hyprland-wiki/pages/Configuring/Using-hyprctl.md

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12	Using hyprctl

hyprctl is a utility for controlling some parts of the compositor from a CLI or a script. It should automatically be installed along with Hyprland.

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hyprctl calls will be dispatched by the compositor synchronously, meaning any spam of the utility will cause slowdowns. It's recommended to use --batch for many control calls, and limiting the amount of info calls.

For live event handling, see the socket2.

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Commands

dispatch

Issue a dispatch to call a keybind dispatcher with an argument.

An argument has to be present, for dispatchers without parameters it can be anything.

To pass an argument starting with - or --, such as command line options to exec programs, pass -- as an option. This will disable any subsequent parsing of options by hyprctl.

Examples:

hyprctl dispatch exec kitty

hyprctl dispatch -- exec kitty --single-instance

hyprctl dispatch pseudo x

Returns: ok on success, an error message on fail.

See Dispatchers for a list of dispatchers.

keyword

issue a keyword to call a config keyword dynamically.

Examples:

hyprctl keyword bind SUPER,O,pseudo

hyprctl keyword general:border_size 10

hyprctl keyword monitor DP-3,1920x1080@144,0x0,1

Returns: ok on success, an error message on fail.

reload

Issue a reload to force reload the config.

kill

Issue a kill to get into a kill mode, where you can kill an app by clicking on it. You can exit it with ESCAPE.

Kind of like xkill.

setcursor

Sets the cursor theme and reloads the cursor manager. Will set the theme for everything except GTK, because GTK.

Please note that since 0.37.0, this only accepts hyprcursor themes. For legacy xcursor themes, use the XCURSOR_THEME and XCURSOR_SIZE env vars.

params: theme and size

e.g.:

hyprctl setcursor Bibata-Modern-Classic 24

output

Allows you to add and remove fake outputs to your preferred backend.

Usage:

hyprctl output create [backend] (name)

or

hyprctl output remove [name]

Where [backend] is the name of the backend and (name) is an optional name for the output. If (name) is not specified, the default naming scheme will be used (HEADLESS-2, WL-1, etc.)

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create and remove can also be add or destroy, respectively.

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Available backends:

• wayland: Creates an output as a Wayland window. This will only work if you're already running Hyprland with the Wayland backend.
• headless: Creates a headless monitor output. If you're running a VNC/RDP/ Sunshine server, you should use this.
• auto: Picks a backend for you. For example, if you're running Hyprland from the TTY, headless will be chosen.

For example, to create a headless output named "test":

hyprctl output create headless test

And to remove it:

hyprctl output remove test

switchxkblayout

Sets the xkb layout index for a keyboard.

For example, if you set:

device {
    name = my-epic-keyboard-v1
    kb_layout = us,pl,de
}

You can use this command to switch between them.

hyprctl switchxkblayout [DEVICE] [CMD]

where CMD is either next for next, prev for previous, or ID for a specific one (in the above case, us: 0, pl: 1, de: 2). You can find the DEVICE using hyprctl devices command.

DEVICE can also be current or all, self-explanatory. Current is the main keyboard from devices.

Example command for a typical keyboard:

hyprctl switchxkblayout at-translated-set-2-keyboard next

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If you want a single variant i.e. pl/dvorak on one layout but us/qwerty on the other, xkb parameters can still be blank, however the amount of comma-separated parameters have to match. Alternatively, a single parameter can be specified for it to apply to all three.

input {
    kb_layout = pl,us,ru
    kb_variant = dvorak,,
    kb_options = caps:ctrl_modifier
}

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seterror

Sets the hyprctl error string. Will reset when Hyprland's config is reloaded.

hyprctl seterror 'rgba(66ee66ff)' hello world this is my problem

To disable:

hyprctl seterror disable

notify

Sends a notification using the built-in Hyprland notification system.

hyprctl notify [ICON] [TIME_MS] [COLOR] [MESSAGE]

For example:

hyprctl notify -1 10000 "rgb(ff1ea3)" "Hello everyone!"

Icon of -1 means "No icon"

Color of 0 means "Default color for icon"

Icon list:

WARNING = 0
INFO = 1
HINT = 2
ERROR = 3
CONFUSED = 4
OK = 5

Optionally, you can specify a font size of the notification like so:

hyprctl notify -1 10000 "rgb(ff0000)" "fontsize:35 This text is big"

The default font-size is 13.

dismissnotify

Dismisses all or up to AMOUNT notifications.

hyprctl dismissnotify # dismiss all notifications
hyprctl dismissnotify 2 # dismiss the oldest 2 notifications
hyprctl dismissnotify -1 # dismiss all notifications (same as no arguments)

Info

version - prints the Hyprland version along with flags, commit and branch of build.
monitors - lists active outputs with their properties, 'monitors all' lists active and inactive outputs
workspaces - lists all workspaces with their properties
activeworkspace - gets the active workspace and its properties
workspacerules - gets the list of defined workspace rules
clients - lists all windows with their properties
devices - lists all connected keyboards and mice
decorations [window] - lists all decorations and their info
binds - lists all registered binds
activewindow - gets the active window name and its properties
layers - lists all the layers
splash - prints the current random splash
getoption [option] - gets the config option status (values)
cursorpos - gets the current cursor position in global layout coordinates
animations - gets the currently configured info about animations and beziers
instances - lists all running instances of Hyprland with their info
layouts - lists all layouts available (including from plugins)
configerrors - lists all current config parsing errors
rollinglog - prints tail of the log. Also supports -f/--follow option
locked - prints whether the current session is locked.
descriptions - returns a JSON with all config options, their descriptions and types.
submap - prints the current submap the keybinds are in

For the getoption command, the option name should be written as section:option, e.g.:

hyprctl getoption general:border_size

# For nested sections:
hyprctl getoption input:touchpad:disable_while_typing

See Variables for sections and options you can use.

Batch

You can also use --batch to specify a batch of commands to execute.

e.g.

hyprctl --batch "keyword general:border_size 2 ; keyword general:gaps_out 20"

; separates the commands

Flags

You can specify flags for the request like this:

hyprctl -j monitors

flag list:

j -> output in JSON
i -> select instance (id or index in hyprctl instances)