Omarchy start / restart with save option for opened apps

[pawlobanano]

After a few OS restarts I see a potential for such a feature.

Example
Predefined WhatsApp and Messenger (web2app) opened side by side in tiles, in workspace number 5.
and enhancement to that:
Checkbox on OS restart to save opened apps with their current workspace and tile sizes.

*If there is something about it already in the manual I must have missed it, sorry.

[Donixon]

This would be very handy! I use multiple workspaces for different things. Every morning I have to reorganize alle workspaces with the correct apps and positions.

[yassinedoghri]

EDIT 2026-01-24: updated window rules after Hyprland 0.53 breaking changes + added comments and reference to the wiki.
EDIT 2026-01-24 (2): put everything in one config file ~/.config/hypr/workspaces.conf

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Wanted something similar to this, after some research I got the setup I needed by tweaking the Hyprland config.

The following example defines 1 app per workspace except for discord and slack opening side by side on worskspace 4 + VSCode opens in fullscreen. Moreover, having 2 monitors I needed to explicitly bind workspaces to them for getting apps to launch on the right screen.

1. Create the workspaces.conf file in your ~/.config/hypr/ folder:

   # ~/.config/hypr/workspaces.conf
   
   # [optional] bind workspaces to monitors
   workspace = 1,monitor:eDP-2
   workspace = 2,monitor:HDMI-A-1
   workspace = 3,monitor:HDMI-A-1
   workspace = 4,monitor:HDMI-A-1
   workspace = 5,monitor:HDMI-A-1
   
   # define how each app should be displayed, in which workspace, and with which effects (eg. fullscreen)
   windowrule = workspace 1, match:class Alacritty
   windowrule = workspace 2, match:class zen
   windowrule = workspace 3, match:class code, fullscreen on
   windowrule = workspace 4, match:class discord
   windowrule = workspace 4, match:class Slack
   windowrule = workspace 5, match:class spotify
   
   # launch apps at startup with the silent flag to prevent focus from switching workspaces
   exec-once = [workspace 1 silent] alacritty
   exec-once = [workspace 2 silent] zen-browser
   exec-once = [workspace 3 silent] code
   exec-once = [workspace 4 silent] discord --no-sandbox --disable-gpu
   exec-once = [workspace 4 silent] slack
   exec-once = [workspace 5 silent] spotify

Note

1. You can find exact class names (eg. Alacrity) by launching the app and running hyprctl clients, it's under initialClass.
2. You can find monitor names by running hyprctl monitors, next to "Monitor"
3. See the window rules wiki for more info.

2. Edit your ~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf file to include the new workspaces.conf file:

   # ...
   source = ~/.config/hypr/envs.conf
   source = ~/.config/hypr/looknfeel.conf
   source = ~/.config/hypr/autostart.conf
   +source = ~/.config/hypr/workspaces.conf
   # ...

3. Reboot to see the magic happen ✨

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👉 I agree that this is definitely a potential feature for Omarchy, like having the workspaces.conf file included by default for easy reference and tweaking.

[yassinedoghri]

During the last Omarchy update, I got a few error messages regarding the hyprland config. Turns out that hyprland 0.53 introduced a breaking change for window rules.

I've updated my previous comment to account for the new syntax 👆

[novello-dev]

Ooooh this would be so nice... +1

[AndreJorgeLopes]

hyprdrover and hyprsession does the job for me but for positioning zen-browser windows I'm still trying to find a solution

[pawlobanano]

👋 I’ve made some progress on my fork of Omarchy:
master...pawlobanano:omarchy:master

My idea is to save opened apps’ layout metadata (workspace, position, size, etc.) as a JSON state file. Then, on Omarchy boot, the user is presented with an unignorable window (omarchy-launch-walker) offering the option to start fresh or restore previously opened apps.

*It requires predefined conditions to distinguish multiple instances of applications that share the same PID. There may be a more elegant solution that I’m not aware of yet.

I’ll test it for a bit and come back with more insights.

[rkolze]

Don't like the "unignorable window"-part. But the rest is nice!

[pawlobanano]

Thanks! Taking your insight into consideration, I’ve updated logic to activate only on multi-window layouts (more than one window saved before shutdown/reboot). This works as designed 👌

I'm now focused on precise window placements in workspaces.