Skip to content

Dev Toolbar App API

The Astro Dev Toolbar App API allows you to create apps that can be used to extend the Astro Dev Toolbar. This allows you to add new features and integrations with third-party services.

Adding apps

Section titled Adding apps

Astro Integrations can add apps in the astro:config:setup hook using the addDevToolbarApp method.

integrations.js
/**
 * @type {() => import('astro').AstroIntegration}
 */
export default () => ({
  name: "my-integration",
  hooks: {
    "astro:config:setup": ({ addDevToolbarApp }) => {
      addDevToolbarApp("./my-app.js");
    },
  },
});

Structure of a Dev Toolbar App

Section titled Structure of a Dev Toolbar App

A Dev Toolbar App is a .js or .ts file that default exports an object with the following required properties:

src/my-app.js
export default {
  id: 'super-app',
  name: 'My Super App',
  icon: '<svg>...</svg>',
  init(canvas, eventTarget) {
    eventTarget.dispatchEvent(
      new CustomEvent('toggle-notification', {
        detail: {
          state: true,
        },
      })
    );
  }
}

id: string

Section titled id: string

A unique identifier for the app. This will be used to uniquely identify the app in hooks and events.

src/my-app.js
export default {
  id: 'my-app',
  // ...
}

name: string

Section titled name: string

The name of the app. This will be shown to users whenever the app needs to be referenced using a human-readable name.

src/my-app.js
export default {
  // ...
  name: 'My App',
  // ...
}

icon: Icon

Section titled icon: Icon

The icon of the app. This will be used to display the app in the UI. This can either be an icon from the icon list, or a string containing the SVG markup of the icon.

src/my-app.js
export default {
  // ...
  icon: '<svg>...</svg>', // or 'astro:logo'
  // ...
}

init: (canvas: ShadowRoot, eventTarget: EventTarget) => void

Section titled init: (canvas: ShadowRoot, eventTarget: EventTarget) =&gt; void

This is the core part of the app. This function will be called when the app is loaded, which will either be when the browser is idle or when the user clicks on the app in the UI.

The function receives two arguments:

canvas

Section titled canvas

A ShadowRoot that the app can use to render its UI. Every app receives its own dedicated ShadowRoot for rendering its UI. Additionally, the parent element is positioned using position: absolute; and as such, the app UI automatically won’t affect the layout of the page.

src/my-app.js
export default {
  // ...
  init(canvas) {
    canvas.appendChild(document.createTextNode('Hello World!'))
  }
}

eventTarget

Section titled eventTarget

An EventTarget that can be used to send and receive events from the Dev Toolbar.

beforeTogglingOff

Section titled beforeTogglingOff

This optional function will be called when the user clicks on the app icon in the UI to toggle off the app. This function can be used, for example, to perform cleanup operations, do an animation, or to ask the user for confirmation before toggling off the app.

If a falsy value is returned, the toggling off will be cancelled and the app will stay enabled.

src/my-app.js
export default {
  // ...
  beforeTogglingOff() {
    const confirmation = window.confirm('Are you sure you want to disable this app?');
    return confirmation;
  }
}

canvas

Section titled canvas

The ShadowRoot of the app, can be used to render any UI needed.

Client-side Events

Section titled Client-side Events

Using the eventTarget argument on the init hook, apps can send and receive events from the Dev Toolbar. The following events are available:

app-toggled

Section titled app-toggled

This event is fired when the user clicks on the app icon in the Dev Toolbar.

src/my-app.js
  export default {
    // ...
    init(canvas, eventTarget) {
      eventTarget.addEventListener('app-toggled', (event) => {
        if (event.detail.state === true) {
          console.log("The app is now enabled!")
        }
      })
    }
  }

state: boolean

Section titled state: boolean

Indicates whether or not the app is enabled after the user’s click.

toggle-notification

Section titled toggle-notification

This event can be sent to inform the user that the app requires attention.

src/my-app.js
  export default {
    // ...
    init(canvas, eventTarget) {
      eventTarget.dispatchEvent(
        new CustomEvent('toggle-notification', {
          detail: {
            state: true,
          },
        })
      );
    }
  }

state: boolean

Section titled state: boolean

Indicates whether or not the app has a notification for the user. When true, the app icon will be highlighted using a red dot. Conversely, when false, the highlight will be removed. If this property is not specified, true will be assumed.

toggle-app

Section titled toggle-app

This event can be sent from your app to change the state of your app. This can be useful, for instance, to implement a “Close” button in your app’s UI.

src/my-app.js
  export default {
    // ...
    init(canvas, eventTarget) {
      eventTarget.dispatchEvent(
        new CustomEvent('toggle-app', {
          detail: {
            state: false,
          },
        })
      );
    }
  }

state: boolean

Section titled state: boolean

Indicates whether or not the app should be enabled. When true, the app will be enabled. Conversely, when false, the app will be disabled. If this property is not specified, true will be assumed.

Client-Server Communication

Section titled Client-Server Communication

Using Vite’s methods for client-server communication, Dev Toolbar Apps can communicate with the server.

In addition to being able to send and receive custom messages, the Dev Toolbar also sends the following messages, where APP_ID is the app’s ID:

astro-dev-toolbar:APP_ID:initialized

Section titled astro-dev-toolbar:APP_ID:initialized

This message is sent when the app is initialized. The data for this message is empty.

integration.ts
{
  // ...
  "astro:server:setup": ({ server }) => {
    server.ws.on("astro-dev-toolbar:super-app:initialized", () => {
      console.log("My app was initialized!");
    });
  },
  // ...
}

astro-dev-toolbar:APP_ID:toggled

Section titled astro-dev-toolbar:APP_ID:toggled

This message is sent when the user clicks on the app icon in the UI. The data for this message is a boolean indicating whether the app is enabled or not.

integration.ts
{
  // ...
  "astro:server:setup": ({ server }) => {
    server.ws.on("astro-dev-toolbar:super-app:toggled", (data) => {
      console.log(`My app is now ${data.state ? "enabled" : "disabled"}!`);
    });
  },
  // ...
}

UI Toolkit

Section titled UI Toolkit

The Dev Toolbar includes a set of web components that can be used to build apps with a consistent look and feel.

astro-dev-toolbar-window

Section titled astro-dev-toolbar-window

Shows a window.

The slot of the component will be used as the content of the window.

<astro-dev-toolbar-window>
  <p>My content</p>
</astro-dev-toolbar-window>

When building a window using JavaScript, slotted content must go inside the light DOM of the component.

const myWindow = document.createElement('astro-dev-toolbar-window');
const myContent = document.createElement('p');
myContent.textContent = 'My content';


// use appendChild directly on the window
myWindow.appendChild(myContent);

astro-dev-toolbar-button

Section titled astro-dev-toolbar-button

Shows a button.

The slot of the component will be used as the content of the button.

const myButton = document.createElement('astro-dev-toolbar-button');
myButton.textContent = 'Click me!';
myButton.buttonStyle = "purple";
myButton.size = "medium";


myButton.addEventListener('click', () => {
  console.log('Clicked!');
});

size

Section titled size

The size of the button (small, medium, large).

button-style

Section titled button-style

The style of the button (ghost, outline, purple, gray, red). When using ghost, the button itself is invisible and only the content of the button will be shown.

In JavaScript, set this property using the buttonStyle property to avoid conflict with the native style property.

astro-dev-toolbar-badge

Section titled astro-dev-toolbar-badge

Shows a badge.

The slot of the component will be used as the content of the badge.

<astro-dev-toolbar-badge>My badge</astro-dev-toolbar-badge>

size

Section titled size

The size of the badge (small, large).

badge-style

Section titled badge-style

The style (color) of the badge (purple, gray, red, green, yellow).

In JavaScript, set this property using the badgeStyle property to avoid conflict with the native style property.

astro-dev-toolbar-card

Section titled astro-dev-toolbar-card

Shows a card. Specify an optional link attribute to make the card act like an <a> element.

When making a card using JavaScript, a clickAction property can be specified to make the card act like a <button> element.

The slot of the component will be used as the content of the card.

<astro-dev-toolbar-card icon="astro:logo" link="https://github.com/withastro/astro/issues/new/choose">Report an issue</astro-dev-toolbar-card>

astro-dev-toolbar-toggle

Section titled astro-dev-toolbar-toggle

Shows a toggle element, acting as a checkbox. This element internally is a simple wrapper around a native <input type="checkbox"> element. The checkbox element can be accessed using the input property.

const toggle = document.createElement('astro-dev-toolbar-toggle');


toggle.input.addEventListener('change', (evt) => {
  console.log(`The toggle is now ${evt.currentTarget.checked ? 'enabled' : 'disabled'}!`);
});

astro-dev-toolbar-highlight

Section titled astro-dev-toolbar-highlight

Can be used to highlight an element on the page. In most cases, you’ll want to position and resize this element using the top, left, width and height CSS properties to match the element you want to highlight. An icon can also be specified using the icon attribute and will be shown in the top right corner of the highlight.

<!-- Highlight the entire page -->
<astro-dev-toolbar-highlight style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;"></astro-dev-toolbar-highlight>
const elementToHighlight = document.querySelector('h1');
const rect = elementToHighlight.getBoundingClientRect();


const highlight = document.createElement('astro-dev-toolbar-highlight');


highlight.style.top = `${Math.max(rect.top + window.scrollY - 10, 0)}px`;
highlight.style.left = `${Math.max(rect.left + window.scrollX - 10, 0)}px`;
highlight.style.width = `${rect.width + 15}px`;
highlight.style.height = `${rect.height + 15}px`;
highlight.icon = 'astro:logo';

astro-dev-toolbar-tooltip

Section titled astro-dev-toolbar-tooltip

Shows a tooltip with different sections. This component is set to display: none; by default and can be made visible using a data-show="true" attribute.

Sections are defined using the sections property. This property is an array of objects with the following shape:

{
  title?: string; // Title of the section
  inlineTitle?: string; // Title of the section, shown inline next to the title
  icon?: Icon; // Icon of the section
  content?: string; // Content of the section
  clickAction?: () => void | Promise<void>; // Action to perform when clicking on the section
  clickDescription?: string; // Description of the action to perform when clicking on the section
}
const tooltip = document.createElement('astro-dev-toolbar-tooltip');


tooltip.sections = [{
  title: 'My section',
  icon: 'astro:logo',
  content: 'My content',
  clickAction: () => {
    console.log('Clicked!')
  },
  clickDescription: 'Click me!'
}]

This component is often combined with the astro-dev-toolbar-highlight component to show a tooltip when hovering a highlighted element:

const highlight = document.createElement('astro-dev-toolbar-highlight');


// Position the highlight...


const tooltip = document.createElement('astro-dev-toolbar-tooltip');


// Add sections to the tooltip...


highlight.addEventListener('mouseover', () => {
  tooltip.dataset.show = 'true';
});


highlight.addEventListener('mouseout', () => {
  tooltip.dataset.show = 'false';
});

astro-dev-toolbar-icon

Section titled astro-dev-toolbar-icon

Shows an icon. An icon from the icon list can be specified using the icon attribute, or the SVG markup of an icon can be passed as a slot.

<astro-dev-toolbar-icon icon="astro:logo" />
<astro-dev-toolbar-icon>
  <svg>...</svg>
</astro-dev-toolbar-icon>

Icons

Section titled Icons

Currently, the following icons are available and can be used in any component that accepts an icon:

  • astro:logo
  • warning
  • arrow-down
  • bug
  • file-search
  • check-circle
  • gear
  • lightbulb
  • checkmark
  • dots-three
  • copy

All of the above icons have fill="currentColor" set by default and will inherit their color from the parent element.