fix discord bot pings and some of the session spam

server/src/services/discordBotService.js

@@ -91,11 +91,12 @@ async function fetchChannel(id) {
   return null;
 }
 
-async function sendToChannel(id, content, options = {}, allowedMentions = { parse: [] }) {
+async function sendToChannel(id, content, options = {}, allowedMentions = { parse: [] }, sanitizeContent = true) {
   const channel = await fetchChannel(id);
   if (!channel) return;
   try {
-    await channel.send({ content: sanitizeMentions(content), allowedMentions, ...options });
+    const messageContent = sanitizeContent ? sanitizeMentions(content) : content;
+    await channel.send({ content: messageContent, allowedMentions, ...options });
   } catch (err) {
     logger.warn('Failed to send Discord message', { id, error: err.message });
   }
@@ -260,7 +261,13 @@ async function announce({ channelId, content, pingRoleId, color, title, descript
   const prefix = pingRoleId ? `<@&${pingRoleId}> ` : '';
   const embed = buildEmbed({ title, description, color });
   const allowedMentions = pingRoleId ? { roles: [pingRoleId], parse: [] } : { parse: [] };
-  await sendToChannel(channelId, `${prefix}${content || ''}`.trim(), { embeds: [embed] }, allowedMentions);
+  await sendToChannel(
+    channelId,
+    `${prefix}${content || ''}`.trim(),
+    { embeds: [embed] },
+    allowedMentions,
+    !pingRoleId, // keep role mention intact when pinging
+  );
 }
 
 function handleBusEvent(event) {

server/src/services/sessionService.js

@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ const { loadConfig } = require('../helpers/configLoader');
 const discordInvite = loadConfig().discord?.invite || null;
 logger.info('Discord invite loaded:', discordInvite ? 'present' : 'not configured');
 
+const ACTIVITY_SYNC_COOLDOWN_MS = 3000;
+let lastActivitySync = 0;
+let pendingActivitySync = null;
+
 function buildUserEntry(socket) {
   if (!socket) return null;
   const role = getRole(socket);
@@ -107,7 +111,32 @@ turnEvents.on('activeDriver', () => {
   logger.info('Active driver change; syncing all clients');
   syncAll();
 });
-turnEvents.on('queue', () => {
+turnEvents.on('queue', (event = {}) => {
+  const { reason } = event;
+  if (reason === 'activity') {
+    const now = Date.now();
+    const elapsed = now - lastActivitySync;
+    if (elapsed >= ACTIVITY_SYNC_COOLDOWN_MS) {
+      lastActivitySync = now;
+      logger.info('Turn activity; syncing all clients (immediate)');
+      syncAll();
+      return;
+    }
+    if (!pendingActivitySync) {
+      const delay = ACTIVITY_SYNC_COOLDOWN_MS - elapsed;
+      pendingActivitySync = setTimeout(() => {
+        lastActivitySync = Date.now();
+        pendingActivitySync = null;
+        logger.info('Turn activity; syncing all clients (delayed)');
+        syncAll();
+      }, delay);
+    }
+    return;
+  }
+  if (pendingActivitySync) {
+    clearTimeout(pendingActivitySync);
+    pendingActivitySync = null;
+  }
   logger.info('Turn queue change; syncing all clients');
   syncAll();
 });

server/src/services/turnService.js

@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ function recordActivity(roverId, socketId) {
   idleDisarmed.set(roverId, true);
   clearTimeout(idleTimers.get(roverId));
   idleDeadlines.delete(roverId);
-  turnEvents.emit('queue', { roverId });
+  turnEvents.emit('queue', { roverId, reason: 'activity' });
 }
 
 modeEvents.on('change', (mode) => {