> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.flatredball.com/gum/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.flatredball.com/gum/gum-tool/plugins/pluginbase.addmenuitem.md).

# AddMenuItem

## Introduction

The AddMenuEntry function adds items to Gum's main menu. It takes the action to run when the item is clicked, followed by the menu path: the first string names the top-level menu (an existing one such as "Content", or a new one, which is inserted before "Help") and each following string is a submenu or, last, the item itself.

AddMenuEntry returns a MenuItemModel. This is a plain object with Header, IsEnabled, IsCheckable, IsChecked, and ToolTip properties; changing them updates the rendered menu item. The same call works in both the WPF tool and the Avalonia tool, so a plugin that only uses AddMenuEntry does not need to reference any UI framework.

## Code Example

The following shows how to create a menu called "My Plugin" which contains two items: First and Second. Clicking each item shows a message through the injected dialog service. Add the following to your plugin's **StartUp** function.

```csharp
// Add startup logic here:
AddMenuEntry(() => _dialogService.ShowMessage("You clicked first"), "My Plugin", "First");

var second = AddMenuEntry(() => _dialogService.ShowMessage("You clicked second"), "My Plugin", "Second");

// The returned model can be changed later, for example after a tab is shown or hidden:
second.Header = "Second (visited)";
```

![](https://2695663588-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M_fzQmxQ1VeUFHcoo2c%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-089a28d257904e72304fbbcf0ced34081b8b5f7a%2FBeforeClickingFirstGum.png?alt=media)

## AddMenuItem (obsolete)

Older plugins called AddMenuItem, which returned a WPF System.Windows.Controls.MenuItem and required subscribing to its Click event. That overload is still available on WpfPluginBase in the WPF tool, marked obsolete, and is removed along with WPF itself when the tool retires it. Replace it with AddMenuEntry: move the Click handler into the action argument, and change any Header or IsEnabled updates to the returned MenuItemModel.


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