Development Status

Turboism is a Java 17 runtime enhancement tool and plugin framework for Live2D Cubism Editor. Development is organized around usable framework and product capabilities rather than the retired M1–M16 migration sequence.

This page is a source-backed snapshot of the current development branch. It is not a release announcement; use the release feeds for published versions.

Current architecture

Plugin -> SDK -> Runtime policy -> versioned Adapter/Provider -> Cubism/Editor

Plugins depend on the Turboism SDK only. Runtime owns host access, lifecycle, safety, threading, transactions, diagnostics, compatibility, and version routing.

Supported host versions

• Windows x64 is the supported Cubism host platform.
• Cubism Editor 5.2.03, 5.3.02, and 5.3.03 are admitted exact versions with version-routed adapters and Providers.
• Unlisted Editor versions are not claimed compatible, and unsupported or unverified capabilities fail closed.
• macOS packaging is preview-only with no verified host support; Linux is limited to installer and payload behavior.

Release and delivery

• One product identity with three channels: stable, beta, and nightly. Each channel produces the same four package formats.
• Product releases are split into read-only candidate builds and an explicitly protected GitHub promotion step. A failed candidate reuses the intended version; only promotion creates the annotated tag and publishes the verified bytes without rebuilding.
• Every build embeds a global build identity: version, channel, build number, source revision, and dirty flag (FrameworkBuildInfo).
• A release API at api.turboism.dev mirrors every channel with per-asset SHA-256 and checksum files, resolves the official mirror and GitHub sources, and reports per-release download requests.
• Reviewed release notes carry Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean translations with English as the fallback; a translation whose digest no longer matches the exact English section is rejected rather than reused.
• Installers ship in English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Installer language is installer-scoped; runtime language comes from the runtime locale setting, and plugin interface language follows the Cubism Environment Settings language.

Framework foundations

• Java Agent bootstrap, Runtime, SDK, first-party plugin, test-framework, and integration-test modules.
• Plugin metadata schema versions 2, 3 (adds required category and bounded tags), and 4 (adds declared event imports and exports), with strict validation per version.
• Local plugin JAR discovery, manifest and API-range validation, dependency resolution, one ClassLoader per plugin, lifecycle execution, reverse shutdown, and scope/ClassLoader cleanup.
• Ordered multiple entrypoints per JAR with whole-JAR startup rollback.
• PluginContext services for logging, paths, localization, tasks, configuration, storage, user files, events, actions, UI contributions, Cubism access, and diagnostics.
• Managed local JAR install, replacement, enable, disable, and uninstall. Changes are staged in a journal and applied after Cubism restarts; the built-in framework shell is runtime-owned framework code, not a plugin, and cannot be disabled or uninstalled.
• Startup preflight revalidates the staged payload identity (SHA-256, size, descriptor hash) before apply, and a private backup/restore protects failed replacement applies.
• Framework message catalogs are held to the same locale matrix as the first-party plugins, so a missing catalog fails a build gate instead of silently degrading to English.

Installer and delivery

Three packaging paths share one staged payload and the Full/Thin/Lite plugin model:

• the Windows-native NSIS installer (TurboismInstaller-<version>.exe), which offers Full and Lite plus an optional managed GraalVM component;
• the Java 17 IzPack installer (TurboismInstaller-<version>.jar), which offers Full, Thin, and Lite and installs on Windows, macOS, and Linux;
• the portable turboism-<version>-full.zip and turboism-<version>-lite.zip archives.

Both installers gate installation behind four required acknowledgements and a full localized runtime declaration. Neither modifies Cubism installation files. config.json has explicit update ownership: on an existing valid document the installer changes only the managed plugin selection, and a recognized legacy schema is migrated and validated before any payload mutation. The Windows configurator lists only exact supported Cubism installations and keeps Turboism-owned shortcuts separate from optional, hash-guarded official BAT integration.

Cubism and Editor API progress

• A unified object graph covers Canvas, Parameters, Parameter Groups, Parts, Drawables, Deformers, Warp and Rotation Deformers, Glue, parameter bindings, and texture atlases.
• Core-backed reads use immutable copied data, version normalization, generation-bound stale-reference rejection, and digest-pinned resolver evidence.
• The parameter authoring path connects Parameter.setValue to Editor operations, permission checks, Undo, dirty-state handling, refresh, and stale-target rejection.
• Part display-name writes have real-host evidence on 5.2.03 and 5.3.02. Part opacity authoring writes have evidence on 5.3.02 and are intentionally unavailable on 5.2.03 because the observed evaluation setter did not participate in native Part Undo.
• Cubism 5.3.03 has its own admitted texture-atlas authoring providers, selector contract, and layout provider, plus exact-version profiles for physics, performance metrics, project lifecycle, model statistics, and startup suppression.
• Parameter lifecycle hooks support ordered synchronous before rewriting, changed-only on, normal-completion after, recursion rejection, bounded observation work, and unload cleanup.
• History now projects immutable semantic detail: HistoryEntry, HistoryChange, HistoryEditContext, HistoryGroup, HistoryOrigin, HistoryTarget, and bounded validation of targets, coordinates, and grouping. These values grant no host write authority.
• The current-page texture-atlas layout contract is bound as a reviewed SDK compatibility baseline (v10), with linkage gates for retained constructors.

Update checker

• Turboism checks for stable updates against the deployed release API. The comparison uses the authoritative build number embedded in the installed package.
• An available update is presented as a native Cubism hint over the drawing area. Clicking it opens the fixed first-party download page; no installer is downloaded or executed automatically.
• The update checker is non-blocking and runs at most once per 24 hours, with a manual check always available. Automatic checks have their own persistent toggle in the Startup settings tab.
• Plugins can show native Cubism hints over the drawing area through the canvas-hint UI capability (turboism.ui.canvas.hint permission), version-routed through verified 5.2.03, 5.3.02, and 5.3.03 host routes.

First-party plugins

The reviewed bundle contains seventeen plugins: texture-atlas packing, mesh mirror-axis editing, parameter batch transfer, physics editing, palette tab filters, PSD clip-mask import, history panel, recent preview thumbnails, WebDAV auto-backup sync, clip-mask viewer, texture-atlas statistics, performance statistics, UI themes, palette label styling, scene palette enhancer, protected export, and the loopback MCP server. The built-in Turboism menu, settings, plugin management, and update hints are provided by the runtime-owned framework shell, not by a plugin. See First-Party Plugins.

Shared plugin services and UI

The SDK includes contracts for:

• actions and menus;
• main and palette toolbars;
• typed context menus;
• toolkit-neutral embedded panels;
• overlays, status notifications, canvas hints, dialogs, and file selection;
• typed plugin configuration and migrations;
• plugin-owned data, state, and cache storage;
• bounded tasks and cancellation;
• asynchronous host reads;
• localization and diagnostics;
• appearance, scene-table, and selected Editor feature families.

Host and UI families fail closed when a matching Provider or verified host capability is unavailable. Fake or static tests do not automatically establish real-host readiness.

Verification model

Verification is layered by cost and risk rather than run as one undifferentiated gate:

focused verification      smallest affected compile or test selection
devCheck                  production compilation plus structural boundaries
checkIntegration          packaged runtime, plugin, bundle, and cross-module behavior
checkCompletedCommit      full automated repository gate for a coherent change
checkRelease              completed-commit plus supply-chain, historical, and installer-artifact checks
host validation           explicit exact-version Cubism execution for the affected feature

Host validation runs through a supervised local queue: build and prepare work may run in parallel, but a single host-admission lock serializes real Cubism sessions, completion requires matching structured lifecycle and cleanup evidence, and unknown ownership quarantines the host for inspection instead of killing unrelated sessions.

Official Directory status

A built-in signed Official Directory client and UI are implemented, but production activation is not ready: the production key list is empty and live signed catalog readiness is not established. It is not a live marketplace.

In progress or version-limited

• Many unified-object write methods still depend on a specific version Provider. A method in the interface does not mean every supported Cubism version can execute it.
• The full Editor-authoring matrix remains incomplete for several operation families, and per-family readiness is recorded in the SDK API Guide.
• Drawable, Deformer, Glue, mesh, PSD, and additional texture-atlas workflows require consumer-driven implementation and exact validation.
• Host UI attachment, high-frequency hooks, and real-host readiness remain high-risk boundaries with exact-version gates.
• SDK HTML Javadoc can be generated and is hosted on this site, but many public declarations still need better explanatory comments.

Not currently promised

Turboism does not currently promise:

• a signed or notarized public release channel for installer packages;
• verified macOS Cubism host support;
• automatic download and installation of framework or plugin updates (update checks are available; automatic installer updates are not);
• a production-enabled marketplace, publisher signing, or revocation;
• a complete user-facing install, repair, rollback, recovery, and purge UI;
• global modification of Cubism launchers;
• uniform feature readiness across every Cubism version;
• production readiness based only on fake, static, or single-version evidence.

Near-term order

1. Finish the unified object and reference model.
2. Complete Core reads and version-routed Providers.
3. Expand Editor-owned writes with Undo from verified consumers.
4. Standardize operation lifecycle semantics.
5. Complete project, selection, and model-tree APIs.
6. Restore remaining first-party workflows through SDK-only plugins.
7. Add hooks only when explicit APIs, refresh, polling, or callbacks are insufficient.
8. Harden third-party SDK, packaging, and release evidence.

For source-level context, see the Turboism repository and its ARCHITECTURE.md and ROADMAP.md files.