niri window selector is adding workspaces to the list but these workspaces don't exist

[nickjj]

I just updated to v2.20.X and noticed the window finder shows workspaces now too.

On my machine it's showing very confusing results:

I have (2) monitors and currently right now based on that screenshot I only have 1 workspace for each monitor.

The real state of my system is this:

• On monitor 1, the workspace is labeled as 1 (2 is there but empty, default niri behavior)
• On monitor 2, the workspace is labeled as 1 (2 is there but empty, default niri behavior)

Walker is showing different workspace results on each monitor with different labels.

For example if I'm on monitor 2, it shows monitor 1's workspace 1 as number 4 but when I select it, it actually activates a new workspace on monitor 2. There's quite a few other issues but maybe the above is enough to know what's happening?

On monitor 1 (shown above in the screenshot), 4 and 10 don't exist.

[abenz1267]

i should probably only include named workspaces...

[abenz1267]

the command for retrieving workspaces is always niri msg -j workspaces though, not sure why it should be different...

[abenz1267]

i dont have multiple monitors so this is rather hard to debug 😂 .....

[nickjj]

On my machine that returns:

$ niri msg -j workspaces | jq
[
  {
    "id": 10,
    "idx": 2,
    "name": null,
    "output": "DP-1",
    "is_urgent": false,
    "is_active": false,
    "is_focused": false,
    "active_window_id": null
  },
  {
    "id": 4,
    "idx": 2,
    "name": null,
    "output": "HDMI-A-2",
    "is_urgent": false,
    "is_active": false,
    "is_focused": false,
    "active_window_id": null
  },
  {
    "id": 1,
    "idx": 1,
    "name": null,
    "output": "HDMI-A-2",
    "is_urgent": false,
    "is_active": true,
    "is_focused": false,
    "active_window_id": 164
  },
  {
    "id": 5,
    "idx": 1,
    "name": null,
    "output": "DP-1",
    "is_urgent": false,
    "is_active": true,
    "is_focused": true,
    "active_window_id": 183
  }
]

Now I see what the issue here is. Having the id get displayed is confusing because it doesn't match the idx. The idx is what niri presents to you in its UI.

If Walker's menu focused the id but displayed the idx then it might be good to go for non-named workspaces? That would mean it can exist in a consistent way with named workspaces too.

[nickjj]

Also separate to that, it looks like active_window_id being null could check if a workspace is empty.

Maybe Walker could expose a new config option to hide_empty which defaults to true but if someone wants to focus and use an empty workspace they can flip this option? This could help remove clutter and also give you a hint as an end user on which workspaces are empty by omission.

[abenz1267]

can you test latest git?

[nickjj]

I have all of my packages set to use elephant-*-bin for each one, it might be tricky to test it.

If it's working for you on 1 monitor, that guarantees Idx is readable. For 2 monitors, the output I pasted above shows how Id aligns with what Walker presented visually but now it's using Idx for the text.

If it were up to me personally, I'd say it's fixed. :D

The logic of that file looks good too, in the sense that text becomes the name if the name is not null. This isn't new behavior but saw that near the new commit's diff.

[abenz1267]

yeah, i'm pushing a release... this should work fine.

[nickjj]

I grabbed the latest release, the IDs are correct but there's other issues.

With the defaults (hidden empty):

• When I run walker on monitor 1 (DP-1), it shows non-empty workspaces for monitor 2 (HDMI-A-2)
• When I run walker on monitor 2 (HDMI-A-2), it shows non-empty workspaces for monitor 1 (DP-1)

On the other hand, windows are shown across both monitors no matter where I launch Walker. I would have expected workspaces to operate the same as windows here.

When I tell it to show empty workspaces:

Monitor 1:

Monitor 2:

Looks like the behavior is different. It's showing the same empty workspaces but for non-empty it's doing the same as the default for the non-empty workspaces.

[abenz1267]

It does not show the current workspace. No point focusing that. Sent from [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) for Android.

…

-------- Original Message --------

On Monday, 03/09/26 at 21:16 Nick Janetakis ***@***.***> wrote: nickjj left a comment [(abenz1267/elephant#214)](#214 (comment)) I grabbed the latest release, the IDs are correct but there's other issues. With the defaults (hidden empty): - When I run walker on monitor 1 (DP-1), it shows non-empty workspaces for monitor 2 (HDMI-A-2) - When I run walker on monitor 2 (HDMI-A-2), it shows non-empty workspaces for monitor 1 (DP-1) On the other hand, windows are shown across both monitors no matter where I launch Walker. I would have expected workspaces to operate the same as windows here. When I tell it to show empty workspaces: Monitor 1: [image.png (view on web)](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0ab019f9-2303-488f-b035-423a45e2d6c2) Monitor 2: [image.png (view on web)](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d523f732-8122-496f-a581-f35862da1b71) Looks like the behavior is different. — Reply to this email directly, [view it on GitHub](#214 (comment)), or [unsubscribe](https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABV2UU7F5E4P3VVCUR4ZFJT4P4RBXAVCNFSM6AAAAACWMELMTGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DAMRWGYZDKMRWGM). You are receiving this because you modified the open/close state.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[nickjj]

Ok.

Something is busted with what it's focusing though.

On monitor 1, it shows the workspace for monitor 2 but when I pick it, it focuses one of the windows on monitor 1. The behavior is repeatable on monitor 2.

Also if monitor 2 has only empty workspaces it never shows the empty workspace on monitor 1 and monitor 2 but it does show both of these when monitor 2 has at least 1 app open on it.

[abenz1267]

Also if monitor 2 has only empty workspaces it never shows the empty workspace on monitor 1 and monitor 2 but it does show both of these when monitor 2 has at least 1 app open on it.

Empty workspaces are not shown by default. Also the currently focused workspace is not shown.

You are on monitor 1: monitor 2 has empty workspace => not shown
You are on monitor 2: monitor 2 has empty workspace + its the focused one => not shown

[nickjj]

Empty workspaces are not shown by default

Yes, I turned it on to help test your implementation. There's different behavior when monitor 2 has nothing open vs something open when it comes to showing empty workspaces.

[abenz1267]

hm.... i'll see if i can replicate this somehow.