From 016b9bdd4869341169b3b09f1c374845d6e30a9f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: rope <fredrik@nordhammer.it>
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2026 13:45:15 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] spotify-player: inset the special workspace window; keep cava
 on with playback

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 settings/hyprland.nix   | 14 ++++++++++++++
 settings/quickshell.nix | 22 ++++++++++++++--------
 2 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/settings/hyprland.nix b/settings/hyprland.nix
index 5160fe6..f0c7657 100644
--- a/settings/hyprland.nix
+++ b/settings/hyprland.nix
@@ -333,6 +333,20 @@ in
               workspace = "special:music silent",
             })
 
+            -- Inset it rather than filling the screen, so the workspace
+            -- underneath still frames it. Floating is what makes a percentage
+            -- size stick: a tiled window is sized by the layout, which would
+            -- just expand it back to the full area. Matched on title for the
+            -- same reason as above, and because matching on the special
+            -- workspace would depend on the assignment rule running first.
+            hl.window_rule({
+              name  = "spotify-player-inset",
+              match = { title = "^spotify-player$" },
+              float = true,
+              size = "80% 80%",
+              center = true,
+            })
+
             -- Games stall on other workspaces: no frame callbacks = no render =
             -- game loop blocks. Keep them ticking in the background at
             -- misc:render_unfocused_fps (15).
diff --git a/settings/quickshell.nix b/settings/quickshell.nix
index f1aab08..25a6857 100644
--- a/settings/quickshell.nix
+++ b/settings/quickshell.nix
@@ -6191,16 +6191,21 @@ in
                         return Math.floor(s / 60) + ":" + ("0" + Math.floor(s % 60)).slice(-2);
                     }
 
-                    // Live spectrum for the media cards' rings. cava runs only
-                    // while this popup is open AND something is playing, so it
-                    // isn't capturing audio in the background. levels is a
-                    // barCount-long array of 0-100 ints, one frame per tick.
+                    // Live spectrum for the media cards' rings. Tied to playback
+                    // rather than to the popup: gating on `open` restarted cava
+                    // on every open, and its bars ramp up from flat, so the
+                    // ring visibly booted each time instead of being mid-song
+                    // when it appeared. The cost is cava capturing while the
+                    // popup is closed, but only ever while something is
+                    // actually playing. levels is a barCount-long array of
+                    // 0-100 ints, one frame per tick.
                     readonly property int barCount: 24
                     property var levels: []
 
                     Process {
                         id: cavaProc
-                        running: calPopup.open && calPopup.players.length > 0
+                        running: calPopup.players.some(
+                            p => p.playbackState === MprisPlaybackState.Playing)
                         command: [Commands.cava, "-p", Commands.cavaConfig]
                         stdout: SplitParser {
                             onRead: data => {
@@ -6215,9 +6220,10 @@ in
                         }
                     }
 
-                    // Bars decay to flat when cava stops, so a paused card
-                    // doesn't keep the last frame frozen around the disc.
-                    onOpenChanged: if (!open) levels = []
+                    // Clear on the last frame of playback, not on close: cava
+                    // now outlives the popup, so wiping on close would throw
+                    // away the live frames it is still producing.
+                    onPlayersChanged: if (!cavaProc.running) levels = []
 
                     Row {
                         id: calRow