Waybar Modules

Waybar Modules

Waybar is configured with 15 modules in waybar/config.jsonc. Custom modules are styled by wallust so colors always match the wallpaper.

Layout

Left:    custom/workspaces | custom/runcat | custom/media
Center:  clock
Right:   tray | custom/recording | custom/brightness | pulseaudio |
         cpu | memory | custom/power-profiles | custom/notification |
         network | bluetooth | custom/power

Custom Modules

custom/workspaces

Batch-based workspace display showing 5 workspaces at a time, centered on the active one.

• Script: waybar/scripts/workspaces.sh
• Poll interval: 2s
• Icons: [N] = active, |N| = occupied, N = empty
• Click: Focus workspace (via workspace-click.sh)
• Scroll: Cycle workspaces (prev/next)

custom/runcat

CPU activity animation — a running cat that speeds up when CPU is busy.

• Script: waybar/modules/runcat-text/main.py (Python)
• Output: JSON with emoji/text animation based on CPU usage
• Disable: Remove from modules-left in config.jsonc for low-end systems

custom/media

Now-playing media display with playerctl integration.

• Script: waybar/scripts/media.sh
• Format: icon artist - title (truncated)
• On startup: Kills stale playerctl metadata --follow processes to prevent CPU leaks
• Click: Play/Pause | Right click: Stop | Scroll: Next/Previous

custom/recording

Screen recording indicator — blinks when wf-recorder is active.

• Script: waybar/scripts/recording-indicator.sh
• Poll interval: 10s
• Output: Empty normally, blinking icon when recording

custom/brightness

Display backlight control.

• Script: waybar/scripts/brightness.sh
• Poll interval: 5s
• Icons: 4 levels (full, high, low, off) + percentage
• Scroll: Adjust brightness by ±5% (via brightness-adjust.sh)

custom/power-profiles

UPower power profile management (power-saver / balanced / performance).

• Script: waybar/scripts/power-profile.sh
• Poll interval: 5s
• Implementation: Uses busctl directly on the UPower D-Bus interface (avoids hang-prone powerprofilesctl)
• Click: Cycle to next profile via power-profile-switch.sh

custom/notification

Notification center toggle.

• Script: waybar/scripts/notification.sh
• Poll interval: 10s
• Click: Toggle panel (swaync-client -t)
• Right click: Toggle Do Not Disturb (swaync-client -d)

custom/power

Power menu trigger.

• No script — uses format + on-click directly
• Click: Opens rofi power menu (system-power.sh)

Built-in Modules

clock

• Format: {:%I:%M %p} (12-hour), tooltip shows a calendar
• Interval: 30s

network

• Icons: WiFi (4 signal levels), ethernet, disconnected
• Tooltip: {essid} ({signalStrength}%)
• Click: opens impala WiFi TUI via tui-wifi.sh
• Interval: 3s

bluetooth

• Icons: off, on (no connection), connected
• Click: opens bluetui via tui-bluetooth.sh

pulseaudio

• Icons: high, mid, low, muted (device-aware icons)
• Format: {icon} {volume}%
• Click: opens pulsemixer via tui-audio.sh
• Scroll: Volume ±5%

cpu

• Format: {usage}% with CPU icon
• Click: opens btop via tui-cpu.sh
• Interval: 5s

memory

• Format: {percentage}% with RAM icon
• Click: opens btop
• Interval: 10s

tray

• Standard Wayland system tray, spacing 8px

System TUI Pattern

All system tools open in floating kitty windows with class system-tui (auto-floated by hypr/rules.lua):

Tool	Opens	Waybar Click
impala	WiFi network manager	network
bluetui	Bluetooth manager	bluetooth
pulsemixer	Audio mixer	pulseaudio
btop	System monitor	cpu / memory

Adding a Module

1. Add to waybar/config.jsonc:

"custom/my-module": {
  "exec": "~/.config/waybar/scripts/my-script.sh",
  "interval": 10,
  "return-type": "json",
  "on-click": "some-command"
}

2. Style it in waybar/style.css (or the waybar.css.j2 template for permanence)
3. Restart waybar: pkill -x waybar && waybar &

Troubleshooting

# Restart waybar
pkill -x waybar && waybar &

# View logs
journalctl --user -u waybar -f

# Test a script manually
~/.config/waybar/scripts/workspaces.sh