# Compositor

Sway is the **temporary** Wayland compositor while Nebula Desktop is developed. Configuration lives in `sway/nebula-sway.conf`.

Sway currently provides:

- Wayland compositor
- application window management
- XWayland
- input and the pointer cursor
- output handling

Nebula provides the visible shell (Qt Quick/QML via LayerShellQt). The Sway config must not enable a Sway bar.

A custom Nebula compositor is a later milestone. Do not treat this Sway setup as the final architecture.

```text
Ubuntu/Linux
 ↓
Wayland
 ↓
Sway                 now
Nebula compositor    later
 ↓
Nebula Shell
Qt Quick/QML
```

## Development session

From the NebulaOS repository root:

```bash
sway -c compositor/sway/nebula-sway.conf
```

Recommended on the Ubuntu VMware VM (repo-root `cd`, cursor environment, software cursors):

```bash
sh compositor/sway/dev/run-sway-vm.sh
```

Sway then autostarts Nebula Desktop through `scripts/run-nebula-vm.sh`.

Skip shell autostart:

```bash
NEBULA_SHELL_AUTOSTART=0 sh compositor/sway/dev/run-sway-vm.sh
```

### Output / resolution

The development config uses scale `1` and requests `1920x1080` when that mode is advertised. If it is not, Sway keeps the preferred mode. This is a VM convenience, not a production requirement.

```bash
swaymsg -t get_outputs
swaymsg output <name> mode 1920x1080
swaymsg output <name> scale 1
```

### Cursor

```text
seat * xcursor_theme Adwaita 24
XCURSOR_THEME=Adwaita
XCURSOR_SIZE=24
```

Requires `adwaita-icon-theme`. A Nebula-branded cursor theme is a later task.

`WLR_NO_HARDWARE_CURSORS=1` is VMware-specific and is set by `run-sway-vm.sh`, not by production session files.

### Emergency shortcuts

| Shortcut | Action |
|----------|--------|
| Super+Enter | open Foot |
| Super+Shift+E | exit Sway |
| Super+Shift+C | reload Sway config |

Normal application launching is done from the Nebula launcher, not these shortcuts.

### Rendering

`scripts/run-nebula-vm.sh` sets `QT_QUICK_BACKEND=software` for the VMware guest GPU. Production `nebula-shell` must not set that variable.