Dbus

# image.yml -- now included in all images with supervisord
my-image:
  layers:
    - dbus

ov dbus Integration

The ov dbus command provides native Go D-Bus interaction with containers via godbus/dbus/v5. It operates in two modes:

• Remote mode (ov dbus notify myimage "title" "body"): delegates to the container's ov binary via engine exec container ov dbus notify . "title" "body". Falls back to gdbus call if ov binary is not in the container.
• Local mode (ov dbus notify . "title" "body"): connects directly to the local session bus. This is what runs inside the container when delegated from the host.

Commands

ov dbus notify <image> "title" "body"    # Send desktop notification
ov dbus list <image>                      # List D-Bus services
ov dbus call <image> <dest> <path> <method> [type:value...]  # Generic method call
ov dbus introspect <image> <dest> <path>  # Service introspection

Notification Delivery Chain

ov cmd/ov tmux cmd/ov record cmd → sendContainerNotification() → ov dbus notify → org.freedesktop.Notifications.Notify → swaync/mako → desktop popup

For notifications to work, the image needs:

1. dbus layer — D-Bus session bus (this layer)
2. swaync layer — notification daemon (or mako for niri)
3. ov layer — in-container ov binary for native D-Bus (falls back to gdbus from glib2)

Error Messages

ov dbus provides explanatory errors when D-Bus is unavailable:

• No session bus → suggests adding the dbus layer
• No notification daemon → suggests adding swaync
• No ov binary → falls back to gdbus, warns about adding ov layer

ov status Probe

The dbus probe checks:

1. Whether dbus-daemon process is running
2. Which notification daemon is active (swaync, mako, dunst)

Shows as dbus:ok (notify:swaync) in ov status detail view.

Used In Images

• Transitive dependency via sway in all desktop images
• Now explicitly added to all images with supervisord (openclaw, jupyter, ollama, immich, etc.)

Related Layers

• /ov-layers:supervisord -- process manager dependency
• /ov-layers:sway -- primary consumer (Sway depends on dbus)
• /ov-layers:swaync -- notification daemon (depends on dbus)
• /ov-layers:libnotify -- notify-send CLI tool (depends on dbus)
• /ov-layers:ov -- in-container ov binary for native D-Bus

Related Commands

• /ov:dbus — Native Go D-Bus commands (notify, list, call, introspect)

When to Use This Skill

Use when the user asks about:

• D-Bus session bus configuration
• DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS environment variable
• ov dbus commands (notify, call, list, introspect)
• Desktop notifications in containers
• Inter-process communication in containers