From f49f34cd27572ec2662f412f84452b66dce7fd0b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Dawn <jiaxin.duan@psi.ch>
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2026 11:19:24 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix(gui): skip mount auto-centering during queue automation

Automation centers each sample itself and frees the hw lock between
samples; waiting for idle made the GUI fire center_loop in that gap,
which could steal the lock from the next /scan/auto and stop the queue.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 src/aare/gui/main_window.py                   |  3 +++
 .../gui/panels/data_collection_settings.py    | 14 +++++++++++++-
 .../unit/gui/test_data_collection_settings.py | 19 +++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 35 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/aare/gui/main_window.py b/src/aare/gui/main_window.py
index 67fecf58..daa6d885 100644
--- a/src/aare/gui/main_window.py
+++ b/src/aare/gui/main_window.py
@@ -745,6 +745,9 @@ class MainWindow(QMainWindow):
             self.automation_progress_panel.set_running
         )
         self.job_list_panel.automation_running_changed.connect(self._on_automation_running_changed)
+        self.job_list_panel.automation_running_changed.connect(
+            self.data_collection.set_automation_running
+        )
 
         self.automation_progress_panel.set_samples_in_queue(
             len(self.job_list_panel.table_model.samples)
diff --git a/src/aare/gui/panels/data_collection_settings.py b/src/aare/gui/panels/data_collection_settings.py
index 6929d5de..184b1030 100644
--- a/src/aare/gui/panels/data_collection_settings.py
+++ b/src/aare/gui/panels/data_collection_settings.py
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ class DataCollectionSettings(QFrame):
         self._status_seen = False
         # Set on mount, fired once the hw lock frees (see _track_sample).
         self._center_after_mount_pending = False
+        self._automation_running = False
 
         self._tab_bar.currentChanged.connect(self._stack.setCurrentIndex)
         self._tab_bar.currentChanged.connect(self._on_tab_changed)
@@ -258,7 +259,9 @@ class DataCollectionSettings(QFrame):
             self._sample_id = db_id
             self._tab_bar.setCurrentIndex(0)
             self._center_after_mount_pending = (
-                self._status_seen and self.auto_center_after_mount.isChecked()
+                self._status_seen
+                and self.auto_center_after_mount.isChecked()
+                and not self._automation_running
             )
         self._status_seen = True
         # The server publishes the new sample while the mount still holds the
@@ -270,6 +273,15 @@ class DataCollectionSettings(QFrame):
             # main_window) instead of a second signal path.
             self.find_tip.click()
 
+    @Slot(bool)
+    def set_automation_running(self, running: bool):
+        # Queue automation centers each sample itself and frees the hw lock
+        # between samples; a GUI centering in that gap could steal the lock
+        # from the next /scan/auto and stop the queue.
+        self._automation_running = running
+        if running:
+            self._center_after_mount_pending = False
+
     @Slot(int)
     def _on_tab_changed(self, idx: int):
         self.bounding_box.setVisible(idx == 0)
diff --git a/tests/unit/gui/test_data_collection_settings.py b/tests/unit/gui/test_data_collection_settings.py
index 0a7990bd..307c228d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/gui/test_data_collection_settings.py
+++ b/tests/unit/gui/test_data_collection_settings.py
@@ -376,6 +376,25 @@ def test_auto_center_waits_for_mount_to_release_hw_lock(settings_panel):
     assert len(clicks) == 1
 
 
+def test_auto_center_skipped_during_queue_automation(settings_panel):
+    # Automation centers itself and frees the lock between samples; a GUI
+    # centering there could steal the lock from the next /scan/auto.
+    clicks = []
+    settings_panel.find_tip.clicked.connect(lambda: clicks.append(1))
+    settings_panel.auto_center_after_mount.setChecked(True)
+    settings_panel._track_sample(1)
+
+    settings_panel.set_automation_running(True)
+    settings_panel._track_sample(2, busy=True)
+    settings_panel._track_sample(2, busy=False)
+    assert not clicks
+
+    settings_panel.set_automation_running(False)
+    settings_panel._track_sample(3, busy=True)
+    settings_panel._track_sample(3, busy=False)
+    assert len(clicks) == 1
+
+
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