path: root/readme.org

#+title: xmobar, a minimalistic status bar

[[http://hackage.haskell.org/package/xmobar][https://img.shields.io/hackage/v/xmobar.svg]]

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.

These are some xmobar [[file:doc/screenshots][screenshots]] using the author's configuration:

[[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
*** 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://github.com/jaor/xmobar/issues/461][this issue]] for more information.

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

  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=.

*** 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/write-your-own-plugin.org][Write your own plugin]].

  - 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, 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 Michal
  Zielonka.

*** Thanks

  *Andrea Rossato*:

  Thanks to Robert Manea and Spencer Janssen for their help in
  understanding how X works. They gave me suggestions on how to solve many
  problems with xmobar.

  Thanks to Claus Reinke for make me understand existential types (or at
  least for letting me think I grasp existential types...;-).

  *jao*:

  Thanks to Andrea for creating xmobar in the first place, and for giving
  me the chance to contribute.


* License

This software is released under a BSD-style license. See [[https://github.com/jaor/xmobar/raw/master/license][license]] for
more details.

Copyright © 2010-2022 Jose Antonio Ortega Ruiz

Copyright © 2007-2010 Andrea Rossato