# Sway — i3-Compatible Tiling Window Manager for Wayland

> Sway is a drop-in replacement for the i3 window manager that runs on Wayland, providing tiling layouts, workspaces, and full i3 config compatibility on the modern Linux display stack.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# Sway — i3-Compatible Tiling Window Manager for Wayland

## Quick Use
```bash
# Install (Fedora)
sudo dnf install sway
# Install (Arch)
sudo pacman -S sway
# Start (from TTY, not from another WM)
sway
# Config lives at ~/.config/sway/config (same syntax as i3)
```

## Introduction
Sway implements the i3 window manager's features and configuration format on top of the Wayland display protocol. For developers moving from X11 to Wayland, Sway provides the same keyboard-driven tiling workflow with improved security, per-monitor scaling, and modern input handling.

## What Sway Does
- Tiles windows automatically in horizontal/vertical splits and tabbed/stacked layouts
- Uses the same config syntax as i3 so existing dotfiles work with minimal changes
- Supports multiple monitors with per-output scaling, rotation, and arrangement
- Manages workspaces, scratchpad, floating windows, and fullscreen modes
- Communicates with tools and scripts via an IPC socket compatible with i3ipc

## Architecture Overview
Sway is built on wlroots, a modular Wayland compositor library. wlroots handles DRM/KMS output, libinput devices, and the Wayland protocol; Sway adds the tiling layout logic, config parser, and i3-compatible IPC server on top. Rendering uses the GPU directly via EGL without an intermediate X server.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install from distro repos; requires a Wayland-capable GPU driver
- Copy default config: `mkdir -p ~/.config/sway && cp /etc/sway/config ~/.config/sway/`
- Set keybindings, output resolution, input settings, and startup apps in the config file
- Use `swaymsg` to control the compositor at runtime (same as i3-msg)
- Pair with swaybar/waybar for a status bar and swaylock/swayidle for screen locking

## Key Features
- Near-complete i3 configuration compatibility
- Native Wayland: better security (no X11 keylogging surface), smooth HiDPI
- Per-output fractional scaling without blurry fonts
- Criterion-based window rules for automatic tiling/floating/workspace assignment
- Active ecosystem: waybar, wofi, wl-clipboard, grim+slurp for screenshots

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **i3** — the X11 original; Sway is the Wayland port with the same config
- **Hyprland** — Wayland compositor with animations and eye candy; less stable for daily driving
- **river** — minimal Wayland tiling WM configured via an external process
- **dwl** — dwm-like Wayland compositor; requires source patching to customize
- **GNOME/KDE Wayland** — full desktop environments; heavier, with floating-first UX

## FAQ
**Q: Can I reuse my i3 config file directly?**
A: Mostly yes. X11-specific directives (e.g., xrandr commands) need replacement with Sway equivalents.

**Q: Do X11 apps work under Sway?**
A: Yes, via XWayland which is enabled by default.

**Q: How do I take screenshots?**
A: Use `grim` for full screen or `grim -g "$(slurp)"` for region selection.

**Q: Does Sway support NVIDIA GPUs?**
A: Experimental support exists with the proprietary driver (--unsupported-gpu flag). The open-source nouveau driver works out of the box.

## Sources
- https://github.com/swaywm/sway
- https://swaywm.org

---
Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-a4eb0923
Author: AI Open Source