Type overview & selection

Decide the type on this page first, then go copy the template from the matching card.

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The 12 type values

type	Responsibility	Entry base class	Multiplicity	Notes
asr	Speech recognition	BaseASRProvider	Exclusive (active engine)	Supports per-track routing or singleton sharing
mt	Machine translation	BaseMTEngineProvider	Exclusive (active engine)	Same as above
tts	Speech synthesis	BaseTTSProvider	Exclusive (active engine)	Inbound track → headphones / outbound track → virtual microphone / silent
interpretation	End-to-end simultaneous interpretation	BaseInterpretationProvider	Exclusive (active engine)	Monolithic SI (e.g. iFlytek), bypasses the ASR→MT→TTS cascade
glossary	Glossary	Data file	Can be enabled in multiples	Just write terms.json
theme	Theme / UI slots	BaseThemePlugin / QML	Exclusive for the full layer	material/typography/effects can stack
i18n	Language pack	JSON	Exclusive	Whole-UI translation
middleware	Pipeline middleware	BasePipelineMiddleware	Can be enabled in multiples	Ordered by priority
assistant	AI assistant	BaseAssistantPlugin	Can be enabled in multiples	Plugin window / answering / chat copilot
tool	Tool / text source / select-to-translate	BaseToolPlugin / BasePlugin	Can be enabled in multiples	hotkeys + action_*, not attached to the pipeline
caption_bridge	Web caption bridge	Workshop plugin community_web_caption_bridge	One transport service	Ships via the Workshop, not bundled into the official package; third parties must not write another bridge
caption_extractor	Caption extraction for video sites	Open (extractor.js)	Can be enabled in multiples	Adds site support for the browser extension

Retired ghost types: audio_filter, bundle — deprecated, the host does not recognise them, forbidden in mod.json.

mt plugins use target_langs to declare "which languages it can translate into"; the host builds the caption translate-language dropdown from it. See Language codes & translatable languages.

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Selection cheat sheet

What you want to do	Pick this
Game / industry name mapping (multiple directions)	glossary (zero code)
Change caption colours / opacity	theme (JSON)
Replace the backplate / VU meter / decorative visual components	theme + QML, or a standalone ui-qml
Text cleanup, profanity filtering	middleware
Wire up private speech recognition	asr
Wire up DeepL / an LLM / local translation	mt
Wire up Edge-TTS / GPT-SoVITS / local TTS	tts
End-to-end real-time SI (brings its own ASR+MT+TTS)	interpretation
AI interview / defence copilot	assistant
Select-to-translate / global hotkey tools	tool
Translate the UI into more languages	i18n
Add caption extraction for another video site	caption_extractor

Don't use middleware with action_* to fake a tool plugin — tools / text sources must use the official type: tool, otherwise the hub category is wrong and so are the hotkey semantics.

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Hub category mapping

The host maps type onto the category shown on the hub card:

type	Hub category
middleware	Pipeline tools
tool	Pipeline tools
asr / mt / tts	The matching capability category
interpretation	Real-time SI
Unrecognised type	Other

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UI categories & slot mutual exclusion (summary)

• tool → "Pipeline tools"; unknown type → "Other".
• Shared UI slots are mutually exclusive (these only): overlay_background, caption_view, audio_level, alert_capsule, overlay_decorations, settings_background, history_background, dialog_background, window_background, copilot_window.
• settings_view must not be mutually exclusive (every plugin has its own settings form).
• The complete slot list and the background-slot guidelines are in UI slots.

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Related

• Layout & mod.json — the authoritative field table
• Runtime architecture & lifecycle — dual-track routing, enabling and mutual exclusion
• Provider signatures & data types
• Example library