HERBSTLUFTWM(1) HERBSTLUFTWM(1)
NAME
herbstluftwm - a manual tiling window manager for X
SYNOPSIS
herbstluftwm [OPTION ...]
DESCRIPTION
Starts the herbstluftwm window manager on DISPLAY. It also listens for calls from herbstclient(1) and executes them. The list of available
COMMANDS is listed below.
OPTION can be:
-c, --autostart PATH
use PATH as autostart file instead of the one in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME
-v, --version
print version and exit
-l, --locked
set the monitors_locked setting initially to 1
--verbose
print verbose information to stderr
TILING ALGORITHM
The basic tiling concept is, that the layout is represented by a binary tree. On startup you see one big frame across the entire screen. A
frame fulfills exactly one of the following conditions:
1. Frame contains windows:
It shows some clients and arranges them. The current layout algorithms are:
o 0: vertical - clients are placed below each other
o 1: horizontal - clients are placed next to each other
o 2: max - all clients are maximized in this frame
o 3: grid - clients are arranged in an almost quadratic grid
2. Frame is split into subframes:
It is split into exactly two subframes in a configurable fraction either in a vertical or horizontal way. So it produces two frames
which fulfill the same conditions (new frames always are about to contain windows). If you split a frame that already contains windows,
then the windows are inherited by the first new child frame.
If a new window appears, it is put in the currently focused frame. Only the leaves of the frame tree can be focused.
A frame can be removed, so it is merged with its neighbour frame. Due to the layout structure of a binary tree, each frame (i.e. node in
binary tree) has exactly one neighbour.
The analogy to a binary Tree is explained the best way with a small example: On startup you have a simple binary tree, with one frame that
can contain clients:
C
When splitting it (e.g. with command split vertical 0.5) you will get this:
V
/
C C
You also can split the left frame horizontally and you will get:
V
/
H C
/
C C
If you change the focus to the client on the right and remove this frame, it will be merged with the left subtree and you will get:
H
/
C C
The layout command prints the current layout of all tags as a tree.
TAGS
Tags are very similar to workspaces, virtual desktops or window groups. Each tag has one layout. There is a list of tags. You can add or
remove tags dynamically.
There is also a list of monitors. Each monitor displays exactly one tag on a specified rectangle on the screen.
COMMANDS
herbstluftwm is controlled by internal commands, which can be executed via herbstclient(1) or via keybindings.
quit
Quits herbstluftwm.
reload
Executes the autostart file.
version
Prints the version of the running herbstluftwm instance.
list_commands
Lists all available commands.
list_monitors
List currently configured monitors with their index, area (as rectangle) and currently viewed tag.
list_keybinds
Lists all bound keys with their associated command. Each line consists of one key combination and the command with its parameters
separated by tabs.
Warning
Tabs within command parameters are not escaped!
lock
Increases the monitors_locked setting. Use this if you want to do multiple window actions at once (i.e. without repainting between the
single steps). See also: unlock
unlock
Decreases the monitors_locked setting. If monitors_locked is changed to 0, then all monitors are repainted again. See also: lock
keybind KEY COMMAND [ARGS ...]
Adds a key binding. When KEY is pressed, the internal COMMAND (with its ARGS) is executed. A key binding is a (possibly empty) list of
modifiers (Mod1, Mod2, Mod3, Mod4, Mod5, Alt, Super, Control/Ctrl, Shift) and one key (see keysymdef.h for a list of keys). Modifiers
and the key are concatenated with - or + as separator. If there is already a binding for this KEY, it will be overwritten. Examples:
o keybind Mod4+Ctrl+q quit
o keybind Mod1-i toggle always_show_frame
o keybind Mod1-Shift-space cycle_layout -1
keyunbind KEY|-F|--all
Removes the key binding for KEY. Syntax for KEY is defined in keybind. If -F or --all is given, then all key bindings will be removed.
mousebind BUTTON ACTION
Adds a mouse binding for the floating mode. When BUTTON is pressed, the specified ACTION will be performed. BUTTON has a similar
syntax to the KEY argument of keybind: It consists of a list of modifiers (separated by - or +, valid modifiers are listed in the
description of keybind) and exactly one button name:
o B1 or Button1
o B2 or Button2
o B3 or Button3
o B4 or Button4
o B5 or Button5
ACTION must be one of the following actions:
o move: Moves the window by dragging the cursor
o resize: Resizes the window by dragging the bottom right corner
o zoom: Resizes the window into all four directions by keeping the center of the window constant.
E.g.: mousebind Mod1-Button3 zoom
mouseunbind
Removes all mouse bindings.
spawn EXECUTABLE [ARGS ...]
Spawns an EXECUTABLE with its ARGS. For details see man 3 execvp. Example:
o spawn xterm -e man 3 execvp
wmexec [WINDOWMANAGER [ARGS ...]]
Executes the WINDOWMANAGER with its ARGS. This is useful to switch the window manager in the running session without restarting the
session. If no or an invalid WINDOWMANAGER is given, then herbstluftwm is restarted. For details see man 3 execvp. Example:
o wmexec openbox
cycle [DELTA]
Cycles the selection within the current frame by DELTA. If DELTA is omitted, DELTA = 1 will be used. DELTA can be negative; DELTA = -1
means: cycle in the opposite direction by 1.
cycle_all [DIRECTION]
Cycles through all windows and frames on the current tag. DIRECTION = 1 means forward, DIRECTION = -1 means backward, DIRECTION = 0
has no effect. DIRECTION defaults to 1. If there are multiple windows within on frame, then it acts similar to the cycle command. (The
cycle_all command focuses the next/previous leave in the layout tree.)
cycle_layout [DELTA]
Cycles the layout algorithm in the current frame by DELTA. DELTA defaults to 1. You can find a list of layout algorithms above.
set_layout LAYOUT
Sets the layout algorithm in the current frame to LAYOUT. For the list of layouts, check the list of layout algorithms above.
close
Closes the focused window.
split ALIGN FRACTION
Splits the focused frame into two subframes with a specified FRACTION between 0 and 1. ALIGN can be horizontal or vertical (actually
it only depends on the first letter of ALIGN). Example:
o split horiz 0.3
o split vertical 0.5
o split h 0.8
focus [-i|-e] DIRECTION
Moves the focus from current frame to the next frame or client in DIRECTION which is in:
o l[eft]
o r[ight]
o u[p]
o d[own]
If -i (internal) is given or default_direction_external_only is unset, then the next client in DIRECTION can also be within the same
frame. If there is no client within this frame or -e (external) is given, then the next frame in specified DIRECTION will be focused.
The direction between frames is defined as follows: The focus is in a leaf of the binary tree. Each inner node in the tree remembers
the last focus direction (child 0 or child 1). The algorithm is going as short as possible from the leaf (the currently focused frame)
to the root until it is possible to change focus in the specified DIRECTION. From there the focus goes back to the leaf.
Example: The focus is at frame A. After executing focus right focus will be at frame C.
Tree: V,0 Screen: .-----..-----. (before)
/ | B || C |
/ '-----''-----'
H,1 H,0 .-----..-----.
/ / | A* || D |
A* B C D '-----''-----'
Tree: V,0 Screen: .-----..-----. (after focus right)
/ | B || C* |
/ '-----''-----'
H,1 H,0 .-----..-----.
/ / | A || D |
A B C* D '-----''-----'
raise [0xWINID]
Raises the specified window, which is specified by hexadecimal 0xWINID. If no 0xWINID is given, the focused window will be raised. Its
result is only visible in floating mode.
resize DIRECTION FRACTIONDELTA
Changes the next fraction in specified DIRECTION by FRACTIONDELTA. DIRECTION is specified at the focus command. You should not omit
the sign - or +, because in future versions, the behaviour may change if the sign is omitted. Example:
o resize right +0.05
o resize down -0.1
shift [-i|-e] DIRECTION
Shifts the focused window to the next frame in the specified DIRECTION. The DIRECTIONS and -i|-e behave as specified at the focus
command. If focus_follows_shift is set, then focus stays in the window; otherwise it stays in the frame.
remove
Removes focused frame and merges its windows to its neighbour frame.
set NAME VALUE
Sets the specified setting NAME to VALUE. All SETTINGS are listed in the section below.
get NAME
Prints the value of setting NAME. All SETTINGS are listed in the section below.
toggle NAME
Toggles the setting NAME if it's an integer setting: if its value is unequal to 0, it becomes 0; else its previous value (which was
unequal to 0) is restored.
cycle_value NAME VALUES ...
Cycles value of the setting NAME through VALUES: I.e. it searches the first occurence of the current value in VALUES and changes the
value to the next in the list or to the first one if the end is reached or current value wasn't found. Example:
o cycle_value window_gap 0 5 10 15
o cycle_value frame_bg_normal_color red green blue
cycle_monitor [DELTA]
Cycles monitor focused by DELTA. DELTA defaults to 1.
focus_monitor INDEX
Puts focus to monitor with specified INDEX (as specified by the list_monitors command)
add TAG
Creates a new empty tag named TAG.
use TAG
Switches the focused monitor to specified TAG.
use_index INDEX
Switches the focused monitor to the TAG with the specified INDEX. If INDEX starts with + or -, then INDEX is treated relative to the
current TAG. E.g. this cycles backwards through the tags:
o use_index -1
merge_tag TAG [TARGET]
Removes tag named TAG and moves all its windows to tag TARGET. If TARGET is omitted, the focused tag will be used.
rename OLDTAG NEWTAG
Renames tag named OLDTAG to NEWTAG.
move TAG
Moves the focused window to tag named TAG.
move_index INDEX
Moves the focused window to the tag specified by INDEX. Analogical to the argument for use_index: If INDEX starts with + or -, then it
is treated relative.
add_monitor RECT [TAG [PADUP [PADRIGHT [PADDOWN [PADLEFT]]]]]
Adds a monitor on the specified rectangle RECT and displays TAG on it. TAG currently must not be displayed on any other monitor. RECT
is a string of the form WxH+-X+-Y. The padding specifies extra space around the monitor for some statusbars/panels. If no or an empty
padding is given, it is set to 0. If no or an empty TAG is given, then any free tag will be chosen. Example:
o add_monitor 1024x768-20+0 mynewtag 16
remove_monitor INDEX
Removes the monitor with specified INDEX. Its INDEX can be found out via the list_monitors command.
move_monitor INDEX RECT [PADUP [PADRIGHT [PADDOWN [PADLEFT]]]]
Moves the monitor with specified INDEX to rectangle RECT. INDEX and RECT are defined as in remove_monitor and add_monitor. If no or an
empty pad is given, it is not changed.
monitor_rect [[-p] INDEX]
Prints the rectangle of the specified INDEX in the format: X Y W H If no INDEX or cur is given, then the current Monitor is used. If -p
is supplied, then the remaining rect without the pad around this monitor is printed.
pad INDEX [PADUP [PADRIGHT [PADDOWN [PADLEFT]]]]
Sets the pad of indexed monitor to the specified padding. If no or an empty padding is given, it is not changed.
layout [TAG]
Prints the layout of TAG in a nice tree style. Its style is defined by the tree_style setting. If no TAG is given, current tag is used.
An example output is:
horizontal 50% selection=1
vertical: 0xe00009
vertical 50% selection=0
vertical: 0xa00009 [FOCUS]
vertical: 0x1000009
dump [TAG]
Prints the same information as the layout command but in a machine readable format. Its output can be read back with the load command.
An example output (formatted afterwards) is:
(split horizontal:0.500000:1
(clients vertical:0 0xe00009)
(splitvertical:0.500000:1
(clients vertical:0 0xa00009)
(clients vertical:0 0x1000009)))
load [TAG] LAYOUT
Loads a given LAYOUT description to specified TAG or current tag if no TAG is given.
Caution
LAYOUT is exactly one parameter. If you are calling it manually from your shell or from a script, quote it properly!
complete POSITION [COMMAND ARGS ...]
Prints the result of tab completion in partial written COMMAND with optional ARGS. You usually do not need this, because there is
already tab completion for bash. Example:
o complete 0 m
prints all commands beginning with m
o complete 1 toggle fra
prints all settings beginning with fra that can be toggled
emit_hook ARGS ...
Emits a custom hook to all idling herbstclients.
tag_status [MONITOR]
Print a tab separated list of all tags for specified MONITOR index. If no MONITOR index is given, the focused monitor is used. Each tag
name is prefixed with one char, which indicates its state:
o . the tag is empty
o : the tag is not empty
o + the tag is viewed on the specified MONITOR, but this monitor is not focused.
o # the tag is viewed on the specified MONITOR and it is focused.
o ! the tag contains an urgent window
Warning
If you use a tab in one of the tag names, then tag_status is probably quite useless for you.
floating [[TAG] on|off|toggle|status]
Changes the current tag to floating/tiling mode on specified TAG or prints it current status. If no TAG is given, current tag is used.
If no argument is given, floating mode is toggled. If status is given, then on or off is printed, depending of the floating state on
TAG.
rule [[--]FLAG|[--]CONDITION|[--]CONSEQUENCE ...]
Defines a rule which will be applied to all new clients. Its behaviour is described in the RULES section.
unrule --all|-F
If --all or -F is passed, then all rules are removed. (It is not possible yet to remove certain rules)
fullscreen on|off|toggle
Sets or toggles the fullscreen state of the focused client.
pseudotile on|off|toggle
Sets or toggles the pseudotile state of the focused client. If a client is pseudotiled, then in tiling mode the client is only moved
but not resized - the client size will stay the floating size. The only reason to resize the client is to ensure, that it fits into its
tile.
SETTINGS
Settings configure the behaviour of herbstluftwm and can be controlled via the set, get and toggle command. There are two types of
settings: Strings and integer values. An integer value is set, if its value is 1 or another value unequal to 0. An integer value is unset,
if its value is 0.
window_gap (Integer)
The gap between frames in the tiling mode.
snap_distance (Integer)
If a client is dragged in floating mode, then it snaps to neighbour clients if the distance between them is smaller then snap_distance.
snap_gap (Integer)
Specifies the remaining gap if a dragged client snaps to an edge in floating mode. If snap_gap is set to 0, no gap will remain.
frame_border_active_color (String/Color)
The border color of a focused frame
frame_border_normal_color (String/Color)
The border color of an unfocused frame
frame_bg_active_color (String/Color)
The fill color of a focused frame
frame_bg_normal_color (String/Color)
The fill color of an unfocused frame (It is only visible if always_show_frame is set)
frame_bg_transparent (Integer)
If set, frames have transparent backgrounds.
frame_border_width (Integer)
Border width of a frame
raise_on_focus (Integer)
If set, a window is raised if it is focused. The value of this setting is only noticed in floating mode.
raise_on_click (Integer)
If set, a window is raised if it is clicked. The value of this setting is only noticed in floating mode.
window_border_width (Integer)
Border width of a window.
window_border_active_color (String/Color)
Border color of a focused window.
window_border_normal_color (String/Color)
Border color of an unfocused window.
always_show_frame (Integer)
If set, all frames are displayed. If unset, only frames with focus or with windows in it are displayed.
default_frame_layout (Integer)
Index of the frame layout, which is used if a new frame is created (by split or on a new tag). For a list of valid indizes and their
meanings, check the list of layout algorithms above.
default_direction_external_only (Integer)
This setting controls the behaviour of focus and shift if no -e or -i argument is given. if set, then focus and shift changes the
focused frame even if there are other clients in this frame in the specified DIRECTION. Else, a client within current frame is selected
if it is in the specified DIRECTION.
gapless_grid (Integer)
This setting affects the size of the last client in a frame that is arranged by grid layout. If set, then the last client always fills
the gap within this frame. If unset, then the last client has the same size as all other clients in this frame.
focus_follows_shift (Integer)
If set, focus stays in the window, if window is shifted to another frame. If unset, focus stays in the frame.
focus_follows_mouse (Integer)
If set and a window is focused by mouse cursor, this window is focused (This feature is also known as sloppy focus). If unset, you need
to click to change the window focus by mouse.
focus_stealing_prevention (Integer)
If set, only pagers and taskbars are allowed to change the focus. If unset, all applications can request a focus change.
monitors_locked (Integer)
If greater than 0, then the clients on all monitors aren't moved or resized anymore. If it is set to 0, then the arranging of monitors
is enabled again, and all monitors are rearranged if their content has changed in the meantime. You should not change this setting
manually due to concurrency issues; use the commands lock and unlock instead.
swap_monitors_to_get_tag (Integer)
If set: If you want to view a tag, that already is viewed on another monitor, then the monitor contents will be swapped and you see the
wanted tag on the focused monitor. If not set, nothing will be swapped.
tree_style (String)
It contains the chars that are used to print a nice ascii tree. It must contain at least 8 characters. e.g. X|:#+*-. produces a tree
like:
X-.root
#-.child 0
| #* child 01
| +* child 02
+-.child 1
: #* child 10
: +* child 01
Useful values for tree_style are: | or | `--..
RULES
Rules are used to change default properties for certain clients when they appear. Each rule matches against a certain subset of all clients
and defines a set of properties for them (called CONSEQUENCES). A rule can be defined with this command:
rule [[--]FLAG|[--]CONDITION|[--]CONSEQUENCE ...]
Each rule consists of a list of FLAGS, CONDITIONS and CONSEQUENCES (each of them can be optionally prefixed with two dashes (--) to provide
a more iptables(8)-like feeling).
If a new client appears, herbstluftwm tries to apply each rule to this new client as follows: If each CONDITION of this rule matches
against this client, then every CONSEQUENCE is executed. (If there are no conditions given, then this rule is executed for each client)
Each CONDITION consists of a property name, an operator and a value. Valid operators are:
o ~ matches if client's property is matched by the regex value.
o = matches if client's properly string is equal to value.
Valid properties are:
o instance: the first entry in client's WM_CLASS.
o class: the second entry in client's WM_CLASS.
o title: client's window title.
o pid: the client's process id (Warning: the pid is not available for every client. This only matches if the client sets the pid to the
_NET_WM_PID itself).
o maxage: matches if the age of the rule measured in seconds does not exceed value. This condition only can be used with the = operator.
If maxage already is exceeded (and never will match again), then this rule is removed. (With this you can build rules that only live
for a certain time.)
o windowtype: matches the _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE property of a window.
o windowrole: matches the WM_WINDOW_ROLE property of a window if it is set by the window.
Each CONSEQUENCE consists of a NAME=VALUE pair. Valid NAMES are:
o tag: moves the client to tag VALUE.
o focus: decides whether the client gets the input focus on his tag. The default is off. VALUE can be on, off or toggle.
o manage: decides whether the client will be managed or not. The default is on. VALUE can be on, off or toggle.
o index: moves the window to a specified index in the tree. VALUE contains of a list of characters; each of them decides in which
subtree the window is inserted.
o 0: insert it in the first subtree
o 1: insert it in the second subtree
o .: insert it in the subtree that has the focus
o /: insert it in the subtree that has not the focus
o pseudotile: sets the pseudotile state of the client. VALUE can be on, off or toggle.
o fullscreen: sets the fullscreen flag of the client. VALUE can be on, off or toggle.
A rule's behaviour can be configured by some special FLAGS:
o not: negates the next CONDITION.
o !: same as not.
o once: only apply this rule once (and delete it afterwards).
Examples:
o rule --class=Netscape --tag=6 --focus=off
Moves all Netscape instances to tag 6, but doesn't give focus to them.
o rule not class~.*[Tt]erm tag=2
Moves all clients to tag 2, if their class does not end with term or Term.
o rule class=Thunderbird index=/0
Insert all Thunderbird instances in the tree that has no focus and there in the first child.
o rule --windowtype=_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DIALOG --focus=on
Sets focus to new dialogs which set their _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE correctly.
AUTOSTART FILE
There is no configuration file but an autostart file, which is executed on startup. It is also executed on command reload. If not specified
by the --autostart argument, autostart file is located at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/herbstluftwm/autostart or at ~/.config/herbstluftwm/autostart.
Normally it consists of a few herbstclient calls.
For a quick install, copy the default autostart file to ~/.config/herbstluftwm/.
HOOKS
On special events, herbstluftwm emits some hooks (with parameters). You can receive or wait for them with herbstclient(1). Also custom
hooks can be emitted with the emit_hook command. The following hooks are emitted by herbstluftwm itself:
fullscreen [on|off] WINID STATE
The fullscreen state of window WINID was changed to [on|off].
tag_changed TAG MONITOR
The tag TAG was selected on MONITOR.
focus_changed WINID TITLE
The window WINID was focused. Its window title is TITLE.
window_title_changed WINID TITLE
The title of the focused window was changed. Its window id is WINID and its new title is TITLE.
tag_flags
The flags (i.e. urgent or filled state) have been changed.
tag_added TAG
A tag named TAG was added.
tag_removed TAG
The tag named TAG was removed.
urgent [on|off] WINID
The urgent state of client with given WINID has been changed to [on|off].
There are also other useful hooks, which never will be emitted by herbstluftwm itself, but which can be emitted with the emit_hook command:
quit_panel
Tells a panel to quit. The default panel.sh quits on this hook. Many scripts are using this hook.
reload
Tells all daemons that the autostart file is reloaded -- and tells them to quit. This hook should be emitted in the first line of every
autostart file.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
DISPLAY
Specifies the DISPLAY to use.
EXIT STATUS
Returns 0 on success. Returns EXIT_FAILURE if it cannot startup or if wmexec fails.
BUGS
See the herbstluftwm distribution BUGS file.
COMMUNITY
Feel free to join the IRC channel #herbstluftwm on irc.freenode.net.
AUTHOR
herbstluftwm was written by Thorsten WiBmann.
RESOURCES
Gitweb: http://git.cs.fau.de/?p=re06huxa/herbstluftwm
COPYING
Copyright 2011-2012 Thorsten WiBmann. All rights reserved.
This software is licensed under the "Simplified BSD License". See LICENSE for details
herbstluftwm 0.3 2012-04-13 HERBSTLUFTWM(1)