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What is cotray?

mattthehuman/cotray — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

★ 0PythonAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · moderate

In one sentence

CoTray is a Linux system tray app that shows your GitHub Copilot CLI usage, AI credit limits, active model, and effort level at a glance.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((cotray))
    What it does
      Monitors Copilot CLI usage
      Shows AI credit limits
      Displays active model
      Shows effort level
    Tech stack
      Python
      GTK
      AppIndicator
    Use cases
      Track AI credits
      Desktop tray monitoring
      Settings customization
    Platforms
      CachyOS Arch Linux
      Ubuntu Debian
      Fedora

Code map

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Keep an eye on GitHub Copilot CLI credit usage without running a terminal command.

USE CASE 2

See at a glance which AI model and reasoning effort level Copilot CLI is currently using.

USE CASE 3

Get a desktop notification-style tray icon for Copilot plan limits on Linux.

What is it built with?

PythonGTKAppIndicator

How does it compare?

mattthehuman/cotray0xallam/my-recipe0xhassaan/nn-from-scratch
Stars0—0
LanguagePythonPythonPython
Last pushed—2022-11-22—
Maintenance—Dormant—
Setup difficultymoderatemoderatemoderate
Complexity2/52/54/5
Audiencedevelopergeneraldeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires GitHub Copilot CLI already installed and authenticated, plus Linux tray libraries.

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

So what is it?

CoTray is a small Linux system tray application that keeps an eye on your GitHub Copilot CLI usage. It sits quietly in the tray of your desktop and checks your Copilot CLI status every five minutes, so you do not have to run a command to see how much of your AI credit plan you have used. The tray icon shows details such as your AI credit plan limits, current usage percentage, which model you are actively using (for example Gemini 3.1 Pro), and the reasoning effort level set for that model. Right-clicking the icon opens a settings panel where you can turn autostart on login on or off, upload a custom tray icon, and choose which of these metrics show up in the tray display. Because of how Wayland desktop environments like KDE Plasma and GNOME handle tray menus, the tray text appears as plain text rather than styled or colored text. This is a limitation of the desktop environment rather than a choice made by the developer. To use CoTray, you need Python 3 installed along with a few system libraries for tray icon support, and the GitHub Copilot CLI itself must already be installed, logged in, and reachable from your terminal. The project was built and tested on CachyOS, a version of Arch Linux, running Wayland, and includes a ready-made package file for Arch-based systems. Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora users can install the required system libraries with their package manager and run the application directly with Python. Settings are stored locally on your machine, and the project is released under the MIT license. The README notes this project was built entirely by an AI coding agent.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through installing CoTray on Ubuntu using apt and running it with Python.
Prompt 2
How do I build and install CoTray on Arch Linux using the PKGBUILD and makepkg?
Prompt 3
Explain what the Settings panel in CoTray lets me toggle for Plan, Usage, Model, and Effort.
Prompt 4
Why does CoTray show plain text instead of styled colors in its tray menu on Wayland?

Frequently asked questions

What is cotray?

CoTray is a Linux system tray app that shows your GitHub Copilot CLI usage, AI credit limits, active model, and effort level at a glance.

What language is cotray written in?

Mainly Python. The stack also includes Python, GTK, AppIndicator.

What license does cotray use?

Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is cotray to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is cotray for?

Mainly developer.

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