zwtwm

ZigWindowsTilingWindowManager: Tiling window manager for windows, inspired by dwm.

Using the prebuilt binaries

• zwtwm.exe is a release build.
• zwtwm_debug.exe is a debug build (makes is easier to see log output and more stuff gets logged).

Building yourself

1. Clone the repository using git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/Nimaoth/zwtwm.git
2. Install zig. I developed using zig version 0.8.0-dev.1140+9270aae07, might not build with other versions.
3. For a release build (logs to file instead of console, ReleaseFast configuration), run zig build --prefix dist -Drelease
4. For a debug build (logs to the console, Debug configuration), run zig build --prefix dist -Dconsole
5. Use files in <zwtwm-repository>/dist/bin

Configuration

Some settings/keybindings can be changed in config.json, which must be in the same folder as the zwtwm executable.

Default keybindings

Key	Function
Win+Escape	Terminate zwtwm (Can't be changed at the moment).
Ctrl+Alt+J	Select previous window on current monitor.
Ctrl+Alt+L	Select next window on current monitor.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+J	Move current window top previous slot.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L	Move current window to next slot.
Ctrl+Alt+U	Go to next monitor.
Ctrl+Alt+O	Go to previous monitor.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+U	Move current window to next monitor.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+O	Move current window to previous monitor.
Ctrl+Alt+K	Move current window to top of stack.
Ctrl+Alt+I	Toggle fullscreen (Fullscreen shows the current window maximized).
Ctrl+Alt+Z	Move the window split to the left.
Ctrl+Alt+P	Move the window split to the right.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Z	Decrease the gap between windows.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P	Increase the gap between windows.
Ctrl+Alt+X	Manage/unmanage the focus window.
Ctrl+Alt+M	The next layer command move the current window to a different layer. Press again to cancel.
Ctrl+Alt+N	The next layer command toggles the current window on a different layer. Press again to cancel.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+G	Print the executable, window class and title of the focus window to the log.
Ctrl+Alt+Win+[n]	Switch to layer n on current monitor. If Ctrl+Alt+M has been pressed before this then move the current window to layer n. If Ctrl+Alt+N has been pressed then toggle the current window on layer n.
Ctrl+Alt+Win+Shift+[n]	Switch to layer n on all monitors.
Mouse	You can drag around windows. If you drag a window and stop dragging with your mouse over the task bar then the window will be removed from the window manager. Use Ctrl+Alt+X to let zwtwm manage the window again.

Example

So if you want to move a window to layer 3 then press Ctrl+Alt+M Ctrl+Alt+3. If you want to toggle a window on layer 3 then press Ctrl+Alt+N Ctrl+Alt+3. Just pressing Ctrl+Alt+3 activates layer 3, meaning that all windows on layer 3 will be made visible and all windows on the previous layer will be hidden (unless they're also on layer 3).

Config

Any changes to the config file required a restart of zwtwm.

Key	Type	Default value	Description
gap	integer	5	The initial gap between windows.
splitRatio	float	0.6	The initial position of the horizontal split (0.5 would be a split in the middle, 0.75 would be on the right side).
wrapMonitors	bool	true	When you are on the last monitor and you go to the next monitor wrap around to the first, and the other way around.
wrapWindows	bool	true	When you are on the last window and you go to the next window wrap around to the first, and the other way around.
disableOutlineForFullscreen	bool	true	Don't draw the outline for fullscreen windows.
disableOutlineForSingleWindow	bool	false	Don't draw the outline for a window if it's the only window on the monitor or the layer is in full screen mode.
noGapForSingleWindow	bool	false	Remove the gap for a window if it's the only window on the monitor or the layer is in full screen mode. Has no effect if maximizeFullSizeWindows is true.
maximizeFullSizeWindows	bool	false	Maximize a window if it's the only window on the monitor or the layer is in full screen mode.
monitorBorder .thickness .color	object integer string	2 '0xFF00FF'	Configure the outline for the monitor. Thickness of the outline in pixels. Color of the outline as a hex string.
windowFocusedBorder	object		Same as monitorBorder but for the current window.
windowUnfocusedBorder	object		Same as monitorBorder but for the current window if it doesn't have focus (because an unmanaged window has focus).
ignoredPrograms	array of strings	[]	List of executables that should not be managed by zwtwm (No window created by any of these programs will be managed).
ignoredClasses	array of strings	[]	List of window classes that should not be managed by zwtwm (No window which has any of these classes will be managed).
ignoredTitles	array of strings	[]	List of window titles that should not be managed by zwtwm (No window with any of these titles will be managed).
hotkeys	array of objects	[]	List of hotkeys. If you change a hotkey you can look at the log file to see if that hotkey was successfully registered.

Each hotkey has the following structure:

Key	Type	Description
key	string	Defines the key combination for that hotkey.
command	string	Which command to execute.
args	string	Optional arguments for that hotkey.

Some commands take arguments which have the following structure:

Key	Type	Default value
intParam	integer	0
usizeParam	unsigned int	0
floatParam	float	0.0
boolParam	bool	false
charParam	string	"\0"

Commands

Command	Description
decreaseGap	Decrease the gap between windows. Amount can be specified in intParam.
increaseGap	Increase the gap between windows. Amount can be specified in intParam.
decreaseSplit	Move the split to the left. Amount can be specified in floatParam.
increaseSplit	Move the split to the right. Amount can be specified in floatParam.
selectPrevWindow	Select the previous windows. Wraps around if wrapWindows is true.
selectNextWindow	Select the next windows. Wraps around if wrapWindows is true.
moveWindowUp	Move the current window up in the stack. Wraps around if wrapWindows is true.
moveWindowDown	Move the current window down in the stack. Wraps around if wrapWindows is true.
toggleForegroundWindowManaged	Manage/Unmanage the focused window.
moveCurrentWindowToTop	Move the current window to the top in the stack.
moveNextWindowToLayer	The next layerCommand will move the current window to a layer.
toggleNextWindowOnLayer	The next layerCommand will add/remove the current window an a layer.
toggleWindowFullscreen	Toggle fullscreen mode for the current layer. In fullscreen mode the current window will cover the entire screen (except the taskbar). Behaviour can be configured using some settings.
moveWindowToPrevMonitor	Move the current window to the previous monitor. Wraps around if wrapMonitors is true.
moveWindowToNextMonitor	Move the current window to the next monitor. Wraps around if wrapMonitors is true.
goToPrevMonitor	Go to the previos monitor. Wraps around if wrapMonitors is true.
goToNextMonitor	Go to the next monitor. Wraps around if wrapMonitors is true.
printForegroundWindowInfo	Write some information about the focused window to the log file.
layerCommand	If moveNextWindowToLayer was executed before this then move the current window to the layer specified by args.usizeParam. If toggleNextWindowOnLayer was executed before this then toggle the current window on the layer specified by args.usizeParam. Otherwise switch to the layer specified by args.usizeParam. If args.boolParam is true then switch layers on all monitors, otherwise only on the current monitor.