Open a window on a specific workspace at start once

[boxdot]

Is there a way to open a specific window on a predefined workspace when starting Hyprland. But after that to allow this window on any workspace?

I would like to start firefox on a predefined workspace on init. But after the start, it should be possible for firefox to be open on any other workspace too.

[vaxerski]

script it

[Lord-Soup]

https://wiki.hyprland.org/FAQ/#how-do-i-autostart-my-favorite-apps

[isshin1]

https://wiki.hyprland.org/FAQ/#how-do-i-autostart-my-favorite-apps

is there any way i can combine it with hot reload, this doesnt seem to work

exec = pgrep nautilus || [workspace special:nautilus silent] nautilus 

[mdvmeijer]

Instead of a cleanup-after-start script as stated in the FAQ, you can also simply add a workspace rule to exec-once like this:
exec-once = [workspace 9 silent] alacritty

Additional instances of alacritty that you open yourself, will simply open on the focused workspace.

[samEngineering]

Anyone having trouble doing this on the special workspace?
exec-once = [workspace special silent] kitty
Nothing in @Lord-Soup's link about that.

[MightyPlaza]

should just work
make sure to get after v0.30.0, I'm pretty sure this section was rewritten since last release

[samEngineering]

Turns out it is not a hyprland issue. launching other programs in this fashion works as expected. It is specific to kitty. Namely, [glfw error 65544]

[hyperdotbat]

well thats weird, because it also doesnt work [silently] for me; with Discord and Spotify
EDIT: actually all workspaces even regular ones focus the apps, this is probably caused by setting focus_on_activate but it shouldnt

[LouDou]

I'm trying to attempt this too, but with the following lines:

exec-once = [workspace 1 silent] slack
exec-once = [workspace 1 silent] /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome --profile-directory=Default --app-id=cifhbcnohmdccbgoicgdjpfamggdegmo
exec-once = [workspace 2 silent] /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
exec-once = [workspace 3 silent] code
exec-once = [workspace 3 silent] terminology
exec-once = [workspace 8 silent] qjackctl
exec-once = [workspace 9 silent] /home/[REDACTED]/bin/smartgit/smartgit-20_2_3/bin/smartgit.sh
exec-once = [workspace 10 silent] firefox

All the apps seem to start on workspace 1 when I log in. Is there some other config which needs to be set or cleared to make this work?

❯ Hyprland --version
Hyprland, built from branch  at commit 4520b30d498daca8079365bdb909a8dea38e8d55  (version: bump to 0.44.1).
Date: Wed Oct 9 12:54:39 2024
Tag: v0.44.1, commits: 5309
built against aquamarine 0.4.2


flags: (if any)

[isshin1]

I'm trying to attempt this too, but with the following lines:

exec-once = [workspace 1 silent] slack
exec-once = [workspace 1 silent] /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome --profile-directory=Default --app-id=cifhbcnohmdccbgoicgdjpfamggdegmo
exec-once = [workspace 2 silent] /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
exec-once = [workspace 3 silent] code
exec-once = [workspace 3 silent] terminology
exec-once = [workspace 8 silent] qjackctl
exec-once = [workspace 9 silent] /home/[REDACTED]/bin/smartgit/smartgit-20_2_3/bin/smartgit.sh
exec-once = [workspace 10 silent] firefox

All the apps seem to start on workspace 1 when I log in. Is there some other config which needs to be set or cleared to make this work?

❯ Hyprland --version
Hyprland, built from branch  at commit 4520b30d498daca8079365bdb909a8dea38e8d55  (version: bump to 0.44.1).
Date: Wed Oct 9 12:54:39 2024
Tag: v0.44.1, commits: 5309
built against aquamarine 0.4.2


flags: (if any)

most are electron, hyprland only keep track of primary pid, but electron apps generally create a child process and spawn new window using that . so wont work

[LouDou]

That's a real shame. Is there any hope of this ever working?

[mlpeter33]

have u tried using a windowrule? like forcing an app to only spawn on a specific workspace:
windowrulev2 = workspace 2, class:^(Firefox)$ I haven't test it but maybe it can work

[isshin1]

have u tried using a windowrule? like forcing an app to only spawn on a specific workspace: windowrulev2 = workspace 2, class:^(Firefox)$ I haven't test it but maybe it can work

windowrules are permanent , we need one time, preferably on launch

[bassicallychris]

I'm having the same struggle when working with Firefox, my use case is similar to @LouDou where I'd like to open profiles mapped to specific workspaces. I'm using gtk-launch to use desktop files that target these specific profiles.

exec-once = gtk-launch firefox_profile_1
exec-once = gtk-launch firefox_profile_2
exec-once = gtk-launch firefox_profile_3
exec-once = gtk-launch firefox_profile_4

I've attempted using

exec-once = [workspace 2 silent] gtk-launch firefox_profile_1

but it only launches on the currently active workspace. (testing using exec instead of exec-once)
Help would be greatly appreciated here.

[yeldiRium]

This is due to this line in the docs: It records the PID of the spawned process and uses that. For example, if your process forks and then the fork opens a window, this will not work.

I assume gtk-launch does just that. I also ran into this problem today and would really love a solution for this. Someone suggested having exec-desktop and exec-once-desktop to launch .desktop files, which would be great for my use case, but was closed as not planned.

[Roxxas96]

Hey there ! I am running on the same issue, have some one found a workaround ? I tried running exec-once with hyprctl dispatch workspace but it is running into the same issue, ex:

exec-once = hyprctl dispatch workspace 2; \
            gtk-launch code

[AlexAntonik]

If you don’t need it to start right at system launch and are okay with the code starting on workspace creation, then workspace = 2, on-created-empty:code should work.

[Roxxas96]

Thanks ! I just tried the workaround and although it is not exactly reproducing exec-once as it will start your app each time you enter your workspace when it's empty, it is an acceptable behavior for my use case.

[AlexAntonik]

Searched for solution to this - nothing found.
It would be nice to have some flag for this to work by matching window name or class.

Like this:

exec-once = [workspace 1 silent match-name] slack
exec-once = [workspace 1 silent match-name] /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome --profile-directory=Default --app-
exec-once = [workspace 2 silent match-class] /opt/google/chrome/google-chrome
exec-once = [workspace 3 silent match-class] code