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wtf is bspswallow?

9glenda/bspswallow — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-17 · repo last pushed 2022-01-27

★ 1Audience · developerComplexity · 2/5DormantSetup · moderate

TL;DR

A bspwm utility that hides the terminal window when you launch an app from it, then brings it back when you close that app.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Hides terminal
      Restores on close
      Watches new windows
    Tech stack
      bspwm
      Shell scripts
    Use cases
      Reduce desktop clutter
      Clean terminal workflow
      Config via text files
    Audience
      Linux power users
      bspwm tinkerers

Code map

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Automatically hide a terminal window when you launch an app like a music player or file manager from it.

REASON 2

Keep a bspwm desktop clean by removing clutter from terminal windows left open behind apps.

REASON 3

Configure which terminals and applications participate using two simple text files.

REASON 4

Use the included dmenu workaround script for a smoother swallow behavior.

What's in the stack?

bspwmShell

How it stacks up

9glenda/bspswallow0xkinno/neuralvault0xmayurrr/ai-contractauditor
Stars111
Language—TypeScriptTypeScript
Last pushed2022-01-27——
MaintenanceDormant——
Setup difficultymoderatehardeasy
Complexity2/54/52/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Some apps like LibreOffice splash screens or those with unclear parent processes can confuse the swallow behavior.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Help me configure bspswallow's terminal and application exclusion list files.
Prompt 2
Explain how bspswallow detects which terminal launched an application.
Prompt 3
Why isn't bspswallow hiding my terminal for a certain app, and how do I fix it?
Prompt 4
Show me how to integrate the dmenu workaround script from this repo into my bspwm setup.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is bspswallow?

A bspwm utility that hides the terminal window when you launch an app from it, then brings it back when you close that app.

Is bspswallow actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2022-01-27).

How hard is bspswallow to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is bspswallow for?

Mainly developer.

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