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Qtile

Qtile is a full-featured, hackable tiling window manager written in Python. Qtile is simple, small, and extensible. It is easy to write your own layouts, widgets, and built-in commands. It is written and configured entirely in Python, which means you can leverage the full power and flexibility of the language to make it fit your needs.

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Qtile Premium

The Ultimate Qtile Configuration With Modular Configs, Extra Functionality And Themes (26 Pre-Made + Infinite Auto Generated Themes With pywal)

Get Qtile Premium From ko-fi And Support Archcraft Development.

Installation

Once you finish installing Archcraft, Qtile can be installed on the top of it. It's pre-configured and ready to go.

Open a terminal and run the following command to install the regular version of Qtile :

$ sudo pacman -Sy archcraft-qtile
Archcraft Prime

Qtile Premium comes pre-installed on Archcraft Prime ISO

Configuration

Qtile is pre-configured in Archcraft. In this section, We'll see how the Qtile window manager 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 Qtile in Archcraft looks something like this:

~/.config
└── qtile : Qtile config directory
├── alacritty : terminal config
├── scripts : scripts used for Qtile
├── themes : all themes (polybar, rofi configs)
├── config.py : main Qtile config file
├── dunstrc : dunst config for notifications
├── picom.conf : compositor config
└── xsettingsd : gtk themes, icons and fonts config file

Terminal

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

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

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

attention

When you change the theme, the colors.toml and fonts.toml file get overwritten by the theme script.

This is applicable only in Qtile Premium as themes are only available in it. On regular version, there's only one theme.

Notification

Dunst is used as a notification daemon for notifications in Qtile. In the Qtile window manager, dunst is launched with an alternative config file, which is ~/.config/qtile/dunstrc. So, If you need to modify anything, make sure you edit this file.

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

attention

When you change the theme, the fonts and colors in dunstrc file get overwritten by the theme script.

This is applicable only in Qtile Premium as themes are only available in it. On regular version, there's only one theme.

Wallpaper

hsetroot sets the wallpaper in the Qtile. If you want to change the wallpaper, Edit the following scripts :

Edit ~/.config/qtile/scripts/qtile_autostart script and add the path to your wallpaper.

# Restore wallpaper
hsetroot -cover '/path/to/your/wallpaper'

Statusbar

Polybar is used as the statusbar in Archcraft's Qtile window manager.

The configurations for polybar can be found inside the theme directory directory of Qtile ~/.config/qtile/theme

If you want to modify the polybar settings, or perhaps want to add/remove modules, then you need to edit the following files :

~/.config/qtile/theme/polybar/config.ini : Main config file
~/.config/qtile/theme/polybar/colors.ini : Colors config file
~/.config/qtile/theme/polybar/modules.ini : Modules config file

If you need any help with polybar config, visit : polybar wiki

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 Qtile can be found it ~/.config/qtile/scripts directory. These are the following scripts that uses rofi to provide the launchers and applets in Qtile :

rofi_askpass : rofi based sudo frontend to get root password
rofi_asroot : applet to open apps as root
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_powermenu : power menu, with confirmation dialog
rofi_runner : quickly lets you run a command
rofi_screenshot : screenshot applet that works with maim
rofi_themes : applet to change the themes only in premium

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

The configuration of each script can be found inside the theme directory of Qtile ~/.config/qtile/theme

Let's say you want to modify the looks of launcher, then you need to edit the ~/.config/qtile/theme/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/qtile/theme/rofi/shared/colors.rasi and ~/.config/qtile/theme/rofi/shared/fonts.rasi files.

Compositor

Picom is used for compositing. It's a lightweight compositor with shadowing, advanced blurring and fading. In Qtile, picom is launched with an alternative config file, which is ~/.config/qtile/picom.conf.

If you need to change anything related to picom, Edit this picom config file.

If you need any help with picom config, check the picom's default config file in /etc/xdg/picom.conf

info

If you're having screen-tearing issues, using glx backend can solve this issue.
If you're facing lagging, hangs and freezes, try switching between xrender and glx backend.

attention

When you change the theme, things like backend, shadows, blurring in picom.conf file gets overwritten by theme script.

This is applicable only in Qtile Premium as themes are only available in it. On regular version, there's only one theme.

Window Manager

The configuration of Qtile is available in ~/.config/qtile. To configure Qtile window manager, this is the main file that is used :

~/.config/qtile/config.py : main qtile config file with general settings, keybindings, layouts and window rules.

If you need any help with qtile configuration, visit : Qtile docs

attention

When you change the theme, things like border colors, border width, _margins _and gaps in config.py file gets overwritten by the theme script.

This is applicable only in Qtile Premium as themes are only available in it. On regular version, there's only one theme.

Keybindings

Here's a list of some important keybinds you need to know for operating Qtile easily. If you want to view, modify or add new keybinds, Edit ~/.config/qtile/config.py file.

Applications

KeysAction
super + ReturnOpen terminal (alacritty)
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
superOpen application launcher
alt + F1Open application launcher
alt + F2Open command runner
super + NOpen network manager applet
super + MOpen music applet
super + XOpen powermenu applet
super + SOpen screenshots applet
super + ROpen apps as root applet
super + TOpen theme applet only in premium

Hardware Keys

KeysAction
PrintTake screenshot
ctrl + PrintTake screenshot in 5 seconds delay
shift + PrintTake screenshot in 10 seconds delay
ctrl + shift + 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

Workspaces

KeysAction
super + 1..8Switch to respective group
super + shift + 1..8Move focused window to respective group
super + alt + Left/RightGo to next/prev group
super + BSwitch group back-and-forth

Window Management

KeysAction
super + C/QClose focued window
super + Left/Right/Up/DownSets focus to the nearest window in the given direction
super + shift + Left/Right/Up/DownMove focused window in the given direction
super + ctrl + Left/Right/Up/DownResizing windows
super + FToggle fullscreen
super + SpaceToggle floating/tiling
super + TabMove window focus to other window
super + shift + SpaceToggle between different layouts
super + EqualIncrease the space for master window
super + MinusDecrease the space for master window
super + shift + SToggle between split and unsplit sides of stack
super + shift + RToggle Resize mode
super + shift + LToggle Layout mode

Window Manager

KeysAction
super + ctrl + RReload Qtile
super + ctrl + SRestart Qtile
super + ctrl + QQuit Qtile

Misc Keys

KeysAction
ctrl + alt + VOpen vim in terminal
ctrl + alt + ROpen ranger in terminal
ctrl + alt + HOpen htop in terminal
ctrl + alt + MOpen ncmpcpp with album art in terminal
ctrl + alt + LTrigger lockscreen
super + PRun colorpicker

Screenshots

Desktop

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

Desktop 1Desktop 2Desktop 3Desktop 4
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Desktop 5Desktop 6Desktop 7Desktop 8
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Desktop 9Desktop 10Desktop 11Desktop 12
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Desktop 13Desktop 14Desktop 15Desktop 16
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Themes

There's only one theme available on regular Qtile.

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FAQs

How to update my config to new configs?

When a new version of Archcraft Qtile get released, And you update the system by sudo pacman -Syu or you update the Qtile package by sudo pacman -S archcraft-qtile, New config files get installed as qtile_pacnew_YYYY-MM-DD in your ~/.config directory.

To use new configs, backup your old ~/.config/qtile directory and move ~/.config/qtile_pacnew_YYYY-MM-DD to ~/.config/qtile and login again.

For Qtile Premium, download the updated package from ko-fi (for free) and just install it to update to new configs.

How to change GTK theme, icons and cursor?

To change GTK theme, icons and cursor in Qtile session, Edit ~/.config/qtile/xsettingsd file and restart Qtile to apply the changes.

Net/ThemeName "Arc-Dark"
Net/IconThemeName "Zafiro"
Gtk/CursorThemeName "Qogirr"
How to manage multiple monitors and resolution in Qtile?

If you use multiple monitors with Qtile window manager, you can manage them by running Manager Monitors or archcraft-randr app.

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