wmenu
A dynamic menu for Wayland modeled on dmenu, for picking items from a list piped in.
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About wmenu
wmenu is a small menu program for Wayland compositors that works like dmenu. It reads a list of items on standard input, shows them in a bar or in line mode, filters them as you type and prints the selection. Scripts and window manager keybindings use it to launch programs or choose from any list.
It is written in C and built with Meson. Recent changes include a password mode that masks input, support for the xdg_activation_v1 protocol and dmenu-like limits on visible lines. Version 0.2.0 was released in April 2025, with commits continuing since then.
Strengths
- Familiar dmenu behavior on Wayland
- Small C program with few moving parts
- Password mode for masked input
- Scriptable through standard input and output
Limitations
- Wayland only
- No built-in app discovery; needs a script or wrapper to launch apps
- Built from source with Meson unless packaged by your distribution
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree; source code is published on Codeberg.
- License
- Open source, license not stated
- Developer
- adnano
- Platforms
- Linux, Command line
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- Wayland users who want a dmenu-style menu for scripts and keybindings
- Categories
- App launchers, CLI tools
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to wmenu
Compare allSoftware that can replace wmenu for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
bemenu
A dmenu-style dynamic menu and launcher that runs on Wayland, X11 and in a terminal.
bemenu is a dmenu-style menu that works on Wayland, X11 and in a terminal, and can be used as a library.
fuzzel
An application launcher and fuzzy finder for Wayland compositors, inspired by rofi and dmenu.
fuzzel works as a dmenu-style picker on Wayland and also discovers and launches apps on its own.
tofi
A tiny, fast dmenu and rofi replacement for wlroots-based Wayland compositors.
tofi is a very fast dmenu-style menu and launcher with bundled themes, limited to wlroots-based compositors.
wofi
A GTK-based launcher and menu program for wlroots Wayland compositors such as Sway.
wofi is a GTK-styled launcher and dmenu replacement for wlroots compositors, though it is not actively maintained.
dmenu
A minimal dynamic menu for X that picks from large lists of items using the keyboard.
dmenu is the original minimal dynamic menu, but it runs on X only and is customized by editing source and recompiling.
rofi
A keyboard-driven window switcher, application launcher and dmenu replacement for Linux desktops.
rofi is an MIT-licensed dmenu replacement that also includes an app launcher and window switcher, with theming support.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
j4-dmenu-desktop
A fast desktop-entry launcher that feeds installed applications into dmenu or a compatible menu.
Greenclip
A small clipboard history manager for Linux that is designed to be used through rofi.
Kickoff
A minimalistic fuzzy program launcher for wlroots-based Wayland compositors, written in Rust.
Hyprlauncher
A fast, multipurpose application launcher and picker built for the Hyprland Wayland compositor.
sirula
A simple Rust app launcher for Wayland that starts applications from their .desktop files.
