NovaBar

A modern, modular macOS-style panel for Linux supporting both X11 and Wayland.

Features

Core Components

• Global Menu Bar - Application menus integrated into the panel, supporting both org.gtk.Menus and com.canonical.dbusmenu protocols
• Logo Menu - System actions menu with Nova branding
• System Indicators - Network, Bluetooth, Sound, Battery, DateTime, Notifications
• Control Center - Quick access to system settings
• Settings Panel - Theme customization and configuration

Key Features

• macOS-style Design - Clean, modern interface with transparency effects
• X11 & Wayland Support - Native support for both display servers
• Global Menu Integration - Application menus appear in the panel with automatic in-app menubar hiding
• AppMenu Registrar - Built-in com.canonical.AppMenu.Registrar D-Bus service for menu registration
• Window Tracking - Shows focused window on Wayland via wlr-foreign-toplevel
• Enhanced Bluetooth - Full Bluetooth management with pairing, audio profiles, and file transfer
• Enhanced Network - Comprehensive network management with WiFi, VPN, hotspot, and bandwidth monitoring
• System Tray Replacement - Modern indicators replace traditional system tray
• Theme Support - Dark and light themes with CSS customization
• Modular Architecture - Easy to extend with new indicators and components

Screenshots

Feature	Screenshot
Logo Menu
Global Menu
Global Menu2
About
Network
Network Settings

Requirements

System Dependencies

• GTK+ 3.0
• GLib 2.0
• GIO 2.0
• GDK X11 3.0
• libwnck 3.0 (X11 window tracking)
• X11
• NetworkManager (libnm)
• libsoup 3.0 (HTTP client, optional - for speed tests)

Wayland Dependencies (optional)

• gtk-layer-shell (panel positioning)
• wayland-client (protocol support)

Global Menu Dependencies

• appmenu-gtk3-module (required) - Intercepts GTK3 application menubars and exports them via D-Bus
• appmenu-gtk2-module (optional) - Same for legacy GTK2 applications

Note: NovaBar automatically configures GTK_MODULES, gtk-shell-shows-menubar, and other settings on first run. A logout/login is required after first launch for all applications to pick up the global menu environment.

Build Dependencies

• Vala compiler
• Meson build system (>= 0.50.0)
• Ninja build tool
• pkg-config
• wayland-scanner (for Wayland support)
• gettext (for translations)

Runtime Requirements

• X11 or Wayland (wlroots-based: labwc, sway, wayfire, etc.)
• XFCE or compatible desktop environment
• appmenu-gtk3-module (for global menu support)

Installation

From Source

1. Install dependencies (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt install valac meson ninja-build pkg-config gettext \
    libgtk-3-dev libglib2.0-dev libgio2.0-dev \
    libgdk-x11-3.0-dev libwnck-3-dev libx11-dev \
    libnm-dev libsoup-3.0-dev \
    libgtk-layer-shell-dev libwayland-dev \
    appmenu-gtk3-module

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S vala meson ninja pkgconf gtk3 libwnck3 \
    networkmanager libsoup3 gtk-layer-shell wayland gettext \
    appmenu-gtk-module

Fedora:

sudo dnf install vala meson ninja-build pkgconf gtk3-devel libwnck3-devel \
    NetworkManager-libnm-devel libsoup3-devel \
    gtk-layer-shell-devel wayland-devel gettext \
    libdbusmenu-gtk3

2. Clone and build:

git clone https://github.com/novik133/NovikBar.git
cd NovaBar
meson setup build
ninja -C build

3. Build without Wayland (X11 only):

meson setup build -Dwayland=false
ninja -C build

4. Install:

sudo ninja -C build install

5. Run:

novabar

Auto-start Setup

The autostart file is installed automatically. To set up manually:

mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart
cp /etc/xdg/autostart/novabar-autostart.desktop ~/.config/autostart/

NovaBar's autostart entry runs in the Panel phase (before other applications) to ensure the global menu registrar and environment are ready before apps launch.

Configuration

Global Menu Setup

NovaBar handles global menu configuration automatically on startup. It:

1. Sets GTK_MODULES=appmenu-gtk-module in the session environment
2. Propagates the setting via dbus-update-activation-environment, ~/.xprofile, and ~/.config/environment.d/
3. Sets gtk-shell-shows-menubar=true via xfconf (XFCE) and gtk-3.0/settings.ini
4. Writes a GTK3 CSS override to hide in-app menubars
5. Starts the com.canonical.AppMenu.Registrar D-Bus service

The only manual step required is installing the module:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install appmenu-gtk3-module

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S appmenu-gtk-module

After first launch, log out and log back in so all applications pick up the GTK_MODULES environment variable.

How It Works

• appmenu-gtk-module intercepts GtkMenuBar widgets in GTK applications
• The module exports menus via org.gtk.Menus D-Bus interface
• NovaBar reads these menus and displays them in the panel
• The in-app menubar is automatically hidden (collapsed to zero height)
• NovaBar also hosts a com.canonical.AppMenu.Registrar for apps using com.canonical.dbusmenu (Qt, Electron, etc.)

Troubleshooting Global Menu

• Menus not appearing: Ensure appmenu-gtk3-module is installed and you have logged out/in after first NovaBar launch
• Menu shows in both panel and app: The app was launched before NovaBar configured the environment — restart the app
• Specific app not working: Some apps (e.g. Firefox with native titlebar) don't use GtkMenuBar and won't export menus

Wayland Setup

NovaBar automatically detects Wayland and uses:

• gtk-layer-shell for panel positioning
• wlr-foreign-toplevel-management for window tracking

Supported compositors:

• labwc
• sway
• wayfire
• Hyprland
• Other wlroots-based compositors

Theme Customization

NovaBar includes two built-in themes:

• Dark Theme (novaos.css) - Default dark theme
• Light Theme (novaos-light.css) - Light variant

Themes are installed to /usr/share/novaos/ and can be customized via the Settings panel.

Project Structure

NovaBar/
├── src/
│   ├── main.vala              # Application entry point
│   ├── panel.vala             # Main panel window and layout
│   ├── backend/               # X11/Wayland abstraction
│   │   ├── backend.vala       # Runtime detection
│   │   ├── x11.vala           # X11 panel setup
│   │   ├── wayland.vala       # Wayland panel setup
│   │   └── popup.vala         # Cross-platform popups
│   ├── toplevel/              # Window tracking
│   │   ├── tracker.vala       # Abstract interface
│   │   ├── x11.vala           # libwnck tracking
│   │   └── wayland.vala       # wlr-foreign-toplevel
│   ├── wayland/               # Wayland protocol code
│   │   ├── wlr-toplevel.c     # Protocol implementation
│   │   ├── wlr-toplevel.h     # Header
│   │   └── wlr-toplevel.vapi  # Vala bindings
│   ├── globalmenu/            # Global menu integration
│   │   ├── menubar.vala       # Menu bar widget (org.gtk.Menus + dbusmenu)
│   │   ├── registrar.vala     # com.canonical.AppMenu.Registrar service
│   │   └── dbusmenu_client.vala # com.canonical.dbusmenu client
│   ├── logomenu/              # Nova logo menu
│   ├── indicators/            # System indicators
│   │   ├── network/
│   │   ├── bluetooth/
│   │   ├── sound/
│   │   ├── battery/
│   │   ├── datetime/
│   │   ├── notifications/
│   │   └── controlcenter/
│   ├── settings/              # Configuration interface
│   └── about/                 # About dialog
├── protocols/                 # Wayland protocol XML
├── data/
│   ├── novaos.css             # Dark theme stylesheet
│   ├── novaos-light.css       # Light theme stylesheet
│   ├── com.canonical.AppMenu.Registrar.service  # D-Bus service file
│   └── icons/                 # Application icons
├── po/                        # Translation files (.po/.pot)
│   ├── novabar.pot            # Translation template
│   ├── pl.po, de.po, fr.po   # Language translations
│   ├── POTFILES               # Source files with translatable strings
│   └── LINGUAS                # Supported languages list
├── Screenshots/
├── meson.build
├── meson_options.txt
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── LICENCE.md
└── README.md

Development

Building for Development

meson setup build --buildtype=debug
ninja -C build
./build/novabar

Adding New Indicators

1. Create new directory in src/indicators/
2. Implement indicator class extending appropriate base
3. Add to meson.build sources
4. Register in panel.vala right_box

Code Style

• Follow Vala conventions
• Use 4-space indentation
• Document public APIs
• Maintain modular architecture

Troubleshooting

Global Menu Not Working

• Ensure appmenu-gtk3-module is installed: sudo apt install appmenu-gtk3-module
• Log out and log back in after first NovaBar launch
• Restart applications that were running before NovaBar started
• Verify with: echo $GTK_MODULES (should contain appmenu-gtk-module)

Panel Not Appearing

• Check X11/Wayland compatibility
• Verify dependencies are installed
• Run from terminal to see error messages

Wayland Issues

• Ensure compositor supports wlr-foreign-toplevel-management
• Check gtk-layer-shell is installed
• Verify wayland-client is available

High CPU Usage

• Check for window manager conflicts
• Disable other panels/docks
• Monitor system resources

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create feature branch
3. Make changes following code style
4. Test thoroughly on both X11 and Wayland
5. Submit pull request

License

GPL-3.0 - See LICENCE for details.

Credits

• Built with Vala and GTK3
• Inspired by macOS design principles
• Uses libwnck for X11 window management
• Uses gtk-layer-shell for Wayland support
• Uses wlr-foreign-toplevel-management for Wayland window tracking
• NetworkManager integration for network status

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NovaBar - Bringing macOS-style elegance to Linux desktops.