dispctl

A display configuration script for GNOME on Wayland, designed as a proper replacement for the Super+P shortcut.

Why not just use Super+P?

GNOME Shell's built-in Super+P switcher (js/ui/switchMonitor.js) cycles through four hardcoded presets by calling monitorManager.switch_config(Meta.MonitorSwitchConfigType.*):

• Mirror — clone all displays
• Join Displays — extend all displays in a line
• External Only — disable the built-in panel
• Built-in Only — disable all external displays

And... that's it. There's no resolution control, no refresh rate selection, no VRR toggle, no per-monitor configuration, no primary monitor choice, not even persistence beyond the current session (unlike the display switcher on GNOME Control Center). It's a blunt, barebones preset switcher that applies whatever default mode Mutter picks for each monitor.

dispctl replaces this with a guided, interactive flow that gives you full control over every relevant setting.

Features

• Choose any resolution and refresh rate per monitor
• VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) support
• Extend displays in any order with primary monitor selection
• Duplicate displays across monitors with a common resolution
• Configuration is persistent across reboots (written to monitors.xml via gdctl --persistent, the same mechanism used by GNOME Settings)
• Monitor names sourced from EDID display-name property, same as the GNOME Displays panel

Dependencies

• gdctl — GNOME Display Controller
• zenity — GTK dialog toolkit
• GNOME Shell with Mutter (requires org.gnome.Mutter.DisplayConfig D-Bus API)

Usage

Run directly or bind to a keyboard shortcut (e.g. replacing Super+P):

dispctl

Recommended setup

In GNOME Settings → Keyboard → Custom Shortcuts, add a shortcut pointing to the script and assign Super+P to it (after disabling the default binding under System → Switch display configuration).