How to ensure GNOME Shell panel is fully populated before accessing Main.panel._leftBox, _centerBox, _rightBox?

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1

I’m writing a GNOME Shell extension and I need to inspect or move items inside the panel boxes (_leftBox, _centerBox, _rightBox).

The problem is: if I run my code inside enable(), the panel is sometimes not yet fully populated, so statusArea items (like battery, wifi, keyboard, date menu, etc.) are incomplete.

Here’s a simplified version of what I’m doing:

journal('=== LEFT BOX ===');
Main.panel._leftBox.get_children().forEach((child, index) => {
    journal(`${index}: ${child}`);
});

journal('=== CENTER BOX ===');
Main.panel._centerBox.get_children().forEach((child, index) => {
    journal(`${index}: ${child}`);
});

journal('=== RIGHT BOX ===');
Main.panel._rightBox.get_children().forEach((child, index) => {
    journal(`${index}: ${child}`);
});

I tried GLib.idle_add(GLib.PRIORITY_DEFAULT_IDLE, () => { and Main.layoutManager.connect('startup-complete', both does not guarantee the panel is fully populated.

What is the correct way to ensure the GNOME Shell panel is fully built and all indicators are loaded before I run this code?

Is there a reliable, official way to detect when GNOME Shell has finished creating and adding all panel indicators to the panel boxes?

2

Better to always check when something gets added to the panel. For example, for _centerBox you can use child-added (on 44 and older actor-added):

Main.panel._centerBox.connect('child-added', () => {
    // new widget added to the center box
});
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