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jigish
slate
Objective-C2011–2024
jigish / slate

slate

A window management application (replacement for Divvy/SizeUp/ShiftIt)

64Distinct people
71Mentions
7Explicit recommenders
7.8KGitHub stars
REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

A window management application (replacement for Divvy/SizeUp/ShiftIt)

GitHub

Where it is used

No documented product use was verified in the last source check.

What people are saying

Another one is called slate: https://github.com/jigish/slate Very flexible, my favorite feature is that configs can be written in JS, here's mine:…

tnajdek used a recommendation phrase. 7 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

Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:56:07 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 year71 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2011-12-20 19:13:10 UTC to 2024-06-11 02:13:22 UTC.

051015202011-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 1 mentions; 0 submissions, 1 comments20112012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 8 mentions; 2 submissions, 6 comments2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 22 mentions; 1 submissions, 21 comments2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 17 mentions; 0 submissions, 17 comments2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 5 mentions; 0 submissions, 5 comments2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 1 mentions; 0 submissions, 1 comments2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 6 mentions; 0 submissions, 6 comments20172018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 4 mentions; 0 submissions, 4 comments2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 4 mentions; 0 submissions, 4 comments2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 0 submissions, 2 comments2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 1 mentions; 0 submissions, 1 comments2024

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
20112011-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC101
20122012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC826
20132013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC22121
20142014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC17017
20152015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC505
20162016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC101
20172017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC606
20182018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC404
20192019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC404
20202020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC000
20212021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC000
20222022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC202
20232023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC000
20242024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC101

From the project README

An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.

Read the project’s introduction
About Slate Slate is a window management application similar to Divvy and SizeUp (except better and free!). Originally written to replace them due to some limitations in how each work, it attempts to overcome them by simply being extremely configurable. As a result, it may be a bit daunting to get configured, but once it is done, the benefit is huge. Slate currently works on Mac OS X 10.6 and above Summary of Features Highly customizable Bind keystrokes to: move and/or resize windows directionally focus windows activate preset layouts create, delete, and activate snapshots of the current state of windows Set default layouts for different monitor configurations which will activate when that configuration is detected. Window Hints: an intuitive way to change window focus [Beta] A better, more customizable, application switcher. Credits Big thanks to philc for the Window Hints idea (and initial implementation) as well as plenty of other suggestions and improvement ideas. Using Slate Installing Slate NEW Installation Instructions Note: You must turn on the Accessibility API by checking System Preferences > Universal Access > Enable access for assistive devices Direct Download .dmg .tar.gz Terminal Just run this in your terminal: cd /Applications && curl http://www.ninjamonkeysoftware.com/slate/versions/slate-latest.tar.gz | tar -xz Configuring Slate NEW: You may now use a ".slate.js" file to configure slate using JavaScript. This allows for much more complex and dynamic configurations than the normal slate configuration style below. You can check out the documentation for this here. Slate is configured using a ".slate" file in the current user's home directory. Configuration is loaded upon running Slate. You can also re-load the config using the "Load Config" menu option on the status menu (use this at your own risk. It is better to simply restart Slate). Note: If no ".slate" file exists in the current user's home directory, the default config file will be used. Configuration is split into the following directives: config (for global configurations) alias (to create alias variables) layout (to configure layouts) default (to default certain screen configurations to layouts) bind (for key bindings) source (to load configs from another file) Note: # is the comment character. Anything after a # will be ignored. ###Expressions### Some directives allow parameters that can be expressions. The following strings will be replaced with the appropriate values when using expressions: screenOriginX = target screen's top left x coordinate (should not be used in Window Hints configs) screenOriginY = target screen's top left y coordinate (should not be used in Window Hints configs) screenSizeX = target screen's width screenSizeY = target screen's height windowTopLeftX = window's current top left x coordinate (should not be used in Window Hints configs) windowTopLeftY = window's current top left y coordinate (should not be used in Window Hints configs) windowSizeX = window's width windowSizeY = window's height newWindowSizeX = window's new width (after resize, only usable in topLeftX and topLeftY, should not be used in configs) newWindowSizeY = window's new height (after resize, only usable in topLeftX and topLeftY, should not be used in configs) windowHintsWidth = the value of the windowHintsWidth config (only usable in windowHintsTopLeftX and windowHintsTopLeftY) windowHintsHeight = the value of the windowHintsHeight config (only usable in windowHintsTopLeftX and windowHintsTopLeftY) In addition to the variables above, expressions can be used with the following functions and operators: + e.g. 1+1 = 2 - e.g. 1-1 = 0 * e.g. 2*2 = 4 / e.g. 4/2 = 2 ** e.g. 3**2 = 9 sum e.g. sum({1,2,3}) = 6 count e.g. count({4,5,6}) = 3 min e.g. min({1,3,5}) = 1 max e.g. max({1,3,5}) = 5 average e.g. average({1,2,3,4}) = 2.5 median e.g. median({1,2,3,10,15}) = 3 stddev e.g. stddev({1,2,3,4,5}) = 1.4142135623730951 sqrt e.g. sqrt(9) = 3.0 log e.g. log(100) = 2.0 ln e.g. ln(8) = 2.0794415416798357 exp e.g. exp(2) = 7.3890560989306504 (this is "e**parameter") floor e.g. floor(1.9) = 1.0 ceiling e.g. ceiling(1.1) = 2.0 abs e.g. abs(-1) = 1 trunc e.g. trunc(1.1123123123) = 1.0 random e.g. random() = 0.20607629744336009 (random float between 0 and 1) randomn e.g. randomn(10) = 4 (random integer between 0 and parameter-1) Note: When using expressions spaces are not allowed! The config Directive The config directive follows the following format: config name value List of allowed configs Example: config defaultToCurrentScreen true Note: the .slate file is read top-down directives that come before config directives may not have the config applied. As such, it is best to put config directives at the top of your .slate file. The alias Directive The alias directive follows the following format: alias name value When you set an alias, you can refer to it in any directive (sequentially after that alias directive) by referencing like ${name}. Example: alias bot-right-2nd-mon move screenOriginX+2*screenSizeX/3;screenOriginY+screenSizeY/2 screenSizeX/3;screenSizeY/2 1 Will allow you to use ${bot-right-2nd-mon} as a reference to move screenOriginX+2*screenSizeX/3;screenOriginY+screenSizeY/2 screenSizeX/3;screenSizeY/2 1 in any directive following the alias (including other alias directives) The layout Directive The layout directive follows the following format: layout name 'app name':OPTIONS operations Where: name = the name you want to use to reference the layout 'app name' = single-quoted name of the application to add to the layout **or** BEFORE or AFTER OPTIONS = a comma separated list of options for this application (cannot be used with BEFORE or AFTER) operations = a pipe separated list of operations (move, resize, pus
Read the full README on GitHub

What Hacker News says

71 sources
I used to use Slate[0] to manage my windows but have since switched to Raycast since it was a more enjoyable experience. I have a 49" ultrawide so it's super useful to have precise control over where a window goes. I also use 3 desktops (as Apple calls them) and have different windows sizes depending on what I'm doing. Having overlapping windows would just be super annoying now! [0] https://github.com/jigish/slate
In macOS Sequoia Preview
If you are willing to put some time in configuring your desktop, Slate [1] should do the trick for you. If delving into yet another application-specific configuration language does't thrill you, then Magnet [2] gives you the baseline i3 functionality out of the box. It only provides shortcuts that allow you to arrange your windows similar with i3. It will not arrange your windows automatically, and its only configuration is changing the shortcuts to your liking. [1] https://github.com/jigish/slate [2] https://magnet.crowdcafe.com/
In Ask HN: What is the desktop manager you use for mac?
You should try Slate (https://github.com/jigish/slate), it's great for window management once it's set up. I have hotkeys for positioning windows top-, bottom-, left-, and right halves, move windows to the right or left monitor and for displaying a grid that let you define the size and position of the current window by marking an area in the grid. It needs the Accessibility API, though, which may be an issue if your employer doesn't allow sudo access on their computers. Here's my dotfile: https://github.com/Jonasmst/dotfiles/blob/master/.slate
In Best Display for Programming? (2017)
I was also quite inspired by Slate. Unfortunately there hasn't been any activity with it for about 5 years or so. It's great you're picking up the mantel and running with it, because the essential idea is great! I was interested in Slate because I was looking for a good way to implement pie menus for a Mac window manager. And I'd already implemented pie menus for HTML, so I wanted to come up with a way to use that code (and any other html user interface or graphics too, of course) in the window manager. About 5 years ago I opened this issue, describing an experiment I did making the web browser in a topmost window with a transparent background to implement user interface overlays scripted in HTML. WebView window for HTML user interfaces like pie menus to Slate. #322: https://github.com/jigish/slate/issues/322 Slate used a hidden WebView f
Read the rest
or its scripting engine. So I made it un-hidden and float on top of all the other windows, and was easily able to use it to draw any kind of user interface stuff on top of all the other Mac windows. And I could track the position of windows and draw a little clickable tab next to or on top of the window title bar, that you could click on to pop up a pie menu. It actually worked! But I didn't take it much further, because I never got any feedback on the issue I opened, so gave up on using Slate itself, and never got around to starting my own JavaScript window manager myself (like you did!). I opened my issue in June 2013, but the last commit was Feb 2013, so development must have stopped by then. But I wrote up a description of my ideas about "aQuery" (like jQuery, for accessibility), and bounced the idea off of some people who are into accessibility and user interface design, and learned about Morgan Dixon's work on Prefab, something you should definitely check out if you're developing a window manager. https://donhopkins.com/mediawiki/index.php/AQuery Here's an HN posting that describes Morgan Dixon's "Prefab" -- imagine how powerful a window manager would be if it could do all that stuff, fully programmable from JavaScript, in combination with full access to the Accessibility APIs. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11520967 Morgan Dixon's work is truly breathtaking and eye opening, and I would love for that to be a core part of a scriptable hybrid Screen Scraping / Accessibility API approach. Screen scraping techniques are very powerful, but have limitations. Accessibility APIs are very powerful, but have different limitations. But using both approaches together, screencasting and re-composing visual elements, and tightly integrating it with JavaScript, enables a much wider and interesting range of possibilities. Think of it like augmented reality for virtualizing desktop user interfaces. The beauty of Morgan's Prefab is how it works across different platforms and web browsers, over virtual desktops, and how it can control, sample, measure, modify, augment and recompose guis of existing unmodified applications, even dynamic language translation, so they're much more accessible and easier to use!
In Show HN: Autumn – A macOS window manager for (Type|Java)Script hackers
Some more macOS window managers, all free and opensource: Spectacle, Slate, Phoenix (similar to Slate) And by far my personal favorite: Mjolnir which is extensible in Lua! Also, Hammerspoon its continuation. [1] https://github.com/eczarny/spectacle [2] https://github.com/jigish/slate [3] https://github.com/sdegutis/Phoenix [4] https://github.com/sdegutis/mjolnir/ [5] https://github.com/Hammerspoon/hammerspoon
In Show HN: Autumn – A macOS window manager for (Type|Java)Script hackers

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