Features

What iNiR can do and how to use it

Everything iNiR can do, with examples.

Panel Families

#Switch on the fly

~code
# Cycle between ii and waffle
qs -c ii ipc call panelFamily cycle

# Or use keybind
Mod+Shift+W

No restart needed. Panels transition smoothly.

#ii (Material Design)

Floating panels, sidebars, Material Design aesthetic.

What you get:

  • Top bar (or bottom, or sides)
  • Left sidebar (AI chat, app launcher)
  • Right sidebar (quick toggles, notepad)
  • Floating dock
  • Workspace overview
  • Search overlay

Memory: ~300-400MB

#waffle

Bottom taskbar, start menu, action center.

What you get:

  • Bottom taskbar (centered icons)
  • Start menu (search + apps)
  • Action center (quick settings)
  • Notification center
  • Widgets panel
  • Task view

Memory: ~200-300MB

Visual Styles

#Material (Solid)

Classic Material Design. Opaque panels, subtle shadows.

~code
"appearance": {
  "globalStyle": "material"
}

Pros: Best readability, lowest GPU usage Cons: Less fancy

#Cards

Card-based layout with subtle shadows and rounded corners.

~code
"appearance": {
  "globalStyle": "cards"
}

Pros: Clean, modern look Cons: Slightly more visual complexity

#Aurora (Blur)

Glass blur, translucent panels.

~code
"appearance": {
  "globalStyle": "aurora"
}

Pros: Beautiful, adapts to wallpaper Cons: Higher GPU usage, can be hard to read

#iNiR (TUI)

Terminal-inspired, thin borders, minimal.

~code
"appearance": {
  "globalStyle": "inir"
}

Pros: Minimal, unique aesthetic, lowest resource usage Cons: Not for everyone

#Angel (Neo-Brutalism)

Frosted glass with escalonado shadows, bold typography.

~code
"appearance": {
  "globalStyle": "angel"
}

Pros: Unique striking aesthetic, flagship style Cons: Higher GPU usage, polarizing design

Dynamic Theming

#From Wallpaper

Set a wallpaper, get a theme.

~code
# Open wallpaper selector
Ctrl+Alt+T

# Or via IPC
qs -c ii ipc call wallpaperSelector toggle

matugen extracts colors, generates theme, updates terminals.

Supported terminals:

  • foot
  • kitty
  • alacritty
  • wezterm
  • ghostty
  • konsole

#Theme Presets

Pre-made themes if you don't want wallpaper-based.

41 presets ship with iNiR. See the full list in the theming guide.

~code
"appearance": {
  "theme": "gruvbox"
}

Or via settings: Super+, → Appearance → Theme

Workspace Management

#Overview

Niri-native workspace overview.

~code
# Toggle overview
Mod+Space

# Or via IPC
qs -c ii ipc call overview toggle

Shows all workspaces in scrollable row. Drag windows between workspaces. Click to focus.

Niri-specific: Adapts to Niri's scrolling workspace model. Workspaces are created dynamically, not fixed grid.

#Window Switcher

Alt+Tab that works across all workspaces.

~code
# Next window
Alt+Tab

# Previous window
Alt+Shift+Tab

Shows window preview, title, workspace. Works across all workspaces, not just current.

Clipboard Manager

Searchable clipboard history with image preview.

~code
# Open clipboard
Super+V

# Or via IPC
qs -c ii ipc call clipboard toggle

Features:

  • Text and image history
  • Search and filter
  • Pin important items
  • Delete individual entries
  • Clear all

Backend: cliphist

Storage: ~/.cache/cliphist/

Region Tools

Draw a box, get stuff done.

#Screenshot

~code
# Region screenshot
Super+Shift+S

# Full screenshot
Print

# Current screen
Ctrl+Print

# Current window
Alt+Print

Saves to ~/Pictures/Screenshots/

#OCR

Extract text from screen region.

~code
# Region OCR
Super+Shift+X

Copies text to clipboard. Requires tesseract.

#Image Search

Reverse image search with Google Lens.

~code
# Region search
Super+Shift+A

Takes screenshot, opens Google Lens in browser.

#Screen Recording

~code
# Record region (no audio)
qs -c ii ipc call region record

# Record region with audio
qs -c ii ipc call region recordWithSound

Requires wf-recorder. Saves to ~/Videos/

Media Controls

#MPRIS Integration

Control any media player.

~code
# Play/pause (keyboard shortcut)
Mod+Shift+P

# Or via IPC
qs -c ii ipc call mpris playPause
qs -c ii ipc call mpris next
qs -c ii ipc call mpris previous

Auto-detects active player. Shows album art, title, artist.

#YtMusic Integration

Direct control for YtMusic (mpv-based).

~code
# Play/pause YtMusic
qs -c ii ipc call ytmusic playPause

# Next track
qs -c ii ipc call ytmusic next

Setup:

  1. Enable in settings: Super+, → Sidebar → YtMusic
  2. Select browser (Firefox, Chrome, etc.)
  3. Play something on YouTube Music
  4. Controls appear in bar

AI Features

#AI Chat (Sidebar)

Chat with Gemini, Mistral, OpenRouter, or local models via Ollama.

Setup:

  1. Get API key (Gemini, Mistral, or OpenRouter)
  2. Store in keyring:
~code
secret-tool store --label="Gemini API" service gemini key api
# Paste API key when prompted
  1. Enable in settings: Super+, → Sidebar → AI Chat
  2. Restart: qs kill -c ii; qs -c ii

Usage:

  • Open left sidebar
  • Type message
  • Get response

Models supported:

  • Gemini (free tier available)
  • Mistral
  • OpenRouter (access to many models)
  • Ollama (local, no API key needed)

#Voice Search

Voice-to-text search with Gemini.

~code
# Via IPC (no default keybind)
qs -c ii ipc call voiceSearch toggle

Records from mic, transcribes with Gemini, opens search. Requires a Gemini API key. Bind to a key in your Niri config if you want a shortcut.

Performance Features

#GameMode

Auto-optimize for gaming.

What it does:

  • Detects fullscreen apps
  • Disables blur effects
  • Disables animations
  • Hides non-essential UI

Manual toggle:

~code
# Via IPC (no default keybind)
qs -c ii ipc call gamemode toggle

Config:

~code
"gameMode": {
  "enable": true,
  "disableEffects": true,
  "disableAnimations": true,
  "minimalMode": true
}

#Low Power Mode

Reduce resource usage.

~code
"performance": {
  "lowPower": true,
  "reduceAnimations": true
}

Effects:

  • Disables blur
  • Reduces animations
  • Lowers refresh rate for some components

#Modular Design

Disable what you don't use.

~code
"enabledPanels": [
  "iiBar",
  "iiDock",
  "iiBackground"
]

Remove panels from array to disable them. Saves memory.

Disable heavy modules:

~code
"modules": {
  "aiChat": false,
  "videoWallpaper": false
}

AI Chat: ~100MB Video Wallpaper: ~150MB

Customization

#Bar Modules

Enable/disable individual bar modules.

~code
"bar": {
  "modules": {
    "workspaces": true,
    "media": true,
    "resources": true,
    "clock": true,
    "battery": true,
    "tray": true,
    "utilityButtons": true
  }
}

#Dock

Pinned apps, auto-hide, position.

~code
"dock": {
  "pinnedApps": [
    "firefox",
    "foot",
    "dolphin",
    "code"
  ],
  "autoHide": true,
  "position": "bottom",
  "iconSize": 48
}

#Sidebars

Configure what's in each sidebar.

~code
"sidebar": {
  "left": {
    "enable": true,
    "aiChat": { "enable": true },
    "apps": { "enable": true }
  },
  "right": {
    "enable": true,
    "quickToggles": { "enable": true },
    "notepad": { "enable": true }
  }
}

#Notifications

Position, timeout, behavior.

~code
"notifications": {
  "position": "top-right",
  "timeout": 5000,
  "maxVisible": 3,
  "ignoreAppTimeout": false,
  "scaleOnHover": true
}

Advanced Features

#IPC Scripting

Control iNiR from scripts.

Example: Toggle overview on workspace change

~code
#!/usr/bin/env fish
# Watch for workspace changes
niri msg -j event-stream | while read -l event
    if string match -q '*"WorkspaceActivated"*' $event
        qs -c ii ipc call overview toggle
    end
end

Example: Auto-enable GameMode for specific apps

~code
#!/usr/bin/env fish
# Enable GameMode when Steam starts
while true
    if pgrep steam > /dev/null
        qs -c ii ipc call gamemode activate
    else
        qs -c ii ipc call gamemode deactivate
    end
    sleep 5
end

#Custom Keybinds

Add your own keybinds in Niri config.

Example: Custom power menu

~code
bind "Super+P" {
    spawn "qs" "-c" "ii" "ipc" "call" "session" "toggle";
}

Example: Quick screenshot to clipboard

~code
bind "Super+S" {
    spawn "sh" "-c" "grim -g \"$(slurp)\" - | wl-copy";
}

#Config Migrations

iNiR auto-migrates config on updates.

How it works:

  1. Update iNiR: ./setup update
  2. Setup detects config version
  3. Runs migration scripts
  4. Backs up old config
  5. Applies new defaults

Manual migration:

~code
./setup migrate

Rollback:

~code
./setup rollback

#User Modifications

Setup detects and preserves your changes.

Modified files are:

  • Backed up before updates
  • Not overwritten
  • Listed in update summary

Check your modifications:

~code
./setup my-changes

Integration

#Terminal Themes

Auto-sync terminal colors with shell theme.

Supported:

  • foot (auto-reload)
  • kitty (auto-reload)
  • alacritty (requires restart)
  • wezterm (auto-reload)
  • ghostty (auto-reload)
  • konsole (requires restart)

How it works:

  1. Change wallpaper or theme
  2. matugen generates colors
  3. Terminal config files updated
  4. Terminals reload (if supported)

#GTK/Qt Themes

Shell theme syncs with GTK/Qt apps.

Generated:

  • GTK 3/4 theme
  • Qt color scheme
  • Icon theme colors

Location: ~/.config/gtk-3.0/, ~/.config/gtk-4.0/

#Compositor Integration

Niri (Full Support)

  • Workspace overview
  • Window switcher
  • IPC integration
  • Minimize workaround
  • Screen cast toggle

Hyprland (Partial)

  • Most features work
  • Some Niri-specific features unavailable
  • Screen zoom (Hyprland-only)
  • Lock screen blur hack (Hyprland-only)

See Also

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Panel Families
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Modules