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noctalia-dev/umbriel

A Wayland compositor for daily desktop use, with scrolling, dwindle, master and stacking layouts, per-output workspaces, blur and animations.

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What is it?

Umbriel is a Wayland compositor, the component that draws windows and manages input on Linux desktops using the Wayland protocol. It offers scrolling, dwindle, master and stacking layouts, tab groups and scratchpads, with independent workspaces for each output and support for fractional scaling and hotplug restoration.

Visually it includes blur, shadows, rounded corners, double borders, animations and GLSL effect presets, along with window and layer rules and an animated overview. For games and displays it provides opt-in HDR, variable refresh rate, tearing, direct scanout and explicit sync where hardware and clients support them.

Umbriel is built in C++23 on wlroots, using an in-tree fork of SceneFX as its renderer. It is designed to pair with the Noctalia desktop shell, can be configured through live-reloaded TOML files, and is still young, so configuration keys and keybinds may change between releases.

Key features

  • 01Scrolling, dwindle, master and stacking layouts per workspace
  • 02Independent workspaces per output with fractional scaling
  • 03Window rules, layer rules and title bars
  • 04Blur, shadows, rounded corners and animations
  • 05Opt-in HDR, variable refresh rate and direct scanout
  • 06Live-reloaded TOML configuration with IPC

Use cases

  • Running a tiling Wayland desktop for daily productivity work
  • Gaming with HDR, variable refresh rate and configurable fullscreen
  • Streaming a desktop to remote clients through virtual outputs
  • Pairing with the Noctalia shell for a complete Wayland desktop

Quick start

  1. 1

    Install Umbriel by following the installation guide (distribution packages, Nix, or source build)

  2. 2

    Start Umbriel by picking it in your display manager or running it from a TTY

    start-umbriel

Things to know

  • The project is young and actively evolving, so configuration keys, keybinds, and behavior may change between releases.
  • Rough edges remain, and current defaults are not stability promises.

In collections

Desktop GUI apps & toolkits

Topics

#wayland#compositor#window-manager#linux#tiling#wlroots#desktop

FAQ

What is umbriel?
A Wayland compositor for daily desktop use, with scrolling, dwindle, master and stacking layouts, per-output workspaces, blur and animations. Umbriel is a Wayland compositor, the component that draws windows and manages input on Linux desktops using the Wayland protocol. It offers scrolling, dwindle, master and stacking layouts, tab groups and scratchpads, with independent workspaces for each output and support for fractional scaling and hotplug restoration.
Is umbriel free to use? What license does it have?
umbriel is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is umbriel still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to umbriel was on Nov 6, 2026.
What can I use umbriel for?
Running a tiling Wayland desktop for daily productivity work Gaming with HDR, variable refresh rate and configurable fullscreen Streaming a desktop to remote clients through virtual outputs Pairing with the Noctalia shell for a complete Wayland desktop
How do I install umbriel?
Install Umbriel by following the installation guide (distribution packages, Nix, or source build) Start Umbriel by picking it in your display manager or running it from a TTY: start-umbriel
Where can I get umbriel?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/noctalia-dev/umbriel

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