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sway(5) File Formats Manual sway(5) NAME sway - configuration file and commands DESCRIPTION A sway configuration file is a list of sway commands that are executed by sway on startup. These commands usually consist of setting your preferences and setting key bindings. An example config is likely present in /etc/sway/config for you to check out. Lines in the configuration file might be extended through multiple lines by adding a '\' character at the end of line. e.g.: bindsym Shift+XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec \ pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ -1% Commands can also be given as a block in the form command { <subcom- mands...> }. Anything before the opening { will be prepended to the lines inside the block. For example: output eDP-1 { background ~/wallpaper.png fill resolution 1920x1080 } is identical to output eDP-1 background ~/wallpaper.png fill output eDP-1 resolution 1920x1080 These commands can be executed in your config file, via swaymsg(1), or via the bindsym command. COMMAND CONVENTIONS Commands are split into several arguments using spaces. You can enclose arguments with quotation marks ("..." or '...') to add spaces to a sin- gle argument. You may also run several commands in order by separating each with , or ;. Criteria is retained across commands separated by ,, but will be reset (and allow for new criteria, if desired) for commands separated by a ;. Throughout the documentation, | is used to distinguish between argu- ments for which you may only select one. [...] is used for optional ar- guments, and <...> for arguments where you are expected to supply some value. COMMANDS This section only lists general commands. For input and output com- mands, refer to sway-input(5) and sway-output(5). Config only commands The following commands may only be used in the configuration file. bar [<bar-id>] <bar-subcommands...> For details on bar subcommands, see sway-bar(5). default_orientation horizontal|vertical|auto Sets the default container layout for tiled containers. include <paths...> Include files from paths. paths can include either a full path or a path relative to the parent config, and expands shell syntax (see wordexp(3) for details). The same include file can only be included once; subsequent attempts will be ignored. scratchpad_minimize enable|disable Adjusts if minimized windows should be moved into the scratchpad. Must be set at config-time (when starting sway). swaybg_command <command> Executes custom background command. Default is swaybg. Refer to sway-output(5) for more information. It can be disabled by setting the command to a single dash: swaybg_command - swaynag_command <command> Executes custom command for swaynag. Default is swaynag. Additional arguments may be appended to the end. This should only be used to either direct sway to call swaynag from a custom path or to provide additional arguments. This should be placed at the top of the con- fig for the best results. It can be disabled by setting the command to a single dash: sway- nag_command - workspace_layout default|stacking|tabbed Specifies the initial layout for new containers in an empty work- space. xwayland enable|disable|force Enables or disables Xwayland support, which allows X11 applications to be used. enable will lazily load Xwayland so Xwayland will not be launched until the first client attempts to connect. In some cases, such as slower machines, it may be desirable to have Xway- land started immediately by using force instead of enable. Runtime only commands The following commands cannot be used directly in the configuration file. They are expected to be used with bindsym or at runtime through swaymsg(1). border none|normal|csd|pixel [<n>] Set border style for focused window. normal includes a border of thickness n and a title bar. pixel is a border without title bar n pixels thick. The title bar always shows in stacking or tabbed lay- outs. csd is short for client-side-decorations, which allows the client to draw its own decorations. Default is normal with border thickness 2. border toggle Cycles through the available border styles. exit Exit sway and end your Wayland session. floating enable|disable|toggle Make focused window floating, non-floating, or the opposite of what it is now. <criteria> focus Moves focus to the container that matches the specified criteria. focus up|right|down|left Moves focus to the next container in the specified direction. focus prev|next [sibling] Moves focus to the previous or next container in the current lay- out. By default, the last active child of the newly focused con- tainer will be focused. The sibling option indicates not to immedi- ately focus a child of the container. focus child Moves focus to the last-focused child of the focused container. focus parent Moves focus to the parent of the focused container. focus output up|right|down|left Moves focus to the next output in the specified direction. focus output <name> Moves focus to the named output. focus tiling Sets focus to the last focused tiling container. focus floating Sets focus to the last focused floating container. focus mode_toggle Moves focus between the floating and tiled layers. fullscreen [enable|disable|toggle] [global] Makes focused window fullscreen, non-fullscreen, or the opposite of what it is now. If no argument is given, it does the same as tog- gle. If global is specified, the window will be fullscreen across all outputs. gaps inner|outer|horizontal|vertical|top|right|bottom|left all|current set|plus|minus|toggle <amount> Changes the inner or outer gaps for either all workspaces or the current workspace. outer gaps can be altered per side with top, right, bottom, and left or per direction with horizontal and verti- cal. inhibit_idle focus|fullscreen|open|none|visible Set/unset an idle inhibitor for the window. focus will inhibit idle when the window is focused by any seat. fullscreen will inhibit idle when the view is fullscreen (or a descendant of a fullscreen container) and is visible. open will inhibit idle until the window is closed (or the inhibitor is unset/changed). visible will inhibit idle when the window is visible on any output. none will remove any existing idle inhibitor for the window. This can also be used with criteria to set an idle inhibitor for any existing window or with for_window to set idle inhibitors for future windows. layout default|splith|splitv|stacking|tabbed Sets the layout mode of the focused container. When using the stacking layout, only the focused window in the con- tainer is displayed, with the opened windows' list on the top of the container. The tabbed layout is similar to stacking, but the windows list is vertically split. layout toggle [split|all] Cycles the layout mode of the focused container though a preset list of layouts. If no argument is given, then it cycles through stacking, tabbed and the last split layout. If split is given, then it cycles through splith and splitv. If all is given, then it cy- cles through every layout. layout toggle [split|tabbed|stacking|splitv|splith] [split|tabbed|stacking|splitv|splith]... Cycles the layout mode of the focused container through a list of layouts. max_render_time off|<msec> Controls when the relevant application is told to render this win- dow, as a positive number of milliseconds before the next time sway composites the output. A smaller number leads to fresher rendered frames being composited by sway and lower perceived input latency, but if set too low, the application may not finish rendering before sway composites the output, leading to delayed frames. When set to off, the relevant application is told to render this window immediately after display refresh. How much time is left for rendering before sway composites the output at that point depends on the output max_render_time setting. To set this up for optimal latency: 1. Set up output max_render_time (see sway-output(5)). 2. Put the target application in full-screen and have it continu- ously render something. 3. Start by setting max_render_time 1. If the application drops frames, increment by 1. This setting only has an effect if a per-output max_render_time is in effect on the output the window is currently on. See sway-out- put(5) for further details. allow_tearing yes|no Allows or disallows screen tearing as a result of immediate page flips for a fullscreen application. When this option is not set, the tearing hints provided by the ap- plication determine whether tearing is allowed. When yes is speci- fied, the application allows tearing regardless of the tearing hints. When no is specified, tearing will never be allowed on the application, regardless of the tearing hints. This setting only has an effect if tearing is allowed on the output through the per-output allow_tearing setting. See sway-output(5) for further details. move left|right|up|down [<px> px] Moves the focused container in the direction specified. The op- tional px argument specifies how many pixels to move the container. If unspecified, the default is 10 pixels. Pixels are ignored when moving tiled containers. move [absolute] position <pos_x> [px|ppt] <pos_y> [px|ppt] Moves the focused container to the specified position in the work- space. The position can be specified in pixels or percentage points, omitting the unit defaults to pixels. If absolute is used, the position is relative to all outputs. absolute can not be used with percentage points. move [absolute] position center Moves the focused container to be centered on the workspace. If ab- solute is used, it is moved to the center of all outputs. move position cursor|mouse|pointer Moves the focused container to be centered on the cursor. move [container|window] [to] mark <mark> Moves the focused container to the specified mark. move [--no-auto-back-and-forth] [container|window] [to] workspace [num- ber] <name> Moves the focused container to the specified workspace. The string number is optional and is used to match a workspace with the same number, even if it has a different name. move [container|window] [to] workspace prev|next|current Moves the focused container to the previous, next or current work- space on this output, or if no workspaces remain, the previous or next output. move [container|window] [to] workspace prev_on_output|next_on_output Moves the focused container to the previous or next workspace on this output, wrapping around if already at the first or last work- space. move [container|window] [to] workspace back_and_forth Moves the focused container to previously focused workspace. move [container|window] [to] output <name-or-id>|current Moves the focused container to the specified output. move [container|window] [to] output up|right|down|left Moves the focused container to next output in the specified direc- tion. move [container|window] [to] scratchpad Moves the focused container to the scratchpad. move workspace [to] output <name-or-id>|current Moves the focused workspace to the specified output. move workspace to [output] <name-or-id>|current Moves the focused workspace to the specified output. move workspace [to] output up|right|down|left Moves the focused workspace to next output in the specified direc- tion. move workspace to [output] up|right|down|left Moves the focused workspace to next output in the specified direc- tion. nop <comment> A no operation command that can be used to override default behav- iour. The optional comment argument is ignored, but logged for de- bugging purposes. reload Reloads the sway config file and applies any changes. The config file is located at path specified by the command line arguments when started, otherwise according to the priority stated in sway(1). rename workspace [<old_name>] to <new_name> Rename either <old_name> or the focused workspace to the <new_name> resize shrink|grow width|height [<amount> [px|ppt]] Resizes the currently focused container by amount, specified in pixels or percentage points. If the units are omitted, floating containers are resized in px and tiled containers by ppt. amount will default to 10 if omitted. resize set height <height> [px|ppt] Sets the height of the container to height, specified in pixels or percentage points. If the units are omitted, floating containers are resized in px and tiled containers by ppt. If height is 0, the container will not be resized. resize set [width] <width> [px|ppt] Sets the width of the container to width, specified in pixels or percentage points. If the units are omitted, floating containers are resized in px and tiled containers by ppt. If width is 0, the container will not be resized. resize set [width] <width> [px|ppt] [height] <height> [px|ppt] Sets the width and height of the container to width and height, specified in pixels or percentage points. If the units are omitted, floating containers are resized in px and tiled containers by ppt. If width or height is 0, the container will not be resized on that axis. scratchpad show Shows a window from the scratchpad. Repeatedly using this command will cycle through the windows in the scratchpad. shortcuts_inhibitor enable|disable Enables or disables the ability of clients to inhibit keyboard shortcuts for a window. This is primarily useful for virtualization and remote desktop software. It affects either the currently fo- cused window or a set of windows selected by criteria. Subcommand disable additionally deactivates any active inhibitors for the given window(s). Criteria are particularly useful with the for_win- dow command to configure a class of windows differently from the per-seat defaults established by the seat subcommand of the same name. See sway-input(5) for more ways to affect inhibitors. split vertical|v|horizontal|h|none|n|toggle|t Splits the current container, vertically or horizontally. When none is specified, the effect of a previous split is undone if the cur- rent container is the only child of a split parent. When toggle is specified, the current container is split opposite to the parent container's layout. splith Equivalent to split horizontal splitv Equivalent to split vertical splitt Equivalent to split toggle sticky enable|disable|toggle "Sticks" a floating window to the current output so that it shows up on all workspaces. swap container with id|con_id|mark <arg> Swaps the position, geometry, and fullscreen status of two contain- ers. The first container can be selected either by criteria or fo- cus. The second container can be selected by id, con_id, or mark. id can only be used with xwayland windows. If the first container has focus, it will retain focus unless it is moved to a different workspace or the second container becomes fullscreen on the same workspace as the first container. In either of those cases, the second container will gain focus. title_format <format> Sets the format of window titles. The following placeholders may be used: %title The title supplied by the window %app_id The wayland app ID (applicable to wayland windows only) %class The X11 classname (applicable to xwayland windows only) %instance The X11 instance (applicable to xwayland windows only) %shell The protocol the window is using (typically xwayland or xdg_shell) %sandbox_engine The associated sandbox engine %sandbox_app_id The app ID provided by the associated sandbox engine %sandbox_instance_id The instance ID provided by the associated sandbox engine This command is typically used with for_window criteria. For exam- ple: for_window [title="."] title_format "<b>%title</b> (%app_id)" Note that markup requires pango to be enabled via the font command. The default format is "%title". Config or runtime commands The following commands may be used either in the configuration file or at runtime. assign <criteria> [] [workspace] [number] <workspace> Assigns windows matching criteria (see CRITERIA for details) to workspace. The (U+2192) is optional and cosmetic. This command is equivalent to: for_window <criteria> move container to workspace <workspace> assign <criteria> [] output left|right|up|down|<name> Assigns windows matching criteria (see CRITERIA for details) to the specified output. The (U+2192) is optional and cosmetic. This com- mand is equivalent to: for_window <criteria> move container to output <output> bindsym [--whole-window] [--border] [--exclude-titlebar] [--release] [--locked] [--to-code] [--input-device=<device>] [--no-warn] [--no-re- peat] [--inhibited] [Group<1-4>+]<key combo> <command> Binds key combo to execute the sway command command when pressed. You may use XKB key names here (wev(1) is a good tool for discover- ing these). With the flag --release, the command is executed when the key combo is released. If input-device is given, the binding will only be executed for that input device and will be executed instead of any binding that is generic to all devices. If a group number is given, then the binding will only be available for that group. By default, if you overwrite a binding, swaynag will give you a warning. To silence this, use the --no-warn flag. For specifying modifier keys, you can use the XKB modifier names Shift, Lock (for Caps Lock), Control, Mod1 (for Alt), Mod2 (for Num Lock), Mod3 (for XKB modifier Mod3), Mod4 (for the Logo key), and Mod5 (for AltGr). In addition, you can use the aliases Ctrl (for Control), Alt (for Alt), and Super (for the Logo key). Unless the flag --locked is set, the command will not be run when a screen locking program is active. If there is a matching binding with and without --locked, the one with will be preferred when locked and the one without will be preferred when unlocked. If there are matching bindings and one has both --input-device and --locked and the other has neither, the former will be preferred even when unlocked. Unless the flag --inhibited is set, the command will not be run when a keyboard shortcuts inhibitor is active for the currently fo- cused window. Such inhibitors are usually requested by remote desk- top and virtualization software to enable the user to send keyboard shortcuts to the remote or virtual session. The --inhibited flag allows one to define bindings which will be exempt from pass- through to such software. The same preference logic as for --locked applies. Unless the flag --no-repeat is set, the command will be run repeat- edly when the key is held, according to the repeat settings speci- fied in the input configuration. Bindings to keysyms are layout-dependent. This can be changed with the --to-code flag. In this case, the keysyms will be translated into the corresponding keycodes in the first configured layout. Mouse bindings operate on the container under the cursor instead of the container that has focus. Mouse buttons can either be specified in the form button[1-9] or by using the name of the event code (ex BTN_LEFT or BTN_RIGHT). For the former option, the buttons will be mapped to their values in X11 (1=left, 2=middle, 3=right, 4=scroll up, 5=scroll down, 6=scroll left, 7=scroll right, 8=back, 9=for- ward). For the latter option, you can find the event names using libinput debug-events. The priority for matching bindings is as follows: input device, group, and locked state. --whole-window, --border, and --exclude-titlebar are mouse-only op- tions which affect the region in which the mouse bindings can be triggered. By default, mouse bindings are only triggered when over the title bar. With the --border option, the border of the window will be included in this region. With the --whole-window option, the cursor can be anywhere over a window including the title, bor- der, and content. --exclude-titlebar can be used in conjunction with any other option to specify that the titlebar should be ex- cluded from the region of consideration. If --whole-window is given, the command can be triggered when the cursor is over an empty workspace. Using a mouse binding over a layer surface's exclusive region is not currently possible. Example: # Execute firefox when alt, shift, and f are pressed together bindsym Mod1+Shift+f exec firefox bindcode [--whole-window] [--border] [--exclude-titlebar] [--re- lease] [--locked] [--input-device=<device>] [--no-warn] [--no-re- peat] [--inhibited] [Group<1-4>+]<code> <command> is also available for binding with key/button codes instead of key/button names. bindswitch [--locked] [--no-warn] [--reload] <switch>:<state> <command> Binds <switch> to execute the sway command command on state changes. Supported switches are lid (laptop lid) and tablet (tablet mode) switches. Valid values for state are on, off and toggle. These switches are on when the device lid is shut and when tablet mode is active respectively. toggle is also supported to run a com- mand both when the switch is toggled on or off. Unless the flag --locked is set, the command will not be run when a screen locking program is active. If there is a matching binding with and without --locked, the one with will be preferred when locked and the one without will be preferred when unlocked. If the --reload flag is given, the binding will also be executed when the config is reloaded. toggle bindings will not be executed on reload. The --locked flag will operate as normal so if the con- fig is reloaded while locked and --locked is not given, the binding will not be executed. By default, if you overwrite a binding, swaynag will give you a warning. To silence this, use the --no-warn flag. Example: # Show the virtual keyboard when tablet mode is entered. bindswitch tablet:on busctl call --user sm.puri.OSK0 /sm/puri/OSK0 sm.puri.OSK0 SetVisible b true # Log a message when the laptop lid is opened or closed. bindswitch lid:toggle exec echo "Lid moved" bindgesture [--exact] [--input-device=<device>] [--no-warn] <ges- ture>[:<fingers>][:directions] <command> Binds gesture to execute the sway command command when detected. Currently supports the hold, pinch or swipe gesture. Optionally can be limited to bind to a certain number of fingers or, for a pinch or swipe gesture, to certain directions. +-------+---------+---------------------------------------------------+ | type | fingers | direction | +-------+---------+---------------------------------------------------+ | hold | 1 - 5 | none | +-------+---------+---------------------------------------------------+ | swipe | 3 - 5 | up, down, left, right | +-------+---------+---------------------------------------------------+ | pinch | 2 - 5 | all above + inward, outward, clockwise, counter- | | | | clockwise | +-------+---------+---------------------------------------------------+ The fingers can be limited to any sensible number or left empty to accept any finger counts. Valid directions are up, down, left and right, as well as inward, outward, clockwise, counterclockwise for the pinch gesture. Multiple directions can be combined by a plus. If a input-device is given, the binding will only be executed for that input device and will be executed instead of any binding that is generic to all devices. By default, if you overwrite a binding, swaynag will give you a warning. To silence this, use the --no-warn flag. The --exact flag can be used to ensure a binding only matches when exactly all specified directions are matched and nothing more. If there is matching binding with --exact, it will be preferred. The priority for matching bindings is as follows: input device, then exact matches followed by matches with the highest number of matching directions. Gestures executed while the pointer is above a bar are not handled by sway. See the respective documentation, e.g. bindgesture in sway-bar(5). Example: # Allow switching between workspaces with left and right swipes bindgesture swipe:right workspace prev bindgesture swipe:left workspace next # Allow container movements by pinching them bindgesture pinch:inward+up move up bindgesture pinch:inward+down move down bindgesture pinch:inward+left move left bindgesture pinch:inward+right move right client.background <color> This command is ignored and is only present for i3 compatibility. client.<class> <border> <background> <text> [<indicator> [<child_bor- der>]] Configures the color of window borders and title bars. The first three colors are required. When omitted indicator will use a sane default and child_border will use the color set for background. Colors may be specified in hex, either as #RRGGBB or #RRGGBBAA. The available classes are: client.focused The window that has focus. client.focused_inactive The most recently focused window within a container which is not focused. client.focused_tab_title A window that has focused descendant container. Tab or stack container title that is the parent of the focused container but is not directly focused. Defaults to focused_inactive if not specified and does not use the indicator and child_border col- ors. client.placeholder Ignored (present for i3 compatibility). client.unfocused A window that does not have focus. client.urgent A window with an urgency hint. Note: Native Wayland windows do not support urgency. Urgency only works for Xwayland windows. The meaning of each color is: border The border around the title bar. background The background of the title bar. text The text color of the title bar. indicator The color used to indicate where a new window will open. In a tiled container, this would paint the right border of the cur- rent window if a new window would be opened to the right. child_border The border around the window itself. The default colors are: +---------------+---------+------------+---------+-----------+------------+ | class | border | background | text | indicator | child_bor- | | | | | | | der | +---------------+---------+------------+---------+-----------+------------+ | background | n/a | #ffffff | n/a | n/a | n/a | +---------------+---------+------------+---------+-----------+------------+ | focused | #4c7899 | #285577 | #ffffff | #2e9ef4 | #285577 | +---------------+---------+------------+---------+-----------+------------+ | focused_in- | #333333 | #5f676a | #ffffff | #484e50 | #5f676a | | active | | | | | | +---------------+---------+------------+---------+-----------+------------+ | fo- | #333333 | #5f676a | #ffffff | n/a | n/a | | cused_tab_ti- | | | | | | | tle | | | | | | +---------------+---------+------------+---------+-----------+------------+ | unfocused | #333333 | #222222 | #888888 | #292d2e | #222222 | +---------------+---------+------------+---------+-----------+------------+ | urgent | #2f343a | #900000 | #ffffff | #900000 | #900000 | +---------------+---------+------------+---------+-----------+------------+ | placeholder | #000000 | #0c0c0c | #ffffff | #000000 | #0c0c0c | +---------------+---------+------------+---------+-----------+------------+ corner_radius <radius> Set corner radius for new windows. smart_corner_radius enable|disable Set corner radius only if there are gaps around the window. default_dim_inactive <value> Adjusts the dimming of inactive windows between 0.0 (no dimming) and 1.0 (fully dimmed) while 0.0 is the default value. dim_inactive <value> This can only be used with a for_window rule. Adjusts the dimming of a window, matching the rule, between 0.0 (no dimming) and 1.0 (fully dimmed). Default value: default_dim_inactive dim_inactive_colors.unfocused <hex color> The color to dim inactive windows with. Example color: #000000FF dim_inactive_colors.urgent <hex color> The color to dim inactive urgent windows with. Example color: #900000FF shadows enable|disable Sets whether or not shadows should be drawn. Can also be set per window with for_window. shadows_on_csd enable|disable Adjusts if shadows should be drawn on windows that draw their own decorations. Note: The shadow might not fit some windows. shadow_blur_radius <value> Adjusts the shadow blur radius of windows between 0 (disabled) and 100 while 20 is the default value. shadow_color <hex color with alpha> The shadow color. Default color: #0000007F shadow_inactive_color <hex color with alpha> The shadow color for inactive windows. Default value: shadow_color shadow_offset <x offset> <y offset> Offset all box shadows by the given value. blur enable|disable Sets whether blur should be drawn. Can also be set per window with for_window. blur_xray enable|disable Sets whether blur should only display the background. blur_passes <value> Adjusts the blur passes of windows between 0 (disabled) and 10 while 2 is the default value. blur_radius <value> Adjusts the blur radius of windows between 0 (disabled) and 10 while 5 is the default value. blur_noise <value> Adjusts the percentage of noise applied to the blur between 0 and 1 while 0.02 (2%) is the default value. blur_brightness <value> Adjusts the percentage of brightness for the blur between 0 and 2 while 0.9 (90%) is the default value. blur_contrast <value> Adjusts the percentage of contrast for the blur between 0 and 2 while 0.9 (90%) is the default value. blur_saturation <value> Adjusts the percentage of saturation for the blur between 0 and 2 while 1.1 (110%) is the default value. default_border normal|none|pixel [<n>] Set default border style for new tiled windows. Config reload won't affect existing windows, only newly created ones after the reload. default_floating_border normal|none|pixel [<n>] Set default border style for new floating windows. This only ap- plies to windows that are spawned in floating mode, not windows that become floating afterwards. exec <shell command> Executes shell command with sh. exec_always <shell command> Like exec, but the shell command will be executed again after re- load. floating_maximum_size <width> x <height> Specifies the maximum size of floating windows. -1 x -1 removes the upper limit. The default is 0 x 0, which will use the width and height of the entire output layout as the maximums floating_minimum_size <width> x <height> Specifies the minimum size of floating windows. The default is 75 x 50. floating_modifier <modifier> [normal|inverse] When the modifier key is held down, you may hold left click to move windows, and right click to resize them. Setting modifier to none disables this feature. If inverse is specified, left click is used for resizing and right click for moving. focus_follows_mouse yes|no|always If set to yes, moving your mouse over a window will focus that win- dow. If set to always, the window under the cursor will always be focused, even after switching between workspaces. focus_on_window_activation smart|urgent|focus|none This option determines what to do when a client requests window ac- tivation. If set to urgent, the urgent state will be set for that window. If set to focus, the window will become focused. If set to smart, the window will become focused only if it is already visi- ble, otherwise the urgent state will be set. Default is urgent. focus_wrapping yes|no|force|workspace This option determines what to do when attempting to focus over the edge of a container. If set to no, the focused container will re- tain focus, if there are no other containers in the direction. If set to yes, focus will be wrapped to the opposite edge of the con- tainer, if there are no other containers in the direction. If set to force, focus will be wrapped to the opposite edge of the con- tainer, even if there are other containers in the direction. If set to workspace, focus will wrap like in the yes case and additionally wrap when moving outside of workspaces boundaries. Default is yes. font [pango:]<font> Sets font to use for the title bars. To enable support for pango markup, preface the font name with pango:. For example, monospace 10 is the default font. To enable support for pango markup, pango:monospace 10 should be used instead. Regardless of whether pango markup is enabled, font should be specified as a pango font description. For more information on pango font descriptions, see https://docs.gtk.org/Pango/type_func.FontDescrip- tion.from_string.html#description force_display_urgency_hint <timeout> [ms] If an application on another workspace sets an urgency hint, switching to this workspace may lead to immediate focus of the ap- plication, which also means the window decoration color would be immediately reset to client.focused. This may make it unnecessarily hard to tell which window originally raised the event. This option allows one to set a timeout in ms to delay the urgency hint reset. titlebar_border_thickness <thickness> Thickness of the titlebar border in pixels titlebar_padding <horizontal> [<vertical>] Padding of the text in the titlebar. horizontal value affects hori- zontal padding of the text while vertical value affects vertical padding (space above and below text). Padding includes titlebar borders so their value should be greater than titlebar_bor- der_thickness. If vertical value is not specified it is set to the horizontal value. If corner_radius is set to be greater than the horizontal or vertical value, the value will be treated as that of corner_radius. titlebar_separator enable|disable Allows to remove the border between titlebar and window content. for_window <criteria> <command> Whenever a window that matches criteria appears, run list of com- mands. See CRITERIA for more details. layer_effects <layer-namespace> <effects> Apply effects on specific layer shell surfaces, eg "waybar" or "rofi". At least one effect needs to be provided. The <layer-name- space> can be gotten through sway-ipc. Note: Surfaces in the bottom layer cannot use these effects. Effects: • blur <enable|disable> • blur_xray <enable|disable> • blur_ignore_transparent <enable|disable> • shadows <enable|disable> • corner_radius <integer> • reset Resets all previously applied effects • reset To reset/disable all previously applied effects to the layer application Example: layer_effects "waybar" { blur enable; blur_xray enable; blur_ignore_transparent en- able; shadows enable; corner_radius 6; } SwayIPC Example (you can only set one effect at a time through `swaymsg`): swaymsg layer_effects "waybar" "blur enable" gaps inner|outer|horizontal|vertical|top|right|bottom|left <amount> Sets default amount pixels of inner or outer gap, where the inner affects spacing around each window and outer affects the spacing around each workspace. Outer gaps are in addition to inner gaps. To reduce or remove outer gaps, outer gaps can be set to a negative value. outer gaps can also be specified per side with top, right, bottom, and left or per direction with horizontal and vertical. This affects new workspaces only, and is used when the workspace doesn't have its own gaps settings (see: workspace <ws> gaps ...). hide_edge_borders [--i3] none|vertical|horizon- tal|both|smart|smart_no_gaps Hides window borders adjacent to the screen edges. Default is none. The --i3 option enables i3-compatible behavior to hide the title bar on tabbed and stacked containers with one child. The smart|smart_no_gaps options are equivalent to setting smart_borders smart|no_gaps and hide_edge_borders none. input <input_device> <input-subcommands...> For details on input subcommands, see sway-input(5). * may be used in lieu of a specific device name to configure all input devices. A list of input device names may be obtained via swaymsg -t get_inputs. seat <seat> <seat-subcommands...> For details on seat subcommands, see sway-input(5). kill Kills (closes) the currently focused container and all of its chil- dren. smart_borders on|no_gaps|off If smart_borders are on, borders will only be enabled if the work- space has more than one visible child. If smart_borders is set to no_gaps, borders will only be enabled if the workspace has more than one visible child and gaps equal to zero. smart_gaps on|off|toggle|inverse_outer If smart_gaps are on gaps will only be enabled if a workspace has more than one child. If smart_gaps are inverse_outer outer gaps will only be enabled if a workspace has exactly one child. mark --add|--replace [--toggle] <identifier> Marks are arbitrary labels that can be used to identify certain windows and then jump to them at a later time. Each identifier can only be set on a single window at a time since they act as a unique identifier. By default, mark sets identifier as the only mark on a window. --add will instead add identifier to the list of current marks for that window. If --toggle is specified mark will remove identifier if it is already marked. mode <mode> Switches to the specified mode. The default mode is default. mode [--pango_markup] <mode> <mode-subcommands...> The only valid mode-subcommands... are bindsym, bindcode, bindswitch, and set. If --pango_markup is given, then mode will be interpreted as pango markup. mouse_warping output|container|none If output is specified, the mouse will be moved to new outputs as you move focus between them. If container is specified, the mouse will be moved to the middle of the container on switch. Default is output. no_focus <criteria> Prevents windows matching <criteria> from being focused automati- cally when they're created. This has no effect on the first window in a workspace. output <output_name> <output-subcommands...> For details on output subcommands, see sway-output(5). * may be used in lieu of a specific output name to configure all outputs. A list of output names may be obtained via swaymsg -t get_outputs. popup_during_fullscreen smart|ignore|leave_fullscreen Determines what to do when a fullscreen window opens a dialog. If smart (the default), the dialog will be displayed. If ignore, the dialog will not be rendered. If leave_fullscreen, the window will exit fullscreen mode and the dialog will be rendered. primary_selection enabled|disabled Enable or disable the primary selection clipboard. May only be con- figured at launch. Default is enabled. set $<name> <value> Sets variable $name to value. You can use the new variable in the arguments of future commands. When the variable is used, it can be escaped with an additional $ (ie $$name) to have the replacement happen at run time instead of when reading the config. However, it does not always make sense for the variable to be replaced at run time since some arguments do need to be known at config time. show_marks yes|no If show_marks is yes, marks will be displayed in the window bor- ders. Any mark that starts with an underscore will not be drawn even if show_marks is yes. The default is yes. opacity [set|plus|minus] <value> Adjusts the opacity of the window between 0 (completely transpar- ent) and 1 (completely opaque). If the operation is omitted, set will be used. tiling_drag enable|disable|toggle Sets whether or not tiling containers can be dragged with the mouse. If enabled (default), the floating_mod can be used to drag tiling, as well as floating, containers. Using the left mouse but- ton on title bars without the floating_mod will also allow the con- tainer to be dragged. toggle should not be used in the config file. tiling_drag_threshold <threshold> Sets the threshold that must be exceeded for a container to be dragged by its titlebar. This has no effect if floating_mod is used or if tiling_drag is set to disable. Once the threshold has been exceeded once, the drag starts and the cursor can come back inside the threshold without stopping the drag. threshold is multiplied by the scale of the output that the cursor on. The default is 9. title_align left|center|right Sets the title alignment. If right is selected and show_marks is set to yes, the marks will be shown on the left side instead of the right side. unbindswitch <switch>:<state> Removes a binding for when <switch> changes to <state>. unbindgesture [--exact] [--input-device=<device>] <gesture>[:<fin- gers>][:directions] Removes a binding for the specified gesture, fingers and directions combination. unbindsym [--whole-window] [--border] [--exclude-titlebar] [--release] [--locked] [--to-code] [--input-device=<device>] <key combo> Removes the binding for key combo that was previously bound with the given flags. If input-device is given, only the binding for that input device will be unbound. unbindcode [--whole-window] [--border] [--exclude-titlebar] [--re- lease] [--locked] [--input-device=<device>] <code> is also avail- able for unbinding with key/button codes instead of key/button names. unmark [<identifier>] unmark will remove identifier from the list of current marks on a window. If identifier is omitted, all marks are removed. urgent enable|disable|allow|deny Using enable or disable manually sets or unsets the window's urgent state. Using allow or deny controls the window's ability to set it- self as urgent. By default, windows are allowed to set their own urgency. workspace [--no-auto-back-and-forth] [number] <[num:]name> Switches to the specified workspace. The num: portion of the name is optional and will be used for ordering. If num: is not given and name is a number, then it will be also be used for ordering. If the no-auto-back-and-forth option is given, then this command will not perform a back-and-forth operation when the workspace is already focused and workspace_auto_back_and_forth is enabled. If the number keyword is specified and a workspace with the number already exists, then the workspace with the number will be used. If a workspace with the number does not exist, a new workspace will be created with the name name. workspace prev|next Switches to the next workspace on the current output or on the next output if currently on the last workspace. workspace prev_on_output|next_on_output Switches to the next workspace on the current output. workspace back_and_forth Switches to the previously focused workspace. workspace <name> gaps inner|outer|horizontal|vertical|top|right|bot- tom|left <amount> Specifies that workspace name should have the given gaps settings when it is created. This command does not affect existing workspaces. To alter the gaps of an existing workspace, use the gaps command. workspace <name> output <outputs...> Specifies that workspace name should be shown on the specified out- puts. Multiple outputs can be listed and the first available will be used. If the workspace gets placed on an output further down the list and an output that is higher on the list becomes available, the workspace will be moved to the higher priority output. This command does not affect existing workspaces. To move an exist- ing workspace, use the move command in combination with the work- space criteria (non-empty workspaces only) or workspace command (to switch to the workspace before moving). workspace_auto_back_and_forth yes|no When yes, repeating a workspace switch command will switch back to the prior workspace. For example, if you are currently on workspace 1, switch to workspace 2, then invoke the workspace 2 command again, you will be returned to workspace 1. Default is no. CRITERIA A criteria is a string in the form of, for example: [app_id="some-application" title="[Rr]egex.*"] The string contains one or more (space separated) attribute/value pairs. They are used by some commands to choose which windows to exe- cute actions on. All attributes must match for the criteria to match. Criteria is retained across commands separated by a ,, but will be re- set (and allow for new criteria, if desired) for commands separated by a ;. Criteria may be used with either the for_window or assign commands to specify operations to perform on new windows. A criteria may also be used to perform specific commands (ones that normally act upon one win- dow) on all windows that match that criteria. For example: Focus on a window with the mark "IRC": [con_mark="IRC"] focus Kill all windows where the title contains "Emacs": [title="Emacs"] kill Several attributes allow regular expressions. These use Perl-compatible regular expressions (PCRE2), which are documented in pcre2pattern(3) and summarized in pcre2syntax(3). For example, this moves all windows with titles ending in "sway" or "Sway" to workspace 1: [title="[Ss]way$"] move workspace 1 You may like to use swaymsg -t get_tree for finding the values of these properties in practice for your applications. The following attributes may be matched with: all Matches all windows. app_id Compare value against the app id. Can be a regular expression. If value is __focused__, then the app id must be the same as that of the currently focused window. app_id are specific to Wayland appli- cations. class Compare value against the window class. Can be a regular expres- sion. If value is __focused__, then the window class must be the same as that of the currently focused window. class are specific to X11 applications and require XWayland. con_id Compare against the internal container ID, which you can find via IPC. If value is __focused__, then the id must be the same as that of the currently focused window. con_mark Compare against the window marks. Can be a regular expression. floating Matches floating windows. id Compare value against the X11 window ID. Must be numeric. id is specific to X11 applications and requires XWayland. instance Compare value against the window instance. Can be a regular expres- sion. If value is __focused__, then the window instance must be the same as that of the currently focused window. instance is specific to X11 applications and requires XWayland. pid Compare value against the window's process ID. Must be numeric. shell Compare value against the window shell, such as "xdg_shell" or "xwayland". Can be a regular expression. If value is __focused__, then the shell must be the same as that of the currently focused window. tiling Matches tiling windows. title Compare against the window title. Can be a regular expression. If value is __focused__, then the window title must be the same as that of the currently focused window. urgent Compares the urgent state of the window. Can be first, last, lat- est, newest, oldest or recent. window_role Compare against the window role (WM_WINDOW_ROLE). Can be a regular expression. If value is __focused__, then the window role must be the same as that of the currently focused window. window_role is specific to X11 applications and requires XWayland. window_type Compare against the window type (_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE). Possible values are normal, dialog, utility, toolbar, splash, menu, drop- down_menu, popup_menu, tooltip and notification. window_type is specific to X11 applications and requires XWayland. workspace Compare against the workspace name for this window. Can be a regu- lar expression. If the value is __focused__, then all the windows on the currently focused workspace matches. sandbox_engine Compare against the associated sandbox engine. Can be a regular ex- pression. If the value is __focused__, then the sandbox engine must be the same as that of the currently focused window. sandbox_app_id Compare against the app ID provided by the associated sandbox en- gine. Can be a regular expression. If the value is __focused__, then the sandbox app ID must be the same as that of the currently focused window. sandbox_instance_id Compare against the instance ID provided by the associated sandbox engine. Can be a regular expression. If the value is __focused__, then the sandbox instance ID must be the same as that of the cur- rently focused window. SEE ALSO sway(1) sway-input(5) sway-output(5) sway-bar(5) sway-ipc(7) pcre2pat- tern(3) pcre2syntax(3) 2025-11-03 sway(5)
NAME | DESCRIPTION | COMMAND CONVENTIONS | COMMANDS | CRITERIA | SEE ALSO
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