Customizing FancyWM — Themes, Rules, and Keybindings

Customizing FancyWM — Themes, Rules, and KeybindingsFancyWM is a modern, configurable tiling window manager designed for users who want both aesthetics and productivity. It provides a lightweight core with powerful customization hooks: theming for appearance, rule systems for window behavior, and flexible keybinding configuration for fast, keyboard-driven workflows. This article walks through practical steps and examples to customize FancyWM’s look and behavior, from picking a theme and writing rules to composing keybindings and automations.

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Table of contents

• Why customize FancyWM?
• Where FancyWM stores configuration
• Theming: colors, fonts, and layout
• Rules: matching windows and setting behavior
• Keybindings: structure, modifiers, and examples
• Advanced tips: scripts, startup, and plugins
• Troubleshooting and best practices

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Why customize FancyWM?

Customizing FancyWM lets you:

• Reduce friction by tailoring window behavior to your workflow.
• Improve readability and focus through thoughtfully chosen themes.
• Automate repetitive actions with rules and keybindings.
• Keep your environment consistent across machines by storing configurations as code.

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Where FancyWM stores configuration

FancyWM’s configuration is typically a single declarative file plus optional supplementary scripts:

• Primary config: ~/.config/fancywm/config.{lua,ts,or toml} (format depends on your FancyWM build)
• Theme files: ~/.config/fancywm/themes/
• Rule files: ~/.config/fancywm/rules/
• Keybinding scripts: ~/.config/fancywm/bin/

Back up this directory before making big changes. Use a dotfiles repo to track changes.

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Theming: colors, fonts, and layout

Themes define the visual language of your desktop: colors, spacing, borders, and fonts.

Example theme structure (conceptual)

• colors: background, foreground, accent, urgent
• borders: width, radius, color
• fonts: primary, fallback
• gaps: inner and outer gaps between windows
• status bar: height, icon set, alignment

Sample theme (pseudo-code)

theme = {   colors = {     bg = "#0f1117",     fg = "#cbd5e1",     accent = "#7c3aed",     urgent = "#ef4444",   },   border = { width = 2, focus = "#7c3aed", normal = "#111827" },   font = "Inter Regular 11",   gaps = { inner = 8, outer = 12 },   bar = { height = 28, padding = 6, align = "center" }, } 

Practical tips

• Pick a high-contrast accent color for focused windows and notifications.
• Use a variable-pitch font for apps that use many UI elements, and a monospace for terminals.
• Tune inner/outer gaps for visibility vs. screen real estate.

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Rules: matching windows and setting behavior

Rules let you control how windows appear and behave (floating, workspace assignment, geometry).

Common match criteria

• class (WM_CLASS)
• title (window title)
• role (WM_ROLE)
• type (dialog, normal)
• instance (specific process instance)

Example rules (pseudo-code)

rules = {   { match = { class = "Firefox" },   workspace = "2:web",  floating = false },   { match = { class = "Gimp" },      workspace = "5:media", floating = true,  center = true },   { match = { type = "dialog" },     floating = true,  focus = true },   { match = { class = "Alacritty" }, workspace = "1:term",  floating = false, toggle_fullscreen = true }, } 

Best practices

• Assign web browsers and chat apps to designated workspaces.
• Float dialogs and VMs by default.
• Use title or role matches sparingly — they can be brittle after updates.

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Keybindings: structure, modifiers, and examples

Keybindings are how you interact quickly with FancyWM. A robust set includes workspace switching, window management, launching applications, and media controls.

Common modifier keys

• Mod (often Super/Win)
• Shift
• Control
• Alt (Mod1)

Example keybinding layout (pseudo-code)

keys = {   -- Launchers   { mods = {"Mod"},      key = "Return", action = "spawn('alacritty')" },   { mods = {"Mod"},      key = "d",      action = "spawn('rofi -show drun')" },   -- Window focus and movement   { mods = {"Mod"},      key = "h",      action = "focus('left')" },   { mods = {"Mod","Shift"}, key = "h",   action = "move('left')" },   -- Layout toggles   { mods = {"Mod"},      key = "space",  action = "cycle_layout()" },   -- Workspace management   { mods = {"Mod"},      key = "1",      action = "view_workspace('1')" },   { mods = {"Mod","Shift"}, key = "1",   action = "move_to_workspace('1')" },   -- System   { mods = {"Mod"},      key = "b",      action = "toggle_bar()" }, } 

Ergonomics tips

• Keep frequently used actions on easy-to-reach keys (e.g., Mod + Enter, Mod + h/j/k/l).
• Use consistent modifiers for grouped actions: Mod for navigation, Mod+Shift for moving windows.
• Add a “scratchpad” terminal keybinding for quick commands.

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Advanced tips: scripts, startup, and plugins

Startup automation

• Use an autostart script to set background, start status bar, restore wallpaper, and launch key services.
• Example: ~/.config/fancywm/autostart.sh
  • set wallpaper (swaybg/feh)
  • start status bar (waybar/polybar)
  • start compositor (picom)
  • restore clipboard manager (clipit)

Scripting and IPC

• Use FancyWM’s IPC (if available) to script dynamic layouts, gap toggles, or workspace renaming.
• Example: a small script that toggles gaps when a fullscreen app is detected.

Plugins and extensions

• Check the FancyWM plugin registry for extra layout algorithms, widgets, or rule helpers.
• Keep plugins minimal to avoid slowing startup.

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Troubleshooting and best practices

• Test changes incrementally; keep a working console session to revert configs.
• Use verbose logging to diagnose rule matches and keybinding conflicts.
• Keep a fallback config that launches a basic TTY or another WM in case of errors.
• Share configs in a dotfiles repo and add comments for clarity.

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Customizing FancyWM lets you shape both the look and the behavior of your desktop to match how you think and work. Start small—theme tweaks and a few keybindings—then add rules and scripts as your workflow solidifies.