V3 of GlazeWM (aka. the Rust rewrite) is finally done 🎉🦀This includes a bunch of fixes from the V3 preview build from last week.

Thanks for all the patience, troubleshooting, and contributions during the last couple months. This update is a complete and total rewrite of GlazeWM, introducing a bunch of new features.

The installer can be downloaded from the release assets below. On launch, a new config is generated at %userprofile%/.glzr/glazewm/config.yaml. Since the config path has changed, it won't clash with previous versions of GlazeWM.

Discord server⚡

Changelog

New bar implementation

The built-in bar has been replaced with Zebar. This change addresses issues in the original WPF-based bar, and makes the bar significantly more customizable in appearance and functionality. Zebar is still in its fairly early stages, so there will be bugs and missing features, but it's quickly evolving past what was possible with the built-in bar (drop a message in the #dev-chat Discord channel if you're a dev keen to work on a Zebar feature💛).

Zebar can optionally be installed directly through the GlazeWM installer below. This will generate a sample config for Zebar at %userprofile%/.glzr/zebar/config.yaml.

Command changes

Commands have been renamed to be more consistent and can now take arguments or optional flags that modify the command's behavior. For example:

# Resize the window to have a 2% smaller width.
resize --width -2%

# Shift focus to the left.
focus --direction left

# Shift focus to a workspace with the name `1`.
focus --workspace 1

# Change the window to be floating, and show it above all other windows.
set-floating --shown-on-top

These changes also make it a lot more intuitive to call commands from the CLI. For example, to focus workspace 1 via the CLI, run the following in a terminal:

glazewm.exe command focus --workspace 1

Help menus exist to list all available commands and the flags/arguments that a command takes in. For example, glazewm.exe command --help to list all available commands, and glazewm.exe command focus --help for help with the focus command specifically.

Window behavior

There's been a number of changes to make window behavior more customizable. A new window_behavior config option exists:

window_behavior:
  # New windows are created in this state whenever possible.
  # Allowed values: 'tiling', 'floating'.
  initial_state: 'tiling'

  # Sets the default options for when a new window is created. This also
  # changes the defaults for when the state change commands, like
  # `set-floating`, are used without any flags.
  state_defaults:
    floating:
      # Whether to center floating windows by default.
      centered: true

      # Whether to show floating windows as always on top.
      shown_on_top: false

    fullscreen:
      # Maximize the window if possible. If the window doesn't have a
      # maximize button, then it'll be fullscreen'ed normally instead.
      maximized: false

      # Whether to show fullscreen windows as always on top.
      shown_on_top: false

The initial_state option can optionally float every window by default, essentially allowing GlazeWM to be used as a floating window manager instead.

The state_defaults option makes it possible to change window behavior on a global basis, as well as on a per-window basis. For example, if a fullscreen game is opened, it can by default be launched as maximized and shown on top depending on the state_defaults.fullscreen config. Window rules can be used to override these defaults for individual windows (e.g. to show certain windows as always on top).

Proper fullscreen support

Along with the window behavior changes above, V3 introduces support for handling fullscreen windows. There's now a separate "fullscreen" state that can be activated via alt+f in the default keybindings. GlazeWM will also detect whenever windows enter a fullscreen state.

A window can be fullscreen either if it's maximized, or if it takes up the full size of the monitor. There's a flag to choose between the two behaviors (i.e. set-fullscreen --maximized and set-fullscreen).

Moving windows

The way that tiling and floating windows are moved around via alt+hkl has been overhauled and made snappier. Quick demo of the new movement behavior for floating windows:

Tiling window can also now be moved by dragging them around (thanks to #635 by @LucaCoduriV).

🎉 Other features

• Windows that are running as admin can now be managed by GlazeWM.
• More flexible keys are allowed in keybindings (e.g. alt+;, and localized keys like alt+å). Details here.
• The bind_to_monitor: <NUMBER> workspace option is now based off the monitor's position. 0 is your leftmost screen, 1 is the next one to the right, and so on.
• Cursor jump has more intuitive behavior and can be configured via the new general.cursor_jump option.
• Added general.startup_commands option for running commands when the WM has started up (e.g. to run a script, or launch another app).
• The shell-exec command (previously called exec) no longer has issues with having to escape some characters or having to wrap paths in double quotes. These are all valid commands:
  • shell-exec chrome
  • shell-exec %ProgramFiles%/Git/git-bash.exe --cd="C:\"
  • shell-exec C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\code.exe

🐛 Bug fixes

• Fixed crashes and inconsistencies on display setting changes, system standby, and monitor disconnections.
• Improved reliability when restoring hidden windows on crash.
• Start menu no longer opens when pressing a keybinding that used the Windows key.
• Fixed crash in certain tiling layouts.
• Fixed crash if the config is reloaded with errors.
• And many more...
  • #629 #625 #623 #612 #600 #589 #587 #576 #560 #559 #554 #550 #535 #518 #495 #470 #451 #443 #410 #354 #310 #304 #298 #283 #158

🚨 All breaking changes

• Removed the built-in bar and any bar-related config options.
• Commands and keybindings now always use the commands and bindings config options. Removed command and binding config options.
• Window rules, gaps, and focus borders are defined in a different config format.
• Significant changes to command names. See cheatsheet for an updated list of commands.
• Minor changes to naming of CLI and IPC commands. The glazewm npm package has already been updated to reflect these changes.
• Removed general.window_animations. This is instead changed via the system tray icon.
• Removed general.center_new_floating_windows. This is instead changed via window_behavior.state_defaults.floating.centered.
• Removed general.show_floating_on_top. This is instead changed via window_behavior.state_defaults.floating.show_on_top.
• Removed general.floating_window_move_amount. Floating windows are not moved by a fixed percentage.
• Removed general.cursor_follows_focus in favor of new general.cursor_jump config option.

Thanks again to those who helped with the V3 update, particularly @HolbyFPV, @ehellman, and @LucaCoduriV! 💛