From 8c60d6a03d317953bf37df634536a0d3273991b6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Keith Edmunds <kae@tiger-computing.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2026 21:37:50 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Jitter monitor phase 0

---
 app/jittermonitor.py | 27 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 app/musicmuster.py   |  4 ++++
 2 files changed, 31 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 app/jittermonitor.py

diff --git a/app/jittermonitor.py b/app/jittermonitor.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4b1bf6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/jittermonitor.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+from PyQt6.QtCore import QObject, QTimer, QElapsedTimer, pyqtSignal
+
+class EventLoopJitterMonitor(QObject):
+    long_pause_detected = pyqtSignal(float)  # pause length in ms
+
+    def __init__(self, parent=None, interval_ms: int = 20, threshold_ms: int = 80):
+        super().__init__(parent)
+        self._interval = interval_ms
+        self._threshold = threshold_ms
+        self._timer = QTimer(self)
+        self._timer.setInterval(self._interval)
+        self._timer.timeout.connect(self._on_timeout)
+        self._elapsed = QElapsedTimer()
+        self._elapsed.start()
+        self._last = self._elapsed.elapsed()
+
+    def start(self) -> None:
+        self._timer.start()
+
+    def _on_timeout(self) -> None:
+        now = self._elapsed.elapsed()
+        delta = now - self._last  # ms since last timeout
+        self._last = now
+        if delta > self._interval + self._threshold:
+            # log somewhere with timestamp + current track + position
+            print(f"[JITTER] {delta} ms gap in event loop")
+            self.long_pause_detected.emit(delta)
diff --git a/app/musicmuster.py b/app/musicmuster.py
index 1059ddd..da3c025 100755
--- a/app/musicmuster.py
+++ b/app/musicmuster.py
@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ from ui.main_window_footer_ui import Ui_FooterSection  # type: ignore
 from utilities import check_db, update_bitrates
 import helpers
 
+from jittermonitor import EventLoopJitterMonitor
 
 class Current:
     base_model: PlaylistModel
@@ -1206,6 +1207,9 @@ class Window(QMainWindow):
         self.action_quicklog = QShortcut(QKeySequence("Ctrl+L"), self)
         self.action_quicklog.activated.connect(self.quicklog)
 
+        self.jitter_monitor = EventLoopJitterMonitor(self)
+        self.jitter_monitor.start()
+
         self.load_last_playlists()
         self.stop_autoplay = False