dock-media

Previewing local audio or video inside the DSH workbench used to mean reading the entire file into memory as base64 before the first frame could render. Large files would freeze the tab, and the seek bar was effectively dead. dock-media replaces that with true streaming: a dedicated /dock-media/source route serves bytes via HTTP Range requests (206 Partial Content), so the browser starts playback instantly, supports real-time seeking, and keeps memory usage flat no matter how big the file is.

The player adapts to the media type. Pure-audio formats (MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A, OGG, OPUS, AAC, and more) open in a custom music player featuring a spinning-disc animation, equalizer bars that react to playback state, a draggable seek bar, volume and mute controls, playback speed from 0.5x to 2x, and single-track loop. Video formats (MP4, WebM, MOV, MKV, OGV, and others) use the native video element with one-click fullscreen via the Fullscreen API and a semi-transparent floating header for an immersive feel. The header shows a format badge and file size in real time, and containers the browser cannot decode (AVI, FLV, WMV, MPG, etc.) receive a clear message instead of a dead spinner.

This plugin is built for developers and content creators who keep local audio or video files inside the DSH workbench. Double-click a track in ~/Music or a screen recording under ~/.dsh/skills and it plays immediately, without switching to a system player or spinning up a separate browser tab. It coexists cleanly with dock-editor, dock-markdown, and dock-images, each claiming its own file extensions by design.