Hi HN, I'm the author. I've been a long-time user of AwesomeWM and River on Linux. I recently moved to macOS and couldn't find a WM that satisfied me (specifically regarding dynamic layouts), so I built one in Rust over the weekend.
Blog post: https://typester.dev/blog/2026/01/18/yashiki-window-manager
Happy to answer any questions!
I know you did this in a weekend, but it would be super nice to get some screenshots, or a video into what makes this different.
I also don't know what the "river/awesome philosophy" is, so therefore I don't know what this WM does that makes it different than something like Rectangle for example.
And truth be told, I'm not going to look it up. I am only adding this comment because I'm sure there will be a ton of other people that fall into the same category as me.
Good luck though, super cool to see that you built this in a weekend!
Thanks for the feedback. You are absolutely right—visuals are critical.
I am currently focusing heavily on core functionality and API stability. Once things settle down a bit, adding screenshots and a demo video is next on my to-do list.
To answer your question simply: 1. Rectangle is a "manual" tool—you press keys to move windows. Yashiki is "automatic"—it resizes and arranges windows for you instantly as you open them. 2. The "River philosophy" means it uses Tags instead of fixed Workspaces. Think of it like assigning labels to windows rather than putting them in separate rooms.
I'll make sure to clarify this in the README with visuals soon.
AI reply. Hmm