--- 
canonical: 'https://mwop.net/blog/2025-11-03-desktop-xdg-open.html'
title: 'Linux desktop files and xdg-open'
author: "[Matthew Weier O'Phinney](https://mwop.net)"
created: '2025-11-03T13:39:35-06:00'
updated: '2025-11-03T13:39:35-06:00'
tags:
  - gnome
  - linux
  - til

---
I've been using Linux on the desktop for more than 25 years now. While I don't put icons on my desktop any longer (and haven't for probably around 15 years), I _do_ use the gnome-shell launcher to quickly open programs, and this utilizes desktop files.

Recently, I wanted to create launchers for different Obsidian vaults. Obsidian provides a URL schema for this: `obsidian://open?vault=VaultName`. The application registers the schema handler with the system, so this should open, but evidently you can no longer use "Type=Link" in your desktop files.

What I found:

- You MUST have a "Version=1.0" line; gnome-shell just ignored any of my desktop files that omitted it.
- You can use `xdg-open` in your `Exec` line to open the URL.

```ini
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Notes
Icon=/usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/obsidian.png
Comment=My Obsidian vault for notes
Categories=Office;ProjectManagement;
Type=Application
Exec=xdg-open "obsidian://open?vault=notes"
```