Theme Compatibility

Conky Studio can manage any Conky theme that follows a simple, standard structure:

A dedicated theme folder
A Conky config (e.g. conky.conf, Regulus.conf, or similar)
A start.sh entry script (shipped with the theme, or auto-generated on archive install when missing)

What Conky Studio Provides

Conky Studio provides:

Theme installation and organization
Start/stop management
Archive importing
Visual editing for Studio-compatible themes
Exporting and packaging

Conky Studio does not:

Rewrite third-party configurations
Repair broken Lua scripts
Install unknown dependencies automatically
Guarantee compatibility across every desktop environment

Supported Themes

This includes:

Themes built with Conky Studio
Manually created Conky setups
Many themes originally designed for Conky Manager
Third-party packs dropped in as .zip / .tar.gz (installed under ~/.config/conky/)

Conky Studio launches themes through their own start.sh scripts, so themes do not need to be built with Studio to appear in the Manager or to start/stop from the UI.

Important limitations

A working start.sh only starts the theme. It does not fix a broken theme.

If the config has wrong paths, missing assets, unconfigured API keys, or syntax errors, Conky will still fail or look wrong after launch. Generating or providing start.sh does not rewrite paths, install dependencies, or adapt the theme to your desktop.

Common real-world failures:

Symptom	Typical cause
`command not found` (`jq`, `playerctl`, `xmlstarlet`, …)	Missing system packages the theme’s scripts expect
Paths to another theme folder (`Obsidian`, old name, …)	Config hardcodes a different install path
`your: command not found` /empty weather	API key still set to a placeholder
Lua / ring scripts never load	`lua_load` path wrong; Lua is loaded by Conky, not by `start.sh`
Theme starts but window is invisible or flickers	Session/compositor/ `own_window_*` mismatch (see below)

Dependencies are the author’s responsibility (and yours at install time). Studio does not install jq, Cairo, Lua libs, fonts beyond a theme’s fonts/ folder, or weather API keys. If the theme README lists requirements, install them on the host before expecting a clean run.

Desktop environment, session type, and compositor matter. A theme tuned for one stack often misbehaves on another:

Session: X11 vs Wayland (and XWayland). Many older themes assume X11 window hints and transparency behavior.
Compositor / WM: KWin, Mutter (GNOME), Muffin (Cinnamon), Picom/Compton (standalone), Openbox, etc.
own_window_type / hints: Values like desktop, dock, override, normal and hints such as undecorated, below, sticky behave differently per compositor. A setup that sits correctly on KWin may be invisible, on top of everything, or in the wrong layer under Cinnamon or GNOME.
ARGB / transparency: own_window_argb_visual, own_window_transparent, and draw_blended often need tweaking per DE (especially GNOME).
Distro packaging: Conky build options (Cairo, Lua, Wayland support) and available helpers differ across distributions.

So: a theme “for KWin” is not guaranteed on Cinnamon, GNOME, XFCE, or Hyprland. Treat cross-DE use as best-effort and be prepared to edit the config.

Standard Theme Structure

Conky Studio uses a flexible, execution-based model rather than enforcing a strict format.

If a theme can be started manually from the terminal, it can be managed by Conky Studio.

Example:

cd ~/.config/conky/<theme-folder>
./start.sh

On archive drop, if the pack has a conf but no start.sh, Studio may generate a minimal launcher. That only helps starting the theme; it does not validate scripts, fix paths, or install dependencies.

How It Works

Each theme is treated as a self-contained executable unit.

start.sh is responsible for launching Conky (and optional background shell scripts)
Optional scripts (e.g., weather, system polling) may run in the background
Lua files are not executed by start.sh; Conky loads them via lua_load /draw hooks in the config
The theme manages its own lifecycle from Studio’s point of view (start, stop, uninstall, export zip)

This design maximizes compatibility with existing themes while keeping Studio independent of each theme’s runtime details—and of whether those details actually work on your machine.

Example `start.sh` (CorePulse)

Below is a simplified example generated by Conky Studio:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
LOCK_FILE="/tmp/corepulse.pid"

# Ensure single instance
if [[ -f "$LOCK_FILE" ]]; then
    OLD_PID="$(cat "$LOCK_FILE")"
    kill -TERM -- "-$OLD_PID" 2>/dev/null
fi
echo $$ > "$LOCK_FILE"

# Start background script
"${DIR}/scripts/weather.sh" &

# Launch Conky
exec conky -c "${DIR}/conky.conf"

Full scripts generated by Conky Studio may include process grouping (setsid), restart handling, and periodic background tasks. Generated launchers only start scripts/*.sh (not .lua files).

Practical checklist before reporting “doesn’t work”

Does ./start.sh from a terminal start Conky at all?
Are required tools installed (jq, playerctl, etc.)?
Do paths inside the .conf match this folder under ~/.config/conky/?
Are API keys/city IDs filled in?
Are you on the same class of session the theme was written for (X11 vs Wayland, similar compositor)?
If the window is missing, try adjusting own_window_type and transparency options for your DE.

Studio can install and launch the pack; making a third-party theme correct for your distro and desktop is still a theme-level task.

Uh oh!

Theme Compatibility