rofi -show drun works in terminal but not with Hyprland keybind

[mxCynic]

rofi version

Version: 1.7.9+wayland1-dirty

Hyprland version

Hyprland 0.50.1 built from branch at commit 4e242d0 ([gha] Nix: update inputs).
Date: Sat Jul 19 21:37:06 2025
Tag: v0.50.1, commits: 6291
built against:
aquamarine 0.9.2
hyprlang 0.6.3
hyprutils 0.8.1
hyprcursor 0.1.12
hyprgraphics 0.1.5

no flags were set

Current Behavior

1.I can successfully launch Rofi by running rofi -show drun from the terminal (e.g., in Kitty).
2. my config about rofi is

bind= ALT, SPACE, exec, rofi -show drun

It doesn't work — nothing happens when I press the keybind.
2. If I replace rofi with wofi, the keybind works as expected:

bind= ALT, SPACE, exec, wofi --show drun

Question

Is there anything special I need to do to make the Wayland version of Rofi work with Hyprland

[enessmr]

I don't know, Super_L, Super_L works for me tho.

Hyprland version

Hyprland 0.49.0 built from branch main at commit 54ccf9c (renderer: make lock fail textures dynamically loaded).
Date: Thu Jun 19 14:46:42 2025
Tag: v0.49.0-106-g54ccf9c6, commits: 6204
built against:
aquamarine 0.8.0
hyprlang 0.6.3
hyprutils 0.7.1
hyprcursor 0.1.12
hyprgraphics 0.1.3

no flags were set

[mxCynic]

The keybind doesn't seem to be the problem, since the same keybind works with Wofi or any other commands

[Jazztache]

I have this issue with both Rofi and Fuzzel. Fuzzel is even worse with this.

[LionHeartP]

Could you share your configs? I just copy pasted the bind and it works fine here.

[enessmr]

bind = Super_L, Super_L, exec, rofi -show drun

this is mine

[mxCynic]

Here is my full config

[xzn]

Imma hazard a random guess:

The env PATH is different between your terminal and what hyprland sees, at least that was causing a similar problem for me. (Sorry if this is not the problem)

[Jazztache]

How would I go about checking if this is the case?

[xzn]

Can try adding
bind = ALT, SPACE, exec, echo $PATH > ~/path.log
to your hyprland config, press the hotkey and check the file.

One way it would be different would be .bash_rc .bashrc, which is only sourced in interactive shell and not graphical user interfaces. For path to take effect in GUIs it should be in, e.g. .profile

[TyrHeimdalEVE]

I'd say it's highly likely to be related to that yes, but it'd be better to do:
bind = ALT, SPACE, exec, env > /tmp/env-wayland.log
... then open up a terminal and run:
env > /tmp/env-shell.log
... then diff the two, and see which environment variables are missing.

It may be WAYLAND_DISPLAY or DISPLAY. Haven't used rofi in a while, but if it was built without Wayland support, and it can't see a DISPLAY env variable - it will not start.

Wouldn't hurt to try this either:
bind = ALT, SPACE, exec, rofi -show drun > /tmp/rofi-debug.log
... then see if the log gives any hints about why it's refusing to start.

One way it would be different would be .bash_rc, which is only sourced in interactive shell and not graphical user interfaces. For path to take effect in GUIs it should be in, e.g. .profile

That'd be .bashrc - but you aren't always guaranteed that .profile will take effect.

Hyprland has config option that should be used instead for ensuring it - see: https://wiki.hypr.land/Configuring/Environment-variables/

[leiserfg]

I use it every day, just be sure you are using the wayland one.

[Jazztache]

...They seem to be the same. I did the bind in the previous post above to get the /tmp/env-wayland.log working.

Bear in mind, I am using the fish shell.

~ # env > /tmp/env-shell.log
~ # diff /tmp/env-wayland.log /tmp/env-shell.log -y > environment_comparison.txt
~ # cat environment_comparison.txt | grep DISPLAY
WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-1					WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-1
DISPLAY=:0						     <
							     >	DISPLAY=:0
~ # 

[EvanChin001]

I had the same problem, this is my not so polished solution:
bind = $mainMod, R, exec, ghostty -e sh -c "setsid "rofi -show drun"
you could replace ghostty with your terminal of choice.
Hope this helps!