Question: Query the current mode/workspace

[lpturmel]

Hello, new Aerospace user here, love it so far!

Is there a way to query (ideally from the CLI) the current mode/workspace? A bit like the tray display, I'd like to show this in my Sketchybar toolbar (not the native MacOS one).

Thanks!

[gldtn]

Take a look here: https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/goodness#show-aerospace-workspaces-in-sketchybar

I haven't updated my dotfiles yet but this is what I have so far:

make sure to edit your aerospace config file with:

# Notify Sketchybar about workspace change
exec-on-workspace-change = [
  '/bin/bash',
  '-c',
  'sketchybar --trigger aerospace_workspace_change FOCUSED=$AEROSPACE_FOCUSED_WORKSPACE',
]

items/aerospace_workspace.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# Workspace names
get_workspace_name() {
    case "$1" in
    "1") echo "Web" ;;
    "2") echo "Misc" ;;
    "3") echo "Code" ;;
    "4") echo "Media" ;;
    *) echo "$1" ;; # Default to SID
    esac
}

# Workspace icons
get_workspace_icon() {
    case "$1" in
    "1") echo "󰖟 " ;;
    "2") echo "󰯉 " ;;
    "3") echo " " ;;
    "4") echo "󰝚" ;;
    *) echo " " ;; # Default icon
    esac
}

sketchybar --add event aerospace_workspace_change

# Styling
spaces=(
    label.padding_left=0
    label.padding_right=6
)

# Retrieve the current focused workspace
FOCUSED_WORKSPACE=$(aerospace list-workspaces --focused)

for SID in $(aerospace list-workspaces --all); do
    # Get the name and icon for the workspace
    WORKSPACE_NAME=$(get_workspace_name "$SID")
    WORKSPACE_ICON=$(get_workspace_icon "$SID")

    sketchybar --add item space."$SID" left \
        --subscribe space."$SID" aerospace_workspace_change \
        --set space."$SID" "${spaces[@]}" \
        label="$WORKSPACE_NAME" \
        icon="$WORKSPACE_ICON" \
        click_script="aerospace workspace $SID; sketchybar --trigger aerospace_workspace_change" \
        script="FOCUSED_WORKSPACE=$FOCUSED_WORKSPACE $CONFIG_DIR/plugins/aerospace_workspace.sh $SID"
done

plugins/aerospace_workspace.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# Define colors
ACT_ICON_COLOR="$(getcolor orange)"
ACT_NAME_COLOR="$(getcolor white)"
INA_ICON_COLOR="$(getcolor fg 50)"
INA_NAME_COLOR="$(getcolor grey)"

# Get the currently focused workspace dynamically
CURRENT_FOCUSED_WORKSPACE=$(aerospace list-workspaces --focused)

# Determine state and update settings
if [ "$1" = "$CURRENT_FOCUSED_WORKSPACE" ]; then
    sketchybar --set "$NAME" \
        background.drawing=on \
        icon.color="$ACT_ICON_COLOR" \
        label.color="$ACT_NAME_COLOR"
else
    sketchybar --set "$NAME" \
        background.drawing=off \
        icon.color="$INA_ICON_COLOR" \
        label.color="$INA_NAME_COLOR"
fi

For the modes..

items/aerospace_mode.sh

#!/usr/bin/env zsh

# Aerospace mode  settings
sketchybar --add item aerospace_mode center \
    --set aerospace_mode \
    label.drawing=on \
    icon.drawing=on \
    icon.padding_left=8 \
    icon.padding_right=6 \
    label.padding_left=6 \
    label.padding_right=8 \
    icon.color="$(getcolor red)" \
    label.color="$(getcolor grey 50)" \
    script="$CONFIG_DIR/plugins/aerospace_mode.sh"

# Add and subscribe to the aerospace_mode_change event
sketchybar --add event aerospace_mode_change \
    --subscribe aerospace_mode aerospace_mode_change

plugins/aerospace_mode.sh

#!/usr/bin/env zsh

# Mode icon
get_mode_icon() {
    case "$1" in
    main) echo " " ;;
    manage) echo "" ;;
    *) echo " " ;; # Fallback icon for unknown modes
    esac
}

# Mode label
get_mode_label() {
    case "$1" in
    main) echo "Main Mode" ;;
    manage) echo "Manage Mode" ;;
    *) echo "Unknown mode" ;; # Fallback label for unknown modes
    esac
}

# Get current mode; default to main
MODE="${MODE:-main}"

# Debugging: Log the mode for troubleshooting
#echo "$(date) - Mode: $MODE" >>/tmp/aerospace_mode_debug.log

# Set icon and label
ICON=$(get_mode_icon "$MODE")
LABEL=$(get_mode_label "$MODE")

# Update sketchybar item
sketchybar --set aerospace_mode \
    icon="$ICON" \
    label="$LABEL"

Than you can simply call the modes inside: aerospace.toml:

'exec-and-forget sketchybar --trigger aerospace_mode_change MODE=main'

Also don't forget to remove my custom functions/helpers such as (getcolor orange)

Hope this helps! 😁

[lpturmel]

Thanks a lot for the detailed answer very helpful!