A keyboard-first Lichess client for tiling desktops. Rust daemon · Qt Quick UI · Stockfish analysis
Install · Guide · Keyboard · CLI & protocol · Development
Gambito brings Lichess to your desktop the way the rest of your setup already works: every action has a key, windows tile cleanly at any size, and the UI is a standalone Qt Quick application. A small Rust daemon holds the games, streams from Lichess and runs Stockfish, so any number of windows (or scripts) can share the same game.
- Keyboard first, mouse optional.
hjklor SAN/UCI to move,:for a command line,?for every key. Every button shows its key. - Made for tiling. Every page reflows from a full screen down to a narrow column, and scrolls instead of clipping; zen mode (
z) shows just the board. - Standalone Qt. Runs as a normal Linux desktop application, with desktop entries, window classes and Qt packaging.
- Your theme, live. Follows Omarchy and desktop
colors.tomlfiles out of the box, and accepts palettes generated by matugen, pywal or your own script. - A daemon like
emacs --daemon.gambito openattaches a window; closing it keeps your games, clocks and streams running. Open the same game in two windows, or drive it from the CLI. - Real analysis. Local Stockfish up to depth 245 with live updates and a best-move arrow, Lichess server analysis with
?!???marks, opening explorer, and analysis boards with saved variations. - Fair play built in. Engine, explorer and analysis are blocked by the daemon in your own live games.
| Play | Study | Watch |
|---|---|---|
| Seek opponents (Rapid, Classical, correspondence) | Stockfish evaluation with depth control | Lichess TV and tournament broadcasts |
| Lichess AI levels 1–8 | Lichess computer analysis per move | Open any TV game on your own board |
| Challenges, chat and takebacks | Opening explorer (Masters and Lichess) | Profile: ratings chart, history, accuracy |
| Local two-player games | Puzzle of the day and every puzzle theme | News from the Lichess blog |
| Desktop notifications | Analysis boards from any position or FEN | PGN export, NDJSON event stream |
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On Arch Linux (including Omarchy):
sudo pacman -S --needed rust cmake qt6-base qt6-declarative stockfish ttf-dejavu libnotify
git clone https://github.com/harbefas/gambito && cd gambito
cargo build --release
cmake -S standalone -B target/qt-build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build target/qt-build -j2
cmake --install target/qt-build --prefix "$HOME/.local"
./target/release/gambito opengambito open starts the daemon when needed and opens the lobby. Press Connect Lichess (l) to sign in through your browser; local games, TV, puzzles and news work without an account. To install it for your user (systemd service, launcher entry, Omarchy or Hyprland keybinding, theme), see Install.
Published builds can be installed with ./scripts/install.sh and updated later with gambito update; source checkouts can continue using git pull and cargo build --release.
| Key | Action | Key | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
s / c |
Find opponent / play computer | e |
Engine on/off |
hjkl + Enter |
Move a piece | i |
Type a move (Nf3, e2e4) |
[ ] |
Step through moves | a |
Analysis board from here |
t / o / z / p |
TV / openings / puzzles / profile | z (on a board) |
Zen mode |
d |
Study library | S (finished game) |
Save for study |
| Backspace | Back one level | Esc | Cancel |
| Home / End | Start / live position | Enter | Open / activate |
w |
New window | ? |
All keys |
Full list: docs/keyboard.md.
gambito seek 15 10 --rated # find an opponent
gambito move ABCDef12 Nf3 # play in any game
gambito challenge Friend --days 3 # correspondence challenge
gambito --json watch | jq . # every state change as NDJSONWindows and scripts talk to the same daemon over a Unix socket with one JSON object per line. See CLI & protocol.
Gambito is young and developed on Hyprland. Standard chess only (no variants or premoves), and Bullet/Blitz seeks are hidden because Lichess does not pair third-party apps in those pools. Known limitations.
Gambito is not affiliated with Lichess. It uses the public Lichess API and draws pieces with system font glyphs; no Lichess assets are copied.
Bug reports and small fixes are welcome: see CONTRIBUTING.md. Never paste a Lichess token into an issue.