Track upstream Kip#1080: adopt @dillan's standalone SK media/image plugin when it ships

[mairas]

Context

Skip removed its bundled image-asset feature (#107 / #112). Signal K has no reusable image/media API to lean on, and the right shape is a standalone plugin (metadata via the Resources API + binary via plugin routes) — the way the Video widget already consumes the external sk-video plugin. Rather than build our own, we adopt the upstream plugin that @dillan has committed to splitting out.

Upstream status — mxtommy/Kip#1080 (by @dillan)

The discussion concluded that image/media handling will be extracted into a separate Signal K plugin:

• @tkurki (SK core): "useful as an independent plugin or as an extension of the server's applicationData scaffolding … nothing inherently KIP specific."
• @godind (mxtommy): the processing engine "would be better leveraged as a server plugin/feature … Leave only the display and control part as a KIP widget."
• @dillan (author), concluding the thread: "Ok, I'll split this out. Thanks!" — committed to extracting a standalone image-handling plugin.

The plugin's repo/id and timeline aren't announced yet, and Kip#1080 itself is still open — but the direction is settled, not conditional.

What to do

• Watch Kip#1080 and @dillan's forthcoming standalone image/media plugin. When it ships, adopt it in Skip — re-add a thin Image widget that consumes the plugin via the Resources API (metadata) + plugin routes (bytes), mirroring sk-video. Signal K can auto-install/enable a widget's required plugin, so the "batteries included" UX is preserved without bundling.
• Until then, Skip has no in-app image widget (removed in chore: remove the image-asset feature (Image widget + kip-plugin image service) #112).

Links

• Upstream PR: Image assets (1/3): Signal K plugin — secure upload, processing, worker pool, cache mxtommy/Kip#1080
• Skip removal: chore: remove the image-asset feature (Image widget + kip-plugin image service) #107 (tracking), chore: remove the image-asset feature (Image widget + kip-plugin image service) #112 (PR)
• Precedent: the Video widget consumes the external sk-video plugin (Resources API cameras + /plugins/sk-video/ routes).

[mairas]

Closing as superseded by #242 (confirmed at the 2026-07-13 Gate A interview; the mootness verdict was adversarially verified during triage). Upstream Kip #1080's tracking purpose is fully absorbed by #242's port packet — note for that work: @dillan's shipped standalone plugin mounts its API at /signalk/v1/api/sk-image, not via the Resources API this issue anticipated. #242 was decided port-now-from-the-open-branch at Gate A and is scheduled in #257 Stage 3; there was no cross-reference between these two issues before this comment.