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MangoWC

MangoWC is a modern, lightweight, high-performance Wayland compositor built on dwl — crafted for speed, flexibility, and a customizable desktop experience.

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Archcraft MangoWC

Get MangoWC From ko-fi And Support Archcraft Development.

Installation

Follow the instructions below to install MangoWC :

  • Download mangowc_YYYY-MM-DD.tar.gz file from ko-fi, and save it in a directory.
  • Open a terminal in same directory and run the following command to extract the tar file :
$ tar -xzvf mangowc_YYYY-MM-DD.tar.gz
  • Once the file is extracted, change to the extracted directory which should be mangowc

On Archcraft, You can simply install the provided packages in pkgs directory :

$ sudo pacman -U archcraft-mango-X.Y-Z-any.pkg.tar.zst
Archcraft Prime / WSE

MangoWC does not come pre-installed on Archcraft WSE and Archcraft Prime ISOs.

Configuration

MangoWC is pre-configured in Archcraft. In this section, We'll see how the Mango wayland compositor is configured, what tools and utilities are used to make it look and work like a complete desktop environment.

Config Structure

The configuration structure of MangoWC in Archcraft looks something like this:

~/.config
└── mango : mangowc config directory
├── alacritty : alacritty terminal config
├── config.d : mangowc config files
├── foot : foot terminal config
├── kitty : kitty terminal config
├── mako : notification daemon config
│   └── icons : notification icons
├── rofi : rofi config files
├── scripts : various scripts for functionality
├── theme : current theme and pywal themes
├── wallpapers : wallpapers
├── waybar : statusbar config
├── wlogout : wlogout config
│   └── icons : session icons
├── config.conf : mangowc config file
├── hypridle.conf : hypridle config file
└── hyprlock.conf : lockscreen config file

Terminal

Alacritty is the default terminal. In the MangoWC, alacritty is launched with an alternative config file. If you need to change anything, make sure you modify the config files in ~/.config/mango/alacritty directory. These are the following config files you can modify to change the behaviour of your alacritty terminal:

~/.config/mango/alacritty/alacritty.toml : Main configuration file
~/.config/mango/alacritty/colors.toml : Colors configurations
~/.config/mango/alacritty/fonts.toml : Fonts configurations

If you need any help with alacritty config, run : man 5 alacritty in terminal.

tip

By Default, alacritty is used But, If you want to use kitty/foot as your default terminal, just edit the ~/.config/mango/config.d/30-keybinds.conf file and comment the keybindings for Terminal : alacritty and uncomment the bindings for Terminal : kitty or Terminal : foot

warning

When you change the theme, the colors.toml file of alacritty, colors.conf file of kitty and colors.ini file of foot get overwritten by the theme script.

Notification

Mako is used as a notification daemon for notifications in MangoWC. In the MangoWC, mako is launched with an alternative config file, which is ~/.config/mango/mako/config. So, If you need to modify anything, make sure you edit this file.

If you need any help with mako config, run : man 5 mako in terminal.

warning

When you change the theme, the colors in config file get overwritten by the theme script.

Wallpaper

swaybg sets the wallpaper in the MangoWC. If you want to change the wallpaper, Edit ~/.config/mango/scripts/wallpaper script and add your wallpaper here :

WALLPAPER='/path/to/your/wallpaper'
warning

When you change the theme, the wallpaper path in wallpaper script get overwritten by the theme script.

Statusbar

Waybar is used as the statusbar in Archcraft's MangoWC.

The configurations for waybar can be found inside ~/.config/mango/waybar. If you want to modify the waybar settings, or perhaps want to add/remove modules, then you need to edit the following files :

~/.config/mango/waybar/config : Main config file
~/.config/mango/waybar/modules : Modules config file
~/.config/mango/waybar/style.css : CSS file for styling
~/.config/mango/waybar/colors.css : CSS colors file

If you need any help with waybar config, run : man waybar

warning

When you change the theme, the colors.css file of waybar get overwritten by the theme script.

Launchers and Applets

Rofi is used for application launchers, command runner and various applets. To modify the rofi config, edit ~/.config/rofi/config.rasi file.

If you need any help with rofi config, run : man rofi in terminal.

The scripts for rofi that are used in MangoWC can be found it ~/.config/mango/scripts directory. These are the following scripts that uses rofi to provide the launchers and applets in MangoWC :

rofi_asroot : applet to run apps as root user
rofi_bluetooth : bluetooth applet to quickly connect to BT devices
rofi_launcher : an application launcher, cmd runner, file manager and task manager
rofi_music : music applet, that controls MPD with mpc
rofi_network : network manager applet
rofi_powermenu : power menu, with confirmation dialog
rofi_runner : quickly lets you run a command
rofi_screenshot : screenshot applet that works with grim

If you want to modify any applet or perhaps want to extend the functionality of the applet, just edit these scripts.

The configuration of each script can be found inside ~/.config/mango/rofi directory.

Let's say that you want to modify the looks of launcher, then you need to edit the ~/.config/mango/rofi/launcher.rasi file. Same goes for every other applet, Edit the respective file in the same directory.

If you need any help with rofi theming, run : man rofi-theme in terminal.

To change the colors and fonts of the launchers and applets, Edit the ~/.config/mango/rofi/shared/colors.rasi and ~/.config/mango/rofi/shared/fonts.rasi files.

warning

When you change the theme, the shared/colors.rasi file of rofi gets overwritten by the theme script.

wayland compositor

The configuration of MangoWC is available in ~/.config/mango/config.d. To configure Mango wayland compositor, these are the files that are used :

00-evnvars.conf : Environment variables config file
01-appearance.conf : Theme Elements & Colors config file
02-effects.conf : Blur, Shadows and Opacity config file
03-animations.conf : Animations config file
04-layouts.conf : Layouts config file
05-miscellaneous.conf : Miscellaneous options config file
06-rules.conf : Window/Layer/Tag Rules config file
10-input.conf : Input devices config file
20-monitors.conf : Output/Monitors config file
30-keybinds.conf : Keybindings config file
40-mousebinds.conf : Mouse Buttons config file
50-switchbinds.conf : Switch config file
60-gestures.conf : Gestures config file

If you need any help with MangoWC configuration, visit : MangoWC Docs

warning

When you change the theme, colors in 01-appearance.conf file gets overwritten by the theme script.

Keybindings

Here's a list of some important keybinds you need to know for operating MangoWC easily. If you want to view, modify or add new keybinds, Edit ~/.config/mango/config.d/30-keybinds.conf file.

KeysAction
super + ReturnOpen terminal
super + shift + ReturnOpen floating terminal
super + alt + ReturnOpen fullscreen terminal
super + shift + FOpen file manager (thunar)
super + shift + EOpen text editor (geany)
super + shift + WOpen web browser (firefox)
KeysAction
super + DOpen application launcher
Alt + F1Open application launcher
Alt + F2Open command runner
super + ROpen Asroot applet
super + NOpen network manager applet
super + MOpen music applet
super + XOpen powermenu applet
super + SOpen screenshots applet
super + BOpen bluetooth applet

Hardware Keys

KeysAction
PrintTake screenshot
alt + PrintTake screenshot in 5 seconds delay
shift + PrintTake screenshot in 10 seconds delay
ctrl + PrintTake screenshot of currently focused window
super + PrintTake screenshot of selected area
XF86AudioRaiseVolumeIncrease volume
XF86AudioLowerVolumeDecrease volume
XF86AudioMuteToggle mute speakers
XF86AudioMicMuteToggle mute microphone
XF86Audio + Next/Prev/Play/StopMedia controls (MPD)
XF86MonBrightnessUpIncrease display brightness
XF86MonBrightnessDownDecrease display brightness

Tags

KeysAction
super + 1..9Switch to tag
super + shift + 1..9Send active window to respective tag
super + 0Toggle scratchpad
ctrl + alt + Left/RightSwitch to previous/next tag
ctrl + alt + shift + Left/RightSend active window to previous/next tag

Window Management

KeysAction
super + C/QClose focued window
super + FToggle fullscreen
super + ZToggle Zoom
super + SpaceToggle float
super + IMinimize window
super + shift + IRestore minimized window
super + shift + Zfocus last window
super + shift + CCenter focused window
super + GToggle globlal window
super + OToggle overlay window
alt + aToggle maximize screen
alt + TabToggle overview
super + Left/Right/Up/DownChange focus of window respectively
super + shift + Left/Right/Up/DownMove active window respectively
super + ctrl + Left/Right/Up/DownResize active window respectively
super + alt + Left/Right/Up/DownMove floating window respectively
super + ctrl + A/D/W/SSmart Resize for floating windows only
super + alt + A/D/W/SSmart Move for floating windows only
super + TabSwitch focus stack
super + shift + TabExchange stack client

Layouts and Monitor

KeysAction
super + LSwitch between all available layouts
super + shift + LSet scroller layout
alt + ESet proportion to 1 for scroller layout
alt + XSet proportion from presets for scroller layout
super + ctrl + shift + Left/RightFocus left/right monitor
super + alt + shift + Left/RightMove window to left/right monitor
super + VCreate a headless monitor
super + shift + VDestroy all virtual monitors

Misc Keys

KeysAction
super + PRun colorpicker
ctrl + alt + LTrigger lockscreen
ctrl + alt + DeleteQuit MangoWC
super + shift + RReload Config
super + shift + BToggle Border
super + shift + GToggle Gaps
super + shift + MinusIncrease Gaps
super + shift + EqualDecrease Gaps

Touchpad Gestures

GestureAction
super + SwipeUpIncrease display brightness
super + SwipeDownDecrease display brightness
swipe-3 Left/RightFocus/Scroll the windows
swipe-3 Up/DownChange the workspace
swipe-4Open the Overview

Nvidia

If you're on Archcraft and install the provided package, There's nothing else you need to do in order to run it on Nvidia machine. When you install Archcraft on a machine that has Nvidia, It does all the operations (mentioned below) required to run a wayland compositor on such machines. The compositor should work fine.

If you're running any other distribution and want to install this setup on your Nvidia machine, You need to do some tweaking. In this guide, I'm assuing you're using Arch Linux. Follow the steps below to make this wayland compositor work on Nvidia :

  • Install Nvidia Drivers on your system. NVIDIA
  • Edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf file and add nvidia kernel modules
MODULES="nvidia nvidia_modeset nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm"
  • In the same file, Remove kms hook from hooks array if present.
  • Rebuild your initrd file with : sudo mkinitcpio -P linux
  • Edit /etc/default/grub file and add nvidia_drm.modeset=1 kernel parameter for Nvidia
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nvidia_drm.modeset=1 ..."
  • Update your grub config file with : sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
  • Reboot your Nvidia Machine and login to your wayland compositor, It should work now.

More Information: NVIDIA#Installation, NVIDIA#DRM_kernel_mode_setting

Screenshots

Desktop

Here's few screenshots of MangoWC desktop. These'll give you an idea of the experience of MangoWC in Archcraft.

Desktop 1Desktop 2Desktop 3Desktop 4Desktop 5
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Desktop 6Desktop 7Desktop 8Desktop 9Desktop 10
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Desktop 11Desktop 12Desktop 13Desktop 14Desktop 15
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Desktop 16Desktop 17Desktop 18Desktop 19Desktop 20
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Desktop 21Desktop 22
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Themes

To Change the theme, Click on Color Palette icon on waybar. To apply a random theme, Left Click on the theme module and To restore the default theme, Right Click on the theme module.

To switch between Light/Dark mode, click on module with moon/sun icons.

Default ThemeLight ThemesRandom ThemesLockscreen
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FAQs

How to update my config to new configs?

Download the updated package from ko-fi (for free) and just install it to update to new configs.

Steps to get updates (or re-download files):

  • Login to you Ko-fi account
  • Go to your Ko-fi Payments History
  • Select the purchases you've made
  • Click on View Details
  • Then, Click on View Content to download the updated files.
Why my cursor is not visible?

When using certain graphics drivers (e.g. the VMSVGA graphics controller or the proprietary NVIDIA drivers), the cursor is invisible. This can be fixed by using software cursors :

$ export WLR_NO_HARDWARE_CURSORS=1
How to change GTK theme, icons and cursor?

To change GTK theme, icons and cursor in MangoWC session, Edit ~/.config/mango/scripts/gtkthemes script and restart MangoWC to apply the changes.

THEME='Dracula-Pink'
ICONS='Zafiro-Nord-Black'
FONT='Noto Sans 9'
CURSOR='Bibata'
How to manage multiple monitors and resolution in MangoWC?

If you use multiple monitors with MangoWC, you can manage them as follow:

  1. You can get the names of your outputs with mmsg -O
  2. Edit ~/.config/mango/config.d/20-monitors.conf file and use the information you get by the command above:
# HiDPI Laptop Display
monitorrule=name:eDP-1,width:2944,height:1840,refresh:90,x:0,y:0,scale:1.5,rr:0,vrr:0

# FHD Laptop Display
#monitorrule=name:eDP-1,width:1920,height:1080,refresh:60,x:0,y:0,scale:1.5,rr:0,vrr:0

# Monitor Display
#monitorrule=name:HDMI-A-1,width:1920,height:1080,refresh:60,x:0,y:0,scale:1,rr:0,vrr:0
Why Alacritty is not working on my computer?

Since Alacritty is a OpenGL based terminal emulator, It may not work on some computer hardwares. You can make it work on such computers by following these methods :

  1. Open alacritty with LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 variable. Edit the keybindings/script launching alacritty and replace alacritty with LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 alacritty
  2. Edit /usr/share/applications/Alacritty.desktop desktop file and replace Exec=alacritty with Exec=env LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 alacritty