Surfaces

These commands open, close, or adjust Noctalia UI surfaces.

Bar

Action	Command	Description
Show bar	bar-show [bar-name] [monitor-selector]	Reveal matching bar instance(s). Omit both arguments to show every bar on every output.
Hide bar	bar-hide [bar-name] [monitor-selector]	Hide matching bar instance(s) and block edge/pointer reveal until the next show/toggle. Omit both arguments to hide every bar.
Toggle bar	bar-toggle [bar-name] [monitor-selector]	Toggle visibility for matching bar instance(s). Omit both arguments to toggle every bar. Does not block edge reveal on hide.
Toggle reserve space	bar-reserve-toggle [bar-name] [monitor-selector]	Temporarily toggle reserve space for matching bar instance(s). The change affects panels opened from those bars, is not written to configuration, and resets when bar configuration reloads or the shell restarts. Omit both arguments to toggle every bar.
Set bar auto-hide	bar-auto-hide-set <on|off|smart> [bar-name] [monitor-selector]	Temporarily enable, disable or switch to smart auto-hide for matching bar instance(s). Omit bar-name to update every bar.
Set bar layer	bar-layer-set <top|overlay> [bar-name] [monitor-selector]	Temporarily move matching bar instance(s) to the top or overlay layer-shell layer. overlay shows the bar above fullscreen apps; attached panels follow the bar’s layer. Omit bar-name to update every bar.

Use bar-hide when you want the bar to stay hidden until bar-show.

Panels

Action	Command	Description
Open panel	panel-open <id> [context]	Open a panel by id without toggling it closed when it is already open. Optional context works like panel-toggle <id> [context].
Close panel	panel-close [id]	Close the active panel, or close the named panel if it is active.
Toggle launcher	panel-toggle launcher [query]	Open or close the app launcher. Optional query pre-fills the search input (e.g. noctalia msg panel-toggle launcher "/wall").
Toggle session menu	panel-toggle session	Open or close the logout, reboot, and shutdown menu.
Toggle clipboard	panel-toggle clipboard	Open or close clipboard history.
Toggle wallpaper panel	panel-toggle wallpaper	Open or close wallpaper picker.
Toggle control center	panel-toggle control-center [tab]	Open or close Control Center. Optional tab opens the tab inside control center by default (e.g. noctalia msg panel-toggle control-center media).
Toggle plugin panel	panel-toggle <author/plugin:entry> [context]	Open or close a plugin [[panel]] entry (e.g. noctalia msg panel-toggle noctalia/wallhaven:browser). Optional context is passed to onOpen.

Dock

Action	Command	Description
Show dock	dock-show	Show all dock instances and save that override.
Hide dock	dock-hide	Hide all dock instances and save that override.
Toggle dock	dock-toggle	Toggle dock visibility and save the new state.
Reload dock	dock-reload	Reload dock configuration.

Desktop Widgets

Action	Command	Description
Enter edit mode	desktop-widgets-edit	Start moving, resizing, rotating, and removing desktop widgets.
Exit edit mode	desktop-widgets-exit	Leave desktop widget edit mode.
Toggle edit mode	desktop-widgets-toggle-edit	Switch edit mode on or off.
Show widgets	desktop-widgets-show	Reveal desktop widgets now, even when the saved setting is disabled. Runtime only - does not change the saved setting, and resets on restart.
Hide widgets	desktop-widgets-hide	Hide desktop widgets now, tearing down their instances so rendering and compute stop. Runtime only - does not change the saved setting, and resets on restart.
Toggle widgets	desktop-widgets-toggle	Flip current visibility; prints shown or hidden. Runtime only - does not change the saved setting. Changing the saved Desktop > Widgets toggle cancels the override.

Lockscreen Widgets

Action	Command	Description
Enter edit mode	lockscreen-widgets-edit	Edit lockscreen widget layout (session must be unlocked).
Exit edit mode	lockscreen-widgets-exit	Leave lockscreen widget edit mode.
Toggle edit mode	lockscreen-widgets-toggle-edit	Switch lockscreen widget edit mode on or off.