Send with Taildrop (Linux)

Adds a right-click action in KDE Dolphin:

Send via Tailscale...

The action opens a GUI picker (KDialog), lets you choose a Tailnet device, then sends selected files/directories using Taildrop.

Device picker note: only online devices owned by the same Tailscale user are shown (peer.UserID == Self.UserID and peer.Online == true).

Requirements

• Linux desktop with KDE Dolphin service menus
• tailscale CLI installed and logged in
• kdialog
• qdbus (or qdbus-qt5/qdbus-qt6, ships with KDE Plasma)
• python3
• zip
• pv (pipe viewer — for transfer progress)

Install

From this repo root:

chmod +x scripts/install.sh
./scripts/install.sh

You can safely re-run the installer any time. It is idempotent and repairs missing/broken launcher files automatically.

This installs:

• ~/.local/bin/send-with-taildrop
• ~/.local/share/kio/servicemenus/send-with-taildrop.desktop

Use

1. In Dolphin, right-click one or more files/directories.
2. Click Send via Tailscale....
3. Select the destination device (only your own-user, online devices are listed).
4. Confirm the result dialog.

   Note: Folders are automatically zipped before sending and arrive as <foldername>.zip.
   Multiple files are sent individually, not combined into a single archive.

Uninstall

./scripts/install.sh --uninstall

Troubleshooting

• If the menu item does not appear, restart Dolphin (killall dolphin) and open it again.
• If selecting "Send via Tailscale..." has no effect, ensure kdialog is installed correctly, as it is required to display error messages outside of a console.
• If you see an execution/authorization error, repair everything with:
  • ./scripts/install.sh
• If sending fails, verify:
  • tailscale status
  • target device exists in your Tailnet
  • sender is logged in and has network connectivity
• If no device appears, make sure at least one peer device has the same UserID as your current Self.UserID in tailscale status --json, and that it is online.
• Offline devices are filtered out by the picker.

Why this is safe to use

This integration is designed to be low-risk and transparent:

• User-triggered only: It runs only when you explicitly click Send via Tailscale... in Dolphin (from desktop/send-with-taildrop.desktop).
• Installs to user scope only: The installer writes only to:
  • ~/.local/bin/send-with-taildrop
  • ~/.local/share/kio/servicemenus/send-with-taildrop.desktop
    (see scripts/install.sh)
• No sudo, no system-wide modification: It does not require root and does not modify /usr, /etc, or system services.
• No hidden background daemon: It is a one-shot script execution per click (see scripts/send-with-taildrop.sh).
• Explicit destination selection: You must choose the target device in a dialog before anything is sent.
• Only selected items are sent: It sends only the files/folders passed from Dolphin using tailscale file cp.
• No destructive file operations: The send script does not delete or alter your source files; it only reads paths and invokes Tailscale send.
• Clear error reporting: Missing dependencies and transfer failures are shown in dialogs, with failed items listed.
• Auditable code: The project is plain shell + desktop entry, so all behavior is easy to inspect in this repository.

Security of transport/authentication is provided by your existing Tailscale setup, so safety also depends on your Tailnet access controls and logged-in session state.