maomaowm/docs/configuration/basics.md

title	description
Basic Configuration	Learn how to configure mangowm files, environment variables, and autostart scripts.

Configuration File

mangowm uses a simple configuration file format. By default, it looks for a configuration file in ~/.config/mango/.

1. Locate Default Config

   A fallback configuration is provided at /etc/mango/config.conf. You can use this as a reference.

2. Create User Config

   Copy the default config to your local config directory to start customizing.

   mkdir -p ~/.config/mango
   cp /etc/mango/config.conf ~/.config/mango/config.conf
   

3. Launch with Custom Config (Optional)

   If you prefer to keep your config elsewhere, you can launch mango with the -c flag.

   mango -c /path/to/your_config.conf
   

Sub-Configuration

To keep your configuration organized, you can split it into multiple files and include them using the source keyword.

# Import keybindings from a separate file
source=~/.config/mango/bind.conf

# Relative paths work too
source=./theme.conf

# Optional: ignore if file doesn't exist (useful for shared configs)
source-optional=~/.config/mango/optional.conf

Validate Configuration

You can check your configuration for errors without starting mangowm:

mango -p /path/to/config.conf

Use with source-optional for shared configs across different setups.

Environment Variables

You can define environment variables directly within your config file. These are set before the window manager fully initializes.

Warning: Environment variables defined here will be reset every time you reload the configuration.

env=GTK_THEME,Adwaita:dark
env=XCURSOR_SIZE,24

Autostart

mangowm can automatically run commands or scripts upon startup. There are two modes for execution:

Command	Behavior	Usage Case
exec-once	Runs only once when mangowm starts.	Status bars, Wallpapers, Notification daemons
exec	Runs every time the config is reloaded.	Scripts that need to refresh settings

Example Setup

# Start the status bar once
exec-once=waybar

# Set wallpaper
exec-once=swaybg -i ~/.config/mango/wallpaper/room.png

# Reload a custom script on config change
exec=bash ~/.config/mango/reload-settings.sh