What is this?
Waybar is a highly customizable status bar built for Wayland compositors like Sway, Hyprland, River, and other wlroots-based setups, with modules for things like battery, network, audio, and the clock.
Waybar is a highly customizable status bar built for Wayland compositors like Sway, Hyprland, River, and other wlroots-based setups, with modules for things like battery, network, audio, and the clock.Is this a GUI app I run, or a library I code against?It is a standalone GTK-based bar application that runs as part of your Wayland session, not a library or script you embed in a project.
It is a standalone GTK-based bar application that runs as part of your Wayland session, not a library or script you embed in a project.How do I get it running?Install it through your Linux distribution's package manager (an Ubuntu PPA offers newer builds), or build it from source yourself, then copy the default config and stylesheet into ~/.config/waybar/ and edit them to your liking.
Install it through your Linux distribution's package manager (an Ubuntu PPA offers newer builds), or build it from source yourself, then copy the default config and stylesheet into ~/.config/waybar/ and edit them to your liking.Do I need a specific Wayland compositor like Sway to use it?Yes — Waybar targets Wayland/wlroots compositors specifically, with confirmed support for Sway, River, Hyprland, Niri, Mango, DWL, and Wayfire; it does not run on X11.
Yes — Waybar targets Wayland/wlroots compositors specifically, with confirmed support for Sway, River, Hyprland, Niri, Mango, DWL, and Wayfire; it does not run on X11.Does every feature work the same on every compositor?No — feature coverage differs per compositor (e.g. window title, layout, or mode indicators aren't available everywhere), and DWL support specifically needs an extra IPC patch applied first.
No — feature coverage differs per compositor (e.g. window title, layout, or mode indicators aren't available everywhere), and DWL support specifically needs an extra IPC patch applied first.What modules does Waybar include out of the box?It bundles modules for power and hardware (battery, UPower, CPU, memory, disk, temperature), connectivity (network, Bluetooth, GPS, WWAN), audio and media (PulseAudio, WirePlumber, MPD, MPRIS), plus desktop extras like clock, system tray, idle inhibitor, and custom scripts.
It bundles modules for power and hardware (battery, UPower, CPU, memory, disk, temperature), connectivity (network, Bluetooth, GPS, WWAN), audio and media (PulseAudio, WirePlumber, MPD, MPRIS), plus desktop extras like clock, system tray, idle inhibitor, and custom scripts.Can I style it to match my theme?Yes, it ships with a default config and CSS stylesheet you copy into ~/.config/waybar/, and the Styling guide plus a community Examples page cover full visual customization.
Yes, it ships with a default config and CSS stylesheet you copy into ~/.config/waybar/, and the Styling guide plus a community Examples page cover full visual customization.Where should I download Waybar from?Only from the official GitHub page or your distro's official package repository — the project explicitly warns that it has no official website, so any other site claiming to be one should not be trusted.
Only from the official GitHub page or your distro's official package repository — the project explicitly warns that it has no official website, so any other site claiming to be one should not be trusted.What are similar projects?omarchy-pods, sway, eww, rofi, HaloBattery, serpantinum, omarchy-workspace-layout, omastorm
omarchy-pods, sway, eww, rofi, HaloBattery, serpantinum, omarchy-workspace-layout, omastorm