perf: preload theme button and background images on app startup

scripts/generate-asset-manifest.js

@@ -18,6 +18,15 @@ const notFoundImages = readdirSync(notFoundDir)
   .filter((file) => /^not-found-.*\.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png)$/i.test(file))
   .map((file) => `assets/not-found/${file}`);
 
+// Scan for button images (theme-specific buttons like cross, plus, minus, help, button-fade)
+const buttonsDir = join(publicDir, 'assets', 'buttons');
+const buttonImages = readdirSync(buttonsDir)
+  .filter((file) => /\.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png)$/i.test(file))
+  .map((file) => `assets/buttons/${file}`);
+
+// Theme background images
+const themeBackgrounds = ['assets/background-fade.png', 'assets/background-fade-blue.png'];
+
 // Generate TypeScript file with proper formatting (matches prettier config)
 const formatArray = (arr) => {
   if (arr.length === 0) return '[]';
@@ -32,6 +41,12 @@ const output = `// Auto-generated file - do not edit manually
 export const BANNERS = ${formatArray(banners)} as const;
 
 export const NOT_FOUND_IMAGES = ${formatArray(notFoundImages)} as const;
+
+// Theme button images (cross, plus, minus, help, button-fade variants)
+export const THEME_BUTTON_IMAGES = ${formatArray(buttonImages)} as const;
+
+// Theme background pattern images
+export const THEME_BACKGROUND_IMAGES = ${formatArray(themeBackgrounds)} as const;
 `;
 
 // Ensure directory exists
@@ -41,4 +56,6 @@ mkdirSync(generatedDir, { recursive: true });
 const outputPath = join(generatedDir, 'asset-manifest.ts');
 writeFileSync(outputPath, output, 'utf8');
 
-console.log(`✅ Generated asset manifest with ${banners.length} banners and ${notFoundImages.length} not-found images`);
+console.log(
+  `✅ Generated asset manifest with ${banners.length} banners, ${notFoundImages.length} not-found images, ${buttonImages.length} button images, and ${themeBackgrounds.length} background images`,
+);

src/app.tsx

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { Outlet, Route, Routes, useLocation, useParams } from 'react-router-dom'
 import { useAccountComment } from '@plebbit/plebbit-react-hooks';
 import { initSnow, removeSnow } from './lib/snow';
 import { isAllView, isModView, isSubscriptionsView } from './lib/utils/view-utils';
+import { preloadThemeAssets } from './lib/utils/preload-utils';
 import useReplyModalStore from './stores/use-reply-modal-store';
 import useCreateBoardModalStore from './stores/use-create-board-modal-store';
 import useSpecialThemeStore from './stores/use-special-theme-store';
@@ -31,6 +32,10 @@ import DirectoryModal from './components/directory-modal';
 import DisclaimerModal from './components/disclaimer-modal';
 import SettingsModal from './components/settings-modal';
 
+// Preload all theme assets (buttons, backgrounds) immediately on app load
+// to prevent visible loading delays when switching themes
+preloadThemeAssets();
+
 const BoardLayout = () => {
   const { accountCommentIndex, boardIdentifier } = useParams();
   const location = useLocation();

src/lib/utils/preload-utils.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import { THEME_BUTTON_IMAGES, THEME_BACKGROUND_IMAGES } from '../../generated/asset-manifest';
+
+/**
+ * Preloads an array of image URLs by creating Image objects.
+ * Images are loaded in the background and cached by the browser.
+ */
+const preloadImages = (imagePaths: readonly string[]): void => {
+  imagePaths.forEach((path) => {
+    const img = new Image();
+    img.src = `/${path}`;
+  });
+};
+
+/**
+ * Preloads all theme-related assets (buttons, backgrounds) on app startup.
+ * This prevents visible loading delays when switching themes.
+ */
+export const preloadThemeAssets = (): void => {
+  preloadImages(THEME_BUTTON_IMAGES);
+  preloadImages(THEME_BACKGROUND_IMAGES);
+};