Fix: Prevent Multiple Electron Icons in macOS Dock

[pomelo-nwu]

Problem

When running npm run dev on macOS and sending a message (e.g., typing "hi"), multiple Electron icons appear in the Dock. These icons disappear after the API response is received.

Root Cause

1. SDK Spawns Child Processes: The @qwen-code/sdk library internally uses child_process.spawn to spawn child processes for handling user requests.

2. Missing Environment Variable in Dev Mode: The original code only set ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 when app.isPackaged was true (production mode). In development mode, this environment variable was not set.

3. Electron Runs as GUI App: Without ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE, when the SDK spawns a child process using process.execPath (which points to the Electron executable), macOS treats it as a separate GUI application, causing it to appear in the Dock.

4. Processes Exit After Response: Once the API response is received, the child processes exit, and the Dock icons disappear.

Solution

Changes Made

1. Always Set ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1

   • Removed the app.isPackaged condition so this variable is set in both development and production modes
   • This forces Electron to run as a Node.js runtime instead of a GUI application

2. Create hide-dock.js Preload Script

   • Sets LSUIElement=1 environment variable
   • Calls app.dock.hide() to hide the Dock icon
   • Handles both immediate and deferred app ready states

3. Configure NODE_OPTIONS

   • Added --require "hide-dock.js" to NODE_OPTIONS environment variable
   • This ensures the script is loaded in all child processes spawned by the SDK

4. Update Build Script

   • Modified transpile:electron to copy .js files to dist-electron/libs/
   • Ensures the script is available in both development and production builds

Files Changed

File	Change
src/electron/libs/hide-dock.js	New file: Preload script to hide Dock icons on macOS
src/electron/libs/util.ts	Set ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 for all modes; add NODE_OPTIONS with hide-dock script
package.json	Update transpile:electron script to copy .js files

Testing

• Run npm run dev on macOS
• Send a message (e.g., "hi")
• Verify no multiple Electron icons appear in Dock
• Verify API responses are received normally
• Test in production build (npm run dist:mac)

Checklist

• Code follows project style guidelines
• Changes are minimal and focused on the fix
• No breaking changes introduced
• Tested on macOS (Darwin)

Related Issues

Fixes: Multiple Electron icons appearing in macOS Dock during SDK subprocess execution