Backlog Radio and query grammar

OpenBox 1.11 adds three local ways to get from “I have too many games” to a defensible next action: Backlog Radio, the deterministic query bar, and the Ctrl/Cmd-K command palette.

Backlog Radio

Backlog Radio appears in the local Insights/Discovery surface as a playlist of up to five games. Each pick carries reason chips derived from your library and recorded sessions, plus an estimated_minutes field (integer, rounded): the genre-based length estimate minus already-played minutes (floor 15; unplayed games report the full estimate). The model uses a bounded recent history window, session length, genres/platforms, completion patterns, freshness, and related-game signals; it does not call an online recommendation service.

The first recommendations are deliberately modest. The habit model needs enough recorded sessions before it claims to know your habits; otherwise the response carries a fallback notice and uses library freshness/rating signals. Completed, hidden, unavailable, and already selected entries are excluded from a normal backlog pick. Refreshing replaces the managed Backlog Radio selection rather than silently duplicating it.

Use Refresh picks when you want a new set, or call:

curl -H "X-OpenBox-Token: $TOKEN" \
  "http://127.0.0.1:$PORT/api/v2/insights/radio"

curl -X POST -H "X-OpenBox-Token: $TOKEN" \
  "http://127.0.0.1:$PORT/api/v2/insights/radio/refresh"

The response is {"playlist": ...} with the picks, explanations, estimated_minutes per pick, and any honest fallback notice. Without enough history the fallback ranks by rating then freshness and reports score: 0.0. The related abandonment radar is available as GET /api/v2/insights/radar; its winnable/park entries also carry estimated_minutes. POST /api/v2/insights/radar/park parks a stalled game when you choose to stop seeing it in the radar.

Query the collection

Type a short phrase in the library search bar. OpenBox parses the phrase with a small deterministic grammar and renders the interpretation as removable chips. Examples include:

The grammar also understands typed terms such as platform:PC, quoted values, negative terms, ratings, progress, time/idle phrases, sources, tags, stores, ESRB, region, series, and player counts. Thresholds are intentionally simple: “short/quick” is at most 5 estimated hours, “long/epic” is at least 20, “highly rated” starts at 4.0, “top rated” at 4.5, and “retro/classic” uses a release year of 2000 or earlier. These are filters, not promises that metadata exists for every game.

Unknown words remain ordinary title/metadata text. A phrase is never promoted to a guessed filter just because it sounds plausible, and the chips are the source of truth for what the current query applies. The parse response carries the leftover words as unparsed with a hint ("Some words aren't in the query grammar…" or "No query grammar matched…").

Clauses fail closed on missing metadata: a year, rating, player-count, time/idle, added-date, or time-to-beat filter never matches a game that lacks the field, and unknown clause kinds never match. Estimates behind "short/long" use the same genre fallback as Radio picks (RPG/strategy/simulation 120 min, adventure/action/shooter/platform/fighting 60 min, puzzle/card/board 30 min, 45 min otherwise). Launch Doctor surfaces unknown launch-command tokens the same honest way: an explain_token fix action renders an Explain token button listing the invalid tokens and the valid {path} {name} {platform} set.

For an integration, parse without changing the library:

curl -s -X POST \
  -H "X-OpenBox-Token: $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query":"short unplayed rpg"}' \
  "http://127.0.0.1:$PORT/api/v2/library/query/parse"

The response includes the parsed rules/clauses/chips, leftovers/hint, match_count, and bounded matched_game_ids. It is read-only and accepts query text up to 2,000 characters.

Command palette

Press Ctrl-K on Windows/Linux or Cmd-K on macOS. The palette searches games and exposes actions, settings, and What's New discovery. Its ? view repeats the current shortcut table, so it is the quickest way to check controls without leaving the app. The palette is local UI over the existing API; it does not create a second search service. Since 1.12 it also ranks recently chosen games and actions first, from local usage counts — no telemetry.

Save a query as a collection (v1.12.0)

A parsed query can be pinned: the query bar's Save as collection chip stores the interpretation — the query text itself — as a named sidebar shelf. A collection re-evaluates through the canonical search path at read time, so "under 5 hours, never played" stays correct as your library and play history change. It stores the question, not the answer.

• Collections live in the sidebar Collections section, at most 50 named shelves.
• Rename by saving again with the new name; delete from the collection row. Games are never touched.
• The routes are GET/POST /api/v2/collections and POST /api/v2/collections/delete; an unparsable saved query evaluates to zero matches, never an error. See API 1.12 additions.

See Discovery, Keyboard & Controller Shortcuts, and API 1.11 additions for the surrounding UI and route contracts.