Provided by: rofi_0.15.11-1_amd64 
NAME
rofi - A window switcher, run launcher, ssh dialog and dmenu replacement
SYNOPSIS
rofi [ -width pct_scr ] [ -lines lines ] [ -columns columns ] [ -font pangofont ] [ -fg
color ] [ -fg-urgent color ] [ -fg-active color ] [ -bg-urgent color ] [ -bg-active color
] [ -bg color ] [ -bgalt color ] [ -hlfg color ] [ -hlbg color ] [ -key-mode combo ] [
-terminal terminal ] [ -location position ] [ -fixed-num-lines ] [ -padding padding ] [
-opacity opacity% ] [ -display display ] [ -bc color ] [ -bw width ] [ -dmenu [ -p prompt
] [ -sep separator ] [ -l selected line ] [ -mesg ] [ -select ] ] [ -filter filter ] [
-ssh-client client ] [ -ssh-command command ] [ -disable-history ] [ -levenshtein-sort ] [
-case-sensitive ] [ -show mode ] [ -modi mode1,mode2 ] [ -eh element height ] [
-lazy-filter-limit limit ] [ -e message] [ -a row ] [ -u row ] [ -pid path ] [ -now ] [
-rnow ] [ -snow ] [ -version ] [ -help] [ -dump-xresources ] [ -auto-select ] [
-parse-hosts ] [ -no-parse-known-hosts ] [ -combi-modi mode1,mode2 ] [ -normal-window ] [
-fake-transparency ] [ -quiet ] [ -glob ] [ -tokenize ]
DESCRIPTION
rofi is an X11 popup window switcher, run dialog, dmenu replacement and more. It focuses
on being fast to use and have minimal distraction. It supports keyboard and mouse
navigation, type to filter, tokenized search and more.
USAGE
rofi can be used in three ways, single-shot; executes once and directly exits when done,
as a daemon listening to specific key-combination or emulating dmenu.
Single-shot mode
To launch rofi directly in a certain mode, specify a mode with rofi -show <mode>. To show
the run dialog:
rofi -show run
Daemon mode
To launch rofi in daemon mode don´t specify any mode, instead keys can be bound to launch
a certain mode. To show run-mode by pressing F2 start rofi like this:
rofi -key-run F2
Keybindings can also be specified in the Xresources file.
Emulating dmenu
rofi can emulate dmenu (a dynamic menu for X) when launched with the -dmenu flag.
The official website for dmenu can be found here http://tools.suckless.org/dmenu/.
OPTIONS
There are currently three methods of setting configuration options:
• Compile time: edit config.c. This method is strongly discouraged.
• Xresources: A method of storing key values in the Xserver. See here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_resources for more information. This is the
recommended way of configuring rofi.
• Command-line options: Arguments passed to rofi.
The Xresources file expects options starting with rofi. followed by it´s name. An Example
to set the number of lines:
rofi.lines: 10
Command line options override settings from Xresources file. The same option set as
argument: prefixed with a ´-´:
rofi -lines 10
To get a list of available options, formatted as Xresources entries run:
rofi -dump-xresources
The configuration system supports the following types:
• String
• Integer (signed and unsigned)
• Char
• Boolean
Boolean options have a non-default command-line syntax. Example to enable option X:
-X
to disable it:
-no-X
Below is a list of the most important options:
General
-key-{mode} KEY
Set the key combination to display a {mode} in daemon mode.
rofi -key-run F12
rofi -key-ssh control+shift+s
rofi -key-window mod1+Tab
-dmenu
Run rofi in dmenu mode. This allows for interactive scripts. In dmenu mode, rofi reads
from STDIN, and output to STDOUT. A simple example, displaying 3 pre-defined options:
echo -e "Option #1\nOption #2\nOption #3" | rofi -dmenu
Or get the options from a script:
~/my_script.sh | rofi -dmenu
Pressing shift-enter sends the selected entry to STDOUT and moves to the next entry.
-show mode
Open rofi in a certain mode. Available modes are window, run, ssh To show the run-dialog:
rofi -show run
-modi mode1,mode1
Specify a ordered, comma separated list of modes to enable. Enabled modes can be changed
at runtime. Default key is Ctrl+Tab. If no modes are specified all modes will be enabled.
To only show the run and ssh launcher:
rofi -modi "run,ssh" -show run
Custom modes can be added using the internal ´script´ mode. Each mode has two parameters:
<name>:<script>
Example: Have a mode ´Workspaces´ using the i3_switch_workspace.sh script:
rofi -modi "window,run,ssh,Workspaces:i3_switch_workspaces.sh" -show Workspaces
-case-sensitive
Start in case sensitive mode.
-quiet
Do not print any message when starting in daemon mode.
-fuzzy
Enable experimental fuzzy matching.
-filter filter
Filter the list by setting text in input bar to filter
Theming
All colors are either hex #rrggbb values or X11 color names. -bg
-bg-active
-bg-urgent
Set background color in menu.
rofi -bg "#222222"
Default: #f2f1f0
-bgalt
Set background color for alternating rows in menu.
rofi -bgalt "#222222"
Default: #f2f1f0
-bc
Set border color for menu.
rofi -bc black
Default: black
-bw
Set border width in pixels.
rofi -bw 1
Default: 1
-fg
-fg-urgent
-fg-active
Set foreground text color for the menu.
rofi -fg "#cccccc"
Default: #222222
-hlbg
-hlbg-active
-hlbg-urgent
Set background color for the highlighted item in the menu.
rofi -hlbg "#005577"
Default: #005577
-hlfg
-hlfg-active
-hlfg-urgent
Set foreground text color for the highlighted item in the menu.
rofi -hlfg "#ffffff"
Default: #FFFFFF
-font
Specify a font. Pango syntax is used.
rofi -font "Dejavu Sans Mono 14"
Default: mono 12
-opacity
Set window opacity (0-100).
rofi -opacity "75"
Default: 100
-eh element height
The height of a field in lines. e.g.
echo -e "a\n3|b\n4|c\n5" | rofi -sep ´|´ -eh 2 -dmenu
Default: 1
The following options are further explained in the theming section:
-color-enabled
Enable the exteneded coloring options.
-color-window background border color separator color/
Set window background, border and separator color.
-color-normal background, foreground, background alt, highlight background, highlight
foreground
-color-urgent background, foreground, background alt, highlight background, highlight
foreground
-color-active background, foreground, background alt, highlight background, highlight
foreground
Specify the colors used in a row per state (normal, active, urgent).
-line-margin
Set the spacing between the rows.
Default: *3*
Min: *3*
Max: *50*
-separator-style style
Set separator style. Possible options are "none", "solid" or "dash".
Default: *dash*
-hide-scrollbar
Hide the scrollbar.
-glob
Use glob style matching
-tokenize
Tokenize the input.
Layout
-lines
Maximum number of lines to show before scrolling.
rofi -lines 25
Default: 15
-columns
Number of columns to show before scrolling.
rofi -columns 2
Default: 1
-width [value]
Set width of menu. [value] is specified in percentage.
rofi -width 60
If [value] is larger then 100, size is set in pixels. Example to span a full hd monitor:
rofi -width 1920
If [value] is negative, it tries to estimates a character width. To show 30 characters on
a row:
rofi -width -30
Character width is a rough estimation, and might not be correct, but should work for most
monospaced fonts.
Default: 50
-location
Specify where the window should be located. The numbers map to the following locations on
screen:
1 2 3
8 0 4
7 6 5
Default: 0
-fixed-num-lines
Keep a fixed number of visible lines (See the -lines option.)
-padding
Define the inner margin of the window.
Default: 5
-fullscreen
Use the full screen height and width.
-sidebar-mode
Open in sidebar-mode. In this mode a list of all enabled modes is shown at the bottom.
(See -modi option) To show sidebar use:
rofi -show run -sidebar-mode -lines 0
-lazy-filter-limit limit
The number of entries required for rofi to go into lazy filter mode. In lazy filter mode,
it won´t re-filter the list on each keypress, but only after rofi been idle for 250ms.
Experiments shows that the default (5000 lines) works well, set to 0 to always enable.
Default: 5000
-auto-select
When one entry is left, automatically select it.
-m num -monitor num
Select (Xinerama) monitor to display rofi on. The special number -1 denotes the currently
focused monitor, the number -2 denotes the currently focused window (i.e. rofi will be
displayed on top of the focused window).
Default: *-1*
PATTERN setting
-terminal
Specify what terminal to start.
rofi -terminal xterm
Pattern: {terminal} Default: x-terminal-emulator
-ssh-client client
Override the used ssh client.
Pattern: {ssh-client} Default: ssh
SSH settings
-ssh-command cmd
Set the command to execute when starting a ssh session. The pattern {host} is replaced by
the selected ssh entry.
Default: {terminal} -e {ssh-client} {host}
-parse-hosts
Parse the /etc/hosts file for entries.
Default: disabled
-parse-known-hosts -no-parse-known-hosts
Parse the ~/.ssh/known_hosts file for entries.
Default: enabled
Run settings
-run-command cmd
Set command ({cmd}) to execute when running an application. See PATTERN.
Default: {cmd}
-run-shell-command cmd
Set command to execute when running an application in a shell. See PATTERN.
Default: {terminal} -e {cmd}
-run-list-command cmd
If set, use an external tool to generate list of executable commands. Uses ´run-command´
Default: ""
Combi settings
-combi-modi mode1,mode2
The modi to combine in combi mode. For syntax to see -modi. To get one merge view, of
window,run,ssh:
rofi -show combi -combi-modi "window,run,ssh"
History and Sorting
-disable-history -no-disable-history (re-enable history)
Disable history
-levenshtein-sort to enable -no-levenshtein-sort to disable
When searching sort the result based on levenshtein distance.
Dmenu specific
-sep separator
Separator for dmenu. Example: To show list ´a´ to ´e´ with ´|´ as separator:
echo "a|b|c|d|e" | rofi -sep ´|´ -dmenu
-p prompt
Specify the prompt to show in dmenu mode. E.g. select monkey a,b,c,d or e.
echo "a|b|c|d|e" | rofi -sep ´|´ -dmenu -p "monkey:"
Default: dmenu
-selected-row selected row
Select a certain row.
Default: 0
-l number of lines to show
Maximum number of lines the menu may show before scrolling.
rofi -lines 25
Default: 15
-i
Makes dmenu searches case-insensitive
-a X
Active row, mark row X as active. (starting at 0) You can specify single element: -a 3 A
range: -a 3-8 or a set of rows: -a 0,2 or any combination: -a 0,2-3,9
-u X
Urgent row, mark row X as urgent. (starting at 0) You can specify single element: -u 3 A
range: -u 3-8 or a set of rows: -u 0,2 or any combination: -u 0,2-3,9
-only-match
Only return a selected item, do not allow custom entry. This mode always returns an entry,
or returns directly when no entries given.
-no-custom
Only return a selected item, do not allow custom entry. This mode returns directly when no
entries given.
-format format
Allows the output of dmenu to be customized (N is total number of input entries):
• ´s´ selected string.
• ´i´ index (0 - (N-1)).
• ´d´ index (1 - N).
• ´q´ quote string.
• ´f´ filter string (user input).
• ´F´ quoted filter string (user input).
Default: ´s´
-select string
Select first line that matches the given string
-mesg string
Add a message line below the filter entry box. Supports pango markup. For more information
on supported markup see here
https://developer.gnome.org/pango/stable/PangoMarkupFormat.html
-normal-window
Make rofi reacts like a normal application window. Useful for scripts like Clerk that are
basically an application.
-fake-transparency
Enable fake transparency. This only works with transparent background color in the theme,
not the opacity setting.
Message dialog
-e message
Popup a message dialog (used internally for showing errors) with message. Message can be
multi-line.
Other
´-pid´ path
Make rofi create a pid file and check this on startup. Avoiding multiple copies running
simultaneously. This is useful when running rofi from a keybinding daemon.
Debug
-dump-xresources
Dump the current active configuration in Xresources format to the command-line. This does
not validate all passed values (e.g. colors).
-no-config
Disable parsing of configuration. This runs rofi in stock mode.
PATTERN
To launch commands (e.g. when using the ssh launcher) the user can enter the used
command-line, the following keys can be used that will be replaced at runtime:
• {host}: The host to connect to.
• {terminal}: The configured terminal (See -terminal-emulator)
• {ssh-client}: The configured ssh client (See -ssh-client)
• {cmd}: The command to execute.
DMENU REPLACEMENT
If argv[0] (calling command) is dmenu, rofi will start in dmenu mode. This way it can be
used as a drop-in replacement for dmenu. just copy or symlink rofi to dmenu in $PATH.
ln -s /usr/bin/dmenu /usr/bin/rofi
SIGNALS
HUP
If in daemon mode, reload the configuration from Xresources. (commandline arguments still
-override Xresources). This will also reload configured key-bindings.
INT
If in daemon mode, quits rofi.
USR1
If in daemon mode, dumps the current configuration to stdout. Similar to -xresources-dump
THEMING
With rofi 0.15.4 we have a new way of specifying colors, the old settings still apply (for
now). To enable the new setup, set rofi.color-enabled to true. The new setup allows you to
specify colors per state, similar to i3 Currently 3 states exists:
• normal Normal row.
• urgent Highlighted row (urgent)
• active Highlighted row (active)
For each state the following 5 colors must be set:
• bg Background color row
• fg Text color
• bgalt Background color alternating row
• hlfg Foreground color selected row
• hlbg Background color selected row
The window background and border color should be specified separate. The key color-window
contains a pair background,border. An example for Xresources file:
! State: ´bg´, ´fg´, ´bgalt´, ´hlbg´, ´hlfg´
rofi.color-normal: #fdf6e3, #002b36, #eee8d5, #586e75, #eee8d5
rofi.color-urgent: #fdf6e3, #dc322f, #eee8d5, #dc322f, #fdf6e3
rofi.color-active: #fdf6e3, #268bd2, #eee8d5, #268bd2, #fdf6e3
! ´background´, ´border´
rofi.color-window: #fdf6e3, #002b36
Same settings can also be specified on command-line:
rofi -color-normal "#fdf6e3,#002b36,#eee8d5,#586e75,#eee8d5"
COLORS
Rofi has an experimental mode for a ´nicer´ transparency. The idea is to make the
background of the window transparent, leaving the text opaque. There are 2 requirements
for this feature: 1. Your Xserver supports TrueColor, 2. You are running a composite
manager. If this is satisfied you can use the following format for colors:
argb:FF444444
The first two fields specify the alpha level. This determines the amount of transparency.
(00 everything, FF nothing). The other fields represent the actual color, in hex.
KEYBINDINGS
rofi has the following key-bindings:
• Ctrl-v, Insert: Paste clipboard
• Ctrl-Shift-v, Shift-Insert: Paste primary selection
• Ctrl-u: Clear the line
• Ctrl-a: Beginning of line
• Ctrl-e: End of line
• Ctrl-f, Right: Forward one character
• Alt-f: Forward one word
• Ctrl-b, Left: Back one character
• Alt-b: Back one word
• Ctrl-d, Delete: Delete character
• `Ctrl-Alt-d´: Delete word
• Ctrl-h, Backspace: Backspace (delete previous character)
• Ctrl-Alt-h: Delete previous word
• Ctrl-j,Ctrl-m,Enter: Accept entry
• Ctrl-n,Down: Select next entry
• Ctrl-p,Up: Select previous entry
• Page Up: Go to the previous page
• Page Down: Go to the next page
• Ctrl-Page Up: Go to the previous column
• Ctrl-Page Down: Go to the next column
• Ctrl-Enter: Use entered text as command (in ssh/run modi)
• Shift-Enter: Launch the application in a terminal (in run mode)
• Shift-Enter: Return the selected entry and move to the next item while keeping Rofi
open. (in dmenu)
• Shift-Right: Switch to the next modi. The list can be customized with the -switchers
argument.
• Shift-Left: Switch to the previous modi. The list can be customized with the
-switchers argument.
• Ctrl-Tab: Switch to the next modi. The list can be customized with the -switchers
argument.
• Ctrl-Shift-Tab: Switch to the previous modi. The list can be customized with the
-switchers argument.
• Ctrl-space: Set selected item as input text.
• Shift-Del: Delete entry from history.
• Ctrl-grave: Toggle case sensitivity.
To get a full list of keybindings, see rofi -dump-xresources | grep kb-. Keybindings can
be modified using the configuration systems.
FAQ
Text in window switcher is not nicely lined out
Try using a mono-space font.
**rofi** is completely black.
Check quotes used on the commandline: e.g. used “ instead of ".
LICENSE
MIT/X11
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
"Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
WEBSITE
rofi website can be found at here https://davedavenport.github.io/rofi/
rofi bugtracker can be found here https://github.com/DaveDavenport/rofi/issues
AUTHOR
Qball Cow qball@gmpclient.org
Rasmus Steinke rasi@xssn.at
Original code based on work by: Sean Pringle sean.pringle@gmail.com
For a full list of authors, check the AUTHORS file.
November 2015 ROFI-MANPAGE()