gdbus

List all names on the session bus

$ gdbus list-names --session

$ gdbus list-names --system

$ gdbus introspect --session --dest [destination_bus_name] --object-path /[path/to/object]

$ gdbus call --session --dest [destination_bus_name] --object-path /[path/to/object] --method [interface.method_name] [args...]

$ gdbus emit --session --object-path /[path/to/object] --signal [interface.signal_name] [args...]

$ gdbus monitor --session

gdbus command [options]

gdbus is a command-line tool for interacting with D-Bus, the inter-process communication system used extensively in Linux desktop environments. It's part of GLib and provides a way to inspect, call methods on, and monitor D-Bus objects.
The session bus is used for user applications (desktop notifications, media players, etc.), while the system bus handles system-wide services (NetworkManager, UPower, etc.).
Use introspect to discover available interfaces and methods on any D-Bus object before interacting with it.

list-names

List all names on a bus

Introspect a remote object

Invoke a method on a remote object

Emit a signal

Monitor a remote object

Wait for a bus name to appear

Connect to the session bus (user-specific)

Connect to the system bus (system-wide)

Destination bus name

D-Bus object path

Method to call

Signal to emit

D-Bus method signatures must match exactly. Complex types require proper GVariant formatting. Some system bus operations require elevated privileges or PolicyKit authorization.

gdbus was introduced as part of GLib's GDBus implementation in 2010 (GLib 2.26), replacing the older dbus-glib bindings. It provides a more modern, GObject-based interface to D-Bus.

dbus-send(1), busctl(1), qdbus(1)