IPC Commands Reference

The mmsg utility is Mango’s IPC client for querying and controlling the compositor. It supports three operation modes: get, set, and watch.

Synopsis

# Get compositor state
mmsg [-OTLq]
mmsg [-o <output>] (-g | -w) [-OotlcvmfxekbA]

# Set compositor state
mmsg [-o <output>] -s [-t <tags>] [-l <layout>] [-c <tags>] [-d <cmd>,<args>]

Operation Modes

`-g` Get Mode

Query current compositor state once and exit.

# Get all information
mmsg -g

# Get specific information
mmsg -g -t        # tags only
mmsg -g -l        # layout only
mmsg -g -c        # focused client only

`-s` Set Mode

Modify compositor state and exit.

# Switch to tag 2
mmsg -s -t 2

# Change layout
mmsg -s -l monocle

# Dispatch internal command
mmsg -s -d focusstack,1

`-w` Watch Mode

Continuously stream compositor events. Useful for status bars.

# Watch all events
mmsg -w

# Watch specific events
mmsg -w -t        # tag changes
mmsg -w -c        # focused client changes
mmsg -w -l        # layout changes

General Options

`-O` Get Output Names

List all connected outputs (monitors).

$ mmsg -O
eDP-1
HDMI-A-1

In watch mode, shows output hotplug events:

$ mmsg -w -O
eDP-1
+ HDMI-A-1    # connected
- HDMI-A-1    # disconnected

`-T` Get Tag Count

Return the number of configured tags.

$ mmsg -T
9

`-L` Get Layouts

List all available layouts.

$ mmsg -L
tile
monocle
deck
centered

`-q` Quit Compositor

Instruct Mango to quit.

mmsg -q

`-o <output>` Select Output

Target a specific output. Without this, operations target the active output.

# Get tags on HDMI output
mmsg -o HDMI-A-1 -g -t

# Switch tags on eDP output
mmsg -o eDP-1 -s -t 3

Get Options

`-o` Output Focus

Show which output is currently focused (selected monitor).

$ mmsg -g -o
eDP-1 selmon 1
HDMI-A-1 selmon 0

`-t` Tag Information

Get detailed tag state: occupancy, selection, and urgency.

$ mmsg -g -t
eDP-1 tag 1 1 3 1     # tag 1: active, 3 clients, focused
eDP-1 tag 2 0 0 0     # tag 2: inactive, empty
eDP-1 tag 3 0 5 0     # tag 3: inactive, 5 clients, unfocused
eDP-1 clients 8       # total clients
eDP-1 tags 8 1 0      # occupancy=8, selected=1, urgent=0
eDP-1 tags 000001000 000000001 000000000  # binary representation

Output format:

tag <n> <state> <clients> <focused>
- n: tag number (1-indexed)
- state: 0=none, 1=active, 2=urgent
- clients: client count
- focused: 1=has focus, 0=no focus
tags <occ> <sel> <urg>: bitmasks (decimal)
tags <occ> <sel> <urg>: bitmasks (9-bit binary)

`-l` Layout Information

Get current layout symbol.

$ mmsg -g -l
eDP-1 layout []=

`-c` Client Information

Get focused client’s title and application ID.

$ mmsg -g -c
eDP-1 title ~/workspace/docs
eDP-1 appid Alacritty

`-v` Statusbar Visibility

Get statusbar visibility toggle events.

$ mmsg -w -v
eDP-1 toggle

`-m` Fullscreen Status

Check if focused client is fullscreen.

$ mmsg -g -m
eDP-1 fullscreen 1

`-f` Floating Status

Check if focused client is floating.

$ mmsg -g -f
eDP-1 floating 0

`-x` Client Geometry

Get focused client’s position and dimensions.

$ mmsg -g -x
eDP-1 x 0
eDP-1 y 25
eDP-1 width 1920
eDP-1 height 1055

`-e` Last Layer

Get name of the last focused layer.

$ mmsg -g -e
eDP-1 last_layer top

`-k` Keyboard Layout

Get current keyboard layout.

$ mmsg -g -k
eDP-1 kb_layout us

`-b` Keybind Mode

Get current keybind mode.

$ mmsg -g -b
eDP-1 keymode normal

`-A` Scale Factor

Get output scale factor.

$ mmsg -g -A
eDP-1 scale_factor 1.500000

Set Options

`-t <tagspec>` Set Tags

Switch active tags using tag specification.

Numeric Format

Switch to a single tag:

mmsg -s -t 1      # switch to tag 1
mmsg -s -t 5      # switch to tag 5

Modifier Format

Toggle tags using modifiers +, -, ^:

# Add tag 2 to current view
mmsg -s -t +-+

# Remove tag 1 from current view  
mmsg -s -t --+

# Toggle tag 3
mmsg -s -t ++-^+

Position in string corresponds to tag number:

Position 1 → Tag 1
Position 2 → Tag 2
etc.

Modifiers:

+: Enable tag
-: Disable tag
^: Toggle tag

Implementation from mmsg.c

uint32_t mask = seltags;
char *t = tagset;
int32_t i = 0;

// Parse leading digits as tag number
for (; *t && *t >= '0' && *t <= '9'; t++)
    i = *t - '0' + i * 10;

// If only digits, set single tag
if (!*t)
    mask = 1 << (i - 1);

// Apply modifiers
for (; *t; t++, i++) {
    switch (*t) {
    case '-':
        mask &= ~(1 << (i - 1));
        break;
    case '+':
        mask |= 1 << (i - 1);
        break;
    case '^':
        mask ^= 1 << (i - 1);
        break;
    }
}

zdwl_ipc_output_v2_set_tags(dwl_ipc_output, mask, 0);

`-l <layout>` Set Layout

Change the layout by name.

# List available layouts
mmsg -L

# Switch to monocle layout
mmsg -s -l monocle

The layout name must match one of the layouts announced by the compositor.

`-c <tagspec>` Set Client Tags

Move focused client to different tags.

# Move to tag 3
mmsg -s -c 3

# Add client to tag 2
mmsg -s -c +-+

# Remove from tag 1
mmsg -s -c --+

Tag specification works the same as -t, but affects client tags instead of view tags.

Implementation from mmsg.c

uint32_t and = ~0, xor = 0;
char *t = client_tags;
int32_t i = 0;

for (; *t && *t >= '0' && *t <= '9'; t++)
    i = *t - '0' + i * 10;

if (!*t)
    t = "+";  // default to adding tag

for (; *t; t++, i++) {
    switch (*t) {
    case '-':
        and &= ~(1 << (i - 1));
        break;
    case '+':
        and &= ~(1 << (i - 1));
        xor |= 1 << (i - 1);
        break;
    case '^':
        xor |= 1 << (i - 1);
        break;
    }
}

// New tags = (current_tags AND and) XOR xor
zdwl_ipc_output_v2_set_client_tags(dwl_ipc_output, and, xor);

`-d <cmd>,<arg1>,<arg2>,...` Dispatch Command

Execute internal compositor commands. Supports up to 5 arguments.

# Focus next client in stack
mmsg -s -d focusstack,1

# Focus previous client
mmsg -s -d focusstack,-1

# Set master factor
mmsg -s -d setmfact,0.55

# Zoom (swap with master)
mmsg -s -d zoom

# Kill focused client
mmsg -s -d killclient

# Toggle floating
mmsg -s -d togglefloating

# Move floating client
mmsg -s -d moveclient,100,50

The dispatch command is sent directly to the compositor’s internal command handler. Available commands depend on your Mango configuration.

Implementation from mmsg.c

zdwl_ipc_output_v2_dispatch(
    dwl_ipc_output,
    dispatch_cmd,
    dispatch_arg1,
    dispatch_arg2, 
    dispatch_arg3,
    dispatch_arg4,
    dispatch_arg5
);

Arguments are comma-separated and automatically trimmed of whitespace.

Examples

Status Bar Integration

Watch tags and layout for a status bar:

#!/bin/bash
mmsg -w -t -l | while read -r line; do
    case "$line" in
        *"tags"*)
            echo "Tags: $line" > /tmp/tags
            ;;
        *"layout"*)
            echo "Layout: $line" > /tmp/layout
            ;;
    esac
done

Tag Switching Script

#!/bin/bash
# Switch to tag or toggle if already active

TAG=$1
CURRENT=$(mmsg -g -t | grep "tag $TAG" | awk '{print $4}')

if [ "$CURRENT" = "1" ]; then
    # Tag is active, toggle it
    mmsg -s -t "$(printf '%.0s+' $(seq 1 $((TAG-1))))^$(printf '%.0s+' $(seq $((TAG+1)) 9))"
else
    # Switch to tag
    mmsg -s -t $TAG
fi

Multi-Monitor Control

#!/bin/bash
# Move focused client to other monitor's tag 1

OTHER_OUTPUT=$(mmsg -g -o | grep "selmon 0" | awk '{print $1}')

if [ -n "$OTHER_OUTPUT" ]; then
    # Move client to tag 1
    mmsg -s -c 1
    # Switch other monitor to tag 1
    mmsg -o "$OTHER_OUTPUT" -s -t 1
    # Focus other monitor
    mmsg -s -d focusmon,1
fi

Client Information Logger

#!/bin/bash
# Log focused client changes

mmsg -w -c | while read -r line; do
    echo "$(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S') - $line" >> ~/focus.log
done

Exit Status

0: Success
1: Runtime error
2: Usage error (invalid options)

Notes

Commands in set mode exit immediately after applying changes
Watch mode runs until interrupted (Ctrl+C) or the compositor quits
Tag numbers are 1-indexed in command-line interface but 0-indexed in protocol
Binary tag representations use 9 bits (supporting up to 9 tags)
Output names come from the Wayland output name event

Command Reference

Configuration Options

IPC Protocol

​Synopsis

​Operation Modes

​-g Get Mode

​-s Set Mode

​-w Watch Mode

​General Options

​-O Get Output Names

​-T Get Tag Count

​-L Get Layouts

​-q Quit Compositor

​-o <output> Select Output

​Get Options

​-o Output Focus

​-t Tag Information

​-l Layout Information

​-c Client Information

​-v Statusbar Visibility

​-m Fullscreen Status

​-f Floating Status

​-x Client Geometry

​-e Last Layer

​-k Keyboard Layout

​-b Keybind Mode

​-A Scale Factor

​Set Options

​-t <tagspec> Set Tags

​Numeric Format

​Modifier Format

​Implementation from mmsg.c

​-l <layout> Set Layout

​-c <tagspec> Set Client Tags

​Implementation from mmsg.c

​-d <cmd>,<arg1>,<arg2>,... Dispatch Command

​Implementation from mmsg.c

​Examples

​Status Bar Integration

​Tag Switching Script

​Multi-Monitor Control

​Client Information Logger

​Exit Status

​Notes

​See Also

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Synopsis

Operation Modes

`-g` Get Mode

`-s` Set Mode

`-w` Watch Mode

General Options

`-O` Get Output Names

`-T` Get Tag Count

`-L` Get Layouts

`-q` Quit Compositor

`-o <output>` Select Output

Get Options

`-o` Output Focus

`-t` Tag Information

`-l` Layout Information

`-c` Client Information

`-v` Statusbar Visibility

`-m` Fullscreen Status

`-f` Floating Status

`-x` Client Geometry

`-e` Last Layer

`-k` Keyboard Layout

`-b` Keybind Mode

`-A` Scale Factor

Set Options

`-t <tagspec>` Set Tags

Numeric Format

Modifier Format

Implementation from mmsg.c

`-l <layout>` Set Layout

`-c <tagspec>` Set Client Tags

Implementation from mmsg.c

`-d <cmd>,<arg1>,<arg2>,...` Dispatch Command

Implementation from mmsg.c

Examples

Status Bar Integration

Tag Switching Script

Multi-Monitor Control

Client Information Logger

Exit Status

Notes

See Also