App and runtime control

These commands control the running EasyBar app, its active configuration, and its Lua runtime.

Refresh displayed state

easybar refresh

Refresh native widgets, Lua widgets, and agent-backed data without rereading config.toml or restarting the Lua runtime. The command also emits easybar.events.forced to subscribed widgets.

Reload configuration

easybar config reload

Reread the active configuration and rebuild EasyBar. A rejected reload leaves the last valid configuration active.

Validate configuration

easybar config validate
easybar config validate --config /path/to/config.toml

Validation checks configuration without applying it. --config selects a different file for that invocation.

Restart the Lua runtime

easybar runtime restart

Restart the Lua process and reload Lua widget files using the configuration already held by EasyBar. This does not reread config.toml.

Emit an event

easybar event emit workspace_change
easybar event emit focus_change
easybar event emit space_mode_change

Use events from local scripts when an external action should refresh subscribed Lua widgets. Hyphens and underscores are both accepted in event names.

Socket and diagnostic options

easybar refresh --socket ~/.local/state/easybar/runtime/easybar.sock
easybar refresh --debug

--socket overrides the relevant socket for supported commands. --debug reports CLI diagnostics without changing application log levels.

See Runtime Control for guidance on choosing refresh, reload, or restart.