Alexa Control Map

Updates

A practical record of what has become easier, clearer, or safer at the table.

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Chronicle Archive

What's New For Your Table

Recent improvements to voice control, recording, and game-night visibility

Each entry explains what changed and what it means when you are running a session.

Latest Update · Rollout PendingShared recording start

One Countdown For Phones, Cameras And Grandstream

Alaric, Mobile Recorder and the VTT recorder
  • Players Get Ready First: Each participant joins on their phone, allows the microphone and taps Ready — save lead-in audio. The phone starts saving audio and confirms readiness after its first audio part is saved. Keep the page open and the screen unlocked.
  • The GM Starts The Group: Start all recorders checks the joined phones, both cameras and the Grandstream microphone. Once the required recorders are ready, Alaric proposes a shared start time 15 seconds ahead and waits for every phone to acknowledge the countdown.
  • Recordings Share A Session Start: Device clock differences are measured, and each recorder saves the same session-zero marker alongside its timing evidence. Recordings retain their lead-in audio so device startup delays do not cut off the opening of play.
  • Missing Or Late Devices Are Visible: The Control Map shows acknowledgements and start confirmations. A phone that is not ready prevents the countdown from being confirmed; late or missing start markers are flagged for attention.
  • Cancellation Keeps Your Audio: Cancel countdown cancels the shared start while lead-in recording continues. Use the VTT stop control and each phone's Stop game audio control to finish their recordings.
ReleaseSeptember 2026 maintenance

Control Map Maintenance And The Player Companion Release

Control service reliability and connected recording
  • Control service maintenance: Reviewed web-server and deployment-tool updates were merged together and checked with 190 tests and skill verification. Hosting now retains the patched dependency settings during its build and uses the tested Node and npm release lines.
  • Dependency fixes: Patched request-parsing dependencies. The production dependency audit reported no known findings at this release checkpoint.
  • Connected Mobile Recorder: Its newly released companion keeps one recording across microphone, movement and spell-targeting views. Ending a track requires typing END and confirming; casts remain subject to GM resolution.
  • Deployment status: The companion changes are published in the separate Mobile Recorder project. Its updated Ubuntu service has not yet been rolled out, so the existing Control Map entry does not by itself make those changes live.
Release Mobile phone recording update

Every Player And The GM Can Record A Clear Local Track

Eight player phones, one GM phone, QR joining, live recording feedback A simpler way to capture who said what and when
  • One QR Code Starts The Phone Session: The GM selects the scheduled game and roster, then creates a shared QR code without entering an internal Scribe destination ID.
  • Every Table Role Has A Visible Slot: The Alexa Control Map shows eight player recorders and a separate GM recorder. The verified GM's name appears on the GM slot before their phone joins.
  • Recording State Is Obvious: Waiting phones show a quiet flatline. A phone that is genuinely recording shows moving colour and its current duration.
  • The Phone Workflow Opens Separately: Start phone session opens Mobile Recorder in a new tab, leaving the Alexa Control Map available for camera, microphone, and recorder monitoring.
Release Ubuntu recorder update

Ubuntu Now Runs The Full Recorder Path On Its Own

Ubuntu, Vertual recorder, FFmpeg, RTSP cameras, GrandStream, Scribe The game-night recording path no longer depends on the Windows computer
  • The Native Recorder Lives On Ubuntu: The Linux Vertual recorder runs locally on the always-on host and keeps its control API protected on loopback port 5125.
  • The Recorder Bridge Is Wired Correctly: Alaric's Docker relay now forwards to the real Ubuntu recorder port instead of the obsolete port that caused bridge checks to fail.
  • The GrandStream Status Is Truthful: The public dashboard now carries the recorder's sanitized audio-input state, so the configured GMD1208 reports Ready instead of Not configured.
  • The Whole Media Path Is Visible: Ubuntu reports FFmpeg, both RTSP cameras, the table microphone, and Scribe readiness through one recorder check.
Release Game-night feedback update

Recording Feedback Is Clearer While You Run The Table

Live audio meters, action guidance, shared navigation Faster answers before, during, and after a recording
  • Audio Activity Moves While Recording: The recorder panel shows live source activity so you can see whether the expected tracks are receiving data.
  • Latest Action Explains What Happened: Recorder results now include a plain-language detail panel with concrete next steps when attention is required.
  • The Page Speaks Ubuntu: Dashboard guidance points to the Ubuntu host and its local recorder instead of sending you to the retired Windows workflow.
  • NPC Forge Navigation Is Shared: The canonical suite footer now links Alexa with the other NPC Forge apps, policies, Wiki, and community resources.
Release Recorder update

GrandStream Recording Is Visible From Check To Flow

Recorder, Bluetooth microphone, control map A truthful third-source view without changing the 2/2 camera count
  • The Microphone Has Its Own Check Card: GrandStream now appears beside the overhead and side cameras with its current readiness state.
  • The Real Device Name Is Visible: The page reports Headset Microphone (GMD1208-0C2EFA Hands-Free) and shows Bluetooth ready when the VTT recorder detects it.
  • The Audio Path Has A Place On The Map: A circular GrandStream node sits directly above the VTT Table and feeds the Recorder node while capture is active.
  • Camera Readiness Stays Honest: Audio sources are no longer counted as video cameras, so the verified result remains 2/2 instead of becoming 2/3.
Release Hosting update

Alexa Has A Branded Home And A Recognisable User

Firebase App Hosting, split routing, Google authentication A stable public page with local recorder control kept on the Ubuntu host
  • The Public Page Uses The NPC Forge Domain: Alexa is hosted through Firebase at alexa.npc-forge.com instead of relying on a temporary hosting address.
  • Split Routing Protects Local Controls: Static pages come from Firebase App Hosting while live bridge and recorder status routes continue to reach the Ubuntu-hosted Alexa service.
  • Google Identity Is Visible: A signed-in user sees their Google profile image, name, and Gmail address in the top-right account control.
  • VTT Lightbox Is One Click Away: The top navigation includes the local lightbox shortcut for game-night use.
Release Project foundation

Alexa Becomes A Real, Tested NPC Forge Project

GitHub, CI, service map A maintained source of truth for the Alexa control service
  • The Project Has A GitHub Home: jonathabean/alexa is now the source repository for the dashboard, bridge, tests, and deployment configuration.
  • Changes Are Checked Before Merge: GitHub Actions runs the Node test suite and Alexa skill-package verification on each pull request.
  • The Product Name Is Consistent: Public headings and hosting now use Alexa while Alaric remains the voice and local bridge identity inside the system.