Virtual Desktops

# Virtual Desktops

## The problem with Hyprland workspaces

You have three monitors. You press `SUPER+2` and exactly one of them changes, because in Hyprland a workspace belongs to a single monitor.

That gets in the way when you want scenes. Work is a browser, an editor, and logs across all three screens. Music is something else entirely. You want one keypress to swap the whole set, not three keypresses to swap them one at a time. GNOME and KDE work that way; Hyprland does not.

hyprmoncfg follows Hyprland here. Its workspace planner decides which workspaces live on which display, and stops there -- it will not pretend the compositor has a concept it does not have.

## Use hyprland-virtual-desktops

[hyprland-virtual-desktops](https://github.com/levnikmyskin/hyprland-virtual-desktops) adds scenes properly. It is a Hyprland plugin, a real `.so` loaded into the compositor, so it changes how workspaces work rather than driving them from outside.

```bash
hyprctl dispatch vdesk 2        # every monitor moves together
hyprctl dispatch movetodesk 3   # send a window to another desk
hyprctl dispatch nextdesk
```

## Turn the workspace planner off

hyprmoncfg's planner writes `workspace_rule` entries pinning workspace 1 to this monitor and workspace 2 to that one. virtual-desktops assigns workspaces to monitors itself, differently per desk. Leave both on and whichever ran last wins.

So turn the planner off in the TUI's Workspaces tab, on every profile you use with the plugin. hyprmoncfg then writes no workspace rules at all, and the split is clean: hyprmoncfg puts the monitors where they belong, virtual-desktops decides what appears on them.

You lose nothing. Spreading workspaces across displays is what the plugin does, and it does it per desk rather than once.

## What happens when you dock

hyprmoncfg matches the docked profile, applies the mode, scale, rotation and position for each display, reloads Hyprland, and stops. It does not touch workspaces.

virtual-desktops takes it from there. It notices the monitor set changed and restores which workspace each monitor was showing, using `plugin:virtual-desktops:rememberlayout`. Set that to `monitors` rather than `size` -- it keys on monitor identity, which is what hyprmoncfg matches profiles on, so the two agree about what counts as the same setup.

If the plugin needs a nudge afterwards, every profile has an **Exec** field that runs once the layout is applied and Hyprland has reloaded. Point it at a script:

```bash
#!/usr/bin/env bash
hyprctl dispatch vdeskreset
hyprctl dispatch vdesk 1
```

The command runs directly rather than through a shell, so a `&&` or a pipeline belongs in the script, not in the field.

## A practical example

1. Open the TUI, arrange your docked layout, save it as `desk`
2. Undock, arrange the laptop on its own, save that as `mobile`
3. Turn the workspace planner off on both, in the Workspaces tab
4. Set `plugin:virtual-desktops:rememberlayout = monitors` in your Hyprland config

Dock the laptop and hyprmoncfg puts the monitors back where they belong. Press `SUPER+2` and all of them move together.

The problem with Hyprland workspaces

You have three monitors. You press SUPER+2 and exactly one of them changes, because in Hyprland a workspace belongs to a single monitor.

hyprmoncfg follows Hyprland here. Its workspace planner decides which workspaces live on which display, and stops there – it will not pretend the compositor has a concept it does not have.

Use hyprland-virtual-desktops

hyprland-virtual-desktops adds scenes properly. It is a Hyprland plugin, a real .so loaded into the compositor, so it changes how workspaces work rather than driving them from outside.

hyprctl dispatch vdesk 2        # every monitor moves together
hyprctl dispatch movetodesk 3   # send a window to another desk
hyprctl dispatch nextdesk

Turn the workspace planner off

hyprmoncfg’s planner writes workspace_rule entries pinning workspace 1 to this monitor and workspace 2 to that one. virtual-desktops assigns workspaces to monitors itself, differently per desk. Leave both on and whichever ran last wins.

So turn the planner off in the TUI’s Workspaces tab, on every profile you use with the plugin. hyprmoncfg then writes no workspace rules at all, and the split is clean: hyprmoncfg puts the monitors where they belong, virtual-desktops decides what appears on them.

You lose nothing. Spreading workspaces across displays is what the plugin does, and it does it per desk rather than once.

What happens when you dock

hyprmoncfg matches the docked profile, applies the mode, scale, rotation and position for each display, reloads Hyprland, and stops. It does not touch workspaces.

virtual-desktops takes it from there. It notices the monitor set changed and restores which workspace each monitor was showing, using plugin:virtual-desktops:rememberlayout. Set that to monitors rather than size – it keys on monitor identity, which is what hyprmoncfg matches profiles on, so the two agree about what counts as the same setup.

If the plugin needs a nudge afterwards, every profile has an Exec field that runs once the layout is applied and Hyprland has reloaded. Point it at a script:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
hyprctl dispatch vdeskreset
hyprctl dispatch vdesk 1

The command runs directly rather than through a shell, so a && or a pipeline belongs in the script, not in the field.

A practical example

Open the TUI, arrange your docked layout, save it as desk
Undock, arrange the laptop on its own, save that as mobile
Turn the workspace planner off on both, in the Workspaces tab
Set plugin:virtual-desktops:rememberlayout = monitors in your Hyprland config

Dock the laptop and hyprmoncfg puts the monitors back where they belong. Press SUPER+2 and all of them move together.