xshadertoy(6) XScreenSaver manual xshadertoy(6)

xshadertoy - screen saver for Shadertoy GLSL programs.

xshadertoy [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window] [--root] [--delay number] [--speed number] [--scale number] [--automouse] [--automouse-speed number] [--program-common file] [--program0 file] [--program1 file] [--program2 file] [--program3 file] [--program4 file] [--fps]

Runs arbitrary GLSL programs that use the shadertoy.com API.

Specify which visual to use. Legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual.
Draw on a newly-created window. This is the default.
Draw on the root window.
Per-frame delay, in microseconds. Default: 20000 (0.02 seconds).
Animation speed. 2.0 means twice as fast, 0.5 means half as fast.
Frame buffer resolution. 0.5 means halve the resolution for better performance but lower quality output. Default 1.0, full quality.
GLSL code, each as an input to the previous.
GLSL code to prepend to each program.
Whether to pretend to drag the mouse around sinusoidally. Default false.
How fast. Default 1.0.
Whether to show a frames-per-second display at the bottom of the screen.

to get the default host and display number.
to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
The window ID to use with --root.

X(1), xscreensaver(1), https://www.shadertoy.com/

Copyright © 2025 by Jamie Zawinski. Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. No representations are made about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Jamie Zawinski.

6.15 (30-Mar-2026) X Version 11