RADUX

A simplistic Linux radial menu for the lazy.

Features

• Radial menu interface - Quick access menu at cursor position
• Nested submenus - Organize items hierarchically
• Hotkey support - Keyboard shortcuts with context-aware mapping
• Theme customization - Custom colors, fonts, and sizes
• Icon support - SVG/PNG icons for menu items
• Smooth animations - Configurable animation speed

NOTE: RADUX ONLY SUPPORTS X11. It is up to the user to add exceptions for floating

Installation

From Source

cd src/cpp
cmake -B build
cmake --build build

The binary will be automatically copied to bin/radux-menu in the project directory (I felt like having a more specific name like this, but you may change it just to radux like I did).

From releases

Download the binary :)

Configuration

Config File Locations

Radux searches for configuration in this order:

1. ~/.config/radux/config.yaml (primary)
2. ./config.yaml (fallback, relative to current directory)

You can also specify a config file explicitly:

radux-menu --config /path/to/config.yaml

Basic (example) Configuration

# Geometry
radius: 120              # Distance from center to outer edge
inner-radius: 50         # Center circle radius

# Animation
animation-speed: 500     # Duration in milliseconds (or multiplier like "1.5x")

# Auto-close (optional)
auto-close-milliseconds: 5000  # Close after 5 seconds of inactivity (0 = disabled)

# Theme Colors
hover-color: "#4a90d9"
background-color: "#2c2c2c"
border-color: "#666666"
font-color: "#ffffff"
center-color: "#1a1a1a"
font-size: 16

# Menu Items
items:
  - label: "Browser"
    command: "brave"
    description: "Web Browser"
    hotkey: "b"
    priority: 5

  - label: "Terminal"
    command: "st"
    description: "Terminal\\nwith tmux"
    hotkey: "t"
    priority: 8

  - label: "Development"
    hotkey: "d"
    priority: 7
    background-color: "#2a3a2a"  # Custom color for this item
    submenu:
      - label: "VSCode"
        command: "code"
        hotkey: "Ctrl+Shift+V"
        priority: 10

      - label: "Neovim"
        command: "st -e nvim"
        hotkey: "Ctrl+Shift+N"

Item Attributes

Basic Attributes

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
label	string	Yes	Display text for the item
command	string	Yes*	Shell command to execute (not for submenus)
description	string	No	Tooltip text (supports \n for newlines)

Visual Attributes

Attribute	Type	Default	Description
icon	string	-	Path to SVG/PNG icon file
priority	int (0-10)	0	Button size (2% per priority level)
background-color	hex	global	Custom background color
hover-color	hex	global	Custom hover color
font-color	hex	global	Custom text color

Interaction Attributes

Attribute	Type	Default	Description
hotkey	string	-	Key combination (e.g., "b", "Ctrl+1")
notify	boolean	false	Send command stdout to notification

Submenu Attributes

To create a submenu, omit command and add submenu:

- label: "Parent Item"
  description: "Contains sub-items"
  hotkey: "p"
  submenu:
    - label: "Child 1"
      command: "command1"
    - label: "Child 2"
      command: "command2"

Color Inheritance: Submenu items inherit colors from their parent item if not overridden.

Hotkeys

Format

Hotkeys support modifier combinations:

• Single key: hotkey: "b"
• With modifiers: hotkey: "Ctrl+1"
• Multiple modifiers: hotkey: "Ctrl+Shift+V"

Supported modifiers:

• Ctrl or Control
• Alt
• Shift
• Super, Win, or Meta

Context-Aware Behavior

Hotkeys are context-specific - the same hotkey can be used in different menus:

items:
  - label: "Development"
    hotkey: "d"
    submenu:
      - label: "VSCode"
        hotkey: "v"        # "v" opens VSCode when in Development menu
        command: "code"

  - label: "Design"
    hotkey: "d"            # Same hotkey, different menu
    submenu:
      - label: "Figma"
        hotkey: "v"        # "v" opens Figma when in Design menu
        command: "figma"

Icons

Item Icons

Place your icons in ~/.config/radux/icons/ (or any path):

items:
  - label: "Browser"
    icon: "~/.config/radux/icons/brave.svg"
    command: "brave"

Supported formats:

• SVG (recommended)
• PNG
• Any image format supported by GdkPixbuf

Most-Used Highlighting

When an item in the root menu has been used 10+ times:

• It gets highlighted when the menu opens
• Press Enter to execute it quickly
• The highlight clears when you interact with other items

Keyboard Navigation

Key	Action
Escape	Go back / Close menu
Enter	Execute hovered or most-used item
Hotkey	Execute associated item

Command Line Usage

# Show help
radux-menu --help

# Open at mouse position
radux-menu

# Open at specific coordinates
radux-menu 500 300

# Use specific config file
radux-menu --config /path/to/config.yaml

# Use inline configuration
radux-menu --cli "Terminal:st:Terminal;Brave:brave:Browser"

Examples

Simple Menu

radius: 120
inner-radius: 50

items:
  - label: "Firefox"
    command: "firefox"
    hotkey: "f"

  - label: "Terminal"
    command: "st"
    hotkey: "t"

Nested Menu with Icons

radius: 150
inner-radius: 60
font-size: 18

# Global theme
hover-color: "#4a90d9"
background-color: "#2c2c2c"

items:
  - label: "Development"
    hotkey: "d"
    icon: "~/.config/radux/icons/dev.svg"
    background-color: "#1a3a1a"
    submenu:
      - label: "VSCode"
        icon: "~/.config/radux/icons/vscode.svg"
        command: "code"
        hotkey: "v"
        notify: true

      - label: "Terminal"
        icon: "~/.config/radux/icons/terminal.svg"
        command: "st -e tmux"
        hotkey: "t"

With Notifications

items:
  - label: "Check Updates"
    command: "checkupdates"
    notify: true  # Sends output to desktop notification

  - label: "System Info"
    command: "neofetch"
    notify: true

Troubleshooting

Menu Doesn't Appear

1. Check config file location: ~/.config/radux/config.yaml
2. Validate YAML syntax: yamllint ~/.config/radux/config.yaml
3. Check for syntax errors in terminal output

Hotkeys Not Working

1. Ensure hotkey is defined in config
2. Check for conflicting shortcuts in your WM/DE

Icons Not Displaying

1. Verify icon path is correct
2. Check file permissions
3. Ensure image format is supported (SVG/PNG)

Multi-Monitor Issues

• The menu uses X11 for screen detection
• Check xdotool is installed: which xdotool