Unveiling DMS 1.5: "The Wolverine" Update

The DankMaterialShell (DMS) team has officially launched version 1.5, codenamed "The Wolverine". This massive update introduces a cohesive visual architecture through Frame Mode, deep integration with DankCalendar, a transition to Hyprland Lua configurations, and significant upgrades to MangoWM support.

📊 Release Statistics

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🖼️ Frame Mode & Visual Evolution

The headline feature of this release is Frame Mode, which transforms the shell from a collection of separate elements into a unified ecosystem.

Connected Surfaces

Instead of isolated components, DMS 1.5 can now render the bar, dock, modals (like the app launcher), and pop-up notifications as a single, connected surface.

Additional UI Enhancements:

• Advanced Animations: Users can now choose between Directional and Depth animations, supplementing the existing Fade and Scale options.
• Hover Interaction: A new toggle allows popouts to trigger on hover rather than requiring a manual click.

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📅 DankCalendar Integration

DMS 1.5 introduces native support for DankCalendar, utilizing a bidirectional IPC (Inter-Process Communication) connection when the dcal daemon is active.

Privacy Note: DankCalendar is designed to be fully on-device, connecting your local machine directly to your service providers without intermediary servers.

Key Capabilities

The integration unifies accounts from Google, Microsoft, iCloud, and CalDAV into one agenda. The synchronization logic can be represented as: $\text{Local Cache (SQLite)} \iff \text{IPC} \iff \text{External Providers}$

• Full CRUD Functionality: Create, Read, Update, and Delete events directly from the shell's calendar view.
• Native Reminders: Event alerts are routed through the DMS notification system.
• Robust Offline Access: A local SQLite database ensures your agenda is available without internet; changes sync automatically upon reconnection.
• Enterprise-Grade Security: Secrets and OAuth tokens are stored in GNOME Keyring or KWallet $\textit{instead of}$ plaintext files.
• Accessibility: Full arrow-key support for navigating events.

Note: For those who prefer the khal backend, the DMS calendar provider remains backwards compatible.

📝 Integrated Task Planner

Contributed by goatnath (via PR #2583), a local to-do and task planner widget is now embedded within the calendar overview to manage VTODOs and task states.

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🔑 Greeter Enhancements

The DMS greeter (handling user selection and session picking) has received a comprehensive overhaul.

New Management Tools

• Settings GUI: Modify dms-greeter and greetd parameters without manual text editing.
• Advanced PAM Support: Integration for U2F devices and fingerprint scanners, including unlock-state synchronization.
• User Account Tab: A centralized hub to manage usernames, passwords, sudo/wheel privileges, and view UIDs/GECOS.
• Behavioral Toggles: Options to remember the last session/user or enable auto-login.
• Visual Customization: Independent settings for date formats, 24-hour clocks, and a dedicated login wallpaper.

Theme Synchronization

To avoid requiring sudo for every visual change, DMS 1.5 introduces Per-User Theme Sync. Each user has a dedicated cache slot for their profile picture and theme.

Command Line Interface:

• dms greeter sync: Pushes the primary user's full configuration.
• dms greeter sync --profile: Syncs a specific greeter-group user's slot.

A "Sync Pending" floating pill now appears in the GUI to alert users of unsaved changes.

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🪟 Window & Display Management

Window Rules Manager

DMS 1.5 introduces a centralized manager to define match criteria and state-based conditions for windows across Hyprland, Niri, and MangoWM.

• Instant Rules: A new IPC allows users to create a rule for the currently focused window on the fly.

Display Profiles

Users can now save specific monitor layouts as Display Profiles.

1. Auto-Switching: DMS detects connected outputs and automatically applies the matching profile (perfect for docking stations).
2. Quick Access: A new widget in the Control Center allows for manual layout switching.
3. Granular Control: Supports fractional scaling presets (for Hyprland) and the ability to keep specific outputs disabled.

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⚙️ Technical Shifts & Compositor Support

Hyprland Lua Transition

DMS is moving away from legacy configuration formats. .conf files $\rightarrow$ Lua files.

When using dms setup or dankinstall, the system now generates native Lua configurations for keybinds and monitor setups.

-- Example of the new Lua-based config approach
dms.setup({
    monitor = "DP-1, 2560x1440@144, 0x0, 1",
    keybinds = {
        -- Custom binds defined here
    }
})

MangoWM Improvements

Support for the MangoWM compositor has been deepened across the entire ecosystem, including the shell, the installer, and various UI utility tools. The dms setup process now fully deploys MangoWM configurations.