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Prerequisites

Building Mango from source requires specific versions of wlroots and scenefx, along with development tools.

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Build Tools

Install the required build tools: 
sudo pacman -S git meson ninja pkg-config

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Build Dependencies

Mango requires these dependencies (from meson.build):
  • wayland (>=1.23.1) - Wayland compositor library
  • wayland-protocols - Wayland protocol definitions
  • libinput (>=1.27.1) - Input device management
  • libxkbcommon - Keyboard handling
  • pcre2 - Regular expression library
  • pixman - Pixel manipulation library
  • wlroots (0.19.x) - Wayland compositor library
  • scenefx (>=0.4.1) - Scene graph and effects library
  • xorg-xwayland - X11 application support
  • libxcb - X protocol C bindings
  • xcb-icccm - X window manager utilities

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Install Dependencies

sudo pacman -S wayland wayland-protocols libinput libxkbcommon \
  pcre2 pixman xorg-xwayland libxcb xcb-util-wm

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Installation Steps

1

Build and install wlroots

Mango requires wlroots 0.19.2:
git clone -b 0.19.2 https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wlroots/wlroots.git
cd wlroots
meson build -Dprefix=/usr
sudo ninja -C build install
cd ..
Make sure to use version 0.19.2 specifically, as Mango depends on this version.
2

Build and install scenefx

Mango requires scenefx 0.4.1 or later:
git clone -b 0.4.1 https://github.com/wlrfx/scenefx.git
cd scenefx
meson build -Dprefix=/usr
sudo ninja -C build install
cd ..
3

Clone Mango repository

Get the latest Mango source code:
git clone https://github.com/mangowm/mango.git
cd mango
4

Configure build

Configure the build with meson:
meson build -Dprefix=/usr
5

Build and install

Compile and install Mango:
sudo ninja -C build install
This installs:
  • mango - The compositor binary
  • mmsg - IPC message tool
  • Desktop files and configuration
6

Verify installation

Check that Mango is installed correctly:
mango --version
You should see the version information with commit hash.

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Build Options

Mango supports these meson build options:
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prefix
string
default:"/usr/local"
Installation prefix
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xwayland
feature
default:"enabled"
Enable XWayland support for X11 applications
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asan
boolean
default:"false"
Enable AddressSanitizer for debugging

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Installed Files

The installation creates these files: 
/usr/bin/mango                              # Main compositor
/usr/bin/mmsg                               # IPC tool
/usr/share/wayland-sessions/mango.desktop   # Session file
/usr/share/xdg-desktop-portal/mango-portals.conf
/etc/mango/config.conf                      # Default config

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Configuration

After installation, copy the default configuration to your user directory: 
mkdir -p ~/.config/mango
cp /etc/mango/config.conf ~/.config/mango/config.conf
Edit ~/.config/mango/config.conf to customize your setup.

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Updating

To update to the latest version: 
cd mango
git pull
meson build -Dprefix=/usr --reconfigure
sudo ninja -C build install

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Uninstalling

To remove Mango: 
cd mango/build
sudo ninja uninstall

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Troubleshooting

Make sure you installed wlroots 0.19.2 with the correct prefix:
pkg-config --modversion wlroots-0.19
If not found, ensure /usr/lib/pkgconfig is in your PKG_CONFIG_PATH:
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/lib/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH
Verify scenefx installation:
pkg-config --modversion scenefx-0.4
If missing, rebuild scenefx with the correct prefix.
Mango requires specific versions:
  • wlroots: 0.19.0 or later (0.19.2 recommended)
  • scenefx: 0.4.1 or later
  • wayland: 1.23.1 or later
  • libinput: 1.27.1 or later
Check installed versions and rebuild dependencies if needed.
Use sudo for installation:
sudo ninja -C build install
Or configure with a user-writable prefix:
meson build -Dprefix=$HOME/.local
ninja -C build install

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Next Steps

Configuration

Configure Mango to your preferences

Keybindings

Learn default keybindings and create custom ones

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