this is a big slop that might backfire lol... new config system and UI!

server/src/services/sessionService/configuration.js

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+// Session and Public Presentation Configuration
+// Purpose: Defines the global timezone and browser-facing metadata assembled into session payloads.
+// Scope: Contains configuration metadata only so the database can import it without initializing the session service.
+const { strictObject, string, boolean } = require('../../configuration/schemaHelpers');
+
+const timezone = {
+  key: 'timezone',
+  defaultValue: 'America/New_York',
+  schema: string({ title: 'Timezone', description: 'IANA timezone used for server-facing dates and times.', minLength: 1, maxLength: 100 }),
+};
+
+const socials = {
+  key: 'socials',
+  feature: true,
+  defaultValue: { enabled: false, links: [] },
+  schema: strictObject({
+    enabled: boolean({ title: 'Enabled' }),
+    links: {
+      type: 'array',
+      title: 'Links',
+      items: strictObject({
+        id: string({ minLength: 1, maxLength: 60, pattern: '^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$' }),
+        label: string({ minLength: 1, maxLength: 80 }),
+        url: string({ format: 'uri', maxLength: 2048 }),
+        icon: string({ maxLength: 80 }),
+        color: string({ pattern: '^#[0-9a-fA-F]{6}$' }),
+      }, { required: ['id', 'label', 'url', 'icon', 'color'] }),
+    },
+  }, { title: 'Social links', required: ['enabled', 'links'] }),
+};
+
+const driverAd = {
+  key: 'driverAd',
+  defaultValue: { title: '', html: '' },
+  schema: strictObject({
+    title: string({ maxLength: 120 }),
+    html: string({ title: 'HTML', description: 'Trusted operator HTML shown to drivers.', maxLength: 100000 }),
+  }, { title: 'Driver content', required: ['title', 'html'] }),
+};
+
+function getConfiguredSocials(config) {
+  /*
+    Link normalization belongs with the session-owned social configuration,
+    not feature enablement. The explicit `socials.enabled` switch independently
+    decides whether browsers should expose the resulting list.
+  */
+  const links = config?.socials?.links;
+  return Array.isArray(links)
+    ? links.filter((entry) => typeof entry?.url === 'string' && entry.url.trim())
+    : [];
+}
+
+module.exports = { timezone, socials, driverAd, getConfiguredSocials };

server/src/services/sessionService/constants.js

@@ -1,19 +1,16 @@
 // session Service constants
 // Purpose: Defines timing and static social/config constants used by session synchronization behavior.
 // Scope: Keeps runtime behavior unchanged while isolating constants from orchestration logic.
-const { loadConfig } = require('../../helpers/configLoader');
-const { getConfiguredSocials } = require('../../helpers/features');
+const { loadConfig } = require('../../configuration');
+const { getConfiguredSocials } = require('./configuration');
 
 const config = loadConfig();
-const discordInvite = config.discord?.invite || null;
-const kofiLink = config.kofi?.link || null;
 const serverTimezone = config.timezone || null;
 const configuredSocials = getConfiguredSocials(config);
 /*
   The driver ad is trusted deployment content supplied by the server operator.
   Normalize both values at the server boundary so every browser receives a
-  predictable string-only contract, even when the YAML keys are absent or were
-  accidentally configured with another scalar type.
+  predictable string-only contract at the session boundary.
 
   Keep the title and markup together because they describe one optional card.
   An empty HTML string disables the card; the title alone must never leave an
@@ -29,8 +26,6 @@ const GPIO_TOGGLE_SYNC_COOLDOWN_MS = 1000;
 const PERIODIC_SYNC_MS = 20000;
 
 module.exports = {
-  discordInvite,
-  kofiLink,
   serverTimezone,
   configuredSocials,
   driverAd,

server/src/services/sessionService/index.js

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 // Scope: Keeps runtime behavior unchanged while isolating responsibilities into a clear module boundary.
 const io = require('../../globals/io');
 const logger = require('../../globals/logger').child('sessionService');
+const { getFeatureFlags } = require('../../configuration');
 const { getRole, isAdmin, roleEvents } = require('../roleService');
 const { getMode, modeEvents } = require('../modeManager');
 const roverManager = require('../roverManager');
@@ -43,7 +44,6 @@ const { getGlobalObjective } = require('../globalObjectiveService');
 const { getAdminReason } = require('../adminReasonService');
 const { subscribe } = require('../eventBus');
 const { getSocketIp, isLocalNetwork } = require('../../helpers/ipResolver');
-const { getFeatureFlags } = require('../../helpers/features');
 const {
   canUseExternalSpectatorAccess,
   getBandwidthSavingsPolicy,
@@ -58,8 +58,6 @@ const { getAudioLevels, getAudioAdjustmentStateForSocket, audioLevelsEvents } =
 const { getButtonBoxState } = require('../buttonBoxService');
 const { getState: getInterInstanceState, interInstanceEvents } = require('../interInstanceService');
 const {
-  discordInvite,
-  kofiLink,
   serverTimezone,
   configuredSocials,
   driverAd,
@@ -73,8 +71,6 @@ const {
   filterActiveDriversForSocket,
   filterTurnQueuesForSocket,
 } = require('./filters');
-logger.info('Discord invite loaded:', discordInvite ? 'present' : 'not configured');
-logger.info('Ko-fi link loaded:', kofiLink ? 'present' : 'not configured');
 logger.info('Socials config loaded:', configuredSocials?.length ? `${configuredSocials.length} entries` : 'not configured');
 
 const SPECTATOR_ACCESS_NAMESPACE = 'spectatorAccess';
@@ -207,9 +203,9 @@ function buildSession(socket) {
     isLocalNetwork: isLocalNetwork(getSocketIp(socket)),
     bandwidthSavings: buildBandwidthSavingsSessionState(socket, controllableUserCount),
     /*
-      Features is the single UI contract for optional server capabilities. A
-      disabled feature should be absent from navigation/layout decisions even
-      though the service module may still be loaded on the Node side.
+      The configuration system derives this public map from service definitions
+      marked as features. A false enabled switch keeps the corresponding UI out
+      of navigation and layout without maintaining another feature registry.
     */
     features,
     roster,
@@ -245,13 +241,7 @@ function buildSession(socket) {
       truth and avoids a separate endpoint for one small optional card.
     */
     driverAd,
-    discord: {
-      invite: discordInvite,
-    },
     timezone: serverTimezone,
-    kofi: {
-      link: kofiLink,
-    },
     identity: getIdentitySummary(socket),
     verification: getVerificationStateForSocket(socket),
     moderation: getModerationStateForSocket(socket),