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Desktop entry & autostart (scribe-install)

On Linux (GNOME, KDE, anything supporting the freedesktop .desktop spec), the scribe-install command generates a scribe.desktop file under $HOME/.local/share/applications so scribe shows up in your launcher / dash.

Any extra arguments are passed straight through to scribe, plus two install-only options: --name (the human-readable label) and --frontend {tray,terminal} (default: tray).

Two common flavors

scribe-install --name "Scribe"
scribe-install --name "Scribe Terminal" --frontend terminal
  • The first creates an app named Scribe that runs in tray mode (no terminal window), with the tray icon as the only mode of interaction.
  • The second creates an app named Scribe Terminal that opens a terminal window and runs the interactive TUI.

Keyboard mode defaults to keystroke — pass --mode clipboard or --mode terminal if you want a different default for the installed app.

Wayland / eitype auto-prompt

After writing the desktop file, scribe-install checks whether you're on a Wayland session without eitype (the recommended typer backend for GNOME / KDE / Hyprland — see output.md). If so:

  • If cargo is already on your $PATH, it asks whether to run cargo install --git https://github.com/Adam-D-Lewis/eitype for you (~1–2 min, no sudo, writes only to ~/.cargo/bin).
  • If cargo is missing, it prints the rustup + cargo-install recipe so you can run it manually.

ydotool is never auto-installed: enabling it grants kernel-level input access (via the input group or a setuid daemon) and ought to be a conscious choice. See its package docs if you need it.