FAQ

Can I bring my notes over from xpad?

Yes. When Realer Xpad starts for the first time and finds notes in ~/.config/xpad, it offers to import them. You can also import any time with Import from xpad… in the notes manager's menu, or realer-xpad import-xpad.

Each note keeps its text, size, and whether it's sticky (which becomes pinned) or hidden. Its colour becomes the closest of the seven note colours. Window positions aren't kept, because xpad's are X11 screen coordinates. Empty notes are skipped, and importing again only brings in notes that are new since last time. xpad's own files are never changed.

Why Rust?

Because it's realer. More seriously: a single ~3 MB binary with no Python or PyGObject to install, about 35 MB less memory with a few notes open, and a compiler that catches whole classes of bugs before you ever see them.

The AppImage doesn't start

AppImages mount themselves with FUSE. If you see a FUSE error, install your distro's fuse / fuse3 package, or run it without mounting: ./Realer_Xpad-*.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run.

Does it work on X11?

Realer Xpad is developed and tested on Wayland. GTK 4 also runs on X11, so it should work there too, but X11 isn't a target.

Does it work on GNOME, KDE or Sway?

Yes, on any Wayland compositor. What you lose outside Hyprland is position restore and pinning, because Wayland doesn't let apps place their own windows. On Sway, add for_window [app_id="ch.giosuel.RealerXpad"] floating enable so notes float.

My notes are tiled on Hyprland

Add the window rules. Without them, Hyprland treats notes like any other window.

The app takes ~25 seconds to start

GTK and libadwaita ask the XDG desktop portal for your settings at startup, and wait for it if the portal service is broken. Check systemctl --user status xdg-desktop-portal. On Hyprland you want xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland installed. To confirm it's the portal, start with ADW_DISABLE_PORTAL=1 GDK_DEBUG=no-portals realer-xpad.

It fails to start with a missing libgtk-4 or libadwaita library

Install GTK 4 and libadwaita from your distro (gtk4 and libadwaita on most). Realer Xpad needs GTK ≥ 4.16, because the theme uses CSS variables. Debian 13, Ubuntu 25.04, Fedora 41 and Arch all ship a new enough GTK.

Can I edit notes with another editor?

Yes. Notes are plain .md files in ~/.local/share/realer-xpad/. Edit them while Realer Xpad isn't running, or it may overwrite your changes with its own copy.

Can I sync notes between machines?

Point REALER_XPAD_DATA at a synced folder (Syncthing, Nextcloud, a git repo…). Avoid running Realer Xpad on two machines at the same time against the same folder.

How do I recover a deleted note?

Deleted notes are moved to ~/.local/share/realer-xpad/trash/. Move both files (<id>.md and <id>.json) back to the parent folder and restart Realer Xpad.

Where's the tray icon?

There isn't one yet. Use the notes manager (realer-xpad manager) or a keybind for realer-xpad toggle.