bspwm

Tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

TLDR

Start bspwm with a configuration file

$ bspwm -c [path/to/config]

bspwm is a tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning. It organizes windows in a full binary tree structure, recursively splitting the screen into regions.The window manager is controlled entirely through bspc, which sends commands via a socket. Configuration is done through shell scripts that run bspc commands, typically at ~/.config/bspwm/bspwmrc.Hotkey binding is handled separately by tools like sxhkd (Simple X Hotkey Daemon).

PARAMETERS

-c config

Path to configuration file (default: ~/.config/bspwm/bspwmrc)

-s socket

Path to the socket file

-o count

Number of monitors

CONFIGURATION

~/.config/bspwm/bspwmrc

Shell script executed at startup to configure bspwm via bspc commands.

~/.config/sxhkd/sxhkdrc

Hotkey configuration for sxhkd, the companion hotkey daemon.

INSTALL

sudo apt install bspwm

sudo dnf install bspwm

sudo pacman -S bspwm

sudo apk add bspwm

sudo zypper install bspwm

nix profile install nixpkgs#bspwm

CAVEATS

Must not be started when another window manager is running. Requires a separate hotkey daemon (sxhkd) for keyboard shortcuts. Configuration is shell scripts, not config files.

HISTORY

bspwm was created by Bastien Dejean and follows the Unix philosophy of doing one thing well. It delegates hotkey handling and bar display to separate programs.

RESOURCES

Source code