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Source snapshot: 514ab1975951d94342ea38e64101d5a0f1c51c77
2.8 KiB
type, id, title, status, date, supersedes
| type | id | title | status | date | supersedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADR | 0121 | AppImage external fallback for audio and video previews | active | 2026-05-15 | 0110 |
Context
ADR-0110 standardized in-app previews for image, audio, video, and PDF vault files through the shared FilePreview surface and Tauri asset URLs. In practice, Linux AppImage builds run audio and video playback through WebKitGTK, and that runtime has proven unstable enough that mounting the same in-webview media controls is not a reliable default for packaged Linux releases.
Tolaria still needs one binary-preview model across platforms: previewability should remain renderer-inferred from filename extensions, binary files should remain ordinary vault entries, and external-open actions must continue to re-enter the active-vault command boundary before the OS opens a file.
Decision
Tolaria keeps in-app image and PDF previews everywhere, but Linux AppImage builds fall back to external-open controls for audio and video instead of mounting in-webview media playback.
FilePreviewremains the single renderer-owned surface for supported binary vault files.- The preview policy is runtime-owned: the renderer asks the native runtime whether external media fallback is required before rendering audio or video elements.
- Linux AppImage builds return
truefor that runtime check and suppress in-webview audio/video previews; other targets keep the existing native HTML media controls. - Editor-embedded BlockNote audio/video blocks follow the same runtime gate so binary preview behavior stays consistent between note bodies and file previews.
Alternatives considered
- Runtime-gated external fallback on Linux AppImage (chosen): keeps one preview architecture while containing a platform-specific runtime instability. Cons: AppImage users lose inline playback for audio/video.
- Keep in-app audio/video previews on every platform: preserves feature parity, but continues shipping a known unstable playback path on AppImage.
- Disable all binary previews on Linux: simpler policy, but unnecessarily removes stable image/PDF previews and weakens the file-first editor experience.
Consequences
Tolaria now treats audio/video preview as a runtime capability decision rather than a universal guarantee of the binary preview system. Linux AppImage users see explicit external-open fallback controls for audio and video, while other platforms keep the richer in-app playback path.
This keeps the filesystem-first binary model, scoped asset access, and active-vault validation boundary intact without introducing persisted media types or a separate media subsystem. Re-evaluate this decision if AppImage media playback becomes stable enough to restore inline playback without special handling, or if other packaged runtimes need their own preview capability gates.