| name | noctalia-bar |
| description | This skill should be used when the user asks to "move a widget", "add widget to bar", "remove widget from bar", "configure bar layout", "change bar position", "customize noctalia bar", or mentions bar widgets like Launcher, Clock, SystemMonitor, Workspace. |
Noctalia Bar Configuration
This skill manages the noctalia shell bar widget layout. For general noctalia patterns (IPC, debugging, restart), see the noctalia skill.
Configuration Location
home/desktop/shell/noctalia/default.nix
Bar Structure
bar = {
position = "top"; # or "bottom"
widgets = {
left = [ ... ];
center = [ ... ];
right = [ ... ];
};
};
IMPORTANT: Use bar.widgets.left/center/right, NOT bar.widgetsLeft/Center/Right.
Widget Format
All widgets MUST be objects with an id field. Plain strings don't work.
Minimal widget
{ id = "Clock"; }
{ id = "Tray"; }
Widget with settings
{
id = "SystemMonitor";
compactMode = false;
showCpuUsage = true;
showNetworkStats = true;
}
Common Operations
Move widget between zones
- Read the config file
- Find widget in current zone (left/center/right)
- Remove from current zone, add to target zone
- Preserve all widget settings if it's an object
Add widget
Add { id = "WidgetName"; } to desired zone array.
Remove widget
Remove the widget object from its zone array.
Verification
After changes, verify the bar layout:
noctalia-shell ipc call state all | jq '.settings.bar.widgets'
Available Widgets
See references/widgets.md for complete list with all configurable settings.
Important Notes
- Widget names are case-sensitive ("SystemMonitor" not "systemmonitor")
- Noctalia merges your settings with defaults for each widget
- Restart noctalia after rebuild:
systemctl --user restart noctalia-shell
