Phosphor

Build window-management tools for KDE Plasma and Wayland.

Zones, layers, layout algorithms, shader effects, and global shortcuts, packaged as 49 focused LGPL libraries that compose into apps like PlasmaZones. Built for developers shipping tilers, panels, and overlays.

Try PlasmaZones → Browse libraries Install guide
Flagship app

PlasmaZones

Zone-based window tiling for KDE Plasma. The first consumer built on this library suite.

Explore PlasmaZones →
Hero screenshot src/assets/plasmazones/editor.png

Companion apps

In development

PhosphorShell

Quickshell-style declarative QML framework for layer-shell desktop shells. Panels, popups, persistent state, and platform integrations written entirely in QML.

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In development

PhosphorShader

Node-based editor for authoring GLSL shader effects. Live preview, uniform controls, and one-click export to shader packs the Phosphor rendering stack can load.

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Libraries

Library index →

49 libraries, each with a single responsibility. Click any card for a one-page overview and a link into the full API.

Foundations

phosphor-identity
Stable cross-process identity formats.
phosphor-geometry
Pure-function geometry helpers shared by both engines.
phosphor-dbus
Generic, service-agnostic D-Bus client utilities.
phosphor-protocol
Shared D-Bus service names, wire types, and client helpers.
phosphor-config
Pluggable configuration backends with schema + migration.
phosphor-fsloader
Watched-directory + metadata-pack loader skeleton.
phosphor-shortcuts
Pluggable global-shortcut backends.
phosphor-workspaces
Virtual desktop and activity tracking.
phosphor-registry
Factory-by-name registry and plugin loader for shell extension seams.
phosphor-ipc
Typed JSON-over-Unix-socket invocation channel for the shell.
phosphor-scripting
Generic sandboxed Luau host with CPU and heap guards.
phosphor-context-resolver
Frozen-snapshot gate over the mode, desktop, and activity cascade.

Layout

phosphor-layout-api
Layout description interfaces + provider registry.
phosphor-zones
Manual zone data model, registry, and ILayoutSource.
phosphor-tiles
Tiling algorithms (Luau via pluau), the registry, and TilingState.

Engines

phosphor-engine
Unified placement-engine surface + shared service contracts.
phosphor-snap-engine
Manual zone-based placement engine.
phosphor-tile-engine
Automatic-tiling placement engine.
phosphor-placement
Window-zone tracking, floating state, auto-snap, and resnap.
phosphor-window-rules
Unified window/context rule engine with one match language and cache.

Rendering

phosphor-shaders
Shader-effect registry, base UBO layout, uniform extension contract.
phosphor-rendering
ShaderEffect / ShaderNodeRhi / runtime GLSL → SPIR-V.
phosphor-animation
Motion runtime + shader-transition runtime with JSON profiles.
phosphor-audio
Audio spectrum input for audio-reactive shaders.
phosphor-theme
Active design-token store with hot reload and matugen retint.

Surfaces

phosphor-wayland
Custom QPA plugin + LayerSurface wrapper.
phosphor-layer
Layer-shell surface primitives: Surface, factory, registry, coordinator.
phosphor-surfaces
Surface manager with QML loading and Vulkan wiring.
phosphor-screens
Physical and virtual screen topology resolver.
phosphor-compositor
Compositor-plugin SDK — the plugin side of the daemon / plugin split.
phosphor-popout
Central arbiter for transient popout lifetime, focus, and exclusivity.

Shell

phosphor-overlay
Per-screen layer-shell shell hosts with named slot vocabulary.
phosphor-shell-patterns
Named UI-pattern recipes on top of phosphor-layer Role.
phosphor-shell
Quickshell-style declarative QML framework for layer-shell desktop shells.
phosphor-control
Reusable Qt6/QML/Kirigami settings-app framework.

Services

phosphor-service-bluetooth
BlueZ adapter and device state with device pairing.
phosphor-service-brightness
Display and keyboard backlight brightness control.
phosphor-service-clipboard
De-duplicated, persistent clipboard history.
phosphor-service-icontheme
XDG icon-theme lookup and a QML image provider.
phosphor-service-idle
Multi-stage Wayland idle monitoring and inhibition.
phosphor-service-lock
PAM authentication and Wayland session-lock lifecycle.
phosphor-service-mpris
MPRIS2 media-player discovery, status, and transport control.
phosphor-service-network
NetworkManager device and connectivity state.
phosphor-service-notifications
Freedesktop notification server and live history.
phosphor-service-pipewire
Native PipeWire mixer for sinks, sources, and streams.
phosphor-service-polkit
PolicyKit authentication agent for the session.
phosphor-service-session
logind session manager, power actions, and sleep inhibitors.
phosphor-service-sni
StatusNotifierItem system-tray host with dbusmenu menus.
phosphor-service-upower
Battery and power-device status via UPower.

Learn

Guides

Authoring contracts for custom GLSL shaders and Luau tiling algorithms.

API Reference

Doxygen-generated docs for every header under libs/phosphor-*/include/.

Design

Brand assets

Logos, icon variants, and color tokens, licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0 so you can reuse them in docs and release notes.

Brand palette

Material You roles, ANSI 16 terminal mapping, and a matugen template. Click any swatch to copy.