Component architecture

The installer owns suite selection and user-unit setup. sysc-shell owns the Niri desktop surface. Companion services own their protocol state; libraries compile into the shell.

SYSC v0.1.3 pins the installed releases listed in the suite reference. The source record tracks current default-branch commits separately.

flowchart TD
    installer["sysc installer<br/>pinned binaries and user units"] --> session["systemd --user<br/>graphical-session.target"]
    session --> shell["sysc-shell<br/>Niri UI and settings"]
    shell --> tray["sysc-tray<br/>StatusNotifierItem and DBusMenu"]
    shell --> clipboard["sysc-clipboard<br/>Wayland capture and encrypted history"]
    shell --> notify["sysc-notify<br/>D-Bus notification owner"]
    shell --> wallpaper["wallpaper children<br/>awww / swaybg / gSlapper / sysc-terminal"]
    shell --> walls["sysc-walls<br/>idle screensaver service"]
    shell --> libs["Go libraries<br/>sysc-wayland / sysc-metrics / sysc-launch"]

Process boundaries

• sysc installer: downloads the versions in the suite manifest, writes user units, and records changes for upgrade and uninstall.
• sysc-shell: runs in the Niri user session. It draws through wl_shm, talks to Niri over its IPC socket, and starts selected wallpaper or lock processes.
• sysc-tray, sysc-clipboard, sysc-notify: run independently of the shell. They own tray discovery, clipboard persistence and notification-bus ownership.
• sysc-walls: runs as a user service and starts a screensaver after idle time.
• sysc-wayland, sysc-metrics, sysc-launch: Go modules used by programs; they do not add separate suite services.
• sysc-Go: animation dependency used by sysc-terminal and sysc-walls. It is not a component installed from the suite manifest.

Configuration and state live with the component that owns them. The installer stamp belongs to sysc; shell preferences belong to sysc-shell; clipboard history belongs to sysc-clipboard. See paths and ownership and the service integration guide.

This page describes project boundaries from the current source record. It does not qualify architectures, distributions or compositors beyond the compatibility reference.