bar

Bar chrome: per-monitor layout, spacing, colors, and button styling.

General

Field	Type	Default	Description
layout	array of BarLayout	[...]	Per-monitor bar layouts. Each entry targets a monitor by connector name (e.g., "DP-1") or "*" for all monitors. See [BarLayout] for the full shape, including layout inheritance via extends.
scale	ScaleFactor	1	Bar-specific scale multiplier for spacing, radius, and other bar elements.
inset-edge	Size	0.5	Gap between bar and its attached screen edge.
inset-ends	Size	0.5	Gap at the bar's ends.
padding	Size	0.35	Internal spacing along bar thickness.
padding-ends	Size	0.5	Internal spacing at bar ends.
module-gap	Size	0.5	Gap between modules and groups on the bar.
location	Location	"top"	Bar position on screen edge.
exclusive	bool	true	Reserve screen space for the bar.
layer	Layer	"top"	Layer-shell layer the bar is placed on.
background-opacity	Percentage	60	Bar background opacity (0-100). Below 100 the compositor blurs what is behind the bar; where it offers no blur the bar rests on its opaque color.
border-location	BorderLocation	"all"	Border placement for bar.
border-width	u8	1	Border width for bar (pixels).
rounding	RoundingLevel	"default"	Corner rounding level for the bar.
shadow	ShadowPreset	"none"	Shadow style for the bar.

More about layout

Example

bar:
  layout:
    - monitor: "*"
      left: [dashboard]
      center: [clock]
      right: [battery, network, volume, systray]
    - monitor: HDMI-1
      extends: "*"
      right: [volume, systray]

More about inset-edge

• Orientation: Distance from top (horizontal bar) or left (vertical bar)

More about inset-ends

• Orientation: Left/right (horizontal bar), top/bottom (vertical bar)

More about padding

• Orientation: Top/bottom (horizontal bar), left/right (vertical bar)

More about padding-ends

• Orientation: Left/right (horizontal bar), top/bottom (vertical bar)

More about exclusive

When disabled, windows may overlap the bar and the bar draws over them.

Colors

Field	Type	Default	Description
bg	ColorValue	"bg-surface"	Bar background color.
border-color	ColorValue	"border-default"	Border color for the bar.
button-group-background	ColorValue	"bg-elevated"	Background color for button groups.
button-group-border-color	ColorValue	"border-accent"	Border color for button groups.

Buttons

Field	Type	Default	Description
button-variant	BarButtonVariant	"basic"	Visual style variant for bar buttons.
button-opacity	Percentage	100	Button opacity (0-100).
button-bg-opacity	Percentage	0	Button background opacity (0-100).
button-icon-size	Size	1	Button icon size. Accepts a scale multiplier or pixels (e.g. "24px").
button-icon-padding	Size	1	Button icon container padding. Only applies to block-prefix and icon-square variants. Accepts a scale multiplier or pixels (e.g. "8px").
button-label-size	Size	1	Button label text size. Accepts a scale multiplier or pixels (e.g. "16px").
button-label-weight	FontWeightClass	"semibold"	Button label font weight.
button-label-padding	Size	1	Button label container padding. Accepts a scale multiplier or pixels (e.g. "8px").
button-rounding	RoundingLevel	"sm"	Corner rounding level for the buttons in the bar.
button-gap	Size	1	Gap between button icon and label. Accepts a scale multiplier or pixels (e.g. "4px").
button-icon-position	IconPosition	"start"	Icon position relative to label in bar buttons.
button-border-location	BorderLocation	"all"	Border placement for bar buttons.
button-border-width	u8	1	Border width for bar buttons (pixels).
button-group-border-location	BorderLocation	"none"	Border placement for button groups.
button-group-border-width	u8	1	Border width for button groups (pixels).
button-group-padding	Size	0	Internal padding for button groups.
button-group-module-gap	Size	0.25	Gap between modules within a group.
button-group-opacity	Percentage	100	Button group opacity (0-100).
button-group-rounding	RoundingLevel	"sm"	Corner rounding level for button groups.

Dropdowns

Field	Type	Default	Description
dropdown-shadow	bool	true	Enable dropdown panel shadow.
dropdown-opacity	Percentage	75	Dropdown panel opacity (0-100). Below 100 the compositor blurs what is behind the panel; where it offers no blur the panel is opaque.
dropdown-autohide	bool	true	Close dropdown when clicking outside it.
dropdown-freeze-label	bool	true	Freeze the bar button label while its dropdown is open.

More about dropdown-autohide

Esc closes an open dropdown too. On lys-wm it does so beside the dropdown, with the keys still on the focused window, and the window sees neither the press nor the release, unless a bind on bare Esc, a window inhibiting shortcuts, an exclusive layer or a grab has the key. Elsewhere Esc reaches a dropdown only after a click into it, as keys stay with the focused window until then.

More about dropdown-freeze-label

Prevents the button from resizing mid-interaction, which keeps the dropdown anchored in place.

Default configuration

bar:
  scale: 1.0
  inset-edge: 0.5
  inset-ends: 0.5
  padding: 0.3499999940395355
  padding-ends: 0.5
  module-gap: 0.5
  location: top
  exclusive: true
  layer: top
  bg: bg-surface
  background-opacity: 60
  border-location: all
  border-width: 1
  border-color: border-default
  rounding: default
  shadow: none
  button-variant: basic
  button-opacity: 100
  button-bg-opacity: 0
  button-icon-size: 1.0
  button-icon-padding: 1.0
  button-label-size: 1.0
  button-label-weight: semibold
  button-label-padding: 1.0
  button-rounding: sm
  button-gap: 1.0
  button-icon-position: start
  button-border-location: all
  button-border-width: 1
  button-group-border-location: none
  button-group-border-width: 1
  button-group-padding: 0.0
  button-group-module-gap: 0.25
  button-group-background: bg-elevated
  button-group-opacity: 100
  button-group-border-color: border-accent
  button-group-rounding: sm
  dropdown-shadow: true
  dropdown-opacity: 75
  dropdown-autohide: true
  dropdown-freeze-label: true