LeopardWM

A scrollable tiling window manager for Windows.

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What Makes It Different

Most Windows tilers use tree or BSP layouts. LeopardWM is scroll-first: windows sit on a horizontal strip, and your monitor acts as a viewport that scrolls over them. Navigation stays spatially consistent as windows are added — you move through context instead of constantly rebuilding split trees.

• Vsync-aligned animations — smooth scrolling powered by a DwmFlush-driven animation engine
• First-class touchpad gestures — three-finger swipes drive focus and scroll out of the box
• Disables Windows 11 Snap Layouts on managed windows — no more accidental edge-snap when you drag a tile
• Auto-detected per-window rounded corners and high-contrast/reduced-motion/battery awareness — system integration that respects user settings
• WebView2 settings GUI with Mica backdrop and live theme switching — not just a config file
• GPL-3.0 — commercial use without a paid license, written in safe Rust

In Action

Overview — zoom out to a map of your non-empty workspaces and jump anywhere

overview.webm

Workspaces — per-monitor workspaces; switch between them and move windows across

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Tabbed columns — collapse a column into a tab strip, only the active tab fills the rect

tabbed.webm

Scratchpad — stash a window out of the layout and summon it back as a floating overlay

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Sticky windows — pin a window so it follows you across workspaces, tiled or floating

sticky.webm

Design Philosophy

A few deliberate non-features, so you know what you're getting:

• Scroll-first, not multi-layout. No BSP, no DWindle, no Equal/Stair/UltrawideVerticalStack — and we won't add them. niri (Wayland) and PaperWM (GNOME) stay scrolling-only by choice; the horizontal strip is the identity. If you want 9 layout variants, komorebi is the right tool.
• No Virtual Desktop bridging. Per-monitor workspaces don't map cleanly to Windows' global Virtual Desktops, and the only library that bridges them (winvd) breaks every 3-6 months on Windows feature updates. Instead, Win+Ctrl+Arrow is intercepted and routed to LeopardWM's workspace prev/next so the native muscle memory still works.
• Named-pipe IPC, not WebSocket. Lower latency, no port allocation, no firewall prompts. If browser-based bar integration becomes a real ask, we'll add a thin bridge rather than make the daemon serve sockets directly.

Features

• Multi-monitor workspaces with monitor-aware focus and move (9 workspaces per monitor)
• Global hotkeys with live config reload
• PowerToys Shortcut Guide export — lwm query hotkeys lists effective bindings; lwm export-shortcut-guide writes a user manifest (stdout, --output PATH, or --install)
• Smooth scroll animations with layout transition effects (vsync-locked)
• Touchpad gestures with configurable swipe actions
• Drag-and-drop column reorder (Shift+drag to merge windows)
• Tabbed columns — toggle a column between vertical-stack and tab-strip mode (Ctrl+Alt+T); only the active tab fills the column rect, the rest sit in a clickable strip above
• Scratchpad — stash the focused window out of the layout (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S) and summon it back as a floating, centered overlay on demand (Ctrl+Alt+S); stash it again to release it back to tiling
• Sticky windows — pin a window (Ctrl+Alt+Y) so it follows you across workspaces, keeping its current mode: a tiled window stays tiled (a column you can cycle to), a floating window stays a floating overlay
• Overview mode — Ctrl+Alt+Space opens a map of the monitor's non-empty workspaces; click a window card to jump to it, click a row to switch workspace, or navigate with arrows or your configured keyboard focus_left / focus_right / focus_up / focus_down bindings while keeping the overview open. Your configured keyboard move_window_up / move_window_down bindings move the selected window to the previous / next numbered workspace on that monitor, including empty workspaces, without switching workspace or closing the overview; selection follows the moved window. Moves stop at workspace 1 or 9, sticky windows stay put, and move_window_left / move_window_right do nothing while the overview is open. Enter selects, digits switch workspace, and Esc cancels without undoing moves. Other bound actions and gesture bindings keep their normal behavior.
• Per-app window rules — float, ignore, or tile by class/title/executable, plus per-app open behavior: target workspace, initial column width, open maximized
• Floating and fullscreen toggles
• Width and height presets with column equalization, maximize-column, center-column
• Active focus border with auto-detected rounded corners
• System tray with pause, reload, settings, and diagnostics
• WebView-based settings GUI (Mica backdrop, live theme switching, dark mode)
• Safe mode for troubleshooting (--safe-mode)
• Built-in diagnostics (lwm doctor)
• Workspace persistence and session recovery
• Optional empty-workspace skipping for relative navigation
• Autostart via Registry, configurable from CLI / Settings / tray
• In-app update notifier — daily check against GitHub Releases, opt-out
• Windows 11 Snap Layouts disabled for managed tiled windows
• Battery-aware: animations auto-disable on battery / power saver
• Respects Windows reduced-motion and high-contrast settings
• DPI-aware gap and border scaling per-monitor

Installation

Via package manager (recommended)

winget install jcardama.LeopardWM         # Windows Package Manager

scoop bucket add extras                   # Scoop (first time only)
scoop install extras/leopardwm

This installs LeopardWM and puts leopardwm, leopardwm-cli, and lwm on your PATH. Use winget upgrade jcardama.LeopardWM or scoop update leopardwm to install the latest release.

Via MSI installer

Download LeopardWM-x.y.z-x86_64.msi from GitHub Releases and run it. Re-running a newer MSI upgrades in place — no manual uninstall needed.

Via standalone zip

For users who prefer not to install:

1. Download LeopardWM-x.y.z-x86_64-windows.zip from GitHub Releases
2. Extract to a permanent location
3. Run leopardwm.exe
4. (Optional) Enable autostart: lwm autostart enable

Current releases are not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning on first install.

Quick Start (from source)

Prerequisites: Rust with the MSVC toolchain (stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc). See Contributing for development checks and the optional Node.js Settings check.

git clone https://github.com/jcardama/LeopardWM.git
cd LeopardWM
cargo build --release

Start the daemon:

./target/release/leopardwm.exe

A default config is created automatically at %APPDATA%\leopardwm\config\config.toml. Customize via the tray icon → Settings, or edit the file directly.

Set new_window_monitor = "focused" under [behavior] or choose Settings → Behavior → New window monitor → Focused monitor to open new windows on the focused monitor's active workspace, including an empty workspace. The default, "opening", uses the monitor where Windows opened the window, falling back to the focused monitor when it opens outside all monitors. If no focused monitor is known, "focused" uses the opening behavior. A workspace rule selects the workspace index on the policy-selected monitor; sticky windows retain their opening monitor and active-workspace placement. Floating windows moved by this policy are fitted to the chosen monitor's work area before being centered. Changes apply live on config reload or Settings save only to windows that open while LeopardWM is running. Already-open windows discovered at startup or during reload/rescan keep their existing monitor and are added to its active workspace; their floating rectangles are not moved or fitted by this policy. Already-managed windows and startup persistence restores are unchanged.

Default Hotkeys

Most hotkeys use Ctrl+Alt as the base modifier. Layered pattern: base = focus, +Shift = move, +Win = monitor scope. Every hotkey is rebindable in config.toml. Combos Windows reserves (like Win+Ctrl+Arrow) can't be bound directly, but the opt-in Reclaim Windows-reserved shortcuts setting lets you use them anyway.

Key	Action
Ctrl+Alt+H/L/J/K	Focus left / right / down / up
Ctrl+Alt+Home / End	Focus start / end of strip
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H/L	Move column left / right
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Home / End	Move column to start / end of strip
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+J/K	Move window down / up in column
Ctrl+Alt+[ / ]	Move window to left / right column
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+[ / ]	Expel window to new column left / right
Ctrl+Alt+, / .	Consume left / right column's window into the focused column
Ctrl+Alt+Minus / Ctrl+Alt+Equals	Cycle column width down / up
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Minus / Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Equals	Cycle window height down / up
Ctrl+Alt+0	Equalize all column widths
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+0	Equalize window heights in column
Ctrl+Alt+M	Maximize focused column to viewport width
Ctrl+Alt+C	Center focused column in viewport
Ctrl+Alt+Win+,/.	Focus monitor left / right
Ctrl+Alt+Win+Shift+,/.	Move window to monitor
Ctrl+Alt+1...9	Switch to workspace 1–9
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+1...9	Move focused window to workspace 1–9
Ctrl+Alt+Space	Toggle workspace overview
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Left / Right	Workspace prev / next (cycles)
Ctrl+Alt+W	Close focused window
Ctrl+Alt+F	Toggle floating
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F	Toggle fullscreen
Ctrl+Alt+T	Toggle tabbed mode on focused column
Ctrl+Alt+S	Toggle scratchpad (summon / hide)
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S	Stash focused window to scratchpad (or release it back to tiling)
Ctrl+Alt+Y	Toggle sticky (follow across workspaces, keeping tiled/floating mode)
Ctrl+Alt+P	Toggle pause
Ctrl+Alt+R	Refresh (re-enumerate windows)
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R	Reload config
Win+Ctrl+Escape	Emergency restore + panic-revert

The scratchpad and sticky pins are session-scoped: they are keyed by window handle and reset when the daemon restarts.

Tabbed columns

Stack multiple windows into a clickable tab strip inside any column. Combine with the scrolling viewport for niri-style tabs that also pan horizontally — a combination no other Windows window manager ships today.

Basics

• Ctrl+Alt+T on the focused column toggles between vertical stacking (the default) and tabbed mode
• Ctrl+Alt+J / Ctrl+Alt+K cycle the active tab — same keys as intra-column focus, no new bindings to learn
• Click any tab in the strip to activate it; the click is a real focus change, so the border, foreground state, and IPC events all follow
• Tab titles and icons update live as windows rename themselves or swap notification badges

Per-tab actions

• Hover any tab to reveal a close-X at its right edge — click to close the tabbed window
• Middle-click does the same as the close-X
• Right-click any tab for a context menu: Close window / Untab this window / Rename tab…
• The implicit close gesture (X-button / middle-click) is configurable in Settings → Behavior → "Tab close action" — close_window (default, browser-style) or untab (rip the tab out into a new vertical column to the right)
• Right-click menu items always carry their literal action — Close window always closes regardless of the toggle, Untab this window always untabs
• "Rename tab…" opens a modal dialog seeded with the current tab title. Submitting saves a per-window override that survives untab, workspace moves, and daemon restart. Clearing the field removes the override and the live title returns

Drag-and-drop (Chrome semantics)

• Drop a window onto a tabbed column from anywhere — body or strip — and it appends as the rightmost tab and becomes active
• The drop-zone ghost spans the whole column rect so the target is unambiguous

Lifecycle

• A tabbed column with one window auto-reverts to vertical mode
• Tabbed state (and which tab is active) survives daemon restart, along with any per-tab title overrides
• Tab overrides for windows that no longer exist are pruned automatically at daemon startup
• The strip hides during fullscreen, pause, and on workspaces with no tabbed column

Customization — strip height, background, active/inactive text colours, active highlight, opacity, and the tab close action are configurable from the Settings UI or [appearance] / [behavior] (tab_strip_height, tab_strip_bg, tab_strip_active_bg, tab_strip_active_text, tab_strip_inactive_text, tab_strip_opacity, tab_close_action).

CLI

LeopardWM ships two interchangeable CLI binaries — both invoke the same code:

Binary	When to use
leopardwm-cli	Canonical name. Use in docs, scripts, and shared examples.
lwm	Short alias for daily typing.

Examples below use whichever is shorter for the line.

Daemon lifecycle

lwm run                # start the daemon (idempotent — no-op if already running)
lwm stop               # stop the daemon
lwm status             # show version, monitor count, window count, uptime

Matching versions (Recommended): use the CLI and daemon from the same release. Corrected lwm run pending-apply handling depends on both sides understanding apply_pending. A matching pair reports a still-pending recovery landing as a non-success without emergency visibility restore. An older CLI maps that status to unknown and may invoke emergency restore. Mixed versions are not negotiated or isolated on the pipe. Pending handling does not change the Apply request shape. This release still advances the overall IPC protocol from v3 to v4 for workspace-state snapshots.

Query state

lwm query workspace    # current workspace placements as JSON
lwm query focused      # focused window info
lwm query all-windows  # every managed window across all workspaces
lwm query hotkeys      # effective bindings plus config diagnostics

PowerToys Shortcut Guide

Export the daemon's effective hotkeys as a PowerToys Shortcut Guide user manifest:

lwm export-shortcut-guide                 # YAML to stdout
lwm export-shortcut-guide --output PATH   # write a file
lwm export-shortcut-guide --install       # replace the user manifest

--output and --install are mutually exclusive. --install writes %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\KeyboardShortcuts\LeopardWM.LeopardWM.en-US.yml.

Use matching CLI and daemon builds; query and export require IPC v3. The manifest is a snapshot: after changing bindings, reload LeopardWM and export again, then reopen Shortcut Guide. Query and export report resolved configuration, not proof that the keyboard hook is installed or active; safe mode can still list configured bindings.

Each alternative binding is a separate shortcut. Equivalent spellings of the same physical chord resolve consistently: the lexicographically first valid configured binding wins, and warnings identify ignored collisions. F13-F24 used as modifiers cannot be represented by PowerToys and are skipped with a warning; F13-F24 used as ordinary trigger keys can be exported. Warnings go to stderr so stdout remains usable YAML.

Interface language

Choose Settings → Appearance → Language, or set this in config.toml:

[appearance]
language = "en" # "en" (default) or "zh-CN"

The open Settings window, tray menu, and daemon notifications use the selected language after saving or reloading config; no daemon restart is needed. Unsupported values fall back to English with a config warning. There is no automatic OS-language selection. Simplified Chinese is a machine draft pending native-speaker review. Locale files are embedded in the daemon, so editing a translation requires a rebuild. See the localization contributor guide for file locations, placeholders, validation, and the surfaces that remain English. To edit or add a catalog, see Translating LeopardWM.

Layout options

Enable Settings → Layout → Center single column, or set center_single_column = true under [layout], to center the only active tiled column when it fits within the viewport’s outer gaps. It is off by default and applies with every centering_mode (center, just_in_view, or on_overflow), independently of center_past_edges. Minimized-only columns and floating windows do not count; wider columns keep the normal scrolling behavior.

Taskbar buttons — Settings → Behavior → Taskbar buttons, or taskbar_buttons under [behavior], offers "hide_offscreen" (default, hide buttons on inactive workspaces and for tiled windows scrolled out of view), "hide_inactive_workspaces" (keep every button on each monitor's active workspace, even when scrolled out of view), and "show_all". Floating and minimized windows keep their buttons on the active workspace; inactive workspaces hide all buttons unless "show_all" is selected. Sticky windows follow the active workspace. Changes apply on config reload without changing window placement. Existing hide_offscreen_taskbar_buttons = true / false maps to "hide_offscreen" / "show_all"; when both keys are present, taskbar_buttons wins. Settings saves only the new key.

Layout commands

Most users drive the layout via hotkeys, but every hotkey has a CLI equivalent — useful for scripting or AutoHotkey integration.

lwm focus left | right | up | down
lwm cycle-width                       # next width preset, wrapping at the end
lwm cycle-height                      # next height preset, wrapping at the end
lwm move left | right                  # move focused column
lwm move-window up | down              # reorder within a column
lwm workspace 3                        # switch to workspace 3
lwm toggle-floating
lwm toggle-fullscreen
lwm scratchpad-stash                   # stash focused window (or release the scratchpad)
lwm scratchpad-toggle                  # summon / hide the scratchpad
lwm toggle-sticky                      # pin / unpin focused window on every workspace
lwm toggle-ignore                      # session-only ignore for the OS foreground window

Set floating_above_tiled = true under [behavior] or enable Settings → Behavior → Keep floating windows above tiled windows (off by default) to keep visible managed floating and sticky floating windows above tiled windows when a tiled window receives focus. This only changes relative ordering in the normal Z-order band: floating windows keep their order among themselves, do not become native topmost, and never take focus or move/resize. App-owned topmost and unmanaged windows are not modified. Minimized windows, inactive workspaces, and other monitors are excluded; fullscreen on that monitor and overview suspend re-raising.

floating_above_tiled works only when track_focus_changes = true (the default). Restart LeopardWM after changing track_focus_changes, since focus tracking hooks are configured at startup. Turning tracking off also stops floating re-raises immediately on reload.

Disabling the option simply stops re-raising. There is no daemon-owned Z-order state to restore on disable, ignore, release, or shutdown.

Set skip_empty_workspaces = true under [behavior] or enable Settings → Behavior → Skip empty workspaces (off by default) to skip empty slots on the same monitor. This applies to workspace_next / workspace_prev and to focus_down / focus_up when workspace_edge_wrap switches workspaces, wrapping 1 ↔ 9. If no other occupied workspace exists, they do nothing.

Tiled, floating, and minimized managed windows count as occupancy; sticky windows do not. Explicit numbered selection, all move-to-workspace commands (including edge-wrap moves), overview, and horizontal focus are unchanged. Closing or moving away the last window does not automatically switch workspaces.

cycle_width and cycle_height are unbound by default; assign each a shortcut in Settings or [hotkeys]. Height cycling applies only to vertically stacked multi-window columns.

lwm toggle-ignore targets the actual OS foreground window, not LeopardWM's cached focus. Toggling out unmanages that window for this daemon session only; toggling it back in re-admits it on the current monitor's active workspace. Persistent Ignore rules still win. The action is in the hotkey catalog with no default shortcut.

Release all managed windows

lwm release-all-windows

This pauses tiling, clears LeopardWM's active decoration, globally attempts to restore any top-level windows parked at LeopardWM's off-screen sentinel, and cascades every tiled and floating managed window. Membership and admission stay intact: use lwm toggle-pause to resume tiling. The command has no confirmation prompt. If recovery fails or a live window cannot be restored, cascaded, or is still maximized, release may be partial, tiling remains paused, and the CLI reports the failure. Release first invalidates older animation work and waits up to 100 ms for the animation worker. If that worker is busy, or a timed-out placement worker is still recovering, no cascade is performed and tiling stays paused. Retry lwm release-all-windows after the worker finishes; the failed request never schedules a later cascade. Final cascade positions are ordered after previously queued animation positions, and ordering failures are reported.

Autostart (boot with Windows)

lwm autostart enable   # writes HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
lwm autostart disable  # removes it

This is also exposed as a Settings UI toggle and a tray menu item.

Subscribe to events (status bars, custom integrations)

lwm subscribe                                       # legacy event kinds, newline-delimited JSON
lwm subscribe --events workspace,focused_window     # filtered subset
lwm subscribe --events workspace_state              # complete all-monitor workspace state
lwm query workspaces                                 # one complete workspace snapshot
lwm workspace 2 --monitor '\\.\DISPLAY2'            # select a workspace on that display
lwm subscribe | jq                                   # pretty-printed in another terminal

After the daemon answers Subscribed, the connection stays open and streams IpcEvent frames as state changes occur. An empty filter preserves only the legacy event set (workspace_changed, focused_window_changed, layout_changed, config_reloaded, heartbeat); complete workspace snapshots require explicit --events workspace_state opt-in and acknowledgement (IPC v4). Targeted workspace commands use 1-based indices and transfer focus to the named monitor; snapshot indices are 0-based. Full schemas and sample clients are in agent_docs/ipc-events.md.

Yasb workspace buttons

Show all nine workspaces on a selected monitor and switch by clicking a button in Yasb, using its built-in Custom widget and the existing CLI. See the complete Yasb configuration and styling recipe. It includes active/occupied indicators and workspace-name tooltips; updates are polled every five seconds rather than streamed. No plugin or IPC change is required.

Troubleshooting

lwm doctor             # diagnostic checks (config valid, daemon reachable, hotkey conflicts, etc.)
lwm collect-logs       # bundles logs + crash reports into a zip for bug reports
lwm reload             # reload config from disk without restarting
lwm refresh            # re-enumerate windows after weird state
lwm panic-revert       # emergency: uncloak everything, drop daemon out of management

Run lwm help (or lwm <subcommand> --help) for the full surface — there are ~40 subcommands.

Touchpad gesture diagnostics

Precision Touchpads that do not send three-finger wheel events can opt in to native HID swipe detection with raw_input = true under [gestures] in config.toml (or the Gestures setting). Restart LeopardWM after changing it. lwm doctor and lwm collect-logs show whether native swipes are active or why they are inactive. Set the Windows three- and four-finger touchpad gestures to Nothing under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Touchpad, or Windows will consume the swipe. The existing mouse hook still handles modifier-plus-scroll; if native registration or device capability checks fail, wheel-based swipes remain active when wheel_swipes is enabled. Raw Input compatibility varies by device.

wheel_swipes = true under [gestures] is the default. Set it to false (or turn off Settings > Gestures > Wheel-based swipes) to stop injected wheel events from navigating windows, including mouse side wheels such as the MX Master. This applies live on config reload; wheel events still reach the application, and modifier-plus-wheel navigation is unchanged. Non-Precision touchpads that send swipes as wheel events lose those swipes with it off. Precision Touchpads can keep native swipes with raw_input = true. enabled = false still disables all gesture support.

Failed physical gestures are diagnosed with an opt-in, short capture — not by leaving general logging at TRACE. Capture is default off; turning it on does not change gesture behavior.

1. In %APPDATA%\leopardwm\config\config.toml, set a short interval under [gestures]:

   diagnostic_capture_secs = 15

   The value is startup-only and clamped to 120 seconds. Settings saves preserve the knob; there is no live start command.

2. Restart the daemon with the documented workflow. lwm reload is not enough.

   lwm stop
   lwm run

   Stopping and starting can disturb off-screen client-area or DWM frame geometry. That is a known restart limitation, not a gesture-compatibility claim.

3. During the capture window:

   • Two-finger scroll without the configured navigation modifier (hotkeys.scroll_modifier, default Ctrl+Alt). Pass-through is expected (stage=classifier outcome=reject).
   • The same scroll with the modifier. Navigation should classify as a pass and may recognized/dispatch.
   • All four three-finger directions, with a pause between each.

4. Record the Windows touchpad setting as observed; do not treat it as a required mapping, and do not assume it guarantees wheel delivery to LeopardWM:

   • Windows 10: Settings → Devices → Touchpad
   • Windows 11: Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Touchpad

5. Use lwm doctor to inspect the daemon and CLI process-integrity lines. They do not measure the arbitrary foreground app; separately reported elevated-window blocks are different evidence. The capture header records daemon_integrity only. This report cannot prove elevated hook visibility, finger count, or device origin.

6. When the interval ends, the daemon writes a summary even with zero input. Inspect %LOCALAPPDATA%\leopardwm\logs\leopardwm-gesture-capture.log, or the Gesture Capture section of lwm collect-logs (full file, not the last-100 daemon tail). For a gesture bug report, share that artifact.

   Interpretation:

   Stage	Meaning
   registration	disabled / failed / registered / stopped — config and hook setup evidence, not a claim that a capture is running now
   hook_delivery	A wheel message reached the production hook (axis, delta, flags, modifier held, swipe candidate)
   classifier	pass entered navigation or swipe handling; reject is pass-through
   accumulation	Running total after this event
   timeout	Partial swipe accumulator reset after the gesture timeout
   cooldown	Navigation event suppressed during cooldown
   recognized	Engine emitted swipe_* or scroll_*
   dispatch	Daemon binding: known plus a canonical command name, no_action (empty binding), or unknown (command text omitted)

   no_input=true means the capture observed zero hook_delivery records and had no dropped, capped, admitted-at-deadline, or deadline-boundary in-flight records; registration alone still counts as no hook input. It is not proof that the touchpad is dead. If records_dropped, records_capped, records_admitted_at_close, records_in_flight_at_close, or records_after_close is non-zero, input may have been lost or crossed the bounded deadline — repeat with a shorter interval or fewer gestures.

7. Set diagnostic_capture_secs = 0 afterward so the next restart does not rearm capture and overwrite the report. Default-off does not truncate an existing file; a new capture replaces it.

Config & Runtime Paths

track_focus_changes under [behavior] synchronizes managed focus with Windows focus changes such as Alt-Tab. It defaults to true; changes to focus tracking hooks take effect the next time LeopardWM starts, not on config reload or Settings save.

Note: Crate names and on-disk paths still use leopardwm internally. A full crate rename is future work.

Item	Path
Config	%APPDATA%\leopardwm\config\config.toml
State	%APPDATA%\leopardwm\data\workspace-state.json
Log (stdout)	%TEMP%\leopardwm-daemon.log
Log (stderr)	%TEMP%\leopardwm-daemon.err.log
Gesture capture	%LOCALAPPDATA%\leopardwm\logs\leopardwm-gesture-capture.log

Architecture

LeopardWM is a Rust workspace with five crates:

Crate	Responsibility
leopardwm-core-layout	Platform-agnostic scrolling layout engine
leopardwm-platform-win32	Win32 integration, window operations, DwmFlush animation engine
leopardwm-ipc	Named-pipe command/response protocol
leopardwm-daemon	Runtime event loop, state management, dedicated message-pump threads
leopardwm-cli	User-facing CLI (also installed as lwm for shorter typing)

Platform Constraints

LeopardWM is a window controller, not a compositor. DWM remains the compositor. Behavior can vary across app frameworks (Win32, WPF, Electron, UWP).

LeopardWM runs unprivileged. A window running at a higher privilege level (elevated/administrator, or a protected process) can't be repositioned by an unprivileged process, so LeopardWM leaves it floating instead of reserving an empty column for it, and lists it under lwm doctor. Run LeopardWM as administrator if you need those windows tiled (note: an elevated WM has the inverse limitation, drag-and-drop from normal apps into it is blocked).

Built-in Window Exclusions

LeopardWM automatically skips certain windows that should never be tiled. You can add your own rules via [[window_rules]] in the config, but these are always active.

Skipped window classes (platform layer)

These windows are filtered out during enumeration and never enter the layout engine:

Class	Why
Progman	Program Manager (desktop)
Shell_TrayWnd / Shell_SecondaryTrayWnd	Taskbar
WorkerW	Desktop worker
Windows.UI.Core.CoreWindow	UWP system windows
XamlExplorerHostIslandWindow / TopLevelWindowForOverflowXamlIsland	XAML islands
RAIL_WINDOW	WSLg RemoteApp — RDP-projected Linux windows that break when repositioned
Ghost	DWM hung-window replacement — tiling would duplicate the original
#32770	Standard Win32 dialog (Open/Save/Print/Properties)
Chrome_RenderWidgetHostHWND	Internal Electron/Chrome render widget, not a real window

Ignored executables (window rules)

These processes are ignored via built-in window rules (action = ignore):

Executable	Why
smartscreen.exe	Windows Defender SmartScreen
consent.exe	UAC elevation prompt
msiexec.exe	Windows Installer
CredentialUIBroker.exe	Windows credential/login prompt
SnippingTool.exe	Screen capture overlay

Size Conditions for Window Rules

Small helpers can share an app's class, title, and executable with its main window. For example, ignore QQ NT helpers with an app-specific size rule:

[[window_rules]]
match_executable = "QQ.exe"
match_max_width = 400
match_max_height = 300
action = "ignore"

Both optional limits use the outer window size in logical pixels, the same units as rule width and height. At 100% display scaling, these equal the window's pixel dimensions. At 150%, a 600 × 450 pixel window counts as 400 × 300 logical pixels.

Limits are ANDed with the class, title, and executable conditions; size alone cannot match a window. Rules are first-match-wins, so put the size rule above broader rules for the same app. Size conditions apply on admission: an ignored small window is re-evaluated if it grows or its title changes, but a managed window is never dropped for shrinking. Edit Max width and Max height in a rule's Options menu in Settings. Leaving both blank preserves existing matching behavior.

Focus Border Corners

The focus border tries to match each window's actual corner radius. Apps that explicitly set DWMWA_WINDOW_CORNER_PREFERENCE are honored (DONOTROUND → 0 px, ROUNDSMALL → 4 px, ROUND → 8 px); everything else falls back to the 8 px Win11 default.

Some apps draw their own non-DWM-composited frame with square corners while still reporting the OS default — Firefox / Zen Picture-in-Picture popups are the most common example. Override the corner style per window rule:

[[window_rules]]
match_class = "MozillaDialogClass"
corner_style = "square"  # also: "rounded" | "small_rounded"

The MozillaDialogClass → square rule ships in the default config as a working example. Open Settings → Window rules, then use a rule’s Options menu to edit corners (Auto / Square / Rounded / Small rounded), placement, or its initial Column width. Column width is a viewport fraction from 0.05 to 1.0; leave it blank for the default width.

Support

If you find LeopardWM useful, consider supporting development:

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

✨ Contributors

Thanks to everyone who has helped shape LeopardWM.

Mihir Talati (@Mihir-Null)

License

GPL-3.0