Default keybinds¶

Movement

up, down, left or right refer to the arrow keys in your keyboard.

Keybinding	Description
Mod + (1-9)	Switch to a desktop/tag
Mod + Shift + (1-9)	Move the focused window to desktop/tag
Mod + W	Switch the desktops for each screen. Desktops [1][2] changes to [2][1]
Mod + Shift + W	Move window to the other desktop
Mod + (up or down)	Focus on the different windows in the current workspace
Mod + Shift + (up or down)	Move the different windows in the current workspace
Mod + Enter	Move selected window to the top of the stack in the current workspace
Mod + Ctrl + (up or down)	Switch between different layouts
Mod + Shift + (left or right)	Switch between different workspaces
Mod + Shift + Enter	Open a terminal
Mod + Ctrl + L	Lock the screen
Mod + Shift + X	Exit LeftWM
Mod + Shift + Q	Close the current window
Mod + Shift + R	Reload LeftWM and its config
Mod + p	Use dmenu to start application

Note: Although we encourage you to use Alacritty, LeftWM will set your default terminal to the first terminal it finds in this list (in the order presented):

•

Alacritty

•

Termite

•

Kitty

•

URXVT

•

RXVT

•

ST

•

ROXTerm

•

Eterm

•

XTerm

•

Terminator

•

Terminology

•

Gnome Terminal

•

XFCE4 Terminal

•

Konsole

•

UXTerm

•

Guake

About Keybind Modifiers

Note: All entries require a modifier, even if blank: modifier: [] see your config.ron file for more information.

Floating Windows¶

You can optionally switch between tiling or floating mode for any window.

FloatingToTile¶

This behaviour snaps the currenly focused window into the workspace below.

TileToFloating¶

This behaviour switches the currently focused window to floating mode when it's tiled.

ToggleFloating¶

This behaviour switches the currenly focused window between floating and tiled mode.

Modkey¶

The modkey is the most important setting. It is used by many other settings and controls how key bindings work:

Default: modkey = "Mod4" (windows key)

Mousekey¶

The mousekey is similarly quite important. This value can be used to determine which key, when held, can assist a mouse drag in resizing or moving a floating window or making a window float or tile.

Default: mousekey = "Mod4" (windows key)

Focus Behaviour¶

LeftWM has 3 focusing behaviours (Sloppy, ClickTo, and Driven) and 2 options (focus_new_windows, sloppy_mouse_follows_focus), which alter the way focus is handled. These encompass 5 different patterns:

1.

Sloppy Focus. Focus follows the mouse, hovering over a window brings it to focus. This behaviour have a variant which is toggled with the sloppy_mouse_follows_focus option:

-

When true, the cursor will follow the focus and teleport to the window that takes focus.

-

When false, the cursor isn't moved by LeftWM at all.

2.

Click-to-Focus. Focus follows the mouse, but only clicks change focus.

3.

Driven Focus. Focus disregards the mouse, only keyboard actions drive the focus.

Default:

focus_behaviour = "Sloppy" # Can be Sloppy, ClickTo, or Driven
focus_new_windows = true
sloppy_mouse_follows_focus = true # Only active with the Sloppy behaviour
    

Cursor Behaviour on Resize¶

LeftWM automatically snaps the mouse to the lower right hand corner when a window is being resized. This behaviour is controlled by the disable_cursor_reposition_on_resize setting. When true, the cursor will not be repositioned on resize start. When false or unspecified, the cursor will be snapped to the lower right corner of the window which is being resized.

Default: disable_cursor_reposition_on_resize = false

Window Creation and Cursor Focus¶

In multi-workspace layouts (such as with multiple monitors), LeftWM will, by default, create the new window on the workspace where the cursor is currently located, even if that workspace is not the workspace which is focused. In Click-to-Focus and Driven Focus modes, however, it is often desirable to create the window in the focused workspace, not the one wherein the mouse is located. The create_follows_cursor feature allows for changing this behavior. New windows will be created in the workspace:

-

Containing the cursor when unset (None), Some(true), or when the cursor is in Sloppy mode

-

Which is focused when set to Some(false)

Default: create_follows_cursor = None

Layouts¶

Leftwm supports a variety of user definable layouts. Layouts define the way that windows are tiled in the workspace.

The layouts considered by leftwm can be customized in the config.ron file by editing the layouts and the layout_definitions entries.

The layouts in the layouts list are those accessible when switching layouts. For an example with a single layout:

layouts = [ "MyMainAndVertStack" ]
    

Each list in the layouts list must have a corresponding definition in the layout_definitions entry. For example:

layout_definitions = [(


  name: "MyMainAndVertStack",


  flip: None,


  rotate: North,


  reserve: ReserveAndCenter,


  columns: (


    flip: None,


    rotate: North,


    main: (count: 1, size: 0.8, flip: None, rotate: North, split: None),


    stack: (flip: None, rotate: North, split: Horizontal),


    second_stack: None,


  ),
)]
    

The size of the main area can be controlled with the IncreaseMainSize and DecreaseMainSize commands.

There are various possiblities for the other parameters, and the user is referred to the default configuration file to see a large selection of examples.

Workspaces¶

Workspaces are how you view tags (desktops). A workspace is an area on a screen or most likely the whole screen. in this areas you can view a given tag.

Default: workspaces: [] (one workspace per screen)

Example (two workspaces on a single ultrawide):

workspaces: [


    ( y: 0, x: 0, height: 1440, width: 1720 ),


    ( y: 0, x: 1720, height: 1440, width: 1720 ),
]
    

Workspaces can also be applied to a specific screen by using the output field. If this field is used, all size-related fields get relative to the output's position. You can set multiple workspaces per screen.

If you only set per-screen workspaces, unassigned screens will be automatically given a workspace.

You can get the output names by running xrandr in your terminal.

Again the example for an ultra-wide screen, splitting workspaces by substracting half the width:

workspaces: [


    ( output: "HDMI-1", y: 0, x: 0, height: 1440, width: -1720 ),


    ( output: "HDMI-1", y: 0, x: 1720, height: 1440, width: -1720 ),
]
    

Tags¶

Tags are the names of the virtual desktops where windows live. In other window managers these are sometimes just called desktops. You can rename them to any unicode string including symbols/icons from popular icon libraries such as font-awesome.

Default: tags: ["1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9"]

Scratchpads¶

A scratchpad is a set of windows which you can call to any tag and hide it when not needed. These windows can be any set of application which can be run from a terminal. To call a scratchpad you will require a keybind for ToggleScratchPad. When you want to manipulate the currently focused scratchpad, other commands like ReleaseScratchPad, AttachScratchPad and NextScratchPadWindow/PrevScratchPadWindow are available.

Example:

scratchpad: [


    ( name: "Alacritty", // This is the name which is referenced when calling (case-sensitive)


      value: "alacritty", // The command to load the application if it isn't started (first application to start)


      args: ["-e", "python"], // Any arguments to pass to the command


      // x, y, width, height are in pixels when an integer is inputted or a percentage when a float is inputted.


      // These values are relative to the size of the workspace, and will be restricted depending on the workspace size.


      x: 860, y: 390, height: 300, width: 200 


    ),
]