42 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
42 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: niri-config-edit-validate
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description: "Locate, edit, validate, and commit niri compositor config on Frank's workstations: desk/display profiles, EDID-keyed outputs, layout, keybind grepping, dotfiles mirror, forced hot-reload."
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---
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# Editing niri config on Dank workstations
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## Layout of the config
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- Live config: `~/.config/niri/config.kdl` is a thin file of `include "./cfg/*.kdl"` lines. **Never conclude "not bound" from grepping only `config.kdl`** — keybinds live in `cfg/keybinds.kdl`, rules in `cfg/rules.kdl`, layout in `cfg/layout.kdl`, etc. Grep `~/.config/niri/cfg/` recursively.
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- niri notation: `Mod` = Super/Win key. Chords like `Mod+R { switch-preset-column-width; }`.
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- `~/.config/niri` is a REAL directory, not a symlink; the version-controlled copies are a partial mirror under `~/.omp/dotfiles/zz-blankpad/niri/.config/niri/`. Trees can drift: diff them before/after edits. (Hardlink wiring is FRAGILE — editor/agent atomic-rename writes silently break hardlinks; verify live↔mirror by CONTENT diff, never by link trust.)
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## Desk/display profiles (monitor arrangement)
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- Profiles: `cfg/desk-<n>-<name>.kdl` (e.g. `desk-1-home.kdl`, `desk-2-portable.kdl`); ACTIVE profile is symlinked as `cfg/display.kdl` — `readlink` it to know which. `scripts/desk.sh` manages switching; `desk.sh capture` prints connected outputs' EDID long names.
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- Panels are keyed by **EDID long name** (`output "Lenovo Group Limited 0x40A9 Unknown"` = the laptop eDP-1 panel), not connector — connector names reshuffle between desks. Long-name blocks BEAT connector-keyed blocks when both match one output (legacy connector blocks like `output "eDP-1"` linger as duplicates; niri applies the EDID block's `position`).
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- Position math: x,y = top-left of each output in the logical layout; right edge = x + mode width. To place panel A left of panel B: `A.x = B.x - A.width`; bottom-align: `A.y = B.y + (B.height - A.height)`.
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- Verify: `niri validate` → hot-reload → `niri msg outputs | grep -iE 'Output |Position'` (prints `Logical position: x, y`).
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## Schema gotchas (niri 26.04)
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- `preset-column-widths` AND `preset-window-heights` are children of `layout { }` as SIBLING blocks — wiki wording misleads; nesting or `window-rule` placement fails `niri validate` with `expected one of proportion, fixed` / `unexpected node`.
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- Preset list order = cycle order for `Mod+R` (`switch-preset-column-width`); `Mod+Shift+R` cycles backwards. WITH custom preset lists the cycle contains ONLY the configured presets — no implicit full/maximize tail (verified: [0.25, 0.5] cycles period 2). Maximize = separate `Mod+F` `maximize-column`. Built-in defaults without the node: 1/3, 1/2, 2/3.
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- WITHOUT `preset-window-heights`, `switch-preset-window-height` FALLS BACK to the width presets — user sees width-fractions as heights; define the node explicitly to stop it.
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- Ground truth for node placement: the binary's embedded template — `grep -a -B4 -A8 "preset-column-widths {" $(which niri)`.
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## Workflow
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1. Edit the live file under `~/.config/niri/cfg/`.
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2. `niri validate` (exit 0 + "config is valid") — mandatory before done.
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3. **Hot-reload is NOT reliable after harness edits** (atomic-rename writes are missed by niri's watcher; user then tests against the OLD config and reports "no change"). ALWAYS follow with `niri msg action load-config-file` (NOT `reload-config`).
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4. Sync changed file into the mirror: `cp ~/.config/niri/cfg/<f>.kdl ~/.omp/dotfiles/zz-blankpad/niri/.config/niri/cfg/<f>.kdl` (repo root is `~/.omp`, branch `main`, remote = dankclaw Gitea `dank/command-center`; push there is pre-authorized). Verify by `diff`, not by cp success.
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5. Untracked mirror files: `config.kdl`, `noctalia.kdl`, `animation.kdl`, `display.kdl`, `input.kdl` — flag drift, don't silently add.
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6. Mirror files often carry pre-existing uncommitted drift (desk.sh captures); a commit of your edit folds it in — say so in the report/commit body.
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## Live-behavior verification without disturbing Frank's windows
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- `niri msg --json <subcmd>` — the `--json` flag goes BEFORE the subcommand.
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- Targeting differs per action: WINDOW-scoped actions take `--id <window-id>` (NOT `--window`) — e.g. `switch-preset-window-height --id N`. COLUMN-scoped actions (`switch-preset-column-width`, `set-column-width`, `maximize-column`) have NO id — they hit the FOCUSED column; only `set-column-width <px|±N%>` positional CHANGE, no flags.
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- Spawned test apps do NOT reliably take focus, so blind `spawn + action` cycles resize whatever Frank is looking at. For column actions you must `focus-window --id N` first — and that STEALS focus; if Frank is actively testing chords, your probes and his keystrokes interleave and corrupt both. STOP probing, deliver config + validate, and have him press the chord himself.
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- `niri msg --json focused-window` can report a different window than assumed (focus moves); for per-window measurement read `niri msg --json windows` and filter by `id`. Present height of proportion p with gaps g over work-area H renders ≈ p*(H+g) − g.
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- If Frank reports "still seeing old values" after a config edit: run `load-config-file` first, then verify empirically before believing anything else.
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## "What does chord X do?" triage
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For "mod+<key>" questions, check in order: `~/.config/niri/cfg/keybinds.kdl` (compositor wins first), terminal configs (`~/.config/ghostty`, `foot`, `kitty`), tmux, then omp TUI chords (`omp://keybindings.md`; modifiers are ctrl/shift/alt/super only, no `Mod`; `Ctrl+R`=history search, `Alt+R`=app.retry).
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