Waybar not rendering correctly without uwsm

[kRHYME7]

@kRHYME7 is there a way to get this working correctly with Hyprland (Wayland) instead of UWSM?

Originally posted by @Jinra in #1537 (comment)

[coderabbitai]

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⚠️ Possible Duplicate Issue

• [Bug]: No menus, waybar disappearing #1393

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[kRHYME7]

@Jinra output of env | grep XDG ? also what is your $SHELL?

[kRHYME7]

@Jinra output of env | grep XDG ? also what is your $SHELL?

[coderabbitai]

Coding Plan

Approach

Enable HyDE to work correctly with native Hyprland sessions (without UWSM) by implementing a session initialization mechanism that exports required environment variables to the systemd user environment, allowing Waybar and other components to render properly.

Observations

HyDE is a Hyprland desktop environment that currently requires UWSM (Universal Wayland Session Manager) for session management. The project uses systemd user services (hyde-config.service, hyde-ipc.service) bound to graphical-session.target, with configuration managed through restoration scripts (restore_cfg.psv, restore_svc.sh). Service startup is delegated to external configuration rather than Hyprland's exec-once commands. The core issue is that without UWSM, critical environment variables (WAYLAND_DISPLAY, HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE) are not exported to the systemd user environment, causing Waybar and other layer-shell clients to fail.

Assumptions

Assumption 1: How should native Hyprland session be detected vs UWSM session?

Options Considered:

• Check for UWSM-specific environment variables (e.g., UWSM_* vars) set by UWSM at session start
• Check if uwsm process is the parent/ancestor of the Hyprland process
• Make the init script idempotent so it can safely run in both contexts

Chosen Option: 3

Rationale: Make the script idempotent - exporting environment variables that are already set is harmless, and this approach is simplest and most robust.

Assumption 2: Where should the session initialization script be installed?

Options Considered:

• Install to ~/.local/bin/ alongside other HyDE utilities
• Install to ~/.local/lib/hyde/ with other HyDE library scripts

Chosen Option: 2

Rationale: Install to ~/.local/lib/hyde/ to match the pattern used by hyde-config and other internal HyDE scripts, keeping user-facing binaries separate from internal utilities.

💡 User Tips

Regenerate the plan with different choices with @coderabbitai <feedback>.

Implementation Steps

Phase 1: Native Hyprland Session Initialization

Create the infrastructure to properly initialize a Hyprland session without UWSM by exporting required environment variables to the systemd user manager and D-Bus activation environment.

Task 1: Create Session Environment Export Script

Create a shell script that initializes the Wayland session environment for native Hyprland sessions.

• Create new script at Configs/.local/lib/hyde/hyde-session-init
• Export essential compositor variables to systemd user environment using systemctl --user import-environment:
  • WAYLAND_DISPLAY
  • DISPLAY
  • HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE
  • XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP
• Update D-Bus activation environment using dbus-update-activation-environment --systemd with the same variables
• Optionally notify systemd that graphical session has started via systemctl --user start --no-block graphical-session.target
• Add safeguards to verify variables exist before export (Hyprland must be running)
• Make script idempotent so it's safe to run under both UWSM and native sessions

Task 2: Integrate Session Init with Hyprland Startup

Add the session initialization to Hyprland's startup sequence so it runs before services that depend on the environment.

• Add exec-once command in Configs/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf to invoke ~/.local/lib/hyde/hyde-session-init early in startup
• Position this exec-once before any service-starting commands to ensure environment is exported first
• Consider adding a small delay or using Hyprland's exec-once = sleep 0.5 && ... pattern if needed for timing

Task 3: Update Configuration Restoration

Ensure the new session init script is properly deployed during HyDE installation and updates.

• Add entry to Scripts/restore_cfg.psv to deploy the hyde-session-init script to ${HOME}/.local/lib/hyde/
• Ensure script has executable permissions after deployment
• Add appropriate dependency markers (hyprland)

🤖 Prompt for AI agents

This phase implements native Hyprland session initialization by creating
infrastructure to export required environment variables without UWSM.

Create `Configs/.local/lib/hyde/hyde-session-init` script:
- Export WAYLAND_DISPLAY, DISPLAY, HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE,
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP to systemd user environment
- Use `systemctl --user import-environment` and
`dbus-update-activation-environment --systemd`
- Start graphical-session.target with `systemctl --user start --no-block`
- Add safeguards to verify variables exist before export
- Make script idempotent for both UWSM and native sessions

Update `Configs/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf`:
- Add exec-once command to invoke `~/.local/lib/hyde/hyde-session-init` early in
startup
- Position before service-starting commands

Update `Scripts/restore_cfg.psv`:
- Add entry to deploy hyde-session-init script to `${HOME}/.local/lib/hyde/`
- Set executable permissions
- Add hyprland dependency marker

Phase 2: Package Requirements and Documentation

Update HyDE's package requirements and documentation to reflect that native Hyprland sessions are now supported as an alternative to UWSM.

Task 1: Make UWSM Optional

Change UWSM from a required core package to an optional/recommended package.

• Move uwsm from Scripts/pkg_core.lst to an optional package list or add it to Scripts/pkg_extra.lst with appropriate description
• Update any installation prompts or messages that reference UWSM as required
• Review Scripts/migrations/v25.8.2.sh to ensure migration logic handles systems without UWSM gracefully

Task 2: Document Native Hyprland Session Option

Provide clear documentation for users who want to run without UWSM.

• Update CHANGELOG.md to document the new native Hyprland session support
• Document both session options in user-facing documentation:
  • UWSM-managed session (recommended, select "Hyprland (UWSM Managed)" in SDDM)
  • Native Hyprland session (select "Hyprland" in SDDM, requires hyde-session-init)
• Note any trade-offs between the two approaches (UWSM provides cleaner shutdown, XDG autostart support)

🤖 Prompt for AI agents

This phase updates package requirements and documentation to support native
Hyprland sessions as an alternative to UWSM.

Update package lists:
- Move `uwsm` from `Scripts/pkg_core.lst` to `Scripts/pkg_extra.lst` with
appropriate description
- Update installation prompts/messages that reference UWSM as required

Review `Scripts/migrations/v25.8.2.sh`:
- Ensure migration logic handles systems without UWSM gracefully

Update documentation:
- Add CHANGELOG.md entry documenting native Hyprland session support
- Document both session options (UWSM-managed vs Native)
- Include trade-offs: UWSM provides cleaner shutdown and XDG autostart support

---

🚀 Next Steps

🤖 All AI agent prompts combined

Task: 1

This phase implements native Hyprland session initialization by creating
infrastructure to export required environment variables without UWSM.

Create `Configs/.local/lib/hyde/hyde-session-init` script:
- Export WAYLAND_DISPLAY, DISPLAY, HYPRLAND_INSTANCE_SIGNATURE,
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP to systemd user environment
- Use `systemctl --user import-environment` and
`dbus-update-activation-environment --systemd`
- Start graphical-session.target with `systemctl --user start --no-block`
- Add safeguards to verify variables exist before export
- Make script idempotent for both UWSM and native sessions

Update `Configs/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf`:
- Add exec-once command to invoke `~/.local/lib/hyde/hyde-session-init` early in
startup
- Position before service-starting commands

Update `Scripts/restore_cfg.psv`:
- Add entry to deploy hyde-session-init script to `${HOME}/.local/lib/hyde/`
- Set executable permissions
- Add hyprland dependency marker
===============================================================================

Task: 2

This phase updates package requirements and documentation to support native
Hyprland sessions as an alternative to UWSM.

Update package lists:
- Move `uwsm` from `Scripts/pkg_core.lst` to `Scripts/pkg_extra.lst` with
appropriate description
- Update installation prompts/messages that reference UWSM as required

Review `Scripts/migrations/v25.8.2.sh`:
- Ensure migration logic handles systems without UWSM gracefully

Update documentation:
- Add CHANGELOG.md entry documenting native Hyprland session support
- Document both session options (UWSM-managed vs Native)
- Include trade-offs: UWSM provides cleaner shutdown and XDG autostart support

💡 Iterate on the plan with: @coderabbitai <feedback>

Example Feedback
- @coderabbitai You can skip phase 3. Add a simple unit test case for phase 2.
- @coderabbitai For assumption 1 go ahead with option 3 and replan.

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[Jinra]

XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland
XDG_VTNR=1
XDG_SEAT=seat0
XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=Hyprland
XDG_SESSION_ID=3
XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/pete/.config
XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=Hyprland
XDG_DATA_HOME=/home/pete/.local/share
XDG_CACHE_HOME=/home/pete/.cache
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000
XDG_BACKEND=wayland

and my shell is fish

[kRHYME7]

Do you have this file in fish ?

[Jinra]

I do not, but maybe I would if I updated HyDE again? I snapshotted back before the update since waybar broke, along with some other configs

[kRHYME7]

ah so this is an old issue then.

[Jinra]

The version of HyDE I have is from mid 2025, but when I run the update process it'll break the fonts and formatting, and also have a very dark blur effect on my HDR monitor. It looks very similar to the original issue I commented on

[kRHYME7]

okay maybe just copy the env.

[Ox627566]

i have bug how i can fix it

[kRHYME7]

try setting this

export HYPRLAND_CONFIG=~/.local/share/hypr/hyprland.conf as your environment variable not terminal.

I assumed that you have a custom zsh/fish shell or your shell lacks the env variables.https://github.com/HyDE-Project/HyDE/blob/master/Configs%2F.config%2Fzsh%2Fconf.d%2Fhyde%2Fenv.zsh#L47

[Ox627566]

I'm using fish shell and I set the environment variable using set -Ux HYPRLAND_CONFIG ~/.local/share/hypr/hyprland.conf. I restarted the system, but nothing has changed.

[kRHYME7]

you had this file?

https://github.com/HyDE-Project/HyDE/blob/master/Configs%2F.config%2Ffish%2Fconf.d%2Fhyde.fish