Bring macOS Stage Manager to your GNOME desktop — with personality.
NexStage is a window organizer for GNOME Shell that puts your open apps in a beautiful side carousel of live thumbnails. Click to focus, scroll to navigate, drag to reorder, right-click for options. Two layouts (arc-curve or vertical), two behavior modes (raise-only or minimize-others), full multi-monitor support, smooth animations, badges, tilt-on-inactive depth — and a 4-tab preferences window so every detail is yours.
Built at NexVar by Mert Ali Dalkır — focused workspace tooling for the GNOME desktop.
GNOME has Activities Overview. macOS has Stage Manager. NexStage gives you both at once — an always-available sidebar of live window thumbnails that doesn't interrupt your flow. Switch apps without leaving your task. Keep your most-used windows one glance away. Arrange them how you like.
- Live thumbnails — see actual window content, not just icons
- Arc carousel layout — beautiful curved arrangement (or vertical if you prefer)
- Smooth animations — 60 fps Clutter transitions, no jank
- Multi-monitor — sidebar can follow focus or be per-display
- Persistent or auto-hide — your call
- Wayland & X11 — both work end-to-end
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Layouts | Arc carousel or vertical list |
| Position | Left, right, or bottom of screen |
| Modes | Raise-only (focus without minimizing) or minimize-others (single-window stage) |
| Live thumbnails | Actual window content, updates in real time |
| Highlight | Active app gets a subtle accent; inactive lean for depth |
| Multi-monitor | Per-monitor or follow-focus |
| Reserve space | Maximized windows avoid the sidebar |
| Persistent panel | Always visible, or auto-hide on idle |
| Hide delay | Configurable timing |
| Max groups | Limit visible app count |
| Drag reorder | Rearrange your stage |
| Badges | Window count per app |
| Tooltips | Hover for window title |
| Close button | Optional per-thumbnail |
| Custom shortcuts | Toggle, navigate, activate, close |
# Search "NexStage" on extensions.gnome.org and click Install
# Or via CLI:
gnome-extensions install --enable nexstage@nexvar
⚠️ Pending review by GNOME extension reviewers. Until approved, use Option B.
git clone https://github.com/NexVar/NexStage.git
cd NexStage
make install
# Log out → log in (Wayland needs a session restart)
gnome-extensions enable nexstage@nexvar
gnome-extensions prefs nexstage@nexvarmake pack # produces nexstage@nexvar.shell-extension.zipThen upload via extensions.gnome.org/upload for review, or install locally with gnome-extensions install ./nexstage@nexvar.shell-extension.zip.
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Click | Bring app to front |
| Middle click | Close window |
| Right click | Context menu |
| Scroll | Navigate groups |
| Drag | Reorder thumbnails |
| Hover | Show window title |
All keyboard shortcuts are remappable from the Shortcuts page in preferences.
- Layout — Arc or vertical mode, panel position (left / right / bottom), thumbnail size, margin, spacing, and toggles for labels, close button, badge, tooltip, highlight.
- Behavior — Raise-only or minimize-others mode, persistent panel, reserve screen space (maximized windows avoid the sidebar), hide delay, max groups, multi-monitor mode.
- Animation — Speed, inactive card tilt, inactive card scale.
- Shortcuts — Toggle, navigate, activate, close.
nexstage@nexvar/
├── metadata.json # shell-version: 46, 47, 48, 49, 50
├── extension.js # enable/disable; sidebar mount, window tracking,
│ # WindowGroup management, monitor changes
├── prefs.js # Adw 4-page preferences window
├── schemas/
│ └── org.gnome.shell.extensions.nexstage.gschema.xml
├── LICENSE # GPL-3.0+
└── README.md
Required:
- GNOME Shell 46, 47, 48, 49, or 50
- GLib, GTK 4, Adwaita (already required by shell)
Compositor compatibility: Wayland and X11 both supported.
PRs welcome. NexStage follows a small, opinionated style:
- Pure ES modules, no build step (GNOME loads
.jsdirectly) - Settings keys live in
schemas/*.gschema.xml, accessed viaGio.Settings - All animation goes through Clutter transitions — no external libs
- No npm, no node_modules, no transpiler — keeps the install zip tiny
Run make logs to tail GNOME Shell logs while developing.
AI-first software studio shipping production tooling, AI platforms, and developer infrastructure. NexStage is part of our GNOME desktop suite — focused workspace tools for people who live in their terminals and IDEs.
Creator and maintainer. Co-founder of NexVar. Builder of useful, well-engineered desktop tooling for Linux.
- NexNotch — Dynamic Island for GNOME (top-bar hover hub: system, calendar, weather, pomodoro, notes, shelf)
- NexGSD — AI agent framework for autonomous project execution
GPL-3.0-or-later © NexVar and Mert Ali Dalkır
See LICENSE for the full text.
If NexStage makes your GNOME workflow better, give it a star. It helps others find it.
Built with conviction at nexvar.io and mertdlkr.com.