Bug 512332

Summary:	App cannot be opened from Favorites until plasmashell restarts after overriding .desktop file
Product:	[Plasma] plasmashell	Reporter:	Alex <48priory.volcano>
Component:	Application Launcher (Kickoff) widget	Assignee:	Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs-null>
Status:	CONFIRMED ---
Severity:	normal	CC:	mikel5764, nate, noahadvs
Priority:	HI
Version First Reported In:	6.3.6
Target Milestone:	1.0
Platform:	Debian stable
OS:	Linux
See Also:	https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=510287
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Alex 2025-11-19 06:24:00 UTC

SUMMARY
App cannot be opened from Favorites until plasmashell restart after overriding .desktop file

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Add any application to Favorites that does not have an overriding .desktop file in ~/.local/share/applications/
2. Create an overriding .desktop file in ~/.local/share/applications/ (for example, using the KDE Menu Editor)
3. Click the app icon in the Favorites folder

OBSERVED RESULT
Nothing happens; neither the app nor an error dialog opens

EXPECTED RESULT
App opens normally

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma: Debian 13 Stable, Linux 6.12.57
KDE Plasma Version: 6.3.6
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.13.0
Qt Version: 6.8.2

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The same behavior is observed in the Application Dashboard and Application Menu as well.
Running the app from KRunner, the Task Manager widget, or directly from Dolphin works as expected.
Also tested on KDE Neon Testing (neon-testing-20251118-0031.iso) in a virtual machine; the same behavior was observed.
The problem disappears after restarting plasmashell or changing the widget using the "Show Alternatives" button in the current session.
Running kbuildsycoca6 --noincremental has no effect.
dbus-monitor --session and plasmashell --replace with QT_LOGGING_RULES="org.kde.plasma.*=true" output no logs when trying to run the app.

Comment 1 Bug Janitor Service 2025-11-19 06:33:48 UTC

Thank you for the bug report!

Debian advises users to not submit bugs upstream (https://www.debian.org/Bugs/Reporting), and Plasma 6.3.6 is no longer eligible for support or maintenance from KDE. It's possible that the issue exists only in Debian at this point.

Could you report the bug to Debian using the report bug utility (https://packages.debian.org/stable/utils/reportbug)? If necessary, the maintainer of the package will forward the bug upstream.
Thanks for understanding!

Thanks again!

Comment 2 Alex 2025-11-19 12:49:04 UTC

This issue exists not only in Debian, but also in the latest KDE Neon Testing (as specified in the first message) and in Manjaro.

Comment 3 Nate Graham 2025-12-08 17:21:06 UTC

Indeed, I can reproduce this issue as well, exactly as written.