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A minimal tiling window manager for X11, written in C++. One of biggest plus: ace uses only ~5 RAM megabytes

Default keybinds

Every keybind can be changed in the config file, see Configuration.

• Maps new windows as soon as they are created and tiles them automatically
• Windows are arranged in a master and stack layout: the first window takes the left side, the rest are stacked on the right
• Focus follows the mouse pointer
• Focus the next or previous window: Super + J / Super + K
• Swap the focused window with the next or previous one: Super + Shift + J / Super + Shift + K
• Make the focused window the master: Super + Return
• Shrink or grow the master area: Super + H / Super + L
• Quit the window manager: Super + Ctrl + Q
• Close a window: Super + Q
• Open the application launcher: Super + D
• Open a terminal: Super + Space
• Switch workspace: Super + 0-9
• Move the focused window to a workspace: Super + Shift + 0-9
• Make fullscreen: Super + F
• Reload the config: Super + R

System-wide installation

If you want to select ace as a session from your login manager (LightDM, GDM, SDDM, etc.), use the commands in Makefile.

make install copies the ace binary to /usr/bin and assets/ace.desktop to /usr/share/xsessions, so it shows up in the session picker on the login screen:

sudo make clean install

make uninstall removes both of these:

sudo make uninstall

Both commands require root, since they write to /usr/bin and /usr/share/xsessions.

Configuration

On first run, ace creates a config file at ~/.config/ace/config (if it doesn't already exist) and fills it with the defaults. Keybinds are defined with bind lines:

mod = Super

bind = mod+Space exec kitty
bind = mod+D exec rofi -show drun
bind = mod+Q close
bind = mod+1..9 workspace
bind = mod+Shift+1..9 move_to_workspace

• mod is the main modifier, written once and reused as mod in every bind. It can be Super, Alt, Ctrl, Shift, or a combination such as Super+Alt
• A bind is <modifiers>+<key> <action> [argument]. Key names are the usual X11 keysym names (Space, Return, Tab, F1, comma, ...)
• 1..9 is a key range for workspace actions: each key switches to or moves the window to the workspace with the same number. 0 is workspace 10
• Invalid lines are skipped and reported on stderr
• If the config has no bind lines at all, the defaults are used

Available actions:

• exec <command>: run a program
• close: close the focused window
• quit: quit ace
• fullscreen: toggle fullscreen for the focused window
• focus_next, focus_prev: move focus through the windows
• swap_next, swap_prev: swap the focused window with its neighbour
• promote: make the focused window the master
• master_shrink, master_grow: resize the master area
• workspace <1-10>: switch workspace
• move_to_workspace <1-10>: move the focused window to a workspace
• reload: reload the config without restarting ace

ace itself doesn't launch anything on its own. The defaults rely on external programs:

• a terminal emulator, kitty
• an application launcher, rofi

Change kitty in the mod+Space line to any terminal emulator installed on your system (e.g. xterm, alacritty, foot).

Dependencies

• g++ with C++17 support
• libX11 (headers and library)

On Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S libx11 xorg-server-xephyr

On Debian based:

sudo apt install libx11-dev xserver-xephyr

On Alpine:

sudo apk add libx11 xorg-server-xephyr

Building

make

The ace binary will be produced in the project root. You can write make help to see Makefile command list

Running

For testing without leaving your current session, use Xephyr:

Xephyr :1 -screen 1280x800 &
DISPLAY=:1 ./ace

Alternatively, just run:

make run

This checks that Xephyr is installed, builds ace if needed, then starts Xephyr and launches ace on DISPLAY=:1.

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. Or select in your greeter

Screenshots

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPLv3). See the LICENSE file for the full text.