ErikReider/SwayNotificationCenter

[Feature(?)] Dynamic layer size

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#687 opened on Dec 25, 2025

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bughelp wanted

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Description

Currently I am using niri, and I use one of its features to blank out certain layers in screencasts When using this, it blanks out the whole column despite the fact my notification heights will never go past 400px as I have configured it

I would like for the layer to be able to resize to the size of the actual notifications being shown, rather than take up the entire column to help prevent too much screen space being blacked out. I am unsure if this is even possible to do, so no worries if it is not possible or just not worth spending time on

Additional context In this screenshot, you can see that visually the notification only takes up a tiny portion of the corner, but in the screencast it blocks out the entire width of the notification from top to bottom

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate how SwayNotificationCenter currently sizes its layer surface and look into the Wayland layer shell protocol to understand how dynamic resizing based on notification content could be implemented. Check the existing notification height configuration and see if it can be adapted to allow per notification layer size.
Tech stack
None
Domain
desktop dev
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Needs investigation
Prerequisites
Git
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70