From baa5ce3e1a420658f65634e38006c526df851c6d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: damocles <damocles@hyperhive.local>
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:06:07 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] gui: one shared dbus session bus for the gui session (#1906)

---
 docs/gotchas.md              | 13 +++++++++
 nix/templates/weston-vnc.nix | 54 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
 2 files changed, 62 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/gotchas.md b/docs/gotchas.md
index 45271765..b5fdb56d 100644
--- a/docs/gotchas.md
+++ b/docs/gotchas.md
@@ -270,6 +270,19 @@ connects to the compositor at `127.0.0.1:<vnc_port>`.
   wayland client sharing the `/run/gui/wayland-0` socket). Wayland
   clients in the agent's config (e.g. bitburner electron) must run as the
   same user with `XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/gui`.
+- **One shared D-Bus session bus (`gui-dbus.service`)**: a single
+  persistent `dbus-daemon --session` bound at `/run/gui/bus`, run as the
+  agent user, ordered `before weston.service` (it shares the same
+  `RuntimeDirectory=gui`, creating the dir first). Chromium/electron via
+  ozone refuse to map an `xdg_toplevel` without a reachable session bus
+  ("Failed to connect to the bus" → binds `xdg_wm_base` then destroys it
+  = invisible window even though CDP works). The fix is **not** to wrap
+  each client in its own `dbus-run-session` (a private throwaway bus per
+  process — that's a *separate* session, defeating the one-session
+  model); it's this one shared bus, whose address is exported as
+  `DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/gui/bus` via
+  `systemd.globalEnvironment` so weston, the harness and every GUI client
+  inherit it.
 - **Fixed Wayland socket name (`--socket=wayland-0`)**: weston is
   launched with `--socket=wayland-0` so the socket path is
   deterministic. `harness-base.nix` exports `WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-0`
diff --git a/nix/templates/weston-vnc.nix b/nix/templates/weston-vnc.nix
index bd68cdf6..909bdf08 100644
--- a/nix/templates/weston-vnc.nix
+++ b/nix/templates/weston-vnc.nix
@@ -55,9 +55,11 @@ in
       `Type = "simple"` so a misconfigured weston degrades to a restart
       loop instead of blocking `nixos-container update`.
 
-      Weston and the wayland client run as the agent's own non-root
-      user (`hyperhive.user.name`), sharing one user session with a
-      fixed `XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/gui`.
+      Weston, the wayland client and the agent harness run as the
+      agent's own non-root user (`hyperhive.user.name`), sharing one
+      session: a fixed `XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/gui`, one wayland display,
+      and one D-Bus session bus at `/run/gui/bus` (gui-dbus.service),
+      so GUI clients need no private `dbus-run-session`.
     '';
   };
 
@@ -100,9 +102,48 @@ in
       session  sufficient pam_permit.so
     '';
 
+    # One shared D-Bus *session* bus for the whole GUI session, bound at
+    # /run/gui/bus and owned by the agent user. Wayland GUI clients
+    # (chromium / electron via ozone) refuse to map a toplevel without a
+    # reachable session bus ("Failed to connect to the bus" -> binds
+    # xdg_wm_base then destroys it = invisible window, though CDP still
+    # works). Running ONE persistent bus here -- instead of each client
+    # wrapping itself in `dbus-run-session` (a private throwaway bus per
+    # process) -- keeps weston, the agent harness and the GUI client in a
+    # single session: one user, one XDG_RUNTIME_DIR, one wayland display,
+    # one bus. The address is exported via globalEnvironment below so
+    # every unit in the container inherits it.
+    systemd.services.gui-dbus = {
+      description = "Shared D-Bus session bus for the GUI session";
+      wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+      before = [ "weston.service" ];
+      serviceConfig = {
+        Type = "simple";
+        User = userName;
+        Group = userName;
+        # Share /run/gui with weston; ordered `before` weston so this
+        # creates + chowns the dir first. Preserve across restarts so
+        # weston + clients don't lose the dir holding their sockets.
+        RuntimeDirectory = "gui";
+        RuntimeDirectoryMode = "0700";
+        RuntimeDirectoryPreserve = "yes";
+        Environment = "XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/gui";
+        # dbus-daemon unlinks a stale path socket before binding, so a
+        # restart re-binds /run/gui/bus cleanly.
+        ExecStart = "${pkgs.dbus}/bin/dbus-daemon --session --nofork --nopidfile --address=unix:path=/run/gui/bus";
+        SyslogIdentifier = "gui-dbus";
+        Restart = "on-failure";
+        RestartSec = "2s";
+      };
+    };
+
     systemd.services.weston = {
       description = "Weston Wayland compositor (VNC backend)";
-      after = [ "network.target" ];
+      after = [
+        "network.target"
+        "gui-dbus.service"
+      ];
+      wants = [ "gui-dbus.service" ];
       wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
       serviceConfig = {
         Type = "simple";
@@ -155,10 +196,13 @@ in
     # to systemd service units. Without these vars a service starting
     # a Wayland client would either fail to connect (libwayland falls
     # back to a headless display) or open a second compositor — VNC
-    # shows a blank desktop.
+    # shows a blank desktop. DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS points every unit
+    # at the one shared session bus (gui-dbus.service above) so GUI
+    # clients use it instead of spawning a private `dbus-run-session`.
     systemd.globalEnvironment = {
       WAYLAND_DISPLAY = "wayland-0";
       XDG_RUNTIME_DIR = "/run/gui";
+      DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS = "unix:path=/run/gui/bus";
     };
 
     # weston on the agent's interactive PATH so claude can run Wayland