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Legacy Import

Bobby Comet edited this page Jul 31, 2026 · 4 revisions

Legacy Import

Project → Import Legacy Theme… points at a folder that contains a Conky configuration and related files. Import is semantic: it builds an editable Studio graph, not a guaranteed pixel-perfect clone of every theme ever written.

It is intended for both older and current Conky syntax, with known limits.

What it converts

Input Result in Studio
*.conf / conkyrc Canvas size, alignment, gaps, update rate, lua_load, draw hooks (where recognized)
conky.text / TEXT block ${goto} / offset layout (best-effort), fonts, colours, text-oriented nodes
Common ${cpu}, ${memperc}, ${time}, … Native source nodes, wired into visuals when possible
${execi} / ${exec} / ${execbar} Known scripts → family sources; otherwise Custom Script nodes
Cairo .lua from lua_load Custom Lua node(s): helpers + draw body; surface boilerplate adjusted toward Studio’s cr / W / H
Click regions in Lua Clickable markers with commands when detected
Shell scripts in the tree Custom Script nodes (or known mappings), including scripts only referenced from Lua

Important limitations

Limitation Detail
Not a Cairo decompiler Arbitrary drawing is not turned into Arc / Bar / Star nodes. Heavy custom Lua stays Custom Lua
Images & media Image / media assets are not fully imported as drawable Studio image nodes in every case. Paths and ${image} handling are partial; plan to re-attach files under images/ after import
${if_…} conditionals Simplified (content often kept but not full branching fidelity)
TEXT-only layout Positioning is approximate
Pixel parity Expect ~70–90% of a typical theme’s structure to land in a useful graph; polish in Studio, then Build

Warnings listed after import call out approximations. Read them.

Recommended workflow

  1. Import the theme folder.
  2. Fix missing wires, Canvas size, and alignment.
  3. Re-add images / icons / album art manually if they did not appear as first-class visual nodes.
  4. Use Live Preview; same pipeline as export.
  5. Build & Install and test from Manager with start.sh.

After import, the project is a normal Studio graph: edit, preview, and export like anything created from scratch.

When not to expect miracles

  • Themes that are almost entirely one large hand-written Cairo file
  • Themes that depend on external binaries and absolute paths not present on your machine
  • Compositor-specific hacks that only worked on the author’s setup

Those still benefit from landing in Custom Lua + sources you can rewire, but the last mile is manual.

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