Waybar single-monitor + stow/dotfiles: missing ~/.config/waybar/config breaks launch scripts (no clean solution found)

[Salvodif]

Hi! Thanks for the awesome Hyprland + Waybar setup and scripts — I’m using them with GNU Stow/dotfiles and I’m running into a structural issue that I can’t solve cleanly.

What I’m trying to achieve

Manage the whole setup with GNU Stow (so ~/.config/{hypr,waybar,rofi,...} are symlinks to my dotfiles repo).

Run Waybar on one monitor only (e.g. DP-1) while keeping all your layout/style switcher scripts working.

My setup

I stow a package like this:

~/dotfiles/hyprland/.config/waybar
~/dotfiles/hyprland/.config/hypr
...

so that:

~/.config/hypr   -> ~/dotfiles/hyprland/.config/hypr
~/.config/waybar -> ~/dotfiles/hyprland/.config/waybar

This part works.

The problem

Your scripts assume that the “active layout” exists at:

~/.config/waybar/config

but when using stow/dotfiles on a fresh setup, this file does not exist by default (it is created only after running WaybarLayout.sh once, via ln -sf).

Because of that, any script that expects ~/.config/waybar/config will fail.

Example error when launching (single output mode):

WAYBAR_OUTPUT=DP-1 ~/.config/hypr/scripts/WaybarLaunch.sh
Missing: /home/<user>/.config/waybar/config (run WaybarLayout.sh once)

And Waybar then shows:

[error] Error parsing JSON: Line 1, Column 1
Syntax error: value, object or array expected.

So it looks like the generated JSONC file ends up empty/invalid due to the missing config.

Why this is hard to solve “cleanly”

In a dotfiles/stow workflow, I want:

a deterministic default layout without needing to manually run interactive scripts after install;

and ideally avoid committing a machine-specific symlink like ~/.config/waybar/config into the repo (because it’s a runtime “selected layout” pointer, not really a “config file”).

Do u have any ideas?

Thank you

[HACKER2025998]

We have problem with update system in WindowsRules.conf

[Salvodif]

I found a solution and it seems working

In ENVariables.conf
I added at the end env = WAYBAR_OUTPUT,DP-1

On Startup_Apps.conf

# starup apps
# exec-once = nm-applet --indicator
exec-once = nm-tray   # For ubuntu
exec-once = swaync
#exec-once = ags
#exec-once = blueman-applet
#exec-once = rog-control-center
#exec-once = waybar
exec-once = $HOME/.config/hypr/scripts/WaybarLaunch.sh

I vibe-coded this WaybarLaunch.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

OUT="${WAYBAR_OUTPUT:-}"
RUNTIME_DIR="${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-/run/user/$(id -u)}"
TMP_CFG="$RUNTIME_DIR/waybar-${USER}-oneoutput.jsonc"

LAYOUT="$HOME/.config/waybar/config"
STYLE="$HOME/.config/waybar/style.css"

# Sanity checks
[[ -e "$LAYOUT" ]] || { echo "Missing: $LAYOUT (run WaybarLayout.sh once)"; exit 1; }
[[ -e "$STYLE"  ]] || { echo "Missing: $STYLE  (run WaybarStyles.sh once)"; exit 1; }

# If no output specified, run normally (all outputs)
if [[ -z "$OUT" ]]; then
  exec waybar -c "$LAYOUT" -s "$STYLE"
fi

# Wrapper config: set output + include the selected layout
cat > "$TMP_CFG" <<EOF
{
  "output": "$OUT",
  "include": ["$LAYOUT"]
}
EOF

exec waybar -c "$TMP_CFG" -s "$STYLE"

it seems working so far

[dwilliam62]

We have problem with update system in WindowsRules.conf

There is an updated Window Rules file on the discord server to resolve the errors

[Jason-chl]

We have problem with update system in WindowsRules.conf

There is an updated Window Rules file on the discord server to resolve the errors

what the discord server name is?

[mio-dokuhaki]

https://discord.gg/kool-tech-world