Dynamic Niri Scratchpad

Dynamically assign windows as scratchpads against a numerical register.

Setup

niri-scratchpad ( as of version 1.0 ) is a running process that lives in memory.

spawn-sh-at-startup "niri-scratchpad daemon"

You will need a static workspace called stash declared somewhere in you niri config. This will be where all stashed scratchpads live.

workspace "stash" {
    open-on-output "DP-1" // Your output name, or just omit this property entirely
}

For binding to a keybind you would do:

binds {
    Mod+Q            { spawn "niri-scratchpad" "create" "1"; }
}

• This will take the currently focused window and bind it to niri-scratchpad register 1.
• Pressing this keybind again will toggle stashing and unstashing the window when this command is reran.

A separate command is available for removing a scratchpad at a particular register.

binds {
    Mod+Ctrl+Q            { spawn "niri-scratchpad" "delete" "1"; }
}

• Delete scratchpad at register 1
• This register will now be available again for the niri-scratchpad create 1 command

Command interface:

• niri-scratchpad daemon Start the niri-scratchpad daemon ( I advise to have niri run this command on startup )
• niri-scratchpad create <scratchpad_number>
  • Info: create OR summon a scratchpad window at <scratchpad_number>
  • options
    • -o, --output [title, appid]
    • --as-float
• niri-scratchpad delete <scratchpad_number>
  • Info: delete a scratchpad at <scratchpad_number>.
    this deleted scratchpad will have its window summoned to curent workspace
  • options
    • -o, --output [title, appid]
• niri-scratchpad get <scratchpad_number> [title, appid]
• help

--output provides the property to standard out after command execution.
--as-float during new scratchpad registration to a window, also put that window into floating mode.

Installation

It's just a rust binary:
for x86_64 I provide the executable directly. Download it, put it somewhere at chmod +x niri-scratchpad. Then run it with the options to use it.

Building

Dependencies:

• rust
• cargo
• niri_ipc
• serde
• clap

Nix (flakes)

inputs {
    niri-scratchpad.url = "github:argosnothing/niri-scratchpad";
}

To put it in your path on nix:

    environment.systemPackages = [
      inputs.niri-scratchpad.packages.${pkgs.system}.default
    ];

Extra Resources for scratchpads in niri

• Static scratchpads you can bind with a spawn command gvolpe
• niri scratchpad discussion