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widgets.md

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summary WidgetKit snapshot pipeline + visibility troubleshooting for CodexBar widgets.
read_when
Modifying WidgetKit extension behavior or snapshot format
Debugging widget update timing
Widget gallery shows no CodexBar widgets

Widgets

Snapshot pipeline

  • WidgetSnapshotStore writes compact JSON snapshots to the app-group container.
  • Widgets read the snapshot and render usage/credits/history states.
  • The app writes snapshots after the main refresh pipeline and token-usage refreshes; narrow single-provider refresh paths may wait for the next snapshot write.
  • If no snapshot is available, widgets fall back to preview/empty data.

Extension

  • Sources/CodexBarWidget contains timeline + views.
  • Keep data shape in sync with WidgetSnapshot in the main app.

Widget types

  • CodexBar Switcher (CodexBarSwitcherWidget): static provider switcher widget, small/medium/large.
  • CodexBar Usage (CodexBarUsageWidget): configurable provider usage widget, small/medium/large.
  • CodexBar History (CodexBarHistoryWidget): configurable usage-history chart, medium/large.
  • CodexBar Metric (CodexBarCompactWidget): compact credits/today-cost/30-day-cost widget, small only.

Provider picker support

The configurable provider widgets currently expose: Codex, Claude, Gemini, Alibaba, Antigravity, z.ai, Copilot, MiniMax, Kilo, OpenCode, and OpenCode Go.

Providers without a ProviderChoice case can still be present in the app snapshot, but they are not selectable from the widget configuration UI yet.

Visibility troubleshooting (macOS 14+)

When widgets do not appear in the gallery at all, the issue is almost always registration, signing, or daemon caching (not SwiftUI code).

1) Verify the extension bundle exists where macOS expects it

APP="/Applications/CodexBar.app"
WAPPEX="$APP/Contents/PlugIns/CodexBarWidget.appex"
WIDGET_ID="com.steipete.codexbar.widget" # debug builds use com.steipete.codexbar.debug.widget

ls -la "$WAPPEX" "$WAPPEX/Contents" "$WAPPEX/Contents/MacOS"

2) PlugInKit registration (pkd)

pluginkit -m -p com.apple.widgetkit-extension -v | grep -i codexbar || true
pluginkit -m -p com.apple.widgetkit-extension -i "$WIDGET_ID" -vv

Notes:

  • + = elected to use, - = ignored (PlugInKit elections).
  • If missing or ignored, force-add and re-elect:
pluginkit -a "$WAPPEX"
pluginkit -e use -p com.apple.widgetkit-extension -i "$WIDGET_ID"
  • Check for duplicates (old installs or version precedence):
pluginkit -m -D -p com.apple.widgetkit-extension -i "$WIDGET_ID" -vv

If multiple paths appear, delete older installs and bump CFBundleVersion.

3) Code signing + Gatekeeper assessment

Widgets are loaded by system daemons. Any signing failure can hide the widget.

codesign --verify --deep --strict --verbose=4 /Applications/CodexBar.app
codesign --verify --strict --verbose=4 "$WAPPEX"
codesign --verify --strict --verbose=4 "$WAPPEX/Contents/MacOS/CodexBarWidget"
spctl --assess --type execute --verbose=4 /Applications/CodexBar.app

4) Restart the right daemons (NotificationCenter alone is not enough)

killall -9 pkd || true
sudo killall -9 chronod || true
killall Dock NotificationCenter || true

5) Watch logs while opening the widget gallery

log stream --style compact --predicate '(process == "pkd" OR process == "chronod" OR subsystem CONTAINS "PlugInKit" OR subsystem CONTAINS "WidgetKit")'

6) Packaging sanity checks

  • Widget bundle id should be com.steipete.codexbar.widget for release and com.steipete.codexbar.debug.widget for debug.
  • NSExtensionPointIdentifier must be com.apple.widgetkit-extension.
  • Bundle folder name should match: CodexBarWidget.appex.

Optional: re-seed LaunchServices (rarely helps, but low risk):

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -seed

Common post-visibility issue: stale data

If the widget appears but always shows preview data:

  • App writes snapshot to fallback path while widget reads app-group container.
  • Validate that both app and widget resolve the same app-group container.

See also: docs/ui.md, docs/packaging.md.