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eythaann/seelen-ui

16,787RustAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A full desktop environment replacement for Windows 10 and 11 that swaps out the taskbar, window manager, app launcher, and notifications with customizable, CSS-driven alternatives including a tiling window manager.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Seelen UI))
    What it does
      Desktop replacement
      Windows 10 and 11
      CSS driven themes
    Components
      Custom taskbar dock
      Tiling window manager
      Fuzzy app launcher
      Notification flyouts
    Tech stack
      Rust backend
      CSS and JSON config
    Use cases
      Power user setup
      Keyboard workflow
      Custom desktop look
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Code map

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Replace the Windows taskbar and dock with a CSS-themed version that auto-picks colors from your wallpaper

USE CASE 2

Use a tiling window manager on Windows to arrange apps into keyboard-controlled layouts with configurable gaps

USE CASE 3

Install community CSS themes to change colors, fonts, borders, and animations across the entire desktop

USE CASE 4

Set per-workspace wallpapers and use a fuzzy-search app launcher instead of the Windows Start menu

Tech stack

RustCSSJSON

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

Install from the Microsoft Store, theming requires editing CSS and JSON config files.

In plain English

Seelen UI is a project that replaces big parts of the Windows desktop so the operating system looks and behaves the way you want. It is not a theme pack or a skin pasted over the existing interface. It actually swaps out things like the taskbar, the dock, the app launcher, the window manager, the notification flyouts, and the virtual desktops with its own versions, and lets you restyle each of them. The README describes it as a full desktop environment replacement for Windows 10 and 11, available in over seventy languages. You can install it from the Microsoft Store. Once running, the look is driven by a theming engine that uses CSS and JSON, so colours, fonts, borders and animations can be edited or shared as community themes. There is a dynamic accent feature that picks colours from your wallpaper automatically. A tiling window manager arranges your open programs into keyboard-controlled layouts with configurable gaps, and you can mark specific apps as floating or pin them to particular workspaces. A keyboard-driven app launcher inspired by Rofi finds apps, files and commands with fuzzy search. There are also desktop widgets, an alt-tab replacement, media controls, custom flyouts for things like volume and brightness, and per-workspace wallpapers. Someone would use Seelen UI when they want a tiled, keyboard-first, heavily customised desktop on Windows without leaving Windows entirely. It is aimed at power users who would otherwise be drawn to Linux tiling setups, but also at anyone who simply wants Windows to look different. The project's primary language is Rust, and configuration lives in standard CSS and JSON files so themes and widgets can be shared between users.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I installed Seelen UI and want to create a theme matching the Catppuccin color scheme. Show me which CSS variables to override and where the theme files are stored.
Prompt 2
Using Seelen UI's tiling window manager, how do I configure a three-column layout for my main monitor and mark Spotify as always-floating so it never gets tiled?
Prompt 3
I want Seelen UI to automatically pick an accent color from my wallpaper. How do I enable the dynamic accent feature and set it to update when Windows changes the wallpaper?
Prompt 4
Walk me through switching from the default Windows taskbar to Seelen UI's dock, including how to pin apps, set icon sizes, and revert back if I change my mind.
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