SubMiner/docs-site/subtitle-sidebar.md

Subtitle Sidebar

The subtitle sidebar displays the full parsed cue list for the active subtitle file as a scrollable panel alongside mpv. It lets you review past and upcoming lines, click any cue to seek directly to that moment, and follow along without depending on the transient overlay subtitles.

The sidebar is opt-in and disabled by default. Enable it under subtitleSidebar.enabled in your config.

How It Works

When SubMiner parses the active subtitle source into a cue list, the sidebar becomes available. Toggle it with the \ key (configurable via subtitleSidebar.toggleKey). While open:

• The active cue is highlighted and kept in view as playback advances (when autoScroll is true).
• Clicking any cue seeks mpv to that timestamp.
• The sidebar stays synchronized with the overlay — media transitions and subtitle source changes update both simultaneously.

The sidebar only appears when a parsed cue list is available. External subtitle sources that SubMiner cannot parse (for example, embedded ASS tracks rendered directly by mpv) will not populate the sidebar.

Layout Modes

Two layout modes are available via subtitleSidebar.layout:

overlay (default) — The sidebar floats over mpv as a panel. It does not affect the player window size or position.

embedded — Reserves space on the right side of the player and shifts the video area to mimic a split-pane layout. Useful if you want the cue list visible without it covering the video. If you see unexpected positioning in your environment, switch back to overlay to isolate the issue.

Configuration

Enable and configure the sidebar under subtitleSidebar in your config file:

{
  "subtitleSidebar": {
    "enabled": false,
    "autoOpen": false,
    "layout": "overlay",
    "toggleKey": "Backslash",
    "pauseVideoOnHover": false,
    "autoScroll": true,
    "fontFamily": "\"M PLUS 1\", \"Noto Sans CJK JP\", sans-serif",
    "fontSize": 16
  }
}

Option	Type	Default	Description
enabled	boolean	false	Enable subtitle sidebar support
autoOpen	boolean	false	Open the sidebar automatically on overlay startup
layout	string	"overlay"	"overlay" floats over mpv; "embedded" reserves right-side player space
toggleKey	string	"Backslash"	KeyboardEvent.code for the toggle shortcut
pauseVideoOnHover	boolean	false	Pause playback while hovering the cue list
autoScroll	boolean	true	Keep the active cue in view during playback
maxWidth	number	420	Maximum sidebar width in CSS pixels
opacity	number	0.95	Sidebar opacity between 0 and 1
backgroundColor	string	—	Sidebar shell background color
textColor	string	—	Default cue text color
fontFamily	string	—	CSS font-family applied to cue text
fontSize	number	16	Base cue font size in CSS pixels
timestampColor	string	—	Cue timestamp color
activeLineColor	string	—	Active cue text color
activeLineBackgroundColor	string	—	Active cue background color
hoverLineBackgroundColor	string	—	Hovered cue background color

Default colors use Catppuccin Macchiato with a semi-transparent shell so the panel stays readable without feeling like a solid overlay.

Keyboard Shortcut

Key	Action	Config key
\	Toggle subtitle sidebar	subtitleSidebar.toggleKey

The toggle is overlay-local and only opens when SubMiner has a parsed cue list for the active subtitle source. See Keyboard Shortcuts for the full shortcut reference.