hydra

Remote window manager that replaces Synergy/Barrier with a single Go binary. Supports X11 on Linux (Arch, Debian, Ubuntu). Uses XInput2 raw events and XTest for simulation.

Features

• hydra listen <host> listens for mouse/keyboard events (controller/server)
• hydra connect left-of <host> connects to controller (position: left)
• hydra connect right-of <host> connects to controller (position: right)
• hydra connect above <host> connects to controller (position: above)
• hydra connect below <host> connects to controller (position: below)
• Virtual screen grid with tiling support
• Keyboard-driven tiling (Super+Arrow keys)
• i3-style workspaces (14 workspaces, Super+top-row keys)
• X11 window management (move, resize, raise, focus, map/unmap)
• HTTP API for programming and debugging (/config, /connect, /disconnect, /machines)
• SSH tunnel security (planned)
• Remote audio integration with pulseaudio (planned)
• Remote clipboard augmentation (e.g. file:// links become ssh://remote-host links)
• Programmable Window Manager, so that AI assistants can interact with multi-head remote machines

Opinions

• The controller machine has mouse, keyboard, and audio devices connected
• All machines use xrandr to configure monitors
• Machines are configured via /etc/hosts and have mutual SSH key access

Building

This project uses CGo to link against X11, Xi, and Xtst.

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S go libx11 libxi;
bash build.sh;

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt install golang-go libx11-dev libxi-dev libxtst-dev;
bash build.sh;

Run Tests

go test ./handlers/... ./helpers/... ./parsers/... ./receivers/... ./types/...

Usage

The assumed setup relies on local networking to be configured, so that hostnames are locally reachable and configured in the /etc/hosts file.

Example (/etc/hosts):

192.168.0.12 controller
192.168.0.10 laptop
192.168.0.11 comachine

Starting the controller (machine with mouse and keyboard):

# On controller (has physical keyboard and mouse)
hydra listen controller;

Connecting clients:

# On laptop (appears left of controller on virtual screen)
hydra connect left-of controller;

# On comachine (appears right of controller on virtual screen)
hydra connect right-of controller;

Virtual screen layout becomes:

[laptop] [controller] [comachine]
 1280px    1920px       1280px

Window Manager Key Bindings

Key bindings are processed on the controller and work regardless of which machine is active.

Focus Navigation

Binding	Action
[Super]+[Left]	Focus window to the left
[Super]+[Right]	Focus window to the right
[Super]+[Up]	Focus window above
[Super]+[Down]	Focus window below

Window Tiling

Binding	Action
[Super]+[Shift]+[Left]	Tile focused window to left half
[Super]+[Shift]+[Right]	Tile focused window to right half
[Super]+[Shift]+[Up]	Tile focused window to top half
[Super]+[Shift]+[Down]	Tile focused window to bottom half

Controller

Binding	Action
[Super]+[Escape]	Reset to controller (deactivate remote machine)

Workspace Switching (14 workspaces)

Workspaces are named FG, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, BG.

Binding	Action
[Super]+[~]	Switch to FG (0)
[Super]+[0]..[9]	Switch to 1..10
[Super]+[-]	Switch to 11
[Super]+[+]	Switch to 12
[Super]+[Backspace]	Switch to BG (13)

Workspace Moving

Binding	Action
[Super]+[Shift]+[~]	Move focused window to FG (0)
[Super]+[Shift]+[0]..[9]	Move focused window to 1..10
[Super]+[Shift]+[-]	Move focused window to 11
[Super]+[Shift]+[+]	Move focused window to 12
[Super]+[Shift]+[Backspace]	Move focused window to BG (13)

Documentation

• Use the BOOTSTRAP.md to teach your LLM how to extend and use hydra as a window manager.
• Read the TESTING.md for details on the in-container integration test workflow.

License

AGPL-3.0