Ferese

Just another Wayland window manager with sensible defaults.

Install · Configure · Try it · Widgets

Ferese is built in Rust on Smithay, with its own menu bar, control center and native Settings app.

Features

Scrolling columns, tree tiling and floating windows
Workspace overview
Configurable three-finger workspace and window navigation
Configurable animations
Built-in bar and control center
Native Settings app
Desktop widgets
Area and full-screen screenshots with Satty annotation
Themes, blur and gradient borders
Multi-monitor support and fractional scaling
Live configuration reload
Background services and session locking

Try it

Preview Ferese inside your current Wayland desktop:

cargo build --release --locked -p ferese -p ferese-shell -p ferese-settings -p feresectl
target/release/ferese --backend nested --grant-effects --grant-shell-control -- \
  target/release/ferese-shell

Requirements (Fedora package names):

Rust 1.93+ and Cargo.
Build tools: gcc, gcc-c++, cmake, make, pkgconf-pkg-config.
Wayland and input: wayland-devel, libxkbcommon-devel, libinput-devel.
Graphics: libdrm-devel, mesa-libgbm-devel, mesa-libEGL-devel.
Session and fonts: systemd-devel, libseat-devel, fontconfig-devel.
Installation: desktop-file-utils, dbus.
Default terminal: foot (or configure another terminal).
Optional: zenity for wallpaper browsing, swayidle for idle actions, and swaylock or swaylock-effects for locking.
Screenshots: grim, slurp, satty, and wl-clipboard.

For a login-screen session alongside your existing desktop:

./scripts/install.sh

The installer preserves your configuration and keeps previous releases for rollback. Log out and select Ferese at the login screen. An upgrade does not replace the running compositor: log out and back in to activate it. See installation and recovery for prerequisites, session logs and rollback.

Get around

Built-in defaults (your configuration can override them):

The bar shows workspaces 1–9 in a compact numbered strip, including empty ones. Click a number to switch using the same behavior as Super+1–9. A filled button marks this monitor's active workspace; an outlined button marks one active on another monitor. Three-finger swipes up/down navigate workspaces on this monitor; left/right navigate windows. Assign swipes to any keyboard-binding action (including overview, move, or a launcher command) in Settings → Shortcuts.

Shortcut	Action
Super + Enter	Open a terminal
Super + H / J / K / L	Focus a window
Super + R	Cycle column width
Super + C	Center the focused column
Super + F	Maximize, keeping the bar and decorations
Super + Shift + F	True fullscreen
Super + Tab	Open workspace and window overview
Super + M	Switch scrolling / tree layout
Super + Shift + S	Select a screenshot area
Print Screen / Fn + PrtSc	Capture the whole screen
Super + Shift + E	Log out immediately—save your work first

Both screenshot shortcuts open Satty for annotation. Press Enter in Satty to save to Pictures/Screenshots and copy the edited image to the clipboard; Escape discards it. Escape also cancels an area selection. Run ferese-screenshot --full to capture the whole screen from a terminal. When focus follows the mouse is enabled, hovering changes keyboard focus without raising the window; clicking raises it within its layer.

Make it yours

Open Control Center → Settings, or run ferese-settings. Advanced options live in ~/.config/ferese/config.toml (or under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME). Changes reload automatically. The complete configuration reference covers every supported option; the example config is a starting point.

Development

cargo test --workspace --locked
cargo fmt --all --check

Use release builds when evaluating animation and startup performance. RUST_LOG=ferese=debug enables detailed logs; FERESE_TRACE_PERFORMANCE=1 enables per-output performance summaries. Test hardware behavior on your own setup, especially suspend/resume and locking. Keep a working desktop session available while testing changes.

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