fix(stream): retry thumbnail extraction with output-seek on seek-index failure

Fast input seek (-ss before -i) fails on files whose seek index is imprecise
or mildly corrupt: the demuxer lands mid-EBML element ("invalid as first byte
of an EBML number") and decodes no frame, so the web scrubber showed a broken
image (2026-06-03, anime MKVs: 15/15 prewarm thumbnails failed). When the fast
path yields no frame, retry once with output seek (-ss after -i, decode from
the start) + -err_detect ignore_err. Applied in both the on-demand handler
(buildThumbnailArgsAccurate) and the prewarm extractor (ExtractThumbnailJPEG).
Cost is paid only when the fast path fails, so healthy files keep the cheap path.

Regression test: TestBuildThumbnailArgsAccurate.

internal/engine/stream_server.go

@@ -1050,13 +1050,24 @@ func (ss *StreamServer) thumbnailHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
 	cmd.Stderr = &stderr
 	out, err := cmd.Output()
 	if err != nil || len(out) == 0 {
-		// A seek past EOF yields no frame — a benign empty output, not an error
+		// Fast input-seek (-ss before -i) can fail on files whose seek index is
-		// worth alarming on. Log at most a short line for diagnosis.
+		// imprecise or mildly corrupt: the demuxer lands mid-EBML element
-		log.Printf("[thumbnail] no frame (pos=%.1f w=%d path=%q): err=%v %s",
+		// ("invalid as first byte of an EBML number") and no frame decodes.
+		// Retry once with the slow but robust output-seek path before giving up
+		// (2026-06-03: anime MKVs returned a broken image in the web scrubber).
+		log.Printf("[thumbnail] input-seek failed (pos=%.1f w=%d path=%q): err=%v %s — retrying output-seek",
 			pos, width, rawPath, err, strings.TrimSpace(stderr.String()))
+		var stderr2 strings.Builder
+		cmd2 := exec.CommandContext(ctx, ss.ffmpegPath, buildThumbnailArgsAccurate(rawPath, pos, width)...)
+		cmd2.Stderr = &stderr2
+		out, err = cmd2.Output()
+		if err != nil || len(out) == 0 {
+			log.Printf("[thumbnail] no frame after output-seek fallback (pos=%.1f w=%d path=%q): err=%v %s",
+				pos, width, rawPath, err, strings.TrimSpace(stderr2.String()))
 			http.Error(w, "thumbnail failed", http.StatusInternalServerError)
 			return
 		}
+	}
 	// Write-through so the next request (and trickplay re-hover) is a cache hit.
 	if ss.cacheThumbnails {
 		if werr := mediainfo.WriteCachedThumbnail(rawPath, pos, width, out); werr != nil {
@@ -1194,6 +1205,28 @@ func buildThumbnailArgs(path string, posSec float64, width int) []string {
 	}
 }
 
+// buildThumbnailArgsAccurate is the robust fallback for files whose seek index
+// is imprecise or mildly corrupt, where the fast input seek (-ss before -i)
+// lands mid-EBML element and decodes no frame. `-ss` AFTER `-i` is an output
+// (decode) seek — slower (decodes from the start) but reliable — and
+// `-err_detect ignore_err` tolerates minor stream corruption encountered along
+// the way. Only used after buildThumbnailArgs fails, so its extra cost is paid
+// solely for files the fast path can't handle.
+func buildThumbnailArgsAccurate(path string, posSec float64, width int) []string {
+	return []string{
+		"-nostdin",
+		"-loglevel", "error",
+		"-err_detect", "ignore_err",
+		"-i", path,
+		"-ss", strconv.FormatFloat(posSec, 'f', 3, 64),
+		"-frames:v", "1",
+		"-vf", fmt.Sprintf("scale=%d:-2", width),
+		"-an", "-sn",
+		"-f", "mjpeg",
+		"pipe:1",
+	}
+}
+
 // parseThumbPos parses a non-negative seconds offset; defaults to 0 on garbage.
 func parseThumbPos(s string) float64 {
 	if s == "" {

internal/engine/thumbnail_test.go

@@ -73,6 +73,35 @@ func TestBuildThumbnailArgs(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// buildThumbnailArgsAccurate is the robust fallback used when the fast input
+// seek fails on a file with a corrupt/imprecise seek index (2026-06-03
+// broken-thumbnail bug on anime MKVs). It must use OUTPUT seek (-ss AFTER -i)
+// so it decodes from the start, plus -err_detect ignore_err to tolerate minor
+// stream corruption — the opposite of the fast buildThumbnailArgs.
+func TestBuildThumbnailArgsAccurate(t *testing.T) {
+	args := buildThumbnailArgsAccurate("/x/movie.mkv", 123.5, 320)
+	joined := strings.Join(args, " ")
+
+	ssIdx, iIdx := indexOfArg(args, "-ss"), indexOfArg(args, "-i")
+	if ssIdx < 0 || iIdx < 0 || ssIdx <= iIdx {
+		t.Errorf("-ss must come AFTER -i (output seek, robust fallback): %v", args)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(joined, "-err_detect ignore_err") {
+		t.Errorf("accurate args must tolerate stream errors (-err_detect ignore_err): %v", args)
+	}
+	if args[ssIdx+1] != "123.500" {
+		t.Errorf("pos arg = %q, want 123.500", args[ssIdx+1])
+	}
+	if args[iIdx+1] != "/x/movie.mkv" {
+		t.Errorf("input arg = %q, want the path", args[iIdx+1])
+	}
+	for _, want := range []string{"-frames:v 1", "scale=320:-2", "-f mjpeg", "pipe:1", "-an", "-sn"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(joined, want) {
+			t.Errorf("args missing %q: %v", want, args)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestParseThumbPos(t *testing.T) {
 	cases := map[string]float64{"": 0, "abc": 0, "-5": 0, "0": 0, "12.5": 12.5, "600": 600}
 	for in, want := range cases {

internal/library/mediainfo/sidecar.go

@@ -229,12 +229,35 @@ func WriteCachedThumbnail(mediaPath string, posSec float64, width int, jpeg []by
 }
 
 // ExtractThumbnailJPEG decodes ONE frame at posSec, scaled to `width`, as JPEG
-// bytes. Mirrors engine.buildThumbnailArgs so the scan-time prewarm produces
+// bytes. The fast path mirrors engine.buildThumbnailArgs (`-ss` before `-i` =
-// frames byte-identical to the on-demand handler (`-ss` before `-i` = fast
+// fast input/keyframe seek); on a seek-index failure both this prewarm path and
-// input/keyframe seek). Shared by the prewarm; the handler keeps its own inline
+// the on-demand handler fall back to the identical output-seek argv
-// extraction (covered by thumbnail_test.go) and only reuses the cache helpers.
+// (thumbnailArgsAccurate / engine.buildThumbnailArgsAccurate), so the two stay
+// equivalent in both paths. Shared by the prewarm; the handler keeps its own
+// inline extraction (engine package) and only reuses the cache helpers here.
 func ExtractThumbnailJPEG(ctx context.Context, ffmpegPath, mediaPath string, posSec float64, width int) ([]byte, error) {
-	args := []string{
+	// Fast path: input seek (-ss before -i) — near-constant time, the common case.
+	out, err := runThumbnailFFmpeg(ctx, ffmpegPath, thumbnailArgsFast(mediaPath, posSec, width))
+	if err == nil {
+		return out, nil
+	}
+	// Fallback: output seek (-ss after -i) + error tolerance. Slower (decodes
+	// from the start) but robust on files whose seek index is imprecise or
+	// mildly corrupt, where the fast input seek lands mid-EBML element
+	// ("invalid as first byte of an EBML number") and yields no frame
+	// (2026-06-03: anime MKVs failed every prewarm thumbnail). Paid only when
+	// the fast path fails, so healthy files keep the cheap path.
+	out, err2 := runThumbnailFFmpeg(ctx, ffmpegPath, thumbnailArgsAccurate(mediaPath, posSec, width))
+	if err2 == nil {
+		return out, nil
+	}
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("ffmpeg thumbnail extract: %w (output-seek fallback: %v)", err, err2)
+}
+
+// thumbnailArgsFast is the input-seek (fast keyframe) thumbnail argv. Mirrors
+// engine.buildThumbnailArgs so prewarm frames match the on-demand handler.
+func thumbnailArgsFast(mediaPath string, posSec float64, width int) []string {
+	return []string{
 		"-nostdin",
 		"-loglevel", "error",
 		"-ss", strconv.FormatFloat(posSec, 'f', 3, 64),
@@ -245,6 +268,30 @@ func ExtractThumbnailJPEG(ctx context.Context, ffmpegPath, mediaPath string, pos
 		"-f", "mjpeg",
 		"pipe:1",
 	}
+}
+
+// thumbnailArgsAccurate is the output-seek (decode-from-start) fallback with
+// error tolerance. Mirrors engine.buildThumbnailArgsAccurate.
+func thumbnailArgsAccurate(mediaPath string, posSec float64, width int) []string {
+	return []string{
+		"-nostdin",
+		"-loglevel", "error",
+		"-err_detect", "ignore_err",
+		"-i", mediaPath,
+		"-ss", strconv.FormatFloat(posSec, 'f', 3, 64),
+		"-frames:v", "1",
+		"-vf", fmt.Sprintf("scale=%d:-2", width),
+		"-an", "-sn",
+		"-f", "mjpeg",
+		"pipe:1",
+	}
+}
+
+// runThumbnailFFmpeg runs one ffmpeg thumbnail extraction and returns the JPEG
+// bytes. setIdleIOPriority keeps the background prewarm from starving live
+// playback I/O. An empty output (e.g. seek past EOF) is treated as an error so
+// the caller can fall back.
+func runThumbnailFFmpeg(ctx context.Context, ffmpegPath string, args []string) ([]byte, error) {
 	cmd := exec.CommandContext(ctx, ffmpegPath, args...)
 	var stdout, stderr bytes.Buffer
 	cmd.Stdout = &stdout
@@ -256,7 +303,7 @@ func ExtractThumbnailJPEG(ctx context.Context, ffmpegPath, mediaPath string, pos
 	err := cmd.Wait()
 	out := stdout.Bytes()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("ffmpeg thumbnail extract: %w: %s", err, strings.TrimSpace(stderr.String()))
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", err, strings.TrimSpace(stderr.String()))
 	}
 	if len(out) == 0 {
 		return nil, errors.New("ffmpeg produced no thumbnail (seek past EOF?)")