From bbc5564405a7244456979401622b3e36fca348ba Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Wes Grimes <wesgrimes@hey.com>
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2026 18:43:02 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] Drive the focused display's connector backlight from the
 brightness keys

Hyprland monitor names are DRM connector names, so a backlight the kernel
registers on the focused monitor's connector is used through the existing
brightnessctl path before the Apple asdcontrol and DDC fallbacks. This lets
the Studio Display use the plain brightness keys and OSD on kernels that
expose its DCP backlight, without a sudo prompt holding the key lock.

Signed-off-by: Wes Grimes <wesgrimes@hey.com>
---
 bin/omarchy-brightness-display          | 31 ++++++++++++---
 test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh | 52 ++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 76 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/bin/omarchy-brightness-display b/bin/omarchy-brightness-display
index a6a1e8304bf..8f2730bb2de 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-brightness-display
+++ b/bin/omarchy-brightness-display
@@ -31,16 +31,37 @@ backlight_brightness() {
 
 [[ -n $monitor ]] || monitor="$(omarchy-hyprland-monitor-focused 2>/dev/null || true)"
 
+# Hyprland monitor names are DRM connector names, so a backlight the kernel registers on the
+# connector itself (e.g. an external display whose brightness the GPU driver controls) belongs
+# to this monitor. It wins over the Apple and DDC fallbacks, which go through slower side channels.
+connector_backlight() {
+  local subsystem
+
+  [[ -n $monitor ]] || return 1
+
+  for subsystem in "${OMARCHY_DRM_PATH:-/sys/class/drm}"/card*-"$monitor"/*/subsystem; do
+    if [[ $(readlink "$subsystem") == */class/backlight ]]; then
+      subsystem="${subsystem%/subsystem}"
+      printf '%s\n' "${subsystem##*/}"
+      return 0
+    fi
+  done
+
+  return 1
+}
+
+device="$(connector_backlight)"
+
 monitor_is_internal() {
   [[ $monitor =~ ^(eDP|LVDS|DSI)- ]]
 }
 
 use_apple_display() {
-  omarchy-hyprland-monitor-focused-apple "$monitor"
+  [[ -z $device ]] && omarchy-hyprland-monitor-focused-apple "$monitor"
 }
 
 use_ddc_display() {
-  [[ -n $monitor ]] && ! monitor_is_internal
+  [[ -z $device && -n $monitor ]] && ! monitor_is_internal
 }
 
 if (( $# == 0 )); then
@@ -52,7 +73,7 @@ if (( $# == 0 )); then
     exit
   fi
 
-  device="$(omarchy-hw-display)" || exit 1
+  [[ -n $device ]] || device="$(omarchy-hw-display)" || exit 1
   backlight_brightness "$device"
   exit
 fi
@@ -86,8 +107,8 @@ elif use_ddc_display; then
   brightness="$(omarchy-brightness-display-ddc "$monitor" "$step")" || exit 1
   (( no_osd )) || omarchy-osd -i brightness -p "$brightness"
 else
-  # Current device highlighted
-  device="$(omarchy-hw-display)" || exit 1
+  # The focused connector's backlight, else the most likely panel backlight
+  [[ -n $device ]] || device="$(omarchy-hw-display)" || exit 1
 
   # Current brightness percentage
   current=$(backlight_brightness "$device") || exit 1
diff --git a/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh b/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh
index 3e41c511ae0..69e53f7ce83 100755
--- a/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh
@@ -10,11 +10,29 @@ trap 'rm -rf "$test_tmp"' EXIT
 mock_bin="$test_tmp/bin"
 call_log="$test_tmp/calls"
 runtime_dir="$test_tmp/runtime"
+drm_dir="$test_tmp/drm"
 mkdir -p "$mock_bin" "$runtime_dir"
 
+# DP-3 has a kernel backlight registered on its connector, as external displays that support it do.
+# DP-1's connector only has a non-backlight child.
+mkdir -p "$drm_dir/card2-DP-3/apple-DP-3-bl" "$drm_dir/card2-DP-1/power"
+ln -s ../../../../class/backlight "$drm_dir/card2-DP-3/apple-DP-3-bl/subsystem"
+ln -s ../../../../bus/platform "$drm_dir/card2-DP-1/power/subsystem"
+
 cat >"$mock_bin/omarchy-hyprland-monitor-focused-apple" <<'SH'
 #!/bin/bash
-exit 1
+printf 'omarchy-hyprland-monitor-focused-apple %s\n' "$*" >>"$CALL_LOG"
+[[ ${APPLE_DISPLAY:-0} == "1" ]]
+SH
+
+cat >"$mock_bin/omarchy-brightness-display-apple" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/bash
+printf 'omarchy-brightness-display-apple %s\n' "$*" >>"$CALL_LOG"
+SH
+
+cat >"$mock_bin/omarchy-osd" <<'SH'
+#!/bin/bash
+printf 'omarchy-osd %s\n' "$*" >>"$CALL_LOG"
 SH
 
 cat >"$mock_bin/omarchy-hyprland-monitor-focused" <<'SH'
@@ -54,7 +72,7 @@ SH
 chmod +x "$mock_bin"/*
 
 run_brightness() {
-  CALL_LOG="$call_log" XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="$runtime_dir" PATH="$mock_bin:$ROOT/bin:$PATH" \
+  CALL_LOG="$call_log" XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="$runtime_dir" OMARCHY_DRM_PATH="$drm_dir" PATH="$mock_bin:$ROOT/bin:$PATH" \
     "$ROOT/bin/omarchy-brightness-display" "$@"
 }
 
@@ -129,6 +147,36 @@ grep -F 'ddcutil --bus 7 --skip-ddc-checks --noverify setvcp 10 5' "$call_log" >
   fail "external low brightness writes the one-percent target"
 pass "external low brightness uses a one-percent step"
 
+: >"$call_log"
+brightness=$(APPLE_DISPLAY=1 run_brightness --monitor DP-3)
+[[ $brightness == "40" ]] || fail "connector backlight reports brightness" "actual: $brightness"
+grep -F 'brightnessctl -d apple-DP-3-bl -m' "$call_log" >/dev/null || \
+  fail "connector backlight is queried through brightnessctl"
+pass "connector backlight reports brightness"
+
+: >"$call_log"
+APPLE_DISPLAY=1 run_brightness --monitor DP-3 +5%
+grep -Fx 'brightnessctl -d apple-DP-3-bl set 45%' "$call_log" >/dev/null || \
+  fail "connector backlight steps through brightnessctl" "$(cat "$call_log")"
+grep -Fx 'omarchy-osd -i brightness -p 40' "$call_log" >/dev/null || \
+  fail "connector backlight shows the OSD"
+if grep -E 'omarchy-brightness-display-apple|omarchy-hyprland-monitor-focused-apple|ddcutil' "$call_log"; then
+  fail "connector backlight skips the Apple and DDC backends"
+fi
+pass "connector backlight wins over the Apple and DDC backends"
+
+: >"$call_log"
+FOCUSED_MONITOR=DP-3 run_brightness --no-osd 1%-
+grep -Fx 'brightnessctl -d apple-DP-3-bl set 1%-' "$call_log" >/dev/null || \
+  fail "focused monitor's connector backlight takes precise steps" "$(cat "$call_log")"
+pass "focused monitor's connector backlight takes precise steps"
+
+: >"$call_log"
+APPLE_DISPLAY=1 run_brightness --no-osd --monitor DP-1 +5%
+grep -Fx 'omarchy-brightness-display-apple --no-osd +5%' "$call_log" >/dev/null || \
+  fail "Apple display without a connector backlight keeps asdcontrol" "$(cat "$call_log")"
+pass "Apple display without a connector backlight keeps asdcontrol"
+
 cat >"$mock_bin/hyprctl" <<'SH'
 #!/bin/bash
 printf '%s\n' '[

From c1f66742661f4fc591ddf6f027dce8b8b3f39c08 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Wes Grimes <wesgrimes@hey.com>
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 2026 18:54:49 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Keep internal panels on the backlight heuristic

GPU drivers such as i915 register the panel backlight on the eDP
connector, which may not be the one driving the panel (gmux on dual-GPU
Macs). Only external connectors take the connector backlight, so
internal panels keep omarchy-hw-display's pick.

Signed-off-by: Wes Grimes <wesgrimes@hey.com>
---
 bin/omarchy-brightness-display          | 20 ++++++++++++--------
 test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh |  6 ++++--
 2 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/bin/omarchy-brightness-display b/bin/omarchy-brightness-display
index 8f2730bb2de..cd081a10964 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-brightness-display
+++ b/bin/omarchy-brightness-display
@@ -31,13 +31,21 @@ backlight_brightness() {
 
 [[ -n $monitor ]] || monitor="$(omarchy-hyprland-monitor-focused 2>/dev/null || true)"
 
-# Hyprland monitor names are DRM connector names, so a backlight the kernel registers on the
-# connector itself (e.g. an external display whose brightness the GPU driver controls) belongs
-# to this monitor. It wins over the Apple and DDC fallbacks, which go through slower side channels.
+monitor_is_internal() {
+  [[ $monitor =~ ^(eDP|LVDS|DSI)- ]]
+}
+
+# Hyprland monitor names are DRM connector names, so a backlight the kernel registers on an external
+# connector (e.g. a display whose brightness the GPU driver controls) belongs to this monitor. It wins
+# over the Apple and DDC fallbacks, which go through slower side channels. Internal panels keep
+# omarchy-hw-display's heuristic: GPU drivers also register on the eDP connector a backlight that
+# may not be the one driving the panel (gmux on dual-GPU Macs).
 connector_backlight() {
   local subsystem
 
-  [[ -n $monitor ]] || return 1
+  if [[ -z $monitor ]] || monitor_is_internal; then
+    return 1
+  fi
 
   for subsystem in "${OMARCHY_DRM_PATH:-/sys/class/drm}"/card*-"$monitor"/*/subsystem; do
     if [[ $(readlink "$subsystem") == */class/backlight ]]; then
@@ -52,10 +60,6 @@ connector_backlight() {
 
 device="$(connector_backlight)"
 
-monitor_is_internal() {
-  [[ $monitor =~ ^(eDP|LVDS|DSI)- ]]
-}
-
 use_apple_display() {
   [[ -z $device ]] && omarchy-hyprland-monitor-focused-apple "$monitor"
 }
diff --git a/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh b/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh
index 69e53f7ce83..ad235be767d 100755
--- a/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh
@@ -14,9 +14,11 @@ drm_dir="$test_tmp/drm"
 mkdir -p "$mock_bin" "$runtime_dir"
 
 # DP-3 has a kernel backlight registered on its connector, as external displays that support it do.
-# DP-1's connector only has a non-backlight child.
-mkdir -p "$drm_dir/card2-DP-3/apple-DP-3-bl" "$drm_dir/card2-DP-1/power"
+# DP-1's connector only has a non-backlight child. eDP-1's connector has a GPU backlight, as i915
+# registers, which must not override omarchy-hw-display's pick for the internal panel.
+mkdir -p "$drm_dir/card2-DP-3/apple-DP-3-bl" "$drm_dir/card2-DP-1/power" "$drm_dir/card0-eDP-1/intel_backlight"
 ln -s ../../../../class/backlight "$drm_dir/card2-DP-3/apple-DP-3-bl/subsystem"
+ln -s ../../../../class/backlight "$drm_dir/card0-eDP-1/intel_backlight/subsystem"
 ln -s ../../../../bus/platform "$drm_dir/card2-DP-1/power/subsystem"
 
 cat >"$mock_bin/omarchy-hyprland-monitor-focused-apple" <<'SH'

From 5ca16e81039d0c00fec5727cbf7eb1be39baa9cd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Wes Grimes <wesgrimes@hey.com>
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2026 12:52:04 -0400
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] Only use the backlight of a connected connector

---
 bin/omarchy-brightness-display          |  3 ++-
 test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh | 11 +++++++++--
 2 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/bin/omarchy-brightness-display b/bin/omarchy-brightness-display
index cd081a10964..56045554926 100755
--- a/bin/omarchy-brightness-display
+++ b/bin/omarchy-brightness-display
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ monitor_is_internal() {
 # over the Apple and DDC fallbacks, which go through slower side channels. Internal panels keep
 # omarchy-hw-display's heuristic: GPU drivers also register on the eDP connector a backlight that
 # may not be the one driving the panel (gmux on dual-GPU Macs).
+# Only a connected connector counts: another card can expose a connector with the same name.
 connector_backlight() {
   local subsystem
 
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ connector_backlight() {
   fi
 
   for subsystem in "${OMARCHY_DRM_PATH:-/sys/class/drm}"/card*-"$monitor"/*/subsystem; do
-    if [[ $(readlink "$subsystem") == */class/backlight ]]; then
+    if [[ $(<"${subsystem%/*/subsystem}/status") == "connected" && $(readlink "$subsystem") == */class/backlight ]]; then
       subsystem="${subsystem%/subsystem}"
       printf '%s\n' "${subsystem##*/}"
       return 0
diff --git a/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh b/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh
index ad235be767d..ce5b162d054 100755
--- a/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh
+++ b/test/shell.d/brightness-display-test.sh
@@ -15,11 +15,18 @@ mkdir -p "$mock_bin" "$runtime_dir"
 
 # DP-3 has a kernel backlight registered on its connector, as external displays that support it do.
 # DP-1's connector only has a non-backlight child. eDP-1's connector has a GPU backlight, as i915
-# registers, which must not override omarchy-hw-display's pick for the internal panel.
-mkdir -p "$drm_dir/card2-DP-3/apple-DP-3-bl" "$drm_dir/card2-DP-1/power" "$drm_dir/card0-eDP-1/intel_backlight"
+# registers, which must not override omarchy-hw-display's pick for the internal panel. card1 has a
+# disconnected DP-3 of its own with a backlight, which must not be mistaken for the focused DP-3.
+mkdir -p "$drm_dir/card2-DP-3/apple-DP-3-bl" "$drm_dir/card2-DP-1/power" "$drm_dir/card0-eDP-1/intel_backlight" \
+  "$drm_dir/card1-DP-3/other-DP-3-bl"
 ln -s ../../../../class/backlight "$drm_dir/card2-DP-3/apple-DP-3-bl/subsystem"
 ln -s ../../../../class/backlight "$drm_dir/card0-eDP-1/intel_backlight/subsystem"
 ln -s ../../../../bus/platform "$drm_dir/card2-DP-1/power/subsystem"
+ln -s ../../../../class/backlight "$drm_dir/card1-DP-3/other-DP-3-bl/subsystem"
+for connector in card2-DP-3 card2-DP-1 card0-eDP-1; do
+  printf 'connected\n' >"$drm_dir/$connector/status"
+done
+printf 'disconnected\n' >"$drm_dir/card1-DP-3/status"
 
 cat >"$mock_bin/omarchy-hyprland-monitor-focused-apple" <<'SH'
 #!/bin/bash