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https://github.com/tudurom/windowchef

Window Chef is a stacking window manager that cooks windows with orders from the Waitron
https://github.com/tudurom/windowchef

cooking-windows ewmh window-manager x11

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Window Chef is a stacking window manager that cooks windows with orders from the Waitron

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README 

        
Windowchef

==========



Disclaimer

----------



This software is constantly changing and

may [break your workflow](https://xkcd.com/1172/) (yeah, it's that one

xkcd comic, everyone

knows it).



Cooking windows since 2016

--------------------------



Windowchef is a stacking window manager that doesn't handle keyboard or

pointer inputs. A third party program (like `sxhkd`) is needed in order to

translate keyboard and pointer events to `waitron` commands.



Waitron is a program that sends commands to the window manager through X client

messages. It doesn't print anything on success. The commands and the

parameters are fed as program arguments and waitron delivers them to the

windowchef.



Windowchef is written in C with the help of the XCB library for

communicating with the X server. It supports randr and a subset of ewmh and

icccm.



Rationale

---------



Window managers are spreading like rats these days (I may be wrong). So what do you want to achieve with this one?



What I want to achieve by writing windowchef is a simple window manager that

provides basic functionality for a more minimal, yet comfortable workflow while

being easily extensible using the standard UNIX way: shell scripts. Cool

features like sorting windows by size on a specific monitor are not

included in windowchef. Instead, the user is encouraged to write a script that

does this using available tools like [wmutils](https://github.com/wmutils)

for window manipulation and [disputils](https://github.com/tudurom/disputils) for getting information regarding randr outputs.



Have fun!



Usage

-----



See the bundled `.sxhkdrc` and `.windowchefrc` for an example of a basic

configuration. Additionally, you can read the manual pages (`windowchef(1)` and `waitron(1)`).



The default configuration file is `~/.config/windowchef/windowchefrc`. It is usually

a shell script that calls `waitron wm_config` for configuration. See the

manual page for `waitron(1)` for details regarding this topic.



If you want to use window rules, a feature that windowchef lacks, you can use

[ruler](https://github.com/tudurom/ruler).



Dependencies

------------



* `xcb`

* `xcb-randr`

* `xcb-util-wm`

* `xcb-keysyms`

* `xproto` (compile-time dependency)



Windowchef depends on `xcb` to communicate with the X11 server, `xcb-randr` to

gather information about connected displays and `xcb-util-wm` for ewmh and icccm helper functions.



`xcb-keysyms` and `xproto` are required for mouse support.



I couldn't find compiled documentation for `xcb-util-wm` so I compiled it and

put it on my website [here](https://tudorr.xyz/res/).



Building windowchef and installing it

-------------------------------------



Available in the AUR:



* [windowchef](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/windowchef/)

* [windowchef-git](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/windowchef-git/)



First, you may need to tweak the search path for some operating systems (e.g.

OpenBSD) in `config.mk`.



Then, just `make` it:



```bash

$ make

$ sudo make install

```

The `Makefile` respects the `DESTDIR` and `PREFIX` variables.



Features

--------



* Move, teleport, enlarge/shrink and resize windows

* Focus windows by direction

* Maximize windows vertically/horizontally/fully

	* Supports maximizing via EWMH

* Monocle mode

* Close windows (either by killing them or via ICCCM)

* Put windows in a virtual grid.

* Snap windows in the corners or in the middle of the screen

* Cycle windows forwards and backwards

* cwm-like window groups

	* Add or remove windows to a group

	* Activate/Deactivate/Toggle a group

	* groups can be "sticky": windows are assigned to the currently

		selected group automatically

* Mouse support

	* Focus, move and resize windows with the mouse

	* Supports window resize hints

* Respects window resize hints.

* Simple and stylish solid-color border. Width can be configured

* Gaps around the monitor and around the cells of the virtual grid(s).

* Configuration script. Windowchef loads a given script at startup that can be

	used for configuration with waitron.

* 100% compatible with window management utilities (e.g. [wmutils](https://github.com/wmutils/)). Windowchef will update its internal state if programs attempt to manage windows. It also applies the correct window decorations when a program focuses a window. This makes it possible to use it as a "backend" with wm utilities.



Many of the features listed above are optional and can be disabled.



### Soon to come



- Nothing yet.



### Groups



A window belongs in a maximum number of 1 groups. You can show or hide as many

groups as you wish. For example, you can have *group 1* with a terminal window

for programming and another one with a shell opened and *group 2* with a

browser window. You can either show only *group 1*, only *group 2* or both

at the same time.



Windowchef allows you to add/remove windows to/from groups, show groups, hide

groups or toggle them.



You can also activate *sticky group mode*. When activated, new windows are

automatically assigned to the currently selected group. Together with the `group_activate_specific` command (see `waitron(1)`), a workspace-like workflow can be achieved.



### Virtual grids



You can tell windowchef to move and resize a window so it can fit in a cell

of a virtual grid. The user specifies the size of the grid and the

coordinates of the cell the window will sit in. For example, I can define a 3x3

grid and put my window in the cell at `x = 0`, `y = 2`:



```

+-----------------------+

|       |        |      |

|-------+--------+------|

|       |        |      |

|-------+--------+------|

| xterm |        |      |

+-----------------------+

```



![Screenshot](https://u.teknik.io/T2ZlM.png)



Using the mouse

---------------



~~Windowchef doesn't offer any mouse moving/resizing features. You can emulate

that with `xmmv(1)` and `xmrs(1)` from wmutils' `opt`.~~



It does now!



You can do 4 actions:



* focus windows

* move windows

* resize windows

	* from the corners

	* from the sides



All actions (besides focusing windows) require pressing a modifier key

(`super` or `alt`, you choose) while doing it. You can configure all the mouse buttons for each action. The modifier key can be changed but it's the same for all actions.



You can also configure windowchef to require pressing the modifier key to focus

windows.



When resizing, you don't need to put the pointer exactly in the corner/on the

side of the window (like on windows or GNOME). It will work as long as it's

in the right quarter of the window.



Bars and panels

---------------



Windowchef doesn't come with a bar/panel on its own. Windowchef ignores

windows with the `_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DOCK` type. Panels can get

information about the state of the window manager through ewmh properties.



Tested with [lemonbar](https://github.com/lemonboy/bar).



Thanks

------



This software was written by tudurom.



Thanks to dcat and z3bra for writing wmutils. Their software helped me learn

the essentials of X11 development.



Thanks to venam, Michaell Cardell and baskerville for the window managers they

made: 2bwm, mcwm and bspwm (ironically they all end in wm :). Their

programs were and still are a very good source of inspiration for anyone who

wants to write a window manager.



And many, many thanks to contributors:

* @neosilky

* @n1kolas

* @nullrndtx

* @dialuplama

* @allora

* @onodera-punpun



Thank you for using `windowchef`!