A configurable Wayland desktop

Install · Configure · Screenshots · Documentation

Ferese combines a window manager and desktop shell with one configuration.

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Features

• Scrolling columns with window grouping, tree tiling and floating windows that remember their size and placement
• Workspace overview and recent-window switching
• Remappable keyboard shortcuts and touchpad gestures
• Continuum motion: interruptible springs, gesture momentum and motion settings shared by the compositor and shell
• Multiple monitors with fractional scaling and automatic refresh-rate switching on low battery
• Themes, wallpapers and blur that update live, with Light/Dark/Auto modes and custom KDL themes
• Continuous corners across windows and shell
• Desktop widgets, including a clock and sticky notes
• Screenshots with annotation, screen sharing and built-in recording
• A built-in lock screen and authentication dialogs
• Idle inhibition during fullscreen media playback, with rules for selected apps
• Settings and Control Center with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and audio controls

How Ferese compares

Ferese combines scrolling and tree layouts with its own desktop controls. The table compares current upstream features and names separate tools where they are needed.

Feature	Ferese	Hyprland	niri
Tiling layouts	Scrolling columns and tree tiling; switch per workspace	Scrolling, dwindle, master and monocle; per-workspace layouts	Scrolling columns
Floating windows	Built in	Built in	Built in
Workspace overview	Built in	Plugins such as HyprExpo	Built in
Animations	Continuum: interruptible springs, gesture momentum; speed and reduced-motion settings shared by the compositor and shell	Bézier and spring curves	Spring and easing animations; custom shaders
Corner shapes	Continuous corners across windows and shell	Rounded corners and squircles	Rounded corners with optional clipping
Live configuration reload	Yes	Yes	Yes
Monitor mirroring	Built in	Built in	Separate tool, such as wl-mirror
Desktop controls	Included Settings and Control Center	Separate utilities or a desktop shell	Separate desktop shell or tools
Notifications	Included in ferese-shell	Separate notification daemon	Separate notification daemon or shell
Lock screen	Included ferese-lock	Separate hyprlock	Separate locker, such as swaylock or hyprlock
Screen-sharing backend	xdg-desktop-portal-ferese	xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland	xdg-desktop-portal-gnome

Ferese's shell, Settings, lock screen and dialogs use a shared theme. Other desktop shells, including DankMaterialShell and Noctalia, also include desktop controls; their features depend on the shell and tools you install.

Install

Start with the dependencies, then clone Ferese and build it as your normal user:

git clone https://github.com/ferese-wm/ferese.git
cd ferese
./scripts/install.sh

Once it’s installed, log out and choose Ferese at your login screen, or run ferese-session from a TTY or a greeter that accepts a command. The installation guide also walks you through previews, updates and recovery.

Configure

Configure Ferese through Control Center → Settings or ~/.config/ferese/config.kdl. Changes apply live. Invalid edits leave the last working configuration in place.

The configuration reference and example config cover appearance, window layouts, displays and startup apps.

Default shortcuts

Use Super, usually the Windows key, to move around your desktop, and open Settings → Shortcuts whenever you want to change a shortcut or gesture.

Control	Action
Super + Enter	Open a terminal
Display Fn key (XF86Display)	Choose the display mode
Super + H / J / K / L	Focus left / down / up / right
Super + Backspace	Return to the last focused window
Super + Escape	Toggle between the last two visited workspaces on this monitor
Alt + Tab / Alt + Shift + Tab	Preview recent windows forward / backward; release Alt to select, Escape to cancel
Super + F	Maximize the window
Super + Shift + F	Toggle fullscreen
Super + R	Cycle column width
Super + Tab	Open overview
Super + M	Switch scrolling / tree layout
Print Screen	Capture the active monitor and open Satty
Super + Shift + S	Select a screenshot area
Super + Shift + E	Ask to log out
Super + left-button drag	Move a floating window
Super + right-button drag	Resize a floating window
Three-finger swipe up / down	Next / previous workspace
Three-finger swipe left / right	Focus the window to the right / left

See all shortcuts and mouse actions for window and workspace controls.

Documentation

The documentation index lists the desktop guides. Development instructions cover building, testing and contributing.

Ferese is written in Rust using Smithay. Development happens on GitHub. If something goes wrong, open an issue with the steps to reproduce it and any relevant logs.