Install Aqueous on CachyOS

What should I do after installing Aqueous?

1. It installs these commands: aqueous, aqueous-config, aqueous-init, aqueous-wm and aqueousctl.
2. The package ships the systemd unit noctalia.service. Read the project docs before you enable it.
3. Run pacman -Qi aqueous to see the installed version and the optional dependencies.

How do I update or remove Aqueous?

Update:

Remove:

What is Aqueous?

A dynamic tiling Wayland compositor and window manager with compositor-side motion and Vulkan effects, in one Zig process.

Package description: Aqueous single-process Wayland compositor

Reviews of Aqueous on CachyOS

From GitHub

Seafoam-Labs/Aqueous · ★ 55 stars · last commit Oct 31, 2026 · latest release Oct 31, 2026

Real issues opened by users on the project's GitHub, shown as written with a link to each one. 10 most reacted issues opened in the last two years plus the 5 newest issues, bots, pull requests, non English and political posts skipped, capped at 15 per repo. Fetched Nov 1, 2026.

1. [FR] Mouse dragging windows between outputsClosed

   Please add the ability to use the mouse to drag a window in between outputs for layouts other than floating. Maybe something like super+left click drag would work.

   @phoropter · Sep 18, 2026 · 2 reactions · 3 comments · View on GitHub

2. [Feature Request] Add mouse follows focusClosed

   Please add a toggle to enable mouse following focus so the cursor can warp to the center of whichever window becomes the new focus.

   @phoropter · Sep 4, 2026 · 1 reactions · 1 comments · View on GitHub

3. [Feature Request] Window rule to maximizeClosed

   Please add a rule to set a window as full width, at least in scrolling, but might be handy in other layouts. The equivalent of togglescrollingfullwidth.

   @phoropter · Sep 5, 2026 · 1 reactions · 1 comments · View on GitHub

4. [Feature Request] Pen Display and Drawing Tablet active area mapping support.Closed

   Would like to request support for Pen Displays and Drawing Tablet mapping. Right now the pen registers, but is active on the incorrect screen. It also doesn't take into account the rotation of the pen display. Would need a way in the config file to set which display the pen…

   @SYB-80X · Aug 25, 2026 · 1 reactions · 1 comments · View on GitHub

5. Validate config valuesClosed

   For example: This is correct. This is wrong. But there is no feedback that a wrong value was used.

   @azdanov · Sep 9, 2026 · 1 reactions · 1 comments · View on GitHub

6. Windows don't repaint on changing workspaces until the animation is finishedOpen

   When I swap between workspaces, a windows coming in will show stale content until the animation is finished. Very minor thing, but it's especially noticeable when I switch to an RDP session and the screensaver has started since the last time I looked at it.

   @teschnei · Oct 7, 2026 · 1 reactions · 1 comments · View on GitHub

7. [Question/Feature Request] Customizable corner radiusClosed

   Hi! I've been using Aqueous for quite a bit, it's pretty much my daily driver now, although I was wondering if it'd be possible to implement a way to configure how rounded you want your corners to be? I have no issue as they are right now, but I do prefer them being slightly less…

   @nuyarabbit · Oct 21, 2026 · 1 reactions · 4 comments · View on GitHub

8. [DMS Aqueous settings plugin] Color Picker crashes on interactionClosed

   In the DMS Aqueous settings plugin. If you go to the page where you can change your aqueous window border colors, you can open the color picker, but interacting with it in any way will cause it to crash. Also you can then no longer open the color picker again.

   @SYB-80X · Sep 7, 2026 · 1 comments · View on GitHub

9. Logout on Un-Minimize Window AttemptClosed

   Every time I attempt to bring a window back up with the keybind (super+n) it logs me out. Steps to replicate: 1. Open a new Window (ie zen browser) 2. Minimize Said Window 3. Use the key bind to bring up said window again, logs you out. Does not matter if you interact with…

   @NateKing204 · May 11, 2026 · 1 comments · View on GitHub

10. Top strut not workingClosed

    Windows can get under noctalia navbar on top, even though there is 32px set in config for top. It is probably similar to other left/right/bottom struts too?

    @azdanov · May 23, 2026 · 1 comments · View on GitHub

11. Reduce brightness of overlay when dragging a floating window on top barOpen

    At the moment it's very bright by default

    @azdanov · Nov 1, 2026 · 0 comments · View on GitHub

12. New super+tab/alt+tab cycle_focus switcher doesn't dismiss when releasing modifier keyOpen

    It dismisses after 1.5s or when you press any other input key, but it should dismiss as soon as alt/super get released.

    @teschnei · Oct 31, 2026 · 0 comments · View on GitHub

13. [BUG] Compositor freezes when switching 19+ windows to dwindle layoutClosed

    Aqueous freezes when switching a workspace containing a large number of open windows from floating or scrolling to the dwindle layout. I reproduced this with approximately 19 windows in floating mode and again with approximately 26 windows in scrolling mode. The session becomes…

    @Kiryometsy · Oct 28, 2026 · 0 comments · View on GitHub

14. Gamescope does not work on current Aqueous-gitClosed

    Aqueous Version: 1.0.5.r2.g71c0e72-1 Hardware: Laptop CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS (16) @ 5.14 GHz GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Max-Q / Mobile 8GB RAM: 32 GB DDR 5 OS: CachyOS Issue: Trying to invoke any game with gamescope does not work. The game tries to launch, but immediately…

    @SYB-80X · Oct 28, 2026 · 2 comments · View on GitHub

15. Feature request - configuration setting for throttling image acquisition for occluded windowsClosed

    wlroots normally has a feature where fully occluded windows will have image acquisition throttled when they're completely occluded (such as on other workspaces) - because the image acquisition is blocked, the actual rendering of the game gets throttled, freeing up the GPU to do…

    @teschnei · Oct 27, 2026 · 2 comments · View on GitHub