otter-dock

otter-dock is the Otter Shell application dock. Pinned and running icons sit on a layer-shell strip. Hover magnifies them. Part of the otter-shell metapackage.

Features

Pinned and running app icons (XDG icon lookup)
Drag pinned icons to reorder them. The order is saved in your config
Drop files (text/uri-list or GNOME copied-files) onto an icon to open them with that app
Hover magnification with configurable scale and radius. The layer grows so enlarged icons are not clipped
Auto-hide with a reveal delay and a two-pixel edge target
Window preview thumbnails when the compositor exposes ext_image_copy_capture
Wheel paging when an app has more preview windows than one popup page
Right-click: Open, New Window, focus a window, Quit, Keep in Dock / Remove from Dock
Click an active app to minimize it. Badges show minimized window counts

Pinned icons stay in the pinned region. Running-only icons sit after the separator.

Usage

otter-dock

Run it as a session daemon. Autostart it the same way you start otter-bar. See Session setup for Hyprland, Sway, and Niri spawn examples. Needs zwlr_layer_shell_v1. Previews use ext_image_copy_capture when the compositor provides it. Icons still work without that protocol. Hover previews do not.

Configuration

Config: ~/.config/otter-shell/otter-dock.conf

The Dock tab in otter-settings writes the same file.

Key settings:

position = bottom
auto_hide = false
auto_hide_delay = 500
show_on = all
show_on_tags =
icon_size = 48
magnification_enabled = true
magnification_scale = 200
magnification_radius = 3
pinned_apps = firefox,kitty,nautilus
launch_animation = pulse
middle_click_action = close

Key	Meaning
`position`	`bottom`, `left`, or `right`
`auto_hide`	Hide until you hit the edge. Default off
`auto_hide_delay`	Hide delay in milliseconds. Default 500
`show_on`	`all` (every output), `floating` (floating layouts only), or `tags` (see `show_on_tags`)
`show_on_tags`	Comma-separated tags. Used when `show_on = tags`
`icon_size`	Icon pixel size. Default 48
`magnification_scale`	Hover scale as a percent. Default 200
`magnification_radius`	How many neighbouring icons grow with the hovered one. Default 3
`pinned_apps`	Comma-separated desktop ids
`launch_animation`	`pulse` or `none`
`middle_click_action`	`close` or `none`

Omit color keys to inherit from theme.conf. Saving the theme updates dock colours without editing otter-dock.conf.

Dependencies

Wayland compositor with zwlr_layer_shell_v1
Window previews need ext_image_copy_capture when you want thumbnails

Get Started

Desktop Shell

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Productivity

Utilities

Gaming

Configuration

Features

Usage

Configuration

Dependencies

​Features

​Usage

​Configuration

​Dependencies

Features

Usage

Configuration

Dependencies