kanshi(5) File Formats Manual kanshi(5)

kanshi - configuration file

A kanshi configuration file is a list of profiles. Each profile has an optional name and contains profile directives delimited by brackets ({ and }).

Example:

include /etc/kanshi/config.d/*
profile {
	output LVDS-1 disable
	output "Some Company ASDF 4242" {
		mode 1600x900
		position 0,0
	}
}
profile nomad {
	output LVDS-1 enable scale 2
}

profile [<name>] { <profile directives...> }

Defines a new profile using the specified bracket-delimited profile directives. A name can be specified but is optional.

include <path>

Include as another file from path. Expands shell syntax (see wordexp(3) for details).

Profile directives are followed by space-separated arguments. Arguments can be quoted (with ") if they contain spaces.

output <criteria> <output-directive...>

An output directive adds an output to the profile. The criteria can either be an output name, an output description or "*". The latter can be used to match any output.

Output directives may be specified in a bracket-delimited block as well.

On sway(1), output names and descriptions can be obtained via swaymsg -t get_outputs.

exec <command>

An exec directive executes a command when the profile was successfully applied. This can be used to update the compositor state to the profile when not done automatically.

Commands are executed asynchronously and their order may not be preserved. If you need to execute sequential commands, you should collect in one exec statement or in a separate script.

On sway(1) for example, exec can be used to move workspaces to the right output:

profile multihead {
	output eDP-1 enable
	output DP-1 enable transform 270
	exec swaymsg workspace 1, move workspace to eDP-1
}

Note that some extra care must be taken with outputs identified by an output description as the real name may change:

profile complex {
	output "Some Other Company GTBZ 2525" mode 1920x1200
	exec swaymsg workspace 1, move workspace to output '"Some Other Company GTBZ 2525"'
}

enable|disable

Enables or disables the specified output.

mode [--custom] <width>x<height>[@<rate>[Hz]]

Configures the specified output to use the specified mode. Modes are a combination of width and height (in pixels) and a refresh rate (in Hz) that your display can be configured to use.

Examples:

output HDMI-A-1 mode 1920x1080
output HDMI-A-1 mode 1920x1080@60Hz
output HDMI-A-1 mode --custom 1280x720@60Hz

position <x>,<y>

Places the output at the specified position in the global coordinates space.

Example:

output HDMI-A-1 position 1600,0

scale <factor>

Scales the output by the specified scale factor.

transform <transform>

Sets the output transform. Can be one of "90", "180", "270" for a rotation; or "flipped", "flipped-90", "flipped-180", "flipped-270" for a rotation and a flip; or "normal" for no transform.

adaptive_sync on|off

Enables or disables adaptive synchronization (aka. Variable Refresh Rate).

Maintained by Simon Ser <contact@emersion.fr>, who is assisted by other open-source contributors. For more information about kanshi development, see https://git.sr.ht/~emersion/kanshi.

kanshi(1)

2024-03-09