Debug a running applet

Use glimpsectl applet to inspect installed exec applets and their running systemd user units. For an applet still in development, start with the terminal that ran applet run.

Check discovery and placement

glimpsectl applet list --installed
glimpsectl applet inspect --installed me.aresa.GlimpseTodo

The list includes installed and placed applets, their desktop entries, commands, and state. Inspect separates desktop metadata, configuration placements and options, and runtime units. A refused desktop entry includes its reason. runtime: unavailable means the CLI could not obtain runtime information. Ignore the state column then: its stopped values do not confirm that an applet has stopped.

From your project directory, run just dev. It loads the desktop entry and local configuration, and it reports an entry the host refuses.

Read installed applet logs

Follow logs for applet units:

journalctl --user -u 'app-glimpse-*.service' -f

To narrow the output, copy a unit name from applet inspect and pass that exact name to -u. Units use the form app-glimpse-<panel>-<applet>-<slot>-<pid>-<n>.service.

The SDK redirects console methods to stderr. Installed applet stderr goes to the journal; an applet attached through glimpsectl applet run sends stderr to that command's terminal. Build errors from the generated start script appear there too.

If the panel refuses a tree, it kills the applet unit without printing the reason in the development terminal. The reason appears in the panel log. Look there for a rejected tree, such as section cannot hold section. Limit errors caught by the SDK and exceptions thrown in event handlers print to stderr and end the process.

Restart after a fix

Restart all running units for an installed desktop id:

glimpsectl applet restart me.aresa.GlimpseTodo

This command requires running units for that id. During a development run, save the source or type r and Enter in the development terminal instead. Type t and Enter to print the current tree as the panel holds it. See the CLI reference for command options.