diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 315b453..a737d1f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 # beansprout
-> Forked version of [beansprout/beansprout](https://codeberg.org/beansprout/beansprout.git).
 
 ![Single window with gaps](docs/screenshots/single-window.jpeg)
 ![Tiled windows](docs/screenshots/tiled-windows.png)
diff --git a/src/Bar.zig b/src/Bar.zig
index d5c4b40..99d012b 100644
--- a/src/Bar.zig
+++ b/src/Bar.zig
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ pending_manage: PendingManage = .{},
 pending_render: PendingRender = .{},
 
 const PendingManage = struct {
+    /// Recalculate bar geometry (size and position) on the next manage cycle
+    /// Set when output dimensions, position, scale, or exclusive zones change
     output_geometry: bool = false,
 };
 
@@ -44,7 +46,7 @@ const PendingRender = struct {
 };
 
 pub const Position = enum { top, bottom };
-pub const Component = enum { title, clock, wm_info, custom, none };
+pub const Component = enum { title, clock, wm_info, none };
 
 pub const Options = struct {
     /// Comma separated list of FontConfig formatted font specifications
@@ -67,8 +69,6 @@ pub const Options = struct {
     /// strftime format string for the clock display
     time_format: []const u8 = default_time_format,
 
-    /// Custom command to execute for the custom display
-    custom_command: []const u8 = "uname -r",
     /// Which component to show on the left side of the bar
     left: Component = .title,
     /// Which component to show in the center of the bar
@@ -161,7 +161,10 @@ pub fn manage(bar: *Bar) !void {
 
         const logical_font_height = @divFloor(bar.fcft_fonts.height, @as(i32, bar.font_scale));
         const height: u31 = @intCast(logical_font_height + 2 * options.vertical_padding);
-        const width: u31 = output.geometry.width -| @as(u31, @intCast(options.margins.left + options.margins.right));
+        // Use the non-exclusive area so the bar sits adjacent to any external layer shell
+        // surfaces rather than overlapping them.
+        const base = output.non_exclusive_area;
+        const width: u31 = @as(u31, @intCast(base.width)) -| @as(u31, @intCast(options.margins.left + options.margins.right));
 
         if (bar.geometry.width != width or bar.geometry.height != height) {
             bar.geometry.width = width;
@@ -173,10 +176,10 @@ pub fn manage(bar: *Bar) !void {
             bar.surfaces.wl_surface.setOpaqueRegion(opaque_region);
         }
 
-        const x = output.geometry.x + options.margins.left;
+        const x = base.x + options.margins.left;
         const y = switch (options.position) {
-            .top => output.geometry.y + options.margins.top,
-            .bottom => output.geometry.y + output.geometry.height - bar.geometry.height - options.margins.bottom,
+            .top => base.y + options.margins.top,
+            .bottom => base.y + base.height - bar.geometry.height - options.margins.bottom,
         };
         bar.pending_render.position = .{ .x = x, .y = y };
         bar.pending_render.draw = true;
@@ -274,31 +277,25 @@ fn draw(bar: *Bar) !void {
     const wm_info_codepoints = try utils.utf8ToCodepoints(wm_info_writer.buffered());
     defer utils.gpa.free(wm_info_codepoints);
 
-    // Processing custom component
-    const argv = [_][]const u8{ "sh", "-c", options.custom_command};
-    const custom_str = try utils.execCommand(utils.gpa, &argv);
-    const custom_codepoints = try utils.utf8ToCodepoints(custom_str);
-    defer utils.gpa.free(custom_codepoints);
     // Map a Component to its pre-computed codepoints slice
     const componentSlice = struct {
-        fn f(component: Component, clock: []u32, title: []u32, wm_info: []u32, custom: []u32) []u32 {
+        fn f(component: Component, clock: []u32, title: []u32, wm_info: []u32) []u32 {
             return switch (component) {
                 .clock => clock,
                 .title => title,
                 .wm_info => wm_info,
-                .custom => custom,
                 .none => &.{},
             };
         }
     }.f;
 
     // Measure center first; needed to constrain left and right widths
-    const center_codepoints = componentSlice(options.center, clock_codepoints, title_codepoints, wm_info_codepoints, custom_codepoints);
+    const center_codepoints = componentSlice(options.center, clock_codepoints, title_codepoints, wm_info_codepoints);
     const center_width = try bar.textWidth(center_codepoints);
     var center_x: i32 = @divFloor(buffer.width - center_width, 2);
 
     // Render left slot
-    const left_codepoints = componentSlice(options.left, clock_codepoints, title_codepoints, wm_info_codepoints, custom_codepoints);
+    const left_codepoints = componentSlice(options.left, clock_codepoints, title_codepoints, wm_info_codepoints);
     if (left_codepoints.len > 0) {
         const max_width = center_x - 2 * options.horizontal_padding;
         const truncated = try bar.truncateToWidth(left_codepoints, max_width);
@@ -307,7 +304,7 @@ fn draw(bar: *Bar) !void {
     }
 
     // Render right slot
-    const right_codepoints = componentSlice(options.right, clock_codepoints, title_codepoints, wm_info_codepoints, custom_codepoints);
+    const right_codepoints = componentSlice(options.right, clock_codepoints, title_codepoints, wm_info_codepoints);
     if (right_codepoints.len > 0) {
         const max_width = buffer.width - (center_x + center_width) - 2 * options.horizontal_padding;
         const truncated = try bar.truncateToWidth(right_codepoints, max_width);
diff --git a/src/Config.zig b/src/Config.zig
index b89bfe3..2a3c023 100644
--- a/src/Config.zig
+++ b/src/Config.zig
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ border_color_focused: RiverColor = utils.parseRgbaComptime("0x89b4fa"),
 /// Color of unfocused windows' borders in 0xRRGGBBAA or 0xRRGGBB form
 border_color_unfocused: RiverColor = utils.parseRgbaComptime("0x1e1e2e"),
 
+/// Autoexec script path
+autoexec_path: ?[]const u8 = null,
+
 /// Number of windows in the primary stack
 /// This is a global default, but each tagmask can have its own value
 primary_count: u8 = 1,
@@ -70,6 +73,7 @@ pub const PrimarySide = enum { left, right };
 pub const AttachMode = enum { top, bottom };
 
 const NodeName = enum {
+    autoexec,
     attach_mode,
     primary_count,
     primary_ratio,
@@ -225,6 +229,13 @@ fn load(config: *Config, reader: *Io.Reader) !void {
                     }
                     // Next, we have to check the specifics for the NodeName
                     switch (name) {
+                        .autoexec => {
+                            const autoexec_path = node.arg(&parser, 0);
+                            if (autoexec_path) |path| {
+                                config.autoexec_path = utils.gpa.dupe(u8, path) catch @panic("Out of memory");
+                            }
+                            logDebugSettingNode(name, autoexec_path.?);
+                        },
                         .primary_count => {
                             const count_str = utils.stripQuotes(node.arg(&parser, 0) orelse "");
                             // Use @max to ensure a minimum of 1
diff --git a/src/Output.zig b/src/Output.zig
index 36ba31d..64f1ba3 100644
--- a/src/Output.zig
+++ b/src/Output.zig
@@ -15,15 +15,15 @@ wl_output: ?*wl.Output = null,
 /// Friendly name of this output
 name: ?[]const u8 = null,
 
-/// Output geometry
 scale: u31 = 1,
+/// The rect for the entire output, this includes space that's taken by widgets like bars and not
+/// made available to windows.
 geometry: Rect = .{},
 
-/// Area available for window layout (output geometry minus bar space)
-/// Maybe I'll re-add support for layer shell exclusive areas later,
-/// but adding that makes it more work for me and I don't personally
-/// know of anything that makes me want them since external bars won't
-/// work with beansprout.
+/// Output geometry minus layer shell exclusive zones
+non_exclusive_area: Rect = .{},
+
+/// Area available for window layout (non_exclusive_area minus bar space)
 usable_geometry: Rect = .{},
 
 wallpaper: ?Wallpaper = null,
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ const TagLayoutOverride = struct {
 const PendingManage = struct {
     position: ?struct { x: i32, y: i32 } = null,
     dimensions: ?struct { width: u31, height: u31 } = null,
+    non_exclusive_area: ?Rect = null,
 
     tags: ?u32 = null,
     primary_ratio: ?f32 = null,
@@ -106,6 +107,7 @@ pub fn create(context: *Context, river_output_v1: *river.OutputV1) !*Output {
     output.windows.init();
 
     output.river_output_v1.setListener(*Output, riverOutputListener, output);
+    output.river_layer_shell_output_v1.setListener(*Output, riverLayerShellOutputListener, output);
 
     return output;
 }
@@ -200,8 +202,28 @@ pub fn prevWindow(output: *Output, current: *Window) ?*Window {
     }
 }
 
-// Used for the river_output_v1 interface
-fn riverOutputListener(river_output_v1: *river.OutputV1, event: river.OutputV1.Event, output: *Output) void {
+fn riverLayerShellOutputListener(
+    _: *river.LayerShellOutputV1,
+    event: river.LayerShellOutputV1.Event,
+    output: *Output,
+) void {
+    switch (event) {
+        .non_exclusive_area => |area| {
+            output.pending_manage.non_exclusive_area = .{
+                .x = area.x,
+                .y = area.y,
+                .width = @intCast(area.width),
+                .height = @intCast(area.height),
+            };
+        },
+    }
+}
+
+fn riverOutputListener(
+    river_output_v1: *river.OutputV1,
+    event: river.OutputV1.Event,
+    output: *Output,
+) void {
     assert(output.river_output_v1 == river_output_v1);
     switch (event) {
         .removed => {
@@ -286,7 +308,14 @@ pub fn manage(output: *Output) void {
         output.geometry.height = dimensions.height;
     }
 
-    if (output.pending_manage.position != null or output.pending_manage.dimensions != null) {
+    if (output.pending_manage.non_exclusive_area) |non_exclusive_area| {
+        output.non_exclusive_area = non_exclusive_area;
+    }
+
+    if (output.pending_manage.position != null or
+        output.pending_manage.dimensions != null or
+        output.pending_manage.non_exclusive_area != null)
+    {
         if (output.wallpaper) |*wallpaper| {
             wallpaper.pending_render.draw = true;
         }
@@ -391,11 +420,10 @@ pub fn manage(output: *Output) void {
         };
     }
 
-    // Compute usable geometry from output geometry minus bar space.
-    // We don't use non_exclusive_area from layer shell since we don't support
-    // other layer shell clients with exclusive zones (layer shell clients that
-    // don't use exclusive areas are fine).
-    output.usable_geometry = output.geometry;
+    // Compute usable geometry starting from the non-exclusive area reported by the layer shell,
+    // then additionally subtract space for beansprout's own bar (which uses river shell, not layer
+    // shell, so it's not included in the exclusive zone calculation).
+    output.usable_geometry = output.non_exclusive_area;
     if (output.bar) |bar| {
         if (bar.geometry.height > 0) {
             const bar_height: i32 = bar.geometry.height;
diff --git a/src/config/BarConfig.zig b/src/config/BarConfig.zig
index 890fd67..ea7179c 100644
--- a/src/config/BarConfig.zig
+++ b/src/config/BarConfig.zig
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ const NodeName = enum {
     horizontal_padding,
     margins,
     time_format,
-    custom_command,
 };
 const MarginsNodeName = enum { top, right, bottom, left };
 
@@ -53,7 +52,6 @@ horizontal_padding: u8 = 5,
 /// strftime format string for the clock display.
 /// null means use the default.
 time_format: ?[]const u8 = null,
-custom_command: ?[]const u8 = null,
 
 pub fn toBarOptions(config: BarConfig) Bar.Options {
     return .{
@@ -70,7 +68,6 @@ pub fn toBarOptions(config: BarConfig) Bar.Options {
             .bottom = config.margin_bottom,
             .left = config.margin_left,
         },
-        .custom_command = config.custom_command orelse "uname -r",
         .vertical_padding = config.vertical_padding,
         .horizontal_padding = config.horizontal_padding,
         .time_format = config.time_format orelse Bar.default_time_format,
@@ -126,13 +123,6 @@ pub fn load(config: *Config, parser: *kdl.Parser, hostname: ?[]const u8) !void {
                                 logWarnInvalidNodeArg(name, val_str);
                             }
                         },
-                        .custom_command => {
-                            if (node.argcount() < 1) {
-                                logWarnMissingNodeArg(name, "custom command");
-                                continue;
-                            }
-                            config.bar_config.?.custom_command = utils.gpa.dupe(u8, val_str) catch @panic("Out of memory");
-                        },
                         .margins => next_child_block = .margins,
                         inline .background_color,
                         .text_color,
diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index 6da367a..db012ab 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -84,7 +84,12 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         .config = config,
     });
     defer context.destroy();
-
+    if (context.config.autoexec_path) |path| {
+        std.log.debug("Path: {s}", .{path});
+        const argv = [_][]const u8{"/bin/sh", "-c", path };
+        var child = std.process.Child.init(&argv, utils.gpa);
+        try child.spawn();
+    }
     try run(wl_display, context);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/utils.zig b/src/utils.zig
index b3611e5..0718ed2 100644
--- a/src/utils.zig
+++ b/src/utils.zig
@@ -227,33 +227,6 @@ pub fn versionNotSupported(comptime WaylandGlobal: type, have_version: u32, need
     fatal("The compositor only advertised {s} version {d} but version {d} is required. Exiting", .{ WaylandGlobal.interface.name, have_version, need_version });
 }
 
-pub fn execCommand(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, argv: []const []const u8) ![]u8 {
-    // .run() spawns the process, collects stdout/stderr, and waits for completion.
-    // We set a max_output_size (e.g., 50KB) to prevent runaway memory usage.
-    const result = try std.process.Child.run(.{
-        .allocator = allocator,
-        .argv = argv,
-        .max_output_bytes = 50 * 1024, 
-    });
-
-    // We don't need stderr for this plain function, so free it immediately.
-    allocator.free(result.stderr);
-
-    // If the command failed (non-zero exit), you might want to handle that.
-    switch (result.term) {
-        .Exited => |code| if (code != 0) {
-            allocator.free(result.stdout);
-            return error.CommandFailed;
-        },
-        else => {
-            allocator.free(result.stdout);
-            return error.CommandTerminatedAbnormally;
-        },
-    }
-
-    return result.stdout;
-}
-
 const std = @import("std");
 const fatal = std.process.fatal;
 const fmt = std.fmt;