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AwesomeWM

AwesomeWM

AwesomeWM

From the Arch Wiki: awesome is a highly configurable, next generation framework window manager for Xorg. It is very fast and extensible. It is primarily targeted at power users, developers and any people dealing with every day computing tasks and who want to have fine-grained control on its graphical environment.

Personally, what really made me want to try Awesome is the fact its configuration file is written with an actual programming language and not just a configuration language like with i3, and by the fact it works with tags and not workspaces which makes window management much more flexible.

This document was written in Emacs with Org-mode and is both the documentation and source code of my configuration file which can be extracted to $HOME/.config/awesome/rc.lua through a call to org-babel-tangle.

Launching Awesome

In order to launch Awesome with startx, I need a xinit-compatible script. Here is my $HOME/.xinitrc.awesome file:

xhost +
exec awesome

Loading libraries

First of all, some initialization is needed, and this initialization is about math randomness. So, let’s initialize the random method of the math library:

math.randomseed(os.time())

In order to be able to load libraries properly, I first need to make sure LuaRocks is installed, so I can also make sure the packages our configuration depends on installed through it can be found. If LuaRocks is not installed, then do nothing.

pcall(require, "luarocks.loader")

Next, we’ll also load the following libraries

Library	Import as	What it is
gears	gears	Standard Awesome library
awful	awful	Standard Awesome library
wibox	wibox	Widget and layout library
beautiful	beautiful	Theme handling library
naughty	naughty	Notification library
menubar	menubar	Create menus
awful.hotkeys_popup	hotkeys_popup	Help window for hotkeys

(mapconcat (lambda (x) (format "local %s = require(\"%s\")"
                               (cadr x)
                               (car x)))
           libs
           "\n")

local gears = require("gears")
local awful = require("awful")
local wibox = require("wibox")
local beautiful = require("beautiful")
local naughty = require("naughty")
local menubar = require("menubar")
local hotkeys_popup = require("awful.hotkeys_popup")

Here is the actual code in the config file:

<<imported-libraries()>>

I also want to be able to autofocus the first window when I go to another workspace, so let’s require that:

require("awful.autofocus")

And finally, I want to be able to declare some shortcuts specific to some apps thanks to the hotkeys help widget.

require("awful.hotkeys_popup.keys")

By the way, let’s initialize the random method of the math library:

math.randomseed(os.time())

Error handling

This code checks if Awesome encountered an error during startup and fell back to another config. This code will only ever execute for the fallback config.

if awesome.startup_errors then
  naughty.notify({ preset = naughty.config.presets.critical,
                   title = "Oops, there were errors during startup!",
                   text = awesome.startup_errors })
end

And this code handles runtime errors after startup thanks to signals.

do
  local in_error = false
  awesome.connect_signal("debug::error", function (err)
                           -- Make sure we don't go into an endless error loop
                           if in_error then return end
                           in_error = true

                           naughty.notify({ preset = naughty.config.presets.critical,
                                            title = "Oops, an error happened!",
                                            text = tostring(err) })
                           in_error = false
  end)
end

Variable definitions

Themes

With Awesome, it is possible to load or write custom themes in order to give Awesome a special look that fits the user. I am currently using a custom theme that is not yet included in my dotfiles. I will add it later, along with the images used for the theme.

beautiful.init("/home/phundrak/.config/awesome/nord/theme.lua")

Default terminal and text editor

The two following variables are set so that I don’t need to go over my whole config file in order to modify which terminal or text editor I use, not that I do it often though.

terminal = "kitty"
editor = os.getenv("EDITOR") or "emacsclient -c -a emacs"

Keys

The following declares the default Modkey. Usually, Mod4 is the Super key, situated between the Ctrl key and the Alt key with a logo (usually Windows’). Another usual value for this is Mod1, which is the Alt key, but it has greater chances of interfering with other software. I also defined some other obvious variables in order to make my code cleaner later on.

modkey = "Mod4"
shift = "Shift"
control = "Control"
meta = "Mod1"
alt = "Mod1" -- Just in case

Custom functions

Wallpaper-related functions

Set a random wallpaper

This function sets a random wallpaper from the directory ~/Pictures/Wallpapers, see pape-update in my custom scripts.

local function set_random_pape()
  awful.spawn.with_shell("pape-update")
  naughty.notify({ preset = naughty.config.presets.normal,
                   title = "Wallpaper change",
                   text = "Done!"})
end

Restore previous wallpaper

I also wrote the following function that will restore the previously set wallpaper:

local function set_wallpaper(_)
  awful.spawn.with_shell("nitrogen --restore")
end

Layout manipulation

The following function is used by a shortcut described below in Keybindings: Clients.

local function client_go_back()
  awful.client.focus.history.previous()
  if client.focus then
    client.focus:raise()
  end
end

Clients manipulation

local function restore_minimized_clients()
  local c = awful.client.restore()
  -- Focus restored client
  if c then
    c:emit_signal(
      "request::activate", "key.unminimize", {raise = true}
    )
  end
end

local function toggle_fullscreen_client(c)
  c.fullscreen = not c.fullscreen
  c:raise()
end

local function toggle_maximized(c)
  c.maximized = not c.maximized
  c:raise()
end

local function toggle_vertical_maximized(c)
  c.maximized_vertical = not c.maximized_vertical
  c:raise()
end

local function toggle_horizontal_maximized(c)
  c.maximized_horizontal = not c.maximized_horizontal
  c:raise()
end

Tag manipulation

local function view_tag_n(i)
  local screen = awful.screen.focused()
  local tag = screen.tags[i]
  if tag then
    tag:view_only()
  end
end

local function toggle_tag_n(i)
  local screen = awful.screen.focused()
  local tag = screen.tags[i]
  if tag then
    awful.tag.viewtoggle(tag)
  end
end

local function move_focused_to_tag_n(i)
  if client.focus then
    local tag = client.focus.screen.tags[i]
    if tag then
      client.focus:move_to_tag(tag)
    end
  end
end

local function toggle_focused_client_to_tag_n(i)
  if client.focus then
    local tag = client.focus.screen.tags[i]
    if tag then
      client.focus:toggle_tag(tag)
    end
  end
end

Awesome prompt

local function invoke_lua_execute_prompt()
  awful.prompt.run {
    prompt       = "Run Lua code: ",
    textbox      = awful.screen.focused().promptbox.widget,
    exe_callback = awful.util.eval,
    history_path = awful.util.get_cache_dir() .. "/history_eval"
  }
end

Layouts

The following is a list of available windows layouts. I only enable some of them, and their order in the table is their order in Awesome.

Layout	Enabled?
magnifier	yes
tile.left	yes
tile	yes
tile.bottom	yes
tile.top	yes
max	yes
max.fullscreen	yes
floating	yes
fair	yes
fair.horizontal	yes
spiral	yes
spiral.dwindle	yes
corner.nw	no
corner.ne	no
corner.sw	no
corner.se	no

(mapconcat (lambda (layout)
             (let ((enabled-p (string= (cadr layout) "yes"))
                   (layout    (car layout)))
              (when enabled-p
                  (format "awful.layout.suit.%s,\n" layout))))
           layouts
           "")

awful.layout.suit.magnifier,
awful.layout.suit.tile.left,
awful.layout.suit.tile,
awful.layout.suit.tile.bottom,
awful.layout.suit.tile.top,
awful.layout.suit.max,
awful.layout.suit.max.fullscreen,
awful.layout.suit.floating,
awful.layout.suit.fair,
awful.layout.suit.fair.horizontal,
awful.layout.suit.spiral,
awful.layout.suit.spiral.dwindle,

Here is the code that activates these layouts:

awful.layout.layouts = {
  <<list-layouts()>>
}

Top bar

The top bar in Awesome is declared thanks to a wibar widget fro the awful library. It is comprised of several buttons and widgets that will be declared below.

Menus

(mapconcat (lambda (item)
             (format "{ \"%s\", %s }"
                     (car item)
                     (mapconcat #'identity (cdr item) ", ")))
           menu
           ",\n")

{ "awesome", awesomewm_menu, beautiful.awesome_icon },
{ "open terminal", terminal, nil }

It is possible to create actual menus in Awesome, including the one available at the top-left corner of the screen. First, let’s declare a menu related to Awesome:

Name	Command
hotkeys	function() hotkeys_popup.show_help(nil, awful.screen.focused()) end
edit config	editor .. " " .. awesome.conffile
restart	awesome.restart
quit	function() awesome.quit() end

And here is the actual code:

awesomewm_menu = {
  <<make-menu(menu=table-awesome-menu)>>
}

Next, let’s create the main menu that will be used on S-w and at the top left of the window:

Name	Command	Icon
awesome	awesomewm_menu	beautiful.awesome_icon
open terminal	terminal	nil

Here is the actual code:

mainmenu = awful.menu({ items = {
                          <<make-menu(menu=table-main-menu)>>
                     }})

For now it only has two entries: the Awesome menu and opening a terminal, I will add some more later probably. Let’s specify it as being our main launcher:

launcher = awful.widget.launcher({ image = beautiful.awesome_icon,
                                   menu = mainmenu })

Finally, let’s declare the menubar’s terminal for applications that require it.

menubar.utils.terminal = terminal

Widgets

Let’s declare the keyboard map indicator and switcher for the top bar:

keyboardlayout = awful.widget.keyboardlayout()

Let’s also create a clock widget:

textclock = wibox.widget.textclock()

Tag list

In order to create the taglist (an equivalent to workspaces, but better), we need to create first a local variable that will hold the widget. It will be declared as you can see below:

local tasklist_buttons = gears.table.join(
  -- configuration goes here
)

gears.table.join() joins several tables together, as described here, which will be useful since all its arguments will be tables generated by the awful.button method which will be useful in order to manage what clicks on the tags should do. First, let’s manage left clicks.

Left clicks in general are dedicated to tag visibility. A simple left click on a tag should switch this tag as the only visible tag, no matter how many of them were visible beforehand.

awful.button({ }, 1, function(t) t:view_only() end)

However, left clicks combined with the modkey will add the clicked tag to the list of visible tags, which allows the user to see windows from several tags at once.

awful.button({ modkey }, 1, awful.tag.viewtoggle)

Right clicks are dedicated to window tagging. A simple right click will untag the currently focused window and tag it again with the clicked tag, moving it effectively from one tag to another.

awful.button({ }, 3, function(t)
    if client.focus then
      client.focus:move_to_tag(t)
    end
end)

However, a right click combined with the modkey will add the clicked tag to the currently focused window, making it visible to both tags.

awful.button({ modkey }, 3, function(t)
    if client.focus then
      client.focus:toggle_tag(t)
    end
end)

The scroll wheel is treated as clicks just as any right or left clicks and can be interpreted by Awesome. They can prove useful when it comes to tags. If a scroll up is detected over tags, then Awesome will display the previous tag.

awful.button({ }, 4, function(t) awful.tag.viewprev(t.screen) end)

Otherwise, if a scroll down is detected, the next tag will be displayed.

awful.button({ }, 5, function(t) awful.tag.viewnext(t.screen) end)

So, here’s the actual configuration code for the taglist:

local taglist_buttons = gears.table.join(
  <<tag-simple-left-click>>,
  <<tag-mod-left-click>>,
  <<tag-simple-right-click>>,
  <<tag-mod-right-click>>,
  <<tag-simple-scroll-up>>,
  <<tag-simple-scroll-down>>
)

Tasks list

Similarly to the tag list, the task list can display some special behavior depending on the clicks it receives. These clicks are set like so:

local tasklist_buttons = gears.table.join(
  -- List of clicks
)

A left click on a task in the taskbar will simply focus and raise the window linked to it if it is not focused. Otherwise, if the window is focused, the window will be minimized.

awful.button({ }, 1, function (c)
    if c == client.focus then
      c.minimized = true
    else
      c:emit_signal(
        "request::activate",
        "tasklist",
        {raise = true}
      )
    end
end)

If the right click is detected, then a list of all the opened clients is invoked so we can switch to another (and if needed switch visible tag). The width of this list will be 250px.

awful.button({ }, 3, function()
      awful.menu.client_list({ theme = { width = 250 } })
end)

If a scroll up is detected, then let’s select the previous client in the tasklist.

awful.button({ }, 4, function ()
      awful.client.focus.byidx(1)
end)

If a scroll down is detected, then let’s select the next client in the tasklist.

awful.button({ }, 5, function ()
      awful.client.focus.byidx(-1)
end)

So, here’s the actual code for the tasklist:

local tasklist_buttons = gears.table.join(
  <<task-simple-left-click>>,
  <<task-simple-right-click>>,
  <<task-simple-scroll-up>>,
  <<task-simple-scroll-down>>
)

Theme and display

Screen update

When a screen’s geometry changes (e.g. when a different resolution is applied), the signal property::geometry is sent. When this is the case, the wallpaper should be redisplayed since it won’t necessarily fit the new geometry of the screen. And remember, I have a function that does exactly that! Let’s connect this function to the geometry change signal:

screen.connect_signal("property::geometry", set_wallpaper)

If a new screen gets connected, it will need to get a new wallpaper. A lot needs to be done, and all the following lines of code will be inside a block like this:

awful.screen.connect_for_each_screen(function(s)
    -- Code to be executed goes here
end)

So, due the code block above, if you see any reference to s in the code blocks below, it will refer to the screen being set up by the function.

First, let’s set its wallpaper:

set_wallpaper()

Next, let’s build a list of tags for the screen. Be aware that each screen has its own tag table! The default layout will be the first refered to in the layouts list described above.

awful.tag({ "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "0" }, s, awful.layout.layouts[1])

Next, let’s create the taglist widget. It will use the taglist_buttons declared above in order to handle clicks on tags, and due to the filter, all tags will be displayed in the tagbar (more about tag filters).

s.taglist = awful.widget.taglist {
  screen  = s,
  filter  = awful.widget.taglist.filter.all,
  buttons = taglist_buttons
}

A tasklist widget will also get created thanks with the tasklist_button declared above that will handle clicks on tasks. Contrarily to the taglist widget above, the tasklist will only display the screen’s current tags thanks to its filter.

s.tasklist = awful.widget.tasklist {
  screen  = s,
  filter  = awful.widget.tasklist.filter.currenttags,
  buttons = tasklist_buttons
}

A promptbox will also be created for the screen:

s.promptbox = awful.widget.prompt()

Then, Let’s create an imagebox widget in which will be contained an icon indicating which layout is being used. We need one per screen. We will also make it clickable: if there is a left click or a scroll up detected above it, the next layout will be loaded; otherwise if a right click or a scroll down is detected, the previous layout will be loaded.

s.layoutbox = awful.widget.layoutbox(s)
s.layoutbox:buttons(gears.table.join(
                      awful.button({ }, 1, function () awful.layout.inc( 1) end),
                      awful.button({ }, 3, function () awful.layout.inc(-1) end),
                      awful.button({ }, 4, function () awful.layout.inc( 1) end),
                      awful.button({ }, 5, function () awful.layout.inc(-1) end)))

Now it is time to create the widget, a wibox that will contain our bar.

s.wibox = awful.wibar({ position = "top", screen = s })

Finally, let’s set up our bar. Since it is a horizontal bar, its layout will be horizontal too. Our launcher, taglist and promptbox will be part of the left widgets, while the tasklist will be at the center, and the keyboard indicator, the system tray, the clock and the layout indicator will be on the right.

s.wibox:setup {
  layout = wibox.layout.align.horizontal,
  { -- Left widgets
    layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal,
    launcher,
    s.taglist,
    s.promptbox,
  },
  s.tasklist, -- Middle widget
  { -- Right widgets
    layout = wibox.layout.fixed.horizontal,
    keyboardlayout,
    wibox.widget.systray(),
    textclock,
    s.layoutbox,
  },
}

In the end, our code looks like this:

awful.screen.connect_for_each_screen(function(s)
      <<screen-set-pape>>
      <<screen-taglist>>
      <<screen-taglist-widget>>
      <<screen-tasklist-widget>>
      <<screen-promptbox>>
      <<screen-layout-indicator>>
      <<screen-wibox-widget>>
      <<screen-wibox-setup>>
end)

Mouse bindings

It is possible with Awesome to bind some shortcuts to mouse events when the mouse is above Awesome itself (not above some client). Only one is set: the right click opens the Awesome menu.

root.buttons(gears.table.join(
               awful.button({}, 3, function() mainmenu:toggle() end)
))

I will also set three mouse bindings for when the mouse is above a client:

A simple click on a client will focus and raise it.
A click on a client combined with a modkey press will allow the user to move a client after focusing it and making it floating.
A middle click on a client combined with a modkey press will toggle the floating status of the client.
A right click combined with the modkey will allow the user to resize a after focusing it and making it a floating client.

clientbuttons = gears.table.join(
  awful.button({ }, 1, function (c)
      c:emit_signal("request::activate", "mouse_click", {raise = true})
  end),
  awful.button({ modkey }, 1, function (c)
      c:emit_signal("request::activate", "mouse_click", {raise = true})
      c.floating = true
      awful.mouse.client.move(c)
  end),
  awful.button({ modkey }, 2, function (c)
        awful.client.floating.toggle(c)
  end),
  awful.button({ modkey }, 3, function (c)
      c:emit_signal("request::activate", "mouse_click", {raise = true})
      c.floating = true
      awful.mouse.client.resize(c)
  end)
)

Keybindings

Keybindings allow the user to execute some Lua code all across Awesome. They all bear at least a list of modifier keys, the actual key to be pressed, the action they keybinding should yield, a description, and a group. The latter two will be useful for the keybindings help window which will display them all, sorted by group and with the description displayed next to the keybinding itself.

Here are some keybindings related to Awesome itself. Most of them will be described in tables, but due to some limitations from Org-mode (the Emacs mode used to write this document and generate my Awesome configuration), a few of them will be directly written as Lua code.

Here is a description of the tables displayed below:

Key

key which toggles the shortcut

Modifiers

modifier keys that are required to toggle the shortcut

Lambda?

whether or not the Action should be nested in a lambda function. Possible values are:

no: The value is a Lua function to be executed as is
yes: The value is to be inserted into a lambda
spawn: The value is to be inserted in an awful.spawn call in a lambda
shell: The value is to be inserted in an awful.spawn.with_shell call in a lambda

Action

code to be executed by the shortcut

What it does

short description of the shortcut’s action

Group

group in which the shortcut will appear in Awesome’s help window

Clientkey?

whether this should be a global shortcut or a shortcut only aimed at clients (value is yes or no)

(lambda (x)
  (let ((key         (nth 0 x))
        (modifiers   (nth 1 x))
        (lambda-p    (pcase (nth 2 x)
                       ("yes" 'lambda)
                       ("shell" 'shell)
                       ("terminal" 'terminal)
                       ("spawn" 'spawn)
                       (otherwise nil)))
        (action      (nth 3 x))
        (description (nth 4 x))
        (group       (nth 5 x))
        (clientkey   (if (string= (nth 6 x) "yes") "c" "")))
    (format "awful.key({%s},\"%s\",%s,\n\t{description=\"%s\",group=\"%s\"})"
            modifiers
            key
            (if (not lambda-p)
                action
              (format "function(%s) %s end" clientkey
                      (pcase lambda-p
                        ('lambda action)
                        ('shell
                         (format "awful.spawn.with_shell(\"%s\")" action))
                        ('terminal
                         (format "awful.spawn(terminal..\" -e %s\")" action))
                        ('spawn
                         (format "awful.spawn(\"%s\")" action)))))
            description
            group)))

(mapconcat
 <<gen-sc-text>>
 (seq-filter (lambda (x)
               (let ((clientkey-p (nth 6 x)))
                   (or (not clientkey-p)
                       (string= "no" clientkey-p))))
             table)
 ",\n")

(mapconcat
 <<gen-sc-text>>
 (seq-filter (lambda (keybind)
               (string= "yes" (nth 6 keybind)))
             table)
 ",\n")

(let (result)
  (dotimes (i 10 result)
    (let* ((j (+ 1 i)))
      (setq result
            (cons
             (mapconcat
              (lambda (line)
                (format
                 "awful.key({%s},\"#%d\",function() %s%d) end,
\t{description=\"%s%d\",group=\"%s\"})"
                 (nth 1 line) (+ j 9) (nth 2 line) j
                 (nth 3 line) j (nth 4 line)))
              input
              ",\n") result))))
  (mapconcat (lambda (x) x)
             result
             ",\n\n"))

Most of these keybindings are available at root-level of Awesome and will be declared in the globalkeys variable, which will be added then to root.keys (see https://awesomewm.org/doc/api/libraries/root.html#keys).

globalkeys = gears.table.join(
  -- Awesome
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-awesome)>>,
  -- App
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-app)>>,
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-app-internet)>>,
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-app-screenshot)>>,
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-app-emacs)>>,
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-app-rofi)>>,
  -- Client
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-client)>>,
  -- Layout
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-layout)>>,
  -- Media
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-media)>>,
  -- Screen
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-screen)>>,
  -- Tags
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-tag)>>,
  -- Misc
  <<gen-sc-glob(sc-misc)>>,
  <<sc-tag-num-gen()>>
)
root.keys(globalkeys)

clientkeys = gears.table.join(
  -- Client
  <<gen-sc-client(sc-client)>>
)

Applications

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group
Return	modkey	yes	awful.spawn(terminal)	open a terminal	app
n	modkey	spawn	nemo	open file manager	app
g	modkey	spawn	gimp	open GIMP	app

Internet apps

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group
b	modkey	yes	awful.spawn(os.getenv("BROWSER"))	invoke web browser	internet
d	control, shift	spawn	lightcord	launch Discord	internet

Screenshots

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group
Print		spawn	scrot -e 'mv $f ~/Pictures/Screenshots'	Screenshot	screenshot
Print	control	spawn	scrot -s -e 'mv $f ~/Pictures/Screenshots'	Screenshot (area selection)	screenshot
Print	shift	spawn	scrot -d 3 -e 'mv $f ~/Pictures/Screenshots'	Screenshot (3s delay)	screenshot

Emacs

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group
e	modkey	spawn	emacsclient -c -n	invoke Spacemacs	emacs
e	modkey, shift	spawn	emacs	invoke Vanilla Emacs	emacs

Rofi

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group
a	modkey	shell	awiki	find and open an ArchWiki page	rofi
d	modkey	spawn	rofi -combi-modi drun,window -show combi	rofi for drun and windows	rofi
d	modkey, meta	spawn	rofi -show ssh	rofi for SSH	rofi
p	modkey, shift	shell	rofi-pass -t	types password from `pass`	rofi
p	modkey, control, shift	shell	rofi-pass	copy password from `pass`	rofi
e	modkey, meta	shell	rofi-emoji	select and copy emoji from list	rofi
m	modkey, meta	shell	rofi-mount	volume mounting helper	rofi
u	modkey, meta	shell	rofi-umount	volume unmounting helper	rofi
w	modkey, control	shell	wacom-setup	set up my wacom tablet	rofi
y	modkey	shell	ytplay	play web video in mpv	rofi
y	modkey, shift	shell	rofi-ytdl	download video from web	rofi

Awesome

Here will be declared some shortcuts directly related to Awesome itself.

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group
h	modkey	no	hotkeys_popup.show_help	show help	awesome
h	modkey, shift	yes	mainmenu:show()	show main menu	awesome
l	modkey	spawn	plock	lock screen	awesome
q	modkey, shift	no	awesome.quit	quit awesome	awesome
r	modkey, shift, control	no	awesome.restart	reload awesome	awesome
w	modkey	no	set_random_pape	set random wallpaper	awesome
w	modkey, shift	spawn	select-pape	set wallpaper	awesome
x	modkey	no	invoke_lua_execute_prompt	lua execute prompt	awesome
F4	modkey, control	spawn	systemctl hibernate	hibernate computer	awesome
F4	modkey, shift	spawn	systemctl suspend	suspend to RAM computer	awesome
F4	modkey, shift, control	spawn	poweroff	power off computer	awesome

Clients

These shortcuts are related to clients (aka windows) management.

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group	Clientkey?
c	modkey, meta	yes	awful.placement.centered(c)	center client	client	yes
f	modkey	yes	toggle_fullscreen_client(c)	toggle fullscreen	client	yes
m	modkey	yes	toggle_maximized(c)	toggle maximized	client	yes
m	modkey, shift	yes	toggle_horizontal_maximized(c)	toggle horizontally maximized	client	yes
m	modkey, control	yes	toggle_vertical_maximized(c)	toggle vertically maximized	client	yes
n	modkey, shift	yes	c.minimized = true	minimize	client	yes
n	modkey, control	no	restore_minimized_clients	restore minimized	client	no
o	modkey, shift	yes	c:move_to_screen()	move to screen	client	yes
q	modkey	yes	c:kill()	close client	client	yes
s	modkey	yes	awful.client.focus.byidx(-1)	focus previous client	client	no
t	modkey	yes	awful.client.focus.byidx(1)	focus next client	client	no
s	modkey, shift	yes	awful.client.swap.byidx(-1)	swap with previous client	client	no
t	modkey, shift	yes	awful.client.swap.byidx(1)	swap with next client	client	no
m	modkey, shift, control	yes	c:swap(awful.client.getmaster())	swap with master client	client	yes
u	modkey	no	awful.client.urgent.jumpto	jump to urgent client	client	no
v	modkey	yes	c.ontop = not c.ontop	toggle keep on top	client	yes
f	modkey, control	no	awful.client.floating.toggle	toggle floating	client	yes
Tab	modkey	no	client_go_back	go back	client	no

Layout manipulation

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group
r	modkey	yes	awful.tag.incmwfact(0.05)	increase master width factor	layout
c	modkey	yes	awful.tag.incmwfact(-0.05)	decrease master width factor	layout
r	modkey, shift	yes	awful.tag.incnmaster(1, nil, true)	increase number of master clients	layout
c	modkey, shift	yes	awful.tag.incnmaster(-1, nil, true)	decrease number of master clients	layout
r	modkey, control	yes	awful.tag.incncol(1, nil, true)	increase number of colums	layout
c	modkey, control	yes	awful.tag.incncol(-1, nil, true)	decrease number of colums	layout
space	modkey	yes	awful.layout.inc(1)	next layout	layout
space	modkey, meta	yes	awful.layout.inc(-1)	previous layout	layout

Media

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group
+	modkey, meta	shell	mpc volume +2	increase mpd volume	media
-	modkey, meta	shell	mpc volume -2	decrease mpd volume	media
n	modkey, meta	terminal	ncmpcpp -q	spawn ncmpcpp	media
v	modkey, meta	terminal	ncmpcpp -qs visualizer	spawn ncmpcpp visualizer	media
XF86AudioLowerVolume		shell	amixer -q set Master 2%- unmute	lower volume	media
Prior	modkey, control	shell	amixer -q set Master 2%- unmute	lower volume	media
XF86AudioRaiseVolume		shell	amixer -q set Master 2%+ unmute	raise volume	media
Next	modkey, control	shell	amixer -q set Master 2%+ unmute	lower volume	media
XF86AudioMute		shell	amixer -q set master 1+ toggle	toggle mute audio	media
Prior	modkey, control	shell	amixer -q set master 1+ toggle	toggle mute audio	media
XF86AudioPrev		shell	mpc prev	previous mpd track	media
XF86AudioLowerVolume	meta	shell	mpc prev	prevous mpd track	media
Prior	modkey	shell	mpc prev	previous mpd track	media
XF86AudioNext		shell	mpc next	next mpd track	media
XF86AudioRaiseVolume	meta	shell	mpc next	next mpd track	media
Next	modkey	shell	mpc next	next mpd track	media
XF86AudioPlay		shell	mpc toggle	toggle mpd playback	media
p	modkey	shell	mpc toggle	toggle mpd playback	media
XF86AudioStop		shell	mpc stop	stop playback	media
XF86AudioPlay	meta	shell	mpc stop	stop playback	media
p	modkey, meta	shell	mpc stop	stop playback	media

Screen

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group
t	modkey, meta	yes	awful.screen.focus_relative(1)	focus next screen	screen
s	modkey, meta	yes	awful.screen.focus_relative(-1)	focus previous screen	screen
XF86MonBrightnessDown		shell	xbacklight -dec 1	decrease screen brightness	screen
Next	modkey, meta	shell	xbacklight -dec 1	decrease screen brightness	screen
XF86MonBrightnessUp		shell	xbacklight -inc 1	increase screen brightness	screen
Prev	modkey, meta	shell	xbacklight -inc 1	increase screen brightness	screen
F3	modkey	spawn	arandr	randr graphical frontend	screen
o	modkey	yes	awful.screen.focus_relative(1)	focus next screen	screen

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group
Escape	modkey	no	awful.tag.history.restore	go back	tag
t	modkey, control	no	awful.tag.viewprev	view prev	tag
s	modkey, control	no	awful.tag.viewnext	view next	tag

Key	Modifiers	Action	What it does	Group
Number	modkey	view_tag_n(	view tag #	tag
Number	modkey, control	toggle_tag_n(	toggle tag #	tag
Number	modkey, shift	move_focused_to_tag_n(	move focused client to tag #	tag
Number	modkey, control, shift	toggle_focused_client_to_tag_n(	Toggle focused client on tag #	tag

Misc

In this category you will find other keybindings that do not fit in other categories. For now, the only keybinding that is in this category is for toggling the touchpad’s tapping ability. This is linked to a special script I wrote here.

Key	Modifiers	Lambda?	Action	What it does	Group
XF86TouchpadToggle		shell	tttapping	toggle touchpad tapping	misc

Rules

With awful.rules, users are able to describe some rules for window clients when the latter spawn, such as their placement, their properties or even execute a script. A rule can be applied through the manage signal, and they are all stored in awful.rules.rules, the global rules table, as follows:

awful.rules.rules = {
  -- Rules here
}

For more documentation on rules and their syntax, you can read the official documentation.

Universal rules

The first rule is a universal rule which will match all clients, as you can see with its syntax below:

{ rule = {},
  properties = {
    -- List of properties
  }
}

Here is the list of properties with their value to apply to all clients, and a short explanation as to what they do.

Property	Value	What it does
border_width	beautiful.border_width	Set the width of the window’s border
border_color	beautiful.border_normal	Set the color of the window’s border
focus	awful.client.focus.filter	Set focus on the new window, except filtered out windows
raise	true	Set it as raised window
keys	clientkeys	Set the client’s shortcuts set in Shortcuts/Clients
buttons	clientbuttons	Set the client’s mouse shortcuts from Mouse bindings
screen	awful.screen.preferred	Spawn the client on the main screen
placement	awful.placement.no_overlap+awful.placement.no_offscreen	Avoid the client to appear off the screen and overlaping another client
round_corners	true	Enable rounded corners for client

border_width = beautiful.border_width,
border_color = beautiful.border_normal,
focus = awful.client.focus.filter,
raise = true,
keys = clientkeys,
buttons = clientbuttons,
screen = awful.screen.preferred,
placement = awful.placement.no_overlap+awful.placement.no_offscreen,
round_corners = true

This is what my universal rules look like:

 { rule = {},
   properties = {
     <<rules-universal-properties()>>
   }
 }

Floating clients

Some clients will be declared by default as floating windows. For this, we will declare a rule that will match any of the provided conditions:

Property	Matches	Comment
instance	pinentry	Matches any Polkit
class	Arandr	Visual frontend for Randr
class	Sxiv	Simple X Image Viewer
class	Tor Browser	Needs a fixed window size to avoid fingerprinting
name	Event Tester	xev
role	pop-up	Any pop-up window, such as Chromium’s detached Developer Tools

instance = { "pinentry" },
class = { "Arandr" },
class = { "Sxiv" },
class = { "Tor Browser" },
name = { "Event Tester" },
role = { "pop-up" }

If any of these conditions is matched, then the client will be set as floating, as you can see below:

{ rule_any = {
    <<rules-floating-conditions()>>
}, properties = { floating = true }}

Titlebars

Any normal or dialog client will get a titlebar. This is enabled like so:

{ rule_any = {type = { "normal", "dialog" }
             }, properties = { titlebars_enabled = true }
}

Default tag for clients

With the use of some rules, it is possible to define which client are assigned to which tag by default.

Client Property	Value	Tag
class	Emacs	2
class	firefox	3
class	Nemo	4
class	Gimp*	5
class	Signal	8
class	Steam	9
class	Mattermost	0
class	discord	0
class	lightcord	0

{rule = {class = "Emacs"}, properties = {screen = 1, tag = "2"} },
{rule = {class = "firefox"}, properties = {screen = 1, tag = "3"} },
{rule = {class = "Nemo"}, properties = {screen = 1, tag = "4"} },
{rule = {class = "Gimp*"}, properties = {screen = 1, tag = "5"} },
{rule = {class = "Signal"}, properties = {screen = 1, tag = "8"} },
{rule = {class = "Steam"}, properties = {screen = 1, tag = "9"} },
{rule = {class = "Mattermost"}, properties = {screen = 1, tag = "0"} },
{rule = {class = "discord"}, properties = {screen = 1, tag = "0"} },
{rule = {class = "lightcord"}, properties = {screen = 1, tag = "0"} }

This is what these rules look like:

<<rules-default-tags-generate()>>

Signals

Signals are a way for Awesome to handle events, such as client creation or deletion.

Client creation

When a new client is created, the manage signal is emited. When so, the following snippet ensures this new client is not off the screen, unless its position was deliberately set by a program or by the user. It will also spawn the new client where the mouse currently is.

client.connect_signal("manage", function (c)
  awful.client.movetoscreen(c, mouse.screen)
  if awesome.startup
      and not c.size_hints.user_position
      and not c.size_hints.program_position then
    awful.placement.no_offscreen(c)
  end
end)

Titlebar creation

It is possible for Awesome to send request signals, such as the request to create titlebar (generally for new clients). The following snippet handles this titlebar creation if titlebar creation was set to true in the rules. For a detailed explanation of the code, see below.

client.connect_signal("request::titlebars", function(c)
                        local buttons = gears.table.join(
                          <<signal-titlebar-button1>>,
                          <<signal-titlebar-button3>>
                        )
                        <<signal-titlebar-create>>
end)

The function has two main parts: the creation of the titlebar buttons (mouse handling on the titlebar), and the creation of the titlebar itself. The creation of the button is done by creating a local variable buttons which will be a table created by the library gears, in which will be buttons created by the user.

local buttons = gears.table.join(
  -- Buttons declared here
)

You can see a left click will enable the user to raise the window, but also it will enable the user to move the window (if it is floating of course).

awful.button({ }, 1, function()
    c:emit_signal("request::activate", "titlebar", {raise = true})
    awful.mouse.client.move(c)
end)

A right click on the titlebar will also raise the window, but will instead allow the user to resize the client.

awful.button({ }, 3, function()
  c:emit_signal("request::activate", "titlebar", {raise = true})
  awful.mouse.client.resize(c)
end)

Next comes the actual creation of the titlebar for the client c. For that, we call awful.titlebar(), tell it where the titlebar should be relative to the client and what its setup should be. The full call should look like so:

awful.titlebar(c, {position="left", size = 22}) : setup {
  <<signal-titlebar-setup>>
}

In the setup, I need to repeat to Awesome the titlebar should be on the left of the client, and I also tell it the layout alignment of the titlebar will be vertical, because I like vertial titlebars. I also first send it three tables:

The top or left elements of the titlebar (here the top)
The middle elements of the titlebar
The bottom or right elements of the titlebar (here the bottom)

You can notice in the setup’s code below that I haven’t included anything in the middle elements, the only elements I am interested in are the top and bottom elements. In the top elements, I have (top to bottom):

A close button
A maximize button
A minimize button
And an indication to Awesome these elements should be vertically aligned

To make Awesome happy, I also must indicate that the middle elements are vertically aligned, and then I can declare my bottom elements:

A button for toggling client floating
And again the indication to Awesome these elements should be vertically aligned

{ -- Top
  awful.titlebar.widget.closebutton(c),
  awful.titlebar.widget.minimizebutton(c),
  awful.titlebar.widget.maximizedbutton(c),
  layout = wibox.layout.fixed.vertical()
},
{
  layout = wibox.layout.fixed.vertical()
}, -- Middle
{ -- Bottom
  awful.titlebar.widget.floatingbutton(c),
  layout = wibox.layout.fixed.vertical()
},
layout = wibox.layout.align.vertical,
position = "left"

Changes of focus

The default Awesome configuration enables the following snippet of code that makes windows hovered by the user’s mouse focused. Just for completeness’ sake, I included it in this document, but be aware this won’t be tangled into my configuration file and focus will not follow my mouse.

client.connect_signal("mouse::enter", function(c)
                        c:emit_signal("request::activate", "mouse_enter", {raise = false})
end)

It is also possible to change the color of the borders based on client focus. While my clients don’t have any border, they do have a titlebar which color changes based on the client’s focus. This is handled by the following code snippet:

client.connect_signal("focus", function(c) c.border_color = beautiful.border_focus end)
client.connect_signal("unfocus", function(c) c.border_color = beautiful.border_normal end)

Autostart

By simply adding a line requesting to spawn a command, it is possible to create some autolaunch. All of my autolaunched apps are launch through a custom script which you can find here. The command gets called with awful.spawn.with_shell(), as you can see below.

awful.spawn.with_shell("autostart")

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AwesomeWM

AwesomeWM

Launching Awesome

Loading libraries

Error handling

Variable definitions

Themes

Default terminal and text editor

Keys

Custom functions

Wallpaper-related functions

Set a random wallpaper

Restore previous wallpaper

Layout manipulation

Clients manipulation

Tag manipulation

Awesome prompt

Layouts

Top bar

Menus

Widgets

Tag list

Tasks list

Theme and display

Screen update

Mouse bindings

Keybindings

Applications

Internet apps

Screenshots

Emacs

Rofi

Awesome

Clients

Layout manipulation

Media

Screen

Tags

Misc

Rules

Universal rules

Floating clients

Titlebars

Default tag for clients

Signals

Client creation

Titlebar creation

Changes of focus

Autostart

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