Firmware Release Notes

Request Serialization & Concurrency Protection: Prevents controller crashes and socket exhaustion by queuing and rate-limiting outgoing API calls, combined with frontend visual locking during active commands.

• Implemented sequential request queueing (`safeFetch`) to guarantee no more than 1 concurrent TCP connection is sent to the ESP32.
• Enforced a mandatory `150ms` delay between sequential API requests to allow connection teardown and heap garbage collection.
• Added visual interface locking (dimming and disabling click handlers) on the main dashboard and scheduler pages when a command is in-flight.
• Updated the system status dot to turn amber when a command request is actively processing.

Memory & Web Server Stability Optimizations: Offloads heavy static HTML file serving to Nginx reverse proxy to prevent controller lag and OOM crashes, and adds garbage collection guardrails to local routes.

• Configured Nginx on the host server to serve static pages (Dashboard, Settings, Scheduler, Logs) directly from local disk, offloading all heavy asset delivery from the ESP32.
• Configured ESP32 to only handle lightweight JSON API requests (`/api/status`, `/get-settings`, etc.), preventing connection timeouts and interface lag on refreshes.
• Added proactive garbage collection (`gc.collect()`) calls in `controller.py` prior to serving static files to improve reliability for direct-IP local connections.

Optimized update lookup behavior: Reduces background noise by gating update requests behind explicit user actions.

• Only fetch available firmware versions from the repository when the user explicitly triggers "Check for Updates" button on settings.
• Reduces background network connections and saves server performance.

Memory management and crash fixes: Major reliability optimizations for irrigation scheduler operations.

• Optimized scheduler page loading structure to decrease peak memory usage.
• Cached active rain delay state values in physical memory to prevent ESP32 memory leaks and system crashes during live cycle operations.

Concurrency and interface stability: Resolved resource conflicts during asynchronous requests.

• Made the unified `/api/status` endpoint read-only to avoid concurrency errors or data collisions.
• Fixed a layout bug where the manual timer setup panel collapsed unexpectedly.

Manual control UI enhancements: Polished visual control logic on the dashboard.

• Hides configure options while a manual timer run is active, only displaying options when a zone is idle.
• Simplifies user experience and prevents concurrent scheduling actions.

Unified telemetry system: Solved UI HTTP polling overhead and browser sockets depletion.

• Implemented a consolidated `/api/status` data endpoint for telemetry.
• Refactored telemetry queries in `index.html` into a single central poller, resolving browser socket exhaustion and dashboard freezes.

Security updates: Encryption enforcement for device updates.

• Updated the default server address to HTTPS in `settings.html` to encrypt update binaries downloads.

Version detection features: Initial implementation of the update detection framework.

• Added firmware version metadata tracking on the board.
• Implemented the manual "Check for Updates" settings button and dashboard notification bar.

OTA structure update: Organized update deployment endpoints.

• Added support for versioned paths inside the OTA file fetch routines.

Major release base: Established base features for the 10-zone smart sprinkler controller.

• Integrated 10-zone physical mapping control via relays.
• Built-in local Microdot server hosting Web UI configuration panel.
• MQTT telemetry integration for Home Assistant discovery.
• Automatic Wi-Fi fallback to AP setup mode on connection errors.