---
title: Gistbar
url: https://nandomoreira.dev/en/lab/noctalia-gistbar
collection: lab
tech:
  - QML
  - JavaScript
  - Noctalia Shell
  - GitHub CLI
  - Vitest
date: 2026-10-10
---

# Gistbar

Plugin for Noctalia Shell that brings my GitHub gists to the bar: search by description, file name, language and content, copy from the keyboard, new gist from the clipboard, preview and edit, all through the gh CLI.

## Problem

There are 95 accumulated gists, and finding a snippet meant opening GitHub,
remembering which gist it was in and copying by hand. Creating a new gist
with what was on the clipboard also went through the browser.

## Decisions

A plugin of the shell itself, on the same architecture and the same visual
kit as Daybar: logic in pure JavaScript functions tested with Vitest, QML
only as the screen. All GitHub access goes through the gh CLI, so the plugin
never touches a token, and content goes via stdin, never on the command
line. Search ignores accents and covers content, which is why a gist exists,
but description and file name weigh more. Content stays in a local cache with
0600 permissions and is only downloaded again when the gist changes. A new
gist is born secret, because publishing by mistake is the worst possible
failure here.

## Outcome

Personal use on my desktop with CachyOS, published under the MIT license,
with 151 tests. Tested on Noctalia 4.7.7; the port to Noctalia v5 is planned.

## Shortcuts

- `Mod+G`: opens gist search
- `Mod+Ctrl+G`: creates a gist from the clipboard
- `↑/↓`: navigates the list
- `Enter`: copies the first file of the gist
- `Shift+Enter`: copies the gist link
- `Esc`: clears the search
- `Ctrl+E`: edits the description and the open file in the preview
- `Ctrl+S`: saves the edit to GitHub

## Links

- Repo: https://github.com/nandomoreirame/noctalia-gistbar