# Failure Display — Design Spec
**Date:** 2026-04-17
**Scope:** Define a single "failing source" state and surface it on the Dashboard as per-platform health bars plus a filtered failing-source list. Make the threshold configurable via Settings.
---
## Motivation
The user is seeing a large number of source failures and needs a way to spot which platforms are affected at a glance. Today, the Dashboard's "Sources Needing Attention" card shows any source with a failed download in the last 7 days — a transient, noisy definition. A single bad run puts a source on the list; a later success does nothing to clear it.
This spec introduces a stricter, self-clearing definition: a source is *failing* when it has N consecutive failures (default 5), and a single success resets the counter. That semantic already exists in the data model — `Source.error_count` increments on failure and is set to 0 on success — so this is a presentation change with one small settings addition, not a schema change.
---
## Design
### Backend
**File:** `backend/app/models/setting.py`
Add one entry to `DEFAULT_SETTINGS`:
```python
DEFAULT_SETTINGS = {
# ... existing keys unchanged ...
"dashboard.failure_threshold": 5,
}
```
No migration. The `settings` table is a key-value store and `get_setting_value(session, key, default)` already falls back through `DEFAULT_SETTINGS`. No new endpoint — the existing `GET /api/settings` returns it in the merged `settings` dict.
### Settings page — `frontend/src/views/Settings.vue`
Add a new section above the Notifications divider:
```vue
Dashboard
```
The existing save handler in `Settings.vue` already patches any key present in the `settings` object, so no handler changes are needed.
### Dashboard — `frontend/src/views/Dashboard.vue`
Replace the body of the existing "Sources Needing Attention" card. The card title, outer shell, and card actions remain unchanged. The inner `v-card-text` is rewritten.
#### New computeds
```js
// Read threshold from settings store, default 5 if unset
const settingsStore = useSettingsStore()
const failureThreshold = computed(() =>
settingsStore.settings?.['dashboard.failure_threshold'] ?? 5
)
// Fixed platform display order
const PLATFORM_ORDER = [
'patreon', 'subscribestar', 'hentaifoundry',
'discord', 'pixiv', 'deviantart',
]
// Per-platform health: { platform, total, failing } for platforms with ≥1 enabled source
const platformHealth = computed(() => {
const enabled = sourcesStore.sources.filter(s => s.enabled)
return PLATFORM_ORDER
.map(platform => {
const sources = enabled.filter(s => s.platform === platform)
if (sources.length === 0) return null // hide zero-enabled platforms
const failing = sources.filter(s => (s.error_count || 0) >= failureThreshold.value).length
return { platform, total: sources.length, failing }
})
.filter(Boolean)
})
// Sources currently in a failing state, most-recent-check first
const failingSources = computed(() => {
return sourcesStore.sources
.filter(s => s.enabled && (s.error_count || 0) >= failureThreshold.value)
.sort((a, b) => new Date(b.last_check || 0) - new Date(a.last_check || 0))
})
const totalFailingCount = computed(() => failingSources.value.length)
```
`useSettingsStore` already exists at `frontend/src/stores/settings.js` with `fetchSettings()` and a reactive `settings` ref. `Dashboard.vue` must call `settingsStore.fetchSettings()` in `loadDashboardData` (alongside the existing `fetchSources`/`fetchStats`/etc calls) so `settings` is populated before the threshold is read.
#### Template — replace `v-card-text` body
```vue
Platform Health
{{ getPlatformIcon(row.platform) }}
{{ row.platform }}
{{ row.failing }}/{{ row.total }}
| Source |
Consecutive failures |
Last check |
Actions |
| {{ getSourceLabel(source) }} |
{{ source.error_count }}
|
{{ formatDate(source.last_check) }} |
Retry
View
|
No sources in failing state
```
#### Header chip
The card title already has:
```vue
{{ sourcesWithErrors.length }}
```
Swap the binding to `totalFailingCount`:
```vue
{{ totalFailingCount }}
```
#### Removed code
- `sourcesWithErrors` computed (derived from recent activity) is no longer used. Delete it.
- The existing `v-else` empty state block ("All sources healthy" big icon) is removed — its role is now played by the always-visible bars plus the small inline "No sources in failing state" line.
#### Minor CSS (scoped block)
```css
.platform-label {
min-width: 110px;
text-transform: capitalize;
}
.count-label {
min-width: 50px;
text-align: right;
}
```
---
## Data flow
1. `Dashboard.vue` on mount fetches sources (already happens), recent activity (already happens), and settings (new — one call to `settingsStore.fetchSettings()`).
2. `platformHealth` and `failingSources` are purely derived from `sourcesStore.sources` + `failureThreshold`.
3. When a download completes or fails, the existing `download.completed` / `download.failed` websocket handlers already trigger `sourcesStore.fetchSources()` through `source.updated`. Re-render happens via Vue reactivity.
No polling changes; no new backend work beyond the one default value.
---
## Visual behavior
- **All platforms healthy:** each bar is 100% green.
- **One platform has failures:** that bar shows red fill proportional to `failing / total` against a neutral track; the others stay green.
- **Platform has zero enabled sources:** row omitted entirely.
- **Header chip:** visible only when `totalFailingCount > 0`, shows that count.
- **Failing sources list:** rendered when non-empty; otherwise inline "No sources in failing state" caption sits directly under the bars.
---
## Files changed
| File | Change |
|---|---|
| `backend/app/models/setting.py` | Add `"dashboard.failure_threshold": 5` to `DEFAULT_SETTINGS` |
| `frontend/src/views/Settings.vue` | Add Dashboard section with threshold `v-text-field` (1–20, default 5) |
| `frontend/src/views/Dashboard.vue` | Replace "Sources Needing Attention" card body; add `platformHealth`, `failingSources`, `totalFailingCount`, `failureThreshold` computeds; fetch settings on mount; remove `sourcesWithErrors` computed and the old empty state; small scoped CSS |
---
## Non-goals
- No changes to `Source.error_count` increment/reset behavior — the logic in `backend/app/tasks/downloads.py` already has the correct semantics.
- No alembic migration (the settings table is key-value; new keys arrive via `DEFAULT_SETTINGS`).
- No new API endpoints.
- No click-through navigation on platform rows — bars are pure display.
- No changes to `Subscriptions.vue` or `Downloads.vue`.
- No per-subscription health view (only per-platform).