Application Menu

Use ApplicationMenu.setApplicationMenu() in the main process. A role invokes native operating-system behavior; an action emits an event for application code.

Cottontail

import { ApplicationMenu } from "electrobun/main";

ApplicationMenu.setApplicationMenu([
  {
    label: "File",
    submenu: [
      {
        label: "New project",
        action: "new-project",
        accelerator: "n",
      },
      { type: "separator" },
      { role: "close" },
      { role: "quit" },
    ],
  },
  {
    label: "Edit",
    submenu: [
      { role: "undo" },
      { role: "redo" },
      { type: "separator" },
      { role: "cut" },
      { role: "copy" },
      { role: "paste" },
      { role: "selectAll" },
    ],
  },
]);

ApplicationMenu.on("application-menu-clicked", (event: unknown) => {
  console.log("Application menu action", event);
});

Bun

import { ApplicationMenu } from "electrobun/main";

ApplicationMenu.setApplicationMenu([
  {
    label: "File",
    submenu: [
      {
        label: "New project",
        action: "new-project",
        accelerator: "n",
      },
      { type: "separator" },
      { role: "close" },
      { role: "quit" },
    ],
  },
  {
    label: "Edit",
    submenu: [
      { role: "undo" },
      { role: "redo" },
      { type: "separator" },
      { role: "cut" },
      { role: "copy" },
      { role: "paste" },
      { role: "selectAll" },
    ],
  },
]);

ApplicationMenu.on("application-menu-clicked", (event: unknown) => {
  console.log("Application menu action", event);
});

Zig

fn onMenuAction(item_id: u32, action: [*:0]const u8) callconv(.C) void {
    std.debug.print("application menu action: {d} {s}\n", .{ item_id, action });
}

const menu_json =
    \\[{"label": "File", "submenu": [
    \\  {"label": "New project", "action": "new-project", "accelerator": "n"},
    \\  {"type": "separator"},
    \\  {"role": "close"},
    \\  {"role": "quit"}
    \\]}]
;

try core.setApplicationMenuJson(menu_json, onMenuAction);

Rust

extern "C" fn on_menu_action(item_id: u32, action: *const c_char) {
    let action = electrobun::c_string_to_string(action);
    println!("application menu action: {item_id} {action}");
}

let menu_json = r#"[
  {"label": "File", "submenu": [
    {"label": "New project", "action": "new-project", "accelerator": "n"},
    {"type": "separator"},
    {"role": "close"},
    {"role": "quit"}
  ]}
]"#;

core.set_application_menu_json(menu_json, Some(on_menu_action))?;

Go

menuJSON := `[
  {"label": "File", "submenu": [
    {"label": "New project", "action": "new-project", "accelerator": "n"},
    {"type": "separator"},
    {"role": "close"},
    {"role": "quit"}
  ]}
]`

err := core.SetApplicationMenuJSON(menuJSON, func(itemID uint32, action string) {
    fmt.Printf("application menu action: %d %s\n", itemID, action)
})

Odin

on_menu_action :: proc "c" (item_id: u32, action: cstring) {
    context = runtime.default_context()
    fmt.printfln("application menu action: %d %s", item_id, action)
}

MENU_JSON :: `[
  {"label": "File", "submenu": [
    {"label": "New project", "action": "new-project", "accelerator": "n"},
    {"type": "separator"},
    {"role": "close"},
    {"role": "quit"}
  ]}
]`

_ = electrobun.setApplicationMenuJson(core, MENU_JSON, on_menu_action)

Note

The native SDKs have no typed menu builder: setApplicationMenuJson (Rust set_application_menu_json, Go SetApplicationMenuJSON) takes a raw JSON string using the same menu schema the TypeScript SDK serializes, so the item fields and roles documented below apply unchanged. Custom action values arrive in the StatusItemHandler callback instead of an event emitter.

Menu items

A normal item supports these fields:

Field	Type	Purpose
label	string	Visible item text. Optional when a role supplies its standard label.
action	string	Custom action emitted when selected.
role	string	Native menu command. Do not combine it with action.
submenu	ApplicationMenuItemConfig[]	Nested items.
enabled	boolean	Disable interaction when false.
checked	boolean	Show the checked state.
hidden	boolean	Hide the item.
tooltip	string	Native tooltip where supported.
accelerator	string	Single-key custom shortcut; Command on macOS and Control on Windows.
data	unknown	Serializable application data attached to the action.

Use { type: "separator" } or { type: "divider" } for a divider.

Roles

Common roles include about, quit, hide, hideOthers, showAll, minimize, zoom, close, toggleFullScreen, undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, pasteAndMatchStyle, delete, and selectAll.

Electrobun also accepts native text movement, selection, deletion, insertion, speech, and scrolling roles. Roles are forwarded to the platform menu system; unsupported roles have no native action on that platform.

Stateful items

Rebuild the menu when application state changes:

import { ApplicationMenu } from "electrobun/main";

let sidebarVisible = true;

function updateMenu() {
  ApplicationMenu.setApplicationMenu([
    {
      label: "View",
      submenu: [
        {
          label: "Show sidebar",
          action: "toggle-sidebar",
          checked: sidebarVisible,
        },
      ],
    },
  ]);
}

ApplicationMenu.on("application-menu-clicked", (event: unknown) => {
  console.log(event);
  sidebarVisible = !sidebarVisible;
  updateMenu();
});

updateMenu();

Application menus are currently implemented on macOS and Windows. Linux apps should expose essential actions in application UI or a supported tray menu.