2 files changed, 33 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/packages/meshbay-client/src/main.js b/packages/meshbay-client/src/main.js
index 27c81b8..0a5723b 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-client/src/main.js
+++ b/packages/meshbay-client/src/main.js
@@ -330,6 +330,12 @@ let mainWindow = null;
 // ── System tray ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 // Linux and Windows.
 //
+// Created at launch, not on the first "minimise to tray". An indicator that
+// only appears once you have already hidden the window is one you cannot use
+// to find the application, which is most of what a tray is for -- and on
+// Windows it made the app look like it had no tray presence at all until you
+// went looking for one.
+//
 // The context menu is not optional. Under libappindicator -- which is how GNOME
 // shows a tray at all, via the AppIndicator extension -- `tray.on('click')`
 // never fires: the indicator only opens its menu. A tray whose only affordance
@@ -342,6 +348,11 @@ let mainWindow = null;
 let tray = null;
 let trayLabels = null;
 let trayTimer = null;
+
+// The same test preload.js publishes as `capabilities.tray`. macOS is excluded
+// deliberately: it has a menu bar rather than a tray, and the window controls
+// there already do what hiding to an indicator does elsewhere.
+const trayOS = () => process.platform === 'linux' || process.platform === 'win32';
 let nodeService = null;          // assigned by registerBridge()
 
 const TRAY_FALLBACK = {
@@ -649,13 +660,24 @@ function registerBridge() {
   // make "minimise to tray" mean "exit". A hidden window keeps the session, the
   // transfers and the node connection exactly as they were.
   ipcMain.handle('window:minimize-to-tray', (_e, labels) => {
-    const trayOS = process.platform === 'linux' || process.platform === 'win32';
-    if (!trayOS || !mainWindow) return false;
+    if (!trayOS() || !mainWindow) return false;
     ensureTray(labels);
     mainWindow.hide();
     return true;
   });
 
+  // The renderer sends these once it has a locale, and again after a language
+  // change (which reloads the page, so the same call covers both). Until then
+  // the tray created at launch shows TRAY_FALLBACK, in English, for the
+  // fraction of a second the catalogue takes to arrive -- the alternative,
+  // waiting for the renderer before creating it at all, is the behaviour this
+  // replaces.
+  ipcMain.handle('tray:labels', (_e, labels) => {
+    if (!trayOS()) return false;
+    ensureTray(labels);
+    return true;
+  });
+
   ipcMain.handle('device:ensure', () => ensureDeviceKey());
   ipcMain.handle('device:public', () => {
     const key = deviceKey();
@@ -1660,7 +1682,11 @@ if (!app.requestSingleInstanceLock()) {
 
   app.whenReady().then(() => {
     registerUiProtocol();
+    // Before ensureTray: buildTrayMenu reads `nodeService`, which registerBridge
+    // assigns, so creating the tray after it means the Start/Stop entry is on
+    // the very first menu rather than appearing one poll later.
     registerBridge();
+    if (trayOS()) ensureTray();
     createWindow();
     app.on('activate', () => {
       if (BrowserWindow.getAllWindows().length === 0) createWindow();
diff --git a/packages/meshbay-client/src/preload.js b/packages/meshbay-client/src/preload.js
index b390bfb..13d4f37 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-client/src/preload.js
+++ b/packages/meshbay-client/src/preload.js
@@ -50,6 +50,11 @@ contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('meshbay', {
   // Labels are passed in because the main process has no i18n; see main.js.
   minimizeToTray: (labels) => ipcRenderer.invoke('window:minimize-to-tray', labels),
 
+  // The tray now exists from launch, so its menu needs translating before
+  // anyone minimises into it. Sent once the interface has its catalogue, and
+  // again after a language change.
+  setTrayLabels: (labels) => ipcRenderer.invoke('tray:labels', labels),
+
   // Ask the main process to call the hub. The renderer has an `app://` origin,
   // which CORS refuses and which is not a credential anyway.
   fetch: (url, init) => ipcRenderer.invoke('hub:fetch', url, init),