Site Support

Last updated 2026-10-01

Per-site adapter versions, update checks, and live checks through comic-dl self site.

On this page

Every built-in site adapter has a stable id and its own semantic version, independent of the comic-dl core version. comic-dl self site reports those versions, compares them against the latest release’s site-support manifest, optionally live-checks a site, and routes updates through the core update path (adapters are bundled, so updating a site updates comic-dl).

List installed adapters

comic-dl self site list
comic-dl self site list --json

Shows SITE · VERSION · DOMAINS · STATUS. Status comes from the last manifest a site check persisted (a manifest check downloaded), so it reads unable to check until a check has run.

Check for site-support updates

comic-dl self site check
comic-dl self site check manga-example
comic-dl self site check manga-example --live
comic-dl self site check --json

check downloads the latest release manifest and reports per site:

Site support check (30)
SITE           VERSION   AVAILABLE   STATUS
manga-example  1.2.0     1.3.0       update available
comic-example  2.0.1     2.0.1       up to date

Statuses: up to date, update available, incompatible (the adapter needs a newer core than is installed), unpublished (installed newer than the manifest, which means a local dev build), and unable to check (no manifest reached).

--live runs the real adapter against the site’s declared test URL, reusing its normal extraction (never a separate parser) and validating that a series/chapter with content came back. Sites without a declared test URL are reported live: skipped. A non-healthy live result makes the command exit nonzero, so it can gate scheduled checks.

A network or manifest failure is reported as unable to check. That is never evidence a site is broken, and it only affects this command.

Update site support

comic-dl self site update manga-example
comic-dl self site update --all [--yes]

Bundled adapters update with the core release that carries them. The command lists the required core update and then delegates to the normal self update strategy for this installation (pip/uv upgrade when writable, printed package-manager instructions for apt/dnf/pacman installs, git pull + uv sync for a source checkout). OS-managed installs are never modified automatically, and no adapter is ever replaced by downloading a lone Python file.

If the installed core is already the latest release yet the manifest lists newer adapters (an inconsistent release), comic-dl refuses and tells you to reinstall.

After a failed download

When a built-in adapter fails during a download, comic-dl keeps the original error and, if the cached manifest shows a newer adapter version, prints a hint:

A newer site-support version (1.3.0) is available and may fix this.
Run: comic-dl self site update manga-example

The message says “may fix” unless the manifest proves otherwise, updates are never triggered automatically, and no network request happens at download time. Only the last saved manifest is consulted.

The site-support manifest

Each release publishes site-support.json (generated from the registered adapters by scripts/update-site-manifest.py, so it cannot drift from the code). self site check reads it as a release asset; older releases without a manifest simply report unable to check.

Site-versioning rules:

PATCH — selector fixes, parser corrections, small compatibility fixes.
MINOR — new extraction capabilities or supported site variants.
MAJOR — incompatible adapter-interface or configuration changes.

Bump the adapter version whenever its parsing code changes, and never reuse a version. The release runbook covers regenerating the manifest.

Exit codes

Unchanged from the rest of the CLI: 0 success, 1 runtime error (a broken or unavailable site, or a failed update), 2 invalid usage, 130 interrupted. Machine-readable statuses are available through --json.