Another attempt at memory management. It hasn't failed yet but then again I haven't pushed yet, so here's the ultimate test.

src/mpv_player.py

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Supports real-time speed control without re-encoding.
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
 import threading
+from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
 
 try:
     import mpv
@@ -34,6 +35,8 @@ class MpvPlayer:
         self.currentPlaylistIndex = 0  # Current file index in playlist
         self.activeTempFiles = []  # Track temp files for cleanup
         self.tempFileLock = threading.Lock()  # Protect temp file list
+        # Thread pool for cleanup tasks (prevents daemon thread accumulation)
+        self.cleanupExecutor = ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=2, thread_name_prefix="mpv-cleanup")
 
         if not HAS_MPV:
             print("Warning: python-mpv not installed. Audio playback will not work.")
@@ -49,6 +52,10 @@ class MpvPlayer:
                 video=False,  # Audio only
                 ytdl=False,  # Don't use youtube-dl
                 quiet=True,  # Minimal console output
+                demuxer_max_bytes='20M',  # Reduced from 50M - limit demuxer cache
+                demuxer_max_back_bytes='5M',  # Reduced from 10M - limit backward cache
+                cache=False,  # Disable additional caching for local files
+                audio_buffer=0.5,  # Reduce audio buffer to 0.5 seconds (default is 2s)
             )
 
             # Register event handler for cleanup
@@ -102,11 +109,11 @@ class MpvPlayer:
                 success = self.play_audio_file()
 
             # Schedule cleanup after mpv loads the file
-            # Use shorter delay and clean up old files too
+            # Use ThreadPoolExecutor instead of daemon threads to prevent accumulation
             if tempFile:
                 import time
                 def cleanup_temp_file(filepath):
-                    time.sleep(2)  # Reduced from 5s - mpv loads files quickly
+                    time.sleep(2)  # mpv loads files quickly
                     try:
                         os.unlink(filepath)
                     except:
@@ -117,7 +124,8 @@ class MpvPlayer:
                             self.activeTempFiles.remove(filepath)
                         except ValueError:
                             pass  # Already removed
-                threading.Thread(target=cleanup_temp_file, args=(tempFile.name,), daemon=True).start()
+                # Use thread pool instead of creating new daemon threads
+                self.cleanupExecutor.submit(cleanup_temp_file, tempFile.name)
 
             return success
 
@@ -263,6 +271,7 @@ class MpvPlayer:
 
     def _cleanup_temp_files(self):
         """Immediately clean up all active temp files"""
+        import gc
         with self.tempFileLock:
             for tempPath in self.activeTempFiles:
                 try:
@@ -273,6 +282,41 @@ class MpvPlayer:
                     pass
             # Clear the list
             self.activeTempFiles = []
+        # CRITICAL: Force FULL garbage collection to free memory from deleted files
+        # After 30+ minutes of reading, temp file handles accumulate in older generations
+        gc.collect()  # Full collection across all generations
+
+    def _purge_mpv_buffers(self):
+        """
+        Aggressively purge mpv internal buffers and caches
+        Call this between paragraphs to prevent memory accumulation
+        """
+        if not self.isInitialized or not self.player:
+            return
+
+        try:
+            # Stop any playback first to release audio buffers
+            self.player.stop()
+
+            # Wait a moment for mpv to fully stop and release buffers
+            import time
+            time.sleep(0.05)
+
+            # Force mpv to clear its internal demuxer cache
+            # This releases memory held by the demuxer
+            try:
+                # Setting these properties forces mpv to flush caches
+                # pylint: disable=no-member
+                self.player.command('seek', 0, 'absolute')  # Dummy seek to flush
+            except:
+                pass  # Might fail if nothing is loaded, that's ok
+
+            # Mark as unloaded so next load is clean
+            self.audioFileLoaded = False
+
+        except Exception as e:
+            # Don't fail if buffer purge fails
+            pass
 
     def cleanup(self):
         """Cleanup resources"""
@@ -288,6 +332,11 @@ class MpvPlayer:
             self.isInitialized = False
         # Clean up any remaining temp files
         self._cleanup_temp_files()
+        # Shutdown cleanup thread pool (wait for pending tasks to finish)
+        try:
+            self.cleanupExecutor.shutdown(wait=True, cancel_futures=False)
+        except:
+            pass
 
     def is_available(self):
         """Check if mpv is available"""
@@ -314,6 +363,11 @@ class MpvPlayer:
             audioPath = str(audioPath)
             self.playbackSpeed = max(0.5, min(2.0, float(playbackSpeed)))
 
+            # Aggressively purge mpv buffers before loading new file
+            # This prevents memory accumulation over long reading sessions
+            if self.audioFileLoaded:
+                self._purge_mpv_buffers()
+
             # Check if this is a URL (for streaming from Audiobookshelf)
             isUrl = audioPath.startswith('http://') or audioPath.startswith('https://')
 
@@ -365,6 +419,10 @@ class MpvPlayer:
             self.currentPlaylistIndex = 0
             self.playbackSpeed = max(0.5, min(2.0, float(playbackSpeed)))
 
+            # Aggressively purge mpv buffers before loading new playlist
+            if self.audioFileLoaded:
+                self._purge_mpv_buffers()
+
             # Load first file in playlist
             firstFile = self.playlist[0]