--- title: I Tried MangoWM, and I'm Not Going Back to Niri | daily.dev description: MangoWM is a Wayland compositor built on wlroots, inspired by dwl/dwm, offering multiple layout modes per tag (master-stack, scroller, monocle, grid, deck),... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-mangowm-and-i-m-not-going-back-to-niri-lgrdj8o2f twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I Tried MangoWM, and I'm Not Going Back to Niri | daily.dev og:description: MangoWM is a Wayland compositor built on wlroots, inspired by dwl/dwm, offering multiple layout modes per tag (master-stack, scroller, monocle, grid, deck),... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-mangowm-and-i-m-not-going-back-to-niri-lgrdj8o2f og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/LgRDJ8O2F.png og:image:alt: I Tried MangoWM, and I'm Not Going Back to Niri og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I Tried MangoWM, and I'm Not Going Back to Niri **[It's Foss](https://daily.dev/sources/itsfoss)** · 9 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary MangoWM is a Wayland compositor built on wlroots, inspired by dwl/dwm, offering multiple layout modes per tag (master-stack, scroller, monocle, grid, deck), smooth animations via scenefx, window rules, hot-reload config, and solid XWayland support. Unlike single-model compositors like Niri, MangoWM lets you assign different layouts to different tags and view multiple tags simultaneously. Installation is straightforward on Arch (AUR) and Fedora (Terra repo). Configuration covers keybindings, visual effects (blur, shadows, corner radius), window rules for per-app behavior, and integration with external tools like Waybar, Rofi, and swaybg. The author switched from Niri to MangoWM for daily use, citing layout flexibility and per-tag control as the deciding factors. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What layout modes does MangoWM support for each tag? MangoWM supports five per-tag layout modes: Master-Stack (a large window on the left with a stack on the right), Scroller (horizontal scrolling windows similar to Niri), Monocle (one maximized window with others hidden), Grid (even tiling across available space), and Deck (stacked cards showing only the top window). Layouts can be assigned per tag rather than globally, and the default keybind to cycle them is Super + N. _Comparing tiling layout options like these is easier when daily.dev surfaces window manager deep dives in one place._ ### How does MangoWM's tag system differ from traditional workspaces in Sway or Hyprland? MangoWM uses a dwm-inspired tag system where windows carry one or more numbered tags (1-9) instead of switching between linear workspaces. Users can view any combination of tags simultaneously by holding Ctrl and pressing multiple numbers, merging those windows into a single view, which differs from the sequential workspace model used by Sway, Hyprland, and Niri. _Developers weighing tag-based versus workspace-based window management can track these comparisons on daily.dev._ ### How do I install MangoWM on Arch Linux or Fedora? On Arch Linux, install via the AUR using an AUR helper like yay: run 'yay -Syu scenefx0.4' followed by 'yay -Syu mangowm-git' to pull the latest git build. On Fedora, add the Terra third-party repository with 'sudo dnf install --nogpgcheck --repofrompath terra,https://repos.fyralabs.com/terra$releasever terra-release' then 'sudo dnf install mangowm'. NixOS also packages it. _Anyone setting up a new Wayland compositor can find installation walkthroughs like this through daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I Finally Tried Niri, The New Way Of Tiling Linux Users Are Going Crazy About](https://daily.dev/posts/i-finally-tried-niri-the-new-way-of-tiling-linux-users-are-going-crazy-about-foaxkbwok) · It's Foss · 103 upvotes · 19 comments - [How Is niri This Good? Live Demo \+ Config — Nick Janetakis](https://daily.dev/posts/how-is-niri-this-good-live-demo-config-nick-janetakis-0zkbipqvy) · Nick Janetakis · 72 upvotes · 7 comments - [The Dank Case For Scrolling Window Managers](https://daily.dev/posts/the-dank-case-for-scrolling-window-managers-dli79qinq) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Nehir: a tiling window manager for macOS](https://daily.dev/posts/nehir-a-tiling-window-manager-for-macos-wxuuvgzfv) · Lobsters · 13 upvotes · 3 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-mangowm-and-i-m-not-going-back-to-niri-lgrdj8o2f) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I Tried MangoWM, and I'm Not Going Back to Niri","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-mangowm-and-i-m-not-going-back-to-niri-lgrdj8o2f","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-mangowm-and-i-m-not-going-back-to-niri-lgrdj8o2f"},"datePublished":"2026-07-22T02:33:16.928Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T07:39:03.163Z","description":"MangoWM is a Wayland compositor built on wlroots, inspired by dwl/dwm, offering multiple layout modes per tag (master-stack, scroller, monocle, grid, deck),...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7bbd95f5d57897bf0de289c5a2018720?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7bbd95f5d57897bf0de289c5a2018720?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"It's Foss","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"It's Foss","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/582e3faed71842bfb9d3840a787d6700","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/itsfoss"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-mangowm-and-i-m-not-going-back-to-niri-lgrdj8o2f","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"linux","timeRequired":"PT9M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"It's Foss","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/itsfoss"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I Tried MangoWM, and I'm Not Going Back to Niri"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-mangowm-and-i-m-not-going-back-to-niri-lgrdj8o2f#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What layout modes does MangoWM support for each tag?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"MangoWM supports five per-tag layout modes: Master-Stack (a large window on the left with a stack on the right), Scroller (horizontal scrolling windows similar to Niri), Monocle (one maximized window with others hidden), Grid (even tiling across available space), and Deck (stacked cards showing only the top window). 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