loop playsinline preload="auto" disablepictureinpicture oncanplay="this.play().catch(function () {})"></video></div>';
  }

  scheduleVideoSourceProbe(regionKey, requestedSrc, false);
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ function renderVideoRegion(region, regionContent) {
    if (cachedSrc !== requestedSrc) {
      logVideoRegionStatus('Keeping the previous playable video until the new mirrored file finishes transferring.', 'region=' + regionKey + ' old=' + cachedSrc + ' new=' + requestedSrc);
    }
-    return '<div class="template-region video" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><video src="' + escapeHtml(cachedSrcVersioned) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label) + '" data-disable-audio="' + (disableAudio ? '1' : '0') + '" autoplay' + (disableAudio ? ' muted' : '') + ' loop playsinline preload="auto" disablepictureinpicture oncanplay="this.play().catch(function () {})" onloadedmetadata="this.play().catch(function () {})"></video></div>';
+    return '<div class="template-region video" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><video src="' + escapeHtml(cachedSrcVersioned) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label) + '" data-disable-audio="' + (disableAudio ? '1' : '0') + '" autoplay' + (disableAudio ? ' muted' : '') + ' loop playsinline preload="auto" disablepictureinpicture oncanplay="this.play().catch(function () {})"></video></div>';
  }

  return '';
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 const fs = require('fs');
 const express = require('express');
 const path = require('path');
-const { getSharedSecret, createPageAuthBundle, verifyPageAuthToken, verifyRequestAuth } = require('#src/request-auth');
+const { getSharedSecret, createPageAuthBundle, verifyPageAuthToken, verifyRequestAuth, createRequestAuthHeaders } = require('#src/request-auth');
 const { buildThumbnailPreviewData } = require('./thumbnail-preview');

 const TRANSIENT_DB_ERROR_CODES = ['ECONNREFUSED', 'ECONNRESET', 'ETIMEDOUT', 'EPIPE', 'ENOTFOUND', 'PROTOCOL_CONNECTION_LOST', 'POOL_CLOSED', 'ERR_POOL_CLOSED'];
@@ -12,6 +12,17 @@ function isTransientDbError(error) {
  return Boolean(error && TRANSIENT_DB_ERROR_CODES.indexOf(String(error.code || '').trim()) !== -1);
 }

+function isBridgeFetchError(error) {
+  const message = String(error && error.message || '').toLowerCase();
+  return Boolean(error && (
+    message.indexOf('fetch failed') !== -1 ||
+    message.indexOf('network error') !== -1 ||
+    message.indexOf('econnreset') !== -1 ||
+    message.indexOf('econnrefused') !== -1 ||
+    message.indexOf('enotfound') !== -1
+  ));
+}
+
 function registerPlayerRoutes(app, options) {
  const pool = options && options.pool ? options.pool : null;
  const common = options && options.common ? options.common : null;
@@ -22,14 +33,68 @@ function registerPlayerRoutes(app, options) {
  const rtmpStreamService = options && options.rtmpStreamService ? options.rtmpStreamService : null;
  const playerPublicBaseUrl = String(options && options.playerPublicBaseUrl || process.env.PLAYER_PUBLIC_BASE_URL || process.env.PLAYER_BASE_URL || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
  const playerInternalBaseUrl = String(options && options.playerInternalBaseUrl || process.env.PLAYER_INTERNAL_BASE_URL || process.env.PLAYER_BASE_URL || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
-  const playerIdentifier = String(options && options.playerIdentifier || '1').trim() || '1';
+  const thinClientBaseUrl = String(options && options.thinClientBaseUrl || process.env.THIN_CLIENT_BASE_URL || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
+  const playerDeviceId = String(options && options.playerDeviceId || '').trim() || null;

-  if (!app || !pool || !common || !mediaDir || !assetDir || !playerRuntime || !playerPlaylistService || !rtmpStreamService) {
-    throw new Error('registerPlayerRoutes requires app, pool, common, mediaDir, assetDir, playerRuntime, playerPlaylistService, and rtmpStreamService.');
+  if (!app || !common || !mediaDir || !assetDir || !playerRuntime || !rtmpStreamService) {
+    throw new Error('registerPlayerRoutes requires app, common, mediaDir, assetDir, playerRuntime, and rtmpStreamService.');
+  }
+
+  if (!thinClientBaseUrl && (!pool || !playerPlaylistService)) {
+    throw new Error('registerPlayerRoutes requires pool and playerPlaylistService unless thinClientBaseUrl is configured.');
  }

  const sharedSecret = getSharedSecret();

+  async function fetchThinClient(req, pathname, options) {
+    if (!thinClientBaseUrl) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    const requestOptions = options && typeof options === 'object' ? options : {};
+    const method = String(requestOptions.method || req.method || 'GET').trim().toUpperCase();
+    const body = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(requestOptions, 'body') ? requestOptions.body : undefined;
+    const requestPathname = String(pathname || '').split('?')[0];
+    const headers = Object.assign({}, requestOptions.headers || {}, createRequestAuthHeaders({
+      method: method,
+      pathname: requestPathname,
+      body: body
+    }));
+
+    if (req.headers['x-pulse-page-auth']) {
+      headers['x-pulse-page-auth'] = String(req.headers['x-pulse-page-auth']).trim();
+    }
+    if (req.headers['if-none-match']) {
+      headers['if-none-match'] = String(req.headers['if-none-match']).trim();
+    }
+    if (requestOptions.contentType) {
+      headers['content-type'] = requestOptions.contentType;
+    }
+
+    return fetch(new URL(pathname, thinClientBaseUrl).toString(), {
+      method: method,
+      headers: headers,
+      body: body === undefined || body === null || method === 'GET' || method === 'HEAD' ? undefined : body
+    });
+  }
+
+  async function readJsonResponse(response) {
+    if (!response) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    const contentType = String(response.headers && typeof response.headers.get === 'function' ? response.headers.get('content-type') : '').toLowerCase();
+    if (contentType.indexOf('application/json') === -1 && contentType.indexOf('+json') === -1) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    try {
+      return await response.json();
+    } catch (_error) {
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
+
  function requirePageAuth(allowedScopes) {
    return function (req, res, next) {
      if (!sharedSecret) {
@@ -114,6 +179,26 @@ function registerPlayerRoutes(app, options) {
  });

  app.get('/api/media/config', requireRequestAuth, function (_req, res) {
+    if (thinClientBaseUrl) {
+      void fetch(new URL('/api/media/config', thinClientBaseUrl).toString(), {
+        method: 'GET',
+        headers: createRequestAuthHeaders({
+          method: 'GET',
+          pathname: '/api/media/config'
+        })
+      }).then(async function (response) {
+        res.status(response.status);
+        const contentType = response.headers.get('content-type');
+        if (contentType) {
+          res.type(contentType);
+        }
+        res.send(await response.text());
+      }).catch(function (_error) {
+        res.status(502).json({ error: 'Thin client unavailable.' });
+      });
+      return;
+    }
+
    res.json({
      mediaDir: mediaDir,
      uploadDir: path.join(mediaDir, 'uploads')
@@ -213,9 +298,35 @@ function registerPlayerRoutes(app, options) {
  app.get('/screen/:slug', function (req, res) {
    res.set('Cache-Control', 'no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate');
    res.set('Pragma', 'no-cache');
+    if (thinClientBaseUrl) {
+      const pageAuthToken = createPageAuthBundle({ scope: 'player', slug: String(req.params.slug || '').trim() }).token;
+      void fetchThinClient(req, '/api/screens/' + encodeURIComponent(req.params.slug) + '/playlist?ts=' + Date.now(), {
+        method: 'GET',
+        headers: pageAuthToken ? { 'x-pulse-page-auth': pageAuthToken } : {}
+      }).then(async function (response) {
+        if (!response || response.status >= 400) {
+          res.set('X-Player-Offline', '1');
+          return res.send(common.renderPlayerPage(req.params.slug, null));
+        }
+        const data = await readJsonResponse(response);
+        if (!data) {
+          res.set('X-Player-Offline', '1');
+          return res.send(common.renderPlayerPage(req.params.slug, null));
+        }
+        res.send(common.renderPlayerPage(req.params.slug, data));
+      }).catch(function (error) {
+        if (!isBridgeFetchError(error)) {
+          console.error(error);
+        }
+        res.set('X-Player-Offline', '1');
+        res.send(common.renderPlayerPage(req.params.slug, null));
+      });
+      return;
+    }
+
    const { bindPlayerToScreen } = require('./onboarding');
-    if (playerIdentifier) {
-      void bindPlayerToScreen(pool, playerIdentifier, req.params.slug)
+    if (playerDeviceId) {
+      void bindPlayerToScreen(pool, playerDeviceId, req.params.slug)
        .catch(function (error) {
          console.error(error);
        });
@@ -231,6 +342,19 @@ function registerPlayerRoutes(app, options) {

  app.get('/api/internal/slide-thumbnails/:id/preview', requireRequestAuth, async function (req, res, next) {
    try {
+      if (thinClientBaseUrl) {
+        const response = await fetchThinClient(req, '/api/internal/slide-thumbnails/' + encodeURIComponent(req.params.id) + '/preview', {
+          method: 'GET'
+        });
+        if (!response) {
+          return res.status(502).send('Thin client unavailable');
+        }
+        res.status(response.status);
+        res.set('Cache-Control', response.headers.get('cache-control') || 'no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate');
+        res.type(response.headers.get('content-type') || 'text/html; charset=utf-8');
+        return res.send(await response.text());
+      }
+
      const slide = await common.fetchSlideById(pool, Number(req.params.id));
      if (!slide) {
        return res.status(404).send('Slide not found');
@@ -273,6 +397,29 @@ function registerPlayerRoutes(app, options) {

  app.get('/api/screens/:slug/playlist', requirePageAuth(['player']), async function (req, res, next) {
    try {
+      if (thinClientBaseUrl) {
+        const response = await fetchThinClient(req, '/api/screens/' + encodeURIComponent(req.params.slug) + '/playlist', {
+          method: 'GET'
+        });
+        if (!response) {
+          return res.status(502).json({ error: 'Thin client unavailable.' });
+        }
+        res.status(response.status);
+        const etag = response.headers.get('etag');
+        const cacheControl = response.headers.get('cache-control');
+        if (etag) {
+          res.set('ETag', etag);
+        }
+        if (cacheControl) {
+          res.set('Cache-Control', cacheControl);
+        }
+        if (response.status === 304) {
+          return res.end();
+        }
+        res.type(response.headers.get('content-type') || 'application/json');
+        return res.send(await response.text());
+      }
+
      res.set('Cache-Control', 'no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate');
      const data = await playerPlaylistService.buildScreenPlaylist(req.params.slug);
      if (!data.screen) {
@@ -293,6 +440,29 @@ function registerPlayerRoutes(app, options) {

  app.get('/api/screens/:slug/announcement', requirePageAuth(['player']), async function (req, res, next) {
    try {
+      if (thinClientBaseUrl) {
+        const response = await fetchThinClient(req, '/api/screens/' + encodeURIComponent(req.params.slug) + '/announcement', {
+          method: 'GET'
+        });
+        if (!response) {
+          return res.status(502).json({ error: 'Thin client unavailable.' });
+        }
+        res.status(response.status);
+        const etag = response.headers.get('etag');
+        const cacheControl = response.headers.get('cache-control');
+        if (etag) {
+          res.set('ETag', etag);
+        }
+        if (cacheControl) {
+          res.set('Cache-Control', cacheControl);
+        }
+        if (response.status === 304) {
+          return res.end();
+        }
+        res.type(response.headers.get('content-type') || 'application/json');
+        return res.send(await response.text());
+      }
+
      res.set('Cache-Control', 'no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate');
      const announcement = typeof common.fetchActiveAnnouncement === 'function'
        ? await common.fetchActiveAnnouncement(pool, req.params.slug)
@@ -335,6 +505,7 @@ function registerPlayerRoutes(app, options) {
      const connections = playerRuntime.snapshotConnections(req.params.slug);
      let screen = null;
      let screenLookupFailed = false;
+      if (pool && typeof pool.query === 'function') {
        try {
          const [screenRows] = await pool.query('SELECT id, name, slug FROM d_screens WHERE slug = ?', [req.params.slug]);
          screen = screenRows[0] || null;
@@ -344,6 +515,7 @@ function registerPlayerRoutes(app, options) {
            throw error;
          }
        }
+      }
      res.json({
        screen: screen,
        screenSlug: req.params.slug,
@@ -374,7 +546,7 @@ function registerPlayerRoutes(app, options) {
      const isRedirectCommand = command === 'redirect';
      let screen = null;
      let screenLookupFailed = false;
-      if (!isRedirectCommand) {
+      if (!isRedirectCommand && pool && typeof pool.query === 'function') {
        try {
          const [screenRows] = await pool.query('SELECT id, name, slug FROM d_screens WHERE slug = ?', [req.params.slug]);
          screen = screenRows[0] || null;
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ async function start() {
  const playerActionService = createPlayerActionService({
    pool: pool,
    common: common,
-    playerInternalBaseUrl: webConfig.playerInternalBaseUrl
+    playerInternalBaseUrl: webConfig.thinClientBaseUrl
  });
  const notifyPlayerScreens = createNotifyPlayerScreens(playerActionService.forwardPlayerCommand);

@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ async function start() {
    pool: pool,
    common: common,
    playerInternalBaseUrl: webConfig.playerInternalBaseUrl,
+    thinClientBaseUrl: webConfig.thinClientBaseUrl,
    uploadDir: webConfig.uploadsDir,
    formatDashboardDate: formatDashboardDate,
    notifyPlayerScreens: notifyPlayerScreens,
@@ -155,6 +156,8 @@ async function start() {
    },
    hasAnyPermission: hasAnyPermission,
    backgroundTaskQueue: backgroundTaskQueue,
+    mediaDir: webConfig.mediaDir,
+    uploadSyncService: webBootstrap.uploadSyncService,
    collectUploadReferencesFromSlide: collectUploadReferencesFromSlide,
    collectUploadReferencesFromTemplate: collectUploadReferencesFromTemplate,
    collectUploadReferencesFromPayload: collectUploadReferencesFromPayload,
@@ -207,6 +210,7 @@ async function start() {
    initializeBackgroundTasks: initializeBackgroundTasks,
    captureSlideThumbnail: captureSlideThumbnail,
    server: server,
+    webBaseUrl: webConfig.webBaseUrl,
    dataSourceStartupRefreshStaggerMs: webConfig.dataSourceStartupRefreshStaggerMs
  });

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ function createWebBootstrap(options) {
  const pool = options && options.pool;
  const common = options && options.common;
  const configuredPlayerInternalBaseUrl = String(options && options.playerInternalBaseUrl || '').replace(/\/$/, '');
+  const configuredThinClientBaseUrl = String(options && options.thinClientBaseUrl || process.env.THIN_CLIENT_BASE_URL || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
  const uploadDir = String(options && options.uploadDir || '').trim();
  const dashboardRefreshIntervalMs = 5000;
  const formatDashboardDate = options && options.formatDashboardDate;
@@ -25,49 +26,8 @@ function createWebBootstrap(options) {
  const playerSnapshotSockets = options && options.playerSnapshotSockets ? options.playerSnapshotSockets : new Map();
  let dashboardRefreshInFlight = null;
  let broadcastDashboardState = null;
-  let playerInternalBaseUrl = null;
-  let playerInternalBaseUrlPromise = null;
-
-  async function getPlayerInternalBaseUrl() {
-    if (playerInternalBaseUrl) {
-      return playerInternalBaseUrl;
-    }
-
-    if (playerInternalBaseUrlPromise) {
-      return playerInternalBaseUrlPromise;
-    }
-
-    playerInternalBaseUrlPromise = (async function () {
-      if (!pool) {
-        return configuredPlayerInternalBaseUrl || null;
-      }
-
-      try {
-        const [rows] = await pool.query(
-          `SELECT internal_base_url
-           FROM d_players
-           WHERE device_id = '1'
-           LIMIT 1`
-        );
-        const resolvedBaseUrl = String(rows && rows[0] && rows[0].internal_base_url || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
-        return resolvedBaseUrl || configuredPlayerInternalBaseUrl || null;
-      } catch (_error) {
-        return configuredPlayerInternalBaseUrl || null;
-      }
-    })().then(function (baseUrl) {
-      playerInternalBaseUrl = baseUrl || null;
-      playerInternalBaseUrlPromise = null;
-      return playerInternalBaseUrl;
-    }, function () {
-      playerInternalBaseUrlPromise = null;
-      return configuredPlayerInternalBaseUrl || null;
-    });
-
-    return playerInternalBaseUrlPromise;
-  }
-
-  async function getPlayerSnapshotSocketUrl(slug) {
-    const resolvedPlayerInternalBaseUrl = await getPlayerInternalBaseUrl();
+  function getPlayerSnapshotSocketUrl(slug) {
+    const resolvedPlayerInternalBaseUrl = configuredThinClientBaseUrl || configuredPlayerInternalBaseUrl;
    if (!resolvedPlayerInternalBaseUrl) {
      throw new Error('Unable to resolve the player internal base URL.');
    }
@@ -78,16 +38,6 @@ function createWebBootstrap(options) {
    return url.toString();
  }

-  function storePlayerSnapshot(slug, connections) {
-    const normalizedSlug = String(slug || '').trim();
-    const normalizedConnections = Array.isArray(connections) ? connections : [];
-    playerSnapshotCache.set(normalizedSlug, {
-      slug: normalizedSlug,
-      count: normalizedConnections.length,
-      connections: normalizedConnections
-    });
-  }
-
  function clearPlayerSnapshotSocket(slug) {
    const key = String(slug || '').trim();
    playerSnapshotSockets.delete(key);
@@ -104,12 +54,12 @@ function createWebBootstrap(options) {
    }

    playerSnapshotSockets.set(key, null);
-    const socketUrlPromise = getPlayerSnapshotSocketUrl(key);
    const authHeaders = createRequestAuthHeaders({
      method: 'GET',
      pathname: `/ws/screens/${encodeURIComponent(key)}/events`
    });
-    socketUrlPromise.then(function (socketUrl) {
+
+    Promise.resolve(getPlayerSnapshotSocketUrl(key)).then(function (socketUrl) {
      const socket = new WebSocket(socketUrl, {
        headers: authHeaders
      });
@@ -121,7 +71,11 @@ function createWebBootstrap(options) {
          if (!payload || payload.type !== 'snapshot' || payload.slug !== key) {
            return;
          }
-          storePlayerSnapshot(key, payload.connections || []);
+          playerSnapshotCache.set(key, {
+            slug: key,
+            count: Array.isArray(payload.connections) ? payload.connections.length : 0,
+            connections: Array.isArray(payload.connections) ? payload.connections : []
+          });
          if (broadcastDashboardState) {
            broadcastDashboardState().catch(function (error) {
              console.error(error);
@@ -155,6 +109,7 @@ function createWebBootstrap(options) {
  const dashboardStateService = createDashboardStateService({
    pool: pool,
    common: common,
+    thinClientBaseUrl: configuredThinClientBaseUrl,
    playerSnapshotCache: playerSnapshotCache,
    playerSnapshotSockets: playerSnapshotSockets,
    ensurePlayerSnapshotSubscription: ensurePlayerSnapshotSubscription,
@@ -298,6 +253,7 @@ function createWebBootstrap(options) {
  return {
    upload: upload,
    uploadSyncService: uploadSyncService,
+    playerInternalBaseUrl: configuredPlayerInternalBaseUrl || null,
    buildDashboardState: buildDashboardState,
    collectUploadReferencesFromSlide: collectUploadReferencesFromSlide,
    collectUploadReferencesFromTemplate: collectUploadReferencesFromTemplate,
@@ -1,16 +1,18 @@
+const { resolvePlayerRegistration } = require('#src/data/player-registry');
+
 const TASK = {
  taskType: 'slide-thumbnail-refresh'
 };

-async function fetchPlayerInternalBaseUrl(pool) {
-  const [rows] = await pool.query(
-    `SELECT internal_base_url
-     FROM d_players
-     WHERE device_id = '1'
-     LIMIT 1`
-  );
+async function fetchPlayerInternalBaseUrl(pool, configuredPlayerInternalBaseUrl) {
+  const configured = String(configuredPlayerInternalBaseUrl || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
+  if (configured) {
+    return configured;
+  }

-  return String(rows && rows[0] && rows[0].internal_base_url || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '') || null;
+  const { getConfiguredPlayerIdentifier } = require('#src/data/player-registry');
+  const player = await resolvePlayerRegistration(pool, getConfiguredPlayerIdentifier());
+  return String(player && player.internal_base_url || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '') || null;
 }

 function registerSlideThumbnailRefreshTask(options) {
@@ -19,6 +21,7 @@ function registerSlideThumbnailRefreshTask(options) {
  const pool = options && options.pool;
  const common = options && options.common;
  const mediaDir = String(options && options.mediaDir || '').trim();
+  const configuredWebBaseUrl = String(options && options.webBaseUrl || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');

  if (!backgroundTaskQueue || typeof captureSlideThumbnail !== 'function' || !pool || !common || !mediaDir) {
    throw new Error('registerSlideThumbnailRefreshTask requires the slide thumbnail dependencies.');
@@ -32,18 +35,19 @@ function registerSlideThumbnailRefreshTask(options) {
      throw new Error('Slide id is required.');
    }

-    const playerInternalBaseUrl = await fetchPlayerInternalBaseUrl(pool);
-    if (!playerInternalBaseUrl) {
-      throw new Error('Player internal base URL is required.');
+    const webBaseUrl = configuredWebBaseUrl || `http://127.0.0.1:${Number(process.env.WEB_PORT || 8080)}`;
+    if (!webBaseUrl) {
+      throw new Error('Web base URL is required.');
    }

    return captureSlideThumbnail({
      pool: pool,
      common: common,
      mediaDir: mediaDir,
-      baseUrl: playerInternalBaseUrl,
+      baseUrl: webBaseUrl,
      slideId: slideId,
-      previousThumbnailPath: payload.previousThumbnailPath || null
+      previousThumbnailPath: payload.previousThumbnailPath || null,
+      fontStylesheetHref: payload.fontStylesheetHref || ''
    });
  });
 }
@@ -1,16 +1,18 @@
+const { resolvePlayerRegistration } = require('#src/data/player-registry');
+
 const TASK = {
  taskType: 'template-slide-thumbnail-refresh'
 };

-async function fetchPlayerInternalBaseUrl(pool) {
-  const [rows] = await pool.query(
-    `SELECT internal_base_url
-     FROM d_players
-     WHERE device_id = '1'
-     LIMIT 1`
-  );
+async function fetchPlayerInternalBaseUrl(pool, configuredPlayerInternalBaseUrl) {
+  const configured = String(configuredPlayerInternalBaseUrl || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
+  if (configured) {
+    return configured;
+  }

-  return String(rows && rows[0] && rows[0].internal_base_url || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '') || null;
+  const { getConfiguredPlayerIdentifier } = require('#src/data/player-registry');
+  const player = await resolvePlayerRegistration(pool, getConfiguredPlayerIdentifier());
+  return String(player && player.internal_base_url || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '') || null;
 }

 function registerTemplateSlideThumbnailRefreshTask(options) {
@@ -19,6 +21,7 @@ function registerTemplateSlideThumbnailRefreshTask(options) {
  const pool = options && options.pool;
  const common = options && options.common;
  const mediaDir = String(options && options.mediaDir || '').trim();
+  const configuredWebBaseUrl = String(options && options.webBaseUrl || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');

  if (!backgroundTaskQueue || typeof captureSlideThumbnail !== 'function' || !pool || !common || !mediaDir) {
    throw new Error('registerTemplateSlideThumbnailRefreshTask requires the template thumbnail dependencies.');
@@ -32,9 +35,9 @@ function registerTemplateSlideThumbnailRefreshTask(options) {
      throw new Error('Template id is required.');
    }

-    const playerInternalBaseUrl = await fetchPlayerInternalBaseUrl(pool);
-    if (!playerInternalBaseUrl) {
-      throw new Error('Player internal base URL is required.');
+    const webBaseUrl = configuredWebBaseUrl || `http://127.0.0.1:${Number(process.env.WEB_PORT || 8080)}`;
+    if (!webBaseUrl) {
+      throw new Error('Web base URL is required.');
    }

    const [slides] = await pool.query(
@@ -52,7 +55,7 @@ function registerTemplateSlideThumbnailRefreshTask(options) {
        pool: pool,
        common: common,
        mediaDir: mediaDir,
-        baseUrl: playerInternalBaseUrl,
+        baseUrl: webBaseUrl,
        slideId: slideId,
        previousThumbnailPath: slide && slide.thumbnail_path ? slide.thumbnail_path : null
      });
@@ -18,20 +18,26 @@ function registerFontSweepTask(options) {
  const uploadSyncService = options && options.uploadSyncService;
  const pushUploadFileToPlayer = uploadSyncService && uploadSyncService.pushUploadFileToPlayer;
  const removeUploadFileFromPlayer = uploadSyncService && uploadSyncService.removeUploadFileFromPlayer;
+  const getPlayerTaskMetadata = uploadSyncService && uploadSyncService.getPlayerTaskMetadata;
  const mediaDir = String(options && options.mediaDir || '').trim();

  if (!backgroundTaskQueue || typeof pushUploadFileToPlayer !== 'function' || typeof removeUploadFileFromPlayer !== 'function' || !mediaDir) {
    throw new Error('registerFontSweepTask requires the font sweep dependencies.');
  }

+  const metadataPromise = typeof getPlayerTaskMetadata === 'function'
+    ? Promise.resolve(getPlayerTaskMetadata())
+    : Promise.resolve({});
+
+  return metadataPromise.then(function (metadata) {
    backgroundTaskQueue.registerRecurringTask({
      key: TASK.key,
      title: TASK.title,
      category: TASK.category,
      intervalMs: TASK.intervalMs,
-    metadata: {
+      metadata: Object.assign({
        mediaDir: mediaDir
-    },
+      }, metadata || {}),
      run: async function () {
        const desiredOperations = collectFontLibrarySyncOperations(mediaDir);
        const desiredUploadPaths = new Set(desiredOperations.map(function (operation) {
@@ -63,6 +69,7 @@ function registerFontSweepTask(options) {
        }
      }
    });
+  });
 }

 module.exports = { registerFontSweepTask };
@@ -8,22 +8,30 @@ const TASK = {
 function registerInitialFontSyncTask(options) {
  const backgroundTaskQueue = options && options.backgroundTaskQueue;
  const mediaDir = String(options && options.mediaDir || '').trim();
+  const uploadSyncService = options && options.uploadSyncService;

  if (!backgroundTaskQueue || !mediaDir) {
    throw new Error('registerInitialFontSyncTask requires the initial font sync dependencies.');
  }

+  const metadataPromise = uploadSyncService && typeof uploadSyncService.getPlayerTaskMetadata === 'function'
+    ? uploadSyncService.getPlayerTaskMetadata()
+    : Promise.resolve({});
+
+  return Promise.resolve(metadataPromise).then(function (metadata) {
    return backgroundTaskQueue.enqueueTask({
      key: TASK.key,
      title: 'Initial font sync',
      category: TASK.category,
      taskType: 'font-sync',
+      metadata: Object.assign({}, metadata || {}),
      payload: {
        mode: 'initial',
        uploadDir: mediaDir,
        operations: collectFontLibrarySyncOperations(mediaDir)
      },
      persist: true
+    });
  }).catch(function (error) {
    console.warn('Unable to queue initial font sync:', error);
  });
@@ -6,21 +6,29 @@ const TASK = {
 function registerInitialMediaSyncTask(options) {
  const backgroundTaskQueue = options && options.backgroundTaskQueue;
  const mediaDir = String(options && options.mediaDir || '').trim();
+  const uploadSyncService = options && options.uploadSyncService;

  if (!backgroundTaskQueue || !mediaDir) {
    throw new Error('registerInitialMediaSyncTask requires the initial media sync dependencies.');
  }

+  const metadataPromise = uploadSyncService && typeof uploadSyncService.getPlayerTaskMetadata === 'function'
+    ? uploadSyncService.getPlayerTaskMetadata()
+    : Promise.resolve({});
+
+  return Promise.resolve(metadataPromise).then(function (metadata) {
    return backgroundTaskQueue.enqueueTask({
      key: TASK.key,
      title: 'Initial media sync',
      category: TASK.category,
      taskType: 'media-sync',
+      metadata: Object.assign({}, metadata || {}),
      payload: {
        mode: 'initial',
        uploadDir: mediaDir
      },
      persist: true
+    });
  }).catch(function (error) {
    console.warn('Unable to queue initial media sync:', error);
  });
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ function createWebConfig() {
  const thumbnailsDir = path.join(mediaDir, 'thumbnails');
  const assetDir = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'public');
  const playerInternalBaseUrl = (process.env.PLAYER_INTERNAL_BASE_URL || process.env.PLAYER_BASE_URL || 'http://player:8081').replace(/\/$/, '');
+  const thinClientBaseUrl = (process.env.THIN_CLIENT_BASE_URL || 'http://player-bridge:8090').replace(/\/$/, '');
+  const webBaseUrl = (process.env.WEB_BASE_URL || `http://127.0.0.1:${Number(process.env.WEB_PORT || 8080)}`).replace(/\/$/, '');
  const sessionCookieName = 'digital_signage_session';
  const sessionMaxAgeDays = Number(process.env.SESSION_MAX_AGE_DAYS || 14);
  const sessionMaxAgeMs = (Number.isFinite(sessionMaxAgeDays) && sessionMaxAgeDays > 0 ? sessionMaxAgeDays : 14) * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
@@ -19,6 +21,8 @@ function createWebConfig() {
    thumbnailsDir: thumbnailsDir,
    assetDir: assetDir,
    playerInternalBaseUrl: playerInternalBaseUrl,
+    thinClientBaseUrl: thinClientBaseUrl,
+    webBaseUrl: webBaseUrl,
    sessionCookieName: sessionCookieName,
    sessionMaxAgeMs: sessionMaxAgeMs,
    dataSourceStartupRefreshStaggerMs: dataSourceStartupRefreshStaggerMs
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ function normalizeClientName(value) {
  return String(value || '').trim();
 }

+function normalizePlayerBaseUrl(value) {
+  return String(value || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
+}
+
 function enrichScreensWithConnections(screens, connectionsBySlug, onboardingNameBySlug, playerUrlsBySlug) {
  return (screens || []).map(function (screen) {
    const connectionState = connectionsBySlug[screen.slug] || { count: 0, connections: [] };
@@ -18,11 +22,12 @@ function enrichScreensWithConnections(screens, connectionsBySlug, onboardingName
  });
 }

-function buildClientRows(screens, connectionsBySlug, onboardingNameBySlug, onboardingNameByDeviceId, formatDashboardDate) {
+function buildClientRows(screens, connectionsBySlug, onboardingNameBySlug, onboardingNameByDeviceId, playerIdentifierByBaseUrl, formatDashboardDate) {
  return (screens || []).flatMap(function (screen) {
    const connectionState = connectionsBySlug[screen.slug] || { count: 0, connections: [] };
    return (connectionState.connections || []).map(function (connection) {
      const deviceId = String(connection.deviceId || '').trim();
+      const playerBaseUrl = normalizePlayerBaseUrl(connection.playerPublicBaseUrl);
      return Object.assign({}, connection, {
        screen_slug: screen.slug,
        screen_name: screen.name,
@@ -30,12 +35,55 @@ function buildClientRows(screens, connectionsBySlug, onboardingNameBySlug, onboa
        playlist_name: screen.playlist_name || null,
        connectedAtLabel: formatDashboardDate(connection.connectedAt),
        lastSeenAtLabel: formatDashboardDate(connection.lastSeenAt),
-        player_url: screen.player_url || String(connection.page || '').trim() || null
+        player_identifier: playerIdentifierByBaseUrl && playerBaseUrl ? (playerIdentifierByBaseUrl[playerBaseUrl] || null) : null,
+        player_url: playerBaseUrl || null
      });
    });
  });
 }

+function isRecentPlayerRegistration(player, staleSeconds) {
+  const lastSeenAt = player && player.last_seen_at;
+  const lastSeenAtValue = lastSeenAt instanceof Date ? lastSeenAt.getTime() : new Date(lastSeenAt).getTime();
+  const cutoffTime = Date.now() - Math.max(30, Number(staleSeconds || 60)) * 1000;
+
+  return Number.isFinite(lastSeenAtValue) && lastSeenAtValue >= cutoffTime;
+}
+
+function buildKioskLauncherPlayers(playerRegistrations, staleSeconds) {
+  return (Array.isArray(playerRegistrations) ? playerRegistrations : [])
+    .filter(function (player) {
+      return Boolean(player && String(player.identifier || '').trim() && String(player.public_base_url || '').trim() && isRecentPlayerRegistration(player, staleSeconds));
+    })
+    .map(function (player) {
+      return {
+        player_identifier: String(player.identifier || '').trim(),
+        player_url: String(player.public_base_url || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '')
+      };
+    });
+}
+
+async function fetchConnectedPlayerCount(pool, connectedPlayerCountStaleSeconds) {
+  const staleSeconds = Math.max(30, Number(connectedPlayerCountStaleSeconds || 60));
+  if (!pool || typeof pool.query !== 'function' || !Number.isFinite(staleSeconds)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const [rows] = await pool.query(
+      `SELECT COUNT(*) AS connected_count
+       FROM d_players
+       WHERE last_seen_at IS NOT NULL
+         AND last_seen_at >= DATE_SUB(NOW(), INTERVAL ${staleSeconds} SECOND)`
+    );
+
+    const count = Number(rows && rows[0] && rows[0].connected_count);
+    return Number.isFinite(count) && count >= 0 ? count : null;
+  } catch (_error) {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
 function compareScreenNames(left, right) {
  const leftName = String(left && left.name || '').trim();
  const rightName = String(right && right.name || '').trim();
@@ -51,6 +99,7 @@ function compareScreenNames(left, right) {
 function createDashboardStateService(options) {
  const pool = options && options.pool;
  const common = options && options.common;
+  const connectedPlayerCountStaleSeconds = options && options.connectedPlayerCountStaleSeconds;
  const playerSnapshotCache = options && options.playerSnapshotCache;
  const playerSnapshotSockets = options && options.playerSnapshotSockets;
  const ensurePlayerSnapshotSubscription = options && options.ensurePlayerSnapshotSubscription;
@@ -63,9 +112,13 @@ function createDashboardStateService(options) {
  async function buildDashboardState() {
    const data = await common.fetchAdminData(pool);
    const screensData = data.screens || [];
+    const connectedPlayersCount = await fetchConnectedPlayerCount(pool, connectedPlayerCountStaleSeconds);
    const playerUrlsBySlug = typeof common.fetchScreenPlayerUrls === 'function'
      ? await common.fetchScreenPlayerUrls(pool)
      : {};
+    const playerRegistrations = typeof common.fetchPlayerRegistrations === 'function'
+      ? await common.fetchPlayerRegistrations(pool)
+      : [];
    screensData.forEach(function (screen) {
      try {
        ensurePlayerSnapshotSubscription(screen.slug);
@@ -95,6 +148,15 @@ function createDashboardStateService(options) {
      }
    });

+    const playerIdentifierByBaseUrl = {};
+    (Array.isArray(playerRegistrations) ? playerRegistrations : []).forEach(function (player) {
+      const baseUrl = normalizePlayerBaseUrl(player && player.public_base_url);
+      const identifier = normalizeClientName(player && player.identifier);
+      if (baseUrl && identifier) {
+        playerIdentifierByBaseUrl[baseUrl] = identifier;
+      }
+    });
+
    const connectionsBySlug = {};
    screensData.forEach(function (screen) {
      const cached = playerSnapshotCache.get(String(screen.slug || '').trim());
@@ -110,7 +172,8 @@ function createDashboardStateService(options) {
        });
      })
      .sort(compareScreenNames);
-    const clients = buildClientRows(screens, connectionsBySlug, onboardingNameBySlug, onboardingNameByDeviceId, formatDashboardDate);
+    const clients = buildClientRows(screens, connectionsBySlug, onboardingNameBySlug, onboardingNameByDeviceId, playerIdentifierByBaseUrl, formatDashboardDate);
+    const kioskPlayers = buildKioskLauncherPlayers(playerRegistrations, connectedPlayerCountStaleSeconds);
    const playerServiceConnected = Array.from(playerSnapshotSockets.values()).some(function (socket) {
      return socket && socket.readyState === WebSocket.OPEN;
    });
@@ -119,8 +182,10 @@ function createDashboardStateService(options) {
      playlists: data.playlists || [],
      screens: screens,
      clients: clients,
+      kioskPlayers: kioskPlayers,
      slides: data.slides || [],
      playerServiceConnected: playerServiceConnected,
+      connectedPlayersCount: connectedPlayersCount !== null ? connectedPlayersCount : 0,
      connectedClientsCount: screens.reduce(function (total, screen) {
        return total + Number(screen.player_connection_count || 0);
      }, 0)
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@

 module.exports = {
  createUploadSyncService: require('./upload-sync').createUploadSyncService,
-  captureSlideThumbnail: require('./slide-thumbnails').captureSlideThumbnail,
+  captureSlideThumbnail: function captureSlideThumbnail(options) {
+    return require('./slide-thumbnails').captureSlideThumbnail(options);
+  },
  fontLibrary: require('./font-library')
 };
@@ -0,0 +1,156 @@
+// Pure thumbnail preview payload helpers shared by routes and screenshot capture.
+
+const {
+  escapeHtml,
+  renderEditorJsContent,
+  sanitizeFontFamily,
+  sanitizeFontSize,
+  sanitizeTextColor
+} = require('#src/player/render-helpers');
+
+function normalizeBaseUrl(baseUrl) {
+  return String(baseUrl || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
+}
+
+function resolveAssetUrl(baseUrl, value) {
+  const raw = String(value || '').trim();
+  if (!raw) {
+    return '';
+  }
+  if (/^(?:https?:)?\/\//i.test(raw) || raw.startsWith('data:')) {
+    return raw;
+  }
+  const normalizedBaseUrl = normalizeBaseUrl(baseUrl);
+  if (!normalizedBaseUrl) {
+    return raw;
+  }
+  if (raw.startsWith('/')) {
+    return normalizedBaseUrl + raw;
+  }
+  return normalizedBaseUrl + '/' + raw.replace(/^\/+/, '');
+}
+
+function getThumbnailCanvasSize(slide) {
+  const template = slide && slide.template ? slide.template : null;
+  return {
+    width: Math.max(1, Number(template && template.canvas_size_width ? template.canvas_size_width : 1920)),
+    height: Math.max(1, Number(template && template.canvas_size_height ? template.canvas_size_height : 1080))
+  };
+}
+
+function getRegionContent(slide, region) {
+  const content = slide && slide.content && slide.content[region.region_key] ? slide.content[region.region_key] : {};
+  return content && typeof content === 'object' ? content : { value: content };
+}
+
+function buildThumbnailRegionStyle(region, canvasWidth, canvasHeight) {
+  const left = Number.isFinite(Number(region && region.x)) && canvasWidth > 0 ? (Number(region.x) / canvasWidth) * 100 : 0;
+  const top = Number.isFinite(Number(region && region.y)) && canvasHeight > 0 ? (Number(region.y) / canvasHeight) * 100 : 0;
+  const width = Number.isFinite(Number(region && region.width)) && canvasWidth > 0 ? (Number(region.width) / canvasWidth) * 100 : 0;
+  const height = Number.isFinite(Number(region && region.height)) && canvasHeight > 0 ? (Number(region.height) / canvasHeight) * 100 : 0;
+
+  return 'left:' + left + '%;top:' + top + '%;width:' + width + '%;height:' + height + '%;z-index:' + Number(region && region.z_index || 0) + ';';
+}
+
+function hasVisibleContent(html) {
+  return Boolean(String(html || '').replace(/<[^>]+>/g, '').trim());
+}
+
+function buildTextRegionMarkup(region, regionContent) {
+  const fontFamily = sanitizeFontFamily(regionContent.font_family || region.font_family);
+  const fontSize = sanitizeFontSize(regionContent.font_size || region.font_size);
+  const fontColor = sanitizeTextColor(regionContent.font_color || region.font_color);
+  const renderedBody = renderEditorJsContent(regionContent.value || '');
+  if (!hasVisibleContent(renderedBody)) {
+    return '';
+  }
+
+  return '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-text-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><div class="slide-preview-text-content" style="width:' + region.pixelWidth + 'px;height:' + region.pixelHeight + 'px;overflow:hidden;' + (fontFamily ? 'font-family:' + escapeHtml(fontFamily) + ';' : '') + 'font-size:' + fontSize + 'px;color:' + escapeHtml(fontColor || '#000000') + ';">' + renderedBody + '</div></div>';
+}
+
+function buildRegionInnerHtml(region, regionContent, baseUrl) {
+  const regionType = String(regionContent.type || region.region_type || 'text').trim().toLowerCase();
+  const rawValue = regionContent && regionContent.value !== undefined ? regionContent.value : '';
+
+  if (regionType === 'image') {
+    const src = resolveAssetUrl(baseUrl, rawValue);
+    return src
+      ? '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-image-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><img class="slide-preview-image" src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" alt="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'image') + '" /></div>'
+      : '';
+  }
+
+  if (regionType === 'video') {
+    const src = resolveAssetUrl(baseUrl, rawValue);
+    return src
+      ? '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-video-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><video class="slide-preview-video" src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'video') + '" muted playsinline preload="metadata"></video></div>'
+      : '';
+  }
+
+  if (regionType === 'webpage') {
+    const src = resolveAssetUrl(baseUrl, rawValue);
+    return src
+      ? '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-webpage-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><iframe src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'webpage') + '" loading="eager" referrerpolicy="no-referrer" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>'
+      : '';
+  }
+
+  if (regionType === 'qr-code') {
+    const src = String(regionContent.qr_preview || '').trim();
+    const borderRadius = Math.max(0, Math.round(Number(regionContent.qr_border_radius || 0)));
+    const radiusStyle = borderRadius > 0 ? ' style="border-radius:' + borderRadius + 'px;overflow:hidden;"' : '';
+    return src
+      ? '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-qr-code-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + radiusStyle + '"><img class="slide-preview-image" src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" alt="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'qr code') + '" /></div>'
+      : '';
+  }
+
+  if (regionType === 'html') {
+    const html = String(rawValue || '').trim();
+    return html
+      ? '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-html-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><iframe sandbox="" srcdoc="<!doctype html><html><head><style>html,body{margin:0;width:100%;height:100%;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;}</style></head><body>' + escapeHtml(html) + '</body></html>" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'html') + '" loading="eager" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>'
+      : '';
+  }
+
+  if (regionType === 'rtmp') {
+    const label = String(rawValue || '').trim() || 'RTMP source';
+    return '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-rtmp-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><div class="slide-preview-rtmp-placeholder">' + escapeHtml(label) + '</div></div>';
+  }
+
+  return buildTextRegionMarkup(region, regionContent);
+}
+
+function buildThumbnailPreviewMarkup(slide, baseUrl) {
+  const template = slide && slide.template ? slide.template : null;
+  if (!template) {
+    return '';
+  }
+
+  const canvasSize = getThumbnailCanvasSize(slide);
+  const normalizedBaseUrl = normalizeBaseUrl(baseUrl);
+  return (Array.isArray(template.regions) ? template.regions : []).map(function (region) {
+    const regionContent = getRegionContent(slide, region);
+    const previewRegion = Object.assign({}, region, {
+      baseStyle: buildThumbnailRegionStyle(region, canvasSize.width, canvasSize.height),
+      pixelWidth: Math.max(1, Math.round(Number(region && region.width || 0) || 1)),
+      pixelHeight: Math.max(1, Math.round(Number(region && region.height || 0) || 1))
+    });
+    return buildRegionInnerHtml(previewRegion, regionContent, normalizedBaseUrl);
+  }).join('');
+}
+
+function buildThumbnailPreviewPayload(slide, options) {
+  const template = slide && slide.template ? slide.template : null;
+  const canvasSize = getThumbnailCanvasSize(slide);
+  return {
+    thumbnailPreview: true,
+    canvasWidth: canvasSize.width,
+    canvasHeight: canvasSize.height,
+    backgroundColor: template && template.background_color ? String(template.background_color) : '#111111',
+    backgroundImagePath: template && template.background_image_path ? String(template.background_image_path) : '',
+    fontStylesheetHref: String(options && options.fontStylesheetHref || '').trim(),
+    html: buildThumbnailPreviewMarkup(slide, options && options.baseUrl)
+  };
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+  buildThumbnailPreviewPayload: buildThumbnailPreviewPayload,
+  buildThumbnailPreviewMarkup: buildThumbnailPreviewMarkup
+};
@@ -2,14 +2,6 @@

 const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
-const puppeteer = require('puppeteer-core');
-const chromiumModule = require('@sparticuz/chromium');
-const sharp = require('sharp');
-const chromium = chromiumModule && typeof chromiumModule.executablePath === 'function'
-  ? chromiumModule
-  : chromiumModule && chromiumModule.default && typeof chromiumModule.default.executablePath === 'function'
-    ? chromiumModule.default
-    : chromiumModule;
 const {
  escapeHtml,
  mediaKind,
@@ -73,6 +65,23 @@ function getRegionContent(slide, region) {
  return content && typeof content === 'object' ? content : { value: content };
 }

+function getThumbnailCanvasSize(slide) {
+  const template = slide && slide.template ? slide.template : null;
+  return {
+    width: Math.max(1, Number(template && template.canvas_size_width ? template.canvas_size_width : 1920)),
+    height: Math.max(1, Number(template && template.canvas_size_height ? template.canvas_size_height : 1080))
+  };
+}
+
+function buildThumbnailRegionStyle(region, canvasWidth, canvasHeight) {
+  const left = Number.isFinite(Number(region && region.x)) && canvasWidth > 0 ? (Number(region.x) / canvasWidth) * 100 : 0;
+  const top = Number.isFinite(Number(region && region.y)) && canvasHeight > 0 ? (Number(region.y) / canvasHeight) * 100 : 0;
+  const width = Number.isFinite(Number(region && region.width)) && canvasWidth > 0 ? (Number(region.width) / canvasWidth) * 100 : 0;
+  const height = Number.isFinite(Number(region && region.height)) && canvasHeight > 0 ? (Number(region.height) / canvasHeight) * 100 : 0;
+
+  return 'left:' + left + '%;top:' + top + '%;width:' + width + '%;height:' + height + '%;z-index:' + Number(region && region.z_index || 0) + ';';
+}
+
 function hasVisibleContent(html) {
  return Boolean(String(html || '').replace(/<[^>]+>/g, '').trim());
 }
@@ -86,7 +95,7 @@ function buildTextRegionMarkup(region, regionContent) {
    return '';
  }

-  return '<div class="template-region text" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><div class="template-region-text-scale" style="width:' + region.pixelWidth + 'px;height:' + region.pixelHeight + 'px;' + (fontFamily ? 'font-family:' + escapeHtml(fontFamily) + ';' : '') + 'font-size:' + fontSize + 'px;color:' + escapeHtml(fontColor || '#000000') + ';">' + renderedBody + '</div></div>';
+  return '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-text-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><div class="slide-preview-text-content" style="width:' + region.pixelWidth + 'px;height:' + region.pixelHeight + 'px;overflow:hidden;' + (fontFamily ? 'font-family:' + escapeHtml(fontFamily) + ';' : '') + 'font-size:' + fontSize + 'px;color:' + escapeHtml(fontColor || '#000000') + ';">' + renderedBody + '</div></div>';
 }

 function buildRegionInnerHtml(region, regionContent, baseUrl) {
@@ -96,21 +105,21 @@ function buildRegionInnerHtml(region, regionContent, baseUrl) {
  if (regionType === 'image') {
    const src = resolveAssetUrl(baseUrl, rawValue);
    return src
-      ? '<img src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" alt="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'image') + '" />'
+      ? '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-image-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><img class="slide-preview-image" src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" alt="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'image') + '" /></div>'
      : '';
  }

  if (regionType === 'video') {
    const src = resolveAssetUrl(baseUrl, rawValue);
    return src
-      ? '<video src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'video') + '" muted playsinline preload="metadata"></video>'
+      ? '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-video-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><video class="slide-preview-video" src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'video') + '" muted playsinline preload="metadata"></video></div>'
      : '';
  }

  if (regionType === 'webpage') {
    const src = resolveAssetUrl(baseUrl, rawValue);
    return src
-      ? '<iframe src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'webpage') + '" loading="eager" referrerpolicy="no-referrer" scrolling="no"></iframe>'
+      ? '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-webpage-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><iframe src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'webpage') + '" loading="eager" referrerpolicy="no-referrer" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>'
      : '';
  }

@@ -119,26 +128,75 @@ function buildRegionInnerHtml(region, regionContent, baseUrl) {
    const borderRadius = Math.max(0, Math.round(Number(regionContent.qr_border_radius || 0)));
    const radiusStyle = borderRadius > 0 ? ' style="border-radius:' + borderRadius + 'px;overflow:hidden;"' : '';
    return src
-      ? '<img src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" alt="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'qr code') + '"' + radiusStyle + ' />'
+      ? '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-qr-code-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + radiusStyle + '"><img class="slide-preview-image" src="' + escapeHtml(src) + '" alt="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'qr code') + '" /></div>'
      : '';
  }

  if (regionType === 'html') {
    const html = String(rawValue || '').trim();
    return html
-      ? '<iframe sandbox="" srcdoc="<!doctype html><html><head><style>html,body{margin:0;width:100%;height:100%;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;}</style></head><body>' + escapeHtml(html) + '</body></html>" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'html') + '" loading="eager" scrolling="no"></iframe>'
+      ? '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-html-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><iframe sandbox="" srcdoc="<!doctype html><html><head><style>html,body{margin:0;width:100%;height:100%;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;}</style></head><body>' + escapeHtml(html) + '</body></html>" title="' + escapeHtml(region.label || region.region_key || 'html') + '" loading="eager" scrolling="no"></iframe></div>'
      : '';
  }

  if (regionType === 'rtmp') {
    const label = String(rawValue || '').trim() || 'RTMP source';
-    return '<div class="template-region-rtmp-placeholder">' + escapeHtml(label) + '</div>';
+    return '<div class="slide-preview-region slide-preview-rtmp-region" style="' + region.baseStyle + '"><div class="slide-preview-rtmp-placeholder">' + escapeHtml(label) + '</div></div>';
  }

  return buildTextRegionMarkup(region, regionContent);
 }

+async function loadChromium() {
+  const chromiumModule = await import('@sparticuz/chromium');
+  const resolved = chromiumModule && chromiumModule.default ? chromiumModule.default : chromiumModule;
+  return resolved;
+}
+
+async function loadPuppeteer() {
+  return require('puppeteer-core');
+}
+
+function loadSharp() {
+  return require('sharp');
+}
+
+function buildThumbnailPreviewMarkup(slide, baseUrl) {
+  const template = slide && slide.template ? slide.template : null;
+  if (!template) {
+    return '';
+  }
+
+  const canvasSize = getThumbnailCanvasSize(slide);
+  const normalizedBaseUrl = normalizeBaseUrl(baseUrl);
+  return (Array.isArray(template.regions) ? template.regions : []).map(function (region) {
+    const regionContent = getRegionContent(slide, region);
+    const previewRegion = Object.assign({}, region, {
+      baseStyle: buildThumbnailRegionStyle(region, canvasSize.width, canvasSize.height),
+      pixelWidth: Math.max(1, Math.round(Number(region && region.width || 0) || 1)),
+      pixelHeight: Math.max(1, Math.round(Number(region && region.height || 0) || 1))
+    });
+    return buildRegionInnerHtml(previewRegion, regionContent, normalizedBaseUrl);
+  }).join('');
+}
+
+function buildThumbnailPreviewPayload(slide, options) {
+  const template = slide && slide.template ? slide.template : null;
+  const canvasSize = getThumbnailCanvasSize(slide);
+  return {
+    thumbnailPreview: true,
+    canvasWidth: canvasSize.width,
+    canvasHeight: canvasSize.height,
+    backgroundColor: template && template.background_color ? String(template.background_color) : '#111111',
+    backgroundImagePath: template && template.background_image_path ? String(template.background_image_path) : '',
+    fontStylesheetHref: String(options && options.fontStylesheetHref || '').trim(),
+    html: buildThumbnailPreviewMarkup(slide, options && options.baseUrl)
+  };
+}
+
 async function launchBrowser() {
+  const puppeteer = await loadPuppeteer();
+  const chromium = await loadChromium();
  let executablePath = SYSTEM_CHROMIUM_PATHS.find(function (candidate) {
    return fs.existsSync(candidate);
  }) || '';
@@ -178,6 +236,7 @@ async function launchBrowser() {
 }

 async function captureSlideThumbnail(options) {
+  const sharp = loadSharp();
  const pool = options && options.pool;
  const common = options && options.common;
  const mediaDir = String(options && options.mediaDir || '').trim();
@@ -194,7 +253,6 @@ async function captureSlideThumbnail(options) {
    throw new Error('Slide not found.');
  }

-  const canvasSize = getCanvasSize(slide);
  const thumbnailDir = path.join(mediaDir, 'thumbnails');
  const thumbnailRelativePath = String(slide.thumbnail_path || '').trim() || '/media/thumbnails/slides/slide-' + slide.id + '.png';
  const filePath = path.join(mediaDir, thumbnailRelativePath.replace(/^\/+media\//, ''));
@@ -206,11 +264,11 @@ async function captureSlideThumbnail(options) {

  async function waitForThumbnailRender(page) {
    await page.waitForFunction(function () {
-      return document.readyState === 'complete' && Boolean(document.querySelector('.slide-canvas'));
+      return document.readyState === 'complete' && Boolean(document.querySelector('#popup-preview-canvas'));
    }, { timeout: 30000 });

    await page.waitForFunction(function () {
-      var canvas = document.querySelector('.slide-canvas');
+      var canvas = document.querySelector('#popup-preview-canvas');
      if (!canvas) {
        return false;
      }
@@ -244,18 +302,26 @@ async function captureSlideThumbnail(options) {
  try {
    const page = await browser.newPage();
    try {
-      const previewPath = '/api/internal/slide-thumbnails/' + slide.id + '/preview';
+      const previewPath = '/api/internal/slide-thumbnails/' + slide.id + '/popup-preview';
      const previewUrl = baseUrl + previewPath;
+      const previewPayload = buildThumbnailPreviewPayload(slide, {
+        baseUrl: baseUrl,
+        fontStylesheetHref: options && options.fontStylesheetHref ? options.fontStylesheetHref : ''
+      });
+        await page.setViewport({
+          width: Math.max(1, Number(previewPayload.canvasWidth || PLAYER_VIEWPORT.width)),
+          height: Math.max(1, Number(previewPayload.canvasHeight || PLAYER_VIEWPORT.height)),
+          deviceScaleFactor: 1
+        });
      await page.setExtraHTTPHeaders(createRequestAuthHeaders({
        method: 'GET',
        pathname: previewPath
      }));
-      await page.setViewport(PLAYER_VIEWPORT);
      await page.goto(previewUrl, { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded', timeout: 30000 });
      await waitForThumbnailRender(page);
-      const canvas = await page.$('.slide-canvas');
+      const canvas = await page.$('#popup-preview-canvas');
      if (!canvas) {
-        throw new Error('Player render did not produce a slide canvas.');
+        throw new Error('Popup preview did not produce a slide canvas.');
      }
      await canvas.screenshot({ path: fullSizePath });
    } finally {
@@ -298,5 +364,7 @@ async function captureSlideThumbnail(options) {
 }

 module.exports = {
-  captureSlideThumbnail: captureSlideThumbnail
+  captureSlideThumbnail: captureSlideThumbnail,
+  buildThumbnailPreviewPayload: buildThumbnailPreviewPayload,
+  buildThumbnailPreviewMarkup: buildThumbnailPreviewMarkup
 };
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ async function initializeWebServer(options) {
    uploadSyncService: webBootstrap.uploadSyncService,
    captureSlideThumbnail: captureSlideThumbnail,
    mediaDir: mediaDir,
+    webBaseUrl: options && options.webBaseUrl ? options.webBaseUrl : null,
    dataSourceStartupRefreshStaggerMs: dataSourceStartupRefreshStaggerMs
  });

@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ module.exports = function registerMiddleware(app, deps) {
  });

  app.use(function (req, res, next) {
-    if (req.path === '/' || req.path === '/login' || req.path === '/logout' || req.path.indexOf('/api/internal/slide-thumbnails/') === 0) {
+    if (req.path === '/' || req.path === '/login' || req.path === '/logout' || req.path.indexOf('/api/internal/slide-thumbnails/') === 0 || req.path === '/api/internal/sync/player-media') {
      return next();
    }

@@ -1,4 +1,13 @@
 (function () {
+  function buildLivePlayerFeedLabel(connectedPlayersCount) {
+    var count = Number(connectedPlayersCount || 0);
+    if (count <= 0) {
+      return 'Player feed online - no players connected';
+    }
+
+    return 'Live player feed - ' + count + ' player' + (count === 1 ? '' : 's') + ' connected';
+  }
+
  function updateSidebarStatus(status, label) {
    var dot = document.getElementById('sidebar-status-dot');
    var text = document.getElementById('sidebar-status-text');
@@ -72,7 +81,7 @@
            if (!screenCount) {
              updateSidebarStatus('unknown', 'No screens configured');
            } else {
-              updateSidebarStatus(Boolean(payload.state && payload.state.playerServiceConnected), 'Live player feed');
+              updateSidebarStatus(Boolean(payload.state && payload.state.playerServiceConnected), buildLivePlayerFeedLabel(payload.state && payload.state.connectedPlayersCount));
            }
          }
        } catch (_error) {
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ module.exports = function registerManageRoutes(app, deps) {
      const playlistId = req.body.playlist_id ? Number(req.body.playlist_id) : null;
      const slug = await common.uniqueScreenSlug(pool, common.slugify(slugInput || name));
      const actorId = getAuditUserId(req);
-      const [result] = await pool.query('INSERT INTO d_screens (name, slug, playlist_id, player_id, created_by, modified_by) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)', [name, slug, playlistId, '1', actorId, actorId]);
+      const [result] = await pool.query('INSERT INTO d_screens (name, slug, playlist_id, created_by, modified_by) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)', [name, slug, playlistId, actorId, actorId]);
      redirectAfterSave(req, res, '/screens?edit=' + result.insertId, {
        closeUrl: '/screens',
        newUrl: '/screens/new',
@@ -144,17 +144,12 @@ module.exports = function registerManageRoutes(app, deps) {
      const previousPlaylistId = screen.playlist_id;
      const slug = await common.uniqueScreenSlug(pool, common.slugify(slugInput || name), screen.id);
      const previousSlug = String(screen.slug || '').trim();
-      await pool.query('UPDATE d_screens SET name = ?, slug = ?, playlist_id = ?, player_id = ?, modified_by = ? WHERE id = ?', [name, slug, playlistId, '1', getAuditUserId(req), screen.id]);
+      await pool.query('UPDATE d_screens SET name = ?, slug = ?, playlist_id = ?, modified_by = ? WHERE id = ?', [name, slug, playlistId, getAuditUserId(req), screen.id]);
      if (previousPlaylistId !== playlistId && previousSlug) {
        await notifyPlayerScreens([previousSlug], 'refresh');
      }
      if (previousSlug && previousSlug !== slug) {
-        const playerRecord = typeof common.fetchScreenPlayerRecord === 'function'
-          ? await common.fetchScreenPlayerRecord(pool, previousSlug)
-          : null;
-        const playerBaseUrl = playerRecord && playerRecord.public_base_url
-          ? String(playerRecord.public_base_url).replace(/\/$/, '')
-          : typeof common.fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl === 'function'
+        const playerBaseUrl = typeof common.fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl === 'function'
          ? await common.fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl(pool)
          : '';
        await forwardPlayerCommand(previousSlug, {
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+// Internal sync trigger routes for player-driven queue flushes.
+
+const { verifyRequestAuth } = require('#src/request-auth');
+
+function requireRequestAuth(req, res, next) {
+  if (!verifyRequestAuth(req)) {
+    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Request authentication required.' });
+  }
+
+  next();
+}
+
+module.exports = function registerInternalSyncRoutes(app, deps) {
+  const uploadSyncService = deps && deps.uploadSyncService;
+  const mediaDir = String(deps && deps.mediaDir || '').trim();
+
+  if (!uploadSyncService || typeof uploadSyncService.flushPendingPlayerUploadSyncs !== 'function' || typeof uploadSyncService.runMediaSyncTask !== 'function' || !mediaDir) {
+    throw new Error('registerInternalSyncRoutes requires the sync dependencies.');
+  }
+
+  app.post('/api/internal/sync/player-media', requireRequestAuth, async function (_req, res, next) {
+    try {
+      await uploadSyncService.runMediaSyncTask({
+        mode: 'initial',
+        uploadDir: mediaDir
+      });
+      await uploadSyncService.flushPendingPlayerUploadSyncs();
+      res.json({ ok: true });
+    } catch (error) {
+      next(error);
+    }
+  });
+};
@@ -143,6 +143,30 @@ function buildTaskSourceFilterUrl(queryState, task, sourceFilter) {
  return buildQueryString(nextQuery);
 }

+function buildTaskPlayerLabel(metadata) {
+  const playerLabel = String(metadata && metadata.playerLabel || '').trim();
+  const playerIdentifier = String(metadata && metadata.playerIdentifier || '').trim();
+  const playerPublicBaseUrl = String(metadata && metadata.playerPublicBaseUrl || '').trim();
+
+  if (playerLabel) {
+    return playerLabel;
+  }
+
+  if (playerIdentifier && playerPublicBaseUrl) {
+    return `${playerIdentifier} (${playerPublicBaseUrl})`;
+  }
+
+  if (playerIdentifier) {
+    return playerIdentifier;
+  }
+
+  if (playerPublicBaseUrl) {
+    return playerPublicBaseUrl;
+  }
+
+  return '';
+}
+
 function buildQueuePageViewModel(data, message, currentUser) {
  const tasks = (data && data.tasks) || [];
  const summary = (data && data.summary) || { counts: {}, total: 0, activeCount: 0 };
@@ -171,7 +195,10 @@ function buildQueuePageViewModel(data, message, currentUser) {
      'finishedAt',
      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.sourceName; },
      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.sourceType; },
-      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.sourceId; }
+      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.sourceId; },
+      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.playerLabel; },
+      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.playerIdentifier; },
+      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.playerPublicBaseUrl; }
    ])(task);
  });
  const sortedTasks = sortRows(filteredTasks, function (task) {
@@ -194,7 +221,7 @@ function buildQueuePageViewModel(data, message, currentUser) {
      return task && task.finishedAt;
    }
    if (sort === 'source') {
-      return [task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceName, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceType, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceId].map(function (value) {
+      return [task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceName, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceType, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceId, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.playerLabel, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.playerIdentifier, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.playerPublicBaseUrl].map(function (value) {
        return String(value || '').trim();
      }).join(' ');
    }
@@ -234,11 +261,16 @@ function buildQueuePageViewModel(data, message, currentUser) {
  });

  const visibleTasksWithSources = visibleTasks.map(function (task) {
+    const playerLabel = buildTaskPlayerLabel(task.metadata);
+    const taskDescription = [playerLabel, String(task && task.key || '').trim()].filter(Boolean).join(':');
+
    return Object.assign({}, task, {
      sourceUrl: buildTaskSourceFilterUrl(queryState, task, sourceFilter),
      sourceLabel: task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceName ? String(task.metadata.sourceName).trim() : '',
      sourceTypeLabel: task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceType ? String(task.metadata.sourceType).trim() : '',
-      sourceIdLabel: task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceId ? Number(task.metadata.sourceId) : ''
+      sourceIdLabel: task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceId ? Number(task.metadata.sourceId) : '',
+      playerLabel: playerLabel,
+      taskDescription: taskDescription
    });
  });
  const hasActiveFilters = Boolean(queryState.sourceType || queryState.sourceId);
@@ -287,7 +319,10 @@ function buildScheduledPageViewModel(data, message, currentUser) {
      'lastError',
      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.sourceName; },
      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.sourceType; },
-      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.sourceId; }
+      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.sourceId; },
+      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.playerLabel; },
+      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.playerIdentifier; },
+      function (item) { return item && item.metadata && item.metadata.playerPublicBaseUrl; }
    ])(task);
  });
  const sortedRecurringTasks = sortRows(filteredRecurringTasks, function (task) {
@@ -309,7 +344,7 @@ function buildScheduledPageViewModel(data, message, currentUser) {
      }).join(' ');
    }
    if (sort === 'source') {
-      return [task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceName, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceType, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceId].map(function (value) {
+      return [task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceName, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceType, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.sourceId, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.playerLabel, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.playerIdentifier, task && task.metadata && task.metadata.playerPublicBaseUrl].map(function (value) {
        return String(value || '').trim();
      }).join(' ');
    }
@@ -325,7 +360,8 @@ function buildScheduledPageViewModel(data, message, currentUser) {
    backgroundTasksMenuOpen: true,
    recurringTasks: sortedRecurringTasks.map(function (task) {
      return Object.assign({}, task, {
-        intervalLabel: formatIntervalLabel(task.intervalMs)
+        intervalLabel: formatIntervalLabel(task.intervalMs),
+        playerLabel: buildTaskPlayerLabel(task.metadata)
      });
    }),
    summary: summary,
@@ -21,8 +21,10 @@ module.exports = function renderDashboardPage(data, message, currentUser) {
    playlists: data.playlists || [],
    screens: data.screens || [],
    clients: data.clients || [],
+    kioskPlayers: data.kioskPlayers || [],
    slides: data.slides || [],
    connectedClientsCount: Number(data.connectedClientsCount || 0),
+    connectedPlayersCount: Number(data.connectedPlayersCount || data.connectedClientsCount || 0),
    primaryPlayerUrl: normalizeBaseUrl(primaryPlayerUrl) || null,
    scripts: ['js/dashboard/dashboard-page.js']
  });
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ function buildScreenFormViewModel(screen, data, message, currentUser, isEdit) {
  const viewScreen = Object.assign({
    name: '',
    slug: '',
-    playlist_id: null
+    playlist_id: null,
+    player_urls: []
  }, screen || {});

  return {
@@ -1,14 +1,32 @@
 // Slide route registration and pagination wiring.

 const { renderFragment } = require('../../../view');
+const path = require('path');
+const { verifyRequestAuth } = require('#src/request-auth');
+const { getFontStylesheetHref } = require('#src/web/lib/media/font-library');
+const { buildThumbnailPreviewPayload } = require('#src/web/lib/media/slide-thumbnail-preview');
+
+function safeJsonForScript(value) {
+  return JSON.stringify(value === undefined ? null : value).replace(/</g, '\\u003c');
+}

 module.exports = function registerSlidesRoutes(app, deps) {
  const pages = deps.pages;
  const common = deps.common;
  const pool = deps.pool;
+  const mediaDir = String(deps.mediaDir || path.join(__dirname, '..', '..', '..', '..', 'media')).trim();
+  const webBaseUrl = String(deps.webBaseUrl || '').trim().replace(/\/$/, '');
  const { buildPagination } = require('../../../lib/pagination');
  const requirePermission = deps.requirePermission;

+  function requireRequestAuth(req, res, next) {
+    if (!verifyRequestAuth(req)) {
+      return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Request authentication required.' });
+    }
+
+    next();
+  }
+
  const LIST_PAGE_SIZE = 25;

  app.get('/slides', requirePermission('slides.read'), async function (req, res, next) {
@@ -35,5 +53,30 @@ module.exports = function registerSlidesRoutes(app, deps) {
      frameBodyClass: 'slide-preview-popup-shell slide-preview-popup-body'
    }));
  });
+
+  app.get('/api/internal/slide-thumbnails/:id/popup-preview', async function (req, res, next) {
+    try {
+      const slide = await common.fetchSlideById(pool, Number(req.params.id));
+      if (!slide) {
+        return res.status(404).send('Slide not found');
+      }
+
+      const payload = buildThumbnailPreviewPayload(slide, {
+        baseUrl: webBaseUrl || (String(req.headers.host || '').trim() ? `${req.protocol}://${String(req.headers.host).trim()}` : ''),
+        fontStylesheetHref: getFontStylesheetHref(mediaDir)
+      });
+
+      res.set('Cache-Control', 'no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate');
+      res.send(renderFragment('slides/popup-preview', {
+        title: 'Slide preview',
+        framePopupCard: true,
+        hideFrameHeader: true,
+        frameBodyClass: 'slide-preview-popup-shell slide-preview-popup-body',
+        popupPreviewPayloadJson: safeJsonForScript(payload)
+      }));
+    } catch (error) {
+      next(error);
+    }
+  });
 };

@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@
            <tr data-table-search-row>
              <td data-label="Task">
                <div class="fw-semibold">{{title}}</div>
-                {{#if key}}
-                  <div class="text-muted small text-break">{{key}}</div>
+                {{#if taskDescription}}
+                  <div class="text-muted small text-break">{{taskDescription}}</div>
                {{/if}}
                {{#if errorMessage}}
                  <div class="text-danger small mt-1 text-break">{{errorMessage}}</div>
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@
            <tr data-table-search-row>
              <td data-label="Task">
                <div class="fw-semibold">{{title}}</div>
+                {{#if playerLabel}}
+                  <div class="text-muted small text-break">Player: {{playerLabel}}</div>
+                {{/if}}
                <div class="text-muted small text-break">{{key}}</div>
              </td>
              <td data-label="Interval">{{intervalLabel}}</td>
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
  <div class="card card-outline card-secondary mb-4 screen-command-card">
    <div class="card-header">
      <div class="dashboard-card-heading">
-        <h3 class="card-title">Screen-level controls</h3>
+        <h3 class="card-title">Screen Group controls</h3>
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="card-body">
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
                    aria-label="Target screen group"
                    data-screen-command-select
                  >
+                    <option value="" selected disabled>Select Screen Group</option>
                    {{#each screens}}
                      <option
                        value="{{slug}}"
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@
                        data-playlist-name="{{playlist_name}}"
                      >{{name}}</option>
                    {{/each}}
+                    <option value="__all__" data-screen-name="All screens" data-screen-target-all="true">All Screens</option>
                  </select>
                </div>
              </div>
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@
      {{/if}}
      {{#if (hasPermission currentUser "clients.read")}}
      <div class="dashboard-hero-stat">
-        <span class="dashboard-hero-stat-value">{{connectedClientsCount}}</span>
-        <span class="dashboard-hero-stat-label">clients</span>
+        <span id="dashboard-player-count" class="dashboard-hero-stat-value">{{connectedPlayersCount}}</span>
+        <span class="dashboard-hero-stat-label">players</span>
      </div>
      {{/if}}
    </div>
@@ -157,12 +157,25 @@
        </div>
        <p class="mb-0 mt-2 text-muted small">Check this box to enable the Windows and Linux downloads.</p>
      </div>
+      <div class="d-grid gap-2">
+        <select class="form-select" id="dashboard-kiosk-launcher-player-select" data-kiosk-launcher-player-select>
+          <option value="">Select a player</option>
+          {{#each kioskPlayers}}
+            {{#if player_identifier}}
+              {{#if player_url}}
+                <option value="{{player_url}}" data-player-identifier="{{player_identifier}}">{{player_identifier}} - {{player_url}}</option>
+              {{/if}}
+            {{/if}}
+          {{/each}}
+        </select>
+        <p class="mb-0 text-muted small">The download will open the selected player's public URL when the kiosk starts.</p>
+      </div>
      <div class="d-flex flex-column flex-sm-row gap-2">
-        <a class="btn btn-outline-primary btn-lg flex-fill disabled dashboard-kiosk-launcher-download" href="/downloads/kiosk/pulse-signage-kiosk.bat" data-kiosk-launcher-download aria-disabled="true" tabindex="-1">
+        <a class="btn btn-outline-primary btn-lg flex-fill disabled dashboard-kiosk-launcher-download" data-kiosk-launcher-download data-kiosk-launcher-download-base="/downloads/kiosk/pulse-signage-kiosk.bat" aria-disabled="true" tabindex="-1">
          <i class="bi bi-windows me-2" aria-hidden="true"></i>
          <span>Download for Windows</span>
        </a>
-        <a class="btn btn-outline-secondary btn-lg flex-fill disabled dashboard-kiosk-launcher-download" href="/downloads/kiosk/pulse-signage-kiosk.sh" data-kiosk-launcher-download aria-disabled="true" tabindex="-1">
+        <a class="btn btn-outline-secondary btn-lg flex-fill disabled dashboard-kiosk-launcher-download" data-kiosk-launcher-download data-kiosk-launcher-download-base="/downloads/kiosk/pulse-signage-kiosk.sh" aria-disabled="true" tabindex="-1">
          <i class="bi bi-terminal me-2" aria-hidden="true"></i>
          <span>Download for Linux</span>
        </a>
@@ -178,8 +191,7 @@
        <div class="card-header dashboard-screen-card-header">
          <div class="dashboard-card-heading">
            <h3 class="card-title">Screen group snapshot</h3>
-            <p class="dashboard-card-subtitle">Player URL, playlist assignment,
-              and live connection count without the spreadsheet feel.</p>
+            <p class="dashboard-card-subtitle">Playlist assignment and live connection state without the spreadsheet feel.</p>
          </div>
          <a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary" href="/screens">Manage screen groups</a>
        </div>
@@ -191,11 +203,6 @@
                  <div class="dashboard-screen-tile-top">
                    <div class="dashboard-screen-tile-text">
                      <h4 class="dashboard-screen-name">{{name}}</h4>
-                      {{#if player_url}}
-                        <a class="dashboard-screen-link" href="{{player_url}}" target="_blank">{{player_url}}</a>
-                      {{else}}
-                        <span class="dashboard-screen-link empty">Not available</span>
-                      {{/if}}
                    </div>
                    <span class="dashboard-screen-pill {{#if player_connection_count}}is-live{{else}}is-idle{{/if}}">
                      {{#if player_connection_count}}
@@ -210,10 +217,6 @@
                      <dt>Playlist</dt>
                      <dd>{{#if playlist_name}}{{playlist_name}}{{else}}Unassigned{{/if}}</dd>
                    </div>
-                    <div>
-                      <dt>Connections</dt>
-                      <dd>{{#if player_connection_count}}{{player_connection_count}} connected{{else}}No clients connected{{/if}}</dd>
-                    </div>
                  </dl>
                </article>
              {{/each}}
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
    <thead>
      <tr>
        <th data-table-sort-key="name">Name</th>
-        <th data-table-sort-key="url">Player URL</th>
        <th data-table-sort-key="playlist">Playlist</th>
        <th data-table-sort-key="player_connection_count">Connected</th>
        <th>Actions</th>
@@ -34,13 +33,6 @@
        {{#each screens}}
          <tr data-table-search-row>
            <td data-label="Name">{{name}}</td>
-            <td data-label="Player URL">
-              {{#if player_url}}
-                <a href="{{player_url}}" target="_blank">{{player_url}}</a>
-              {{else}}
-                <span class="empty">Not available</span>
-              {{/if}}
-            </td>
            <td data-label="Playlist">{{playlist_name}}</td>
            <td data-label="Connected clients">
              {{#if (gt player_connection_count 0)}}
@@ -72,7 +64,7 @@
          </tr>
        {{/each}}
      {{else}}
-        <tr data-table-search-empty-default><td colspan="5" class="empty">No screen groups yet.</td></tr>
+        <tr data-table-search-empty-default><td colspan="4" class="empty">No screen groups yet.</td></tr>
      {{/if}}
    </tbody>
  </table>
@@ -58,6 +58,12 @@
  <div class="slide-preview-popup-canvas" id="popup-preview-canvas"></div>
 </div>

+{{#if popupPreviewPayloadJson}}
+<script>
+  window.__pulsePopupPreviewPayload = {{{popupPreviewPayloadJson}}};
+</script>
+{{/if}}
+
 <script>
  (function () {
    function startPreviewVideoPlayback(root) {
@@ -127,6 +133,10 @@
    var canvas = document.getElementById('popup-preview-canvas');

    function readPayload() {
+      if (window.__pulsePopupPreviewPayload) {
+        return window.__pulsePopupPreviewPayload;
+      }
+
      var hash = String(window.location.hash || '').replace(/^#/, '');
      if (!hash) {
        return null;
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ test('background task pages opt into 24-hour timestamps, confirm clearing tasks,
        status: 'completed',
        createdAt: '2026-08-04T10:15:00.000Z',
        startedAt: '2026-08-04T10:16:00.000Z',
-        finishedAt: '2026-08-04T10:17:00.000Z'
+        finishedAt: '2026-08-04T10:17:00.000Z',
+        metadata: {
+          playerLabel: 'Player Alpha'
+        }
      },
      {
        title: 'Older task',
@@ -53,7 +56,10 @@ test('background task pages opt into 24-hour timestamps, confirm clearing tasks,
          key: 'refresh',
          intervalMs: 60000,
          nextRunAt: '2026-08-04T10:15:00.000Z',
-          lastRunAt: '2026-08-04T09:15:00.000Z'
+          lastRunAt: '2026-08-04T09:15:00.000Z',
+          metadata: {
+            playerIdentifier: 'Player Beta'
+          }
        }
      ],
      summary: { counts: {}, total: 1, activeCount: 0, scheduledCount: 1 }
@@ -66,7 +72,9 @@ test('background task pages opt into 24-hour timestamps, confirm clearing tasks,

  assert.match(queueHtml, /data-confirm-message="Clear finished background tasks\?"/);
  assert.match(queueHtml, /data-local-datetime-format="24h"/);
+  assert.match(queueHtml, /Player Alpha:secret-key/);
  assert.doesNotMatch(queueKeySearchHtml, /Example task/);
  assert.match(queueDateSearchHtml, /Example task/);
  assert.match(scheduledHtml, /data-local-datetime-format="24h"/);
+  assert.match(scheduledHtml, /Player:\s+Player Beta/);
 });
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+const fs = require('node:fs');
+const path = require('node:path');
+const vm = require('node:vm');
+const test = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+
+function loadScript(scriptPath, sandbox) {
+  const source = fs.readFileSync(scriptPath, 'utf8');
+  vm.runInNewContext(source, sandbox, { filename: scriptPath });
+}
+
+function createStyleStore() {
+  const values = Object.create(null);
+  return {
+    values,
+    getPropertyValue(name) {
+      return values[name] || '';
+    },
+    setProperty(name, value) {
+      values[name] = String(value || '');
+    },
+    removeProperty(name) {
+      delete values[name];
+    }
+  };
+}
+
+test('primeSlideMarkup restores the current canvas dimensions', () => {
+  const style = createStyleStore();
+  style.setProperty('--player-canvas-width', '1920px');
+  style.setProperty('--player-canvas-height', '1080px');
+
+  const sandbox = {
+    window: null,
+    document: {
+      documentElement: { style }
+    },
+    Date,
+    JSON,
+    Math,
+    Number,
+    String,
+    Boolean,
+    Array,
+    Object,
+    Promise,
+    currentPlaylistSignature: 'signature',
+    currentPlaylistEtag: '',
+    currentPlaylistFadeBetweenSlides: false,
+    currentPlaylistSkipUnavailableRtmp: false,
+    videoRegionRenderVersion: 0,
+    lastRenderedSlide: { id: 1 },
+    slideMarkupCache: Object.create(null),
+    templateLayoutCache: Object.create(null),
+    templateRenderPlanCache: Object.create(null),
+    renderCacheViewportKey: '',
+    window: null,
+    innerWidth: 1280,
+    innerHeight: 720,
+    pulsePlayerRegionTypes: {
+      get() {
+        return null;
+      }
+    },
+    syncRenderCacheViewport() {},
+    syncBlackoutState() {},
+    setPlayerCanvasDimensions() {},
+    escapeHtml(value) {
+      return String(value || '');
+    }
+  };
+  sandbox.window = sandbox;
+
+  const renderingPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'player', 'public', 'js', 'player-page-rendering.js');
+  loadScript(renderingPath, sandbox);
+
+  const slide = {
+    id: 2,
+    kind: 'image',
+    media_url: 'https://example.com/next.jpg',
+    modified_at: '2026-08-07T00:00:00.000Z'
+  };
+
+  const markup = sandbox.primeSlideMarkup(slide);
+
+  assert.match(markup, /<img src="https:\/\/example\.com\/next\.jpg"/);
+  assert.equal(style.getPropertyValue('--player-canvas-width'), '1920px');
+  assert.equal(style.getPropertyValue('--player-canvas-height'), '1080px');
+  assert.deepEqual(sandbox.lastRenderedSlide, { id: 1 });
+});
+
+test('scheduleSlideMarkupPreload warms the next slide only', () => {
+  const timers = [];
+  const calls = [];
+  const sandbox = {
+    window: null,
+    document: {
+      documentElement: { style: createStyleStore() }
+    },
+    Date,
+    JSON,
+    Math,
+    Number,
+    String,
+    Boolean,
+    Array,
+    Object,
+    Promise,
+    currentPlaylistSignature: 'signature',
+    currentPlaylistEtag: '',
+    currentPlaylistFadeBetweenSlides: false,
+    currentPlaylistSkipUnavailableRtmp: false,
+    videoRegionRenderVersion: 0,
+    innerWidth: 1280,
+    innerHeight: 720,
+    slideMarkupCache: Object.create(null),
+    templateLayoutCache: Object.create(null),
+    templateRenderPlanCache: Object.create(null),
+    renderCacheViewportKey: '',
+    escapeHtml(value) {
+      return String(value || '');
+    },
+    syncRenderCacheViewport() {},
+    syncBlackoutState() {},
+    setPlayerCanvasDimensions() {},
+    primeSlideMarkup(slide) {
+      calls.push(slide.id);
+      return 'markup:' + slide.id;
+    },
+    setTimeout(fn) {
+      timers.push(fn);
+      return timers.length;
+    }
+  };
+  sandbox.window = sandbox;
+
+  const playlistPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'player', 'public', 'js', 'player-page-playlist.js');
+  loadScript(playlistPath, sandbox);
+
+  const current = { id: 1 };
+  const next = { id: 2 };
+  const later = { id: 3 };
+
+  sandbox.scheduleSlideMarkupPreload([current, next, later], 0);
+  assert.equal(timers.length, 1);
+  timers.shift()();
+  assert.deepEqual(calls, [2]);
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,221 @@
+const test = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+
+require('../src/common');
+
+const { createPageAuthToken } = require('../src/request-auth');
+const { registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes } = require('../src/player/onboarding');
+
+const originalSharedSecret = process.env.PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET;
+const originalFetch = global.fetch;
+
+test.after(() => {
+  if (originalSharedSecret === undefined) {
+    delete process.env.PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET;
+  } else {
+    process.env.PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET = originalSharedSecret;
+  }
+
+  global.fetch = originalFetch;
+});
+
+function createAppAndHandlers() {
+  const handlers = {};
+  const app = {
+    use() {},
+    get(path, ...routeHandlers) {
+      handlers[path] = function (req, res) {
+        return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+          const runHandler = (index) => {
+            const handler = routeHandlers[index];
+            if (!handler) {
+              resolve();
+              return;
+            }
+
+            let nextCalled = false;
+            const next = function () {
+              nextCalled = true;
+              return runHandler(index + 1);
+            };
+
+            let result;
+            try {
+              result = handler(req, res, next);
+            } catch (error) {
+              reject(error);
+              return;
+            }
+
+            Promise.resolve(result).then(function (value) {
+              if (!nextCalled) {
+                resolve(value);
+              }
+            }, reject);
+          };
+
+          runHandler(0);
+        });
+      };
+    },
+    post() {}
+  };
+
+  return { app, handlers };
+}
+
+function createResponse() {
+  const headers = {};
+  return {
+    headers,
+    statusCode: 200,
+    body: null,
+    set(name, value) {
+      headers[name] = value;
+      return this;
+    },
+    status(code) {
+      this.statusCode = code;
+      return this;
+    },
+    type(value) {
+      headers['Content-Type'] = value;
+      return this;
+    },
+    json(value) {
+      this.body = value;
+      return this;
+    },
+    send(value) {
+      this.body = value;
+      return this;
+    }
+  };
+}
+
+function registerThinClientRoutes(fetchImpl) {
+  process.env.PULSE_SIGNAGE_SHARED_SECRET = 'bridge-secret';
+  global.fetch = fetchImpl;
+
+  const { app, handlers } = createAppAndHandlers();
+  registerPlayerOnboardingRoutes(app, {
+    app,
+    common: {
+      renderPlayerOnboardingLandingPage() {
+        return 'landing';
+      },
+      renderPlayerOnboardingFormPage() {
+        return 'form';
+      }
+    },
+    thinClientBaseUrl: 'http://bridge.test',
+    playerPublicBaseUrl: 'http://public.test'
+  });
+
+  return handlers;
+}
+
+test('remote onboarding status proxies to the bridge and rewrites playerUrl', async () => {
+  const fetchCalls = [];
+  const handlers = registerThinClientRoutes(async (url, init) => {
+    fetchCalls.push({ url, init });
+    return {
+      status: 200,
+      headers: {
+        get(name) {
+          return String(name || '').toLowerCase() === 'content-type' ? 'application/json; charset=utf-8' : null;
+        }
+      },
+      async json() {
+        return {
+          deviceId: 'device123',
+          onboarded: true,
+          clientName: 'Lobby Player',
+          screenId: 7,
+          screenSlug: 'main-screen',
+          screenName: 'Main Screen',
+          playerUrl: null
+        };
+      }
+    };
+  });
+
+  const token = createPageAuthToken({ scope: 'onboarding', deviceId: 'device123' });
+  const res = createResponse();
+
+  await handlers['/api/onboarding/status']({
+    headers: {
+      'x-pulse-page-auth': token
+    },
+    query: {
+      deviceId: 'device 123!?'
+    },
+    socket: {}
+  }, res);
+
+  assert.equal(fetchCalls.length, 1);
+  assert.equal(fetchCalls[0].url, 'http://bridge.test/api/onboarding/status?deviceId=device123');
+  assert.equal(fetchCalls[0].init.method, 'GET');
+  assert.equal(fetchCalls[0].init.headers['x-pulse-page-auth'], token);
+  assert.equal(res.statusCode, 200);
+  assert.equal(res.body.playerUrl, 'http://public.test/screen/main-screen');
+  assert.equal(res.body.screenSlug, 'main-screen');
+});
+
+test('remote onboarding status returns 502 when the bridge is unavailable', async () => {
+  const handlers = registerThinClientRoutes(async () => {
+    return null;
+  });
+
+  const token = createPageAuthToken({ scope: 'player', deviceId: 'device123' });
+  const res = createResponse();
+
+  await handlers['/api/onboarding/status']({
+    headers: {
+      'x-pulse-page-auth': token
+    },
+    query: {
+      deviceId: 'device123'
+    },
+    socket: {}
+  }, res);
+
+  assert.equal(res.statusCode, 502);
+  assert.deepEqual(res.body, { error: 'Player bridge unavailable.' });
+});
+
+test('remote onboarding screens proxy preserves the bridge response body', async () => {
+  const fetchCalls = [];
+  const handlers = registerThinClientRoutes(async (url, init) => {
+    fetchCalls.push({ url, init });
+    return {
+      status: 200,
+      headers: {
+        get(name) {
+          return String(name || '').toLowerCase() === 'content-type' ? 'application/json; charset=utf-8' : null;
+        }
+      },
+      async text() {
+        return JSON.stringify({ screens: [{ id: 1, name: 'Lobby', slug: 'lobby' }] });
+      }
+    };
+  });
+
+  const token = createPageAuthToken({ scope: 'onboarding', deviceId: 'device123' });
+  const res = createResponse();
+
+  await handlers['/api/onboarding/screens']({
+    headers: {
+      'x-pulse-page-auth': token
+    },
+    query: {},
+    socket: {}
+  }, res);
+
+  assert.equal(fetchCalls.length, 1);
+  assert.equal(fetchCalls[0].url, 'http://bridge.test/api/onboarding/screens');
+  assert.equal(fetchCalls[0].init.method, 'GET');
+  assert.equal(res.statusCode, 200);
+  assert.equal(res.headers['Content-Type'], 'application/json; charset=utf-8');
+  assert.equal(res.body, JSON.stringify({ screens: [{ id: 1, name: 'Lobby', slug: 'lobby' }] }));
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+const fs = require('node:fs');
+const path = require('node:path');
+const vm = require('node:vm');
+const test = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+
+function loadCommandsScript(sandbox) {
+  const commandsPath = path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'player', 'public', 'js', 'player-page-commands.js');
+  const commandsScript = fs.readFileSync(commandsPath, 'utf8');
+  vm.runInNewContext(commandsScript, sandbox, { filename: commandsPath });
+}
+
+function createSandbox() {
+  const rafCallbacks = [];
+  const calls = {
+    syncRtmpRegions: 0,
+    initRegion: 0,
+    playRegionAnimations: 0
+  };
+
+  const app = {
+    children: [],
+    firstElementChild: null,
+    innerHTMLValue: '',
+    classList: {
+      contains() {
+        return false;
+      }
+    },
+    set innerHTML(value) {
+      this.innerHTMLValue = String(value || '');
+      this.firstElementChild = this.innerHTMLValue ? { isConnected: true } : null;
+    },
+    get innerHTML() {
+      return this.innerHTMLValue;
+    },
+    appendChild(node) {
+      if (node) {
+        node.isConnected = true;
+        this.children.push(node);
+        this.firstElementChild = this.firstElementChild || node;
+      }
+      return node;
+    },
+    querySelectorAll() {
+      return [];
+    }
+  };
+
+  const sandbox = {
+    window: null,
+    Date,
+    JSON,
+    Math,
+    Number,
+    String,
+    Boolean,
+    Array,
+    Object,
+    Promise,
+    setTimeout,
+    clearTimeout,
+    console,
+    requestAnimationFrame(callback) {
+      rafCallbacks.push(callback);
+      return rafCallbacks.length;
+    },
+    app,
+    slides: [],
+    index: 0,
+    currentPlaylistSignature: 'signature',
+    currentPlaylistFadeBetweenSlides: false,
+    currentPlaylistSkipUnavailableRtmp: false,
+    pendingPlaylistUpdate: null,
+    slideMarkupCache: Object.create(null),
+    templateLayoutCache: Object.create(null),
+    templateRenderPlanCache: Object.create(null),
+    renderCacheViewportKey: '',
+    slideTransitionTimer: null,
+    slideFadeDurationMs: 560,
+    slideExpiresAt: null,
+    pausedRemainingMs: null,
+    timer: null,
+    lastRenderedSlide: null,
+    destroyRtmpRegions() {},
+    syncRtmpRegions() {
+      calls.syncRtmpRegions += 1;
+    },
+    initializeRegionInstances() {
+      calls.initializeRegionInstances += 1;
+    },
+    playRegionAnimations() {
+      calls.playRegionAnimations += 1;
+    },
+    pulsePlayerRegionTypes: {
+      list() {
+        return [
+          {
+            definition: {
+              initRegion() {
+                calls.initRegion += 1;
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        ];
+      }
+    },
+    isThumbnailPreview() {
+      return false;
+    }
+  };
+
+  sandbox.window = sandbox;
+  sandbox.window.requestAnimationFrame = sandbox.requestAnimationFrame;
+  return { sandbox, calls, rafCallbacks, app };
+}
+
+test('renderSlideMarkup runs post-render setup immediately', () => {
+  const { sandbox, calls, rafCallbacks, app } = createSandbox();
+  loadCommandsScript(sandbox);
+
+  const returned = sandbox.renderSlideMarkup('<div class="slide">visible</div>', false);
+
+  assert.equal(app.innerHTMLValue, '<div class="slide">visible</div>');
+  assert.equal(calls.syncRtmpRegions, 1);
+  assert.equal(calls.initRegion, 1);
+  assert.equal(calls.playRegionAnimations, 1);
+  assert.equal(rafCallbacks.length, 0);
+  assert.equal(returned, app.firstElementChild);
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+const fs = require('node:fs');
+const path = require('node:path');
+const vm = require('node:vm');
+const test = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+
+function loadScript(scriptPath, sandbox) {
+  const source = fs.readFileSync(scriptPath, 'utf8');
+  vm.runInNewContext(source, sandbox, { filename: scriptPath });
+}
+
+test('webpage preloading only targets the next slide', () => {
+  const sandbox = {
+    window: null,
+    Date,
+    Array,
+    Number,
+    String,
+    Boolean,
+    Object,
+    Math,
+    console,
+    escapeHtml(value) {
+      return String(value || '');
+    },
+    currentPlaylistSignature: 'signature',
+    slides: [],
+    index: 0,
+    activeSlidesCacheKey: '',
+    activeSlidesCacheValue: [],
+    renderCacheViewportKey: '',
+    preloadSignature: '',
+    preloadContainer: null
+  };
+  sandbox.window = sandbox;
+
+  loadScript(path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'player', 'public', 'js', 'player-page-playlist.js'), sandbox);
+
+  const current = { id: 1 };
+  const next = { id: 2 };
+  const later = { id: 3 };
+
+  assert.equal(sandbox.getWebpagePreloadSlides([current, next, later], 0).map((slide) => slide.id).join(','), '2');
+  assert.equal(sandbox.getWebpagePreloadSlides([current, next, later], 1).map((slide) => slide.id).join(','), '3');
+  assert.equal(sandbox.getWebpagePreloadSlides([current, next, later], 2).map((slide) => slide.id).join(','), '');
+});
+
+test('rtmp warmups only target the next slide', () => {
+  const sandbox = {
+    window: null,
+    Date,
+    Array,
+    Number,
+    String,
+    Boolean,
+    Object,
+    Math,
+    console,
+    fetch() {
+      throw new Error('not expected');
+    },
+    currentPlaylistSkipUnavailableRtmp: false,
+    videoRegionRenderVersion: 0,
+    slideMarkupCache: Object.create(null),
+    slides: [],
+    index: 0,
+    setTimeout,
+    clearTimeout,
+    document: {
+      createElement() {
+        return {
+          className: '',
+          setAttribute() {},
+          appendChild() {},
+          parentNode: null,
+          addEventListener() {}
+        };
+      },
+      body: {
+        appendChild() {}
+      }
+    },
+    pulsePlayerRegionTypes: {
+      register() {}
+    }
+  };
+  sandbox.window = sandbox;
+
+  loadScript(path.join(__dirname, '..', 'src', 'player', 'regions', 'rtmp.js'), sandbox);
+
+  const current = { id: 1 };
+  const next = { id: 2 };
+  const later = { id: 3 };
+
+  assert.equal(sandbox.getRtmpWarmupSlides([current, next, later], 0).map((slide) => slide.id).join(','), '2');
+  assert.equal(sandbox.getRtmpWarmupSlides([current, next, later], 1).map((slide) => slide.id).join(','), '3');
+  assert.equal(sandbox.getRtmpWarmupSlides([current, next, later], 2).map((slide) => slide.id).join(','), '');
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+const test = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+
+const { normalizeIdentifier, recordPlayerHeartbeat, upsertPlayerRegistration } = require('../src/data/player-registry');
+
+test('normalizeIdentifier trims and limits friendly player labels', () => {
+  assert.equal(normalizeIdentifier('  Shop2  '), 'Shop2');
+  assert.equal(normalizeIdentifier(''), '');
+  assert.equal(normalizeIdentifier('x'.repeat(300)).length, 255);
+});
+
+test('player registry upserts include the identifier field', async () => {
+  const calls = [];
+  const pool = {
+    async query(sql, params) {
+      calls.push({ sql, params });
+      if (String(sql || '').includes('information_schema.COLUMNS')) {
+        return [[{ column_count: 1 }]];
+      }
+      if (String(sql || '').includes('INSERT INTO d_players')) {
+        return [{ affectedRows: 1 }];
+      }
+      if (String(sql || '').includes('SELECT id, identifier, public_base_url, internal_base_url, last_seen_at')) {
+        return [[{
+          id: 1,
+          identifier: 'Shop2',
+          public_base_url: 'http://player.local',
+          internal_base_url: 'http://player:8081',
+          last_seen_at: '2026-08-07 00:00:00'
+        }]];
+      }
+      return [[]];
+    }
+  };
+
+  const registration = await upsertPlayerRegistration(pool, {
+    deviceId: 'device-01',
+    identifier: 'Shop2',
+    publicBaseUrl: 'http://player.local/',
+    internalBaseUrl: 'http://player:8081/'
+  });
+
+  const heartbeat = await recordPlayerHeartbeat(pool, {
+    deviceId: 'device-01',
+    identifier: 'Shop2',
+    publicBaseUrl: 'http://player.local/',
+    internalBaseUrl: 'http://player:8081/'
+  });
+
+  assert.deepEqual(registration, {
+    id: 1,
+    identifier: 'Shop2',
+    public_base_url: 'http://player.local',
+    internal_base_url: 'http://player:8081',
+    last_seen_at: '2026-08-07 00:00:00'
+  });
+  assert.deepEqual(heartbeat, registration);
+  assert.ok(calls.some(function (call) {
+    return /INSERT INTO d_players/.test(String(call.sql || '')) && /identifier/.test(String(call.sql || ''));
+  }));
+  assert.ok(calls.some(function (call) {
+    return /SELECT .*identifier/.test(String(call.sql || ''));
+  }));
+  assert.deepEqual((calls.find(function (call) {
+    return /INSERT INTO d_players/.test(String(call.sql || ''));
+  }) || {}).params, ['Shop2', 'http://player.local', 'http://player:8081']);
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+const test = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+const fs = require('node:fs');
+const vm = require('node:vm');
+
+test('system status shows connected player count in the live feed label', () => {
+  const script = fs.readFileSync(require.resolve('../src/web/public/js/system-status.js'), 'utf8');
+  const elements = {
+    'sidebar-status-dot': {
+      classList: {
+        remove() {},
+        add() {}
+      },
+      setAttribute() {}
+    },
+    'sidebar-status-text': {
+      textContent: ''
+    }
+  };
+  const sockets = [];
+
+  const context = {
+    document: {
+      getElementById(id) {
+        return elements[id] || null;
+      }
+    },
+    window: {
+      WebSocket: true,
+      location: {
+        protocol: 'http:',
+        host: 'example.test'
+      },
+      setTimeout() {
+        return 1;
+      },
+      clearTimeout() {},
+      webHandleDashboardState() {}
+    },
+    WebSocket: function MockWebSocket(url) {
+      this.url = url;
+      sockets.push(this);
+      this.close = function () {};
+    },
+    JSON: JSON,
+    Number: Number,
+    String: String,
+    Boolean: Boolean,
+    Array: Array,
+    Object: Object,
+    Math: Math,
+    setTimeout() {},
+    clearTimeout() {},
+    console: console
+  };
+  context.window.document = context.document;
+  context.window.WebSocket = context.WebSocket;
+
+  vm.runInNewContext(script, context);
+
+  assert.equal(sockets.length, 1);
+  sockets[0].onmessage({
+    data: JSON.stringify({
+      type: 'dashboard-state',
+      state: {
+        screens: [{ slug: 'alpha' }],
+        playerServiceConnected: true,
+        connectedPlayersCount: 4
+      }
+    })
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(elements['sidebar-status-text'].textContent, 'Live player feed - 4 players connected');
+});
+
+test('system status shows an explicit idle label when no players are connected', () => {
+  const script = fs.readFileSync(require.resolve('../src/web/public/js/system-status.js'), 'utf8');
+  const elements = {
+    'sidebar-status-dot': {
+      classList: {
+        remove() {},
+        add() {}
+      },
+      setAttribute() {}
+    },
+    'sidebar-status-text': {
+      textContent: ''
+    }
+  };
+  const sockets = [];
+
+  const context = {
+    document: {
+      getElementById(id) {
+        return elements[id] || null;
+      }
+    },
+    window: {
+      WebSocket: true,
+      location: {
+        protocol: 'http:',
+        host: 'example.test'
+      },
+      setTimeout() {
+        return 1;
+      },
+      clearTimeout() {},
+      webHandleDashboardState() {}
+    },
+    WebSocket: function MockWebSocket(url) {
+      this.url = url;
+      sockets.push(this);
+      this.close = function () {};
+    },
+    JSON: JSON,
+    Number: Number,
+    String: String,
+    Boolean: Boolean,
+    Array: Array,
+    Object: Object,
+    Math: Math,
+    setTimeout() {},
+    clearTimeout() {},
+    console: console
+  };
+  context.window.document = context.document;
+  context.window.WebSocket = context.WebSocket;
+
+  vm.runInNewContext(script, context);
+
+  assert.equal(sockets.length, 1);
+  sockets[0].onmessage({
+    data: JSON.stringify({
+      type: 'dashboard-state',
+      state: {
+        screens: [{ slug: 'alpha' }],
+        playerServiceConnected: true,
+        connectedPlayersCount: 0
+      }
+    })
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(elements['sidebar-status-text'].textContent, 'Player feed online - no players connected');
+});
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ test('screen update redirects and forwards redirect when the slug changes', asyn
      uniqueScreenSlug: async () => 'beta',
      fetchDuplicateName: async () => null,
      fetchScreenById: async () => ({ id: 42, name: 'Old Screen', slug: 'alpha', playlist_id: null }),
-      fetchScreenPlayerRecord: async () => ({ public_base_url: 'http://player.local' })
+      fetchScreenPlayerRecord: async () => ({ public_base_url: 'http://player.local' }),
+      fetchPlayerPublicBaseUrl: async () => 'http://player.local'
    },
    pages,
    getAuditUserId() { return 7; },