dotfiles/awesome/awesome-wm-widgets/pactl-widget

Pactl volume widget

This is a volume widget that uses pactl only for controlling volume and selecting sinks and sources. Hence, it can be used with PulseAudio or PipeWire likewise, unlike the original Volume widget.

Other than that it is heavily based on the original widget, including its customization and icon options. For screenshots, see the original widget.

Installation

Clone the repo under ~/.config/awesome/ and add widget in rc.lua:

local volume_widget = require('awesome-wm-widgets.pactl-widget.volume')
...
s.mytasklist, -- Middle widget
	{ -- Right widgets
    	layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal,
        ...
        -- default
        volume_widget(),
        -- customized
        volume_widget{
            widget_type = 'arc'
        },

Shortcuts

To improve responsiveness of the widget when volume level is changed by a shortcut use corresponding methods of the widget:

awful.key({}, "XF86AudioRaiseVolume", function () volume_widget:inc(5) end),
awful.key({}, "XF86AudioLowerVolume", function () volume_widget:dec(5) end),
awful.key({}, "XF86AudioMute", function () volume_widget:toggle() end),

Customization

It is possible to customize the widget by providing a table with all or some of the following config parameters:

Generic parameter

Name	Default	Description
mixer_cmd	pavucontrol	command to run on middle click (e.g. a mixer program)
step	5	How much the volume is raised or lowered at once (in %)
widget_type	icon_and_text	Widget type, one of horizontal_bar, vertical_bar, icon, icon_and_text, arc
device	@DEFAULT_SINK@	Select the device name to control
tooltip	false	Display volume level in a tooltip when the mouse cursor hovers the widget

For more details on parameters depending on the chosen widget type, please refer to the original Volume widget.