Installation

Glimpse is packaged for Arch-based systems as a prebuilt package. Install it once, then enable the pieces you want in your user session.

Install From AUR

yay -S glimpse-desktop-bin

Use your preferred AUR helper if you do not use yay.

The package installs:

Command	Purpose
glimpse-shell	Panel and shell surfaces.
glimpse-wallpaper	Wallpaper and blurred backdrop daemon.
glimpse-lock	Session lock screen and logind lock listener.
glimpse-sunset	Night-light daemon.
glimpse-idle	Idle policy daemon.

The package also installs systemd user services and the default PAM service file for glimpse-lock.

Enable Glimpse

For a normal Niri desktop, start with the shell, lock screen, night light, and idle rules:

systemctl --user enable --now glimpse-shell.service
systemctl --user enable --now glimpse-lock.service
systemctl --user enable --now glimpse-sunset.service
systemctl --user enable --now glimpse-idle.service

glimpse-shell.service wants glimpse-wallpaper.service, so starting the shell also starts the wallpaper daemon. Enable glimpse-wallpaper.service directly only if you want wallpaper without the shell.

Check That It Is Running

systemctl --user status glimpse-shell.service
systemctl --user status glimpse-lock.service
systemctl --user status glimpse-sunset.service
systemctl --user status glimpse-idle.service

If a service fails, view its log:

journalctl --user -u glimpse-shell.service -e

Replace glimpse-shell.service with the service you are checking.

First Config Files

Glimpse reads shared config from:

Priority	Path
1	GLIMPSE_CONFIG environment variable
2	./config.toml in the current directory
3	$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/glimpse/config.toml
4	$HOME/.config/glimpse/config.toml when XDG_CONFIG_HOME is unset

Most users create:

~/.config/glimpse/config.toml

Use that file for panel layout, applets, wallpaper, lock screen, idle rules, location, and night light. Use ~/.config/glimpse/themes/ for shell and lock CSS.

Version Check

Each command supports --version:

glimpse-shell --version
glimpse-wallpaper --version
glimpse-lock --version
glimpse-sunset --version
glimpse-idle --version

Common First Fixes

Problem	Try this
Panel does not appear	Make sure Niri is running and check journalctl --user -u glimpse-shell.service -e.
Wallpaper does not show	Do not run another wallpaper tool at the same time.
Lock command does nothing	Enable glimpse-lock.service, then run loginctl lock-session.
Night light does not change color	Set a schedule in Sunset. The default is off.
Idle does nothing	Add listeners in Idle. The default has no idle actions.