mycroft-gui-qt6

March 12, 2026 · View on GitHub

Qt6 Port of mycroft-gui-qt5 with Full Feature Parity

⚠️ PROJECT STATUS: AI-GENERATED MODERNIZATION

This project was abandoned by its original developers. The original codebase was archived as unmaintained, with original developers lacking Qt expertise, time, and capacity for maintenance.

Claude AI has completed a modern Qt6 port as a best-effort experiment to explore AI usage in OpenVoiceOS modernization efforts. This is experimental code and should be treated as such:

  • ✅ What you get: A functional Qt6 GUI client that builds cleanly, passes tests, and implements all 25 OVOS templates
  • ⚠️ What to expect: Experimental code designed to validate the concept of AI-driven modernization on low-risk archived projects
  • 🔍 Code transparency: 100% AI-generated with comprehensive documentation to enable human understanding and maintenance
  • 📋 Before using: Read docs/ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/CODE_GUIDE.md, and docs/COMPONENTS.md to understand the design decisions and implementation details

Use in production at your own risk. While the code is functional and well-documented, this is an experiment in AI-assisted open source maintenance. Community contribution and human review are essential before considering this production-ready.

Overview

mycroft-gui-qt6 is a modern Qt6-based GUI client for the OpenVoiceOS voice assistant. It maintains 100% feature parity with the modernized Qt5 version while leveraging Qt6's performance, security, and modern APIs.

Why Qt6?

  • Modern C++: Qt6 requires C++17 minimum (vs Qt5's C++11)
  • Performance: Improved rendering, better memory management
  • Security: Updated dependencies, active security patches
  • Long-term support: Qt6 LTS extends to 2026+
  • Type Safety: Improved QML, better compile-time checking

Quick Start

Build Requirements

pacman -S qt6-{base,declarative,websockets,multimedia} \
          extra-cmake-modules kf6-{framework,kirigami}

Build

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBUILD_TESTING=ON
make -j$(nproc)
make install

Architecture

Same as Qt5 version with modernized APIs:

  • WebSocket protocol (port 18181)
  • 25 system templates
  • 23 OVOS bus message types (enum-based)
  • Type-safe message routing

Modes of Operation

GUI Mode (Desktop)

Standard windowed GUI for desktop and laptop systems. Launches as a normal application window within your desktop environment:

ovos-gui-app

Perfect for:

  • Desktop/laptop development and testing
  • Systems with an existing desktop environment (KDE Plasma, GNOME, etc.)
  • Running OVOS GUI alongside other applications

Shell Mode (Embedded Devices)

Full-screen touch-optimized shell for headless embedded devices. Integrates homescreen, notifications, and OSD into a complete EGLFS-based desktop environment:

ovos-gui-app --shell

Features:

  • Full-screen display (touch-optimized, no window manager needed)
  • Homescreen with widget area
  • System notifications and on-screen display (OSD)
  • Quick settings panel for device controls
  • Direct skill interaction without windowing

Best for:

  • Embedded devices without a desktop environment (Mycroft Mark 2, Raspberry Pi, etc.)
  • Devices with integrated touchscreens
  • Systems where the OVOS interface IS the entire user experience

Note: Qt6 shell mode has feature parity with Qt5 shell mode, with improved performance and modern graphics rendering.

Qt5 → Qt6 Changes

C++ API

  • qmlRegisterType → QML_ELEMENT macro
  • Stricter signal/slot type checking
  • C++17 features available (auto, structured bindings, etc.)

QML Syntax

  • import QtQuick 2.12 → import QtQuick
  • Simplified module paths
  • Improved property binding syntax

Project Status

  • ✅ Phase 1: Build infrastructure (CMakeLists.txt, Qt6 configuration)
  • ✅ Phase 2: C++ source porting (13 files, QML_ELEMENT macro, 6.1 MB library)
  • ✅ Phase 3: QML file conversion (25 templates, 17 components)
  • ✅ Phase 4: Test suite (5 test executables, all passing)
  • ✅ Phase 5: Integration testing & documentation
  • ✅ Phase 6: Documentation complete (ARCHITECTURE.md, CODE_GUIDE.md, COMPONENTS.md, INTEGRATION.md)

Ready for deployment. Build cleanly, all tests pass, comprehensive documentation for users and developers.

OpenVoiceOS Ecosystem

mycroft-gui-qt6 is the first modern GUI client in the new OpenVoiceOS architecture.

Core GUI Infrastructure

  • ovos-gui — Central GUI messagebus service that manages GUI state and implements the protocol
  • ovos-gui-api-client — Python library that skills use to send GUI data (templates, session data)
  • ovos-legacy-mycroft-gui-plugin — Adapter bridge that connects Qt GUI clients (both Qt5 and Qt6) to the ovos-gui service via the mycroft gui protocol (port 18181)

How It Connects

Both mycroft-gui-qt5 and mycroft-gui-qt6 connect to the ovos-gui service through the legacy adapter plugin, which implements the mycroft gui protocol (WebSocket port 18181). The word "legacy" refers to the protocol's Mycroft AI origins — it is the current, active standard for all Qt GUI clients.

Skills (using ovos-gui-api-client)
         ↓
    ovos-gui (core service)
         ↓
ovos-legacy-mycroft-gui-plugin (adapter, port 18181)
         ↓
mycroft-gui-qt5 / mycroft-gui-qt6 / pyhtmx-gui-client

See docs/INTEGRATION.md for detailed architecture, deployment scenarios, and how skills interact with the GUI.

📚 Documentation

All documentation is in the docs/ folder:

More Information