Sway

Spec sheet

Product

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

Support

The project README directs users to the #sway IRC channel on Libera Chat.Read 11 Oct 2026 · github.com

License

The Sway repository lists the MIT license.Read 11 Oct 2026 · github.com

Dependencies

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

Documentation

Sway is documented through manpages, including the sway configuration manual.Read 11 Oct 2026 · swaywm.org

i3 compatibility

Sway works with existing i3 configurations and supports most i3 features, plus extras.Read 11 Oct 2026 · swaywm.org

Installation

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

Optional components

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

Recent feature

Sway 1.12 added support for capturing individual windows and HDR10 when using the Vulkan renderer.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com

Related project

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

Release security

The project says its releases are signed with key E88F5E48 and published on GitHub.Read 10 Oct 2026 · github.com

Release signing

Sway releases are signed with key E88F5E48 and published on GitHub.Read 11 Oct 2026 · github.com

Source build

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

Startup

Sway can be run from a TTY or from a display manager.Read 11 Oct 2026 · github.com

What it is

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

Window layout

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

Window management

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

Where Specifiction places it

• Window Management Software#57 of 656.4