Desktop UI Electron

Electron Desktop UI Patterns

Quick Guide: Use titleBarStyle: 'hidden' for custom title bars with native traffic lights on macOS, combined with titleBarOverlay for Windows/Linux window controls. Mark draggable regions with app-region: drag in CSS and exclude interactive elements with app-region: no-drag. Keep a module-level reference to Tray objects (garbage collection silently destroys the icon). Use vibrancy for macOS translucency effects and backgroundMaterial for Windows 11 Mica/Acrylic. Persist window bounds manually with getBounds()/setBounds() on the close event.

CRITICAL: Before Using This Skill

All code must follow project conventions in CLAUDE.md (kebab-case, named exports, import ordering, import type, named constants)

(You MUST keep a module-level reference to Tray objects -- garbage collection silently destroys the tray icon with no error)

(You MUST use app-region: no-drag on ALL interactive elements (buttons, inputs, links) inside a drag region -- draggable areas swallow all pointer events)

(You MUST add user-select: none to draggable title bar regions -- dragging conflicts with text selection)

(You MUST NOT use transparent: true with backgroundMaterial on Windows -- set backgroundColor: '#00000000' instead to allow the DWM material to show through)

Auto-detection: titleBarStyle, titleBarOverlay, trafficLightPosition, frameless window, frame false, app-region drag, custom title bar, Tray, system tray, tray icon, Menu.buildFromTemplate, context menu, app.setBadgeCount, dock badge, splash screen, kiosk, alwaysOnTop, vibrancy, backgroundMaterial, mica, acrylic, transparent window, electron-window-state, window state persistence, getBounds, setBounds

When to use:

• Building custom title bars (frameless, overlay controls, macOS traffic light positioning)
• Creating system tray icons with context menus
• Building application menus and context menus
• Adding dock/taskbar badges for notifications
• Implementing splash screens or always-on-top windows
• Making windows transparent or applying vibrancy/material effects
• Persisting and restoring window position and size
• Entering kiosk mode for single-app displays

When NOT to use:

• Choosing a UI framework for the renderer content (not this skill's scope)
• Styling renderer page content (not this skill's scope)
• Configuring IPC or preload security (separate from window chrome customization)
• Packaging or distributing the application (separate from window chrome customization)

Key patterns covered:

• Frameless windows with titleBarStyle: 'hidden' and titleBarOverlay
• Custom title bars with CSS app-region: drag / no-drag
• macOS traffic light positioning via trafficLightPosition
• Native application menus and context menus
• System tray icons with menus and click handlers
• Dock/taskbar badges (app.setBadgeCount, app.dock.setBadge)
• Splash screens and always-on-top windows
• Window state persistence (position, size, maximized)
• Transparent windows, vibrancy (macOS), backgroundMaterial (Windows 11)
• Kiosk mode

Philosophy

Electron desktop UI customization operates at two levels: window chrome (title bar, frame, transparency, system tray) controlled via BrowserWindow constructor options and main process APIs, and in-window layout (drag regions, custom title bar HTML/CSS) controlled via the renderer. The main process owns window-level behavior; the renderer owns the visual presentation within the window.

Platform-aware design is essential. macOS has native traffic lights and vibrancy. Windows 11 has Mica/Acrylic materials and titleBarOverlay for window controls. Linux varies by desktop environment. Always test UI customizations on all target platforms -- what works on macOS may look wrong on Windows or be unsupported on Linux.

When to customize window chrome:

• App requires a branded header or sidebar navigation alongside window controls
• App needs to minimize visual chrome (media player, creative tool)
• App runs in kiosk/display mode (digital signage, POS terminal)
• App needs persistent system tray presence (background services, communication tools)

When NOT to customize:

• Standard document-based apps where native title bar is expected
• Apps where accessibility is the top priority (custom title bars can break screen readers)
• When native platform look-and-feel is more important than branding

Core Patterns

Pattern 1: Frameless Windows and Custom Title Bars

Use titleBarStyle: 'hidden' to remove the native title bar while keeping macOS traffic lights. On Windows/Linux, add titleBarOverlay to get native window control buttons overlaid on your content.

const TITLE_BAR_OVERLAY_HEIGHT = 40;

const mainWindow = new BrowserWindow({
  titleBarStyle: "hidden",
  // Windows/Linux: overlay native controls on custom title bar
  titleBarOverlay: {
    color: "#2f3241",
    symbolColor: "#74b1be",
    height: TITLE_BAR_OVERLAY_HEIGHT,
  },
  // macOS: position traffic lights within custom title bar
  trafficLightPosition: { x: 16, y: 12 },
});

Key point: titleBarStyle: 'hidden' hides the title text and title bar area but keeps macOS traffic lights visible. titleBarOverlay creates a Windows Controls Overlay (WCO) with native minimize/maximize/close buttons on Windows and Linux. See examples/core.md for the full CSS title bar implementation.

Pattern 2: CSS Drag Regions

Mark custom title bar areas as draggable with app-region: drag. All interactive elements (buttons, inputs) inside a drag region MUST be marked app-region: no-drag or they will be unclickable.

.title-bar {
  app-region: drag;
  user-select: none;
  height: 40px;
}

.title-bar button,
.title-bar input {
  app-region: no-drag;
}

Key point: Draggable areas swallow ALL pointer events -- no clicks, no hover, no cursor changes. Only rectangular regions are supported. Never use custom context menus on drag regions (right-click triggers the system window menu on some platforms). See examples/core.md.

Pattern 3: Application Menus and Context Menus

Use Menu.buildFromTemplate() for both application menus and right-click context menus. On macOS, the first menu item is always the app name menu.

const { Menu, app } = require("electron/main");

const template = [
  ...(process.platform === "darwin"
    ? [{ label: app.name, submenu: [{ role: "about" }, { role: "quit" }] }]
    : []),
  {
    label: "File",
    submenu: [
      {
        label: "Open",
        accelerator: "CmdOrCtrl+O",
        click: () => {
          /* ... */
        },
      },
      process.platform === "darwin" ? { role: "close" } : { role: "quit" },
    ],
  },
];
Menu.setApplicationMenu(Menu.buildFromTemplate(template));

Key point: Use built-in role values (undo, copy, paste, quit, about, etc.) for standard actions -- Electron handles platform-specific labels and shortcuts automatically. See examples/core.md for context menus.

Pattern 4: System Tray

Create a persistent system tray icon with a context menu. You MUST keep a module-level reference to the Tray object or it will be garbage collected and the icon disappears silently.

const { Tray, Menu, nativeImage } = require("electron/main");

let tray = null; // MUST keep reference -- GC destroys the icon silently

function createTray(mainWindow) {
  const icon = nativeImage.createFromPath(
    path.join(__dirname, "assets", "tray-icon.png"),
  );
  if (process.platform === "darwin") icon.setTemplateImage(true);

  tray = new Tray(icon);
  tray.setToolTip(app.name);
  tray.setContextMenu(
    Menu.buildFromTemplate([
      {
        label: "Show",
        click: () => {
          mainWindow.show();
          mainWindow.focus();
        },
      },
      { type: "separator" },
      { label: "Quit", click: () => app.quit() },
    ]),
  );
}

Key point: macOS tray icons should be 16x16 template images (monochrome) -- call setTemplateImage(true) so the OS renders them correctly in dark/light mode. On Windows/Linux, handle tray.on('click') for left-click behavior. See examples/core.md for balloon notifications.

Pattern 5: Dock and Taskbar Badges

Use app.setBadgeCount() (macOS, Linux/Unity) for numeric badges or app.dock.setBadge() (macOS only) for text badges.

// Numeric badge (macOS + Linux/Unity)
app.setBadgeCount(5); // Shows "5" on dock/taskbar icon
app.setBadgeCount(0); // Hides the badge

// Text badge (macOS only)
app.dock.setBadge("!"); // Shows "!" on dock icon
app.dock.setBadge(""); // Clears the badge

Key point: setBadgeCount returns boolean (false if platform doesn't support it). On Windows, use a third-party overlay solution -- native badge API is not available. See examples/core.md.

Pattern 6: Window State Persistence

Save and restore window position, size, and maximized state across app restarts using getBounds()/setBounds() and a local JSON file.

const WINDOW_STATE_FILE = "window-state.json";

function loadWindowState() {
  try {
    const data = fs.readFileSync(
      path.join(app.getPath("userData"), WINDOW_STATE_FILE),
      "utf-8",
    );
    return JSON.parse(data);
  } catch {
    return null;
  }
}

function saveWindowState(win) {
  const bounds = win.getBounds();
  const data = { ...bounds, isMaximized: win.isMaximized() };
  fs.writeFileSync(
    path.join(app.getPath("userData"), WINDOW_STATE_FILE),
    JSON.stringify(data),
  );
}

Key point: Save state on the close event (not closed -- the window is already destroyed). Validate saved bounds against current display geometry to avoid restoring off-screen. See examples/window-state.md for the complete implementation with display validation.

Pattern 7: Transparent Windows and Visual Effects

Use transparent: true for fully transparent windows (overlays, widgets). Use vibrancy (macOS) or backgroundMaterial (Windows 11) for system-level translucency effects.

// macOS vibrancy
const win = new BrowserWindow({
  vibrancy: "sidebar",
  visualEffectState: "active",
  backgroundColor: "#00000000",
});

// Windows 11 Mica/Acrylic -- do NOT use transparent: true
const win = new BrowserWindow({
  backgroundMaterial: "mica",
  backgroundColor: "#00000000",
});

Key point: For backgroundMaterial on Windows, set backgroundColor: '#00000000' instead of transparent: true -- the latter enables layered window mode which breaks material rendering. vibrancy accepts 15+ values; sidebar and under-window are the most common. See examples/core.md.

Pattern 8: Splash Screens and Always-On-Top Windows

Create a splash screen as a frameless, always-on-top window that closes after the main window loads.

const splash = new BrowserWindow({
  width: 400,
  height: 300,
  frame: false,
  alwaysOnTop: true,
  transparent: true,
  skipTaskbar: true,
  resizable: false,
});
splash.loadFile("splash.html");

mainWindow.once("ready-to-show", () => {
  splash.destroy();
  mainWindow.show();
});

Key point: Use skipTaskbar: true so the splash doesn't appear in the taskbar. Show the main window only after ready-to-show fires (content is rendered). See examples/core.md for kiosk mode.

Pattern 9: Kiosk Mode

Kiosk mode makes the window fullscreen with no way for the user to exit via standard OS controls.

const kiosk = new BrowserWindow({
  kiosk: true,
  // alwaysOnTop: true, // optional: stay above other apps
});
// Exit kiosk programmatically
kiosk.setKiosk(false);

Key point: Kiosk mode disables window controls, Alt+F4 on Windows, and Cmd+Q on macOS. Provide an in-app exit mechanism (admin button, keyboard shortcut via IPC) or the user cannot close the app.

Decision Framework

Window Chrome Strategy

Need custom branding in the title bar?
+-- YES --> titleBarStyle: 'hidden' + titleBarOverlay (Windows/Linux)
|           + custom HTML/CSS title bar with app-region: drag
+-- NO  --> Keep default frame: true

Need fully frameless (no controls at all)?
+-- YES --> frame: false + implement ALL window controls in HTML
+-- NO  --> Use titleBarStyle: 'hidden' (keeps native controls)

Need transparency?
+-- Fully transparent (overlay widget)? --> transparent: true + frame: false
+-- macOS frosted glass? --> vibrancy: 'sidebar' (or other type)
+-- Windows 11 material? --> backgroundMaterial: 'mica' | 'acrylic'

Title Bar Options by Platform

System Tray vs Dock Badge

Need background presence after window close?
+-- YES --> System tray (Tray) + tray.setContextMenu()
+-- NO  --> Just show/hide the main window

Need notification count on app icon?
+-- macOS? --> app.setBadgeCount() or app.dock.setBadge()
+-- Linux/Unity? --> app.setBadgeCount()
+-- Windows? --> Third-party taskbar overlay

Detailed resources:

• examples/core.md - Custom title bars, drag regions, tray, menus, badges, transparent windows, splash screens, kiosk mode
• examples/window-state.md - Window state persistence with display validation
• reference.md - Quick-reference tables, vibrancy values, platform support matrix

RED FLAGS

High Priority Issues:

• Losing the Tray reference (no module-level variable) -- tray icon disappears silently when garbage collected
• Missing app-region: no-drag on buttons/inputs inside a drag region -- they become unclickable with no visible indication
• Using transparent: true with backgroundMaterial on Windows -- breaks material rendering; use backgroundColor: '#00000000' instead
• Using frame: false without implementing window controls -- users cannot minimize, maximize, or close the window
• Missing user-select: none on drag regions -- dragging accidentally selects title bar text

Medium Priority Issues:

• Not providing a macOS-specific first menu item (app name menu) -- menu bar looks wrong on macOS
• Missing platform checks for macOS-only APIs (vibrancy, trafficLightPosition, dock.setBadge)
• Not using template images for macOS tray icons -- icon does not adapt to dark/light mode
• Saving window state on closed instead of close -- window is already destroyed, getBounds() fails
• Not validating restored window bounds against current displays -- window appears off-screen after display changes

Gotchas & Edge Cases:

• titleBarOverlay is not needed on macOS -- traffic lights stay visible automatically with titleBarStyle: 'hidden'
• titleBarStyle: 'hiddenInset' and customButtonsOnHover are macOS-only -- they behave like 'hidden' on other platforms
• Tray click event does not fire on macOS when a context menu is set -- macOS always shows the context menu on any click
• app.setBadgeCount() requires notification permissions on macOS and a .desktop file on Linux
• backgroundMaterial requires Windows 11 22H2 or later -- it silently does nothing on older Windows versions
• vibrancy values like appearance-based are deprecated -- prefer sidebar, under-window, content
• Kiosk mode disables standard OS exit shortcuts (Alt+F4, Cmd+Q) -- provide an in-app exit mechanism
• Right-clicking a drag region triggers the system window menu on some platforms -- never use custom context menus on drag regions
• setAlwaysOnTop(true, 'screen-saver') places the window above macOS fullscreen apps but is discouraged by Apple for non-screen-saver use
• On Linux, tray support depends on the desktop environment -- GNOME requires an extension; KDE and XFCE support it natively

CRITICAL REMINDERS

All code must follow project conventions in CLAUDE.md (kebab-case, named exports, import ordering, import type, named constants)

(You MUST keep a module-level reference to Tray objects -- garbage collection silently destroys the tray icon with no error)

(You MUST use app-region: no-drag on ALL interactive elements (buttons, inputs, links) inside a drag region -- draggable areas swallow all pointer events)

(You MUST add user-select: none to draggable title bar regions -- dragging conflicts with text selection)

(You MUST NOT use transparent: true with backgroundMaterial on Windows -- set backgroundColor: '#00000000' instead to allow the DWM material to show through)

Failure to follow these rules will cause invisible tray icons, unclickable buttons, broken transparency, and poor cross-platform behavior.