fix: update menubar content in real time while menu is open by EmotionalAmo · Pull Request #426 · jundot/omlx

EmotionalAmo · 2026-03-27T15:42:29Z

Fixes #425

Problem

After clicking "Start Server", the menu bar content (server status text, Admin Panel / Chat button enabled state) never updates while the menu is open. The user must close and reopen the menu to see the latest state. Even if the menu stays open, the content is completely frozen.

Root Causes

1. NSTimer registered under NSDefaultRunLoopMode only (app.py:136)

When the status-bar menu is open, macOS enters NSEventTrackingRunLoopMode. NSDefaultRunLoopMode is suspended during this time, so healthCheck_ never fires and the menu content freezes completely.

2. _build_menu() replaces the entire NSMenu object (app.py:490, 730)

Even if the timer fired, calling self.status_item.setMenu_(newMenu) while a menu is being displayed would close it — causing disruptive flicker and not the desired in-place update.

Fix

Two complementary changes in packaging/omlx_app/app.py:

1. `NSRunLoopCommonModes`

Register the health-check timer under NSRunLoopCommonModes instead of NSDefaultRunLoopMode so it fires in all run-loop modes, including during menu interaction.

# Before
NSRunLoop.currentRunLoop().addTimer_forMode_(self.health_timer, NSDefaultRunLoopMode)

# After
NSRunLoop.currentRunLoop().addTimer_forMode_(self.health_timer, NSRunLoopCommonModes)

2. In-place menu item updates via `_refresh_menu_in_place()`

Instead of replacing the NSMenu object, store references to the key NSMenuItem objects and mutate them directly:

Status header: setAttributedTitle_() with updated color/text
Server control buttons: setHidden_() to toggle Start / Stop / Force Restart visibility
Admin Panel / Chat: setEnabled_() based on running state

3. `NSMenuDelegate` — `menuWillOpen_` / `menuDidClose_`

menuWillOpen_: always refreshes menu content right before it appears, so even without the timer the menu is never stale on open.
menuDidClose_: clears the _menu_is_open flag so healthCheck_ uses _build_menu() (full rebuild with stats) when the menu is closed.

Test Steps

Launch the app — menu shows "● oMLX Server is stopped" + "Start Server"
Open the menu and keep it open, then click "Start Server"
✅ Status text updates in place: "Stopped" → "Starting..." → "Running" — no need to close the menu
✅ "Admin Panel" and "Chat with oMLX" become enabled automatically once running
Close and reopen the menu — state is correct immediately (menuWillOpen_)
Menubar icon updates alongside status changes

Two root causes were fixed: 1. NSTimer was registered under NSDefaultRunLoopMode only, which is suspended while the status-bar menu is open (macOS enters NSEventTrackingRunLoopMode). Changed to NSRunLoopCommonModes so healthCheck_ fires even during menu interaction. 2. _build_menu() replaces the entire NSMenu object via setMenu_(), which would close a currently-visible menu. Instead, when the menu is open we now call _refresh_menu_in_place(), which mutates the existing NSMenuItem objects in place (status header attributed title, server control button visibility via setHidden_, Admin Panel / Chat enabled state). Additional changes: - Adopt NSMenuDelegate; menuWillOpen_ always refreshes items before the menu is shown, so reopening also reflects the latest state instantly. - menuDidClose_ clears the _menu_is_open flag so _build_menu() is used for full rebuilds (stats submenu, etc.) when the menu is closed. - Server control section now always adds all three items (Stop / Force Restart / Start) and uses setHidden_ to show the relevant one, enabling in-place toggling without menu replacement. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <[email protected]>

jundot

Thanks for the PR! The approach is solid. Found a few issues though.

`_fetch_stats()` freezes the menu while open

NSRunLoopCommonModes makes healthCheck_ fire during menu tracking on the main thread. _fetch_stats() does sync HTTP with 2s timeout, up to 3 calls worst case. This blocks the main thread for 6-8s every 5s while the menu is open.

Fix: skip _fetch_stats() when self._menu_is_open is True.

STOPPING state: all buttons hidden

ServerStatus has 6 values including STOPPING, but none of the three visibility conditions cover it. No control button shows up during STOPPING. Add ServerStatus.STOPPING to the Stop button's visibility tuple.

Button order reversed for UNRESPONSIVE

Original shows Force Restart first (the more important action), then Stop. The PR flips this. Was this intentional?

Minor: icon template state

_build_menu() calls setTemplate_(True) to gray out Admin/Chat icons when stopped. _refresh_menu_in_place() only toggles setEnabled_() without updating template state, so icon color can get out of sync.

Four issues raised in jundot#426: 1. Skip _fetch_stats() when menu is open to avoid blocking the main thread. _fetch_stats() makes up to 3 synchronous HTTP requests with 2s timeouts each, which could stall the UI for ~6s during menu event tracking. Stats are fetched on the next healthCheck_ cycle after the menu closes. 2. Add ServerStatus.STOPPING to the Stop Server button visibility condition in both _build_menu() and _refresh_menu_in_place(). The button was hidden during the STOPPING transition, leaving no control visible to the user. 3. Restore original button order: Force Restart appears before Stop Server (Force Restart is the primary action when UNRESPONSIVE). The previous commit had them in the wrong order. 4. Sync icon template state in _refresh_menu_in_place() by calling setTemplate_(True) on the Admin Panel and Chat icons after updating their enabled state, keeping icon rendering consistent with _build_menu(). Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <[email protected]>

EmotionalAmo · 2026-03-29T10:00:29Z

Thanks for the thorough review! All four issues have been addressed in the follow-up commit (339922b):

_fetch_stats() blocks main thread — Skipped when _menu_is_open is True. The stats fetch only runs (and _last_stats_fetch only advances) when the menu is closed, so it will catch up on the next timer cycle after the menu is dismissed.
STOPPING state hides all buttons — Added ServerStatus.STOPPING to the Stop Server visibility condition in both _build_menu() and _refresh_menu_in_place().
Button order reversed for UNRESPONSIVE — Not intentional. Restored the original order: Force Restart first, Stop Server second.
Icon template state out of sync — Added icon.setTemplate_(True) after each setEnabled_() call in _refresh_menu_in_place() to keep icon rendering consistent with _build_menu().

* fix: update menubar content in real time while menu is open Two root causes were fixed: 1. NSTimer was registered under NSDefaultRunLoopMode only, which is suspended while the status-bar menu is open (macOS enters NSEventTrackingRunLoopMode). Changed to NSRunLoopCommonModes so healthCheck_ fires even during menu interaction. 2. _build_menu() replaces the entire NSMenu object via setMenu_(), which would close a currently-visible menu. Instead, when the menu is open we now call _refresh_menu_in_place(), which mutates the existing NSMenuItem objects in place (status header attributed title, server control button visibility via setHidden_, Admin Panel / Chat enabled state). Additional changes: - Adopt NSMenuDelegate; menuWillOpen_ always refreshes items before the menu is shown, so reopening also reflects the latest state instantly. - menuDidClose_ clears the _menu_is_open flag so _build_menu() is used for full rebuilds (stats submenu, etc.) when the menu is closed. - Server control section now always adds all three items (Stop / Force Restart / Start) and uses setHidden_ to show the relevant one, enabling in-place toggling without menu replacement. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <[email protected]> * fix: address review feedback on menubar real-time update PR Four issues raised in #426: 1. Skip _fetch_stats() when menu is open to avoid blocking the main thread. _fetch_stats() makes up to 3 synchronous HTTP requests with 2s timeouts each, which could stall the UI for ~6s during menu event tracking. Stats are fetched on the next healthCheck_ cycle after the menu closes. 2. Add ServerStatus.STOPPING to the Stop Server button visibility condition in both _build_menu() and _refresh_menu_in_place(). The button was hidden during the STOPPING transition, leaving no control visible to the user. 3. Restore original button order: Force Restart appears before Stop Server (Force Restart is the primary action when UNRESPONSIVE). The previous commit had them in the wrong order. 4. Sync icon template state in _refresh_menu_in_place() by calling setTemplate_(True) on the Admin Panel and Chat icons after updating their enabled state, keeping icon rendering consistent with _build_menu(). Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <[email protected]> --------- Co-authored-by: EmotionalAmo <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <[email protected]>

jundot · 2026-03-29T11:12:20Z

@EmotionalAmo v0.3.0rc1 is out with your menubar fix included. https://github.com/jundot/omlx/releases/tag/v0.3.0rc1 — if you get a chance, please give it a test and let me know if anything looks off. thanks!

* fix: update menubar content in real time while menu is open Two root causes were fixed: 1. NSTimer was registered under NSDefaultRunLoopMode only, which is suspended while the status-bar menu is open (macOS enters NSEventTrackingRunLoopMode). Changed to NSRunLoopCommonModes so healthCheck_ fires even during menu interaction. 2. _build_menu() replaces the entire NSMenu object via setMenu_(), which would close a currently-visible menu. Instead, when the menu is open we now call _refresh_menu_in_place(), which mutates the existing NSMenuItem objects in place (status header attributed title, server control button visibility via setHidden_, Admin Panel / Chat enabled state). Additional changes: - Adopt NSMenuDelegate; menuWillOpen_ always refreshes items before the menu is shown, so reopening also reflects the latest state instantly. - menuDidClose_ clears the _menu_is_open flag so _build_menu() is used for full rebuilds (stats submenu, etc.) when the menu is closed. - Server control section now always adds all three items (Stop / Force Restart / Start) and uses setHidden_ to show the relevant one, enabling in-place toggling without menu replacement. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <[email protected]> * fix: address review feedback on menubar real-time update PR Four issues raised in jundot#426: 1. Skip _fetch_stats() when menu is open to avoid blocking the main thread. _fetch_stats() makes up to 3 synchronous HTTP requests with 2s timeouts each, which could stall the UI for ~6s during menu event tracking. Stats are fetched on the next healthCheck_ cycle after the menu closes. 2. Add ServerStatus.STOPPING to the Stop Server button visibility condition in both _build_menu() and _refresh_menu_in_place(). The button was hidden during the STOPPING transition, leaving no control visible to the user. 3. Restore original button order: Force Restart appears before Stop Server (Force Restart is the primary action when UNRESPONSIVE). The previous commit had them in the wrong order. 4. Sync icon template state in _refresh_menu_in_place() by calling setTemplate_(True) on the Admin Panel and Chat icons after updating their enabled state, keeping icon rendering consistent with _build_menu(). Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <[email protected]> --------- Co-authored-by: EmotionalAmo <[email protected]> Co-authored-by: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <[email protected]>

jundot force-pushed the main branch from 65b4ef1 to 2e39d71 Compare March 28, 2026 01:20

jundot reviewed Mar 29, 2026

View reviewed changes

jundot merged commit 61e6848 into jundot:main Mar 29, 2026

EmotionalAmo deleted the fix/menubar-real-time-update branch March 29, 2026 10:15

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fix: update menubar content in real time while menu is open#426

fix: update menubar content in real time while menu is open#426
jundot merged 2 commits intojundot:mainfrom
EmotionalAmo:fix/menubar-real-time-update

EmotionalAmo commented Mar 27, 2026 •

edited

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EmotionalAmo commented Mar 29, 2026

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EmotionalAmo commented Mar 27, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Problem

Root Causes

Fix

1. NSRunLoopCommonModes

2. In-place menu item updates via _refresh_menu_in_place()

3. NSMenuDelegate — menuWillOpen_ / menuDidClose_

Test Steps

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_fetch_stats() freezes the menu while open

STOPPING state: all buttons hidden

Button order reversed for UNRESPONSIVE

Minor: icon template state

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EmotionalAmo commented Mar 29, 2026

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jundot commented Mar 29, 2026

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EmotionalAmo commented Mar 27, 2026 •

edited

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1. `NSRunLoopCommonModes`

2. In-place menu item updates via `_refresh_menu_in_place()`

3. `NSMenuDelegate` — `menuWillOpen_` / `menuDidClose_`

`_fetch_stats()` freezes the menu while open