Status bar

Extensions can add items to the Podman Desktop status bar at the bottom of the window. Status bar items display text, respond to clicks by executing a command, and can be updated dynamically at runtime.

Creating a status bar item

Use extensionApi.window.createStatusBarItem() to create a new item:

import * as extensionApi from '@podman-desktop/api';

const statusBar = extensionApi.window.createStatusBarItem();
statusBar.text = 'My Extension';
statusBar.command = 'my-extension.openDashboard';
statusBar.tooltip = 'Click to open the dashboard';
statusBar.show();

extensionContext.subscriptions.push(statusBar);

Properties

Property	Type	Description
text	string	Text displayed in the status bar
command	string	Command ID executed when the item is clicked
tooltip	string	Tooltip shown on hover
iconClass	string or { active: string; inactive: string }	CSS class for an icon
enabled	boolean	Whether the item is clickable (default: true)

Visibility

Call .show() to make the item visible and .hide() to remove it. You can toggle visibility based on extension settings:

if (settings.showStatusBar) {
  statusBar.show();
} else {
  statusBar.hide();
}

Updating text dynamically

Use setInterval or event listeners to update the status bar text at runtime:

const interval = setInterval(() => {
  const count = getActiveCount();
  statusBar.text = count > 0 ? `My Extension (${count} active)` : 'My Extension';
}, 3000);

extensionContext.subscriptions.push({
  dispose: () => clearInterval(interval),
});

Controlling visibility from configuration

Declare a boolean setting in package.json so users can toggle the status bar item:

{
  "contributes": {
    "configuration": {
      "title": "My Extension",
      "properties": {
        "my-extension.showStatusBar": {
          "type": "boolean",
          "default": true,
          "description": "Show the status bar indicator."
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Then read the setting at startup and react to changes:

const config = extensionApi.configuration.getConfiguration('my-extension');
const showStatusBar = config.get<boolean>('showStatusBar') ?? true;

if (showStatusBar) {
  statusBar.show();
}

extensionApi.configuration.onDidChangeConfiguration(e => {
  if (e.affectsConfiguration('my-extension')) {
    const updated = extensionApi.configuration.getConfiguration('my-extension');
    if (updated.get<boolean>('showStatusBar')) {
      statusBar.show();
    } else {
      statusBar.hide();
    }
  }
});

Verification

1. Build and load your extension.
2. Check that the status bar item appears at the bottom of the Podman Desktop window.
3. Click the item and verify the linked command executes.