Here it is. There is no visualization of the stack, which apparently Stackline in the other comment supports, but I don't tend to need that. Just being able to move between the windows is good enough for me.
https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai/issues/203#issuecomment...
In Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOSasmvik
yabai
C2019–2026
asmvik / yabai
yabai
A tiling window manager for macOS based on binary space partitioning
107Distinct people
134Mentions
3Explicit recommenders
29.8KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
A tiling window manager for macOS based on binary space partitioning
GitHub
Where it is used
- SketchyBar — SketchyBar integrates with yabai to power workspace indicators that show active desktops, focused windows, and switching in real time. Source
What people are saying
Interesting. I used to daily drive <https://github.com/asmvik/yabai> for almost a year until a major macOS update broke it and I just didn't have it in me to diagnose the…
thefossguy69 used a recommendation phrase. 3 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
- asmvik/skhd · linked in 20 of the same discussions
- ianyh/amethyst · linked in 5 of the same discussions
- hammerspoon/hammerspoon · linked in 4 of the same discussions
Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 6:01:32 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year134 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2019-08-25 20:04:44 UTC to 2026-05-30 16:22:44 UTC.
* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 11 | 2 | 9 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 21 | 2 | 19 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 22 | 2 | 20 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 30 | 4 | 26 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 29 | 2 | 27 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 2026 (partial) | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 5 | 2 | 3 |
From the project README
An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 14, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
Tiling window management for the Mac.
About
yabai is a window management utility that is designed to work as an extension to the built-in window manager of macOS.
yabai allows you to control your windows, spaces and displays freely using an intuitive command line interface and optionally set user-defined keyboard shortcuts using ↗ skhd and other third-party software.
The primary function of yabai is tiling window management; automatically modifying your window layout using a binary space partitioning algorithm to allow you to focus on the content of your windows without distractions.
Additional features of yabai include focus-follows-mouse, disabling animations for switching spaces, creating spaces past the limit of 16 spaces, and much more.
Installation and Configuration
The ↗ yabai wiki has both brief and detailed installation instructions for multiple installation methods, and also explains how to uninstall yabai completely.
Sample configuration files can be found in the ↗ examples directory. Refer to the ↗ documentation or the wiki for further information.
Keyboard shortcuts can be defined with ↗ skhd or any other suitable software you may prefer.
Requirements and Caveats
Please read the below requirements carefully.
Make sure you fulfil all of them before filing an issue.
Requirement
Note
Operating System Intel x86-64
Big Sur 11.0.0+, Monterey 12.0.0+, Ventura 13.0.0+, Sonoma 14.0.0+, Sequoia 15.0+, and Tahoe 26.0+ is supported.
Operating System Apple Silicon
Monterey 12.0.0+, Ventura 13.0.0+, Sonoma 14.0.0+, Sequoia 15.0+, and Tahoe 26.0+ is supported.
Accessibility API
yabai must be given permission to utilize the Accessibility API and will request access upon launch. The application must be restarted after access has been granted.
Screen Recording
yabai must be given Screen Recording permission if and only if you want to enable window animations, and will request access when necessary. The application must be restarted after access has been granted.
System Preferences (macOS 11.x, 12.x)
In the Mission Control pane, the setting "Displays have separate Spaces" must be enabled.
System Settings (macOS 13.x, 14.x, 15.x, 26.x)
In the Desktop & Dock tab, inside the Mission Control pane, the setting "Displays have separate Spaces" must be enabled.
Please also take note of the following caveats.
Caveat
Note
System Integrity Protection (Optional)
System Integrity Protection can be (partially) disabled for yabai to inject a scripting addition into Dock.app for controlling windows with functions that require elevated privileges. This enables control of the window server, which is the sole owner of all window connections, and enables additional features of yabai.
Code Signing
When building from source (or installing from HEAD), it is necessary to codesign the binary so it retains its accessibility and automation privileges when updated or rebuilt.
Finder Desktop
Some people disable the Finder Desktop window using an undocumented defaults write command. This breaks focusing of empty spaces and should be avoided when using yabai. To re-activate the Finder Desktop, run: "defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool true".
NSDocument-based Applications
Windows that utilize native macOS tabs such as Terminal and Finder, do not behave correctly when creating tabs. Avoid creating tabs in these applications, consider alternatives that do not use NSDocument's tab system, or make these windows float using rules.
System Preferences (macOS 11.x, 12.x)
In the Mission Control pane, the setting "Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use" should be disabled for commands that rely on the ordering of spaces to work reliably.
System Settings (macOS 13.x, 14.x, 15.x, 26.x)
In the Desktop & Dock tab, inside the Mission Control pane, the setting "Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use" should be disabled for commands that rely on the ordering of spaces to work reliably.
System Settings (macOS 14.x, 15.x, 26.x)
In the Desktop & Dock tab, inside the Desktop & Stage Manager pane, the setting "Show Items On Desktop" should be enabled for display and space focus commands to work reliably in multi-display configurations.
System Settings (macOS 14.x, 15.x, 26.x)
In the Desktop & Dock tab, inside the Desktop & Stage Manager pane, the setting "Click wallpaper to reveal Desktop" should be set to "Only in Stage Manager" for display and space focus commands to work reliably.
License and Attribution
yabai is licensed under the ↗ MIT License, a short and simple permissive license with conditions only requiring preservation of copyright and license notices.
Licensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code.
Thanks to @fools-mate for creating a logo and banner for this project and making them available for free.
Thanks to @dominiklohmann for contributing great documentation, support, and more, for free.
Disclaimer
Use at your own discretion.
I take no responsibility if anything should happen to your machine while trying to install, test or otherwise use this software in any form.
You acknowledge that you understand the potential risk that may come from disabling ↗ System Integrity Protection on your system, and I make no recommendation as to whether you should or should not disable System Integrity Protection.
Read the full README on GitHubWhat Hacker News says
29 sourcesI have been using Yabai for two years now and am very happy. For me, it's stable and you can script almost anything by using event reactors.
Yabai also makes working with a 15" display much more productive imho. For example, I can effortlessly and nearly instantaneously switch between browser and coding spaces by pressing hyper + w / hyper + c (I'm using Karabiner Elements to map capslock to hyper).
Since it's a common misconception, you do NOT need to disable SIP if you don't care about some features (noticeably, disabling those nasty space switch animations). For an overview of features that require SIP to be partially disabled:
https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai/issues/1863
Also in general, the wiki on GitHub is very well-written.
In Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOSJust wanted to point out that disabling SIP is not required to use most of yabai's window management features.
You do lose some features[0] but I've found the only ones I really care about is focusing spaces, and you can create keyboard shortcuts for that in System Settings.
[0]: https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai/wiki/Disabling-System-I...
In Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOSYabai – A tiling window manager for macOS
302 points · Open discussionI use Yabai on my Macs without SIP enabled. Here’s a list of the features that absolutely require SIP to be disabled: https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai/issues/1863
But you don’t need to disable SIP just for tiling. I find it works extremely well.
> there's still a ton of tinkering and tweaking you need to do to get Yabai really working correctly
This is pretty much true of basically every tiling window manager on Linux, too.
For me, using Nix-Darwin for MacOS and NixOS has drastically simplified my tiling window manager setup after initially doing the work to figure out my ideal config.
In Asahi Linux folks are doing us a solid with WPA3 fixesSIP is a feature that protects you from malicious actors with root (admin) access on your device. After they've encrypted your photos and drives and changed your passwords, it prevents them from making your machine unbootable by deleting or altering system binaries. As a side effect of this protection, you give up certain freedoms to customize your system.
https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai
For instance requires SIP to be disabled.
In macOS Containers v0.0.1Yabai: A binary space partitioning tiling window manager for macOS
2 points · Open discussionAh yes, then you download an app for that. And that app has its own updater.
Then you realize you want your mouse and trackpad to scroll in reverse directions. So you download an app for that, which comes with its own updater.
And then you want a flat acceleration profile for your mouse, and you download an app for that. That, too, comes with its own updater.
Next, you realize that the Mac app-based cmd-tab sucks and you'd much rather have Windows-like behavior. So you download an app for that, which also comes with its own updater. (Yes, yes, I know the arguments Apple users bring out, it's always been done this way on Mac etc etc. Still really bad.)
Then you get a taste of auto-tiling on Linux and spend a couple hours setting up yabai and skhd (thankfully updated via homebrew), before realizing that you'll need to turn off SIP [1] for a
Read the rest
semi-usable experience.
Then you do go and turn off SIP, and you realize that your iOS apps no longer work because macOS has DRM built into its hardware that detects if you've turned off SIP.
And then, one of those apps prompts you for an update, and in doing so it steals your keyboard focus while you're typing. And you say "is this what I spent $2500 to experience", and cry.
[1] https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai#requirements-and-caveat...
> [disabling SIP, even temporarily,] may not be possible on a work machine
I wouldn't do it on a personal machine either (not that you're advocating that).
Yeah, the "full" installation of yabai [0] requires partially disabling SIP permanently, the reasoning for which is laid out very well in [1].
It seems like the "wizardry" I was hoping for would amount to circumventing some basic security design of post-SIP MacOS, so would either be an exploit or else equivalent to turning off the parts of SIP mentioned in [0].
[0] https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai/wiki/Disabling-System-I...
[1] https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai/issues/798#issuecomment...
In Rethinking Window ManagementThis is disproven by the fact that Yabai [1] can instantly swap spaces with SIP disabled.
[1] https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai
In Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?It can be... if you disable SIP.
Yabai has many of these fixes that exists, even if you don't use the auto tiling features[1].
[1] https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai/wiki/Disabling-System-I...
In Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?I feel the same way. I would much prefer no animation at all, and an instant transition between spaces.
Apparently this is possible with yabai (https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai), but it requires disabling system integrity protection which I am personally uncomfortable with.
In Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?If you install yabai (https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai) it has a feature that can completely disable spaces switching animations - but it does require partially disabling SIP (worth it for yabai, IMO).
In Witch – macOS window switcher replacementNot exactly what you're looking for in terms for scrolling, but this allows resizing multiple windows:
https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai
In Ask HN: Scrolling Window Manager for macOS?One caveat of M1 is when you run into tools/apps that aren't built for Apple Silicon yet and end up in a rabbit hole of dealing with Rosetta. But otherwise the battery life and how quiet they are is incredible.
For window management, check out Yabai[0] - it's an actual tiling window manager that can be customized in conjunction with skhd[1] for hotkeys.
[0] https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai
[1] https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd
In Ask HN: I've run Linux for 13 years. Is it time to switch to a Mac?Showing the 15 most recent of 29 sources. Enable JavaScript to search and browse every indexed mention.