Runtime and Boot

What happens between login and the shell on screen.

The sequence

Login: Niri starts and publishes DISPLAY, WAYLAND_DISPLAY and NIRI_SOCKET
  -> inir.service (systemd, after niri.service), or a runit service on Void
  -> inir run --session                       (scripts/inir)
  -> Quickshell on ~/.config/quickshell/inir  (loads shell.qml)
  -> Tier 0, at once: Idle, PowerProfilePersistence, DevNavigation,
     ShellEditSession, TrayService, MemoryPressureService, GlobalActions,
     PackageSearch; FirstRunExperience and ConflictKiller load
  -> Config.ready: apply the theme, init the icon theme, load the
     family's critical host (ii: background, bar, dock; Waffle: taskbar,
     background, backdrop; iRiS: background and Island chassis)
  -> shell entry: 200 ms after Config.ready (0 with animations off)
  -> Tier 3, 500 ms after the first frame: GameMode, FontSyncService,
     Hyprsunset; then WindowPreviewService, Weather, VoiceSearch and
     CavaTheme (not iRiS); ScreenTime if enabled. Sets
     GlobalStates.deferredPanelsReady, so the family's deferred panels load
  -> Tier 4, 1000 ms after Tier 3: ShellUpdates, Autostart, Hub,
     NiriAnimationPresets; CalendarSync, Todo, Notepad (not iRiS)

Boot phases are written to ~/.cache/inir/last-boot.json, and inir status shows them.

systemd (assets/systemd/inir.service)

• The unit is PartOf and Requisite niri.service and starts After it. It waits for org.kde.StatusNotifierWatcher (Type=dbus).
• It is enabled by a wants link, ~/.config/systemd/user/niri.service.wants/inir.service, never by graphical-session.target. That keeps it off other desktops.
• Manage the link with inir service enable, inir service disable and inir service status.

Void (runit)

Setup renders a run file under ~/.config/service/, and one of two owners starts it:

• Turnstile: runit starts iNiR with the session environment that Niri hands over. This run file sets QS_DISABLE_POLKIT=1, so the polkit agent that Niri starts in the seat session handles authentication.
• Fallback: Niri starts a single runsvdir ~/.config/service. This path does not set QS_DISABLE_POLKIT.

sv controls the service on this tier.

The launcher

scripts/inir is about 5,000 lines of bash. inir run does what a bare qs does not:

• Checks Quickshell and Qt ABI compatibility.
• Sets QT_SCALE_FACTOR=1 and QT_SCALE_FACTOR_ROUNDING_POLICY=RoundPreferFloor, and a QT_LOGGING_RULES filter.
• Unsets QT_WAYLAND_FORCE_DPI, QT_FONT_DPI, QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR, QT_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTORS, GDK_SCALE and GDK_DPI_SCALE.
• With --session, uses the environment Niri already published. It never guesses sockets.
• Runs Quickshell on the runtime directory: ~/.config/quickshell/inir, or a system copy under /usr/local/share/quickshell/inir or /usr/share/quickshell/inir.

Do not start Quickshell by hand. That bypasses the launcher’s ownership and can duplicate the supervised shell. Use inir restart, inir logs and inir doctor instead.

inir logs --debug stops the supervised shell and runs it in the foreground with QS_DEBUG=1. Press Ctrl+C, then run inir restart.

Config loading

1. Config.qml reads Directories.shellConfigPath, which is ~/.config/illogical-impulse/config.json. Since v2 that path is a link to ~/.config/inir/, where the installer writes the file.
2. A JsonAdapter parses the file. Schema properties bind to the values, with fallbacks.
3. Config.ready turns true, and everything waiting on config starts.

The installer copies defaults/config.json into place (sdata/subcmd-install/3.files.sh, around line 669). Config.qml does not create the file. An external edit reloads after readWriteDelay (50 ms). QML writes go through Config.setNestedValue.

Crash recovery

• systemd: restarts on failure after 5 s, at most 3 starts in 30 s. ExecStopPost runs inir cleanup-orphans. Exit code 143 (SIGTERM) counts as success.
• runit: runit restarts the service.
• Session start: stale helpers owned by iNiR (old swayidle instances, for example) are removed before the next shell starts.

Debugging

inir logs             # recent runtime logs
inir logs --issues    # every warning and error since start, grouped
inir logs --full      # all log categories
inir logs --debug     # foreground run with QS_DEBUG=1
inir status           # install state and boot timing
inir doctor           # health checks
inir doctor --perf    # read-only snapshot of the running shell
inir repair           # automated repair