35 KiB
StumpWM config
Introduction
What is StumpWM?
StumpWM is a tiling window manager inheriting from RatPoison, written entirely in Common Lisp and compiled with SBCL. While it is not an dynamic tiling window manager like Awesome is, its ability of managing windows in frames and using keychords with keymaps like Emacs does is a huge plus for me, not to mention the fact its configuration file is written in Common Lisp, a general programming language, a bit like Awesome. This makes it an i3 on steroids, sort of. It also uses a lot of Emacs’ concepts, which is great for an Emacs user such as myself.
Why not EXWM then?
Sometimes, some actions within Emacs are blocking actions, making the computer not usable while the command runs. It also does not play nice with video games (pun intended), which is also a negative point for me. And I also find EXWM more confusing overall than StumpWM.
What this file is for
This file has two main goals:
- This will be the actual source code of my StumpWM
configuration, thanks to Emacs’ org-mode, and thanks to org-mode’s
literate config capabilities.
Almost all of the visible source blocks if not all will be included
in my configuration files through tangling, which can be done in
Emacs when this file is opened through
M-x org-babel-tangle, which will write my configuration files based on the source blocks present in this document. This file is not only my config’s documentation, it is my configuration. - Be my documentation on my StumpWM configuration. That way, I’ll never forget which block of code does what. And maybe, hopefully, someone could learn a thing or two if they want to get into StumpWM but don’t know where to begin. You should be able to read this document as a book, with each chapter dedicated to a different aspect of StumpWM.a
Organization of my files
While I could make this file write everything to the same file (the actual source will be in a single file after all), I find it easier to debug StumpWM if everything’s split up. For now, my configuration follows this architecture:
-
init.el - My main configuration file, glues everything together. It loads all of my configuration files as well as some modules I find useful;
-
colors.lisp - In this file are defined colors that will be used in
common in my
theme.lispandmodeline.lispfiles. Let’s make my code DRY, or as I prefer to say, DRYD (Don’t Repeat Yourself Dummy). -
commands.lisp - Lisp commands, in case I want to bind some complicated actions to a keybind that is not just a simple shell command;
-
keybindings.lisp - My list of keymaps and keybinds which make StumpWM actually usable;
-
modeline.lisp - This defines the modeline, a concept taken from Emacs which can display various information such as a list of workspaces, including the current one;
-
placement.lisp - This file manages my workspaces and the default placement of various windows;
-
theme.lisp - manages the color theme of StumpWM, the default placement of some windows and StumpWM’s gaps.
Init file
As mentioned in the documentation, the configuration files can be in
different locations, but I chose an Emacs-like configuration: put
everything in ~/.stumpwm.d/. We begin by indicating quicklisp how to
properly initialize:
#-quicklisp
(let ((quicklisp-init (merge-pathnames "quicklisp/setup.lisp"
(user-homedir-pathname))))
(when (probe-file quicklisp-init)
(load quicklisp-init)))
Then, our first StumpWM-related code is declaring we are using the
stumpwm package, and this is also our default package. This will allow
us to avoid using the prefix stumpwm: each time we are using a
function or a variable from this package.
(in-package :stumpwm)
(setf *default-package* :stumpwm)
Since I install StumpWM with my package manager (I use the AUR’s
stumpwm-git package), StumpWM’s modules are installed to
/usr/share/stupmwm/contrib/utils/, let’s indicate that to StumpWM.
(set-module-dir "/usr/share/stupmwm/contrib/")
A startup message can be used when initializing StumpWM. For now,
let’s set it to nil.
(setf *startup-message* nil)
The first thing I want to do after that is to set some decent cursor
pointer as well as get a bunch of stuff started. To see what’s in the
autostart script, see here.
(run-shell-command "xsetroot -cursor_name left_ptr")
(run-shell-command "autostart")Now, we’ll load a couple of my custom files that will be described below:
| File to be loaded |
|---|
| commands.lisp |
| placement.lisp |
| keybindings.lisp |
| theme.lisp |
| modeline.lisp |
(mapconcat (lambda (file)
(format "(load \"~/.stumpwm.d/%s\")" (car file)))
files
"\n")This is equivalent to the Common Lisp code:
(load "~/.stumpwm.d/commands.lisp")
(load "~/.stumpwm.d/placement.lisp")
(load "~/.stumpwm.d/keybindings.lisp")
(load "~/.stumpwm.d/theme.lisp")
(load "~/.stumpwm.d/modeline.lisp")Once the modeline file is loaded, let’s indicate StumpWM to activate it:
(when *initializing*
(mode-line))Another thing I want to set is how focus is linked to my mouse: only on click. I HATE it when focus follows my mouse like some damn dog after its ball. Also, the meta key will be used to move floating windows.
(setf *mouse-focus-policy* :click
,*float-window-modifier* :META)
Next, some modules will be loaded from the stumpwm-contrib package
(which is included in stumpwm-git). Here is a short list including a
short description of what they are for:
| Module Name | Why It Is Loaded |
|---|---|
| alert-me | Creates notifications, can also create timed notifications |
| battery-portable | Get information on the battery level of a laptop |
| beckon | Bring the mouse cursor to the current window |
| cpu | Get the CPU usage of the computer |
| end-session | Gracefully end programs when ending user session |
| globalwindows | Navigate between windows from all workspaces |
| mem | Get the memory usage of the computer |
| stump-backlight | Native management of backlight in StumpWM |
| urgentwindows | Get urgent windows |
(mapconcat (lambda (module)
(format "(load-module \"%s\")" (car module)))
modules
"\n")(load-module "alert-me")
(load-module "battery-portable")
(load-module "beckon")
(load-module "cpu")
(load-module "end-session")
(load-module "globalwindows")
(load-module "mem")
(load-module "stump-backlight")
(load-module "urgentwindows")Finally, we can notify the user everything is ready.
(setf *startup-message* "StumpWM is ready!")And it’s done! We can now move on to the creation of the other CLisp files.
Commands
This file is going to be short. The only two custom command I have is for Firefox, in order to either invoke a new Firefox window, or raise it if it already exists, and for Emacs to invoke the Emacs client or a new Emacs instance if the server isn’t running. This is done like so:
(defcommand firefox () ()
"Run or raise Firefox."
(run-or-raise "firefox" '(:class "Firefox") t nil))And done, next!
Colors
If you’ve taken a look at the rest of my dotfiles, you may have noticed I really like the Nord theme. No wonder we can find it here again! Here is a small table listing the Nord colors:
| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| nord0 | #2e3440 |
| nord1 | #3b4252 |
| nord2 | #434c5e |
| nord3 | #4c566a |
| nord4 | #d8dee9 |
| nord5 | #e5e9f0 |
| nord6 | #eceff4 |
| nord7 | #8fbcbb |
| nord8 | #88c0d0 |
| nord9 | #81a1c1 |
| nord10 | #5e81ac |
| nord11 | #bf616a |
| nord12 | #d08770 |
| nord13 | #ebcb8b |
| nord14 | #a3be8c |
| nord15 | #b48ead |
I’ll prefix the variables’ name with phundrak- just in case it might
conflict with another package I might use in the future, so the CLisp
code looks like so:
(mapconcat (lambda (color)
(format "(defvar phundrak-%s \"%s\")" (car color) (cadr color)))
colors
"\n")(defvar phundrak-nord0 "#2e3440")
(defvar phundrak-nord1 "#3b4252")
(defvar phundrak-nord2 "#434c5e")
(defvar phundrak-nord3 "#4c566a")
(defvar phundrak-nord4 "#d8dee9")
(defvar phundrak-nord5 "#e5e9f0")
(defvar phundrak-nord6 "#eceff4")
(defvar phundrak-nord7 "#8fbcbb")
(defvar phundrak-nord8 "#88c0d0")
(defvar phundrak-nord9 "#81a1c1")
(defvar phundrak-nord10 "#5e81ac")
(defvar phundrak-nord11 "#bf616a")
(defvar phundrak-nord12 "#d08770")
(defvar phundrak-nord13 "#ebcb8b")
(defvar phundrak-nord14 "#a3be8c")
(defvar phundrak-nord15 "#b48ead")And with that we’re done!
Modeline
The modeline is pretty easy. First, let’s load the colors.lisp file we just created:
(load "~/.stumpwm.d/colors.lisp")Next, we can set some colors for the modeline. Let’s set the background of the modeline to Nord1 and the foreground to Nord5, I think this is a pretty good combination.
(setf *mode-line-background-color* phundrak-nord1
,*mode-line-foreground-color* phundrak-nord5)We could also use some borders in the modeline. But we won’t. Let’s still set its color to Nord1, just in case.
(setf *mode-line-border-color* phundrak-nord1
,*mode-line-border-width* 0)The timeout of the modeline indicates how often it refreshes in seconds. I think one second is good.
(setf *mode-line-timeout* 1)
Next we get to the content of the modeline. This format follows the
format indicated in the manpage of date.
(setf *time-modeline-string* "%F %H:%M")Let’s also indicate how the groupname is displayed.
(setf *group-format* " %t ")The window format should display first its window number, then its titled, limited to 30 characters.
(setf *window-format* "%n: %30t")
We can indicate what to display in our modeline. Be aware the ^>
string will align the rest of the string to the right of the modeline.
%g will display the group list, while %v will display the list of
windows that are in the current group, with the active one
highlighted, and %u will display urgent windows if there are any. %d
on the other hand will display the date in the format set above, while
%B will display the battery level of the laptop.
(setf *screen-mode-line-format* (list "%g %v ^> %C | %M | %B | %d"))This variable as you can see is a list of elements, although here I am only using one string. But it is completely possible to insert some CLisp code in here that returns some string if the user needs some code to return data that cannot be easily accesible otherwise. I might add some at some point, but not today yet.
Placement
I’ve been used to ten groups, or workspaces, or tags, since I began using tiling window managers. I shall then continue this habit. Here is the list of groups I will be using:
| Groups |
|---|
| term |
| emacs |
| www |
| files |
| media |
| graphics |
| VMs |
| games |
| private |
| discord |
(string-join `(,(format "(grename \"%s\")" (car (car groups)))
,@(mapcar (lambda (group)
(format "(gnewbg \"%s\")" (car group)))
(cdr groups)))
"\n")(grename "term") (gnewbg "emacs") (gnewbg "www") (gnewbg "files") (gnewbg "media") (gnewbg "graphics") (gnewbg "VMs") (gnewbg "games") (gnewbg "private") (gnewbg "discord")
Groups are specified this way:
(when *initializing*
<<gen-groups()>>)Next, let’s make sure no previous window placement rule is in place, this will avoid unexpected and hard-to-debug behavior.
(clear-window-placement-rules)Now we can define our window placement preferences. For now, all rely on the window’s class, so it will be pretty straightforward to write.
| Window Class | Group |
|---|---|
| Emacs | emacs |
| Firefox | browser |
| Nemo | files |
| Gimp | media |
| Signal | private |
| lightcord | discord |
| Steam | games |
| Virt-manager | VMs |
(mapconcat (lambda (rule)
(let ((class (car rule))
(group (cadr rule)))
(format "(define-frame-preference \"%s\"
(nil t t :class \"%s\"))" group class)))
rules
"\n")This can be written this way:
(define-frame-preference "emacs"
(nil t t :class "Emacs"))
(define-frame-preference "browser"
(nil t t :class "Firefox"))
(define-frame-preference "files"
(nil t t :class "Nemo"))
(define-frame-preference "media"
(nil t t :class "Gimp"))
(define-frame-preference "private"
(nil t t :class "Signal"))
(define-frame-preference "discord"
(nil t t :class "lightcord"))
(define-frame-preference "games"
(nil t t :class "Steam"))
(define-frame-preference "VMs"
(nil t t :class "Virt-manager"))Theme
As in the modeline file, the first thing we’ll do is to load our colors.
(load "~/.stumpwm.d/colors.lisp")We can now go onto more serious business.
Fonts
This gave me quite the headache when I tried to set this up: in order
to use TTF or OTF fonts, we need to use the ttf-fonts module which
relies on the clx-truetype library. A few years back, it should have
been possible to get it installed with a call to src_lisp[:exports
code]{(ql:quickload :clx-truetype)}, but it is no longer available!
There’s a quickfix available while we wait for clx-truetype to be once
again available: clone it in quicklisp’s local projects. You will
obviously need to have quicklisp installed (for that, follow the
official instructions), then execute the following shell commands:
cd ~/quicklisp/local-projects/
git clone https://github.com/lihebi/clx-truetype.gitThis will make clx-truetype available to quicklisp, and you can run
again
(ql:quickload :clx-truetype)Now that this is out of the way, let’s add two lines so we can use TTF and OTF fonts:
(ql:quickload :clx-truetype)
(load-module "ttf-fonts")
Something that didn’t click immediately for me (and I think StumpWM’s
documentation on this could be improved) is that set-font can be used
to set either one main font for StumpWM, as one might guess reading
the documentation — or you can set a list of them! And this is
great, since my main font does not support some characters I regularly
have in my windows’ title, such as CJK characters, emojis and all!
Here is my list of fonts I want loaded:
| Family | Subfamily | Size |
|---|---|---|
| DejaVu Sans | Book | 9 |
| IPAMincho | Regular | 11 |
(format "(set-font `(%s))"
(mapconcat (lambda (font)
(let ((family (nth 0 font))
(subfamily (nth 1 font))
(size (nth 2 font)))
(format ",%s" `(make-instance 'xft:font
:family ,(format "\"%s\"" family)
:subfamily ,(format "\"%s\"" subfamily)
:size ,size
:antialias t))))
fonts
"\n "))The code equivalent of this table can be seen below:
(set-font `(,(make-instance 'xft:font :family "DejaVu Sans" :subfamily "Book" :size 11 :antialias t)
,(make-instance 'xft:font :family "IPAMincho" :subfamily "Regular" :size 11 :antialias t)))Colors
We can now set a couple of colors for StumpWM. Not that we will see them often since I don’t like borders on my windows, but in case I want to get them back, they’ll be nice to have.
(set-border-color phundrak-nord1)
(set-focus-color phundrak-nord1)
(set-unfocus-color phundrak-nord3)
(set-float-focus-color phundrak-nord1)
(set-float-unfocus-color phundrak-nord3)Let’s also set the colors of the message and input windows:
(set-fg-color phundrak-nord4)
(set-bg-color phundrak-nord1)As I said, I don’t like borders, so I’ll remove them. I’ll still keep the window’s title bar available when it’s floating, and this is also where I can set the format of its title: its number as well as its name, limited to thirty characters.
(setf *normal-border-width* 0
,*float-window-border* 0
,*float-window-title-height* 15
,*window-border-style* :none
,*window-format* "%n:%30t")Message and Input Windows
The Input windows as well as the message windows should both be at the top of my screen. And I believe a padding of five pixels for the message windows is good.
(setf *input-window-gravity* :top
,*message-window-padding* 10
,*message-window-y-padding* 10
,*message-window-gravity* :top)Gaps Between Frames
I love gaps. When I was using i3, I used the i3-gaps package, not just
plain i3. In Awesome, I still have gaps. And in StumpWM, I shall still
use gaps. In order to use them, let’s load a module dedicated to gaps
in StumpWM:
(load-module "swm-gaps")Now that this is done, I can now set some variables bound to this package.
(setf swm-gaps:*head-gaps-size* 0
swm-gaps:*inner-gaps-size* 5
swm-gaps:*outer-gaps-size* 15)Finally, let’s enable our gaps:
(when *initializing*
(swm-gaps:toggle-gaps))Keybinds
Buckle up, this chapter is going to be long, because me loves LOTS of keybinds.
First, let’s declare again we are using the default package stumpwm:
(in-package :stumpwm)
This will avoid us always repeating stumpwm:define-key or stumpwm:kbd
instead of simply define-key and kbd.
StumpWM behaves a bit like Emacs in terms of keybinds. You have keymaps, which are a collection of keybinds, which in turn call CLisp functions. However, unlike Emacs, you have to declare a lot of keymaps, because StumpWM cannot (yet) understand keybinds such as
(kbd "C-x c l")There are also two keymaps you need to be aware of:
-
*top-map* - This is the keymap available litteraly everywhere. With
this keymap, you can emulate most of your keybinds you have in other
window managers. For instance, I cannot live without
s-RETfor creating new shells, so I’ll bind it to*top-map*. But it’s good practice to avoid polluting*top-map*with too many keybinds. -
*root-map* - This keymap is the default keymap that is already
somewhat populated. It is available after hitting the prefix key set
with
set-prefix-keywhich we will see just below.
It is interesting to note that once you entered any keymap, except
*top-map*, if you hit ? you will see the list of available keybinds.
I’d like it if something similar to general in Emacs too could be
implemented: give any arbitrary name to the keybind you just declared
which would be displayed instead of the actual function or keymap
called by keybind. It would be nicer to see frames rather than
*my-frames-management-keymap*.
Anyways, as mentionned above, *root-map* is already pre-populated with
some cool stuff for you, and you can access it with a prefix which is
by default C-t. But if this doesn’t suit you, you can always redefine
it with set-prefix-key. I personally like to have my space key as a
leader key, but in order to not have it conflict with Emacs, I also
need to press the super key too.
(set-prefix-key (kbd "s-SPC"))
Also, let’s enable which-key:
(which-key-mode) (mapconcat (lambda (keybind)
(format "%s" (let ((key (string-replace "~" "" (car keybind)))
(function (string-replace "~" "" (cadr keybind))))
`(define-key ,map
(kbd ,(format "\"%s\"" key))
,(if (string-prefix-p "'" function t)
function
(format "\"%s\"" function))))))
keybinds
"\n")(define-key m (kbd "f") "float-this") (define-key m (kbd "F") "unfloat-this") (define-key m (kbd "u") "unfloat-this") (define-key m (kbd "C-f") "flatten-floats")
Frames and Windows management
As you’ll see, I have loads of keybinds related to frames and windows
management. They are all categorized in a specific keymap, called
*my-frames-management-keymap*. But before that, let’s define the
keymap *my-frames-float-keymap*, with keybinds dedicated to actions
related with floating windows and frames.
| Keychord | Function |
|---|---|
f |
float-this |
F |
unfloat-this |
u |
unfloat-this |
C-f |
flatten-floats |
*my-frames-float-keymap*
We can now pass onto *my-frames-management-keymap*. My keybinds are organized this way:
| Keychord | Function |
|---|---|
c |
move-focus left |
t |
move-focus down |
s |
move-focus up |
r |
move-focus right |
C |
move-window left |
T |
move-window down |
S |
move-window up |
R |
move-window right |
C-c |
exchange-direction left |
C-t |
exchange-direction down |
C-s |
exchange-direction up |
C-r |
exchange-direction right |
n |
next |
p |
prev |
/ |
hsplit |
- |
vsplit |
h |
hsplit |
v |
vsplit |
H |
hsplit-equally |
V |
vsplit-equally |
. |
iresize |
d |
remove-split |
D |
only |
e |
expose |
f |
fullscreen |
F |
'*my-frames-float-keymap* |
i |
info |
I |
show-window-properties |
m |
meta |
o |
other-window |
q |
delete-window |
Q |
kill-window |
s |
sibling |
u |
next-urgent |
U |
unmaximize |
*my-frames-management-keymap*
As you can see, with the binding to F, we make use of the
*my-frames-float-keymap* keymap declared above, which means if we find
ourselves in *my-frames-management-keymap*, pressing F will bring us
in *my-frames-float-keymap*.
(defvar *my-frames-float-keymap*
(let ((m (make-sparse-keymap)))
<<keybinds-gen(map="m", keybinds=frames-float)>>
m))
(defvar *my-frames-management-keymap*
(let ((m (make-sparse-keymap)))
<<keybinds-gen(map="m", keybinds=frames-and-window-management)>>
m))
Let’s bind *my-frames-management-keymap* in *root-keymap*:
(define-key *root-map* (kbd "w") '*my-frames-management-keymap*)
That way, if we want for instance to split our current frame
vertically, we’ll be able to type s-SPC w - and vsplit will be called.
I also bound a couple of these functions to the top keymap for easier access:
| Keychord | Function |
|---|---|
s-c |
move-focus left |
s-t |
move-focus down |
s-s |
move-focus up |
s-r |
move-focus right |
s-C |
move-window left |
s-T |
move-window down |
s-S |
move-window up |
s-R |
move-window right |
s-M-c |
exchange-direction left |
s-M-t |
exchange-direction down |
s-M-s |
exchange-direction up |
s-M-r |
exchange-direction right |
This translates to:
<<keybinds-gen(map="*top-map*", keybinds=top-window-map)>>
Being a bépo layout user, the hjkl keys don’t exactly fit me, as you
might have noticed with my use of ctsr which is its equivalent. Due to
this, the interactive keymap for iresize is not ideal for me, let me
redefine it:
(define-interactive-keymap (iresize tile-group) (:on-enter #'setup-iresize
:on-exit #'resize-unhide
:abort-if #'abort-resize-p)
((kbd "c") "resize-direction left")
((kbd "t") "resize-direction down")
((kbd "s") "resize-direction up")
((kbd "r") "resize-direction right"))Applications
When I speak about applications, I speak about programs and scripts in general. With these keymaps, I can launch programs I often have use for, but I can also launch some scripts as well as take screenshots.
First, let’s create my rofi scripts keymap.
| Keychord | Function |
|---|---|
a |
exec awiki |
r |
exec rofi -combi-modi drun,window -show combi |
s |
exec rofi -show ssh |
p |
exec rofi-pass -t |
P |
exec rofi-pass |
e |
exec rofi-emoji |
m |
exec rofi-mount |
u |
exec rofi-umount |
w |
exec wacom-setup |
y |
exec ytplay |
Y |
exec rofi-ytdl |
*my-rofi-keymap*
Here’s the equivalent in Common Lisp.
(defvar *my-rofi-keymap*
(let ((m (make-sparse-keymap)))
<<keybinds-gen(map="m", keybinds=rofi-scripts)>>
m))Let’s also create a keymap for screenshots.
| Keychord | Function |
|---|---|
d |
exec scrot -d 3 -e 'mv $f ~/Pictures/Screenshots' |
s |
exec scrot -e 'mv $f ~/Pictures/Screenshots' |
S |
exec scrot -s -e 'mv $f ~/Pictures/Screenshots' |
g |
exec scrot -e 'gimp $f; mv $f ~/Pictures/Screenshots' |
*my-screenshot-keymap*
Here’s the equivalent in Common Lisp.
(defvar *my-screenshot-keymap*
(let ((m (make-sparse-keymap)))
<<keybinds-gen(map="m", keybinds=screenshot-keymap)>>
m))We can now define our applications keymap which will reference both the above keymaps.
| Keychord | Function |
|---|---|
b |
firefox |
d |
exec lightcord |
e |
emacs |
g |
exec gimp |
n |
exec nemo |
r |
'*my-rofi-keymap* |
s |
'*my-screenshot-keymap* |
*my-applications-keymap*
This translates to:
(defvar *my-applications-keymap*
(let ((m (make-sparse-keymap)))
<<keybinds-gen(map="m", keybinds=application-keymap)>>
m))The application keymap can now be bound to the top map like so:
(define-key *top-map* (kbd "s-a") '*my-applications-keymap*)
I will also bind to the top map s-RET in order to open a new terminal
window. The screenshot keymap is also bound to the ScreenPrint key.
(define-key *top-map* (kbd "s-RET") "exec kitty")
(define-key *top-map* (kbd "Print") '*my-screenshot-keymap*)End of Session, Powering Off, and the Likes
The module end-session provides functions for gracefully ending the
user session, powering off, restarting, and suspending the computer.
It also provides a function that interactively asks what the user
whishes to do.
| Keychord | Function |
|---|---|
q |
end-session |
l |
logout |
s |
suspend-computer |
S |
shutdown-computer |
r |
restart-computer |
This translates to:
(defvar *my-end-session-keymap*
(let ((m (make-sparse-keymap)))
<<keybinds-gen(map="m", keybinds=end-session-keymap)>>
m))
Which is bound in the root map to q:
(define-key *root-map* (kbd "q") '*my-end-session-keymap*)Misc
Finally, some misc keybinds on the root map which don’t really fit anywhere else:
| Keychord | Function |
|---|---|
B |
beckon |
l |
exec plock |
r |
reload |
<<keybinds-gen(map="*root-map*", keybinds=misc-root-map)>>