Groups
A group is a container for a bunch of windows, analogous to workspaces in other
window managers. Each client window managed by the window manager belongs to
exactly one group. The groups
config file variable should be initialized to
a list of Group
objects.
Group
objects provide several options for group
configuration. Groups can be configured to show and hide themselves when
they're not empty, spawn applications for them when they start, automatically
acquire certain groups, and various other options.
Example
from libqtile.config import Group, Match
groups = [
Group("a"),
Group("b"),
Group("c", matches=[Match(wm_class="Firefox")]),
]
# allow mod3+1 through mod3+0 to bind to groups; if you bind your groups
# by hand in your config, you don't need to do this.
from libqtile.dgroups import simple_key_binder
dgroups_key_binder = simple_key_binder("mod3")
Reference
Group
- class libqtile.config.Group(name: str, matches: list[Match] | None = None, exclusive: bool = False, spawn: str | list[str] | None = None, layout: str | None = None, layouts: list[Layout] | None = None, persist: bool = True, init: bool = True, layout_opts: dict[str, Any] | None = None, screen_affinity: int | None = None, position: int = 9223372036854775807, label: str | None = None)[source]
Represents a "dynamic" group
These groups can spawn apps, only allow certain Matched windows to be on them, hide when they're not in use, etc. Groups are identified by their name.
- Parameters:
- name:
The name of this group.
- matches:
List of
Match
objects whose matched windows will be assigned to this group.- exclusive:
When other apps are started in this group, should we allow them here or not?
- spawn:
This will be executed (via
qtile.spawn()
) when the group is created. You can pass either a program name or a list of programs toexec()
.- layout:
The name of default layout for this group (e.g.
"max"
). This is the name specified for a particular layout inconfig.py
or if not defined it defaults in general to the class name in all lower case.- layouts:
The group layouts list overriding global layouts. Use this to define a separate list of layouts for this particular group.
- persist:
Should this group stay alive when it has no member windows?
- init:
Should this group be alive when Qtile starts?
- layout_opts:
Options to pass to a layout.
- screen_affinity:
Make a dynamic group prefer to start on a specific screen.
- position:
The position of this group.
- label:
The display name of the group. Use this to define a display name other than name of the group. If set to
None
, the display name is set to the name.
- libqtile.dgroups.simple_key_binder(mod, keynames=None)[source]
Bind keys to mod+group position or to the keys specified as second argument
Group Matching
Match
- class libqtile.config.Match(title: str | re.Pattern | None = None, wm_class: str | re.Pattern | None = None, role: str | re.Pattern | None = None, wm_type: str | re.Pattern | None = None, wm_instance_class: str | re.Pattern | None = None, net_wm_pid: int | None = None, func: Callable[[base.Window], bool] | None = None, wid: int | None = None)[source]
Window properties to compare (match) with a window.
The properties will be compared to a
Window
to determine if its properties match. It can match by title, wm_class, role, wm_type, wm_instance_class, net_wm_pid, or wid. Additionally, a function may be passed, which takes in theWindow
to be compared against and returns a boolean.For some properties,
Match
supports both regular expression objects (i.e. the result ofre.compile()
) or strings (match as an exact string). If a window matches all specified values, it is considered a match.- Parameters:
- title:
Match against the WM_NAME atom (X11) or title (Wayland).
- wm_class:
Match against any value in the whole WM_CLASS atom (X11) or app ID (Wayland).
- role:
Match against the WM_ROLE atom (X11 only).
- wm_type:
Match against the WM_TYPE atom (X11 only).
- wm_instance_class:
Match against the first string in WM_CLASS atom (X11) or app ID (Wayland).
- net_wm_pid:
Match against the _NET_WM_PID atom (X11) or PID (Wayland).
- func:
Delegate the match to the given function, which receives the tested client as an argument and must return
True
if it matches,False
otherwise.- wid:
Match against the window ID. This is a unique ID given to each window.
Rule
- class libqtile.config.Rule(match: _Match | list[_Match], group: _Group | None = None, float: bool = False, intrusive: bool = False, break_on_match: bool = True)[source]
How to act on a match.
A
Rule
contains a list ofMatch
objects, and a specification about what to do when any of them is matched.- Parameters:
- match:
Match
object or a list of such associated with this rule.- float:
Should we auto float this window?
- intrusive:
Should we override the group's exclusive setting?
- break_on_match:
Should we stop applying rules if this rule is matched?
ScratchPad and DropDown
ScratchPad
is a special - by default invisible -
group which acts as a container for DropDown
configurations. A DropDown
can be configured to spawn
a defined process and bind thats process' window to it. The associated window
can then be shown and hidden by the lazy command dropdown_toggle()
(see
Lazy objects) from the ScratchPad group. Thus - for example - your favorite
terminal emulator turns into a quake-like terminal by the control of Qtile.
If the DropDown window turns visible it is placed as a floating window on top of the current group. If the DropDown is hidden, it is simply switched back to the ScratchPad group.
Example
from libqtile.config import Group, ScratchPad, DropDown, Key
from libqtile.lazy import lazy
groups = [
ScratchPad("scratchpad", [
# define a drop down terminal.
# it is placed in the upper third of screen by default.
DropDown("term", "urxvt", opacity=0.8),
# define another terminal exclusively for ``qtile shell` at different position
DropDown("qtile shell", "urxvt -hold -e 'qtile shell'",
x=0.05, y=0.4, width=0.9, height=0.6, opacity=0.9,
on_focus_lost_hide=True) ]),
Group("a"),
]
keys = [
# toggle visibiliy of above defined DropDown named "term"
Key([], 'F11', lazy.group['scratchpad'].dropdown_toggle('term')),
Key([], 'F12', lazy.group['scratchpad'].dropdown_toggle('qtile shell')),
]
Note that if the window is set to not floating, it is detached from DropDown and ScratchPad, and a new process is spawned next time the DropDown is set visible.
Some programs run in a server-like mode where the spawned process does not
directly own the window that is created, which is instead created by a
background process. In this case, the window may not be correctly caught in the
scratchpad group. To work around this, you can pass a
Match
object to the corresponding
DropDown
. See below.
Reference
ScratchPad
- class libqtile.config.ScratchPad(name: str, dropdowns: list[libqtile.config.DropDown] | None = None, position: int = 9223372036854775807, label: str = '', single: bool = False)[source]
Represents a "ScratchPad" group
ScratchPad adds a (by default) invisible group to Qtile. That group is used as a place for currently not visible windows spawned by a
DropDown
configuration.- Parameters:
- name:
The name of this group.
- dropdowns:
DropDown
s available on the scratchpad.- position:
The position of this group.
- label:
The display name of the
ScratchPad
group. Defaults to the empty string such that the group is hidden inGroupBox
widget.- single:
If
True
, only one of the dropdowns will be visible at a time.
DropDown
- class libqtile.config.DropDown(name: str, cmd: str, **config: Any)[source]
Configure a specified command and its associated window for the
ScratchPad
. That window can be shown and hidden using a configurable keystroke or any other scripted trigger.Configuration options
key
default
description
height
0.35
Height of window as fraction of current screen.
match
None
Use a
Match
to identify the spawned window and move it to the scratchpad, instead of relying on the window's PID. This works around some programs that may not be caught by the window's PID if it does not match the PID of the spawned process.on_focus_lost_hide
True
Shall the window be hidden if focus is lost? If so, the
DropDown
is hidden if window focus or the group is changed.opacity
0.9
Opacity of window as fraction. One is opaque.
warp_pointer
True
Shall pointer warp to center of window on activation? This only has effect if any of the
on_focus_lost_xxx
options areTrue
width
0.8
Width of window as fraction of current screen width
x
0.1
X position of window as fraction of current screen width. 0 is the left most position.
y
0.0
Y position of window as fraction of current screen height. 0 is the top most position. To show the window at bottom, you have to configure a value < 1 and an appropriate height.