CoWatcher DocumentationUser Guides & Language Immersion Knowledge Base

No deep technical background required. Master bilingual subtitles, watch history tracking, and vocabulary flashcards with ease.

3-Minute Quickstart

Shortcuts & Controls

Official Showcase ↗

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Quickstart & Hotkeys

Install the extension, toggle subtitles anytime with Alt + T, swap primary/secondary layers, and inspect words.

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Supported Platforms

Practical guides for Netflix (ad drift guard), TVer Japan (fullscreen mounting), and YouTube dual tracks.

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Choosing Your AI Provider

Free built-in translation, zero-cost private local Ollama (GPU), or cutting-edge cloud models (DeepSeek, Claude, Gemini).

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Watch History & Flashcards

Automatically record viewing history and duration, retain character names across episodes, and export to Anki.

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Advanced Pipeline Tuning

Dual-model collaborative flow, refill thresholds, lookahead windows, and synchronization offsets for power users.

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Contributors & Sponsors

Browse our honor roll of code contributors, translators, and coffee sponsors, and learn how to contribute.

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Third-Party Credits & Notices

Review licenses and non-endorsement disclaimers for open-source NLP engines, phonetic converters, and public dictionary APIs.

🧭 Documentation Hub

1. 🌟 Which Translation Provider Should I Choose?

CoWatcher supports multiple translation providers to suit high school language learners and seasoned developers alike:

Option	Best For	Cost	Key Highlights	Setup Effort
Free Built-in Translation	Casual viewers & language learners	100% Free	Ready out of the box with zero extra configuration	⭐ Zero setup
Local GPU (Ollama)	Users with dedicated GPUs (GTX 1660 / RTX 2060+)	100% Free	100% private, no internet bandwidth, low latency	⭐⭐ Requires Ollama
Top Cloud Models (OpenRouter)	High-accuracy movie translation & slang consistency	Pay-per-use (fractions of a cent)	Connects DeepSeek, Claude, Gemini, etc.	⭐⭐ Requires API Key

2. ⚡ Common Shortcuts & Quick Actions

While watching your favorite shows, you only need to know a few essential controls:

Alt + T: Global hotkey to toggle AI bilingual subtitles on or off instantly.
Swap Primary/Secondary Subtitles: Toggle in the popup to place translated text on top or bottom according to your learning preferences.
Instant Word Definition: Click or hover any unfamiliar term to view meanings and save directly to your Anki study deck.
Cross-Episode Character Memory: Character aliases discovered in Episode 1 persist into Episode 2 and beyond automatically.
👉 Read Full Popup & Shortcuts Guide

3. 📺 Platform Playbooks

4. 💖 Acknowledgements & Community

CoWatcher is 100% open-source. Check out our System Architecture Whitepaper, submit an issue or PR on GitHub, and view our Contributors, Sponsors & Data Credits Roll!