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What is hyprdynamicmonitors prepare?

The prepare command cleans up your monitor configuration file before Hyprland starts, preventing the "no active displays" issue that can leave Hyprland in an unusable state.

The Problem​

Hyprland currently has a limitation where it cannot start if all monitors are disabled at launch. You can read more about it here.

This affects hyprdynamicmonitors users who disable monitors in their profiles. For example:

  1. You're using external displays with your laptop screen disabled (monitor=eDP-1,disable)
  2. You power off and unplug all external displays
  3. You try to start your laptop the next day
  4. Result: Hyprland shows a blank screen and won't start because the configuration file still has the laptop screen disabled, even though hyprdynamicmonitors would correctly reconfigure the monitors once running

The Solution​

The prepare command removes all monitor=...,disable lines from your destination file (config.general.destination) before Hyprland starts. This ensures:

  1. Hyprland starts successfully with a clean monitor configuration
  2. Once Hyprland is running, hyprdynamicmonitors run (if enabled) automatically applies the correct profile
  3. If not using the daemon, you can adjust settings manually in the TUI
info

This is only relevant if you disable monitors in your profiles. If you don't use monitor=...,disable in any configuration, you don't need the prepare command.

For command-line options and examples, see the prepare command documentation.

How to run hyprdynamicmonitors prepare​

If you're using the hyprdynamicmonitors.service systemd service, enable the prepare service:

systemctl --user enable hyprdynamicmonitors-prepare.service

The service definition ensures it runs before the graphical session starts. The service has a 3-second timeout, so Hyprland will start even if the prepare command takes longer than expected.

tip

See the systemd documentation for complete setup instructions, including both the daemon and prepare services.

Option 2: Manual execution (Non-systemd)​

If you're running Hyprland manually (e.g., from TTY) or using exec-once for hyprdynamicmonitors, ensure prepare runs before Hyprland starts.

Using a shell alias:

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
alias hyprstart="hyprdynamicmonitors prepare && Hyprland"

In an existing startup script:

#!/bin/bash
# Your existing setup commands
killall waybar  # example cleanup

# Add prepare before launching Hyprland
hyprdynamicmonitors prepare
Hyprland

Direct command:

hyprdynamicmonitors prepare && Hyprland

You might still, in most cases, be able to just enable the systemd hyprdynamicmonitors-prepare service since it runs on boot (pulled by default.target):

systemctl --user enable hyprdynamicmonitors-prepare.service

But due to relying on timing (you entering the Hyprland session after this runs) adding it to your startup routine is more robust.

info

The prepare command is fast (typically completes in milliseconds) and safe to run multiple times. It only modifies your destination file when it finds monitor=...,disable lines to remove.

See Also​