spectrwm1

Window manager for x11

Usage

spectrwm [-c file] [-v]

Options

-c file: Specify a configuration file to load instead of scanning for one.
-d: Enable debug mode and logging to stderr.
-v: Print version and exit.

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 or button

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

Configuration files

spectrwm looks for the user-configuration file in the following order:

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/spectrwm/spectrwm.conf
~/.config/spectrwm/spectrwm.conf (if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is either not set or empty)
~/.spectrwm.conf.

If the user-configuration file is not found, spectrwm then looks for the global configuration file in the following order:

$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/spectrwm/spectrwm.conf (each colon-separated directory in $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS)
/etc/xdg/spectrwm/spectrwm.conf (if $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS is either not set or empty)
/etc/spectrwm.conf

The format of the file is

keyword = setting

Where ‘=’ may be replaced with ‘+=’ or ‘-=’, if supported by the option.

For example:

color_focus = red

quirk[XTerm] += FLOAT

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

Colors need to be specified per the XQueryColor(3) specification. In addition, alpha transparency may be specified via the format rbga:red/green/blue/alpha (8-bit hex values) For example, to specify a 50% transparent blue status bar background:

bar_color = rgba:00/00/ff/7f

Note that a compositing manager is required for alpha transparency.

Mark option values may be wrapped in single/double quotes to prevent whitespace trimming, specify empty strings, etc. Literal quote/backslash characters can be escaped with a backslash ‘\’, when needed.

Comments begin with a #. When a literal ‘#’ is desired in an option, then it must be escaped with a backslash, i.e. \#

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(1) in workspace 2. Specify ‘ws[-1]’ to launch applications such as desktop managers and panels in free mode to keep them always mapped.

Note that libswmhack.so is required for "spawn-in-workspace" behavior. See the SWMHACK section below for more information, tips, and workarounds if a program fails to spawn in the specified workspace.

bar_action

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

bar_action_expand

Process bar_format character sequences in bar_action output; default is 0.

bar_at_bottom

Place the statusbar at the bottom of each region instead of the top. Default is 0.

bar_border[x]

Border color of status bar(s) on screen number x. Default is rgb:00/80/80.

bar_border_free[x]

Border color of a status bar for a focused region on screen number x when a workspace-free window is focused. Default is rgb:80/80/00.

bar_border_unfocus[x]

Border color of status bar(s) for unfocused region(s) on screen number x. Default is rgb:00/40/40.

bar_border_width

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

bar_color[x]

Background color of status bar(s) on screen number x.

A comma-separated list of multiple colors can be specified. The first value is used as the default background color. Any of these colors can then be selected as a background color in the status bar through the use of the markup sequence +@bg=n; where n is the color index counting from 0.

bar_color_free[x]

Background color of a status bar for a focused region on screen number x when a workspace-free window is focused.

A comma-separated list of multiple colors can be specified, with the same syntax and behavior as bar_color. Default is rgb:40/40/00.

Note that bar_color defines the background color indices that can be used in bar_format markup sequences and is the fallback for colors that are left unspecified in this option.

bar_color_selected[x]

Background color for selected menu items on screen number x. Defaults to the value of bar_border.

bar_color_unfocus[x]

Background color of status bar(s) for unfocused region(s) on screen number x.

A comma-separated list of multiple colors can be specified, with the same syntax and behavior as bar_color for unfocused bar(s). Defaults to the value of bar_color.

Note that bar_color defines the background color indices that can be used in bar_format markup sequences and is the fallback for colors that are left unspecified in this option.

bar_enabled

Set default bar_toggle state; default is 1.

bar_enabled_ws[x]

Set default bar_toggle_ws state on workspace x; default is 1.

bar_font

Fonts used in the status bar. Either Xft or X Logical Font Description (XLFD) may be used to specify fonts. Fallback fonts may be specified by separating each font with a comma. If all entries are in XLFD syntax, font set will be used. If at least one entry is Xft, Xft will be used.

The default is to use font set.

If Xft is used, a comma-separated list of multiple fonts can be specified. The first entry is the default font. Any font defined here can then be selected in the status bar through the use of the markup sequence +@fn=n; where n is the font index counting from 0.

Also note that dmenu(1) prior to 4.6 does not support Xft fonts.

Xft examples:

bar_font = Terminus:style=Regular:pixelsize=14:antialias=true
bar_font = -*-profont-medium-*-*-*-11-*-*-*-*-*-*-*,Terminus:pixelsize=14,-*-clean-medium-*-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Font set examples:

bar_font = -*-terminus-medium-*-*-*-14-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
bar_font = -*-profont-medium-*-*-*-11-*-*-*-*-*-*-*,-*-terminus-medium-*-*-*-14-*-*-*-*-*-*-*,-*-clean-medium-*-*-*-12-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

To list the available fonts in your system see fc-list(1) or xlsfonts(1) manpages. The xfontsel(1) application can help with the XLFD setting.

bar_font_color[x]

Foreground color of the status bar(s) on screen number x.

A comma-separated list of multiple colors can be specified. The first value is used as the default foreground color. Any of these colors can then be selected as a foreground color in the status bar through the use of the markup sequence +@fg=n; where n is the color index counting from 0.

bar_font_color_free[x]

Foreground color of a status bar for a focused region on screen number x when a workspace-free window is focused.

A comma-separated list of multiple colors can be specified, with the same syntax and behavior as bar_font_color. Default is rgb:ff/ff/ff.

Note that bar_font_color defines the foreground color indices that can be used in bar_format markup sequences and is the fallback for colors that are left unspecified in this option.

bar_font_color_unfocus[x]

Foreground color of status bar(s) for unfocused region(s) on screen number x.

A comma-separated list of multiple colors can be specified, with the same syntax and behavior as bar_font_color for unfocused bar(s). Defaults to the value of bar_font_color.

Note that bar_font_color defines the foreground color indices that can be used in bar_format markup sequences and is the fallback for colors that are left unspecified in this option.

bar_font_color_selected[x]

Foreground color for selected menu items on screen number x. Defaults to the value of bar_color.

bar_font_pua

Specify a font to override the Unicode Private Use Area code points (U+E000 -> U+F8FF, U+F0000 -> U+FFFFD, U+100000 -> U+10FFFD). Some fonts use these code points to provide special icon glyphs. Available only with Xft fonts.

bar_format

Set the bar format string, overriding clock_format and all of the enabled options. The format is passed through strftime(3) before being used. It may contain the following character sequences:

Character sequence	Replaced with
+<	Pad with a space
+A	Output of the external script
+C	Window class (from WM_CLASS)
+D	Workspace name
+F	Focus status indicator
+I	Workspace index
+L	Workspace list indicator
+M	Number of iconic (minimized) windows in workspace
+N	Screen number
+P	Window class and instance separated by a colon
+R	Region index
+S	Stacking algorithm
+T	Window instance (from WM_CLASS)
+U	Urgency hint
+V	Program version
+w	Number of windows in workspace
+W	Window name (from _NET_WM_NAME/WM_NAME)
+\|[weight][justify]	Begin new section and reset markup
++	A literal ‘+’
+@	Prefix for text markup sequences

bar_justify

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

Note that if the output is not left justified, it may not be properly aligned in some circumstances, due to the white-spaces in the default static format. See the bar_format option for more details.

bar_workspace_limit

Set the maximum workspace index (counting from 1) to list in the status bar workspace (+L) and urgency hint (+U) indicators. Workspaces beyond this value will not be shown. Default is 0 (disabled).

bind[x]

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

border_width

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

boundary_width

Set region containment boundary width in pixels. This is how far a window must be dragged/resized (with the pointer) beyond the region edge before it is allowed outside the region. Disable the window containment effect by setting to 0.

cancelkey

Change the key used as an alternative means of terminating move/resize operations. Default is Escape.

See the BINDINGS section below for details on how to find key names.

click_to_raise

Enable or disable raising stacking priority when clicking on a window. Default is 1.

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_free

Border color of the currently focused window that is in free mode. Default is yellow.

color_focus_maximized_free

Border color of the currently focused maximized window that is in free mode. Defaults to the value of color_focus_free.

color_unfocus_free

Border color of unfocused windows that are in free mode, default is rgb:88/88/00.

color_unfocus_maximized_free

Border color of unfocused maximized windows that are in free mode. Defaults to the value of color_unfocus_free.

color_urgent_free

Border color of urgent windows that are in free mode. Defaults to the value of color_unfocus_free.

color_urgent_maximized_free

Border color of urgent maximized windows that are in free mode. Defaults to the value of color_urgent_free.

color_focus

Border color of the currently focused window. Default is red.

color_focus_maximized

Border color of the currently focused, maximized window. Defaults to the value of color_focus.

color_unfocus

Border color of unfocused windows, default is rgb:88/88/88.

color_unfocus_maximized

Border color of unfocused, maximized windows. Defaults to the value of color_unfocus.

color_urgent

Border color of urgent windows. Defaults to the value of color_unfocus.

color_urgent_maximized

Border color of urgent, maximized windows. Defaults to the value of color_urgent.

cycle_visible

Include workspaces that are mapped when switching with ws_next, ws_prev, ws_next_all, ws_prev_all, ws_next_move, or ws_prev_move. Enable by setting to 1.

Note that mapped workspaces will be swapped unless workspace_clamp is enabled. If warp_focus is also enabled, focus will go to the region where the workspace is mapped.

dialog_ratio

Some applications have dialogue windows that are too small to be useful. This ratio adjusts the window/region size ratio for transient windows having the TRANSSZ quirk. For example, 0.6 is 60% of the the monitor size if the current region spans the monitor.

disable_border

Remove border when bar is disabled and there is only one window on the region. Enable by setting to 1. Setting this to always removes the border regardless of the bar being enabled/disabled. Defaults to 0.

focus_close

Window to put focus when the focused window is closed. Possible values are first, next, previous (default), last and prior. next and previous are relative to the window that is closed. prior is the last focused window in the workspace.

focus_close_wrap

Whether to allow the focus to jump to the last window when the first window is closed or vice versa. Disable by setting to 0.

focus_default

Window to put focus when no window has been focused. Possible values are first and last (default).

focus_mark_none

Set the bar_format focus status indicator (+F) string to substitute when no window is focused. Default is ''.

focus_mark_normal

Set the bar_format focus status indicator (+F) string to substitute when a normal (not floating, maximized or free) window is focused. Default is ''.

focus_mark_floating

Set the bar_format focus status indicator (+F) string to substitute when a floating window is focused. Default is '(f)'.

focus_mark_free

Set the bar_format focus status indicator (+F) string to substitute when a window that is in free mode is focused. Default is '(*)'.

focus_mark_maximized

Set the bar_format focus status indicator (+F) string to substitute when a maximized window is focused. Default is '(m)'.

focus_mode[t]

Set window focus behavior with respect to the pointer. Possible values:

default

Set window focus on border crossings caused by cursor motion and window interaction.

follow

Prioritize the pointer location. Set window focus on all cursor border crossings, including workspace switches and changes to layout.

manual

Ignore the pointer location. Set window focus on window interaction only.

Optionally, it is possible to adjust the focus mode for specific focus situations. A comma-separated list of the following situations can be specified for t:

border

Pointer enters a window. Default is follow.

configure

Window position/size changed by the client/EWMH. Default is manual.

iconify

Window iconified. Default is manual.

layout

Workspace layout changed. Default is manual.

map

Window maps. Default is manual.

move

Window moved to another workspace. Default is manual.

startup

spectrwm (re)started. Default is manual.

uniconify

Window uniconified. Default is manual.

unmap

Window unmaps. Default is manual.

workspace

Workspace switched. Default is manual.

Note that when t is omitted, the specified setting is applied to all focus situations. Example:

focus_mode = follow # Set all focus situations to 'follow'.
focus_mode[map,unmap] = manual # Change only map and unmap to 'manual'.
focus_mode = default # Reset all focus situations to respective default values.

fullscreen_hide_other

When a fullscreen window is focused and not in below state, hide unrelated windows in the same workspace. Useful for transparent windows. Defaults to 0.

fullscreen_unfocus

Set handling when a fullscreen window loses focus. Possible values:

none

Leave window fullscreen. (default)

restore

Exit fullscreen.

iconify

Minimize/hide the window.

float

Exit fullscreen and float window.

below

Set below state on the window.

quick_below

Set below state on the window, unset when refocused.

Note that this option is ignored in max layout.

iconic_enabled

Display the number of iconic (minimized) windows in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1.

keyboard_mapping

Clear all key bindings (not button bindings) and load new 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.

Note that /dev/null can be specified if you only want to clear bindings.

layout

Select layout to use at start-of-day. Defined in the format ws[idx]:master_grow:master_add:stack_inc:always_raise:stack_mode, e.g. ws[2]:-4:0:1:0:horizontal sets workspace 2 to the horizontal stack mode, 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, vertical_flip, horizontal, horizontal_flip, max and floating.

See master_grow, master_shrink, master_add, master_del, stack_inc, stack_dec, stack_balance, 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.

layout_order

Define the layout sequence used by the cycle_layout action. Possible values are vertical, horizontal, max and floating. At least one value must be specified, without duplicates. The default is vertical,horizontal,max,floating.

max_layout_maximize

Automatically maximize windows in max layout. Note that automatic maximize behavior is disabled for windows that are unmaximized in max layout. Maximizing the window or resetting the layout with stack_reset enables it again. Enabled by default. Disable by setting to 0.

maximize_hide_bar

When set to 1, maximize_toggle will also hide/restore the bar visibility of the affected workspace. Defaults to 0.

maximize_hide_other

When a maximized window is focused and not in below state, hide unrelated windows in the same workspace. Useful for transparent windows. Defaults to 0.

maximized_unfocus

Set handling when a maximized window loses focus. Possible values:

none

Leave window maximized.

restore

Unmaximize window. (default)

iconify

Minimize/hide the window.

float

Unmaximize and float window.

below

Set below state on the window.

quick_below

Set below state on the window, unset when refocused.

Note that this option is ignored in max layout.

modkey

Change the current modifier value of MOD in bind entries that come later in the configuration file. For existing bindings, the new value is substituted for the previous value. Possible values are Mod1 (default), Mod2, Mod3, Mod4 and Mod5.

Mod1 is generally the Alt key, Mod2 is the Command key on macOS and Mod4 is the Windows key on a PC. The current modifier key mapping can be found by running xmodmap(1).

name

Set the name of a workspace at start-of-day. Defined in the format ws[idx]:name, e.g. ws[1]:Console sets the name of workspace 1 to “Console”.

program[p]

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

quirk[c[:i[:n[:t]]]]

Add "quirk" for windows with class c, instance i (optional), name n (optional), and type t (optional.) See the QUIRKS section below.

region

Allocates a custom region, removing any autodetected regions that occupy the same space on the specified logical X screen number. Defined in the format screen[idx]:widthxheight+x+y[,rotation], e.g. screen[1]:800x1200+0+0 or screen[1]:800x1200+0+0,inverted (with optional rotation).

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

Possible values for the optional rotation argument are normal (default), left, inverted and right. Note that rotation is used by workspace_autorotate.

region_padding

Pixel width of empty space within region borders. Disable by setting to 0.

snap_range

Set the distance in pixels a tiled/maximized window must be moved (with the pointer) to unsnap and float freely. Set to 0 to unsnap immediately. Default is 25.

spawn_flags[p]

If search pattern p is specified, change the spawn flags of existing program entries. If p is omitted, change the default spawn flags for any program or autorun entries that come later in the configuration file. Note that p is interpreted as a POSIX Extended Regular Expression.

One or more of the following flags may be specified in a comma-separated list:

nospawnws

When the program is spawned, do not associate the spawn workspace with the program's windows.

xterm_fontadj

Enables automatic font size adjustments when resizing xterm(1) windows. Note that this works in conjunction with the term_width option and the XTERM_FONTADJ quirk. See the term_width option and QUIRKS section for more information.

optional

Disable program validation.

none

No flags specified.

The default is none.

In addition to the ‘=’ operator, this option also supports ‘+=’ and ‘-=’ to add/remove flags instead of replacing them.

Note that the default of associating windows with the spawn workspace and the xterm_fontadj flag both rely on libswmhack.so. See the SWMHACK section below for more information.

spawn_position

Position in stack to place newly spawned windows. Possible values are first, next, previous and last (default). next and previous are relative to the focused window.

stack_enabled

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

stack_mark_floating

Set the floating layout mark for the bar_format stacking indicator (+S). Default is '[~]'.

stack_mark_horizontal

Set the horizontal layout mark for the bar_format stacking indicator (+S). Default is '[-]'.

stack_mark_horizontal_flip

Set the horizontal_flip layout mark for the bar_format stacking indicator (+S). Default is '[v]'.

stack_mark_max

Set the max layout mark for the bar_format stacking indicator (+S). Default is '[ ]'.

stack_mark_vertical

Set the vertical layout mark for the bar_format stacking indicator (+S). Default is '[|]'.

stack_mark_vertical_flip

Set the vertical_flip layout mark for the bar_format stacking indicator (+S). Default is '[>]'.

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.

Note that only xterm(1) is currently supported. The terminal process must be spawned with the xterm_fontadj spawn flag and the XTERM_FONTADJ quirk must be set on its window. See the spawn_flags option and the QUIRKS section for more information. In addition, 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.

tile_gap

Pixel width of empty space between tiled windows. Negative values cause overlap. Set this to the opposite of border_width to collapse the border between tiles. Disable by setting to 0.

urgent_collapse

Minimizes the space consumed by the urgency hint indicator by removing the placeholders for non-urgent workspaces, the trailing space when there are urgent windows and the default leading space. Enable by setting to 1.

urgent_enabled

Enable or disable the urgency hint indicator in the status bar. Note that many terminal emulators require an explicit setting for the bell character to trigger urgency on the window. In xterm(1), for example, one needs to add the following line to .Xdefaults:

xterm.bellIsUrgent: true

verbose_layout

Enable or disable displaying the current master window count and stack column/row count in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1. See master_add, master_del, stack_inc and stack_dec for more information.

warp_focus

Focus on the target window/workspace/region when clamped. For example, when attempting to switch to a workspace that is mapped on another region and workspace_clamp is enabled, focus on the region with the target workspace. Enable by setting to 1.

warp_pointer

Centers the pointer on the focused window when using bindings to change focus, switch workspaces, change regions, etc. Enable by setting to 1. Note that this option is ignored in focus_mode situations set to follow.

window_class_enabled

Enable or disable displaying the window class name (from WM_CLASS) in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1.

window_instance_enabled

Enable or disable displaying the window instance name (from WM_CLASS) in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1.

window_name_enabled

Enable or disable displaying the window display name (from _NET_WM_NAME/WM_NAME) in the status bar. Enable by setting to 1.

To prevent excessively large window names from pushing the remaining text off the bar, it is limited to 64 characters, by default. See the bar_format option for more details.

workspace_autorotate

When moving workspaces across regions, auto-rotate vertical/horizontal layouts based on rotation data from xrandr(1). Enable by setting to 1.

workspace_clamp

Prevents workspaces from being swapped when attempting to switch to a workspace that is mapped to another region. Use warp_focus if you want to focus on the region containing the workspace and warp_pointer if you want to also send the pointer. Enable by setting to 1.

workspace_indicator

Configure the status bar workspace indicator. One or more of the following options may be specified in a comma-separated list:

listcurrent

Include the current workspace.

listactive

Include workspaces with windows.

listempty

Include empty workspaces.

listnamed

Include named workspaces.

listurgent

Include workspaces with urgent window(s).

listall

Include all workspaces.

hidecurrent

Always exclude the current workspace from the list.

markcurrent

Indicate the current workspace if it is in the list.

markactive

Indicate workspaces in the list that are active.

markempty

Indicate workspaces in the list that are empty.

markurgent

Indicate workspaces in the list that contain urgent window(s).

printnames

Display the names of named workspaces in the list.

noindexes

Hide the index of the workspaces.

The default is listcurrent,listactive,markcurrent,printnames

Note that markup sequences can be used to style the workspace indicator. For example, to change the color of the current workspace:

workspace_mark_current = '+@fg=1;'
workspace_mark_current_suffix = '+@fg=0;'

workspace_limit

Set the total number of workspaces available. Minimum is 1, maximum is 22, default is 10.

workspace_mark_active

Set the string inserted before active workspaces in the workspace_indicator. Default is '^'.

workspace_mark_active_suffix

Set the string inserted after active workspaces in the workspace_indicator. Default is '' (empty string).

workspace_mark_current

Set the string inserted before the current workspace in the workspace_indicator. Default is '*'.

workspace_mark_current_suffix

Set the string inserted after the current workspace in the workspace_indicator. Default is '' (empty string).

workspace_mark_empty

Set the string inserted before empty workspaces in the workspace_indicator. Default is '-'.

workspace_mark_empty_suffix

Set the string inserted after empty workspaces in the workspace_indicator. Default is '' (empty string).

workspace_mark_urgent

Set the string inserted before urgent workspaces in the workspace_indicator. Default is '!'.

workspace_mark_urgent_suffix

Set the string inserted after urgent workspaces in the workspace_indicator. Default is '' (empty string).

Stack modes

vertical: Master area is on the left and stack area is on the right. Additional windows are vertically tiled in stack area.
vertical flipped: Same as above but stack and master areas are swapped.
horizontal: Master area is on the top and stack area is on the bottom. Additional windows are horizontally tiled in stack area.
horizontal flipped: Same as above but stack and master areas are swapped.
max: The focused window occupies the whole region, except for the bar (if enabled).
floating: Windows are untiled and can be resized and positioned.

Window states

These can be set/unset by the corresponding toggle actions listed in the BINDINGS section below.

floating: The window is stacked above others and is not in a tile; it may be freely resized and positioned.
below: The window is floating, but stacked below others.
maximized: The window occupies the work area of the region (area that excludes space reserved by the bar, docks/panels, etc.) By default, focusing another window removes the maximized state of the window. See maximized_unfocus to configure unfocused behavior.
fullscreen: The window occupies the whole region. By default, focusing another window does not remove the fullscreen state of the window. See fullscreen_unfocus to configure unfocused behavior.
free: The window is floating, but not bound by regions, workspaces or their layouts. It is always mapped, unless iconified, and may be resized and positioned anywhere.

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.

Custom programs in the configuration file are specified as follows:

program[action] = progpath [arg [arg ...]]

action 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.

With the exception of '~' expansion, program calls are executed as-is without any interpretation. A shell can be called to execute shell commands. (e.g. sh -c 'command string').

Remember that when using ‘#’ in your program call, it must be escaped with a backslash, i.e. \#

The following argument variables are replaced with values at the time the program is spawned:

$bar_border
$bar_color
$bar_color_selected
$bar_font
$bar_font_color
$bar_font_color_selected
$color_focus
$color_unfocus
$color_urgent
$dmenu_bottom: -b if bar_at_bottom is enabled, otherwise '' (empty string.)
$region_index
$workspace_index

Example:

program[ff] = /usr/local/bin/firefox http://spectrwm.org/
bind[ff] = MOD+Shift+b # Now M-S-b launches firefox

To cancel the previous, unbind it:

bind[] = MOD+Shift+b

A number of built-in actions spawn a program as part of their implementation. The respective default program entries are as follows:

term: x-terminal-emulator
lock: slock
menu: dmenu_run $dmenu_bottom -fn $bar_font -nb $bar_color -nf $bar_font_color -sb $bar_color_selected -sf $bar_font_color_selected
search: dmenu $dmenu_bottom -i -fn $bar_font -nb $bar_color -nf $bar_font_color -sb $bar_color_selected -sf $bar_font_color_selected
name_workspace: dmenu $dmenu_bottom -p Workspace -fn $bar_font -nb $bar_color -nf $bar_font_color -sb $bar_color_selected -sf $bar_font_color_selected
initscr: initscreen.sh # optional
screenshot_all: screenshot.sh full # optional
screenshot_wind: screenshot.sh window # optional

Note that search is required by the search_win, search_workspace, and uniconify actions and does not have a direct binding.

With the exception of the default entries marked “optional”, validation is performed to ensure the program exists. If validation fails, the exception can be resolved by installing the program, adding the optional flag to the program entry's spawn flags, or by disabling the program entry by freeing the respective binding.

For example, to add the optional flag to lock:

spawn_flags[lock] += optional

To unbind lock and prevent it from being validated:

bind[] = MOD+Shift+Delete

Note that when a program is spawned, spectrwm aims to place its windows in its spawn workspace. See the SWMHACK section below for more information, tips, and workarounds if a program fails to spawn in the correct workspace.

Bindings

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

The default bindings are listed below:

⟨Button1⟩: focus
M-⟨Button1⟩: move
M-⟨Button3⟩: resize
M-S-⟨Button3⟩: resize_centered
M-S-⟨Return⟩: term
M-p: menu
M-S-q: quit
M-q: restart
⟨unbound⟩: restart_of_day
M-⟨Space⟩: cycle_layout
M-S-\: flip_layout
⟨unbound⟩: prior_layout
⟨unbound⟩: layout_vertical
⟨unbound⟩: layout_horizontal
⟨unbound⟩: layout_max
⟨unbound⟩: layout_floating
M-S-⟨Space⟩: stack_reset
⟨unbound⟩: stack_balance
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-`: focus_free
M-S-a: focus_prior
M-u: focus_urgent
M-S-j: swap_next
M-S-k: swap_prev
M-b: bar_toggle
M-S-b: bar_toggle_ws
M-x: wind_del
M-S-x: wind_kill
M-⟨1-9,0,F1-F12⟩: ws_⟨1-22⟩
M-S-⟨1-9,0,F1-F12⟩: mvws_⟨1-22⟩
M-⟨Keypad 1-9⟩: rg_⟨1-9⟩
M-S-⟨Keypad 1-9⟩: mvrg_⟨1-9⟩
⟨unbound⟩: mvrg_next
⟨unbound⟩: mvrg_prev
⟨unbound⟩: ws_empty
⟨unbound⟩: ws_empty_move
M-⟨Right⟩: ws_next
M-⟨Left⟩: ws_prev
M-⟨Up⟩: ws_next_all
M-⟨Down⟩: ws_prev_all
M-a: ws_prior
M-S-⟨Down⟩: ws_prev_move
M-S-⟨Up⟩: ws_next_move
M-S-⟨Right⟩: rg_next
M-S-⟨Left⟩: rg_prev
⟨unbound⟩: rg_move_next
⟨unbound⟩: rg_move_prev
M-s: screenshot_all
M-S-s: screenshot_wind
M-S-v: version
M-t: float_toggle
M-S-t: below_toggle
M-S-`: free_toggle
M-S-⟨Delete⟩: lock
M-S-i: initscr
M-w: iconify
M-S-w: uniconify
M-e: maximize_toggle
M-S-e: fullscreen_toggle
M-r: raise
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
M-d: debug_toggle (debug mode only)
M-S-d: dumpwins (debug mode only)

The action names and descriptions are listed below:

focus: Focus window/region under pointer.
move: Move window with pointer while binding is pressed.
resize: Resize window with pointer while binding is pressed.
resize_centered: Same as resize but keep window centered.
term: Spawn a new terminal (see PROGRAMS above).
menu: Menu (see PROGRAMS above).
quit: Quit spectrwm.
restart: Restart spectrwm.
restart_of_day: Same as restart but configuration file is loaded in full.
cycle_layout: Switch to the next layout.
flip_layout: Swap the master and stacking areas.
prior_layout: Switch to the last used layout.
layout_vertical: Switch to vertical layout.
layout_horizontal: Switch to horizontal layout.
layout_max: Switch to max layout.
layout_floating: Switch to floating layout.
stack_reset: Reset layout.
stack_balance: Balance master/stacking area.
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.
focus_prior: Focus last focused window in workspace.
focus_free: Focus on a window in free mode, if any.
focus_urgent: Focus on next window with the urgency hint flag set. The workspace is switched if needed.
swap_next: Swap with next window in workspace.
swap_prev: Swap with previous window in workspace.
bar_toggle: Toggle overall visibility of status bars.
bar_toggle_ws: Toggle status bar on current workspace.
wind_del: Delete current window.
wind_kill: Kill the program that created the current window.
ws_n: Switch to workspace n, where n is 1 through workspace_limit.
mvws_n: Move current window to workspace n, where n is 1 through workspace_limit.
rg_n: Focus on region n, where n is 1 through 9.
mvrg_n: Move current window to region n, where n is 1 through 9.
mvrg_next: Move current window to workspace in next region.
mvrg_prev: Move current window to workspace in previous region.
ws_empty: Switch to the first empty workspace.
ws_empty_move: Switch to the first empty workspace and move current window.
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_next_move: Switch to next workspace with the current window.
ws_prev_move: Switch to previous workspace with the current window.
ws_prior: Switch to last visited workspace.
rg_next: Switch to next region.
rg_prev: Switch to previous region.
rg_move_next: Switch to next region and move current workspace.
rg_move_prev: Switch to previous region and move current workspace.
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.
below_toggle: Toggle below state on current window.
free_toggle: Toggle focused window between workspace mode and free mode.
lock: Lock screen (see PROGRAMS above).
initscr: Reinitialize physical screens (see PROGRAMS above).
iconify: Minimize (unmap) currently focused window.
uniconify: Restore (map) window returned by dmenu(1) selection.
maximize_toggle: Toggle maximization of focused window.
fullscreen_toggle: Toggle fullscreen state of focused window.
raise: Raise the current window.
always_raise: When set tiled windows are allowed to obscure floating windows.
button2: Fake a middle mouse button click (Button2).
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.
debug_toggle: Toggles debug overlay. (debug mode only)
dumpwins: Dump current window/focus/stacking state to debug log. (debug mode only)

Custom bindings in the configuration file are specified as follows:

bind[action] = combo

action is one of the actions listed above (or empty to unbind) and combo is in the form of zero or more modifier keys and/or special arguments (Mod1, Shift, Control, MOD, etc.) and a normal key (b, Space, etc) or a button (Button1 .. Button255), separated by ‘+’. Multiple key/button combinations may be bound to the same action.

Special arguments:

MOD: Substituted for the currently defined modkey.
ANYMOD: Select all modifier combinations not handled by another binding.
REPLAY: Reprocess binding press/release events for other programs to handle. Unavailable for move, resize and resize_centered.

MOD example:

bind[reset] = Mod4+q # bind Windows-key + q to reset
bind[] = Mod1+q # unbind Alt + q
bind[move] = MOD+Button3 # Bind move to M-Button3
bind[] = MOD+Button1 # Unbind default move binding.

ANYMOD example:

bind[focus] = ANYMOD+Button3
bind[move] = MOD+Button3

In the above example, M-⟨Button3⟩ initiates move and ⟨Button3⟩ pressed with any other combination of modifiers sets focus to the window/region under the pointer.

REPLAY example:

bind[focus] = REPLAY+Button3

In the above example, when ⟨Button3⟩ is pressed without any modifier(s), focus is set to the window under the pointer and the button press is passed to the window.

To bind non-latin characters such as å or π you must enter the xkb character name instead of the character itself. Run xev(1), focus the window and press the specific key and in the terminal output read the symbol name. In the following example for å:

KeyPress event, serial 41, synthetic NO, window 0x2600001,
    root 0x15a, subw 0x0, time 106213808, (11,5), root:(359,823),
    state 0x0, keycode 24 (keysym 0xe5, aring), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 2 bytes: (c3 a5) "å"
    XmbLookupString gives 2 bytes: (c3 a5) "å"
    XFilterEvent returns: False

The xkb name is aring. In other words, in spectrwm.conf add:

bind[program] = MOD+aring

To clear all default keyboard bindings and specify your own, see the keyboard_mapping option.

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:

.*:.*:.*:splash,dialog: FLOAT
.*:.*:.*:toolbar,utility: FLOAT + ANYWHERE
.*:.*:.*:notification: FLOAT + ANYWHERE + MINIMALBORDER + NOFOCUSONMAP
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:

ANYWHERE: Allow window to position itself, uncentered.
BELOW: Put the window into below state upon being managed.
FLOAT: This window should not be tiled, but allowed to float freely.
FOCUSONMAP_SINGLE: When the window first appears on the screen, change focus to the window if there are no other windows on the workspace with the same WM_CLASS class/instance value. Has no effect when focus_mode is set to follow.
FOCUSPREV: On exit force focus on previously focused application not previous application in the stack.
FULLSCREEN: Remove border to allow window to use full region size.
ICONIFY: Hide/minimize the window upon being managed.
IGNOREPID: Ignore the PID when determining the initial workspace for a new window. Especially useful for terminal windows that share a process.
IGNORESPAWNWS: Ignore the spawn workspace when determining the initial workspace for a new window.
MAXIMIZE: Put the window into maximized state upon being managed.
MINIMALBORDER: Remove border when window is unfocused and floating.
NOFOCUSCYCLE: Remove from normal focus cycle (focus_prev or focus_next). The window can still be focused using search_win.
NOFOCUSONMAP: Do not change focus to the window when it first appears on the screen. Has no effect when focus_mode is set to follow.
OBEYAPPFOCUSREQ: When an application requests focus on the window via a _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW client message (source indication of 1), comply with the request. Note that a source indication of 0 (unspecified) or 2 (pager) are always obeyed.
TRANSSZ: Adjusts size on transient windows that are too small using dialog_ratio (see CONFIGURATION FILES).
WS[n]: Force a new window to appear on workspace n. Specify -1 to put the window into free mode so that it is mapped independent of workspaces and regions.
XTERM_FONTADJ: Adjust xterm(1) fonts when resizing. Note that this requires the xterm_fontadj spawn flag to be set on the autorun/program entry when the program is spawned. See the spawn_flags option for information on how to enable it.

Custom quirks in the configuration file are specified as follows:

quirk[class[:instance[:name[:type]]]] {=|+=|-=} quirk [+ quirk ...]

class, instance (optional), name (optional), and type (optional) are used to determine which window(s) the quirk(s) apply to. class and instance are regex search patterns for the respective fields of the WM_CLASS window property. name is a regex search pattern for the window name (WM_NAME/_NET_WM_NAME.) type is a comma-separated list of zero or more of the following window types (_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE): desktop, dock, toolbar, menu, utility, splash, dialog, dropdown_menu, popup_menu, tooltip, notification, combo, dnd, and normal. Leave this field blank to match any window type. quirk is one of the quirks from the list above.

When a window is managed, quirk entries are applied in the order specified in the configuration file. The assignment operator determines how the quirks are applied. When assigning quirks with ‘=’, quirks are replaced on matching windows. To add or remove quirks, assign them with ‘+=’ or ‘-=’ instead.

Note that patterns are interpreted as POSIX Extended Regular Expressions. Any ':', '[' or ']' must be escaped with '\'. See regex(7) for more information on POSIX Extended Regular Expressions.

For example:

quirk[MPlayer] = FLOAT + FULLSCREEN + FOCUSPREV # Float all windows having a class of 'MPlayer'
quirk[.*] = FLOAT # Float all windows by default.
quirk[.*:.*:.*] = FLOAT # Same as above.
quirk[firefox:Navigator] = FLOAT # Float all Firefox browser windows.
quirk[::Console] = FLOAT # Float windows with WM_CLASS not set and a window name of 'Console'.
quirk[\[0-9\].*:.*:\[\[\:alnum\:\]\]*] = FLOAT # Float windows with WM_CLASS class beginning with a number, any WM_CLASS instance and a _NET_WM_NAME/WM_NAME either blank or containing alphanumeric characters without spaces.
quirk[pcb:pcb] = NONE # Remove the default quirk entry.
quirk[.*:ws10] += WS[10] # Force windows with a WM_CLASS name of 'ws10' to workspace 10 without removing existing quirks.
quirk[.*:.*:.*:splash,dialog] = FLOAT + ANYWHERE # Override default quirk entry.

You can obtain class, instance 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 -E "^(WM_CLASS|_NET_WM_NAME|WM_NAME)"
WM_CLASS(STRING) = "Navigator", "Firefox"
WM_NAME(STRING) = "spectrwm - ConformalOpenSource"
_NET_WM_NAME(UTF8_STRING) = "spectrwm - ConformalOpenSource"

Note that xprop(1) displays WM_CLASS as:

WM_CLASS(STRING) = "<instance>", "<class>"

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_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 _NET_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 to be floated or un-floated):

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

Windows can also be iconified and un-iconified by substituting _NET_WM_STATE_HIDDEN for _NET_WM_STATE_ABOVE in the previous example:

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

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.

Note that if a window has been manually positioned via binding, _NET_MOVERESIZE_WINDOW requests are ignored unless the window has the ANYWHERE quirk, the workspace is in floating layout, or the window is workspace-free. Requests are also ignored on maximized and fullscreen windows.

Swmhack

When spawning a program via an autorun or program entry without the nospawnws flag, spectrwm aims to place the program's windows (if any) in its spawn workspace. To accomplish this "spawn-in-workspace" behavior, spectrwm must determine the intended spawn workspace when managing a new window. Since it cannot be done with X11 alone, libswmhack.so is included to make this feature possible.

When a program is spawned, spectrwm automatically sets LD_PRELOAD and _SWM_WS in the program's spawn environment to enable libswmhack.so when it is executed. Note that LD_PRELOAD is the path to libswmhack.so and _SWM_WS is the spawn workspace for any windows created by the program.

When running programs from terminals, scripts, etc, the inherited environment may need to be configured. It is possible to override the spawn workspace by setting _SWM_WS to a different value. Alternatively, _SWM_WS can be unset(1) or set to a blank value to disable "spawn-in-workspace" behavior. Note that workspaces are counted from 0. ‘-1’ can be specified to put windows into workspace-free mode.

For example, to play a video with mpv(1) on workspace 10 without changing the spawn workspace in the environment:

$ _SWM_WS=9 mpv video.mkv

Play the video in free mode so that it remains mapped when switching workspaces.

$ _SWM_WS=-1 mpv video.mkv

Disable "spawn-in-workspace" in the environment so that new windows map on whichever workspace happens to be focused.

$ unset _SWM_WS

Change the environment to spawn programs in free mode.

$ export _SWM_WS=-1

When spawning a program that creates windows via a daemon, ensure the daemon is started with the correct LD_PRELOAD in its environment.

For example, when starting urxvtd(1) via xinit(1), LD_PRELOAD must be specified.

LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/spectrwm/libswmhack.so.0.0 urxvtd -q -o -f

Note that some operating systems may ignore LD_PRELOAD if certain conditions are not met. It is advised to check the man page of ld.so.

In situations where libswmhack.so cannot be used, it is possible to use a quirk to spawn a program in a specific workspace.

e.g. launch an xterm(1) in workspace 2 on startup:

quirk[XTerm:ws2] += WS[2]
autorun = ws[2]:xterm -name ws2

Launch a chromium(1) window in workspace 3 on startup:

quirk[Chromium:chromium:ws3] += WS[3]
autorun = ws[3]:chromium --window-name="ws3" --new-window

If the "spawn-in-workspace" behavior is not desired, it is possible to disable it before programs are spawned by setting the nospawnws spawn flag on spawn entries via the spawn_flags option:

# Make 'nospawnws' the default for any autorun/program entries that are
# added/replaced below this line in the configuration file:
spawn_flags = nospawnws
program[pcmanfm] = pcmanfm -n  # 'nospawnws' is set
autorun = ws[1]:firefox        # ws[1] is ignored since 'nospawnws' is set
program[lock] = xlock          # the replaced default entry has 'nospawnws' set
# Add 'nospawnws' to an existing entry:
spawn_flags[term] += nospawnws

Alternatively, the IGNORESPAWNWS and IGNOREPID quirks can be applied to windows:

# Disable spawn-in-workspace on PCManFM windows:
quirk[Pcmanfm] = IGNORESPAWNWS
# Disable spawn-in-workspace on all windows, including those spawned via autorun:
quirk[.*] += IGNORESPAWNWS + IGNOREPID

Note that XCB programs that roll their own X11 requests (e.g. Chromium) are currently unsupported by libswmhack.so.

Signals

Sending spectrwm a HUP signal will restart it.

Files

~/.spectrwm.conf: spectrwm user specific settings.
/etc/spectrwm.conf: spectrwm global settings.

History

Debian 13 (Trixie): the text shown here
Debian 12 (Bookworm)
Debian 11 (Bullseye)
Debian 10 (Buster)
Debian 9 (Stretch)
Debian 8 (Jessie)
Debian 7 (Wheezy)

-c since Debian 11 (Bullseye); -d since Debian 13 (Trixie); -v since Debian 11 (Bullseye).

Usage

Options

Overview

Configuration files

Stack modes

Window states

Programs

Bindings

Keyboard mapping files

Quirks

Ewmh

Swmhack

Signals

Files

History

See also

Mentioned on this page