vista

A fast, keyboard-driven wallpaper switcher for Linux with smooth animations, favorites, and OpenGL shader support.

linux_moment.mp4

song is No Mana- Lost Call, wallpapers from desktopgeneration.com

Features

Thumbnail Caching - MD5-based caching system for fast loading
Smooth Animations - Fluid scrolling transitions
Grid View Mode - Toggle between horizontal strip and grid layout
Search & Filter - Find wallpapers by filename
Favorites System - Mark and filter your favorite wallpapers
OpenGL Shaders - Hardware-accelerated rendering with custom effects
Multiple Directories - Scan wallpapers from multiple locations
Multiple Wallpaper Setters - Support for feh, nitrogen, xwallpaper, swaybg

Keyboard Controls

Key	Action
←/→ or h/l	Navigate left/right
↑/↓ or k/j	Navigate up/down (grid mode)
Enter	Apply selected wallpaper
g	Toggle grid/horizontal view
f	Toggle favorite on current wallpaper
F2	Filter to show only favorites
/ or ?	Toggle help overlay
q or Esc	Quit

Installation

Quick Build (Recommended)

Vista includes SDL3 and its companion libraries as git submodules, so you don't need to install them separately!

git clone --recursive https://github.com/yourusername/vista.git
cd vista
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(nproc)

The binary will be at build/vista.

See BUILD.md for detailed build instructions and options.

Dependencies

Only minimal dependencies are required:

• CMake 3.10 or later
• C compiler (GCC or Clang)
• OpenSSL development libraries
• Git

SDL3, SDL3_image, SDL3_mixer, and SDL3_ttf are included as submodules and built automatically.

Installing dependencies:

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S cmake gcc git openssl

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install cmake build-essential git libssl-dev

macOS:

brew install cmake openssl git

Optional: OpenGL Shader Support

For experimental hardware-accelerated rendering:

cmake -DUSE_SHADERS=ON ..
make

Requires: OpenGL and GLEW development libraries

Installation

sudo make install

Configuration

Configuration file location:

• $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vista/vista.conf
• or ~/.config/vista/vista.conf

Example Configuration

# Primary wallpaper directory
wallpaper_dir = /home/user/wallpapers

# Additional wallpaper directories
wallpaper_dir_1 = /home/user/Pictures/Wallpapers
wallpaper_dir_2 = /usr/share/backgrounds

# Wallpaper setter command
# Options: feh, nitrogen, xwallpaper, swaybg, or custom
feh_command = feh --bg-scale

# Thumbnail dimensions
thumbnail_width = 200
thumbnail_height = 150

# Window dimensions
window_width = 1200
window_height = 300

# Grid view settings
thumbnails_per_row = 5

# Enable OpenGL shader rendering
use_shaders = false

# Optional: palette generation script
palette_script = /path/to/palette-generator.sh

Cache and Data Locations

Following XDG specification:

• Thumbnails: $XDG_CACHE_HOME/vista/ or ~/.cache/vista/
• Favorites: $XDG_DATA_HOME/vista/favorites.txt or ~/.local/share/vista/favorites.txt

Wallpaper Setters

Vista supports multiple wallpaper setting tools:

• feh: feh_command = feh --bg-scale
• nitrogen: feh_command = nitrogen
• xwallpaper: feh_command = xwallpaper
• swaybg (Wayland): feh_command = swaybg
• Custom: Use any command with %s as placeholder for image path

Usage Examples

# Use default config
vista

# Use custom config
vista -c /path/to/config

# Show help
vista --help

# Show version
vista --version