Description

bspwm is a tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning.

The windows are represented as the leaves of a binary tree.

Configuration

bspwm have only two sources of informations: the X events it receives and the messages it reads on a dedicated socket.

Those messages are sent via bspc.

If the BSPWM_SOCKET environment variable is defined, it will be used as the socket path, otherwise /tmp/bspwm-socket is used.

The recommended way of defining keyboard shortcuts is to use shkd or xbindkeys.

The only way to configure bspwm is by sending set messages via the client, hence bspwm's configuration file is an executable called autostart which lives in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/bspwm/.

Example configurations: autostart and xbindkeysrc.

Splitting Modes

There is only two splitting modes: automatic and manual.

The default mode is automatic. The manual mode is entered by sending a presel message.

Example: insertion of a new node (number 4) into the given tree in automatic mode:

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

Same departure, but the mode is manual, and a presel up message was sent beforehand:

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

Synopsis

bspwm [-v|-s STATUS_FIFO]

bspc MESSAGE [ARGUMENTS] [OPTIONS]

Messages

The syntax for the client is bspc MESSAGE [ARGUMENTS ...].

The following messages are handled:

get SETTING
    Return the value of the given setting.

set SETTING VALUE
    Set the value of the given setting.

list [DESKTOP_NAME]
    Output the internal representation of the window tree.

list_desktops [--quiet]
    Perform a dump of each desktop for the current monitor.

list_monitors [--quiet]
    Perform a dump of each monitor.

list_windows
    Return the list of managed windows (i.e. their identifiers).

list_rules
    Return the list of rules.

presel left|right|up|down [SPLIT_RATIO]
    Switch to manual mode and select the splitting direction.

cancel
    Switch to automatic mode.

ratio VALUE
    Set the splitting ratio of the focused window.

pad MONITOR_NAME [TOP_PADDING [RIGHT_PADDING [BOTTOM_PADDING [LEFT_PADDING]]]]
    Set the padding of the given monitor.

focus left|right|up|down
    Focus the neighbor window situated in the given direction.

shift left|right|up|down
    Exchange the current window with the given neighbor.

push left|right|up|down
    Push the fence located in the given direction.

pull left|right|up|down
    Pull the fence located in the given direction.

cycle next|prev [--skip-floating|--skip-tiled|--skip-class-equal|--skip-class-differ]
    Focus the next or previous window matching the given constraints.

nearest older|newer [--skip-floating|--skip-tiled|--skip-class-equal|--skip-class-differ]
    Focus the nearest window matching the given constraints.

circulate forward|backward
    Circulate the leaves in the given direction.

toggle_fullscreen
    Toggle the fullscreen state of the current window.

toggle_floating
    Toggle the floating state of the current window.

toggle_locked
    Toggle the locked state of the current window (locked windows will not respond to the 'close' message).

toggle_visibility
    Toggle the visibility of all the managed windows.

close
    Close the focused window.

kill
    Kill the focused window.

send_to DESKTOP_NAME [--follow]
    Send the focused window to the given desktop.

send_to_monitor MONITOR_NAME [--follow]
    Send the focused window to the given monitor.

use DESKTOP_NAME
    Select the given desktop.

use_monitor MONITOR_NAME
    Select the given monitor.

alternate
    Alternate between the current and the last focused window.

alternate_desktop
    Alternate between the current and the last focused desktop.

alternate_monitor
    Alternate between the current and the last focused monitor.

add DESKTOP_NAME ...
    Make new desktops with the given names.

add_in MONITOR_NAME DESKTOP_NAME ...
    Make new desktops with the given names in the given monitor.

rename_monitor CURRENT_NAME NEW_NAME
    Rename the monitor named CURRENT_NAME to NEW_NAME.

rename CURRENT_NAME NEW_NAME
    Rename the desktop named CURRENT_NAME to NEW_NAME.

cycle_monitor next|prev
    Select the next or previous monitor.

cycle_desktop next|prev [--skip-free|--skip-occupied]
    Select the next or previous desktop.

layout monocle|tiled [DESKTOP_NAME ...]
    Set the layout of the given desktops (current if none given).

cycle_layout
    Cycle the layout of the current desktop.

rotate clockwise|counter_clockwise|full_cycle
    Rotate the tree of the current desktop.

rule PATTERN [DESKTOP_NAME] [floating]
    Create a new rule (PATTERN must match the class or instance name).

remove_rule UID ...
    Remove the rules with the given UIDs.

adopt_orphans
    Manage all the unmanaged windows remaining from a previous session.

reload_autostart
    Reload the autostart file.

reload_settings
    Reload the default settings.

restore FILE_PATH
    Restore the layout of each desktop from the content of FILE_PATH.

quit [EXIT_STATUS]
    Quit.

Settings

Colors are either X color names or #RRGGBB, booleans are true or false.

focused_border_color
    Color of the main border of a focused window of a focused monitor.

active_border_color
    Color of the main border of a focused window of an unfocused monitor.

normal_border_color
    Color of the main border of an unfocused window.

inner_border_color
    Color of the inner border of a window.

outer_border_color
    Color of the outer border of a window.

presel_border_color
    Color of the *presel* message feedback.

focused_locked_border_color
    Color of the main border of a focused locked window of a focused monitor.

active_locked_border_color
    Color of the main border of a focused locked window of an unfocused monitor.

normal_locked_border_color
    Color of the main border of an unfocused locked window.

urgent_border_color
    Color of the border of an urgent window.

inner_border_width
main_border_width
outer_border_width
    Width of the inner, main and outer borders.

window_gap
    Value of the gap that separates windows.

{top,right,bottom,left}_padding
    Padding space added at the sides of the current monitor.

wm_name
    The value that shall be used for the _NET_WM_NAME property of the root window.

button_modifier
    The modifier mask used for mouse bindings (possible values: 'shift', 'control', 'lock', 'mod1' ... 'mod5').

borderless_monocle
    Whether to remove borders for tiled windows in monocle mode.

gapless_monocle
    Whether to remove gaps for tiled windows in monocle mode.

focus_follows_mouse
    Wether to focus the window under the mouse pointer.

adaptative_raise
    Prevent floating windows from being raised when they might cover other floating windows.

Mouse Bindings

button_modifier + left mouse button
    Move the window under the pointer.

button_modifier + middle mouse button
    Focus the window under the pointer.

button_modifier + right mouse button
    Resize the window under the pointer (by moving one of its four corners).

Key Features

• Configured and controlled through messages
• Multiple monitors support (via Xinerama)
• EWMH support (tint2 works)
• Automatic and manual modes
• Triple window borders

Panel

Multiple choices:

• dzen2 fed with the output of ewmhstatus. Example: launchpanel.
• A custom panel if the -s flag is used (have a look at the files in examples/).
• Any EWMH compliant panel (e.g. tint2, bmpanel2, etc.).

Required Libraries:

• libxcb
• xcb-util
• xcb-util-wm
• xcb-util-keysyms

Installation

make
make install

Contributors

• Ivan Kanakarakis

Mailing List

bspwm at librelist dot com.