TrayForge

A system tray icon for Windows that opens a menu of your commands on click: launch apps, run PowerShell/CMD scripts, control your system. Everything is configured in a single config.json file or via the built-in GUI editor.

Nothing to install — only the PowerShell built into Windows is required.

Features

• Native tray icon (left/right click opens the menu)
• Two menu styles: text with icons and large icons (switchable on the fly)
• PowerShell, CMD commands plus automatic interpreter detection by file extension
• Multiple commands per menu item — executed sequentially in a single session
• Hidden, normal, or minimized console window; the window can stay open after execution
• Per-command working directory + global default folder
• Item icons from .ico, shell32.dll, imageres.dll, or any exe (by index)
• Confirmation prompts before dangerous actions and a "Done" notification after launch
• Separators between menu items
• GUI config editor — no manual JSON editing required
• Config reload: after editing config.json, simply restart the tray ("Exit" → start-hidden.vbs)

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository or download the TrayForge folder.
2. Run start-hidden.vbs (double-click) — a tray icon will appear.
3. Click the icon — a menu with example commands opens.
4. Open the editor: right-click the tray icon → Config Editor... (or double-click edit-config.vbs) and set up your own commands.

Autostart on Windows Login

1. Press Win + R, type shell:startup, press Enter.
2. Copy a shortcut to start-hidden.vbs into the opened folder.

config.json Format

The file supports // and /* ... */ comments (they are stripped before parsing). Example:

{
    // Tray icon: "file.ico", "shell32.dll,44", "imageres.dll,-109" or a path to an exe
    "icon": "imageres.dll,76",

    // Tooltip shown when hovering over the tray icon
    "tooltip": "My Commands",

    // Menu style: "text" (text with icons) | "icons" (grid of large icons)
    "mode": "text",

    // Default folder for command windows ("%USERPROFILE%", "C:\\path")
    "defaultCwd": "%USERPROFILE%",

    // Array of menu items
    "commands": [
        {
            "name": "Empty Recycle Bin",
            "icon": "imageres.dll,54",
            "shell": "powershell",
            "command": "Clear-RecycleBin -Force",
            "window": "hidden",
            "notify": true
        },
        {
            "name": "Start dev server",
            "icon": "shell32.dll,220",
            "shell": "powershell",
            "commands": [          // multiple commands — one session, in order
                "cd test",
                "npm run dev"
            ],
            "window": "normal"     // the window stays open
        }
    ]
}

Global Parameters (file root)

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
icon	string	PowerShell icon	Tray icon in the special format: path to an .ico, "file,index" (dll/exe), or an exe name. See the "Icon Format" section below. If the icon fails to load, a fallback is used.
tooltip	string	TrayCommands	Tooltip text when hovering over the tray icon.
mode	string	text	Menu style on click: text — classic text menu with small icons on the left; icons — popup panel of large icon buttons (up to 6 per row), labels shown as tooltips. Can also be switched without editing the config — via the "View" item in the menu itself.
defaultCwd	string	%USERPROFILE%	Working directory for command windows when an item has no own cwd. Supports environment variables (%USERPROFILE%, %APPDATA%). A relative path is resolved against the script folder.
commands	array	required	List of menu items. Without it, startup aborts with an error.

Command Parameters (an element of the commands array)

Parameter	Type	Values	Default	Description
name	string	any text	required	Item label in the menu; in icons mode — tooltip on button hover.
icon	string	see "Icon Format"	empty	Item icon. If missing or not found, the item is displayed without an icon.
shell	string	powershell, pwsh, cmd, auto	powershell	What to execute the command with. powershell/pwsh — PowerShell (PowerShell 7+ is used automatically if installed, otherwise the built-in 5.1); cmd — CMD interpreter (%ComSpec%); auto — detected from the first word of the command: .bat/.cmd extensions → CMD, .ps1/.psm1 → PowerShell, everything else → CMD.
command	string	any command	—	A single command. At least one of command/commands is required: without them -Test reports an error and the item won't appear in the icons panel. commands takes priority.
commands	array of strings	list of commands	—	Multiple commands in one session, executed in order. Joined with & for CMD and with ; for PowerShell. Blank lines are discarded.
window	string	hidden, normal, minimized	hidden	Console window mode: hidden — no window is shown at all; normal — a regular visible window; minimized — starts minimized to the taskbar.
cwd	string	folder path	defaultCwd → home folder	Working directory for this command. Environment variables are expanded (%USERPROFILE%); a relative path is resolved against the script folder. If the folder doesn't exist, the default is used.
keepOpen	boolean	true, false	true for visible windows, false for hidden	Keep the window open after execution. For CMD this selects /k instead of /c; for PowerShell it adds -NoExit. Set false explicitly to make a visible console close automatically.
confirm	boolean	true	false	Show a "Run: name?" dialog with Yes/No buttons before execution. Useful for shutting down the PC, deleting files, etc.
notify	boolean	true	false	Show a balloon notification near the clock ("Done") after the command starts. This signals launch, not completion — completion isn't tracked for hidden windows.
separatorAfter	boolean	true	false	Draw a horizontal separator right below this menu item (ignored in icons mode).

Icon Format

An icon value (for both the tray and items) understands three notations:

Notation	Example	Meaning
path to .ico	"my.ico"	A standalone icon file.
"file,index"	"shell32.dll,220", "imageres.dll,-109"	Icon number index from a DLL or EXE (a minus as in -109 means a resource ID rather than a positional index).
exe name/path	"taskmgr.exe"	The first icon of the executable.

Search order for non-absolute paths: script folder → System32 → Windows folder → additionally the PATH variable for .exe. Environment variables like %SystemRoot% are expanded.

To find an icon number, run powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tray.ps1 -Test — for each command you'll see whether the icon loaded at 16 and 32 px.

How the Menu Works

• Left click on the icon opens the menu (or the icon panel). Right click opens the same context menu.
• The bottom of the menu always has service items: the "text ↔ icons" view toggle, Config Editor..., and Exit.
• The config is read once at startup: to apply changes to config.json, exit via "Exit" and start again (start-hidden.vbs). The "text ↔ icons" view toggle, on the contrary, takes effect immediately without touching the file.
• Clicking the balloon notification near the clock also opens the menu.
• If the config fails to load at startup, an error dialog appears and the app exits.

GUI Editor

Launch: double-click edit-config.vbs or the Config Editor... menu item.

• global settings (icon, tooltip, menu style, default folder);
• add / edit / delete / reorder commands;
• all command fields in a convenient form with validation before saving;
• saves human-readable JSON with comments; warns about unsaved changes on exit.

Validate Config Without Launching the GUI

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tray.ps1 -Test

Prints the number of commands, the menu mode, and per item — the interpreter and icon load status.

Script Parameters

Script	Parameter	Description
tray.ps1	-ConfigPath <path>	Optional. Alternative path to the config (defaults to config.json next to the script).
tray.ps1	-Test	Validate the config and icons, print a report, and exit without starting the tray.
edit-config.ps1	-SelfTest	Editor self-check: config serialization round-trip without opening a window.

Files

File	Purpose
tray.ps1	Tray application (main script)
config.json	Commands configuration
edit-config.ps1	GUI config editor
edit-config.vbs	Editor launcher via double-click (no console)
start-hidden.vbs	Tray launcher via double-click (no console)

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• Windows PowerShell 5.1 (built-in) or PowerShell 7+

License

MIT