Dev Toolbar App API

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

Related recipe: Create a dev toolbar app

Toolbar app integration setup

Section titled Toolbar app integration setup

Integrations can add apps to the dev toolbar in the astro:config:setup hook.

my-integration.js

/**
 * @type {() => import('astro').AstroIntegration}
 */
export default () => ({
  name: "my-integration",
  hooks: {
    "astro:config:setup": ({ addDevToolbarApp }) => {
      addDevToolbarApp({
        id: "my-app",
        name: "My App",
        icon: "<svg>...</svg>",
        entrypoint: "./my-app.js",
      });
    },
  },
});

addDevToolbarApp()

Section titled addDevToolbarApp()

A function available to the astro:config:setup hook that adds dev toolbar apps. It takes an object with the following required properties to define the toolbar app: id, name, icon, and entrypoint.

id

Section titled id

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

my-integration.js

{
  id: 'my-app',
  // ...
}

name

Section titled name

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

my-integration.js

{
  // ...
  name: 'My App',
  // ...
}

icon

Section titled icon

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

my-integration.js

{
  // ...
  icon: '<svg>...</svg>', // or, e.g. 'astro:logo'
  // ...
}

entrypoint

Section titled entrypoint

The path to the file that exports the dev toolbar app.

my-integration.js

{
  // ...
  entrypoint: './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 using the defineToolbarApp() function available from the astro/toolbar module.

src/my-app.js

import { defineToolbarApp } from "astro/toolbar";

export default defineToolbarApp({
  init(canvas) {
    const text = document.createTextNode('Hello World!');
    canvas.appendChild(text);
  },
  beforeTogglingOff() {
    const confirmation = window.confirm('Really exit?');
    return confirmation;
  }
});

defineToolbarApp()

Section titled defineToolbarApp()

Added in: [email protected]

A function that defines the logic of your toolbar app when it is loaded and toggled off.

This function takes an object with an init() function that will be called when the dev toolbar app is loaded. It can also take a beforeTogglingOff() function that will run when the toolbar app is clicked to toggle off its active status.

init()

Section titled init()

Signature: init(canvas: ShadowRoot, app: ToolbarAppEventTarget, server: ToolbarServerHelpers) => void

Although not required, most apps will use this function to define the core behavior of the app. This function will be called only once 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, depending on which one comes first.

The function receives three arguments to define your app logic: canvas (to render elements to the screen), app (to send and receive client-side events from the dev toolbar), and server (to communicate with the server).

canvas

Section titled canvas

A standard ShadowRoot that the app can use to render its UI. Elements can be created and added to the ShadowRoot using the standard DOM APIs.

Every app receives its own dedicated ShadowRoot for rendering its UI. Additionally, the parent element is positioned using position: absolute; so the app UI will not affect the layout of an Astro page.

src/my-app.js

export default defineToolbarApp({
  init(canvas) {
    canvas.appendChild(document.createTextNode('Hello World!'))
  }
});

app

Section titled app

Added in: [email protected]

A standard EventTarget with a few additional helpers for client-side events that can be used to send and receive events from the Dev toolbar.

src/my-app.js

export default defineToolbarApp({
  init(canvas, app) {
    app.onToggled(({ state }) => {
      const text = document.createTextNode(
        `The app is now ${state ? "enabled" : "disabled"}!`,
      );
      canvas.appendChild(text);
    });
  },
});

server

Section titled server

Added in: [email protected]

An object that can be used to communicate with the server.

src/my-app.js

export default defineToolbarApp({
  init(canvas, app, server) {
    server.send('my-message', { message: 'Hello!' });

    server.on('server-message', (data) => {
      console.log(data.message);
    });
  },
});

beforeTogglingOff()

Section titled beforeTogglingOff()

Signature: beforeTogglingOff(canvas: ShadowRoot): boolean | void

Added in: [email protected]

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, 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 defineToolbarApp({
  // ...
  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 before closing. Same as the canvas argument of the init function.

Client-side Events

Section titled Client-side Events

In addition to the standard methods of an EventTarget (addEventListener, dispatchEvent, removeEventListeneretc.), the app object also has the following methods:

onToggled()

Section titled onToggled()

Signature: onToggled(callback: (options: {state: boolean})) => void

Added in: [email protected]

Registers a callback to be called when the user clicks on the app icon in the UI to toggle the app on or off.

src/my-app.js

app.onToggled((options) => {
  console.log(`The app is now ${options.state ? 'enabled' : 'disabled'}!`);
});

onToolbarPlacementUpdated()

Section titled onToolbarPlacementUpdated()

Signature: onToolbarPlacementUpdated(callback: (options: {placement: 'bottom-left' | 'bottom-center' | 'bottom-right'})) => void

Added in: [email protected]

This event is fired when the user changes the placement of the Dev Toolbar. This can, for example, be used to reposition the app’s UI when the toolbar is moved.

src/my-app.js

app.onToolbarPlacementUpdated((options) => {
  console.log(`The toolbar is now placed at ${options.placement}!`);
});

toggleState()

Section titled toggleState()

Signature: toggleState(options: {state: boolean}) => void

Added in: [email protected]

Changes the state of the app. This can be used to enable or disable the app programmatically, for example, when the user clicks on a button in the app’s UI.

src/my-app.js

app.toggleState({ state: false });

toggleNotification()

Section titled toggleNotification()

Signature: toggleNotification(options: {state?: boolean, level?: 'error' | 'warning' | 'info'}) => void

Added in: [email protected]

Toggles a notification on the app icon. This can be used to inform the user that the app requires attention, or remove the current notification.

src/my-app.js

app.toggleNotification({
  state: true,
  level: 'warning',
});

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. Conversely, when false, the highlight will be removed. If this property is not specified, true will be assumed.

level: 'error' | 'warning' | 'info'

Section titled level: 'error' | 'warning' | 'info'

Indicates the level of the notification. This will be used to determine the color and shape (dark pink circle, gold triangle, or blue square) of the highlight on the app icon. If this property is not specified, 'error' will be assumed.

Client-Server Communication

Section titled Client-Server Communication

Using Vite’s methods for client-server communication, Dev Toolbar Apps and the server can communicate with each other. In order to facilitate sending and receiving custom messages, helper methods are provided for use both in your toolbar app (on the client) and in your integration (on the server).

On the client

Section titled On the client

In your app, use the server object on the init() hook to send and receive messages to and from the server.

src/my-app.js

export default defineToolbarApp({
  init(canvas, app, server) {
    server.send('my-message', { message: 'Hello!' });

    server.on('server-message', (data) => {
      console.log(data.message);
    });
  },
});

send()

Section titled send()

Signature: send<T>(event: stringify, data: T) => void

Added in: [email protected]

Sends data to the server from logic defined in your toolbar app.

src/my-app.js

init(canvas, app, server) {
  server.send('my-app:my-message', { message: 'Hello!' });
}

When sending messages from the client to the server, it is good practice to prefix the event name with the app ID or other namespaces to avoid conflicts with other apps or other integrations that may be listening for messages.

on()

Section titled on()

Signature: on<T>(event: string, callback: (data: T) => void) => void

Added in: [email protected]

Registers a callback to be called when the server sends a message with the specified event.

src/my-app.js

init(canvas, app, server) {
  server.on('server-message', (data) => {
    console.log(data.message);
  });
}

On the server

Section titled On the server

In an integration, such as the integration that adds your toolbar app, use the astro:server:setup hook to access the toolbar object to send and receive messages to and from your apps.

my-integration.js

export default () => ({
  name: "my-integration",
  hooks: {
    "astro:config:setup": ({ addDevToolbarApp }) => {},
    "astro:server:setup": ({ toolbar }) => {},
  },
});

send()

Section titled send()

Signature: send<T>(event: string, data: T) => void

Added in: [email protected]

Sends data to the client.

my-integration.js

'astro:server:setup': ({ toolbar }) => {
  toolbar.send('server-message', { message: 'Hello!' });
},

on()

Section titled on()

Signature: on<T>(event: string, callback: (data: T) => void) => void

Added in: [email protected]

Registers a callback to be called when the client sends a message with the specified event.

my-integration.js

'astro:server:setup': ({ toolbar }) => {
  toolbar.on('my-app:my-message', (data) => {
    console.log(data.message);
  });
},

onInitialized()

Section titled onInitialized()

Signature: onInitialized(appId: string, callback: () => void) => void

Added in: [email protected]

Registers a callback to be called when the app is initialized.

my-integration.js

'astro:server:setup': ({ toolbar }) => {
  toolbar.onInitialized('my-app', () => {
    console.log('The app is now initialized!');
  });
},

Note

The built-in connection event from Vite fires before Dev Toolbar apps are initialized and therefore cannot be used directly by apps. Use the onInitialized method to ensure that the app is fully initialized before sending messages to it.

onAppToggled()

Section titled onAppToggled()

Signature: onAppToggled(appId: string, callback: (options: {state: boolean}) => void) => void

Added in: [email protected]

Registers a callback to be called when the user clicks on the app icon in the UI to toggle the app on or off.

my-integration.js

'astro:server:setup': ({ toolbar }) => {
  toolbar.onAppToggled('my-app', ({ state }) => {
    console.log(`The app is now ${state ? 'enabled' : 'disabled'}!`);
  });
},

Component Library

Section titled Component Library

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 `window`, not `myWindow.shadowRoot`
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, green, yellow, blue). 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.

button-border-radius

Section titled button-border-radius

Added in: [email protected]

The border radius of the button (normal, rounded). When using rounded, the button will have rounded corners and uniform padding on all sides.

In JavaScript, set this property using the buttonBorderRadius 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, blue).

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>

card-style

Section titled card-style

The style of the card (purple, gray, red, green, yellow, blue). The color is only applied to the border of the card on hover.

In JavaScript, set this property using the cardStyle.

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-radio-checkbox

Section titled astro-dev-toolbar-radio-checkbox

Added in: [email protected]

Shows a radio checkbox. Similar to the astro-dev-toolbar-toggle component, this element is a simple wrapper around a native <input type="radio"> element. The radio element can be accessed using the input property.

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

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

toggle-style

Section titled toggle-style

The style of the toggle (purple, gray, red, green, yellow, blue).

In JavaScript, set this property using the toggleStyle property.

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.

<!-- 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';

style

Section titled style

The style of the highlight (purple, gray, red, green, yellow, blue).

icon

Section titled icon

An icon to show in the top right corner of the highlight.

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.