SYSTEMD-...GENERATOR(8)

✨ SYSTEMD-XDG-AUTOSTART-GENERATOR(8) ✨

okay bestie, so you know how this is a section 8 manual page for systemd-xdg-autostart-generator? yeah. that one. from the systemd-xdg-autostart-generator corner of the systemd universe. let's get into it 💅

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🌸 NAME 🌸

systemd-xdg-autostart-generator — a user unit generator for XDG autostart files. that's the whole vibe. it makes units. for autostart stuff. slay.

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

/usr/lib/systemd/user-generators/systemd-xdg-autostart-generator

that's it. that's the whole path. she lives there. no flags, no args, just vibes.

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so, systemd-xdg-autostart-generator is a generator — and what it does is create .service units for XDG autostart¹ files. why tho? so that desktop environments can delegate the startup of these applications over to systemd(1). handing off the aux cord, basically. iconic behavior honestly.

the units that systemd-xdg-autostart-generator creates can be started by the desktop environment using "xdg-desktop-autostart.target". if you want the full lore on that, go read systemd.special(7). it's giving very much "required reading".

now here's the tea ☕ — XDG autostart can be conditionalized using both standardized and non-standardized keys. because of course it can. to handle all of that mess, the generator may create one or more ExecCondition= entries. for the non-standardized keys, it uses well-known helper binaries that get provided by Desktop Environments. and listen: all external helpers must detect their corresponding desktop environment, and they must return success when they're run in a different environment. this is highkey important, because every single ExecCondition= directive has to succeed for an application to actually be started. no pressure or anything 🫶

🦋 Special XDG desktop file entries that get processed 🦋

• Hidden=, X-systemd-skip= — if it's set to true, no service will be generated. like, none. she's not coming. 💀
• OnlyShowIn=, NotShowIn= — handled with an ExecCondition= that uses systemd-xdg-autostart-condition
• TryExec= — if the binary doesn't exist, or it can't be executed, then no service will be generated. sorry babe.
• AutostartCondition= (the GNOME extension one) — handled with an ExecCondition= that uses gnome-systemd-autostart-condition
• X-GNOME-Autostart-Phase= — if it's set to any value at all, no service will be generated. any value. zero tolerance. 🙈
• X-KDE-autostart-condition= — handled with an ExecCondition= that uses kde-systemd-start-condition

and for the record: systemd-xdg-autostart-generator implements systemd.generator(7). so if you wanna know what being a generator even means, that's your page, bestie.

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• systemd(1)
• systemd.service(5)
• systemd.target(5)

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⭐ NOTES ⭐

1. XDG autostart — https://specifications.freedesktop.org/autostart-spec/autostart-spec-latest.html

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okay so that's the whole page, you ate that 💅 this was brought to you by systemd 262.1, no cap, and the SYSTEMD-...GENERATOR(8) energy is strong. go forth and autostart responsibly, bestie ✨🎀🦋