Reading Omarchy's manual on Based
Based Workstation and Based Poweruser carry Omarchy's menu, themes, CLI and terminal setup, so much of the Omarchy manual applies. What doesn't is the Arch half: Hyprland, pacman and the AUR, Limine and its snapshots. Based's desktop is sway on Poweruser and GNOME on Workstation. Based's own Hyprland editions are parked; Pure Omarchy runs stock Omarchy on Hyprland, and the whole manual applies there. Why Based has the reasons.
"As-is" means Omarchy's page is right on Based. "Differs" means read the Based page. "Not on Based" says what takes its place.
| Omarchy chapter | on Based | read |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome to Omarchy | as-is | Why Based |
| The Basics | as-is, an index | |
| Getting Started | differs: Based's images, and Secure Boot can stay on. No disk encryption yet | Installing Based |
| Navigation | differs: sway with Based's keys | Keybindings |
| Themes | as-is, and a switch reaches further | Themes |
| Hotkeys | differs | Keybindings |
| Filling out PDFs | differs: Papers opens PDFs and fills forms. Xournal++ isn't in the menu | |
| The Applications | as-is, an index | |
| Neovim | as-is for the keys. Your own plugins go beside Based's | Your config files |
| Shell Tools | as-is, in zsh | |
| Shell Functions | as-is, in zsh | |
| TUIs | differs: lazygit, btop and About as-is. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are the bar's panels, Super+Ctrl+W and Super+Ctrl+B |
Keybindings |
| GUIs | differs: one app per job, and most of these are menu rows | Where software comes from |
| Commercial | differs: Install, then Service installs the Flathub builds | Where software comes from |
| Development Tools | differs: the same mise, through Debian's packages | Developer tools |
| Web Apps | differs: none come installed, and they open in your default browser | Setup that needs you |
| Configuration | as-is, an index | |
| Dotfiles | differs: stubs over package defaults, and no Hyprland or Waybar files. Don't run omarchy reinstall configs, which copies every starting file over your home, your empty ~/.zsh_aliases and friends included |
Your config files |
| Other Packages | differs: apt and Flathub, no AUR. omarchy pkg add takes Debian's names |
Where software comes from |
| FAQ | not on Based: its answers edit Hyprland and Waybar files. Keyboard layouts are in GNOME Settings on both editions | |
| Updates | differs: apt through based-update, and Dev mode in place of four channels |
Updating |
| The Rest | as-is, an index | |
| Gaming | as-is, from Flathub | |
| Keyboard, Mouse, Trackpad | differs: GNOME Settings' Keyboard and Mouse & Touchpad pages, on Poweruser too, or an input block below the include in ~/.config/sway/config. Scrolling starts traditional |
Your config files |
| Omarchy on... | not on Based: Based is Omarchy on Debian. Apple Silicon goes through Asahi | Installing Based |
| Monitors | differs: GNOME Settings' Displays page on both editions. On Poweruser also the display panel, Super+Ctrl+D, or output lines below the include (swaymsg -t get_outputs lists them) |
|
| Troubleshooting | differs | Troubleshooting |
| Backgrounds | as-is | Themes |
| Extra themes | as-is | |
| Making your own theme | as-is | Themes |
| Security | differs: no disk encryption yet, ufw on, and Based's signed repo in place of Arch's and the AUR | Setup that needs you |
| Fonts | as-is. Install, then Style, then Font takes Debian's Nerd Font packages | |
| Prompt | as-is: Starship, ~/.config/starship.toml |
|
| Manual installation | not on Based: archinstall and Limine. Put Based on a Debian you already run instead | Installing Based |
| Mac Support | differs: an Intel Mac installs from the image. On a T2 Mac the internal keyboard, trackpad and audio need drivers Debian doesn't carry, so bring a USB keyboard | Installing Based |
| Windows VM | as-is: Install, then Windows | |
| System snapshots | differs: snapper on a guided btrfs install, listed in the boot menu. omarchy snapshot does nothing |
Troubleshooting |
| Common tweaks | not on Based: they edit Hyprland and Waybar. On Poweruser, set $gaps 0 in ~/.config/sway/config-vars.d/ removes the gaps |
Your config files |
| System sleep | differs: suspend is in Super+Escape. A Based install has no swap partition, so no hibernation |
|
| Universal Clipboard & History | as-is on Poweruser | Keybindings |
| Terminal | differs: Ghostty on Super+T. tmux's prefix, tdl, tsl, c and cx as-is |
Keybindings |
| AI | differs: agents from the menu or mise, their servers and skills through agentctl. No Ollama | AI agents |
| Text Extraction & Dictation | as-is: Super+Ctrl+Print, and dictation from Install, then AI, then Dictation |
|
| Reminders | as-is on Poweruser | |
| Branding | differs: the boot splash follows the theme; About and the screensaver as-is | Themes |
| Notices | as-is on Poweruser | |
| Omarchy CLI | as-is, except omarchy update runs Based's update, omarchy pkg uses apt and omarchy snapshot does nothing |
Updating |
| Dual Boot Install | differs: partition by hand in the installer; GRUB finds Windows by itself, no limine-scan |
Installing Based |
| Hardware authentication | as-is | Setup that needs you |
What Omarchy's manual doesn't cover
Everything Based adds on top: the editions, onboarding, accounts and your organization, AI agents, config files and your edits, where software comes from, vendor downloads and Omarchy on a Mac.