IPC: Commands and Control🔗

Triad talks through a Unix socket. Look at $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/triad.sock. If it’s not there, check /tmp/triad.sock.

Send a command with the CLI:

triad msg <command> [arguments]

The Basics🔗

Ask Triad about its health and world.

Command	Description
`commands`	Lists what you can do.
`state`	Dumps everything Triad knows.
`captures`	Shows River v5 screencopy capture-session counts.
`workspaces`, `outputs`, `windows`	Snippets of the state.
`perf-status`, `mem-status`	Shows the daemon's guts.
`config-reload`	Refreshes your settings.
`triad-reload`	Snaps a restore point and restarts.

Move through your windows and tags.

Command	Description
`focus-next` / `focus-prev`	Shift focus.
`focus-left/right/up/down`	Move focus spatially.
`focus-workspace <index>`	Jump to a tag.
`new-workspace`	Grab a fresh tag.
`toggle-overview`	See the bird’s-eye view.
`toggle-scratchpad`	Hide your mess.

Layout🔗

Pick a shape for your windows.

Command	Description
`scroller`, `grid`, `i3`, `dwindle`	Choose a layout.
`switch-layout`	Cycle your favorites.
`master-count`, `master-ratio`	Command the master-stack.

Advanced Shapes🔗

Notion: Use frame-split-horizontal and frame-split-vertical.
BSP: Balance the tree with bsp-balance.
i3: Traditional splits with split-tree-split-horizontal.

Window Mastery🔗

Control the clients.

Command	Description
`close-window`	Request a close.
`toggle-floating`	Break the grid.
`fullscreen-window`	Take it all.
`minimize` / `restore-minimized`	Hide the focused window, then restore the most recently minimized window.
`move-to-tag <id>`	Send a window away.
`group-windows`	Bind neighbors together.

restore-minimized restores one minimized window per invocation, newest first. For Mango/DMS compatibility, minimized aliases minimize and restore_minimized aliases restore-minimized.

The System🔗

Command	Description
`spawn`	Run an app.
`screenshot`	Capture the screen.
`lock-session`	Guard your computer.
`exit-session`	Quit Triad.
`rename-tag`	Label your workspace.

The Event Stream🔗

Listen to Triad’s life in JSON.

triad msg event-stream

We broadcast WorkspaceActivated, WindowFocusChanged, and window lifecycle events.

Native JSON🔗

Talk to Triad directly. Use the versioned JSON protocol over the socket.

Request🔗

{"triad":{"version":1,"request":"state"}}

Action🔗

{"triad":{"version":1,"request":"action","action":"focus-workspace","workspace_idx":2}}

{"triad":{"version":1,"request":"event-stream","events":["state","layout"]}}

We send a snapshot first, then push updates.

For capture indicators, subscribe to the native capture stream:

triad msg event-stream --native capture

Or use the bundled Waybar/custom-bar formatter:

sh tools/triad-capture-status.sh --watch --waybar

capture_sessions.windows always carries id, count, and known. When the window is still known to Triad, the entry also includes app id, title, workspace, tag, output name, and common window state flags. On River window-management protocol v4, this payload remains present and empty, and capabilities.capture_sessions is false.

Waybar custom module:

{
  "custom/triad-capture": {
    "exec": "sh /path/to/triad/tools/triad-capture-status.sh --watch --waybar",
    "return-type": "json",
    "format": "{}"
  }
}