Command line

The same .exe is the window and a diagnostic tool. Output goes to the console it was started from, in the language the window is set to.

Choosing a language for one run

--lang de and --lang en go in front of the command, never after it.

ctxmenu --lang en scan

The flag covers the window and every subcommand alike, and it leaves the saved setting as it is. It has to lead because --name, --args and --sub all take free text. A global flag that might be hiding inside one of those values is a flag nobody can reason about.

Reading

Nothing in this table writes to the registry.

Switches for scan

These belong to scan alone. The other reading subcommands take no options.

The category names are allfiles, allfilesystemobjects, unknown, directory, directorybackground, directoryaudio, directoryimage, directoryvideo, folder, desktopbackground and drive. The same names work for create and for favourite place.

ctxmenu scan --category directory
ctxmenu scan --all-types --json
ctxmenu scan --every-type

Naming a key

Every command that changes something takes a key. The key is the full path below a Classes root, written the way reg.exe writes it.

ctxmenu hide "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\MyEntry" --yes

Anything above that root is refused. So is any path that ends in a collecting key such as shell, because such a path names a container and not an entry.

The plain scan table does not print the key. ctxmenu scan --json carries it in the registry_path field, and the window shows it in the detail pane of the selected entry.

Changing

Each of the four flag verbs and delete takes a backup before it writes, and asks for elevation when the key needs it.

Creating an entry

create writes into HKCU. Pick the target with one of --category <name>, --ext .png or --perceived image.

ctxmenu create --category directory --name "Open with Notepad" --command "\"C:\Windows\notepad.exe\" \"%1\""

--sub replaces --command and builds a submenu instead of a single entry. One --sub per child, split at the first vertical bar. A --sub-icon applies to the --sub in front of it.

ctxmenu create --category directory --name "Tools" --sub "Open|\"C:\Windows\notepad.exe\" \"%1\"" --sub "List|cmd /c dir \"%1\" & pause"

Favourites

ctxmenu favourite add --name "Shrink PNG" --url https://squoosh.app --mode clipboard
ctxmenu favourite place <id> --ext .png
ctxmenu favourite remove <id>
ctxmenu favourite run <id> C:\pictures\shot.png

favourite add takes one of three sources.

An endpoint favourite takes further switches: --header "Name: Value", --result save, --result open or --result report, --suffix .min, --json-path output.url, and --insecure to allow an unencrypted http:// address.

favourite place puts a favourite into the menu. It takes the same three target switches as create: --category <name>, --ext .png or --perceived image. favourite run runs one the way a click would, and reports on the console.

Opening the window in a given state

These switches open the window instead of printing anything.

ctxmenu --tab services
ctxmenu --search 7-zip
ctxmenu --new directory

Diagnostic switches

Capturing the output

One trap here belongs to Windows and not to this program. The release build is linked as a windowed program. The attribute is #![cfg_attr(not(debug_assertions), windows_subsystem = "windows")] in ctxmenu/src/main.rs, and it keeps a double-click from flashing a console. Two things follow from it.

A windowed process starts with no standard handles at all. The program calls AttachConsole(ATTACH_PARENT_PROCESS) before its first write, so a command typed into a console does get its output. Started from Explorer the attach fails, the program stays silent, and that is what the double-click case wants.

The shell also does not wait for a windowed process. ctxmenu scan --json > scan.json therefore leaves the file empty, and it leaves no error behind to explain why.

Start-Process ctxmenu -ArgumentList 'scan','--json' -Wait -RedirectStandardOutput scan.json

cargo run -- scan --json > scan.json