dunst: a tap chooses a notification's action, so a touchpad can answer the desk (hq issue 360)

The actions sat on the middle click, which the operator's touchpads cannot give, and the context
menu named dmenu, which dunst's PATH does not hold. The left click is now do_action, close_current
(one action runs, several open the menu, none closes), the menu is rofi, declared as a package,
Super+N opens it from the keyboard through i3's contribution, and send refuses the token default,
which dunst would run at a tap without the menu.

modules/dunst/README.md

@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 
 The notifier as a module (novox/hq ADR 0208, research 026/05).
 
-- Installs `dunst`, and `libnotify` for `notify-send`, the client every program and these tools use.
+- Installs `dunst`, `libnotify` for `notify-send`, the client every program and these tools use, and
+  `rofi`, the context menu its `dunstrc` calls.
 - Claims the mesh's `node-notifier` seat and serves its verbs `send` and `history`.
 - Owns `~/.config/dunst/dunstrc` and the directory `~/.config/dunst/dunstrc.d/`. Another module's
   rule is that module's own file in the directory (ADR 0208 §4). dunst reads the directory after
@@ -20,10 +21,15 @@ The notifier as a module (novox/hq ADR 0208, research 026/05).
 ## Answers from a notification
 
 `send` with `actions` runs `notify-send --wait` with one `--action` per answer, answers the id at once and
-waits in this bundle for the operator's choice (dunst offers the actions on a middle click, or in its
-context menu). The token chosen is said as this module's event `action-chosen`; it becomes the
-node-notifier seat's event once seats publish events of their own (novox/hq to-be 46 phase 3). Nothing
-is said for a notification closed, expired or replaced without an answer, and a wait ends after seven
+waits in this bundle for the operator's choice. A tap (left click) on the notification chooses: with
+one action it runs it, with several it opens rofi's menu of them, and without any it closes the
+notification (dunst's `do_action, close_current`; a notification with no action but one link opens the
+link). An Escape in the menu leaves the notification shown. The middle click does the same, and
+**Super+N** (`dunstctl context`, this module's line in i3's configuration) opens the menu of every
+notification on screen from the keyboard. The token `default` is refused, because dunst runs an action of
+that name at a tap without offering the others. The token chosen is said as this module's event
+`action-chosen`; it becomes the node-notifier seat's event once seats publish events of their own
+(novox/hq to-be 46 phase 3). Nothing is said for a notification closed, expired or replaced without an answer, and a wait ends after seven
 days. A notification that offers answers stays until dismissed (`expire_ms` 0). A restart of this bundle
 ends the waits it held; it says `started` {machine} once it serves, and the operator channel shows the
 open answers there again (novox/hq ADR 0258). `notify-send` prints the id before it waits, also into a
@@ -80,8 +86,12 @@ rounded corners; the other top-right, opaque and square. This module takes the s
 rest of the desktop is square and opaque, and the top-right corner sits under the bar that shows the
 count. The file keeps only the settings that differ from dunst's defaults.
 
-- **The context menu works.** It called `/usr/bin/dmenu`, installed on neither machine. It now calls
-  `dmenu`, the seat command of whichever module holds `node-launcher` (`rofi` on the workstations).
+- **The context menu works.** It called `/usr/bin/dmenu`, installed on neither machine, and then
+  `dmenu`, the node-launcher's command in `~/.local/bin`, which dunst did not find on the laptop
+  (2026-10-10): it runs in the account's service manager, whose `PATH` does not hold that directory. It now calls `rofi -dmenu`, a
+  package this module installs.
+- **A tap chooses an answer.** The answers were on the middle click only, which the laptop's and the
+  workstation's touchpads cannot give (novox/hq issue 360).
 - **The face is the interface one,** Inter (research 026/04), instead of a monospace Nerd font.
 - `icon_path`, which named two directories of an icon theme that is not installed, is gone. The icon
   theme is looked up recursively.

modules/dunst/cmd/dunst-tools/actions.go

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 package main
 
 // Answers from a notification (novox/hq ADR 0253, to-be 46 §11 "the desk"): `send` takes actions, each a
-// token and a label. dunst offers them on the notification (a middle click, or its context menu, which
-// is the node-launcher's menu); the one the operator chooses is emitted as this module's event
+// token and a label. dunst offers them on the notification: a tap (left click) runs the only one, or opens
+// rofi's menu of them when there are several (the dunstrc's do_action); the one the operator chooses is emitted as this module's event
 // `action-chosen` {id, token, machine}, and the operator channel's holder acts on it. It is this module's
 // event until seats publish events of their own (to-be 46 phase 3), when it becomes the node-notifier
 // seat's.
@@ -91,6 +91,10 @@ func choicesOf(args map[string]any) ([]Choice, error) {
 		switch {
 		case !tokenShape.MatchString(tok):
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("an action's token is letters, digits, - and _, at most 64: %q", tok)
+		case tok == "default":
+			// dunst's do_action runs an action named "default" at a tap even when there are others, so a
+			// tap would choose it without the menu; the name is dunst's, not a token's.
+			return nil, errors.New(`an action's token may not be "default", which dunst runs at a tap without offering the others`)
 		case seen[tok]:
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("the token %q is given twice", tok)
 		case label == "" || len(label) > 40 || strings.ContainsAny(label, "\n="):

modules/dunst/cmd/dunst-tools/actions_test.go

@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ func TestActionsAreRefusedForWhatTheyCannotBe(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, bad := range []any{"x", []any{"x"}, []any{map[string]any{"token": "a b", "label": "x"}},
 		[]any{map[string]any{"token": "a", "label": ""}}, []any{map[string]any{"token": "a", "label": "x=y"}},
 		[]any{map[string]any{"token": "a", "label": "x"}, map[string]any{"token": "a", "label": "y"}},
+		[]any{map[string]any{"token": "default", "label": "x"}, map[string]any{"token": "b", "label": "y"}},
 		[]any{map[string]any{"token": "a", "label": "1"}, map[string]any{"token": "b", "label": "2"},
 			map[string]any{"token": "c", "label": "3"}, map[string]any{"token": "d", "label": "4"},
 			map[string]any{"token": "e", "label": "5"}}} {

modules/dunst/cmd/dunst-tools/manifest_helpers_test.go

@@ -12,19 +12,20 @@ import (
 // every desktop module that carries it.
 
 type manifest struct {
-	Module       string             `json:"module"`
-	Version      string             `json:"version"`
-	Capabilities []string           `json:"capabilities"`
-	Requires     []string           `json:"requires"`
-	Claims       []claim            `json:"claims"`
-	Seats        []any              `json:"seats"`
-	Tools        []string           `json:"tools"`
-	Settings     map[string]setting `json:"settings"`
-	Emits        []string           `json:"emits"`
-	Environment  *environment       `json:"environment"`
-	Shell        []shellCode        `json:"shell"`
-	Resources    []map[string]any   `json:"resources"`
-	Build        struct {
+	Module        string             `json:"module"`
+	Version       string             `json:"version"`
+	Capabilities  []string           `json:"capabilities"`
+	Requires      []string           `json:"requires"`
+	Claims        []claim            `json:"claims"`
+	Seats         []any              `json:"seats"`
+	Tools         []string           `json:"tools"`
+	Settings      map[string]setting `json:"settings"`
+	Emits         []string           `json:"emits"`
+	Contributions []contribution     `json:"contributions"`
+	Environment   *environment       `json:"environment"`
+	Shell         []shellCode        `json:"shell"`
+	Resources     []map[string]any   `json:"resources"`
+	Build         struct {
 		Artifacts []map[string]any `json:"artifacts"`
 	} `json:"build"`
 }
@@ -182,3 +183,32 @@ func checkNoSecretsOrInstallationNames(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+type contribution struct {
+	Seat    string `json:"seat"`
+	Kind    string `json:"kind"`
+	Content string `json:"content"`
+}
+
+// i3Lines is what the module contributes to the window manager.
+func (m manifest) i3Lines() string {
+	var out string
+	for _, c := range m.Contributions {
+		if c.Seat == "node-display-session" && c.Kind == "config" {
+			out += c.Content
+		}
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// i3LinesAreSource checks the window-manager contribution is the source file it is written from.
+func (m manifest) i3LinesAreSource(t *testing.T, source string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	want, err := os.ReadFile(filepath.Join("..", "..", source))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if m.i3Lines() != string(want) {
+		t.Fatalf("the contribution to node-display-session is not %s: edit the source and copy it into module.json", source)
+	}
+}

modules/dunst/cmd/dunst-tools/manifest_test.go

@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ func TestItClaimsTheNotifierSeatServingSendAndHistory(t *testing.T) {
 	if !reflect.DeepEqual(m.Claims, []claim{{Name: "node-notifier", Scope: "node", Serves: []string{"send", "history"}}}) {
 		t.Fatalf("claims: %+v", m.Claims)
 	}
-	if present, absent := m.packages(); !reflect.DeepEqual(present, []string{"dunst", "libnotify"}) || absent != nil {
+	// rofi is the context menu the dunstrc calls by name (see TheFileIsTheDecidedOne).
+	if present, absent := m.packages(); !reflect.DeepEqual(present, []string{"dunst", "libnotify", "rofi"}) || absent != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("packages: %v, absent %v", present, absent)
 	}
 }
@@ -40,22 +41,58 @@ func TestItOwnsItsFileAndTheDropInDirectory(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestTheFileIsTheDecidedOneAndCallsTheSeatsMenu(t *testing.T) {
+func TestTheFileIsTheDecidedOneAndCallsRofi(t *testing.T) {
 	m := readManifest(t)
 	c := m.resource(t, "configuration")["content"].(string)
 	for _, want := range []string{"origin = top-right", "transparency = 0", "corner_radius = 0", "font = Inter ${setting:font-size}",
-		"width = ${setting:width}", "dmenu = dmenu -p dunst"} {
+		"width = ${setting:width}", "dmenu = rofi -dmenu -p dunst"} {
 		if !strings.Contains(c, "    "+want+"\n") {
 			t.Errorf("lacks %q", want)
 		}
 	}
-	for _, never := range []string{"/usr/bin/dmenu", "Hack", "icon_path", "/home/"} {
+	// Not the node-launcher's `dmenu` in ~/.local/bin: dunst's service manager has no such directory on
+	// its PATH, so that menu never opened.
+	for _, never := range []string{"/usr/bin/dmenu", "dmenu = dmenu", "Hack", "icon_path", "/home/"} {
 		if strings.Contains(c, never) {
 			t.Errorf("names %q", never)
 		}
 	}
 }
 
+// A tap chooses (the operator's touchpads have no middle button): the left click is dunst's do_action
+// and then close_current, so a notification with one action runs it, one with several opens the menu
+// of them (dunst holds it open until the menu answers, and an Escape leaves it shown), and one without
+// actions closes. Every other click is as it was.
+func TestATapChoosesTheNotificationsAction(t *testing.T) {
+	m := readManifest(t)
+	c := m.resource(t, "configuration")["content"].(string)
+	for _, want := range []string{"mouse_left_click = do_action, close_current",
+		"mouse_middle_click = do_action, close_current", "mouse_right_click = close_all"} {
+		if !strings.Contains(c, "    "+want+"\n") {
+			t.Errorf("lacks %q", want)
+		}
+	}
+	if strings.Count(c, "mouse_left_click") != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("sets mouse_left_click more than once")
+	}
+}
+
+// The key that chooses from the keyboard is a line i3 places from this contribution (novox/hq ADR
+// 0212): a binding only, never a start, so the bus stays the only thing that starts dunst.
+func TestTheMenuKeyIsABindingI3Places(t *testing.T) {
+	m := readManifest(t)
+	m.i3LinesAreSource(t, "files/i3/50-dunst.conf")
+	lines := m.i3Lines()
+	if !strings.Contains(lines, "bindsym $mod+n exec --no-startup-id dunstctl context\n") {
+		t.Fatalf("no key for the context menu: %s", lines)
+	}
+	for _, l := range strings.Split(lines, "\n") {
+		if l = strings.TrimSpace(l); l != "" && !strings.HasPrefix(l, "#") && !strings.HasPrefix(l, "bindsym ") {
+			t.Errorf("a line that is not a key: %q", l)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // The font size and the width are preferences with today's values as their defaults (novox/hq ADR
 // 0262): a machine with a denser screen sets its own, and every other machine's file is unchanged.
 func TestTheFontSizeAndWidthAreSettingsWithTodaysDefaults(t *testing.T) {

modules/dunst/files/dunstrc

@@ -63,9 +63,11 @@
     sticky_history = yes
     history_length = 20
 
-    # The context menu is the node's dmenu-compatible command, which the holder of node-launcher
-    # answers (rofi on the workstations). Links open in the desktop's default browser.
-    dmenu = dmenu -p dunst
+    # The context menu is rofi, which this module installs. Not `dmenu`, the node-launcher's command in
+    # ~/.local/bin: dunst runs in the account's service manager, whose PATH does not hold that
+    # directory (seen on the laptop on 2026-10-10), so the menu never opened. Links open in the
+    # desktop's default browser.
+    dmenu = rofi -dmenu -p dunst
     browser = /usr/bin/xdg-open
     always_run_script = true
 
@@ -73,7 +75,10 @@
     class = Dunst
     ignore_dbusclose = false
 
-    mouse_left_click = close_current
+    # A tap answers (the touchpads have no middle button). do_action runs the notification's only
+    # action, or opens the context menu when it has several; without actions it opens its one link,
+    # if it has one. The notification then closes; a menu dismissed with Escape leaves it shown.
+    mouse_left_click = do_action, close_current
     mouse_middle_click = do_action, close_current
     mouse_right_click = close_all
 

modules/dunst/files/i3/50-dunst.conf

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# The notifications' key (module dunst, novox/hq ADR 0208). Owned by the mesh: replaced at every push.
+# Super+N opens the menu (rofi) of the actions and links of every notification on screen, so one is
+# chosen from the keyboard as a tap chooses it on the notification.
+bindsym $mod+n exec --no-startup-id dunstctl context

modules/dunst/module.json

@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@
       "type": "package",
       "package": "libnotify"
     },
+    {
+      "id": "menu",
+      "type": "package",
+      "package": "rofi"
+    },
     {
       "id": "configuration-dir",
       "type": "directory",
@@ -66,7 +71,7 @@
       "path": "${machine:account-home}/.config/dunst/dunstrc",
       "owner": "${machine:account}",
       "mode": "0644",
-      "content": "# dunst, the notifier (module dunst, novox/hq ADR 0208). Owned by the mesh: this file is replaced\n# at every push. Adopted from the laptop's file of 2026-10-04 (the two workstations differed in\n# position, transparency and corner radius; the laptop's square, opaque, top-right one matches the\n# rest of the desktop). Only what differs from dunst's defaults, and what the desktop relies on.\n#\n# Other modules' rules go in ~/.config/dunst/dunstrc.d/*.conf, which dunst reads after this file,\n# so a drop-in outranks it. dunst is started by D-Bus on the first notification: nothing starts it.\n# When the mesh rewrites this file (a font-size or width setting changed), it tells a running dunst\n# to read it again (its unit's reload, dunstctl reload); what is on screen stays.\n\n[global]\n    monitor = 0\n    follow = none\n\n    # Geometry\n    width = ${setting:width}\n    height = (0, 300)\n    origin = top-right\n    offset = (10, 50)\n    notification_limit = 20\n\n    progress_bar = true\n    progress_bar_height = 10\n    progress_bar_frame_width = 1\n    progress_bar_min_width = 150\n    progress_bar_max_width = 300\n\n    indicate_hidden = yes\n    transparency = 0\n    separator_height = 2\n    padding = 8\n    horizontal_padding = 8\n    text_icon_padding = 0\n    frame_width = 3\n    frame_color = \"#de5200\"\n    gap_size = 0\n    separator_color = frame\n    sort = yes\n    corner_radius = 0\n\n    # Text: the interface face (research 026/04)\n    font = Inter ${setting:font-size}\n    line_height = 0\n    markup = full\n    format = \"<b>%s</b>\\n%b\"\n    alignment = left\n    vertical_alignment = center\n    show_age_threshold = 60\n    ellipsize = middle\n    ignore_newline = no\n    stack_duplicates = true\n    hide_duplicate_count = false\n    show_indicators = yes\n\n    # Icons, from the desktop's icon theme\n    enable_recursive_icon_lookup = true\n    icon_theme = Adwaita\n    icon_position = left\n    min_icon_size = 32\n    max_icon_size = 128\n\n    # History\n    sticky_history = yes\n    history_length = 20\n\n    # The context menu is the node's dmenu-compatible command, which the holder of node-launcher\n    # answers (rofi on the workstations). Links open in the desktop's default browser.\n    dmenu = dmenu -p dunst\n    browser = /usr/bin/xdg-open\n    always_run_script = true\n\n    title = Dunst\n    class = Dunst\n    ignore_dbusclose = false\n\n    mouse_left_click = close_current\n    mouse_middle_click = do_action, close_current\n    mouse_right_click = close_all\n\n[urgency_low]\n    background = \"#000000\"\n    foreground = \"#ffffff\"\n    timeout = 10\n\n[urgency_normal]\n    background = \"#000000\"\n    foreground = \"#ffffff\"\n    timeout = 10\n\n[urgency_critical]\n    background = \"#000000\"\n    foreground = \"#ffffff\"\n    frame_color = \"#ff0000\"\n    timeout = 0\n\n# What is shown once is never kept (the review of 2026-10-09): a notification marked secret (a link's\n# code, category mesh.secret) and any transient one leave no entry in the history, which\n# node-notifier.history serves to every caller of the mesh's verbs.\n[mesh-secret]\n    category = \"mesh.secret\"\n    history_ignore = yes\n\n[transient-history-ignore]\n    match_transient = yes\n    history_ignore = yes\n"
+      "content": "# dunst, the notifier (module dunst, novox/hq ADR 0208). Owned by the mesh: this file is replaced\n# at every push. Adopted from the laptop's file of 2026-10-04 (the two workstations differed in\n# position, transparency and corner radius; the laptop's square, opaque, top-right one matches the\n# rest of the desktop). Only what differs from dunst's defaults, and what the desktop relies on.\n#\n# Other modules' rules go in ~/.config/dunst/dunstrc.d/*.conf, which dunst reads after this file,\n# so a drop-in outranks it. dunst is started by D-Bus on the first notification: nothing starts it.\n# When the mesh rewrites this file (a font-size or width setting changed), it tells a running dunst\n# to read it again (its unit's reload, dunstctl reload); what is on screen stays.\n\n[global]\n    monitor = 0\n    follow = none\n\n    # Geometry\n    width = ${setting:width}\n    height = (0, 300)\n    origin = top-right\n    offset = (10, 50)\n    notification_limit = 20\n\n    progress_bar = true\n    progress_bar_height = 10\n    progress_bar_frame_width = 1\n    progress_bar_min_width = 150\n    progress_bar_max_width = 300\n\n    indicate_hidden = yes\n    transparency = 0\n    separator_height = 2\n    padding = 8\n    horizontal_padding = 8\n    text_icon_padding = 0\n    frame_width = 3\n    frame_color = \"#de5200\"\n    gap_size = 0\n    separator_color = frame\n    sort = yes\n    corner_radius = 0\n\n    # Text: the interface face (research 026/04)\n    font = Inter ${setting:font-size}\n    line_height = 0\n    markup = full\n    format = \"<b>%s</b>\\n%b\"\n    alignment = left\n    vertical_alignment = center\n    show_age_threshold = 60\n    ellipsize = middle\n    ignore_newline = no\n    stack_duplicates = true\n    hide_duplicate_count = false\n    show_indicators = yes\n\n    # Icons, from the desktop's icon theme\n    enable_recursive_icon_lookup = true\n    icon_theme = Adwaita\n    icon_position = left\n    min_icon_size = 32\n    max_icon_size = 128\n\n    # History\n    sticky_history = yes\n    history_length = 20\n\n    # The context menu is rofi, which this module installs. Not `dmenu`, the node-launcher's command in\n    # ~/.local/bin: dunst runs in the account's service manager, whose PATH does not hold that\n    # directory (seen on the laptop on 2026-10-10), so the menu never opened. Links open in the\n    # desktop's default browser.\n    dmenu = rofi -dmenu -p dunst\n    browser = /usr/bin/xdg-open\n    always_run_script = true\n\n    title = Dunst\n    class = Dunst\n    ignore_dbusclose = false\n\n    # A tap answers (the touchpads have no middle button). do_action runs the notification's only\n    # action, or opens the context menu when it has several; without actions it opens its one link,\n    # if it has one. The notification then closes; a menu dismissed with Escape leaves it shown.\n    mouse_left_click = do_action, close_current\n    mouse_middle_click = do_action, close_current\n    mouse_right_click = close_all\n\n[urgency_low]\n    background = \"#000000\"\n    foreground = \"#ffffff\"\n    timeout = 10\n\n[urgency_normal]\n    background = \"#000000\"\n    foreground = \"#ffffff\"\n    timeout = 10\n\n[urgency_critical]\n    background = \"#000000\"\n    foreground = \"#ffffff\"\n    frame_color = \"#ff0000\"\n    timeout = 0\n\n# What is shown once is never kept (the review of 2026-10-09): a notification marked secret (a link's\n# code, category mesh.secret) and any transient one leave no entry in the history, which\n# node-notifier.history serves to every caller of the mesh's verbs.\n[mesh-secret]\n    category = \"mesh.secret\"\n    history_ignore = yes\n\n[transient-history-ignore]\n    match_transient = yes\n    history_ignore = yes\n"
     },
     {
       "id": "notifier",
@@ -98,5 +103,12 @@
     "action-chosen",
     "started",
     "paused"
+  ],
+  "contributions": [
+    {
+      "seat": "node-display-session",
+      "kind": "config",
+      "content": "# The notifications' key (module dunst, novox/hq ADR 0208). Owned by the mesh: replaced at every push.\n# Super+N opens the menu (rofi) of the actions and links of every notification on screen, so one is\n# chosen from the keyboard as a tap chooses it on the notification.\nbindsym $mod+n exec --no-startup-id dunstctl context\n"
+    }
   ]
 }