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Introduction

Pywal is a incredible script for colorscheme generation and theming/ricing Linux desktops. Pywal will generate colors based on the image given to the script, it will then make that image the wallpaper.

In this article, I will share about how I integrated this script with my desktop.

Checkout my Desktop themed with pywal

Installation

I use the Arch linux AUR:

yay -S python-pywal

Window Manager/Status Bar

Xmonad/Xmobar

{{< img src="https://devoalda.gitlab.io/gallery/Carnage/Carnage%20Xmonad%20050720201.png" alt="archlinux" position="center" >}} I use Xmonad as my Linux window manager, here are my Configurations

Adding the following lines of code, I am able to use pywal to dynamically theme my status bars

   -- Colors
import Control.Monad(when)
import Data.List
import System.Directory
import System.Environment
import System.Exit
import System.IO

getConfigFilePath f =
  getHomeDirectory >>= \hd -> return $ hd ++ "/" ++ f

getWalColors = do
  file <- getConfigFilePath ".cache/wal/colors"
  contents <- readFile file
  let colors = lines contents
  return (colors ++ (replicate (16 - length colors) "#000000"))

My main method consists of the function getWalColors and uses the colors generated by pywal to theme the statusbar

------------------------------------------------------------------------
---MAIN
------------------------------------------------------------------------
main = do
    nScreens <- countScreens
    colors <- getWalColors
    xmproc <- spawnPipe "xmobar ~/.xmonad/xmobarrc"
    xmonad $ ewmh $ desktopConfig
        { manageHook = ( isFullscreen --> doFullFloat ) <+> manageDocks <+> myManageHook <+> manageHook desktopConfig
        , modMask            = myModMask
        , terminal           = myTerminal
	, startupHook        = myStartupHook
        , layoutHook         = myLayoutHook
	, workspaces         = myWorkspaces
        , borderWidth        = myBorderWidth
	, normalBorderColor  = colors!!10
	, focusedBorderColor = colors!!12
        , logHook = dynamicLogWithPP xmobarPP
                        { ppOutput = hPutStrLn xmproc
                        , ppCurrent = xmobarColor (colors!!14) "" . wrap "[" "]" -- Current workspace in xmobar
                        , ppVisible = xmobarColor  (colors!!13) ""                -- Visible but not current workspace
                        , ppHidden = xmobarColor (colors!!15) "" . wrap "*" ""   -- Hidden workspaces in xmobar
                        , ppHiddenNoWindows = xmobarColor (colors!!11) ""        -- Hidden workspaces (no windows)
                        , ppTitle = xmobarColor (colors!!14) "" . shorten 60     -- Title of active window in xmobar
			, ppSep =  "<fc=" ++ (colors!!2) ++ "> :: </fc>"                     -- Separators in xmobar
                        , ppUrgent = xmobarColor  (colors!!15) "" . wrap "!" "!"  -- Urgent workspace
                        , ppExtras  = [windowCount]                           -- # of windows current workspace
                        , ppOrder  = \(ws:l:t:ex) -> [ws,l]++ex++[t]
                        }
        } `additionalKeysP`         myKeys

DWM/DWMBlocks

{{< img src="https://devoalda.gitlab.io/gallery/Carnage/Carnage%20DWM%20110720202.png" alt="archlinux" position="center" >}}

I use LukeSmith's build of DWM and DWMBlocks as it is configured to use Xresources colors to theme the window manager

Terminal Emulators

{{< img src="https://devoalda.gitlab.io/gallery/Carnage/Carnage%20Xmonad%2015082020.png" alt="archlinux" position="center" >}}

I use LukeSmith's build of ST as it is configured to use Xresources colors to theme the terminal emulator

{{< alert theme="info" dir="ltr" >}} BONUS Any terminal based applications like ncmpcpp, visualisers(vis,cava,etc.), htop, etc. will be themed according to the terminal colors (in my experience)! {{< /alert >}}

Pywal templates

Pywal templates is another powerful function of pywal, they allow for dynamic theming of individual applications to your liking. Here are some of the templates I use.

Notification Manager

{{< img src="https://devoalda.gitlab.io/gallery/Carnage/Carnage%20Xmonad%2005072020.png" alt="archlinux" position="center" >}} I use dunst as my notification manager of choice. This is themed with pywal with the following lines of configurations in the templates

# Set the background and foreground (text) color for all notifications
[urgency_low]
    background = "{background}"
    foreground = "{foreground}"

[urgency_normal]
    background = "{color9}"
    foreground = "{foreground}"

[urgency_critical]
    background = "{color10}"
    foreground = "{foreground}"

After creating the template and adding these lines, run the following command to add a symbolic link to the main dunstrc file.

$ ln -sf "${HOME}/.cache/wal/dunstrc" "${HOME}/.config/dunst/dunstrc"

Script

To dynamically theme all these with a click of a button, I have created a script to generate new colors and update necessary files.

Extras

Here are some of the other applications that can be themed with pywal:

Summary

Pywal is an incredible script to help theme everything in my desktop. I strongly recommend pywal to linux users who are new to ricing.

Do checkout my Dotfiles for other applications that can be themed by pywal!

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