scripting: add a way to run sub processes as "scripts"

This is just a more convenient way to start IPC client scripts per mpv
instance.

Does not work on Windows, although it could if the subprocess and IPC
parts are implemented (and I guess .exe/.bat suffixes are required).
Also untested whether it builds on Windows. A lot of other things are
untested too, so don't complain.

DOCS/man/ipc.rst

@@ -297,3 +297,30 @@ Is equivalent to:
 ::
 
     { "objkey": "value\n" }
+
+Alternative ways of starting clients
+------------------------------------
+
+You can create an anonymous IPC connection without having to set
+``--input-ipc-server``. This is achieved through a mpv pseudo scripting backend
+that starts processes.
+
+You can put ``.run`` file extension in the mpv scripts directory in its  config
+directory (see the `FILES`_ section for details), or load them through other
+means (see `Script location`_). These scripts are simply executed with the OS
+native mechanism (as if you ran them in the shell). They must have a proper
+shebang and have the executable bit set.
+
+When executed, a socket (the IPC connection) is passed to them through file
+descriptor inheritance. The file descriptor is indicated as the special command
+line argument ``--mpv-ipc-fd=N``, where ``N`` is the numeric file descriptor.
+Currently, this is hardcoded as ``--mpv-ipc-fd=3``, and the intention is that
+it will always be ``3``. (This was a promise between keeping it as simple as
+possible, and not doing too much implicitly. Also, since there is a chance that
+this will change anyway, you should at least validate that you got the expected
+argument.)
+
+The rest is the same as with a normal ``--input-ipc-server`` IPC connection. mpv
+does not attempt to observe or other interact with the started script process.
+
+This does not work in Windows yet.

input/input.h

@@ -213,10 +213,20 @@ void mp_input_sdl_gamepad_add(struct input_ctx *ictx);
 
 struct mp_ipc_ctx;
 struct mp_client_api;
+struct mpv_handle;
 
 // Platform specific implementation, provided by ipc-*.c.
 struct mp_ipc_ctx *mp_init_ipc(struct mp_client_api *client_api,
                                struct mpv_global *global);
+// Start a thread for the given handle and return a socket in out_fd[0] that
+// is served by this thread. If the FD is not full-duplex, then out_fd[0] is
+// the user's read-end, and out_fd[1] the write-end, otherwise out_fd[1] is set
+// to -1.
+//  returns:
+//      true: out_fd[0] and out_fd[1] are set, ownership of h is transferred
+//      false: out_fd are not touched, caller retains ownership of h
+bool mp_ipc_start_anon_client(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, struct mpv_handle *h,
+                              int out_fd[2]);
 void mp_uninit_ipc(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx);
 
 // Serialize the given mpv_event structure to JSON. Returns an allocated string.

input/ipc-dummy.c

@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ struct mp_ipc_ctx *mp_init_ipc(struct mp_client_api *client_api,
     return NULL;
 }
 
+bool mp_ipc_start_anon_client(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, struct mpv_handle *h,
+                              int out_fd[2])
+{
+    return false;
+}
+
 void mp_uninit_ipc(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx)
 {
 }

input/ipc-unix.c

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ struct client_arg {
     struct mp_log *log;
     struct mpv_handle *client;
 
-    char *client_name;
+    const char *client_name;
     int client_fd;
     bool close_client_fd;
 
@@ -215,9 +215,11 @@ done:
     return NULL;
 }
 
-static void ipc_start_client(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, struct client_arg *client)
+static bool ipc_start_client(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, struct client_arg *client,
+                             bool free_on_init_fail)
 {
-    client->client = mp_new_client(ctx->client_api, client->client_name);
+    if (!client->client)
+        client->client = mp_new_client(ctx->client_api, client->client_name);
     if (!client->client)
         goto err;
 
@@ -227,16 +229,19 @@ static void ipc_start_client(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, struct client_arg *client)
     if (pthread_create(&client_thr, NULL, client_thread, client))
         goto err;
 
-    return;
+    return true;
 
 err:
-    if (client->client)
+    if (free_on_init_fail) {
-        mpv_destroy(client->client);
+        if (client->client)
+            mpv_destroy(client->client);
 
-    if (client->close_client_fd)
+        if (client->close_client_fd)
-        close(client->client_fd);
+            close(client->client_fd);
+    }
 
     talloc_free(client);
+    return false;
 }
 
 static void ipc_start_client_json(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, int id, int fd)
@@ -246,11 +251,37 @@ static void ipc_start_client_json(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, int id, int fd)
         .client_name = talloc_asprintf(client, "ipc-%d", id),
         .client_fd   = fd,
         .close_client_fd = true,
-
         .writable = true,
     };
 
-    ipc_start_client(ctx, client);
+    ipc_start_client(ctx, client, true);
+}
+
+bool mp_ipc_start_anon_client(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, struct mpv_handle *h,
+                              int out_fd[2])
+{
+    int pair[2];
+    if (socketpair(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0, pair))
+        return false;
+
+    struct client_arg *client = talloc_ptrtype(NULL, client);
+    *client = (struct client_arg){
+        .client = h,
+        .client_name = mpv_client_name(h),
+        .client_fd   = pair[1],
+        .close_client_fd = true,
+        .writable = true,
+    };
+
+    if (!ipc_start_client(ctx, client, false)) {
+        close(pair[0]);
+        close(pair[1]);
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    out_fd[0] = pair[0];
+    out_fd[1] = -1;
+    return true;
 }
 
 static void ipc_start_client_text(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, const char *path)
@@ -292,7 +323,7 @@ static void ipc_start_client_text(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, const char *path)
         .writable = writable,
     };
 
-    ipc_start_client(ctx, client);
+    ipc_start_client(ctx, client, true);
 }
 
 static void *ipc_thread(void *p)

input/ipc-win.c

@@ -335,6 +335,12 @@ static void ipc_start_client_json(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, int id, HANDLE h)
     ipc_start_client(ctx, client);
 }
 
+bool mp_ipc_start_anon_client(struct mp_ipc_ctx *ctx, struct mpv_handle *h,
+                              int out_fd[2])
+{
+    return false;
+}
+
 static void *ipc_thread(void *p)
 {
     // Use PIPE_TYPE_MESSAGE | PIPE_READMODE_BYTE so message framing is

osdep/subprocess.c

@@ -123,6 +123,12 @@ void mp_subprocess_detached(struct mp_log *log, char **args)
         talloc_free(p);
 }
 
+void mp_subprocess2(struct mp_subprocess_opts *opts,
+                    struct mp_subprocess_result *res)
+{
+    *res = (struct mp_subprocess_result){.error = MP_SUBPROCESS_EUNSUPPORTED};
+}
+
 #endif
 
 const char *mp_subprocess_err_str(int num)

player/core.h

@@ -630,6 +630,7 @@ struct mp_script_args {
 struct mp_scripting {
     const char *name;       // e.g. "lua script"
     const char *file_ext;   // e.g. "lua"
+    bool no_thread;         // don't run load() on dedicated thread
     int (*load)(struct mp_script_args *args);
 };
 bool mp_load_scripts(struct MPContext *mpctx);

player/scripting.c

@@ -22,14 +22,17 @@
 #include <math.h>
 #include <pthread.h>
 #include <assert.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "config.h"
 
 #include "osdep/io.h"
+#include "osdep/subprocess.h"
 #include "osdep/threads.h"
 
 #include "common/common.h"
 #include "common/msg.h"
+#include "input/input.h"
 #include "options/m_config.h"
 #include "options/parse_configfile.h"
 #include "options/path.h"
@@ -41,6 +44,7 @@
 extern const struct mp_scripting mp_scripting_lua;
 extern const struct mp_scripting mp_scripting_cplugin;
 extern const struct mp_scripting mp_scripting_js;
+extern const struct mp_scripting mp_scripting_run;
 
 static const struct mp_scripting *const scripting_backends[] = {
 #if HAVE_LUA
@@ -52,6 +56,7 @@ static const struct mp_scripting *const scripting_backends[] = {
 #if HAVE_JAVASCRIPT
     &mp_scripting_js,
 #endif
+    &mp_scripting_run,
     NULL
 };
 
@@ -76,12 +81,8 @@ static char *script_name_from_filename(void *talloc_ctx, const char *fname)
     return talloc_asprintf(talloc_ctx, "%s", name);
 }
 
-static void *script_thread(void *p)
+static void run_script(struct mp_script_args *arg)
 {
-    pthread_detach(pthread_self());
-
-    struct mp_script_args *arg = p;
-
     char name[90];
     snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "%s (%s)", arg->backend->name,
              mpv_client_name(arg->client));
@@ -92,6 +93,15 @@ static void *script_thread(void *p)
 
     mpv_destroy(arg->client);
     talloc_free(arg);
+}
+
+static void *script_thread(void *p)
+{
+    pthread_detach(pthread_self());
+
+    struct mp_script_args *arg = p;
+    run_script(arg);
+
     return NULL;
 }
 
@@ -176,11 +186,15 @@ static int mp_load_script(struct MPContext *mpctx, const char *fname)
 
     MP_DBG(arg, "Loading %s %s...\n", backend->name, fname);
 
-    pthread_t thread;
+    if (backend->no_thread) {
-    if (pthread_create(&thread, NULL, script_thread, arg)) {
+        run_script(arg);
-        mpv_destroy(arg->client);
+    } else {
-        talloc_free(arg);
+        pthread_t thread;
-        return -1;
+        if (pthread_create(&thread, NULL, script_thread, arg)) {
+            mpv_destroy(arg->client);
+            talloc_free(arg);
+            return -1;
+        }
     }
 
     return 0;
@@ -311,3 +325,58 @@ const struct mp_scripting mp_scripting_cplugin = {
 };
 
 #endif
+
+static int load_run(struct mp_script_args *args)
+{
+    int fds[2];
+    if (!mp_ipc_start_anon_client(args->mpctx->ipc_ctx, args->client, fds))
+        return -1;
+    args->client = NULL; // ownership lost
+
+    // Hardcode them (according to opts.fds[]), because we want to allow clients
+    // to hardcode them if they want. Sue me.
+    char *fdopt = fds[1] >= 0 ? "--mpv-ipc-fd=3:4"
+                              : "--mpv-ipc-fd=3";
+
+    struct mp_subprocess_opts opts = {
+        .exe = (char *)args->filename,
+        .args = (char *[]){(char *)args->filename, fdopt, NULL},
+        .fds = {
+            // Keep terminal stuff
+            {.fd = 0, .src_fd = 0,},
+            {.fd = 1, .src_fd = 1,},
+            {.fd = 2, .src_fd = 2,},
+            // Just hope these don't step over each other (e.g. fds[1] is not
+            // below 4, if the std FDs are missing).
+            {.fd = 3, .src_fd = fds[0], },
+            {.fd = 4, .src_fd = fds[1], },
+        },
+        .num_fds = fds[1] >= 0 ? 4 : 5,
+        .detach = true,
+    };
+    struct mp_subprocess_result res;
+    mp_subprocess2(&opts, &res);
+
+    // Closing these will (probably) make the client exit, if it really died.
+    // They _should_ be CLOEXEC, but are not, because
+    // posix_spawn_file_actions_adddup2() may not clear the CLOEXEC flag
+    // properly if by coincidence fd==src_fd.
+    close(fds[0]);
+    if (fds[1] >= 0)
+        close(fds[1]);
+
+    if (res.error < 0) {
+        MP_ERR(args, "Starting '%s' failed: %s\n", args->filename,
+               mp_subprocess_err_str(res.error));
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+const struct mp_scripting mp_scripting_run = {
+    .name = "spawned IPC process",
+    .file_ext = "run",
+    .no_thread = true,
+    .load = load_run,
+};