Sway: Difference between revisions

[https://swaywm.org/ Sway] is a tiling [[Wayland]] compositor and a drop-in replacement for the [[i3]] window manager for X11. It can work with an existing i3 configuration and supports most of i3's features, plus a few extras. For users migrating from i3, see the [https://github.com/swaywm/sway/wiki/i3-Migration-Guide i3 migration guide].

== Setup ==

=== Using NixOS ===

Here is a minimal configuration:

{{File|3={ config, pkgs, lib, ... }:

{

   environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [

     wl-clipboard # Copy/Paste functionality.

     mako # Notification utility.

 

 

 

 

The default Sway configuration is symlinked to <code>/etc/sway/config</code> and <code>/etc/sway/config.d/nixos.conf</code>. The latter file contains dbus and systemd configuration that is critical to using apps that depend on XDG desktop portals with Sway, and should be included in any custom configuration files.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=== Automatic startup on boot ===

The snippet below will start Sway immediately on startup, without a greeter and '''without a login prompt'''. Only consider using this in conjunction with [[Full Disk Encryption]].

services.getty = {

   autologinUser = "your_username";

   autologinOnce = true;

environment.loginShellInit = ''

</syntaxhighlight>When launched directly from the TTY, Sway will not inherit the user environment. This may cause issues with systemd user services such as application launchers or [[Swayidle]]. To fix this, add the following to your Home Manager configuration:{{file|home.nix|nix|<nowiki>

 

It is recommended to enable a secret service provider such as [https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/GnomeKeyring Gnome Keyring]. For more information on secret services check the [[Secret Service]] page.

 

In order to unlock the keyring through logins from greeters and screen locking utilities you will need to enable them through PAM.

   greetd.enableGnomeKeyring = true;

  swaylock.enableGnomeKeyring = true;

  #gdm.enableGnomeKeyring = true;

};|name=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|lang=nix}}

== Configuration ==

</syntaxhighlight>The same thing accomplished in Home Manager:<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">

wayland.windowManager.sway.input."*".xkb_layout = "de";

=== High-DPI scaling ===

Changing scale for all screens to factor 1.5:<syntaxhighlight lang="console">

output * scale 1.5

You may set the brightness and volume function keys by binding the key codes to their corresponding commands within your sway config. The following configurations accomplish this using <code>light</code> and <code>pulseaudio</code>:

environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.pulseaudio ];

{{file|||

bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec light -U 10

bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec light -A 10

|name=Sway Config|lang=bash}}Or alternatively in Home Manager:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using [[Home Manager]] you may configure the mouse cursor size and theme. The reason that your cursor might be missing in some applications, is because <code>XCURSOR_THEME</code> is missing, which will cause applications relying on <code>XWAYLAND</code> to misbehave. Setting <code>sway.enable = true</code>, combined with the <code>name</code>, <code>package</code> and size will set the correct environment variables, which sway will then use.

{{File|3=home.pointerCursor = {

    name = "Adwaita";

    package = pkgs.adwaita-icon-theme;

    size = 24;

     x11 = {

       enable = true;

       defaultCursor = "Adwaita";

 

};|name=/etc/nixos/home.nix|lang=nix}}

If fonts for certain languages are missing in Xorg applications (e.g. Japanese fonts don't appear in Discord)  even though they're in the system, you can set them as default fonts in your configuration file.

<syntaxhighlight lang="nix>

  fonts = {

    packages = with pkgs; [

    fontconfig.defaultFonts = {

      serif = [ "Noto Serif" "Source Han Serif" ];

      sansSerif = [ "Noto Sans" "Source Han Sans" ];

 

 

<syntaxhighlight lang="nix>

  security.pam.services.swaylock = {};

 

 

 

<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">

  { domain = "@users"; item = "rtprio"; type = "-"; value = 1; }

hardware.graphics.enable = true;

When sway is launched with out display manager systemd won't inherit the users environment variables. To fix this add the following to your home-manager configuration:

{{File|3=wayland.windowManager.sway.systemd.variables = ["--all"];|name=home.nix|lang=nix}}

 

=== Touchscreen input bound to the wrong monitor in multi-monitor setups ===

  wayland.windowManager.sway = {

  };

=== GTK apps take an exceptionally long time to start ===

If you're using Gnome-Apps like Nautilus on NixOS with Sway, you might run into issue with settings standard applications to open files from Nautilus (e.g. there being no way of linking PDF to your preferred PDF-reader). You might  also experience tray icons not showing up in your bar.

This is fixed by running <code>dbus-update-activation-environment --all</code> after starting your session. Make it permanent by adding <code>exec dbus-update-activation-environment --all</code> to your sway config file.

=== Toggle monitor modes script ===

First add the Flake input required for the script<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">

    [...]

    wl-togglescreens.url = "git+https://git.project-insanity.org/onny/wl-togglescreens.git?ref=main";

  outputs = {self, nixpkgs, ...}@inputs: {

</syntaxhighlight>Map the script binary to a specific key<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">

  home-manager.users.onny = {

      [...]

</syntaxhighlight>

 

Screenshots using grim, slurp, and [https://github.com/XodTech/grimshot grimshot] for selection screenshots/full screen screenshots.

];|name=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|lang=nix}}

{{File|3=wayland.windowManager.sway = {

  config = let

    modifier = config.wayland.windowManager.sway.config.modifier;

    keybindings = lib.mkOptionDefault {

      # Screenshot a selection that saves to ~/Screenshots and copies to clipboard.

      "${modifier}+Shift+s" = "exec selection=$(slurp) && grim -g \"$selection\" - {{!}} tee ~/Screenshots/$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S).png {{!}} wl-copy";

        

       # Print Screen Button

       # Screenshot the currently focused screen, save to ~/Screenshots and copy to clipboard.

       "Print" = "exec grimshot save output - {{!}} tee ~/Screenshots/$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S).png {{!}} wl-copy";

{{File|3={ pkgs, ... }:

{

  # xdg portal + pipewire = screensharing

  xdg.portal = {

     enable = true;

     wlr.enable = true;

   services.pipewire = {

     alsa.enable = true;

     pulse.enable = true;

{{File|3=services.gvfs.enable = true;|name=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|lang=nix}}

[https://github.com/WillPower3309/swayfx SwayFX] is a fork of Sway that adds eye-candy effects, installing it is as simple as replacing your Sway package with SwayFX. Check the [[SwayFX]] page on the wiki for additional details.

{{File|3=wayland.windowManager.sway = {

  enable = true;

  package = pkgs.swayfx;

  checkConfig = false;

      

  # SwayFX options must be configured through extraConfig.

  extraConfig = ''

     blur_passes 2

   '';

};|name=/etc/nixos/home.nix|lang=nix}}

Add <code>wl-gammarelay-rs</code> to programs.sway.extraPackages, then add the following to sway config:

 

bindsym $mod+Control+0 exec busctl --user set-property rs.wl-gammarelay / rs.wl.gammarelay Brightness d 1

 

bindsym $mod+Control+Underscore exec busctl --user set-property rs.wl-gammarelay /outputs/DP_1 rs.wl.gammarelay Brightness d 0.5

 

Add to sway config:

# When you use `for_window` the command you give is not executed

# every time a window opens or changes (eg. title) in a way that

# matches the criteria.

# inhibit idle for fullscreen apps

for_window [app_id="^.*"] inhibit_idle fullscreen