diff --git a/kiwmi/luak/ipc.c b/kiwmi/luak/ipc.c
index 8809cb4..b47fd8a 100644
--- a/kiwmi/luak/ipc.c
+++ b/kiwmi/luak/ipc.c
@@ -27,15 +27,25 @@ ipc_eval(
 
     int top = lua_gettop(L);
 
+    lua_pushboolean(L, true);
+    lua_setglobal(L, "FROM_KIWMIC");
+
     if (luaL_dostring(L, message)) {
         const char *error = lua_tostring(L, -1);
         wlr_log(WLR_ERROR, "Error running IPC command: %s", error);
         kiwmi_command_send_done(
             command_resource, KIWMI_COMMAND_ERROR_FAILURE, error);
         lua_pop(L, 1);
+
+        lua_pushboolean(L, false);
+        lua_setglobal(L, "FROM_KIWMIC");
+
         return;
     }
 
+    lua_pushboolean(L, false);
+    lua_setglobal(L, "FROM_KIWMIC");
+
     int results = top - lua_gettop(L);
 
     if (results == 0) {
diff --git a/kiwmi/luak/luak.c b/kiwmi/luak/luak.c
index 9a5b75a..6266c90 100644
--- a/kiwmi/luak/luak.c
+++ b/kiwmi/luak/luak.c
@@ -224,6 +224,10 @@ luaK_create(struct kiwmi_server *server)
         return NULL;
     }
 
+    // create FROM_KIWMIC global
+    lua_pushboolean(L, false);
+    lua_setglobal(L, "FROM_KIWMIC");
+
     // create kiwmi global
     lua_pushcfunction(L, luaK_kiwmi_server_new);
     lua_pushlightuserdata(L, lua);
diff --git a/lua_docs.md b/lua_docs.md
index e36ca46..7dc7930 100644
--- a/lua_docs.md
+++ b/lua_docs.md
@@ -6,6 +6,12 @@ This means Lua's garbage collection has no effect on the lifetime of the object.
 
 kiwmi offers the following classes to work with:
 
+## Globals
+
+### `FROM_KIWMIC`
+
+`true` when invoked from kiwmic, `false` otherwise.
+
 ## kiwmi_server
 
 This is the type of the global `kiwmi` singleton, representing the compositor.