river/README.md

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## Overview

River is a dynamic tiling Wayland compositor with flexible runtime
configuration.

Check [packaging status](https://repology.org/project/river-compositor/versions) —
Join us at [#river](https://web.libera.chat/?channels=#river) on irc.libera.chat —
Read our man pages, [wiki](https://codeberg.org/river/wiki), and
[Code of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md)

The main repository is on [codeberg](https://codeberg.org/river/river),
which is where the issue tracker may be found and where contributions are accepted.

Read-only mirrors exist on [sourcehut](https://git.sr.ht/~ifreund/river)
and [github](https://github.com/riverwm/river).

*Note: river has not yet seen a stable 1.0 release and it will be necessary to
make significant breaking changes before 1.0 to realize my longer term plans.
That said, I do my best to avoid gratuitous breaking changes and bugs/crashes
should be rare. If you find a bug don't hesitate to
[open an issue](https://codeberg.org/river/river/issues/new/choose).*

## Features

Currently river's window management style is quite similar to
[dwm](http://dwm.suckless.org), [xmonad](https://xmonad.org), and other classic
dynamic tiling X11 window managers. Windows are automatically arranged in a tiled
layout and shifted around as windows are opened/closed.

Rather than having the tiled layout logic built into the compositor process,
river uses a [custom Wayland
protocol](https://codeberg.org/river/river/src/branch/master/protocol/river-layout-v3.xml)
and separate "layout generator" process. A basic layout generator, `rivertile`,
is provided but users are encouraged to use community-developed [layout
generators](https://codeberg.org/river/wiki/src/branch/master/pages/Community-Layouts.md)
or write their own. Examples in C and Python may be found
[here](https://codeberg.org/river/river/src/branch/master/contrib).

Tags are used to organize windows rather than workspaces. A window may be
assigned to one or more tags. Likewise, one or more tags may be displayed on a
monitor at a time.

River is configured at runtime using the `riverctl` tool. It can define
keybindings, set the active layout generator, configure input devices, and more.
On startup, river runs a user-defined init script which usually runs `riverctl`
commands to set up the user's configuration.

## Building

Note: If you are packaging river for distribution, see [PACKAGING.md](PACKAGING.md).

To compile river first ensure that you have the following dependencies
installed. The "development" versions are required if applicable to your
distribution.

- [zig](https://ziglang.org/download/) 0.13
- wayland
- wayland-protocols
- [wlroots](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wlroots/wlroots) 0.18
- xkbcommon
- libevdev
- pixman
- pkg-config
- scdoc (optional, but required for man page generation)

Then run, for example:
```
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe --prefix ~/.local install
```
To enable Xwayland support pass the `-Dxwayland` option as well.
Run `zig build -h` to see a list of all options.

## Usage

River can either be run nested in an X11/Wayland session or directly
from a tty using KMS/DRM. Simply run the `river` command.

On startup river will run an executable file at `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/river/init`
if such an executable exists. If `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is not set,
`~/.config/river/init` will be used instead.

Usually this executable is a shell script invoking *riverctl*(1) to create
mappings, start programs such as a layout generator or status bar, and
perform other configuration.

An example init script with sane defaults is provided [here](example/init)
in the example directory.

For complete documentation see the `river(1)`, `riverctl(1)`, and
`rivertile(1)` man pages.

## Future Plans

Currently details such as how tags work across multiple monitors are not
possible for users to configure. It would be possible to extend river's source
code to allow more flexibility here but this comes at the cost of complexity and
there will always be someone who prefers something slightly different.

My long term plan to address this is to move as much window management policy as
possible out of the river compositor process and into the "layout generator"
process which will need to be renamed to "window manager." This will give users
much more power and control over river's behavior and also enable some really
cool workflows. For example, it would be possible to write a window manager in
lisp and use hot code reloading to edit its behavior it while it is running.

This is a non-trivial architectural change and will take a while to implement. I
plan to focus on this change for the 0.4.0 release cycle. Unfortunately, it will
almost certainly break existing river configurations as well. I think the
benefits outweigh that downside though and I will do my best to offer a
reasonable upgrade path.

## Donate

If my work on river adds value to your life and you'd like to support me
financially you can find donation information [here](https://isaacfreund.com/donate/).

## Licensing

River is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 only.

The protocols in the `protocol` directory are released under various licenses by
various parties. You should refer to the copyright block of each protocol for
the licensing information. The protocols prefixed with `river` and developed by
this project are released under the ISC license (as stated in their copyright
blocks).

The river logo is licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, see the
[license](logo/LICENSE) in the logo directory.