SubMiner/docs/architecture.md

Architecture

SubMiner uses a service-oriented Electron architecture with a composition-oriented main process and a modular renderer process.

Goals

• Keep behavior stable while reducing coupling.
• Prefer small, single-purpose units that can be tested in isolation.
• Keep main.ts focused on wiring and state ownership, not implementation detail.
• Follow Unix-style composability:
  • each service does one job
  • services compose through explicit inputs/outputs
  • orchestration is separate from implementation

Project Structure

src/
  main.ts                  # Entry point — delegates to src/main/ composition modules
  preload.ts               # Electron preload bridge
  types.ts                 # Shared type definitions
  main/                    # Composition root modules (extracted from main.ts)
    app-lifecycle.ts       # Electron lifecycle event registration
    cli-runtime.ts         # CLI command handling and dispatch
    dependencies.ts        # Shared dependency builders for IPC/runtime
    ipc-mpv-command.ts     # MPV command composition helpers
    ipc-runtime.ts         # IPC channel registration and handlers
    overlay-runtime.ts      # Overlay window/modal selection and state
    overlay-shortcuts-runtime.ts # Overlay keyboard shortcut handling
    startup.ts              # Startup bootstrap flow (argv/env processing)
    startup-lifecycle.ts    # App-ready initialization sequence
    state.ts                # Application runtime state container
    subsync-runtime.ts      # Subsync command orchestration
  core/
    services/              # ~60 focused service modules (see below)
    utils/                 # Pure helpers and coercion/config utilities
  cli/                     # CLI parsing and help output
  config/                  # Config schema, defaults, validation, template generation
  renderer/                # Overlay renderer (modularized UI/runtime)
  window-trackers/         # Backend-specific tracker implementations (Hyprland, Sway, X11, macOS)
  jimaku/                  # Jimaku API integration helpers
  subsync/                 # Subtitle sync (alass/ffsubsync) helpers
  subtitle/                # Subtitle processing utilities
  tokenizers/              # Tokenizer implementations
  token-mergers/           # Token merge strategies
  translators/             # AI translation providers

Service Layer (src/core/services/)

• Startup — startup-service, app-lifecycle-service, app-ready-service
• Overlay — overlay-manager-service, overlay-window-service, overlay-visibility-service, overlay-bridge-service, overlay-runtime-init-service, overlay-content-measurement-service
• Shortcuts — shortcut-service, overlay-shortcut-service, overlay-shortcut-handler, shortcut-fallback-service, numeric-shortcut-service, numeric-shortcut-session-service
• MPV — mpv-service, mpv-control-service, mpv-render-metrics-service, mpv-transport, mpv-protocol, mpv-state, mpv-properties
• IPC — ipc-service, ipc-command-service, runtime-options-ipc-service
• Mining — mining-service, field-grouping-service, field-grouping-overlay-service, anki-jimaku-service, anki-jimaku-ipc-service
• Subtitles — subtitle-ws-service, subtitle-position-service, secondary-subtitle-service, tokenizer-service
• Integrations — jimaku-service, subsync-service, subsync-runner-service, texthooker-service, yomitan-extension-loader-service, yomitan-settings-service
• Config — runtime-config-service, cli-command-service

Renderer Layer (src/renderer/)

The overlay renderer is split by concern so renderer.ts stays focused on bootstrapping, IPC wiring, and module composition.

src/renderer/
  renderer.ts              # Entrypoint/orchestration only
  context.ts               # Shared runtime context contract
  state.ts                 # Centralized renderer mutable state
  subtitle-render.ts       # Primary/secondary subtitle rendering + style application
  positioning.ts           # Visible/invisible positioning + mpv metrics layout
  handlers/
    keyboard.ts            # Keybindings, chord handling, modal key routing
    mouse.ts               # Hover/drag behavior, selection + observer wiring
  modals/
    jimaku.ts              # Jimaku modal flow
    kiku.ts                # Kiku field-grouping modal flow
    runtime-options.ts     # Runtime options modal flow
    subsync.ts             # Manual subsync modal flow
  utils/
    dom.ts                 # Required DOM lookups + typed handles
    platform.ts            # Layer/platform capability detection

Flow Diagram

flowchart TD
  classDef root fill:#c6a0f6,stroke:#181926,color:#181926,stroke-width:2px;
  classDef orchestration fill:#494d64,stroke:#b7bdf8,color:#cad3f5,stroke-width:2px;
  classDef domain fill:#494d64,stroke:#8aadf4,color:#cad3f5,stroke-width:2px;
  classDef boundary fill:#494d64,stroke:#a6da95,color:#cad3f5,stroke-width:2px;

  subgraph Entry["Entrypoint"]
    Main["src/main.ts\ncomposition root"]
  end
  class Main root;

  subgraph Boot["Startup Orchestration"]
    Startup["startup-service"]
    Lifecycle["app-lifecycle-service"]
    AppReady["app-ready flow"]
  end
  class Startup,Lifecycle,AppReady orchestration;

  subgraph Runtime["Runtime Domains"]
    OverlayMgr["overlay-manager-service"]
    OverlayWindow["overlay-window-service"]
    OverlayVisibility["overlay-visibility-service"]
    Ipc["ipc-service\nipc-command-service"]
    RuntimeOpts["runtime-options-ipc-service"]
    Mpv["mpv-service\nmpv-control-service"]
    Subtitle["subtitle-ws-service\nsecondary-subtitle-service"]
    Shortcuts["shortcut-service\noverlay-shortcut-service"]
  end
  class OverlayMgr,OverlayWindow,OverlayVisibility,Ipc,RuntimeOpts,Mpv,Subtitle,Shortcuts domain;

  subgraph Adapters["External Boundaries"]
    Config["src/config/*"]
    Cli["src/cli/*"]
    Trackers["src/window-trackers/*"]
    Integrations["src/jimaku/*\nsrc/subsync/*"]
  end
  class Config,Cli,Trackers,Integrations boundary;

  Main -->|bootstraps| Startup
  Main -->|registers lifecycle hooks| Lifecycle
  Lifecycle -->|triggers| AppReady

  Main -->|wires| OverlayMgr
  Main -->|wires| Ipc
  Main -->|wires| Mpv
  Main -->|wires| Shortcuts
  Main -->|wires| RuntimeOpts
  Main -->|wires| Subtitle

  Main -->|loads| Config
  Main -->|parses| Cli
  Main -->|delegates backend state| Trackers
  Main -->|calls integrations| Integrations

  OverlayMgr -->|creates window| OverlayWindow
  OverlayMgr -->|applies visibility policy| OverlayVisibility
  Ipc -->|updates| RuntimeOpts
  Mpv -->|feeds timing + subtitle context| Subtitle
  Shortcuts -->|drives overlay actions| OverlayMgr

Composition Pattern

Most runtime code follows a dependency-injection pattern:

1. Define a service interface in src/core/services/*.
2. Keep core logic in pure or side-effect-bounded functions.
3. Build runtime deps in main.ts; extract an adapter/helper only when it adds meaningful behavior or reuse.
4. Call the service from lifecycle/command wiring points.

This keeps side effects explicit and makes behavior easy to unit-test with fakes.

Lifecycle Model

• Startup:
  • startup-service handles initial argv/env/backend setup and decides generate-config flow vs app lifecycle start.
  • app-lifecycle-service handles Electron single-instance + lifecycle event registration.
  • App-ready flow performs ready-time initialization (config load, websocket policy, tokenizer/tracker setup, overlay auto-init decisions).
• Runtime:
  • CLI/shortcut/IPC events map to service calls.
  • Overlay and MPV state sync through dedicated services.
  • Runtime options and mining flows are coordinated via service boundaries.
• Shutdown:
  • app-lifecycle-service registers cleanup hooks (will-quit) while teardown behavior stays delegated to focused services from main.ts.

flowchart TD
  classDef phase fill:#494d64,stroke:#b7bdf8,color:#cad3f5,stroke-width:2px;
  classDef decision fill:#494d64,stroke:#f5a97f,color:#cad3f5,stroke-width:2px;
  classDef runtime fill:#494d64,stroke:#8aadf4,color:#cad3f5,stroke-width:2px;
  classDef shutdown fill:#494d64,stroke:#a6da95,color:#cad3f5,stroke-width:2px;

  Args["CLI args / env"] --> Startup["startup-service"]
  class Args,Startup phase;

  Startup --> Decision{"generate-config?"}
  class Decision decision;

  Decision -->|yes| WriteConfig["write config + exit"]
  Decision -->|no| Lifecycle["app-lifecycle-service"]
  class WriteConfig,Lifecycle phase;

  Lifecycle --> Ready["app-ready flow\n(config + websocket policy + tracker/tokenizer init)"]
  class Ready phase;

  Ready --> RuntimeBus["event loop:\nIPC + shortcuts + mpv events"]
  RuntimeBus --> Overlay["overlay visibility + mining actions"]
  RuntimeBus --> Subtitle["subtitle + secondary-subtitle processing"]
  RuntimeBus --> Subsync["subsync / jimaku integration actions"]
  class RuntimeBus,Overlay,Subtitle,Subsync runtime;

  RuntimeBus --> WillQuit["Electron will-quit"]
  WillQuit --> Cleanup["service-level teardown\n(unregister hooks, close resources)"]
  class WillQuit,Cleanup shutdown;

Why This Design

• Smaller blast radius: changing one feature usually touches one service.
• Better testability: most behavior can be tested without Electron windows/mpv.
• Better reviewability: PRs can be scoped to one subsystem.
• Backward compatibility: CLI flags and IPC channels can remain stable while internals evolve.

Extension Rules

• Add behavior to an existing service or a new src/core/services/* file, not as ad-hoc logic in main.ts.
• Keep service APIs explicit and narrowly scoped.
• Prefer additive changes that preserve existing CLI flags and IPC channel behavior.
• Add/update unit tests for each service extraction or behavior change.
• For cross-cutting changes, extract-first then refactor internals after parity is verified.