Using Hyprctl

hyprctl is a utility for controlling some parts of the compositor from a CLI or a script. If you install with make install, or any package, it should automatically be installed.

To check if hyprctl is installed, simply execute it by issuing hyprctl in the terminal.

If it’s not, go to the repo root and /hyprctl. Issue a make all and then sudo cp ./hyprctl /usr/bin.

Commands

hyprctl calls will be dispatched by the compositor synchronously, meaning any spam of the utility will cause slowdowns. It’s recommended to use --batch for many control calls, and limiting the amount of info calls.

For live event handling, see the socket2.

Control

Dispatch

issue a dispatch to call a keybind dispatcher with an arg.

An arg has to be present, for dispatchers without parameters it can be anything.

Examples:

hyprctl dispatch exec kitty

hyprctl dispatch pseudo x

Returns: ok on success, an error message on fail.

Keyword

issue a keyword to call a config keyword dynamically.

Examples:

hyprctl keyword bind SUPER,O,pseudo

hyprctl keyword general:border_size 10

Returns: ok on success, an error message on fail.

Reload

issue a reload to force reload the config.

kill

issue a kill to get into a kill mode, where you can kill an app by clicking on it. You can exit it with ESCAPE.

Kind of like xkill.

setcursor

Sets the cursor theme and reloads the cursor manager. Will set the theme for everything except GTK, because GTK.

params: theme and size

e.g.:

hyprctl setcursor Bibata-Modern-Classic 24

Info

version - prints the hyprland version, meaning flags, commit and branch of build.
monitors - lists all the outputs with their properties
workspaces - lists all workspaces with their properties
clients - lists all windows with their properties
devices - lists all connected keyboards and mice
activewindow - gets the active window name
layers - lists all the layers
splash - prints the current random splash
getoption [option] - gets the config option status (values)

Batch

You can also use --batch to specify a batch of commands to execute

e.g.

hyprctl --batch "keyword general:border_size 2 ; keyword general:gaps_out 20"

; separates the commands

Flags

You can specify flags for the request like this:

hyprctl -j monitors

flag list:

j -> output in JSON