3 Automatically select a display configuration based on connected devices
7 This is a compatible Python rewrite of
8 [wertarbyte/autorandr](https://github.com/wertarbyte/autorandr). Contributions
9 for bash-completion, fd.o/XDG autostart, Nitrogen, pm-utils, and systemd can be
10 found under [contrib](contrib/).
12 The original [wertarbyte/autorandr](https://github.com/wertarbyte/autorandr)
13 tree is unmaintained, with lots of open pull requests and issues. I forked it
14 and merged what I thought were the most important changes. If you are searching
15 for that version, see the [`legacy` branch](https://github.com/phillipberndt/autorandr/tree/legacy).
16 Note that the Python version is better suited for non-standard configurations,
17 like if you use `--transform` or `--reflect`. If you use `auto-disper`, you
18 have to use the bash version, as there is no disper support in the Python
19 version (yet). Both versions use a compatible configuration file format, so
20 you can, to some extent, switch between them. I will maintain the `legacy`
21 branch until @wertarbyte finds the time to maintain his branch again.
23 If you are interested in why there are two versions around, see
24 [#7](https://github.com/phillipberndt/autorandr/issues/7),
25 [#8](https://github.com/phillipberndt/autorandr/issues/8) and
27 [#12](https://github.com/phillipberndt/autorandr/issues/12)
28 if you are unhappy with this version and would like to contribute to the bash
31 ## License information and authors
33 autorandr is available under the terms of the GNU General Public License
36 Contributors to this version of autorandr are:
44 * Christophe-Marie Duquesne
51 * Rasmus Wriedt Larsen
62 ## Installation/removal
64 You can use the `autorandr.py` script as a stand-alone binary. If you'd like to
65 install it as a system-wide application, there is a Makefile included that also
66 places some configuration files in appropriate directories such that autorandr
67 is invoked automatically when a monitor is connected or removed, the system
68 wakes up from suspend, or a user logs into an X11 session. Run `make install`
69 as root to install it.
71 If you prefer to have a system wide install managed by your package manager,
74 * Use the [official Arch package](https://www.archlinux.org/packages/community/any/autorandr/).
75 * Use the [official Debian package](https://packages.debian.org/sid/x11/autorandr) on sid
76 * Use the [ebuild from zugaina](https://gpo.zugaina.org/x11-misc/autorandr) on Gentoo.
78 [nix package](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/nixos/modules/services/misc/autorandr.nix)
80 * Use the automated nightlies generated by the
81 [openSUSE build service](https://build.opensuse.org/package/show/home:phillipberndt/autorandr)
82 for various distributions (RPM and DEB based).
83 * Use the [X binary package system](https://wiki.voidlinux.eu/XBPS)' on Void Linux
84 * Build a .deb-file from the source tree using `make deb`.
85 * Build a .rpm-file from the source tree using `make rpm`.
87 We appreciate packaging scripts for other distributions, please file a pull
88 request if you write one.
90 If you prefer `pip` over your package manager, you can install autorandr with:
92 sudo pip install "git+http://github.com/phillipberndt/autorandr#egg=autorandr"
96 sudo pip install autorandr
98 if you prefer to use a stable version.
102 Save your current display configuration and setup with:
104 autorandr --save mobile
106 Connect an additional display, configure your setup and save it:
108 autorandr --save docked
110 Now autorandr can detect which hardware setup is active:
116 To automatically reload your setup:
120 To manually load a profile:
122 $ autorandr --load <profile>
126 $ autorandr <profile>
128 autorandr tries to avoid reloading an identical configuration. To force the
131 $ autorandr --load <profile> --force
133 To prevent a profile from being loaded, place a script call _block_ in its
134 directory. The script is evaluated before the screen setup is inspected, and
135 in case of it returning a value of 0 the profile is skipped. This can be used
136 to query the status of a docking station you are about to leave.
138 If no suitable profile can be identified, the current configuration is kept.
139 To change this behaviour and switch to a fallback configuration, specify
140 `--default <profile>`. The system-wide installation of autorandr by default
141 calls autorandr with a parameter `--default default`. There are three special,
142 virtual configurations called `horizontal`, `vertical` and `common`. They
143 automatically generate a configuration that incorporates all screens
144 connected to the computer. You can symlink `default` to one of these
145 names in your configuration directory to have autorandr use any of them
146 as the default configuration without you having to change the system-wide
149 You can store default values for any option in an INI-file in
150 `~/.config/autorandr/settings.ini` in a section `config`. The most useful
151 candidate for doing that is `skip-options`, if you need it.
157 Three more scripts can be placed in the configuration directory
158 (as defined by the [XDG spec](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html),
159 usually `~/.config/autorandr` or `~/.autorandr` if you have an old installation
160 for user configuration and `/etc/xdg/autorandr` for system wide configuration):
162 - `postswitch` is executed *after* a mode switch has taken place. This can be
163 used to notify window managers or other applications about the switch.
164 - `preswitch` is executed *before* a mode switch takes place.
165 - `postsave` is executed after a profile was stored or altered.
166 - `predetect` is executed before autorandr attempts to run xrandr.
168 These scripts must be executable and can be placed directly in the configuration
169 directory, where they will always be executed, or in the profile subdirectories,
170 where they will only be executed on changes regarding that specific profile.
172 Instead (or in addition) to these scripts, you can also place as many executable
173 files as you like in subdirectories called `script_name.d` (e.g. `postswitch.d`).
175 If a script with the same name occurs multiple times, user configuration
176 takes precedence over system configuration (as specified by the
177 [XDG spec](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html))
178 and profile configuration over general configuration.
180 As a concrete example, suppose you have the files
182 - `/etc/xdg/autorandr/postswitch`
183 - `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch`
184 - `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch.d/notify-herbstluftwm`
185 - `~/.config/autorandr/docked/postswitch`
187 and switch from `mobile` to `docked`. Then
188 `~/.config/autorandr/docked/postswitch` is executed, since the profile specific
189 configuration takes precedence, and
190 `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch.d/notify-herbstluftwm` is executed, since
191 it has a unique name.
193 If you switch back from `docked` to `mobile`, `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch`
194 is executed instead of the `mobile` specific `postswitch`.
196 In these scripts, some of autorandr's state is exposed as environment variables
197 prefixed with `AUTORANDR_`, such as:
198 - `AUTORANDR_CURRENT_PROFILE`
199 - `AUTORANDR_CURRENT_PROFILES`
200 - `AUTORANDR_PROFILE_FOLDER`
201 - `AUTORANDR_MONITORS`
203 If you experience issues with xrandr being executed too early after connecting
204 a new monitor, then you can use a `predetect` script to delay the execution.
205 Write e.g. `sleep 1` into that file to make autorandr wait a second before
208 ### Wildcard EDID matching
210 The EDID strings in the `~/.config/autorandr/*/setup` files may contain an
211 asterisk to enable wildcard matching: Such EDIDs are matched against connected
212 monitors using the usual file name globbing rules. This can be used to create
213 profiles matching multiple (or any) monitors.
217 **autorandr 1.9 (dev)**
219 * *2019-03-24* Fix handling of recently disconnected outputs (See #128 and #143)
223 * *2019-03-18* Removed mandb call from Makefile
227 * *2019-02-17* Add an X11 daemon that runs autorandr when a display connects (by @rliou92, #127)
228 * *2019-02-17* Replace width=0 check with disconnected to detect disconnected monitors (by @joseph-jones, #139)
229 * *2019-02-17* Fix handling of empty padding (by @jschwab, #138)
230 * *2019-02-17* Add a man page (by @somers-all-the-time, #133)
234 * *2018-09-25* Fix FB size computation with rotated screens (by @Janno, #117)
238 * *2018-04-19* Bugfix: Do not load default profile unless --change is set
239 * *2018-04-30* Added a `AUTORANDR_MONITORS` variable to hooks (by @bricewge, #106)
240 * *2018-06-29* Fix detection of current configuration if extra monitors are active
241 * *2018-07-11* Bugfix in the latest change: Correctly handle "off" minitors when comparing
242 * *2018-07-19* Do not kill spawned user processes from systemd unit
243 * *2018-07-20* Correctly handle "off" monitors when comparing -- fixup for another bug.
247 * *2018-01-03* Add --version
248 * *2018-01-04* Fixed vertical/horizontal/clone-largest virtual profiles
249 * *2018-03-07* Output all non-error messages to stdout instead of stderr
250 * *2018-03-25* Add --detected and --current to filter the profile list output
251 * *2018-03-25* Allow wildcard matching in EDIDs
255 * *2017-12-22* Fixed broken virtual profile support
256 * *2017-12-14* Added support for a settings file
257 * *2017-12-14* Added a virtual profile `off`, which disables all screens
261 * *2017-11-13* Add a short form for `--load`
262 * *2017-11-21* Fix environment stealing in `--batch` mode (See #87)
266 * *2017-07-16* Skip `--panning` unless it is required (See #72)
267 * *2017-10-13* Add `clone-largest` virtual profile
271 * *2017-06-07* Call systemctl with `--no-block` from udev rule (See #61)
272 * *2017-01-20* New script hook, `predetect`
273 * *2017-01-18* Accept comments (lines starting with `#`) in config/setup files
277 * *2016-12-07* Tag the current code as version 1.0.0; see github issue #54
278 * *2016-10-03* Install a desktop file to `/etc/xdg/autostart` by default