#+title: xmobar, a minimalistic status bar

#+begin_export html
<p align="right">
  <a href="http://hackage.haskell.org/package/xmobar">
    <img src="https://img.shields.io/hackage/v/xmobar.svg" alt="hackage"/>
  </a>
  <a href="https://ci.codeberg.org/repos/17487" target="_blank">
    <img src="https://ci.codeberg.org/api/badges/17487/status.svg" alt="status-badge" />
  </a>
</p>
#+end_export

Xmobar is a minimalistic status bar. It was originally designed and
implemented to work with [[http://xmonad.org][xmonad]], but it is actually usable with any
window manager in X11 and also (via its text output mode) Wayland.

Xmobar was inspired by the [[http://tuomov.iki.fi/software/][Ion3]] status bar, and supports similar
features, like dynamic color management, icons, output templates, and
extensibility through plugins.  It is also able to write to standard
output, in a variety of formats.

[[file:doc/screenshots/xmobar-top.png]]

[[file:doc/screenshots/xmobar-bottom.png]]

[[file:doc/screenshots/xmobar-exwm.png]]

Check [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/changelog.md][the change log]] for our release history.  We also have an IRC
channel, ~#xmobar~, at [[ircs://irc.libera.chat][Libera]].

* Breaking news

  - Starting with version 0.51, we introduced a new GHC support policy: xmobar
    officially supports only the GHC versions that upstream marks as /suitable
    for use/ in the [[https://gitlab.haskell.org/ghc/ghc/-/wikis/GHC-status][official GHC status overview]]. 
    At the time of writing, this means GHC versions from 9.6 to 9.14.

  - Starting with version 0.45, we use cairo/pango as our drawing engine
    (instead of plain X11/Xft).  From a user's point of view, that change
    should be mostly transparent, except for the facts that it's allowed
    fixing quite a few bugs and that your /font names/ in your configuration, if
    you used ~xft~ ones, might need to be adapted to Pango's syntax: please see
    [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/quick-start.org#fonts][this section of the documentation]] for all the details.  If you're
    compiling your own xmobar, there's a new dependency on libpango (see
    [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/compiling.org#c-libraries][C library dependencies]]).

* Installation
  :PROPERTIES:
  :CUSTOM_ID: installation
  :END:
** From your system's package manager

   Xmobar is probably available from your distributions package
   manager!  Most distributions compile xmobar with the =all_extensions=
   flag, so you don't have to.

   - Arch Linux
     #+begin_src shell
       pacman -S xmobar
     #+end_src

   - Debian/Ubuntu based
     #+begin_src shell
       apt install xmobar
     #+end_src

   - OpenSUSE
     #+begin_src shell
       zypper install xmobar
     #+end_src

   - Void Linux
     #+begin_src shell
       xbps-install xmobar
     #+end_src

   - Gentoo
     #+begin_src shell
       emerge --ask xmobar
     #+end_src

   - FreeBSD
     #+begin_src shell
       pkg install hs-xmobar
     #+end_src

** Using cabal or stack

   Xmobar is available from [[http://hackage.haskell.org/package/xmobar/][Hackage]], and you can compile and install it using
   =cabal-install=, making sure the [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/compiling.org#c-libraries][required C libraries]] are in place. For a
   full build with all available extensions:

   #+begin_src shell
     # required C librarises
     apt-get install xorg-dev libxrandr-dev libpango1.0-dev
     # optional C libraries for additional plugins
     apt-get install libasound2-dev libxpm-dev libmpd-dev

     cabal install xmobar -fall_extensions
   #+end_src

   See [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/compiling.org#optional-features][here]] for a list of optional compilation flags that will enable some
   optional plugins.

   See [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/compiling.org][compiling]] for full compilation instructions starting from source.

* Running xmobar
** Running xmobar with a configuration file
   You can run xmobar with:

   #+begin_src shell
     xmobar /path/to/config &
   #+end_src

   or

   #+begin_src shell
     xmobar &
   #+end_src

   if you have the default configuration file saved as
   =$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/xmobar/xmobarrc= (defaulting to =~/.config/xmobar/xmobarrc=),
   or =~/.xmobarrc=.

   All the available command line switches and configuration parameters are
   described in [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/quick-start.org][the quick start guide]] and [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/plugins.org][the plugins index]].

** Writing your own xmobar in Haskell

   As shown above, one can use ~xmobar~ as a regular program, via its
   configuration file, without having to write any code. It also is possible
   to install xmobar as a library and use it to write your own xmobar using
   Haskell instead of using a configuration file.  (This is very similar to
   how [[http://xmonad.org][xmonad]] works.)  That gives you the ability of using Haskell and its
   libraries to extend xmobar to your heart's content. If you are a
   programmer, take a look [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/using-haskell.org][here]] to learn more.

** Running xmobar in text mode

   By default, xmobar will run as an X11 application, in a docked window, but
   it is possible to redirect xmobar's output to the standard output,
   optionally with color escape sequences.  In this mode, xmobar can be run
   inside a terminal o console, or its output piped to other applications, and
   there is no need for an X11 display.  See [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/quick-start.org#text-mode][Running xmobar in text mode]] for
   details.  Using this mode, you could [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/quick-start.org#wayland][pipe xmobar's output to, say, swaybar]],
   and use it in wayland, or, with the [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/etc/xmobar.el][xmobar.el]] package, show it in Emacs's
   tab bar.

* Configuration and further documentation

  - If you want to jump straight into running xmobar, head over to the
    [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/quick-start.org][quick start guide]].

  - If you want to get a detailed overview of all available plugins and
    monitors, visit the [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/plugins.org][plugins index]].

  - For more information on how to use xmobar as a Haskell library see the
    [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/doc/using-haskell.org][using Haskell guide]].

  - If you want to know how to contribute to the xmobar project, check out
    [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/contributing.org][contributing]].

* Authors and credits

  Andrea Rossato originally designed and implemented xmobar up to version
  0.11.1. Since then, it is maintained and developed by [[https://jao.io][jao]], with the help of
  the greater xmobar and Haskell communities.

  In particular, xmobar incorporates patches by Kostas Agnantis, Mohammed
  Alshiekh, Ashesh Ambasta, Alex Ameen, Axel Angel, Enrico Maria De Angelis, Dhananjay Balan,
  Claudio Bley, Dragos Boca, Ben Boeckel, Ivan Brennan, Duncan Burke, Roman
  Cheplyaka, Patrick Chilton, Antoine Eiche, Nathaniel Wesley Filardo, Guy
  Gastineau, John Goerzen, Jonathan Grochowski, Patrick Günther, Reto
  Hablützel, Corey Halpin, Juraj Hercek, Jaroslaw Jantura, Tomáš Janoušek, Ada
  Joule, Spencer Janssen, Léana 江, Roman Joost, Pavel Kalugin, Jochen Keil, Sam Kirby,
  Lennart Kolmodin, Krzysztof Kosciuszkiewicz, Dmitry Kurochkin, Todd Lunter,
  Vanessa McHale, Robert J. Macomber, Dmitry Malikov, David McLean, Ulrik de
  Muelenaere, Joan Milev, Marcin Mikołajczyk, Dino Morelli, Tony Morris, Eric
  Mrak, Thiago Negri, Edward O'Callaghan, Svein Ove, Martin Perner, Alexander
  Pankoff, Jens Petersen, Alexander Polakov, Sibi Prabakaran, Pavan Rikhi,
  Petr Rockai, Andrew Emmanuel Rosa, Sackville-West, Amir Saeid, Markus
  Scherer, Daniel Schüssler, Olivier Schneider, Alexander Shabalin, Valentin
  Shirokov, Peter Simons, Alexander Solovyov, Will Song, John Soo, John Soros,
  Felix Springer, Travis Staton, Artem Tarasov, Samuli Thomasson, Edward
  Tjörnhammar, Sergei Trofimovich, Thomas Tuegel, John Tyree, Jan Vornberger,
  Anton Vorontsov, Daniel Wagner, Zev Weiss, Phil Xiaojun Hu, Nikolay Yakimov,
  Edward Z. Yang, Leo Zhang, Norbert Zeh, and Michał Zielonka.

  Andrea wants to thank Robert Manea and Spencer Janssen for their help in
  understanding how X works. They gave him suggestions on how to solve many
  problems with xmobar.  He also thanks Claus Reinke for making him understand
  existential types (or at least for letting him think he grasps existential
  types...;-).

* License

  This software is released under a BSD-style license. See [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/src/branch/master/license][license]] for more
  details.

  Copyright © 2010-2026 Jose Antonio Ortega Ruiz

  Copyright © 2007-2010 Andrea Rossato
