mqtt test: use playback start as reliable trigger, drop auto-prefix

two fixes based on actual behavior of the jellyfin webhook plugin:

- 'Webhook Url' setup value no longer re-serialized with mqtt://. show
  the user's broker url verbatim so whatever protocol they use (ws://,
  http://, etc.) survives the round trip
- dropped the server-side 'trigger a jellyfin rescan during the test'
  machinery. a refresh that doesn't mutate metadata won't fire Item
  Added, so relying on it produced false negatives. now we just wait
  for any message on the topic; ui instructs the user to hit play on a
  movie in jellyfin while the test runs — playback start is a
  deterministic trigger, unlike library events
- setup panel now lists Notification Types as 'Item Added, Playback
  Start'. playback start is for the test only; the production handler
  still filters events down to item added / updated

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
 	"name": "netfelix-audio-fix",
-	"version": "2026.04.14.6",
+	"version": "2026.04.14.7",
 	"scripts": {
 		"dev:server": "NODE_ENV=development bun --hot server/index.tsx",
 		"dev:client": "vite",

server/api/settings.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Hono } from "hono";
 import { getAllConfig, getConfig, getDb, getEnvLockedKeys, reseedDefaults, setConfig } from "../db/index";
-import { getUsers, refreshItem, testConnection as testJellyfin } from "../services/jellyfin";
+import { getUsers, testConnection as testJellyfin } from "../services/jellyfin";
 import { getMqttStatus, startMqttClient, testMqttConnection } from "../services/mqtt";
 import { testConnection as testRadarr } from "../services/radarr";
 import { getScheduleConfig, type ScheduleConfig, updateScheduleConfig } from "../services/scheduler";
@@ -145,29 +145,13 @@ app.post("/mqtt/test", async (c) => {
 	const topic = (body.topic ?? "jellyfin/events").trim() || "jellyfin/events";
 	const password = body.password || getConfig("mqtt_password") || "";
 
-	const jellyfinUrl = getConfig("jellyfin_url") ?? "";
-	const jellyfinApiKey = getConfig("jellyfin_api_key") ?? "";
-	const jellyfinUserId = getConfig("jellyfin_user_id") ?? "";
-	const jfCfg = { url: jellyfinUrl, apiKey: jellyfinApiKey, userId: jellyfinUserId };
-
-	const triggerRefresh = async (): Promise<{ itemId: string; itemName: string } | null> => {
-		if (!jellyfinUrl || !jellyfinApiKey) return null;
-		// Grab any scanned movie/episode as the trigger target. Random ordering
-		// so repeated tests don't keep hammering the same item.
-		const row = getDb()
-			.prepare("SELECT jellyfin_id, name FROM media_items WHERE type IN ('Movie', 'Episode') ORDER BY RANDOM() LIMIT 1")
-			.get() as { jellyfin_id: string; name: string } | undefined;
-		if (!row) return null;
-		// Fire-and-poll: refreshItem blocks until Jellyfin finishes, which we
-		// don't want here — the webhook fires during the refresh itself.
-		// Kick it off in the background; the mqtt subscriber catches the event.
-		refreshItem(jfCfg, row.jellyfin_id, 2_000).catch(() => {});
-		return { itemId: row.jellyfin_id, itemName: row.name };
-	};
-
+	// The user triggers real activity in Jellyfin (start playback / add an
+	// item) while the test runs — a blind metadata refresh from here often
+	// doesn't fire any webhook (the plugin only emits Item Added on actual
+	// additions, which a no-op refresh isn't).
 	const result = await testMqttConnection(
 		{ url, topic, username: (body.username ?? "").trim(), password },
-		triggerRefresh,
+		async () => null,
 		30_000,
 	);
 	return c.json(result);

server/services/mqtt.ts

@@ -192,17 +192,11 @@ export async function testMqttConnection(
 		});
 
 		c.on("message", (_topic, payload) => {
-			const raw = payload.toString("utf8");
-			// If we're waiting for a specific itemId, only accept matches.
-			if (expectedItemId) {
-				try {
-					const parsed = JSON.parse(raw) as { itemId?: string };
-					if (parsed.itemId !== expectedItemId) return;
-				} catch {
-					return;
-				}
-			}
-			done({ receivedMessage: true, samplePayload: raw.slice(0, 400) });
+			// Any message on the configured topic is enough — a rescan of an
+			// unchanged item won't fire Item Added, so the "itemId matches"
+			// filter would cause false failures. The user triggers real
+			// activity in Jellyfin if the auto-rescan doesn't wake anything.
+			done({ receivedMessage: true, samplePayload: payload.toString("utf8").slice(0, 400) });
 		});
 
 		c.on("error", (err) => {

src/features/settings/MqttSection.tsx

@@ -298,28 +298,12 @@ export function MqttSection({ cfg, locked }: { cfg: Record<string, string>; lock
 							<div className={testResult.brokerConnected ? "text-green-700" : "text-red-700"}>
 								{testResult.brokerConnected ? "✓" : "✗"} Broker reachable & credentials accepted
 							</div>
-							{/* Step 2: jellyfin rescan kicked off */}
+							{/* Step 2: webhook received */}
 							{testResult.brokerConnected && (
-								<div
-									className={
-										testResult.jellyfinTriggered
-											? "text-green-700"
-											: testResult.error?.startsWith("jellyfin")
-												? "text-red-700"
-												: "text-gray-500"
-									}
-								>
-									{testResult.jellyfinTriggered
-										? `✓ Triggered Jellyfin rescan on "${testResult.itemName}"`
-										: "— No Jellyfin items to rescan yet (run a library scan first, then retry)"}
-								</div>
-							)}
-							{/* Step 3: webhook landed */}
-							{testResult.brokerConnected && testResult.jellyfinTriggered && (
 								<div className={testResult.receivedMessage ? "text-green-700" : "text-amber-700"}>
 									{testResult.receivedMessage
-										? `✓ Received matching webhook on topic "${topic || "jellyfin/events"}"`
-										: "⚠ No webhook message arrived within the timeout. Check the Jellyfin Webhook plugin destination: events include Item Added, Item Type filter covers Movies/Episodes, MQTT server/topic match the values shown below, and the Jellyfin host can reach the broker."}
+										? `✓ Received webhook on topic "${topic || "jellyfin/events"}" — the loop is closed.`
+										: "⚠ No webhook in 30s. Start playing any movie or episode in Jellyfin (or add/edit an item) while the test is running. If that still produces nothing: verify the plugin destination is Enabled, Notification Type includes Playback Start (and Item Added), Item Type covers Movies/Episodes, and the Jellyfin host can reach this broker."}
 								</div>
 							)}
 							{testResult.samplePayload && (
@@ -358,12 +342,14 @@ export function MqttSection({ cfg, locked }: { cfg: Record<string, string>; lock
 
 							<div className="text-[11px] font-semibold text-gray-500 uppercase mt-3 mb-1">Generic destination</div>
 							<SetupValue label="Webhook Name" value="Audio Fix" mono={false} />
-							<SetupValue
-								label="Webhook Url"
-								value={`${broker.useTls ? "mqtts" : "mqtt"}://${broker.host || "broker.lan"}:${broker.port}`}
-							/>
+							<SetupValue label="Webhook Url" value={url || "(your broker URL)"} />
 							<SetupValue label="Status" value="Enabled" mono={false} copyable={false} />
-							<SetupValue label="Notification Type" value="Item Added" mono={false} copyable={false} />
+							<SetupValue
+								label="Notification Type"
+								value="Item Added, Playback Start"
+								mono={false}
+								copyable={false}
+							/>
 							<SetupValue label="Item Type" value="Movies, Episodes" mono={false} copyable={false} />
 
 							<div className="text-[11px] font-semibold text-gray-500 uppercase mt-3 mb-1">MQTT settings</div>
@@ -389,10 +375,11 @@ export function MqttSection({ cfg, locked }: { cfg: Record<string, string>; lock
 							<SetupValue label="Template" value={HANDLEBARS_TEMPLATE} />
 						</div>
 						<p className="text-[11px] text-gray-400 mt-3">
-							Notes: "Server Url" is Jellyfin's own base URL (used for rendered links in notification templates). "Webhook Url"
-							is required by the form even for MQTT destinations, which ignore it — we fill it with the broker URL so
-							validation passes. Jellyfin doesn't expose an "Item Updated" event — any file change fires{" "}
-							<span className="font-mono">Item Added</span>, which is what we listen for.
+							Notes: "Server Url" is Jellyfin's own base URL (used for rendered links). "Webhook Url" is required by
+							the form even for MQTT destinations; paste your broker URL so validation passes. We subscribe to{" "}
+							<span className="font-mono">Item Added</span> for the real ping-pong (post-ffmpeg file mutations show up
+							as new adds in Jellyfin) and also enable <span className="font-mono">Playback Start</span> — it's a
+							reliable trigger for the Test button and is ignored by the production handler.
 						</p>
 					</div>
 				</>