Testing and Debugging

Current Test Status

ashell does not currently have an automated test suite. Testing is done manually by running the application on real hardware with Hyprland or Niri.

Debugging with Logs

ashell writes logs into $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR (falling back to /tmp/ashell/). To watch logs in real time:

tail -f $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/ashell_rCURRENT.log

Adjusting Log Level

In the config file:

[logging]
level = "debug"

Common levels: error, warn, info, debug, trace.

You can also set per-module levels:

[logging]
level = "warn,ashell::services::audio=debug"

Logging to the Terminal

To skip the log file entirely and see the output in the terminal that started ashell:

[logging]
target = "stdout"   # or "stderr"

target and directory are read once at startup, so changing them needs a restart.

Debug Build Logging

In debug builds (cargo build without --release), all logs are also printed to stdout when target = "file".

Common Debugging Scenarios

Service Not Starting

Check logs for initialization errors:

grep -i "error\|failed\|panic" $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/ashell/*.log

D-Bus Issues

Use busctl to check if the D-Bus service is available:

# System bus services
busctl --system list | grep -i "bluez\|networkmanager\|upower"

# Session bus services
busctl --user list | grep -i "mpris\|statusnotifier"

Compositor Detection

If ashell fails to detect your compositor, check the environment variables:

echo $HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE
echo $NIRI_SOCKET

NVIDIA Issues

If you experience rendering issues on NVIDIA, try:

WGPU_BACKEND=gl ashell

Running a Test Configuration

You can run ashell with a custom config for testing:

ashell --config-path /tmp/test-config.toml

Create a minimal config to test specific features in isolation.

Hot-Reload Testing

Edit the config file while ashell is running. Changes should apply immediately without restart. Useful for testing:

• Theme changes
• Module layout changes
• Module-specific settings

Multi-Monitor Testing

If you only have one monitor, you can test multi-monitor behavior by:

• Using virtual outputs in Hyprland
• Using a headless Wayland compositor for basic testing