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https://github.com/riverwm/river

[mirror] A dynamic tiling Wayland compositor
https://github.com/riverwm/river

wayland wayland-compositor window-manager wlroots zig

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[mirror] A dynamic tiling Wayland compositor

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README 

        


  




## Overview



River is a dynamic tiling Wayland compositor with flexible runtime

configuration.



Check [packaging status](https://repology.org/project/river-compositor/versions) β€”

Join us at [#river](https://web.libera.chat/?channels=#river) on irc.libera.chat β€”

Read our man pages, [wiki](https://codeberg.org/river/wiki), and

[Code of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md)



The main repository is on [codeberg](https://codeberg.org/river/river),

which is where the issue tracker may be found and where contributions are accepted.



Read-only mirrors exist on [sourcehut](https://git.sr.ht/~ifreund/river)

and [github](https://github.com/riverwm/river).



*Note: river has not yet seen a stable 1.0 release and it will be necessary to

make significant breaking changes before 1.0 to realize my longer term plans.

That said, I do my best to avoid gratuitous breaking changes and bugs/crashes

should be rare. If you find a bug don't hesitate to

[open an issue](https://codeberg.org/river/river/issues/new/choose).*



## Features



Currently river's window management style is quite similar to

[dwm](http://dwm.suckless.org), [xmonad](https://xmonad.org), and other classic

dynamic tiling X11 window managers. Windows are automatically arranged in a tiled

layout and shifted around as windows are opened/closed.



Rather than having the tiled layout logic built into the compositor process,

river uses a [custom Wayland

protocol](https://codeberg.org/river/river/src/branch/master/protocol/river-layout-v3.xml)

and separate "layout generator" process. A basic layout generator, `rivertile`,

is provided but users are encouraged to use community-developed [layout

generators](https://codeberg.org/river/wiki/src/branch/master/pages/Community-Layouts.md)

or write their own. Examples in C and Python may be found

[here](https://codeberg.org/river/river/src/branch/master/contrib).



Tags are used to organize windows rather than workspaces. A window may be

assigned to one or more tags. Likewise, one or more tags may be displayed on a

monitor at a time.



River is configured at runtime using the `riverctl` tool. It can define

keybindings, set the active layout generator, configure input devices, and more.

On startup, river runs a user-defined init script which usually runs `riverctl`

commands to set up the user's configuration.



## Building



Note: If you are packaging river for distribution, see [PACKAGING.md](PACKAGING.md).



To compile river first ensure that you have the following dependencies

installed. The "development" versions are required if applicable to your

distribution.



- [zig](https://ziglang.org/download/) 0.13

- wayland

- wayland-protocols

- [wlroots](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wlroots/wlroots) 0.18

- xkbcommon

- libevdev

- pixman

- pkg-config

- scdoc (optional, but required for man page generation)



Then run, for example:

```

zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe --prefix ~/.local install

```

To enable Xwayland support pass the `-Dxwayland` option as well.

Run `zig build -h` to see a list of all options.



## Usage



River can either be run nested in an X11/Wayland session or directly

from a tty using KMS/DRM. Simply run the `river` command.



On startup river will run an executable file at `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/river/init`

if such an executable exists. If `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is not set,

`~/.config/river/init` will be used instead.



Usually this executable is a shell script invoking *riverctl*(1) to create

mappings, start programs such as a layout generator or status bar, and

perform other configuration.



An example init script with sane defaults is provided [here](example/init)

in the example directory.



For complete documentation see the `river(1)`, `riverctl(1)`, and

`rivertile(1)` man pages.



## Future Plans



Currently details such as how tags work across multiple monitors are not

possible for users to configure. It would be possible to extend river's source

code to allow more flexibility here but this comes at the cost of complexity and

there will always be someone who prefers something slightly different.



My long term plan to address this is to move as much window management policy as

possible out of the river compositor process and into the "layout generator"

process which will need to be renamed to "window manager." This will give users

much more power and control over river's behavior and also enable some really

cool workflows. For example, it would be possible to write a window manager in

lisp and use hot code reloading to edit its behavior it while it is running.



This is a non-trivial architectural change and will take a while to implement. I

plan to focus on this change for the 0.4.0 release cycle. Unfortunately, it will

almost certainly break existing river configurations as well. I think the

benefits outweigh that downside though and I will do my best to offer a

reasonable upgrade path.



## Donate



If my work on river adds value to your life and you'd like to support me

financially you can find donation information [here](https://isaacfreund.com/donate/).



## Licensing



River is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 only.



The protocols in the `protocol` directory are released under various licenses by

various parties. You should refer to the copyright block of each protocol for

the licensing information. The protocols prefixed with `river` and developed by

this project are released under the ISC license (as stated in their copyright

blocks).



The river logo is licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, see the

[license](logo/LICENSE) in the logo directory.