Session and services

These settings use the same configuration file. Restart the session for startup and notification changes.

Session startup

The [session] table controls the session supervisor:

Setting	Default	Meaning
backend	"auto"	"auto", "tty", or "winit".
compositor_binary	"villain"	Compositor executable.
shell_binary	"knave-shell"	Shell executable.
restart_on_failure	true	Restart failed components with a bounded retry policy.

Launch applications when the session starts with [[session.startup]]:

[[session.startup]]
command = ["nm-applet"]

The array contains the executable followed by arguments. It does not run a shell or expand variables; use an explicit shell if needed. Up to 64 commands are allowed. Startup commands run after shell roles have started.

In [shell], start_bar and start_overview_service both default to true. Set either to false to prevent that role from starting. Wallpaper settings are covered under Appearance.

Notifications

The session provides notifications when no other daemon already owns the notifications service. History and Do Not Disturb state are stored separately from configuration.

[notifications] key	Default	Range or meaning
enabled	true	Enable the service.
history_limit	200	1–500 entries.
history_days	7	1–365 days.
banner_timeout_ms	6000	1000–60000 milliseconds.
max_banners	3	1–3 banners.
critical_in_dnd	false	Permit critical banners during Do Not Disturb.

Per-app policies use the application’s identifier. enabled and banners both default to true:

[notifications.app."org.example.App"]
enabled = true
banners = false

Quick Settings

[quick_settings] charge_limit is optional and accepts 50–100 percent. Availability depends on hardware support.

Configure night light in [quick_settings.night_light]:

Setting	Default	Values
enabled	false	true or false.
temperature	4000	2500–6500.
start	omitted	Local minutes after midnight, 0–1439.
end	omitted	Local minutes after midnight, 0–1439.

Set both start and end to different values to use a schedule. A schedule may cross midnight. Omit both for manual mode.

[quick_settings.night_light]
enabled = true
temperature = 4000
start = 1140 # 19:00
end = 420    # 07:00

Portal preferences

The [portal] table configures the desktop portal’s startup and appearance preferences:

Key	Default	Meaning
enabled	true	Enable portal startup.
color_scheme	0	0 follows the theme, 1 prefers dark, 2 prefers light.
accent_color	"0.21,0.52,0.89"	Three comma-separated RGB components, each 0–1.
high_contrast	false	Report high-contrast preference.
reduced_motion	false	Report reduced-motion preference to applications; it does not currently disable workspace transitions.