Aqueous
Aqueous is a Wayland compositor and window manager built as one native Zig process. Its layout engines, rules, keybindings, input policy, workspaces, and output management all run inside the compositor, which keeps configuration changes predictable and avoids a chain of helper processes or IPC round trips.
Aqueous began as a fork of River, but now owns its window-management policy and configuration format. It retains the small, focused feel of a tiling window manager while adding compositor-side motion and optional Vulkan-rendered visuals.
Highlights
Section titled “Highlights”- Eight built-in layouts:
tile,monocle,grid,rows,dwindle,scrolling,float, andgame-mode - Per-output and per-workspace layout selection
- First-match window rules for layout, workspace, floating geometry, state, opacity, and game-mode placement
- Native output configuration for modes, scale, transforms, adaptive sync, positions, hotplug, and named profiles
- XKB and libinput settings for keyboards, mice, touchpads, and trackpoints
- Optional Vulkan-rendered rounded corners and backdrop blur, plus focus-aware opacity and animated workspace transitions
- A workspace-local window overview (
Super+W) for browsing and focusing every window on the active workspace - Native XWayland support alongside modern Wayland protocols
- A packaged Noctalia shell configuration for a ready-to-use desktop session
Configuration at a glance
Section titled “Configuration at a glance”Aqueous uses four focused TOML files under ~/.config/aqueous/:
wm.tomlfor outputs, bindings, commands, struts, and global policylayout.tomlfor layout defaults, engine options, slots, and overridesinput.tomlfor XKB, keyboard repeat, and libinput policyrules.tomlfor per-window behavior and game-mode policy
The compositor watches these files and publishes validated replacement
snapshots when they change. Most edits become visible within a second, or
immediately when you press the configured reload_config binding. Use
aqueousctl to inspect window identities, layer-shell namespaces, output modes,
and active layouts instead of guessing values for a configuration file.
Start with Installation, then build a clean setup in the Configuration guide.
Project source
Section titled “Project source”The source, annotated configuration references, packaging, and development tools live in the Aqueous GitHub repository.
