Hyprland & Waybar: Fixing Pinned Floating Window Issues

Hey guys! Ever run into a weird issue where your floating windows in Hyprland don't seem to play nice with Waybar when they're pinned? Specifically, when a floating window is set to stay on every workspace (pinned) and it's the only window chillin' on a workspace, Waybar might not apply the window#waybar.floating style. It's a bit of a head-scratcher, but don't worry, we'll dive into what's happening and explore some potential solutions. This guide aims to break down the problem, discuss the root causes, and offer some workarounds, making your Hyprland experience smoother and your Waybar styling more consistent. Let's get started!

The Problem: Pinned Floating Windows and Waybar

So, here's the deal. You've got Hyprland, the awesome, dynamic tiling compositor, and Waybar, the flexible and sleek status bar. You're using floating windows because, well, sometimes you just need that window to float, right? You've also pinned a floating window, meaning it's always visible on every workspace on that monitor. Everything seems cool until you realize that Waybar isn't applying the window#waybar.floating style correctly.

What does this mean, exactly? Well, you might have set up Waybar to change the appearance of floating windows—perhaps a different background color, a subtle border, or some other visual cue to easily identify them. But when a pinned, floating window is the only window on a workspace, Waybar might ignore these styles. This can lead to a less visually informative experience, making it harder to quickly understand which windows are floating. It messes with the visual cues that you've meticulously set up to keep your workflow efficient and your desktop looking sharp.

The issue primarily surfaces when the pinned window is initially present on a workspace. If you de-float and then re-float the window, the style usually applies. Similarly, if you unpin the window and switch to another workspace and back, Waybar picks up the style. However, if the window is both pinned and visible when you switch workspaces, the style is often missed. This inconsistency can be frustrating, especially if you rely on Waybar to quickly distinguish between different window types. The heart of the problem appears to lie in how Hyprland manages these special pinned floating windows, creating a sort of disconnect between Hyprland's internal window handling and Waybar's ability to style them correctly. We'll explore this further, but the key takeaway is that pinned floating windows, under certain conditions, don't always trigger the expected styling in Waybar.

The Specific Scenario: Lone Pinned Floating Windows

Let's zero in on the exact conditions where this happens. The issue specifically arises when a floating window is pinned and is the only window present on a particular workspace. Here's a breakdown to make sure we're on the same page. Imagine this scenario:

• Floating Window: This is a window that isn't tiled, meaning you can move and resize it freely. Think of it like a regular window in a traditional desktop environment.
• Pinned: The window is set to appear on all workspaces on your monitor. This is useful for things like always-on-top widgets or essential applications that you need constant access to.
• Only Window on Workspace: This is the critical factor. The issue is most evident when the pinned floating window is the sole window on the workspace. If there are other tiled or floating windows, the styling in Waybar typically works as expected.

When these three conditions align, Waybar might fail to correctly apply the window#waybar.floating style. This means your carefully crafted visual cues for floating windows in Waybar are not displayed, which can disrupt your workflow. To see the issue, you may have set up Waybar to show the floating window indicator in a different color. But when pinned, it may show as the default setting rather than the floating status.

This behavior is not a bug in Waybar itself but rather a nuance in how Hyprland handles pinned floating windows. It seems that Hyprland's internal mechanisms for managing these special windows don't always communicate effectively with Waybar's styling engine. This creates a gap where Waybar doesn't recognize the window as floating in time to apply the intended styling. As a result, users may see inconsistent visual feedback, making it harder to track which windows are floating and which are tiled.

This specific scenario presents a challenge because pinned floating windows are often used for crucial applications like system monitors, always-on-top panels, or other persistent UI elements. The fact that Waybar's styling is inconsistent in this use case diminishes the overall desktop experience. To address this, users often have to resort to workarounds. But before discussing them, let's explore why this happens. Let's delve into the underlying causes.

Why This Happens: Hyprland and Waybar Interaction

Alright, let's get into the nitty-gritty and understand why this happens. The core issue lies in the way Hyprland and Waybar interact, especially when it comes to managing and identifying window states. Hyprland, as a compositor, is responsible for managing windows, their layout, and their various properties like whether they're floating, tiled, or pinned. Waybar, on the other hand, acts as a status bar and relies on information from Hyprland to style and display information about the windows. The specific problem often boils down to a timing or communication issue between these two.

Hyprland's Window Management

Hyprland has its own internal system for tracking window states. When a window is created, Hyprland knows whether it should be tiled, floating, or pinned. It then dispatches this information to various components, including Waybar, through events and other mechanisms. The trick is how Hyprland handles the unique case of pinned floating windows. Pinned windows have a special status that means they're present on all workspaces. Hyprland needs to keep track of this and ensure that the window is always visible on the correct monitor. Floating windows, by their nature, require a different set of management logic. They're not constrained by the tiling layout, allowing them to be moved and resized freely.

When a window is both pinned and floating, Hyprland has to juggle these two properties simultaneously. The compositor must ensure the window is always present (pinned) and also handle its floating behavior (positioning and size). The challenge arises when Hyprland doesn't consistently notify Waybar about these combined states. In some cases, Waybar might not receive the event that correctly identifies the window as floating. This can be especially true when the pinned window is the only window on a workspace because Hyprland might not need to update any layout information.

Waybar's Role in Styling

Waybar works by subscribing to events from Hyprland and then uses these events to update its display. For window styling, Waybar typically listens for events that indicate when a window is created, destroyed, focused, or changes its properties (e.g., becomes floating). When Waybar receives an event that a window is floating, it applies the appropriate styling. Waybar uses CSS to define how elements should be styled, and these styles are triggered by specific events. Waybar, however, relies on Hyprland to send the relevant events that describe the current state of a window.

In the case of the pinned, floating window, there might be a gap in communication. If Hyprland doesn't immediately send an event saying the window is both pinned and floating, Waybar might miss the cue to apply the correct style. This can lead to the window appearing without the window#waybar.floating styling. The communication gap can be related to the timing of events or the way Hyprland packages and sends these events. The fact that this issue is most prevalent when the pinned window is alone on a workspace suggests that Hyprland may handle the edge case differently, leading to inconsistent event handling.

The Timing Problem

The timing of these events is critical. If Hyprland doesn't send the