gitlab-activity-display

RSS activity feed display app for a Pi and a 3.5" TFT display.

Get It

git clone https://github.com/EthyMoney/gitlab-activity-display.git
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER gitlab-activity-display
cd gitlab-activity-display

Build It

Switch to the branch you want, there's a branch for 3.5" TFT (main), and 10.1" 1024x600 on a 32-bit Pi (32-bit-1024x600-version)

First, set your feed URL with a valid feed token in config.json (copy from config.json.template). This gets bundled into the built app, so it needs to be correct before building.

Important: Never use sudo with npm commands as it creates permission issues!

# Copy and configure the config file
cp config.json.template config.json
# Edit config.json with your GitLab feed URL and token

# Clean any previous builds (if needed)
rm -rf package-lock.json node_modules .vite

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Install system dependencies for packaging
sudo apt install rpm -y

# Build the application (choose one based on your target)
npm run make        # for current architecture
npm run make-pi     # for 64-bit ARM (Pi Zero2/3/4/5)
npm run make-pi-32  # for 32-bit ARM (Pi 1/2/Zero)

If you encounter permission errors:

# Fix ownership if files were created with sudo
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER .
# Clean temp directories
sudo rm -rf /tmp/electron-*
# Then retry the build

Install It

# Install system dependencies
sudo apt install trash-cli libglib2.0-bin -y

# Install the built package (adjust architecture as needed)
sudo dpkg -i out/make/deb/armv7l/gitlab-activity-display_*.deb   # for 32-bit ARM
# or
sudo dpkg -i out/make/deb/arm64/gitlab-activity-display_*.deb    # for 64-bit ARM
# or  
sudo dpkg -i out/make/deb/x64/gitlab-activity-display_*.deb      # for x64

Run As Service

See service-config.txt for details on how to run the app as a service.

Troubleshooting

Build Issues

Error: "main entry point was not found"

• This happens when the build process fails or is interrupted

• Solution: Clean build artifacts and rebuild:

  rm -rf .vite node_modules package-lock.json
  npm install
  npm run make-pi-32  # or your target architecture

Error: "EACCES: permission denied"

• This happens when previous builds were run with sudo

• Solution: Fix ownership and clean temp files:

  sudo chown -R $USER:$USER .
  sudo rm -rf /tmp/electron-*
  rm -rf .vite node_modules
  npm install

Error: "failed to load config"

• Make sure config.json exists (copy from config.json.template)
• Ensure the config file has valid JSON syntax

Runtime Issues

App doesn't start or crashes

• Check that all system dependencies are installed
• Verify the config.json has a valid GitLab feed URL
• Check system resources (especially on Pi 2/3/Zero)

Uninstall It

sudo apt remove --purge gitlab-activity-display -y