diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index d9daebb3..8ff3ab2f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ dependencies = [
 [[package]]
 name = "cosmic-panel-config"
 version = "0.1.0"
-source = "git+https://github.com/pop-os/cosmic-panel/#8787823d807ea9a9d7b96ecacf017d695ba7b58a"
+source = "git+https://github.com/pop-os/cosmic-panel#8787823d807ea9a9d7b96ecacf017d695ba7b58a"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "gtk4",
diff --git a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/data/resources/style.css b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/data/resources/style.css
index e69de29b..7484d22f 100644
--- a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/data/resources/style.css
+++ b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/data/resources/style.css
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+*.alert {
+    background-color: #aa3000;
+    color: white;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/main.rs b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/main.rs
index cf426325..42e28e01 100644
--- a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/main.rs
+++ b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/main.rs
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ fn main() {
         TX.set(wayland_tx).unwrap();
 
         rx.attach(None, glib::clone!(@weak window => @default-return glib::prelude::Continue(true), move |workspace_event| {
-            dbg!(&workspace_event);
             window.set_workspaces(workspace_event);
             glib::prelude::Continue(true)
         }));
diff --git a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/wayland.rs b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/wayland.rs
index 3d19642b..9008b8e5 100644
--- a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/wayland.rs
+++ b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/wayland.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 use crate::{utils::{Activate}, wayland::generated::client::zext_workspace_manager_v1::ZextWorkspaceManagerV1};
-use std::{env, os::unix::net::UnixStream, path::PathBuf, sync::Arc};
+use std::{env, os::unix::net::UnixStream, path::PathBuf, sync::Arc, mem};
 use gtk4::glib;
 use tokio::sync::mpsc;
 use wayland_backend::client::ObjectData;
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ use wayland_client::{
 
 use wayland_client::{Connection, Dispatch, QueueHandle};
 
+pub enum WorkspaceState {
+
+}
+
+
 /// Generated protocol definitions
 mod generated {
     #![allow(dead_code, non_camel_case_types, unused_unsafe, unused_variables)]
@@ -67,7 +72,19 @@ pub fn spawn_workspaces(tx: glib::Sender<State>) -> mpsc::Sender<Activate> {
             };
 
             while state.running {
-                event_queue.blocking_dispatch(&mut state).unwrap();
+                while let Ok(request) = workspaces_rx.try_recv() {
+                    dbg!(&request);
+                    if let Some(w) = state.workspace_groups.iter().find_map(|g| {
+                        g.workspaces
+                            .iter()
+                            .find(|w| w.name == request)
+                    }) {
+                        println!("sending request");
+                        w.workspace_handle.activate();
+                    }
+                }
+                event_queue.sync_roundtrip(&mut state).unwrap();
+
             }
         });
     } else {
@@ -87,8 +104,9 @@ pub struct State {
 }
 
 impl State {
-    pub fn workspace_list(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item=(String, bool)> + '_ {
-        self.workspace_groups.iter().map(|g| g.workspaces.iter().map(|w| (w.name.clone(), false))).flatten()
+    // XXX
+    pub fn workspace_list(&self) -> impl Iterator<Item=(String, u32)> + '_ {
+        self.workspace_groups.iter().map(|g| g.workspaces.iter().map(|w| (w.name.clone(), w.state))).flatten()
     }
 }
 
@@ -104,7 +122,7 @@ struct Workspace {
     workspace_handle: ZextWorkspaceHandleV1,
     name: String,
     coordinates: Vec<u8>,
-    state: Vec<u8>,
+    state: u32,
 }
 
 impl Dispatch<wl_registry::WlRegistry, ()> for State {
@@ -216,7 +234,7 @@ impl Dispatch<ZextWorkspaceGroupHandleV1, ()> for State {
                         workspace_handle: workspace,
                         name: String::new(),
                         coordinates: Vec::new(),
-                        state: Vec::new(),
+                        state: 4,
                     })
                 }
             }
@@ -271,7 +289,11 @@ impl Dispatch<ZextWorkspaceHandleV1, ()> for State {
                         .iter_mut()
                         .find(|w| &w.workspace_handle == workspace)
                 }) {
-                    w.state = state;
+                    dbg!(&state);
+                    if state.len() == 4 {
+                        // XXX is it little endian??
+                        w.state = u32::from_le_bytes(state.try_into().unwrap());
+                    }
                 }
             }
             zext_workspace_handle_v1::Event::Remove => {
diff --git a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_button/mod.rs b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_button/mod.rs
index 73c9cee6..16683355 100644
--- a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_button/mod.rs
+++ b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_button/mod.rs
@@ -30,10 +30,16 @@ impl WorkspaceButton {
 
         let id = obj.id();
         let new_button = ToggleButton::with_label(&id);
-        new_button.set_active(obj.active());
+        new_button.set_active(obj.active() == 0);
+        if obj.active() == 1 {
+            new_button.add_css_class("alert");
+        }
         self.append(&new_button);
         new_button.connect_clicked(move |_| {
-            let _ = TX.get().unwrap().send(id.clone());
+            let id_clone = id.clone();
+            glib::MainContext::default().spawn_local(async move {
+                TX.get().unwrap().send(id_clone).await.unwrap();
+            });
         });
 
         imp.button.replace(new_button);
diff --git a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_object/imp.rs b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_object/imp.rs
index a1a865aa..8fc312dc 100644
--- a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_object/imp.rs
+++ b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_object/imp.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ use std::cell::{RefCell, Cell};
 
 use glib::{ParamFlags, ParamSpec, Value};
 use gtk4::gdk::glib::ParamSpecBoolean;
-use gtk4::glib::{self, ParamSpecString};
+use gtk4::glib::{self, ParamSpecString, ParamSpecUInt};
 use gtk4::prelude::*;
 use gtk4::subclass::prelude::*;
 use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
 #[derive(Default)]
 pub struct WorkspaceObject {
     pub(crate) id: RefCell<String>,
-    pub(crate) active: Cell<bool>,
+    pub(crate) active: Cell<u32>,
 }
 
 // The central trait for subclassing a GObject
@@ -41,11 +41,13 @@ impl ObjectImpl for WorkspaceObject {
                     // The property can be read and written to
                     ParamFlags::READWRITE,
                 ),
-                ParamSpecBoolean::new(
+                ParamSpecUInt::new(
                     "active",
                     "active",
                     "Indicates whether workspace is active",
-                    false,
+                    0,
+                    4,
+                    0,
                     ParamFlags::READWRITE,
                 ),
             ]
diff --git a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_object/mod.rs b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_object/mod.rs
index ed66f62a..2688bb2f 100644
--- a/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_object/mod.rs
+++ b/applets/cosmic-applet-workspaces/src/workspace_object/mod.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ impl WorkspaceObject {
         glib::Object::new(&[]).unwrap()
     }
 
-    pub fn from_id_active(id: String, active: bool) -> Self {
+    pub fn from_id_active(id: String, active: u32) -> Self {
         glib::Object::new(&[("id", &id), ("active", &active)]).unwrap()
     }
 
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ impl WorkspaceObject {
         imp::WorkspaceObject::from_instance(&self).id.borrow().clone()
     }
 
-    pub fn active(&self) -> bool {
+    pub fn active(&self) -> u32 {
         imp::WorkspaceObject::from_instance(&self).active.get()
     }
 }