samsung-frame-tv-ws-popup

name: samsung-frame-tv-ws-popup description: >- Fix Samsung Frame TV showing a connection notification on the panel every time a samsungtvws WebSocket is opened, even with a saved token. author: Claude Code version: 1.0.0 date: 2026-04-13

Samsung Frame TV WebSocket Connection Popup

Problem

Samsung Frame TVs show a connection notification on the panel every time the samsungtvws WebSocket (port 8002) is opened, even when a valid token is saved on disk. On a Frame in art mode this also wakes the panel briefly, which is disruptive when polling on a schedule (e.g. a home dashboard refreshing every few minutes).

Context / Trigger Conditions

• Using samsungtvws.SamsungTVWS (NickWaterton fork or upstream) against a Samsung Frame TV
• Code calls tv.open() or any method that internally opens the WS: tv.art(), tv.send_key(), tv.app_list(), etc.
• Token is saved (token_file=...) and reused — but popup still appears
• Symptom: TV panel briefly lights / shows a small "connecting" notification every poll interval, often reported as "the dashboard is causing a popup on the TV"

The popup is not a token/auth problem — it's the WS handshake itself. It does not happen with the REST endpoints on port 8001.

Solution

Split TV operations into two tiers:

1. Status / polling (REST-only, silent):
   • tv.rest_device_info() — power state, model, name
   • tv.rest_app_status(app_id) — running apps
   • tv.rest_app_run(app_id) / tv.rest_app_close(app_id) — app launch/close
2. Interactive commands (WS, popup acceptable):
   • tv.send_key(...) — volume, power off, navigation
   • tv.art() — art mode read/write
   • Any method requiring tv.open()

For dashboard-style polling, only call the REST methods. Move art-mode info behind an explicit user action (e.g. a separate samsung-tv art frame command), not the periodic status collector.

Example fix

def cmd_status(_args):
    # REST-only: opening the WS connection wakes the Frame's panel and shows
    # a connection notification, even with a saved token.
    tv = SamsungTVWS(host=ip, port=8002, token_file=tp, timeout=5, name="OpenClaw")
    info = tv.rest_device_info()
    dev = info.get("device", info)
    print(f"Power: {dev.get('PowerState', 'Unknown')}")
    # NO tv.open(), NO tv.art() here

Verification

1. Stop the dashboard / poller.
2. Run the status command once manually — confirm no popup appears on the TV.
3. Restart the poller and watch the TV through one full poll cycle (or two) — the panel should stay quiet.
4. Run an explicit interactive command (samsung-tv power frame off) and confirm the WS path still works.

Notes

• Saving the token avoids the approval prompt (the "Allow this device?" dialog on first connection), but it does not suppress the connection notification that Frame TVs show on every WS open.
• Non-Frame Samsung TVs generally don't show this notification, so the same code may work fine on a regular Samsung TV and only misbehave on a Frame.
• WoL on port 9 is silent and unrelated to this issue.
• If you genuinely need art-mode info on a schedule, accept the popup and poll less often (e.g. hourly) rather than every few minutes.

References

• samsungtvws (NickWaterton fork): https://github.com/NickWaterton/samsung-tv-ws-api
• Samsung Frame TV behavior is not documented in the library README; this was discovered empirically while debugging a 5-minute polling loop in a home control dashboard.