nwm

Minimal tiling X11 window manager. ~1000 lines. No config files. No runtime dependencies.

Contents

• Quick Start
• vs dwm
• Features
• Screenshots
• Installation
• Usage
• Key Bindings
• Configuration
• How It Works
• Contributing
• Star History
• Related
• License

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Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/tinyopsec/nwm
cd nwm
make && sudo make install
echo "exec nwm" >> ~/.xinitrc
startx

Note

The default terminal is st and the default launcher is dmenu_run. Change them in nwm.h before compiling if you use something else (see Configuration).

For display managers, place a session file at /usr/share/xsessions/nwm.desktop (see Usage).

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vs dwm

nwm takes direct inspiration from dwm but diverges in a few concrete ways:

Area	dwm	nwm
Lines of code	~2000	~900 - fits in one reading session
RAM at idle	~2-3 MB	~1 MB - leaner process image
Tiling arithmetic	Can accumulate pixel remainder	Integer division, no drift
Gap support	Requires patching	Built in via gappx
Mod+Tab behavior	Inconsistent across patches	Deterministic XOR for both tags and layouts
OpenBSD pledge(2)	Not supported	Supported natively
POSIX compliance	Uses GNU extensions in places	Strict POSIX C99 throughout
Status bar	Built-in bar, requires patching to remove	No bar - use any external panel or none
Config complexity	~100 lines of config + patch management	Single flat nwm.h, no patch stack
Audit surface	Large - bar, fonts, drawing code	Minimal - window management only

dwm's bar and font rendering alone account for a significant portion of its codebase. nwm drops all of that. No drawing, no text, no color schemes beyond three border hex values.

If you already run a patched dwm, nwm is roughly what you end up with after applying the gaps and pertag patches - except the behavior is defined once, not assembled from diffs.

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Features

Category	Details
Layouts	Tiling (master/stack), floating, monocle
Workspaces	9 tags via bitmasks; windows may carry multiple tags
Mouse support	Move, resize, toggle floating via modifier + button
Gaps	Configurable gappx on all sides
Borders	Inactive, focused, and urgent colors at compile time
Fullscreen	Toggle via keybind or _NET_WM_STATE_FULLSCREEN
Urgent hints	XUrgencyHint and _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW handled
Auto-float	_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DIALOG windows float automatically
EWMH	_NET_WM_STATE, _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW, _NET_CLIENT_LIST, _NET_SUPPORTING_WM_CHECK
ICCCM	WM_DELETE_WINDOW, WM_TAKE_FOCUS, WM_NORMAL_HINTS, WM_HINTS
OpenBSD	pledge(2) support; also builds on FreeBSD
Compilation	Clean under gcc -std=c99 -pedantic -Wall -Wextra

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Screenshots

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Installation

Requirements

Dependency	Arch	Debian / Ubuntu	Void	Alpine
Xlib	libx11	libx11-dev	libX11-devel	libx11-dev
C compiler	gcc or clang	build-essential	gcc	build-base

No runtime dependencies beyond Xlib.

From Source

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tinyopsec/nwm
cd nwm
make
sudo make install   # installs to /usr/local/bin/nwm

Change PREFIX in the Makefile to install elsewhere.

AUR (Arch Linux)

yay -S nwm

Package: aur.archlinux.org/packages/nwm

FreeBSD / OpenBSD / NetBSD / DragonFly

Install Xlib via the system package manager, then edit the top of the Makefile to point at your system's X11 paths. The relevant lines are already present but commented out:

# Uncomment for OpenBSD / FreeBSD:
# INCS = -I/usr/X11R6/include
# LIBS = -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lX11

Then build normally:

make && sudo make install

nwm uses pledge(2) on OpenBSD automatically - no extra steps needed.

Uninstall

sudo make uninstall

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Usage

Starting nwm

Add to ~/.xinitrc:

picom &
feh --bg-scale ~/wallpaper.png &
exec nwm

nwm has no built-in autostart. Launch background processes from .xinitrc or a wrapper script before the exec line.

For display managers:

# /usr/share/xsessions/nwm.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Name=nwm
Comment=Minimal tiling X11 window manager
Exec=nwm
Type=Application

Terminal and Launcher

Defaults in nwm.h:

static const char *termcmd[]  = { "st", NULL };
static const char *dmenucmd[] = { "dmenu_run", NULL };

To use alacritty and rofi:

static const char *termcmd[]  = { "alacritty", NULL };
static const char *dmenucmd[] = { "rofi", "-show", "run", NULL };

Important

Recompile after any change to nwm.h: make && sudo make install

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Key Bindings

The default modifier is Super (Win). To use Alt instead, change #define MODKEY Mod4Mask to Mod1Mask in nwm.h.

Windows and Layouts

Key	Action
Mod + Return	Spawn terminal
Mod + d	Spawn launcher (dmenu)
Mod + j	Focus next window in stack
Mod + k	Focus previous window in stack
Mod + h	Shrink master area by 5%
Mod + l	Grow master area by 5%
Mod + i	Increase master window count
Mod + o	Decrease master window count
Mod + Space	Promote focused window to master
Mod + t	Tiling layout
Mod + f	Floating layout
Mod + m	Monocle layout
Mod + F11	Toggle fullscreen
Mod + Shift + Space	Toggle floating for focused window
Mod + q	Kill focused window
Mod + Shift + e	Quit nwm

Tags

Key	Action
Mod + 1-9	Switch to tag
Mod + Ctrl + 1-9	Toggle tag view (show alongside current)
Mod + Shift + 1-9	Move focused window to tag
Mod + Ctrl + Shift + 1-9	Toggle tag assignment on focused window
Mod + 0	View all tags
Mod + Shift + 0	Assign focused window to all tags
Mod + Tab	Return to previous tag view (XOR two-slot)

Note

Mod+Tab is not a simple "previous tag" shortcut. It uses the same two-slot XOR mechanism as layout switching - it always restores the exact tag bitmask that was active before the last view change, including combined multi-tag views.

Mouse (modifier held over a client window)

Button	Action
Mod + Button1	Move window
Mod + Button2	Toggle floating
Mod + Button3	Resize window

Dragging or resizing a tiled window beyond snap pixels from its position automatically makes it floating. The snap threshold is configurable in nwm.h.

All bindings are defined in the keys[] and buttons[] arrays in nwm.h.

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Configuration

nwm is configured at compile time by editing nwm.h. There is no config file, no IPC, no reload mechanism.

Important

After every change to nwm.h, run make && sudo make install and restart nwm.

Option	Default	Description
borderpx	2	Border width in pixels
gappx	6	Gap size between windows and screen edges
col_nborder	#1e1e1e	Inactive border color
col_sborder	#7c9e7e	Focused border color
col_uborder	#c47f50	Urgent window border color
mfact	0.5	Master area ratio (0.05-0.95)
nmaster	1	Initial number of master windows
snap	16	Edge snap / float-on-drag threshold in pixels
attachbottom	0	Set to 1 to append new windows at bottom of stack
focusonopen	1	Set to 0 to keep focus on the current window when a new one opens

Modifier Key

#define MODKEY Mod4Mask   /* Super / Win key */
// #define MODKEY Mod1Mask   /* Alt key */

Border Colors

static const char col_nborder[] = "#1e1e1e";  /* inactive */
static const char col_sborder[] = "#7c9e7e";  /* focused  */
static const char col_uborder[] = "#c47f50";  /* urgent   */

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How It Works

nwm manages windows through a flat client list and a parallel focus stack. The tiling algorithm divides the screen into a master area and a stack area, computing tile sizes with integer arithmetic - no floating-point accumulation, no pixel drift across redraws.

Tags are bitmasks. Each client carries a tag bitmask; the active view is a bitmask. A client is visible when the bitwise AND of its tags and the current view is nonzero. This means one window can appear on multiple tags simultaneously.

Layout and tag history both use a two-slot XOR system. nwm keeps the current and previous values in a two-element array and flips an index bit on each change. Mod+Tab flips the index back - always returning to whatever was active before, whether that was a layout or a tag view.

flowchart TD
    start([Start]) --> chkwm[check for another WM]
    chkwm --> setup[setup: init display, atoms, colors,\ngrab keys, scan existing windows]
    setup --> run[run: main event loop]
    run --> next{XNextEvent}
    next -->|KeyPress| kp[KeyPress handler\nkp]
    next -->|ButtonPress| bp[ButtonPress handler\nbp]
    next -->|MapRequest| mapreq[MapRequest handler\nmapreq]
    next -->|ConfigureRequest| cfgreq[ConfigureRequest handler\ncfgreq]
    next -->|ClientMessage| cmsg[ClientMessage handler\ncmsg]
    next -->|DestroyNotify| destnot[DestroyNotify handler\ndestnot]
    next -->|EnterNotify| entnot[EnterNotify handler\nentnot]
    next -->|PropertyNotify| propnot[PropertyNotify handler\npropnot]
    next -->|UnmapNotify| unmapnt[UnmapNotify handler\nunmapnt]
    next -->|FocusIn| fcin[FocusIn handler\nfcin]
    next -->|MappingNotify| mapnot[MappingNotify handler\nmapnot]
    next -->|Other| run
    kp --> keyfn{execute key action}
    keyfn --> spawn(spawn process)
    keyfn --> killcl(kill client)
    keyfn --> quit(quit WM)
    keyfn --> view(view / toggle view)
    keyfn --> tag(tag client)
    keyfn --> tgltag(toggle tag on client)
    keyfn --> fcs(change focus)
    keyfn --> incnm(change master count)
    keyfn --> setmf(set master factor)
    keyfn --> setlt(set layout)
    keyfn --> zoom(zoom client)
    keyfn --> tglfs(toggle fullscreen)
    keyfn --> tglfl(toggle floating)
    bp --> btnfn{execute button action}
    btnfn --> mv(move client)
    btnfn --> tglfl
    btnfn --> rz(resize client)
    mapreq --> mg[mg: create Client struct,\nconfigure, add to list,\nmap window, arrange]
    cmsg --> cmsg_act{handle client message}
    cmsg_act --> setfs(set fullscreen state)
    cmsg_act --> seturg(set urgent state)
    destnot --> unmng[unmng: remove client,\nfree, update lists, arrange]
    entnot --> fc[fc: focus client under pointer]
    fcin --> setfocus[setfocus: restore input focus]
    propnot --> prop_act{update properties}
    prop_act --> updwmh(update WM hints)
    prop_act --> updtype(update window type)
    prop_act --> seturg
    unmapnt --> unmng
    mapnot --> grabkeys(grabkeys: reacquire key binds)
    mg --> ar
    unmng --> ar
    fc --> ar
    setfs --> ar
    fcs --> ar
    view --> ar
    tag --> ar
    tgltag --> ar
    incnm --> ar
    setmf --> ar
    setlt --> ar
    zoom --> ar
    tglfl --> ar
    mv --> ar
    rz --> ar
    spawn -.->|fork+exec| app([external app])
    ar[ar: rearrange layout\ntile / monocle]
    ar --> shide[shide: hide/show/resize clients]
    shide --> rst[rst: restack windows]
    run -->|running = 0| cleanup[cleanup: free clients,\nungrab keys, destroy windows]
    cleanup --> stop([Stop])

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Contributing

Bug reports and patches are welcome via GitHub Issues and pull requests.

Code requirements

• No comments in production code
• No external dependencies
• No over-abstraction or wrapper layers
• Compiles clean: gcc -std=c99 -pedantic -Wall -Wextra
• Total source stays under 1000 lines

Optional features behind #ifdef or compile-time constants are considered. Core event loop changes are reviewed carefully.

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Star History

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Related

Suckless ecosystem

Project	Link
dwm	dwm.suckless.org
st terminal	st.suckless.org
dmenu	tools.suckless.org/dmenu
suckless.org	suckless.org

Specifications

Spec	Link
EWMH	freedesktop.org
ICCCM	x.org
Xlib manual	x.org

Packages

Distro	Link
AUR (Arch)	aur.archlinux.org/packages/nwm

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License

MIT. See LICENSE for details.