NAME

     cwm — a lightweight and efficient window manager for X11

SYNOPSIS

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

DESCRIPTION

     cwm is a window manager for X11 which contains many features that concentrate on the
     efficiency and transparency of window management, while maintaining the simplest and most
     pleasant aesthetic.

     The options are as follows:

     -c file
             Specify an alternative configuration file.  By default, cwm loads ~/.cwmrc, if
             present.  Any error messages from lines in the configuration file will be sent to
             stderr; however, cwm will continue to process the rest of the configuration file.

     -d display
             Specify the display to use.

     -n      Configtest mode.  Only check the configuration file for validity.

     -v      Verbose mode.  Multiple -v options increase the verbosity.

     cwm actions are initiated either via key or mouse bindings.  The following notations are
     used throughout this page:

           C       Control key.
           M       Meta key.
           S       Shift key.
           4       Mod4 (windows) key.
           M1      Left mouse button.
           M2      Middle mouse button.
           M3      Right mouse button.

     The default key bindings are:

           CM-Return       Spawn a new terminal.
           CM-Delete       Lock the screen.
           M-Return        Hide current window.
           M-Down          Lower current window.
           M-Up            Raise current window.
           M-slash         Search for windows.
           C-slash         Search for applications.
           CM-n            Label current window.
           M-Tab           Cycle through currently visible windows.
           MS-Tab          Reverse cycle through currently visible windows.
           CM-x            Close current window.
           CM-[n]          Toggle visibility of group n, where n is 1–9.
           CM-a            Toggle visibility of all groups.
           CM-g            Toggle group membership of current window.
           M-Right         Cycle through active groups.
           M-Left          Reverse cycle through active groups.
           CMS-f           Toggle freezing geometry of current window.
           CM-s            Toggle stickiness of current window.
           CM-f            Toggle full-screen mode of current window.
           CM-m            Toggle maximization of current window.
           CM-equal        Toggle vertical maximization of current window.
           CMS-equal       Toggle horizontal maximization of current window.
           M-[hjkl]        Move window by a small amount.
           MS-[hjkl]       Move window by a large amount; see cwmrc(5).
           CM-[hjkl]       Resize window by a small amount.
           CMS-[hjkl]      Resize window by a large amount; see cwmrc(5).
           M-question      Spawn “exec program” dialog.
           M-period        Spawn “ssh to” dialog.  This parses $HOME/.ssh/known_hosts to provide
                           host auto-completion.  ssh(1) will be executed via the configured
                           terminal emulator.
           CM-w            Spawn “exec WindowManager” menu, allowing a switch to another window
                           manager.
           CMS-r           Restart.
           CMS-q           Quit.

     The default mouse bindings are:

           M-M1            Move current window.
           CM-M1           Toggle group membership of current window.
           M-M2            Resize current window
           M-M3            Lower current window.
           CMS-M3          Hide current window.

     The following key bindings may be used to navigate search and exec dialogs:

           [Return]              Select item.
           [Down], C-s or M-j    Next item.
           [Up], C-r or M-k      Previous item.
           [Backspace] or C-h    Backspace.
           C-u                   Clear input.
           C-a                   List all available items.
           [Esc]                 Cancel.

     cwm rereads its configuration file when it receives a hangup signal, SIGHUP, by executing
     itself with the name and arguments with which it was started.  This is equivalent to the
     restart function.

SEARCH

     cwm features the ability to search for windows by their current title, old titles, and by
     their label.  The priority for the search results are: label, current title, old titles in
     reverse order, and finally window class name.  cwm keeps a history of the 5 previous titles
     of a window.

     When searching, the leftmost character of the result list may show a flag:

           !       Window is currently focused.
           &       Window is hidden.

APPLICATIONS

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

GROUPS

     cwm has the ability to group windows together, and use the groups to perform operations on
     the entire group instead of just one window.  Together with the sticky option, this can be
     used to emulate virtual desktops.

     To edit groups, use the group selection commands to toggle membership of a group.  A blue
     border will be shown briefly on windows added to the current group, and a red border will be
     shown on those just removed.

MENUS

     Menus are recalled by clicking the mouse on the root window:

           M1      Show list of currently defined windows.  Selecting an item will warp to that
                   window, unhiding it if necessary.
           M2      Show list of currently defined groups.  Selecting an item will hide/unhide
                   that group.
           M3      Show list of applications as defined in the configuration file.  Selecting an
                   item will spawn that application.

ENVIRONMENT

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

FILES

     ~/.cwmrc    Default cwm configuration file.

SEE ALSO

     cwmrc(5)

HISTORY

     cwm was originally inspired by evilwm, but was rewritten from scratch due to limitations in
     the evilwm codebase.  The from-scratch rewrite borrowed some code from 9wm, however that
     code has since been removed or rewritten.

     cwm first appeared in OpenBSD 4.2.

AUTHORS

     cwm was developed by Marius Aamodt Eriksen <marius@monkey.org> with contributions from Andy
     Adamson <dros@monkey.org>, Niels Provos <provos@monkey.org>, and Antti Nykänen <aon@iki.fi>.
     Ideas, discussion with many others.