PARAMETERS

[NO PARAMETER]

Activate expose mode without connecting to any daemon processes.

Daemon Management

--start-daemon

Start skippy-xd as daemon. The daemon collects live preview snapshots of windows in the background. These are used for unmapped windows: usually windows that are minimized or shaded windows, or windows on other virtual desktops.

--stop-daemon

Terminate the skippy-xd daemon.

Metaphors

--switch

Connect to the daemon and activate switch. Switch is closest to Alt-Tab. Combine with --next or --prev to focus the next/previous window.

--expose

Connect to the daemon and activate expose. In expose, inspired by MacOS, windows fly out and do not overlap, allowing selection by keyboard and/or mouse.

--paging

Connect to the daemon and activate paging. Paging displays overview of all virtual desktops.

Activation Modes

--toggle

Toggle skippy-xd on/off.

--pivot

KEY Activate skippy-xd via pivot mode with the specified pivot key. For example in Alt-Tab, Alt is the pivot key, required to be held for activation. When the pivot key is released, the currently highlighted window is selected.

By default, expose and paging activates on toggle mode, while switch activates on pivot mode with Alt as pivot key.

--multi-select

Multi-select mode. Independent of toggle/pivot modes, multi-select mode allows selecting multiple windows/desktops, and returns all selected window/desktop IDs, enabling sophisticated scripting.

Window Filtering

--wm-class

CLASS Display only windows belonging to the specified WM class. Use ',', '!' for OR, NOT logic. Use '*' for wildcard.

--wm-title

TITLE Display only windows matching the specified title. Use ',', '!' for OR, NOT logic. Use '*' for wildcard.

--wm-status

STATUS Display only windows with the specified status. Use ',', '!' for OR, NOT logic. Valid status values are:

--desktop

DESKTOP Display only windows on the specified virtual desktop. Use ',', '!' for OR, NOT logic. Use -1 to show windows from all desktops.

Navigation

--prev

Focus the previous window.

--next

Focus the next window.

Configuration

--config

PATH Loads config file at specified path.

--config-reload

Reloads current config file without changing path.

Utilities

--help

Display help message.

--debug-log

Prints detailed debugging logs.

Return Value

Skippy-xd returns values based on whether it is the activating process:

If the skippy-xd command activated skippy-xd, it is guaranteed to return after the completion of skippy-xd selection, with the window ID (in case of switch and expose) or virtual desktop ID (in case of paging).

If the skippy-xd command did not activate skippy-xd, e.g. with toggling off of expose, or --next invocations of switch, then the command will return immediately with -1.

Starting the Daemon

skippy-xd --start-daemon

Starts the skippy-xd daemon in the background.

skippy-xd --start-daemon --config ~/.config/skippy-xd/skippy-xd.rc

Starts the skippy-xd daemon in the background using the specified configuration file.

Window Switching

skippy-xd --switch --next

Focus on the next window in switch mode.

skippy-xd --switch --prev

Focus on the previous window in switch mode.

Expose

skippy-xd --expose

Show live preview of all windows on the current desktop.

Paging

skippy-xd --paging

Display overview of all virtual desktops.

Filtered Window Selection

skippy-xd --expose --wm-class firefox

Show only Firefox windows in expose mode.

skippy-xd --expose --desktop 1

Show windows only from desktop 1.

Additional Examples

skippy-xd --expose --pivot Super_L --next

Activate expose via pivot mode with Super_L as the pivot key, highlighting the next window.

skippy-xd --expose --desktop -1 --wm-class firefox --wm-title '!firefox' --wm-status float,maximized_vert --config ~/.config/skippy-xd/other.rc

Show Firefox windows from all desktops that are floating or vertically maximized, with custom config file, excluding those whose window title contains 'firefox'.