A Simple Extension

Create an empty file with the following code:

Example 1. A Simple Extension

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from gi.repository import Nautilus, GObject
from typing import List


class TestExtension(GObject.GObject, Nautilus.MenuProvider):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        print("Initialized test extension")

    def menu_activate_cb(
        self,
        menu: Nautilus.MenuItem,
        file: Nautilus.FileInfo,
    ) -> None:
        print("menu_activate_cb", file)

    def get_file_items(
        self,
        files: List[Nautilus.FileInfo],
    ) -> List[Nautilus.MenuItem]:
        if len(files) != 1:
            return []

        file = files[0]

        item = Nautilus.MenuItem(
            name="SimpleMenuExtension::Show_File_Name",
            label="Showing %s" % file.get_name(),
            tip="Showing %s" % file.get_name(),
        )
        item.connect("activate", self.menu_activate_cb, file)

        return [
            item,
        ]

    # Even though we're not using background items, Nautilus will generate
    # a warning if the method isn't present
    def get_background_items(
        self,
        current_folder: Nautilus.FileInfo,
    ) -> List[Nautilus.MenuItem]:
        return []

Save this file as TestExtension.py in the ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions folder. You may need to create this folder. To run, simply restart Nautilus.

Once Nautilus restarts, right-click on a file and you should see a new menu item, "Showing #filename#". It is as simple as that!

As mentioned above, in order to get loaded by Nautilus, a python extension must import the Nautilus module from gi.repository, create a class derived from a nautilus *Provider and a gobject.GObject, and create the methods that will be called by Nautilus when it requests information from its providers. In this case, when someone right-clicks on a file, Nautilus will ask all of its MenuProviders for additional menu items to show the user. When folders or files are clicked, the get_file_items method is called and a list of Nautilus.MenuItems is expected.