[Sway] Use VRR in fullscreen only

README.md

VRR for fullscreen apps only

The idea behind this script is to only use VRR when a application is in fullscreen mode, here's the features:

• Has multi monitor support through a output whitelist config (I'd like this to be automatic in the future but there doesn't seem to be any way in swaymsg to identify if a output is VRR capable, one thing which comes to mind is checking EDID for VRR range).
• Determine if VRR needs to be toggled when a application is in fullscreen mode (which is how Windows does it usually and it's a option in Hyprland). This applies to:
  • Opening a app
  • Changing focus
  • Switching workplaces
  • Going into fullscreen mode (e.g. Youtube videos in Chromium)

As a result, you don't have to manually toggle VRR (which mitigates cursor stuttering in desktop mode when multi-tasking while gaming if VRR was to be enabled globally)

---

1. Make sure to install jq before proceeding:

2. $ less ~/.config/sway/config

   output DP-1 {
       mode 3840x1600@143.998Hz
       position 0 0
       adaptive_sync off # Recommended to avoid cursor stutter after starting Sway
   }
   
   output DP-2 {
       mode 1920x1080@119.982Hz
       position 3840 260
       adaptive_sync off
   }
   
   exec "~/.config/sway/scripts/vrr_fullscreen.sh"

3. $ mkdir -p ~/.config/sway/scripts/ && chmod +x ~/.config/sway/scripts/vrr_fullscreen.sh

   $ touch ~/.config/sway/scripts/vrr_fullscreen.sh

   #!/bin/bash
   
   # List of supported outputs for VRR
   output_vrr_whitelist=(
       "DP-1"
       "DP-2"
   )
   
   # Toggle VRR for fullscreened apps in prespecified displays to avoid stutters while in desktop
   swaymsg -t subscribe -m '[ "window" ]' | while read window_json; do
       window_event=$(echo ${window_json} | jq -r '.change')
   
       # Process only focus change and fullscreen toggle
       if [[ $window_event = "focus" || $window_event = "fullscreen_mode" ]]; then
           output_json=$(swaymsg -t get_outputs | jq -r '.[] | select(.focused == true)')
           output_name=$(echo ${output_json} | jq -r '.name')
   
           # Use only VRR in whitelisted outputs
           if [[ ${output_vrr_whitelist[*]} =~ ${output_name} ]]; then
               output_vrr_status=$(echo ${output_json} | jq -r '.adaptive_sync_status')
               window_fullscreen_status=$(echo ${window_json} | jq -r '.container.fullscreen_mode')
   
               # Only update output if nesseccary to avoid flickering
               [[ $output_vrr_status = "disabled" && $window_fullscreen_status = "1" ]] && swaymsg output "${output_name}" adaptive_sync 1
               [[ $output_vrr_status = "enabled" && $window_fullscreen_status = "0" ]] && swaymsg output "${output_name}" adaptive_sync 0
           fi
       fi
   done