> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.otter-shell.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# otter-bar

> Status bar for workspaces, tray, volume, MPRIS, battery, and other widgets.

`otter-bar` is the Otter Shell status bar. Anchors to the top or bottom of each output via `zwlr_layer_shell_v1`. Reloads config and theme without a restart.

## Features

* Workspace indicator and switcher (otter-tag, Mango/dwl IPC, ext-workspace)
* Active window title with icon
* Clock with timezone-aware formatting and date tooltip
* Battery via UPower (auto-hides when no battery)
* Brightness from `/sys/class/backlight/`
* Power profiles (power-profiles-daemon / tuned-ppd)
* CPU, temperature, memory, and network widgets
* Volume via PipeWire with scroll-to-adjust and device popup
* MPRIS media player with album art
* System tray (StatusNotifierItem) with context menus
* Custom button widgets with icon and command support
* HiDPI scaling per output

## Usage

```bash theme={null}
otter-bar
```

Add to compositor autostart: see [Session setup](/desktop/session-setup).

The menu button runs `otter-launcher` by default. Change it with `button_menu_command`.

## Configuration

Config: `~/.config/otter-shell/otter-bar.conf` (fallback: `/etc/otter-shell/otter-bar.conf`). Created on first run.

<Tip>
  Drag widgets in [otter-settings](/desktop/otter-settings) instead of editing layout strings.
</Tip>

Key settings:

```conf theme={null}
general_height = 32
general_position = top
general_padding = 8

# Comma-separated widget layout (left to right)
layout_left = workspaces, title
layout_center =
layout_right = tray, mpris, volume, clock, battery, button_menu

# Launcher button
button_menu_command = otter-launcher
```

Widget color fields are optional. Omit them to inherit from [theme.conf](/configuration/themes). Saving `theme.conf` updates bar widget colors without editing `otter-bar.conf`.

### Weather widget

Add `weather` to a layout section, then run the cache watcher:

```bash theme={null}
otter-weather --watch 900 --write-cache &
```

Set coordinates in `~/.config/otter-shell/otter-weather.conf`. See [otter-weather](/apps/otter-weather).

### Calendar popover

Point the clock widget at [otter-cal](/apps/otter-cal):

```conf theme={null}
clock_calendar_command = otter-cal --layer
```

## Dependencies

* Wayland compositor with `zwlr_layer_shell_v1`
* D-Bus (UPower, MPRIS, system tray): disable with `-Denable_dbus=false` at build time
* PipeWire (volume widget): disable with `-Denable_pipewire=false` at build time