API Frontend

Info

This section documents the eIsland frontend API surface, including the Electron preload bridge (window.api), IPC channels, and renderer-side utilities exposed to the application.

Overview

The eIsland frontend runs in Electron's renderer process with a secure preload bridge (window.api) that wraps IPC communication with the main process. The bridge exposes approximately 170 methods organized into functional categories. This API surface includes window management, media controls, AI agent integration, system tools, settings, and network utilities.

Tips

All window.api methods use one of three IPC transport patterns: invoke (request/response, returns Promise), send (fire-and-forget), or on (event subscription, returns unsubscribe function).

API Categories

Category	Description
Window Management	Island window shape, position, visibility, display selection, and mouse passthrough
App Lifecycle	Application quit/restart, file pickers, file I/O, standalone windows, and wallpaper
Media Control	Playback control, volume, now-playing info, music provider auth, Qishui API, and lyrics settings
AI & Agent	AI assistant chat, Ollama local LLM, custom API direct chat, Claude Code monitoring, and Codex integration
System Tools	Screenshots, brightness, performance monitoring, process enumeration, and CLI glow
Settings & Appearance	Theme, shape mode, behavior toggles, animation, hotkeys, and autostart
Network & Storage	CORS-free fetch, clipboard, downloads, image compression, file store, mail, and auto-updater

IPC Transport Patterns

Pattern	Method	Returns	Use Case
Request/Response	ipcRenderer.invoke	Promise<T>	Most API calls; waits for main process result
Fire-and-Forget	ipcRenderer.send	void	Window control, logging, app quit
Event Subscription	ipcRenderer.on	() => void (unsubscribe)	Real-time updates from main process

Warning

Always unsubscribe from on* event listeners when the component unmounts. Failing to do so causes memory leaks and stale callbacks.