Hyprland reverts to default config when symlinked config is touched by yadm

Bugs / FRs / Support
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Hyprland version 
Hyprland 0.53.3 built from branch v0.53.3 at commit dd220efe7b1e292415bd0ea7161f63df9c95bfd3 clean (version: bump to 0.53.3).
Date: Sat Jan 24 20:02:06 2026
Tag: v0.53.3, commits: 6793

Libraries:
Hyprgraphics: built against 0.5.0, system has 0.5.0
Hyprutils: built against 0.11.0, system has 0.11.0
Hyprcursor: built against 0.1.13, system has 0.1.13
Hyprlang: built against 0.6.8, system has 0.6.8
Aquamarine: built against 0.10.0, system has 0.10.0

Version ABI string: dd220efe7b1e292415bd0ea7161f63df9c95bfd3_aq_0.10_hu_0.11_hg_0.5_hc_0.1_hlg_0.6
no flags were set

Describe your issue / feature…

I manage my dotfiles using YADM, with alternate files symlinked to hyprland.conf for different devices. When I run any YADM command, for example yadm status hyprland reverts to it’s default config until I run hyprctl reload manually.

Steps to reproduce bug:

  1. yadm init to set up dotfiles
  2. yadm add hyprland.conf to track hyprland
  3. mv hyprland.conf hyprland.conf##h.desktop to set up the alt file for symlinking
  4. yadm alt to set up the symlink
  5. yadm status will now make hyprland revert to default config
  6. hyprctl reload restores the intended config
  7. yadm status reverts it again