Switch known-word cache to incremental sync and doctor refresh

- Load persisted known-word cache on startup; reconcile adds/deletes/edits on timed sync - Add `knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately` (default `true`) for immediate mined-word updates - Route full rebuild to explicit `subminer doctor --refresh-known-words` and expand tests/docs
2026-03-20 12:11:28 -07:00 · 2026-03-19 19:29:58 -07:00
parent 72d78ba1ca
commit 20f53c0b70
50 changed files with 1130 additions and 119 deletions
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 <div align="center">
  <img src="assets/SubMiner.png" width="140" alt="SubMiner logo">

-  # SubMiner
+# SubMiner

-  **Sentence-mine from mpv — look up words, one-key Anki export, immersion tracking.**
+**Sentence-mine from mpv — look up words, one-key Anki export, immersion tracking.**

-  [![License: GPL v3](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-GPLv3-blue.svg)](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0)
-  [![Linux](https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-Linux%20%7C%20macOS%20%7C%20Windows-informational)]()
-  [![Docs](https://img.shields.io/badge/docs-docs.subminer.moe-blueviolet)](https://docs.subminer.moe)
-  [![AUR](https://img.shields.io/aur/version/subminer-bin)](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/subminer-bin)
+[![License: GPL v3](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-GPLv3-blue.svg)](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0)
+[![Linux](https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-Linux%20%7C%20macOS%20%7C%20Windows-informational)]()
+[![Docs](https://img.shields.io/badge/docs-docs.subminer.moe-blueviolet)](https://docs.subminer.moe)
+[![AUR](https://img.shields.io/aur/version/subminer-bin)](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/subminer-bin)

 </div>

@@ -16,9 +16,6 @@

 SubMiner is an Electron overlay for [mpv](https://mpv.io) that turns video into a sentence-mining workstation. Look up any word with [Yomitan](https://github.com/yomidevs/yomitan), mine it to Anki with one key, and track your immersion over time.

-> [!NOTE]
-> Release prep target: `v0.7.0`. This cut rolls the new stats/dashboard workflow, browser/daemon stats commands, dashboard mining actions, and the latest overlay/runtime stability fixes into the next 0-ver minor line.
-
 <div align="center">

 [![SubMiner demo (Animated preview)](./assets/minecard.webp)](./assets/minecard.mp4)
@@ -120,7 +117,7 @@ subminer stats cleanup      # repair/prune stored stats vocabulary rows
 ## Requirements

 | Required                                               | Optional                      |
-|---|---|
+| ------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------- |
 | [`mpv`](https://mpv.io) with IPC socket                | `yt-dlp`                      |
 | `ffmpeg`                                               | `guessit` (AniSkip detection) |
 | `mecab` + `mecab-ipadic`                               | `fzf` / `rofi`                |
--- a/Make-known-word-cache-incremental-and-avoid-full-rebuilds.md
+++ b/Make-known-word-cache-incremental-and-avoid-full-rebuilds.md
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+---
+id: TASK-204
+title: Make known-word cache incremental and avoid full rebuilds
+status: Done
+assignee:
+  - Codex
+created_date: '2026-03-19 19:05'
+updated_date: '2026-03-19 19:12'
+labels:
+  - anki
+  - cache
+  - performance
+dependencies: []
+references:
+  - src/anki-integration/known-word-cache.ts
+  - src/anki-integration.ts
+  - src/config/resolve/anki-connect.ts
+  - src/config/definitions/defaults-integrations.ts
+priority: high
+ordinal: 105722
+---
+
+## Description
+
+<!-- SECTION:DESCRIPTION:BEGIN -->
+
+Replace the known-word cache rebuild behavior with incremental synchronization. Startup should load existing cache state without immediately pulling all tracked Anki notes. Config-timed sync should reconcile adds, deletes, and in-place field edits against cached per-note state. Mined cards should optionally append their extracted words immediately after mining, enabled by default. Full rebuild should remain available only through explicit doctor tooling.
+
+<!-- SECTION:DESCRIPTION:END -->
+
+## Acceptance Criteria
+
+<!-- AC:BEGIN -->
+
+- [x] #1 Known-word cache startup no longer performs an automatic full rebuild.
+- [x] #2 Config-timed sync incrementally reconciles note additions, deletions, and edited word fields for the tracked known-word deck scope.
+- [x] #3 Newly mined cards update the known-word cache immediately when the new config flag is enabled, and skip that fast path when disabled.
+- [x] #4 Persisted cache state remains usable by stats endpoints that read the `words` set from disk.
+- [x] #5 Regression tests cover startup behavior, incremental sync diffs, and the new config flag.
+<!-- AC:END -->
+
+## Outcome
+
+<!-- SECTION:OUTCOME:BEGIN -->
+
+Known-word cache startup now loads persisted state and schedules sync based on refresh timing instead of wiping and rebuilding immediately. Persisted cache state now includes per-note word snapshots so timed refreshes can remove deleted notes, update edited notes, and keep the global `words` set stable for stats consumers. Added `ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately`, default `true`, so newly mined cards can update the cache immediately without waiting for the next timed sync.
+
+Verification:
+
+- `bun test src/anki-integration/known-word-cache.test.ts`
+- `bun test src/config/resolve/anki-connect.test.ts src/config/config.test.ts`
+- `bun test src/anki-integration.test.ts src/anki-integration/runtime.test.ts src/core/services/__tests__/stats-server.test.ts`
+- `bun run test:config:src`
+- `bun run typecheck`
+- `bun run test:fast`
+- `bun run test:env`
+- `bun run build`
+- `bun run test:smoke:dist`
+
+<!-- SECTION:OUTCOME:END -->
--- a/changes/2026-03-19-incremental-known-word-cache.md
+++ b/changes/2026-03-19-incremental-known-word-cache.md
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+type: fixed
+area: anki
+
+- Known-word cache refreshes now reconcile Anki changes incrementally instead of wiping and rebuilding on startup, mined cards can append their word into the cache immediately through a new default-enabled config flag, and explicit refreshes now run through `subminer doctor --refresh-known-words`.
--- a/config.example.jsonc
+++ b/config.example.jsonc
@@ -348,6 +348,7 @@
    "knownWords": {
      "highlightEnabled": false, // Enable fast local highlighting for words already known in Anki. Values: true | false
      "refreshMinutes": 1440, // Minutes between known-word cache refreshes.
+      "addMinedWordsImmediately": true, // Immediately append newly mined card words into the known-word cache. Values: true | false
      "matchMode": "headword", // Known-word matching strategy for subtitle annotations. Values: headword | surface
      "decks": {}, // Decks and fields for known-word cache. Object mapping deck names to arrays of field names to extract, e.g. { "Kaishi 1.5k": ["Word", "Word Reading"] }.
      "color": "#a6da95" // Color used for known-word highlights.
--- a/docs-site/public/config.example.jsonc
+++ b/docs-site/public/config.example.jsonc
@@ -348,6 +348,7 @@
    "knownWords": {
      "highlightEnabled": false, // Enable fast local highlighting for words already known in Anki. Values: true | false
      "refreshMinutes": 1440, // Minutes between known-word cache refreshes.
+      "addMinedWordsImmediately": true, // Immediately append newly mined card words into the known-word cache. Values: true | false
      "matchMode": "headword", // Known-word matching strategy for subtitle annotations. Values: headword | surface
      "decks": {}, // Decks and fields for known-word cache. Object mapping deck names to arrays of field names to extract, e.g. { "Kaishi 1.5k": ["Word", "Word Reading"] }.
      "color": "#a6da95" // Color used for known-word highlights.
--- a/docs/plans/2026-03-19-known-word-cache-incremental-sync-design.md
+++ b/docs/plans/2026-03-19-known-word-cache-incremental-sync-design.md
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+<!-- read_when: changing known-word cache lifecycle, stats cache semantics, or Anki sync behavior -->
+
+# Incremental Known-Word Cache Sync
+
+## Goal
+
+Stop rebuilding the entire known-word cache on startup or routine refreshes. Keep the cache correct through incremental reconciliation on the configured sync cadence, with an immediate append path for freshly mined cards.
+
+## Scope
+
+- Persist per-note extracted known-word snapshots beside the existing global `words` list.
+- Replace startup refresh with load-only behavior.
+- Make timed refresh diff current Anki note IDs against cached note IDs, then apply add/remove/edit deltas.
+- Add `ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately`, default `true`.
+- Keep full rebuild out of normal lifecycle; reserve it for explicit doctor tooling.
+
+## Data Model
+
+Persist versioned cache state with:
+
+- `words`: deduplicated global known-word set for stats/UI consumers
+- `notes`: record of `noteId -> extractedWords[]`
+- `refreshedAtMs`
+- `scope`
+
+The in-memory manager derives the global set from the per-note snapshots during sync updates so deletes and edits can remove stale words safely.
+
+## Sync Behavior
+
+- Startup: load persisted state only
+- Interval tick or explicit refresh command: run incremental sync
+- Incremental sync:
+  - query tracked note IDs for configured deck scope
+  - remove note snapshots for note IDs that disappeared
+  - fetch `notesInfo` for note IDs that are new or need field reconciliation
+  - compare extracted words per note and update the global set
+
+## Immediate Mining Path
+
+When SubMiner already has fresh `noteInfo` after mining or updating a note, append/update that note snapshot immediately if `addMinedWordsImmediately` is enabled.
+
+## Verification
+
+- focused cache manager tests for add/delete/edit reconciliation
+- focused integration/config tests for startup behavior and new config flag
+- config verification lane because defaults/schema/example change
--- a/launcher/commands/command-modules.test.ts
+++ b/launcher/commands/command-modules.test.ts
@@ -77,11 +77,37 @@ test('doctor command exits non-zero for missing hard dependencies', () => {
        commandExists: () => false,
        configExists: () => true,
        resolveMainConfigPath: () => '/tmp/SubMiner/config.jsonc',
+        runAppCommandWithInherit: () => {
+          throw new Error('unexpected app handoff');
+        },
      }),
    (error: unknown) => error instanceof ExitSignal && error.code === 1,
  );
 });

+test('doctor command forwards refresh-known-words to app binary', () => {
+  const context = createContext();
+  context.args.doctor = true;
+  context.args.doctorRefreshKnownWords = true;
+  const forwarded: string[][] = [];
+
+  assert.throws(
+    () =>
+      runDoctorCommand(context, {
+        commandExists: () => false,
+        configExists: () => true,
+        resolveMainConfigPath: () => '/tmp/SubMiner/config.jsonc',
+        runAppCommandWithInherit: (_appPath, appArgs) => {
+          forwarded.push(appArgs);
+          throw new ExitSignal(0);
+        },
+      }),
+    (error: unknown) => error instanceof ExitSignal && error.code === 0,
+  );
+
+  assert.deepEqual(forwarded, [['--refresh-known-words']]);
+});
+
 test('mpv pre-app command exits non-zero when socket is not ready', async () => {
  const context = createContext();
  context.args.mpvStatus = true;
--- a/launcher/commands/doctor-command.ts
+++ b/launcher/commands/doctor-command.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import { log } from '../log.js';
+import { runAppCommandWithInherit } from '../mpv.js';
 import { commandExists } from '../util.js';
 import { resolveMainConfigPath } from '../config-path.js';
 import type { LauncherCommandContext } from './context.js';
@@ -8,12 +9,14 @@ interface DoctorCommandDeps {
  commandExists(command: string): boolean;
  configExists(path: string): boolean;
  resolveMainConfigPath(): string;
+  runAppCommandWithInherit(appPath: string, appArgs: string[]): never;
 }

 const defaultDeps: DoctorCommandDeps = {
  commandExists,
  configExists: fs.existsSync,
  resolveMainConfigPath,
+  runAppCommandWithInherit,
 };

 export function runDoctorCommand(
@@ -72,14 +75,21 @@ export function runDoctorCommand(
    },
  ];

-  const hasHardFailure = checks.some((entry) =>
-    entry.label === 'app binary' || entry.label === 'mpv' ? !entry.ok : false,
-  );
-
  for (const check of checks) {
    log(check.ok ? 'info' : 'warn', args.logLevel, `[doctor] ${check.label}: ${check.detail}`);
  }

+  if (args.doctorRefreshKnownWords) {
+    if (!appPath) {
+      processAdapter.exit(1);
+      return true;
+    }
+    deps.runAppCommandWithInherit(appPath, ['--refresh-known-words']);
+  }
+
+  const hasHardFailure = checks.some((entry) =>
+    entry.label === 'app binary' || entry.label === 'mpv' ? !entry.ok : false,
+  );
  processAdapter.exit(hasHardFailure ? 1 : 0);
  return true;
 }
--- a/launcher/config/args-normalizer.ts
+++ b/launcher/config/args-normalizer.ts
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ export function createDefaultArgs(launcherConfig: LauncherYoutubeSubgenConfig):
    statsCleanupVocab: false,
    statsCleanupLifetime: false,
    doctor: false,
+    doctorRefreshKnownWords: false,
    configPath: false,
    configShow: false,
    mpvIdle: false,
@@ -206,6 +207,7 @@ export function applyInvocationsToArgs(parsed: Args, invocations: CliInvocations
    parsed.dictionaryTarget = parseDictionaryTarget(invocations.dictionaryTarget);
  }
  if (invocations.doctorTriggered) parsed.doctor = true;
+  if (invocations.doctorRefreshKnownWords) parsed.doctorRefreshKnownWords = true;
  if (invocations.texthookerTriggered) parsed.texthookerOnly = true;

  if (invocations.jellyfinInvocation) {
--- a/launcher/config/cli-parser-builder.ts
+++ b/launcher/config/cli-parser-builder.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ export interface CliInvocations {
  statsLogLevel: string | null;
  doctorTriggered: boolean;
  doctorLogLevel: string | null;
+  doctorRefreshKnownWords: boolean;
  texthookerTriggered: boolean;
  texthookerLogLevel: string | null;
 }
@@ -156,6 +157,7 @@ export function parseCliPrograms(
  let statsCleanupLifetime = false;
  let statsLogLevel: string | null = null;
  let doctorLogLevel: string | null = null;
+  let doctorRefreshKnownWords = false;
  let texthookerLogLevel: string | null = null;
  let doctorTriggered = false;
  let texthookerTriggered = false;
@@ -304,10 +306,12 @@ export function parseCliPrograms(
  commandProgram
    .command('doctor')
    .description('Run dependency and environment checks')
+    .option('--refresh-known-words', 'Refresh known words cache')
    .option('--log-level <level>', 'Log level')
    .action((options: Record<string, unknown>) => {
      doctorTriggered = true;
      doctorLogLevel = typeof options.logLevel === 'string' ? options.logLevel : null;
+      doctorRefreshKnownWords = options.refreshKnownWords === true;
    });

  commandProgram
@@ -388,6 +392,7 @@ export function parseCliPrograms(
      statsLogLevel,
      doctorTriggered,
      doctorLogLevel,
+      doctorRefreshKnownWords,
      texthookerTriggered,
      texthookerLogLevel,
    },
--- a/launcher/main.test.ts
+++ b/launcher/main.test.ts
@@ -178,6 +178,33 @@ test('doctor reports checks and exits non-zero without hard dependencies', () =>
  });
 });

+test('doctor refresh-known-words forwards app refresh command without requiring mpv', () => {
+  withTempDir((root) => {
+    const homeDir = path.join(root, 'home');
+    const xdgConfigHome = path.join(root, 'xdg');
+    const appPath = path.join(root, 'fake-subminer.sh');
+    const capturePath = path.join(root, 'captured-args.txt');
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      appPath,
+      '#!/bin/sh\nif [ -n "$SUBMINER_TEST_CAPTURE" ]; then printf "%s\\n" "$@" > "$SUBMINER_TEST_CAPTURE"; fi\nexit 0\n',
+    );
+    fs.chmodSync(appPath, 0o755);
+
+    const env = {
+      ...makeTestEnv(homeDir, xdgConfigHome),
+      PATH: '',
+      Path: '',
+      SUBMINER_APPIMAGE_PATH: appPath,
+      SUBMINER_TEST_CAPTURE: capturePath,
+    };
+    const result = runLauncher(['doctor', '--refresh-known-words'], env);
+
+    assert.equal(result.status, 0);
+    assert.equal(fs.readFileSync(capturePath, 'utf8'), '--refresh-known-words\n');
+    assert.match(result.stdout, /\[doctor\] mpv: missing/);
+  });
+});
+
 test('youtube command rejects removed --mode option', () => {
  withTempDir((root) => {
    const homeDir = path.join(root, 'home');
--- a/launcher/mpv.test.ts
+++ b/launcher/mpv.test.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,26 @@ test('runAppCommandCaptureOutput captures status and stdio', () => {
  assert.equal(result.error, undefined);
 });

+test('runAppCommandCaptureOutput strips ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE from app child env', () => {
+  const original = process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE;
+  try {
+    process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE = '1';
+    const result = runAppCommandCaptureOutput(process.execPath, [
+      '-e',
+      'process.stdout.write(String(process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE ?? ""));',
+    ]);
+
+    assert.equal(result.status, 0);
+    assert.equal(result.stdout, '');
+  } finally {
+    if (original === undefined) {
+      delete process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE;
+    } else {
+      process.env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE = original;
+    }
+  }
+});
+
 test('waitForUnixSocketReady returns false when socket never appears', async () => {
  const { dir, socketPath } = createTempSocketPath();
  try {
@@ -137,6 +157,7 @@ function makeArgs(overrides: Partial<Args> = {}): Args {
    dictionary: false,
    stats: false,
    doctor: false,
+    doctorRefreshKnownWords: false,
    configPath: false,
    configShow: false,
    mpvIdle: false,
--- a/launcher/mpv.ts
+++ b/launcher/mpv.ts
@@ -661,7 +661,7 @@ export async function startOverlay(appPath: string, args: Args, socketPath: stri
  const target = resolveAppSpawnTarget(appPath, overlayArgs);
  state.overlayProc = spawn(target.command, target.args, {
    stdio: 'inherit',
-    env: { ...process.env, SUBMINER_MPV_LOG: getMpvLogPath() },
+    env: buildAppEnv(),
  });
  state.overlayManagedByLauncher = true;

@@ -688,7 +688,10 @@ export function launchTexthookerOnly(appPath: string, args: Args): never {
  if (args.logLevel !== 'info') overlayArgs.push('--log-level', args.logLevel);

  log('info', args.logLevel, 'Launching texthooker mode...');
-  const result = spawnSync(appPath, overlayArgs, { stdio: 'inherit' });
+  const result = spawnSync(appPath, overlayArgs, {
+    stdio: 'inherit',
+    env: buildAppEnv(),
+  });
  process.exit(result.status ?? 0);
 }

@@ -702,7 +705,10 @@ export function stopOverlay(args: Args): void {
    const stopArgs = ['--stop'];
    if (args.logLevel !== 'info') stopArgs.push('--log-level', args.logLevel);

-    spawnSync(state.appPath, stopArgs, { stdio: 'ignore' });
+    spawnSync(state.appPath, stopArgs, {
+      stdio: 'ignore',
+      env: buildAppEnv(),
+    });

    if (state.overlayProc && !state.overlayProc.killed) {
      try {
@@ -763,6 +769,7 @@ function buildAppEnv(): NodeJS.ProcessEnv {
    ...process.env,
    SUBMINER_MPV_LOG: getMpvLogPath(),
  };
+  delete env.ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE;
  const layers = env.VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS;
  if (typeof layers === 'string' && layers.trim().length > 0) {
    const filtered = layers
--- a/launcher/parse-args.test.ts
+++ b/launcher/parse-args.test.ts
@@ -127,3 +127,10 @@ test('parseArgs maps stats rebuild action to cleanup lifetime mode', () => {
  assert.equal(parsed.statsCleanupVocab, false);
  assert.equal(parsed.statsCleanupLifetime, true);
 });
+
+test('parseArgs maps doctor refresh-known-words flag', () => {
+  const parsed = parseArgs(['doctor', '--refresh-known-words'], 'subminer', {});
+
+  assert.equal(parsed.doctor, true);
+  assert.equal(parsed.doctorRefreshKnownWords, true);
+});
--- a/launcher/types.ts
+++ b/launcher/types.ts
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ export interface Args {
  statsCleanupLifetime?: boolean;
  dictionaryTarget?: string;
  doctor: boolean;
+  doctorRefreshKnownWords: boolean;
  configPath: boolean;
  configShow: boolean;
  mpvIdle: boolean;
--- a/src/anki-connect.test.ts
+++ b/src/anki-connect.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { AnkiConnectClient } from './anki-connect';
+
+test('AnkiConnectClient disables keep-alive agents to avoid stale socket retries', () => {
+  const client = new AnkiConnectClient('http://127.0.0.1:8765') as unknown as {
+    client: {
+      defaults: {
+        httpAgent?: { options?: { keepAlive?: boolean } };
+        httpsAgent?: { options?: { keepAlive?: boolean } };
+      };
+    };
+  };
+
+  assert.equal(client.client.defaults.httpAgent?.options?.keepAlive, false);
+  assert.equal(client.client.defaults.httpsAgent?.options?.keepAlive, false);
+});
+
+test('AnkiConnectClient includes action name in retry logs', async () => {
+  const client = new AnkiConnectClient('http://127.0.0.1:8765') as unknown as {
+    client: { post: (url: string, body: unknown, options: unknown) => Promise<unknown> };
+    sleep: (ms: number) => Promise<void>;
+  };
+  let shouldFail = true;
+  client.client = {
+    post: async () => {
+      if (shouldFail) {
+        shouldFail = false;
+        const error = Object.assign(new Error('socket hang up'), { code: 'ECONNRESET' });
+        throw error;
+      }
+      return { data: { result: [], error: null } };
+    },
+  };
+  client.sleep = async () => undefined;
+
+  const originalInfo = console.info;
+  const messages: string[] = [];
+  try {
+    console.info = (...args: unknown[]) => {
+      messages.push(args.map((value) => String(value)).join(' '));
+    };
+
+    await (client as unknown as AnkiConnectClient).invoke('notesInfo', { notes: [1] });
+
+    assert.match(messages.join('\n'), /AnkiConnect notesInfo retry 1\/3 after 200ms delay/);
+  } finally {
+    console.info = originalInfo;
+  }
+});
--- a/src/anki-connect.ts
+++ b/src/anki-connect.ts
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ export class AnkiConnectClient {

  constructor(url: string) {
    const httpAgent = new http.Agent({
-      keepAlive: true,
+      keepAlive: false,
      keepAliveMsecs: 1000,
      maxSockets: 5,
      maxFreeSockets: 2,
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ export class AnkiConnectClient {
    });

    const httpsAgent = new https.Agent({
-      keepAlive: true,
+      keepAlive: false,
      keepAliveMsecs: 1000,
      maxSockets: 5,
      maxFreeSockets: 2,
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ export class AnkiConnectClient {
      try {
        if (attempt > 0) {
          const delay = Math.min(this.backoffMs * Math.pow(2, attempt - 1), this.maxBackoffMs);
-          log.info(`AnkiConnect retry ${attempt}/${maxRetries} after ${delay}ms delay`);
+          log.info(`AnkiConnect ${action} retry ${attempt}/${maxRetries} after ${delay}ms delay`);
          await this.sleep(delay);
        }

--- a/src/anki-integration/known-word-cache.test.ts
+++ b/src/anki-integration/known-word-cache.test.ts
@@ -9,14 +9,37 @@ import { KnownWordCacheManager } from './known-word-cache';

 function createKnownWordCacheHarness(config: AnkiConnectConfig): {
  manager: KnownWordCacheManager;
+  calls: {
+    findNotes: number;
+    notesInfo: number;
+  };
+  statePath: string;
+  clientState: {
+    findNotesResult: number[];
+    notesInfoResult: Array<{ noteId: number; fields: Record<string, { value: string }> }>;
+  };
  cleanup: () => void;
 } {
  const stateDir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'subminer-known-word-cache-'));
  const statePath = path.join(stateDir, 'known-words-cache.json');
+  const calls = {
+    findNotes: 0,
+    notesInfo: 0,
+  };
+  const clientState = {
+    findNotesResult: [] as number[],
+    notesInfoResult: [] as Array<{ noteId: number; fields: Record<string, { value: string }> }>,
+  };
  const manager = new KnownWordCacheManager({
    client: {
-      findNotes: async () => [],
-      notesInfo: async () => [],
+      findNotes: async () => {
+        calls.findNotes += 1;
+        return clientState.findNotesResult;
+      },
+      notesInfo: async (noteIds) => {
+        calls.notesInfo += 1;
+        return clientState.notesInfoResult.filter((note) => noteIds.includes(note.noteId));
+      },
    },
    getConfig: () => config,
    knownWordCacheStatePath: statePath,
@@ -25,12 +48,49 @@ function createKnownWordCacheHarness(config: AnkiConnectConfig): {

  return {
    manager,
+    calls,
+    statePath,
+    clientState,
    cleanup: () => {
      fs.rmSync(stateDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
    },
  };
 }

+test('KnownWordCacheManager startLifecycle loads persisted cache without immediate rebuild', () => {
+  const config: AnkiConnectConfig = {
+    knownWords: {
+      highlightEnabled: true,
+    },
+  };
+  const { manager, calls, statePath, cleanup } = createKnownWordCacheHarness(config);
+
+  try {
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      statePath,
+      JSON.stringify({
+        version: 2,
+        refreshedAtMs: Date.now(),
+        scope: '{"refreshMinutes":1440,"scope":"is:note","fieldsWord":""}',
+        words: ['猫'],
+        notes: {
+          '1': ['猫'],
+        },
+      }),
+      'utf-8',
+    );
+
+    manager.startLifecycle();
+
+    assert.equal(manager.isKnownWord('猫'), true);
+    assert.equal(calls.findNotes, 0);
+    assert.equal(calls.notesInfo, 0);
+  } finally {
+    manager.stopLifecycle();
+    cleanup();
+  }
+});
+
 test('KnownWordCacheManager invalidates persisted cache when fields.word changes', () => {
  const config: AnkiConnectConfig = {
    deck: 'Mining',
@@ -69,6 +129,70 @@ test('KnownWordCacheManager invalidates persisted cache when fields.word changes
  }
 });

+test('KnownWordCacheManager refresh incrementally reconciles deleted and edited note words', async () => {
+  const config: AnkiConnectConfig = {
+    fields: {
+      word: 'Word',
+    },
+    knownWords: {
+      highlightEnabled: true,
+    },
+  };
+  const { manager, statePath, clientState, cleanup } = createKnownWordCacheHarness(config);
+
+  try {
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      statePath,
+      JSON.stringify({
+        version: 2,
+        refreshedAtMs: 1,
+        scope: '{"refreshMinutes":1440,"scope":"is:note","fieldsWord":"Word"}',
+        words: ['猫', '犬'],
+        notes: {
+          '1': ['猫'],
+          '2': ['犬'],
+        },
+      }),
+      'utf-8',
+    );
+
+    (
+      manager as unknown as {
+        loadKnownWordCacheState: () => void;
+      }
+    ).loadKnownWordCacheState();
+
+    clientState.findNotesResult = [1];
+    clientState.notesInfoResult = [
+      {
+        noteId: 1,
+        fields: {
+          Word: { value: '鳥' },
+        },
+      },
+    ];
+
+    await manager.refresh(true);
+
+    assert.equal(manager.isKnownWord('猫'), false);
+    assert.equal(manager.isKnownWord('犬'), false);
+    assert.equal(manager.isKnownWord('鳥'), true);
+
+    const persisted = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(statePath, 'utf-8')) as {
+      version: number;
+      words: string[];
+      notes?: Record<string, string[]>;
+    };
+    assert.equal(persisted.version, 2);
+    assert.deepEqual(persisted.words.sort(), ['鳥']);
+    assert.deepEqual(persisted.notes, {
+      '1': ['鳥'],
+    });
+  } finally {
+    cleanup();
+  }
+});
+
 test('KnownWordCacheManager invalidates persisted cache when per-deck fields change', () => {
  const config: AnkiConnectConfig = {
    fields: {
@@ -110,3 +234,27 @@ test('KnownWordCacheManager invalidates persisted cache when per-deck fields cha
    cleanup();
  }
 });
+
+test('KnownWordCacheManager skips immediate append when addMinedWordsImmediately is disabled', () => {
+  const config: AnkiConnectConfig = {
+    knownWords: {
+      highlightEnabled: true,
+      addMinedWordsImmediately: false,
+    },
+  };
+  const { manager, statePath, cleanup } = createKnownWordCacheHarness(config);
+
+  try {
+    manager.appendFromNoteInfo({
+      noteId: 1,
+      fields: {
+        Expression: { value: '猫' },
+      },
+    });
+
+    assert.equal(manager.isKnownWord('猫'), false);
+    assert.equal(fs.existsSync(statePath), false);
+  } finally {
+    cleanup();
+  }
+});
--- a/src/anki-integration/known-word-cache.ts
+++ b/src/anki-integration/known-word-cache.ts
@@ -64,13 +64,23 @@ export interface KnownWordCacheNoteInfo {
  fields: Record<string, { value: string }>;
 }

-interface KnownWordCacheState {
+interface KnownWordCacheStateV1 {
  readonly version: 1;
  readonly refreshedAtMs: number;
  readonly scope: string;
  readonly words: string[];
 }

+interface KnownWordCacheStateV2 {
+  readonly version: 2;
+  readonly refreshedAtMs: number;
+  readonly scope: string;
+  readonly words: string[];
+  readonly notes: Record<string, string[]>;
+}
+
+type KnownWordCacheState = KnownWordCacheStateV1 | KnownWordCacheStateV2;
+
 interface KnownWordCacheClient {
  findNotes: (
    query: string,
@@ -92,7 +102,10 @@ export class KnownWordCacheManager {
  private knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs = 0;
  private knownWordsStateKey = '';
  private knownWords: Set<string> = new Set();
+  private wordReferenceCounts = new Map<string, number>();
+  private noteWordsById = new Map<number, string[]>();
  private knownWordsRefreshTimer: ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | null = null;
+  private knownWordsRefreshTimeout: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
  private isRefreshingKnownWords = false;
  private readonly statePath: string;

@@ -133,14 +146,14 @@ export class KnownWordCacheManager {
    );

    this.loadKnownWordCacheState();
-    void this.refreshKnownWords();
-    const refreshIntervalMs = this.getKnownWordRefreshIntervalMs();
-    this.knownWordsRefreshTimer = setInterval(() => {
-      void this.refreshKnownWords();
-    }, refreshIntervalMs);
+    this.scheduleKnownWordRefreshLifecycle();
  }

  stopLifecycle(): void {
+    if (this.knownWordsRefreshTimeout) {
+      clearTimeout(this.knownWordsRefreshTimeout);
+      this.knownWordsRefreshTimeout = null;
+    }
    if (this.knownWordsRefreshTimer) {
      clearInterval(this.knownWordsRefreshTimer);
      this.knownWordsRefreshTimer = null;
@@ -148,7 +161,7 @@ export class KnownWordCacheManager {
  }

  appendFromNoteInfo(noteInfo: KnownWordCacheNoteInfo): void {
-    if (!this.isKnownWordCacheEnabled()) {
+    if (!this.isKnownWordCacheEnabled() || !this.shouldAddMinedWordsImmediately()) {
      return;
    }

@@ -160,32 +173,26 @@ export class KnownWordCacheManager {
      this.knownWordsStateKey = currentStateKey;
    }

-    let addedCount = 0;
-    for (const rawWord of this.extractKnownWordsFromNoteInfo(noteInfo)) {
-      const normalized = this.normalizeKnownWordForLookup(rawWord);
-      if (!normalized || this.knownWords.has(normalized)) {
-        continue;
-      }
-      this.knownWords.add(normalized);
-      addedCount += 1;
+    const nextWords = this.extractNormalizedKnownWordsFromNoteInfo(noteInfo);
+    const changed = this.replaceNoteSnapshot(noteInfo.noteId, nextWords);
+    if (!changed) {
+      return;
    }

-    if (addedCount > 0) {
    if (this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs <= 0) {
      this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs = Date.now();
    }
    this.persistKnownWordCacheState();
    log.info(
      'Known-word cache updated in-session',
-        `added=${addedCount}`,
+      `noteId=${noteInfo.noteId}`,
+      `wordCount=${nextWords.length}`,
      `scope=${getKnownWordCacheScopeForConfig(this.deps.getConfig())}`,
    );
  }
-  }

  clearKnownWordCacheState(): void {
-    this.knownWords = new Set();
-    this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs = 0;
+    this.clearInMemoryState();
    this.knownWordsStateKey = this.getKnownWordCacheStateKey();
    try {
      if (fs.existsSync(this.statePath)) {
@@ -218,33 +225,38 @@ export class KnownWordCacheManager {
        maxRetries: 0,
      })) as number[];

-      const nextKnownWords = new Set<string>();
-      if (noteIds.length > 0) {
-        const chunkSize = 50;
-        for (let i = 0; i < noteIds.length; i += chunkSize) {
-          const chunk = noteIds.slice(i, i + chunkSize);
-          const notesInfoResult = (await this.deps.client.notesInfo(chunk)) as unknown[];
-          const notesInfo = notesInfoResult as KnownWordCacheNoteInfo[];
+      const currentNoteIds = Array.from(
+        new Set(noteIds.filter((noteId) => Number.isInteger(noteId) && noteId > 0)),
+      ).sort((a, b) => a - b);

-          for (const noteInfo of notesInfo) {
-            for (const word of this.extractKnownWordsFromNoteInfo(noteInfo)) {
-              const normalized = this.normalizeKnownWordForLookup(word);
-              if (normalized) {
-                nextKnownWords.add(normalized);
+      if (this.noteWordsById.size === 0) {
+        await this.rebuildFromCurrentNotes(currentNoteIds);
+      } else {
+        const currentNoteIdSet = new Set(currentNoteIds);
+        for (const noteId of Array.from(this.noteWordsById.keys())) {
+          if (!currentNoteIdSet.has(noteId)) {
+            this.removeNoteSnapshot(noteId);
          }
        }
+
+        if (currentNoteIds.length > 0) {
+          const noteInfos = await this.fetchKnownWordNotesInfo(currentNoteIds);
+          for (const noteInfo of noteInfos) {
+            this.replaceNoteSnapshot(
+              noteInfo.noteId,
+              this.extractNormalizedKnownWordsFromNoteInfo(noteInfo),
+            );
          }
        }
      }

-      this.knownWords = nextKnownWords;
      this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs = Date.now();
      this.knownWordsStateKey = this.getKnownWordCacheStateKey();
      this.persistKnownWordCacheState();
      log.info(
        'Known-word cache refreshed',
-        `noteCount=${noteIds.length}`,
-        `wordCount=${nextKnownWords.size}`,
+        `noteCount=${currentNoteIds.length}`,
+        `wordCount=${this.knownWords.size}`,
      );
    } catch (error) {
      log.warn('Failed to refresh known-word cache:', (error as Error).message);
@@ -258,6 +270,10 @@ export class KnownWordCacheManager {
    return this.deps.getConfig().knownWords?.highlightEnabled === true;
  }

+  private shouldAddMinedWordsImmediately(): boolean {
+    return this.deps.getConfig().knownWords?.addMinedWordsImmediately !== false;
+  }
+
  private getKnownWordRefreshIntervalMs(): number {
    return getKnownWordCacheRefreshIntervalMinutes(this.deps.getConfig()) * 60_000;
  }
@@ -322,64 +338,193 @@ export class KnownWordCacheManager {
    return Date.now() - this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs >= this.getKnownWordRefreshIntervalMs();
  }

+  private scheduleKnownWordRefreshLifecycle(): void {
+    const refreshIntervalMs = this.getKnownWordRefreshIntervalMs();
+    const scheduleInterval = () => {
+      this.knownWordsRefreshTimer = setInterval(() => {
+        void this.refreshKnownWords();
+      }, refreshIntervalMs);
+    };
+
+    const initialDelayMs = this.getMsUntilNextRefresh();
+    this.knownWordsRefreshTimeout = setTimeout(() => {
+      this.knownWordsRefreshTimeout = null;
+      void this.refreshKnownWords();
+      scheduleInterval();
+    }, initialDelayMs);
+  }
+
+  private getMsUntilNextRefresh(): number {
+    if (this.knownWordsStateKey !== this.getKnownWordCacheStateKey()) {
+      return 0;
+    }
+    if (this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs <= 0) {
+      return 0;
+    }
+    const remainingMs =
+      this.getKnownWordRefreshIntervalMs() - (Date.now() - this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs);
+    return Math.max(0, remainingMs);
+  }
+
+  private async rebuildFromCurrentNotes(noteIds: number[]): Promise<void> {
+    this.clearInMemoryState();
+    if (noteIds.length === 0) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    const noteInfos = await this.fetchKnownWordNotesInfo(noteIds);
+    for (const noteInfo of noteInfos) {
+      this.replaceNoteSnapshot(noteInfo.noteId, this.extractNormalizedKnownWordsFromNoteInfo(noteInfo));
+    }
+  }
+
+  private async fetchKnownWordNotesInfo(noteIds: number[]): Promise<KnownWordCacheNoteInfo[]> {
+    const noteInfos: KnownWordCacheNoteInfo[] = [];
+    const chunkSize = 50;
+    for (let i = 0; i < noteIds.length; i += chunkSize) {
+      const chunk = noteIds.slice(i, i + chunkSize);
+      const notesInfoResult = (await this.deps.client.notesInfo(chunk)) as unknown[];
+      const chunkInfos = notesInfoResult as KnownWordCacheNoteInfo[];
+      for (const noteInfo of chunkInfos) {
+        if (!noteInfo || !Number.isInteger(noteInfo.noteId) || noteInfo.noteId <= 0) {
+          continue;
+        }
+        noteInfos.push(noteInfo);
+      }
+    }
+    return noteInfos;
+  }
+
+  private replaceNoteSnapshot(noteId: number, nextWords: string[]): boolean {
+    const normalizedWords = normalizeKnownWordList(nextWords);
+    const previousWords = this.noteWordsById.get(noteId) ?? [];
+    if (knownWordListsEqual(previousWords, normalizedWords)) {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    this.removeWordsFromCounts(previousWords);
+    if (normalizedWords.length > 0) {
+      this.noteWordsById.set(noteId, normalizedWords);
+      this.addWordsToCounts(normalizedWords);
+    } else {
+      this.noteWordsById.delete(noteId);
+    }
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  private removeNoteSnapshot(noteId: number): void {
+    const previousWords = this.noteWordsById.get(noteId);
+    if (!previousWords) {
+      return;
+    }
+    this.noteWordsById.delete(noteId);
+    this.removeWordsFromCounts(previousWords);
+  }
+
+  private addWordsToCounts(words: string[]): void {
+    for (const word of words) {
+      const nextCount = (this.wordReferenceCounts.get(word) ?? 0) + 1;
+      this.wordReferenceCounts.set(word, nextCount);
+      this.knownWords.add(word);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private removeWordsFromCounts(words: string[]): void {
+    for (const word of words) {
+      const nextCount = (this.wordReferenceCounts.get(word) ?? 0) - 1;
+      if (nextCount > 0) {
+        this.wordReferenceCounts.set(word, nextCount);
+      } else {
+        this.wordReferenceCounts.delete(word);
+        this.knownWords.delete(word);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  private clearInMemoryState(): void {
+    this.knownWords = new Set();
+    this.wordReferenceCounts = new Map();
+    this.noteWordsById = new Map();
+    this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs = 0;
+  }
+
  private loadKnownWordCacheState(): void {
    try {
      if (!fs.existsSync(this.statePath)) {
-        this.knownWords = new Set();
-        this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs = 0;
+        this.clearInMemoryState();
        this.knownWordsStateKey = this.getKnownWordCacheStateKey();
        return;
      }

      const raw = fs.readFileSync(this.statePath, 'utf-8');
      if (!raw.trim()) {
-        this.knownWords = new Set();
-        this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs = 0;
+        this.clearInMemoryState();
        this.knownWordsStateKey = this.getKnownWordCacheStateKey();
        return;
      }

      const parsed = JSON.parse(raw) as unknown;
      if (!this.isKnownWordCacheStateValid(parsed)) {
-        this.knownWords = new Set();
-        this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs = 0;
+        this.clearInMemoryState();
        this.knownWordsStateKey = this.getKnownWordCacheStateKey();
        return;
      }

      if (parsed.scope !== this.getKnownWordCacheStateKey()) {
-        this.knownWords = new Set();
-        this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs = 0;
+        this.clearInMemoryState();
        this.knownWordsStateKey = this.getKnownWordCacheStateKey();
        return;
      }

-      const nextKnownWords = new Set<string>();
+      this.clearInMemoryState();
+      if (parsed.version === 2) {
+        for (const [noteIdKey, words] of Object.entries(parsed.notes)) {
+          const noteId = Number.parseInt(noteIdKey, 10);
+          if (!Number.isInteger(noteId) || noteId <= 0) {
+            continue;
+          }
+          const normalizedWords = normalizeKnownWordList(words);
+          if (normalizedWords.length === 0) {
+            continue;
+          }
+          this.noteWordsById.set(noteId, normalizedWords);
+          this.addWordsToCounts(normalizedWords);
+        }
+      } else {
        for (const value of parsed.words) {
          const normalized = this.normalizeKnownWordForLookup(value);
-        if (normalized) {
-          nextKnownWords.add(normalized);
+          if (!normalized) {
+            continue;
+          }
+          this.knownWords.add(normalized);
+          this.wordReferenceCounts.set(normalized, 1);
        }
      }

-      this.knownWords = nextKnownWords;
      this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs = parsed.refreshedAtMs;
      this.knownWordsStateKey = parsed.scope;
    } catch (error) {
      log.warn('Failed to load known-word cache state:', (error as Error).message);
-      this.knownWords = new Set();
-      this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs = 0;
+      this.clearInMemoryState();
      this.knownWordsStateKey = this.getKnownWordCacheStateKey();
    }
  }

  private persistKnownWordCacheState(): void {
    try {
-      const state: KnownWordCacheState = {
-        version: 1,
+      const notes: Record<string, string[]> = {};
+      for (const [noteId, words] of this.noteWordsById.entries()) {
+        if (words.length > 0) {
+          notes[String(noteId)] = words;
+        }
+      }
+
+      const state: KnownWordCacheStateV2 = {
+        version: 2,
        refreshedAtMs: this.knownWordsLastRefreshedAtMs,
        scope: this.knownWordsStateKey,
        words: Array.from(this.knownWords),
+        notes,
      };
      fs.writeFileSync(this.statePath, JSON.stringify(state), 'utf-8');
    } catch (error) {
@@ -389,18 +534,35 @@ export class KnownWordCacheManager {

  private isKnownWordCacheStateValid(value: unknown): value is KnownWordCacheState {
    if (typeof value !== 'object' || value === null) return false;
-    const candidate = value as Partial<KnownWordCacheState>;
-    if (candidate.version !== 1) return false;
+    const candidate = value as Record<string, unknown>;
+    if (candidate.version !== 1 && candidate.version !== 2) return false;
    if (typeof candidate.refreshedAtMs !== 'number') return false;
    if (typeof candidate.scope !== 'string') return false;
    if (!Array.isArray(candidate.words)) return false;
-    if (!candidate.words.every((entry) => typeof entry === 'string')) {
+    if (!candidate.words.every((entry: unknown) => typeof entry === 'string')) {
      return false;
    }
+    if (candidate.version === 2) {
+      if (
+        typeof candidate.notes !== 'object' ||
+        candidate.notes === null ||
+        Array.isArray(candidate.notes)
+      ) {
+        return false;
+      }
+      if (
+        !Object.values(candidate.notes as Record<string, unknown>).every(
+          (entry) =>
+            Array.isArray(entry) && entry.every((word: unknown) => typeof word === 'string'),
+        )
+      ) {
+        return false;
+      }
+    }
    return true;
  }

-  private extractKnownWordsFromNoteInfo(noteInfo: KnownWordCacheNoteInfo): string[] {
+  private extractNormalizedKnownWordsFromNoteInfo(noteInfo: KnownWordCacheNoteInfo): string[] {
    const words: string[] = [];
    const configuredFields = this.getConfiguredFields();
    for (const preferredField of configuredFields) {
@@ -410,12 +572,12 @@ export class KnownWordCacheManager {
      const raw = noteInfo.fields[fieldName]?.value;
      if (!raw) continue;

-      const extracted = this.normalizeRawKnownWordValue(raw);
-      if (extracted) {
-        words.push(extracted);
+      const normalized = this.normalizeKnownWordForLookup(raw);
+      if (normalized) {
+        words.push(normalized);
      }
    }
-    return words;
+    return normalizeKnownWordList(words);
  }

  private normalizeRawKnownWordValue(value: string): string {
@@ -430,6 +592,22 @@ export class KnownWordCacheManager {
  }
 }

+function normalizeKnownWordList(words: string[]): string[] {
+  return [...new Set(words.map((word) => word.trim()).filter((word) => word.length > 0))].sort();
+}
+
+function knownWordListsEqual(left: string[], right: string[]): boolean {
+  if (left.length !== right.length) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  for (let index = 0; index < left.length; index += 1) {
+    if (left[index] !== right[index]) {
+      return false;
+    }
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
 function resolveFieldName(availableFieldNames: string[], preferredName: string): string | null {
  const exact = availableFieldNames.find((name) => name === preferredName);
  if (exact) return exact;
--- a/src/cli/args.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/args.test.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import test from 'node:test';
 import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
 import {
  hasExplicitCommand,
+  isHeadlessInitialCommand,
  parseArgs,
  shouldRunSettingsOnlyStartup,
  shouldStartApp,
@@ -101,7 +102,8 @@ test('hasExplicitCommand and shouldStartApp preserve command intent', () => {
  const refreshKnownWords = parseArgs(['--refresh-known-words']);
  assert.equal(refreshKnownWords.help, false);
  assert.equal(hasExplicitCommand(refreshKnownWords), true);
-  assert.equal(shouldStartApp(refreshKnownWords), false);
+  assert.equal(shouldStartApp(refreshKnownWords), true);
+  assert.equal(isHeadlessInitialCommand(refreshKnownWords), true);

  const settings = parseArgs(['--settings']);
  assert.equal(settings.settings, true);
--- a/src/cli/args.ts
+++ b/src/cli/args.ts
@@ -376,6 +376,10 @@ export function hasExplicitCommand(args: CliArgs): boolean {
  );
 }

+export function isHeadlessInitialCommand(args: CliArgs): boolean {
+  return args.refreshKnownWords;
+}
+
 export function shouldStartApp(args: CliArgs): boolean {
  if (args.stop && !args.start) return false;
  if (
@@ -391,6 +395,7 @@ export function shouldStartApp(args: CliArgs): boolean {
    args.mineSentence ||
    args.mineSentenceMultiple ||
    args.updateLastCardFromClipboard ||
+    args.refreshKnownWords ||
    args.toggleSecondarySub ||
    args.triggerFieldGrouping ||
    args.triggerSubsync ||
--- a/src/cli/help.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli/help.test.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ test('printHelp includes configured texthooker port', () => {
  assert.match(output, /default: 7777/);
  assert.match(output, /--launch-mpv/);
  assert.match(output, /--stats\s+Open the stats dashboard in your browser/);
-  assert.match(output, /--refresh-known-words/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(output, /--refresh-known-words/);
  assert.match(output, /--setup\s+Open first-run setup window/);
  assert.match(output, /--anilist-status/);
  assert.match(output, /--anilist-retry-queue/);
--- a/src/cli/help.ts
+++ b/src/cli/help.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ ${B}Mining${R}
  --trigger-field-grouping       Run Kiku field grouping
  --trigger-subsync              Run subtitle sync
  --toggle-secondary-sub         Cycle secondary subtitle mode
-  --refresh-known-words          Refresh known words cache
  --open-runtime-options         Open runtime options palette

 ${B}AniList${R}
--- a/src/config/config.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/config.test.ts
@@ -1435,7 +1435,8 @@ test('validates ankiConnect knownWords behavior values', () => {
      "ankiConnect": {
        "knownWords": {
          "highlightEnabled": "yes",
-          "refreshMinutes": -5
+          "refreshMinutes": -5,
+          "addMinedWordsImmediately": "no"
        }
      }
    }`,
@@ -1456,6 +1457,13 @@ test('validates ankiConnect knownWords behavior values', () => {
  );
  assert.ok(warnings.some((warning) => warning.path === 'ankiConnect.knownWords.highlightEnabled'));
  assert.ok(warnings.some((warning) => warning.path === 'ankiConnect.knownWords.refreshMinutes'));
+  assert.equal(
+    config.ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately,
+    DEFAULT_CONFIG.ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately,
+  );
+  assert.ok(
+    warnings.some((warning) => warning.path === 'ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately'),
+  );
 });

 test('accepts valid ankiConnect knownWords behavior values', () => {
@@ -1466,7 +1474,8 @@ test('accepts valid ankiConnect knownWords behavior values', () => {
      "ankiConnect": {
        "knownWords": {
          "highlightEnabled": true,
-          "refreshMinutes": 120
+          "refreshMinutes": 120,
+          "addMinedWordsImmediately": false
        }
      }
    }`,
@@ -1478,6 +1487,7 @@ test('accepts valid ankiConnect knownWords behavior values', () => {

  assert.equal(config.ankiConnect.knownWords.highlightEnabled, true);
  assert.equal(config.ankiConnect.knownWords.refreshMinutes, 120);
+  assert.equal(config.ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately, false);
 });

 test('validates ankiConnect n+1 minimum sentence word count', () => {
--- a/src/config/definitions/defaults-integrations.ts
+++ b/src/config/definitions/defaults-integrations.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ export const INTEGRATIONS_DEFAULT_CONFIG: Pick<
    knownWords: {
      highlightEnabled: false,
      refreshMinutes: 1440,
+      addMinedWordsImmediately: true,
      matchMode: 'headword',
      decks: {},
      color: '#a6da95',
--- a/src/config/definitions/options-integrations.ts
+++ b/src/config/definitions/options-integrations.ts
@@ -108,6 +108,12 @@ export function buildIntegrationConfigOptionRegistry(
      defaultValue: defaultConfig.ankiConnect.knownWords.refreshMinutes,
      description: 'Minutes between known-word cache refreshes.',
    },
+    {
+      path: 'ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately',
+      kind: 'boolean',
+      defaultValue: defaultConfig.ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately,
+      description: 'Immediately append newly mined card words into the known-word cache.',
+    },
    {
      path: 'ankiConnect.nPlusOne.minSentenceWords',
      kind: 'number',
--- a/src/config/resolve/anki-connect.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/resolve/anki-connect.test.ts
@@ -70,6 +70,20 @@ test('accepts knownWords.decks object format with field arrays', () => {
  );
 });

+test('accepts knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately boolean override', () => {
+  const { context, warnings } = makeContext({
+    knownWords: { addMinedWordsImmediately: false },
+  });
+
+  applyAnkiConnectResolution(context);
+
+  assert.equal(context.resolved.ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately, false);
+  assert.equal(
+    warnings.some((warning) => warning.path === 'ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately'),
+    false,
+  );
+});
+
 test('converts legacy knownWords.decks array to object with default fields', () => {
  const { context, warnings } = makeContext({
    knownWords: { decks: ['Core Deck'] },
--- a/src/config/resolve/anki-connect.ts
+++ b/src/config/resolve/anki-connect.ts
@@ -771,6 +771,24 @@ export function applyAnkiConnectResolution(context: ResolveContext): void {
      DEFAULT_CONFIG.ankiConnect.knownWords.refreshMinutes;
  }

+  const knownWordsAddMinedWordsImmediately = asBoolean(knownWordsConfig.addMinedWordsImmediately);
+  if (knownWordsAddMinedWordsImmediately !== undefined) {
+    context.resolved.ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately =
+      knownWordsAddMinedWordsImmediately;
+  } else if (knownWordsConfig.addMinedWordsImmediately !== undefined) {
+    context.warn(
+      'ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately',
+      knownWordsConfig.addMinedWordsImmediately,
+      context.resolved.ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately,
+      'Expected boolean.',
+    );
+    context.resolved.ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately =
+      DEFAULT_CONFIG.ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately;
+  } else {
+    context.resolved.ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately =
+      DEFAULT_CONFIG.ankiConnect.knownWords.addMinedWordsImmediately;
+  }
+
  const nPlusOneMinSentenceWords = asNumber(nPlusOneConfig.minSentenceWords);
  const hasValidNPlusOneMinSentenceWords =
    nPlusOneMinSentenceWords !== undefined &&
--- a/src/core/services/cli-command.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/cli-command.test.ts
@@ -539,8 +539,21 @@ test('handleCliCommand runs refresh-known-words command', () => {
  assert.ok(calls.includes('refreshKnownWords'));
 });

+test('handleCliCommand stops app after headless initial refresh-known-words completes', async () => {
+  const { deps, calls } = createDeps({
+    hasMainWindow: () => false,
+  });
+
+  handleCliCommand(makeArgs({ refreshKnownWords: true }), 'initial', deps);
+  await new Promise((resolve) => setImmediate(resolve));
+
+  assert.ok(calls.includes('refreshKnownWords'));
+  assert.ok(calls.includes('stopApp'));
+});
+
 test('handleCliCommand reports async refresh-known-words errors to OSD', async () => {
  const { deps, calls, osd } = createDeps({
+    hasMainWindow: () => false,
    refreshKnownWords: async () => {
      throw new Error('refresh boom');
    },
@@ -551,4 +564,5 @@ test('handleCliCommand reports async refresh-known-words errors to OSD', async (

  assert.ok(calls.some((value) => value.startsWith('error:refreshKnownWords failed:')));
  assert.ok(osd.some((value) => value.includes('Refresh known words failed: refresh boom')));
+  assert.ok(calls.includes('stopApp'));
 });
--- a/src/core/services/cli-command.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/cli-command.ts
@@ -334,12 +334,18 @@ export function handleCliCommand(
      'Update failed',
    );
  } else if (args.refreshKnownWords) {
-    runAsyncWithOsd(
-      () => deps.refreshKnownWords(),
-      deps,
-      'refreshKnownWords',
-      'Refresh known words failed',
-    );
+    const shouldStopAfterRun = source === 'initial' && !deps.hasMainWindow();
+    deps
+      .refreshKnownWords()
+      .catch((err) => {
+        deps.error('refreshKnownWords failed:', err);
+        deps.showMpvOsd(`Refresh known words failed: ${(err as Error).message}`);
+      })
+      .finally(() => {
+        if (shouldStopAfterRun) {
+          deps.stopApp();
+        }
+      });
  } else if (args.toggleSecondarySub) {
    deps.cycleSecondarySubMode();
  } else if (args.triggerFieldGrouping) {
--- a/src/core/services/overlay-runtime-init.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/overlay-runtime-init.test.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,60 @@ test('initializeOverlayRuntime starts Anki integration when ankiConnect.enabled
  assert.equal(setIntegrationCalls, 1);
 });

+test('initializeOverlayRuntime can skip starting Anki integration transport', () => {
+  let createdIntegrations = 0;
+  let startedIntegrations = 0;
+  let setIntegrationCalls = 0;
+
+  initializeOverlayRuntime({
+    backendOverride: null,
+    createMainWindow: () => {},
+    registerGlobalShortcuts: () => {},
+    updateVisibleOverlayBounds: () => {},
+    isVisibleOverlayVisible: () => false,
+    updateVisibleOverlayVisibility: () => {},
+    getOverlayWindows: () => [],
+    syncOverlayShortcuts: () => {},
+    setWindowTracker: () => {},
+    getMpvSocketPath: () => '/tmp/mpv.sock',
+    createWindowTracker: () => null,
+    getResolvedConfig: () => ({
+      ankiConnect: { enabled: true } as never,
+    }),
+    getSubtitleTimingTracker: () => ({}),
+    getMpvClient: () => ({
+      send: () => {},
+    }),
+    getRuntimeOptionsManager: () => ({
+      getEffectiveAnkiConnectConfig: (config) => config as never,
+    }),
+    createAnkiIntegration: () => {
+      createdIntegrations += 1;
+      return {
+        start: () => {
+          startedIntegrations += 1;
+        },
+      };
+    },
+    setAnkiIntegration: () => {
+      setIntegrationCalls += 1;
+    },
+    showDesktopNotification: () => {},
+    createFieldGroupingCallback: () => async () => ({
+      keepNoteId: 7,
+      deleteNoteId: 8,
+      deleteDuplicate: false,
+      cancelled: false,
+    }),
+    getKnownWordCacheStatePath: () => '/tmp/known-words-cache.json',
+    shouldStartAnkiIntegration: () => false,
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(createdIntegrations, 1);
+  assert.equal(startedIntegrations, 0);
+  assert.equal(setIntegrationCalls, 1);
+});
+
 test('initializeOverlayRuntime merges shared ai config with Anki overrides', () => {
  initializeOverlayRuntime({
    backendOverride: null,
--- a/src/core/services/overlay-runtime-init.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/overlay-runtime-init.ts
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ export function initializeOverlayRuntime(options: {
    data: KikuFieldGroupingRequestData,
  ) => Promise<KikuFieldGroupingChoice>;
  getKnownWordCacheStatePath: () => string;
+  shouldStartAnkiIntegration?: () => boolean;
  createAnkiIntegration?: (args: CreateAnkiIntegrationArgs) => AnkiIntegrationLike;
 }): void {
  options.createMainWindow();
@@ -135,7 +136,9 @@ export function initializeOverlayRuntime(options: {
      createFieldGroupingCallback: options.createFieldGroupingCallback,
      knownWordCacheStatePath: options.getKnownWordCacheStatePath(),
    });
+    if (options.shouldStartAnkiIntegration?.() !== false) {
      integration.start();
+    }
    options.setAnkiIntegration(integration);
  }

--- a/src/core/services/startup.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/startup.test.ts
@@ -93,3 +93,104 @@ test('runAppReadyRuntime minimal startup skips Yomitan and first-run setup while

  assert.deepEqual(calls, ['bootstrap', 'reload-config', 'handle-initial-args']);
 });
+
+test('runAppReadyRuntime headless refresh bootstraps Anki runtime without UI startup', async () => {
+  const calls: string[] = [];
+
+  await runAppReadyRuntime({
+    ensureDefaultConfigBootstrap: () => {
+      calls.push('bootstrap');
+    },
+    loadSubtitlePosition: () => {
+      calls.push('load-subtitle-position');
+    },
+    resolveKeybindings: () => {
+      calls.push('resolve-keybindings');
+    },
+    createMpvClient: () => {
+      calls.push('create-mpv');
+    },
+    reloadConfig: () => {
+      calls.push('reload-config');
+    },
+    getResolvedConfig: () => ({}),
+    getConfigWarnings: () => [],
+    logConfigWarning: () => {
+      calls.push('config-warning');
+    },
+    setLogLevel: () => {
+      calls.push('set-log-level');
+    },
+    initRuntimeOptionsManager: () => {
+      calls.push('init-runtime-options');
+    },
+    setSecondarySubMode: () => {
+      calls.push('set-secondary-sub-mode');
+    },
+    defaultSecondarySubMode: 'hover',
+    defaultWebsocketPort: 0,
+    defaultAnnotationWebsocketPort: 0,
+    defaultTexthookerPort: 0,
+    hasMpvWebsocketPlugin: () => false,
+    startSubtitleWebsocket: () => {
+      calls.push('subtitle-ws');
+    },
+    startAnnotationWebsocket: () => {
+      calls.push('annotation-ws');
+    },
+    startTexthooker: () => {
+      calls.push('texthooker');
+    },
+    log: () => {
+      calls.push('log');
+    },
+    createMecabTokenizerAndCheck: async () => {
+      calls.push('mecab');
+    },
+    createSubtitleTimingTracker: () => {
+      calls.push('subtitle-timing');
+    },
+    createImmersionTracker: () => {
+      calls.push('immersion');
+    },
+    startJellyfinRemoteSession: async () => {
+      calls.push('jellyfin');
+    },
+    loadYomitanExtension: async () => {
+      calls.push('load-yomitan');
+    },
+    handleFirstRunSetup: async () => {
+      calls.push('first-run');
+    },
+    prewarmSubtitleDictionaries: async () => {
+      calls.push('prewarm');
+    },
+    startBackgroundWarmups: () => {
+      calls.push('warmups');
+    },
+    texthookerOnlyMode: false,
+    shouldAutoInitializeOverlayRuntimeFromConfig: () => false,
+    setVisibleOverlayVisible: () => {
+      calls.push('visible-overlay');
+    },
+    initializeOverlayRuntime: () => {
+      calls.push('init-overlay');
+    },
+    runHeadlessInitialCommand: async () => {
+      calls.push('run-headless-command');
+    },
+    handleInitialArgs: () => {
+      calls.push('handle-initial-args');
+    },
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () => true,
+    shouldUseMinimalStartup: () => false,
+    shouldSkipHeavyStartup: () => false,
+  });
+
+  assert.deepEqual(calls, [
+    'bootstrap',
+    'reload-config',
+    'init-runtime-options',
+    'run-headless-command',
+  ]);
+});
--- a/src/core/services/startup.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/startup.ts
@@ -131,10 +131,12 @@ export interface AppReadyRuntimeDeps {
  shouldAutoInitializeOverlayRuntimeFromConfig: () => boolean;
  setVisibleOverlayVisible: (visible: boolean) => void;
  initializeOverlayRuntime: () => void;
+  runHeadlessInitialCommand?: () => Promise<void>;
  handleInitialArgs: () => void;
  logDebug?: (message: string) => void;
  onCriticalConfigErrors?: (errors: string[]) => void;
  now?: () => number;
+  shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand?: () => boolean;
  shouldUseMinimalStartup?: () => boolean;
  shouldSkipHeavyStartup?: () => boolean;
 }
@@ -184,6 +186,20 @@ export async function runAppReadyRuntime(deps: AppReadyRuntimeDeps): Promise<voi
  const now = deps.now ?? (() => Date.now());
  const startupStartedAtMs = now();
  deps.ensureDefaultConfigBootstrap();
+  if (deps.shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand?.()) {
+    deps.reloadConfig();
+    deps.initRuntimeOptionsManager();
+    if (deps.runHeadlessInitialCommand) {
+      await deps.runHeadlessInitialCommand();
+    } else {
+      deps.createMpvClient();
+      deps.createSubtitleTimingTracker();
+      deps.initializeOverlayRuntime();
+      deps.handleInitialArgs();
+    }
+    return;
+  }
+
  if (deps.shouldUseMinimalStartup?.()) {
    deps.reloadConfig();
    deps.handleInitialArgs();
--- a/src/core/services/stats-server.ts
+++ b/src/core/services/stats-server.ts
@@ -68,7 +68,9 @@ function loadKnownWordsSet(cachePath: string | undefined): Set<string> | null {
      version?: number;
      words?: string[];
    };
-    if (raw.version === 1 && Array.isArray(raw.words)) return new Set(raw.words);
+    if ((raw.version === 1 || raw.version === 2) && Array.isArray(raw.words)) {
+      return new Set(raw.words);
+    }
  } catch {
    /* ignore */
  }
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import {
  screen,
 } from 'electron';
 import { applyControllerConfigUpdate } from './main/controller-config-update.js';
+import { mergeAiConfig } from './ai/config';

 function getPasswordStoreArg(argv: string[]): string | null {
  for (let i = 0; i < argv.length; i += 1) {
@@ -102,8 +103,10 @@ import { RuntimeOptionsManager } from './runtime-options';
 import { downloadToFile, isRemoteMediaPath, parseMediaInfo } from './jimaku/utils';
 import { createLogger, setLogLevel, type LogLevelSource } from './logger';
 import { resolveDefaultLogFilePath } from './logger';
+import { createWindowTracker as createWindowTrackerCore } from './window-trackers';
 import {
  commandNeedsOverlayRuntime,
+  isHeadlessInitialCommand,
  parseArgs,
  shouldRunSettingsOnlyStartup,
  shouldStartApp,
@@ -2837,6 +2840,50 @@ const runStatsCliCommand = createRunStatsCliCommandHandler({
  logError: (message, error) => logger.error(message, error),
 });

+async function runHeadlessInitialCommand(): Promise<void> {
+  if (!appState.initialArgs?.refreshKnownWords) {
+    handleInitialArgs();
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const resolvedConfig = getResolvedConfig();
+  if (resolvedConfig.ankiConnect.enabled !== true) {
+    logger.error('Headless known-word refresh failed: AnkiConnect integration not enabled');
+    process.exitCode = 1;
+    requestAppQuit();
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const effectiveAnkiConfig =
+    appState.runtimeOptionsManager?.getEffectiveAnkiConnectConfig(resolvedConfig.ankiConnect) ??
+    resolvedConfig.ankiConnect;
+  const integration = new AnkiIntegration(
+    effectiveAnkiConfig,
+    new SubtitleTimingTracker(),
+    { send: () => undefined } as never,
+    undefined,
+    undefined,
+    async () => ({
+      keepNoteId: 0,
+      deleteNoteId: 0,
+      deleteDuplicate: false,
+      cancelled: true,
+    }),
+    path.join(USER_DATA_PATH, 'known-words-cache.json'),
+    mergeAiConfig(resolvedConfig.ai, resolvedConfig.ankiConnect?.ai),
+  );
+
+  try {
+    await integration.refreshKnownWordCache();
+  } catch (error) {
+    logger.error('Headless known-word refresh failed:', error);
+    process.exitCode = 1;
+  } finally {
+    integration.stop();
+    requestAppQuit();
+  }
+}
+
 const { appReadyRuntimeRunner } = composeAppReadyRuntime({
  reloadConfigMainDeps: {
    reloadConfigStrict: () => configService.reloadConfigStrict(),
@@ -2984,7 +3031,10 @@ const { appReadyRuntimeRunner } = composeAppReadyRuntime({
        : configDerivedRuntime.shouldAutoInitializeOverlayRuntimeFromConfig(),
    setVisibleOverlayVisible: (visible: boolean) => setVisibleOverlayVisible(visible),
    initializeOverlayRuntime: () => initializeOverlayRuntime(),
+    runHeadlessInitialCommand: () => runHeadlessInitialCommand(),
    handleInitialArgs: () => handleInitialArgs(),
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () =>
+      Boolean(appState.initialArgs && isHeadlessInitialCommand(appState.initialArgs)),
    shouldUseMinimalStartup: () =>
      Boolean(
        appState.initialArgs?.stats &&
@@ -3096,6 +3146,7 @@ const handleInitialArgsRuntimeHandler = createInitialArgsRuntimeHandler({
  getInitialArgs: () => appState.initialArgs,
  isBackgroundMode: () => appState.backgroundMode,
  shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => process.platform === 'win32',
+  shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: (args) => isHeadlessInitialCommand(args),
  ensureTray: () => ensureTray(),
  isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => appState.texthookerOnlyMode,
  hasImmersionTracker: () => Boolean(appState.immersionTracker),
@@ -4139,8 +4190,24 @@ const { initializeOverlayRuntime: initializeOverlayRuntimeHandler } =
      overlayShortcutsRuntime: {
        syncOverlayShortcuts: () => overlayShortcutsRuntime.syncOverlayShortcuts(),
      },
-      createMainWindow: () => createMainWindow(),
-      registerGlobalShortcuts: () => registerGlobalShortcuts(),
+      createMainWindow: () => {
+        if (appState.initialArgs && isHeadlessInitialCommand(appState.initialArgs)) {
+          return;
+        }
+        createMainWindow();
+      },
+      registerGlobalShortcuts: () => {
+        if (appState.initialArgs && isHeadlessInitialCommand(appState.initialArgs)) {
+          return;
+        }
+        registerGlobalShortcuts();
+      },
+      createWindowTracker: (override, targetMpvSocketPath) => {
+        if (appState.initialArgs && isHeadlessInitialCommand(appState.initialArgs)) {
+          return null;
+        }
+        return createWindowTrackerCore(override, targetMpvSocketPath);
+      },
      updateVisibleOverlayBounds: (geometry: WindowGeometry) =>
        updateVisibleOverlayBounds(geometry),
      getOverlayWindows: () => getOverlayWindows(),
@@ -4148,6 +4215,8 @@ const { initializeOverlayRuntime: initializeOverlayRuntimeHandler } =
      showDesktopNotification,
      createFieldGroupingCallback: () => createFieldGroupingCallback(),
      getKnownWordCacheStatePath: () => path.join(USER_DATA_PATH, 'known-words-cache.json'),
+      shouldStartAnkiIntegration: () =>
+        !(appState.initialArgs && isHeadlessInitialCommand(appState.initialArgs)),
    },
    initializeOverlayRuntimeBootstrapDeps: {
      isOverlayRuntimeInitialized: () => appState.overlayRuntimeInitialized,
@@ -4155,7 +4224,12 @@ const { initializeOverlayRuntime: initializeOverlayRuntimeHandler } =
      setOverlayRuntimeInitialized: (initialized) => {
        appState.overlayRuntimeInitialized = initialized;
      },
-      startBackgroundWarmups: () => startBackgroundWarmups(),
+      startBackgroundWarmups: () => {
+        if (appState.initialArgs && isHeadlessInitialCommand(appState.initialArgs)) {
+          return;
+        }
+        startBackgroundWarmups();
+      },
    },
  });
 const { openYomitanSettings: openYomitanSettingsHandler } = createYomitanSettingsRuntime({
--- a/src/main/app-lifecycle.ts
+++ b/src/main/app-lifecycle.ts
@@ -51,10 +51,12 @@ export interface AppReadyRuntimeDepsFactoryInput {
  shouldAutoInitializeOverlayRuntimeFromConfig: AppReadyRuntimeDeps['shouldAutoInitializeOverlayRuntimeFromConfig'];
  setVisibleOverlayVisible: AppReadyRuntimeDeps['setVisibleOverlayVisible'];
  initializeOverlayRuntime: AppReadyRuntimeDeps['initializeOverlayRuntime'];
+  runHeadlessInitialCommand?: AppReadyRuntimeDeps['runHeadlessInitialCommand'];
  handleInitialArgs: AppReadyRuntimeDeps['handleInitialArgs'];
  onCriticalConfigErrors?: AppReadyRuntimeDeps['onCriticalConfigErrors'];
  logDebug?: AppReadyRuntimeDeps['logDebug'];
  now?: AppReadyRuntimeDeps['now'];
+  shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand?: AppReadyRuntimeDeps['shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand'];
  shouldUseMinimalStartup?: AppReadyRuntimeDeps['shouldUseMinimalStartup'];
  shouldSkipHeavyStartup?: AppReadyRuntimeDeps['shouldSkipHeavyStartup'];
 }
@@ -115,10 +117,12 @@ export function createAppReadyRuntimeDeps(
      params.shouldAutoInitializeOverlayRuntimeFromConfig,
    setVisibleOverlayVisible: params.setVisibleOverlayVisible,
    initializeOverlayRuntime: params.initializeOverlayRuntime,
+    runHeadlessInitialCommand: params.runHeadlessInitialCommand,
    handleInitialArgs: params.handleInitialArgs,
    onCriticalConfigErrors: params.onCriticalConfigErrors,
    logDebug: params.logDebug,
    now: params.now,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: params.shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand,
    shouldUseMinimalStartup: params.shouldUseMinimalStartup,
    shouldSkipHeavyStartup: params.shouldSkipHeavyStartup,
  };
--- a/src/main/runtime/app-ready-main-deps.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/app-ready-main-deps.ts
@@ -34,10 +34,12 @@ export function createBuildAppReadyRuntimeMainDepsHandler(deps: AppReadyRuntimeD
    shouldAutoInitializeOverlayRuntimeFromConfig: deps.shouldAutoInitializeOverlayRuntimeFromConfig,
    setVisibleOverlayVisible: deps.setVisibleOverlayVisible,
    initializeOverlayRuntime: deps.initializeOverlayRuntime,
+    runHeadlessInitialCommand: deps.runHeadlessInitialCommand,
    handleInitialArgs: deps.handleInitialArgs,
    onCriticalConfigErrors: deps.onCriticalConfigErrors,
    logDebug: deps.logDebug,
    now: deps.now,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: deps.shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand,
    shouldUseMinimalStartup: deps.shouldUseMinimalStartup,
    shouldSkipHeavyStartup: deps.shouldSkipHeavyStartup,
  });
--- a/src/main/runtime/initial-args-handler.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/initial-args-handler.test.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ test('initial args handler no-ops without initial args', () => {
    getInitialArgs: () => null,
    isBackgroundMode: () => false,
    shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => false,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () => false,
    ensureTray: () => {},
    isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => false,
    hasImmersionTracker: () => false,
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ test('initial args handler ensures tray in background mode', () => {
    getInitialArgs: () => ({ start: true }) as never,
    isBackgroundMode: () => true,
    shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => false,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () => false,
    ensureTray: () => {
      ensuredTray = true;
    },
@@ -49,6 +51,7 @@ test('initial args handler auto-connects mpv when needed', () => {
    getInitialArgs: () => ({ start: true }) as never,
    isBackgroundMode: () => false,
    shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => false,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () => false,
    ensureTray: () => {},
    isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => false,
    hasImmersionTracker: () => true,
@@ -75,6 +78,7 @@ test('initial args handler forwards args to cli handler', () => {
    getInitialArgs: () => ({ start: true }) as never,
    isBackgroundMode: () => false,
    shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => false,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () => false,
    ensureTray: () => {},
    isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => false,
    hasImmersionTracker: () => false,
@@ -95,6 +99,7 @@ test('initial args handler can ensure tray outside background mode when requeste
    getInitialArgs: () => ({ start: true }) as never,
    isBackgroundMode: () => false,
    shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => true,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () => false,
    ensureTray: () => {
      ensuredTray = true;
    },
@@ -108,3 +113,31 @@ test('initial args handler can ensure tray outside background mode when requeste
  handleInitialArgs();
  assert.equal(ensuredTray, true);
 });
+
+test('initial args handler skips tray and mpv auto-connect for headless refresh', () => {
+  let ensuredTray = false;
+  let connectCalls = 0;
+  const handleInitialArgs = createHandleInitialArgsHandler({
+    getInitialArgs: () => ({ refreshKnownWords: true }) as never,
+    isBackgroundMode: () => true,
+    shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => true,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () => true,
+    ensureTray: () => {
+      ensuredTray = true;
+    },
+    isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => false,
+    hasImmersionTracker: () => true,
+    getMpvClient: () => ({
+      connected: false,
+      connect: () => {
+        connectCalls += 1;
+      },
+    }),
+    logInfo: () => {},
+    handleCliCommand: () => {},
+  });
+
+  handleInitialArgs();
+  assert.equal(ensuredTray, false);
+  assert.equal(connectCalls, 0);
+});
--- a/src/main/runtime/initial-args-handler.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/initial-args-handler.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ export function createHandleInitialArgsHandler(deps: {
  getInitialArgs: () => CliArgs | null;
  isBackgroundMode: () => boolean;
  shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => boolean;
+  shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: (args: CliArgs) => boolean;
  ensureTray: () => void;
  isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => boolean;
  hasImmersionTracker: () => boolean;
@@ -19,13 +20,15 @@ export function createHandleInitialArgsHandler(deps: {
  return (): void => {
    const initialArgs = deps.getInitialArgs();
    if (!initialArgs) return;
+    const runHeadless = deps.shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand(initialArgs);

-    if (deps.isBackgroundMode() || deps.shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup()) {
+    if (!runHeadless && (deps.isBackgroundMode() || deps.shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup())) {
      deps.ensureTray();
    }

    const mpvClient = deps.getMpvClient();
    if (
+      !runHeadless &&
      !deps.isTexthookerOnlyMode() &&
      !initialArgs.stats &&
      deps.hasImmersionTracker() &&
--- a/src/main/runtime/initial-args-main-deps.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/initial-args-main-deps.test.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ test('initial args main deps builder maps runtime callbacks and state readers',
    getInitialArgs: () => args,
    isBackgroundMode: () => true,
    shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => false,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () => false,
    ensureTray: () => calls.push('ensure-tray'),
    isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => false,
    hasImmersionTracker: () => true,
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ test('initial args main deps builder maps runtime callbacks and state readers',
  assert.equal(deps.getInitialArgs(), args);
  assert.equal(deps.isBackgroundMode(), true);
  assert.equal(deps.shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup(), false);
+  assert.equal(deps.shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand(args), false);
  assert.equal(deps.isTexthookerOnlyMode(), false);
  assert.equal(deps.hasImmersionTracker(), true);
  assert.equal(deps.getMpvClient(), mpvClient);
--- a/src/main/runtime/initial-args-main-deps.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/initial-args-main-deps.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ export function createBuildHandleInitialArgsMainDepsHandler(deps: {
  getInitialArgs: () => CliArgs | null;
  isBackgroundMode: () => boolean;
  shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => boolean;
+  shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: (args: CliArgs) => boolean;
  ensureTray: () => void;
  isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => boolean;
  hasImmersionTracker: () => boolean;
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ export function createBuildHandleInitialArgsMainDepsHandler(deps: {
    getInitialArgs: () => deps.getInitialArgs(),
    isBackgroundMode: () => deps.isBackgroundMode(),
    shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => deps.shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup(),
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: (args: CliArgs) => deps.shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand(args),
    ensureTray: () => deps.ensureTray(),
    isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => deps.isTexthookerOnlyMode(),
    hasImmersionTracker: () => deps.hasImmersionTracker(),
--- a/src/main/runtime/initial-args-runtime-handler.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/initial-args-runtime-handler.test.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ test('initial args runtime handler composes main deps and runs initial command f
    getInitialArgs: () => ({ start: true }) as never,
    isBackgroundMode: () => true,
    shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => false,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () => false,
    ensureTray: () => calls.push('tray'),
    isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => false,
    hasImmersionTracker: () => true,
@@ -35,6 +36,30 @@ test('initial args runtime handler skips mpv auto-connect for stats mode', () =>
    getInitialArgs: () => ({ stats: true }) as never,
    isBackgroundMode: () => false,
    shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => false,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () => false,
+    ensureTray: () => calls.push('tray'),
+    isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => false,
+    hasImmersionTracker: () => true,
+    getMpvClient: () => ({
+      connected: false,
+      connect: () => calls.push('connect'),
+    }),
+    logInfo: (message) => calls.push(`log:${message}`),
+    handleCliCommand: (_args, source) => calls.push(`cli:${source}`),
+  });
+
+  handleInitialArgs();
+
+  assert.deepEqual(calls, ['cli:initial']);
+});
+
+test('initial args runtime handler skips tray and mpv auto-connect for headless refresh', () => {
+  const calls: string[] = [];
+  const handleInitialArgs = createInitialArgsRuntimeHandler({
+    getInitialArgs: () => ({ refreshKnownWords: true }) as never,
+    isBackgroundMode: () => true,
+    shouldEnsureTrayOnStartup: () => true,
+    shouldRunHeadlessInitialCommand: () => true,
    ensureTray: () => calls.push('tray'),
    isTexthookerOnlyMode: () => false,
    hasImmersionTracker: () => true,
--- a/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-bootstrap-handlers.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-bootstrap-handlers.test.ts
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ test('overlay runtime bootstrap handlers compose options builder and bootstrap h
          cancelled: true,
        }) as KikuFieldGroupingChoice,
      getKnownWordCacheStatePath: () => '/tmp/known.json',
+      shouldStartAnkiIntegration: () => true,
    },
    initializeOverlayRuntimeBootstrapDeps: {
      isOverlayRuntimeInitialized: () => initialized,
--- a/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-bootstrap.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-bootstrap.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ type InitializeOverlayRuntimeCore = (options: {
    data: KikuFieldGroupingRequestData,
  ) => Promise<KikuFieldGroupingChoice>;
  getKnownWordCacheStatePath: () => string;
+  shouldStartAnkiIntegration: () => boolean;
 }) => void;

 export function createInitializeOverlayRuntimeHandler(deps: {
--- a/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-options-main-deps.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-options-main-deps.test.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ test('overlay runtime main deps builder maps runtime state and callbacks', () =>
      cancelled: true,
    }),
    getKnownWordCacheStatePath: () => '/tmp/known-words-cache.json',
+    shouldStartAnkiIntegration: () => false,
  });

  const deps = build();
@@ -46,6 +47,7 @@ test('overlay runtime main deps builder maps runtime state and callbacks', () =>
  assert.equal(deps.isVisibleOverlayVisible(), true);
  assert.equal(deps.getMpvSocketPath(), '/tmp/mpv.sock');
  assert.equal(deps.getKnownWordCacheStatePath(), '/tmp/known-words-cache.json');
+  assert.equal(deps.shouldStartAnkiIntegration(), false);

  deps.createMainWindow();
  deps.registerGlobalShortcuts();
--- a/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-options-main-deps.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-options-main-deps.ts
@@ -33,10 +33,12 @@ export function createBuildInitializeOverlayRuntimeMainDepsHandler(deps: {
    height: number;
  }) => void;
  getOverlayWindows: OverlayRuntimeOptionsMainDeps['getOverlayWindows'];
+  createWindowTracker?: OverlayRuntimeOptionsMainDeps['createWindowTracker'];
  getResolvedConfig: () => { ankiConnect?: AnkiConnectConfig };
  showDesktopNotification: (title: string, options: { body?: string; icon?: string }) => void;
  createFieldGroupingCallback: OverlayRuntimeOptionsMainDeps['createFieldGroupingCallback'];
  getKnownWordCacheStatePath: () => string;
+  shouldStartAnkiIntegration: () => boolean;
 }) {
  return (): OverlayRuntimeOptionsMainDeps => ({
    getBackendOverride: () => deps.appState.backendOverride,
@@ -56,6 +58,7 @@ export function createBuildInitializeOverlayRuntimeMainDepsHandler(deps: {
    setWindowTracker: (tracker) => {
      deps.appState.windowTracker = tracker;
    },
+    createWindowTracker: deps.createWindowTracker,
    getResolvedConfig: () => deps.getResolvedConfig(),
    getSubtitleTimingTracker: () => deps.appState.subtitleTimingTracker,
    getMpvClient: () => deps.appState.mpvClient,
@@ -67,5 +70,6 @@ export function createBuildInitializeOverlayRuntimeMainDepsHandler(deps: {
    showDesktopNotification: deps.showDesktopNotification,
    createFieldGroupingCallback: () => deps.createFieldGroupingCallback(),
    getKnownWordCacheStatePath: () => deps.getKnownWordCacheStatePath(),
+    shouldStartAnkiIntegration: () => deps.shouldStartAnkiIntegration(),
  });
 }
--- a/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-options.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-options.test.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ test('build initialize overlay runtime options maps dependencies', () => {
      cancelled: false,
    }),
    getKnownWordCacheStatePath: () => '/tmp/known-words-cache.json',
+    shouldStartAnkiIntegration: () => true,
  });

  const options = buildOptions();
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ test('build initialize overlay runtime options maps dependencies', () => {
  assert.equal(options.isVisibleOverlayVisible(), true);
  assert.equal(options.getMpvSocketPath(), '/tmp/mpv.sock');
  assert.equal(options.getKnownWordCacheStatePath(), '/tmp/known-words-cache.json');
+  assert.equal(options.shouldStartAnkiIntegration(), true);
  options.createMainWindow();
  options.registerGlobalShortcuts();
  options.updateVisibleOverlayBounds({ x: 0, y: 0, width: 10, height: 10 });
--- a/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-options.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/overlay-runtime-options.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ type OverlayRuntimeOptions = {
  getOverlayWindows: () => BrowserWindow[];
  syncOverlayShortcuts: () => void;
  setWindowTracker: (tracker: BaseWindowTracker | null) => void;
+  createWindowTracker?: (
+    override?: string | null,
+    targetMpvSocketPath?: string | null,
+  ) => BaseWindowTracker | null;
  getResolvedConfig: () => { ankiConnect?: AnkiConnectConfig };
  getSubtitleTimingTracker: () => unknown | null;
  getMpvClient: () => { send?: (payload: { command: string[] }) => void } | null;
@@ -30,6 +34,7 @@ type OverlayRuntimeOptions = {
    data: KikuFieldGroupingRequestData,
  ) => Promise<KikuFieldGroupingChoice>;
  getKnownWordCacheStatePath: () => string;
+  shouldStartAnkiIntegration: () => boolean;
 };

 export function createBuildInitializeOverlayRuntimeOptionsHandler(deps: {
@@ -42,6 +47,10 @@ export function createBuildInitializeOverlayRuntimeOptionsHandler(deps: {
  getOverlayWindows: () => BrowserWindow[];
  syncOverlayShortcuts: () => void;
  setWindowTracker: (tracker: BaseWindowTracker | null) => void;
+  createWindowTracker?: (
+    override?: string | null,
+    targetMpvSocketPath?: string | null,
+  ) => BaseWindowTracker | null;
  getResolvedConfig: () => { ankiConnect?: AnkiConnectConfig };
  getSubtitleTimingTracker: () => unknown | null;
  getMpvClient: () => { send?: (payload: { command: string[] }) => void } | null;
@@ -55,6 +64,7 @@ export function createBuildInitializeOverlayRuntimeOptionsHandler(deps: {
    data: KikuFieldGroupingRequestData,
  ) => Promise<KikuFieldGroupingChoice>;
  getKnownWordCacheStatePath: () => string;
+  shouldStartAnkiIntegration: () => boolean;
 }) {
  return (): OverlayRuntimeOptions => ({
    backendOverride: deps.getBackendOverride(),
@@ -66,6 +76,7 @@ export function createBuildInitializeOverlayRuntimeOptionsHandler(deps: {
    getOverlayWindows: deps.getOverlayWindows,
    syncOverlayShortcuts: deps.syncOverlayShortcuts,
    setWindowTracker: deps.setWindowTracker,
+    createWindowTracker: deps.createWindowTracker,
    getResolvedConfig: deps.getResolvedConfig,
    getSubtitleTimingTracker: deps.getSubtitleTimingTracker,
    getMpvClient: deps.getMpvClient,
@@ -75,5 +86,6 @@ export function createBuildInitializeOverlayRuntimeOptionsHandler(deps: {
    showDesktopNotification: deps.showDesktopNotification,
    createFieldGroupingCallback: deps.createFieldGroupingCallback,
    getKnownWordCacheStatePath: deps.getKnownWordCacheStatePath,
+    shouldStartAnkiIntegration: deps.shouldStartAnkiIntegration,
  });
 }
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -249,6 +249,7 @@ export interface AnkiConnectConfig {
  knownWords?: {
    highlightEnabled?: boolean;
    refreshMinutes?: number;
+    addMinedWordsImmediately?: boolean;
    matchMode?: NPlusOneMatchMode;
    decks?: Record<string, string[]>;
    color?: string;
@@ -754,6 +755,7 @@ export interface ResolvedConfig {
    knownWords: {
      highlightEnabled: boolean;
      refreshMinutes: number;
+      addMinedWordsImmediately: boolean;
      matchMode: NPlusOneMatchMode;
      decks: Record<string, string[]>;
      color: string;