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Omarchy

ProbeLabs65 findings · 95 requirements

A proof layer — requirements, tests and verified fixes — for two of Omarchy's subsystems: the application menu (launcher scripts, QML model, JSONC config, search and selection) and the lock screen (lock scripts, QML, PAM authentication). Scope is deliberately limited to those components of omacom/omarchy; the rest of the distribution is not covered.

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ReportR-5183GitHub issuePublicReceived

Shell plugin reload keeps stale QML: rescanPlugins never clears the component cache, and symlinked plugins are not watched

Reported by neilofneils404 · filed Oct 6, 2026Closed upstream on 2026-10-07 by its own reporter neilofneils404, as a duplicate of #6981 (R-1835). GitHub close reason: not_planned.

Open at source
Received and recorded verbatim. Nothing has been checked yet.

At a glance

1 · What is claimed?
Only the report text below — no validator has restated it as checkable claims yet.
2 · What does it affect?
Not yet mapped to any requirement or component.
3 · Is it reproducible?
No validation has been run yet.
4 · What remains unclear?
  • Not validated yet: no claims, no reproducer.
5 · What happens next?
Our staff decide whether the report is valid. Where this project allows it, agents decide whether it duplicates another report or a known issue. No decision has been recorded yet.

Original report

Shell plugin reload keeps stale QML: rescanPlugins never clears the component cache, and symlinked plugins are not watchedrevision 1 · captured 2026-10-06 23:02 UTC via poll

System details

AMD Ryzen 7 4700U with Radeon Graphics, Omarchy 4.0.4, quickshell 0.3.1, Qt 6.11.2

What's wrong?

Editing a third-party shell plugin's QML and running omarchy-shell shell rescanPlugins leaves the old UI on screen. Only omarchy restart shell loads the new code. For a plugin symlinked into ~/.config/omarchy/plugins/, the automatic "Local plugin changed, reloading" path never fires either.

Both causes are still present on quattro as of today.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Symlink a plugin checkout into ~/.config/omarchy/plugins/<id> and enable its bar widget.
  2. Edit one of its QML files in a visible way (for example, add a text item to its panel).
  3. Run omarchy-shell shell rescanPlugins and open the panel.

Expected: the edit is visible. Actual: the previous version of the panel is shown and nothing is logged. After omarchy restart shell the edit appears.

Cause 1: the cache-clearing call is a no-op

shell/shell.qml, finishPluginReload():

if (typeof Qt.clearComponentCache === "function") Qt.clearComponentCache()

clearComponentCache() is a C++ method on QQmlEngine and is not exposed on the QML Qt global. Under Qt 6.11.2, typeof Qt.clearComponentCache evaluates to "undefined" (checked with a one-line QML file run by /usr/lib/qt6/bin/qml), so the guard is always false and the cache is never cleared. Plugin entry-point URLs are identical across reloads (PluginRegistry.entryPointUrl returns a plain file URL), so the engine returns the components it already compiled.

Cause 2: the file watcher does not see symlinked plugins

shell/services/PluginRegistry.qml starts inotifywait -m -r ... <pluginsDir>. Per the inotifywait man page, with -r "symbolic links are not traversed", so writes inside a symlinked plugin directory produce no events and localPluginChanged is never emitted. A checkout linked into the plugins directory is the natural layout for plugin development.

Possible fixes

  • Cause 1: load plugin entry points from a URL that changes per reload (for example a query-string generation counter) so cached components are not reused, or reload through something that reaches the engine.
  • Cause 2: resolve each plugin directory with readlink -f and pass the real paths to inotifywait as additional watch roots.

Happy to open a PR for either if that would help.

View raw text
### System details

AMD Ryzen 7 4700U with Radeon Graphics, Omarchy 4.0.4, quickshell 0.3.1, Qt 6.11.2

### What's wrong?

Editing a third-party shell plugin's QML and running `omarchy-shell shell rescanPlugins` leaves the old UI on screen. Only `omarchy restart shell` loads the new code. For a plugin symlinked into `~/.config/omarchy/plugins/`, the automatic "Local plugin changed, reloading" path never fires either.

Both causes are still present on `quattro` as of today.

**Steps to reproduce**

1. Symlink a plugin checkout into `~/.config/omarchy/plugins/<id>` and enable its bar widget.
2. Edit one of its QML files in a visible way (for example, add a text item to its panel).
3. Run `omarchy-shell shell rescanPlugins` and open the panel.

Expected: the edit is visible. Actual: the previous version of the panel is shown and nothing is logged. After `omarchy restart shell` the edit appears.

**Cause 1: the cache-clearing call is a no-op**

`shell/shell.qml`, `finishPluginReload()`:

```qml
if (typeof Qt.clearComponentCache === "function") Qt.clearComponentCache()
```

`clearComponentCache()` is a C++ method on `QQmlEngine` and is not exposed on the QML `Qt` global. Under Qt 6.11.2, `typeof Qt.clearComponentCache` evaluates to `"undefined"` (checked with a one-line QML file run by `/usr/lib/qt6/bin/qml`), so the guard is always false and the cache is never cleared. Plugin entry-point URLs are identical across reloads (`PluginRegistry.entryPointUrl` returns a plain file URL), so the engine returns the components it already compiled.

**Cause 2: the file watcher does not see symlinked plugins**

`shell/services/PluginRegistry.qml` starts `inotifywait -m -r ... <pluginsDir>`. Per the inotifywait man page, with `-r` "symbolic links are not traversed", so writes inside a symlinked plugin directory produce no events and `localPluginChanged` is never emitted. A checkout linked into the plugins directory is the natural layout for plugin development.

**Possible fixes**

- Cause 1: load plugin entry points from a URL that changes per reload (for example a query-string generation counter) so cached components are not reused, or reload through something that reaches the engine.
- Cause 2: resolve each plugin directory with `readlink -f` and pass the real paths to `inotifywait` as additional watch roots.

Happy to open a PR for either if that would help.

Validation

Not checked yet. A validator will restate this report as checkable claims, map it to the project's requirements and write a reproducer that the proof engine runs.

Linked

Not linked to any known issue, other report or change yet.

Decision

Decisions are recorded by our staff — or, where this project allows it, by agents: checked by a second, independent agent, or by a single agent where the project's policy says so. Any decision reached so far is shown below.

No decision has been recorded yet.