Discord Package Watcher

Watches a directory for new Discord .deb package downloads and prompts the user for immediate installation.

Currently supports Debian-based systems only, but the code is straightforward and can be adapted to other environments with minimal changes.

Dependencies

This tool requires the following system dependencies to function:

• zenity - to display GUI prompts
• polkit (for pkexec) to request privilege elevation for installation
• dpkg - for installing .deb packages
• systemd-run - to launch Discord

Make sure these are installed on your system before running the watcher.

Installation

Build and install with Makefile

Use the provided Makefile to install and manage the watcher and its systemd user service:

make install

This will:

• Build the Rust binary (cargo install --path .)
• Create necessary directories (~/.config/systemd/user and ~/Downloads/discord)
• Copy the systemd service file to the user systemd directory
• Reload and enable the service, starting it immediately

Remove/uninstall

To disable and remove the service, run:

make remove

This will:

• Disable and stop the systemd service
• Remove the service file from your user systemd directory
• Reload the daemon

Note

Make sure your user environment supports systemd user services. If user lingering is disabled, enable it by running:

loginctl enable-linger $USER

How it works

The systemd user service runs a background Rust program that watches a specified directory (by default, ~/Downloads/discord) for new discord*.deb files.

1. File Detection Watches for new .deb files matching discord*.deb.

2. User Prompt When detected, prompts the user via zenity for installation confirmation.

3. Privilege Elevation If the user agrees, invokes pkexec dpkg --install <path-to-deb> to install the package with elevated privileges.

4. Launch Discord After installation, runs systemd-run --user --scope /usr/bin/discord to start Discord outside the service cgroup.

Configuration

The default watched directory is:

~/Downloads/discord

To change it, edit the ExecStart line inside the .service file accordingly.