fieldju/amethyst — explained in plain English
Analysis updated 2026-07-17 · repo last pushed 2021-07-29
Automatically snap windows into Tall, Wide, or Column layouts.
Manage windows across multiple monitors without touching a mouse.
Switch layouts and move focus between windows using keyboard shortcuts.
| fieldju/amethyst | 0verflowme/alarm-clock | 0xhassaan/nn-from-scratch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | — | — | 0 |
| Language | — | CSS | Python |
| Last pushed | 2021-07-29 | 2022-10-03 | — |
| Maintenance | Dormant | Dormant | — |
| Setup difficulty | easy | easy | moderate |
| Complexity | 2/5 | 2/5 | 4/5 |
| Audience | developer | vibe coder | developer |
Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.
Requires granting accessibility permissions in macOS settings.
Amethyst is a window manager for macOS that automatically organizes your open windows into neat, non-overlapping layouts. Instead of manually dragging and resizing windows around your screen, you control window positions entirely through keyboard shortcuts. It's inspired by xmonad, a similar tool popular on Linux. The core idea is that your screen is divided into sections, and windows snap into those sections automatically. For example, the default "Tall" layout puts one main window on the left side of your screen at full height, and stacks all other windows on the right side. If you want a different arrangement, you can press a keyboard shortcut to switch to a different layout, like "Wide" (which flips the main area to the top), "Fullscreen" (one window takes over), or "Column" (each window gets its own vertical slice). You can also adjust how much space the main window takes up, move your focus between windows, or shuffle windows between different spaces and monitors, all without touching your mouse. Power users, developers, and anyone who spends hours at their computer benefit most from this. If you regularly switch between many applications, keep multiple documents open side-by-side, or work across multiple monitors, Amethyst saves you constant window-shuffling. It works well for coding (browser on one side, editor on the other), writing, design, or research work where you're juggling many windows at once. To use Amethyst, you install it via Homebrew or download it directly, then grant it permission to control your windows through macOS's accessibility settings. All window management happens through keyboard combinations like Option+Shift or Control+Option+Shift plus a letter key, there's no menu to click. The README includes a full list of shortcuts and describes all ten available layouts, so you can pick whichever ones suit your workflow best.
A macOS window manager that automatically arranges your open windows into tidy layouts, controlled entirely through keyboard shortcuts.
Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2021-07-29).
Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.
Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.
Mainly developer.
This repo across BitVibe Labs
double-check against the repo, no cap.