xmobar(1)

✨ NAME ✨

xmobar — a configurable and extensible status bar for X11 desktops 💅

So like, it's a status bar. For X11. You can configure it and extend it. That's the whole vibe. Also, hi, you're reading the manual page for xmobar(1), which is exactly what you think it is. 🫶

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

xmobar [OPTIONS] [CONFIG_FILE]

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so xmobar is a minimalistic, text based status bar. That's the whole thing. Text. Bar. Minimal. Iconic.

It was originally designed and implemented by Andrea Rossato to work with xmonad, but ngl it's actually usable with any window-manager — it's not loyal to just one, it's for everyone, periodt. 💖

The inspo was the Ion3 (http://tuomov.iki.fi/software/) status bar, and xmobar supports similar features, like:

• dynamic color management 🎨
• output templates 📝
• extensibility through plugins 🧩

This page documents xmobar 0.16. Yes, this specific page, this specific version. iykyk.

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🔥 COMMAND LINE OPTIONS 🔥

So here's the tea, bestie: you can configure xmobar either with a configuration file or with command line options. And if you do the second one, the command line options will overwrite the corresponding options set in the configuration file. CLI wins, no cap. 👑

xmobar goes looking for the configuration file in these locations, in this order:

1. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/xmobar/xmobarrc (default: ~/.config/xmobar/xmobarrc)
2. ~/.xmobarrc

The first configuration file found is the one that gets used. First come, first served, that's the rule. 💫

If you want sample configuration files to peek at, go look in /usr/share/doc/xmobar/examples. Free real estate. 🎀

Usage, like, in practice:

xmobar -B white -a right -F blue -t '%LIPB%' -c '[Run Weather "LIPB" [] 36000]'

And this is the list of command line options — it's literally the output of xmobar —help:

Usage: xmobar [OPTION...] [FILE]
Options:
  -h, -?        --help                 This help
  -V            --version               Show version information
  -f font name  --font=font name        The font name
  -B bg color   --bgcolor=bg color      The background color. Default black
  -F fg color   --fgcolor=fg color      The foreground color. Default grey
  -o            --top                   Place xmobar at the top of the screen
  -b            --bottom                Place xmobar at the bottom of the screen
  -a alignsep   --alignsep=alignsep     Separators for left, center and right text
                                        alignment. Default: '}{'
  -s char       --sepchar=char          The character used to separate commands in
                                        the output template. Default '%'
  -t template   --template=template     The output template
  -c commands   --commands=commands     The list of commands to be executed
  -C commands   --add-commands=commands Add commands to be executed after those
                                        of the config file
  -x screen     --screen=screen         On which X screen number to start
Mail bug reports and suggestions to <xmobar@projects.haskell.org>

Same list, but one bullet at a time, because I love you and I want you to actually read it 💖:

• -h, -?, --help — this help. That's it. That's the option.
• -V, --version — show version information 👑
• *-f *font name, --font=font name — the font name, bestie.
• *-B *bg color, --bgcolor=bg color — the background color. Default black. 🖤
• *-F *fg color, --fgcolor=fg color — the foreground color. Default grey. 🩶
• -o, --top — place xmobar at the top of the screen ⬆️
• -b, --bottom — place xmobar at the bottom of the screen ⬇️
• *-a *alignsep, --alignsep=alignsep — separators for left, center and right text alignment. Default: '}{' 🎀
• *-s *char, --sepchar=char — the character used to separate commands in the output template. Default '%' ✨
• *-t *template, --template=template — the output template 📝
• *-c *commands, --commands=commands — the list of commands to be executed ⚡
• -C commands, --add-commands=commands — add commands to be executed **after those of the config file 🧩
• *-x *screen, --screen=screen — on which X screen number to start 🖥️

Mail bug reports and suggestions to <xmobar@projects.haskell.org> 💌

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🦋 CONFIGURATION 🦋

For full details of the available configuration options, please refer to /usr/share/doc/xmobar/readme.org.gz. Like, genuinely, that's where the full deets live. Go read it. It's giving documentation. 📚

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Andrea Rossato originally designed and implemented xmobar up to version 0.11.1. Since then, it's maintained by Jose Antonio Ortega Ruiz (http://hacks-galore.org/jao/). Passing the torch, main character energy, we love to see it. 🫶

This manual page was written by Apollon Oikonomopoulos <apoikos@debian.org> for the Debian project (but may be used by others). Generous queen behavior, honestly. 💅

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💜 LICENSE 💜

This software is released under a BSD-style license. See /usr/share/doc/xmobar/copyright for more details. Go read the fine print, it's important. ⭐

• Copyright © 2007–2010 Andrea Rossato
• Copyright © 2010–2014 Jose Antonio Ortega Ruiz

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 this came out of the xmobar(1) manual — the general commands manual — and it was dated July 2, 2014. slay, go forth and configure your status bar ✨🦋💖