conky(1)conky(1)NAMEconky - A system monitor for X originally based on the torsmo code, but
more kickass. It just keeps on given'er. Yeah.
SYNOPSISconky [ options ]
DESCRIPTION
Conky is a system monitor for X originally based on torsmo. Since its
inception, Conky has changed significantly from its predecessor, while
maintaining simplicity and configurability. Conky can display just
about anything, either on your root desktop or in its own window. Not
only does Conky have many built-in objects, it can also display just
about any piece of information by using scripts and other external pro‐
grams.
Conky has more than 250 built in objects, including support for a
plethora of OS stats (uname, uptime, CPU usage, mem usage, disk usage,
"top" like process stats, and network monitoring, just to name a few),
built in IMAP and POP3 support, built in support for many popular music
players (MPD, XMMS2, BMPx, Audacious), and much much more. Conky can
display this info either as text, or using simple progress bars and
graph widgets, with different fonts and colours.
We are always looking for help, whether its reporting bugs, writing
patches, or writing docs. Please use the facilities at SourceForge to
make bug reports, feature requests, and submit patches, or stop by
#conky on irc.freenode.net if you have questions or want to contribute.
Thanks for your interest in Conky.
COMPILING
For users compiling from source on a binary distro, make sure you have
the X development libraries installed (Unless you provide configure
with "--disable-x11"). This should be a package along the lines of
"libx11-dev" or "xorg-x11-dev" for X11 libs, and similar "-dev" format
for the other libs required (depending on your configure options). You
should be able to see which extra packages you need to install by read‐
ing errors that you get from './configure'. You can enable/disable
stuff by giving options to configure, but be careful with disabling.
For example: with --disable-math you won't get errors but logarithmic
graphs will be normal graphs and gauges will miss their line.
Conky has (for some time) been available in the repositories of most
popular distributions. Here are some installation instructions for a
few:
Gentoo users -- Conky is in Gentoo's Portage... simply use "emerge
app-admin/conky" for installation.
Debian, etc. users -- Conky should be in your repositories, and can be
installed by doing "aptitude install conky".
Example to compile and run Conky with all optional components (note
that some configure options may differ for your system):
sh autogen.sh # Only required if building from the git repo
./configure --prefix=/usr --mandir=/usr/share/man --in‐
fodir=/usr/share/info --datadir=/usr/share --sysconfdir=/etc --local‐
statedir=/var/lib --disable-own-window --enable-audacious[=yes|no|lega‐
cy] --enable-bmpx --disable-hddtemp --disable-mpd --enable-xmms2 --dis‐
able-portmon --disable-network--enable-debug--disable-x11 --dis‐
able-double-buffer --disable-xdamage --disable-xft
make
make install # Optional
src/conky
Conky has been tested to be compatible with C99 C, however it has not
been tested with anything other than gcc, and is not guaranteed to work
with other compilers.
YOU SHOULD KNOW
Conky is generally very good on resources. That said, the more you try
to make Conky do, the more resources it is going to consume.
An easy way to force Conky to reload your ~/.conkyrc: "killall -SIGUSR1
conky". Saves you the trouble of having to kill and then restart. You
can now also do the same with SIGHUP.
OPTIONS
Command line options override configurations defined in configuration
file.
-v | -V | --version
Prints version and exits
-q | --quiet
Run Conky in 'quiet mode' (ie. no output)
-D | --debug
Increase debugging output, ie. -DD for more debugging
-a | --alignment= ALIGNMENT
Text alignment on screen, {top,bottom,middle}_{left,right,mid‐
dle} or none. Can also be abbreviated with first chars of posi‐
tion, ie. tr for top_right.
-b | --double-buffer
Use double buffering (eliminates "flicker")
-c | --config= FILE
Config file to load instead of $HOME/.conkyrc
-C | --print-config
Print builtin default config to stdout. See also the section EX‐
AMPLES for more information.
-d | --daemonize
Daemonize Conky, aka fork to background
-f | --font= FONT
Font to use
-h | --help
Prints command line help and exits
-o | --own-window
Create own window to draw
-t | --text= TEXT
Text to render, remember single quotes, like -t ' $uptime '
-p | --pause= SECONDS
Time to pause before actually starting Conky
-u | --interval= SECONDS
Update interval
-w | --window-id= WIN_ID
Window id to draw
-X | --display= DISPLAY
X11 display to use
-x X_COORDINATE
X position
-y Y_COORDINATE
Y position
-i COUNT
Number of times to update Conky (and quit)
CONFIGURATION SETTINGS
Default configuration file location is $HOME/.conkyrc or
${sysconfdir}/conky/conky.conf. On most systems, sysconfdir is /etc,
and you can find the sample config file there (/etc/conky/conky.conf).
You might want to copy it to $HOME/.conkyrc and then start modifying
it. Other configs can be found at http://conky.sf.net/
TEXT After this begins text to be formatted on screen. Backslash (\)
escapes newlines in the text section. This can be useful for
cleaning up config files where conky is used to pipe input to
dzen2.
alignment
Aligned position on screen, may be top_left, top_right, top_mid‐
dle, bottom_left, bottom_right, bottom_middle, middle_left, mid‐
dle_middle, middle_right, or none (also can be abreviated as tl,
tr, tm, bl, br, bm, ml, mm, mr). See also gap_x and gap_y.
append_file
Append the file given as argument.
background
Boolean value, if true, Conky will be forked to background when
started.
border_inner_margin
Inner border margin in pixels (the margin between the border and
text).
border_outer_margin
Outer border margin in pixels (the margin between the border and
the edge of the window).
border_width
Border width in pixels.
colorN Predefine a color for use inside TEXT segments. Substitute N by
a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively. When specifying the color
value in hex, omit the leading hash (#).
cpu_avg_samples
The number of samples to average for CPU monitoring.
default_bar_size
Specify a default width and height for bars. Example: 'de‐
fault_bar_size 0 6'. This is particularly useful for execbar and
execibar as they do not take size arguments.
default_color
Default color and border color
default_gauge_size
Specify a default width and height for gauges. Example: 'de‐
fault_gauge_size 25 25'. This is particularly useful for exec‐
gauge and execigauge as they do not take size arguments
default_graph_size
Specify a default width and height for graphs. Example: 'de‐
fault_graph_size 0 25'. This is particularly useful for exec‐
graph and execigraph as they do not take size arguments
default_outline_color
Default outline color
default_shade_color
Default shading color and border's shading color
disable_auto_reload
Enable to disable the inotify-based auto config reload feature.
diskio_avg_samples
The number of samples to average for disk I/O monitoring.
display
Specify an X display to connect to.
double_buffer
Use the Xdbe extension? (eliminates flicker) It is highly recom‐
mended to use own window with this one so double buffer won't be
so big.
draw_borders
Draw borders around text?
draw_graph_borders
Draw borders around graphs?
draw_outline
Draw outlines?
draw_shades
Draw shades?
extra_newline
Put an extra newline at the end when writing to stdout, useful
for writing to awesome's wiboxes.
font Font name in X, xfontsel can be used to get a nice font
format_human_readable
If enabled, values which are in bytes will be printed in human
readable format (i.e., KiB, MiB, etc). If disabled, the number
of bytes is printed instead.
gap_x Gap, in pixels, between right or left border of screen, same as
passing -x at command line, e.g. gap_x 10. For other position
related stuff, see 'alignment'.
gap_y Gap, in pixels, between top or bottom border of screen, same as
passing -y at command line, e.g. gap_y 10. For other position
related stuff, see 'alignment'.
hddtemp_host
Hostname to connect to for hddtemp objects. Defaults to
"127.0.0.1".
hddtemp_port
Port to use for hddtemp connections. Defaults to 7634.
if_up_strictness
How strict should if_up be when testing an interface for being
up? The value is one of up, link or address, to check for the
interface being solely up, being up and having link or being up,
having link and an assigned IP address.
imap Default global IMAP server. Arguments are: "host user pass [-i
interval (in seconds)] [-f 'folder'] [-p port] [-e 'command']
[-r retries]". Default port is 143, default folder is 'INBOX',
default interval is 5 minutes, and default number of retries be‐
fore giving up is 5. If the password is supplied as '*', you
will be prompted to enter the password when Conky starts.
imlib_cache_flush_interval
Interval (in seconds) to flush Imlib2 cache.
imlib_cache_size
Imlib2 image cache size, in bytes. Defaults to 4MiB. Increase
this value if you use $image lots. Set to 0 to disable the image
cache.
lua_draw_hook_post function_name [function arguments]
This function, if defined, will be called by Conky through each
iteration after drawing to the window. Requires X support. Takes
any number of optional arguments. Use this hook for drawing
things on top of what Conky draws. Conky puts 'conky_' in front
of function_name to prevent accidental calls to the wrong func‐
tion unless you place 'conky_' in front of it yourself.
lua_draw_hook_pre function_name [function arguments]
This function, if defined, will be called by Conky through each
iteration before drawing to the window. Requires X support.
Takes any number of optional arguments. Use this hook for draw‐
ing things on top of what Conky draws. Conky puts 'conky_' in
front of function_name to prevent accidental calls to the wrong
function unless you place 'conky_' in front of it yourself.
lua_load
Loads the Lua scripts separated by spaces.
lua_shutdown_hook function_name [function arguments]
This function, if defined, will be called by Conky at shutdown
or when the configuration is reloaded. Use this hook to clean up
after yourself, such as freeing memory which has been allocated
by external libraries via Lua. Conky puts 'conky_' in front of
function_name to prevent accidental calls to the wrong function
unless you place 'conky_' in front of it yourself.
lua_startup_hook function_name [function arguments]
This function, if defined, will be called by Conky at startup or
when the configuration is reloaded. Use this hook to initialize
values, or for any run-once applications. Conky puts 'conky_' in
front of function_name to prevent accidental calls to the wrong
function unless you place 'conky_' in front of it yourself.
mail_spool
Mail spool for mail checking
max_port_monitor_connections
Allow each port monitor to track at most this many connections
(if 0 or not set, default is 256)
max_specials
Maximum number of special things, e.g. fonts, offsets, aligns,
etc. (default is 512)
max_text_width width
When a line in the output contains 'width' chars and the end
isn't reached, the next char will start on a new line. If you
want to make sure that lines don't get broken, set 'width' to 0
max_user_text bytes
Maximum size of user text buffer, i.e. layout below TEXT line in
config file (default is 16384 bytes)
maximum_width pixels
Maximum width of window
minimum_size width (height)
Minimum size of window
mpd_host
Host of MPD server
mpd_password
MPD server password
mpd_port
Port of MPD server
music_player_interval
Music player thread update interval (defaults to Conky's update
interval)
net_avg_samples
The number of samples to average for net data
no_buffers
Subtract (file system) buffers from used memory?
nvidia_display
The display that the nvidia variable will use (defaults to the
value of the display variable)
out_to_console
Print text to stdout.
out_to_ncurses
Print text in the console, but use ncurses so that conky can
print the text of a new update over the old text. (In the future
this will provide more useful things)
out_to_stderr
Print text to stderr.
out_to_x
When set to no, there will be no output in X (useful when you
also use things like out_to_console). If you set it to no, make
sure that it's placed before all other X-related setting (take
the first line of your configfile to be sure). Default value is
yes
override_utf8_locale
Force UTF8? requires XFT
overwrite_file
Overwrite the file given as argument.
own_window
Boolean, create own window to draw?
own_window_class
Manually set the WM_CLASS name. Defaults to "Conky".
own_window_colour colour
If own_window_transparent no, set a specified background colour
(defaults to black). Takes either a hex value (e.g. ffffff, note
the lack of '#') or a valid RGB name (see /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt)
own_window_hints undecorated,below,above,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
If own_window is yes, you may use these window manager hints to
affect the way Conky displays. Notes: Use own_window_type desk‐
top as another way to implement many of these hints implicitly.
If you use own_window_type override, window manager hints have
no meaning and are ignored.
own_window_title
Manually set the window name. Defaults to "<hostname> - conky".
own_window_argb_visual
Boolean, use ARGB visual? ARGB can be used for real transparen‐
cy, note that a composite manager is required for real trans‐
parency. This option will not work as desired (in most cases) in
conjunction with 'own_window_type override'.
own_window_argb_value
When ARGB visuals are enabled, this use this to modify the alpha
value used. Valid range is 0-255, where 0 is 0% opacity, and 255
is 100% opacity.
own_window_transparent
Boolean, set transparency? If ARGB visual is enabled, sets back‐
ground opacity to 0%.
own_window_type
if own_window is yes, you may specify type normal, desktop,
dock, panel or override (default: normal). Desktop windows are
special windows that have no window decorations; are always vis‐
ible on your desktop; do not appear in your pager or taskbar;
and are sticky across all workspaces. Panel windows reserve
space along a desktop edge, just like panels and taskbars, pre‐
venting maximized windows from overlapping them. The edge is
chosen based on the alignment option. Override windows are not
under the control of the window manager. Hints are ignored. This
type of window can be useful for certain situations.
pad_percents
Pad percentages to this many decimals (0 = no padding)
pop3 Default global POP3 server. Arguments are: "host user pass [-i
interval (in seconds)] [-p port] [-e 'command'] [-r retries]".
Default port is 110, default interval is 5 minutes, and default
number of retries before giving up is 5. If the password is sup‐
plied as '*', you will be prompted to enter the password when
Conky starts.
short_units
Shortens units to a single character (kiB->k, GiB->G, etc.). De‐
fault is off.
show_graph_range
Shows the time range covered by a graph.
show_graph_scale
Shows the maximum value in scaled graphs.
stippled_borders
Border stippling (dashing) in pixels
temperature_unit
Desired output unit of all objects displaying a temperature. Pa‐
rameters are either "fahrenheit" or "celsius". The default unit
is degree Celsius.
templateN
Define a template for later use inside TEXT segments. Substitute
N by a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively. The value of the
variable is being inserted into the stuff below TEXT at the cor‐
responding position, but before some substitutions are applied:
'\n' -> newline
'\\' -> backslash
'\ ' -> space
'\N' -> template argument N
text_buffer_size bytes
Size of the standard text buffer (default is 256 bytes). This
buffer is used for intermediary text, such as individual lines,
output from $exec vars, and various other variables. Increasing
the size of this buffer can drastically reduce Conky's perfor‐
mance, but will allow for more text display per variable. The
size of this buffer cannot be smaller than the default value of
256 bytes.
times_in_seconds
If true, variables that output times output a number that repre‐
sents seconds. This doesn't affect $time, $tztime and $utime
top_cpu_separate
If true, cpu in top will show usage of one processor's power. If
false, cpu in top will show the usage of all processors' power
combined.
top_name_width
Width for $top name value (defaults to 15 characters).
total_run_times
Total number of times for Conky to update before quitting. Zero
makes Conky run forever
update_interval seconds
Update interval
update_interval_on_battery seconds
Update interval when running on batterypower
uppercase
Boolean value, if true, text is rendered in upper case
use_spacer
Adds spaces around certain objects to stop them from moving oth‐
er things around. Arguments are left, right, and none (default).
The old true/false values are deprecated and default to
right/none respectively. Note that this only helps if you are
using a mono font, such as Bitstream Vera Sans Mono.
use_xft
Use Xft (anti-aliased font and stuff)
xftalpha
Alpha of Xft font. Must be a value at or between 1 and 0.
xftfont
Xft font to use.
OBJECTS/VARIABLES
Colours are parsed using XParsecolor(), there might be a list of them:
/usr/share/X11/rgb.txt. Colour can be also in #rrggbb format (hex).
Some objects may create threads, and sometimes these threads will not
be destroyed until Conky terminates. There is no way to destroy or
clean up threads while Conky is running. For example, if you use an MPD
variable, the MPD thread will keep running until Conky dies. Some
threaded objects will use one of the parameters as a 'key', so that you
only have 1 relevant thread running (for example, the $curl, $rss and
$weather objects launch one thread per URI).
acpiacadapter (adapter)
ACPI ac adapter state. On linux, the adapter option specifies
the subfolder of /sys/class/power_supply containing the state
information (tries "AC" and "ADP1" if there is no argument giv‐
en). Non-linux systems ignore it.
acpifan
ACPI fan state
acpitemp
ACPI temperature in C.
addr (interface)
IP address for an interface, or "No Address" if no address is
assigned.
addrs (interface)
IP addresses for an interface (if one - works like addr). Linux
only.
adt746xcpu
CPU temperature from therm_adt746x
adt746xfan
Fan speed from therm_adt746x
alignc (num)
Align text to centre
alignr (num)
Right-justify text, with space of N
apcupsd host port
Sets up the connection to apcupsd daemon. Prints nothing, de‐
faults to localhost:3551
apcupsd_cable
Prints the UPS connection type.
apcupsd_charge
Current battery capacity in percent.
apcupsd_lastxfer
Reason for last transfer from line to battery.
apcupsd_linev
Nominal input voltage.
apcupsd_load
Current load in percent.
apcupsd_loadbar
Bar showing current load.
apcupsd_loadgauge (height),(width)
Gauge that shows current load.
apcupsd_loadgraph (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient colour
2) (scale) (-t) (-l)
History graph of current load.
apcupsd_model
Prints the model of the UPS.
apcupsd_name
Prints the UPS user-defined name.
apcupsd_status
Prints current status (on-line, on-battery).
apcupsd_temp
Current internal temperature.
apcupsd_timeleft
Time left to run on battery.
apcupsd_upsmode
Prints the UPS mode (e.g. standalone).
apm_adapter
Display APM AC adapter status (FreeBSD only)
apm_battery_life
Display APM battery life in percent (FreeBSD only)
apm_battery_time
Display remaining APM battery life in hh:mm:ss or "unknown" if
AC adapterstatus is on-line or charging (FreeBSD only)
audacious_bar (height),(width)
Progress bar
audacious_bitrate
Bitrate of current tune
audacious_channels
Number of audio channels of current tune
audacious_filename
Full path and filename of current tune
audacious_frequency
Sampling frequency of current tune
audacious_length
Total length of current tune as MM:SS
audacious_length_seconds
Total length of current tune in seconds
audacious_main_volume
The current volume fetched from Audacious
audacious_playlist_length
Number of tunes in playlist
audacious_playlist_position
Playlist position of current tune
audacious_position
Position of current tune (MM:SS)
audacious_position_seconds
Position of current tune in seconds
audacious_status
Player status (Playing/Paused/Stopped/Not running)
audacious_title (max length)
Title of current tune with optional maximum length specifier
battery (num)
Battery status and remaining percentage capacity of ACPI or APM
battery. ACPI battery number can be given as argument (default
is BAT0).
battery_bar (height),(width) (num)
Battery percentage remaining of ACPI battery in a bar. ACPI bat‐
tery number can be given as argument (default is BAT0).
battery_percent (num)
Battery percentage remaining for ACPI battery. ACPI battery
number can be given as argument (default is BAT0).
battery_short (num)
Battery status and remaining percentage capacity of ACPI or APM
battery. ACPI battery number can be given as argument (default
is BAT0). This mode display a short status, which means that C
is displayed instead of charging, D for discharging, F for full,
N for not present, E for empty and U for unknown.
battery_time (num)
Battery charge/discharge time remaining of ACPI battery. ACPI
battery number can be given as argument (default is BAT0).
blink text_and_other_conky_vars
Let 'text_and_other_conky_vars' blink on and off.
bmpx_album
Album in current BMPx track
bmpx_artist
Artist in current BMPx track
bmpx_bitrate
Bitrate of the current BMPx track
bmpx_title
Title of the current BMPx track
bmpx_track
Track number of the current BMPx track
bmpx_uri
URI of the current BMPx track
buffers
Amount of memory buffered
cached Amount of memory cached
cmdline_to_pid string
PID of the first process that has string in it's commandline
color (color)
Change drawing color to 'color' which is a name of a color or a
hexcode preceded with # (for example #0A1B2C ). If you use
ncurses only the following colors are supported: red,green,yel‐
low,blue,magenta,cyan,black,white.
colorN Change drawing color to colorN configuration option, where N is
a digit between 0 and 9, inclusively.
combine var1 var2
Places the lines of var2 to the right of the lines of var1 sepa‐
rated by the chars that are put between var1 and var2. For exam‐
ple: ${combine ${head /proc/cpuinfo 2} - ${head /proc/meminfo
1}} gives as output "cpuinfo_line1 - meminfo_line1" on line 1
and "cpuinfo_line2 -" on line 2. $combine vars can also be nest‐
ed to place more vars next to each other.
conky_build_arch
CPU architecture Conky was built for
conky_build_date
Date Conky was built
conky_version
Conky version
cpu (cpuN)
CPU usage in percents. For SMP machines, the CPU number can be
provided as an argument. ${cpu cpu0} is the total usage, and
${cpu cpuX} (X >= 1) are individual CPUs.
cpubar (cpuN) (height),(width)
Bar that shows CPU usage, height is bar's height in pixels. See
$cpu for more info on SMP.
cpugauge (cpuN) (height),(width)
Elliptical gauge that shows CPU usage, height and width are
gauge's vertical and horizontal axis respectively. See $cpu for
more info on SMP.
cpugraph (cpuN) (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient colour
2) (scale) (-t) (-l)
CPU usage graph, with optional colours in hex, minus the #. See
$cpu for more info on SMP. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see
small numbers) when you use the -l switch. Takes the switch '-t'
to use a temperature gradient, which makes the gradient values
change depending on the amplitude of a particular graph value
(try it and see).
curl url (interval_in_minutes)
Download data from URI using Curl at the specified interval. The
interval may be a floating point value greater than 0, otherwise
defaults to 15 minutes. Most useful when used in conjunction
with Lua and the Lua API. This object is threaded, and once a
thread is created it can't be explicitly destroyed. One thread
will run for each URI specified. You can use any protocol that
Curl supports.
desktop
Number of the desktop on which conky is running or the message
"Not running in X" if this is the case.
desktop_name
Name of the desktop on which conky is running or the message
"Not running in X" if this is the case.
desktop_number
Number of desktops or the message "Not running in X" if this is
the case.
disk_protect device
Disk protection status, if supported (needs kernel-patch).
Prints either "frozen" or "free " (note the padding).
diskio (device)
Displays current disk IO. Device is optional, and takes the form
of sda for /dev/sda. Individual partitions are allowed.
diskio_read (device)
Displays current disk IO for reads. Device as in diskio.
diskio_write (device)
Displays current disk IO for writes. Device as in diskio.
diskiograph (device) (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient
colour 2) (scale) (-t) (-l)
Disk IO graph, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If scale is
non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Uses a logarithmic
scale (to see small numbers) when you use -l switch. Takes the
switch '-t' to use a temperature gradient, which makes the gra‐
dient values change depending on the amplitude of a particular
graph value (try it and see).
diskiograph_read (device) (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradi‐
ent colour 2) (scale) (-t) (-l)
Disk IO graph for reads, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If
scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Device as
in diskio. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small numbers) when
you use -l switch. Takes the switch '-t' to use a temperature
gradient, which makes the gradient values change depending on
the amplitude of a particular graph value (try it and see).
diskiograph_write (device) (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradi‐
ent colour 2) (scale) (-t) (-l)
Disk IO graph for writes, colours defined in hex, minus the #.
If scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Device
as in diskio. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small numbers)
when you use -l switch. Takes the switch '-t' to use a tempera‐
ture gradient, which makes the gradient values change depending
on the amplitude of a particular graph value (try it and see).
downspeed (net)
Download speed in suitable IEC units
downspeedf (net)
Download speed in KiB with one decimal
downspeedgraph (netdev) (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient
colour 2) (scale) (-t) (-l)
Download speed graph, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If
scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Uses a
logarithmic scale (to see small numbers) when you use -l switch.
Takes the switch '-t' to use a temperature gradient, which makes
the gradient values change depending on the amplitude of a par‐
ticular graph value (try it and see).
draft_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as draft in the specified mailbox or mail
spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported, mbox
type will return -1.
else Text to show if any of the above are not true
endif Ends an $if block.
entropy_avail
Current entropy available for crypto freaks
entropy_bar (height),(width)
Normalized bar of available entropy for crypto freaks
entropy_perc
Percentage of entropy available in comparison to the poolsize
entropy_poolsize
Total size of system entropy pool for crypto freaks
eval string
Evaluates given string according to the rules of TEXT interpre‐
tation, i.e. parsing any contained text object specifications
into their output, any occuring '$$' into a single '$' and so
on. The output is then being parsed again.
eve api_userid api_key character_id
Fetches your currently training skill from the Eve Online API
servers (http://www.eve-online.com/) and displays the skill
along with the remaining training time.
exec command
Executes a shell command and displays the output in conky. warn‐
ing: this takes a lot more resources than other variables. I'd
recommend coding wanted behaviour in C and posting a patch.
execbar command
Same as exec, except if the first value return is a value be‐
tween 0-100, it will use that number for a bar. The size for
bars can be controlled via the default_bar_size config setting.
execgauge command
Same as exec, except if the first value returned is a value be‐
tween 0-100, it will use that number for a gauge. The size for
gauges can be controlled via the default_gauge_size config set‐
ting.
execgraph (-t) (-l) command
Same as execbar, but graphs values. Uses a logaritmic scale when
the log option (-l switch) is given (to see small numbers). Val‐
ues still have to be between 0 and 100. The size for graphs can
be controlled via the default_graph_size config setting. Takes
the switch '-t' to use a temperature gradient, which makes the
gradient values change depending on the amplitude of a particu‐
lar graph value (try it and see). If -t or -l is your first ar‐
gument, you may need to preceed it by a space (' ').
execi interval command
Same as exec but with specific interval. Interval can't be less
than update_interval in configuration. See also $texeci
execibar interval command
Same as execbar, except with an interval
execigauge interval command
Same as execgauge, but takes an interval arg and gauges values.
execigraph interval (-t) (-l) command
Same as execgraph, but takes an interval arg and graphs values.
If -t or -l is your first argument, you may need to preceed it
by a space (' ').
execp command
Executes a shell command and displays the output in conky. warn‐
ing: this takes a lot more resources than other variables. I'd
recommend coding wanted behaviour in C and posting a patch. This
differs from $exec in that it parses the output of the command,
so you can insert things like ${color red}hi!${color} in your
script and have it correctly parsed by Conky. Caveats: Conky
parses and evaluates the output of $execp every time Conky
loops, and then destroys all the objects. If you try to use any‐
thing like $execi within an $execp statement, it will function‐
ally run at the same interval that the $execp statement runs, as
it is created and destroyed at every interval.
execpi interval command
Same as execp but with specific interval. Interval can't be
less than update_interval in configuration. Note that the output
from the $execpi command is still parsed and evaluated at every
interval.
flagged_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as flagged in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
font (font)
Specify a different font. This new font will apply to the cur‐
rent line and everything following. You can use a $font with no
arguments to change back to the default font (much like with
$color)
format_time seconds format
Format time given in seconds. This var only works when the
times_in_seconds configuration setting is on. Format is a string
that should start and end with a "-char. The "-chars are not
part of the output, \w,\d,\h,\m,\s,\(,\) and \\ are replaced by
weeks,days,hours,minutes,seconds,(,) and \. If you leave out a
unit, it's value will be expressed in the highest unite lower
then the one left out. Text between ()-chars will not be visible
if a replaced unit in this text is 0. If seconds is a decimal
number then you can see the numbers behind the point by using \S
followed by a number that specifies the amount of digits behind
the point that you want to see (maximum 9). You can also place
a 'x' behind \S so you have all digits behind the point and no
trailing zero's. (also maximum 9)
forwarded_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as forwarded in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
freq (n)
Returns CPU #n's frequency in MHz. CPUs are counted from 1. If
omitted, the parameter defaults to 1.
freq_g (n)
Returns CPU #n's frequency in GHz. CPUs are counted from 1. If
omitted, the parameter defaults to 1.
fs_bar (height),(width) fs
Bar that shows how much space is used on a file system. height
is the height in pixels. fs is any file on that file system.
fs_bar_free (height),(width) fs
Bar that shows how much space is free on a file system. height
is the height in pixels. fs is any file on that file system.
fs_free (fs)
Free space on a file system available for users.
fs_free_perc (fs)
Free percentage of space on a file system available for users.
fs_size (fs)
File system size.
fs_type (fs)
File system type.
fs_used (fs)
File system used space.
fs_used_perc (fs)
Percent of file system used space.
goto x The next element will be printed at position 'x'.
gw_iface
Displays the default route's interface or "multiple"/"none" ac‐
cordingly.
gw_ip Displays the default gateway's IP or "multiple"/"none" accord‐
ingly.
hddtemp (dev)
Displays temperature of a selected hard disk drive as reported
by the hddtemp daemon. Use hddtemp_host and hddtemp_port to
specify a host and port for all hddtemp objects. If no dev pa‐
rameter is given, the first disk returned by the hddtemp daemon
is used.
head logfile lines (next_check)
Displays first N lines of supplied text file. The file is
checked every 'next_check' update. If next_check is not sup‐
plied, Conky defaults to 2. Max of 30 lines can be displayed, or
until the text buffer is filled.
hr (height)
Horizontal line, height is the height in pixels
hwmon (dev) type n (factor offset)
Hwmon sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). Parameter dev may be omit‐
ted if you have only one hwmon device. Parameter type is either
'in' or 'vol' meaning voltage; 'fan' meaning fan; 'temp' meaning
temperature. Parameter n is number of the sensor. See
/sys/class/hwmon/ on your local computer. The optional arguments
'factor' and 'offset' allow precalculation of the raw input,
which is being modified as follows: 'input = input * factor +
offset'. Note that they have to be given as decimal values (i.e.
contain at least one decimal place).
i2c (dev) type n (factor offset)
I2C sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). Parameter dev may be omitted
if you have only one I2C device. Parameter type is either 'in'
or 'vol' meaning voltage; 'fan' meaning fan; 'temp' meaning tem‐
perature. Parameter n is number of the sensor. See
/sys/bus/i2c/devices/ on your local computer. The optional argu‐
ments 'factor' and 'offset' allow precalculation of the raw in‐
put, which is being modified as follows: 'input = input * factor
+ offset'. Note that they have to be given as decimal values
(i.e. contain at least one decimal place).
i8k_ac_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
whether ac power is on, as listed in /proc/i8k (translated to
human-readable). Beware that this is by default not enabled by
i8k itself.
i8k_bios
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the bios version as listed in /proc/i8k.
i8k_buttons_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the volume buttons status as listed in /proc/i8k.
i8k_cpu_temp
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the cpu temperature in Celsius, as reported by /proc/i8k.
i8k_left_fan_rpm
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the left fan's rate of rotation, in revolutions per minute as
listed in /proc/i8k. Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans
in reverse order.
i8k_left_fan_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the left fan status as listed in /proc/i8k (translated to human-
readable). Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans in re‐
verse order.
i8k_right_fan_rpm
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the right fan's rate of rotation, in revolutions per minute as
listed in /proc/i8k. Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans
in reverse order.
i8k_right_fan_status
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the right fan status as listed in /proc/i8k (translated to hu‐
man-readable). Beware, some laptops i8k reports these fans in
reverse order.
i8k_serial
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
your laptop serial number as listed in /proc/i8k.
i8k_version
If running the i8k kernel driver for Inspiron laptops, displays
the version formatting of /proc/i8k.
ibm_brightness
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the brigtness of the laptops's
LCD (0-7).
ibm_fan
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the fan speed.
ibm_temps N
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the temperatures from the IBM
temperature sensors (N=0..7) Sensor 0 is on the CPU, 3 is on the
GPU.
ibm_volume
If running the IBM ACPI, displays the "master" volume, con‐
trolled by the volume keys (0-14).
iconv_start codeset_from codeset_to
Convert text from one codeset to another using GNU iconv. Needs
to be stopped with iconv_stop.
iconv_stop
Stop iconv codeset conversion.
if_empty (var)
if conky variable VAR is empty, display everything between
$if_empty and the matching $endif
if_existing file (string)
if FILE exists, display everything between if_existing and the
matching $endif. The optional second parameter checks for FILE
containing the specified string and prints everything between
$if_existing and the matching $endif.
if_gw if there is at least one default gateway, display everything be‐
tween $if_gw and the matching $endif
if_match expression
Evaluates the given boolean expression, printing everything be‐
tween $if_match and the matching $endif depending on whether the
evaluation returns true or not. Valid expressions consist of a
left side, an operator and a right side. Left and right sides
are being parsed for contained text objects before evaluation.
Recognised left and right side types are:
doubleArgument consists of only digits and a single dot.
longArgument consists of only digits.
stringArgument is enclosed in quotation marks (")
Valid operands are: '>', '<', '>=', '<=', '==', '!='.
if_mixer_mute (mixer)
If mixer exists, display everything between $if_mixer_mute and
the matching $endif. If no mixer is specified, "Vol" is used.
if_mounted (mountpoint)
if MOUNTPOINT is mounted, display everything between $if_mounted
and the matching $endif
if_mpd_playing
if mpd is playing or paused, display everything between
$if_mpd_playing and the matching $endif
if_running (process)
if PROCESS is running, display everything $if_running and the
matching $endif. This uses the ``pidof'' command, so the -x
switch is also supported.
if_smapi_bat_installed (INDEX)
when using smapi, if the battery with index INDEX is installed,
display everything between $if_smapi_bat_installed and the
matching $endif
if_up (interface)
if INTERFACE exists and is up, display everything between $if_up
and the matching $endif
if_updatenr (updatenr)
If it's the UPDATENR-th time that conky updates, display every‐
thing between $if_updatenr and the matching $endif. The counter
resets when the highest UPDATENR is reached. Example : "{$if_up‐
datenr 1}foo$endif{$if_updatenr 2}bar$endif{$if_updatenr 4}$en‐
dif" shows foo 25% of the time followed by bar 25% of the time
followed by nothing the other half of the time.
if_xmms2_connected
Display everything between $if_xmms2_connected and the matching
$endif if xmms2 is running.
image <path to image> (-p x,y) (-s WxH) (-n) (-f interval)
Renders an image from the path specified using Imlib2. Takes 4
optional arguments: a position, a size, a no-cache switch, and a
cache flush interval. Changing the x,y position will move the
position of the image, and changing the WxH will scale the im‐
age. If you specify the no-cache flag (-n), the image will not
be cached. Alternately, you can specify the -f int switch to
specify a cache flust interval for a particular image. Example:
${image /home/brenden/cheeseburger.jpg -p 20,20 -s 200x200} will
render 'cheeseburger.jpg' at (20,20) scaled to 200x200 pixels.
Conky does not make any attempt to adjust the position (or any
other formatting) of images, they are just rendered as per the
arguments passed. The only reason $image is part of the TEXT
section, is to allow for runtime modifications, through $execp
$lua_parse, or some other method.
imap_messages (args)
Displays the number of messages in your global IMAP inbox by de‐
fault. You can define individual IMAP inboxes separately by
passing arguments to this object. Arguments are: "host user
pass [-i interval (in seconds)] [-f 'folder'] [-p port] [-e
'command'] [-r retries]". Default port is 143, default folder is
'INBOX', default interval is 5 minutes, and default number of
retries before giving up is 5. If the password is supplied as
'*', you will be prompted to enter the password when Conky
starts.
imap_unseen (args)
Displays the number of unseen messages in your global IMAP inbox
by default. You can define individual IMAP inboxes separately by
passing arguments to this object. Arguments are: "host user pass
[-i interval (in seconds)] [-f 'folder'] [-p port] [-e 'com‐
mand'] [-r retries]". Default port is 143, default folder is
'INBOX', default interval is 5 minutes, and default number of
retries before giving up is 5. If the password is supplied as
'*', you will be prompted to enter the password when Conky
starts.
include path
Loads the configfile at path, places the configsettings behind
the configsettings in the orginal config and places the vars
where the includevar stood.
ioscheduler disk
Prints the current ioscheduler used for the given disk name
(i.e. e.g. "hda" or "sdb")
kernel Kernel version
laptop_mode
The value of /proc/sys/vm/laptop_mode
lines textfile
Displays the number of lines in the given file
loadavg (1|2|3)
System load average, 1 is for past 1 minute, 2 for past 5 min‐
utes and 3 for past 15 minutes. Without argument, prints all
three values separated by whitespace.
loadgraph (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient colour 2)
(scale) (-t) (-l)
Load1 average graph, similar to xload, with optional colours in
hex, minus the #. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small num‐
bers) when you use the -l switch. Takes the switch '-t' to use
a temperature gradient, which makes the gradient values change
depending on the amplitude of a particular graph value (try it
and see).
lua function_name (function parameters)
Executes a Lua function with given parameters, then prints the
returned string. See also 'lua_load' on how to load scripts.
Conky puts 'conky_' in front of function_name to prevent acci‐
dental calls to the wrong function unless you put you place
'conky_' in front of it yourself.
lua_bar (height, width) function_name (function parameters)
Executes a Lua function with given parameters and draws a bar.
Expects result value to be an integer between 0 and 100. See al‐
so 'lua_load' on how to load scripts. Conky puts 'conky_' in
front of function_name to prevent accidental calls to the wrong
function unless you put you place 'conky_' in front of it your‐
self.
lua_gauge (height, width) function_name (function parameters)
Executes a Lua function with given parameters and draws a gauge.
Expects result value to be an integer between 0 and 100. See al‐
so 'lua_load' on how to load scripts. Conky puts 'conky_' in
front of function_name to prevent accidental calls to the wrong
function unless you put you place 'conky_' in front of it your‐
self.
lua_graph function_name (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient
colour 2) (scale) (-t) (-l)
Executes a Lua function with and draws a graph. Expects result
value to be any number, and by default will scale to show the
full range. See also 'lua_load' on how to load scripts. Takes
the switch '-t' to use a temperature gradient, which makes the
gradient values change depending on the amplitude of a particu‐
lar graph value (try it and see). Conky puts 'conky_' in front
of function_name to prevent accidental calls to the wrong func‐
tion unless you put you place 'conky_' in front of it yourself.
lua_parse function_name (function parameters)
Executes a Lua function with given parameters as per $lua, then
parses and prints the result value as per the syntax for Conky's
TEXT section. See also 'lua_load' on how to load scripts. Conky
puts 'conky_' in front of function_name to prevent accidental
calls to the wrong function unless you put you place 'conky_' in
front of it yourself.
machine
Machine, i686 for example
mails (mailbox) (interval)
Mail count in the specified mailbox or your mail spool if not.
Both mbox and maildir type mailboxes are supported. You can use
a program like fetchmail to get mails from some server using
your favourite protocol. See also new_mails.
mboxscan (-n number of messages to print) (-fw from width) (-sw subject
width) mbox
Print a summary of recent messages in an mbox format mailbox.
mbox parameter is the filename of the mailbox (can be encapsu‐
lated using '"', ie. ${mboxscan -n 10 "/home/brenden/some box"}
mem Amount of memory in use
membar (height),(width)
Bar that shows amount of memory in use
memeasyfree
Amount of free memory including the memory that is very easily
freed (buffers/cache)
memfree
Amount of free memory
memgauge (height),(width)
Gauge that shows amount of memory in use (see cpugauge)
memgraph (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient colour 2)
(scale) (-t) (-l)
Memory usage graph. Uses a logarithmic scale (to see small num‐
bers) when you use the -l switch. Takes the switch '-t' to use a
temperature gradient, which makes the gradient values change de‐
pending on the amplitude of a particular graph value (try it and
see).
memmax Total amount of memory
memperc
Percentage of memory in use
mixer (device)
Prints the mixer value as reported by the OS. On Linux, this
variable uses the OSS emulation, so you need the proper kernel
module loaded. Default mixer is "Vol", but you can specify one
of the available OSS controls: "Vol", "Bass", "Trebl", "Synth",
"Pcm", "Spkr", "Line", "Mic", "CD", "Mix", "Pcm2 ", "Rec",
"IGain", "OGain", "Line1", "Line2", "Line3", "Digital1", "Digi‐
tal2", "Digital3", "PhoneIn", "PhoneOut", "Video", "Radio" and
"Monitor".
mixerbar (device)
Displays mixer value in a bar as reported by the OS. See docs
for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerl (device)
Prints the left channel mixer value as reported by the OS. See
docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerlbar (device)
Displays the left channel mixer value in a bar as reported by
the OS. See docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerr (device)
Prints the right channel mixer value as reported by the OS. See
docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
mixerrbar (device)
Displays the right channel mixer value in a bar as reported by
the OS. See docs for $mixer for details on arguments.
moc_album
Album of the current MOC song
moc_artist
Artist of the current MOC song
moc_bitrate
Bitrate in the current MOC song
moc_curtime
Current time of the current MOC song
moc_file
File name of the current MOC song
moc_rate
Rate of the current MOC song
moc_song
The current song name being played in MOC.
moc_state
Current state of MOC; playing, stopped etc.
moc_timeleft
Time left in the current MOC song
moc_title
Title of the current MOC song
moc_totaltime
Total length of the current MOC song
monitor
Number of the monitor on which conky is running or the message
"Not running in X" if this is the case.
monitor_number
Number of monitors or the message "Not running in X" if this is
the case.
mpd_album
Album in current MPD song
mpd_artist
Artist in current MPD song must be enabled at compile
mpd_bar (height),(width)
Bar of mpd's progress
mpd_bitrate
Bitrate of current song
mpd_date
Date of current song
mpd_elapsed
Song's elapsed time
mpd_file
Prints the file name of the current MPD song
mpd_length
Song's length
mpd_name
Prints the MPD name field
mpd_percent
Percent of song's progress
mpd_random
Random status (On/Off)
mpd_repeat
Repeat status (On/Off)
mpd_smart (max length)
Prints the song name in either the form "artist - title" or file
name, depending on whats available
mpd_status
Playing, stopped, et cetera.
mpd_title (max length)
Title of current MPD song
mpd_track
Prints the MPD track field
mpd_vol
MPD's volume
nameserver (index)
Print a nameserver from /etc/resolv.conf. Index starts at and
defaults to 0.
new_mails (mailbox) (interval)
Unread mail count in the specified mailbox or mail spool if not.
Both mbox and maildir type mailboxes are supported.
nodename
Hostname
nodename_short
Short hostname (same as 'hostname -s' shell command).
nvidia threshold temp ambient gpufreq memfreq imagequality
Nvidia graficcard support for the XNVCtrl library. Each option
can be shortened to the least significant part. Temperatures are
printed as float, all other values as integer.
threshold The thresholdtemperature at which the gpu slows down
temp Gives the gpu current temperature
ambient Gives current air temperature near GPU case
gpufreq Gives the current gpu frequency
memfreq Gives the current mem frequency
imagequality Which imagequality should be chosen by OpenGL ap‐
plications
offset (pixels)
Move text over by N pixels. See also $voffset.
outlinecolor (color)
Change outline color
pb_battery item
If running on Apple powerbook/ibook, display information on bat‐
tery status. The item parameter specifies, what information to
display. Exactly one item must be specified. Valid items are:
status Display if battery is fully charged, charging, discharg‐
ing or absent (running on AC)
percent Display charge of battery in percent, if charging or
discharging. Nothing will be displayed, if battery is fully
charged or absent.
time Display the time remaining until the battery will be fully
charged or discharged at current rate. Nothing is displayed, if
battery is absent or if it's present but fully charged and not
discharging.
pid_chroot pid
Directory used as rootdirectory by the process (this will be "/"
unless the process did a chroot syscall)
pid_cmdline pid
Command line this process was invoked with
pid_cwd pid
Current working directory of the process
pid_environ pid varname
Contents of a environment-var of the process
pid_environ_list pid
List of environment-vars that the process can see
pid_exe pid
Path to executed command that started the process
pid_nice pid
The nice value of the process
pid_openfiles pid
List of files that the process has open
pid_parent pid
The pid of the parent of the process
pid_priority pid
The priority of the process (see 'priority' in "man 5 proc")
pid_read pid
Total number of bytes read by the process
pid_state pid
State of the process
pid_state_short pid
One of the chars in "RSDZTW" representing the state of the
process where R is running, S is sleeping in an interruptible
wait, D is waiting in uninterruptible disk sleep, Z is zombie, T
is traced or stopped (on a signal), and W is paging
pid_stderr pid
Filedescriptor binded to the STDERR of the process
pid_stdin pid
Filedescriptor binded to the STDIN of the process
pid_stdout pid
Filedescriptor binded to the STDOUT of the process
pid_threads pid
Number of threads in process containing this thread
pid_thread_list pid
List with pid's from threads from this process
pid_time_kernelmode pid
Amount of time that the process has been scheduled in kernel
mode in seconds
pid_time_usermode pid
Amount of time that the process has been scheduled in user mode
in seconds
pid_time pid
Sum of $pid_time_kernelmode and $pid_time_usermode
pid_uid pid
The real uid of the process
pid_euid pid
The effective uid of the process
pid_suid pid
The saved set uid of the process
pid_fsuid pid
The file system uid of the process
pid_gid pid
The real gid of the process
pid_egid pid
The effective gid of the process
pid_sgid pid
The saved set gid of the process
pid_fsgid pid
The file system gid of the process
pid_vmpeak pid
Peak virtual memory size of the process
pid_vmsize pid
Virtual memory size of the process
pid_vmlck pid
Locked memory size of the process
pid_vmhwm pid
Peak resident set size ("high water mark") of the process
pid_vmrss pid
Resident set size of the process
pid_vmdata pid
Data segment size of the process
pid_vmstk pid
Stack segment size of the process
pid_vmexe pid
Text segment size of the process
pid_vmlib pid
Shared library code size of the process
pid_vmpte pid
Page table entries size of the process
pid_write pid
Total number of bytes written by the process
platform (dev) type n (factor offset)
Platform sensor from sysfs (Linux 2.6). Parameter dev may be
omitted if you have only one platform device. Platform type is
either 'in' or 'vol' meaning voltage; 'fan' meaning fan; 'temp'
meaning temperature. Parameter n is number of the sensor. See
/sys/bus/platform/devices/ on your local computer. The optional
arguments 'factor' and 'offset' allow precalculation of the raw
input, which is being modified as follows: 'input = input * fac‐
tor + offset'. Note that they have to be given as decimal values
(i.e. contain at least one decimal place).
pop3_unseen (args)
Displays the number of unseen messages in your global POP3 inbox
by default. You can define individual POP3 inboxes separately by
passing arguments to this object. Arguments are: "host user pass
[-i interval (in seconds)] [-p port] [-e 'command'] [-r re‐
tries]". Default port is 110, default interval is 5 minutes, and
default number of retries before giving up is 5. If the password
is supplied as '*', you will be prompted to enter the password
when Conky starts.
pop3_used (args)
Displays the amount of space (in MiB, 2^20) used in your global
POP3 inbox by default. You can define individual POP3 inboxes
separately by passing arguments to this object. Arguments are:
"host user pass [-i interval (in seconds)] [-p port] [-e 'com‐
mand'] [-r retries]". Default port is 110, default interval is 5
minutes, and default number of retries before giving up is 5. If
the password is supplied as '*', you will be prompted to enter
the password when Conky starts.
pre_exec shell command
Executes a shell command one time before conky displays anything
and puts output as text.
processes
Total processes (sleeping and running)
read_tcp (host) port
Connects to a tcp port on a host (default is localhost), reads
every char available at the moment and shows them.
replied_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as replied in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
rss uri interval_in_minutes action (num_par (spaces_in_front))
Download and parse RSS feeds. The interval may be a floating
point value greater than 0, otherwise defaults to 15 minutes.
Action may be one of the following: feed_title, item_title (with
num par), item_desc (with num par) and item_titles (when using
this action and spaces_in_front is given conky places that many
spaces in front of each item). This object is threaded, and once
a thread is created it can't be explicitly destroyed. One thread
will run for each URI specified. You can use any protocol that
Curl supports.
running_processes
Running processes (not sleeping), requires Linux 2.6
running_threads
Number of running (runnable) threads. Linux only.
scroll length (step) text
Scroll 'text' by 'step' characters showing 'length' number of
characters at the same time. The text may also contain vari‐
ables. 'step' is optional and defaults to 1 if not set. If a var
creates output on multiple lines then the lines are placed be‐
hind each other separated with a '|'-sign. If you change the
textcolor inside $scroll it will automatically have it's old
value back at the end of $scroll. The end and the start of text
will be separated by 'length' number of spaces.
seen_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as seen in the specified mailbox or mail
spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported, mbox
type will return -1.
shadecolor (color)
Change shading color
smapi (ARGS)
when using smapi, display contents of the /sys/devices/plat‐
form/smapi directory. ARGS are either '(FILENAME)' or 'bat (IN‐
DEX) (FILENAME)' to display the corresponding files' content.
This is a very raw method of accessing the smapi values. When
available, better use one of the smapi_* variables instead.
smapi_bat_bar (INDEX),(height),(width)
when using smapi, display the remaining capacity of the battery
with index INDEX as a bar.
smapi_bat_perc (INDEX)
when using smapi, display the remaining capacity in percent of
the battery with index INDEX. This is a separate variable be‐
cause it supports the 'use_spacer' configuration option.
smapi_bat_power INDEX
when using smapi, display the current power of the battery with
index INDEX in watt. This is a separate variable because the
original read out value is being converted from mW. The sign of
the output reflects charging (positive) or discharging (nega‐
tive) state.
smapi_bat_temp INDEX
when using smapi, display the current temperature of the battery
with index INDEX in degree Celsius. This is a separate variable
because the original read out value is being converted from mil‐
li degree Celsius.
sony_fanspeed
Displays the Sony VAIO fanspeed information if sony-laptop ker‐
nel support is enabled. Linux only.
stippled_hr (space)
Stippled (dashed) horizontal line
swap Amount of swap in use
swapbar (height),(width)
Bar that shows amount of swap in use
swapfree
Amount of free swap
swapmax
Total amount of swap
swapperc
Percentage of swap in use
sysname
System name, Linux for example
tab (width, (start))
Puts a tab of the specified width, starting from column 'start'.
The unit is pixels for both arguments.
tail logfile lines (next_check)
Displays last N lines of supplied text file. The file is checked
every 'next_check' update. If next_check is not supplied, Conky
defaults to 2. Max of 30 lines can be displayed, or until the
text buffer is filled.
tcp_portmon port_begin port_end item (index)
TCP port (both IPv6 and IPv4) monitor for specified local ports.
Port numbers must be in the range 1 to 65535. Valid items are:
count Total number of connections in the range
rip Remote ip address
rhost Remote host name
rport Remote port number
rservice Remote service name from /etc/services
lip Local ip address
lhost Local host name
lport Local port number
lservice Local service name from /etc/services
The connection index provides you with access to each connection
in the port monitor. The monitor will return information for in‐
dex values from 0 to n-1 connections. Values higher than n-1 are
simply ignored. For the "count" item, the connection index must
be omitted. It is required for all other items.
Examples:
${tcp_portmon 6881 6999 count} Displays the number of connec‐
tions in the bittorrent port range
${tcp_portmon 22 22 rip 0} Displays the remote host ip of the
first sshd connection
${tcp_portmon 22 22 rip 9} Displays the remote host ip of the
tenth sshd connection
${tcp_portmon 1 1024 rhost 0} Displays the remote host name of
the first connection on a privileged port
${tcp_portmon 1 1024 rport 4} Displays the remote host port of
the fifth connection on a privileged port
${tcp_portmon 1 65535 lservice 14} Displays the local service
name of the fifteenth connection in the range of all ports
Note that port monitor variables which share the same port range
actually refer to the same monitor, so many references to a sin‐
gle port range for different items and different indexes all use
the same monitor internally. In other words, the program avoids
creating redundant monitors.
templateN (arg1) (arg2) (arg3 ...)
Evaluate the content of the templateN configuration variable
(where N is a value between 0 and 9, inclusively), applying sub‐
stitutions as described in the documentation of the correspond‐
ing configuration variable. The number of arguments is optional,
but must match the highest referred index in the template. You
can use the same special sequences in each argument as the ones
valid for a template definition, e.g. to allow an argument to
contain a whitespace. Also simple nesting of templates is possi‐
ble this way.
Here are some examples of template definitions:
template0 $\1\2
template1 \1: ${fs_used \2} / ${fs_size \2}
template2 \1 \2
The following list shows sample usage of the templates defined
above, with the equivalent syntax when not using any template at
all:
using template same without template
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
${template0 node name} $nodename
${template1 root /} root: ${fs_free /} /
${fs_size /}
${template1 ${template2\ disk root: ${fs_free /} /
disk\ root} /} ${fs_size /}
texeci interval command
Runs a command at an interval inside a thread and displays the
output. Same as $execi, except the command is run inside a
thread. Use this if you have a slow script to keep Conky updat‐
ing. You should make the interval slightly longer then the time
it takes your script to execute. For example, if you have a
script that take 5 seconds to execute, you should make the in‐
terval at least 6 seconds. See also $execi. This object will
clean up the thread when it is destroyed, so it can safely be
used in a nested fashion, though it may not produce the desired
behaviour if used this way.
threads
Total threads
time (format)
Local time, see man strftime to get more information about for‐
mat
to_bytes size
If 'size' is a number followed by a size-unit (kilo‐
byte,mb,GiB,...) then it converts the size to bytes and shows it
without unit, otherwise it just shows 'size'.
top type num
This takes arguments in the form:top (name) (number) Basically,
processes are ranked from highest to lowest in terms of cpu us‐
age, which is what (num) represents. The types are: "name",
"pid", "cpu", "mem", "mem_res", "mem_vsize", "time", "uid", "us‐
er", "io_perc", "io_read" and "io_write". There can be a max of
10 processes listed.
top_io type num
Same as top, except sorted by the amount of I/O the process has
done during the update interval
top_mem type num
Same as top, except sorted by mem usage instead of cpu
top_time type num
Same as top, except sorted by total CPU time instead of current
CPU usage
totaldown (net)
Total download, overflows at 4 GB on Linux with 32-bit arch and
there doesn't seem to be a way to know how many times it has al‐
ready done that before conky has started.
totalup (net)
Total upload, this one too, may overflow
trashed_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails marked as trashed in the specified mailbox or
mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
tztime (timezone (format))
Local time for specified timezone, see man strftime to get more
information about format. The timezone argument is specified in
similar fashion as TZ environment variable. For hints, look in
/usr/share/zoneinfo. e.g. US/Pacific, Europe/Zurich, etc.
gid_name gid
Name of group with this gid
uid_name uid
Username of user with this uid
unflagged_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails not marked as flagged in the specified mailbox
or mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
unforwarded_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails not marked as forwarded in the specified mailbox
or mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
unreplied_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of mails not marked as replied in the specified mailbox
or mail spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported,
mbox type will return -1.
unseen_mails (maildir) (interval)
Number of new or unseen mails in the specified mailbox or mail
spool if not. Only maildir type mailboxes are supported, mbox
type will return -1.
updates Number of updates
for debugging
upspeed (net)
Upload speed in suitable IEC units
upspeedf (net)
Upload speed in KiB with one decimal
upspeedgraph (netdev) (height),(width) (gradient colour 1) (gradient
colour 2) (scale) (-t) (-l)
Upload speed graph, colours defined in hex, minus the #. If
scale is non-zero, it becomes the scale for the graph. Uses a
logarithmic scale (to see small numbers) when you use the -l
switch. Takes the switch '-t' to use a temperature gradient,
which makes the gradient values change depending on the ampli‐
tude of a particular graph value (try it and see).
uptime Uptime
uptime_short
Uptime in a shorter format
user_names
Lists the names of the users logged in
user_number
Number of users logged in
user_terms
Lists the consoles in use
user_times
Lists how long users have been logged in for
user_time console
Lists how long the user for the given console has been logged in
for
utime (format)
Display time in UTC (universal coordinate time).
voffset (pixels)
Change vertical offset by N pixels. Negative values will cause
text to overlap. See also $offset.
voltage_mv (n)
Returns CPU #n's voltage in mV. CPUs are counted from 1. If
omitted, the parameter defaults to 1.
voltage_v (n)
Returns CPU #n's voltage in V. CPUs are counted from 1. If omit‐
ted, the parameter defaults to 1.
weather URI locID data_type (interval_in_minutes)
Download, parse and display METAR data.
For the 'URI', there are two possibilities:
http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/data/observations/metar/stations/
http://xoap.weather.com/weather/local/
The first one is free to use but the second requires you to reg‐
ister and obtain your partner ID and license key. These two must
be written, separated by a space, into a file called .xoaprc
which needs to be placed into your home directory.
'locID' must be a valid location identifier for the required
uri. For the NOAA site this must be a valid ICAO (see for in‐
stance https://pilotweb.nas.faa.gov/qryhtml/icao/). For the
weather.com site this must be a valid location ID (see for in‐
stance http://aspnetresources.com/tools/locid.aspx).
'data_type' must be one of the following:
last_update The date and time stamp of the data. The result de‐
pends on the URI used. For the NOAA site it is date (yyyy/mm/dd)
and UTC time. For the weather.com one it is date ([m]m/[d]d/yy)
and Local Time of the station.
temperature
Air temperature (you can use the 'temperature_unit' config set‐
ting to change units)
cloud_cover
The highest cloud cover status
pressure
Air pressure in millibar
wind_speed
Wind speed in km/h
wind_dir
Wind direction
wind_dir_DEG
Compass wind direction
humidity
Relative humidity in %
weather
Any relevant weather event (rain, snow, etc.). This is not used
if you are querying the weather.com site since this data is ag‐
gregated into the cloud_cover one
icon
Weather icon (only for www.weather.com). Can be used together
with the icon kit provided upon registering to their service.
'delay_in_minutes' (optional, default 30) cannot be less than 30
minutes.
This object is threaded, and once a thread is created it can't
be explicitly destroyed. One thread will run for each URI speci‐
fied.
Note that these variables are still EXPERIMENTAL and can be sub‐
ject to many future changes.
weather_forecast URI locID day data_type (interval_in_minutes)
Download, parse and display weather forecast data for a given
day (daytime only).
For the 'URI', for the time being only http://xoap.weath‐
er.com/weather/local/ is supported. See 'weather' above for de‐
tails of usage
'locID', see 'weather' above.
'day' is a number from 0 (today) to 4 (3 days after tomorrow).
'data_type' must be one of the following:
day Day of the week
date Date, in the form MMM DD (ie. Jul 14)
low Minimun temperature (you can use the 'temperature_unit' con‐
fig setting to change units)
hi Maximum temperature (you can use the 'temperature_unit' con‐
fig setting to change units)
icon Weather icon. Can be used together with the icon kit pro‐
vided upon registering to the weather.com service
forecast Weather forecast (sunny, rainy, etc.)
wind_speed Wind speed in km/h
wind_dir Wind direction
wind_dir_DEG Compass wind direction
humidity Relative humidity in %
precipitation Probability of having a precipitation (in %)
'delay_in_minutes' (optional, default 210) cannot be lower than
210 min.
This object is threaded, and once a thread is created it can't
be explicitly destroyed. One thread will run for each URI speci‐
fied. You can use any protocol that Curl supports.
Note that these variables are still EXPERIMENTAL and can be sub‐
ject to many future changes.
wireless_ap (net)
Wireless access point MAC address (Linux only)
wireless_bitrate (net)
Wireless bitrate (ie 11 Mb/s) (Linux only)
wireless_essid (net)
Wireless access point ESSID (Linux only)
wireless_link_bar (height),(width) (net)
Wireless link quality bar (Linux only)
wireless_link_qual (net)
Wireless link quality (Linux only)
wireless_link_qual_max (net)
Wireless link quality maximum value (Linux only)
wireless_link_qual_perc (net)
Wireless link quality in percents (Linux only)
wireless_mode (net)
Wireless mode (Managed/Ad-Hoc/Master) (Linux only)
words textfile
Displays the number of words in the given file
xmms2_album
Album in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_artist
Artist in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_bar (height),(width)
Bar of XMMS2's progress
xmms2_bitrate
Bitrate of current song
xmms2_comment
Comment in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_date
Returns song's date.
xmms2_duration
Duration of current song
xmms2_elapsed
Song's elapsed time
xmms2_genre
Genre in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_id
XMMS2 id of current song
xmms2_percent
Percent of song's progress
xmms2_playlist
Returns the XMMS2 playlist.
xmms2_size
Size of current song
xmms2_smart
Prints the song name in either the form "artist - title" or file
name, depending on whats available
xmms2_status
XMMS2 status (Playing, Paused, Stopped, or Disconnected)
xmms2_timesplayed
Number of times a song was played (presumably).
xmms2_title
Title in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_tracknr
Track number in current XMMS2 song
xmms2_url
Full path to current song
LUA API
Conky features a Lua Programming API, and also ships with Lua bindings
for some useful libraries. Conky defines certain global functions and
variables which can be accessed from Lua code running in Conky.
To use Lua Conky, you first need to make sure you have a version of
Conky with Lua support enabled (``conky -v'' will report this). Scripts
must first be loaded using the lua_load configuration option. You then
call functions in Lua via Conky's $lua, $lua_read, and Lua hooks.
Be careful when creating threaded objects through the Lua API. You
could wind up with a whole bunch of threads running if a thread is cre‐
ated with each iteration.
At this time, the Lua API should not be considered stable and may
change drastically from one release to another as it matures.
NOTE: In order to accommodate certain features in the cairo library's
API, Conky will export a few additional functions for the creation of
certain structures. These are documented below.
conky_parse(string) function
This function takes a string that is evaluated as per Conky's
TEXT section, and then returns a string with the result.
conky_set_update_interval(number) function
Sets Conky's update interval (in seconds) to 'number'.
conky_window table
This table contains some information about Conky's window. The
following table describes the values contained:
drawable Window's drawable (Xlib Drawable), requires Lua extras
enabled at compile time.
visual Window's visual (Xlib Visual), requires Lua extras en‐
abled at compile time.
display Window's display (Xlib Display), requires Lua extras en‐
abled at compile time.
width Window width (in pixels).
height Window height (in pixels).
border_inner_margin Window's inner border margin (in pixels).
border_outer_margin Window's outer border margin (in pixels).
border_width Window's border width (in pixels).
text_start_x The x component of the starting coordinate of text
drawing.
text_start_y The y component of the starting coordinate of text
drawing.
text_width The width of the text drawing region.
text_height The height of the text drawing region.
NOTE: This table is only defined when X support is enabled.
conky_info table
This table contains some information about Conky's internal da‐
ta. The following table describes the values contained:
update_interval Conky's update interval (in seconds).
uptime System uptime, in seconds.
conky_build_info string
A string containing the build info for this particular instance
of Conky, including the version, build date, and architecture.
conky_build_date string
A string containing the build date for this particular instance
of Conky.
conky_build_arch string
A string containing the build architecture for this particular
instance of Conky.
conky_version string
A string containing the version of the current instance of
Conky.
conky_config string
A string containing the path of the current Conky configuration
file.
cairo_text_extents_t:create() function
Call this function to return a new cairo_text_extents_t struc‐
ture. A creation function for this structure is not provided by
the cairo API. After calling this, you should use tolua.takeown‐
ership() on the return value to ensure ownership is passed prop‐
erly.
cairo_font_extents_t:create() function
Call this function to return a new cairo_font_extents_t struc‐
ture. A creation function for this structure is not provided by
the cairo API. After calling this, you should use tolua.takeown‐
ership() on the return value to ensure ownership is passed prop‐
erly.
cairo_matrix_t:create() function
Call this function to return a new cairo_matrix_t structure. A
creation function for this structure is not provided by the
cairo API. After calling this, you should use tolua.takeowner‐
ship() on the return value to ensure ownership is passed proper‐
ly.
EXAMPLESconky-t '${time %D %H:%M}' -o -u 30
Start Conky in its own window with date and clock as text and 30
sec update interval.
conky-a top_left -x 5 -y 500 -d
Start Conky to background at coordinates (5, 500).
conky-C > ~/.conkyrc
Do not start Conky, but have it output the builtin default con‐
fig file to ~/.conkyrc for later customising.
FILES
${sysconfdir}/conky/conky.conf
Default system-wide configuration file. The value of
${sysconfdir} depends on the compile-time options (most likely
/etc).
~/.conkyrc
Default personal configuration file.
BUGS
Drawing to root or some other desktop window directly doesn't work with
all window managers. Especially doesn't work well with Gnome and it has
been reported that it doesn't work with KDE either. Nautilus can be
disabled from drawing to desktop with program gconf-editor. Uncheck
show_desktop in /apps/nautilus/preferences/. There is -w switch in
Conky to set some specific window id. You might find xwininfo -tree
useful to find the window to draw to. You can also use -o argument
which makes Conky to create its own window. If you do try running Conky
in its own window, be sure to read up on the own_window_type settings
and experiment.
SEE ALSO
⟨http://conky.sourceforge.net/⟩
⟨http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/conky⟩
⟨http://wiki.conky.be⟩
#conky on irc.freenode.net
COPYING
Copyright (c) 2005-2010 Brenden Matthews, Philip Kovacs, et. al. Any
original torsmo code is licensed under the BSD license (see LICENSE.BSD
for a copy). All code written since the fork of torsmo is licensed un‐
der the GPL (see LICENSE.GPL for a copy), except where noted different‐
ly (such as in portmon code, timed thread code, and audacious code
which are LGPL, and prss which is an MIT-style license).
AUTHORS
The Conky dev team (see AUTHORS for a full list of contributors).
2012-05-03 conky(1)
