diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/board.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/board.php
index 11da439..855ae87 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/board.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/board.php
@@ -80,13 +80,9 @@ if (is_dir(LOG_DIR)) {
 $out['errors'] = array_slice($errors, 0, 20);
 
 // ── Partner reachability ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
-$cacheFile = '/tmp/vv_partner_cache.json';
-$cacheTtl  = 30;
-$partnerData = null;
+$partnerData = vv_cache_read('board_partner', 30);
 
-if (file_exists($cacheFile) && (time() - (int)filemtime($cacheFile)) < $cacheTtl) {
-    $partnerData = json_decode(file_get_contents($cacheFile), true);
-} else {
+if (!$partnerData) {
     // Discover partner hostname dynamically from master.conf (works for any number of hosts)
     $vars    = vv_conf_vars();
     $mine    = vv_get_hostname();
@@ -113,7 +109,7 @@ if (file_exists($cacheFile) && (time() - (int)filemtime($cacheFile)) < $cacheTtl
             'reachable' => $reached,
             'latency'   => $reached ? $elapsed : null,
         ];
-        @file_put_contents($cacheFile, json_encode($partnerData));
+        vv_cache_write('board_partner', $partnerData);
     }
 }
 $out['partner'] = $partnerData;
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/conf_toggle.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/conf_toggle.php
index 5044bfd..b9779d9 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/conf_toggle.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/conf_toggle.php
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/scheduler.php';
 
+if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] !== 'POST') {
+    echo json_encode(['ok' => false, 'error' => 'POST only']);
+    exit;
+}
+
 $id      = trim($_POST['id']      ?? '');
 $enabled = ($_POST['enabled'] ?? '0') === '1';
 
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/flag_toggle.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/flag_toggle.php
index 9cdda4e..2d96f03 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/flag_toggle.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/flag_toggle.php
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/scheduler.php';
 
+if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] !== 'POST') {
+    echo json_encode(['ok' => false, 'error' => 'POST only']);
+    exit;
+}
+
 $name    = trim($_POST['name']    ?? '');
 $enabled = ($_POST['enabled'] ?? '0') === '1';
 
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/monitor_remote.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/monitor_remote.php
index db1b3fd..c941f11 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/monitor_remote.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/monitor_remote.php
@@ -3,18 +3,11 @@ header('Content-Type: application/json');
 header('Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store');
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/monitor.php';
 
-$cacheFile = '/tmp/vv_cache_monitor_remote.json';
-$cacheTTL  = 3600;
-
-if (!isset($_GET['live']) && file_exists($cacheFile) && (time() - filemtime($cacheFile)) < $cacheTTL) {
-    echo file_get_contents($cacheFile);
-    exit;
+if (!isset($_GET['live'])) {
+    $cached = vv_cache_read('monitor_remote', 3600);
+    if ($cached) { echo json_encode($cached); exit; }
 }
 
-$out = json_encode([
-    'remote_hosts' => vv_remote_hosts_stats(),
-    'ts'           => time(),
-]);
-
-file_put_contents($cacheFile, $out);
-echo $out;
+$data = ['remote_hosts' => vv_remote_hosts_stats(), 'ts' => time()];
+vv_cache_write('monitor_remote', $data);
+echo json_encode($data);
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/movescript.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/movescript.php
index 0da03e7..1c9fc60 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/movescript.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/movescript.php
@@ -70,9 +70,10 @@ if ($toArray) {
     $newLines = $resultLines;
 }
 
-if (file_put_contents($confPath, implode('', $newLines)) === false) {
+if (!vv_write_conf_raw('master.conf', implode('', $newLines))) {
     echo json_encode(['ok' => false, 'error' => 'Write failed']);
     exit;
 }
 
+vv_push_master_conf();
 echo json_encode(['ok' => true]);
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/reorderarray.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/reorderarray.php
index 89432d2..7e0cd94 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/reorderarray.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/reorderarray.php
@@ -101,9 +101,10 @@ $newBlockLines[] = $lines[$blockEnd];
 // Replace the original block in $lines
 array_splice($lines, $blockStart, $blockEnd - $blockStart + 1, $newBlockLines);
 
-if (file_put_contents($confPath, implode('', $lines)) === false) {
+if (!vv_write_conf_raw('master.conf', implode('', $lines))) {
     echo json_encode(['ok' => false, 'error' => 'Write failed']);
     exit;
 }
 
+vv_push_master_conf();
 echo json_encode(['ok' => true]);
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/scheduler.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/scheduler.php
index 18f561a..34312b7 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/scheduler.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/scheduler.php
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/scheduler.php';
 
+if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] !== 'POST') {
+    echo json_encode(['ok' => false, 'error' => 'POST only']);
+    exit;
+}
+
 // Batch save — all entries in one load/write/rebuild cycle
 if (!empty($_POST['batch'])) {
     $entries = json_decode($_POST['batch'], true) ?: [];
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/snapshot.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/snapshot.php
index 85aebea..7ca81c1 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/snapshot.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/snapshot.php
@@ -3,61 +3,36 @@ header('Content-Type: application/json');
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/monitor.php';
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/media.php';
 
-// CPU% — delta from own state file so it doesn't conflict with monitor.php
-$cpuPct  = 0;
-$cpuLine = '';
-foreach (file('/proc/stat') ?: [] as $line) {
-    if (strncmp($line, 'cpu ', 4) === 0) { $cpuLine = $line; break; }
-}
-if (preg_match('/^cpu\s+(\d+)\s+(\d+)\s+(\d+)\s+(\d+)\s+(\d+)\s+(\d+)\s+(\d+)/', $cpuLine, $m)) {
-    $c  = [(int)$m[1],(int)$m[2],(int)$m[3],(int)$m[4],(int)$m[5],(int)$m[6],(int)$m[7]];
-    $sf = '/tmp/vv_snap_cpu.json';
-    $p  = file_exists($sf) ? (json_decode(file_get_contents($sf), true) ?: null) : null;
-    file_put_contents($sf, json_encode($c));
-    if ($p && is_array($p)) {
-        $dt = array_sum($c) - array_sum($p);
-        $di = ($c[3] + $c[4]) - ($p[3] + $p[4]);
-        $cpuPct = $dt > 0 ? max(0, min(100, (int)round((1 - $di / $dt) * 100))) : 0;
-    }
-}
+// CPU% — shares /tmp/vv_cpu_stat.json with vv_cpu_per_core() so both read the same baseline
+$cpuPct = vv_cpu_per_core()['overall'] ?? 0;
 
 // RAM%
-$mem = [];
-foreach (file('/proc/meminfo') ?: [] as $line) {
-    if (preg_match('/^(MemTotal|MemAvailable):\s+(\d+)/', $line, $m)) $mem[$m[1]] = (int)$m[2];
-}
-$ramTotalMb = (int)(($mem['MemTotal']     ?? 0) / 1024);
-$ramUsedMb  = (int)((($mem['MemTotal'] ?? 0) - ($mem['MemAvailable'] ?? 0)) / 1024);
+$res        = vv_system_resources();
+$ramTotalMb = $res['ram_total_mb'];
+$ramUsedMb  = $ramTotalMb - $res['ram_free_mb'];
 $ramPct     = $ramTotalMb > 0 ? (int)round($ramUsedMb / $ramTotalMb * 100) : 0;
 
 // Fallback state (fast file read, no exec)
-$fallbackState = 'UNKNOWN';
-foreach (@file('/tmp/fallback_state.db') ?: [] as $line) {
-    if (preg_match('/^state=(.+)/', trim($line), $m)) { $fallbackState = trim($m[1]); break; }
-}
+$fbRaw         = @file_get_contents('/tmp/fallback_state.db') ?: '';
+$fbData        = vv_parse_kv_db($fbRaw);
+$fallbackState = $fbData['state'] ?? 'UNKNOWN';
 
 // Partner
 $partner = vv_partner_state();
 $peers   = array_values(array_filter($partner['hosts'], fn($h) => !$h['is_me']));
 
 // Media sessions — cached 30s so the HTTP calls don't hold up every snapshot poll
-$streamCount    = 0;
-$transcodeCount = 0;
-$mediaCacheFile = '/tmp/vv_snap_media.json';
-$cacheMaxAge    = 30;
-$cacheValid     = file_exists($mediaCacheFile) && (time() - filemtime($mediaCacheFile)) < $cacheMaxAge;
-if ($cacheValid) {
-    $cached = json_decode(file_get_contents($mediaCacheFile), true) ?: [];
-} else {
-    $media  = vv_media_sessions();
-    $cached = [
+$mediaCache     = vv_cache_read('snap_media', 30);
+if (!$mediaCache) {
+    $media      = vv_media_sessions();
+    $mediaCache = [
         'stream_count'    => count($media['sessions']),
         'transcode_count' => count(array_filter($media['sessions'], fn($s) => !empty($s['is_tc']))),
     ];
-    file_put_contents($mediaCacheFile, json_encode($cached));
+    vv_cache_write('snap_media', $mediaCache);
 }
-$streamCount    = (int)($cached['stream_count']    ?? 0);
-$transcodeCount = (int)($cached['transcode_count'] ?? 0);
+$streamCount    = (int)($mediaCache['stream_count']    ?? 0);
+$transcodeCount = (int)($mediaCache['transcode_count'] ?? 0);
 
 echo json_encode([
     'cpu_pct'         => $cpuPct,
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/api/system.php b/Plugin/unraid/api/system.php
index dc93c84..76d4d94 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/api/system.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/api/system.php
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 <?php
 header('Content-Type: application/json');
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/include/config.php';
+
+if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] !== 'POST') {
+    echo json_encode(['ok' => false, 'error' => 'POST only']);
+    exit;
+}
 
 $body  = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'), true) ?? [];
 $action = $body['action'] ?? '';
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/include/arrs.php b/Plugin/unraid/include/arrs.php
index 5715167..e6472b2 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/include/arrs.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/include/arrs.php
@@ -6,23 +6,11 @@ require_once __DIR__ . '/config.php';
 // ── Conf helpers ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 function vv_arr_scalar(string $raw, string $key): string {
-    return preg_match('/^\s*' . preg_quote($key, '/') . '\s*=\s*"?([^"\n]*)"?/m', $raw, $m)
-        ? trim($m[1]) : '';
+    return vv_parse_conf_scalar($raw, $key);
 }
 
-// Returns all configured hosts found in master.conf as ['host1'=>'hostname', ...]
-// Returns ['host1' => 'hostname', 'host2' => 'hostname', ...] from master.conf.
-// Matches both HOST1="name" and HOST1_NAME="name" (either convention).
 function vv_arr_known_hosts(): array {
-    $vars  = vv_conf_vars();   // already parses HOST1="val" correctly
-    $hosts = [];
-    foreach ($vars as $k => $v) {
-        if (preg_match('/^HOST(\d+)$/', $k, $m) && $v !== '') {
-            $hosts['host' . $m[1]] = $v;
-        }
-    }
-    ksort($hosts);
-    return $hosts ?: ['host1' => 'HOST1'];
+    return vv_known_hosts();
 }
 
 function vv_arr_node_names(): array {
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/include/common.php b/Plugin/unraid/include/common.php
index 154bc69..936faad 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/include/common.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/include/common.php
@@ -23,13 +23,10 @@ function vv_system_info(): array {
         $uptimeRaw = $os['uptime'] ?? '';
         if (is_numeric($uptimeRaw)) {
             $uptimeSec = (int)$uptimeRaw;
-            $days  = intdiv($uptimeSec, 86400);
-            $hours = intdiv($uptimeSec % 86400, 3600);
-            $mins  = intdiv($uptimeSec % 3600, 60);
-            $uptime = ($days ? "{$days}d " : '') . ($hours ? "{$hours}h " : '') . "{$mins}m";
+            $uptime    = vv_format_uptime($uptimeSec);
         } else {
             $uptimeSec = 0;
-            $uptime = $uptimeRaw ?: '—';
+            $uptime    = $uptimeRaw ?: '—';
         }
 
         $load = sys_getloadavg();
@@ -57,10 +54,7 @@ function vv_system_info(): array {
         if (preg_match('/^model name\s*:\s*(.+)/', $line, $m)) { $cpuModel = trim($m[1]); break; }
     }
     $uptimeSec = (int)explode(' ', @file_get_contents('/proc/uptime') ?: '0')[0];
-    $days  = intdiv($uptimeSec, 86400);
-    $hours = intdiv($uptimeSec % 86400, 3600);
-    $mins  = intdiv($uptimeSec % 3600, 60);
-    $uptime = ($days ? "{$days}d " : '') . ($hours ? "{$hours}h " : '') . "{$mins}m";
+    $uptime    = vv_format_uptime($uptimeSec);
 
     $load = sys_getloadavg();
     return [
@@ -159,7 +153,10 @@ function vv_cpu_per_core(): array {
 
     $stateFile = '/tmp/vv_cpu_stat.json';
     $prev = file_exists($stateFile) ? (json_decode(file_get_contents($stateFile), true) ?: []) : [];
-    file_put_contents($stateFile, json_encode($raw));
+    // Atomic write — concurrent fast/slow polls read a consistent snapshot
+    $tmp = $stateFile . '.tmp';
+    file_put_contents($tmp, json_encode($raw));
+    rename($tmp, $stateFile);
 
     $usage = function(array $c, ?array $p): int {
         if (!$p) return 0;
@@ -298,7 +295,9 @@ function vv_network_stats(): array {
     $stateFile = '/tmp/vv_net_stat.json';
     $now  = ['rx' => $rxBytes, 'tx' => $txBytes, 'ts' => microtime(true)];
     $prev = file_exists($stateFile) ? (json_decode(file_get_contents($stateFile), true) ?: []) : [];
-    file_put_contents($stateFile, json_encode($now));
+    $tmp = $stateFile . '.tmp';
+    file_put_contents($tmp, json_encode($now));
+    rename($tmp, $stateFile);
 
     $rxRate = $txRate = 0;
     if (!empty($prev['ts']) && ($dt = $now['ts'] - $prev['ts']) > 0.1) {
@@ -314,15 +313,15 @@ function vv_network_stats(): array {
     ) ?: '');
 
     // External IP — curl ifconfig.me, cached 5 min so we don't hammer it
-    $extIpCache = '/tmp/vv_ext_ip.cache';
-    $extIp = '';
-    if (file_exists($extIpCache) && (time() - filemtime($extIpCache)) < 300) {
-        $extIp = trim(file_get_contents($extIpCache) ?: '');
+    $extIp   = '';
+    $extData = vv_cache_read('ext_ip', 300);
+    if ($extData) {
+        $extIp = $extData['ip'] ?? '';
     } else {
         $fetched = trim(shell_exec('curl -sf --max-time 4 https://ifconfig.me 2>/dev/null') ?: '');
         if (preg_match('/^\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+$/', $fetched)) {
             $extIp = $fetched;
-            file_put_contents($extIpCache, $extIp);
+            vv_cache_write('ext_ip', ['ip' => $extIp]);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php b/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php
index 5d2e504..b91e9d0 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/include/config.php
@@ -312,3 +312,57 @@ function vv_cache_write(string $key, array $data): void {
     file_put_contents($tmp, json_encode($data));
     rename($tmp, $f);
 }
+
+// ── Shared utility functions (used across include/ and api/ files) ────────────
+
+// Format seconds into "2d 3h 15m".
+function vv_format_uptime(int $seconds): string {
+    $d = intdiv($seconds, 86400);
+    $h = intdiv($seconds % 86400, 3600);
+    $m = intdiv($seconds % 3600, 60);
+    return ($d ? "{$d}d " : '') . ($h ? "{$h}h " : '') . "{$m}m";
+}
+
+// Parse a scalar value from raw conf text. Matches KEY="value" or KEY=value.
+// Identical logic was previously duplicated as vv_arr_scalar / vv_wd_scalar /
+// vv_fb_scalar / vv_media_conf_scalar — all reduce to this one regex.
+function vv_parse_conf_scalar(string $raw, string $key): string {
+    return preg_match('/^\s*' . preg_quote($key, '/') . '\s*=\s*"?([^"\n]*)"?/m', $raw, $m)
+        ? trim($m[1]) : '';
+}
+
+// Parse a key=value state file (e.g. fallback_state.db, partnership_state.db).
+// Returns ['key' => 'value', ...]. Lines without '=' are ignored.
+function vv_parse_kv_db(string $text): array {
+    $out = [];
+    foreach (explode("\n", $text) as $line) {
+        $line = trim($line);
+        if ($line === '' || $line[0] === '#') continue;
+        [$k, $v] = array_pad(explode('=', $line, 2), 2, '');
+        if ($k !== '') $out[trim($k)] = trim($v);
+    }
+    return $out;
+}
+
+// All configured hosts from master.conf as ['host1' => 'hostname', ...].
+// Canonical version — previously duplicated as vv_arr_known_hosts / vv_fb_known_hosts.
+function vv_known_hosts(): array {
+    $vars  = vv_conf_vars();
+    $hosts = [];
+    foreach ($vars as $k => $v) {
+        if (preg_match('/^HOST(\d+)$/', $k, $m) && $v !== '') {
+            $hosts['host' . $m[1]] = $v;
+        }
+    }
+    ksort($hosts);
+    return $hosts ?: ['host1' => 'HOST1'];
+}
+
+// Local LAN IP via routing table — static-cached per request.
+// Previously duplicated in include/docker_folders.php and inline in include/docker.php.
+function vv_local_ip(): string {
+    static $ip = null;
+    if ($ip !== null) return $ip;
+    $ip = trim(shell_exec("ip route get 8.8.8.8 2>/dev/null | awk '/src/{for(i=1;i<=NF;i++)if(\$i==\"src\")print \$(i+1)}'") ?? '');
+    return $ip;
+}
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/include/docker_folders.php b/Plugin/unraid/include/docker_folders.php
index cc076a1..c86c788 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/include/docker_folders.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/include/docker_folders.php
@@ -1,11 +1,5 @@
 <?php
-function vv_local_ip(): string {
-    static $ip = null;
-    if ($ip !== null) return $ip;
-    $ip = trim(shell_exec("ip route get 8.8.8.8 2>/dev/null | awk '/src/{for(i=1;i<=NF;i++)if(\$i==\"src\")print \$(i+1)}'") ?? '');
-    if (!$ip) $ip = gethostbyname(gethostname());
-    return $ip;
-}
+require_once __DIR__ . '/config.php';
 
 function vv_container_webui(string $name, array $portMap): string {
     $template = '/boot/config/plugins/dockerMan/templates-user/my-' . $name . '.xml';
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/include/fallback.php b/Plugin/unraid/include/fallback.php
index 9cb407a..1de5a04 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/include/fallback.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/include/fallback.php
@@ -7,15 +7,11 @@ require_once __DIR__ . '/partnership.php';   // vv_pt_ssh(), vv_pt_ts_peers()
 // ── Conf parsers ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 function vv_fb_bash_array(string $raw, string $varname): array {
-    if (!preg_match('/^\s*' . preg_quote($varname, '/') . '\s*=\s*\(\s*(.*?)\s*\)/ms', $raw, $m))
-        return [];
-    preg_match_all('/"([^"]*)"/', $m[1], $items);
-    return array_values(array_filter($items[1]));
+    return vv_parse_bash_array($raw, $varname);
 }
 
 function vv_fb_scalar(string $raw, string $varname): string {
-    return preg_match('/^\s*' . preg_quote($varname, '/') . '\s*=\s*"?([^"\n]*)"?/m', $raw, $m)
-        ? trim($m[1]) : '';
+    return vv_parse_conf_scalar($raw, $varname);
 }
 
 // ── State file ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -90,16 +86,7 @@ function vv_fb_covers(string $covering, string $remote, string $coveringRaw, str
 // ── Known hosts ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 function vv_fb_known_hosts(): array {
-    $master = vv_read_conf_raw('master.conf');
-    preg_match_all('/^\s*(HOST(\d+))(?:_NAME)?\s*=\s*["\']?(\S+?)["\']?\s*$/m', $master, $m);
-    $hosts = [];
-    foreach ($m[1] as $i => $key) {
-        $num  = $m[2][$i];
-        $name = trim($m[3][$i]);
-        $hosts['host' . $num] = $name;
-    }
-    ksort($hosts);
-    return $hosts ?: ['host1' => 'HOST1'];
+    return vv_known_hosts();
 }
 
 // ── Main data builder ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/include/media.php b/Plugin/unraid/include/media.php
index fd9ae85..b86c289 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/include/media.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/include/media.php
@@ -6,8 +6,7 @@ require_once __DIR__ . '/config.php';
 // ── Conf reader ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 function vv_media_conf_scalar(string $raw, string $key): string {
-    return preg_match('/^\s*' . preg_quote($key, '/') . '\s*=\s*"?([^"\n]*)"?/m', $raw, $m)
-        ? trim($m[1]) : '';
+    return vv_parse_conf_scalar($raw, $key);
 }
 
 // ── Server list from host conf ────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/Plugin/unraid/include/watchdog.php b/Plugin/unraid/include/watchdog.php
index 217577c..2a8a31d 100644
--- a/Plugin/unraid/include/watchdog.php
+++ b/Plugin/unraid/include/watchdog.php
@@ -7,10 +7,7 @@ require_once __DIR__ . '/partnership.php';
 // ── Conf array parser (bash arrays) ──────────────────────────────────────────
 
 function vv_wd_bash_array(string $raw, string $varname): array {
-    if (!preg_match('/^\s*' . preg_quote($varname, '/') . '\s*=\s*\(\s*(.*?)\s*\)/ms', $raw, $m))
-        return [];
-    preg_match_all('/"([^"]*)"/', $m[1], $items);
-    return array_values(array_filter($items[1]));
+    return vv_parse_bash_array($raw, $varname);
 }
 
 function vv_wd_bash_assoc(string $raw, string $varname): array {
@@ -24,8 +21,7 @@ function vv_wd_bash_assoc(string $raw, string $varname): array {
 }
 
 function vv_wd_scalar(string $raw, string $varname): string {
-    return preg_match('/^\s*' . preg_quote($varname, '/') . '\s*=\s*"?([^"\n]*)"?/m', $raw, $m)
-        ? trim($m[1]) : '';
+    return vv_parse_conf_scalar($raw, $varname);
 }
 
 // ── State file parsers ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────