Port Kip #1120: Image widget (sk-image plugin)

[mairas]

Upstream

Port the Image widget from Kip PR mxtommy/Kip#1120 (OPEN, unmerged as of this writing).

What the upstream change does

Adds an Image display widget to Kip. Storage/processing lives in a separate Signal K plugin (sk-image, published, Node.js 22.13+); Kip ships only the client side:

• widget-image component — renders a server-stored image scaled to fit/fill over a solid or transparent background, lazy-loaded, requests the smallest variant on first paint then upgrades.
• image-source-setup widget-config panel — upload (<=10 MB, type-guarded), pick from the boat-wide library, delete-with-confirm, alt text, fit/background, live preview.
• Settings -> Media card (options/media) — image cache size + purge.
• ImageAssetService + a kip-plugin-url resolver that target the plugin's crew-reachable /signalk/v1/api/sk-image mount (not the admin-gated /plugins/sk-image alias) and discover variant widths from the plugin's GET /config.
• Auth-aware plugin-gating tweak: on a secured server the plugin-state API is admin-only, so an unreadable state is treated as "can't verify" rather than "not installed", and read-only accounts get a clear 403 message.
• sk-image added to signalk.recommends so the App Store offers to install it.

Why this needs a manual port (not a cherry-pick)

The bulk is brand-new files, but the wiring lands in files skip has diverged. git apply --check of the PR's shared-file hunks against skip: widgets-interface.ts and widget.service.ts fail; dashboard.component.ts and plugin-config-client.service.ts apply clean textually (but the latter imports the missing kip-plugin-url.util, so it will not compile until that new util is added).

• widget.service.ts — skip's widget registry has diverged heavily (35 widgets incl. skip-only Freeboard-SK, Racesteer, Racer Start Line/Timer, Wind Trends, Countdown Timer, Video). The PR inserts an Image entry and a lazy-load map line; the insertion applies against different context (apply fails at :532).
• widgets-interface.ts — the IWidgetSvcConfig block the PR extends has diverged (apply fails at :386).
• src/assets/svg/icons.svg — skip has no imageWidget symbol; this large, rebranded symbol file must get the icon added by hand.
• options/tabs, root-modal-widget-config, menu.json — need the Media tab / image-source-setup wiring / help entry threaded in manually.
• External dependency: requires the standalone sk-image Signal K plugin (Node 22.13+) on the server. That plugin is not part of skip and is a separate deployment/product decision. skip's package.json signalk.recommends would also need sk-image.

Affected skip files

New:

• src/app/widgets/widget-image/{widget-image.component.ts,.html,.scss,.spec.ts}
• src/app/widget-config/image-source-setup/{image-source-setup.component.ts,.html,.scss,.spec.ts}
• src/app/core/components/options/media/{media.component.ts,.html,.scss,.spec.ts}
• src/app/core/services/image-asset.service.ts (+ spec)
• src/app/core/utils/kip-plugin-url.util.ts (+ spec)
• src/assets/help-docs/image-widget.md (+ img assets)

Modified (diverged wiring):

• src/app/core/services/widget.service.ts
• src/app/core/interfaces/widgets-interface.ts
• src/app/core/components/dashboard/dashboard.component.ts
• src/app/core/services/plugin-config-client.service.ts
• src/app/core/components/options/tabs/tabs.component.{ts,html}
• src/app/widget-config/root-modal-widget-config/root-modal-widget-config.component.{ts,html}
• src/assets/svg/icons.svg
• src/assets/help-docs/menu.json
• package.json (signalk.recommends)

Suggested approach

1. Decide first whether skip wants this at all — it hard-depends on the external sk-image plugin (Node.js 22.13+) being installed on the SK server, and the upstream PR is still OPEN. Wait for it to merge before porting so the API surface is stable.
2. If adopting: copy the new component/service/util files as-is (they are self-contained), then hand-wire the diverged shared files — add the registry entry + lazy-load import in widget.service.ts, the image? config block in widgets-interface.ts, the imageWidget symbol in icons.svg, the Media tab, the image-source-setup wiring, and the menu.json/help entry.
3. Take the two clean hunks (dashboard.component.ts auth-aware gating, plugin-config-client.service.ts stripToServerRoot) verbatim, but they depend on the new kip-plugin-url.util, so add that util first.
4. Port the specs and confirm skip's suite stays green; verify against a server running sk-image (secured + read-only role behavior).

[mairas]

Removing the "wait for upstream to merge" deferral — it was an AI-introduced gate (this issue's own "Suggested approach" step 1 and the "[upstream still OPEN]" title tag), never a maintainer decision, and it contradicts this repo's stated principle that staying rebaseable on upstream is an explicit non-goal (design decisions never weigh rebase risk or whether code is upstream-maintained). Kip's PR queue has no bearing on us: once we port the widget it is ours; if upstream #1120 later changes, we don't care. The "so the API surface is stable" rationale collapses for the same reason.

The only real decision point here — separate from and unrelated to Kip's PR status — is that the Image widget hard-depends on the external sk-image Signal K server plugin (Node 22.13+). A widget that does nothing unless that plugin is installed is a genuine product/deployment question: do we want sk-image on our boats and to recommend it via signalk.recommends? That is what to decide before porting — not whether Kip merged anything.

Un-deferred. The technical porting notes below (diverged shared-file wiring, new self-contained files, the two clean hunks) remain accurate and stand as the implementation guide whenever this is prioritized.

[mairas]

Design direction: make the sk-image dependency soft (graceful degradation)

The sk-image coupling can and should be a soft, runtime dependency rather than a hard prerequisite:

• The port is client-only and talks to the plugin purely over HTTP (/signalk/v1/api/sk-image mount, GET /config for variant widths). Nothing imports plugin code at build time, so an absent plugin is a runtime 404, not a compile failure.
• The upstream PR already carries the seed: auth-aware plugin-gating that distinguishes not-installed from can't-verify (the state API is admin-only on a secured server). Extend it so that when the plugin is undetected the widget renders a clear "requires the sk-image plugin" empty/placeholder state (or is hidden from the picker) instead of erroring.
• signalk.recommends: sk-image is already soft — it offers the install via the app store, it doesn't require it.

Consequence: this removes the earlier "do we want sk-image on every boat" gate. With graceful degradation we can port the widget unconditionally — boats running sk-image get the feature; boats without get a clear prompt. Consistent with the project principle of adopting server capabilities with graceful degradation (never gating Skip features on a specific server config).

(Feasibility assessed from this issue's documented design; confirm the exact absence-handling against the upstream PR code at port time.)

[mairas]

Postponed — maintainer decision: the Image widget is a new feature and not a priority for the first release, so it's deferred to post-first-release. Issue kept open as valid future work; the port guide (diverged shared-file wiring, self-contained new files) and the soft-sk-image-dependency design in the comments above remain accurate for whenever it's picked up.

To be clear this is a product-priority deferral, unrelated to the earlier (removed) "wait for upstream to merge" gate — that reasoning was wrong and stays retired.