CLI GNOME Extension Manager 🚀

Manage your GNOME extensions easily from the command line with CLI GNOME Extension Manager. This Python CLI lets you install, update, enable, and disable GNOME extensions directly from your terminal.

How it works 🧭

flowchart TD
    A["cli-gnome-extension-manager ACTION NAME [REPO]"] --> B{"action"}
    B -- disable --> C["gnome-extensions disable"]
    B -- enable --> D{"REPO argument given?"}
    D -- no --> H["gnome-extensions enable"]
    D -- yes --> E{"extension folder already there?"}
    E -- no --> F["git clone into the extensions dir"]
    E -- yes --> G{"is it a git checkout?"}
    G -- yes --> G1["git pull"]
    G -- no --> G2["leave it untouched"]
    F --> I{"ships a Makefile?"}
    G1 --> I
    G2 --> I
    I -- yes --> J["move to a scratch dir, make install, drop the scratch dir"]
    I -- no --> H
    J --> H
    C --> Z["Installation complete"]
    H --> Z

Any failing step - git, make or gnome-extensions - stops the run and its exit code is passed through.

Features ✨

• Install & Update: Clone extension repositories and update them if already installed.
• Compile: Automatically compile the extension if a Makefile is provided.
• Activate/Deactivate: Enable or disable GNOME extensions easily using the CLI.
• Automation-Friendly: Perfect for power users and automation scripts.

Requirements 🔧

• Python 3.10+ 🐍
• GNOME Shell (version 3.36+)
• gnome-extensions on PATH — always required
• git on PATH — only when a repository argument is given
• make on PATH — only when the extension ships a Makefile

If a required command is missing, the tool exits with code 127 and a one‑line error instead of a traceback.

Installation 📦

pip install cli-gnome-extension-manager

pip is the single supported installation path.

The package installs two identical commands: cli-gnome-extension-manager (primary) and goexma (kept for older documentation and scripts).

Usage ⚙️

To install and enable an extension, run:

cli-gnome-extension-manager enable <extension_name> <extension_repository_path>

To enable an already installed extension, drop the repository argument:

cli-gnome-extension-manager enable <extension_name>

To disable an extension, run:

cli-gnome-extension-manager disable <extension_name>

The tool will:

• Clone the repository if the extension isn't installed.
• Pull updates if the extension is already a Git repository.
• Compile the extension if a Makefile is present — the checkout is moved into a scratch directory, make install runs there, and the scratch directory is removed afterwards.
• Enable or disable the extension using gnome-extensions.

Extensions live in ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions by default; --extensions-dir points the tool elsewhere.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Finished.
2	Invalid command line arguments, including an action other than enable or disable.
127	A required command is not installed.
other	The exit code of the failing git, make or gnome-extensions call.

Development 🧪

make lint              # ruff check + ruff format --check
make format            # apply ruff format
make test              # unit + integration tests
make test-unit
make test-integration
make test-e2e          # install the package in a container and exercise the CLI

Tests run against the working tree — the Makefile puts src/ on PYTHONPATH, so no install is needed. The integration tests build a real throwaway git repository and stub gnome-extensions on PATH, so no extension of yours is ever touched.

License 📜

This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for details.

Author 👨‍💻

Developed by Kevin Veen-Birkenbach

• 📧 kevin@veen.world
• 🌐 https://www.veen.world/

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Feel free to contribute, open issues, or suggest improvements. Enjoy managing your GNOME extensions effortlessly! 🌟