Install xwininfo with Homebrew, apk, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, zypper

Project links

• Homepage

Commands and aliases

• xwininfo

Project history

xwininfo belongs to the classic X11 application/tool set rather than to a separately branded application lineage. Its current X.Org README describes it plainly as a program that prints information about windows on an X server, with primary development in the xorg/app/xwininfo repository and questions directed to the Xorg mailing list.

The public cgit history shows the modern standalone module rooted in X.Org's early-2000s source imports: an X.Org baseline commit in 2003, XFree86 vendor imports in 2004, modular build-system work in 2005, and X11R7 packaging updates as X.Org split the monolithic tree into independently released modules.

Because xwininfo's job is to interrogate X server window state, its history follows X11's debugging culture: small tools such as xwininfo, xprop, xev, xlsclients, and xdpyinfo expose protocol and window-manager details that desktop users normally never see.

Adoption history

xwininfo is widely packaged because it is basic X11 diagnostic equipment. Distributions ship it either as its own X.Org app package or as part of grouped X utilities; users reach for it when they need a window id, geometry, root-window data, child tree, or details for scripting around X clients.

Its adoption persists even as Wayland desktops grow, because Xwayland, remote X11, legacy window managers, CI display tests, and old Unix desktops still need simple command-line inspection of X windows.

How it is used

Without an id or name, xwininfo lets the user click a target window and then prints default stats. Common scripted forms include `xwininfo -id 0x...`, `xwininfo -root`, `xwininfo -tree -root`, `xwininfo -name TITLE`, and `xwininfo -all` for a broader dump.

The manpage documents options for children/tree traversal, geometry and size, bits, events, window-manager hints, shape extension data, root-window inspection, and integer-vs-hex window ids.

Why package nerds care

xwininfo is a package-nerd staple because it is one of the smallest ways to see the X server's model directly. It turns invisible protocol objects into text, which makes it useful in packaging tests, bug reports, shell scripts, window-manager debugging, and support docs.

It also illustrates the X.Org modularization story: a once-monolithic X utility became an independently versioned app module with its own repository, releases, and downstream package recipes.

Timeline

• Pre-2000s: xwininfo exists as part of the traditional X/XFree86 utility set for inspecting X windows.
• 2003-11-14: X.Org cgit history records the R6.6 baseline import for this module.
• 2004: XFree86 vendor imports and X.Org merge history appear in the public repository lineage.
• 2005-07-08: Build-system work prepares xwininfo as an independent modular X.Org app package.
• 2005-12-21: Repository history records the X11R7 release package-version update.
• 2018: README is updated for the freedesktop.org GitLab migration.
• 2023-02-25: libxcb-errors support is added to improve X protocol error messages.
• 2025: Recent maintenance includes manpage fixes, `--help`/`--version` aliases, memory-leak fixes, and stdbool cleanup.

Related projects

• X.Org and the X Window System: the display server/protocol stack inspected by xwininfo.
• xprop: companion utility for reading X window and root-window properties.
• xev: companion utility for observing X events.
• xdpyinfo, xlsclients, and xlsatoms: related X inspection utilities commonly referenced with xwininfo.
• Xlib, XCB, and libxcb-errors: libraries and protocol layers used around modern xwininfo behavior.

Sources

• https://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/app/xwininfo
• https://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/app/xwininfo/log/
• https://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/app/xwininfo/log/?ofs=100
• https://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/app/xwininfo/plain/README.md
• https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/app/xwininfo
• https://www.x.org/releases/current/doc/man/man1/xwininfo.1.xhtml
• https://www.x.org/wiki/