omarchy

name

omarchy

description

REQUIRED for end-user customization of Linux desktop, window manager, or system config. Use when editing ~/.config/hypr/, ~/.config/omarchy/, ~/.config/alacritty/, ~/.config/foot/, ~/.config/kitty/, or ~/.config/ghostty/. Triggers: Hyprland, window rules, animations, keybindings, monitors, gaps, borders, blur, opacity, omarchy-shell, bar, terminal config, themes, background, night light, idle, lock screen, screenshots, reminders, layer rules, workspace settings, display config, and user-facing omarchy commands. Excludes Omarchy source development through `omarchy dev link` workflows.

Omarchy Skill

Manage Omarchy Linux systems - a beautiful, modern, opinionated Arch Linux distribution with Hyprland.

This skill is for end-user customization on installed systems. It is not for contributing to Omarchy source code.

When This Skill MUST Be Used

ALWAYS invoke this skill for end-user requests involving ANY of these:

• Editing ANY file in ~/.config/hypr/ (window rules, animations, keybindings, monitors, etc.)
• Editing ~/.config/omarchy/shell.json (status bar layout, widgets)
• Editing terminal configs (alacritty, foot, kitty, ghostty)
• Editing ANY file in ~/.config/omarchy/
• Window behavior, animations, opacity, blur, gaps, borders
• Layer rules, workspace settings, display/monitor configuration
• Themes, backgrounds, fonts, appearance changes
• User-facing omarchy commands (omarchy theme ..., omarchy refresh ..., omarchy restart ..., etc.)
• Screenshots, screen recording, reminders, night light, idle behavior, lock screen

If you're about to edit a config file in ~/.config/ on this system, STOP and use this skill first.

Do NOT use this skill for Omarchy development tasks (editing the Omarchy source tree, creating migrations, or running omarchy dev ... workflows).

Topic Guides

Deeper instructions for common areas live next to this file. Read the matching guide before starting:

• hyprland.md - keybindings, monitors, window rules, and other Hyprland config
• plugins.md - the Omarchy shell: bar layout, widgets, plugins, idle behavior
• theming.md - themes, backgrounds, and fonts
• hooks.md - automation hooks that run on system events
• capture.md - screenshots, screen recordings, OCR text capture, and file sharing
• contributing.md - reporting Omarchy bugs and submitting fixes upstream

Critical Safety Rules

For privileged commands, follow the Privilege Escalation rules below: sudo when a terminal is available for the password prompt, pkexec when it is not. Do not wrap commands that already manage privilege elevation themselves.

For end-user customization tasks, NEVER modify anything in /usr/share/omarchy/ - but READING is safe and encouraged.

This directory is owned by the omarchy package. Any local changes will be overwritten on the next omarchy update.

/usr/share/omarchy/     # READ-ONLY - NEVER EDIT (reading is OK)
├── bin/                    # Command source (packaged binaries are on PATH)
├── config/                 # Default config templates
├── themes/                 # Stock themes
├── default/                # System defaults
├── shell/                  # Omarchy shell source and defaults
├── migrations/             # Update migrations
└── install/                # Installation scripts

Reading /usr/share/omarchy/ is SAFE and useful - do it freely to:

• Understand how omarchy commands work: omarchy theme set --help or cat $(which omarchy-theme-set)
• See default configs before customizing: cat "$OMARCHY_PATH/config/omarchy/shell.json"
• Check stock theme files to copy for customization
• Reference default hyprland settings: cat /usr/share/omarchy/default/hypr/*

Always use these safe locations instead:

• ~/.config/ - User configuration (safe to edit)
• ~/.config/omarchy/themes/<custom-name>/ - Custom themes
• ~/.config/omarchy/hooks/ - Custom automation hooks

If the request is to develop Omarchy itself, this skill is out of scope. Follow repository development instructions instead of this skill.

Privilege Escalation

For an interactive script or command run in a visible terminal, use sudo for privileged work. Omarchy may grant passwordless sudo access to particular commands, and the terminal is the appropriate place to request a password when one is needed.

Use pkexec only when the caller cannot interact with a terminal or cannot enter a password there, such as a command launched by an agent or a graphical background process. Do not replace sudo with pkexec merely because a command changes system state.

System Architecture

Omarchy is built on:

Component	Purpose	Config Location
Arch Linux	Base OS	/etc/, ~/.config/
Hyprland	Wayland compositor/WM	~/.config/hypr/
Omarchy shell	Status bar + notifications (Quickshell)	~/.config/omarchy/shell.json
Launcher/menus	Quickshell menu	~/.config/omarchy/extensions/omarchy-menu.jsonc
Alacritty/Foot/Kitty/Ghostty	Terminals	~/.config/<terminal>/
Omarchy OSD	On-screen display	Quickshell plugin

Command Discovery

Omarchy ships a single omarchy CLI that dispatches to all omarchy-* binaries via omarchy <group> <action>. Always prefer this form — it is self-documenting and stable. The underlying omarchy-* binaries still exist on PATH and remain safe to read for source.

# List every documented command and its summary (--all includes hidden commands)
omarchy commands

# Show the commands inside a group
omarchy theme --help
omarchy refresh --help
omarchy restart --help

# Show help for a specific command (does not execute it)
omarchy theme set --help

# Machine-readable listing (binary, route, summary, args, aliases)
omarchy commands --json

# Read a command's source to understand it
cat $(which omarchy-theme-set)

Command Groups

Run omarchy --help for the full list. The most common groups:

Group	Purpose	Example
omarchy refresh	Reset config to defaults (backs up first)	omarchy refresh shell
omarchy restart	Restart a service/app	omarchy restart shell
omarchy toggle	Toggle feature on/off	omarchy toggle nightlight
omarchy theme	Theme management	omarchy theme set <name>
omarchy bar	Bar layout and widgets	omarchy bar move omarchy.clock --section right
omarchy plugin	Manage/clone shell plugins	omarchy plugin clone omarchy.clock
omarchy hook	Install automation hooks	omarchy hook install theme-set <script>
omarchy install	Install optional software / packages	omarchy install docker dbs
omarchy launch	Launch apps	omarchy launch browser
omarchy capture	Screenshots and recordings	omarchy capture screenshot
omarchy reminder	Desktop notification reminders	omarchy reminder 15 "Pickup Jack"
omarchy pkg	Package management	omarchy pkg add <pkg>
omarchy setup	Interactive setup wizards	omarchy setup security fingerprint
omarchy update	System updates	omarchy update

Configuration Locations

Hyprland config lives in ~/.config/hypr/ — see hyprland.md. The Omarchy shell (bar, notifications, plugins, idle) is configured in ~/.config/omarchy/shell.json — see plugins.md.

Terminals

~/.config/alacritty/alacritty.toml
~/.config/foot/foot.ini
~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf
~/.config/ghostty/config

Command: omarchy restart terminal

Other Configs

App	Location
btop	~/.config/btop/btop.conf
fastfetch	/etc/fastfetch/config.jsonc default; ~/.config/fastfetch/config.jsonc user override
lazygit	~/.config/lazygit/config.yml
starship	~/.config/starship.toml
git	~/.config/git/config

Safe Customization Patterns

Edit User Config Directly

For simple changes, edit files in ~/.config/:

# 1. Read current config
cat ~/.config/hypr/bindings.lua

# 2. Backup before changes
cp ~/.config/hypr/bindings.lua ~/.config/hypr/bindings.lua.bak.$(date +%s)

# 3. Make changes with Edit tool

# 4. Apply changes
# - Hyprland: auto-reloads on save, but MUST validate with `hyprctl reload` and `hyprctl configerrors`
# - Omarchy shell: shell.json and user plugin code under ~/.config/omarchy/plugins/ hot-reload on save
# - Menus/launcher: ~/.config/omarchy/extensions/omarchy-menu.jsonc hot-reloads on save
# - Terminals: apply with `omarchy restart terminal` (reloads running terminals; foot picks changes up in new windows)

Reset to Defaults -- ALWAYS SEEK USER CONFIRMATION BEFORE RUNNING

When customizations go wrong:

# Reset specific config (creates backup automatically)
omarchy refresh shell
omarchy refresh hyprland

# The refresh command:
# 1. Backs up current config with timestamp
# 2. Copies default from $OMARCHY_PATH/config/
# 3. Restarts the component where the refresh needs it (e.g. `refresh shell`)

System Commands

omarchy update                  # Full system update
omarchy version                 # Show Omarchy version
omarchy debug --no-sudo --print # Debug info (ALWAYS use these flags)
omarchy system lock             # Lock screen
omarchy system shutdown         # Shutdown
omarchy system reboot           # Reboot

IMPORTANT: Always run omarchy debug with --no-sudo --print flags to avoid interactive sudo prompts that will hang the terminal.

Troubleshooting

# Get debug information (ALWAYS use these flags to avoid interactive prompts)
omarchy debug --no-sudo --print

# Reset specific config to defaults
omarchy refresh <app>

# Refresh specific config file
# config-file path is relative to ~/.config/
# eg. `omarchy refresh config hypr/hyprland.lua` will refresh ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.lua
omarchy refresh config <config-file>

# Full reinstall of configs (nuclear option)
omarchy reinstall

Decision Framework

When user requests system changes:

1. Is it a stock omarchy command? Use it directly
2. Is it a config edit? Edit in ~/.config/, never /usr/share/omarchy/
3. Is it a theme customization? Follow theming.md; create a NEW custom theme directory
4. Is it automation? Follow hooks.md; use omarchy hook install and the hook .d directories
5. Is it a package install? Use omarchy pkg add <pkgs...> (or omarchy pkg aur add <pkgs...> for AUR-only packages)
6. Is it built-in shell/plugin code? Follow plugins.md; clone it with omarchy plugin clone, never edit the packaged copy
7. Unsure if command exists? Run omarchy commands (or omarchy <group> --help for one group)

Reminder Requests

When the user asks to set a reminder, use omarchy reminder <minutes> [message] directly. Convert natural language durations to minutes and title-case short reminder labels when appropriate.

omarchy reminder 15 "Pickup Jack"
omarchy reminder 60 "Check laundry"
omarchy reminder show
omarchy reminder clear

Out of Scope

This skill intentionally does not cover Omarchy source development. Do not use this skill for:

• Editing files in /usr/share/omarchy/ (bin/, config/, default/, shell/, themes/, migrations/, etc.)
• Creating or editing migrations
• Running omarchy dev ... commands

Example Requests

• "Change my theme to catppuccin" -> omarchy theme set catppuccin
• "Add a keybinding for Super+E to open file manager" -> Check existing bindings first, call hl.unbind if needed, then o.bind in ~/.config/hypr/bindings.lua
• "Configure my external monitor" -> Edit ~/.config/hypr/monitors.lua
• "Make the window gaps smaller" -> Edit ~/.config/hypr/looknfeel.lua
• "Turn on night light" -> omarchy toggle nightlight (for time-based schedules, edit ~/.config/hypr/hyprsunset.conf profiles, then omarchy restart hyprsunset)
• "Set a reminder to pickup jack in 15 minutes" -> omarchy reminder 15 "Pickup Jack"
• "Show my reminders" -> omarchy reminder show
• "Clear all reminders" -> omarchy reminder clear
• "Customize the catppuccin theme colors" -> Overlay: put an edited colors.toml in ~/.config/omarchy/themes/catppuccin/, then re-apply the theme (see theming.md)
• "Run a script every time I change themes" -> Install it with omarchy hook install theme-set <script>
• "Change how workspace labels are rendered" -> Clone omarchy.workspaces, which switches the bar to <username>.workspaces, then edit the clone
• "Lock after ten minutes" -> Set idle.lock to 600 in ~/.config/omarchy/shell.json
• "Reset shell/bar to defaults" -> omarchy refresh shell
• "Record my screen" -> omarchy screenrecord --fullscreen, then omarchy screenrecord --stop-recording (see capture.md)
• "Report this bug to Omarchy" -> Gather diagnostics and a capture of the problem, then file it (see contributing.md)