systemd and D-Bus

The units glimpse installs, the units it creates for applets, the bus names it owns, and the applet host interface.

Session units

glimpse-session.target is WantedBy=graphical-session.target and wants every unit below except weather and the screenshot portal, which start on their first D-Bus call. systemctl --user reload glimpse-session.target sends SIGHUP to each except the lock and desktop units, and each rereads its config; they also reread it on their own when a file changes.

Unit	Service bus name	Restart
glimpse-panel.service	me.aresa.GlimpsePanel.AppletHost	On failure
glimpse-wallpaper.service	None	On failure
glimpse-lock.service	None	Always, no start limit; skipped while the Wayland display socket is missing
glimpse-notifications.service	me.aresa.Glimpse.Notifications, org.freedesktop.Notifications	On failure
glimpse-idle.service	me.aresa.Glimpse.Idle, me.aresa.Glimpse.Idle.Portal, org.freedesktop.ScreenSaver	On failure
glimpse-settings-daemon.service	me.aresa.Glimpse.Settings	On failure
glimpse-sunset.service	me.aresa.Glimpse.NightLight	On failure, except exit 4 (no gamma control)
glimpse-weather.service	me.aresa.Glimpse.Weather	On failure
glimpse-shot-portal.service	me.aresa.Glimpse.Shot.Portal	No
glimpse-desktop.service	None	Oneshot at login

Units that restart on failure wait 2 seconds and give up after 5 failures in 60 seconds.

WARNING

Never add sandboxing options to glimpse-lock.service, and never stop it while the screen is locked. PAM password checks fail inside a sandbox, and a stopped lock screen leaves the session locked with nothing to unlock it.

Applet units

The panel starts each exec applet as a transient unit:

app-glimpse-<panel>-<applet>-<slot>-<pid>-<n>.service

Property	Value
Type	exec
Slice	app.slice
MemoryMax	256 MiB
Restart	always; no for a copy started by glimpsectl applet run
RestartPreventExitStatus	69: an applet that cannot reach its panel socket exits 69 and is not restarted
Restart delay	1 second, rising in 6 steps to 60 seconds, with no start limit
WorkingDirectory	The entry's Path; for a copy from glimpsectl applet run, the directory of its desktop file
Environment	The panel's environment without systemd's own variables (INVOCATION_ID, NOTIFY_SOCKET, LISTEN_* and the like), plus env from the applet's config table and GLIMPSE_APPLET_SOCKET
CollectMode	inactive-or-failed

systemctl --user list-units 'app-glimpse-*'
journalctl --user -u 'app-glimpse-*' -f
glimpsectl applet restart me.aresa.GlimpseTodo

Applet host interface

glimpse-panel exports me.aresa.Glimpse.AppletHost1 at /me/aresa/Glimpse/AppletHost on the bus name me.aresa.GlimpsePanel.AppletHost. glimpsectl applet run uses it; any program can.

Method	Arguments	Returns
Attach	desktop_path s, panel u, output s, zone s, options_json s, env a{ss}, stderr h	A handle, s
Restart	handle s	Nothing
SetOptions	handle s, options_json s	Nothing
Tree	handle s	The widget tree as JSON, s
Detach	handle s	Nothing

• desktop_path is an absolute path to a .desktop file. panel is the index of a [[panels]] entry. An empty output or zone lets the panel choose.
• options_json is a JSON object of at most 64 KiB.
• The applet's stderr goes to the stderr file descriptor.
• Only the caller that attached can use the handle. When it leaves the bus, its applets detach.
• The host accepts 8 attached applets per caller and 16 in total.
• Attach returns as soon as the panel accepts the request. The unit starts afterwards; a start failure shows on the bar, not as an error from Attach.