SubMiner/docs/architecture/README.md

Architecture Map

Status: active Last verified: 2026-05-23 Owner: Kyle Yasuda Read when: runtime ownership, composition boundaries, or layering questions

SubMiner runs as three cooperating runtimes:

• Electron desktop app in src/
• Launcher CLI in launcher/, with managed app-installed wrappers in src/main/runtime/managed-launcher.ts
• mpv Lua plugin in plugin/subminer/

The desktop app keeps src/main.ts as composition root and pushes behavior into small runtime/domain modules.

Packaged apps include a private Bun runtime. Setup and release assets provide bootstrap wrappers generated from src/main/runtime/*-launcher-bootstrap.ts. macOS runs Bun and the CLI from app resources. Windows stages a versioned private Bun copy under %LOCALAPPDATA%\SubMiner\launcher-runtime/<version> so a running launcher does not lock the updater-owned app executable. Linux stages Bun, the matching CLI, and licenses under ${XDG_DATA_HOME:-~/.local/share}/SubMiner/launcher. Its steady-state path performs one app stat and starts the cache without Electron. A missing cache or changed app fingerprint runs launcher/prepare.cjs through Electron's Node mode to refresh it. Desktop startup migrates recognized writable legacy JavaScript launchers and refreshes managed payloads after app changes. Development commands still use system Bun.

Update checks and startup launcher migration share a serialized update-state store. Deferred launcher paths are acknowledged only after migration succeeds or the candidate is no longer eligible. Running Windows launchers and unreadable or unwritable candidates remain pending for a later startup.

Read Next

• Domains - who owns what
• Layering - how modules should depend on each other
• Subtitle Overlay Priming - visible-overlay subtitle startup flow
• Public contributor summary: docs-site/architecture.md

Current Shape

• src/main/ owns composition, runtime setup, IPC wiring, and app lifecycle adapters.
• src/main/boot/ owns boot-phase assembly seams so src/main.ts can stay focused on lifecycle coordination and startup-path selection.
• src/main/runtime/linux-overlay-mode-runtime.ts owns Linux fullscreen mode state and window replacement. App cleanup cancels pending replacements; main.ts supplies window creation and subtitle refresh hooks.
• src/core/services/ owns focused runtime services plus pure or side-effect-bounded logic.
• src/core/services/subtitle-generation*.ts shares local whisper.cpp transcription, safe model downloads, and progress between the launcher and Electron. Optional dialogue mode retains both Silero-detected speech and other audible sections, omits confidently silent gaps, decodes passages independently, and restores original media timing. src/main/runtime/subtitle-generation-runtime.ts owns the overlay job lifecycle and only loads completed subtitles into the same local media; src/shared/subtitle-generation*.ts owns configuration, the multilingual model catalog, and IPC contracts. The overlay runtime retains a session model selection, validates picker requests through IPC, and keeps external model paths authoritative.
• Subtitle model recommendations use bounded nvidia-smi and Whisper CUDA discovery probes in subtitle-generation-acceleration.ts. The overlay runtime caches results by executable path for 30 seconds and exposes acceleration status through the existing status IPC. Recommendations do not alter model selection or transcription arguments.
• subtitle-generation-reference.ts ranks mpv's loaded text subtitle tracks, excludes signs/songs and forced references, and extracts timing hints with FFmpeg. The overlay and launcher snapshot references only for matching media, including active subtitle delays. Hints guide long-passage cuts with or without VAD; they never limit audio coverage or replace Whisper timestamps.
• src/renderer/ owns overlay rendering and input behavior.
• src/config/ owns config definitions, defaults, loading, and resolution.
• src/types/ owns shared cross-runtime contracts via domain entrypoints; src/types.ts stays a compatibility barrel.
• src/main/runtime/composers/ owns larger domain compositions.
• src/main.ts call sites invoke configured runtime handlers and runtime-object methods directly; do not add local pass-through wrappers around them.

Architecture Intent

The dictionary backend is selected once at startup by dictionaryBackend. Yomitan keeps its existing session and external-profile policy. Hachidori uses persist:hachidori; overlay windows select that session before extension loading, including deferred startup. Named settings flags can open either backend without injecting a second reader into the active overlay. The detached stats word helper reads the same config key so dashboard mining uses the active backend.

setup-state.json records one backend's status at a time plus completedDictionaryBackends, the backends that finished setup before. The app projects the file onto its active backend on startup and stamps that backend into the file. The launcher gates playback on the stamped backend when an app is already running, since a config edit takes effect only after restart.

Hachidori's source, HoshiDicts engine, licenses, pinned revision, and local patch notes live in vendor/hachidori/. build:hachidori verifies recorded artifact checksums and stages the extension for development and packaging. Before loading the extension, its session clears service worker registrations so Electron uses the current bundled code; dictionary databases and settings remain intact. First-run setup uses Hachidori sharing messages to link or unlink external dictionary hosts and checks their live inventory. Linked dictionaries and dictionary edits use the host, while Anki configuration, pronunciation sources, custom buttons, and mining stay local to SubMiner. The parser bridge adapts its native runtime messages to the existing subtitle scanner and dictionary automation. Its local content bridge implements SubMiner's existing popup events and commands. The Anki proxy strips local duplicate/overwrite metadata before forwarding requests and enriches only confirmed writes.

• Small units, explicit boundaries
• Composition over monoliths
• Pure helpers where possible
• Stable user behavior while internals evolve

Startup resolves and creates the user-data directory in src/main-entry-runtime.ts before the entry process requests Electron's single-instance lock. Main-process config bootstrap then writes the default config only when no config file exists.