Brightness indicator/control widget for awesome wm based on xbacklight or brightnessctl.

The module requires either xbacklight or brightnessctl to work. Thus, on archlinux, you'll need to install at least one of the following system packages:

• acpilight or xorg-xbacklight for xbacklight
• brightnessctl for brightnessctl

I've experienced xorg-xbacklight not work on certain laptops. So, if you find that the widget is not working, try a different backend.

In your ~/.config/awesome/rc.lua:

local deficient = require("deficient")


-- instanciate widget
local brightness_ctrl = deficient.brightness {
    -- pass options here
}


-- add widget to the wibox:
s.mywibox:setup {
    ...,
    { -- Right widgets
        ...,
        brightness_ctrl.widget,
    },
}

Note that you need to pass .widget to the wibox, not the instance itself!

The flag brightness_ctrl.is_valid indicates successful initialization.

Full example:

local brightness_ctrl = require("deficient.brightness") {
  backend = nil,
  step = 5,
  timeout = 3,
  levels = {1, 25, 50, 75, 100},
}

backend Picks command with which to perform brightness queries and updates. Allowed values are nil (meaning autodetect), "xbacklight" or "brightnessctl". Default: nil.

step How many percentage points to increase or decrease the brightness level when clicking the widget. Default: 3.

timeout Interval in seconds at which to check the current brightness level and update the widget text. Default: 5.

levels Cycle through these brightness percentages on middle-click. Default: ``{1, 25, 50, 75, 100}`.

If you get errors on startup, try executing xbacklight -get or brightnessctl -c backlight get in a terminal.

If you get the error "No outputs have backlight property", make sure you have installed an appropriate display driver, e.g. for intel cards:

sudo pacman -S xf86-video-intel

You may need to restart afterwards.