Skip to content

Add optional transparent Linux desktop windows - #2493

Merged
SawyerHood merged 1 commit into
get-bb:mainfrom
wy3z:feat/linux-transparent-window
Aug 26, 2026
Merged

Add optional transparent Linux desktop windows#2493
SawyerHood merged 1 commit into
get-bb:mainfrom
wy3z:feat/linux-transparent-window

Conversation

@wy3z

@wy3z wy3z commented Aug 26, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Human comments

Small fix to allow transparency - added as an option. Maybe opinionated but suggest it's a default as can't see it causing any issues.

What was wrong

Electron creates opaque desktop windows by default, so Linux compositors cannot show transparency or blur behind bb even when a custom CSS theme uses translucent colors. This leaves compositor-level effects unavailable after the frameless Linux window option added in #1785. Fixes #1916.

What changed

  • Added a Linux-only --transparent-window startup flag.
  • Set Electron's transparent: true and backgroundColor: "#00000000" window options when requested.
  • Kept the option independent from --no-window-frame; both remain opt-in and can be combined.
  • Added argument parsing and BrowserWindow option coverage.
  • Documented Linux usage, restart requirements, and Electron transparency limitations.
  • No host-daemon protocol changes.

How you verified

  • pnpm exec turbo run typecheck --filter=@bb/desktop
  • pnpm exec turbo run test --filter=@bb/desktop --force (37 files, 243 tests passed)
  • pnpm exec prettier --check apps/desktop/README.md apps/desktop/src/desktop-window-factory.ts apps/desktop/src/desktop-window-transparency.ts apps/desktop/src/main.ts apps/desktop/test/desktop-window-factory.test.ts apps/desktop/test/desktop-window-transparency.test.ts
  • git diff --check

Fixes #1916

AGENT GENERATED

@SawyerHood
SawyerHood merged commit 7a6fe64 into get-bb:main Aug 26, 2026
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

Linux desktop: add opt-in frameless and transparent windows

2 participants