gnome-extensions-cli 0.1.2

Command line tool to manage your Gnome Shell extensions

gnome-extensions-cli

Install, update and manage your Gnome Shell extensions from your terminal

Features

• You can install any extension available on Gnome website
• Use DBus to communicate with Gnome Shell like the Firefox addon does
  • Also support non-DBus installations if needed
• Automatically select the compatible version to install for your Gnome Shell
• Automatic Gnome Shell restart if needed
• Update all your extensions with one command: gnome-extensions-cli update
• You can also uninstall, enable and disable extensions and open preferences

Install

Install from PyPI

$ pip3 install --user gnome-extensions-cli

Install latest version from the repository

$ pip3 install --user git+https://github.com/essembeh/gnome-extensions-cli

Or setup a development environment

# Dependencies to install PyGObject with pip
$ sudo apt install libgirepository1.0-dev gcc libcairo2-dev pkg-config python3-dev gir1.2-gtk-3.0
$ git clone https://github.com/essembeh/gnome-extensions-cli
$ cd gnome-extensions-cli
$ make venv
$ make install
$ make test
$ source venv/bin/activate
(venv) $ gnome-extensions-cli --help

Using

List your extensions

$ gnome-extensions-cli list 
Installed extensions:
[ ] [e-mail]
[X] [e-mail] (v37)
[X] [e-mail] (v25)

# Use verbose to see available updates
$ gnome-extensions-cli list -v
Installed extensions:
[ ] [e-mail]
      available version: 37
[X] [e-mail] (v37)
[X] [e-mail] (v25)

Note: the first [X] or [ ] indicates if the extension is enabled or not

You also have a search command to print informations from Gnome extensions website

$ gnome-extensions-cli search 570
Todo.txt: [e-mail]
    url: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/570
    tag: 8141
    recommended version: 25
    installed version: 25
    available versions:
      version 30 for Gnome Shell 3.36
      version 29 for Gnome Shell 3.34
      version 28 for Gnome Shell 3.32
      [...]

Install, uninstall and update

# Install extension by its UUID
$ gnome-extensions-cli install [e-mail]

# or use its package number from https://extensions.gnome.org
$ gnome-extensions-cli install 1160

# You can also install multiple extensions at once
$ gnome-extensions-cli install 1160 570

# Uninstall extensions
$ gnome-extensions-cli uninstall [e-mail]
# ... or use extension number 
$ gnome-extensions-cli uninstall 570

# You can enable and disable extensions
$ gnome-extensions-cli disable [e-mail] [e-mail]
$ gnome-extensions-cli enable [e-mail] 
# equivalent to 
$ gnome-extensions-cli disable 570 1160
$ gnome-extensions-cli enable 570

The update command by default updates only the enabled extensions, use --all/-a to also update disabled extensions

# Update all enabled extensions
$ gnome-extensions-cli update

# Update only given extensions
$ gnome-extensions-cli update [e-mail]
# ... or use extension number 
$ gnome-extensions-cli update 1160

Backends: DBus vs File

gnome-extensions-cli can interact with Gnome Shell using two different implementations, using dbus or using a file based way:

By default, it uses dbus which is the safest way ;)

DBus

Using --backend dbus, the application uses dbus messages to communicate with Gnome Shell directly.

Pros:

• You are using the exact same way to install extensions as the Firefox addon
• Automatically restart the Gnome Shell when needed
• Very stable
• You can open the extension preference dialog with gnome-extensions-cli edit EXTENSION1_UUID Cons:
• Installations are interactive, you are prompted with e Gnome Yes/No dialog before installing the extensions, so you need to have a running Gnome sessions

File

Using --backend dbus, the application uses unzip packages from Gnome website directly in you ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/ folder, enable/disable them and restarting the Gnome Shell using subprocesses.

Pros:

• You can install extensions without any Gnome session running
• Many gnome-extensions-cli alternatives use this method ... but Cons:
• Some extensions are not installed well