Mewline

Mewline is an elegant, extensible status bar for the Meowrch distribution, written in Python using the Fabric framework. It combines a minimalist design with powerful functionality, supporting both Hyprland and bspwm window managers.

🌟 Key Features

Multi-monitor Support

Automatically deploys the panel across all detected displays (currently implemented for Hyprland).

Dynamic Island

An interactive popup area with launcher, bluetooth, network, wallpapers, clipboard, and more.

Privacy Dots

Visual indicators that light up in real time when apps access your microphone, camera, geolocation, or screen recording.

Modular Architecture

Every component is configurable via a JSON config file — enable, disable, and tweak each module independently.

• Hyprland and bspwm support — full integration with modern tiling window managers
• Theme support — integrates tightly with the Pawlette theme system
• Animated transitions and effects — smooth, polished UI interactions
• Low resource usage — lightweight Python process with minimal footprint
• Keyboard control — control Dynamic Island panels via configurable keybindings

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⚡ Installation

AUR (recommended)

1. Install Mewline from AUR

   yay -S mewline

2. Generate the default configuration

   mewline --generate-default-config

3. Generate Hyprland keybindings (optional, Hyprland only)

   mewline --create-keybindings

4. Edit the configuration file

   micro ~/.config/mewline/config.json

5. Run Mewline

   mewline

From source (developers)

1. Install system dependencies

   # Core packages
   sudo pacman -S dart-sass tesseract tesseract-data-eng tesseract-data-rus slurp grim cliphist
   
   # AUR packages
   yay -S gnome-bluetooth-3.0 gray-git fabric-cli-git

2. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/meowrch/mewline && cd mewline

3. Install the uv package manager

   pip install uv
   # or via pacman:
   sudo pacman -S uv

4. Install Python dependencies

   uv sync

5. Generate the default configuration

   uv run generate_default_config

6. Generate Hyprland keybindings (optional)

   uv run create_keybindings

7. Edit the configuration file

   micro ~/.config/mewline/config.json

8. Run Mewline

   uv run mewline

Autostart

To start Mewline automatically with Hyprland, add the following line to your ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf:

exec-once = mewline

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🔄 Updating

AUR package

yay -Syu mewline

After updating, restart Mewline:

pkill -f mewline && mewline &

From source

cd mewline
git pull origin main
uv sync

Then restart Mewline:

pkill -f mewline && uv run mewline &

Config after update

Mewline uses a resilient configuration system. If a new update adds fields that are missing from your existing config, they will be automatically filled with defaults — your settings will not be lost.

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🎨 Widgets & Modules

Mewline is split into three groups of components: the Status Bar, the Dynamic Island, and Other utilities.

ℹ️ Status Bar

These widgets appear directly on the status bar:

Module	Description
tray	System tray for background applications
workspaces	Workspace switcher and indicator
datetime	Date and time display
combined_controls	Combined control group: sound, brightness, and Privacy Dots
language	Current keyboard layout indicator
battery	Battery charge level and status
power	Button that opens the power_menu in Dynamic Island
ocr	Capture a screenshot region and extract text via Tesseract OCR

🏝 Dynamic Island

The Dynamic Island is the interactive popup layer. Each panel can be opened via a keybinding:

Module	Description	Keybinding
compact	Shows the active window title and currently playing music	—
notifications	Live system notifications	—
power_menu	Power management menu (lock, suspend, logout, reboot, shutdown)	Super+Alt+P
date_notification	Calendar and notification history	Super+Alt+D
bluetooth	Bluetooth device manager	Super+Alt+B
app_launcher	Application launcher	Super+Alt+A
wallpapers	Wallpaper picker (uses swww)	Super+Alt+W
emoji	Emoji picker	Super+Alt+.
clipboard	Clipboard history manager (uses cliphist)	Super+Alt+V
network	Wi-Fi and Ethernet manager	Super+Alt+N
workspaces	Open windows and workspaces overview	Super+Alt+Tab

Keybindings

If you haven’t generated Hyprland keybindings yet, run:

mewline --create-keybindings

This will automatically add all Dynamic Island keybindings to your Hyprland config.

❓ Other

Module	Description
osd	On-screen display overlay for volume and brightness change events

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⚙️ Configuration

The configuration file lives at ~/.config/mewline/config.json. You can generate the default config at any time:

mewline --generate-default-config

For a full reference of every option, module parameter, and a complete example config.json, see the dedicated configuration page:

Configuration Reference All config.json options, module parameters, and a full example configuration.