Waybar Setup for Arch Linux

A complete waybar installation and configuration script for Arch Linux, inspired by the Omarchy distribution but adapted for standard Arch systems.

Features

• 🎨 8 Built-in Themes - Catppuccin, Nord, Gruvbox, Tokyo Night, Rose Pine, and more
• 🔄 Easy Theme Switching - Change themes on-the-fly with a simple command
• ⚙️ Hyprland Integration - Workspace indicators and window manager integration
• 📊 System Monitoring - CPU, battery, network, audio, and bluetooth status
• 🛠️ Helper Scripts - Convenient scripts for restart, reload, and theme switching
• 📦 Complete Installation - Handles all dependencies automatically
• 🎯 Clean Configuration - Well-documented and easy to customize

Preview

The waybar configuration includes:

• Left: Hyprland workspaces
• Center: Clock with date toggle
• Right: System tray, Bluetooth, Network, Audio, CPU, Battery

All with beautiful icons from Nerd Fonts and smooth animations.

Requirements

• Arch Linux (or Arch-based distribution)
• Hyprland (recommended, but adaptable to other Wayland compositors)
• sudo access for package installation

Installation

Quick Install

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/mlynch/waybar-setup.git
cd waybar-setup

# Run the installation script
./install-waybar.sh

Custom Installation

# Install with a specific theme
./install-waybar.sh --theme nord

# Skip package installation (only configure)
./install-waybar.sh --skip-install

# Combine options
./install-waybar.sh --skip-install --theme gruvbox

Available Options

• --skip-install - Skip package installation step (useful if packages are already installed)
• --theme <name> - Set initial theme (default: catppuccin)
• --help - Show help message

Themes

The following themes are included:

Theme	Style
catppuccin	Mocha variant with purple accents (default)
catppuccin-latte	Light variant for daytime use
nord	Cool, arctic-inspired palette
gruvbox	Retro groove with warm colors
tokyo-night	Dark theme inspired by Tokyo at night
rose-pine	Natural pine, faux fur and a bit of soho vibes
everforest	Comfortable green forest theme
kanagawa	Dark theme inspired by famous Japanese painting

Usage

Starting Waybar

# Start waybar
waybar &

# Or add to your Hyprland config (~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf)
exec-once = waybar

Helper Scripts

After installation, these scripts will be available in ~/.local/bin:

# Restart waybar (useful after config changes that need full restart)
waybar-restart

# Reload configuration without restarting (faster, preserves state)
waybar-reload

# Switch themes
waybar-theme nord
waybar-theme gruvbox
waybar-theme tokyo-night

Theme Switching

# List available themes
waybar-theme

# Switch to a specific theme
waybar-theme nord          # Cool blue theme
waybar-theme gruvbox       # Warm retro theme
waybar-theme tokyo-night   # Dark night theme
waybar-theme rose-pine     # Natural pine theme

Configuration

File Locations

• Main Config: ~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc
• Styles: ~/.config/waybar/style.css
• Themes: ~/.config/waybar/themes/
• Helper Scripts: ~/.local/bin/waybar-*

Customization

Modifying Modules

Edit ~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc to add, remove, or configure modules:

{
  "modules-left": ["hyprland/workspaces"],
  "modules-center": ["clock"],
  "modules-right": [
    "bluetooth",
    "network",
    "pulseaudio",
    "cpu",
    "battery"
  ]
}

Customizing Appearance

Edit ~/.config/waybar/style.css to modify spacing, sizes, colors, and more:

* {
  font-size: 12px;  /* Change font size */
}

#workspaces button {
  padding: 0 6px;   /* Adjust workspace button padding */
}

Creating Custom Themes

Create a new file in ~/.config/waybar/themes/mytheme.css:

@define-color foreground #your-fg-color;
@define-color background #your-bg-color;
@define-color accent #your-accent-color;

Then use it:

waybar-theme mytheme

Modules Configuration

Hyprland Workspaces

• Click to activate workspace
• Shows numbers 1-5 as persistent workspaces
• Highlights active workspace

Clock

• Left click: Toggle between time and date format
• Shows day of week and 24-hour time by default

Network

• Shows WiFi signal strength or ethernet connection
• Displays bandwidth usage in tooltip
• Click to open network manager

Audio (PulseAudio)

• Shows volume level with icon
• Left click: Open pavucontrol (audio mixer)
• Right click: Mute/unmute
• Scroll: Adjust volume

Bluetooth

• Shows bluetooth status and connection count
• Click to open bluetooth manager (blueberry)

CPU

• Shows CPU icon
• Tooltip displays CPU usage percentage
• Click to open btop (system monitor)

Battery

• Shows battery level with appropriate icon
• Different icons for charging/discharging states
• Color changes at 20% (warning) and 10% (critical)

System Tray

• Expandable tray for system icons
• Click the arrow to expand/collapse

Packages Installed

Core Packages

• waybar - The status bar
• nerd-fonts - Icon fonts
• ttf-font-awesome - Additional icons
• otf-font-awesome - Additional icons

Optional Packages

• bluez, bluez-utils, blueberry - Bluetooth support
• networkmanager, network-manager-applet - Network management
• pamixer - Audio control
• pipewire, wireplumber - Audio server
• playerctl - Media player control
• btop - System monitor
• pavucontrol - Audio mixer GUI

Troubleshooting

Waybar doesn't start

# Check for errors
waybar

# Check if waybar is already running
killall waybar
waybar &

Icons not showing

Make sure Nerd Fonts are installed:

sudo pacman -S nerd-fonts

Then restart waybar:

waybar-restart

Module not working

Check if the required package is installed:

# For bluetooth
sudo pacman -S bluez bluez-utils blueberry

# For network
sudo pacman -S networkmanager network-manager-applet

# For audio
sudo pacman -S pipewire wireplumber pamixer pavucontrol

Configuration not reloading

Some changes require a full restart:

waybar-restart

Scripts not found

Make sure ~/.local/bin is in your PATH:

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

# Reload shell
source ~/.bashrc  # or source ~/.zshrc

Customization Examples

Change Terminal Emulator

If you don't use kitty, edit config.jsonc and replace kitty with your terminal:

"cpu": {
  "on-click": "alacritty -e btop"  // or gnome-terminal, wezterm, etc.
}

Adjust Bar Height

In config.jsonc:

{
  "height": 30  // Change from 26 to 30
}

Change Font

In style.css:

* {
  font-family: 'JetBrainsMono Nerd Font', monospace;
  font-size: 14px;
}

Add Custom Module

In config.jsonc:

"custom/weather": {
  "format": "{}",
  "exec": "curl wttr.in/?format=1",
  "interval": 3600
}

Don't forget to add it to your modules list:

"modules-center": ["clock", "custom/weather"]

Advanced Configuration

Multiple Bar Instances

Create separate config files for different monitors or positions:

# Top bar
waybar -c ~/.config/waybar/config-top.jsonc &

# Bottom bar
waybar -c ~/.config/waybar/config-bottom.jsonc &

Custom Scripts

Add custom scripts to display any information:

"custom/script": {
  "exec": "~/.config/waybar/scripts/myscript.sh",
  "interval": 5,
  "return-type": "json"
}

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues and pull requests for:

• New themes
• Module configurations
• Bug fixes
• Documentation improvements
• Feature requests

License

MIT License - Feel free to use and modify as needed.

Resources

• Waybar Documentation
• Hyprland Documentation
• Nerd Fonts

Credits

Configuration inspired by the Omarchy distribution.

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Note: This configuration is optimized for Hyprland on Wayland. For other window managers or compositors, you may need to adjust the workspace module and other compositor-specific features.