A minimal floating window manager for X11, written in C++.
- Maps new windows as soon as they are created
- Move a window:
Alt+ left mouse button + drag - Resize a window:
Alt+ right mouse button + drag - Quit the window manager:
Alt+Shift+Q - Close a window:
Super+Q - Open the application launcher:
Super+D - Open a terminal:
Super+Space - Switch workspace:
Super+0-9
ace/
├── include/ header files
│ ├── window_manager.h
│ ├── ewmh.h
│ ├── process.h
│ └── config.h
├── src/ source files
│ ├── main.cpp
│ ├── window_manager.cpp
│ ├── ewmh.cpp
│ ├── process.cpp
│ └── config.cpp
├── Makefile
├── README.md
├── run.sh
├── CONTRIBUTING.md
└── ... (Other files)
ace itself doesn't launch anything on its own — it relies on external programs configured by you:
On first run, ace creates a config file at ~/.config/ace/config (if it
doesn't already exist)
You can change alacritty (or any other program) to any terminal emulator installed on your
system (e.g. xterm, kitty, foot) — ace will launch whatever you put
there when you press Super + Space.
- g++ with C++17 support
- libX11 (headers and library)
On Arch Linux:
sudo pacman -S libx11
make
The ace binary will be produced in the project root. You can write make help to see Makefile command list
For testing without leaving your current session, use Xephyr:
sudo pacman -S xorg-server-xephyr
Xephyr :1 -screen 1280x800 &
DISPLAY=:1 ./ace
Alternatively, the included run.sh script does this for you: it
checks that Xephyr is installed and that ace has been built, then starts
Xephyr and launches ace on DISPLAY=:1.
chmod +x run.sh
./run.sh
Then, in that same DISPLAY=:1, you can launch any X11 application, e.g.:
DISPLAY=:1 xterm
To use ace as your main window manager, add this to ~/.xinitrc:
exec /path/to/ace
and start your session with startx.
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPLv3).
See the LICENSE file for the full text.