path: root/DOCS/interface-changes.rst

Introduction
============

mpv provides access to its internals via the following means:

- options
- commands
- properties
- events
- hooks

The sum of these mechanisms is sometimes called command interface.

All of these are important for interfacing both with end users and API users
(which include Lua scripts, libmpv, and the JSON IPC). As such, they constitute
a large part of the user interface and APIs.

Also see compatibility.rst.

This document lists changes to them. New options/commands/etc. are not always
listed.

**Never** write to this file directly except when making releases. New changes
are added in the interface-changes directory instead. See contribute.md for more
details.

Interface changes
=================

::

 --- mpv 0.38.0 ---
    - add `term-size` property
    - add the `escape-ass` command
    - add `>` for fixed precision floating-point property expansion
    - add `--input-comands` option
    - change `--pulse-latency-hacks` default to `yes`
    - add `context-menu` command
    - add `menu-data` property
    - add `--vo-tct-buffering` option
    - add `begin-vo-dragging` command
    - add `--deinterlace-field-parity` option
    - add `--volume-gain`, `--volume-gain-min`, and `--volume-gain-max` options
    - add `current-gpu-context` property
    - add `--secondary-sub-ass-override` option
    - add `--input-preprocess-wheel` option
    - remove shared-script-properties (user-data is a replacement)
    - add `--secondary-sub-delay`, decouple secondary subtitles from
      `--sub-delay`
    - add the `--osd-bar-border-size` option
    - `--screenshot-avif-pixfmt` no longer defaults to yuv420p
    - `--screenshot-avif-opts` defaults to lossless screenshot
    - rename key `MP_KEY_BACK` to `MP_KEY_GO_BACK`
    - add `--sub-filter-sdh-enclosures` option
    - added the `mp.input` scripting API to query the user for textual input
    - add `forced` choice to `subs-with-matching-audio`
    - remove `--term-remaining-playtime` option
    - change fallback deinterlace to bwdif
    - add the command `load-config-file`
    - add the command `load-input-conf`
    - remove `--vo=rpi`, `--gpu-context=rpi`, and `--hwdec=mmal`
    - add `auto` choice to `--deinterlace`
    - change `--teletext-page` default from 100 to 0 ("subtitle" in lavc)
    - change `--hidpi-window-scale` default to `no`
    - add `insert-next`, `insert-next-play`, `insert-at`, and `insert-at-play`
      actions to `loadfile` and `loadlist` commands
    - add `index` argument to `loadfile` and `loadlist` commands
    - move the `options` argument of the `loadfile` command from the third
      parameter to the fourth (after `index`)
    - add `--drag-and-drop=insert-next` option
    - rename `--background` to `--background-color`
    - remove `--alpha` and reintroduce `--background` option for better control
      over blending alpha components into specific background types
    - add `--border-background` option
    - add `video-target-params` property
    - add `hdr10plus` sub-parameter to `format` video filter
    - remove `--focus-on-open` and add replacement `--focus-on`
    - remove debanding from the high-quality profile
 --- mpv 0.37.0 ---
    - `--save-position-on-quit` and its associated commands now store state files
      in %LOCALAPPDATA% instead of %APPDATA% directory by default on Windows.
    - change `--subs-with-matching-audio` default from `no` to `yes`
    - change `--subs-fallback` default from `no` to `default`
    - add the `--hdr-peak-percentile` option
    - include `--hdr-peak-percentile` in the `gpu-hq` profile
    - change `--audiotrack-pcm-float` default from `no` to `yes`
    - add video-params/aspect-name
    - change type of `--sub-pos` to float
    - The remaining time printed in the terminal is now adjusted for speed by default.
      You can disable this with `--no-term-remaining-playtime`.
    - add `playlist-path` and `playlist/N/playlist-path` properties
    - add `--x11-wid-title` option
    - add `--libplacebo-opts` option
    - add `--audio-file-exts`, `--cover-art-auto-exts`, and `--sub-auto-exts`
    - change `slang` default back to NULL
    - remove special handling of the `auto` value from `--alang/slang/vlang` options
    - add `--subs-match-os-language` as a replacement for `--slang=auto`
    - add `always` option to `--subs-fallback-forced`
    - remove `auto` choice from `--sub-forced-only`
    - remove `auto-forced-only` property
    - rename `--sub-forced-only` to `--sub-forced-events-only`
    - remove `sub-forced-only-cur` property (`--sub-forced-events-only` is a replacement)
    - remove deprecated `video-aspect` property
    - add `--video-crop`
    - add `video-params/crop-[w,h,x,y]`
    - remove `--tone-mapping-mode`
    - change `--subs-fallback-forced` so that it works alongside `--slang`
    - add `--icc-3dlut-size=auto` and make it the default
    - add `--scale=ewa_lanczos4sharpest`
    - remove `--scale-wblur`, `--cscale-wblur`, `--dscale-wblur`, `--tscale-wblur`
    - remove `bcspline` filter (`bicubic` is now the same as `bcspline`)
    - rename `--cache-dir` and `--cache-unlink-files` to `--demuxer-cache-dir` and
      `--demuxer-cache-unlink-files`
    - enable `--correct-downscaling`, `--linear-downscaling`, `--sigmoid-upscaling`
    - `--cscale` defaults to `--scale` if not defined
    - change `--tscale` default to `oversample`
    - change `--dither-depth` to `auto`
    - deprecate `--profile=gpu-hq`, add `--profile=<fast|high-quality>`
    - change `--dscale` default to `hermite`
    - update defaults to `--hdr-peak-decay-rate=20`, `--hdr-scene-threshold-low=1.0`,
      `--hdr-scene-threshold-high=3.0`
    - update defaults to `--deband-threshold=48`, `--deband-grain=32`
    - add `--directory-mode=auto` and make it the default
    - remove deprecated `--profile=opengl-hq`
    - remove several legacy fallbacks for old deprecated options (now they will just
      error out like normal)
    - remove deprecated `drop-frame-count` and `vo-drop-frame-count` property aliases
    - remove the ability to write to the `display-fps` property (use `override-display-fps`
      instead)
    - writing the current value to playlist-pos will no longer restart playback (use
      `playlist-play-index` instead)
    - remove deprecated `--oaoffset`, `--oafirst`, `--ovoffset`, `--ovfirst`,
      `--demuxer-force-retry-on-eof`, `--fit-border` options
    - remove deprecated `--record-file` option
    - remove deprecated `--vf-defaults` and `--af-defaults` options
    - `--drm-connector` no longer allows selecting the card number (use `--drm-device`
      instead)
    - add `--title-bar` option
    - add `--window-corners` option
    - rename `--cdrom-device` to `--cdda-device`
    - remove `--scale-cutoff`, `--cscale-cutoff`, `--dscale-cutoff`, `--tscale-cutoff`
    - remove `--scaler-lut-size`
    - deprecate shared-script-properties (user-data is a replacement)
    - add `--backdrop-type` option
    - add `--window-affinity` option
    - `--config-dir` no longer forces cache and state files to also reside in there
    - deprecate `--demuxer-cue-codepage` in favor of `--metadata-codepage`
    - change the default of `metadata-codepage` to `auto`
    - add `playlist-next-playlist` and `playlist-prev-playlist` commands
    - change `video-codec` to show description or name, not both
    - deprecate `--cdda-toc-bias` option, offsets are always checked now
    - disable `--allow-delayed-peak-detect` by default
    - rename `--fps` to `--container-fps-override`
    - rename `--override-display-fps` to `--display-fps-override`
    - rename `--sub-ass-force-style` to `--sub-ass-style-overrides`
    - alias `--screenshot-directory` to `--screenshot-dir`
    - alias `--watch-later-directory` to `--watch-later-dir`
    - rename `--play-dir` to `--play-direction`
    - `--js-memory-report` is now used for enabling memory reporting for javascript
      scripts
    - drop support for `-del` syntax for list options
    - `--demuxer-hysteresis-secs` now respects `--cache-secs` and/or
      `--demuxer-readahead-secs` as well
    - add hdr metadata to `video-params` property
    - add `--target-gamut`
    - change the way display names are retrieved on macOS, usage of options and properties
      `--fs-screen-name`, `--screen-name` and `display-names` needs to be adjusted
    - remove OpenGL cocoa backend that was deprecated in 0.29
    - remove `border`, `fullscreen`, `ontop`, `osd-level` and `pause`
      from default `--watch-later-options`
    - add `video-*` and `secondary-sub-visibility` to default `--watch-later-options`
 --- mpv 0.36.0 ---
    - add `--target-contrast`
    - Target luminance value is now also applied when ICC profile is used.
      `--icc-use-luma` has been added to use ICC profile luminance value.
      If target luminance and ICC luminance is not used, old behavior apply,
      defaulting to 203 nits. (Only applies for `--vo=gpu-next`)
    - `playlist/N/title` gets set upon opening the file if it wasn't already set
      and a title is available.
    - add the `--vo=kitty` video output driver, as well as the options
      `--vo-kitty-cols`, `--vo-kitty-rows`, `--vo-kitty-width`,
      `--vo-kitty-height`, `--vo-kitty-left`, `--vo-kitty-top`,
      `--vo-kitty-config-clear`, `--vo-kitty-alt-screen` and
      `--vo-kitty-use-shm`
    - add `--force-render`
    - add `--vo-sixel-config-clear`, `--vo-sixel-alt-screen` and
      `--vo-sixel-buffered`
    - add `--wayland-content-type`
    - deprecate `--vo-sixel-exit-clear` and alias it to
      `--vo-sixel-alt-screen`
    - deprecate `--drm-atomic`
    - add `--demuxer-hysteresis-secs`
    - add `--video-sync=display-tempo`
    - the `start` option is no longer unconditionally written by
      watch-later. It is still written by default but you may
      need to explicitly add `start` depending on how you have
      `--watch-later-options` configured.
    - add `--vd-lavc-dr=auto` and make it the default
    - add support for the fractional scale protocol in wayland
    - in wayland, hidpi window scaling now scales the window by the compositor's
      dpi scale factor by default (can be disabled with --no-hidpi-window-scale
      if fractional scaling support exists).
    - change --screenshot-tag-colorspace default value from `no` to `yes`
    - undeprecate vf_sub
    - add `--tone-mapping=st2094-40` and `--tone-mapping=st2094-10`
    - change `--screenshot-jxl-effort` default from `3` to `4`.
    - add `--tone-mapping-visualize`
    - change type of `--brightness`, `--saturation`, `--contrast`, `--hue` and
      `--gamma` to float.
    - add `platform` property
    - add `--auto-window-resize`
    - `--save-position-on-quit` and its associated commands now store state files in
      the XDG_STATE_HOME directory by default. This only has an effect on linux/bsd
      systems.
    - mpv now implictly saves cache files in XDG_CACHE_HOME by default. This only has
      an effect if the user enables options that would lead to cache being stored and
      only makes a difference on linux/bsd systems.
    - `--cache-on-disk` no longer requires explictly setting the `--cache-dir` option
    - add `--icc-cache` and `--gpu-shader-cache` options to control whether or not to
      save cache files for these features; explictly setting `--icc-cache-dir` and
      `--gpu-shader-cache` is no longer required
    - remove the `--tone-mapping-crosstalk` option
    - add `--gamut-mapping-mode=perceptual|relative|saturation|absolute|linear`
    - add `--corner-rounding` option
    - change `--subs-with-matching-audio` default from `yes` to `no`
    - change `--slang` default from blank to `auto`
    - add `--input-cursor-passthrough` option to allow pointer events to completely
      passthrough the mpv window
    - icc and gpu-shader cache are now saved by default (use --no-icc-shader-cache and
      --no-gpu-shader-cache to disable)
    - add `--directory-mode=recursive|lazy|ignore`
    - `--hwdec=yes` is now mapped to `auto-safe` rather than `auto` (also used
      by ctrl+h keybind)
    - add `--hdr-contrast-recovery` and `--hdr-contrast-smoothness`
    - include `--hdr-contrast-recovery` in the `gpu-hq` profile
 --- mpv 0.35.0 ---
    - add the `--vo=gpu-next` video output driver, as well as the options
      `--allow-delayed-peak-detect`, `--builtin-scalers`,
      `--interpolation-preserve` `--lut`, `--lut-type`, `--image-lut`,
      `--image-lut-type` and `--target-lut` along with it.
    - add `--target-colorspace-hint`
    - add `--tone-mapping-crosstalk`
    - add `--tone-mapping` options `auto`, `spline` and `bt.2446a`
    - add `--inverse-tone-mapping`
    - add `--gamut-mapping-mode`, replacing `--gamut-clipping` and `--gamut-warning`
    - add `--tone-mapping-mode`, replacing `--tone-mapping-desaturate` and
      `--tone-mapping-desaturate-exponent`.
    - add `dolbyvision` sub-parameter to `format` video filter
    - `--sub-visibility` no longer has any effect on secondary subtitles
    - add `film-grain` sub-parameter to `format` video filter
    - add experimental `--vo=dmabuf-wayland` video output driver
    - add `--x11-present` for controlling whether to use xorg's present extension
    - add `engine` option to the `rubberband` audio filter to support the new
      engine introduced in rubberband 3.0.0. Defaults to `finer` (new engine).
    - add `--wayland-configure-bounds` option
    - deprecate `--gamma-factor`
    - deprecate `--gamma-auto`
    - remove `--vulkan-disable-events`
    - add `--glsl-shader-opts`
 --- mpv 0.34.0 ---
    - deprecate selecting by card number with `--drm-connector`, add
      `--drm-device` which can be used instead
    - add `--screen-name` and `--fs-screen-name` flags to allow selecting the
      screen by its name instead of the index
    - add `--macos-geometry-calculation` to change the rectangle used for screen
      position and size calculation. the old behavior used the whole screen,
      which didn't take the menu bar and Dock into account. The new default
      behaviour includes both. To revert to the old behavior set this to
      `whole`.
    - add an additional optional `albumart` argument to the `video-add` command,
      which tells mpv to load the given video as album art.
    - undeprecate `--cache-secs` option
    - remove `--icc-contrast` and introduce `--icc-force-contrast`. The latter
      defaults to the equivalent of the old `--icc-contrast=inf`, and can
      instead be used to specifically set the contrast to any value.
    - add a `--watch-later-options` option to allow configuring which
      options quit-watch-later saves
    - make `current-window-scale` writeable and use it in the default input.conf
    - add `--input-builtin-bindings` flag to control loading of built-in key
      bindings during start-up (default: yes).
    - add ``track-list/N/image`` sub-property
    - remove `--opengl-restrict` option
    - js custom-init: use filename ~~/init.js instead of ~~/.init.js (dot)
 --- mpv 0.33.0 ---
    - add `--d3d11-exclusive-fs` flag to enable D3D11 exclusive fullscreen mode
      when the player enters fullscreen.
    - directories in ~/.mpv/scripts/ (or equivalent) now have special semantics
      (see mpv Lua scripting docs)
    - names starting with "." in ~/.mpv/scripts/ (or equivalent) are now ignored
    - js modules: ~~/scripts/modules.js/ is no longer used, global paths can be
      set with custom init (see docs), dir-scripts first look at <dir>/modules/
    - the macOS bundle now logs to "~/Library/Logs/mpv.log" by default
    - deprecate the --cache-secs option (once removed, the cache cannot be
      limited by time anymore)
    - remove deprecated legacy hook API ("hook-add", "hook-ack"). Use either the
      libmpv API (mpv_hook_add(), mpv_hook_continue()), or the Lua scripting
      wrappers (mp.add_hook()).
    - improve how property change notifications are delivered on events and on
      hooks. In particular, a hook event is only returned to a client after all
      changes initiated before the hook point were delivered to the same client.
      In addition, it should no longer happen that events and property change
      notifications were interleaved in bad ways (it could happen that a
      property notification delivered after an event contained a value that was
      valid only before the event happened).
    - the playlist-pos and playlist-pos-1 properties now can return and accept
      -1, and are never unavailable. Out of range indexes are now accepted, but
      behave like writing -1.
    - the playlist-pos and playlist-pos-1 properties deprecate the current
      behavior when writing back the current value to the property: currently,
      this restarts playback, but in the future, it will do nothing.
      Using the "playlist-play-index" command is recommended instead.
    - add "playlist-play-index" command
    - add playlist-current-pos, playlist-playing-pos properties
    - Lua end-file events set the "error" field; this is deprecated; use the
      "file_error" instead for this specific event. Scripts relying on the
      "error" field for end-file will silently break at some point in the
      future.
    - remove deprecated --input-file option, add --input-ipc-client, which is
      vaguely a replacement of the removed option, but not the same
    - change another detail for track selection options (see --aid manpage
      entry)
    - reading loop-file property as native property or mpv_node will now return
      "inf" instead of boolean true (also affects loop option)
    - remove some --vo-direct3d-... options (it got dumbed down; use --vo=gpu)
    - remove video-params/plane-depth property (was too vaguely defined)
    - remove --video-sync-adrop-size option (implementation was changed, no
      replacement for what this option did)
    - undeprecate --video-sync=display-adrop
    - deprecate legacy auto profiles (profiles starting with "extension." and
      "protocol."). Use conditional auto profiles instead.
    - the "subprocess" command does not connect spawned processes' stdin to
      mpv's stdin anymore. Instead, stdin is connected to /dev/null by default.
      To get the old behavior, set the "passthrough_stdin" argument to true.
    - key/value list options do not accept ":" as item separator anymore,
      only ",". This means ":" is always considered part of the value.
    - remove deprecated --vo-vdpau-deint option
    - add `delete-watch-later-config` command to complement
      `write-watch-later-config`
 --- mpv 0.32.0 ---
    - change behavior when using legacy option syntax with options that start
      with two dashes (``--`` instead of a ``-``). Now, using the recommended
      syntax is required for options starting with ``--``, which means an option
      value must be strictly passed after a ``=``, instead of as separate
      argument. For example, ``--log-file f.txt`` was previously accepted and
      behaved like ``--log-file=f.txt``, but now causes an error. Use of legacy
      syntax that is still supported now prints a deprecation warning.
 --- mpv 0.31.0 ---
    - add `--resume-playback-check-mtime` to check consistent mtime when
      restoring playback state.
    - add `--d3d11-output-csp` to enable explicit selection of a D3D11
      swap chain color space.
    - the --sws- options and similar now affect vo_image and screenshot
      conversion (does not matter as much for vo_gpu, which does most of this
      with shaders)
    - add a builtin "sw-fast" profile, which restores performance settings
      for software video conversion. These were switched to higher quality since
      mpv 0.30.0 (related to the previous changelog entry). This affects video
      outputs like vo_x11 and vo_drm, and screenshots, but not much else.
    - deprecate --input-file (there are no plans to remove this short-term,
      but it will probably eventually go away <- that was a lie)
    - deprecate --video-sync=display-adrop (might be removed if it's in the way;
      undeprecated or readded if it's not too much of a problem)
    - deprecate all input section commands (these will be changed/removed, as
      soon as mpv internals do not require them anymore)
    - remove deprecated --playlist-pos alias (use --playlist-start)
    - deprecate --display-fps, introduce --override-display-fps. The display-fps
      property now is unavailable if no VO exists (or the VO did not return a
      display FPS), instead of returning the option value in this case. The
      property will keep existing, but writing to it is deprecated.
    - the vf/af properties now do not reject the set value anymore, even if
      filter chain initialization fails. Instead, the vf/af options are always
      set to the user's value, even if it does not reflect the "runtime" vf/af
      chain.
    - the vid/aid/sid/secondary-sid properties (and their aliases: "audio",
      "video", "sub") will now allow setting any track ID; before this change,
      only IDs of actually existing tracks could be set (the restriction was
      active the MPV_EVENT_FILE_LOADED/"file-loaded" event was sent). Setting
      an ID for which no track exists is equivalent to disabling it. Note that
      setting the properties to non-existing tracks may report it as selected
      track for a small time window, until it's forced back to "no". The exact
      details how this is handled may change in the future.
    - remove old Apple Remote support, including --input-appleremote
    - add MediaPlayer support and remove the old Media Key event tap on macOS.
      this possibly also re-adds the Apple Remote support
    - the "edition" property now strictly returns the value of the option,
      instead of the runtime value. The new "current-edition" property needs to
      be queried to read the runtime-chosen edition. This is a breaking change
      for any users which expected "edition" to return the runtime-chosen
      edition at default settings (--edition=auto).
    - the "window-scale" property now strictly returns the value of the option,
      instead of the actual size of the window. The new "current-window-scale"
      property needs to be queried to read the value as indicated by the current
      window size. This is a breaking change.
    - explicitly deprecate passing more than 1 item to "-add" suffix in key/value
      options (for example --script-opts-add). This was actually always
      deprecated, like with other list options, but the option parser did not
      print a warning in this particular case.
    - deprecate -del for list options (use -remove instead, which is by content
      instead of by integer index)
    - if `--fs` is used but `--fs-screen` is not set, mpv will now use `--screen`
      instead.
    - change the default of --hwdec to "no" on RPI. The default used to be "mmal"
      specifically if 'Raspberry Pi support' was enabled at configure time
      (equivalent to --enable-rpi). Use --hwdec=mmal to get the old behavior.
 --- mpv 0.30.0 ---
    - add `--d3d11-output-format` to enable explicit selection of a D3D11
      swap chain format.
    - rewrite DVB channel switching to use an integer value
      `--dvbin-channel-switch-offset` for switching instead of the old
      stream controls which are now gone. Cycling this property up or down will
      change the offset to the channel which was initially tuned to.
      Example for `input.conf`: `H cycle dvbin-channel-switch-offset up`,
      `K cycle dvbin-channel-switch-offset down`.
    - adapt `stream_dvb` to support writing to `dvbin-prog` at runtime
      and also to consistently use dvbin-configuration over URI parameters
      when provided
    - add `--d3d11-adapter` to enable explicit selection of a D3D11 rendering
      adapter by name.
    - rename `--drm-osd-plane-id` to `--drm-draw-plane`, `--drm-video-plane-id` to
      `--drm-drmprime-video-plane` and `--drm-osd-size` to `--drm-draw-surface-size`
      to better reflect what the options actually control, that the values they
      accept aren't actually internal DRM ID's (like with similar options in
      ffmpeg's KMS support), and that the video plane is only used when the drmprime
      overlay hwdec interop is active, with the video being drawn to the draw plane
      otherwise.
    - in addition to the above, the `--drm-draw-plane` and `--drm-drmprime-video-plane`
      options now accept either an integer index, or the values primary or overlay.
      `--drm-draw-plane` now defaults to primary and `--drm-drmprime-video-plane`
      defaults to overlay. This should be similar to previous behavior on most drivers
      due to how planes are usually sorted.
    - rename --opensles-frames-per-buffer to --opensles-frames-per-enqueue to
      better reflect its purpose. In the past it overrides the buffer size the AO
      requests (but not the default/value of the generic --audio-buffer option).
      Now it only guarantees that the soft buffer size will not be smaller than
      itself while setting the size per Enqueue.
    - add --opensles-buffer-size-in-ms, allowing user to tune the soft buffer size.
      It overrides the --audio-buffer option unless it's set to 0 (with the default
      being 250).
    - remove `--linear-scaling`, replaced by `--linear-upscaling` and
      `--linear-downscaling`. This means that `--sigmoid-upscaling` no longer
      implies linear light downscaling as well, which was confusing.
    - the bu