OVOSAbstractApplication

OVOSAbstractApplication is a skill-like class designed to run without an intent service. Use it for standalone GUI apps, HiveMind-attached services, or any program that needs access to TTS, the MessageBus, and settings, but does not need to register intents with ovos-core.

Source: ovos_workshop/app.py

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When to Use OVOSAbstractApplication vs OVOSSkill

Concern	OVOSSkill	OVOSAbstractApplication
Loaded by ovos-core	Yes	No
Registers intents	Yes	Optional
Needs running intent service	Yes	No
Creates its own bus connection	No	Yes (if no bus passed)
Settings path	skills/<id>/settings.json	apps/<id>/settings.json
Suitable for standalone execution	No	Yes

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Class Signature

class OVOSAbstractApplication(OVOSSkill):
    def __init__(
        self,
        skill_id: str,
        bus: Optional[MessageBusClient] = None,
        resources_dir: Optional[str] = None,
        gui: Optional[GUIInterface] = None,
        **kwargs,
    ): ...

OVOSAbstractApplication.__init__ is defined in ovos_workshop/app.py:13.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
skill_id	str	Unique identifier for this application (required).
bus	MessageBusClient | None	Existing bus connection. If None, one is created via get_mycroft_bus().
resources_dir	str | None	Root directory for locale/dialog resources. Defaults to the application's own directory.
gui	GUIInterface | None	GUI interface to bind. If None, one is created automatically.

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_dedicated_bus Flag

OVOSAbstractApplication._dedicated_bus is defined in ovos_workshop/app.py:25. Set to True when the application created its own bus connection (i.e., bus=None was passed to __init__). The flag is used in default_shutdown() to decide whether to close the bus on exit.

self._dedicated_bus = False
if bus:
    self._dedicated_bus = False
else:
    self._dedicated_bus = True
    bus = get_mycroft_bus()

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settings_path Property

OVOSAbstractApplication.settings_path is defined in ovos_workshop/app.py:36. Returns the path where this application's settings file is stored. Unlike OVOSSkill, which stores settings under ~/.config/ovos/skills/, applications store settings under apps/:

~/.config/ovos/apps/<skill_id>/settings.json

This separation prevents skill managers from scanning and accidentally loading app settings.

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default_shutdown()

OVOSAbstractApplication.default_shutdown is defined in ovos_workshop/app.py:43. Gracefully shuts down the application:

1. Calls self.clear_intents() to remove all bus handlers and detach from the intent service.
2. Calls super().default_shutdown() to run the base skill shutdown sequence.
3. If self._dedicated_bus is True, closes the bus connection with self.bus.close().

def default_shutdown(self):
    self.clear_intents()
    super().default_shutdown()
    if self._dedicated_bus:
        self.bus.close()

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get_language_dir()

OVOSAbstractApplication.get_language_dir is defined in ovos_workshop/app.py:52. Returns the best-matched language resource directory for the requested language, with dialect fallback. For example, if lang="pt-pt" is requested but only pt-br resources exist, the pt-br path is returned.

def get_language_dir(
    self,
    base_path: Optional[str] = None,
    lang: Optional[str] = None,
) -> Optional[str]:

Parameter	Default	Description
base_path	self.res_dir	Root path to search for resources.
lang	self.lang	Language tag to look up.

Lookup order (ovos_workshop/app.py:69):

1. <base_path>/<lang>: exact match with region in upper case (e.g. en-US)
2. <base_path>/<lang.lower()>: exact match lower-cased (e.g. en-us)
3. Dialect siblings via locate_lang_directories(): sorted by similarity, first match wins.

Returns None if no matching directory is found.

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clear_intents()

OVOSAbstractApplication.clear_intents is defined in ovos_workshop/app.py:83. Removes all registered event handlers for this application's intents and detaches the application from the intent service. This prevents duplicate handlers if the application is re-initialized without a full process restart.

def clear_intents(self):
    for intent_name, _ in self.intent_service:
        event_name = f'{self.skill_id}:{intent_name}'
        self.remove_event(event_name)
    self.intent_service.detach_all()

---

Minimal Application Example

from ovos_workshop.app import OVOSAbstractApplication


class MyClockApp(OVOSAbstractApplication):
    """A minimal standalone clock application."""

    def __init__(self, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(skill_id="my-clock-app.example", **kwargs)

    def initialize(self):
        """Called after the bus is connected and the app is ready."""
        self.log.info("Clock app started")
        self.speak("Clock application is ready.")

    def default_shutdown(self):
        self.log.info("Clock app shutting down")
        super().default_shutdown()


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = MyClockApp()
    # The app creates its own bus connection automatically.
    # Call default_shutdown() to stop cleanly.

To pass an existing bus (e.g. in tests or when composing multiple apps):

from ovos_bus_client import MessageBusClient
from ovos_workshop.app import OVOSAbstractApplication

bus = MessageBusClient()
bus.run_in_thread()

app = MyClockApp(bus=bus)
# _dedicated_bus is False: shutdown will NOT close the bus.

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