Dhruva

A buttery smooth, deeply animated dock for GNOME Shell

Built with obsessive attention to detail - every pixel, every animation, every setting.

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Overview

Dhruva is a feature-complete dock extension for GNOME Shell that does not compromise.

Most dock extensions give you a panel and call it a day. Dhruva gives you real magnification, six window minimize effects with custom physics, 20+ icon click animations, a floating mode with elastic pull-out, a Chameleon theme engine that reads your wallpaper, Aero Peek-style window previews, workspace isolation, and a fully modular preferences window - all in a single extension.

Whether you're a minimalist who just wants a clean bottom bar, or a power user who wants every detail dialed in - Dhruva adapts to you.

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Gallery

_{The dock in action - smooth magnification, running indicators, and glassmorphism context menu}

True Magnification	Window Minimize & Restore Effects
Floating Mode with D-Shape Handles	Glassmorphism Context Menu + Aero Peek
Icon Click Effects	Fully-Featured Preferences Window
Stack & Folder Groups	Emojis for Icons

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Features

Placement & Layout

• Omni-Directional - Place the dock on any screen edge: Bottom, Top, Left, or Right
• Full-Width Mode - Extend the dock edge-to-edge with Start / Center / End icon alignment
• Multi-Monitor Support - Pin the dock to any connected display
• Edge Margin - Fine-tune the distance from the screen edge
• Dock Height & Padding - Full control over thickness and internal spacing

Floating Dock

• Drag-to-Float - Pull the dock off the edge with the D-shape side handles
• Elastic Pull Animation - Fluid deform effect as you drag the dock out
• Fully Configurable Handles - Adjust handle length, thickness, curve, offset, gap, and opacity
• Floating Opacity - Set a separate transparency level for the floating dock
• Hover-to-Reveal - Instantly go full opacity when your cursor enters the floating dock

True Magnification

• Real-time Zoom - Icons scale up as the cursor approaches
• Smooth Interpolation - Neighboring icons scale proportionally for a fluid wave effect
• Adjustable Zoom Factor - Dial in exactly how large icons grow

Window Effects

Six handcrafted minimize & restore animations, all taring the exact dock icon position:

Effect	Description
Magic Lamp	Classic genie suck-into-dock
Snake	Window slithers into the icon
Vortex	Spiraling collapse into the dock
Origami	Paper-fold style unfold/fold
Jelly	Elastic, wobbly minimize
CRT	Retro TV scanline shutdown effect

Plus an animated app launch effect - new windows burst open from the icon position.

Icon Click Animations

22 distinct click effects to give every tap satisfying feedback:

bounce · jump · heartbeat · squish · jelly · spin · spin_3d · flip · roll · zoom_fade · squeeze · glow · dim · tada · swing · shake · move_up · move_down · move_left · move_right · enlarge · shrink

Themes & Appearance

• 10 Preset Themes - Carefully designed for Linux desktops:

Solid: Carbon · Nord · Catppuccin Mocha · Gruvbox Dark · Ash Glass

Gradient: Dracula · Tokyo Night · Aurora · Sunset · Slate Ocean

• Chameleon Engine - Automatically extracts your wallpaper's dominant color and applies it to the dock background, gradient, and running indicators in real time
• Custom Color Mode - Full control: background color, gradient, direction, and opacity
• Border Radius - Round the corners to your liking
• Stroke / Border - Add an outer outline with custom color, width, and opacity

Running Indicators

• Toggle indicators on/off
• 5 indicator styles: Dot · Line · Square · Triangle · Dash
• Custom indicator color (or automatic Chameleon color matching)
• Adjustable size, spacing, and glow effect

Context Menu & Aero Peek

• Glassmorphism Context Menu - Right-click any icon for a sleek blurred panel
• Window List - See all open windows for an app, with thumbnail previews
• Aero Peek - Hover over a window entry to preview it live on screen
• Peek Speed - Adjustable animation speed
• Quick Actions - Launch new window, move to workspace, force quit, open settings

Auto-Hide

• Smart Auto-Hide - Hides when a window overlaps stays visible otherwise
• Dodge Mode - Duck only when the active window is in the way
• Always Visible - Disable auto-hide entirely
• Edge Pressure Reveal - Hover the screen edge to summon the dock
• Custom Delays - Separate hide delay, unhide delay, and edge dwell time

Stack & Folder Groups (New)

• Icon Stacking - Hold Ctrl and drag one icon onto another to instantly create a grouped stack or folder right on the dock
• Mouse-Driven Grouping - No menus or setup required pure drag-and-drop with your mouse
• Clean & Native - Stacks look and feel like a regular dock icon or use Emojis as icon

Import & Export Settings (New)

• Export Your Setup - Save your entire dock configuration - themes, animations, layout, modules - into a single portable file
• Import with One Click - Restore or switch your entire style instantly from a saved config
• Share Your Theme - Send your dock setup to friends or the community they can load it in seconds
• Safe Backup - Back up before reinstalling or experimenting, then restore in one click

Modules & Quick Access

Built-in dock modules you can toggle individually:

• App Grid Button - One click to GNOME's app overview (configurable position)
• Trash - Drag files onto it animated shred effect on empty
• Desktop Button - Show/hide the desktop
• Home / Downloads / Documents / Pictures / Videos / Music - Quick folder access
• Custom Folders - Add any directory as a dock module
• Integrated Clock - Show time directly on the dock with adjustable size and position (Start / End)

Behavior & Power Features

• Workspace Isolation - Show only the apps open in the current workspace
• Scroll to Cycle - Scroll over the dock to switch workspaces, or scroll an app to cycle its windows
• Lock Icons - Prevent accidental reordering with a single toggle
• Drag & Drop Reorder - Rearrange icons freely with smooth live reflow
• Tooltips - App name tooltips on hover with adjustable margin

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Installation

From GNOME Extensions (Recommended)

The easiest way - no terminal needed. Click install, enable, and you're done.

From Source

Requirements: GNOME Shell 45–50 · libglib2.0-bin

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/narkagni/dhruva.git
cd dhruva

# 2. Install
make install

# 3. Restart GNOME Shell
#    X11:     Alt+F2 → type 'r' → Enter
#    Wayland: Log out and back in

# 4. Enable the extension
gnome-extensions enable dhruva@narkagni

To uninstall:

make uninstall

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☕ Support Development

Dhruva is completely free and open-source - no ads, no subscriptions, no paywalls, ever.

Every feature you see - the smooth animations, the Chameleon engine, the floating dock physics, the glassmorphism menus, the 22 click effects - is designed, coded, and maintained in spare time. This project exists purely out of love for a beautiful Linux desktop.

If Dhruva brought a little joy to your daily workflow, consider showing some love back. Even the price of a single coffee keeps the motivation alive and helps fund new features, bug fixes, and better documentation.

You don't have to. But if Dhruva made your desktop feel a little more you - it would mean a lot. 🙏

Not in a position to donate? A GitHub ⭐ star or sharing Dhruva with a friend is just as appreciated!

Crypto Donations

Prefer crypto? Every satoshi and gwei is deeply appreciated - thank you for supporting open-source!

Bitcoin (BTC) 1GSHkxfhYjk1Qe4AQSHg3aRN2jg2GQWAcV Ethereum (ETH) 0xf43c3f83e53495ea06676c0d9d4fc87ce627ffa3 Tether (USDT - TRC20) THnqG9nchLgaf1LzGK3CqdmNpRxw59hs82

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Made with ❤️ by Narkagni &nbsp·&nbsp GPL-3.0 License

If you enjoy Dhruva, share it with someone who deserves a beautiful Linux desktop.