[Bug]: network module ignores format-prefix
Author: gratejamesCreated May 16, 2026Updated May 16, 2026
Labelsbugneeds confirmation
Checklist
- I have read the appropriate section in the contributing guidelines
- I believe this issue is a problem with polybar itself and not a misconfiguration on my part
- I have searched for other open and closed issues that may have already reported this problem
- I have checked the known issues page for this problem.
- I have followed the debugging guide to narrow down the problem to a minimal config.
Steps to reproduce
Try to apply format-prefix to a internal/network module, nothing happens
Minimal config
[bar/main]
modules-right = wlan
[module/wlan]
type = internal/network
interface-type = wireless
format-prefix = "TEST"Polybar log
$ polybar --log=info
notice: Parsing config file: /home/user/.config/polybar/config.ini
* Loaded monitor eDP-1 (3840x2160+0+0)
* Configured DPI = 96x96
* Bar geometry: 3840x24+0+0; Borders: 0,0,0,0
notice: Loading module 'wlan' of type 'internal/network'
notice: module/wlan: Discovered wireless interface ifname
notice: Loaded 1 modules
* Starting application
* Entering event loop (thread-id=1)
* renderer: Using 32-bit TrueColor visual: 0xc2
warn: No fonts specified, using fallback font "fixed"
notice: Loaded font "fixed" (name=Noto Sans, offset=0, file=/usr/share/fonts/truetype/noto/NotoSans-Regular.ttf)
* Bar window: 0x0a00001
* Starting module/wlanExpected behavior
I would expect format-prefix to apply the prefix to the output of the network module
Actual behavior
Nothing happens
Window Manager and Version
i3 version 4.22
Linux Distribution
Debian 12 bookworm
Polybar version
olybar 3.7.2-29-gf99e0b1c
Features: -alsa -curl +i3 -mpd +network(libnl) -pulseaudio +xkeyboard
X extensions: +randr (+monitors) +composite +xkb -xrm -xcursor
Build type: Release
Compiler: /usr/bin/c++
Compiler flags: -O3 -DNDEBUG -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic -Wdeprecated-copy-dtor -Wsuggest-override
Linker flags: -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic -Wdeprecated-copy-dtor -Wsuggest-override -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic -Wdeprecated-copy-dtor -Wsuggest-override
flicker:~$Additional Context / Screenshots
No response
Source: polybar/polybar