kwin_wayland

KDE Plasma Wayland compositor and window manager

TLDR

Start a nested KWin Wayland session with Xwayland

$ kwin_wayland --xwayland

Start nested with a custom Wayland socket name

$ kwin_wayland --xwayland --socket [wayland-1]

Run on a TTY using the DRM backend (default)

$ kwin_wayland --drm --xwayland

Start and exit when a session command finishes

$ kwin_wayland --xwayland --exit-with-session=[kwrite]

Start full Plasma on Wayland (preferred over calling kwin_wayland alone)

$ startplasma-wayland

SYNOPSIS

kwin_wayland [options] [applications...]

kwin_wayland is the Wayland compositor and window manager used by KDE Plasma. It implements the Wayland display server in-process: clients connect over a Unix socket, and KWin composites windows, decorations, virtual desktops, and desktop effects.It is the Wayland counterpart to kwin_x11. In a normal Plasma Wayland login, the display manager and session scripts start kwin_wayland (often via startplasma-wayland); users rarely need to invoke it by hand.For development and testing you can run a nested instance under X11 or another Wayland session with --xwayland, then launch clients with `WAYLAND_DISPLAY` and/or `DISPLAY` pointing at the nested sockets. On a free TTY, --drm (the default when no parent display is set) takes over the graphics hardware.

PARAMETERS

--xwayland

Start an Xwayland server so X11 apps can run under this compositor.

--socket name

Wayland socket name (default often `wayland-0`). Use a different name when nesting under another Wayland session.

--drm

Use the DRM/KMS backend (full-screen takeover, typically on a TTY). Provides OpenGL acceleration.

--framebuffer

Use a framebuffer backend (no OpenGL acceleration).

--x11-display display

Explicitly target an X11 display for nested mode.

--wayland-display display

Explicitly target a parent Wayland display for nested mode.

--exit-with-session=command

Run command as the session client and quit when it exits.

--lock

Start with the screen locked.

--replace

Replace a running window manager where applicable.

applications...

Optional applications to launch as clients of this compositor instance.

INSTALL

sudo apt install kwin-wayland

sudo dnf install kwin

sudo pacman -S kwin

sudo apk add kwin

CAVEATS

Starting kwin_wayland alone is not the supported way to log into Plasma; use a display manager session or startplasma-wayland. Nested and TTY modes are mainly for testing. Xwayland supports many X11 apps but clipboard managers, screen capture, and some global shortcuts can behave differently than on pure X11. Hardware and driver quirks (especially NVIDIA) may need extra environment configuration.

HISTORY

KWin began as the KDE X11 window manager in the late 1990s. Wayland support was developed through Plasma 5; from Plasma 5.4 onward KWin could manage Wayland clients, and Plasma Wayland sessions use kwin_wayland as the compositor. Plasma 6 continues to ship it as the primary Wayland stack for KDE.

RESOURCES

Source code · Homepage · Documentation