Backend: item detail returns audio_streams + subtitle_streams (from Plex Part.Stream
ordinals). The HLS session accepts audio/subtitle stream ordinals — the selected audio
is mapped (transcoded to AAC), a selected subtitle is muxed in as a WebVTT rendition
via a MASTER playlist (-master_pl_name + -var_stream_map sgroup:subs) so ffmpeg keeps
it in sync per-session. Selecting a track forces the HLS path (even for direct files).
Generic /stream/{rk}/hls/{filename} endpoint serves the master/media/vtt/ts artifacts.
Frontend: gear menu lists real audio + subtitle tracks; changing one restarts the
session at the current position (seek-restart mechanism). hls.js subtitle enabled on
SUBTITLE_TRACKS_UPDATED (not just MANIFEST_PARSED, else the VTT is never fetched).
Cues auto-nudged to line 88% (the full-height <video> clips a default bottom-edge cue).
Controls no longer auto-hide while the menu is open. plex.player.* i18n en/hu/de.
Verified in a real browser (2 Broke Girls S1E1, 2 audio + 2 subs): menu shows the real
tracks, enabling English subtitles renders them correctly positioned; backend master
playlist + vtt segments validated over HTTP.
- Player: control tooltips now open ABOVE the button (no downward viewport clip);
keyboard use also reveals the auto-hidden controls (wake() on keydown); added a
Download button that downloads the ORIGINAL physical file (no re-encode/repackage,
Content-Disposition attachment via GET /stream/{rk}/file?download=1).
- Plex cards: hover affordance shows what a click does (Play / Resume / Open show)
+ a quick watched/unwatched toggle (stopPropagation, no playback) — mirrors the
YT-feed card quick-actions. New plex i18n keys en/hu/de.
- Verified in a real browser: card hover Play overlay + watched toggle (marks watched
without opening), player download button present, tooltip-above, keyboard reveals
controls, correct durations (Enola Holmes 3 = 1:48:04).
- NOTE: 'The Three Diablos' showing 13:05 was NOT a bug — it is a 13-min short (file
ffprobe = 785s); the 1h42m film is 'The Last Wish'.
- backend: GET /api/plex/item/{rk} detail (metadata, cast + intro/credit markers
from Plex, episode prev/next, per-user resume+status); POST /item/{rk}/progress
(resume checkpoint, near-end→watched) + /state (new|watched|hidden).
- frontend PlexPlayer.tsx (lazy, pulls hls.js): full-page player over the Plex
module. Direct files stream raw <video>; remux via hls.js on the seek-restart
session — custom controls map the ABSOLUTE timeline over the session offset, and a
seek beyond the loaded region restarts the session at the target. Play/pause/resume
/restart, ±10s seek, prev/next episode (Shift+←/→), volume, windowed/fullscreen,
full keyboard, Skip intro/Skip credits from markers (shaded on the seekbar),
auto-advance + watched-on-end, resume from saved position, 10s progress checkpoints.
- PlexBrowse: card/episode click opens the player as a history subview (browser Back
returns to the grid/show). api client (plexItem/plexSession/plexProgress/plexSetState)
+ types; plex.player.* i18n en/hu/de. hls.js@^1.6.16.
- Verified over HTTP: detail w/ markers+cast+episode-nav, progress persist. Video
playback itself is pending browser UAT. Subtitle/audio track SELECTION deferred.
Validated end-to-end on a real remux file (h264+ac3 mkv). The riskiest part of the
Plex epic — on-the-fly playback from the local file — now proven.
- app/plex/stream.py: seek-restart HLS session model (one ffmpeg per item, restarted
at a seek offset via -ss). Video stream-COPY (I/O-bound, CPU-light — fine on the
GPU-less prod host) + audio→aac only when not already aac. Maps first video+audio,
drops subtitles (no VTT rendition clutter). Session cap + idle reaper.
- routes: POST /stream/{rk}/session?start= (direct→raw url, remux→HLS session,
transcode→501 P3), GET /stream/{rk}/file (206 range, direct), /index.m3u8, /seg_n.ts.
- KEY FINDINGS (hard-won): (1) ffmpeg -hls_playlist_type VOD does NOT write the
playlist mid-run (only at finalize) → use EVENT (append-only, appears immediately),
which suits the seek-restart model; (2) naive per-segment copy + keyframe-indexed
extraction are both unreliable (non-uniform/imprecise segments) — ffmpeg's own HLS
muxer is the only correct segmenter; (3) dev slowness was the Windows /downloads
bind-mount write + SMB read → PLEX_HLS_DIR env points scratch at fast container-local
/var/tmp on dev (prod keeps download_root, fast local disk).
Per user feedback: promote Plex from a hidden feed-Source option to a first-class
left-nav module, with its own filter sidebar and the shared top search box.
- Plex is now a nav-rail module (page='plex', gated on me.plex_enabled) — its own
page → correct browser Back/Forward; removed the Feed Source-dropdown 'plex' hack.
- PlexSidebar.tsx: left filter column (library scope, watch-state for movies:
all/unwatched/in_progress/watched, sort) — per-account persisted (App state).
- Header search box now also serves the Plex page (integrated search); the live
YouTube-search escalation stays feed-only.
- PlexBrowse.tsx reworked: infinite scroll (IntersectionObserver, no 'Load more'),
content-visibility for smoother long-list scroll, show drill-down rides history
(useHistorySubview) so Back returns to the grid; dropped the stray 'YouTube feed'
button on the show page.
- backend /browse gains a per-user watch-state filter (show=, movies only).
- plex i18n (navLabel + filter.*) en/hu/de.
Note: episode-title 'Episode N' on some shows (e.g. Westworld) is Plex-side
(unmatched show) — we mirror what Plex has; Match/Refresh in Plex + re-sync fixes it.
- PlexBrowse.tsx: self-contained Plex mode (library scope tabs, own search +
sort, poster-card grid with watch state + playability tint, paged; show →
seasons/episodes drill-down). Playback announces (P2 wires the real player).
- Feed source dropdown gains a 'Plex' option (gated on me.plex_enabled); App
swaps <Feed> for <PlexBrowse> when librarySource==='plex' so the video-feed
hooks don't run in Plex mode. me exposes plex_enabled.
- api client (plexLibraries/plexBrowse/plexShow/plexImageUrl) + types; librarySource
union + share-URL restore gain 'plex'; new plex i18n namespace en/hu/de.
- Verified over HTTP (authed): libraries, browse+FTS, image proxy 200 image/jpeg.
- app/plex/sync.py: full reconcile of enabled movie/show sections into plex_*
(upsert by rating_key). Reuses Plex's own codec info to classify browser
playability (direct/remux/transcode) — no ffprobe. Movies + episodes become
playable leaves; shows/seasons mirrored for the drill-down.
- routes/plex.py: GET /libraries, /browse (FTS search + sort + paging, movie
leaves or show cards), /show/{rk} (seasons+episodes, per-user state), /image
(proxies Plex art, no duplication); admin POST /sync. All auth'd, demo-allowed.
- scheduler: plex_sync job (interval settings.plex_sync_interval_min).
- Verified against the real server: 2 libs, 3206 movies, 260 shows/961 seasons/
14768 episodes synced in 13s; FTS search + drill-down work. Playability:
~1% direct, 89% remux, 6% transcode (informs P2/P3).
Lets the dev container play the physical media file locally (this box isn't the
Plex host). Host/share/credentials come from .env (gitignored) — no site-specific
values in the tracked compose. Mounts //${PLEX_SMB_HOST}/${PLEX_SMB_SHARE} at
/plex-media read-only in api + worker; harmless when the vars are unset. Prod (LXC
on the Plex host) uses a plain host bind-mount instead.
The Downloads config group was added to the registry without field translations,
so it showed raw keys. Adds label+hint for all 9 download_* fields, matching the
Plex group's treatment.
- ConfigPanel 'plex' group auto-renders; adds a Test-connection button + a
library-picker (checked sections write plex_libraries, applied on Save)
- api.testPlex + PlexTestResult/PlexSection types
- i18n config namespace: plex group + 7 fields + test strings (en/hu/de);
also fills the previously-missing 'downloads' group label
Two saved-to-account playback settings on the player's prev/next bar (any queued
player — feed or playlist): Auto-advance (Off/Next/Prev/Random — what plays when a
video ends) and Loop (Off / One = repeat the current video / All = wrap the list
at its ends; a single-item list repeats). Stored in users.preferences
(playerAutoAdvance/playerLoop), read from the cached me + written via savePrefs so
they apply everywhere and survive reloads.
The feed's player queue is now the live filtered feed with the watch-state filter
NOT applied — marking the current video watched keeps it in the sequence (no
reindex/reload mid-play), while a hidden video still drops out. Removes the old
frozen-queue workaround and the boolean autoAdvance prop. i18n en/hu/de.
loadAccountFilters preferred the starred default view's mirror over the stored
filters, so a reload always snapped back to the default even after you'd picked
another view. Now your last-applied filters (setFilters persists them on every
change) win; the default view only seeds a fresh account that has never stored
filters. Re-apply the default from the sidebar to return to it.
Replace the small centred prev/next arrow buttons with faint translucent glass
strips that span the modal's full height, hugging each side of the card (hidden
on narrow screens where there's no room). Same stepping behaviour + Shift+arrow
shortcut; just a larger, easier target that reads as part of the dialog.
Three in-app player refinements:
- Prev/next stepping: the modal now takes the feed's loaded order as a queue, with
faint arrow zones flanking the card and Shift+Left/Right shortcuts (plain arrows
seek ±5s). The queue is frozen at open so marking the current video watched can't
drop it and reload a different one; auto-advance-on-end stays off for the feed
(it isn't a playlist) — playlists keep theirs.
- Reachable native YouTube controls: the interaction overlay (wheel volume / click
pause / keyboard focus) now covers only the centre band (top-[12%] bottom-[22%]),
leaving the top-right cluster (volume/CC/settings) and the bottom bar (seek /
More videos / fullscreen) clickable. Verified live: settings menu + fullscreen work.
- Hover-intent description: the title popover now waits ~400ms so a quick pass no
longer flashes it.
A vertical/short clip rendered in a fixed full-width box with large black side
bars. The player container now uses w-fit + mx-auto and the video max-h/max-w, so
a portrait clip becomes a narrow centered player and a landscape clip fills the
width — no letterboxing either way.
Every download now records the clean source page URL and shows it on the
Downloads page (open in a new tab, or copy to clipboard). The worker stores
yt-dlp's canonical webpage_url on the asset (migration 0043 adds
media_assets.source_webpage_url); the serializer prefers it and falls back to a
URL derived from source_kind+source_ref, so YouTube, external YouTube links and
external URLs (e.g. Facebook reels) all get a correct reference, and queued/older
rows work before the worker fills it. Edit clips return null (a clip's source is
the user's own earlier download, not a web page). i18n en/hu/de.
The whole app shipped in one bundle, so the logged-out landing and every page
pulled all module code. Split into lazy chunks:
- main.tsx: lazy App + the public leaves (WatchPage, Privacy, Terms), so a
public /watch share link never downloads the authenticated app.
- App.tsx: each module page (Feed, Channels, Playlists, Stats, Scheduler,
Config, Users, Settings, Notifications, Messages, Downloads, ChannelPage) and
the About/ReleaseNotes/Onboarding modals load on demand behind <Suspense>.
- Heavy modals lazy in their parents: PlayerModal (Feed, Playlists),
DownloadDialog (DownloadButton — kept out of the feed chunk), and the
VideoEditor/ShareDialog/ProfileEditor (DownloadCenter).
- Extracted focusAccessRequestsTab + the tab constants to lib/adminUsersTab so
callers can pre-select the admin tab without statically importing the now
lazy-loaded AdminUsers page (which would defeat the split).
Build now emits ~25 chunks. Landing no longer downloads any module code
(~350 KB deferred); dev landing Perf 93->95. Verified in a real browser: every
page + the video editor load with no console errors.
Give the feed card thumbnail width/height (16:9) so the browser reserves the
aspect box before load (CLS), and decoding=async so image decode never blocks
the main thread. loading=lazy was already set.
Lighthouse a11y across the authenticated module pages flagged: the clickable
Siftlode logo had aria-label='Feed' (accessible name didn't include its visible
text); the shared Switch, theme swatches, sort selects and several number/range
inputs had no accessible name/label. Give Switch role='switch'+aria-checked and
an optional label (passed at every call site), aria-label the swatches, selects
(feed/playlists sort) and the settings/config/scheduler inputs, and drop the
mismatched logo aria-label so its visible text is the name. All 11 module pages
now score 100 accessibility (settings 86->100, playlists 89->100, others 92-95->100).
The logged-out landing probed /api/me, which 401'd, and the browser logs every
non-2xx fetch as a console error regardless of how the app handles it. The
bootstrap probe now returns 200 with {authenticated:false} via a new
optional_current_user dependency; api.me() maps that to null. The render gate
treats no-data as 'signed out' -> the landing, and a thrown error as a real
network/5xx failure. Other protected endpoints still 401, so mid-session expiry
is still caught by the global handler. Lighthouse (dev): Best Practices 96->100.
The public landing had no meta description and no robots.txt (the SPA fallback
returned index.html for /robots.txt, so crawlers saw an invalid file). Add a
description + basic OG tags to index.html and a real robots.txt that allows the
landing but disallows the API/auth/watch surfaces. Lighthouse (dev): SEO 83->100.
The 3 landing screenshots were 2.3 MB of PNG (feed.png alone 1.6 MB, decoded
at 2400x1350 for a ~400px slot) — the biggest LCP/transfer cost on the public
page. Re-encoded to WebP capped at 1600px (~284 KB total, feed 91% smaller).
Also set Cache-Control: content-hashed /assets/* are immutable for a year,
other SPA-root static files (welcome images, favicon, robots) get a 7-day TTL;
index.html stays no-cache. Register image/webp+avif mimetypes so FileResponse
serves the right Content-Type. Lighthouse (dev): Perf 80->93, LCP 1.8s->1.2s.
mp4 downloads used yt-dlp's default best video+audio, which on YouTube is
VP9+Opus at 1080p. Chromium plays that, but iOS/Safari WebKit (which every
iOS browser is forced to use) decodes only H.264/H.265+AAC inside mp4 — so a
shared /watch link showed a broken player on iPhone/iPad while the download
still worked. Rank vcodec:h264 + acodec:aac above resolution for mp4 output
(unless a custom profile pins a vcodec), keeping VP9/AV1 as a graceful
fallback. Bump the format signature (v2) so an identical spec gets a fresh
cache identity instead of hitting a stale VP9 asset.
The worker and API start in parallel; the API applies migrations on its own startup, so on a fresh
deploy the worker hit a missing download_jobs table and crash-looped until migrations landed. The
worker now polls for the schema before recovering orphans, and (belt-and-suspenders) the compose
files gate it on the API being healthy. Fixes the observed prod restart-loop on the v0.22.0 deploy.
Prep the Download Center epic (Phase 1 + editor + share) for prod/self-host:
- Dockerfile: create /downloads owned by appuser so a named-volume mount is writable (prod Linux).
- docker-compose.{home,selfhost,yml}: add the 'worker' (yt-dlp/ffmpeg job loop) + 'bgutil-pot'
(PO-token) services + a downloads mount (DOWNLOAD_ROOT, WORKER_ENABLED). Media defaults to a
named volume; DOWNLOAD_HOST_PATH points it at a host dir (e.g. a Plex-readable folder).
- README / docs/self-hosting.md / .env.example / install.{sh,ps1}: document the Download Center,
the two extra containers, and DOWNLOAD_HOST_PATH.
- VERSION 0.22.0 + releaseNotes entry.
Session-close cosmetics:
1. Favicon — an 'S' monogram (indigo→violet rounded square, path-drawn so it's font-independent)
at public/favicon.svg, linked in index.html (tab had none before).
2. Dynamic document.title — reflects the current module ('Downloads · Siftlode'); Feed = brand
only; an open channel page shows the channel name. Shared pageTitleKey() in lib/pageMeta.ts
keeps the tab title and the top-bar header in lockstep.
3. The 'Siftlode' logo already navigated to Feed but read as static text — added a hover
background + cursor affordance so it's clearly clickable.
4. Module header — new shared PageTitle component (used by every non-feed module via Header) with
a tracked small-caps 'eyebrow' + leading accent dot (user-picked style B), styled in one place.
Verified in a real browser: favicon served (image/svg+xml), title updates per module, logo→feed,
header restyled; no console errors.
The 'Your storage' footprint used a one-shot query, refetched only at enqueue time — when the job
is still queued (0 bytes) and the file lands asynchronously via the worker. So the footprint stayed
stale (0 B) until a manual reload. Switch the UsageBar to useLiveQuery(2s), like the library list,
so the footprint updates in lockstep the moment a clip/download completes (and after a delete).
A shared-with-me item only had a download button. Add two actions (Share is intentionally NOT
offered — no chain re-sharing of someone else's file):
- Edit: the editor now accepts an accessible (owned OR shared) source, so editing a shared video
produces the editor's OWN clip in their library (counts against their quota, fully theirs
including share); the source file is only read. Route uses _accessible_job.
- Remove from my list: DELETE /api/downloads/shared/{job_id} deletes only the recipient's share
grant — the owner's job and physical file are untouched (per-user dismissal).
i18n en/hu/de. Verified in a real browser (edit a shared 70-min video → own 2:31 clip; remove
confirm shows 'won't delete the owner's file').
The admin System tab only listed users with an existing footprint, so a quota could be set only
after someone downloaded something. Add a 'Set a user's quota…' picker (over /api/admin/users,
excl. demo) beside the Per-user footprint heading that opens the quota editor for ANY user — the
quota GET/PUT endpoints already resolve defaults + create a row on demand, so no backend change.
Also show an empty-state line when no one has a footprint yet. i18n en/hu/de.
The download-center GC job showed its raw id 'download_gc' with a raw-key tooltip, unlike every
other job. Add its label ('Download cleanup') + description to scheduler i18n (en/hu/de), and make
the job tooltip fall back to empty for any job lacking a description (so a future/edge job never
shows a raw 'scheduler.jobDesc.*' key — also fixes demo_reset).
The tooltip clamped its centre to a fixed 92px margin, but the caption is up to 240px wide
(120px half), so a left-edge anchor (e.g. the nav-rail counts icon at x~40) pushed the centred box
~28px off the left of the viewport. Clamp with the caption's max half-width so it can't overflow on
first paint, then a useLayoutEffect re-centres on the anchor using its actual width. Verified: the
nav-rail counts tooltip now sits fully on-screen.
peter