Compositors

iNiR runs on two compositors: Niri and Umbriel, the compositor from the Noctalia team. The shell finds out which one it runs under by itself; you pick at the login screen, and you can have both installed. Hyprland code is still in the source from the project’s early days, but it is not tested, and other compositors are not supported.

Compositor blur needs Niri 26.04 or newer. On older versions the Allow compositor blur switch is hidden.

Change displays, input and layout

Use Settings›Compositor. It has these areas:

• Displays: monitor, resolution, refresh rate, output position, scale, rotation and variable refresh rate (VRR).
• Keyboard, Touchpad, Mouse, Cursor and General Input.
• Layout: window gaps, focus, borders, focus ring, shadows, struts and overview zoom.
• Window Rules.

Settings›Monitors is different. It only chooses which monitors show the shell.

Change keybinds

Settings›Shortcuts lists every keybind by category. Use Add keybind to add one: a key combination, an action and optional options. Each existing row can be edited or removed, and Undo on the notice brings a removed one back.

Where Niri settings live

iNiR keeps its Niri settings in ~/.config/niri/config.d/:

File	Controls
10-input-and-cursor.kdl	Input and cursor
15-outputs.kdl	Displays saved from Settings
20-layout-and-overview.kdl	Layout, gaps, borders, shadows and overview
30-window-rules.kdl	Window rules
40-environment.kdl	Environment variables for apps
50-startup.kdl	Processes started at login
60-animations.kdl	Animations
70-binds.kdl	Keybinds
80-layer-rules.kdl	Layer rules for the shell
90-user-extra.kdl	Your own settings. Updates never touch it

Umbriel

Umbriel scrolls columns like Niri, and also lays a workspace out as dwindle, master or stacking, tabs a column, pins windows and keeps a scratchpad. Every family works on it: the bar, the dock, Orbit, the overview, Alt+Tab, window previews, the cheatsheet, autostart, keyboard layouts and the lock screen.

Add it

With iNiR installed, install Umbriel from your distribution (CachyOS has it; on Arch it is umbriel-git in the AUR; on Fedora, Terra’s umbriel-nightly; elsewhere its guide), log out and pick Umbriel at the login screen. Nothing else: on that first login iNiR puts its config in ~/.config/umbriel/, brings your Niri keybinds and keyboard layout along, and the shell starts as it does on Niri. A config of your own in ~/.config/umbriel/ is never touched.

inir compositor add umbriel does the same from a terminal, and installs Umbriel too where iNiR knows how (CachyOS’s repository, then the AUR on Arch; Terra on Fedora).

The installer asks where iNiR runs. Niri and Umbriel sets iNiR up on both (it installs Umbriel when it is missing); Niri only, offered when Umbriel is already installed, leaves Umbriel exactly as it is: no config, and the shell does not start there. Without a terminal to ask, ./setup install --compositor niri|umbriel|both picks; with none of them, Umbriel gets iNiR the first time you log into it. inir compositor remove umbriel takes iNiR off Umbriel later, inir compositor add umbriel brings it back, and inir compositor alone shows what is installed, what starts iNiR and your pick.

Where Umbriel settings live

File	Controls
config.toml	Loads the rest, in order
config.d/10-input.toml	Keyboard, touchpad and cursor
config.d/20-layout.toml	Layout, gaps, corners, shadows and the overview
config.d/30-window-rules.toml	Window rules
config.d/40-environment.toml	Environment variables for apps
config.d/50-startup.toml	Processes started at login, including Settings›Autostart
config.d/70-binds.toml	Keybinds
config.d/80-layer-rules.toml	Layer rules for the shell
config.d/90-user-extra.toml	Your own settings. Updates never touch it, and it loads last

Your Niri keybinds (including the ones you added or removed), keyboard layout and key repeat come along: iNiR writes them to config.d/60-from-niri.toml when Umbriel is added, at every Umbriel login and on every update, and inir compositor sync does it again after you change them in Niri.

inir update refreshes iNiR’s files and keeps any file you changed, and puts them in place by itself when Umbriel is installed and has no config yet. A config from the early iNiR-Umbriel port no longer loads in today’s Umbriel: it is moved whole to ~/.config/umbriel.inir-old-<date> and replaced. iNiR starts with either compositor as soon as one is installed (Niri alone if that was your pick), so one added later needs no other step. Colours for borders, the overview and tab bars follow your theme: iNiR writes them to ~/.local/state/quickshell/user/generated/umbriel-colors.toml, which the config loads. Check a change with umbriel config validate.

Keys Umbriel adds: Mod+W tabs a column, Mod+P pins a window, Mod+Shift+Tab cycles the workspace layout, Mod+** shows the scratchpad and **Mod+Shift+ sends a window there.

What differs from Niri

• Settings›Compositor (Material) and the window, keyboard and display rows of iRiS edit Niri’s files, so they are hidden under Umbriel; its config.d files hold the same settings.
• Compositor blur: iRiS’s Blur glass asks Umbriel to blur behind the shell through a layer rule. Material and Waffle use their own glass.
• Window previews are stills, refreshed when you open a surface that shows them; on Niri they can be live.
• Alt+Tab is iNiR’s switcher. Screenshots of a whole screen or a region use inir region, as on Niri.