Kröhnkite

A dynamic tiling extension for KWin.

Kröhnkite is mainly inspired by dwm from suckless folks, and aims to provide rock solid stability while fully integrating into KWin.

The name of the script is from mineral Kröhnkite; it starts with K and looks cool.

Features

• DWM-like window tiling
  • Dynamically tile windows, rather than manually placing each.
  • Floating windows
• Fully integrates into KWin features, including:
  • Multi-screen
  • Activities & Virtual desktop
  • Basic window management (minimize, fullscreen, switching, etc)
• Multiple Layout Support
  • Tiling layout
  • Monocle layout
  • Desktop-friendly layouts (Spread, Stair)

Development Requirement

• Typescript (tested w/ 3.1.x)
• GNU Make
• p7zip (7z)

Installation

You can install Kröhnkite in multiple ways.

Using .kwinscript package file

You can download krohnkite-x.x.kwinscript file, and install it through System Settings.

1. Download the kwinscript file
2. Open System Settings > Window Management > KWin Scripts
3. Press Import KWin script... on the top-right corner
4. Select the downloaded file

Alternatively, through command-line:

plasmapkg2 -t kwinscript -i krohnkite.kwinscript # installing new script
plasmapkg2 -t kwinscript -u krohnkite.kwinscript # upgrading existing script

To uninstall the package:

plasmapkg2 -t kwinscript -r krohnkite

Installing from Git repository

The simplest method would be:

make install
make uninstall # to uninstall the script

This will automatically build and install kwinscript package.

You can also manually build package file using:

make package

The generated package file can be imported from "KWin Script" dialog.

Simply Trying Out

Krohnkite can be temporarily loaded without installing the script:

make run
make stop

Note that Krohnkite can destroy itself completely once it is disabled, so no restart is required to deactivated it.

Enabling User-Configuration

It is reported that a manual step is required to enable user configuration of KWin scripts. This is a limitation of KWin scripting.

To enable configuration, you must perform the following in command-line:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/kservices5/
ln -s ~/.local/share/kwin/scripts/krohnkite/metadata.desktop ~/.local/share/kservices5/krohnkite.desktop

A configuration button will appear in KWin Scripts in System Settings.

To make changes effective, the script must be reactivated:

1. On KWin Scripts dialog, untick Krohnkite
2. Apply
3. tick Krohnkite
4. Apply

Default Key Bindings

Key	Action
Meta + J	Focus Down/Next
Meta + K	Focus Up/Previous
Meta + H	Left
Meta + L	Right
Meta + Shift + J	Move Down/Next
Meta + Shift + K	Move Up/Previous
Meta + Shift + H	Move Left
Meta + Shift + L	Move Right
Meta + I	Increase
Meta + D	Decrease
Meta + F	Toggle Floating
Meta + \	Cycle Layout
Meta + Return	Set as Master
Meta + T	Use Tile Layout
Meta + M	Use Monocle Layout
unbound	Use Spread Layout
unbound	Use Stair Layout

Tips

Setting Up for Multi-Screen

Krohnkite supports multi-screen setup, but KWin has to be configured to unlock the full potential of the script.

1. Enable Separate Screen Focus under Window Management > Window Behavior > Multiscreen Behaviour
2. Bind keys for global shortcut Switch to Next/Previous Screen (Recommend: Meta + , / Meta + .)
3. Bind keys for global shortcut Window to Next/Previous Screen (Recommend: Meta + < / Meta + >)

Note: Separate Screen Focus appears only when multiple monitors are present.

Removing Title Bars

Breeze window decoration can be configured to completely remove title bars from all windows:

1. System Setting > Application Style > Window Decorations
2. Click Configure Breeze inside the decoration preview.
3. Window-Specific Overrides tab > Add button
4. Enter the followings, and press Ok:
   • Regular expression to match: .*
   • Tick Hide window title bar

Changing Border Colors

Changing the border color makes it easier to identify current window. This is convinient if title bars are removed.

1. Open ~/.config/kdeglobals with your favorite editor

2. Scroll down and find [WM] section

3. Append the followings to the section:

   • frame=61,174,233: set the border color of active window to RGB(61,174,233)
   • inactiveFrame=239,240,241: set the border color of inactive window to RGB(239,240,241)

   Here's a nice 2-liner that'll do it for you:

    kwriteconfig5 --file ~/.config/kdeglobals --group WM --key frame 61,174,233
    kwriteconfig5 --file ~/.config/kdeglobals --group WM --key inactiveFrame  239,240,241
   

4. You must restart your session to see changes. (i.e. re-login, reboot)

Note: the RGB values presented here are for the default Breeze theme

Note: You might also need to set the border size larger than the theme's default: System Settings > Application Style > Window Decorations: Untick Use theme's default window border size and adjust the size (right from the checkbox).

Setting Minimum Geometry Size

Some applications like discord and KDE settings dont tile nicely as they have a minimum size requirement. This causes the applications to overlap with other applications. To mitigate this we can set minimum size for all windows to be 0.

1. System Setting > Window Management > Window Rules
2. Click on + Add New...
3. Set Window class to be Unimportant
4. Set Window types to Normal Window
5. Click + Add Properties...
6. Add the Minimum Size Property
7. Set the fields to Force and 0 x 0
8. Apply

Prevent borders and shadows from disappearing.

When a window is marked "maximized" in Breeze theme, its borders are removed to save screen space. This behavior may not be preferable depending on your setup. This can be mitigated by disabling maximized windows using Window Rules.

1. System Setting > Window Management > Window Rules
2. Click on + Add New...
3. Set Window class to be Unimportant
4. Set Window types to Normal Window
5. Click + Add Properties...
6. Add the Maximized horizontally and Maximized vertically Properties.
7. Set the options to Force and No.
8. Apply

Useful Development Resources

• KWin Scripting Tutorial
• KWin Scripting API 4.9 Reference
• Adding configuration dialog
  • Development/Tutorials/Plasma/JavaScript/ConfigDialog
  • Development/Tutorials/Using KConfig XT
• *.ui files can be edited with Qt Designer. It's very straight-forward if you're used to UI programming.