CLI and App
App
is a singleton instance of an Astal.Application.
Depending on gtk version import paths will differ
import { App } from "astal/gtk3"
import { App } from "astal/gtk4"
Entry point
App.start({
main() {
// setup anything
// instantiate widgets
},
})
Instance identifier
You can run multiple instance by defining a unique instance name.
App.start({
instanceName: "my-instance", // defaults to "astal"
main() { },
})
Messaging from CLI
If you want to interact with an instance from the CLI, you can do so by sending a message.
App.start({
requestHandler(request: string, res: (response: any) => void) {
if (request == "say hi") {
res("hi cli")
}
res("unknown command")
},
main() { },
})
astal say hi
# hi cli
If you want to run arbitrary JavaScript from CLI, you can use App.eval
which will evaluate the passed string as the body of an async
function.
App.start({
main() {},
requestHandler(js, res) {
App.eval(js).then(res).catch(res)
},
})
If the string does not contain a semicolon, a single expression is assumed and returned implicity.
astal "'hello'"
# hello
If the string contains a semicolon, you have to return explicitly
astal "'hello';"
# undefined
astal "return 'hello';"
# hello
Toggling Windows by their name
In order for Astal to know about your windows, you have to register them. You can do this by specifying a unique name
and calling App.add_window
import { App } from "astal/gtk3"
function Bar() {
return <window name="Bar" setup={self => App.add_window(self)}>
<box />
</window>
}
You can also invoke App.add_window
by simply passing the App
to the application
prop.
import { App } from "astal/gtk3"
function Bar() {
return <window name="Bar" application={App}>
<box />
</window>
}
WARNING
When assigning the application
prop make sure name
comes before. Props are set sequentially and if name is applied after application it won't work.
astal -t Bar
Bundled scripts
The produced scripts when bundling can run as the main instance and a "client" instance.
The first time you execute your bundled script the main
function gets called. While that instance is running any subsequent execution of the script will call the client
function.
App.start({
// main instance
main(...args: Array<string>) {
print(...args)
},
// every subsequent calls
client(message: (msg: string) => string, ...args: Array<string>) {
const res = message("you can message the main instance")
console.log(res)
},
// this runs in the main instance
requestHandler(request: string, res: (response: any) => void) {
res("response from main")
},
})