1CWM(1)                    BSD General Commands Manual                   CWM(1)
2

NAME

4     cwm — a lightweight and efficient window manager for X11
5

SYNOPSIS

7     cwm [-nv] [-c file] [-d display]
8

DESCRIPTION

10     cwm is a window manager for X11 which contains many features that concen‐
11     trate on the efficiency and transparency of window management, while
12     maintaining the simplest and most pleasant aesthetic.
13
14     The options are as follows:
15
16     -c file
17             Specify an alternative configuration file.  By default, cwm loads
18             ~/.cwmrc, if present.  Any error messages from lines in the con‐
19             figuration file will be sent to stderr; however, cwm will con‐
20             tinue to process the rest of the configuration file.
21
22     -d display
23             Specify the display to use.
24
25     -n      Configtest mode.  Only check the configuration file for validity.
26
27     -v      Verbose mode.  Multiple -v options increase the verbosity.
28
29     cwm actions are initiated either via key or mouse bindings.  The follow‐
30     ing notations are used throughout this page:
31
32           C       Control key.
33           M       Meta key.
34           S       Shift key.
35           4       Mod4 (windows) key.
36           M1      Left mouse button.
37           M2      Middle mouse button.
38           M3      Right mouse button.
39
40     The default key bindings are:
41
42           CM-Return       Spawn a new terminal.
43           CM-Delete       Lock the screen.
44           M-Return        Hide current window.
45           M-Down          Lower current window.
46           M-Up            Raise current window.
47           M-slash         Search for windows.
48           C-slash         Search for applications.
49           CM-n            Label current window.
50           M-Tab           Cycle through currently visible windows.
51           MS-Tab          Reverse cycle through currently visible windows.
52           CM-x            Close current window.
53           CM-[n]          Toggle visibility of group n, where n is 1-9.
54           CM-a            Toggle visibility of all groups.
55           CM-g            Toggle group membership of current window.
56           M-Right         Cycle through active groups.
57           M-Left          Reverse cycle through active groups.
58           CMS-f           Toggle freezing geometry of current window.
59           CM-s            Toggle stickiness of current window.
60           CM-f            Toggle full-screen mode of current window.
61           CM-m            Toggle maximization of current window.
62           CM-equal        Toggle vertical maximization of current window.
63           CMS-equal       Toggle horizontal maximization of current window.
64           M-[hjkl]        Move window by a small amount.
65           MS-[hjkl]       Move window by a large amount; see cwmrc(5).
66           CM-[hjkl]       Resize window by a small amount.
67           CMS-[hjkl]      Resize window by a large amount; see cwmrc(5).
68           M-question      Spawn “exec program” dialog.
69           M-period        Spawn “ssh to” dialog.  This parses
70                           $HOME/.ssh/known_hosts to provide host auto-comple‐
71                           tion.  ssh(1) will be executed via the configured
72                           terminal emulator.
73           CM-w            Spawn “exec WindowManager” menu, allowing a switch
74                           to another window manager.
75           CMS-r           Restart.
76           CMS-q           Quit.
77
78     The default mouse bindings are:
79
80           M-M1            Move current window.
81           CM-M1           Toggle group membership of current window.
82           M-M2            Resize current window
83           M-M3            Lower current window.
84           CMS-M3          Hide current window.
85
86     The following key bindings may be used to navigate search and exec
87     dialogs:
88
89           [Return]              Select item.
90           [Down], C-s or M-j    Next item.
91           [Up], C-r or M-k      Previous item.
92           [Backspace] or C-h    Backspace.
93           C-u                   Clear input.
94           C-a                   List all available items.
95           [Esc]                 Cancel.
96
97     cwm rereads its configuration file when it receives a hangup signal,
98     SIGHUP, by executing itself with the name and arguments with which it was
99     started.  This is equivalent to the restart function.
100
102     cwm features the ability to search for windows by their current title,
103     old titles, and by their label.  The priority for the search results are:
104     label, current title, old titles in reverse order, and finally window
105     class name.  cwm keeps a history of the 5 previous titles of a window.
106
107     When searching, the leftmost character of the result list may show a
108     flag:
109
110           !       Window is currently focused.
111           &       Window is hidden.
112

APPLICATIONS

114     cwm manages a list of applications defined with the command configuration
115     option.
116

GROUPS

118     cwm has the ability to group windows together, and use the groups to per‐
119     form operations on the entire group instead of just one window.  Together
120     with the sticky option, this can be used to emulate virtual desktops.
121
122     To edit groups, use the group selection commands to toggle membership of
123     a group.  A blue border will be shown briefly on windows added to the
124     current group, and a red border will be shown on those just removed.
125
127     Menus are recalled by clicking the mouse on the root window:
128
129           M1      Show list of currently defined windows.  Selecting an item
130                   will warp to that window, unhiding it if necessary.
131           M2      Show list of currently defined groups.  Selecting an item
132                   will hide/unhide that group.
133           M3      Show list of applications as defined in the configuration
134                   file.  Selecting an item will spawn that application.
135

ENVIRONMENT

137     DISPLAY     cwm starts on this display unless the -d option is given.
138

FILES

140     ~/.cwmrc    Default cwm configuration file.
141

SEE ALSO

143     cwmrc(5)
144

HISTORY

146     cwm was originally inspired by evilwm, but was rewritten from scratch due
147     to limitations in the evilwm codebase.  The from-scratch rewrite borrowed
148     some code from 9wm, however that code has since been removed or rewrit‐
149     ten.
150
151     cwm first appeared in OpenBSD 4.2.
152

AUTHORS

154     cwm was developed by Marius Aamodt Eriksen <marius@monkey.org> with con‐
155     tributions from Andy Adamson <dros@monkey.org>, Niels Provos
156     <provos@monkey.org>, and Antti Nykänen <aon@iki.fi>.  Ideas, discussion
157     with many others.
158
159BSD                             April 11, 2021                             BSD
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