[Feature Request] Support for image rendering in terminal (Kitty, ITerm2, Sixel)

[OverStyleFR]

Description

I would like to suggest adding a visual component to plexctl: the ability to render media posters and covers directly within the terminal. Since this is a CLI-first tool for Plex, having the option to see the artwork would significantly improve the browsing experience and make the interface feel more modern.

Proposed Solution

Since the project is built in Rust, we could leverage existing crates that handle terminal image protocols (such as the Kitty graphics protocol, Sixel, or iTerm2).

I suggest looking into:

• ratatui-image: If plexctl uses (or plans to use) Ratatui for its interface, this is the most seamless way to integrate image widgets.
• viuer: A great standalone library that automatically detects terminal capabilities and chooses the best rendering method.

Use Case

When a user selects a movie or a show, the tool could fetch the poster URL from the Plex API and display it in a dedicated pane or alongside the metadata.

• Kitty/WezTerm users: Would get high-resolution graphics.
• Other users: Could benefit from Sixel or half-block character fallbacks.

Additional Context

Integrating this would make plexctl stand out as a highly polished TUI client. It brings a "media center" feel while staying purely within the terminal environment.

[ygelfand]

is this llm generated? project isn't built in rust. full resolution image rendering is wonky in other terminals. There's already image posters.

[OverStyleFR]

is this llm generated? project isn't built in rust. full resolution image rendering is wonky in other terminals. There's already image posters.

Yes, partially! I use AI to help translate my French into clean English. The mention of Rust was completely my fault though—I mixed it up with another project I was looking at. Sorry about the confusion! 😅

Regarding the posters, I'm currently seeing them rendered as ASCII art on my end. Is there a specific way or setting to enable true image rendering? I'm using Kitty, and I've seen full-resolution images work quite well in other TUI tools using the Kitty graphics protocol. I'd love to know if that's something possible to achieve here!

[ygelfand]

yeah I tried to get some image rendering early on w/ all the scrolling/etc capabilities, and not clear if its doable without some poor performance, but can give it another shot

[OverStyleFR]

yeah I tried to get some image rendering early on w/ all the scrolling/etc capabilities, and not clear if its doable without some poor performance, but can give it another shot

I totally understand the performance concerns...

Maybe an on-demand approach could work? For instance, having a specific keybind to trigger the high-res image rendering. This could be a good compromise if rendering them by default causes huge performance drops.

Currently, this is the main thing holding me back from adopting this TUI as my daily driver for Plex. That said, it already does the job incredibly well, and honestly, recreating the Plex UI inside a terminal is exceptional! It's super practical and makes navigation feel instantly familiar.

This suggestion is really just to put the finishing touches on the amazing work you've already done on this tool!