How dwm-titus Works

dwm-titus uses a maintained fork of dwm, a compact window manager for X11. A window manager controls where application windows appear, how they are arranged, and which window receives input. Unlike a full desktop environment, upstream dwm focuses on this core job and is configured primarily in source code.

The dwm community traditionally distributes optional features as source-code “patches.” dwm-titus already integrates and maintains a curated set of those ideas alongside its own runtime configuration, Quickshell desktop layer, Settings experience, and system helpers. Users do not need to find or apply patches themselves.

This page documents the major technical additions to the window-manager core and how they support the complete desktop experience.

Window Management Patches

Pertag

Each tag independently remembers its layout, master count, and master/stack sizing. Switching tags restores the previous layout for that tag.

Cfact

Assign per-window size weights within the stack area. Windows are no longer forced to equal height.

Movestack

Reorder windows within the stack without using the mouse.

Window Swallowing

When a GUI application is launched from a terminal, it replaces the terminal in the layout. Closing the app brings the terminal back.

Controlled via window rules in config.h:

{ "Alacritty", NULL, NULL, 0, 0, 1, 0, -1 },  /* isterminal = 1 */

Fullscreen (3-State)

Three fullscreen modes available:

Bar & EWMH

Quickshell Integration

The managed Quickshell layer reads dwm workspace and active-window state through EWMH-compatible helpers so the panel stays synchronized with X11 state. The Control Center includes a Power page for screen DPMS and automatic locking settings backed by ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/dwm-titus/power.conf.

EWMH Compliance

Implements _NET_WM_STATE, _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP, _NET_NUMBER_OF_DESKTOPS, and related atoms so external tools and taskbars work correctly.

Window Icons

Title bar icons via _NET_WM_ICON. Applications that set this atom display their icon in the bar.

Systray

A built-in system tray is compiled in and can be configured in config.h.

Visual

Noborder

When only one window is visible on a tag, its border is automatically removed for a cleaner look. Borders return when a second window appears.

Cursor Warp

When focus moves to a different window or monitor (via keyboard), the mouse cursor warps to the center of the newly focused window.

Live Configuration

TOML Hotkeys (hotkeys.toml)

Keybindings are parsed from config/hotkeys.toml at runtime. Edit and save — bindings update without recompiling or restarting dwm.

TOML Themes (themes.toml)

Colors for dwm, terminal, GTK, and Qt are sourced from config/themes.toml. Save the file to apply a new theme instantly across supported apps.

Scripts & Utilities

Multi-Monitor

Xinerama support keeps tags independent per monitor. Windows can be moved between monitors with Super + Shift + ,/..