features.md

Features

This page is a map of nbshell. Most features are available from the searchable main menu, the bar, or the nbshell command.

See menu and launcher behavior for the Omarchy-style presentation and the retained nbshell search modes.

Desktop shell

• Island, expanding pill, or full-width bar
• Freely arranged and optional bar modules
• Searchable application launcher and an eight-category main menu whose root search reaches nested actions and installed applications
• Launcher providers for open windows (#), existing clipboard history (^), calculator expressions (=), and explicitly requested file search (@)
• One lazy Library for installed themes, all wallpaper collections, and the reviewed plugin path
• Settings rendered directly inside the Personalize menu flow, with breadcrumb and Back navigation; the direct shortcut and CLI entry remain available
• Dashboard for media, calendar, tasks, habits, system information, and tools
• Local-draft shopping-list editor with free-text parsing, an exact WhatsApp preview, explicit clearing, and guarded delivery to one configured group through the optional wacli integration. The default group is Einkauf; change it with nbshell set shoppingListTarget 'Groceries'.
• Theme and wallpaper selection based on Omarchy-compatible color files
• A bundled original wallpaper collection and a global picker that can use an image from any theme collection without changing the active color theme
• Theme-accent frames shared by menus, overlays, popouts, and notifications
• Reduced, standard, and expressive motion profiles shared by the bar, controls, menus, popouts, Library, and wallpaper picker
• Automatic palette synchronization for Zen Browser and Brave, with an optional live-theme bridge for Zen updates
• Optional Hermes Agent skin generation through the example theme hook, with atomic live updates for Hermes CLI, TUI, and desktop surfaces
• Notification center, clipboard history, system tray, and on-screen displays
• Tray favorites and hidden apps: click the arrow to expand the drawer; right-click it (or focus it and press Menu / Shift+F10) to manage icons. Pin keeps an active app visible, Hide removes it, and Show returns it to the drawer. Passive icons are omitted from the bar but remain in the manager. Choices persist by the application's SNI ID; instances sharing an ID share the same preference.
• Tray app submenus show one level at a time. Use Back or Left to return; Right opens a submenu without activating leaf actions. Tall menus remain scrollable.
• Shell startup reads the installed icon theme selected in qt6ct, KDE or GTK settings, with installed Papirus/Adwaita fallbacks. An explicit QS_ICON_THEME override takes precedence. Restart the shell after changing the icon theme.
• Optional 1Password actions in the System > Security menu and searchable command catalog, with global Quick Access on Ctrl+Shift+Space; all vault handling remains inside the official 1Password client

The Library keeps search and list navigation while presenting the selected theme as a responsive animated preview with previous/next theme cues. Motion uses short opacity, scale, position, and list-scroll transitions only; the reduced profile disables them without changing layout or functionality.

Work Desk (current main)

Optional transparent desktop modules show active OpenClaw/Herdr session cards, compact recent sessions, local Git project summaries, provider quotas and machine status. A compact seven-day grid reuses daily local CLI token data, not prompt history or claimed OpenClaw activity. It is separate from the dashboard, sits below normal windows, and shares its session/Git cache with dashboard WORK. Use Mod+Alt+I or nbshell work on|off; individual module switches persist. Missing services and project metadata remain explicit. Nothing is fetched or committed by the Git display. See Work Desk.

This feature is newer than the published beta 12 archive.

System controls

• Wi-Fi, saved NetworkManager VPN and WireGuard profiles, Bluetooth pairing and removal, audio devices, brightness, batteries, and power profiles
• Optional Buds Control plugin for per-earbud and case batteries plus live ANC, transparency, and off modes through pbpctrl or BudsLink; adaptive appears when the selected backend supports it
• Persistent Umbriel display setup for resolution, scale, rotation, refresh rate, and position
• Update workflow with restart recommendations for important system packages
• Process viewer, power menu, screen saver, and session controls
• Native Orbital session locker using dedicated PAM authentication, the current palette, and either the current wallpaper or a private solid background; Hyprlock remains an independent fallback
• Lock-before-suspend and configurable idle locking

Lock screen

Mod+Alt+L, the session menu, and idle automation all use the same lock path. The native locker runs as a separate Quickshell WlSessionLock service and authenticates through /etc/pam.d/nbshell-lock. Suspend waits until the compositor confirms the secure session lock. At lock time, the launcher checks for Quickshell, the native QML payload, and the dedicated PAM service; if any are unavailable, it starts Hyprlock instead. nbshell never reads or stores the password.

Settings → Lock Screen controls the background mode, wallpaper blur and dim strength, date, and user/host label. Notification text, clipboard contents, calendar entries, and agent data are intentionally never rendered. A custom lockCommand remains available in config.json for advanced users and takes precedence over both the native locker and Hyprlock fallback.

Window workflow

• Native Umbriel scrolling, dwindle and master layouts
• Umbriel overview, workspace navigation, and floating-window rules
• Floating Picture-in-Picture management for Zen Browser
• Floating windows for tools such as quick translation and phone preview

Capture and media

• Screenshots by area, output, or selected window
• Screen recording and OBS launcher
• Focused demo recording with on-demand Reddit, Discord, and GitHub exports
• Fast start/end trimming through the nbshell-themed Video Trimmer
• OCR, QR scanning, and optional local dictation
• Browser and application media controls through MPRIS

Phone integration

• KDE Connect actions, status, battery, clipboard, files, SMS, and ping
• Android mirroring through the separate nbphone CLI and scrcpy
• Android front or rear camera as a V4L2 webcam
• Low-latency floating camera preview and direct OBS launch

See the phone webcam guide for setup and daily use.

AI and development

• Opt-in OpenClaw setup using existing provider authentication
• Agent Center for Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, Gemini, Copilot, and Pi
• Explicit safe, balanced, and autonomous approval profiles
• Local-model routing through OpenCode and Ollama
• Quick floating agent, project selection, pair workspaces, and Herdr sessions
• Supervised Hermes teams with bounded parallel work, cross-provider review, revisions, isolated integration, checks, recovery, and human-only deployment
• Reviewed Second Brain proposals with append/create-only note boundaries, privacy review, exact diffs, and human-only commit and push
• Explicit autonomous Hermes sessions starting at Home, with optional project targeting, YOLO terminal access, code execution, planning, delegation, and skills
• Provider-focused AI dashboard with subscription limits, reset times, local seven-day/model token summaries, agent state, and launch controls
• Privacy-conscious Markdown or JSON system report for agents and support

Theme creation and calendar

• Theme Maker with isolated live previews, saved drafts and export
• A themed Calendar app with Monday-first month layout and a cached clock agenda
• Fork Updates for reviewing upstream changes and queuing explicit port decisions

These are included in beta 12. See optional integrations for service requirements and AI/agent modes for detailed permissions.

Optional tools

• Guided gaming setup for Steam, Heroic, Lutris, Prism Launcher, RetroArch, GeForce NOW, and supporting tools
• Plugin system with managed examples such as Mail, YouTube Music, and Pit Wall
• Read-only Plugin Porting Lab for bounded static inspection of public GitHub repositories and Omarchy marketplace sources; it produces findings and a porting plan without executing, installing, or modifying third-party code, then offers an explicit coding-agent handoff for suitable reports
• Calendar synchronization through khal and vdirsyncer
• Syncthing-backed tasks, habits, and wallpapers
• Faster screen-saver rendering through ttfx 0.3.2+; Python TTE and the built-in renderer remain automatic fallbacks

Optional features are discovered at runtime. Missing software should disable a feature cleanly instead of preventing the shell from starting.

Performance

Large on-demand surfaces are lazy loaded, and the service includes a conservative jemalloc policy for lower idle memory. See Performance for the measurement method and allocator override.

Audio panel presentation and keyboard behavior: Omarchy alignment.