CLI

kanade with no verb runs the shell. kanade <verb> [args] asks the running one over its socket, so a niri keybind, a script and a hook all reach the same code path.

kanade launcher toggle
kanade volume-up
kanade session lock

Exit	Meaning
0	Done
1	Refused, no shell running, or a failed write to stdout (not a pipe its reader closed, as head does)
2	Not a verb, or not its arguments
3	Not known whether it was done: the shell, or niri for a screenshot, got the call but did not answer in time

Exit 3 is not worth repeating blindly: the call may still be done. A verb of a Module turned off in the config answers module <name> is off. With no shell running, a verb says so.

kanade help lists every verb with a line on what it does; kanade help <verb> or kanade <verb> --help gives the forms it takes. kanade --version prints the version, and output is bold on a terminal unless NO_COLOR is set.

dmenu

kanade dmenu [--prompt <text>] opens the Launcher with only the lines read from stdin, searched as it searches apps.

printf 'one\ntwo\nthree\n' | kanade dmenu --prompt "Pick one"

It prints the line pressed, exactly as read, and exits 0; Escape, a collapse or another Surface exits 1 with nothing printed. Empty lines are skipped, and it takes at most 5000 lines of up to 1000 characters. It holds the keyboard until answered: unlike other verbs, it never collapses on its own after 5 s or when the pointer leaves.

Note

One dmenu at a time: a second replaces the first, which exits 1, while a Launcher you are typing in refuses it. It is part of the launcher Module, so it is refused with that off.

Pages

Surfaces, media and capture, system controls, activity, config, session and UI, maintenance. The CLI reference has every verb verbatim.