Add Tailscale Simple: compact attached Tailscale controls

[alivault]

Plugin

• Id: alivault/tailscale-simple
• New plugin
• Update to an existing plugin (version bumped in plugin.toml)

What it does

An independently maintained, UI-focused fork of davemhammer/tailscale 1.0.6. It keeps the upstream
Tailscale backend while offering a smaller attached panel designed around everyday actions:

• Theme-aware, monochrome 3×3 dots with faded circles; icon-only bar by default.
• Whole-capsule click action and a connection switch with inline IP / DNS copy buttons, icons, and tooltips.
• Online-first device list with green/gray status dots and expandable actions (not dropdowns).
• Separate exit-node and advanced-settings tabs, with native switches and small buttons in a 580px-tall panel.
• Icon-only admin/refresh/close controls, tooltips, and no persistent action-result footer.
• /tss launcher prefix to avoid colliding with the original /ts provider.
• English translation keys for the redesigned panel, updated README, MIT attribution, and no unused image assets.

The original author and upstream contributors are credited in README and LICENSE. The backend is unchanged
from the original 1.0.6 plugin. The launcher retains upstream behavior with renamed panel references and
the documented onQuery / onActivate entry points. This is not affiliated with Tailscale Inc.

Draft for author review: AI-assisted implementation and submission preparation were used. The code is
plain, readable Luau, not a bundled/minified artifact. The author should review the source and confirm the
remaining provenance/licensing attestations before marking this ready, including whether the repository's
wording about generated code permits this submission. If a separate UI-focused fork is not wanted, guidance
on contributing these changes upstream would be welcome.

External dependencies

• tailscale: read-only status --json, debug prefs, and exit-node list polling; explicit user-triggered
  up, down, set, ping -c 3, and ssh actions. A running/authenticated tailscaled and operator permissions
  are required. Connection/preference actions can change connectivity and daemon-managed state.
• jq: filters large status JSON and projects non-secret preference fields before Luau decoding.
• xdg-open: opens the default Tailscale admin URL or the user's configured URL in a browser.
• The Noctalia-configured terminal is spawned for Ping/SSH, with the inherited direct-command fallback.

No plugin HTTP client, telemetry, credential files, or remote-code download/execution. Network requests happen
through the Tailscale CLI/daemon, selected-peer Ping/SSH, or the browser opened on explicit user action.
The plugin does not directly write files. Tailscale, the browser, terminal, and Noctalia manage their own
preferences, state, and logs. Copy actions write to the clipboard; device data is held in runtime state
and may be shown in notifications. Shell arguments are quoted.

Testing

• Tested on Niri

• Tested on Hyprland

• Tested on Sway

• Tested on another compositor:

• Noctalia version tested against: 5.0.1

• Plugin API level: 30

• Loaded the release copy as a temporary path source on Niri; enabled its service and opened its panel with
  real read-only Tailscale status. No live connection, exit-node, or preference changes were made by the tests.

• Visually exercised Devices, Exit node, and Settings with a temporary synthetic snapshot service; captured
  dark/light screenshots. That fixture is not in this PR. Screenshots use a solid theme background for privacy.

• A local Luau mock-host harness exercised connection up/down dispatch, all five preferences in both directions,
  pending-action guards, exit-node selection/clearing, search/empty states, expandable actions, clipboard/SSH/Ping
  dispatch, refresh completion, launcher queries/actions, widget callbacks, and shell quoting in the backend.
  It executes the actual entry sources with host/CLI calls stubbed; it is not a live network integration test.

• noctalia plugins lint tailscale-simple: 0 errors, 0 warnings.

• python3 .github/workflows/scripts/validate-plugins.py: all 164 manifests passed.

• python3 -m unittest discover -s .github/workflows/scripts -p 'test_*.py': 83 tests passed.

• git diff --cached --check: clean.

The temporary test source was removed afterward; the existing local plugin and original dark theme were restored.

Screenshots / Videos

Demo-only names and addresses; no personal tailnet data included.

Devices, light theme, settings, and exit nodes

Checklist

• The directory name matches the part of id after the / in plugin.toml exactly.
• It ships plugin.toml, README.md, thumbnail.webp, and translations/en.json.
• README.md follows the README template, documents every entry id and dependency, and includes exact panel IPC commands and launcher prefixes where applicable.
• thumbnail.webp is present and relevant; for a new plugin I created it with the thumbnail generator, and for an update I regenerated it with the generator if the visual identity or user-facing appearance changed.
• version follows semver and is bumped in this PR; plugin_api is the oldest API level this plugin requires.
• Every non-English translation in this PR uses a locale supported by Noctalia core, and I can read, write, and understand that language well enough to review and maintain it (no unreviewed machine/LLM translations).
• I did not edit catalog.toml; CI generates it.
• This PR touches exactly one plugin directory.

Only English translations are included. API 30 is selected per the README's guidance to target the currently
documented level for a new plugin, rather than retaining the original plugin's API 10 target.

Code review attestation

• The code is readable and not obfuscated, minified, or generated.
• It does not download and execute remote code.
• Every network call, filesystem write, and spawned process is something the description above accounts for.
• I have the right to publish this code under the license declared in plugin.toml.

The remaining boxes are intentionally left for the author's review. The upstream manifest declares MIT,
and the fork includes attribution and MIT terms; this draft does not substitute for the author's confirmation.