Bug 511737

Summary:	Fails to launch Ghostty via package manger installed desktop file
Product:	[Plasma] plasmashell	Reporter:	Parag W <parag.lkml>
Component:	Application Launcher (Kickoff) widget	Assignee:	Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED NOT A BUG
Severity:	normal	CC:	kde, mikel5764, noahadvs
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	6.5.1
Target Milestone:	1.0
Platform:	Other
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Parag W 2025-11-06 22:22:35 UTC

SUMMARY
Arch Linux. Pacman installed Ghostty. Clicking on the Ghosty icon in application launcher results in this error -

Could not activate remote peer 'com.mitchellh.ghostty': startup job failed 

Works fine if invoked via command line / terminal using the same arguments as in desktop file. 
Also happens with master.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. pacman -S ghostty  
2. Click the Ghostty icon in launcher
3. 

OBSERVED RESULT
Error dialog that says 
Could not activate remote peer 'com.mitchellh.ghostty': startup job failed 

EXPECTED RESULT
Launches the application.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma: 
Operating System: Arch Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.1
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.19.0
Qt Version: 6.10.0
Kernel Version: 6.17.7-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 24 × AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12-Core Processor
Memory: 64 GiB of RAM (62.4 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon Graphics

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Comment 1 Parag W 2025-11-06 22:23:36 UTC

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Ghostty
Type=Application
Comment=A terminal emulator
TryExec=/usr/bin/ghostty
Exec=/usr/bin/ghostty --gtk-single-instance=true
Icon=com.mitchellh.ghostty
Categories=System;TerminalEmulator;
Keywords=terminal;tty;pty;
StartupNotify=true
StartupWMClass=com.mitchellh.ghostty
Terminal=false
Actions=new-window;
X-GNOME-UsesNotifications=true
X-TerminalArgExec=-e
X-TerminalArgTitle=--title=
X-TerminalArgAppId=--class=
X-TerminalArgDir=--working-directory=
X-TerminalArgHold=--wait-after-command
DBusActivatable=true
X-KDE-Shortcuts=Ctrl+Alt+T

[Desktop Action new-window]
Name=New Window
Exec=/usr/bin/ghostty --gtk-single-instance=true

Comment 2 David Edmundson 2025-11-06 23:03:41 UTC

>Could not activate remote peer 'com.mitchellh.ghostty': startup job failed 

this is DBus related

Your file lists
>DBusActivatable=true

Check the DBus service file is set up correctly, and if it shouldn't be dbus activatable drop this line.

Comment 3 Parag W 2025-11-07 14:09:47 UTC

(In reply to David Edmundson from comment #2)
> >Could not activate remote peer 'com.mitchellh.ghostty': startup job failed 
> 
> this is DBus related
> 
> Your file lists
> >DBusActivatable=true
> 
> Check the DBus service file is set up correctly, and if it shouldn't be dbus
> activatable drop this line.

Oh sorry, forgot to add that I tried commenting out most of the optional options in the desktop file without change. Retried commenting out DBusActivatable=true again - no change. Any pointers on how to debug this - does the shell launch this or kded?

Comment 4 Parag W 2025-11-08 15:32:07 UTC

Turned out I had a overriding desktop file in $HOME/.local/share/applications with a wrong path to the executable - while the error message can be a more direct - it's not a bug. Closing.