CLI

Every command and subcommand takes --help.

Panel lifecycle and visibility:

lys-shell panel start
lys-shell panel stop
lys-shell panel restart
lys-shell panel status
lys-shell panel settings
lys-shell panel inspect

# Per-monitor visibility (omit the connector to affect all monitors)
lys-shell panel hide DP-1
lys-shell panel show DP-1
lys-shell panel toggle

Read and edit config values from the command line:

lys-shell config get bar.scale
lys-shell config set bar.scale 1.25
lys-shell config reset bar.scale

# Emit the JSON schema, default YAML, or markdown docs
lys-shell config schema --stdout
lys-shell config default --stdout
lys-shell config docs --out docs/config

Audio controls. Volume takes an absolute level (0-100) or a relative adjustment (+5, -10):

lys-shell audio output-volume +5
lys-shell audio output-mute
lys-shell audio input-volume 50
lys-shell audio input-mute
lys-shell audio sinks
lys-shell audio sources
lys-shell audio status

Brightness, for binding brightness keys. It takes a level in percent (50) or a step (+10, -10) and acts on the focused output, or on the one --output names. Laptop panels change through logind, so no root or udev rule is needed. External monitors change over DDC/CI when modules.brightness.enable-external is on. A change never drops below modules.brightness.min-brightness (5% by default), so a key cannot black the screen out. The running shell applies the change, so the brightness OSD and the bar module follow it:

lys-shell brightness +10
lys-shell brightness -10 --output DP-1
lys-shell brightness 50

Media player control. Most subcommands take an optional player id (a number or partial name match); omit it to target the active player:

lys-shell media list
lys-shell media play-pause
lys-shell media next
lys-shell media previous
lys-shell media shuffle on
lys-shell media loop track
lys-shell media active spotify
lys-shell media info

Idle inhibition:

lys-shell idle on            # use the default duration
lys-shell idle on 30         # inhibit for 30 minutes
lys-shell idle on --indefinite
lys-shell idle off
lys-shell idle toggle
lys-shell idle duration +15  # +N / -N / N adjusts the upper limit
lys-shell idle remaining -5  # +N / -N / N adjusts the active timer
lys-shell idle status

Power profiles:

lys-shell power status
lys-shell power set balanced  # power-saver, balanced, performance
lys-shell power cycle
lys-shell power list

Notifications:

lys-shell notify list
lys-shell notify dismiss 42
lys-shell notify dismiss-all
lys-shell notify dnd          # toggle Do Not Disturb
lys-shell notify status

System tray:

lys-shell systray list
lys-shell systray activate <id>
lys-shell systray status

Wallpapers. Set a single image, or cycle through a directory:

lys-shell wallpaper set ~/Pictures/wall.png --fit fill --monitor DP-1
lys-shell wallpaper cycle ~/Pictures/walls --interval 300 --mode sequential
lys-shell wallpaper stop
lys-shell wallpaper next
lys-shell wallpaper previous
lys-shell wallpaper info --monitor DP-1
lys-shell wallpaper theming-monitor DP-1

--fit accepts fill, fit, center, tile, stretch; --mode accepts sequential or shuffle.

Screen recorder:

lys-shell recorder start
lys-shell recorder stop
lys-shell recorder toggle
lys-shell recorder pause
lys-shell recorder resume
lys-shell recorder status

Screenshots:

lys-shell screenshot region        # drag a region or click a window, adjust, Enter
lys-shell screenshot output DP-1   # whole output (focused output if omitted)
lys-shell screenshot window        # the active window

Icons. Install bundled assets, pull from a CDN source, import local SVGs, or sync everything referenced in your config:

lys-shell icons setup
lys-shell icons sources
lys-shell icons install tabler home settings bell
lys-shell icons import ~/Downloads/my-icon.svg my-icon
lys-shell icons list --source tb --interactive
lys-shell icons remove tb-home-symbolic
lys-shell icons export ~/exported-icons
lys-shell icons open
lys-shell icons sync --dry-run

Push a runtime update to a custom module by its id. The payload is parsed exactly like the module's own command output, so it drives the label, icon, and colors (see custom modules):

lys-shell widget update gpu '{"text":"72°C","alt":"hot","percentage":90}'

Show a custom on-screen toast. It reuses the OSD styling and position; add --percentage for a progress bar, --icon for a leading icon, --duration to override the OSD dismiss time, --preset to base it on a configured preset, and --class for a custom CSS class:

lys-shell toast "Build finished"
lys-shell toast "Volume" --icon audio-volume-high-symbolic --percentage 65
lys-shell toast "Syncing…" --duration 5000

Application launcher and dmenu, with rofi-compatible flags. Invoked through a symlink named rofi, the binary takes the same flags directly. lys-shell launcher --help lists them:

lys-shell launcher            # the search panel, see the Launcher guide
lys-shell launcher -show drun
printf 'a\nb\n' | lys-shell launcher -dmenu
lys-shell launcher -e "Build finished"

End or lock the session. lock asks the running shell to start the lock screen; lys-lock is the same command as a single executable, for places that exec one token without splitting on whitespace. logout goes through lys-wm when it runs, otherwise logind:

lys-shell lock
lys-lock
lys-shell logout

The desktop portal backend. Without a subcommand portal runs the backend, which is what the installed D-Bus and systemd units exec. portal show previews a dialog without an application request:

lys-shell portal
lys-shell portal show file-chooser

Run the desktop shell in the foreground:

lys-shell shell

Shell completions for bash, elvish, fish, powershell or zsh:

lys-shell completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/lys-shell.fish

lys-shell portal share-picker exists for the xdg-desktop-portal screencast flow and lys-shell vpn sso-callback receives a browser's VPN sign-in. The portal and the browser invoke them, not you.