Customization

This guide shows you how to customize various aspects of the dotfiles to match your preferences.

Color schemes and themes

Hyprland colors

Edit border colors and appearance in ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf:66:

general {
    # Active window border (gradient)
    col.active_border = rgba(33ccffee) rgba(00ff99ee) 45deg
    
    # Inactive window border
    col.inactive_border = rgba(595959aa)
    
    # Gaps between windows
    gaps_in = 5
    gaps_out = 20
    
    # Border thickness
    border_size = 2
}

Color format is rgba(RRGGBBaa) where:

RRGGBB is the hex color code
aa is the alpha (transparency) value in hex (00-ff)

For gradients, specify two colors and an angle.

Terminal themes

Ghostty (~/.config/ghostty/config:1):

theme = TokyoNight Night
# Other popular themes:
# theme = Dracula
# theme = Nord
# theme = Catppuccin

Kitty (~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf:26):

include tokyodark.conf
# Available theme files:
# include tokyonight.conf
# Or create your own theme file

Kitty includes theme files in ~/.config/kitty/tokyonight.conf and ~/.config/kitty/tokyodark.conf. Create custom theme files following the same format.

Tmux theme

The Tokyo Night tmux theme can be customized in ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf:36:

set -g @tokyo-night-tmux_theme dark  # Options: dark | storm | day
set -g @tokyo-night-tmux_transparent 0  # 1 for transparency, 0 for solid

System-wide theme with Pywal

The dotfiles include Pywal templates in ~/.config/wal/templates/ for:

Hyprland (pywal-hypr.conf)
Qt5 (qt5ct.conf)
Qt6 (qt6ct.conf)

To generate colors from a wallpaper:

wal -i ~/path/to/wallpaper.png

This will automatically update color schemes across applications.

Fonts

Terminal fonts

Ghostty (~/.config/ghostty/config:4):

font-family = Monocraft
# Alternative options:
# font-family = JetBrainsMono Nerd Font
# font-family = FiraCode Nerd Font
# font-family = Hack Nerd Font

Kitty (~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf:2):

font_family  JetBrains Mono Nerd Font
font_size    12

# Font variations
bold_font        auto
italic_font      auto
bold_italic_font auto

Installing additional fonts:

# Arch Linux
yay -S ttf-firacode-nerd ttf-hack-nerd

# Manual installation
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/fonts
cp *.ttf ~/.local/share/fonts/
fc-cache -fv

Verify installation:

fc-list | grep -i "font name"

System font size

Adjust terminal font size for better readability:

# Ghostty: Add to config
font-size = 14

# Kitty: Already in config
font_size 12

Window manager customization

Animations

Customize Hyprland animations in ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf:111:

animations {
    enabled = yes  # Set to 'no' to disable all animations
    
    # Adjust animation speed (higher = slower)
    animation = windows, 1, 4.79, easeOutQuint
    animation = fade, 1, 3.03, quick
    
    # Disable specific animations
    animation = workspaces, 0  # Disables workspace animations
}

Window decorations

decoration {
    rounding = 10           # Corner radius (0 = square corners)
    
    active_opacity = 1.0    # Focused window opacity
    inactive_opacity = 1.0  # Unfocused window opacity
    
    blur {
        enabled = true
        size = 3            # Blur radius
        passes = 1          # Blur quality (more passes = better quality)
    }
    
    shadow {
        enabled = true
        range = 4
        color = rgba(1a1a1aee)
    }
}

Layouts

Switch between tiling layouts in ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf:82:

general {
    layout = dwindle  # Options: dwindle | master
}

# Configure dwindle layout
dwindle {
    pseudotile = true
    preserve_split = true
}

# Or configure master layout
master {
    new_status = master  # Options: master | slave
}

Keyboard customization

Changing Kanata mappings

Edit ~/.config/kanata/config.kbd to customize keyboard remapping:

;; Current: Caps Lock = Backspace on tap, Ctrl on hold
(defalias
  bspcctrl (tap-hold 100 100 bspc lctrl)
)

;; Example: Change to Escape on tap, Ctrl on hold
(defalias
  escctrl (tap-hold 100 100 esc lctrl)
)

(deflayer base
  @escctrl  ;; Apply the new mapping
)

Advanced Kanata: Add more key remappings

To remap additional keys, expand the configuration:

(defsrc
  caps  ;; Add more keys here
  tab
)

(defalias
  escctrl (tap-hold 100 100 esc lctrl)
  tabsuper (tap-hold 100 100 tab lmet)  ;; Tab = Tab on tap, Super on hold
)

(deflayer base
  @escctrl
  @tabsuper
)

After editing, restart Kanata:

systemctl --user restart kanata

Hyprland keybindings

Modify or add keybindings in ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf:204:

# Change the main modifier
$mainMod = SUPER  # Options: SUPER, ALT, CTRL

# Add custom keybindings
bind = $mainMod, T, exec, thunar              # File manager
bind = $mainMod SHIFT, R, exec, hyprctl reload # Reload config
bind = $mainMod, N, exec, neovide             # GUI Neovim

# Change existing bindings
bind = $mainMod, Q, killactive,  # Kill window (default)
bind = $mainMod, X, killactive,  # Alternative: X to close

Tmux keybindings

Customize Tmux bindings in ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf:

# Change prefix key (default: C-a)
set-option -g prefix C-b  # Change back to Ctrl+b
# Or use a different key:
set-option -g prefix C-Space

# Add custom bindings
bind r source-file ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf  # Reload config with prefix+r
bind C-l send-keys 'C-l'  # Clear screen with prefix+Ctrl+l

Application launcher

Wofi customization

Edit ~/.config/wofi/config to customize the application launcher:

width=600
height=400
location=center
show=drun
prompt=Search...
filter_rate=100
allow_markup=true
no_actions=true
halign=fill
orientation=vertical
content_halign=fill
insensitive=true
allow_images=true
image_size=40

Change the launcher in Hyprland config:

$menu = wofi --show drun
# Alternatives:
# $menu = rofi -show drun
# $menu = fuzzel

Default applications

Hyprland defaults

Change default applications in ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf:28:

$terminal = ghostty      # Options: ghostty, kitty, alacritty
$fileManager = dolphin   # Options: dolphin, thunar, ranger
$menu = wofi --show drun # Options: wofi, rofi, fuzzel
$browser = brave         # Options: brave, firefox, chromium

System defaults

Set system-wide default applications:

# Set default browser
xdg-settings set default-web-browser brave-browser.desktop

# Set default file manager
xdg-mime default dolphin.desktop inode/directory

# Set default text editor
export EDITOR=nvim
export VISUAL=nvim

Add to ~/.zshrc to persist these settings.

Adding plugins and tools

Tmux plugins

Add plugins in ~/.config/tmux/tmux.conf:26:

set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tpm'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-sensible'
set -g @plugin 'christoomey/vim-tmux-navigator'
set -g @plugin 'j4ytr1n1ty/tokyo-night-tmux'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-yank'
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-resurrect'

# Add new plugins:
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-continuum'  # Auto-save sessions
set -g @plugin 'tmux-plugins/tmux-cpu'        # CPU/RAM usage

Install new plugins: Press Ctrl+a then I

Zsh plugins

The dotfiles use Zinit for Zsh plugin management. Edit ~/.zshrc:

# Add new plugins
zinit light zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions
zinit light zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting
zinit light zsh-users/zsh-completions

# Add your custom plugins:
zinit light agkozak/zsh-z              # Better directory jumping
zinit light hlissner/zsh-autopair      # Auto-close brackets

Neovim plugins (LazyVim)

Add plugins in ~/.config/nvim/lua/plugins/:

-- Create a new file: ~/.config/nvim/lua/plugins/custom.lua
return {
  {
    "folke/trouble.nvim",
    opts = {},
  },
  {
    "github/copilot.vim",
  },
}

Restart Neovim and run :Lazy sync to install.

Status bar customization

Waybar

Edit ~/.config/waybar/Waybar-3.0/config to customize modules:

{
  "modules-left": ["hyprland/workspaces", "hyprland/window"],
  "modules-center": ["clock"],
  "modules-right": ["cpu", "memory", "battery", "network", "pulseaudio"]
}

Add new modules, reorder existing ones, or remove unwanted modules.

Switching status bars

Toggle between AGS and Waybar in ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf:43:

# Use AGS (default)
exec-once = agsv1 & hyprpaper

# Or use Waybar
exec-once = waybar & hyprpaper

Environment variables

Customize environment variables in ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf:50 or ~/.zshrc:

# Hyprland environment variables
env = XCURSOR_SIZE,24
env = EDITOR,nvim
env = BROWSER,brave
env = TERMINAL,ghostty

# Zsh environment variables (add to ~/.zshrc)
export PATH="$HOME/bin:$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
export EDITOR="nvim"
export VISUAL="nvim"
export BROWSER="brave"

Wallpaper

Change wallpaper using hyprpaper:

Edit or create ~/.config/hypr/hyprpaper.conf:

preload = ~/Pictures/wallpaper.png
wallpaper = ,~/Pictures/wallpaper.png

Reload hyprpaper:
```
killall hyprpaper
hyprpaper &
```

Or use a different wallpaper manager:

yay -S swaybg
exec-once = swaybg -i ~/Pictures/wallpaper.png

Creating your own configurations

The dotfiles are designed to be modular:

Fork the repository to create your own version
Create feature branches for experimental changes

Use git to track your customizations:

cd ~/dotfiles
git checkout -b my-customizations
# Make changes
git add .
git commit -m "Add my custom keybindings"

Keep upstream changes by adding the original repo as a remote:

git remote add upstream https://github.com/j4ytr1n1ty/dotfiles.git
git fetch upstream
git merge upstream/main

Best practice: Keep your customizations in separate files that are sourced by the main config files. This makes it easier to merge upstream updates.Example for Hyprland:

# At the end of ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf
source = ~/.config/hypr/custom.conf

Then put your changes in ~/.config/hypr/custom.conf.

Get Started

Shell Configuration

Terminal & Multiplexer

Desktop Environment

Development Tools

Advanced

Reference

Color schemes and themes

Hyprland colors

Terminal themes

Tmux theme

System-wide theme with Pywal

Fonts

Terminal fonts

System font size

Window manager customization

Animations

Window decorations

Layouts

Keyboard customization

Changing Kanata mappings

Hyprland keybindings

Tmux keybindings

Application launcher

Wofi customization

Default applications

Hyprland defaults

System defaults

Adding plugins and tools

Tmux plugins

Zsh plugins

Neovim plugins (LazyVim)

Status bar customization

Waybar

Switching status bars

Environment variables

Wallpaper

Creating your own configurations

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Shell Configuration

Terminal & Multiplexer

Desktop Environment

Development Tools

Advanced

Reference

​Color schemes and themes

​Hyprland colors

​Terminal themes

​Tmux theme

​System-wide theme with Pywal

​Fonts

​Terminal fonts

​System font size

​Window manager customization

​Animations

​Window decorations

​Layouts

​Keyboard customization

​Changing Kanata mappings

​Hyprland keybindings

​Tmux keybindings

​Application launcher

​Wofi customization

​Default applications

​Hyprland defaults

​System defaults

​Adding plugins and tools

​Tmux plugins

​Zsh plugins

​Neovim plugins (LazyVim)

​Status bar customization

​Waybar

​Switching status bars

​Environment variables

​Wallpaper

​Creating your own configurations

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Color schemes and themes

Hyprland colors

Terminal themes

Tmux theme

System-wide theme with Pywal

Fonts

Terminal fonts

System font size

Window manager customization

Animations

Window decorations

Layouts

Keyboard customization

Changing Kanata mappings

Hyprland keybindings

Tmux keybindings

Application launcher

Wofi customization

Default applications

Hyprland defaults

System defaults

Adding plugins and tools

Tmux plugins

Zsh plugins

Neovim plugins (LazyVim)

Status bar customization

Waybar

Switching status bars

Environment variables

Wallpaper

Creating your own configurations