🐛(frontend) promote the active speaker in the carousel layout

The stage stopped re-rendering on ActiveSpeakersChanged when useTracks
moved to `updateOnlyOn: []`, a change made to avoid re-rendering the
whole stage on every speaker update. useVisualStableUpdate promotes
speakers only when the layout renders, so in the focus layout's
carousel a speaker outside the visible tiles was no longer brought
into view. The grid layout already had a fix,
useSpeakerPromotionTrigger, but the carousel did not.

Fix: the carousel now uses the same tripwire on the tiles it
guarantees to show. The tripwire also ignores speakers with no tile in
the layout (e.g. the pinned participant, shown in the focus view);
otherwise they would trigger a useless render on every speaker event.

Enhancement: the active speaker is now pinned near the top of the
column instead of landing anywhere in the visible span:
- the local camera stays first and the top speaker's camera second;
  the rest is still ordered by useVisualStableUpdate
- the top speaker is the loudest remote participant with a tile;
  the local participant is never promoted
- the slot is sticky through silence, and a new speaker only takes it
  after the current one has held it for 2s and only if still speaking,
  so a back-and-forth doesn't make tiles flip
- the slot is reserved before anyone speaks, so the first promotion
  doesn't reshuffle the whole column
- the tripwire still promotes other hidden speakers into the rest

Re-renders: useTopSpeaker only renders when the top speaker changes.
It runs on the same event as the tripwire, and React 18 merges their
updates into a single render.

The ordering (splitCarouselTiles) and the slot timing
(watchTopSpeaker) are framework-free.

.gitlint

@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@
 # See http://jorisroovers.github.io/gitlint/user_defined_rules for details
 extra-path=gitlint/
 
+# Use "search" semantics for regexes (gitlint's future default)
+regex-style-search=True
+
 # [title-max-length]
 # line-length=80
 

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ and this project adheres to
 
 - ✨(frontend) let users pick the recording encoding
 - ✨(backend) introduce a token exchange endpoint for iframe embeds
+- ⚡️(backend) send recording notification emails from a Celery task
 
 ### Changed
 
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ and this project adheres to
 - 🐛(frontend) omit the default speaker id sent to LiveKit
 - 🐛(frontend) play the speaker test when no output is picked
 - 🐛(frontend) keep the admin panel in place when changing a setting #1804
+- 🐛(frontend) promote the active speaker in the carousel layout
 
 ## [1.34.0] - 2026-10-07
 

docs/installation/compose.md

@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ DJANGO_EMAIL_FROM=<your email address>
 
 #DJANGO_EMAIL_USE_TLS=true # A flag to enable or disable TLS for email sending.
 #DJANGO_EMAIL_USE_SSL=true # A flag to enable or disable SSL for email sending.
+#DJANGO_EMAIL_TIMEOUT=30 # Seconds before a stalled SMTP connection times out.
 
 
 DJANGO_EMAIL_BRAND_NAME=<brand name used in email templates> # e.g. "La Suite Numérique"

docs/installation/kubernetes.md

@@ -357,6 +357,7 @@ These are the environmental options available on meet backend.
 | DJANGO_EMAIL_PORT                               | Port to connect to the email server                                                                                                                          |                                                                                                                                                              |
 | DJANGO_EMAIL_USE_TLS                            | Enable TLS on email connection                                                                                                                               | false                                                                                                                                                        |
 | DJANGO_EMAIL_USE_SSL                            | Enable SSL on email connection                                                                                                                               | false                                                                                                                                                        |
+| DJANGO_EMAIL_TIMEOUT                            | Seconds before a stalled SMTP connection times out                                                                                                           | 30                                                                                                                                                           |
 | DJANGO_EMAIL_FROM                               | Email from account                                                                                                                                           | from@example.com                                                                                                                                             |
 | EMAIL_BRAND_NAME                                | Email branding name                                                                                                                                          |                                                                                                                                                              |
 | EMAIL_SUPPORT_EMAIL                             | Support email address                                                                                                                                        |                                                                                                                                                              |

src/backend/core/recording/event/notification.py

@@ -7,18 +7,18 @@ from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo, ZoneInfoNotFoundError
 
 from django.conf import settings
-from django.core.mail import send_mail
-from django.template.loader import render_to_string
-from django.utils.translation import get_language, gettext, override
+from django.utils.translation import get_language, gettext, gettext_noop, override
 from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
 
 import aiohttp
 import requests
 from asgiref.sync import async_to_sync
+from celery.exceptions import OperationalError as CeleryOperationalError
 from livekit import api as livekit_api
 
 from core import models, utils
 from core.analytics import UserFeatureFlag, is_user_feature_flag_enabled
+from core.tasks.mail import send_email
 from core.utils import generate_download_s3_url
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -68,10 +68,14 @@ class NotificationService:
     @staticmethod
     def _notify_user_by_email(recording) -> bool:
         """
-        Send an email notification to recording owners when their recording is ready.
+        Queue an email notification to recording owners when their recording is ready.
 
         The email includes a direct link that redirects owners to a dedicated download
         page in the frontend where they can access their specific recording.
+
+        Rendering and SMTP delivery happen in a Celery worker (``send_email``), so
+        this only does one DB query and enqueues one message per owner.
+        Returns True when every email was queued (or sent, if Celery is disabled).
         """
 
         owner_accesses = (
@@ -88,10 +92,6 @@ class NotificationService:
             return False
 
         context = {
-            "brandname": settings.EMAIL_BRAND_NAME,
-            "support_email": settings.EMAIL_SUPPORT_EMAIL,
-            "logo_img": settings.EMAIL_LOGO_IMG,
-            "domain": settings.EMAIL_DOMAIN,
             "room_name": recording.room.name,
             "recording_expiration_days": settings.RECORDING_EXPIRATION_DAYS,
             "link": f"{get_recording_download_base_url()}/{recording.id}",
@@ -104,37 +104,22 @@ class NotificationService:
         # 2. The number of recipients per recording is typically small (not thousands)
         for access in owner_accesses:
             user = access.user
-            language = user.language or get_language()
-            with override(language):
-                personalized_context = {
-                    "recording_date": recording.created_at.astimezone(
-                        user.timezone
-                    ).strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),
-                    "recording_time": recording.created_at.astimezone(
-                        user.timezone
-                    ).strftime("%H:%M"),
-                    **context,
-                }
-                msg_html = render_to_string(
-                    "mail/html/screen_recording.html", personalized_context
+            local_created_at = recording.created_at.astimezone(user.timezone)
+            try:
+                send_email.delay(
+                    template="screen_recording",
+                    subject=gettext_noop("Your recording is ready"),
+                    recipients=[user.email],
+                    language=user.language or get_language(),
+                    context={
+                        **context,
+                        "recording_date": local_created_at.strftime("%Y-%m-%d"),
+                        "recording_time": local_created_at.strftime("%H:%M"),
+                    },
                 )
-                msg_plain = render_to_string(
-                    "mail/text/screen_recording.txt", personalized_context
-                )
-                subject = gettext("Your recording is ready")  # Force translation
-
-                try:
-                    send_mail(
-                        subject.capitalize(),
-                        msg_plain,
-                        settings.EMAIL_FROM,
-                        [user.email],
-                        html_message=msg_html,
-                        fail_silently=False,
-                    )
-                except smtplib.SMTPException as exception:
-                    logger.error("notification could not be sent: %s", exception)
-                    has_failures = True
+            except (smtplib.SMTPException, CeleryOperationalError) as exception:
+                logger.error("notification could not be sent: %s", exception)
+                has_failures = True
 
         return not has_failures
 

src/backend/core/tasks/__init__.py

@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@
 
 from core.tasks.connection_test import delete_connection_test_room
 from core.tasks.file import process_file_deletion
+from core.tasks.mail import send_email
 
 __all__ = (
     "delete_connection_test_room",
     "process_file_deletion",
+    "send_email",
 )

src/backend/core/tasks/mail.py

@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+"""Send mail using celery task."""
+
+import logging
+import smtplib
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.core.mail import send_mail
+from django.template.loader import render_to_string
+from django.utils.translation import get_language, gettext, override
+
+from core.tasks._task import task
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def get_base_email_context() -> dict:
+    """Context shared by every email template (branding, support, domain)."""
+    return {
+        "brandname": settings.EMAIL_BRAND_NAME,
+        "support_email": settings.EMAIL_SUPPORT_EMAIL,
+        "logo_img": settings.EMAIL_LOGO_IMG,
+        "domain": settings.EMAIL_DOMAIN,
+    }
+
+
+@task(
+    autoretry_for=(smtplib.SMTPException, ConnectionError, TimeoutError),
+    retry_backoff=True,
+    retry_backoff_max=600,
+    retry_jitter=True,
+    max_retries=5,
+)
+def send_email(
+    *,
+    template: str,
+    subject: str,
+    recipients: list[str],
+    context: dict | None = None,
+    language: str | None = None,
+):
+    """Render a mail template and send it.
+
+    Generic on purpose: any feature can reuse it with its own template and context.
+
+    Args:
+        template: Template base name, e.g. "screen_recording". Both
+            "mail/html/<template>.html" and "mail/text/<template>.txt" must exist.
+        subject: Untranslated subject msgid. Mark it with ``gettext_noop`` at the
+            call site; it is translated here, in ``language``.
+        recipients: Email addresses, all receiving the same rendered message.
+        context: Template context. Must be JSON-serializable (str, int, list, dict…):
+            pre-format dates, cast UUIDs to str. Merged over the base branding context.
+        language: Language to render the email in. Defaults to the active language.
+
+    Raises:
+        OSError: SMTP or network failure, after retries are exhausted (or
+            immediately when Celery is disabled and the call runs synchronously).
+    """
+    full_context = {**get_base_email_context(), **(context or {})}
+
+    with override(language or get_language()):
+        msg_html = render_to_string(f"mail/html/{template}.html", full_context)
+        msg_plain = render_to_string(f"mail/text/{template}.txt", full_context)
+        translated_subject = gettext(subject)
+
+    send_mail(
+        translated_subject,
+        msg_plain,
+        settings.EMAIL_FROM,
+        recipients,
+        html_message=msg_html,
+        fail_silently=False,
+    )
+    logger.info("Email '%s' sent to %d recipient(s)", template, len(recipients))

src/backend/core/tests/recording/event/test_notification.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from unittest import mock
 from django.contrib.sites.models import Site
 
 import pytest
+from celery.exceptions import OperationalError as CeleryOperationalError
 
 from core import factories, models
 from core.analytics import UserFeatureFlag
@@ -142,7 +143,7 @@ def test_notify_user_by_email_success(mocked_current_site, settings):
 
     notification_service = NotificationService()
 
-    with mock.patch("core.recording.event.notification.send_mail") as mock_send_mail:
+    with mock.patch("core.tasks.mail.send_mail") as mock_send_mail:
         result = notification_service._notify_user_by_email(recording)
 
         assert result is True
@@ -237,7 +238,7 @@ def test_notify_user_by_email_smtp_exception(mocked_current_site, caplog):
     notification_service = NotificationService()
 
     with mock.patch(
-        "core.recording.event.notification.send_mail",
+        "core.tasks.mail.send_mail",
         side_effect=smtplib.SMTPException("SMTP Error"),
     ) as mock_send_mail:
         result = notification_service._notify_user_by_email(recording)
@@ -247,6 +248,60 @@ def test_notify_user_by_email_smtp_exception(mocked_current_site, caplog):
         assert "notification could not be sent:" in caplog.text
 
 
+def test_notify_user_by_email_queues_generic_task(settings):
+    """One generic send_email task is queued per owner, with serializable args."""
+    settings.RECORDING_DOWNLOAD_BASE_URL = "https://acme.com/recordings"
+    settings.RECORDING_EXPIRATION_DAYS = 7
+
+    recording = factories.RecordingFactory(room__name="Conference Room A")
+    recording.created_at = datetime.datetime(
+        2023, 5, 15, 14, 30, 0, tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc
+    )
+    user = factories.UserFactory(
+        email="franc@test.com", language="fr-fr", timezone="Europe/Paris"
+    )
+    factories.UserRecordingAccessFactory(
+        recording=recording, role=models.RoleChoices.OWNER, user=user
+    )
+
+    with mock.patch("core.recording.event.notification.send_email.delay") as mock_delay:
+        result = notification_service._notify_user_by_email(recording)
+
+    assert result is True
+    mock_delay.assert_called_once_with(
+        template="screen_recording",
+        subject="Your recording is ready",
+        recipients=["franc@test.com"],
+        language="fr-fr",
+        context={
+            "room_name": "Conference Room A",
+            "recording_expiration_days": 7,
+            "link": f"https://acme.com/recordings/{recording.id}",
+            "recording_date": "2023-05-15",
+            "recording_time": "16:30",
+        },
+    )
+    # Celery's JSON serializer must accept every argument
+    json.dumps(mock_delay.call_args.kwargs)
+
+
+def test_notify_user_by_email_broker_unavailable(caplog):
+    """A broker outage is reported as a failure without crashing the caller."""
+    recording = factories.RecordingFactory()
+    factories.UserRecordingAccessFactory(
+        recording=recording, role=models.RoleChoices.OWNER
+    )
+
+    with mock.patch(
+        "core.recording.event.notification.send_email.delay",
+        side_effect=CeleryOperationalError("broker down"),
+    ):
+        result = notification_service._notify_user_by_email(recording)
+
+    assert result is False
+    assert "notification could not be sent: broker down" in caplog.text
+
+
 @mock.patch("core.recording.event.notification.requests.post")
 @mock.patch("core.recording.event.notification.generate_download_s3_url")
 @mock.patch.object(

src/backend/core/tests/tasks/test_mail.py

@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+"""Tests for the generic send_email task."""
+
+# pylint: disable=unused-argument,redefined-outer-name
+
+import smtplib
+from unittest import mock
+
+from django.core.mail import get_connection
+from django.utils.translation import gettext_noop
+
+import pytest
+
+from core.tasks.mail import send_email
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def email_settings(settings):
+    """Branding settings shared by every email."""
+    settings.EMAIL_BRAND_NAME = "ACME"
+    settings.EMAIL_SUPPORT_EMAIL = "support@acme.com"
+    settings.EMAIL_LOGO_IMG = "https://acme.com/logo"
+    settings.EMAIL_DOMAIN = "acme.com"
+    settings.EMAIL_FROM = "notifications@acme.com"
+    return settings
+
+
+@mock.patch("core.tasks.mail.send_mail")
+@mock.patch("core.tasks.mail.render_to_string", side_effect=["<p>html</p>", "text"])
+def test_send_email_renders_template_and_sends(
+    mock_render, mock_send_mail, email_settings
+):
+    """Both template variants are rendered with base + caller context, then sent."""
+    send_email(
+        template="some_template",
+        subject="Any subject",
+        recipients=["a@test.com", "b@test.com"],
+        context={"foo": "bar", "brandname": "Overridden"},
+    )
+
+    expected_context = {
+        "brandname": "Overridden",
+        "support_email": "support@acme.com",
+        "logo_img": "https://acme.com/logo",
+        "domain": "acme.com",
+        "foo": "bar",
+    }
+    assert mock_render.call_args_list == [
+        mock.call("mail/html/some_template.html", expected_context),
+        mock.call("mail/text/some_template.txt", expected_context),
+    ]
+    mock_send_mail.assert_called_once_with(
+        "Any subject",
+        "text",
+        "notifications@acme.com",
+        ["a@test.com", "b@test.com"],
+        html_message="<p>html</p>",
+        fail_silently=False,
+    )
+
+
+@mock.patch("core.tasks.mail.send_mail")
+def test_send_email_translates_subject_in_requested_language(
+    mock_send_mail, email_settings
+):
+    """The subject msgid is translated in the worker, in the recipient language."""
+    send_email(
+        template="screen_recording",
+        subject=gettext_noop("Your recording is ready"),
+        recipients=["franc@test.com"],
+        context={"room_name": "Room", "link": "https://acme.com/r/1"},
+        language="fr-fr",
+    )
+
+    subject, body, *_ = mock_send_mail.call_args[0]
+    assert subject == "Votre enregistrement est prêt"
+    assert "Votre enregistrement est prêt !" in body
+
+
+@mock.patch(
+    "core.tasks.mail.send_mail", side_effect=smtplib.SMTPException("SMTP Error")
+)
+@mock.patch("core.tasks.mail.render_to_string", return_value="content")
+def test_send_email_raises_on_smtp_error(mock_render, mock_send_mail, email_settings):
+    """SMTP errors propagate so Celery can retry the task."""
+    with pytest.raises(smtplib.SMTPException):
+        send_email(
+            template="some_template",
+            subject="Any subject",
+            recipients=["a@test.com"],
+        )
+
+
+def test_smtp_backend_uses_email_timeout(settings):
+    """A stalled SMTP server cannot hold the worker forever."""
+    settings.EMAIL_BACKEND = "django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend"
+    settings.EMAIL_TIMEOUT = 12
+
+    assert get_connection().timeout == 12

src/backend/meet/settings.py

@@ -508,6 +508,7 @@ class Base(Configuration):
     EMAIL_PORT = values.PositiveIntegerValue(None)
     EMAIL_USE_TLS = values.BooleanValue(False)
     EMAIL_USE_SSL = values.BooleanValue(False)
+    EMAIL_TIMEOUT = values.PositiveIntegerValue(30)
     EMAIL_FROM = values.Value("from@example.com")
     EMAIL_BRAND_NAME = values.Value(None)
     EMAIL_SUPPORT_EMAIL = values.Value(None)

src/frontend/src/features/layout/components/CarouselLayout.tsx

@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ import { getScrollBarWidth } from '@livekit/components-core'
 import * as React from 'react'
 import { TrackLoop, useVisualStableUpdate } from '@livekit/components-react'
 import { useSize } from '@/features/rooms/livekit/hooks/useResizeObserver'
+import { useSpeakerPromotionTrigger } from '../hooks/useSpeakerPromotionTrigger'
+import { useTopSpeaker } from '../hooks/useTopSpeaker'
+import { splitCarouselTiles } from '../utils/splitCarouselTiles'
 
 const MIN_HEIGHT = 130
 const MIN_WIDTH = 140
@@ -66,7 +69,20 @@ export function CarouselLayout({
     setPrevTiles(tilesThatFit)
   }
 
-  const sortedTiles = useVisualStableUpdate(tracks, maxVisibleTiles)
+  const topSpeakerId = useTopSpeaker(tracks)
+  const { head, rest, restSlots } = splitCarouselTiles(
+    tracks,
+    topSpeakerId,
+    maxVisibleTiles
+  )
+  // useVisualStableUpdate needs a page of at least one tile.
+  const stableRest = useVisualStableUpdate(rest, Math.max(restSlots, 1))
+  const sortedTiles = [...head, ...stableRest]
+
+  // When the head fills the carousel, no rest speaker can be brought on
+  // screen, so the trigger ignores them instead of re-rendering for nothing.
+  const onScreen = sortedTiles.slice(0, maxVisibleTiles)
+  useSpeakerPromotionTrigger(onScreen, restSlots > 0 ? tracks : onScreen)
 
   React.useLayoutEffect(() => {
     if (asideEl.current) {

src/frontend/src/features/layout/components/GridLayout.tsx

@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export function GridLayout({ tracks, ...props }: GridLayoutProps) {
 
   const { layout } = useGridLayout(gridEl, tracks.length)
   const pagination = usePagination(layout.maxTiles, tracks)
-  useSpeakerPromotionTrigger(pagination.tracks)
+  useSpeakerPromotionTrigger(pagination.tracks, tracks)
 
   useSwipe(gridEl, {
     onLeftSwipe: pagination.nextPage,

src/frontend/src/features/layout/hooks/useSpeakerPromotionTrigger.ts

@@ -8,35 +8,42 @@ import { useEffect, useReducer, useRef } from 'react'
  * Tripwire for speaker promotion.
  *
  * Listens to `RoomEvent.ActiveSpeakersChanged` imperatively and forces ONE
- * re-render of the host component only when an active speaker has none of
- * their tiles are within the visible span (`maxVisibleTiles`). That render
- * re-runs `useVisualStableUpdate`, which reads live `participant.isSpeaking`
- * state and performs the actual swap.
+ * re-render of the host when a speaker has a tile in `allTiles` but none in
+ * `visibleTiles`. That render re-runs `useVisualStableUpdate`, which reads
+ * live `participant.isSpeaking` state and performs the actual swap.
  *
- * Speakers already visible are ignored. Everything else costs zero React work.
+ * Speakers already visible cost nothing, nor do speakers the layout doesn't
+ * show at all (e.g. the pinned participant, rendered by the focus view).
  *
  * Requires the parent to NOT re-render on speaker events itself, i.e.
  * `useTracks(..., { updateOnlyOn: [] })` upstream.
  */
 export function useSpeakerPromotionTrigger(
-  sortedTiles: TrackReferenceOrPlaceholder[]
+  /** Tiles inside the span the layout guarantees to speakers. */
+  visibleTiles: TrackReferenceOrPlaceholder[],
+  /** Every tile the layout shows, visible or not. */
+  allTiles: TrackReferenceOrPlaceholder[]
 ) {
   const room = useRoomContext()
   const [, forceRender] = useReducer((n: number) => n + 1, 0)
 
-  // Refs so the listener reads current values without re-subscribing
-  // and without itself being a render dependency.
-  const tilesRef = useRef(sortedTiles)
-  tilesRef.current = sortedTiles
+  // Read by the listener at event time, so it never re-subscribes.
+  const tilesRef = useRef({ visibleTiles, allTiles })
+  tilesRef.current = { visibleTiles, allTiles }
 
   useEffect(() => {
     const onActiveSpeakersChanged = (speakers: Participant[]) => {
-      const tiles = tilesRef.current
-      const hiddenSpeakerExists = speakers.some(
-        (speaker) =>
-          !tiles.some((t) => t.participant.identity === speaker.identity)
-      )
-      if (hiddenSpeakerExists) {
+      const { visibleTiles, allTiles } = tilesRef.current
+      const hasTileIn =
+        (tiles: TrackReferenceOrPlaceholder[]) => (identity: string) =>
+          tiles.some((t) => t.participant.identity === identity)
+      const isShown = hasTileIn(allTiles)
+      const isVisible = hasTileIn(visibleTiles)
+
+      const isHidden = (identity: string) =>
+        isShown(identity) && !isVisible(identity)
+
+      if (speakers.some(({ identity }) => isHidden(identity))) {
         forceRender()
       }
     }

src/frontend/src/features/layout/hooks/useTopSpeaker.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import type { TrackReferenceOrPlaceholder } from '@livekit/components-core'
+import { useRoomContext } from '@livekit/components-react'
+import { Track } from 'livekit-client'
+import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react'
+import { watchTopSpeaker } from '../utils/watchTopSpeaker'
+
+/**
+ * Identity of the participant who should hold the top speaker slot, among
+ * those with a camera tile in `tracks`: the slot only shows cameras, so a
+ * participant whose camera is pinned away can't hold it through their screen
+ * share. See `watchTopSpeaker` for the rules.
+ *
+ * Re-renders the host only when the holder changes. Expects
+ * `useTracks(..., { updateOnlyOn: [] })` upstream.
+ */
+export function useTopSpeaker(tracks: TrackReferenceOrPlaceholder[]) {
+  const room = useRoomContext()
+  const [topSpeakerId, setTopSpeakerId] = useState<string>()
+
+  // Read by the listener at event time; subscribing once keeps the hold
+  // state alive across renders.
+  const tracksRef = useRef(tracks)
+  tracksRef.current = tracks
+
+  useEffect(
+    () =>
+      watchTopSpeaker(room, {
+        isEligible: (identity) =>
+          tracksRef.current.some(
+            (t) =>
+              t.participant.identity === identity &&
+              t.source === Track.Source.Camera
+          ),
+        onChange: setTopSpeakerId,
+      }),
+    [room]
+  )
+
+  return topSpeakerId
+}

src/frontend/src/features/layout/utils/splitCarouselTiles.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+import type { TrackReferenceOrPlaceholder } from '@livekit/components-core'
+import { Track } from 'livekit-client'
+
+/**
+ * Splits carousel tiles into a fixed head and a rest that is free to reorder.
+ *
+ * Head: the local camera, then the top speaker's camera. When only one tile
+ * fits, the speaker goes first so they are the one on screen. The rest goes
+ * through `useVisualStableUpdate`.
+ *
+ * `restSlots` is how many on-screen slots are left for the rest. It is 0 or
+ * negative when the head fills the carousel.
+ *
+ * The speaker slot is reserved even while it is empty: `useVisualStableUpdate`
+ * treats any change of page size as a relayout and re-sorts everything, so it
+ * must not move when the first speaker gets promoted.
+ */
+export function splitCarouselTiles(
+  tracks: TrackReferenceOrPlaceholder[],
+  topSpeakerId: string | undefined,
+  maxVisibleTiles: number
+) {
+  const cameraOf = (match: (t: TrackReferenceOrPlaceholder) => boolean) =>
+    tracks.find((t) => t.source === Track.Source.Camera && match(t))
+
+  const local = cameraOf((t) => t.participant.isLocal)
+  const speaker = topSpeakerId
+    ? cameraOf((t) => t.participant.identity === topSpeakerId)
+    : undefined
+
+  const order = maxVisibleTiles < 2 ? [speaker, local] : [local, speaker]
+  const head = order.filter((t) => t !== undefined)
+  const rest = tracks.filter((t) => !head.includes(t))
+
+  const reservedSlots = (local ? 1 : 0) + 1
+  const restSlots = maxVisibleTiles - reservedSlots
+
+  return { head, rest, restSlots }
+}

src/frontend/src/features/layout/utils/watchTopSpeaker.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+import { RoomEvent } from 'livekit-client'
+import type { Room } from 'livekit-client'
+
+/** Minimum time a speaker keeps the top slot before someone else can take it. */
+export const TOP_SPEAKER_HOLD_MS = 2000
+
+type SpeakerSource = Pick<Room, 'on' | 'off' | 'activeSpeakers'>
+
+/**
+ * Calls `onChange` with the participant who should hold the top speaker slot.
+ *
+ * The candidate is the loudest remote speaker for whom `isEligible` is true
+ * (e.g. who has a tile in the layout). The slot is sticky: silence keeps the
+ * current holder. A new speaker only takes over once the holder has had it for
+ * `holdMs`, and only if they are still the loudest at that point; someone who
+ * stops talking before then never steals it. A holder who is no longer
+ * eligible (left, got pinned) is replaced right away.
+ *
+ * `onChange` only fires on an actual change. Returns an unsubscribe function.
+ */
+export function watchTopSpeaker(
+  room: SpeakerSource,
+  {
+    isEligible,
+    onChange,
+    holdMs = TOP_SPEAKER_HOLD_MS,
+  }: {
+    isEligible: (identity: string) => boolean
+    onChange: (identity: string) => void
+    holdMs?: number
+  }
+) {
+  let holder: string | undefined
+  let holdUntil = 0
+  let retry: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | undefined
+
+  const evaluate = () => {
+    clearTimeout(retry)
+
+    // `activeSpeakers` is sorted loudest first and is always current, which
+    // the deferred retry needs; the event payload would be stale by then.
+    const candidate = room.activeSpeakers.find(
+      (p) => !p.isLocal && isEligible(p.identity)
+    )?.identity
+    if (!candidate || candidate === holder) return
+
+    const wait = holder && isEligible(holder) ? holdUntil - Date.now() : 0
+    if (wait > 0) {
+      retry = setTimeout(evaluate, wait)
+      return
+    }
+
+    holder = candidate
+    holdUntil = Date.now() + holdMs
+    onChange(candidate)
+  }
+
+  room.on(RoomEvent.ActiveSpeakersChanged, evaluate)
+  return () => {
+    room.off(RoomEvent.ActiveSpeakersChanged, evaluate)
+    clearTimeout(retry)
+  }
+}