feresaria/docs/shortcuts.md

Shortcuts and gestures

Super is usually the Windows key. These are the built-in defaults. Open Settings → Shortcuts to change bindings and gestures or disable the login guide. Your saved bindings can override these defaults. The example config adds the app, media and arrow-key shortcuts listed below.

Edit bindings in Settings

Choose Add shortcut, record the combination, then search for an action. Recording temporarily inhibits Ferese shortcuts after the compositor confirms the inhibition; Escape, focus loss, leaving the page or the 15-second timeout releases it. A key menu with modifier buttons is also available for combinations reserved by a host desktop. Mouse buttons, wheel directions and three-, four- or five-finger swipes use the same editor.

The editor provides action-specific arguments and an application command field. Commands are parsed into an argument vector; no shell is invoked. Adding an existing custom combination updates that binding; editing another binding into a duplicate reports a conflict. Changes apply globally. A physical-key binding retains its matching mode when only its action changes; recording or choosing a new key switches to key-label matching.

Launcher

Super + Space opens the launcher. Type to search, press Tab to accept completion, or Enter to open the selected match. Down shows alternatives. The Apps, Files and Windows tiles browse each source separately.

Escape clears the query, returns from a browse view, then closes the launcher, one step per press. In Windows, Alt + Enter moves the selected window to the current workspace. Power off, restart and logout also require Alt + Enter.

Run feresectl launcher toggle to open or close it from a script.

To also toggle the launcher by pressing and releasing Super alone, add binding "Super" action="toggle-launcher" to your configuration. The action runs on release; using another key, the pointer or a held mouse button cancels it, so Super+Space and Super+mouse combinations continue to work. See modifier-only bindings for input ownership and cancellation behavior.

Move and resize with the mouse

Action	Result
Super + left-button drag	Move a floating or tiled window
Super + right-button drag	Resize the edge or corner selected by the starting 3×3 region
Right-click while moving	Switch the drop between floating and tiled
Escape during a drag	Cancel the move or resize
Hold Shift during a move or resize	Bypass edge snapping
Super + Shift + Space	Switch the focused window between tiled and floating

You can drag from inside the window; a title bar or resize border is not required. Drop a tiled window beside another window to reorder it, or in its center to join a tab group. Drag across monitors to move to the workspace shown there. Scroll or hold at a horizontal screen edge to reach more scrolling columns. The central resize region selects the nearest corner. Floating windows snap to nearby edges; continuing to drag beyond 20 logical pixels releases the snap.

Focus, move, and resize

H, J, K, and L mean left, down, up, and right.

Shortcut	Action
Super + H / J / K / L	Focus in that direction
Super + Backspace	Return to the last focused window, including on another workspace or monitor
Alt + Tab	Preview recent windows in focus order
Alt + Shift + Tab	Preview recent windows in reverse focus order
Super + Shift + H / J / K / L	Move the focused window in that direction
Super + Ctrl + H / J / K / L	Resize in that direction
Super + Q	Close the focused window
Super + F	Maximize or restore the window
Super + Shift + F	Enter or leave fullscreen

Maximize fills the available workspace. Fullscreen also hides the bar and window decorations.

Keep Alt held to cycle through recent windows. Release Alt to select the previewed window, or press Escape to cancel. Repeating Super + Backspace toggles between the two most recently focused windows.

Columns and layouts

Shortcut	Action
Super + R	Cycle column width
Super + C	Center the focused column
Super + [	Join a neighbouring column or tree tab group
Super + ]	Leave the column or tree tab group
Super + Ctrl + [ / ]	Previous / next tab in a group
Super + Shift + T	Toggle a scrolling column between stacked rows and tabs
Super + M	Switch scrolling / tree layout
Super + Tab	Open or close overview

In scrolling mode, Super + [ uses the left neighbour when available, otherwise the right. Try it with two terminals to place them vertically in one column. Super + ] separates the focused window again. Super + Shift + T changes the column to tabs or restores its stacked rows. In tabbed columns, Super + J/K switches tabs; the usual left/right focus keys still switch columns.

In tree mode, Super + [ joins the focused window to a neighbouring window as a tab. Click a title in the tab bar or use Super + Ctrl + [ / ] to switch tabs. Super + ] splits the focused tab out beside the group. For a specific neighbour, bind join-tab with a direction; see Tabbed windows.

In overview, select a workspace to see its windows, then click the window you want. Directional focus keys move selection; Enter activates it and Escape closes overview.

Workspaces

Shortcut	Action
Super + 1–9	Switch to that workspace
Super + Shift + 1–9	Move the window to that workspace
Super + Escape	Toggle between the last two visited workspaces on this monitor

Workspaces are created as needed and numbered separately on each monitor. Workspace shortcuts select a workspace on the focused monitor.

To make pressing the current workspace's shortcut toggle back too, enable Settings → Windows → Toggle back with the same workspace shortcut. It is off by default. The action can also be bound as workspace-back-and-forth or run with feresectl workspace-back-and-forth.

Desktop actions

Shortcut	Action
Super + Enter	Open the configured terminal (foot by default)
Print Screen	Capture the active monitor and open Satty
Super + Shift + S	Select a screenshot area and open Satty
Super + Shift + E	Ask to log out
Super + F1	Open or close the shortcut hint
Display Fn key (XF86Display)	Open or close the display-mode chooser

Super + F1 works even when the guide at login is disabled. It opens on the focused monitor. Bind toggle-keybinding-guide to change the shortcut, or run feresectl toggle-keybinding-guide.

The display icon appears in the bar when an external monitor is connected, including when that monitor is disabled or mirrored. Click it to choose Internal only, External only, Extend or Mirror. Arrow keys or 1–4 select a mode; Enter applies it. Tab moves between controls and Escape cancels. After applying, choose Keep before the confirmation timeout or Revert to restore the last confirmed configuration. Bind toggle-display-mode if your keyboard uses another key.

In Satty, Enter saves the edited screenshot and copies it to the clipboard; Escape discards it. See Configuration for dependencies and custom screenshot commands.

Touchpad gestures

Three-finger swipe	Action on release
Up / down	Drag to the next / previous workspace on this monitor; release to settle
Left / right	Drag the window row; release to focus the window to the right / left

Short or cancelled navigation swipes slide back. Diagonal swipes do not navigate. Gestures can use the same actions as keyboard bindings, including overview or moving a window. Four- and five-finger bindings are supported too.

Reserved and context controls

These controls are handled by the compositor rather than configurable bindings.

Control	Action
Enter in overview	Activate the selected window
Escape in overview	Close overview
Escape during Alt + Tab	Cancel the preview without changing focus
Release Alt during Alt + Tab	Focus the previewed window
Ctrl + Alt + Escape	Release an active shortcut inhibitor or input-capture session
Ctrl + Alt + F1–F12	Switch virtual terminals in a direct session

Virtual-terminal switching is unavailable in nested previews.

Example-config shortcuts

The example config adds these to the built-in defaults. App and hardware controls require their configured programs to be installed.

Shortcut	Action
Super + B	Open Firefox
Super + Z	Open Zed
Super + Alt + L	Lock with ferese-lock
Super + Left / Down / Up / Right	Focus in that direction
Super + Ctrl + Left / Down / Up / Right	Move the focused window in that direction
Super + Alt + Left / Down / Up / Right	Resize in that direction
Brightness up / down	Adjust brightness with brightnessctl
Volume up / down	Adjust volume with wpctl
Audio mute	Toggle output mute with wpctl
Microphone mute	Toggle microphone mute with wpctl

Add a shortcut

For example, bind a lock command and use a swipe to open overview:

commands {
    lock "ferese-lock"
}
binding "Super+Alt+L" "spawn" "lock"
binding "Swipe3Up" "toggle-overview"

These are examples, not defaults. To disable a built-in binding:

binding "Super+Q" disabled=#true

See Commands and bindings for action names, arguments, and physical-key matching.

In scrolling columns, hover over the left-edge tab indicator for window titles. Click a segment or title to switch tabs. Keyboard tab switching briefly shows the selected tab number and title without opening the list.