{"slug": "river", "name": "River", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "Dynamic tiling Wayland compositor that separates compositing from window management.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 4.783, "rising": -0.31, "first": "2026-03-15", "latest": "2026-10-04", "why": "Liked for splitting the Wayland compositor from the window manager, which lets users pick or write their own WM, and for its simple design.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": ["Compositor/WM split", "Simplicity"], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I'm currently using a fully vibe-coded, personal River window manager that works just how I want it to.", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": "codeberg.org/river/river", "official_url": "https://codeberg.org/river/river", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["River", "river"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked for splitting the Wayland compositor from the window manager", "cites": [{"id": 799208096, "item_id": 49950506, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950506", "by": "Duanemclemore", "date": "2026-10-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "is the future and would be the perfect platform on which people could build the environments that explore it", "excerpt": "Whatever direction this line of inquiry goes, the compositor / window manager split that Isaac Freund and company built into River [0] is the future and would be the perfect platform on which people could build the environments that explore it. Freund's blog post \"Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager\" [1] and the talk of the same name (linked in the post) are awesome. The list of compatible WM's [2] g", "context": "", "use_case": "Wayland compositor / window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Make Tmux the OS"}, {"id": 758239552, "item_id": 47389972, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47389972", "by": "oofbaroomf", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm currently using a fully vibe-coded, personal River window manager that works just how I want it to.", "excerpt": "I'm currently using a fully vibe-coded, personal River window manager that works just how I want it to. I switched to it after I realized I couldn't do everything I wanted in Hyprland (e.g. tile windows to equal areas instead of BSP by default). Simple example of how impactful this separation has been for me.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "Hyprland", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}, {"id": 758264368, "item_id": 47391523, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391523", "by": "kyorochan", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "River was really great even before this split", "excerpt": "River was really great even before this split, so I'm very excited to see what happens in the space in the future. I switched to Niri while waiting for it to happen, and I'll probably switch back at some point. If you were an Xmonad user I feel pretty confident in saying River is the Wayland WM for you.", "context": "", "use_case": "Wayland window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}]}, {"text": ", which lets users pick or write their own WM, and for its simple design.", "cites": [{"id": 758239552, "item_id": 47389972, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47389972", "by": "oofbaroomf", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm currently using a fully vibe-coded, personal River window manager that works just how I want it to.", "excerpt": "I'm currently using a fully vibe-coded, personal River window manager that works just how I want it to. I switched to it after I realized I couldn't do everything I wanted in Hyprland (e.g. tile windows to equal areas instead of BSP by default). Simple example of how impactful this separation has been for me.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "Hyprland", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}, {"id": 799208096, "item_id": 49950506, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950506", "by": "Duanemclemore", "date": "2026-10-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "is the future and would be the perfect platform on which people could build the environments that explore it", "excerpt": "Whatever direction this line of inquiry goes, the compositor / window manager split that Isaac Freund and company built into River [0] is the future and would be the perfect platform on which people could build the environments that explore it. Freund's blog post \"Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager\" [1] and the talk of the same name (linked in the post) are awesome. The list of compatible WM's [2] g", "context": "", "use_case": "Wayland compositor / window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Make Tmux the OS"}, {"id": 758268480, "item_id": 47391780, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391780", "by": "imiric", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm very excited about river.", "excerpt": "I'm very excited about river. I switched to niri a few months ago, and while I like it for the most part, it feels too... busy for my taste. It defaults to a bunch of animations and decorations, all of which I've turned off. I'm happy with my current setup (aside from Wayland quirks[1]), but river's design and simplicity are very appealing. It reminds me of the philosophy of bspwm/sxhkd which I used for years on X11.", "context": "Linux user, formerly bspwm user", "use_case": "Wayland window manager", "switched_from": "niri", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}]}, {"text": " No complaints come up; it suits former Xmonad and bspwm users", "cites": [{"id": 758264368, "item_id": 47391523, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391523", "by": "kyorochan", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "River was really great even before this split", "excerpt": "River was really great even before this split, so I'm very excited to see what happens in the space in the future. I switched to Niri while waiting for it to happen, and I'll probably switch back at some point. If you were an Xmonad user I feel pretty confident in saying River is the Wayland WM for you.", "context": "", "use_case": "Wayland window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}, {"id": 758268480, "item_id": 47391780, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391780", "by": "imiric", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm very excited about river.", "excerpt": "I'm very excited about river. I switched to niri a few months ago, and while I like it for the most part, it feels too... busy for my taste. It defaults to a bunch of animations and decorations, all of which I've turned off. I'm happy with my current setup (aside from Wayland quirks[1]), but river's design and simplicity are very appealing. It reminds me of the philosophy of bspwm/sxhkd which I used for years on X11.", "context": "Linux user, formerly bspwm user", "use_case": "Wayland window manager", "switched_from": "niri", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}]}, {"text": " who want a minimal tiling setup.", "cites": [{"id": 758268480, "item_id": 47391780, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391780", "by": "imiric", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm very excited about river.", "excerpt": "I'm very excited about river. I switched to niri a few months ago, and while I like it for the most part, it feels too... busy for my taste. It defaults to a bunch of animations and decorations, all of which I've turned off. I'm happy with my current setup (aside from Wayland quirks[1]), but river's design and simplicity are very appealing. It reminds me of the philosophy of bspwm/sxhkd which I used for years on X11.", "context": "Linux user, formerly bspwm user", "use_case": "Wayland window manager", "switched_from": "niri", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Compositor/WM split", "summary": "Commenters see River's separation of compositor and window manager as the right design.", "quotes": [{"id": 799208096, "item_id": 49950506, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950506", "by": "Duanemclemore", "date": "2026-10-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "is the future and would be the perfect platform on which people could build the environments that explore it", "excerpt": "Whatever direction this line of inquiry goes, the compositor / window manager split that Isaac Freund and company built into River [0] is the future and would be the perfect platform on which people could build the environments that explore it. Freund's blog post \"Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager\" [1] and the talk of the same name (linked in the post) are awesome. The list of compatible WM's [2] g", "context": "", "use_case": "Wayland compositor / window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Make Tmux the OS"}, {"id": 758239552, "item_id": 47389972, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47389972", "by": "oofbaroomf", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm currently using a fully vibe-coded, personal River window manager that works just how I want it to.", "excerpt": "I'm currently using a fully vibe-coded, personal River window manager that works just how I want it to. I switched to it after I realized I couldn't do everything I wanted in Hyprland (e.g. tile windows to equal areas instead of BSP by default). Simple example of how impactful this separation has been for me.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "Hyprland", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}, {"id": 758264368, "item_id": 47391523, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391523", "by": "kyorochan", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "River was really great even before this split", "excerpt": "River was really great even before this split, so I'm very excited to see what happens in the space in the future. I switched to Niri while waiting for it to happen, and I'll probably switch back at some point. If you were an Xmonad user I feel pretty confident in saying River is the Wayland WM for you.", "context": "", "use_case": "Wayland window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}]}, {"label": "Simplicity", "summary": "Its simple, minimal design recalls the bspwm/sxhkd philosophy.", "quotes": [{"id": 758268480, "item_id": 47391780, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391780", "by": "imiric", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm very excited about river.", "excerpt": "I'm very excited about river. I switched to niri a few months ago, and while I like it for the most part, it feels too... busy for my taste. It defaults to a bunch of animations and decorations, all of which I've turned off. I'm happy with my current setup (aside from Wayland quirks[1]), but river's design and simplicity are very appealing. It reminds me of the philosophy of bspwm/sxhkd which I used for years on X11.", "context": "Linux user, formerly bspwm user", "use_case": "Wayland window manager", "switched_from": "niri", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}]}, {"label": "Custom WMs", "summary": "Users can write a personal window manager that works exactly how they want.", "quotes": [{"id": 758239552, "item_id": 47389972, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47389972", "by": "oofbaroomf", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm currently using a fully vibe-coded, personal River window manager that works just how I want it to.", "excerpt": "I'm currently using a fully vibe-coded, personal River window manager that works just how I want it to. I switched to it after I realized I couldn't do everything I wanted in Hyprland (e.g. tile windows to equal areas instead of BSP by default). Simple example of how impactful this separation has been for me.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "Hyprland", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}]}, {"label": "WM choice", "summary": "A growing list of compatible WMs includes scrollable tiling options.", "quotes": [{"id": 799208096, "item_id": 49950506, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950506", "by": "Duanemclemore", "date": "2026-10-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "is the future and would be the perfect platform on which people could build the environments that explore it", "excerpt": "Whatever direction this line of inquiry goes, the compositor / window manager split that Isaac Freund and company built into River [0] is the future and would be the perfect platform on which people could build the environments that explore it. Freund's blog post \"Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager\" [1] and the talk of the same name (linked in the post) are awesome. The list of compatible WM's [2] g", "context": "", "use_case": "Wayland compositor / window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Make Tmux the OS"}, {"id": 758268480, "item_id": 47391780, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391780", "by": "imiric", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm very excited about river.", "excerpt": "I'm very excited about river. I switched to niri a few months ago, and while I like it for the most part, it feels too... busy for my taste. It defaults to a bunch of animations and decorations, all of which I've turned off. I'm happy with my current setup (aside from Wayland quirks[1]), but river's design and simplicity are very appealing. It reminds me of the philosophy of bspwm/sxhkd which I used for years on X11.", "context": "Linux user, formerly bspwm user", "use_case": "Wayland window manager", "switched_from": "niri", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "aliasxneo", "context": "Go user needing an OSS durable execution engine", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48703534", "date": "2026-06-27"}, {"by": "imiric", "context": "Linux user, formerly bspwm user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391780", "date": "2026-03-15"}], "tags": ["for Xmonad users", "for bspwm fans", "for tiling WM users", "for building your own WM", "for Linux users"], "use_cases": ["wayland window manager", "wayland compositor / window management", "job queue on postgres", "durable execution engine", "window manager"], "compared": [{"slug": "niri", "name": "niri", "co": 2, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "hyprland", "name": "Hyprland", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47388137", "title": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49937540", "title": "Make Tmux the OS", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49111687", "title": "Pgtestdb's template cloning approach to testing is fast", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48662988", "title": "Show HN: DBOSify \u2013 Drop-in Temporal replacement built on Postgres", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 799208096, "item_id": 49950506, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950506", "by": "Duanemclemore", "date": "2026-10-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "is the future and would be the perfect platform on which people could build the environments that explore it", "excerpt": "Whatever direction this line of inquiry goes, the compositor / window manager split that Isaac Freund and company built into River [0] is the future and would be the perfect platform on which people could build the environments that explore it. Freund's blog post \"Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager\" [1] and the talk of the same name (linked in the post) are awesome. The list of compatible WM's [2] g", "context": "", "use_case": "Wayland compositor / window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Make Tmux the OS"}, {"id": 785792929, "item_id": 49112058, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49112058", "by": "lukasschwab", "date": "2026-07-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "That's exactly what I did to learn River", "excerpt": "> I\u2019m going to add a recommendation in our docs for pgtestdb, particularly for users aiming to test end-to-end (i.e. job inserted by client \u2192 fully completed by worker). That's exactly what I did to learn River \u2014 implementing simple apps and testing their execution with pgtestdb: https://github.com/lukasschwab/river-playground The starter skeleton was LLM-generated and not quite perfect, but discovering the coding ag", "context": "", "use_case": "job queue on Postgres", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pgtestdb's template cloning approach to testing is fast"}, {"id": 779256544, "item_id": 48703534, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48703534", "by": "aliasxneo", "date": "2026-06-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "chose River (I use Go) over DBOS", "excerpt": "I recently needed an OSS durable execution engine and chose River (I use Go) over DBOS because I wasn\u2019t convinced I wouldn\u2019t get rug pulled by a VC backed company. Both are technically commercial, but River seemed to be doing a lot more OSS friendly moves lately than DBOS, and AFAIK they are self bootstrapped.", "context": "Go user needing an OSS durable execution engine", "use_case": "durable execution engine", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: DBOSify \u2013 Drop-in Temporal replacement built on Postgres"}, {"id": 758268480, "item_id": 47391780, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391780", "by": "imiric", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm very excited about river.", "excerpt": "I'm very excited about river. I switched to niri a few months ago, and while I like it for the most part, it feels too... busy for my taste. It defaults to a bunch of animations and decorations, all of which I've turned off. I'm happy with my current setup (aside from Wayland quirks[1]), but river's design and simplicity are very appealing. It reminds me of the philosophy of bspwm/sxhkd which I used for years on X11.", "context": "Linux user, formerly bspwm user", "use_case": "Wayland window manager", "switched_from": "niri", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}, {"id": 758264368, "item_id": 47391523, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47391523", "by": "kyorochan", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "River was really great even before this split", "excerpt": "River was really great even before this split, so I'm very excited to see what happens in the space in the future. I switched to Niri while waiting for it to happen, and I'll probably switch back at some point. If you were an Xmonad user I feel pretty confident in saying River is the Wayland WM for you.", "context": "", "use_case": "Wayland window manager", "switched_from": "", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}, {"id": 758239552, "item_id": 47389972, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47389972", "by": "oofbaroomf", "date": "2026-03-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm currently using a fully vibe-coded, personal River window manager that works just how I want it to.", "excerpt": "I'm currently using a fully vibe-coded, personal River window manager that works just how I want it to. I switched to it after I realized I couldn't do everything I wanted in Hyprland (e.g. tile windows to equal areas instead of BSP by default). Simple example of how impactful this separation has been for me.", "context": "", "use_case": "window manager", "switched_from": "Hyprland", "story": "Separating the Wayland Compositor and Window Manager"}]}