bspwm/bspwm.1

.TH BSPWM 1 bspwm
.SH NAME
bspwm \- Tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B bspwm
.RI [ -h | -v | "-s PANEL_FIFO" | "-p PANEL_PREFIX" ]
.P
.BI bspc " MESSAGE"
.RI [ ARGUMENTS ]
.RI [ OPTIONS ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B bspwm
is a tiling window manager that represents windows as the leaves of a full binary tree.
.P
It is controlled and configured via
.BR bspc .
.SH CONFIGURATION
.B bspwm
have only two sources of informations: the
.B X
events it receives and the messages it reads on a dedicated socket.
.P
Its configuration file is
.IR $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/bspwm/autostart .
.P
Keyboard and pointer bindings are defined with
.BR sxhkd .
.P
Example configuration files can be found in the
.I examples
directory.
.SH SPLITTING MODES
There is only two splitting modes:
.IR automatic " and " manual .
.P
The default mode is
.IR automatic .
The
.I manual
mode is entered by sending a
.B presel
message.
.P
Example: insertion of a new node (number 4) into the given tree in
.I automatic
mode:
.EX

                 b                                   c
                / \\                                 / \\
               3   a              -->              4   b
               ^  / \\                              ^  / \\
                 2   1                               3   a
                                                        / \\
                                                       2   1
    +-------------------------+         +-------------------------+
    |            |            |         |            |            |
    |            |     2      |         |            |     3      |
    |            |            |         |            |            |
    |     3      |------------|   -->   |     4      |------------|
    |     ^      |            |         |     ^      |     |      |
    |            |     1      |         |            |  1  |  2   |
    |            |            |         |            |     |      |
    +-------------------------+         +-------------------------+

.EE
.P
Same departure, but the mode is
.IR manual ,
and a
.BI presel " up"
message was sent beforehand:
.EX

                 b                                   b
                / \\                                 / \\
               3   a              -->              c   a
               ^  / \\                             / \\ / \\
                 2   1                           4  3 2  1
                                                 ^
    +-------------------------+         +-------------------------+
    |            |            |         |            |            |
    |            |     2      |         |     4      |     2      |
    |            |            |         |     ^      |            |
    |     3      |------------|   -->   |------------|------------|
    |     ^      |            |         |            |            |
    |            |     1      |         |     3      |     1      |
    |            |            |         |            |            |
    +-------------------------+         +-------------------------+

.EE
.SH CONTAINERS
.P
Each monitor contains at least one desktop.
.P
Each desktop contains at most one tree.
.SH MESSAGES
.TP
.BI get " SETTING"
Return the value of the given setting.
.TP
.BI set " SETTING VALUE"
Set the value of the given setting.
.TP
.BI list " [DESKTOP_NAME]"
Output the internal representation of the window tree.
.TP
.BI list_desktops " [--quiet]"
Perform a dump of each desktop for the current monitor.
.TP
.BI list_monitors " [--quiet]"
Perform a dump of each monitor.
.TP
.BI list_history
Return the node focus history of each desktop.
.TP
.BI list_windows
Return the list of managed windows (i.e. their identifiers).
.TP
.BI list_rules
Return the list of rules.
.TP
.BI presel " left|right|up|down [SPLIT_RATIO]"
Switch to manual mode and select the splitting direction.
.TP
.BI cancel
Switch to automatic mode.
.TP
.BI ratio " VALUE"
Set the splitting ratio of the focused window.
.TP
.BI pad " MONITOR_NAME [TOP_PADDING [RIGHT_PADDING [BOTTOM_PADDING [LEFT_PADDING]]]]"
Set the padding of the given monitor.
.TP
.BI focus " left|right|up|down"
Focus the neighbor window situated in the given direction.
.TP
.BI shift " left|right|up|down"
Exchange the current window with the given neighbor.
.TP
.BI swap " [--swap-focus|--keep-focus]"
Swap the focused window with the last focused window.
.TP
.BI push " left|right|up|down"
Push the fence located in the given direction.
.TP
.BI pull " left|right|up|down"
Pull the fence located in the given direction.
.TP
.BI cycle " next|prev [--skip-floating|--skip-tiled|--skip-class-equal|--skip-class-differ]"
Focus the next or previous window matching the given constraints.
.TP
.BI nearest " older|newer [--skip-floating|--skip-tiled|--skip-class-equal|--skip-class-differ]"
Focus the nearest window matching the given constraints.
.TP
.BI biggest
Return the ID of the biggest tiled window.
.TP
.BI circulate " forward|backward"
Circulate the leaves in the given direction.
.TP
.BI grab_pointer " focus|move|resize_side|resize_corner"
Begin the specified pointer action.
.TP
.BI track_pointer " ROOT_X ROOT_Y"
Pass the pointer root coordinates for the current pointer action.
.TP
.BI ungrab_pointer
End the current pointer action.
.TP
.BI toggle_fullscreen
Toggle the fullscreen state of the current window.
.TP
.BI toggle_floating
Toggle the floating state of the current window.
.TP
.BI toggle_locked
Toggle the locked state of the current window (locked windows will not respond to the
.B close
message).
.TP
.BI toggle_visibility
Toggle the visibility of all the managed windows.
.TP
.BI close
Close the focused window.
.TP
.BI kill
Kill the focused window.
.TP
.BI send_to " DESKTOP_NAME [--follow]"
Send the focused window to the given desktop.
.TP
.BI drop_to " next|prev [--follow]"
Send the focused window to the next or previous desktop.
.TP
.BI send_to_monitor " MONITOR_NAME [--follow]"
Send the focused window to the given monitor.
.TP
.BI drop_to_monitor " next|prev [--follow]"
Send the focused window to the next or previous monitor.
.TP
.BI use " DESKTOP_NAME"
Select the given desktop.
.TP
.BI use_monitor " MONITOR_NAME"
Select the given monitor.
.TP
.BI alternate
Alternate between the current and the last focused window.
.TP
.BI alternate_desktop
Alternate between the current and the last focused desktop.
.TP
.BI alternate_monitor
Alternate between the current and the last focused monitor.
.TP
.BI add " DESKTOP_NAME ..."
Make new desktops with the given names.
.TP
.BI add_in " MONITOR_NAME DESKTOP_NAME ..."
Make new desktops with the given names in the given monitor.
.TP
.BI rename_monitor " CURRENT_NAME NEW_NAME"
Rename the monitor named CURRENT_NAME to NEW_NAME.
.TP
.BI rename " CURRENT_NAME NEW_NAME"
Rename the desktop named CURRENT_NAME to NEW_NAME.
.TP
.BI remove_desktop " DESKTOP_NAME ..."
Remove the given desktops.
.TP
.BI cycle_monitor " next|prev"
Select the next or previous monitor.
.TP
.BI cycle_desktop " next|prev [--skip-free|--skip-occupied]"
Select the next or previous desktop.
.TP
.BI layout " monocle|tiled [DESKTOP_NAME ...]"
Set the layout of the given desktops (current if none given).
.TP
.BI cycle_layout
Cycle the layout of the current desktop.
.TP
.BI rotate " clockwise|counter_clockwise|full_cycle"
Rotate the window tree.
.TP
.BI flip " horizontal|vertical"
Flip the window tree.
.TP
.B balance
Adjust the split ratios so that all windows occupy the same area.
.TP
.BI rule " PATTERN [DESKTOP_NAME] [floating] [follow]"
Create a new rule (PATTERN must match the class or instance name).
.TP
.BI remove_rule " UID ..."
Remove the rules with the given UIDs.
.TP
.BI put_status
Output the current state to the panel fifo.
.TP
.BI adopt_orphans
Manage all the unmanaged windows remaining from a previous session.
.TP
.BI restore_layout " FILE_PATH"
Restore the layout of each desktop from the content of FILE_PATH.
.TP
.BI restore_history " FILE_PATH"
Restore the history of each desktop from the content of FILE_PATH.
.TP
.BI quit " [EXIT_STATUS]"
Quit.
.SH SETTINGS
Colors are either
.B X
color names (cf.
.I COLOR NAMES
in
.BR X (7))
or
.I #RRGGBB
, booleans are
.IR "true " "or " false .
.TP
.I focused_border_color
Color of the border of a focused window of a focused monitor.
.TP
.I active_border_color
Color of the border of a focused window of an unfocused monitor.
.TP
.I normal_border_color
Color of the border of an unfocused window.
.TP
.I presel_border_color
Color of the
.B presel
message feedback.
.TP
.I focused_locked_border_color
Color of the border of a focused locked window of a focused monitor.
.TP
.I active_locked_border_color
Color of the border of a focused locked window of an unfocused monitor.
.TP
.I normal_locked_border_color
Color of the border of an unfocused locked window.
.TP
.I urgent_border_color
Color of the border of an urgent window.
.TP
.I border_width
Window border width.
.TP
.I window_gap
Value of the gap that separates windows.
.TP
.I split_ratio
Default split ratio.
.TP
.I top_padding
.TQ
.I right_padding
.TQ
.I bottom_padding
.TQ
.I left_padding
Padding space added at the sides of the current monitor.
.TP
.I wm_name
The value that shall be used for the
.B _NET_WM_NAME
property of the root window.
.TP
.I borderless_monocle
Whether to remove borders for tiled windows in monocle mode.
.TP
.I gapless_monocle
Whether to remove gaps for tiled windows in monocle mode.
.TP
.I focus_follows_pointer
Whether to focus the window under the pointer.
.TP
.I adaptative_raise
Prevent floating windows from being raised when they might cover other floating windows.
.TP
.I apply_shadow_property
Enable shadows for floating windows via the
.B _COMPTON_SHADOW
property.
.TP
.I auto_alernate
Whether to interpret two consecutive identical
.B use
messages as an
.B alternate
message.
.TP
.I focus_by_distance
Whether to use window or leaf distance for focus movement.
.SH ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
.TP
.I BSPWM_SOCKET
The path of the socket used for the communication between
.BR bspc " and " bspwm .
.SH AUTHOR
.EX
Bastien Dejean <baskerville at lavabit.com>
.SH CONTRIBUTORS
.EX
Ivan Kanakarakis <ivan.kanak at gmail.com>
Thomas Adam <thomas at xteddy.org>
.EE
.SH HOMEPAGE
.TP
https://github.com/baskerville/bspwm
.SH MAILING LIST
.TP
bspwm at librelist.com
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR monsterwm (1),
.BR tmux (1).