meson-gse

A Gnome Shell Extension library

Overview

meson-gse contains various files needed when using meson for building
Gnome Shell extensions.

This repository is supposed to be included in the meson-gse
top-level directory of your extension (with git-submodule).

Gnome Shell Extensions using meson-gse

• SSH Search Provider Reborn

• Soft Brightness

• Tweaks in System Menu

• Weeks Start on Monday Again...

Usage

Expected layout

meson-gse expects your project to have a certain layout:

• po/

  • Internationalization files go here.

• schemas/

  • Any GSettings schema go here, they are expected to be of the form:

  • schemas/org.gnome.shell.extensions.your project
    name.gschema.xml [auto-included]

• src/

  • JavaScript and CSS goes here

  • src/extension.js This file is mandatory for a Gnome-shell
    extension. [auto-included]

  • src/metadata.json.in Mandatory template for the metadata file,
    see below. [auto-included]

  • src/stylesheet.css Optional. [auto-included]

  • src/pref.js Optional. [auto-included]

Import meson-gse in your git tree

In your extension's top-level directory, run:

git submodule init
git submodule add https://github.com/F-i-f/meson-gse

Create required files

You need to create two files: meson-gse.build and
src/metadata.json.in

The meson-gse.build file

Syntax

# You can put a header here
# But no meson directives can be used
gse_project({extension name}, {extension uuid domain}, {extension version}, {gse assignments, meson code block})
# You can put other comments or meson directives after the gse_project statement

• extension name will be used as the project name in the
  meson_project() definition and must conform to its requirements.

• extension uuid domain will be appended to extension name when
  generating the extension's UUID.

• extension_version must be a single integer as it will be used in
  the Gnome Shell extension's metadata.json file.

• gse_assignments, meson code block can be any meson code, but you're
  expected to fill in some meson-gse variables as described below.

Available meson-gse variables

• gse_sources

  You can add any JavaScript files to this meson variable. Note that
  the src/extension.js and src/prefs.js (if it exists) files are
  automatically included.

  Example:

  gse_sources += files('src/other.js', 'src/foo.js')

  The gse_sources files are installed in the extension's root
  directory by the install or extension.zip ninja targets.

• gse_libs

  This meson variable is intended for external JavaScript libraries.
  The difference between gse_sources and gse_libs is that the
  gse_sources JavaScript files will be checked for syntax when
  running ninja check while the gse_libs JavaScript files won't.

  A very basic logging
  class
  is also provided, and its path is available in the gse_lib_logger
  meson variable.

  Example:

  gse_libs += gse_lib_logger
  gse_libs += files('lib/other-library.js')

  The gse_libs files are installed in the extension's root directory
  by the install or extension.zip ninja targets.

• gse_data

  This meson variable can be used for other non-JavaScript data files.
  The src/stylesheet.css file is automatically included if it
  exists.

  Example:

  gse_data += files('icons/blah.png', 'src/datafile.xml')

  The gse_data files are installed in the extension's root directory
  by the install or extension.zip ninja targets.

• gse_schemas

  This meson variable can be used for GSettings schemas that need to
  be included. If your extension's schema is stored in
  schemas/org.gnome.shell.extensions.meson project
  name.gschema.xml, it will be automatically included.

  Example:

  gse_schemas += files('schemas/other-schema.xml')

  The gse_schemas files are installed in the extension's schemas
  directory by the install or extension.zip ninja targets.

• gse_dbus_interfaces

  If your extension requires to be shipped with some missing or
  private DBus interfaces, you can use this meson variable.

  Example:

  gse_dbus_interfaces += files('dbus-interfaces/private.xml')

  The gse_dbus_interfaces files are installed in the extension's
  dbus-interfaces directory by the install or extension.zip
ninja targets.

The src/metadata.json.in file

This is a template for the extension's metadata.json file. Meson
will fill in some variables automatically. All variables expansions
are surrounded with @ signs, like in @variable@.

Available metadata.json.in expansions

• @uuid@ – fills in your extension's uuid.

• @gettext_domain@ – will be replaced by your extension's gettext
  domain. This is typically your meson project name / extension name.

• @version@ – your extension's version as declared in the
  gse_project() statement.

• @VCS_TAG@ – will be the current git revision number.

Run the meson-gse/meson-gse tool, meson and ninja

meson-gse/meson-gse
meson setup build
ninja -C build test          # Checks syntax of JavaScript files (runs eslint)
ninja -C build prettier      # Maintenance only: run prettier on JavaScript files.
ninja -C build install       # Install to $HOME/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions
ninja -C build extension.zip # Builds the extension in build/extension.zip
ninja -C build clean         # Default clean target, restart build from scratch
ninja -C build cleaner       # Removes backup files, npm_modules. Does not imply 'clean'.

Examples

Simple project

I'm working on project simple, version 1 and my extension's domain
is example.com. If your file layout is:

• meson-gse.build

  meson_gse_project({simple}, {example.com}, {1})

• src/extension.js

  import {Extension, gettext as _} from 'resource:///org/gnome/shell/extensions/extension.js';
  
  export default class MyExtension extends Extension {
    enable() {
      log('Hello world enabled');
    }
  
    disable() {
      log('Hello world disabled');
    }
  };

• src/metadata.json.in

  {
    "description": "Says: hello, world.",
    "name": "Hello, world!",
    "shell-version": [
      "45",
      "46"
    ],
    "gettext-domain": "@gettext_domain@",
    "settings-schema": "org.gnome.shell.extensions.hello-world",
    "url": "http://example.com/",
    "uuid": "@uuid@",
    "version": @version@,
    "vcs_revision": "@VCS_TAG@"
  }

Create the two above files in a git repository:

mkdir hello-world
cd hello-world
git init
echo "gse_project({simple}, {example.com}, {1})" > meson-gse.build
mkdir src
cat <<-'EOD' > src/extension.js
   import {Extension, gettext as _} from 'resource:///org/gnome/shell/extensions/extension.js';

   export default class MyExtension extends Extension {
	 enable() {
	   console.log('Hello world enabled');
	 }

	 disable() {
	   console.log('Hello world disabled');
	 }
   };
EOD
cat <<-'EOD' > src/metadata.json.in
	{
	  "description": "Says: hello, world.",
	  "name": "Hello, world!",
	  "shell-version": [
		"45",
		"46"
	  ],
	  "gettext-domain": "@gettext_domain@",
	  "settings-schema": "org.gnome.shell.extensions.hello-world",
	  "url": "http://example.com/",
	  "uuid": "@uuid@",
	  "version": @version@,
	  "vcs_revision": "@VCS_TAG@"
	}
EOD
git submodule init
git submodule add https://github.com/F-i-f/meson-gse
git add meson-gse.build src
git commit -m "Initial checkin."
meson-gse/meson-gse
meson setup build
ninja -C build test install

And your extension is installed and ready to be enabled in Tweaks.

More complex examples

Refer to the projects using meson-gse.

Requirements

• Meson 1.4.0 or later.

• GNU M4

  M4 is needed to generate meson.build from meson-gse.build.

Recent changes

2026-02-19

• Update NPM modules.
• Update ESLint rules from latest Gnome Shell (50).
• Drop lib/convenience.js. It's been unnecessary since Gnome Shell 3.32.
• Fix ESLint errors in lib/logger.js.

2025-08-30

• Update NPM modules.
• Change prettier configuration from js to yaml.

2024-12-04

• Provide a "Get it on Gnome Extensions" icon/badge.
• Update NPM modules.
• Update ESLint configuration.

2024-06-05

• Replace Mozilla SpiderMonkey by
  eslint for linting.
• Add prettier.
• Add cleaner ninja target (removes *~ backup and npm's
  node_modules).
• Bump Meson requirement to 1.4.0 for files'full_path() method and
  get rid of a meson warning.

2024-05-25

• Use git submodule instead of subtree.
• Updated documentation.

2024-01-10

• Gnome Shell 45 and later compatibility.

2022-12-22

• Support js102 for JavaScript validation.

2022-05-20

• Support js91 for JavaScript validation.
• Support Meson 0.61 and later.
• Fix issue in git-subtree-push.

2021-12-20

• Fix compatibility issue with meson 0.60.
• Require meson 0.50.0 or later for builds.

Credits

• I've been inspired by the
  gnome-shell-extensions
  for writing the meson build files. Thanks to Florian
  Müllner.

• meson-gse used to include the convenience.js file from Giovanni
  Campagna scampa.giovanni@gmail.com.