From bcb1fa3872cd1c86df05445e6e756fa4d353394b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ryan Hamamura <58859899+ryanhamamura@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2026 09:45:56 -1000
Subject: [PATCH] refactor: simplify chat subscription API

Room.Subscribe() now returns a channel of parsed Message structs
instead of raw NATS messages. The room handles NATS subscription
and message parsing internally, so callers no longer need to call
Receive() separately.
---
 chat/chat.go                   | 42 ++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 features/c4game/handlers.go    | 10 +++-----
 features/snakegame/handlers.go | 16 +++++--------
 3 files changed, 37 insertions(+), 31 deletions(-)

diff --git a/chat/chat.go b/chat/chat.go
index c5b98be..2c9f1c4 100644
--- a/chat/chat.go
+++ b/chat/chat.go
@@ -76,12 +76,11 @@ func (r *Room) Send(msg Message) {
 	}
 }
 
-// Receive processes an incoming NATS message, appending it to the buffer.
-// Returns the new message and a snapshot of all messages.
-func (r *Room) Receive(data []byte) (Message, []Message) {
+// receive processes an incoming NATS message, appending it to the buffer.
+func (r *Room) receive(data []byte) (Message, bool) {
 	var msg Message
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &msg); err != nil {
-		return msg, nil
+		return msg, false
 	}
 
 	r.mu.Lock()
@@ -89,11 +88,9 @@ func (r *Room) Receive(data []byte) (Message, []Message) {
 	if len(r.messages) > maxMessages {
 		r.messages = r.messages[len(r.messages)-maxMessages:]
 	}
-	snapshot := make([]Message, len(r.messages))
-	copy(snapshot, r.messages)
 	r.mu.Unlock()
 
-	return msg, snapshot
+	return msg, true
 }
 
 // Messages returns a snapshot of the current message buffer.
@@ -105,15 +102,32 @@ func (r *Room) Messages() []Message {
 	return snapshot
 }
 
-// Subscribe creates a NATS channel subscription for the room's subject.
-// Caller is responsible for unsubscribing.
-func (r *Room) Subscribe() (chan *nats.Msg, *nats.Subscription, error) {
-	ch := make(chan *nats.Msg, 64)
-	sub, err := r.nc.ChanSubscribe(r.subject, ch)
+// Subscribe returns a channel of parsed messages and a cleanup function.
+// The room handles NATS subscription internally and buffers messages.
+func (r *Room) Subscribe() (<-chan Message, func()) {
+	natsCh := make(chan *nats.Msg, 64)
+	msgCh := make(chan Message, 64)
+
+	sub, err := r.nc.ChanSubscribe(r.subject, natsCh)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, nil, err
+		close(msgCh)
+		return msgCh, func() {}
 	}
-	return ch, sub, nil
+
+	go func() {
+		for natsMsg := range natsCh {
+			if msg, ok := r.receive(natsMsg.Data); ok {
+				msgCh <- msg
+			}
+		}
+		close(msgCh)
+	}()
+
+	cleanup := func() {
+		_ = sub.Unsubscribe()
+	}
+
+	return msgCh, cleanup
 }
 
 func (r *Room) saveMessage(msg Message) {
diff --git a/features/c4game/handlers.go b/features/c4game/handlers.go
index be6c09b..e6f5b52 100644
--- a/features/c4game/handlers.go
+++ b/features/c4game/handlers.go
@@ -132,11 +132,8 @@ func HandleGameEvents(store *connect4.Store, nc *nats.Conn, sm *scs.SessionManag
 		defer gameSub.Unsubscribe() //nolint:errcheck
 
 		// Subscribe to chat messages
-		chatCh, chatSub, err := room.Subscribe()
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-		defer chatSub.Unsubscribe() //nolint:errcheck
+		chatCh, cleanupChat := room.Subscribe()
+		defer cleanupChat()
 
 		ctx := r.Context()
 		for {
@@ -147,8 +144,7 @@ func HandleGameEvents(store *connect4.Store, nc *nats.Conn, sm *scs.SessionManag
 				if err := patchAll(); err != nil {
 					return
 				}
-			case msg := <-chatCh:
-				chatMsg, _ := room.Receive(msg.Data)
+			case chatMsg := <-chatCh:
 				err := sse.PatchElementTempl(
 					chatcomponents.ChatMessage(chatMsg, chatCfg),
 					datastar.WithSelectorID("c4-chat-history"),
diff --git a/features/snakegame/handlers.go b/features/snakegame/handlers.go
index 7a96ed4..afb6f3a 100644
--- a/features/snakegame/handlers.go
+++ b/features/snakegame/handlers.go
@@ -137,15 +137,12 @@ func HandleSnakeEvents(snakeStore *snake.SnakeStore, nc *nats.Conn, sm *scs.Sess
 		defer gameSub.Unsubscribe() //nolint:errcheck
 
 		// Chat subscription (multiplayer only)
-		var chatCh chan *nats.Msg
-		var chatSub *nats.Subscription
+		var chatCh <-chan chat.Message
+		var cleanupChat func()
 
 		if room != nil {
-			chatCh, chatSub, err = room.Subscribe()
-			if err != nil {
-				return
-			}
-			defer chatSub.Unsubscribe() //nolint:errcheck
+			chatCh, cleanupChat = room.Subscribe()
+			defer cleanupChat()
 		}
 
 		ctx := r.Context()
@@ -168,11 +165,10 @@ func HandleSnakeEvents(snakeStore *snake.SnakeStore, nc *nats.Conn, sm *scs.Sess
 					return
 				}
 
-			case msg := <-chatCh:
-				if msg == nil {
+			case chatMsg, ok := <-chatCh:
+				if !ok {
 					continue
 				}
-				chatMsg, _ := room.Receive(msg.Data)
 				err := sse.PatchElementTempl(
 					chatcomponents.ChatMessage(chatMsg, chatCfg),
 					datastar.WithSelectorID("snake-chat-history"),