Conky

Spec sheet

Purpose

Conky is a free, lightweight system monitor that displays information on a desktop or in other output formats.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Audience

Conky is presented as a desktop system monitor for people who want configurable system information and can use its configuration, scripts, or programs.Read 30 Sep 2026 · conky.cc

Support

The project links to its wiki and Matrix chat and welcomes contributions from anyone.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

License

The project states that Conky is licensed under GPLv3.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Build requirements

The compiling guide lists X11, Cairo, Lua, Imlib2, librsvg, ncurses, and libxml2 as examples of native libraries needed from the system package manager.Read 30 Sep 2026 · conky.cc

Community support

The project wiki directs users to open an issue or pull request and lists direct contact with developers as a support route.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Configuration

The default configuration file is located at ~/.config/conky/conky.conf or ${sysconfdir}/conky/conky.conf.Read 30 Sep 2026 · conky.cc

Container limitation

The Docker guide says much of the information displayed in a container reflects the container rather than the entire host system, and that the Docker image is still under development.Read 30 Sep 2026 · conky.cc

Customization

Global settings can configure screen alignment, fonts, colors, borders, and window dimensions.Read 30 Sep 2026 · conky.cc

Desktop environments

Conky is free software for Linux and BSD, and newer versions can also work with Wayland window managers that support the wlr-layer-shell protocol.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Display

It can show information as text, progress bars, and graph widgets, with configurable fonts and colors.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Display formats

Conky can present information as text, progress bars, and graph widgets, using different fonts and colors.Read 30 Sep 2026 · conky.cc

Distribution

The project offers an AppImage and Nix flake, and says many package managers include Conky.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Extensibility

Conky supports Lua and user scripts or programs, with Imlib2 and Cairo bindings for Lua drawing.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

External data

Conky can display information gathered through scripts and external programs.Read 30 Sep 2026 · conky.cc

Licensing

The project wiki says torsmo-based code is BSD-licensed and new Conky code is GPL 3.0-licensed.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Lua API

Conky supports Lua scripts and hooks, provided the build has Lua support enabled.Read 30 Sep 2026 · conky.cc

Mail and music

Built-in support includes IMAP and POP3, and music players MPD, XMMS2, and Audacious.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Mail support

Conky includes built-in IMAP and POP3 support.Read 30 Sep 2026 · conky.cc

Music integrations

Conky integrates with music players including MPD, XMMS2, and Audacious.Read 30 Sep 2026 · conky.cc

Operating systems

The project lists Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, DragonFlyBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, Haiku, and macOS as supported systems.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Output modes

Conky can run on Wayland with caveats and can output to a console, file, or HTTP.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Runtime caveat

The project notes that the AppImage may require additional runtime libraries.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

System metrics

Conky includes more than 250 built-in objects for statistics such as uptime, CPU, memory, disk, processes, and network activity.Read 30 Sep 2026 · conky.cc

System stats

Conky provides more than 300 built-in objects, including CPU, memory, disk, process, and network statistics.Read 30 Sep 2026 · github.com

Where Specifiction places it

• Desktop Widget Software#9 of 297.8
• System Information Software#13 of 347.7