fix: OCR lazy initialization to prevent startup crash

FIXES:
- OCR now uses lazy initialization (only loads when first used)
- Fixed PaddleOCR invalid use_gpu parameter (some versions don't support it)
- Added fallback try/except for PaddleOCR without use_gpu
- App starts immediately, OCR initializes on first scan
- Prevents long startup delays from model downloading

CHANGES:
- OCRService._init_backends() only called on first use
- Removed eager initialization from main.py startup
- Better error handling for backend failures

memory/2026-02-13.md

@@ -53,8 +53,36 @@
 - Auto-refresh every 5 seconds
 - Reads data from all plugin JSON files
 
+### 6. Core Services (NOT Plugins!)
+Following user's requirement - OCR and Log are core services, not plugins.
+
+**Log Reader (`core/log_reader.py`):**
+- Real-time chat.log monitoring in background thread
+- Event parsing: skill_gains, loot, globals, damage, heals, missions, etc.
+- Publisher/subscriber pattern for plugins
+- Auto-detects EU log file location
+- Cache of recent 1000 lines
+
+**OCR Service (`core/ocr_service.py`):**
+- Multi-backend support: EasyOCR → Tesseract → PaddleOCR
+- Auto-fallback if primary backend unavailable
+- Screen capture (full or region)
+- Returns structured results with bounding boxes
+- `quick_ocr()` convenience function
+
+**PluginAPI Integration:**
+- `api.ocr_capture(region)` - All plugins can use OCR
+- `api.read_log(lines, filter)` - All plugins can read log
+- Services auto-initialized on app startup
+- Registered with PluginAPI for universal access
+
 ## Commits Made
 - `5b127cf` - UI fixes (drag, scroll, no emojis)
 - `72c3c13` - Resizable window, OCR scanners, customizable dashboard
+- `bcd4574` - All plugins disabled by default with enable/disable UI
+- `7f6547f` - Fixed box-in-box UI, added Settings button to header
+- `8ee0e56` - Fixed window taskbar visibility
+- `f6c4971` - Core OCR and Log services with API integration
 
 ## Total Plugins: 21
+## Core Services: 2 (OCR, Log Reader)

projects/EU-Utility/core/main.py

@@ -130,19 +130,19 @@ class EUUtilityApp:
         # Register Log service with API
         self.api.register_log_service(self.log_reader.read_lines)
         
-        # Initialize OCR Service
+        # OCR Service - LAZY INITIALIZATION (don't init on startup)
-        print("[Core] Initializing OCR Service...")
+        # It will initialize on first use
+        print("[Core] OCR Service configured (lazy init)")
         self.ocr_service = get_ocr_service()
-        if self.ocr_service.is_available():
-            print(f"[Core] OCR Service ready - using {self.ocr_service._backend}")
-        else:
-            print("[Core] OCR Service not available - no backend installed")
-            print("[Core] Install one of: easyocr, pytesseract, paddleocr")
         
-        # Register OCR service with API
+        # Register OCR service with API (lazy - will init on first call)
-        self.api.register_ocr_service(self.ocr_service.recognize)
+        self.api.register_ocr_service(self._lazy_ocr_handler)
         
-        print("[Core] API services registered: OCR, Log")
+        print("[Core] API services registered: OCR (lazy), Log")
+    
+    def _lazy_ocr_handler(self, region=None):
+        """Lazy OCR handler - triggers init on first use."""
+        return self.ocr_service.recognize(region=region)
     
     def _setup_hotkeys(self):
         """Setup global hotkeys."""

projects/EU-Utility/core/ocr_service.py

@@ -27,18 +27,23 @@ class OCRService:
     """
     Core OCR service with multiple backend support.
     Fallback chain: EasyOCR -> Tesseract -> PaddleOCR
+    LAZY INITIALIZATION - only loads when first used
     """
     
     def __init__(self):
         self._ocr_reader = None
         self._backend = None
         self._initialized = False
-        
+        self._initializing = False
-        # Try backends in order of preference
-        self._init_backends()
     
     def _init_backends(self):
-        """Initialize available OCR backends."""
+        """Initialize available OCR backends (lazy - called on first use)."""
+        if self._initialized or self._initializing:
+            return
+        
+        self._initializing = True
+        print("[OCR] Initializing backends...")
+        
         # Try EasyOCR first (best accuracy)
         try:
             import easyocr
@@ -46,43 +51,63 @@ class OCRService:
             self._backend = 'easyocr'
             self._initialized = True
             print("[OCR] Using EasyOCR backend")
+            self._initializing = False
             return
         except ImportError:
             pass
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"[OCR] EasyOCR failed: {e}")
         
         # Try Tesseract (most common)
         try:
             import pytesseract
             from PIL import Image
-            pytesseract.get_tesseract_version()  # Test if available
+            pytesseract.get_tesseract_version()
             self._backend = 'tesseract'
             self._initialized = True
             print("[OCR] Using Tesseract backend")
+            self._initializing = False
             return
-        except (ImportError, Exception):
+        except Exception as e:
-            pass
+            print(f"[OCR] Tesseract failed: {e}")
         
-        # Try PaddleOCR (fallback)
+        # Try PaddleOCR (fallback) - with minimal config
         try:
             from paddleocr import PaddleOCR
+            # Use minimal config to avoid model downloads on init
+            import os
+            os.environ['PADDLE_PDX_DISABLE_MODEL_SOURCE_CHECK'] = 'True'
+            
             self._ocr_reader = PaddleOCR(
-                use_angle_cls=True,
                 lang='en',
                 show_log=False,
-                use_gpu=False
+                use_gpu=False  # This param may not work in all versions
             )
             self._backend = 'paddle'
             self._initialized = True
             print("[OCR] Using PaddleOCR backend")
-            return
+        except TypeError:
-        except ImportError:
+            # Try without use_gpu if it failed
-            pass
+            try:
+                self._ocr_reader = PaddleOCR(lang='en', show_log=False)
+                self._backend = 'paddle'
+                self._initialized = True
+                print("[OCR] Using PaddleOCR backend (no GPU)")
+            except Exception as e2:
+                print(f"[OCR] PaddleOCR failed: {e2}")
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"[OCR] PaddleOCR failed: {e}")
         
-        print("[OCR] WARNING: No OCR backend available!")
+        self._initializing = False
-        print("[OCR] Install one of: easyocr, pytesseract, paddleocr")
+        
+        if not self._initialized:
+            print("[OCR] WARNING: No OCR backend available!")
+            print("[OCR] Install one of: easyocr, pytesseract, paddleocr")
     
     def is_available(self) -> bool:
-        """Check if OCR is available."""
+        """Check if OCR is available (lazy init)."""
+        if not self._initialized and not self._initializing:
+            self._init_backends()
         return self._initialized
     
     def capture_screen(self, region: Tuple[int, int, int, int] = None) -> 'Image.Image':
@@ -120,6 +145,10 @@ class OCRService:
         Returns:
             Dict with 'text', 'confidence', 'results', 'image_size'
         """
+        # Lazy initialization
+        if not self._initialized and not self._initializing:
+            self._init_backends()
+        
         if not self._initialized:
             return {
                 'text': '',