xfce-cups-os-menu

xfce-cups-os-menu is a fork of the Xfce Whisker Menu plugin, adapted for Cups OS workflows.

It keeps the familiar Whisker application launcher experience while adding Cups OS / VM-oriented features, especially a configurable Cups on the Tray section for grouped operational shortcuts.

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What this project is

• Base: Xfce Whisker Menu architecture and UI model
• Fork target: Cups OS environments
• Plugin name: CupsOS Menu
• Popup helper executable: xfce4-popup-cupsosmenu

The current repository history contains an upstream import and a fork commit that rebrands and adapts the plugin for Cups OS usage.

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Implemented Cups OS changes

From the project history and source changes, the following Cups OS-oriented features are implemented:

1) Rebrand from Whisker to CupsOS Menu

• Plugin/module renamed to cupsosmenu
• Desktop plugin metadata renamed to CupsOS Menu
• Panel icon namespace switched to org.xfce.panel.cupsosmenu
• Popup helper renamed to xfce4-popup-cupsosmenu

2) “Cups on the Tray” grouped shortcut system

This fork adds a full shortcut subsystem intended for VM/operations workflows:

• Configurable groups (cups_tray_group_names)
• Group labels (cups_tray_group_labels) with Qubes-style numeric label mapping (0..8)
• Per-shortcut group assignment
• Per-shortcut name + command storage
• Full CRUD and reordering support in the settings dialog
• Shortcut groups are inserted as dedicated categories in the launcher

3) Qubes-label visual integration

Tray groups support Qubes-like labels and colors:

• White, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Gray, Blue, Purple, Black
• Color box rendering for group categories
• Group tooltip includes label ID and color code

4) Script launcher entries in menu and search

Cups tray shortcuts are represented as ScriptLauncher items:

• Launch arbitrary shell commands directly from the menu
• Search matching by shortcut name and command text
• Tooltip shows the underlying command

5) Security helper scripts for elevated tray actions

The scripts/cups-tray/ folder includes operational helpers:

• passwordless-sudo-wrapper.sh
• passwordless-sudo-allowlist.conf
• generate-sudoers.sh
• sudoers.d/cupsos-tray.template
• Documentation for setting up controlled passwordless sudo

These scripts are intended to support privileged operational shortcuts safely and reproducibly.

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Core launcher capabilities (inherited + maintained)

The fork still provides the main Whisker-style launcher behavior:

• Favorites list with drag/reorder
• Recently used applications
• Category browsing
• Search-based launch
• Session/power commands
• Configurable appearance, commands, and behavior from plugin settings

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Build requirements

Main dependencies (from build files):

• GLib >= 2.50
• GTK3 >= 3.22
• Xfce >= 4.16 stack:
  • garcon-1
  • libxfce4panel-2.0
  • libxfce4ui-2
  • libxfce4util-1.0
  • libxfconf-0
• Optional:
  • accountsservice
  • gtk-layer-shell-0
  • exo-2 (for older libxfce4ui)

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Build and install

This repository supports Meson and CMake.

Meson

meson setup builddir
meson compile -C builddir
sudo meson install -C builddir

CMake

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build
sudo cmake --install build

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Usage

Add plugin to panel

1. Right-click Xfce panel
2. Panel → Add New Items
3. Add CupsOS Menu

Popup from keyboard shortcut

Use the installed helper command:

xfce4-popup-cupsosmenu

Useful options:

• --pointer popup at mouse pointer
• --center popup at screen center
• --list list available instances
• --instance=<id> target a specific panel instance

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Configuring “Cups on the Tray”

In plugin preferences:

1. Create one or more tray groups
2. Assign each group a Qubes-style label color (0..8)
3. Add shortcuts (name + command) under a selected group
4. Reorder groups and shortcuts as needed

Shortcuts appear as launcher entries under their generated group categories.

For privileged commands, see:

• scripts/cups-tray/README-passwordless-sudo.md

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Repository layout

• panel-plugin/ — main plugin source, settings dialog, launcher pages, popup utility
• scripts/cups-tray/ — helper scripts for operational shortcuts and sudoers setup
• icons/ — plugin icons
• po/ — translations

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License

GPL-2.0-or-later. See COPYING.