SubMiner/docs-site/installation.md

Installation

Three steps to get started:

1. Install requirements — mpv and a few optional extras
2. Install SubMiner — from the AUR, or download from GitHub Releases
3. Launch the app — first-run setup walks you through dictionaries, the launcher, and everything else

1. Install Requirements

Only mpv is strictly required to run SubMiner. Everything else enhances the experience but is optional.

Dependency	Status	What it does
mpv	Required	The video player SubMiner overlays on. Must support --input-ipc-server.
ffmpeg	Recommended	Audio extraction and screenshots for Anki cards. Without it SubMiner still runs, but media fields will be empty.
MeCab + mecab-ipadic	Recommended	Part-of-speech filtering for more precise N+1, JLPT, and frequency annotations. Without it annotations still render, but POS-based filtering is less accurate.
yt-dlp	Optional	YouTube playback and subtitle extraction.
fzf	Optional	Terminal-based video picker in the launcher.
rofi	Optional	GUI-based video picker (Linux).
chafa	Optional	Thumbnail previews in fzf.
ffmpegthumbnailer	Optional	Video thumbnail generation for the picker.
guessit	Optional	Better AniSkip title/season/episode parsing.
alass	Optional	Subtitle sync engine (preferred). Disabled without alass or ffsubsync.
ffsubsync	Optional	Audio-based subtitle sync engine. Disabled without alass or ffsubsync.
fuse2	Linux only	Required to run the AppImage.

Linux

Window backend — you need one of these depending on your compositor:

• Hyprland — native Wayland support (uses hyprctl)
• Sway — native Wayland support (uses swaymsg)
• X11 / Xwayland — for X11 sessions or any other Wayland compositor (uses xdotool and xwininfo)

::: warning Wayland support is compositor-specific Wayland has no universal API for window positioning — each compositor exposes its own IPC, so SubMiner needs a dedicated backend per compositor. Only Hyprland and Sway have native Wayland backends. If you run a different Wayland compositor (GNOME, KDE Plasma, river, etc.), both mpv and SubMiner must run under X11 or Xwayland. The subminer launcher handles this automatically when --backend x11 is set or the X11 backend is auto-detected. :::

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S --needed mpv ffmpeg
# Recommended
sudo pacman -S --needed mecab mecab-ipadic
# Optional
sudo pacman -S --needed yt-dlp fzf rofi chafa ffmpegthumbnailer
# Optional: subtitle sync (at least one needed for subtitle syncing)
paru -S --needed alass python-ffsubsync
# X11 / Xwayland (required for non-Hyprland/Sway compositors)
sudo pacman -S --needed xdotool xorg-xwininfo

Ubuntu / Debian

sudo apt install mpv ffmpeg
# Recommended
sudo apt install mecab libmecab-dev mecab-ipadic-utf8
# Optional
sudo apt install yt-dlp fzf rofi chafa ffmpegthumbnailer
# X11 / Xwayland (required for non-Hyprland/Sway compositors)
sudo apt install xdotool x11-utils
# Optional: subtitle sync
pip install ffsubsync
# alass is not in apt — install via cargo: cargo install alass-cli

Fedora

sudo dnf install mpv ffmpeg
# Recommended
sudo dnf install mecab mecab-ipadic
# Optional
sudo dnf install yt-dlp fzf rofi chafa ffmpegthumbnailer
# X11 / Xwayland (required for non-Hyprland/Sway compositors)
sudo dnf install xdotool xorg-x11-utils
# Optional: subtitle sync
pip install ffsubsync
# alass: cargo install alass-cli

macOS

macOS 10.13 or later. Accessibility permission is required for window tracking (see step 2).

brew install mpv ffmpeg
# Recommended
brew install mecab mecab-ipadic
# Optional
brew install yt-dlp fzf chafa ffmpegthumbnailer
# Optional: subtitle sync
brew install alass
pip install ffsubsync

Windows

Windows 10 or later. Install mpv and ffmpeg and ensure both are on PATH. Optionally install MeCab for Windows with the UTF-8 dictionary.

No compositor tools or window helpers are needed — native window tracking is built in.

2. Install SubMiner

Arch Linux (AUR)

Install subminer-bin from the AUR. The package includes the SubMiner AppImage and the subminer launcher.

paru -S subminer-bin

Or manually:

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/subminer-bin.git
cd subminer-bin
makepkg -si

Linux (AppImage)

Download the latest AppImage from GitHub Releases:

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
wget https://github.com/ksyasuda/SubMiner/releases/latest/download/SubMiner.AppImage -O ~/.local/bin/SubMiner.AppImage
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/SubMiner.AppImage

::: tip Launcher install is optional First-run setup can install Bun and the subminer command-line launcher for you automatically. You don't need to download the launcher separately.

If you prefer to install it manually, see manual launcher install. :::

macOS (DMG)

Download the DMG from GitHub Releases, open it, and drag SubMiner.app into /Applications. A ZIP artifact is also available as a fallback.

Gatekeeper: If macOS blocks SubMiner on first launch, right-click the app and select Open to bypass the warning. Alternatively:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/SubMiner.app

Accessibility permission: Grant accessibility permission so the overlay can track the mpv window:

1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility
2. Enable SubMiner in the list (add it if it does not appear)

::: tip Launcher install is optional First-run setup can install Bun and the subminer command-line launcher for you automatically. You don't need to download the launcher separately.

If you prefer to install it manually, see manual launcher install. :::

Windows (Installer)

Download the latest installer from GitHub Releases:

• SubMiner-<version>.exe — installer (recommended)
• SubMiner-<version>.zip — portable fallback

Make sure mpv.exe is on your PATH, or set mpv.executablePath in the config during first-run setup.

From Source

Linux

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/ksyasuda/SubMiner.git
cd SubMiner
bun install
bun run build

# Optional: build AppImage
bun run build:appimage

Bundled Yomitan is built during bun run build.

macOS

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/ksyasuda/SubMiner.git
cd SubMiner
git submodule update --init --recursive
make build-macos

The built app will be in the release directory (.dmg and .zip). For unsigned local builds: bun run build:mac:unsigned.

Windows

git clone https://github.com/ksyasuda/SubMiner.git
cd SubMiner
bun install

# Windows requires building texthooker-ui manually before the main build
Set-Location vendor/texthooker-ui
bun install --frozen-lockfile
bun run build
Set-Location ../..

bun run build:win

3. Launch & First-Run Setup

Launch SubMiner and the setup wizard will open automatically:

# Linux (AUR install)
subminer app --setup

# Linux (AppImage directly)
~/.local/bin/SubMiner.AppImage --setup

# macOS — launch SubMiner.app from /Applications, or:
subminer app --setup

On Windows, just run SubMiner.exe — the setup wizard opens automatically on first launch.

The setup wizard walks you through:

• Config file — auto-created at ~/.config/SubMiner/config.jsonc (Linux/macOS) or %APPDATA%\SubMiner\config.jsonc (Windows)
• Yomitan dictionaries — import at least one dictionary so word lookups work
• Bun + subminer launcher (optional) — installs the command-line launcher into a writable PATH directory
• Windows shortcut (Windows only) — create a SubMiner mpv Start Menu/Desktop shortcut

The Finish setup button requires a config file and at least one Yomitan dictionary. Bun and the launcher are optional and never block setup completion.

Tip

You can re-open the setup wizard at any time with subminer app --setup or SubMiner.AppImage --setup.

Play a Video

Once setup is complete:

subminer video.mkv

You should see the overlay appear over mpv. If subtitles are loaded, they will appear as interactive text in the overlay.

On Windows, the recommended way to play video is with the SubMiner mpv shortcut created during setup — double-click it, or drag a video file onto it.

Verify Setup

Run the built-in diagnostic to confirm everything is working:

subminer doctor

This checks for the app binary, mpv, ffmpeg, config file, and socket path. Fix any failures before continuing.

Anki Setup (Recommended)

If you plan to mine Anki cards:

1. Install Anki
2. Install AnkiConnect — open Anki → Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons → enter code 2055492159
3. Restart Anki and keep it running while using SubMiner

AnkiConnect listens on http://127.0.0.1:8765 by default. SubMiner connects automatically with no extra config needed.

For enrichment configuration (sentence, audio, screenshot fields), see Anki Integration.

Updates

subminer -u
# or
subminer --update

SubMiner verifies AppImage, launcher, and rofi theme downloads against SHA256SUMS.txt. If the binary is in a protected path, SubMiner shows the exact command to run rather than elevating itself.

The tray "Check for Updates" entry installs the new app automatically on Linux, macOS, and Windows. On Linux it replaces the running .AppImage in place via electron-updater; AppImages managed by a system package (for example the AUR /opt/SubMiner/SubMiner.AppImage) are skipped so the package manager stays in charge.

subminer -u also performs the AppImage update directly from the launcher process, which is useful when SubMiner is not currently running.

How It All Fits Together

SubMiner is an overlay that sits on top of mpv. It connects to mpv through an IPC socket, renders subtitles as interactive text using a bundled Yomitan dictionary engine, and optionally creates Anki flashcards via AnkiConnect.

The subminer launcher handles mpv IPC socket setup automatically. If you launch mpv yourself or from another tool, you must pass --input-ipc-server=/tmp/subminer-socket (or \\.\pipe\subminer-socket on Windows) — without it the overlay starts but subtitles won't appear.

The bundled mpv plugin is injected at runtime automatically — you don't need to install it separately. It provides in-player keybindings (the y chord) for controlling the overlay from within mpv. See MPV Plugin for the full keybinding and configuration reference.

Platform Notes

macOS

MeCab paths (Homebrew):

• Apple Silicon (M1/M2): /opt/homebrew/bin/mecab
• Intel: /usr/local/bin/mecab

Ensure mecab is available on your PATH when launching SubMiner.

Fullscreen: The overlay should appear correctly in fullscreen. If you encounter issues, check that accessibility permissions are granted.

Windows

• The SubMiner mpv shortcut is the recommended way to launch playback. It starts mpv.exe with the right IPC socket and subtitle defaults.
• First-run setup adds only %LOCALAPPDATA%\SubMiner\bin to the HKCU user PATH. It does not add SubMiner.exe to PATH.
• IPC socket on Windows is \\.\pipe\subminer-socket — do not use /tmp/subminer-socket.
• Config is stored at %APPDATA%\SubMiner\config.jsonc.

Manual Launcher Install

The subminer launcher uses a Bun shebang, so Bun must be installed. First-run setup can handle this automatically, but if you prefer to do it yourself:

Linux

# Install Bun
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

# Download the launcher
wget https://github.com/ksyasuda/SubMiner/releases/latest/download/subminer -O ~/.local/bin/subminer
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/subminer

macOS

# Install Bun
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

# Download the launcher
sudo curl -fSL https://github.com/ksyasuda/SubMiner/releases/latest/download/subminer -o /usr/local/bin/subminer
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/subminer

Optional Extras

Rofi Theme (Linux Only)

SubMiner ships a custom rofi theme in the release assets:

wget https://github.com/ksyasuda/SubMiner/releases/latest/download/subminer-assets.tar.gz -O /tmp/subminer-assets.tar.gz
tar -xzf /tmp/subminer-assets.tar.gz -C /tmp
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/SubMiner/themes
cp /tmp/assets/themes/subminer.rasi ~/.local/share/SubMiner/themes/subminer.rasi

Override with SUBMINER_ROFI_THEME=/absolute/path/to/theme.rasi.

Next: Usage — learn about the subminer wrapper, keybindings, and YouTube playback.