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:
49 * Rasmus Wriedt Larsen
59 ## Installation/removal
61 You can use the `autorandr.py` script as a stand-alone binary. If you'd like to
62 install it as a system-wide application, there is a Makefile included that also
63 places some configuration files in appropriate directories such that autorandr
64 is invoked automatically when a monitor is connected or removed, the system
65 wakes up from suspend, or a user logs into an X11 session.
67 For Debian-based distributions (including Ubuntu) it is recommended to call
68 `make deb` to obtain a package that can be installed and removed with `dpkg`.
70 On Arch Linux, there is [an aur package
71 available](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/autorandr-git/).
73 autorandr is also packaged in the [nix package manager](https://nixos.org/nix/)
76 On other distributions you can install autorandr by calling `make install` and
77 remove it by calling `make uninstall`. Run `make` without arguments to obtain a
78 list of what exactly will be installed.
80 We appreciate packaging scripts for other distributions, please file a pull
81 request if you write one.
83 If you prefer `pip` over your package manager, you can install autorandr with:
85 sudo pip install "git+http://github.com/phillipberndt/autorandr#egg=autorandr"
89 sudo pip install autorandr
91 if you prefer to use a stable version.
93 Automatically generated packages versions are available from the
94 [openSUSE build service](https://build.opensuse.org/package/show/home:phillipberndt/autorandr).
98 Save your current display configuration and setup with:
100 autorandr --save mobile
102 Connect an additional display, configure your setup and save it:
104 autorandr --save docked
106 Now autorandr can detect which hardware setup is active:
112 To automatically reload your setup:
116 To manually load a profile:
118 $ autorandr --load <profile>
122 $ autorandr <profile>
124 autorandr tries to avoid reloading an identical configuration. To force the
127 $ autorandr --load <profile> --force
129 To prevent a profile from being loaded, place a script call _block_ in its
130 directory. The script is evaluated before the screen setup is inspected, and
131 in case of it returning a value of 0 the profile is skipped. This can be used
132 to query the status of a docking station you are about to leave.
134 If no suitable profile can be identified, the current configuration is kept.
135 To change this behaviour and switch to a fallback configuration, specify
136 `--default <profile>`. The system-wide installation of autorandr by default
137 calls autorandr with a parameter `--default default`. There are three special,
138 virtual configurations called `horizontal`, `vertical` and `common`. They
139 automatically generate a configuration that incorporates all screens
140 connected to the computer. You can symlink `default` to one of these
141 names in your configuration directory to have autorandr use any of them
142 as the default configuration without you having to change the system-wide
147 Three more scripts can be placed in the configuration directory (as
148 (as defined by the [XDG spec](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html),
149 usually `~/.config/autorandr` or `~/.autorandr` if you have an old installation
150 for user configuration and `/etc/xdg/autorandr` for system wide configuration):
152 - `postswitch` is executed *after* a mode switch has taken place. This can be
153 used to notify window managers or other applications about the switch.
154 - `preswitch` is executed *before* a mode switch takes place.
155 - `postsave` is executed after a profile was stored or altered.
156 - `predetect` is executed before autorandr attempts to run xrandr.
158 These scripts must be executable and can be placed directly in the configuration
159 directory, where they will always be executed, or in the profile subdirectories,
160 where they will only be executed on changes regarding that specific profile.
162 Instead (or in addition) to these scripts, you can also place as many executable
163 files as you like in subdirectories called `script_name.d` (e.g. `postswitch.d`).
165 If a script with the same name occurs multiple times, user configuration
166 takes precedence over system configuration (as specified by the
167 [XDG spec](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html))
168 and profile configuration over general configuration.
170 As a concrete example, suppose you have the files
172 - `/etc/xdg/autorandr/postswitch`
173 - `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch`
174 - `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch.d/notify-herbstluftwm`
175 - `~/.config/autorandr/docked/postswitch`
177 and switch from `mobile` to `docked`. Then
178 `~/.config/autorandr/docked/postswitch` is executed, since the profile specific
179 configuration takes precedence, and
180 `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch.d/notify-herbstluftwm` is executed, since
181 it has a unique name.
183 If you switch back from `docked` to `mobile`, `~/.config/autorandr/postswitch`
184 is executed instead of the `mobile` specific `postswitch`.
186 In these scripts, some of autorandr's state is exposed as environment variables
187 prefixed with `AUTORANDR_`. The most useful one is `$AUTORANDR_CURRENT_PROFILE`.
189 If you experience issues with xrandr being executed too early after connecting
190 a new monitor, then you can use a `predetect` script to delay the execution.
191 Write e.g. `sleep 1` into that file to make autorandr wait a second before
198 * *2017-07-16* Skip `--panning` unless it is required (See #72)
199 * *2017-10-13* Add `clone-largest` virtual profile
203 * *2017-06-07* Call systemctl with `--no-block` from udev rule (See #61)
204 * *2017-01-20* New script hook, `predetect`
205 * *2017-01-18* Accept comments (lines starting with `#`) in config/setup files
209 * *2016-12-07* Tag the current code as version 1.0.0; see github issue #54
210 * *2016-10-03* Install a desktop file to `/etc/xdg/autostart` by default