dotfiles/.memory/research/waybar-pomodoro-not-showing.md

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title	type	permalink	tags
waybar-pomodoro-not-showing	note	dotfiles/research/waybar-pomodoro-not-showing	waybar pomodoro debugging risk

Waybar Pomodoro Not Showing — Research Findings

Scope

Investigation of why custom/pomodoro does not appear on the Waybar status bar. Files inspected: .config/waybar/config, .config/waybar/style.css, .config/waybar/scripts/pomodoro-preset.sh.

Module Wiring (as configured)

modules-left (config line 5–9)

"modules-left": [
  "backlight",
  "wireplumber",
  "custom/pomodoro",
],

custom/pomodoro IS present in modules-left.

custom/pomodoro definition (config lines 133–140)

"custom/pomodoro": {
  "format": "{}",
  "return-type": "json",
  "exec": "waybar-module-pomodoro --no-work-icons",
  "on-click": "waybar-module-pomodoro toggle",
  "on-click-right": "$HOME/.config/waybar/scripts/pomodoro-preset.sh",
  "on-click-middle": "waybar-module-pomodoro reset",
},

CSS selector (style.css lines 106–109)

#custom-pomodoro {
    padding: 0 4px;
    color: @red;
}

Selector is correct and present.

Script (scripts/pomodoro-preset.sh)

• Guarded by command -v waybar-module-pomodoro check (exits 1 if not installed).
• Sets work/short/long durations via waybar-module-pomodoro set-* subcommands.
• Toggle cycles between preset A (50/10/20) and preset B (25/5/15).
• Script itself is logically correct.

---

Root Cause Analysis (ranked by confidence)

🔴 #1 — waybar-module-pomodoro binary not installed / not on PATH (confidence: ~90%)

• The exec command is waybar-module-pomodoro --no-work-icons — a bare binary name, resolved from PATH at Waybar launch time.
• Waybar inherits the environment of its launcher (Hyprland exec-once), which may NOT include the user's shell PATH (~/.local/bin, /usr/local/bin, etc.).
• fish/config.fish adds /home/alex/dotfiles/.local/bin to PATH, but that is only set in interactive Fish sessions — Hyprland's exec-once does not source Fish config.
• No package manager manifest, AUR package list, or install script mentions waybar-module-pomodoro.
• When exec fails to start, Waybar hides the module entirely (no fallback text) — the module disappears silently.
• This is the most likely cause. Verify with: which waybar-module-pomodoro in a non-Fish shell, or check journalctl --user -u waybar for "Failed to execute".

🟠 #2 — interval key absent on custom/pomodoro (confidence: ~65%)

• custom/pomodoro has NO interval key. For a persistent daemon (waybar-module-pomodoro runs and writes JSON to stdout continuously), this is correct — Waybar treats it as a long-lived subprocess.
• BUT if the binary is supposed to be polled (not a persistent daemon), missing interval means Waybar will only run it once and never refresh.
• The return-type: json combined with no interval means Waybar expects the binary to continuously emit newline-delimited JSON to stdout. If the binary only emits once and exits, the module will show blank after the first read.
• This is a secondary cause contingent on what waybar-module-pomodoro actually does. If it is a daemon that stays alive, #1 is the only blocker; if it exits after one line, interval is needed.

🟡 #3 — Binary exists but crashes on --no-work-icons flag (confidence: ~25%)

• The --no-work-icons flag may not be a valid flag for the installed version of waybar-module-pomodoro.
• An unrecognized flag causing the binary to exit with a non-zero code would suppress the module.
• Check: waybar-module-pomodoro --help or waybar-module-pomodoro --no-work-icons manually.

🟡 #4 — Config JSON parse failure (confidence: ~15%)

• The config uses tab-indented lines (lines 134–139 use \t) while the rest uses spaces — mixed indentation is cosmetically inconsistent but does NOT cause JSON parse errors.
• Waybar's parser accepts JSON5/hjson (trailing commas, // comments) — both are used in this config and are fine.
• No structural JSON error was found in the config.

⚪ #5 — Hyprland not auto-starting Waybar at all (confidence: ~10%)

• If exec-once=waybar in hyprland.conf is missing or commented out, the bar won't show at all (not just the pomodoro module). Not specific to this module.

---

Concrete Edit Points

Fix #1 (most likely): Ensure binary is installed and PATH is set in Waybar launch environment

Option A — Install the binary system-wide: Install waybar-module-pomodoro via your package manager (e.g. paru -S waybar-module-pomodoro on Arch) so it is in /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin, which is always in Waybar's inherited PATH.

Option B — Use absolute path in config:

- "exec": "waybar-module-pomodoro --no-work-icons",
- "on-click": "waybar-module-pomodoro toggle",
- "on-click-middle": "waybar-module-pomodoro reset",
+ "exec": "$HOME/.local/bin/waybar-module-pomodoro --no-work-icons",
+ "on-click": "$HOME/.local/bin/waybar-module-pomodoro toggle",
+ "on-click-middle": "$HOME/.local/bin/waybar-module-pomodoro reset",

File: .config/waybar/config, lines 136–139.

Option C — Set PATH in Hyprland env (preferred for Wayland): Add to .config/hypr/hyprland.conf:

env = PATH,$HOME/.local/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin

Fix #2 (if binary is a one-shot, not a daemon): Add interval key

"custom/pomodoro": {
  "format": "{}",
  "return-type": "json",
+ "interval": 1,
  "exec": "waybar-module-pomodoro --no-work-icons",

File: .config/waybar/config, line 134 (insert after "return-type": "json",).

---

Files Involved

File	Role
.config/waybar/config	Module registration in modules-left, custom/pomodoro definition
.config/waybar/style.css	#custom-pomodoro CSS selector (present, correct)
.config/waybar/scripts/pomodoro-preset.sh	Right-click preset toggler (calls binary)
.config/hypr/hyprland.conf	Waybar autostart + env block (outside Waybar dir)
waybar-module-pomodoro binary	External binary — must be installed and on PATH

---

Likely Bug Surfaces (Adjacent Risk Areas)

1. custom/uptime (config line 89–95): Also uses a bare script path $HOME/.config/waybar/scripts/uptime.sh. Same PATH-at-launch issue could affect it if shell env is not inherited. The script exists in the repo (scripts/ dir shows only pomodoro-preset.sh) — uptime.sh is missing from the repo, meaning this module may also be broken.
2. custom/music (config line 44–52): Uses playerctl — same PATH issue; no playerctl install evidence in the repo.
3. hyprland/workspaces (config line 22–28): Defined in config but NOT in any of modules-left, modules-center, or modules-right — it is a dead definition that never renders.
4. custom/lock (config line 127–131): Defined but also absent from all three module lists — another dead definition.
5. network (config line 60–68): Defined but not in any module list — dead definition.
6. Trailing comma on line 8 of modules-left: Benign in Waybar's parser but would break standard JSON parsers if config is ever processed by tools expecting strict JSON.

Relations

• related_to dotfiles/knowledge