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wtf is yabai?

fieldju/yabai — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-17 · repo last pushed 2021-09-07

Audience · developerComplexity · 4/5DormantSetup · hard

TL;DR

Yabai is a keyboard-driven tiling window manager for Mac that automatically arranges open windows into a neat, non-overlapping grid using binary space partitioning.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Tiles windows
      Binary space partitioning
      Keyboard driven
    Tech stack
      macOS
      Command line
    Use cases
      Organize dev workflow
      Manage many workspaces
      Focus with mouse hover
    Audience
      Power users
      Developers
    Notable
      Requires disabling SIP
      Linux tiling WM style

Code map

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filefunction / class

Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Automatically tile editor, browser, and chat windows side-by-side without manual resizing.

REASON 2

Navigate and focus windows entirely through customizable keyboard shortcuts.

REASON 3

Create more than macOS's default 16 workspaces for a highly organized layout.

REASON 4

Replicate a Linux-style tiling window manager workflow on a Mac.

What's in the stack?

macOSCommand line

How it stacks up

fieldju/yabai0verflowme/alarm-clock0xhassaan/nn-from-scratch
Stars——0
Language—CSSPython
Last pushed2021-09-072022-10-03—
MaintenanceDormantDormant—
Setup difficultyhardeasymoderate
Complexity4/52/54/5
Audiencedevelopervibe coderdeveloper

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

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1h+

Requires partially disabling macOS System Integrity Protection to access window-control APIs.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to configure yabai keyboard shortcuts for a tiling window layout on Mac.
Prompt 2
Explain the steps to partially disable System Integrity Protection so yabai can control windows.
Prompt 3
Write a yabai config that sets up multiple custom workspaces for coding.
Prompt 4
Help me set up mouse-hover window focus using yabai.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is yabai?

Yabai is a keyboard-driven tiling window manager for Mac that automatically arranges open windows into a neat, non-overlapping grid using binary space partitioning.

Is yabai actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2021-09-07).

How hard is yabai to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is yabai for?

Mainly developer.

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