Demo Video

Contributors

Thank you to everyone who contributed to OmniWM. Your ideas and code made a real difference.

Adelin Berard

Albert Ilagan

Balazs Hevesi

chen259456754

Filippo Zaffoni

Jan Hesters

Jose Cardama

Lukas Gerlinski

Marcus Harlid Davin

mkdir700

mm

Naoki Ikeguchi

Rich Hanes

Williamufo

Yang-Yiming

Zicochaos

Small demo, not fully showing everything, gif recorded at 30fps due to size, some stuff is now more refined and better as some gifs might be outdated, features shown:

• Real quake/sticky terminal using ghostty's libghostty
• Best-effort macOS native-tab replacement support
• IPC/CLI
• Scrathpad/Sticky windows of any app
• Niri Overview
• Unified command palette for windows and app menus
• App menu anywhere
• Niri tabbed columns and Dwindle tile groups
• Niri and Dwindle layout
• Hide/unhide status bar icons (Similar to Ice Bar)
• Keep awake (Similar to Caffeine)
• Interactive workspace/app icon bar
• A lot more features not show in the video.

Known Limitations

• Gestures/Trackpad - Magic Mouse and trackpad gestures have not been locally validated without matching hardware, but no issues have been reported.
• Dwindle group restore - Group membership and tab order are runtime layout state and are not restored after OmniWM restarts.

Performance & Trust

OmniWM is built for high responsiveness and smooth, crisp animations.

• Private APIs - OmniWM leverages Apple's private APIs where ever technically possible in order to reduce latency and improve window management responsiveness.
• Refresh rate aware animations - OmniWM targets true display refresh pacing (for example 60/120/144Hz) for animations.
• No SIP disable required - OmniWM does not require System Integrity Protection (SIP) to be disabled and never will.
• Always notarized official releases - Official OmniWM release builds are developer signed and notarized by Apple and will stay that way.
• Forever free, no limitations - OmniWM is and will remain free to use forever, with no subscriptions, feature paywalls, trial limits, or usage caps.

Requirements

• macOS 26+ (Tahoe) on Apple Silicon
• Accessibility permissions (prompted on launch)
• Input Monitoring permission when using a System Hyper Trigger
• Displays have separate spaces ON (the macOS default; OmniWM pauses window management until it is enabled)

Installation

Homebrew

brew tap BarutSRB/tap
brew install omniwm

GitHub Releases

1. Download the latest OmniWM.zip from Releases
2. Extract and move OmniWM.app to /Applications
3. In System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Mission Control, turn ON Displays have separate Spaces
4. Log out of macOS and log back in for that change to take effect unless you had it on already
5. Launch OmniWM and grant Accessibility permissions when prompted
6. To use a System Hyper Trigger, grant Input Monitoring from Settings > Hotkeys

Updates

OmniWM checks for updates by default.

• On launch, OmniWM polls the latest GitHub release at most once per day.
• Updates stay manual. OmniWM does not auto-download or auto-install a new release.
• When a newer release is available, OmniWM shows a centered popup with release notes and actions for Open Release Page, Copy brew upgrade omniwm, Skip This Version, and Not Now.
• You can control this from Settings > General > Updates or trigger a manual check from the status bar menu with Check for Updates....

Documentation

The documentation hub lives in docs/index.md.

• Documentation Home
• Architecture Guide
• IPC & CLI Reference
• Contribution Docs
• Canonical Contributing Guide

IPC and CLI

OmniWM ships with a bundled CLI, omniwmctl, for automation and scripting.

IPC is disabled by default. Enable Enable IPC from the menu bar before using the CLI or any automation.

For setup, installation options, commands, queries, rules, subscriptions, and security details, see docs/IPC-CLI.md.

Quick Start

1. Launch OmniWM from your Applications folder
2. In System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Mission Control, turn ON Displays have separate Spaces
3. Log out of macOS and log back in for that change to take effect unless you had it on already
4. Grant Accessibility permissions in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility
5. Windows will automatically tile in columns
6. Keep one macOS Space per display and navigate with OmniWM workspaces; extra native Spaces are tolerated (their windows are left to macOS, not tiled)
7. Use the default shortcuts in Keyboard Shortcuts to navigate between windows
8. Click the menu bar icon to access Settings, including Settings > General > Updates
9. Use Check for Updates... from the status bar menu whenever you want to run a manual update check
10. In case you freak out and don't see all your status bar icons, relax, OmniWM hides the menu-bar icons you selected in Settings > Hidden Bar. Right-click OmniWM's status bar icon to open the Hidden Icons Bar and click any icon to use it.

User Guide

Layout Modes

OmniWM offers two layout engines that you can switch between per workspace:

Niri (Scrolling Columns) - Windows arranged in vertical columns that scroll horizontally. Each column can have multiple stacked windows or be "tabbed" (multiple windows, one visible at a time). Best for wide monitors with many windows.

Hyprland Dwindle (BSP) - Binary space partition layout that recursively divides screen space. Each new window splits the space in half, and a tile can group multiple windows as tabs. Best for traditional tiling with predictable layouts.

Use the Toggle Workspace Layout shortcut below to switch layouts per workspace or configure them in GUI settings.

Keyboard Shortcuts

All shortcuts are customizable in Settings > Hotkeys. Hyper is the literal Control + Option + Shift + Command chord. Optionally pick a System Hyper Trigger — a single key (Caps Lock, F13–F20, or a left- or right-side modifier) or an extra mouse button that acts as Hyper while held (this needs Input Monitoring permission). Leave the trigger as None if you already produce Hyper another way, such as a Karabiner Elements remap. The tables below list all the default hotkeys:

Layout legend:

• Shared works in any active layout.
• Niri works only when the active workspace uses the Niri layout.
• Dwindle works only when the active workspace uses the Dwindle layout.

Workspace

Action	Default Shortcut	Layout
Switch to Workspace 1-9	Option + 1-9	Shared
Move Window to Workspace 1-9	Option + Shift + 1-9	Shared
Switch to Previous Workspace (Back and Forth)	Control + Option + Tab	Shared
Switch to Next Workspace	Unassigned	Shared
Switch to Previous Workspace (Sequential)	Unassigned	Shared
Move Window to Workspace Up	Control + Option + Shift + Up Arrow	Shared
Move Window to Workspace Down	Control + Option + Shift + Down Arrow	Shared
Move Column to Workspace 1-9	Unassigned	Niri
Move Column to Workspace Up	Control + Option + Shift + Page Up	Niri
Move Column to Workspace Down	Control + Option + Shift + Page Down	Niri

Focus

Action	Default Shortcut	Layout
Focus Left / Right / Up / Down	Option + Arrow Keys	Shared
Focus Down or Top / Up or Bottom	Unassigned	Shared
Focus Previous Window	Option + Tab	Niri
Traverse Backward	Unassigned	Niri
Traverse Forward	Unassigned	Niri
Focus First Column	Option + Home	Niri
Focus Last Column	Option + End	Niri
Focus Column 1-9	Control + Option + 1-9	Niri
Toggle Command Palette	Control + Option + Space	Shared
Open Menu Anywhere	Control + Option + M	Shared
Toggle Workspace Bar	Unassigned	Shared
Toggle Hidden Icons Bar	Unassigned	Shared
Toggle Quake Terminal	Option + `	Shared
Toggle Overview	Option + Shift + O	Shared

Move Window

Action	Default Shortcut	Layout
Move Left / Right / Up / Down	Option + Shift + Arrow Keys	Shared
Reorder Window Up / Down	Unassigned	Shared

Monitor

Action	Default Shortcut	Layout
Focus Next Monitor	Control + Command + Tab	Shared
Focus Previous Monitor	Unassigned	Shared
Focus Last Monitor	Control + Command + `	Shared

Layout

Action	Default Shortcut	Layout
Toggle Fullscreen	Option + Return	Shared
Toggle Native Fullscreen	Unassigned	Shared
Balance Sizes	Option + Shift + B	Shared
Move to Root	Unassigned	Dwindle
Toggle Split	Unassigned	Dwindle
Swap Split	Unassigned	Dwindle
Grow Left / Right / Up / Down	Unassigned	Dwindle
Shrink Left / Right / Up / Down	Unassigned	Dwindle
Grow / Shrink Focused Window	Unassigned	Dwindle
Preselect Left / Right / Up / Down	Unassigned	Dwindle
Clear Preselection	Unassigned	Dwindle
Raise All Floating Windows	Option + Shift + R	Shared
Toggle Focused Window Floating	Unassigned	Shared
Assign Focused Window to Scratchpad	Unassigned	Shared
Toggle Scratchpad Window	Unassigned	Shared
Toggle Workspace Layout	Option + Shift + L	Shared

Container and Column

Action	Default Shortcut	Layout
Move Container Left / Right	Control + Option + Shift + Left / Right Arrow	Shared
Move Container Up / Down	Unassigned	Dwindle
Toggle Column Tabbed	Option + T	Niri
Cycle Column Width Forward	Option + .	Shared
Cycle Column Width Backward	Option + ,	Shared
Toggle Column Full Width	Option + Shift + F	Niri

The daily Focus and Move shortcuts adapt to the active layout. In Niri, Move Left / Right expels the focused window from a multi-window column or consumes a single-window column into its neighbor, while Move Up / Down reorders within the column.

Dwindle Groups

Dwindle groups use the existing Focus and Move bindings, so there are no separate group shortcuts to memorize. Only the active member occupies the tile; the other members stay hidden and the clickable tab rail shows their order.

Goal	Default Shortcut	Behavior
Focus another tile	Option + Arrow Keys	Left / Right are always spatial. Up / Down are spatial for a singleton tile.
Select the next / previous tab	Option + Down / Up Arrow	Within a group, Down advances and Up goes back. At the group edge OmniWM tries a spatial tile, then the configured monitor transition, and wraps locally only when neither exit succeeds.
Join a singleton into a tile or group	Option + Shift + Arrow Keys	Joins the focused singleton with the touching tile in that direction.
Extract the active tab	Option + Shift + Arrow Keys	When the focused tile is grouped, extracts only its active tab onto the requested side.
Move the complete tile or group	Control + Option + Shift + Left / Right Arrow	Move Container swaps the whole structure. Up / Down are advanced, unassigned Dwindle actions.
Select an exact tab	Click its tab rail item	Reveals and focuses that member without changing the group order.

Moving a tab directly from one existing group into another is intentionally a two-step operation: extract it first, then move the resulting singleton toward the destination group. A singleton at a genuine workspace edge can still use the normal cross-monitor Move behavior; a rejected group mutation does not fall through to tile swapping or monitor movement.

The unassigned advanced actions are available in Settings > Hotkeys. Focus Down or Top / Up or Bottom always wraps within the active Niri column or Dwindle group. Reorder Window Up / Down changes the active member's position by one without wrapping. Move Container is the whole-structure escape hatch and never transfers to another monitor at a workspace edge. Dwindle join/extract and Move Container operations are intentionally unavailable while Overview is open; leave Overview before changing a Dwindle tree.

Quake Terminal (Inside Terminal)

Action	Shortcut
New Tab	Cmd + T
Close Tab	Cmd + W
Next Tab	Cmd + Shift + ]
Previous Tab	Cmd + Shift + [
Next Tab (Alt)	Ctrl + Tab
Previous Tab (Alt)	Ctrl + Shift + Tab
Select Tab 1-9	Cmd + 1-9
Split Pane (Horizontal)	Cmd + D
Split Pane (Vertical)	Cmd + Shift + D
Close Pane	Cmd + Shift + W
Equalize Splits	Cmd + Shift + =
Navigate Pane	Cmd + Option + Arrow Keys

Features

Quake Terminal

A true quake/sticky terminal (powered by Ghostty's libghostty) that slides in from the screen edge and:

• Toggle it from the global shortcut shown in Keyboard Shortcuts
• Supports multiple tabs and splits within tabs
• Tab and pane shortcuts are listed in Quake Terminal (Inside Terminal)
• Mouse resize by dragging edges; Option + drag to move (remembers size/position per monitor)
• Configure position (top/bottom/left/right/center), size, and opacity in Settings
• Auto-hides on focus loss (optional)

Command Palette

Quickly search windows or app menus from one shared palette:

• Open it from the global shortcut shown in Keyboard Shortcuts
• Use Cmd + 1 for Windows and Cmd + 2 for Menu when menu search is available
• Type to fuzzy-search by window title, app name, or menu item
• Menu results always show keyboard shortcuts when available
• Up / Down move the selection
• Enter activates the selected result
• Shift + Enter summons the selected window to the right when available
• Escape dismisses the palette

Menu Anywhere

Access any application's menu from your keyboard:

• Shows the native menu at the cursor from a global shortcut

Overview Mode

See all windows at once with thumbnails:

• Open it from the global shortcut shown in Keyboard Shortcuts
• Configure the 50–150% baseline zoom plus backdrop and window-border colors in Settings → Overview
• Click a window to focus it
• Type to filter/search windows; Backspace deletes search text
• Alt (Option) + Shift + Mouse Scroll temporarily zooms the current overview; the next opening starts from the configured baseline
• Arrow Keys navigate the selection; Tab / Shift + Tab move horizontally, and keyboard navigation automatically scrolls the selected thumbnail into view
• Assigned structural move, reorder, consume/expel, and workspace-transfer shortcuts operate on the selected thumbnail while Overview is open
• In Niri workspaces, reorder windows and columns, consume or expel windows, move windows into or out of columns, move windows across workspaces and monitors, and move whole columns between Niri workspaces
• Adjacent-workspace fallback actions can create the next compatible unused numeric workspace when moving past the current workspace edge
• In Dwindle workspaces, Overview supports moving windows across workspaces and closing them without adding Overview-only tree placement controls
• A successful move keeps the moved window selected and activates its destination workspace and monitor behind Overview
• Option + drag a thumbnail onto a workspace, an exact window position, or a Niri column gap; layouts without an exact placement equivalent fall back to moving it to the destination workspace
• Command + W closes the selected window once per press and keeps Overview open; selection advances only after the window has closed
• Enter, Escape, the configured Overview shortcut, and clicking the backdrop dismiss Overview and focus the current selection; Escape does not clear search first
• If another application takes focus, Overview dismisses without stealing focus back

Workspace Bar

A visual indicator showing your workspaces:

• Displays open apps per workspace
• Click to switch workspaces or jump to that app
• If dedupe option is on click the app icon to get a popup with list of all its windows to jump to
• Configure position, height, and appearance in Settings

Hidden Bar

Conceal selected menu-bar icons and reach them from a panel:

• Concealment requires macOS 27 or later; the rest of OmniWM continues to support macOS 26
• Pick the apps to hide in Settings > Hidden Bar
• Right-click (or Option-click) the OmniWM menu bar icon to open the Hidden Icons Bar; click an icon to reveal and use it
• Revealed icons re-hide automatically after a configurable interval
• An optional global hotkey is available and starts unassigned

Tips

• Workspaces - Create named workspaces in Settings to organize by project or context (You can use emojis 🥳)
• App Rules - Exclude problematic apps from tiling or assign them to specific workspaces
• Mouse - On the desktop, Option + drag swaps tiled windows and Option + Shift + drag inserts into a Niri column; in Overview, Option + drag targets a workspace, window position, or Niri column gap
• Mouse Resize - Hold Option and right-drag a tiled window to resize (Niri)
• Scroll Gestures (Mouse) - Hold Option + Shift + Mouse Scroll Wheel (default, configurable) and scroll through columns horizontally
• Trackpad Gestures - Use horizontal gestures with 2/3/4 fingers (configurable); direction can be inverted (local hardware validation is limited)
• Workspace Swipe (Trackpad) - Opt-in in Settings → Mouse & Trackpad: swipe with a configurable finger count (2/3/4) and axis (horizontal/vertical) to switch to the next/previous workspace on the monitor under the cursor, one switch per swipe; sharing the column-scroll finger count locks the axis to vertical. For vertical swipes with three or four fingers, first turn off Mission Control in  → System Settings → Trackpad → More Gestures so macOS does not intercept the gesture.

Configuration

Access settings by clicking OmniWM's status bar icon and selecting Settings or App Rules. Mouse and gesture settings live in Settings under Mouse & Trackpad.

OmniWM stores its editable config at ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/omniwm/settings.toml; that file is the canonical settings source and is live-reloaded when saved from an editor.

• Reveal Settings File and Edit Settings File open the canonical TOML file and recreate it from the running settings if it was deleted.
• updateChecksEnabled is part of the persisted settings model, so it round-trips through settings.toml.
• Clipboard history, last-check timestamps, skipped-release state, and the persisted window restore catalog live in ${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}/omniwm and stay out of dotfile-oriented config storage.

App Rules

Configure per-application behavior in Settings > App Rules:

• Always Float - Force specific apps to always float (e.g., calculators, preferences windows)
• Assign to Workspace - Open first matching app windows on a specific workspace; later windows follow the app's current workspace unless rules are explicitly applied
• Initial Column Width (Niri) - Start matching resizable windows at 5–100% when they create or claim a new column; the column remains freely resizable afterward
• Minimum Size - Prevent the layout engine from sizing windows below a threshold

Initial column width is a one-time seed. Niri's Single Window Fit still takes visual precedence for a lone window, and minimum width can clamp the resolved pixel size without changing the stored initial proportion.

The equivalent TOML rule uses a proportion:

[[appRules]]
bundleId = "net.kovidgoyal.kitty"
initialColumnWidth = 0.5

Building from Source

Requirements:

• SwiftPM with Swift 6.4+
• macOS 26.0+
• Ghostty's arm64 archive (build Ghostty and copy it to Frameworks/GhosttyKit.xcframework/macos-arm64/libghostty-internal-fat.a)

Use the bundled Debug launch for day-to-day development:

make run

make run builds, packages, development-signs, and opens dist/OmniWM.app through LaunchServices. This is the canonical development launch because it gives OmniWM its normal app identity. OmniWM uses its native status bar item while Hidden Bar concealment is inactive. While concealment is active, it uses a separate fallback icon next to the workspace bar because macOS can conceal the app-owned status item with the other restricted items. This behavior applies to both bundled and raw swift run OmniWM launches and is not specific to Debug builds.

Related Forks

• Nehir is an endorsed OmniWM fork focused on a narrower, more opinionated Niri-style scrolling-column workflow. It may be friendlier for beginners who want guided defaults and a smaller feature surface, while OmniWM remains the broader upstream project with multiple layout modes and the full feature set.
• choru-k/OmniWM is an interesting personal OmniWM fork experimenting with opt-in workflow layers on top of upstream OmniWM, including zone anchors for the Niri strip, a configurable F13-F20 leader-key chord menu, tabbed-column keyboard cycling, and trackpad-friendly modifier resizing. It is best read as a power-user workflow branch rather than a replacement for the main OmniWM release.

Support

If you find OmniWM useful, consider supporting development:

• GitHub Sponsors
• PayPal

Reporting Bugs

The best way to report a bug is from inside OmniWM: open the status-bar menu and choose Report a Bug…. It records an optional diagnostics trace, creates and reveals a diagnostics bundle for you to attach, and opens a pre-filled GitHub issue — OmniWM never sees your GitHub login.

Prefer the web? The GitHub issue form works too; please include your OmniWM and macOS versions there.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome on GitHub.

Start with CONTRIBUTING.md for the actual project guidelines, expectations, and preferred direction.

For deeper technical context, the docs pages that back the documentation site are here:

• Architecture Guide
• IPC & CLI Reference
• Contribution Docs

License

OmniWM is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0-only. Copyright (C) 2026 BarutSRB — https://github.com/BarutSRB/OmniWM.

Every source file carries an SPDX license header. Forks and redistributions must retain these notices and the LICENSE file, and remain GPL-2.0 with source available.