Display the active keyboard layout in waybar

[yuters]

2025-07-09_22-06-51.mp4

If you have not yet setup your keyboard layouts, please look at this FAQ first:
https://manuals.omamix.org/2/the-omarchy-manual/67/faq#how-do-i-switch-between-keyboard-layouts

Now edit your ~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc file, and add the new module.

...
"modules-right": [
  "hyprland/language",
  ...
],
"hyprland/language": {
  "format": "{}",
  "format-en": "US",
  "format-ca(fr)": "FR-CA"
}
...

Your country code and/or language format in the key name "format-{code}" must be the same as you previously set.

Now change the ~/.config/waybar/style.css to include:

...,
#language {
  min-width: 12px;
  margin: 0 7.5px;
}

Then restart waybar and here you go!

pkill waybar && hyprctl dispatch exec waybar

[yuters]

You can also switch keyboard by adding this on-click command:

"hyprland/language": {
  "format": "{}",
  "format-en": "US",
  "format-ca(fr)": "FR-CA",
+ "on-click": "hyprctl switchxkblayout your-keyboard-name-here next"
}

You can find your keyboard name by running hyprctl devices

[marcinczenko]

I see that a .bak file is created - thus, that's probably enough for now. Perhaps pulling those settings from kb_layout in ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf could be even nicer.

[yuters]

I'm sure there will eventually be a better way to handle migrations since this issue is often mentioned. In the meantime you could track the files with git.

[AllTradesz]

For those who may want cycling between the US and US-INTL keyboard setups, this is what I got to work..
hyprland.conf:

input {
  # Use multiple keyboard layouts and switch between them with Alt + Space
  kb_layout = us,us  #PR: layout count needs to match variant count 
  kb_variant = intl,  #PR: added line per Grok suggestion; here making the default 'intl'
  kb_options = grp:alt_space_toggle
  ...
  }

~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc:

  "hyprland/language":  {
  "format": "{}",
  "format-en": "US", 
  "format-en-intl": "US-INTL",  //PR: not sure why "en" and not "us" to match the format in hyprland.conf
  "on-click": "hyprctl switchxkblayout <your-kb-device-name> next"
}

[jadesro]

Thanks for posting this exact solution for us.

To address the issue where waybar/config.jsonc gets overwritten during an Omarchy update, I ended up adding

killall waybar; waybar -c ~/.config/waybar/config.personal.jsonc &

to my .bashrc.

[kromsam]

would it be possible to change the layout for all connected keyboards, instead of having to hardcode one in? i sometimes switch keyboards..

[bragmore]

Why is this working only when a terminal is open on the same window? it does not work if the terminal is closed however. Any solution to this?

[yuters]

I do not have this issue, did you notice this on a fresh install?
Maybe try using another shortcut like grp:ctrl_space_toggle in your input config.

[zxpower]

For non-English speakers who are looking for various possible layouts and their variants localectl comes to the rescue:

• localectl list-x11-keymap-layouts - gives you layouts (~100 on modern systems)
• localectl list-x11-keymap-variants lv gives you variants for choosen layout (or all variants if no layout specified, ~300 on modern systems)
• localectl list-x11-keymap-options | grep grp: - gives you all layout switching options

[subsy]

For some reason with my UK keyboard I couldn't get waybar to dynamically update on toggling the layout.
I didn't really need custom display so went with the following simpler option which works beautifully:

"hyprland/language": {
    "format": "{short}",
    "on-click": "hyprctl switchxkblayout <your-kb-device-name> next"
}

[yaroslavrick]

Awesome. I wish this would be initial configuration after install omarchy

[Ratko-Solaja]

Building on top of what all of you wonderful people have already written. Here's how I added what the current language is in my waybar. When you switch the language it automatically changes in the waybar.

In my .config/hypr/input.conf I have the following:

input {
  kb_layout = us,rs,rs
  kb_variant =  ,latin,
  kb_options = compose:caps,grp:alts_toggle
  ...
}

Then in my .config/waybar/config.jsonc:

{
  ...
  "modules-center": [
    "custom/language",
    ...
  ],
  ...
  "custom/language": {
    "exec": "~/.config/waybar/scripts/get_keyboard_layout.sh",
    "interval": 1,
    "tooltip": false,
  },
  ...
}

Finally, here's my "get_keyboard_layout.sh" script (you need to make it as an executable using chmod +x:

#!/bin/bash

ACTIVE_INDEX=$(hyprctl devices -j | jq -r '.keyboards[] | select(.main == true) | .active_layout_index // -1')

ACTIVE_INDEX_STR="$ACTIVE_INDEX"

CURRENT_LAYOUT="?"
DISPLAY_TEXT="?"

case "$ACTIVE_INDEX_STR" in
    "0")
        # Index 0: us
        CURRENT_LAYOUT="us"
        DISPLAY_TEXT="EN"
        ;;
    "1")
        # Index 1: rs,rs (variant latin)
        CURRENT_LAYOUT="rs_latin"
        DISPLAY_TEXT="SR"
        ;;
    "2")
        # Index 2: rs,rs (variant cyrillic - default)
        CURRENT_LAYOUT="rs_cyrillic"
        DISPLAY_TEXT="СР"
        ;;
    *)
        # Catch any unexpected index or fallback
        CURRENT_LAYOUT="?"
        DISPLAY_TEXT="?"
        ;;
esac

echo "$DISPLAY_TEXT"

echo "class:$CURRENT_LAYOUT"

Here's how that looks like:

[zdehasek]

@Ratko-Solaja Thanks a lot!

Works!

[Naetholix]

Hey, so I included the additions - exactly as provided - to my config.jsonc and updated my style.css to reflect the aesthetics I have for my setup, but the new element doesn't seem to follow the formatting. No matter what I change my formats to, it always defaults to "English (US)" or "French (Canada)."

I'd prefer for them to be shorthand, like "EN," and "FR." I removed all references to "formatting" and the Waybar element behaves the same way. I'm thinking that "format-ca": "FR", is simply being ignored by Waybar and it's settling on defaults. Any input on how I can get it to behave the way I'm trying to?

[yaubara]

i use LLM btw.

Made Instant Keyboard Layout Indicator for Waybar

Description: This configuration is an optimized version of the setup discussed in this thread. It ensures near-instantaneous updates of the keyboard layout indicator by utilizing signal-based triggers instead of polling.

---

1. Waybar Configuration

File: ~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc

"modules-center": [
    "clock",
    "custom/update",
    "custom/language",
    "custom/screenrecording-indicator"
],

"custom/language": {
    "exec": "~/.config/waybar/scripts/get_keyboard_layout.sh",
    "tooltip": false,
    "return-type": "json",
    "restart-interval": 1,
    "signal": 1
}

File: ~/.config/waybar/style.css

#custom-language {
    margin-left: 8px;
}

#custom-language.ru {
    /* Style for Russian layout */
}

#custom-language.en {
    /* Style for English layout */
}

---

2. Script Implementation

File: ~/.config/waybar/scripts/get_keyboard_layout.sh

#!/bin/bash

output() {
    # Small delay to ensure Hyprland updates the state before we query it
    sleep 0.1
    
    # Get the active layout index using hyprctl
    ACTIVE_INDEX=$(hyprctl devices -j | jq -r '.keyboards[] | select(.main == true) | .active_layout_index // -1')

    case "$ACTIVE_INDEX" in
        0)
            DISPLAY_TEXT="🇺🇸"
            CLASS="en"
            ;;
        1)
            DISPLAY_TEXT="🇷🇺"
            CLASS="ru"
            ;;
        *)
            DISPLAY_TEXT="??"
            CLASS="unknown"
            ;;
    esac

    printf '{"text":"%s","class":"%s"}\n' "$DISPLAY_TEXT" "$CLASS"
}

# Initial output
output

# Listen for the SIGRTMIN+1 signal
trap 'output' SIGRTMIN+1

while true; do
    sleep infinity & wait $!
done

---

3. Hyprland Key Bindings

Add these lines to your ~/.config/hypr/keybindings.conf (or your dedicated bindings configuration file) to trigger the update on layout change.

# Trigger layout update in Waybar on shift+alt toggle
bindn = SHIFT, Alt_L, exec, pkill -f -SIGRTMIN+1 get_keyboard_layout.sh
bindn = ALT, Shift_L, exec, pkill -f -SIGRTMIN+1 get_keyboard_layout.sh

---

4. How It Works

1. Initialization: Waybar launches get_keyboard_layout.sh at startup.
2. Communication: The script outputs the current layout in JSON format (including a CSS class for styling).
3. Signal Handling: When you press the layout toggle keys, Hyprland sends a SIGRTMIN+1 signal to the script.
4. Instant Update: Upon receiving the signal, the script immediately re-calculates the layout and prints the new JSON, forcing Waybar to update the UI without delay.