Description
CooldownTimeline 3 (CDTL3)
WoW: 12.1 (Midnight) · Flavors: Retail, MoP Classic, TBC Classic, Classic Era · Maintainer: Nelnamara · Original V2 author: cliffclive · Original author: Vreenak (US-Remulos)
CooldownTimeline tracks your ability cooldowns as moving icons along a horizontal timeline bar. As a cooldown expires it slides toward a "ready" zone on the right; when it fires, a configurable alert plays. Supports all spec cooldowns, ICDs, auto-attack swings, and optional Masque skinning.
Features
- Visual cooldown timeline — icons slide along a bar toward a "ready" marker as their cooldowns count down
- Auto-detection — discovers spec abilities automatically on login and spec change; no manual setup required
- Multiple lanes — separate bars for different cooldown categories (offensive, defensive, etc.)
- Bar frames — castbar-style cooldown bars with per-frame textures and colors, class color, spell school color, and the new Dynamic Color mode (bar blends toward a ready color over its final seconds)
- Configurable ready zone — sound alerts and flash animation when a cooldown comes off cooldown
- Internal cooldown (ICD) tracking — tracks proc ICDs alongside regular cooldowns
- Custom cooldown list — manually add any spell not auto-detected
- Shared cooldown support — optionally hide redundant entries when abilities share a CD
- Auto-hide — bar hides when out of combat (configurable)
- Masque support — skins all cooldown icons through Masque if installed
- LibSharedMedia-3.0 — custom fonts, textures, sounds, and borders via LSM
- One movable settings window —
/cdtl3opens the complete configuration (every panel as a tab) in a movable window; no digging through Blizzard's fixed Settings frame - Minimap button — left-click opens settings, right-click toggles frame lock
- AceDB profiles — per-character or shared configs, with import/export
Requirements
| Dependency | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | — | All libs embedded |
| Masque | ❌ | Optional — skins cooldown icons |
Installation
- Install via the CurseForge app, or download the release zip
- If manual: extract to
World of Warcraft\_retail_\Interface\AddOns\- The folder should be named
CooldownTimeline3 - It should contain
CDTL3.lua, the.tocfiles, and subdirectories
- The folder should be named
- Log in and type
/cdtl3to open options
First run: The bar appears in the center of your screen, unlocked. Drag it to your preferred position, then lock it via
/cdtl3 lock.Upgrading from CDTL2: your settings migrate automatically (
CDTL2DB→CDTL3DB) on first load.
Usage
Slash Commands
Primary command is /cdtl3 (or /cooldowntimeline3). The old /cdtl2 still works as a legacy alias.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/cdtl3 |
Open the settings window (movable; every panel is a tab) |
/cdtl3 lanes |
Jump straight to the Lanes tab |
/cdtl3 ready |
Jump straight to the Ready tab |
/cdtl3 bars |
Jump straight to the Bar Frames tab |
/cdtl3 filters |
Jump straight to the Filters (per-spell) tab |
/cdtl3 profiles |
Jump straight to the Profiles tab |
/cdtl3 lock |
Lock all frames (disable dragging) |
/cdtl3 unlock |
Unlock all frames |
/cdtl3 test |
Toggle test mode (fills bar with sample icons) |
Settings Window
Open with /cdtl3 or the minimap button — everything lives in one movable window:
- Lanes — each lane's size, position, icon scale, direction, and appearance (textures + colors, class color)
- Bar Frames — castbar-style bars: textures, colors (custom / class / spell school), Dynamic Color, and bar text
- Ready — sound, flash color, and display duration for ready alerts
- Filters — per-spell tracking: enable/ignore, lane and bar assignment, custom CD time override
- Global — detection modes, tooltips, colors, import/export
- Profiles — AceDB profiles for per-character or shared configs
Auto-Detection
On login and spec change, CDTL3 scans your spellbook and builds a cooldown list automatically. You can supplement this with the custom detection list in options, or force-track a spell with its ID. Detected spells appear in Filters once they've been cast at least once on that character.
Known Issues
| Issue | Status |
|---|---|
| Some proc ICDs require manual entry if not in the built-in database | Add via custom detection in options |
| Bar may briefly appear at 0,0 on first ever login before position saves | Drag to position and /reload once to persist |
| Talent-reduced cooldowns may show the base duration (Midnight reports base CD) | Set Custom CD Time on the spell in Filters |
| Masque theming requires Masque to be installed and enabled | Optional dependency — works without it |
Changelog
v3.0.7
- All settings now live in one movable window —
/cdtl3opens the full configuration with every panel (Lanes, Ready, Bar Frames, Filters, Profiles) as a tab. Previously most settings — including the lane and bar color options — were only reachable through Blizzard's unmovable Settings frame. Blizzard's AddOns entry is now just a launcher button - New slash shortcuts:
/cdtl3 lanes | ready | bars | filters | profiles - New: Dynamic Color for cooldown bars — blends from a warning color into a ready color over the final seconds (Bar Frames → Bars)
- New: Spell School Color toggle for bars
- Midnight 12.1 (Curse of Ula'tek) compatibility — aura tracking hardened against 12.1's secret-aura rules; no more errors in combat, Mythic+, or PvP
- Fixed aura-triggered entries recording spell ID 0 (long-standing CDTL2 bug)
v3.0.4 – v3.0.6
- Fixed the Custom CD Time override being overwritten by the live (base) cooldown every frame (3.0.6)
- Fixed checkerboard minimap button / AddOns-list icon on Midnight — TGA textures (3.0.5)
- Fixed secret-cooldown crashes on Midnight (Lane view error spam); completed the CDTL2 → CDTL3 rename with automatic settings migration (3.0.4)
v3.0.0 – v3.0.3
- CDTL3 continuation: Midnight compatibility (SetFont secrets, nil-checks), minimap button, profile-wipe fix on Classic flavors, automated CurseForge/Wago release pipeline
v2.6r3 (cliffclive)
- Near-complete V2 rewrite: multi-lane support, AceConfig options, auto-detection overhaul, Masque + LibSharedMedia integration, ICD tracking, shared cooldowns, AceDB profiles
v1.x (Vreenak)
- Original Cooldown Timeline addon — the cooldown-icon timeline concept
Roadmap
- <input id="" class="task-list-item-checkbox" disabled="disabled" type="checkbox" aria-label="Incomplete task"> Improved spell detection — catch more proc ICDs automatically
- <input id="" class="task-list-item-checkbox" disabled="disabled" type="checkbox" aria-label="Incomplete task"> Compact mode — smaller single-row layout option
- <input id="" class="task-list-item-checkbox" disabled="disabled" type="checkbox" aria-label="Incomplete task"> Retire the legacy
CDTL2DBdeclaration — once users have migrated off CDTL2
Credits
| Role | Credit |
|---|---|
| Original addon | Vreenak (US-Remulos) |
| V2 rewrite | cliffclive |
| Midnight patch & CDTL3 continuation | Nelnamara |
License
Personal use. Credits to original authors above.




