SubMiner/docs-site/plugins.md

Plugins

Plugins are JavaScript files that SubMiner loads at startup. A plugin can react to playback, run code on a timer, add actions you bind to keys, run programs, and show results in an overlay panel, all without rebuilding SubMiner.

::: warning Only run plugins you trust Plugins run inside SubMiner with the same access to your files and system as SubMiner itself. There is no sandbox. :::

These are SubMiner app plugins. The Lua script that runs inside mpv is the separate mpv plugin.

Install a plugin

1. Put the plugin in its own folder in plugins/ next to your config file, for example ~/.config/SubMiner/plugins/ai-explain/. The folder name is the plugin id.

2. Enable it in config.jsonc. settings is passed to the plugin as-is:

   {
     "plugins": {
       "ai-explain": { "enabled": true, "settings": { "reasoningEffort": "medium" } },
     },
   }
   

3. Bind its actions to keys with the __plugin-action:<plugin id>/<action> command:

   {
     "keybindings": [
       { "key": "Ctrl+KeyE", "command": ["__plugin-action:ai-explain/explain"] },
       { "key": "Ctrl+KeyT", "command": ["__plugin-action:ai-explain/translate"] },
     ],
   }
   

   To run an action from a script or a window-manager shortcut, use subminer app --plugin-action ai-explain/explain. It goes to the running SubMiner, or starts one if none is running.

4. Restart SubMiner. Plugin changes apply on the next start; keybinding changes apply immediately.

Load errors and plugin log output go to the app log with a plugin:<id> scope.

Example: explain the current line with Codex

The repository ships assets/plugins/ai-explain. It sends the current line, plus the lines around it, to codex exec and shows the answer in a panel. It needs a logged-in Codex CLI.

Action	What it does
explain	Translation plus a breakdown of the grammar and vocabulary
translate	Natural English translation, with a note only when it's unclear

Setting	Default	What it does
codexPath	"codex"	Codex binary. Use a full path if SubMiner can't find it on PATH
model	""	Model passed to codex exec -m; empty uses your Codex config
reasoningEffort	"low"	Codex reasoning effort; empty uses your Codex config
before, after	2, 1	Lines of context sent before and after the current line
pause	true	Pause playback when the panel opens
timeoutMs	120000	Give up after this long
prompts	{}	Replace an action's instructions, e.g. { "translate": "..." }

Press Esc to close the panel. Closing it, or starting another request, stops the running Codex process.

Example: sync Anki after mining

assets/plugins/anki-sync runs AnkiConnect's sync after you mine cards, so they reach AnkiWeb without opening Anki. It waits until you stop mining for a while, so a burst of cards becomes one sync. It also adds a sync action you can bind to a key.

Setting	Default	What it does
delayMs	30000	Sync after no card has been mined for this long
syncOnEnd	true	Sync right away when playback ends or mpv quits
timeoutMs	60000	Give up on a sync after this long
notify	true	Show a notification after each sync. Failures always do

Anki must be running and logged in to AnkiWeb. Cards mined from the stats dashboard don't trigger a sync.

Example: tag cards with the episode

assets/plugins/episode-tags tags each mined card with the show and episode it came from, such as show::Sousou_no_Frieren::E07. It reads them from the file name ([Group] Show - 07 (1080p).mkv, Show.S01E07.mkv, Show 第7話.mkv), or from the title mpv shows for streams. It uses the source captured when mining started, so delayed media and field grouping into an older note keep the correct episode. Notes with unknown provenance, including cards discovered by polling, are left alone. Spaces become _.

Setting	Default	What it does
tags	["show::{show}::{ep}"]	Tags to add, one template each
notify	false	Show a notification with the tags for each card

Templates can use {show}, {season}, {episode}, and {ep} (S01E07, or E07 when there is no season). When a placeholder has no value, the tag stops before that :: level, so a movie gets show::<title>. The parsing is a guess from the name: a title ending in a number, like Mob Psycho 100, reads that number as the episode.

Example: open Jimaku when a file has no Japanese subtitles

assets/plugins/auto-jimaku opens the Jimaku search a few seconds after a file starts if none of its subtitle tracks is Japanese. A track counts as Japanese when its language code is in languages, or its title contains "Japanese" or 日本語.

Setting	Default	What it does
action	"openJimaku"	Built-in action to run, e.g. openTsukihime
languages	["ja", "jp", "jpn"]	Track language codes that count as Japanese
delayMs	3000	Wait this long after the file starts, so external subs load
streams	false	Also check http(s) streams, which Jimaku usually can't search

Write a plugin

A plugin folder needs a plugin.json:

{ "name": "My Plugin", "version": "1.0.0", "apiVersion": 1, "main": "main.js" }

apiVersion declares the required SubMiner plugin API version. The current version is 1; omitted values also mean v1 for existing plugins. An unsupported version is rejected before the plugin's entry module runs. version is the plugin's own version and does not control compatibility.

main points to a CommonJS module (.js) or an ES module (.mjs) that exports activate(ctx). Activation may be asynchronous and has a 10-second timeout. A plugin's actions wait for its own activation, so a slow plugin does not hold up other plugins. If activation fails or times out, its registrations are removed and its signal aborts. Synchronous code still shares the app's main thread.

Activation may return a cleanup function, or the module can export deactivate(). On quit, SubMiner aborts ctx.signal first and waits up to 2 seconds in total for loading and deactivation. A plugin still reading its files is skipped. Everything a plugin registers through ctx is cleaned up automatically. A late activation cannot leave new listeners, timers, or actions behind, and its returned cleanup still runs once. Deactivation can call Anki, mpv, built-in actions, and notifications until disposal. After disposal, those calls throw or reject, including work that resumes after an activation or deactivation timeout.

function activate(ctx) {
  ctx.media.on('change', (media) => {
    if (media) ctx.log.info(`Now playing ${media.path}`);
  });
  ctx.every(60_000, () => ctx.log.info('Still watching'));
  ctx.actions.register('hello', () => {
    const line = ctx.subtitles.current();
    ctx.ui.panel({ title: 'Hello', markdown: line ? `> ${line.text}` : '_No subtitle_' });
  });
}

module.exports = { activate };

An error thrown by a plugin is logged and does not crash SubMiner. A plugin that blocks with a long synchronous loop still freezes the app, so keep slow work asynchronous.

Types and cleanup

The public types live in src/plugin-api.ts. A build emits dist/plugin-api.d.ts; copy that file into your plugin as subminer.d.ts, or copy the source file with that name. It has no imports from SubMiner internals. Electron's types must be available to your editor because ui.openWindow returns a BrowserWindow.

JavaScript plugins can use the types through JSDoc:

/** @param {import('./subminer').PluginContext} ctx */
function activate(ctx) {
  const { ipcMain } = require('electron');
  ipcMain.handle(`${ctx.id}:info`, () => ({ media: ctx.media.current() }));
  ctx.onDispose(() => ipcMain.removeHandler(`${ctx.id}:info`));
}

module.exports = { activate };

Use ctx.signal with fetch or other cancellable work. It aborts when unloading starts, before deactivate runs. ctx.onDispose(fn) registers synchronous cleanup for resources outside ctx, such as file watchers and Electron IPC handlers. The returned function runs the cleanup early, at most once. Registering cleanup after unloading starts runs it immediately. Timers and listeners registered after that point are removed immediately too. Use the returned activation cleanup or deactivate for asynchronous teardown, within the shared quit timeout.

ctx reference

Member	What it does
id, dir, settings	Plugin id, plugin folder path, and plugins.<id>.settings
apiVersion	The host's plugin API version, currently 1
signal, onDispose(fn)	Lifetime cancellation and cleanup for resources created outside ctx
dataDir	plugin-data/<id>/ next to your config file, for caches and state. Exists before activate runs
log.debug/info/warn/error(message)	Write to the app log
every(ms, fn), after(ms, fn)	Repeating and one-shot timers. Return a function that cancels them
mpv.on(event, fn)	Listen to mpv events (below). Returns an unsubscribe function
mpv.command(args)	Send an mpv command, e.g. ['set', 'pause', 'yes']
mpv.request(args)	Await an mpv command result; rejects on command error, disconnect, or timeout
mpv.getProperty(name)	Read an mpv property (Promise)
mpv.connected	Whether mpv is connected
mpv.ensureRunning()	Connect to mpv, starting an idle mpv if none is running. Resolves false if that fails
media.current()	Cached { playbackId, path, title }, or null when there is no connected media
media.on('change', fn, options)	Subscribe to playback snapshots; immediately delivers the current snapshot unless emitCurrent: false
anki.on(event, fn)	Listen to Anki events (below). Returns an unsubscribe function
anki.invoke(action, params, options)	Send an AnkiConnect action to ankiConnect.url, e.g. ('sync'). Resolves its result (below)
subtitles.current()	The displayed line as { text, startTime, endTime }, or null
subtitles.context({ before, after })	{ current, before, after }. Neighbors come from the loaded subtitle file, or recent lines for streams
actions.register(name, fn)	Add an action, bindable as __plugin-action:<id>/<name>
actions.run(actionId, payload)	Run a built-in action, the same ids keybindings use, e.g. openJimaku or mineSentence
notify(message, { variant })	Overlay notification. variant is info, warning, or error
ui.panel({ title, markdown })	Open the plugin panel. Returns { update(content), close(), closed, signal }
ui.openWindow({ html, preload })	Open a window from the plugin folder (below). Returns the Electron BrowserWindow
exec(command, args, options)	Run a program without a shell (Windows .cmd/.bat shims go through cmd.exe). Resolves { exitCode, stdout, stderr }
unstable	SubMiner internals. These change between releases without notice

A panel's signal aborts when the user closes it or another panel replaces it. Pass it to exec to stop work nobody will see. Only one panel is open at a time. Panel markdown supports headings, lists, quotes, code, bold, and italics; HTML is shown as plain text.

exec options are stdin, cwd, env, timeoutMs, and signal. It resolves for any exit code and rejects when the program can't start, times out, or is aborted.

ui.openWindow takes html and an optional preload, both relative to the plugin folder, plus title, width, and height. Opening the same html again focuses the open window. The page runs with context isolation and no Node access. The preload is sandboxed too: it can require('electron') but nothing else, so bundle anything more into it. Expose what the page needs from the preload with contextBridge, and handle its messages with ipcMain from require('electron') in the plugin. Prefix channel names with the plugin id. Plugin windows close when SubMiner quits.

media snapshots are immutable. playbackId changes on a new load, including reopening the same path. A title may arrive later with the same id. Disconnecting or ending playback delivers null. Use the id to discard stale asynchronous results. Snapshots describe cached playback state; they do not promise that external subtitle discovery has finished.

mpv.request accepts string, number, and boolean arguments, e.g. await ctx.mpv.request(['set_property', 'pause', true]). It returns mpv's result data and rejects after 4 seconds. A timeout does not cancel the command in mpv, so a slow command may still complete. mpv.command remains available for commands whose result you do not need.

mpv events: connection-change, subtitle-change, subtitle-timing, time-pos-change, duration-change, pause-change, fullscreen-change, media-path-change, media-title-change, subtitle-track-change, subtitle-track-list-change, secondary-subtitle-change, secondary-subtitle-track-change, secondary-subtitle-delay-change, secondary-subtitle-visibility, client-message, file-loaded, and end-file. file-loaded has no payload. end-file gives { reason, playlistEntryId, error }, where reason is eof, stop, quit, error, redirect, or unknown.

Anki events: card-mined gives { noteIds, notes } once SubMiner has finished filling in a mined card (sentence, audio, image, and field grouping). For YouTube cards whose media waits on the download, it fires once that media is added or the download fails. With ankiConnect.behavior.autoUpdateNewCards off, it fires as soon as SubMiner sees the card. If field grouping merged the card into an older one, noteIds contains the older card's id.

Each notes entry has { originalNoteId, noteId, provenance }. originalNoteId identifies the note before merges; noteId is the note that kept its content. provenance is { minedAt, media, subtitle }, captured before asynchronous creation or the AnkiConnect proxy's upstream request. minedAt is Unix time in milliseconds. media uses the snapshot format above, and subtitle uses { text, startTime, endTime }. Either may be null. Polling cannot establish the original source, so its provenance is null rather than the currently playing file.

Several original notes can merge into one kept note. notes preserves each source, while noteIds contains unique kept ids. Existing listeners using only noteIds continue to work. Cards mined from the stats dashboard do not emit this event.

anki.invoke takes { timeoutMs } (default 10 seconds), rejects on an Anki error, and never retries, so an action like sync or addNote runs at most once.