🪞 Magic Mirror on Raspberry Pi

This project is a custom-built Magic Mirror running on a Raspberry Pi, using a stripped-down LCD monitor placed behind a one-way mirror glass. It's a sleek and nerdy smart display for your wall, desk, or lab—displaying real-time info in a minimalist aesthetic.

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🧠 Features

This Magic Mirror displays:

• 🕒 Current Time & Date
• ☁️ Live Weather (temperature, condition, humidity, etc.)
• 🌬️ Wind Speed & Direction
• 📉 Barometric Pressure
• 🌙 Moon Phase
• 📅 Upcoming Holidays
• 💻 BOFH Excuses (because why not?)

All of this is presented in a clean, always-on dashboard behind a one-way mirror, making it look like information is floating right in the glass.

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🧰 Hardware

• Raspberry Pi (any model that supports your screen and Wi-Fi should work)
• LCD Monitor (gutted from its casing)
• One-Way Mirror Glass (also called a spy mirror)
• Frame or Enclosure (custom or repurposed picture frame)
• Power Supply (for Pi and monitor)

Optional but recommended:

• Wi-Fi Dongle (if Pi doesn’t have Wi-Fi)

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🔧 Setup

Install Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) lite because this is a REALLY old Raspberry Pi.

Install API Packages

sudo apt install -y nginx-full git python3-venv chromium-browser xserver-xorg x11-xserver-utils xinit openbox fortunes-bofh-excuses

git clone

git clone https://github.com/ltdenard/magic_mirror.git

copy contents of autostart file to

sudo cp -f autostart /etc/xdg/openbox/autostart

disable cursor, enabled autologin, and set the background to solid black

cp -f bash_profile ~/.bash_profile
touch ~/.hushlogin
sudo cp -f autologin.conf /etc/systemd/system/getty@tty1.service.d/autologin.conf
cp -f desktop-items-0.conf ~/.config/pcmanfm/LXDE-pi/desktop-items-0.conf

disable the splash screen, and rotate the display

echo "disable_splash=1" |sudo tee -a /boot/config.txt
echo "display_hdmi_rotate=3" |sudo tee -a /boot/config.txt
echo "disable_overscan=1" |sudo tee -a /boot/config.txt

copy webserver contents

sudo cp -f html/* /var/www/html/
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/

update config.js

Generate an API key for weather api here.

Generate an API key from google cloud console here. You'll also need to enable the Google Calendar API.

NOTE: this is an insecure way of doing api keys, but since it's just a webserver hosted for a local system dashboard, we're doing this to keep complexity low.

echo 'var API_KEY = "WEATHERAPIKEY";' | sudo tee /var/www/html/js/config.js
echo 'var ZIP_CODE = "ZIPCODEHERE";' | sudo tee /var/www/html/js/config.js
echo 'var GOOGLE_KEY = "GOOGLEAPIKEY";' | sudo tee /var/www/html/js/config.js

reboot

sudo reboot