DWN - Desktop Window Manager

Author: retoor retoor@molodetz.nl

A lightweight, AI-enhanced window manager for Linux with tiling, floating, and fullscreen layouts.

Quick Start (Copy & Paste These Commands)

# 1. Install dependencies (enter your password when asked)
make deps

# 2. Build DWN
make

# 3. Test it (opens in a safe window - won't affect your desktop)
make run

That's it! Press Super+Backspace to exit the test window.

What is DWN?

DWN is a window manager - the program that controls how windows look and behave on your screen. It replaces your current desktop environment (like GNOME, KDE, or XFCE) with a faster, keyboard-driven alternative.

Features:

  • 3 window layouts: Tiling (windows don't overlap), Floating (like normal), Monocle (fullscreen)
  • 9 virtual workspaces to organize your windows
  • Built-in panels with clock, taskbar, and system tray
  • XDG Autostart support (automatically starts nm-applet, blueman, etc.)
  • WiFi network selector with dropdown menu (like XFCE)
  • Audio volume indicator with scroll-to-adjust
  • Desktop notifications
  • Optional AI assistant (can launch apps by command!)
  • Very fast and lightweight

Installation

Step 1: Install Dependencies

Run this command (works on Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and Arch):

make deps

This installs everything DWN needs. You'll need to enter your password.

If make deps doesn't work, install manually:

  • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config libx11-dev libxext-dev libxinerama-dev libxrandr-dev libdbus-1-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev xserver-xephyr dmenu network-manager alsa-utils
  • Fedora: sudo dnf install gcc make pkg-config libX11-devel libXext-devel libXinerama-devel libXrandr-devel dbus-devel libcurl-devel xorg-x11-server-Xephyr dmenu NetworkManager alsa-utils
  • Arch: sudo pacman -S base-devel pkg-config libx11 libxext libxinerama libxrandr dbus curl xorg-server-xephyr dmenu networkmanager alsa-utils

Step 2: Build

make

You should see "Build successful!" at the end.

Step 3: Test (Recommended!)

Before installing, test DWN in a safe window:

make run

This opens DWN inside a window on your current desktop. You can try it out without changing anything. Press Super+Backspace to close it.

Step 4: Install

sudo make install

Step 5: Use DWN

  1. Log out of your current session
  2. At the login screen, click the gear icon (or session selector) near your username
  3. Select "DWN" from the list
  4. Log in!

Basic Controls

Essential Shortcuts (Memorize These!)

Keys What it does
Ctrl + Alt + T Open a terminal
Super or Alt + F2 Open app launcher
Super + E Open file manager
Super + B Open web browser
Alt + Tab Switch between windows
Alt + F4 Close current window
Super + Backspace Exit DWN (important!)
Super + S Show all shortcuts
Super + T Start interactive tutorial
Super + Shift + D Demo mode (automated feature showcase)

Workspaces

Keys What it does
Ctrl + Alt + Right Next workspace
Ctrl + Alt + Left Previous workspace
F1 to F9 Switch to workspace 1-9
Shift + F1 to Shift + F9 Move window to workspace 1-9

Window Management

Keys What it does
Alt + F9 Toggle minimize/restore
Alt + F10 Toggle maximize
Alt + F11 Toggle fullscreen
Super + F9 Toggle floating mode
Alt + Tab Cycle windows forward
Alt + Shift + Tab Cycle windows backward

Layout Control (Super key shortcuts)

Keys What it does
Super + Space Change layout mode (tiling → floating → monocle)
Super + H Shrink main area
Super + L Expand main area
Super + I Add window to main area
Super + D Remove window from main area
Super + Left Snap window to left half (50% width)
Super + Right Snap window to right half (50% width)

AI Features (Optional)

Keys What it does
Super + A Show AI context info
Super + Shift + A Ask AI to do something (e.g., "open firefox")
Super + Shift + E Exa semantic web search

News Ticker

The bottom panel displays a scrolling news ticker. Navigate articles with these shortcuts:

Keys What it does
Super + Down Next news article
Super + Up Previous news article
Super + Return Open current article in browser

Other Shortcuts

Keys What it does
Print Take screenshot (xfce4-screenshooter)

System Tray

The top panel includes a system tray on the right side with support for external application icons plus built-in battery, audio, and WiFi indicators.

XEmbed System Tray (External Application Icons)

DWN implements the freedesktop.org XEmbed System Tray protocol, allowing external applications to dock their status icons in the panel - just like XFCE, GNOME, or KDE. This means applications like:

  • Telegram - Shows notification icon when messages arrive
  • nm-applet - NetworkManager GUI applet
  • blueman-applet - Bluetooth manager
  • pasystray - PulseAudio volume control
  • udiskie - USB device automounter
  • clipit/parcellite - Clipboard managers

...will automatically appear in your system tray when launched.

Simply start any application with tray icon support and it will dock itself in the panel. Click on icons to interact with them - clicks are forwarded to the application.

Battery Indicator

Shows battery percentage on laptops with color coding:

  • Green: > 50%
  • Yellow: 20-50%
  • Red: < 20%
  • Blue: Charging

WiFi Indicator

Located in the top-right corner of the panel, showing your current connection status.

Action What it does
Click on WiFi icon Open dropdown with available networks
Click on a network Connect to that network
Click on connected network Disconnect

The dropdown shows:

  • Available WiFi networks with signal strength
  • ● marker next to the currently connected network
  • Networks are sorted and updated automatically

Note: Requires NetworkManager (nmcli) to be installed.

Audio Indicator

Shows current volume level next to the WiFi indicator.

Action What it does
Left-click Toggle mute/unmute
Scroll up Increase volume by 5%
Scroll down Decrease volume by 5%

Note: Requires ALSA utilities (amixer) to be installed.

Configuration

DWN can be customized by editing a config file.

Create Your Config

mkdir -p ~/.config/dwn
cp /etc/dwn/config.example ~/.config/dwn/config

Edit Your Config

Open ~/.config/dwn/config in any text editor. Here are common changes:

Change terminal:

[general]
terminal = gnome-terminal

Options: xfce4-terminal, gnome-terminal, konsole, alacritty, xterm

Change app launcher:

[general]
launcher = rofi -show run

Change layout:

[layout]
default = floating

Options: tiling, floating, monocle

Change window gaps:

[appearance]
gap = 10
border_width = 2

Configure autostart:

[autostart]
enabled = true
xdg_autostart = true
path = ~/.config/dwn/autostart.d

DWN automatically starts applications from XDG autostart directories:

  • /etc/xdg/autostart/ - System apps (nm-applet, blueman, etc.)
  • ~/.config/autostart/ - User apps
  • ~/.config/dwn/autostart.d/ - DWN-specific symlinks

To add custom autostart apps:

mkdir -p ~/.config/dwn/autostart.d
ln -s /usr/bin/telegram-desktop ~/.config/dwn/autostart.d/

AI Features (Optional)

DWN has an AI assistant that can run commands for you. For example, you can press Super+Shift+A, type "open chrome", and it will launch Chrome.

AI Command Setup (OpenRouter)

  1. Go to openrouter.ai and create a free account
  2. Get your API key
  3. Add it to your shell config:
echo 'export OPENROUTER_API_KEY="your-key-here"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
  1. Make sure dmenu is installed: sudo apt install dmenu

Exa Semantic Search Setup

  1. Go to dashboard.exa.ai and create an account
  2. Get your API key
  3. Add it to your shell config:
echo 'export EXA_API_KEY="your-key-here"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Usage

  • Press Super + A to see AI context info about your current task
  • Press Super + Shift + A to ask the AI to do something:
    • "open firefox" - launches Firefox
    • "run terminal" - opens a terminal
    • "what time is it" - answers your question
  • Press Super + Shift + E to search the web semantically:
    • Type a question like "how to configure nginx"
    • Select a result to open in browser

Troubleshooting

"make: command not found"

Install build tools:

sudo apt install build-essential

"X11 libraries not found" or build errors

Install dependencies:

make deps

Can't find DWN at login screen

Make sure you ran sudo make install, then:

ls /usr/share/xsessions/dwn.desktop

If missing:

sudo cp scripts/dwn.desktop /usr/share/xsessions/

Terminal shortcut doesn't work

Install the default terminal:

sudo apt install xfce4-terminal

Or change terminal in config (see Configuration section).

Screen is blank after login

DWN started but there's nothing to show. Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open a terminal.

How do I get back to my normal desktop?

  1. Press Super+Backspace to exit DWN
  2. At login screen, select your previous desktop (GNOME, KDE, etc.)

AI says "dmenu not found"

sudo apt install dmenu

WiFi indicator not working

Make sure NetworkManager is installed and running:

sudo apt install network-manager
sudo systemctl enable --now NetworkManager

Audio indicator not working

Make sure ALSA utilities are installed:

sudo apt install alsa-utils

Uninstall

sudo make uninstall

Then select a different desktop at the login screen.

All Make Commands

Command What it does
make help Show all commands
make deps Install dependencies
make Build DWN
make debug Build with debug symbols
make run Test in a window
make install Install system-wide
make uninstall Remove from system
make clean Delete build files
make format Format source code
make check Run static analysis

License

MIT License - do whatever you want with it.

Credits