Provided by: waybar_0.9.22-1_amd64 
NAME
waybar - cava module
DESCRIPTION
cava module for karlstav/cava project. See it on github: https://github.com/karlstav/cava.
FILES
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/waybar/config
Per user configuration file
ADDITIONAL FILES
libcava lives in:
1. /usr/lib/libcava.so or /usr/lib64/libcava.so
2. /usr/lib/pkgconfig/cava.pc or /usr/lib64/pkgconfig/cava.pc
3. /usr/include/cava
CONFIGURATION
┌───────────────────┬──────────────┬─────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Option │ Typeof │ Default │ Description │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│cava_config │ string │ │ Path where cava configuration file is │
│ │ │ │ placed to │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│framerate │ integer │ 30 │ rames per second. Is used as a │
│ │ │ │ replacement for interval │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│autosens │ integer │ 1 │ Will attempt to decrease sensitivity │
│ │ │ │ if the bars peak │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│sensitivity │ integer │ 100 │ Manual sensitivity in %. It's │
│ │ │ │ recommended to be omitted when │
│ │ │ │ autosens = 1 │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│bars │ integer │ 12 │ The number of bars │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│lower_cutoff_freq │ long integer │ 50 │ Lower cutoff frequencies for lowest │
│ │ │ │ bars the bandwidth of the visualizer │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│higher_cutoff_freq │ long integer │ 10000 │ Higher cutoff frequencies for highest │
│ │ │ │ bars the bandwidth of the visualizer │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│sleep_timer │ integer │ 5 │ Seconds with no input before cava main │
│ │ │ │ thread goes to sleep mode │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│method │ string │ pulse │ Audio capturing method. Possible │
│ │ │ │ methods are: pipewire, pulse, alsa, │
│ │ │ │ fifo, sndio or shmem │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│source │ string │ auto │ See cava configuration │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│sample_rate │ long integer │ 44100 │ See cava configuration │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│sample_bits │ integer │ 16 │ See cava configuration │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│stereo │ bool │ true │ Visual channels │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│reverse │ bool │ false │ Displays frequencies the other way │
│ │ │ │ around │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│bar_delimiter │ integer │ 0 │ Each bar is separated by a delimiter. │
│ │ │ │ Use decimal value in ascii table(i.e. │
│ │ │ │ 59 = ";"). 0 means no delimiter │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│monstercat │ bool │ false │ Disables or enables the so-called │
│ │ │ │ "Monstercat smoothing" with of without │
│ │ │ │ "waves" │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│waves │ bool │ false │ Disables or enables the so-called │
│ │ │ │ "Monstercat smoothing" with of without │
│ │ │ │ "waves" │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│noise_reduction │ double │ 0.77 │ Range between 0 - 1. The raw │
│ │ │ │ visualization is very noisy, this │
│ │ │ │ factor adjust the integral and gravity │
│ │ │ │ filters to keep the signal smooth. 1 - │
│ │ │ │ will be very slow and smooth, 0 - will │
│ │ │ │ be fast but noisy │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│input_delay │ integer │ 2 │ Sets the delay before fetching audio │
│ │ │ │ source thread start working. On author │
│ │ │ │ machine Waybar starts much faster then │
│ │ │ │ pipewire audio server, and without a │
│ │ │ │ little delay cava module fails due to │
│ │ │ │ pipewire is not ready │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ascii_max_range │ integer │ 7 │ It's impossible to set it directly. │
│ │ │ │ The value is dictated by the number of │
│ │ │ │ icons in the array format-icons │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│data_format │ string │ asci │ It's impossible to set it. Waybar sets │
│ │ │ │ it to = asci for internal needs │
├───────────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────┤
│raw_target │ string │ /dev/stdout │ It's impossible to set it. Waybar sets │
│ │ │ │ it to = /dev/stdout for internal needs │
└───────────────────┴──────────────┴─────────────┴────────────────────────────────────────┘
Configuration can be provided as:
• The only cava configuration file which is provided through cava_config. The rest
configuration can be skipped
• Without cava configuration file. In such case cava should be configured through
provided list of the configuration option
• Mix. When provided both And cava configuration file And configuration options. In such
case waybar applies configuration file first then overrides particular options by the
provided list of configuration options
ACTIONS
┌───────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│String │ Action │
├───────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│mode │ Switch main cava thread and fetching audio source thread from/to pause/resume │
└───────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
DEPENDENCIES
• iniparser
• fftw3
SOLVING ISSUES
1. On start Waybar throws an exception "error while loading shared libraries:
libcava.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory". It might
happen when libcava for some reason hasn't been registered in the system. sudo
ldconfig should help
2. Waybar is starting but cava module doesn't react on the music
1. In such case for at first need to make sure usual cava application is working as well
2. If so, need to comment all configuration options. Uncomment cava_config and provide
the path to the working cava config 3. You might set too huge or too small
input_delay. Try to setup to 4 seconds, restart waybar and check again 4 seconds past.
Usual even on weak machines it should be enough 4. You might accidentally switched
action mode to pause mode
RISING ISSUES
For clear understanding: this module is a cava API's consumer. So for any bugs related to
cava engine you should contact to Cava upstream(https://github.com/karlstav/cava)
with the one Exception. Cava upstream doesn't provide cava as a shared library. For that
this module author made a fork libcava(https://github.com/LukashonakV/cava).
So the order is:
1. cava upstream
2. libcava upstream.
In case when cava releases new version and you're wanna get it, it should be raised an
issue to libcava(https://github.com/LukashonakV/cava) with title
[Bump]x.x.x where x.x.x is cava release version.
EXAMPLES
"cava": {
//"cava_config": "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cava/cava.conf",
"framerate": 30,
"autosens": 1,
//"sensitivity": 100,
"bars": 14,
"lower_cutoff_freq": 50,
"higher_cutoff_freq": 10000,
"method": "pulse",
"source": "auto",
"stereo": true,
"reverse": false,
"bar_delimiter": 0,
"monstercat": false,
"waves": false,
"noise_reduction": 0.77,
"input_delay": 2,
"format-icons" : ["▁", "▂", "▃", "▄", "▅", "▆", "▇", "█" ],
"actions": {
"on-click-right": "mode"
}
},