Sway

What it does

Dependencies

Building from source requires wlroots, Wayland, pcre2, json-c, pango, and cairo, among other dependencies.checked 10 Oct 2026

Documentation

Sway is documented through manpages, including the sway configuration manual.checked 11 Oct 2026

i3 compatibility

Sway works with existing i3 configurations and supports most i3 features, plus extras.checked 11 Oct 2026

Installation

Sway is available as a package in many Linux distributions and can also be compiled from source.checked 11 Oct 2026

License

The Sway repository lists the MIT license.checked 11 Oct 2026

Optional components

The README lists swaybg for wallpaper and gdk-pixbuf2 for additional system tray image formats as optional dependencies.checked 10 Oct 2026

Product

Sway is a tiling Wayland compositor and a drop-in replacement for the i3 window manager for X11.checked 11 Oct 2026

Recent feature

Sway 1.12 added support for capturing individual windows and HDR10 when using the Vulkan renderer.checked 10 Oct 2026

Related project

The Sway site says the project also maintains wlroots as a modular basis for Sway and other Wayland compositors.checked 11 Oct 2026

Release security

The project says its releases are signed with key E88F5E48 and published on GitHub.checked 10 Oct 2026

Release signing

Sway releases are signed with key E88F5E48 and published on GitHub.checked 11 Oct 2026

Source build

Building from source uses Meson and Ninja and depends on wlroots, Wayland, PCRE2, json-c, Pango, and Cairo.checked 11 Oct 2026

Startup

Sway can be run from a TTY or from a display manager.checked 11 Oct 2026

Support

The project README directs users to the #sway IRC channel on Libera Chat.checked 11 Oct 2026

What it is

Sway is a tiling Wayland compositor and a drop-in replacement for the i3 window manager for X11.checked 10 Oct 2026

Window layout

It arranges application windows in a grid by default and lets users manipulate them using the keyboard.checked 10 Oct 2026

Window management

It arranges application windows logically in a grid by default, and windows can be manipulated using the keyboard.checked 11 Oct 2026