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#+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/xmobar/xmobar">
    <img src="https://ci.codeberg.org/api/badges/xmobar/xmobar/status.svg" alt="ci"/>
  </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 [[./changelog.md][the change log]] for our release history.  We also have an IRC
channel, ~#xmobar~, at [[ircs://irc.libera.chat][Libera]].

* 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

** Using cabal-install

   Xmobar is available from [[http://hackage.haskell.org/package/xmobar/][Hackage]], and you can install it using
   =cabal-install=:

   #+begin_src shell
     cabal install xmobar
   #+end_src

   Starting with version 0.35.1, xmobar now requires at least GHC version
   8.4.x. to build. See [[https://codeberg.org/xmobar/xmobar/issues/461][this issue]] for more information.

   See [[file:doc/compiling.org#optional-features][here]] for a list of optional compilation flags that will enable some
   optional plugins. For instance, to install xmobar with all the bells and
   whistles (this is probably what you want), use:

   #+begin_src shell
     cabal install xmobar --flags="all_extensions"
   #+end_src

** From source

   See [[file:doc/compiling.org][compiling]].

* 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 [[file:quick-start.org][the quick start guide]] and [[file:plugins.org][the plugins documentation]].
** Writing your own xmobar in Haskell

   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 at
   [[file: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 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
   (so, for instance, you could pipe xmobar's output to a Wayland
   application, such as swaybar.)

   To run xmobar in text mode, either pass the =-T= flag to its
   invocation:

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

   or set the parameter =textOutput= to True in its configuration.  You
   can also specify the format of color escapes, for instance,
   omitting them altogether with ~Plain~:

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

   Other options are ~Ansi~, ~Pango~, and ~Swaybar~.

** Using xmobar in Wayland with swaybar or waybar

   In text mode, xmobar can be told to ouput its information using
   pango markup for colors and fonts, and it that way you can use it
   with swaybar or waybar, if you don't have actions or boxes in your
   template.  Here's a minimal ~bar~ configuration for sway's
   configuration file:

   #+begin_src conf
     bar {
     status_command xmobar -TPango
     pango_markup enabled
     }
   #+end_src

   In case you want to use boxes around text or click actions in your
   template, you can use instead the format ~Swaybar~, which supports
   both.  This output format follows the JSON /swaybar-protocol/
   defined by swaybar.  Configure it simply with:

   #+begin_src conf
     bar {
     status_command xmobar -TSwaybar
     }
   #+end_src

* Configuration and further Links

  - If you want to jump straight into running xmobar, head over to the
    [[./doc/quick-start.org][quick start guide]].

  - If you want to get a detailed overview of all available plugins and
    monitors, visit the [[./doc/plugins.org][plugins index]].

  - [[./doc/window-managers.org][Interfacing with window managers]] describes plugins and extensions
    for interacting with xmobar from your window manager.

  - If you want to know how to contribute to the xmobar project, check out
    [[contributing.org][contributing]].

  - If you want to write your own plugins, see [[./doc/using-haskell.org#writing-a-plugin][writing a plugin]].

  - For elaborated examples of how to use xmobar as a Haskell library
    to create your monitors, see [[https://codeberg.org/jao/xmobar-config][this repo at jao/xmobar-config]].

  - To understand the internal mysteries of xmobar you may try reading
    [[https://wiki.haskell.org/X_window_programming_in_Haskell][this tutorial]] on X Window Programming in Haskell.

* 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 Mohammed Alshiekh,
  Alex Ameen, Axel Angel, 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, Patrick Günther, Reto Hablützel, Juraj Hercek, Tomáš
  Janoušek, Ada Joule, Spencer Janssen, 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, Joan MIlev, Marcin Mikołajczyk, Dino
  Morelli, Tony Morris, Eric Mrak, Thiago Negri, Edward O'Callaghan,
  Svein Ove, Martin Perner, 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 © 2010-2022 Jose Antonio Ortega Ruiz

  Copyright © 2007-2010 Andrea Rossato