fix: add dispose() methods to prevent VRAM/GTT memory leaks by bechampion · Pull Request #701 · ErikReider/SwayNotificationCenter

bechampion · 2026-02-13T19:02:36Z

Summary

This PR adds proper dispose() methods to several widget classes to prevent GPU memory (VRAM/GTT) leaks when notifications and media players are created and destroyed.

Problem

Over time, swaync accumulates GPU memory (observable via /sys/class/drm/card*/device/mem_info_vram_used or GTT usage) due to:

Notification images not being cleared - When notifications with images are dismissed or replaced, the Gdk.Texture objects backing img, img_app_icon, and body_image are not explicitly released
MPRIS album art textures accumulating - When media players update album art, new textures are created without clearing the previous ones
Widget children not properly unparented - The Underlay class (parent of MprisPlayer) doesn't clean up its children on disposal
Animation references preventing GC - NotificationGroup animations can hold references that prevent garbage collection

Changes

`src/notification/notification.vala`

Added dispose() method that clears img, img_app_icon, body_image, removes pending timeouts, and nulls gesture/controller references
Added body_image.set_paintable(null) before setting new paintable in set_body()

`src/controlCenter/widgets/mpris/mpris_player.vala`

Added dispose() method that calls before_destroy()
Enhanced before_destroy() to cancel ongoing downloads and clear album_art/background_picture textures
Added texture clearing before loading new album art in update_album_art()

`src/underlay/underlay.vala`

Added dispose() method that properly unparents both _child and _underlay_child

`src/notificationGroup/notificationGroup.vala`

Added dispose() method that skips/nulls animations, disconnects handlers, and clears collections

Testing

Tested by monitoring VRAM usage while:

Sending many notifications with images and dismissing them
Playing media with frequently changing album art
Expanding/collapsing notification groups

GPU memory now stabilizes after dismissal instead of continuously growing.

Technical Details

In GTK4/Wayland, Gdk.Texture objects are backed by GPU memory. When new paintables are assigned to Gtk.Image or Gtk.Picture widgets without clearing the old ones first, or when widgets are destroyed without explicit cleanup, the GPU memory may not be immediately released due to:

GObject reference counting keeping textures alive
GTK4's paintable system holding references
Vala's garbage collection timing
Animation targets holding widget references

The dispose() pattern ensures deterministic cleanup of GPU resources when widgets are destroyed.

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR adds dispose() methods to four widget classes to prevent GPU memory (VRAM/GTT) leaks when notifications and media players are created and destroyed repeatedly. The changes ensure that Gdk.Texture objects and related GPU resources are explicitly released rather than relying on garbage collection timing.

Changes:

Added dispose() methods to properly release GPU textures and other resources in notification, media player, and widget classes
Added preemptive texture clearing before loading new images in notification bodies and MPRIS album art
Enhanced MPRIS player cleanup to cancel ongoing downloads and clear textures on destruction

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

File	Description
src/underlay/underlay.vala	Added dispose() method to properly unparent both child and underlay_child widgets
src/notificationGroup/notificationGroup.vala	Added dispose() method to stop animations and clear collections; includes extensive whitespace formatting changes
src/notification/notification.vala	Added dispose() method to clear image resources and remove timeouts; added body_image clearing before loading new textures
src/controlCenter/widgets/mpris/mpris_player.vala	Added dispose() method calling before_destroy(); enhanced before_destroy() to cancel downloads and clear album art textures; added texture clearing before loading new album art

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…memory leaks Add proper resource cleanup in dispose() methods for several widget classes and scale body images to display size to prevent GPU memory (VRAM/GTT) leaks. Changes: - Notification: Add dispose() to clear img, img_app_icon, body_image and remove pending timeouts. Also clear body_image before setting new paintable. - Notification: Scale body images to display size instead of loading full resolution (e.g., 2560x1440 screenshots were using ~11MB GPU memory each, now use ~120KB when scaled to 200x100 display size). - MprisPlayer: Add dispose() and enhance before_destroy() to cancel downloads and clear album_art/background_picture textures. Clear textures before loading new album art. - Underlay: Add dispose() to properly unparent children. - NotificationGroup: Add dispose() to skip/null animations and clear collections. These fixes address GPU memory accumulation observed when: - Notifications with large images (screenshots) are shown - MPRIS players update album art frequently - Notification groups are expanded/collapsed The body image scaling fix provides ~100x reduction in GPU memory per image notification containing large images like screenshots.

ErikReider

Just a few nits, but looks good. You used AI right? I have nothing against its usage, but I'd appreciate it if you mentioned that in the PR description.

ErikReider · 2026-04-05T09:23:29Z

+
+            // NOTE: We removed the unrealize() call that was here.
+            // It was causing GPU memory leaks on repeated open/close cycles
+            // because textures had to be re-uploaded each time.
+            // If keyboard shortcuts stop working after clearing notifications,
+            // a different fix may be needed (e.g., reset keyboard mode via layer shell).


Yeah, I agree. This was a temporary hack to fix keyboard input.

This was needed though to know which output the ControlCenter was opened on as the underlying wl_surface doesn't get destroyed / the wl_surface::leave signal isn't called when unmapped. Without a wl_surface::leave, the ::enter signal is only called once for each output, which makes tracking which monitor the ControlCenter is open on impossible.

So please remove this change as it should be in a separate PR

ErikReider · 2026-04-05T09:28:28Z

        private void set_style_urgency () {
-            // Reset state
+            // Reset state - clear paintable to release GPU memory
+            body_image.set_paintable (null);


Why remove the paintable here?

ErikReider · 2026-04-05T09:29:11Z

        private void set_inline_reply () {
-            // Reset state
+            // Reset state - clear paintable to release GPU memory
+            body_image.set_paintable (null);


Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings February 13, 2026 19:02

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of bechampion February 13, 2026 19:03 View session

bechampion force-pushed the fix/vram-gtt-memory-leak branch from 032a278 to 1d810ea Compare February 13, 2026 19:06

Copilot AI reviewed Feb 13, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread src/notification/notification.vala

Comment thread src/notificationGroup/notificationGroup.vala Outdated

bechampion mentioned this pull request Feb 13, 2026

[Bug] high VRAM usage increasing when toggling with swaync-client #680

Open

bechampion force-pushed the fix/vram-gtt-memory-leak branch 5 times, most recently from 4996fbb to 549a38d Compare February 14, 2026 09:10

ErikReider requested changes Apr 5, 2026

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fix: add dispose() methods to prevent VRAM/GTT memory leaks#701

fix: add dispose() methods to prevent VRAM/GTT memory leaks#701
bechampion wants to merge 1 commit intoErikReider:mainfrom
bechampion:fix/vram-gtt-memory-leak

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bechampion commented Feb 13, 2026

Summary

Problem

Changes

src/notification/notification.vala

src/controlCenter/widgets/mpris/mpris_player.vala

src/underlay/underlay.vala

src/notificationGroup/notificationGroup.vala

Testing

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`src/notification/notification.vala`

`src/controlCenter/widgets/mpris/mpris_player.vala`

`src/underlay/underlay.vala`

`src/notificationGroup/notificationGroup.vala`