System Integration
System Tray
Alpaka Desktop runs in the system tray when minimised. The tray icon gives you quick access to:
- Open / show the main window
- Quit
The tray icon works with KDE Plasma (SNI protocol), GNOME (via AppIndicator extension), and Hyprland / other compositors that support the StatusNotifierItem protocol.
Desktop Notifications
Alpaka Desktop sends desktop notifications via D-Bus (org.freedesktop.Notifications) for various background events, including:
- Model pull complete
- Custom model creation complete
- Background task completion
- Generation or connection errors
Notifications appear in your desktop notification centre (KDE, GNOME, dunst, etc.).
Ollama Service Control
If Ollama is installed as a systemd user service (the default for the official Linux installer), Alpaka Desktop will automatically restart the service when you change the models storage path in Settings → Engine.
If Ollama is installed as a system service (root), a pkexec policy kit prompt appears to authorise the restart action.
Compact / TWM Mode
Designed for tiling window managers (Hyprland, Sway, i3, bspwm):
| Property | Standard | Compact |
|---|---|---|
| Sidebar | Visible (260px) | Hidden |
| Message padding | 16px | 8px |
| Top bar | Full controls | Model name + host dot only |
| Font sizes | 15px body | 13px body |
| Minimum usable width | ~500px | ~320px |
Toggle with Ctrl+Shift+M or via Settings → Appearance → Compact Mode.
Dark / Light Mode
Alpaka Desktop defaults to dark mode and follows prefers-color-scheme. Toggle manually via the theme button in the top bar.