Status Tray

A GNOME Shell extension that brings back the system tray for applications using StatusNotifierItem (AppIndicator/SNI) protocol.

• Zero Configuration - Works out of the box, no external daemon required
• Automatic Discovery - Finds and displays all tray icons automatically
• Native Menus - Full support for application context menus via DBusMenu
• Dual Icon Modes - Choose between symbolic (monochrome) or original (colored) icons
• Highly Customizable - Per-app icon overrides, effects, and ordering
• Drag & Drop Reordering - Arrange tray icons in your preferred order
• Panel Overflow - Optionally collapse extra icons into a single overflow button
• Live Updates - All changes apply instantly without restart

• Nextcloud
• Discord
• Slack
• Bitwarden
• Dropbox
• Telegram
• Steam
• And many more...

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/keithvassallomt/status-tray.git
   cd status-tray

2. Run the install script:

   ./install.sh

3. Restart GNOME Shell:

   • X11: Press Alt+F2, type r, press Enter
   • Wayland: Log out and log back in

4. Enable the extension:

   gnome-extensions enable status-tray@keithvassallo.com

Once installed and enabled, Status Tray automatically appears in your GNOME panel whenever an application registers a tray icon. Simply:

1. Click on a tray icon to open its menu
2. Select menu items to interact with the application

Access settings through GNOME Extensions app or by running:

gnome-extensions prefs status-tray@keithvassallo.com

Choose how tray icons are displayed:

• Enable/Disable Apps - Toggle visibility for individual applications
• Drag & Drop - Reorder apps by dragging the handle on the left

Override any app's icon with a system icon or custom image:

1. Click the icon picker button next to an app to open the picker dialog
2. Search for a system icon or click "Choose File..." for a custom image
3. Optionally toggle Use as Fallback Only, Ignore App Status Icons, or Match by App Name for this app
4. Close the dialog when you're done — changes are saved as you pick them

Tight on panel space? Enable Panel Overflow from preferences to keep only the first N tray icons inline; the rest collapse under a single overflow button at the right of the tray. Click it to get a menu that lists each collapsed app, with each app's full menu available inline as a submenu.

• Enable overflow icon - Turn the feature on or off (disabled by default)
• Inline icon limit - Choose how many icons stay directly in the panel (0-20) before the rest overflow. Set it to 0 to keep every tray item in the overflow menu.

The overflow button honours the global Icon Style setting, showing a symbolic or a full-colour glyph to match your other tray icons.

Fine-tune how icons appear in symbolic mode:

• Desaturation - Control grayscale conversion (0% = color, 100% = grayscale)
• Brightness - Adjust icon brightness
• Contrast - Adjust icon contrast
• Tint - Apply a custom color tint

Status Tray implements the StatusNotifierItem (SNI) protocol, the modern replacement for the legacy XEmbed system tray. It provides its own org.kde.StatusNotifierWatcher D-Bus service, allowing applications to register tray icons directly with the extension.

• Self-contained - No dependency on external daemons like snixembed or AppIndicator libraries
• DBusMenu Integration - Fetches dynamic menus directly from applications
• Electron Support - Handles Electron/Chromium apps that use custom icon paths
• Flatpak Compatible - Gracefully handles sandboxed applications

• SNI proxy first - Uses Gio.DBusProxy with interface XML, falls back to direct calls for non-standard implementations
• Name owner resolution - Resolves well-known bus names to unique owners during registration, with sender fallback
• Menu refresh - Calls AboutToShow before GetLayout and keeps a placeholder until layout succeeds
• Icon pipeline - Prefers IconName, then IconThemePath file lookup, then IconPixmap

1. Ensure the extension is enabled:

   gnome-extensions list --enabled | grep status-tray

2. Check if the app is disabled in settings

3. Restart the application after enabling the extension

Some applications may take a moment to initialize their menus. If clicking has no effect:

1. Wait a few seconds and try again
2. Check application logs for errors

1. Try switching between Symbolic and Original icon modes
2. Use the icon override feature to set a custom icon
3. Adjust icon effects for better visibility

journalctl -f -o cat /usr/bin/gnome-shell 2>&1 | grep -i status-tray

1. Install and reload GNOME Shell (X11: Alt+F2 → r, Wayland: log out/in).
2. Launch a known SNI app (e.g., Dropbox, Slack, Telegram) and confirm the icon appears.
3. Click the icon and verify the menu opens and actions trigger.
4. Toggle Icon Mode in preferences and confirm the icon restyles immediately.
5. Disable the app in preferences and confirm the icon hides, then re-enable.

Contributions are welcome! Please see the developer documentation for technical details.

1. Clone and install in development mode:

   git clone https://github.com/keithvassallomt/status-tray.git
   cd status-tray
   ./install.sh --dev

2. Make your changes

3. Restart GNOME Shell to test

4. Submit a pull request

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

• The GNOME Shell team for the excellent extension API
• The KDE team for the StatusNotifierItem specification
• The AppIndicator project for pioneering modern system tray support

Made with care for the GNOME community