2 Automatically select a display configuration based on connected devices
6 This is a compatible Python rewrite of
7 [wertarbyte/autorandr](https://github.com/wertarbyte/autorandr). Contributions for bash-completion, fd.o/XDG autostart, Nitrogen, pm-utils, and systemd can be found under [contrib](contrib/).
9 The original [wertarbyte/autorandr](https://github.com/wertarbyte/autorandr)
10 tree is unmaintained, with lots of open pull requests and issues. I forked it
11 and merged what I thought were the most important changes. If you are searching
12 for that version, see the [`legacy` branch](https://github.com/phillipberndt/autorandr/tree/legacy).
13 Note that the Python version is better suited for non-standard configurations,
14 like if you use `--transform` or `--reflect`. If you use `auto-disper`, you
15 have to use the bash version, as there is no disper support in the Python
16 version (yet). Both versions use a compatible configuration file format, so
17 you can, to some extent, switch between them. I will maintain the `legacy`
18 branch until @wertarbyte finds the time to maintain his branch again.
20 If you are interested in why there are two versions around, see
21 [#7](https://github.com/phillipberndt/autorandr/issues/7),
22 [#8](https://github.com/phillipberndt/autorandr/issues/8) and
24 [#12](https://github.com/phillipberndt/autorandr/issues/12)
25 if you are unhappy with this version and would like to contibute to the bash
28 ## License information and authors
30 autorandr is available under the terms of the GNU General Public License
33 Contributors to this version of autorandr are:
45 * Rasmus Wriedt Larsen
55 ## Installation/removal
56 You can use the `autorandr.py` script as a stand-alone binary. If you'd like to
57 install it as a system-wide application, there is a Makefile included that also
58 places some configuration files in appropriate directories such that autorandr
59 is invoked automatically when a monitor is connected or removed, the system
60 wakes up from suspend, or a user logs into an X11 session.
62 For Debian-based distributions (including Ubuntu) it is recommended to call
63 `make deb` to obtain a package that can be installed and removed with `dpkg`.
65 On Arch Linux, there is [an aur package
66 available](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/autorandr-git/).
68 autorandr is also packaged in the [nix package manager](https://nixos.org/nix/)
71 On other distributions you can install autorandr by calling `make install` and
72 remove it by calling `make uninstall`. Run `make` without arguments to obtain a
73 list of what exactly will be installed.
75 We appreciate packaging scripts for other distributions, please file a pull
76 request if you write one.
78 If you prefer `pip` over your package manager, you can install autorandr with:
80 sudo pip install "git+http://github.com/phillipberndt/autorandr#egg=autorandr"
84 sudo pip install autorandr
86 if you prefer to use a stable version.
88 Automatically generated packages versions are available from the
89 [openSUSE build service](https://build.opensuse.org/package/show/home:phillipberndt/autorandr).
93 Save your current display configuration and setup with:
95 autorandr --save mobile
97 Connect an additional display, configure your setup and save it:
99 autorandr --save docked
101 Now autorandr can detect which hardware setup is active:
107 To automatically reload your setup, just append `--change` to the command line
109 To manually load a profile, you can use the `--load <profile>` option.
111 autorandr tries to avoid reloading an identical configuration. To force the
112 (re)configuration, apply `--force`.
114 To prevent a profile from being loaded, place a script call _block_ in its
115 directory. The script is evaluated before the screen setup is inspected, and
116 in case of it returning a value of 0 the profile is skipped. This can be used
117 to query the status of a docking station you are about to leave.
119 If no suitable profile can be identified, the current configuration is kept.
120 To change this behaviour and switch to a fallback configuration, specify
121 `--default <profile>`. The system-wide installation of autorandr by default
122 calls autorandr with a parameter `--default default`. There are three special,
123 virtual configurations called `horizontal`, `vertical` and `common`. They
124 automatically generate a configuration that incorporates all screens
125 connected to the computer. You can symlink `default` to one of these
126 names in your configuration directory to have autorandr use any of them
127 as the default configuration without you having to change the system-wide
132 Three more scripts can be placed in the configuration directory (as
133 (as defined by the [XDG spec](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html),
134 usually `~/.config/autorandr` or `~/.autorandr` if you have an old installation
135 for user configuration and `/etc/xdg/autorandr` for system wide configuration):
137 - `postswitch` is executed *after* a mode switch has taken place. This can be
138 used to notify window managers or other applications about the switch.
139 - `preswitch` is executed *before* a mode switch takes place.
140 - `postsave` is executed after a profile was stored or altered.
141 - `predetect` is executed before autorandr attempts to run xrandr.
143 These scripts must be executable and can be placed directly in the configuration
144 directory, where they will always be executed, or in the profile subdirectories,
145 where they will only be executed on changes regarding that specific profile.
147 Instead (or in addition) to these scripts, you can also place as many executable
148 files as you like in subdirectories called `script_name.d` (e.g. `postswitch.d`).
150 If a script with the same name occurs multiple times, user configuration
151 takes precedence over system configuration (as specified by the
152 [XDG spec](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html))
153 and profile configuration over general configuration.
155 As a concrete example, suppose you have the files
157 - `/etc/xdg/autorandr/postswitch`
158 - `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch`
159 - `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch.d/notify-herbstluftwm`
160 - `~/.config/autorandr/docked/postswitch`
162 and switch from `mobile` to `docked`. Then
163 `~/.config/autorandr/docked/postswitch` is executed, since the profile specific
164 configuration takes precedence, and
165 `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch.d/notify-herbstluftwm` is executed, since
166 it has a unique name.
168 If you switch back from `docked` to `mobile`, `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch`
169 is executed instead of the `mobile` specific `postswitch`.
171 In these scripts, some of autorandr's state is exposed as environment variables
172 prefixed with `AUTORANDR_`. The most useful one is `$AUTORANDR_CURRENT_PROFILE`.
174 If you experience issues with xrandr being executed too early after connecting
175 a new monitor, then you can use a `predetect` script to delay the execution.
176 Write e.g. `sleep 1` into that file to make autorandr wait a second before
183 * *2017-07-16* Skip `--panning` unless it is required (See #72)
184 * *2017-10-13* Add `clone-largest` virtual profile
188 * *2017-06-07* Call systemctl with `--no-block` from udev rule (See #61)
189 * *2017-01-20* New script hook, `predetect`
190 * *2017-01-18* Accept comments (lines starting with `#`) in config/setup files
194 * *2016-12-07* Tag the current code as version 1.0.0; see github issue #54
195 * *2016-10-03* Install a desktop file to `/etc/xdg/autostart` by default