# chjj/compton

A compositor for X11.

Repository: https://github.com/chjj/compton
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/compton
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2021-06-29T13:48:18+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5416, "days_push": 1891, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2264, forks 487 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:32.509130+00:00)

## What it is
Compton is a lightweight standalone X11 compositor forked from xcompmgr-dana, written in C. It adds window effects like shadows, transparency, fading, and VSync, with X Render and OpenGL (GLX) backends.

## Use cases
- add drop shadows and transparency to a lightweight Linux window manager
- enable VSync to reduce screen tearing in X11
- make inactive windows transparent or dimmed
- blur backgrounds behind transparent terminal windows
- run a standalone compositor without a full desktop environment

## When to choose
- you use a minimal window manager (e.g. Openbox, i3) and want compositing effects
- you need a lightweight compositor with configurable transparency and shadows
- you want VSync support on X11 without a heavy desktop environment

## When to avoid
- you use Wayland, which this does not support
- you need actively developed software - the project is in maintenance and succeeded by picom
- you need GPU-heavy desktop effects beyond basic compositing

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: graphics, developer-tools
- domain: desktop-applications, operating-systems
- platform: cpp, c
- tags: x11, compositor, window-manager, vsync, xcompmgr-fork, desktop-effects, linux

## Member repositories
- chjj/compton (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:32.509130+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:42:26.494220+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/chjj/compton (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:32.509130+00:00, sha 771d314447ee)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.