Add --start-in-tray CLI flag to let app start in background (PR #564, Fixes #522)

app/src/components/mainWindow/mainWindow.js

@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ function createMainWindow(inpOptions, onAppQuit, setDockBadge) {
         // Whether the window should always stay on top of other windows. Default is false.
         alwaysOnTop: options.alwaysOnTop,
         titleBarStyle: options.titleBarStyle,
+        show: options.tray !== 'start-in-tray',
       },
       DEFAULT_WINDOW_OPTIONS,
     ),

docs/api.md

@@ -519,11 +519,13 @@ Prevents application from being run multiple times. If such an attempt occurs th
 #### [tray]
 
 ```
---tray
+--tray [start-in-tray]
 ```
 
 Application will stay as an icon in the system tray. Prevents application from being closed from clicking the window close button.
 
+When the optional argument `start-in-tray` is provided, i.e. the application is started using `--tray start-in-tray`, the main window will not be shown on first start.
+
 #### [basic-auth-username]
 
 ```

src/cli.js

@@ -13,6 +13,17 @@ function collect(val, memo) {
   return memo;
 }
 
+function parseMaybeBoolString(val) {
+  switch (val) {
+    case 'true':
+      return true;
+    case 'false':
+      return false;
+    default:
+      return val;
+  }
+}
+
 function parseJson(val) {
   if (!val) return {};
   return JSON.parse(val);
@@ -36,6 +47,22 @@ function checkInternet() {
 }
 
 if (require.main === module) {
+  const sanitizedArgs = [];
+  process.argv.forEach((arg) => {
+    if (sanitizedArgs.length > 0) {
+      const previousArg = sanitizedArgs[sanitizedArgs.length - 1];
+
+      // Work around commander.js not supporting default argument for options
+      if (
+        previousArg === '--tray' &&
+        !['true', 'false', 'start-in-tray'].includes(arg)
+      ) {
+        sanitizedArgs.push('true');
+      }
+    }
+    sanitizedArgs.push(arg);
+  });
+
   program
     .version(packageJson.version, '-v, --version')
     .arguments('<targetUrl> [dest]')
@@ -191,7 +218,11 @@ if (require.main === module) {
       'a JSON string of key/value pairs to be set as file download options.  See https://github.com/sindresorhus/electron-dl for available options.',
       parseJson,
     )
-    .option('--tray', 'allow app to stay in system tray')
+    .option(
+      '--tray [start-in-tray]',
+      "Allow app to stay in system tray. If 'start-in-tray' is given as argument, don't show main window on first start",
+      parseMaybeBoolString,
+    )
     .option('--basic-auth-username <value>', 'basic http(s) auth username')
     .option('--basic-auth-password <value>', 'basic http(s) auth password')
     .option('--always-on-top', 'enable always on top window')
@@ -203,7 +234,7 @@ if (require.main === module) {
       '--global-shortcuts <value>',
       'JSON file with global shortcut configuration. See https://github.com/jiahaog/nativefier/blob/master/docs/api.md#global-shortcuts',
     )
-    .parse(process.argv);
+    .parse(sanitizedArgs);
 
   if (!process.argv.slice(2).length) {
     program.help();