Floaty

Pin reference images, screenshots, and PDFs on top of your workspace.

Install

Required: This plugin requires dms-common to be installed.

# 1. Install shared components
git clone https://github.com/hthienloc/dms-common ~/.config/DankMaterialShell/plugins/dms-common

# 2. Install this plugin
dms plugins install floaty

Or manually:

git clone https://github.com/hthienloc/dms-floaty ~/.config/DankMaterialShell/plugins/floaty

Features

• Float from anywhere - Clipboard, file picker, drag & drop, or URL
• Multi-format support - PNG, JPG, WebP, BMP, SVG, PDF (page selection)
• Smart layout - Auto-tiling prevents overlapping
• Always on top - Windows stay visible while you work
• IPC ready - Script-friendly commands for automation

Usage

Action	Result
Drag onto icon	Quick float
Left click	Open menu
Right click	Paste from clipboard
Scroll	Resize image
Middle click	Close

IPC Commands

Use dms ipc call floaty <command> to control Floaty from scripts or keybindings.

Command	Description
floatFromClipboard	Float image/URL from clipboard
selectFileAndFloat	Open file picker and float selection
floatFromUrl "url"	Float from a URL or file path
toggleMinimizeAll	Toggle minimize/expand all windows
minimizeAll	Minimize all floating windows
expandAll	Expand all floating windows
closeAllWindows	Close all floating windows

Keybinding examples

Niri:

bindings {
    Print { spawn "sh" "-c" "dms screenshot region --no-file --no-notify && dms ipc call floaty floatFromClipboard"; }
    Mod+V { spawn "dms" "ipc" "call" "floaty" "floatFromClipboard"; }
}

Hyprland:

bind = , Print, exec, dms screenshot region --no-file --no-notify && dms ipc call floaty floatFromClipboard
bind = SUPER, V, exec, dms ipc call floaty floatFromClipboard

Requirements

• poppler-utils - PDF conversion (pdftocairo, pdfinfo)

License

GPL-3.0

Roadmap / TODO

• Session Restoration: Automatically reload floating images and their positions after a restart or crash.
• Live Annotations: Integrated pen and highlighter tools to mark up reference images without external editors.
• Per-Window Opacity: Individual transparency sliders for each window to prevent obscuring critical background details.
• Quick OCR: One-click text extraction from floating images directly into the clipboard.
• Built-in Cropping: Ability to trim or focus on specific parts of a floated image within the UI.