← Otto User GuidePower Management

Otto handles the laptop lid switch and the hardware power button itself, rather than leaving them to systemd-logind. This lets it make smarter decisions — it knows whether you have an external monitor attached, or whether someone is watching a remote session.

Prerequisite: tell logind to stay out of the way

For any of this to work, logind must be configured not to act first:

# /etc/systemd/logind.conf
HandleLidSwitch=ignore
HandlePowerKey=ignore

Then sudo systemctl restart systemd-logind (or reboot).

If you skip this, logind suspends the machine before Otto sees the event, and Otto’s settings have no effect.

The lid switch

[power_management]
manage_lid_switch = true
on_lid_close = "auto"

manage_lid_switch

true (the default) means Otto owns the lid. false hands everything back to logind — set your policy there instead.

on_lid_close

What “still in use” means

With "auto" or "lock", Otto does not suspend when either is true:

• An external monitor is connected — clamshell mode. The internal panel goes dark, the session keeps running on the external screen, and it does not lock: you are sitting in front of it.

• A remote client is actively consuming frames — a portal screenshare session exists, or a virtual output’s PipeWire stream is actually streaming (an RDP client is connected and pulling frames). Closing the lid does not cut off a remote user.

  A stream that merely exists but is paused, with nothing consuming it, does not block suspend.

Otherwise the session is out of reach, and Otto suspends — because a laptop that keeps running in a bag gets hot.

Reopening

The internal panel comes back exactly as it was: same position in the monitor layout, same primary status, same workspaces, same windows, same dock. Closing and reopening the lid is visually a no-op.

disable_internal_screen is the exception — it keeps the panel off even with the lid open, which is what you want for a kiosk or a display-manager host.

The power button

[power_management]
on_power_button = "lock"

Anything other than "ignore" needs HandlePowerKey=ignore in logind.conf, otherwise logind acts first.

Otto reads the power button from its raw hardware key code, so it works whatever your keyboard layout is and whatever has grabbed the keyboard — a fullscreen game, a lock screen, a greeter. There is no state in which pressing the power button does nothing.

Idle locking

Auto-lock after a period of inactivity is configured separately, under [lock]:

[lock]
auto_lock_timeout = 300   # seconds; 0 disables

See Lock Screen for the full picture, including how idle-inhibit clients (video players, presentations) hold the countdown off.

What is not implemented

• DPMS blanking on idle. The screen does not turn off by itself. Only auto-lock is timer-driven.
• Idle suspend. Otto never suspends on a timer, only on lid close.
• Hibernate and hybrid sleep.
• Battery-level policies — no “suspend at 5%”.
• Moving the dock and top bar to the external monitor while the internal panel is off in clamshell mode. They stay assigned to the primary monitor.

For the missing pieces, systemd-logind and tools like swayidle still work alongside Otto.

A couple of recipes

Laptop that suspends and wakes locked:

[power_management]
manage_lid_switch = true
on_lid_close = "lock"
on_power_button = "lock"

[lock]
locker_command = "otto-lock"
auto_lock_timeout = 600

Machine that should never suspend (media box, always-on server with a display):

[power_management]
manage_lid_switch = true
on_lid_close = "disable_internal_screen"
on_power_button = "ignore"

Troubleshooting

The machine suspends on lid close even with an external monitor attached. Check that logind is set to HandleLidSwitch=ignore — otherwise it is logind suspending, not Otto, and clamshell detection never runs.

Closing the lid cut off my screen share. Otto only detects an actively streaming PipeWire node. If the consumer had disconnected or paused, the session counted as unused. Check the log around the lid-close event.

The power button does nothing. With on_power_button = "ignore" that is expected: the key goes to the focused application. Any other value requires HandlePowerKey=ignore in logind.conf.

The session does not lock on lid close. Clamshell and remote sessions deliberately stay unlocked — the session is still in use. It also needs a working locker; see Lock Screen.