Postitino for Ubuntu (GNOME)

Desktop sticky notes for Ubuntu: quick notes and to-do lists with checkboxes. Written in Python + GTK3, auto-saved to a local JSON file at ~/.local/share/postit/notes.json.

The interface is English by default and comes with a built-in Italian translation (picked from your system locale, see Localization).

AI Attribution

This project was developed entirely by an AI assistant — DeepSeek Flash.

All the code (UI, GTK/Cairo drawing, persistence, localization), the setup script and this documentation were written by DeepSeek Flash (DeepSeek V4 Flash, model deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash), guided by an Italian user who reviewed, tested and refined the result.

Features

• Multiple independent notes, each in its own window.
• Every note can be a text note or a to-do list (checkboxes).
• Automatic persistence: every change is saved on its own (notes come back where you left them after a restart).
• Stuck to the desktop: by default notes sit in the desktop layer — you only see them when the desktop is clean (not on top of windows). From each note's menu you can enable "Always on top", just like a terminal.
• Realistic look: irregular hand-cut edges, drop shadow, tape and a slight rotation — like a real sticky note stuck on a wall.
• Customizable paper color (yellow, pink, blue, green, white).
• Custom app icon (post-it with tape) for the window, the tray and the applications menu.

Installation

cd ~/IA/Post-it
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

The script installs missing dependencies, creates the applications-menu entry and enables autostart at login.

Dependencies (to install manually)

sudo apt install python3-gi python3-gi-cairo python3-cairo \
    gir1.2-gtk-3.0 gir1.2-ayatanaappindicator3-0.1

Important: python3-gi-cairo is required (the paper is drawn with cairo.Context). If you see Couldn't find foreign struct converter for 'cairo.Context', that package is missing.

Usage

Action	How
Launch	python3 ~/IA/Post-it/main.py (or from the applications menu)
New note	Run main.py again, press the + button on a note, or use the menu → New note
Hide a note	× button (it stays saved)
Delete	Menu (⋮) → Delete note
Change type/color/fix	Menu (⋮) → Note type / Color / Always on top
Move a note	Drag the top bar
Quit	Menu (⋮) → Quit app (or the tray icon, if available)

Tray icon note: it works if you have the AppIndicator GNOME extension (enabled by default on Ubuntu).

Single-instance note: the app is a single instance. If it is already running, running main.py again does not open a second copy — it just creates a new note in the running instance. (For multiple test instances: POSTIT_APP_ID=... python3 main.py.)

Localization

The UI language is detected from your environment:

• POSTIT_LANG=en|it takes precedence if set.
• Otherwise the system locale (LC_ALL, LC_MESSAGES, LANG) is used.

Examples:

POSTIT_LANG=it python3 main.py    # force Italian
POSTIT_LANG=en python3 main.py    # force English

Desktop behaviour (Wayland vs Xorg)

The app handles compatibility with your environment automatically:

• On Xorg it runs directly on the X11 backend: desktop level and "always on top" work 100%.
• On Wayland (default GNOME session) GTK3 runs as a native Wayland client, where set_keep_above is a no-op: "always on top" would not work. The app therefore automatically forces the X11 backend (via XWayland), which GNOME's window manager handles correctly.

The "desktop level" is implemented as an undecorated normal window (no _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DESKTOP, no keep_below): on GNOME Shell those mechanisms put the window below the desktop (Nautilus, fullscreen), making it unresponsive to the mouse. A normal window always receives clicks and typing; other windows cover it when you open them (the "stuck to the desktop" behaviour). "Always on top" uses keep_above.

You can force the backend manually with POSTIT_BACKEND (e.g. POSTIT_BACKEND=wayland python3 main.py).

Structure

main.py              entry point (backend selection)
postitino.svg        application icon (SVG)
postit/app.py        application (multi-note, tray, icon, css)
postit/note_window.py note window (text/todo, menu)
postit/paper.py      paper drawing (cairo)
postit/model.py      data: Note and TodoItem
postit/storage.py    JSON persistence
postit/lang.py       UI localization (EN/IT)
install.sh           setup + autostart + icon install

Roadmap (ideas)

• Cloud / database sync
• Drag & drop reordering of tasks
• Due dates / reminders