Menus

It is possible to add an application menu to Wails projects. This is achieved by defining a Menu struct and setting it in the Menu application config, or by calling the runtime method MenuSetApplicationMenu.

An example of how to create a menu:

    AppMenu := menu.NewMenu()
    FileMenu := AppMenu.AddSubmenu("File")
    FileMenu.AddText("&Open", keys.CmdOrCtrl("o"), openFile)
    FileMenu.AddSeparator()
    FileMenu.AddText("Quit", keys.CmdOrCtrl("q"), func(_ *menu.CallbackData) {
        runtime.Quit()
    })
    
    if runtime.GOOS == "darwin" {
    AppMenu.Append(menu.EditMenu())  // on macos platform, we should append EditMenu to enable Cmd+C,Cmd+V,Cmd+Z... shortcut
    }

    err := wails.Run(&options.App{
        Title:             "Menus Demo",
        Width:             800,
        Height:            600,
        Menu:              AppMenu,
        Bind: []interface{}{
            app,
        },
    )
    // ...

It is also possible to dynamically update the menu, by updating the menu struct and calling MenuUpdateApplicationMenu.

The example above uses helper methods, however it's possible to build the menu structs manually.

Menu

A Menu is a collection of MenuItems:

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu

type Menu struct {
    Items []*MenuItem
}

For the Application menu, each MenuItem represents a single menu such as "Edit".

A simple helper method is provided for building menus:

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu

func NewMenuFromItems(first *MenuItem, rest ...*MenuItem) *Menu

This makes the layout of the code more like that of a menu without the need to add the menu items manually after creating them. Alternatively, you can just create the menu items and add them to the menu manually.

MenuItem

A MenuItem represents an item within a Menu.

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu

// MenuItem represents a menu item contained in a menu
type MenuItem struct {
    Label string
    Role Role
    Accelerator *keys.Accelerator
    Type Type
    Disabled bool
    Hidden bool
    Checked bool
    SubMenu *Menu
    Click Callback
}

Field	Type	Notes
Label	string	The menu text
Accelerator	*keys.Accelerator	Key binding for this menu item
Type	Type	Type of MenuItem
Disabled	bool	Disables the menu item
Hidden	bool	Hides this menu item
Checked	bool	Adds check to item (Checkbox & Radio types)
SubMenu	*Menu	Sets the submenu
Click	Callback	Callback function when menu clicked
Role	string	Defines a role for this menu item. Mac only for now.

Accelerator

Accelerators (sometimes called keyboard shortcuts) define a binding between a keystroke and a menu item. Wails defines an Accelerator as a combination or key + Modifier. They are available in the "github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu/keys" package.

Example:

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu/keys

    // Defines cmd+o on Mac and ctrl-o on Window/Linux
    myShortcut := keys.CmdOrCtrl("o")

Keys are any single character on a keyboard with the exception of +, which is defined as plus. Some keys cannot be represented as characters so there are a set of named characters that may be used:

• backspace
• tab
• return
• enter
• escape
• left
• right
• up
• down
• space
• delete
• home
• end
• page up
• page down
• f1
• f2
• f3
• f4
• f5
• f6
• f7
• f8
• f9
• f10
• f11
• f12
• f13
• f14
• f15
• f16
• f17
• f18
• f19
• f20
• f21
• f22
• f23
• f24
• f25
• f26
• f27
• f28
• f29
• f30
• f31
• f32
• f33
• f34
• f35
• numlock

Wails also supports parsing accelerators using the same syntax as Electron. This is useful for storing accelerators in config files.

Example:

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu/keys

    // Defines cmd+o on Mac and ctrl-o on Window/Linux
    myShortcut, err := keys.Parse("Ctrl+Option+A")

Modifier

The following modifiers are keys that may be used in combination with the accelerator key:

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu/keys

const (
    // CmdOrCtrlKey represents Command on Mac and Control on other platforms
    CmdOrCtrlKey Modifier = "cmdorctrl"
    // OptionOrAltKey represents Option on Mac and Alt on other platforms
    OptionOrAltKey Modifier = "optionoralt"
    // ShiftKey represents the shift key on all systems
    ShiftKey Modifier = "shift"
    // ControlKey represents the control key on all systems
    ControlKey Modifier = "ctrl"
)

A number of helper methods are available to create Accelerators using modifiers:

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu/keys

func CmdOrCtrl(key string) *Accelerator
func OptionOrAlt(key string) *Accelerator
func Shift(key string) *Accelerator
func Control(key string) *Accelerator

Modifiers can be combined using keys.Combo(key string, modifier1 Modifier, modifier2 Modifier, rest ...Modifier):

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu/keys

    // Defines "Ctrl+Option+A" on Mac and "Ctrl+Alt+A" on Window/Linux
    myShortcut := keys.Combo("a", ControlKey, OptionOrAltKey)

Type

Each menu item must have a type and there are 5 types available:

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu

const (
    TextType Type = "Text"
    SeparatorType Type = "Separator"
    SubmenuType Type = "Submenu"
    CheckboxType Type = "Checkbox"
    RadioType Type = "Radio"
)

For convenience, helper methods are provided to quickly create a menu item:

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu

func Text(label string, accelerator *keys.Accelerator, click Callback) *MenuItem
func Separator() *MenuItem
func Radio(label string, selected bool, accelerator *keys.Accelerator, click Callback) *MenuItem
func Checkbox(label string, checked bool, accelerator *keys.Accelerator, click Callback) *MenuItem
func SubMenu(label string, menu *Menu) *Menu

You can also create menu items directly on a menu by using the "Add" helpers:

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu

func (m *Menu) AddText(label string, accelerator *keys.Accelerator, click Callback) *MenuItem
func (m *Menu) AddSeparator() *MenuItem
func (m *Menu) AddRadio(label string, selected bool, accelerator *keys.Accelerator, click Callback) *MenuItem
func (m *Menu) AddCheckbox(label string, checked bool, accelerator *keys.Accelerator, click Callback) *MenuItem
func (m *Menu) AddSubMenu(label string, menu *Menu) *MenuI

A note on radio groups: A radio group is defined as a number of radio menu items that are next to each other in the menu. This means that you do not need to group items together as it is automatic. However, that also means you cannot have 2 radio groups next to each other - there must be a non-radio item between them.

Callback

Each menu item may have a callback that is executed when the item is clicked:

Package: github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/pkg/menu

type Callback func(*CallbackData)

type CallbackData struct {
    MenuItem    *MenuItem
}

The function is given a CallbackData struct which indicates which menu item triggered the callback. This is useful when using radio groups that may share a callback.

Role

Roles

Roles are currently supported on Mac only.

A menu item may have a role, which is essentially a pre-defined menu item. We currently support the following roles:

Role	Description
AppMenuRole	The standard Mac application menu. Can be created using menu.AppMenu()
EditMenuRole	The standard Mac edit menu. Can be created using menu.EditMenu()