Setting device priority in PipeWire with WirePlumber

I use my laptop both as a portable and as a desktop. When docked, there are multiple potential audio devices. PipeWire seems to choose from them randomly, but there’s a specific priority I’d like them to be selected in. If plugged in, my headphones should always be the default. If not, then the speakers connected to my dock. If neither, then the laptop speakers.

I found a post from 2022 by Scott Garman¹ which helped me write a Lua script to set the device priority. This worked perfectly, but when I looked into the documentation I discovered this method is now deprecated as WirePlumber has moved away from Lua scripting in favour of a JSON-SPA configuration.

Thanks to their migration guide², it was pretty easy to switch over.

Configuration

1. Check the priorities and names of your devices

Use wpctl status to see a list of devices. Output devices will be listed under Sinks.

Use wpctl inspect <device> to see the properties of that device.

Make note of the default priority.driver, priority.session and node.name values. You’ll want to set your preferred devices to something higher than the highest default, and you’ll need the node name to match against.

In my case, the highest default priority was 1009. And my devices were named:

• Internal speakers: alsa_output.pci-0000_c1_00.6.analog-stereo
• Rear speakers: alsaoutput.usb-CalDigit_Inc._CalDigit_TS4_Audio-_Rear-00.analog-stereo
• Headphones: alsaoutput.usb-CalDigit_Inc._CalDigit_TS4_Audio-_Front-00.analog-stereo

2. Create a config fragment file

The file should be created in ~/.config/wireplumber/wireplumber.conf.d/, and its filename must end in .conf. I named mine ~/.config/wireplumber/wireplumber.conf.d/51-set-priorities.conf

monitor.alsa.rules = [
  {
    matches = [
      {
        node.name = "alsa_output.pci-0000_c1_00.6.analog-stereo"
      }
    ]
    actions = {
      update-props = {
        priority.driver = 1010 # Ensure this is higher than the default
        priority.session = 1010 # I don't think priority.session is relevant, but I'm setting it anyway
      }
    }
  }
  {
    matches = [
      {
        node.name = "alsa_output.usb-CalDigit_Inc._CalDigit_TS4_Audio_-_Rear-00.analog-stereo"
      }
    ]
    actions = {
      update-props = {
        priority.driver = 1011 # Higher than the internal speakers
        priority.session = 1011
      }
    }
  }
  {
    matches = [
      {
        node.name = "alsa_output.usb-CalDigit_Inc._CalDigit_TS4_Audio_-_Front-00.analog-stereo"
      }
    ]
    actions = {
      update-props = {
        priority.driver = 1012 # Higher than the rear speakers
        priority.session = 1012
      }
    }
  }
]

3. Restart WirePlumber and check the changes

systemctl --user restart wireplumber

If you run wpctl status again, you should see the new priorities reflected in the output. If you disconnect/reconnect devices, wireplumber should automatically switch to the highest priority device.