Exo

Exo copied to clipboard

✨ Overview

Exo is a sleek, modern desktop shell that brings Material 3 design principles to your Wayland compositor. Designed specifically for Niri and Hyprland, Exo provides a beautiful and functional interface built with the powerful Ignis framework.

Key Features

• 🎨 Material 3 Design - Modern, adaptive UI with smooth animations and transitions
• 🌊 Wayland Native - Built for the future of Linux desktop environments
• ⚙️ Highly Customizable - Dual bar layouts, moveable and toggleable modules
• 🎨 Dynamic Theming - Automatic color scheme generation with Matugen
• 🔒 Lock Screen Theming - Automatically themes Hyprlock (if installed)
• 📦 Modular Design - Enable or disable components as needed
• 🎥 Screen Recording - Built-in screen recording capabilities

📸 Screenshots

Videos

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c6b4ffcb-1be7-4a95-b03d-33bfe748756d

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/78e35d82-5fe9-4986-b545-80fc59bc4784

📋 Dependencies

Essential

• Compositor: Niri or Hyprland
• Shell Framework: Ignis (git/dev version)
• GVC: Ignis GVC
• Color Generation: Matugen
• Wallpaper: swww
• Icons: Material Symbols Font
• Bluetooth: gnome-bluetooth
• GTK Theme: adw-gtk3
• Sass Compiler: dart-sass

Optional

• Lock Screen: Hyprlock - Automatically themed by Exo
• Screen Recording: gpu-screen-recorder
• Region Selection: slurp (for region recording)

Dependency Notes

• Arch-based: Most dependencies are available in the AUR. Use your preferred AUR helper (e.g., yay -S <package_name>). Ignis is available as python-ignis-git.
• Fedora-based: Use dnf install <package_name>. Some packages may have different names (e.g., gnome-bluetooth-libs instead of gnome-bluetooth).
• Ubuntu-based: Use apt install <package_name>. Some packages may have different names (e.g., libgnome-bluetooth-3.0-13 instead of gnome-bluetooth).

🚀 Installation

Automatic Installation (Recommended)

The installer script automatically handles cloning, dependency installation, and configuration for Arch-based, Fedora-based, and Ubuntu-based distributions.

Exo works best on Arch and many dependencies are known to have troubles installing on other distros, use at your own risk.

# Install prerequisites
sudo apt install curl git python3  # For Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install curl git python3  # For Fedora
sudo pacman -S curl git python3    # For Arch

# Download and run installer
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/debuggyo/Exo/main/exoinstall.py -o exoinstall.py && python3 exoinstall.py

The installer will:

• Install all required dependencies for your distribution
• Clone Exo and set up configuration files
• Configure Matugen templates
• Set up GTK theme
• Add a basic Niri/Hyprland config set up to run Exo

🔄 Updating and Uninstalling

Updating

Run the installer script again to update Exo:

# If installed as system command
exoupdate

# Otherwise
python3 exoinstall.py

Uninstalling

Select "Uninstall Exo" from the script's main menu. The uninstaller will:

• Remove ~/.config/ignis and ~/.config/matugen folders
• Remove the exoupdate command from /usr/local/bin/
• Remove Niri/Hyprland config files copied by the installer
• Remove the default wallpaper from ~/Pictures/Wallpapers

Note: The uninstaller will NOT remove installed dependencies or .bak backup files.

🔧 Manual Installation

If the automatic installer doesn't support your distribution, you can install manually.

1. Install Dependencies

Install all dependencies listed above using your distribution's package manager.

2. Clone and Copy Configuration

# Create ignis config directory if needed
mkdir -p ~/.config/ignis

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/debuggyo/Exo
cd Exo

# Copy configuration files
cp -r ignis ~/.config/
cp -r matugen ~/.config/
touch ~/.config/ignis/user_settings.json

3. Configure Matugen

Create the templates directory:

mkdir -p ~/.config/matugen/templates/

Create ~/.config/matugen/templates/colors.scss with:

<* for name, value in colors *>
    ${{name}}: {{value.default.hex}};
<* endfor *>

Create or edit ~/.config/matugen/config.toml and add:

[config.wallpaper]
command = "swww"
arguments = ["img", "--transition-type", "simple"]
set = true

[templates.ignis]
input_path = './templates/colors.scss'
output_path = '~/.config/ignis/colors.scss'

Optional: Install additional Matugen Themes

4. Set GTK Theme

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "adw-gtk3"

5. Set Initial Wallpaper

matugen image /path/to/your/wallpaper

6. Configure Compositor Autostart

For Niri (~/.config/niri/config.kdl):

spawn-at-startup "ignis" "init"
spawn-at-startup "swww-daemon"

For Hyprland (~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf):

exec-once = ignis init
exec-once = swww-daemon

⌨️ Keybindings

Configure these keybindings in your compositor to control Exo's windows and features.

Example Niri Keybindings

binds {
    // App Launcher
    Mod { spawn "ignis" "open-window" "Launcher"; }
    
    // Settings Window
    Mod+Comma { spawn "ignis" "open-window" "Settings"; }
    
    // Power Menu
    Mod+Escape { spawn "ignis" "open-window" "PowerMenu"; }
    
    // Screen Recording
    Mod+Shift+R { spawn "ignis" "run-command" "recorder-record-screen"; }
    Mod+Shift+S { spawn "ignis" "run-command" "recorder-record-region"; }
    Mod+Shift+W { spawn "ignis" "run-command" "recorder-record-portal"; }
    
    // Lock Screen (if Hyprlock is installed)
    Super+L { spawn "hyprlock"; }
}

Example Hyprland Keybindings

# App Launcher
bind = SUPER, SUPER_L, exec, ignis open-window Launcher

# Settings Window
bind = SUPER, Comma, exec, ignis open-window Settings

# Power Menu
bind = SUPER, Escape, exec, ignis open-window PowerMenu

# Screen Recording
bind = SUPER SHIFT, R, exec, ignis run-command recorder-record-screen
bind = SUPER SHIFT, S, exec, ignis run-command recorder-record-region

# Lock Screen (if Hyprlock is installed)
bind = SUPER, L, exec, hyprlock

⚙️ Configuration

Settings Window

Exo is configured entirely through its built-in Settings Window. All customization options are available through this graphical interface - there are no manual configuration files to edit.

Access the settings window using your configured keybinding or through the system menu.

Available Customization Options

Layout & Modules

• Dual Bar Layout: Choose between single or dual bar configurations
• Module Positioning: Modules can be repositioned on the bar
• Toggleable Modules: Enable or disable individual bar components

Appearance

• Theme Mode: Switch between light and dark themes
• Color Schemes: Choose from Material You color schemes
• Wallpaper Selection: Set wallpaper with automatic color generation
• Font Settings: Customize font family and sizes

System

• Network: WiFi and network configuration
• Bluetooth: Bluetooth device management
• Audio: Audio device selection and volume controls
• Display: Brightness settings and display configuration

Automatic Theming

When you change your wallpaper through the settings window, Exo automatically:

• Generates a Material You color scheme using Matugen
• Updates the shell theme to match your wallpaper
• Updates GTK applications with the new theme
• Automatically themes Hyprlock (if installed) - no configuration needed!

The theming is seamless and requires no manual intervention.

🎨 Recommended Compositor Settings

For optimal visual consistency, configure your compositor with these settings:

This ensures window corners match the screen/bar corners. These can be adjusted to your preference - the radius typically looks best when set to 25 - Margin.

Note: If you don't use bar or screen corners, these values can be customized freely. Future updates will make this automatic through the settings window.

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Exo doesn't start / Black screen:

• Ensure Ignis (git/dev version) is properly installed: ignis --version
• Check that your compositor is running
• Verify all essential dependencies are installed
• Try running ignis init manually from terminal to see error messages

Dynamic theming not working:

• Check that Matugen is installed and configured: matugen --version
• Verify Matugen templates are correctly set up in ~/.config/matugen/
• Try setting a wallpaper through the settings window
• Check terminal output for Matugen errors

Screen recording not working:

• Ensure gpu-screen-recorder is installed
• For region recording, ensure slurp is installed
• Check permissions for screen capture
• For Niri portal recording, ensure xdg-desktop-portal-gnome or another portal is running

GTK apps not themed:

• Verify adw-gtk3 theme is installed
• Check GTK theme setting: gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme
• Set theme if needed: gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "adw-gtk3"
• Add @import 'colors.css' to the top of ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css and ~/.config/gtk-4.0/gtk.css

Getting Help

• 💬 Join the Exo Discord for support and community help
• 📝 Check the Issues page for known problems
• 🐛 Report bugs with detailed logs and system information

🙏 Credits

• Ignis - The powerful framework that makes Exo possible
• linkfrg's dotfiles - Inspiration and guidance
• Material 3 Guidelines - Design principles and specifications
• Illogical Impulse - Design inspiration
• Niri - Beautiful scrollable tiling compositor
• Hyprland - Dynamic tiling compositor