scrotwm1

Usage

Overview

spectrwm is a minimalistic window manager that tries to stay out of the way so that valuable screen real estate can be used for much more important stuff. It has sane defaults and does not require one to learn a language to do any configuration. It was written by hackers for hackers and it strives to be small, compact and fast.

When spectrwm starts up, it reads settings from its configuration file, spectrwm.conf. See the CONFIGURATION FILES section below.

The following notation is used throughout this page:

M

Meta

S

Shift

⟨Name⟩

Named key

M1

Mouse button 1

M3

Mouse button 3

spectrwm is very simple in its use. Most of the actions are initiated via key or mouse bindings. See the BINDINGS section below for defaults and customizations.

Configuration files

spectrwm first tries to open the user specific file, ~/.spectrwm.conf. If that file is unavailable, it then tries to open the global configuration file /etc/spectrwm.conf.

The format of the file is keyword = setting. For example:

color_focus = red

Enabling or disabling an option is done by using 1 or 0 respectively.

The file supports the following keywords:

autorun

Launch an application in a specified workspace at start-of-day. Defined in the format ws[<idx>]:application, e.g. ws[2]:xterm launches an xterm in workspace 2.

bar_action

External script that populates additional information in the status bar, such as battery life.

bar_at_bottom

Place the statusbar at the bottom of each region instead of the top.

bar_border[x]

Color of the status bar border in screen x.

bar_border_width

Set status bar border thickness in pixels. Disable border by setting to 0.

bar_color[x]

Color of the status bar window in screen x.

bar_delay

Update frequency, in seconds, of external script that populates the status bar.

bar_enabled

Enable or disable status bar.

bar_font

Status bar font.

bar_font_color[x]

Color of the font in status bar in screen x.

bar_justify

Justify the status bar text. Possible values are left, center, and right.

bind[x]

Bind key combo to action x. See the BINDINGS section below.

border_width

Set window border thickness in pixels. Disable all borders by setting to 0.

clock_enabled

Enable or disable displaying the clock in the status bar. Disable by setting to 0 so a custom clock could be used in the bar_action script.

color_focus

Border color of the currently focussed window.

color_unfocus

Border color of unfocussed windows.

dialog_ratio

Some applications have dialogue windows that are too small to be useful. This ratio is the screen size to what they will be resized. For example, 0.6 is 60% of the physical screen size.

disable_border

Remove border when bar is disabled and there is only one window on the screen.

focus_mode

Using a value of follow_cursor will make the window manager focus the window under the mouse when switching workspaces and creating windows.

keyboard_mapping

Clear all key bindings and load new key bindings from the specified file. This allows you to load pre-defined key bindings for your keyboard layout. See the KEYBOARD MAPPING FILES section below for a list of keyboard mapping files that have been provided for several keyboard layouts.

layout

Select layout to use at start-of-day. Defined in the format ws[idx]:master_grow:master_add:stack_inc:layout:always_raise:stack_mode, e.g. ws[2]:-4:0:1:0:horizontal sets worskspace 2 to the horizontal stack mode and shrinks the master area by 4 ticks and adds one window to the stack, while maintaining default floating window behavior. Possible stack_mode values are vertical, horizontal and fullscreen.

See master_grow, master_shrink, master_add, master_del, stack_inc, stack_dec, and always_raise for more information. Note that the stacking options are complicated and have side-effects. One should familiarize oneself with these commands before experimenting with the layout option.

This setting is not retained at restart.

modkey

Change mod key. Mod1 is generally the ALT key and Mod4 is the windows key on a PC.

program[p]

Define new action to spawn a program p. See the PROGRAMS section below.

quirk[c:n]

Add "quirk" for windows with class c and name n. See the QUIRKS section below.

region

Allocates a custom region, removing any autodetected regions which occupy the same space on the screen. Defined in the format screen[<idx>]:WIDTHxHEIGHT+X+Y, e.g. screen[1]:800x1200+0+0.

To make a screen span multiple monitors, create a region big enough to cover them all, e.g. screen[1]:2048x768+0+0 makes the screen span two monitors with 1024x768 resolution sitting one next to the other.

stack_enabled

Enable or disable displaying the current stacking algorithm in the status bar.

term_width

Set a preferred minimum width for the terminal. If this value is greater than 0, spectrwm will attempt to adjust the font sizes in the terminal to keep the terminal width above this number as the window is resized. Only xterm(1) is currently supported. The xterm(1) binary must not be setuid or setgid, which it is by default on most systems. Users may need to set program[term] (see the PROGRAMS section) to use an alternate copy of the xterm(1) binary without the setgid bit set.

title_class_enabled

Enable or disable displaying the window class in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1.

title_name_enabled

Enable or disable displaying the window title in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1.

urgent_enabled

Enable or disable the urgency hint. Note that many terminal emulators require this to be enabled for it to propagate. In xterm, for example, one needs to add the following line xterm.urgentOnBell: true to .Xdefaults.

verbose_layout

Enable or disable displaying the current master and stack values in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1.

window_name_enabled

Enable or disable displaying the window name in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1.

Colors need to be specified per the XQueryColor(3) specification and fonts need to be specified per the XQueryFont(3) specification.

To list the available fonts in your system see fc-list(1) or xlsfonts(1) manpages. The xfontsel(1) application can help you to show the X Logical Font Description ("XLFD") used as setting in the keyword bar_font.

Programs

spectrwm allows you to define custom actions to launch programs of your choice and then bind them the same as with built-in actions. See the BINDINGS section below.

The default programs are described below:

term

xterm

screenshot_all

screenshot.sh full

screenshot_wind

screenshot.sh window

lock

xlock

initscr

initscreen.sh

menu

dmenu_run -fn $bar_font -nb $bar_color -nf $bar_font_color -sb $bar_border -sf $bar_color

Custom programs in the configuration file are specified as follows:

program[<name>] = <progpath> [<arg> [... <arg>]]

⟨name⟩ is any identifier that does not conflict with a built-in action or keyword, ⟨progpath⟩ is the desired program, and ⟨arg⟩ is zero or more arguments to the program.

The following variables represent settable values in spectrwm (see the CONFIGURATION FILES section above), and may be used in the ⟨arg⟩ fields and will be substituted for values at the time the program is spawned:

$bar_border

$bar_color

$bar_font

$bar_font_color

$color_focus

$color_unfocus

Example:

program[ff] = /usr/local/bin/firefox http://spectrwm.org/
bind[ff] = Mod+Shift+b # Now Mod+Shift+B launches firefox

To undo the previous:

bind[] = Mod+Shift+b
program[ff] =

Bindings

spectrwm provides many functions (or actions) accessed via key or mouse bindings.

The current mouse bindings are described below:

M1

Focus window

M-M1

Move window

M-M3

Resize window

M-S-M3

Resize window while maintaining it centered

The default key bindings are described below:

M-S-⟨Return⟩

term

M-p

menu

M-S-q

quit

M-q

restart

M-⟨Space⟩

cycle_layout

M-S-\

flip_layout

M-S-⟨Space⟩

stack_reset

M-h

master_shrink

M-l

master_grow

M-,

master_add

M-.

master_del

M-S-,

stack_inc

M-S-.

stack_dec

M-⟨Return⟩

swap_main

M-j, M-⟨TAB⟩ focus_next

M-k, M-S-⟨TAB⟩ focus_prev

M-m

focus_main

M-S-j

swap_next

M-S-k

swap_prev

M-b

bar_toggle

M-x

wind_del

M-S-x

wind_kill

M-⟨n⟩

ws_n

M-S-⟨n⟩

mvws_n

M-⟨Right⟩

ws_next

M-⟨Left⟩

ws_prev

M-⟨Up⟩

ws_next_all

M-⟨Down⟩

ws_prev_all

M-a

ws_prior

M-S-⟨Right⟩

screen_next

M-S-⟨Left⟩

screen_prev

M-s

screenshot_all

M-S-s

screenshot_wind

M-S-v

version

M-t

float_toggle

M-S-⟨Delete⟩

lock

M-S-i

initscr

M-w

iconify

M-S-w

uniconify

M-S-r

always_raise

M-v

button2

M--

width_shrink

M-=

width_grow

M-S--

height_shrink

M-S-=

height_grow

M-[

move_left

M-]

move_right

M-S-[

move_up

M-S-]

move_down

M-S-/

name_workspace

M-/

search_workspace

M-f

search_win

The action names and descriptions are listed below:

term

Spawn a new terminal (see PROGRAMS above).

menu

Menu (see PROGRAMS above).

quit

Quit spectrwm.

restart

Restart spectrwm.

cycle_layout

Cycle layout.

flip_layout

Swap the master and stacking areas.

stack_reset

Reset layout.

master_shrink

Shrink master area.

master_grow

Grow master area.

master_add

Add windows to master area.

master_del

Remove windows from master area.

stack_inc

Add columns/rows to stacking area.

stack_dec

Remove columns/rows from stacking area.

swap_main

Move current window to master area.

focus_next

Focus next window in workspace.

focus_prev

Focus previous window in workspace.

focus_main

Focus on main window in workspace.

swap_next

Swap with next window in workspace.

swap_prev

Swap with previous window in workspace.

bar_toggle

Toggle status bar in all workspaces.

wind_del

Delete current window in workspace.

wind_kill

Destroy current window in workspace.

ws_n

Switch to workspace n, where n is 1 through 10.

mvws_n

Move current window to workspace n, where n is 1 through 10.

ws_next

Switch to next workspace with a window in it.

ws_prev

Switch to previous workspace with a window in it.

ws_next_all

Switch to next workspace.

ws_prev_all

Switch to previous workspace.

ws_prior

Switch to last visited workspace.

screen_next

Move pointer to next region.

screen_prev

Move pointer to previous region.

screenshot_all

Take screenshot of entire screen (if enabled) (see PROGRAMS above).

screenshot_wind

Take screenshot of selected window (if enabled) (see PROGRAMS above).

version

Toggle version in status bar.

float_toggle

Toggle focused window between tiled and floating.

lock

Lock screen (see PROGRAMS above).

initscr

Reinitialize physical screens (see PROGRAMS above).

iconify

Minimize (unmap) currently focused window.

uniconify

Maximize (map) window returned by dmenu selection.

always_raise

When set tiled windows are allowed to obscure floating windows.

button2

Fake a middle mouse button click (mouse button 2).

width_shrink

Shrink the width of a floating window.

width_grow

Grow the width of a floating window.

height_shrink

Shrink the height of a floating window.

height_grow

Grow the height of a floating window.

move_left

Move a floating window a step to the left.

move_right

Move a floating window a step to the right.

move_up

Move a floating window a step upwards.

move_down

Move a floating window a step downwards.

name_workspace

Name the current workspace.

search_workspace

Search for a workspace.

search_win

Search the windows in the current workspace.

Custom bindings in the configuration file are specified as follows:

bind[<action>] = <keys>

⟨action⟩ is one of the actions listed above (or empty) and ⟨keys⟩ is in the form of zero or more modifier keys (MOD, Mod1, Shift, etc.) and one or more normal keys (b, space, etc.), separated by "+". For example:

bind[reset] = Mod4+q # bind Windows-key + q to reset
bind[] = Mod1+q # unbind Alt + q

To use the currently defined modkey, specify MOD as the modifier key.

Multiple key combinations may be bound to the same action.

Keyboard mapping files

Keyboard mapping files for several keyboard layouts are listed below. These files can be used with the keyboard_mapping setting to load pre-defined key bindings for the specified keyboard layout.

spectrwm_cz.conf

Czech Republic keyboard layout

spectrwm_es.conf

Spanish keyboard layout

spectrwm_fr.conf

French keyboard layout

spectrwm_fr_ch.conf

Swiss French keyboard layout

spectrwm_se.conf

Swedish keyboard layout

spectrwm_us.conf

United States keyboard layout

Quirks

spectrwm provides "quirks" which handle windows that must be treated specially in a tiling window manager, such as some dialogs and fullscreen apps.

The default quirks are described below:

Firefox-bin:firefox-bin

TRANSSZ

Firefox:Dialog

FLOAT

Gimp:gimp

FLOAT + ANYWHERE

MPlayer:xv

FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV

OpenOffice.org 2.4:VCLSalFrame

FLOAT

OpenOffice.org 3.1:VCLSalFrame

FLOAT

pcb:pcb

FLOAT

xine:Xine Window

FLOAT + ANYWHERE

xine:xine Panel

FLOAT + ANYWHERE

xine:xine Video Fullscreen Window

FULLSCREEN + FLOAT

Xitk:Xitk Combo

FLOAT + ANYWHERE

Xitk:Xine Window

FLOAT + ANYWHERE

XTerm:xterm

XTERM_FONTADJ

The quirks themselves are described below:

FLOAT

This window should not be tiled, but allowed to float freely.

TRANSSZ

Adjusts size on transient windows that are too small using dialog_ratio (see CONFIGURATION FILES).

ANYWHERE

Allow window to position itself, uncentered.

XTERM_FONTADJ

Adjust xterm fonts when resizing.

FULLSCREEN

Remove border to allow window to use full screen size.

FOCUSPREV

On exit force focus on previously focused application not previous application in the stack.

Custom quirks in the configuration file are specified as follows:

quirk[<class>:<name>] = <quirk> [+ <quirk> ...]

⟨class⟩ and ⟨name⟩ specify the window to which the quirk(s) apply, and ⟨quirk⟩ is one of the quirks from the list above. For example:

quirk[MPlayer:xv] = FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV
quirk[pcb:pcb] = NONE  # remove existing quirk

You can obtain ⟨class⟩ and ⟨name⟩ by running xprop(1) and then clicking on the desired window. In the following example the main window of Firefox was clicked:

$ xprop | grep WM_CLASS
WM_CLASS(STRING) = "Navigator", "Firefox"

Note that grepping for WM_CLASS flips class and name. In the example above the quirk entry would be:

quirk[Firefox:Navigator] = FLOAT

spectrwm also automatically assigns quirks to windows based on the value of the window's _NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE property as follows:

_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DOCK

FLOAT + ANYWHERE

_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_TOOLBAR

FLOAT + ANYWHERE

_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_UTILITY

FLOAT + ANYWHERE

_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_SPLASH

FLOAT

_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DIALOG

FLOAT

In all other cases, no automatic quirks are assigned to the window. Quirks specified in the configuration file override the automatic quirks.

Ewmh

spectrwm partially implements the Extended Window Manager Hints (EWMH) specification. This enables controlling windows as well as spectrwm itself from external scripts and programs. This is achieved by spectrwm responding to certain ClientMessage events. From the terminal these events can be conveniently sent using tools such as wmctrl(1) and xdotool(1). For the actual format of these ClientMessage events, see the EWMH specification.

The id of the currently focused window is stored in the _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW property of the root window. This can be used for example to retrieve the title of the currently active window with xprop(1) and grep(1):

$ WINDOWID=`xprop -root _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW | grep -o "0x.*"`
$ xprop -id $WINDOWID WM_NAME | grep -o "\".*\""

A window can be focused by sending a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW client message to the root window. For example, using wmctrl(1) to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be focused):

$ wmctrl -i -a 0x4a0000b

Windows can be closed by sending a _NET_CLOSE_WINDOW client message to the root window. For example, using wmctrl(1) to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be closed):

$ wmctrl -i -c 0x4a0000b

Windows can be floated and un-floated by adding or removing the _NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE atom from the _NET_WM_STATE property of the window. This can be achieved by sending a _NET_WM_STATE client message to the root window. For example, the following toggles the floating state of a window using wmctrl(1) to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window floated or un-floated):

$ wmctrl -i -r 0x4a0000b -b toggle,_NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE

Floating windows can also be resized and moved by sending a _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW client message to the root window. For example, using wmctrl(1) to send the message (assuming 0x4a0000b is the id of the window to be resize/moved):

$ wmctrl -i -r 0x4a0000b -e 0,100,50,640,480

This moves the window to (100,50) and resizes it to 640x480.

Any _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW events received for stacked windows are ignored.

Signals

Sending spectrwm a HUP signal will restart it.

Files

~/.spectrwm.conf

spectrwm user specific settings.

/etc/spectrwm.conf

spectrwm global settings.