Overlay Apps

A small framework for Sutando desktop overlays: always-on-top, frameless, transparent Electron windows that float over whatever you're working on, controllable from the web UI's /overlays manager view.

The framework gives you, for free:

• A localhost control server the web UI manager talks to (open / close / show / hide / opacity / always-on-top).
• Multi-display placement — move every overlay to a chosen monitor; the choice persists across restarts.
• Auto-dim on app blur — overlays fade to ~20% opacity when you click into another app, restore to their configured opacity when you click an overlay back.
• A simple OVERLAYS registry — add a new overlay by registering it.

When to use

Building or running a Sutando desktop overlay — an always-on-top, frameless floating window controllable from the web UI /overlays manager. Use this framework (register in the OVERLAYS registry) rather than hand-rolling an Electron window. Not for normal app windows or the menu-bar app.

Done & failure modes

• Done = the overlay appears always-on-top and the /overlays manager can open/close/show/hide/opacity it; placement persists across restarts.
• Control server port already in use → another overlay-apps instance is running; stop it first.
• Overlay invisible → check it was registered in app/main.js OVERLAYS and that scripts/launch.sh synced source → workspace + installed deps.

Ships with

One example overlay: System Resources — live CPU / memory / disk / network / load (Cmd+Shift+S). The framework is overlay-agnostic; the example is just a working starting point.

Layout — workspace contract

• Source of truth: skills/overlay-apps/app/ (in the repo).
• Running instance: <workspace>/overlay-apps/benchmark-overlay/ — node_modules and any local state live here, not in the repo. Code in the repo, mutable runtime in the workspace, per the Sutando workspace contract. <workspace> resolves via bash scripts/sutando-config.sh workspace (M0 helper, PR #1395) — defaults to <repo>/workspace/.

scripts/launch.sh syncs source → workspace, installs dependencies, and starts the app.

Launch

bash skills/overlay-apps/scripts/launch.sh

Requires Node.js.

Adding a new overlay

1. Drop in app/<your>.html and app/<your>-renderer.js.
2. Register it in OVERLAYS in app/main.js:

   yourId: {
     name: 'Your Overlay',
     file: 'your.html',
     w: 320, h: 380,
     shortcut: 'CommandOrControl+Shift+Y',
     win: null,
     config: { opacity: 1, alwaysOnTop: true },
   },

3. If your overlay needs data, add an IPC handler in main.js and expose it via preload.js; renderers call window.overlay.<your-method>().

That's it — control-server, manager-UI, multi-display and auto-dim all pick it up automatically.

Control surface

The app runs a localhost control server (port 7849+) and writes a discovery file to <workspace>/state/overlay-control.json. The web UI's /overlays view proxies to it. Endpoints: