From dd72ad3d41a29bb67436256ed263983a1cb3f1d7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "torlando-agent[bot]"
 <281092095+torlando-agent[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2026 20:34:47 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] fix(wifi): don't disturb the boot connect or wear NVS
 (greptile)

- Backstop ARMS its timer on the first disconnected tick instead of firing
  immediately, so it can't issue a redundant begin() ~1s into boot and reset the
  in-progress association (or setAutoReconnect's own retry). Re-armed on each
  (re)connect so every drop gets a fresh ~15s grace.
- WiFi.persistent(false): begin() no longer writes creds to NVS on every call, so
  the periodic backstop during a long outage doesn't wear flash. Creds are
  already persisted by the app's Preferences store; setAutoReconnect is in-RAM.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01UWZuYkHBRqNb6BZHV8sTG5
---
 src/main.cpp | 22 +++++++++++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index 9a5111ea..59772982 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -542,7 +542,11 @@ void setup_wifi() {
     // Reconnect automatically if the AP drops the association — without this the
     // device stays offline until a reboot or a manual Settings -> Reconnect.
     WiFi.setAutoReconnect(true);
-    WiFi.persistent(true);
+    // Don't persist creds to NVS on every begin(): the backstop re-issues begin()
+    // periodically while down, and the app already persists creds in Preferences,
+    // so NVS writes here would be redundant flash wear. setAutoReconnect is in-RAM
+    // and unaffected.
+    WiFi.persistent(false);
     WiFi.begin(app_settings.wifi_ssid.c_str(), app_settings.wifi_password.c_str());
 
     // Don't block boot waiting for WiFi association — the main loop
@@ -2452,12 +2456,20 @@ void loop() {
         // Backstop auto-reconnect: WiFi.setAutoReconnect() handles most drops in
         // the background, but not every disconnect reason — without an explicit
         // retry the device can sit offline until a reboot (which is exactly what
-        // happened). Re-issue begin() every ~15s while down. Non-blocking; the
+        // happened). While down, re-issue begin() every ~15s. Non-blocking; the
         // connected-edge above picks up once association lands.
-        if (!wifi_connected && app_settings.wifi_ssid.length() > 0) {
-            static uint32_t last_wifi_retry = 0;
+        static uint32_t last_wifi_retry = 0;
+        if (wifi_connected) {
+            last_wifi_retry = 0;  // re-arm the grace period for the next drop
+        } else if (app_settings.wifi_ssid.length() > 0) {
+            // Arm the timer on the first disconnected tick rather than firing
+            // immediately, so we don't interrupt the in-progress boot association
+            // (or setAutoReconnect's own retry) with a redundant begin() that
+            // would reset the WiFi state machine. First real retry is ~15s later.
             uint32_t nowms = millis();
-            if (last_wifi_retry == 0 || (nowms - last_wifi_retry) >= 15000) {
+            if (last_wifi_retry == 0) {
+                last_wifi_retry = nowms;
+            } else if ((nowms - last_wifi_retry) >= 15000) {
                 last_wifi_retry = nowms;
                 INFO("WiFi down — attempting reconnect");
                 WiFi.begin(app_settings.wifi_ssid.c_str(), app_settings.wifi_password.c_str());