# Waybar — Troubleshooting & Fix Log

## Final Working State

- Layer: top (level 2, above windows)
- Position: top, margin-top: 10px
- Width: fits exactly 1280px (screen logical width at 1.5x scale)
- Config: `~/.config/waybar/config.jsonc`
- CSS: `~/.config/waybar/style.css`

## Issues Found and Fixed (2026-06-08)

### 1. Bar invisible — wrong layer (bottom instead of top)

**Root cause:** Two problems stacked:
- `"format": {}` (JSON object instead of string) in `custom/cava` module caused config parse to silently fall back to defaults, placing bar at layer 1 (bottom).
- `"mode": "dock"` overrides the `"layer"` setting in Waybar 0.15.0 + Hyprland 0.55.2, keeping the bar at the bottom layer regardless.

**Fix:**
```jsonc
// Wrong:
"format": {},
"mode": "dock",

// Fixed:
"format": "{}",
// mode: "dock" removed entirely
```

### 2. Bar overflowing screen width (1460px on a 1280px logical screen)

**Root cause:** Variable-length module content (network bandwidth string changes length) caused the GTK layout to expand the bar beyond the 1280px logical screen width. Setting `"width": 1280` in Waybar config does NOT cap the width — it only sets a minimum.

**Fix:** Reduced CSS padding on all modules and workspace buttons to make total content fit:

| Selector | Old padding | New padding |
|----------|-------------|-------------|
| modules (network, memory, etc.) | `0px 10px` | `0px 7px` |
| workspace buttons | `2px 8px` | `2px 5px` |
| media group modules | `0px 10px` | `0px 7px` |

Also:
- `#workspaces` margin: `10px 10px` → `10px 5px`
- `#media` margin: `10px 10px` → `10px 5px`
- mpris `max-length`: 20 → 14
- network `min-length`/`max-length`: 22 (to prevent bandwidth string from varying bar width)
- cava `max-length`: 12

## Layout

```
[hardware group]              [workspaces] [⏻] [workspaces]          [media group] [clock]
 ↑ up/down bw, mem, bat, cpu, temp         ↑ left workspaces (1,3,5,7)  ↑ spotify, cava, mpris, vol
```

## Waybar Version Compatibility Note

Waybar 0.15.0 + Hyprland 0.55.2: `"mode": "dock"` prevents `"layer": "top"` from working. Do not use `"mode": "dock"` if you need the bar above windows.