---
title: mybar
related:
  - "[dotfiles](dotfiles.md)"
  - "[conf.h](conf.h.md)"
  - "[pm-user-repository](pm-user-repository.md)"
categories:
  - Tools and applications
---

**mybar** is a small Wayland status bar: one bar at the bottom of every
monitor, configured in Lua, with modules that are plugins.

![mybar](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hugoocoto/mybar/main/screenshot.png)

- **Any wlroots compositor:** it uses wlr-layer-shell, so Hyprland, sway and
  river all work.
- **Reloads by itself** when you save the config. A config with a Lua error
  or a font that won't load is ignored, and the bar keeps the old one.
- **Plugins:** every module is one `.c` file, built into a `.so`.
- **Event driven:** most modules wait for the kernel or Hyprland to tell them
  something changed; the rest (cpu, disk...) read a file every few seconds.

## Modules

| Kind | Modules |
|---|---|
| Hyprland | `workspaces` (with app icons), `window`, `submap`, `language` |
| sway | `sway_workspaces`, `sway_window`, `sway_mode`, `sway_language` |
| Hardware | `battery`, `brightness`, `volume`, `capslock` |
| System | `system` (cpu, memory, temperature), `disk` |
| Network | `network`, `vpn` |
| Other | `media` (anything playing, through playerctl), `datetime` |

The sway modules take the same options as the Hyprland ones. Modules with
nothing to show, like `vpn` with no VPN up, take no space.

## Installation

It needs wayland, wayland-protocols, fcft, pixman and LuaJIT (Lua 5.1 works
too, with `make LUA_PKG=lua5.1`). The second line is optional: app icons in
the workspaces (librsvg, cairo), `media` (playerctl) and `volume` (pactl).

```
# pacman -S --needed base-devel wayland wayland-protocols fcft pixman luajit
# pacman -S --needed librsvg cairo playerctl libpulse
$ git clone https://github.com/hugoocoto/mybar
$ cd mybar
$ make
# make install
```

`make install` installs to `/usr/local`; `make run` runs it in place. The
[README](https://github.com/hugoocoto/mybar#installation) has the package
names for Debian and Fedora too.

It is also available through the [pm user repository](pm-user-repository.md),
which also installs the modules into `~/.local/lib/mybar/modules`.

## Configuration

mybar reads `~/.config/mybar/config.lua`, then `./config.lua`, or the file
given with `-c`. Anything left out takes its default:

```lua
Config = {
    height = 26,
    font   = "Iosevka NFP:pixelsize=18",
    bg     = "#141617",
    fg     = "#d4be98",
    modules = {
        left   = { "workspaces", "window" },
        center = {},
        right  = {
            "media",
            "system",
            { path = "battery", low = 20 },
            "datetime",
        },
    },
}
```

Every module takes `path`, `interval`, `color` and `spacing`; the rest of its
options are documented at the top of `modules/NAME.c`, and the
[config.lua](https://github.com/hugoocoto/mybar/blob/main/config.lua) in the
repository lists every module with all of them. `pkill -USR1 mybar` forces a
reload.

## Writing a module

Drop a `.c` file in `modules/` and run `make`: it becomes `modules/NAME.so`,
and `"NAME"` goes in the config. The interface is `src/plugin.h`. Start from
`modules/datetime.c` for a plain text module, or `modules/workspaces.h` for
one that draws itself.

## See also

- [Source code](https://github.com/hugoocoto/mybar)
- [dotfiles](dotfiles.md), which use it instead of waybar