diff --git a/src/app/main.cpp b/src/app/main.cpp
index 1cc5680..1088e71 100644
--- a/src/app/main.cpp
+++ b/src/app/main.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 #include "screencast/network/discovery.h"
 #include "screencast/network/signaling.h"
 
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
@@ -205,10 +207,19 @@ void spawn_detached_sender(const std::string& peer, int bitrate_kbps) {
 
 void print_waybar_status() {
     const auto state = sc::read_sender_state();
+
+    // Built with nlohmann::json so all escaping (newlines in tooltips,
+    // non-ASCII characters) is handled correctly. Hand-rolled format
+    // strings produced literal control characters that broke waybar's
+    // JSON parser.
+    nlohmann::json json = nlohmann::json::object();
+
     if (!state.has_value()) {
-        std::cout << std::format("{{\"text\":\"\u23f8\",\"alt\":\"idle\",\"class\":\"idle\","
-                                 "\"tooltip\":\"screencast idle \u2014 click to stream to the last receiver\n"
-                                 "right-click: open the panel\"}}\n");
+        json["text"] = "\u23f8"; // pause symbol
+        json["alt"] = "idle";
+        json["class"] = "idle";
+        json["tooltip"] = "screencast idle \u2014 click to stream to the last receiver\nright-click: open the panel";
+        std::cout << json.dump() << '\n';
         return;
     }
 
@@ -218,13 +229,17 @@ void print_waybar_status() {
         state->started_epoch_ms;
     const std::int64_t minutes = elapsed_ms / 60000;
     const std::int64_t seconds = (elapsed_ms / 1000) % 60;
-    std::cout << std::format("{{\"text\":\"\u25b6\",\"alt\":\"streaming\",\"class\":\"streaming\","
-                             "\"tooltip\":\"screencast \u2192 {}\\n{} kbps \u00b7 {}m {:02}s\\nsession {}\"}}\n",
-                             state->receiver,
-                             state->bitrate_kbps,
-                             minutes,
-                             seconds,
-                             state->session_id);
+
+    json["text"] = "\u25b6"; // play symbol
+    json["alt"] = "streaming";
+    json["class"] = "streaming";
+    json["tooltip"] = std::format("screencast \u2192 {}\n{} kbps \u00b7 {}m {:02}s\nsession {}",
+                                  state->receiver,
+                                  state->bitrate_kbps,
+                                  minutes,
+                                  seconds,
+                                  state->session_id);
+    std::cout << json.dump() << '\n';
 }
 
 int run_waybar(const sc::WaybarCommand& command) {