Sticky floating windows: implementation proposal

[EdenRochmanSharabi]

Context

I'd like to propose an implementation for sticky floating windows (#2). Before opening a PR, I want to share my approach and get feedback.

What it does

A new sticky command that makes floating windows persist across workspace switches. When a window is sticky, it remains visible on the monitor regardless of which workspace is active.

Common use cases from the issue discussion:

• Picture-in-Picture video windows
• Chat apps (Slack, Signal) always visible
• Music player controls
• Monitoring dashboards

Proposed implementation

New command: sticky

aerospace sticky [-h|--help] [--window-id <window-id>] [on|off]

• sticky on — make the focused floating window sticky
• sticky off — remove sticky mode
• sticky (no args) — toggle
• Only works on floating windows. Returns error if window is tiling (user must layout floating first).

How it works

1. Added isSticky: Bool property to Window class
2. In layoutWorkspaces() (refresh.swift), when hiding windows of invisible workspaces, sticky floating windows skip hideInCorner() and instead call unhideFromCorner()
3. Standard command registration: CmdKind.sticky, StickyCommand, StickyCmdArgs, manifest entries

Design decisions

• Only floating windows can be sticky: Tiling sticky windows raise complex questions (what happens to the tiling tree on workspace switch?). Floating-only keeps it simple and covers the main use cases.
• Per-window, not per-app: Users can make specific windows sticky, not entire apps.
• Persists until explicitly removed: sticky off or closing the window removes sticky state.

Answering questions from #2

What if users want several sticky sidebar windows?

Multiple windows can be sticky simultaneously. Each is independent.

What should happen if a sticky window is moved with the mouse?

It remains sticky. The user explicitly set it sticky, so mouse movement shouldn't change that.

Should sticky be a per-monitor thing?

In this implementation, sticky windows stay on the monitor they're on. They don't follow you to other monitors — they stay visible on their current monitor across workspace switches.

Example config

alt-shift-s = ['layout floating', 'sticky on']

Happy to hear feedback before I open a PR.