herbstluftwm(1) Manual Page

use PATH as autostart file instead of the one in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME

print version and exit

print verbose information to stderr

quits herbstluftwm

executes the autostart file

prints the version of the running herbstluftwm instance.

lists all available commands.

list currently configured monitors with their index, area (as rectangle) and currently viewed tag.

adds a key binding. When KEY is pressed, the internal COMMAND (with its ARGS) is executed. A Keybinding is a (possibly empty) list of modifiers (Mod4, Mod1, Alt, Super, Ctrl, Shift) and one key (see keysymdef.h for a list of keys). Modifiers and the key are concatenated with - or + as separator. If there is already a binding for this KEY, it will be overwritten. Examples:

removes the key binding for KEY. Syntax for KEY is defined in keybind.

spawns an EXECUTABLE with its ARGS. For details see man 3 execvp. Example:

executes the WINDOWMANAGER with its ARGS. This is useful to switch the window manager in the running session without restarting the session. If no or an invalid WINDOWMANAGER is given, then herbstluftwm is restarted. For details see man 3 execvp. Example:

cycles the selection within the current frame by DELTA. If DELTA is omitted, DELTA = 1 will be used. DELTA can be negative; DELTA = -1 means: cycle in the opposite direction by 1.

cycles through all windows and frames on the current tag. DIRECTION = 1 means forward, DIRECTION = -1 means backward, DIRECTION = 0 has no effect. DIRECTION defaults to 1. If there are multiple windows within on frame, then it acts similar to the cycle command. (The cycle_all command focuses the next/previous leave in the layout tree)

cycles the layout algorithm in the current frame by DELTA. DELTA defaults to 1. Currently only 1 is useful because there are only two algorithms so far:

closes the focused window.

splits the focused frame into two subframes with a specified FRACTION between 0 and 1. ALIGN can be horizontal or vertical (actually it only depends on the first letter of ALIGN). Example:

moves the focus from current frame to the next frame or client in DIRECTION which is in:

If -i (internal) is given or default_direction_external_only is unset, then the next client in DIRECTION can also be within the same frame. If there is no client within this frame or -e (external) is given, then the next frame in specified DIRECTION will be focused.

The direction between frames is defined as follows: The focus is in a leaf of the binary tree. Each inner node in the tree remembers the last focus direction (child 0 or child 1). The algorithm is going as short as possible from the leaf (the currently focused frame) to the root until it is possible to change focus in the specified DIRECTION. From there the focus goes back to the leaf.

Example: The focus is at frame A. After executing focus right focus will be at frame C.

Tree:  V,0     Screen: .-----..-----. (before)
       / \             |  B  ||  C  |
      /   \            '-----''-----'
    H,1   H,0          .-----..-----.
    / \   / \          |  A* ||  D  |
   A*  B C   D         '-----''-----'

Tree:  V,0     Screen: .-----..-----. (after focus right)
       / \             |  B  ||  C* |
      /   \            '-----''-----'
    H,1   H,0          .-----..-----.
    / \   / \          |  A  ||  D  |
   A   B C*  D         '-----''-----'

raises the specified window, which is specified by hexadecimal 0xWINID. If no 0xWINID is given, the focused window will be raised. Its result is only visible in floating mode.

changes the next fraction in specified DIRECTION by FRACTIONDELTA. DIRECTION is specified at the focus command. You should not omit the sign - or +, because in future versions, the behaviour may change if the sign is omitted. Example:

shifts the focused window to the next frame in the specified DIRECTION. The DIRECTIONS and -i|-e behave as specified at the focus command. If focus_follows_shift is set, then focus stays in the window; otherwise it stays in the frame.

removes focused frame and merges its windows to its neighbour frame.

sets the specified setting NAME to VALUE. All SETTINGS are listed in the section below.

prints the value of setting NAME. All SETTINGS are listed in the section below.

toggles the setting NAME if it’s an integer setting: if value was 0, it becomes 1, else value becomes 0.

cycles monitor focused by DELTA. DELTA defaults to 1.

puts focus to monitor with specified INDEX (as specified by the list_monitors command)

creates a new empty tag named TAG.

switches focused monitor to specified TAG.

removes tag named TAG and moves all its windows to tag TARGET. If TARGET is omitted, the focused tag will be used.

renames tag named OLDTAG to NEWTAG.

moves the focused window to tag named TAG.

adds a monitor on the specified rectangle RECT and displays TAG on it. TAG currently must not be displayed on any other monitor. RECT is a string of the form WxH+X+Y. The padding specifies extra space around the monitor for some statusbars/panels. If no or an empty padding is given, it is set to 0. Example:

removes the monitor with specified INDEX. Its INDEX can be found out via the list_monitors command.

moves the monitor with specified INDEX to rectangle RECT. INDEX and RECT are defined as in remove_monitor and add_monitor. If no or an empty pad is given, it is not changed.

sets the pad of indexed monitor to the specified padding. If no or an empty padding is given, it is not changed.

prints the layout of TAG in a nice tree style. Its style is defined by the tree_style setting. If no TAG is given, current tag is used.
An example output is:

╾─┐horizontal 50% selection=1
  ├╼ vertical: 0xe00009
  └─┐vertical 50% selection=0
    ├╼ vertical: 0xa00009 [FOCUS]
    └╼ vertical: 0x1000009

prints the same information as the layout command but in a machine readable format. Its output can be read back with the load command.
An example output (formatted afterwards) is:

(split horizontal:0.500000:1
    (clients vertical:0 0xe00009)
    (splitvertical:0.500000:1
        (clients vertical:0 0xa00009)
        (clients vertical:0 0x1000009)))

loads a given LAYOUT description to specified TAG or current tag if no TAG is given.

prints the result of tab completion in partial written COMMAND with optional ARGS. You usually do not need this, because there is already tab completion for bash. Example:

emits specified hook to all idling herbstclients.

print a tab separated list of all tags for specified MONITOR index. If no MONITOR index is given, the focused monitor is used. Each tag name is prefixed with one char, which indicates its state:

changes the current tag to floating/tiling mode on specified TAG or prints it current status. If no TAG is given, current tag is used. If no argument is given, floating mode is toggled. If status is given, then on or off is printed, depending of the floating state on TAG.

the gap between frames in the tiling mode.

if a client is dragged in floating mode, then it snaps to neighbour clients if the distance between them is smaller then snap_distance.

specifies the remainig gap if a dragged client snaps to an edge in floating mode. If snap_gap is set to 0, no gap will remain.

the border color of a focused frame

the border color of an unfocused frame

the fill color of a focused frame

the fill color of an unfocused frame (It is only visible if always_show_frame is set)

if set, frames have transparent backgrounds.

border width of a frame

if set, a window is raised if it is focused. The value of this setting is only noticed in floating mode.

if set, a window is raised if it is clicked. The value of this setting is only noticed in floating mode.

border width of a window

border color of a focused window

border color of an unfocused window

If set, all frames are displayed. If unset, only frames with focus or with windows in it are displayed.

sets the frame layout, if a new frame is created (by split or on a new tag).

this setting controls the behaviour of focus and shift if no -e or -i argument is given. if set, then focus and shift changes the focused frame even if there are other clients in this frame in the specified DIRECTION. Else, a client within current frame is selected if it is in the specified DIRECTION.

If set, focus stays in the window, if window is shifted to another frame. If unset, focus stays in the frame.

If set and a window is focused by mouse cursor, this window is focused (This feature is also known as sloppy focus). If unset, you need to click to change the window focus by mouse.

If set: If you want to view a tag, that already is viewed on another monitor, then the monitor contents will be swapped and you see the wanted tag on the focused monitor. If not set, nothing will be swapped.

If the class property of a new created window matches the ignore_class regex, then it will not be managed, i.e. will not be put in the layout or on tags. Example value: ^(Xfce4-notifyd|Conky)$

It contains the chars that are used to print a nice ascii tree. It must contain at least 8 characters. e.g. X|:#+*-. produces a tree like:

X-.root
  #-.child 0
  | #* child 01
  | +* child 02
  +-.child 1
  : #* child 10
  : +* child 01

the tag TAG was selected on MONITOR.

the flags (i.e. urgent or filled state) have been changed.

a tag named TAG was added.

the tag named TAG was removed.

the urgent state of client with given WINID has been changed to [on|off].

specifies the DISPLAY to use.