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Bread

A reactive automation fabric for Linux desktops.

Bread is a modular desktop automation runtime built around a single idea: your desktop should behave like a programmable system, not a collection of disconnected config files.

Instead of scattering behavior across shell scripts, compositor configs, udev rules, and ad-hoc daemons, Bread centralizes runtime awareness into a coherent layer that can observe, interpret, and react to system state dynamically.

Status: Early development. The daemon (breadd) is stable. The Lua automation API is active and feature-complete for daily use.

How it works

Bread runs a long-lived daemon (breadd) that:

  1. Ingests raw signals from your compositor, hardware, and OS
  2. Normalizes them into stable, semantic events (bread.device.dock.connected, bread.monitor.connected, etc.)
  3. Maintains a live model of your desktop state
  4. Delivers those events to Lua modules that implement your automation

Your automation lives in Lua. You subscribe to events, read state, and call APIs:

local M = bread.module({ name = "dock", version = "1.0.0" })

bread.on("bread.device.dock.connected", function(event)
    bread.profile.activate("desk")
    bread.exec("waybar --config ~/.config/waybar/desk.jsonc")
    bread.notify("Dock connected", { urgency = "low" })
end)

bread.on("bread.device.dock.disconnected", function(event)
    bread.profile.activate("default")
end)

return M

Architecture

breadd/          Rust daemon — event pipeline, state engine, IPC, adapter supervision
bread-cli/       CLI frontend — talks to breadd over a Unix socket
bread-shared/    Shared types — RawEvent, BreadEvent, AdapterSource
bread-sync/      Sync engine — snapshot and restore system state via a Git remote
packaging/       Arch PKGBUILD and systemd user service

The daemon is structured in four layers:

  • Adapters — interface with Hyprland IPC, udev, power state, network interfaces, and Bluetooth (BlueZ)
  • Normalizer — transforms raw adapter signals into semantic Bread events
  • State engine — maintains runtime state and dispatches events to subscribers
  • Lua runtime — loads your modules, registers handlers, executes automation

Requirements

  • Linux (Arch recommended)
  • Wayland compositor (Hyprland for full functionality)
  • Rust toolchain (stable, 2021 edition)
  • udev (standard on systemd systems)

Optional but preferred:

  • UPower (for battery events via D-Bus rather than sysfs polling)
  • rtnetlink (for network events; falls back to sysfs polling without it)
  • BlueZ (for Bluetooth device events and control)

Installation

From source

git clone https://github.com/Breadway/bread.git
cd bread

Run the install script — it builds, symlinks breadd and bread into ~/.local/bin (override with BIN_DIR=…), installs the systemd user service, and starts the daemon:

bash scripts/install.sh

Or step by step (system-wide install):

cargo build --release
sudo install -Dm755 target/release/breadd /usr/bin/breadd
sudo install -Dm755 target/release/bread /usr/bin/bread

Arch Linux (PKGBUILD)

cd packaging/arch
makepkg -si

systemd user service

mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user
cp packaging/systemd/breadd.service ~/.config/systemd/user/
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now breadd

Configuration

Bread reads from ~/.config/bread/breadd.toml. All values are optional — the daemon runs with defaults if the file doesn't exist.

[daemon]
log_level = "info"   # trace | debug | info | warn | error

[lua]
entry_point = "~/.config/bread/init.lua"
module_path = "~/.config/bread/modules"

[adapters.hyprland]
enabled = true

[adapters.udev]
enabled = true
subsystems = ["usb", "input", "drm", "power_supply"]

[adapters.power]
enabled = true
poll_interval_secs = 30

[adapters.network]
enabled = true

[adapters.bluetooth]
enabled = true

[events]
dedup_window_ms = 100

[notifications]
default_timeout_ms = 5000
default_urgency = "normal"
notify_send_path = "notify-send"

[modules]
builtin = true    # load built-in modules (monitors, devices, workspaces, binds)
disable = []      # list of built-in module names to disable

Your automation lives in ~/.config/bread/init.lua. Modules placed in ~/.config/bread/modules/ are auto-loaded after init.lua:

-- ~/.config/bread/init.lua

bread.on("bread.system.startup", function(event)
    bread.profile.activate("default")
end)

CLI reference

All commands communicate with the running daemon over a Unix socket at $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/bread/breadd.sock.

# Daemon
bread ping                            # Check daemon connectivity
bread health                          # Daemon version, uptime, PID
bread doctor                          # Diagnose daemon and module health

# Lua runtime
bread reload                          # Hot-reload all Lua modules
bread reload --watch                  # Watch config dir and reload on changes

# State and events
bread state                           # Dump full runtime state as JSON
bread events                          # Stream live normalized events
bread events bread.device.*           # Stream filtered events
bread events --since 60               # Replay events from the last 60 seconds
bread emit <event>                    # Manually fire an event (for testing)

# Profiles
bread profile-list                    # List defined profiles
bread profile-activate <name>         # Activate a named profile

# Modules
bread modules list                    # List installed modules and daemon status
bread modules install github:user/repo  # Install from GitHub
bread modules install /local/path     # Install from a local directory
bread modules remove <name>           # Remove an installed module
bread modules update [name]           # Re-install one or all GitHub-sourced modules
bread modules info <name>             # Show full manifest and daemon status

# Sync
bread sync init                       # Initialize sync for this machine (remote optional)
bread sync push                       # Commit local snapshot
bread sync push --message "note"      # Commit with a custom message
bread sync pull                       # Apply local snapshot to this machine
bread sync pull --install-packages    # Also install packages from snapshot
bread sync status                     # Show what has changed since last push
bread sync diff                       # Show file-level diff vs last commit
bread sync machines                   # List known machines from sync repo
bread sync export                     # Create a portable .tar.gz snapshot (no git auth)
bread sync export --output path       # Export to a specific file or directory
bread sync import <path>              # Apply a portable snapshot (.tar.gz or directory)
bread sync import <path> --install-packages  # Also install packages
bread sync import <path> --no-clone-repos    # Skip cloning git repos

Module system

Modules are Lua files (or directories) installed to ~/.config/bread/modules/. Each module must declare itself with bread.module() and have a bread.module.toml manifest.

Installing modules

# From GitHub (downloads latest release tarball)
bread modules install github:someuser/bread-wifi

# From a local path
bread modules install ~/src/my-module

# From a specific ref
bread modules install github:someuser/bread-wifi@v1.2.0

Writing a module

A module directory looks like:

~/.config/bread/modules/
└── wifi/
    ├── bread.module.toml    ← required manifest
    └── init.lua             ← entry point

bread.module.toml:

name = "wifi"
version = "1.0.0"
description = "WiFi management for Bread"
author = "someuser"
source = "github:someuser/bread-wifi"
installed_at = "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"

init.lua:

local M = bread.module({ name = "wifi", version = "1.0.0" })

bread.on("bread.network.connected", function(event)
    bread.log("Network up: " .. (event.data.interface or "unknown"))
end)

return M

Sync system

Bread sync snapshots your entire setup — Bread config, dotfiles, fonts, systemd units, package lists, and git repos — into a local Git repository. Use export/import to move state between machines without needing a git remote.

# First-time setup (remote is optional)
bread sync init
bread sync init --remote git@github.com:you/bread-config.git

# Commit a local snapshot
bread sync push

# Create a portable .tar.gz (no git auth required)
bread sync export

# On another machine: apply the snapshot
bread sync import bread-export-hermes-2026-05-16.tar.gz

# Also install packages on import
bread sync import bread-export.tar.gz --install-packages

Configure what gets synced in ~/.config/bread/sync.toml:

[remote]
url = "git@github.com:you/bread-config.git"   # optional
branch = "main"

[machine]
name = "hermes"
tags = ["laptop", "battery"]

[packages]
enabled = true
managers = ["pacman", "pip", "cargo"]

[delegates]
include = ["~/.config/nvim", "~/.config/waybar"]
exclude = ["**/.git", "**/*.cache"]

A portable export snapshot contains:

bread-export-hermes-2026-05-16/
├── bread/          ← ~/.config/bread/
├── configs/        ← hypr, nvim, kitty, waybar, fish, dunst, btop, …
├── dotfiles/       ← .gitconfig, .zshrc, .zprofile, .zshenv, ssh config, …
├── local-bin/      ← ~/.local/bin/ scripts
├── local-fonts/    ← ~/.local/share/fonts/
├── systemd/        ← ~/.config/systemd/user/ units
├── system/         ← udev rules, modprobe, sysctl (sudo required for some)
├── packages/       ← pacman.txt, pip.txt, cargo.txt, npm.txt
├── machines/       ← per-machine profiles
├── manifest.toml   ← path map for exact restore
└── restore.sh      ← shell script for manual restore

Event reference

Events follow the namespace convention bread.<subsystem>.<noun>.<verb>.

Event Trigger
bread.system.startup Daemon fully initialized
bread.device.connected Any device attached
bread.device.disconnected Any device removed
bread.device.<device>.connected Named device attached (name from devices.lua)
bread.device.<device>.disconnected Named device removed
bread.monitor.connected Display connected
bread.monitor.disconnected Display disconnected
bread.workspace.changed Active workspace changed
bread.window.focus.changed Focused window changed
bread.window.opened Window opened
bread.window.closed Window closed
bread.power.ac.connected AC adapter plugged in
bread.power.ac.disconnected AC adapter unplugged
bread.power.battery.low Battery ≤ 20%
bread.power.battery.very_low Battery ≤ 10%
bread.power.battery.critical Battery ≤ 5%
bread.power.battery.full Battery at 100%
bread.network.connected Network interface came online
bread.network.disconnected Network interface went offline
bread.bluetooth.device.paired Bluetooth device paired / discovered
bread.bluetooth.device.unpaired Bluetooth device removed from BlueZ
bread.profile.activated Profile switched
bread.notify.sent Desktop notification dispatched

Lua API

Modules

Every module file must declare itself. The declaration is used for dependency ordering and status tracking.

local M = bread.module({
    name    = "my-module",
    version = "1.0.0",
    after   = { "bread.devices" },   -- load after this module
})

-- ... module body ...

return M

Events

-- Subscribe to events; returns a subscription ID
local id = bread.on("bread.monitor.connected", function(event)
    -- event.event   → "bread.monitor.connected"
    -- event.data    → table of event-specific fields
    -- event.source  → adapter that produced it
    bread.log(event.event)
end)

-- Unsubscribe by ID
bread.off(id)

-- Subscribe once, auto-unsubscribe after first delivery
bread.once("bread.system.startup", function(event)
    bread.profile.activate("default")
end)

-- Subscribe with a filter predicate. The predicate goes in an opts table.
bread.filter("bread.device.connected", function(event)
    bread.exec("xset r rate 200 40")
end, {
    filter = function(event)
        return event.data.device == "keyboard"
    end,
})

-- Emit a custom event (for cross-module communication)
bread.emit("mymodule.something", { key = "value" })

Pattern matching supports * (single segment), ** (any depth), and ? (single character):

bread.on("bread.device.*", handler)   -- matches bread.device.dock.connected
bread.on("bread.device.**", handler)  -- matches any depth under bread.device

State

-- Read from runtime state by dot-separated path
local monitors = bread.state.get("monitors")
local online   = bread.state.get("network.online")

-- Typed shorthands
local monitors  = bread.state.monitors()
local workspace = bread.state.active_workspace()
local window    = bread.state.active_window()
local devices   = bread.state.devices()
local power     = bread.state.power()
local network   = bread.state.network()
local profile   = bread.state.profile()

-- Watch a state path for changes
bread.state.watch("power.ac_connected", function(new_val, old_val)
    if new_val then
        bread.notify("AC connected")
    end
end)

Profiles

bread.profile.activate("desk")
bread.profile.activate("default")

Execution and notifications

-- Fire-and-forget shell command
bread.exec("kitty")

-- Desktop notification (uses notify-send)
bread.notify("Title", { urgency = "normal", timeout = 3000, icon = "dialog-info" })
bread.notify("Simple message")   -- title defaults to "bread"

Timers

-- Run once after a delay (ms)
local id = bread.after(500, function()
    bread.exec("some-delayed-command")
end)

-- Run on a repeating interval (ms)
local id = bread.every(60000, function()
    bread.log("tick")
end)

-- Cancel either kind
bread.cancel(id)

-- Debounce a rapidly-firing handler
local fn = bread.debounce(200, function(event)
    reconfigure_monitors()
end)
bread.on("bread.monitor.*", fn)

Wait (inside coroutines)

-- Yield until a matching event arrives
local event = bread.wait("bread.device.dock.connected", { timeout = 5000 })
if event then
    -- dock arrived within 5 seconds
end

Machine and filesystem

-- Machine identity (from sync.toml, falls back to hostname)
local name = bread.machine.name()
local tags = bread.machine.tags()       -- array of strings
local ok   = bread.machine.has_tag("laptop")

-- Filesystem helpers (~ is expanded)
bread.fs.write("~/.config/some/file", "content")
local content = bread.fs.read("~/.config/some/file")   -- nil if not found
local exists  = bread.fs.exists("~/some/path")
local abs     = bread.fs.expand("~/some/path")

Logging

bread.log("Module loaded")     -- info level
bread.warn("Unexpected state") -- warn level
bread.error("Something failed") -- error level

Hyprland bindings

-- Dispatch a Hyprland command
bread.hyprland.dispatch("workspace", "2")
bread.hyprland.dispatch("exec", "kitty")

-- Set a keyword
bread.hyprland.keyword("monitor", "HDMI-A-1, 2560x1440, 0x0, 1")

-- Query compositor state
local win        = bread.hyprland.active_window()
local monitors   = bread.hyprland.monitors()
local workspaces = bread.hyprland.workspaces()
local clients    = bread.hyprland.clients()

-- Subscribe to raw Hyprland events (bypass normalization)
bread.hyprland.on_raw("activewindow", function(raw)
    -- raw is the unparsed string from Hyprland's event socket
end)

Bluetooth

The bread.bluetooth namespace provides BlueZ control. All operations degrade gracefully when Bluetooth hardware is unavailable.

-- Power the adapter on or off
bread.bluetooth.power(true)
bread.bluetooth.power(false)

-- Query current power state (returns true/false, or nil if unavailable)
local on = bread.bluetooth.powered()

-- Connect/disconnect a paired device by MAC address
-- Fire-and-forget; result arrives as bread.device.connected/disconnected
bread.bluetooth.connect("AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF")
bread.bluetooth.disconnect("AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF")

-- Start or stop device discovery
bread.bluetooth.scan(true)
bread.bluetooth.scan(false)

-- List all devices known to BlueZ
local devs = bread.bluetooth.devices()
-- Returns nil if BlueZ is unavailable, otherwise:
-- { { address, name, connected, paired }, ... }

Example — auto-connect headphones when Bluetooth powers on:

bread.state.watch("power.ac_connected", function(ac)
    if ac then
        bread.bluetooth.power(true)
        bread.bluetooth.connect("AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF")
    end
end)

Module-scoped storage

Survives hot reload; does not survive daemon restart.

M.store.set("last_profile", "docked")
local p = M.store.get("last_profile")  -- "docked"

IPC protocol

The daemon exposes a Unix socket at $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/bread/breadd.sock. The protocol is newline-delimited JSON — useful for scripting or building tooling outside the CLI.

Request:

{ "id": "1", "method": "state.get", "params": { "key": "monitors" } }

Response:

{ "id": "1", "result": [ { "name": "HDMI-A-1", "connected": true } ] }

Available methods:

Method Description
ping Connectivity check
health Version, uptime, PID, adapter status
state.get Read a value from RuntimeState by dotted key path
state.dump Return the full RuntimeState as JSON
modules.list List all loaded modules and their status
modules.reload Hot-reload the Lua runtime
profile.list List defined profiles
profile.activate Switch active profile
events.subscribe Upgrade connection to streaming mode
events.replay Replay buffered events from the last N ms
emit Inject a synthetic event into the pipeline
sync.status Return sync initialization state and machine info

events.subscribe upgrades the connection to streaming mode — the daemon pushes events line by line until the client disconnects.

Contributing

Bread is early-stage software. Contributions, issues, and feedback are welcome.

The daemon (breadd) is the most stable part of the codebase. Active development is happening across the Lua API, module system, and sync subsystem.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.