Noctalia
A configurable Wayland desktop shell with bar, launcher, notifications, wallpaper and lock screen.
- Stars
- 11.8k
- Forks
- 951
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- C++
- Last update
- 4 days ago
- Type
- App
What it is
Noctalia is a desktop shell for Linux that runs on Wayland and supplies the visual layer around a window manager or compositor. It bundles a bar, app launcher, control center, notifications, wallpaper picker, lock screen and session actions into one configurable program, instead of requiring separate tools for each. People use it to get a consistent, customizable desktop without assembling many small components.
- Replace separate bar, launcher, notification daemon and lock screen with one shell
- Add custom script-backed widgets to the bar
- Manage wallpapers and palette-based theming from one place
- Control the shell at runtime through its IPC interface
Great for
- Linux users running a Wayland compositor such as Niri, Hyprland or Sway who want a complete shell
- People who want one configuration format and a consistent look across bar, launcher and notifications
- Users who like customizing their desktop with TOML config, themes and hot reload
- Tinkerers who are comfortable editing config files and reading documentation
Not ideal for
- Users on X11 or who do not run a Wayland compositor, since the README describes it as built directly on Wayland
- People wanting a full desktop environment; the README says it is a shell, not a DE, and window management is left to the compositor
- Anyone who wants a turnkey setup with no configuration, since the project centers on customization
How to get it
- 1
Clone and build from source
You'll need: A Wayland compositor (e.g. Niri, Hyprland, Sway)
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/noctalia-dev/noctalia - 2
Run it
- Install the dependencies listed in BUILDING.md or your distro's packaging notes
- Build the project following BUILDING.md
- Copy or adapt example.toml as a starting configuration
- Launch Noctalia under a supported Wayland compositor
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Start from example.toml and adjust widgets and defaults gradually
- Use GUI-managed overrides alongside TOML config where convenient
- Use IPC for runtime control from compositor keybinds
- Check docs.noctalia.dev for the full configuration reference
- Use plugins for non-essential features, as the project scope suggests
Downloads
Strengths
- Covers many desktop surfaces in one cohesive program, per the README
- Built on Wayland and OpenGL ES with no Qt or GTK dependency
- Configurable through TOML with hot reload and an example config provided
Trade-offs
- Depends on compositor support; the README notes reduced integration on compositors that lack needed protocols
- Requires a Wayland compositor, so it is not a drop-in for every Linux setup
- README is truncated here, so detailed build dependencies must be checked in BUILDING.md
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| noctalia (this) | 11.8k | App | intermediate | 4 days ago | Linux users running a Wayland compositor such as Niri, Hyprland or Sway who want a complete shell |
| Waybar | 12.1k | App | intermediate | 9 days ago | Sway or Hyprland users who want a configurable status bar |
| eww | 12.7k | App | intermediate | 4 months ago | Linux users who run a tiling or minimal window manager and want custom bars or panels |
| nylas-mail | 24.7k | App | advanced | 4 months ago | Developers curious about how an extensible Electron and React desktop app is structured |
| electronic-wechat | 13.8k | App | intermediate | 6.1 years ago | Users on macOS or Linux who want a desktop window for WeChat instead of a browser tab |
| marktext | 63.5k | App | beginner | 4 days ago | People who write notes or articles in Markdown and want a clean, minimal editor |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.