Device Identification — Support Overlay

Problem

When a customer calls support saying "my screen isn't working," we need to know WHICH of their devices we're talking to without relying on them to read a serial number off the back of a Pi.

Solution

Hidden overlay on the player that only appears when triggered. No customer sees it in normal operation.

How it looks

┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                      │
│         <normal content playing>      │
│                                      │
│                                      │
│   ┌────────────────────────────┐     │
│   │ 🔍 DEVICE                    │     │
│   │ Main Lobby Pi               │     │
│   │ Serial: 10000000a1b2c3d4    │     │
│   │ IP: 192.168.1.50            │     │
│   │ Playlist: Main Menu Loop    │     │
│   │ Last sync: 30s ago          │     │
│   │ Model: RPi 4 Model B 4GB   │     │
│   └────────────────────────────┘     │
└──────────────────────────────────────┘

Trigger Methods (build all 3)

1. Keyboard shortcut — Ctrl+I pressed 3 times in 2s

On-site tech can trigger it without any tools.

var keyCount = 0, keyTimer;
document.addEventListener('keydown', function(e) {
  if (e.ctrlKey && e.key === 'i') {
    keyCount++;
    clearTimeout(keyTimer);
    keyTimer = setTimeout(function() { keyCount = 0; }, 2000);
    if (keyCount >= 3) { showOverlay(); keyCount = 0; }
  }
});

2. Remote API trigger

I call this from the ops portal — device polls for the flag.

// Player polls every 10s
setInterval(function() {
  fetch('/api/device/' + deviceId + '/status')
    .then(function(r) { return r.json(); })
    .then(function(d) { if (d.identify) showOverlay(); });
}, 10000);

API endpoint: POST /api/devices/:id/identify (returns {identify: true}, auto-clears after 30s)

3. Boot-time flag

For when support asks customer to reboot with a specific trigger:

# On the Pi
curl -s https://signage.itpropartner.com/identify.sh | bash -s <device-id>
# Rebooting with this arg causes the player to start in visibility mode
./kiosk.sh --identify

Overlay Behavior

Auto-hides after 30 seconds
Can be dismissed early with another Ctrl+I
No click-away — intentionally no close button (onsite tech might fat-finger)
Refresh/DST resets it back to hidden
No data exfiltration — shows only device metadata, no passwords or tokens

Overlay HTML (skeleton)

<div id="deviceIdOverlay"
     style="display:none;position:fixed;bottom:16px;right:16px;
            background:rgba(0,0,0,0.88);color:#fff;padding:14px 18px;
            border-radius:10px;font-family:monospace;font-size:13px;
            line-height:1.5;z-index:99999;max-width:320px;
            backdrop-filter:blur(4px);">
  <div style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:8px;margin-bottom:6px;
              font-size:15px;color:#f59e0b;">
    <svg width="16" height="16" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none"
         stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2">
      <circle cx="12" cy="12" r="10"/><path d="M12 16v-4"/><circle cx="12" cy="8" r="1"/>
    </svg>
    Device Identity
  </div>
  <div id="devName" style="font-weight:700;margin-bottom:4px;"></div>
  <div id="devSerial" style="color:#94a3b8;font-size:12px;"></div>
  <div id="devIp" style="color:#94a3b8;font-size:12px;"></div>
  <div id="devPlaylist" style="color:#94a3b8;font-size:12px;"></div>
  <div id="devModel" style="color:#94a3b8;font-size:12px;"></div>
  <div id="devLastSync" style="color:#64748b;font-size:11px;margin-top:4px;"></div>
</div>

Implementation Status

📝 Not yet built — queued for player code phase

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