hyprland/workspaces: Workspace switching buttons are unclickable on version >= 0.55 with traditional config format

[nuclear06]

Describe the bug
workspace clicking is broken for the users who still use traditional hyprland.conf configs.
Hyprland only loads the Lua configuration manager if the user's config file explicitly ends with .lua. Otherwise, it falls back to the traditional config parser.
As a result, Waybar sends the Lua format to a traditional Hyprland instance, resulting in an Invalid dispatcher error and breaking clicks.

To reproduce
Use traditional config on hyprland v0.55.
Use waybar workspace module.

[direc-eqn]

Yeah it been a long time bug. i saw this posted a potential workaround, but yeah this should work natively imo.

"ext/workspaces": {
    "all-outputs": true,
    "on-click": "activate",
    "active-only": false,
    "format": "{icon}",
    "format-icons": {
        "1": "1",
        "2": "2",
        "3": "3",
        "default": "0"
    }
}

[nuclear06]

@direc-eqn Are you using the general workspaces module rather than hyprland/workspaces ?
my personal workaround is to apply this patch:

diff --git a/src/modules/hyprland/backend.cpp b/src/modules/hyprland/backend.cpp
index 891bed1a..e19a2ea7 100644
--- a/src/modules/hyprland/backend.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/hyprland/backend.cpp
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ bool IPC::isLuaProtocol() {
       if (dot != std::string::npos && dot + 1 < versionStr.size()) {
         minor = std::stoi(versionStr.substr(dot + 1));
       }
-      luaProto = major > 0 || (major == 0 && minor >= 54);
+      luaProto = false; // FIXME: Forced false because hl.dsp.focus causes 'Invalid dispatcher' on this system
     } else {
       spdlog::warn("Hyprland IPC: could not parse version '{}', assuming legacy protocol",
                    versionStr);

[direc-eqn]

Yes, i dropped hyprland/workspaces and use ex/workplaces instead.

[PR4NJAL]

Describe the bug workspace clicking is broken for the users who still use traditional hyprland.conf configs. Hyprland only loads the Lua configuration manager if the user's config file explicitly ends with .lua. Otherwise, it falls back to the traditional config parser. As a result, Waybar sends the Lua format to a traditional Hyprland instance, resulting in an Invalid dispatcher error and breaking clicks.

To reproduce Use traditional config on hyprland v0.55. Use waybar workspace module.

I am using the .lua configuration file (no .conf) on Hyprland v0.55.4, and clicking on the workspace buttons using my mouse doesn't switch the workspace. This might be stemming from a common issue or this might be a separate issue altogether, let me know if by "breaking clicks" you mean the same behavior I get.

[nuclear06]

@PR4NJAL Are you using the latest git version of Waybar? There was a known issue where Waybar didn't work with Lua configs: #5035

[PR4NJAL]

@PR4NJAL Are you using the latest git version of Waybar? There was a known issue where Waybar didn't work with Lua configs: #5035

Yes I am.

My "hyprland/workspace" field in config.jsonc file contained: "on-click": "activate". Apparently this field doesn't exist for this module, and was showing errors in debug mode.

If I am not mistaken didn't this "on-click" option exist for "hyprland/workspace" earlier? Or it was just implicit behavior of this module?

[nuclear06]

@PR4NJAL I'm not sure if it existed earlier, but according to the wiki, the on-click option does not exist for this module.

As for the workaround mentioned by direc-eqn, they were using the generic ext/workspaces module, which does have the "on-click": "activate" option.

[krzysztofkusmierczyk]

I have the same issue when using .lua config. I'm using the default hyprland/workspaces configuration.

[smtucker]

Using the ext/workspaces modules does not switch work-spaces on clicking, even with the "on-click" : "activate" option set.

[Mezo0n]

Yeah it been a long time bug. i saw this posted a potential workaround, but yeah this should work natively imo.

"ext/workspaces": {
    "all-outputs": true,
    "on-click": "activate",
    "active-only": false,
    "format": "{icon}",
    "format-icons": {
        "1": "1",
        "2": "2",
        "3": "3",
        "default": "0"
    }
}

well, it didn't work.
it doesn't show 3,4,5 workspaces as it were with "persistent-workspaces", also it ignores > "active-only": false,
and it only shows active , no scroll too.

[direc-eqn]

Yeah it been a long time bug. i saw this posted a potential workaround, but yeah this should work natively imo.

"ext/workspaces": {
    "all-outputs": true,
    "on-click": "activate",
    "active-only": false,
    "format": "{icon}",
    "format-icons": {
        "1": "1",
        "2": "2",
        "3": "3",
        "default": "0"
    }
}

well, it didn't work. it doesn't show 3,4,5 workspaces as it were with "persistent-workspaces", also it ignores > "active-only": false, and it only shows active , no scroll too.

Not sure brother, works perfectly in my build.

[Mezo0n]

soo..
it has to be this way for some reason, this is how i get it to work.
in hyprland.lua :

hl.workspace_rule({ workspace = "1", persistent = true })
hl.workspace_rule({ workspace = "2", persistent = true })
hl.workspace_rule({ workspace = "3", persistent = true })
hl.workspace_rule({ workspace = "4", persistent = true })
hl.workspace_rule({ workspace = "5", persistent = true })

and

"ext/workspaces": {
    "format": "{icon}",
    "format-icons": {
        "1": "1",
        "2": "2",
        "3": "3",
        "4": "4",
        "5": "5"
        },
    "on-click": "activate",
    "sort-by-id": true
},

this way works (for me) just as before the update.

if there is another way that doesn't rely on editing hyprland.lua please go a head and suggest it, thanks in advance.