wouldn't the actual problem fix be setting proper texts on all actions? this probably is also a usability issue btw. I vote for reverting this patch and adding proper texts to all actions

Take the outline toolview example. There I managed to do this and get a sensible menu entry for the filter widget of the toolview's toolbar. But as Kevin said, not all the concerned QActions can be represented in menus in a way that makes sense and for those the only proper text would be something like "this menu item doesn't do anything (don't ask why)".

I considered proposing to let such entries activate/unhide the toolbar and where relevant move focus to the widget, but there is already a toolbar control menu action.

A real proper fix would be a redesign that separates menu-compatible QActions from those that shouldn't appear in the context menu. Alternatively, implement the plugin method that returns the actions to be put in the context menu. But both fixes boil down to what is done now so I see nothing wrong with applying an equivalent filter at a shared, central location.

In D8954#171155, @mwolff wrote:

wouldn't the actual problem fix be setting proper texts on all actions? this probably is also a usability issue btw. I vote for reverting this patch and adding proper texts to all actions

You can still set the text propery of an action where needed. They're just hidden by default now (which makes sense, since showing a blank line in the menu doesn't help either).

This patch aims at hiding certain widget actions which are not representable at all in a menu. One example: The search line edit in the problems tool view.