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swaybar-protocol(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual swaybar-protocol(7) NAME swaybar-protocol - JSON status line protocol for swaybar SUMMARY swaybar defines the following JSON protocol to specify what information is displayed in the status line on the right side of swaybar. The pro- tocol comprises a header, that is a JSON object, followed by a newline (0x0A), followed by an infinite JSON array that represents the informa- tion to display. All communication is done by writing the status line to standard output and reading events from standard input. HEADER The header is a JSON object with support for the following properties (only version is required): +--------------+-----------+---------+------------------+ | PROPERTY | DATA TYPE | DEFAULT | DESCRIPTION | +--------------+-----------+---------+------------------+ | version | integer | - | The protocol | | | | | version to use. | | | | | Currently, this | | | | | must be 1 | +--------------+-----------+---------+------------------+ | click_events | boolean | false | Whether to re- | | | | | ceive click | | | | | event informa- | | | | | tion to standard | | | | | input | +--------------+-----------+---------+------------------+ | cont_signal | integer | SIGCONT | The signal that | | | | | swaybar should | | | | | send to continue | | | | | processing | +--------------+-----------+---------+------------------+ | stop_signal | integer | SIGSTOP | The signal that | | | | | swaybar should | | | | | send to stop | | | | | processing | +--------------+-----------+---------+------------------+ MINIMAL HEADER { "version": 1 } FULL HEADER { "version": 1, "click_events": true, "cont_signal": 18, "stop_signal": 19 } BODY The body is an infinite array, where each element of the array is a representation of the status line at the time that the element was written. Each element of the array is itself an array of JSON objects, where each object represents a block in the status line. Each block can have the following properties (only full_text is required): +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | PROPERTY | DATA TYPE | DESCRIPTION | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | full_text | string | The text that will | | | | be displayed. If | | | | missing, the block | | | | will be skipped. | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | short_text | string | If given and the | | | | text needs to be | | | | shortened due to | | | | space, this will be | | | | displayed instead | | | | of full_text | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | color | string | The text color to | | | | use in #RRGGBBAA or | | | | #RRGGBB notation | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | background | string | The background | | | | color for the block | | | | in #RRGGBBAA or | | | | #RRGGBB notation | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | border | string | The border color | | | | for the block in | | | | #RRGGBBAA or | | | | #RRGGBB notation | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | border_top | integer | The height in pix- | | | | els of the top bor- | | | | der. The default is | | | | 1 | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | border_bottom | integer | The height in pix- | | | | els of the bottom | | | | border. The default | | | | is 1 | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | border_left | integer | The width in pixels | | | | of the left border. | | | | The default is 1 | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | border_right | integer | The width in pixels | | | | of the right bor- | | | | der. The default is | | | | 1 | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | min_width | integer or string | The minimum width | | | | to use for the | | | | block. This can ei- | | | | ther be given in | | | | pixels or a string | | | | can be given to al- | | | | low for it to be | | | | calculated based on | | | | the width of the | | | | string. | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | align | string | If the text does | | | | not span the full | | | | width of the block, | | | | this specifies how | | | | the text should be | | | | aligned inside of | | | | the block. This can | | | | be left (default), | | | | right, or center. | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | name | string | A name for the | | | | block. This is only | | | | used to identify | | | | the block for click | | | | events. If set, | | | | each block should | | | | have a unique name | | | | and instance pair. | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | instance | string | The instance of the | | | | name for the block. | | | | This is only used | | | | to identify the | | | | block for click | | | | events. If set, | | | | each block should | | | | have a unique name | | | | and instance pair. | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | urgent | boolean | Whether the block | | | | should be displayed | | | | as urgent. Cur- | | | | rently swaybar uti- | | | | lizes the colors | | | | set in the sway | | | | config for urgent | | | | workspace buttons. | | | | See sway-bar(5) for | | | | more information on | | | | bar color configu- | | | | ration. | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | separator | boolean | Whether the bar | | | | separator should be | | | | drawn after the | | | | block. See sway- | | | | bar(5) for more in- | | | | formation on how to | | | | set the separator | | | | text. | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | separa- | integer | The amount of pix- | | tor_block_width | | els to leave blank | | | | after the block. | | | | The separator text | | | | will be displayed | | | | centered in this | | | | gap. The default is | | | | 9 pixels. | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ | markup | string | The type of markup | | | | to use when parsing | | | | the text for the | | | | block. This can ei- | | | | ther be pango or | | | | none (default). | +-----------------+-------------------+---------------------+ Other properties may be given and swaybar will ignore any property that it does not know. It is recommended to prefix any custom properties with an underscore to make it easier to distinguish them from protocol properties. BODY EXAMPLE [ [ { "full_text": "25%", "min_width": "100%", "urgent": false }, { "full_text": "Thu 30 May 2019 02:15:15" } ], [ { "full_text": "20%", "min_width": "100%", "urgent": false }, { "full_text": "Thu 30 May 2019 02:20:52" } ], [ { "full_text": "15%", "min_width": "100%", "urgent": true }, { "full_text": "Thu 30 May 2019 02:25:41" } ], ... FULL BLOCK EXAMPLE { "full_text": "Thu 30 May 2019 02:09:15", "short_text": "02:09", "color": "#ccccccff", "background": "#111111ff", "border": "#222222ff", "border_top": 1, "border_bottom": 1, "border_left": 1, "border_right": 1, "min_width": 100, "align": "center", "name": "clock", "instance": "edt", "urgent": false, "separator": true, "separator_block_width": 5, "markup": "none" } CLICK EVENTS If requested in the header, swaybar will write a JSON object, that can be read from standard in, when the user clicks on a block. The event object will have the following properties: +------------+-----------+---------------------+ | PROPERTY | DATA TYPE | DESCRIPTION | +------------+-----------+---------------------+ | name | string | The name of the | | | | block, if set | +------------+-----------+---------------------+ | instance | string | The instance of the | | | | block, if set | +------------+-----------+---------------------+ | x | integer | The x location that | | | | the click occurred | | | | at | +------------+-----------+---------------------+ | y | integer | The y location that | | | | the click occurred | | | | at | +------------+-----------+---------------------+ | button | integer | The x11 button num- | | | | ber for the click. | | | | If the button does | | | | not have an x11 | | | | button mapping, | | | | this will be 0. | +------------+-----------+---------------------+ | event | integer | The event code that | | | | corresponds to the | | | | button for the | | | | click | +------------+-----------+---------------------+ | relative_x | integer | The x location of | | | | the click relative | | | | to the top-left of | | | | the block | +------------+-----------+---------------------+ | relative_y | integer | The y location of | | | | the click relative | | | | to the top-left of | | | | the block | +------------+-----------+---------------------+ | width | integer | The width of the | | | | block in pixels | +------------+-----------+---------------------+ | height | integer | The height of the | | | | block in pixels | +------------+-----------+---------------------+ Differences from i3bar's protocol: • button may be 0 for buttons that do not have x11 button mappings • event has been introduced to allow for non-x11 buttons to be repre- sented • The modifiers property is not currently added by swaybar EXAMPLE { "name": "clock", "instance": "edt", "x": 1900, "y": 10, "button": 1, "event": 274, "relative_x": 100, "relative_y": 8, "width": 120, "height": 18 } SEE ALSO sway-bar(5) 2025-04-24 swaybar-protocol(7)
NAME | SUMMARY | HEADER | BODY | CLICK EVENTS | SEE ALSO
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