Miri

Miri is a macOS scrolling window manager with an app interface. It is intended for daily use and public release as free and open-source software.

Language

Free and open-source software (FOSS): Software whose license gives users the freedom to use, study, modify, and redistribute it. Avoid: Source-available software, freeware

App interface: The macOS interface through which users operate and configure Miri. Avoid: Engine, website demo

Window engine: The component that maintains the window layout and controls other apps' windows. Avoid: Settings interface

Physical monitor: A physical screen that holds one or more native Spaces, each with its own scrolling strip. Avoid: Workspace, Space, virtual monitor

Native Space: A macOS desktop on a physical monitor, created through Mission Control, with its own scrolling strip in Miri. Avoid: Workspace, virtual workspace

Virtual workspace: An extra scrolling strip stacked within one native Space. It is a Paneru feature that Miri keeps turned off, because native Spaces serve the same purpose. Avoid: Space, vertical set

Scrolling strip: A horizontal sequence of window columns on one native Space that can extend beyond a display's visible area. Avoid: Vertical workspace set

Strip gesture: A horizontal trackpad swipe that moves a scrolling strip. Avoid: Space switching

Gesture conflict: A macOS gesture assignment that prevents a Miri strip gesture from operating independently. Avoid: Competing window manager

Gesture test: A user-run check of whether a selected strip gesture works without a conflicting macOS gesture. Avoid: Guided shortcut tutorial

Verified by user test: A gesture usability result based on consistent real strip movement without unintended macOS actions, followed by explicit user confirmation. Avoid: Automatically verified

Column: A position in a scrolling strip containing a window or a group of windows.

Maximized column: A column as wide as the display whose window fills the display's usable area, and which stays in its scrolling strip. Avoid: Full-width column, native fullscreen

Floating window: A window outside the scrolling strip whose position is independent of the strip's columns. Avoid: Tiled window

Tiled window: A window that occupies a column in a scrolling strip. Avoid: Floating window

Monitor navigation: Movement of focus or windows between physical monitors according to their screen arrangement. Avoid: Strip scrolling

Scrolling reliability: Consistent scrolling that keeps off-screen windows assigned to their physical monitors. Avoid: Monitor navigation

Orphaned strip: A strip whose display has disconnected and that waits for its macOS Space to appear on another display. Avoid: Lost workspace

Portable display layout: A v2 layout that follows the user to a different set of physical monitors. Avoid: Display profile

Competing window manager: Another tool that arranges windows on its own, including standalone Paneru. Miri refuses to start while one runs. Avoid: Conflicting app

Window-snapping app: A tool that moves a window only when you press its shortcut or drag the window to a screen edge, such as Rectangle, Loop, or Magnet. The setup checker warns while one runs, but does not block start.

Setup checker: The part of the app interface that reports macOS conditions that stop Miri from working correctly. Avoid: Onboarding, setup wizard

Repeated crashes: Three engine crashes within five minutes, after which Miri stops restarting the engine. Avoid: Crash loop

Quick check: The short multi-monitor test run during everyday development. Avoid: Smoke test

Release check: The full multi-monitor test that blocks the v1 release. Avoid: Quick check, stress test