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Multi-Monitor Behavior

bond-wm supports multiple X11 screens via Xinerama data.

Key Concepts​

  • Each screen has its own work area geometry.
  • Each screen has its own current tags.
  • Each screen tracks current layout per tag.
  • A single config can be customized per screen via screenOverrides.

Per-Screen Overrides​

Use screenOverrides in your config:

screenOverrides: {
  0: {
    initialLayout: "Floating",
  },
  1: {
    initialLayout: "Tiling",
    tags: ["web", "code", "chat"],
    initialTag: "web",
  },
}

Sending Windows Between Screens​

Default shortcut:

  • Mod4 + O: send focused window to next screen

When moving a window to another screen, bond-wm attempts to:

  • preserve matching tags if possible
  • otherwise place the window on the first visible tag of the destination screen
  • fit the geometry into the destination work area

Screen-Scoped UI in React​

Use useScreenIndex() to render UI differently per monitor:

const screenIndex = useScreenIndex();

{
  screenIndex === 0 && <SystemTray />;
}
{
  screenIndex === 0 && <NotificationWindow />;
}

Screen-Relative Child Windows​

For popups and overlays, use ChildWindow with positionMode="screen-relative".

This keeps coordinates anchored to the current screen instead of global desktop coordinates.

Tags Across Screens​

Tags are screen-local in practice:

  • switching tags affects the active desktop under pointer focus
  • sending a window to a tag uses the focused window's current screen

Default shortcuts:

  • Mod4 + 1..9: switch active desktop tag
  • Mod4 + Shift + 1..9: send focused window to tag