# Subtitle process — changelog

## v1 — 2026-05-09

Initial recipe. Drafted while running on American Dad. Distilled from doc
03-subtitles.md (Futurama work) and the actual AD run.

Approach: Jellyfin RemoteSearch/Subtitles/eng → pick best non-HI/non-MT match
via Python filter → POST download → docker cp metadata cache → media folder →
delete cache dupes → validation refresh.

Scope: works on shows whose library season/episode numbering matches
OpenSubtitles' indexed numbering. Verified passing on AD S01 (7/7 episodes).

### Known break — added 2026-05-09 same day

After S01 passed, S02 returned 0 results for every episode probed (E01, E02,
E08, E13). Quota was fine (13 downloads remaining). Cause:

> Jellyfin metadata for American Dad uses **Hulu/DSP season ordering**
> (S1=7, S2=16, S3=19, S4=16). OpenSubtitles indexes by **Fox original-airing
> order** where S1 has 23 episodes. The plugin queries OS by
> `(parent_imdb_id, season_number, episode_number)`. For library S02E01
> "Bullocks to Stan" the plugin sends `S=2,E=1` but OS catalogues that
> episode as `S=1,E=8`. Result: 0 hits.

Each library episode has its own correct per-episode IMDB id (e.g.
`tt0511631` for "Bullocks to Stan") which would resolve directly via OS REST
`imdb_id=` parameter, but the plugin doesn't expose that path.

## v2 — 2026-05-09

Approach **A** chosen: direct OpenSubtitles REST API, per-episode `imdb_id`
lookup, bypass the Jellyfin plugin entirely. New helper at
`lib/sub-rest-fetch.py`.

- API key file: `~/.config/arrflix-opensubtitles-api.txt` (mode 600)
- Account: `Caveman5` (free tier, 20 downloads/day)
- Saves sidecars directly to nullstone media folder via `ssh ... cat >`
- No more docker-cp from `/config/metadata/library` cache (plugin path)

Recipe upgrade:
- Step 4 swaps `lib/sub-fetch.sh` → `lib/sub-rest-fetch.py` for shows with
  non-standard season ordering.
- Picker logic identical: filter HI/MT/AI/Forced (renamed
  `foreign_parts_only` in OS REST), prefer 23.976fps, sort by
  `download_count` desc.

### v2 known quirks

- **OpenSubtitles `/download` endpoint rejects urllib** — consistent HTTP 503
  via Python `urllib.request`, HTTP 200 via `curl` with same headers/body.
  `_curl()` shim added; all OS API calls go through it. **Each 503 still
  consumes 1 download-quota slot**, so this had to be fixed before retrying
  large batches.
- `download_count` of `0` and `fps` of `0.0` appear on some catalogue
  entries; treat as informational, not exclusionary.
- Some hits have `file_name` mismatching the `imdb_id` searched (OS metadata
  drift). Recipe Step 6 visual-sync check is the catch.

### v2 known limits

- Free-tier 20/day still in force (REST and plugin share the counter).
- Recipe Step 6 (sync verification) is still manual — no automated check
  that the picked .srt actually aligns with audio.

## v3 — 2026-05-09

Approach **Addic7ed via subliminal** added as a quota-free fallback. New
helper at `lib/sub-a7d-fetch.py`. Runs alongside v2; pick whichever fits.

- `subliminal` Python lib drives `addic7ed` provider, anonymous
- OS REST is still consulted (search-only, no quota cost) to translate
  library Hulu numbering to the show's primary catalogue numbering, since
  Addic7ed and OS feature_details appear to align for at least the test
  show (American Dad)
- Sidecar written direct to nullstone via `ssh ... cat >`

### v3 picker / matching

- subliminal returns ordered candidates by match score; takes first
- "!" in series name breaks subliminal's matcher; recipe strips it before
  building the synthetic filename for `Video.fromname()`
- Synthetic filename pattern: `Series.Name.Year.SXXEYY.HDTV.x264.mkv`

### v3 known quirks

- Some episodes return 0 hits at addic7ed for the OS-feat-details S/E we
  pass — likely cases where addic7ed indexes by Fox airing order while OS
  uses DVD-compressed (or vice versa). On American Dad, ~9 of 58 episodes
  missed via this path. Fall back to v2 OS REST when quota allows.
- One episode (`Black Mystery Month`) had a hit but downloaded empty
  content — addic7ed-side cataloguing error or temp 0-byte upload.
- Per-show coverage varies: Addic7ed has near-complete English on broadcast
  US shows but spotty for animated specials and obscure titles.

### v3 known limits

- English coverage best; non-English near-empty
- Anonymous downloads work but heavy bursts may trigger Addic7ed's
  bot detection and short IP throttle (~1 hour). The script makes no
  effort at jittering / backoff
- No automated sync-quality check; recipe Step 6 still manual

## v3.5 — 2026-05-10 (stop-gap path for niche YouTube-distributed shows)

For shows that distribute on YouTube and have no community subs anywhere
(verified by parallel research agents covering OS REST / OS legacy /
Addic7ed / SubDL / SubSource / Podnapisi for 5 niche shows), pull the
YouTube auto-CC track via yt-dlp and clean it.

- New helper: `lib/sub-yt-fetch.sh` (yt-dlp wrapper) + `lib/yt-clean.py`
  (rolling-window VTT → flat SRT cleaner)
- First applied to **Sassy the Sasquatch (2022)**, S01 5/5 episodes
- Reusable for the rest of the Big Lez universe (same channel hosts
  Donny & Clarence, Mike Nolan, Big Lez Saga)

### v3.5 known limits — explicitly violates STYLE.md "best quality"

- Lowercase, no punctuation, no sentence segmentation
- Proper-noun mishears (Sassy → "sasha", Big Lez → "Big Less")
- Profanity censored as `[ __ ]` by YouTube's ASR
- Will be replaced wholesale by v4 WhisperX (see ROADMAP H5)

### v3.5 also discovered

- **OpenSubtitles VIP would not have helped.** Verified: VIP is download-cap
  relief and ad removal, not coverage unlock. Same catalog as free.
- **Mike Nolan special-case**: a YouTube upload titled
  "MIKE NOLAN SHOW | COMPLETE SEASON | SUBTITLES" (Oct 2025) carries
  hand-typed CCs. When subbing Mike Nolan, prefer ripping that single
  upload over the per-episode auto-CC playlist path.

## v4 — planned (see ROADMAP H5)

Path: **WhisperX large-v3 on friend RTX 4080 node** (`100.64.0.3`).

- Replaces v3.5 stop-gap with full-quality auto-transcription
- Per-show proper-noun prompt at `playbooks/subtitles/prompts/<show>.yaml`
- New helper: `lib/sub-whisperx-fetch.py` (TBD)
- Expected WER: 4–6% on noisy / animated dialogue (vs ~12% YT auto-CC)
- Restores STYLE.md "one clean English sub per ep" bar for niche shows
- Cloud fallback: ElevenLabs Scribe v2 (~$0.40/hr, ~2.2% WER) for any
  episode WhisperX still misses
