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Companion Tools

Mango is a window compositor and needs additional tools to create a complete desktop environment. This guide covers recommended tools for various components.

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Hybrid Component

dms-shell

Complete desktop shell solution providing integrated components for Mango

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Essential Components

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Application Launcher

rofi

Popular application launcher and dmenu replacement with extensive customization

bemenu

Dynamic menu library for Wayland, simple and lightweight

wmenu

Efficient menu for Wayland, suckless-style implementation

fuzzel

Application launcher for Wayland with fuzzy matching

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Terminal Emulator

foot

Fast, lightweight, and minimalistic Wayland terminal emulator (default in Mango)

wezterm

GPU-accelerated cross-platform terminal emulator with extensive features

alacritty

OpenGL-accelerated terminal emulator focused on simplicity and performance

kitty

Feature-rich, GPU-based terminal emulator with image support

ghostty

Modern terminal emulator with native performance

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Status Bar

waybar

Highly customizable Wayland bar (preferred choice for Mango)

eww

ElKowars wacky widgets - build custom widgets with declarative syntax

quickshell

Simple and fast status bar for Wayland

ags

Aylur’s Gtk Shell - build custom desktop shells with JavaScript
Waybar is the preferred status bar for Mango and provides the best integration.

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Wallpaper Setup

swww

Efficient animated wallpaper daemon for Wayland with smooth transitions

swaybg

Wallpaper tool for Wayland compositors, simple and reliable

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Notification Daemon

swaync

Notification daemon with a GTK-based notification center

dunst

Lightweight notification daemon with extensive customization

mako

Lightweight Wayland notification daemon

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Desktop Portal

xdg-desktop-portal

Base portal implementation for desktop integration

xdg-desktop-portal-wlr

Backend for wlroots-based Wayland compositors like Mango

xdg-desktop-portal-gtk

GTK implementation for file chooser and other portals

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Clipboard Manager

wl-clipboard

Command-line copy/paste utilities for Wayland

wl-clip-persist

Keep clipboard contents after application closes

cliphist

Clipboard history manager for Wayland

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Gamma Control / Night Light

wlsunset

Day/night gamma adjustments for Wayland compositors

gammastep

Adjust screen color temperature based on time of day

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Miscellaneous

xfce-polkit

PolicyKit authentication agent for privilege escalation

wlogout

Logout menu for Wayland

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Complete Setup Examples

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Daily Setup

Complete dependency list for a full-featured daily driver setup: 
yay -S rofi foot xdg-desktop-portal-wlr swaybg waybar \
  wl-clip-persist cliphist wl-clipboard wlsunset xfce-polkit \
  swaync pamixer wlr-dpms sway-audio-idle-inhibit-git \
  swayidle dimland-git brightnessctl swayosd wlr-randr \
  grim slurp satty swaylock-effects-git wlogout sox
View daily config

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DMS Setup

Minimal setup using dms-shell hybrid component: 
yay -S foot xdg-desktop-portal-wlr swaybg \
  wl-clip-persist cliphist wl-clipboard \
  sway-audio-idle-inhibit-git brightnessctl \
  grim slurp satty matugen-bin dms-shell-git
View DMS config (branch: dms)

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Additional Utilities

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Screen Capture

  • grim - Screenshot utility for Wayland
  • slurp - Select a region in Wayland
  • satty - Screenshot annotation tool

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Screen Lock

  • swaylock-effects-git - Screen locker with effects
  • swayidle - Idle management daemon

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Audio Control

  • pamixer - PulseAudio mixer command-line tool
  • sway-audio-idle-inhibit-git - Prevent idle when audio is playing
  • swayosd - OSD window for volume/brightness

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Display Management

  • wlr-randr - xrandr clone for wlroots compositors
  • wlr-dpms - Control display power management

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Brightness Control

  • brightnessctl - Read and control device brightness

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Power Management

  • dimland-git - Dim screen gradually before sleep

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Default Keybindings

Out of the box, Mango includes these keybindings for common tools:
  • Alt + Return - Open foot terminal
  • Alt + Space - Open rofi launcher
  • Alt + Q - Kill client
  • Alt + Arrow Keys - Focus direction
  • Super + M - Quit Mango
These can be customized in your Mango configuration file.

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