blacklayer/README.md

👀 blacklayer Overview

A lightweight, per-monitor screen saver for Hyprland that automatically dims inactive displays and instantly restores them on focus. It also supports optional global lock and display sleep actions after prolonged inactivity.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/40fe7394-0690-441f-a1b9-12b85e41d43b

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/a8207566-6148-4196-87dd-dba462894d42

✅ Works On

wlroots-based Wayland compositors (Hyprland, Sway, River, Wayfire, Hikari, Labwc(wlroots based) )

⚠️ PARTIALLY / LIMITED

GNOME (Wayland), KDE Plasma (Wayland) !Not tested!

📦 Setup

Required packets

Arch

sudo pacman -S gtk3 gdk-pixbuf2 gtk-layer-shell jq hypridle

Debian / Ubuntu
!please install 'hypridle' manually!

sudo apt install \
libgtk-3-0 \
libgdk-pixbuf-2.0-0 \
libgtk-layer-shell0 \
jq

Fedora

sudo dnf install \
gtk3 \
gdk-pixbuf2 \
gtk-layer-shell \
jq \
hypridle

git clone https://github.com/furk4ngg/blacklayer.git  
cd blacklayer  
mkdir -p ~/.config/blacklayer  
cp blacklayer event-driven.sh blacklayer.conf blacklayer-worker.sh call-blacklayer.sh start-waybars.sh generate-waybar-configs.sh idle-lock.sh idle-sleep.sh idle-resume.sh "$BASE_DIR/" 2>/dev/null  
cp "/pending-relocation/hypridle.conf" "~/.config/hypr/" 2>/dev/null  
cp "/pending-relocation/hypridle.service" "~/.config/systemd/user/" 2>/dev/null  
sudo chown -R bob:bob ~/.config/blacklayer/  
chmod 700 ~/.config/blacklayer  
chmod +x ~/.config/blacklayer/*.sh 2>/dev/null || true  
chmod 600 ~/.config/blacklayer/*.conf 2>/dev/null || true  
[ -f ~/.config/blacklayer/blacklayer ] && chmod +x ~/.config/blacklayer/blacklayer
systemctl --user daemon-reload  
systemctl --user enable hypridle.service  

If you want to disappear waybar(for use 100% of screen) when blacklayer is active follow these steps:

sudo chown -R "$USER:$USER" ~/.config/waybar  
chmod 700 ~/.config/waybar  
cd ~/.config/blacklayer/  
./generate-waybar-configs.sh  

Change these codes in your hyprland.conf document
❌ exec-once = waybar &
✅ exec-once = ~/.config/blacklayer/start-waybars.sh

🎉 Run/Stop blacklayer

~/.config/blacklayer/call-blacklayer.sh

If you want to compile your special blacklayer.c document:

Arch

sudo pacman -S gcc pkgconf gtk3 gdk-pixbuf2 gtk-layer-shell jq

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt install \
build-essential \
pkg-config \
libgtk-3-dev \
libgdk-pixbuf-2.0-dev \
libgtk-layer-shell-dev \
jq

Fedora

sudo dnf install \
gcc \
pkg-config \
gtk3-devel \
gdk-pixbuf2-devel \
gtk-layer-shell-devel \
jq

Compile:

gcc -o ~/.config/blacklayer/blacklayer \
~/blacklayer/blacklayer.c \
$(pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0 gdk-pixbuf-2.0) \
-lgtk-layer-shell

Here are the available settings in blacklayer.conf:

run_blacklayer=true → Enable per-monitor blacklayer
run_lock=true → Lock the session after inactivity
run_sleep=true → Turn off all displays after longer inactivity
LOOP_INTERVAL=60 → Main worker loop interval (in seconds)
COUNT_THRESHOLD=5 → Inactivity trigger threshold
EVENT_POLL_INTERVAL=3 → Event-driven polling interval (in seconds)
resource= → Blacklayer background resource(png, jpg, gif)

!If you want to change blacklayer color:
Change the color value: blacklayer.c > static const GdkRGBA DEFAULT_COLOR = { 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0 };
Then, compile the blacklayer.c file!

Here are the available settings in hypridle.conf:

In hypridle.conf, the 'timeout:' values define how long the system must remain completely idle (no keyboard or mouse input) before the corresponding lock or sleep scripts are executed.

❓ HOW IT WORKS ❓

[blacklayer.conf]

• Stores Blacklayer configuration and resource settings
• Blacklayer’a ait ayarların ve kaynakların tutulduğu dosyadır

[call-blacklayer.sh]

• Toggles Blacklayer by starting or stopping blacklayer-worker
• Çağrıldığında blacklayer-worker’ı başlatır veya tüm işlemleri sonlandırır (toggle)

[blacklayer-worker.sh]

• Counts idle time and activates the screensaver while hiding other UI elements
• Zamanı sayarak ekran koruyucuyu açar ve Waybar gibi diğer arayüzleri gizler

[blacklayer]

• Displays a fullscreen color, image, or animated GIF on the screen
• Ekranda tercihe göre sadece renk, resim ya da GIF oynatır

[event-driven.sh]

• Listens for input events and stops Blacklayer when user activity is detected
• Blacklayer aktifken çalışır ve mouse/etkileşim algılandığında ekran koruyucuyu kapatır
  
  
  

[generate-waybar-configs.sh]

• Generates one Waybar config per monitor from a single base config
• Tek bir config dosyasından her monitör için ayrı Waybar config’i üretir

[start-waybars.sh]

• Starts all Waybar instances simultaneously
• Tüm Waybar’ları aynı anda çalıştırmak için kullanılır
  
  
  

[HYPRIDLE]

user-run(call-blacklayer.sh) --> Run Hypridle --> Detect no movement for X time --> idle-lock.sh or idle-sleep.sh(controls the blacklayer.conf>run-lock,run-sleep values for the run) --> If value is true(Lock Screen or Sleep Screen process) --> When movement detected run(idle-resume.sh)

Roadmap

• Changeable and resizable background(color, png, jpg, gif) using by .conf
• Run logout codes when detect no movement in any monitor
• Closes the screen when detect no movement in any monitor
• Moving the workspaces from the screen where Blacklayer is running to another screen

Tips

To verify whether the blacklayer process is running, use:
ps aux | grep call-blacklayer.sh

Note: The grep command itself may appear in the output.

Fast Installation

sudo pacman -Syu git
git clone https://github.com/furk4ngg/blacklayer.git
cd blacklayer
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

🔒 License

📜 GPL-3.0 License