vwl

wlroots-based Wayland compositor with virtual outputs and physical cursor continuity. Originally forked from dwl.

LOC: 5228 total, 2772 vwl.c

Features

• virtual outputs (split physical monitors into independent workspaces)
• physical cursor continuity (smooth cursor movement across monitor gaps)
• master/stack tiling
• tabbed layout
• fullscreen modes (virtual/monitor)
• per-workspace layout state
• XWayland support

Keybinds

mod = logo key

• mod+return spawn terminal
• mod+d spawn menu
• mod+q kill client
• mod+j/k focus next/prev
• mod+h/l adjust master width
• mod+m zoom (swap master)
• mod+f toggle fullscreen (virtual -> monitor -> off)
• mod+t toggle tabbed layout
• mod+space cycle layout
• mod+shift+e quit compositor
• mod+comma focus monitor left
• mod+period focus monitor right
• mod+shift+</> move client to monitor left/right
• mod+0-9 view workspace 0-9
• mod+shift+0-9 move client to workspace 0-9
• mod+ctrl+shift+h/j/k/l move workspace to virtual output

Building

make

Running

./vwl

Dependencies

• wlroots 0.19
• wayland-server
• xkbcommon
• libinput
• pixman
• optional: xcb, xcb-icccm (for XWayland)

Configuration

Edit config.def.h and recompile.

Key settings:

• physical cursor gap jumps: enable_physical_cursor_gap_jumps
• virtual output rules: vorules[]
• monitor rules: monrules[]
• keyboard/trackpad settings

Virtual Outputs

Split physical monitors into named regions. Each region gets its own workspace. Move workspaces between regions with mod+ctrl+shift+hjkl.

static const VirtualOutputRule vorules[] = {
    /* monitor  name       x    y     w    h   mfact nmaster lt[0]        lt[1] */
    { "DP-1",   "left",    0,   0,  960, 1080, 0.55f, 1, &layouts[0], &layouts[1] },
    { "DP-1",   "right", 960,   0,  960, 1080, 0.55f, 1, &layouts[0], &layouts[1] },
};

• w/h of 0 = expand to monitor's remaining space
• mfact = master area factor (0.0-1.0)
• nmaster = number of master windows
• lt[0]/lt[1] = primary/secondary layout functions

Fullscreen Modes

• virtual fullscreen: fills virtual output region
• monitor fullscreen: fills entire physical monitor

Toggle with mod+f cycles through: off -> virtual -> monitor -> off

Physical Cursor Continuity

Seamless cursor tracking across monitor gaps. Set physical dimensions in monrules[].

static const MonitorRule monrules[] = {
    /* name      scale transform          x    y   phys{} */
    { "DP-1",    1.0f, WL_OUTPUT_TRANSFORM_NORMAL, 0, 0, {
        .width_mm = 520,    /* physical width in mm */
        .height_mm = 320,   /* physical height in mm */
        .x_mm = 0,          /* physical X position */
        .y_mm = 0,          /* physical Y position */
        .size_is_set = 1,   /* use explicit size */
        .origin_is_set = 1, /* use explicit origin */
    }},
    { NULL, 1, WL_OUTPUT_TRANSFORM_NORMAL, -1, -1, {} }, /* fallback */
};

• x/y = pixel position (-1,-1 = auto)
• scale = HiDPI factor
• transform = rotation (NORMAL/90/180/270/FLIPPED_*)
• phys{} = real-world dimensions for cursor math

Howtos

Startup Script

~/.config/vwl/run

#!/bin/sh
waybar &
swayidle -w \
  timeout 300 'swaylock -f' \
  timeout 600 'wlopm --off \*' \
  resume 'wlopm --on \*' \
  before-sleep 'swaylock -f' &

Manual Lock With swayidle

config.h

static const char *lockcmd[] = { "sh", "-c", "sleep 1 && killall -USR1 swayidle", NULL };
/* ... */
{ MODKEY|WLR_MODIFIER_SHIFT, XKB_KEY_L, spawn, {.v = lockcmd} },

SIGUSR1 triggers swayidle's lock timeout, ensuring wake-on-input works.

Screenshot

config.h

static const char *screenshotcmd[] = { "sh", "-c",
  "grim -g \"$(slurp)\" ~/Pictures/Screenshots/$(date +'%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S').png", NULL };
static const char *screenshotclipboardcmd[] = { "sh", "-c",
  "slurp | grim -g - - | wl-copy", NULL };
/* ... */
{ 0,     XKB_KEY_Print, spawn, {.v = screenshotcmd} },
{ MODKEY, XKB_KEY_Print, spawn, {.v = screenshotclipboardcmd} },

Status

Work in progress, used daily by the dev.