WTQ v2 and the Quake dropdown for arbitrary windows

From a Windows Terminal companion to a dropdown for any window

WTQ started as a companion program for the new Windows Terminal, and v2 is the rewrite that generalised it. The README describes the goal plainly: enable a Quake style dropdown for almost any application, on Windows 10 and 11 and on KDE Plasma 5 and 6 with Wayland only.

The showcase entries give the practical scope. On Windows 11 the README shows it with Windows Terminal, Q-Dir, Process Explorer and KeePassXC. On KDE Plasma 6 it shows WezTerm, Dolphin, System Monitor and KeePassXC. Those are the applications the author demonstrates, not a hard limit of the mechanism, but they are a reasonable guide to what the dropdown is designed for: tools you want a glance at without losing whatever is behind them.

One practical detail is easy to miss. The Linux support is stated as Wayland only, and the Flatpak section says explicitly that since WTQ only supports KDE Plasma on Linux, it is not a great fit for Flathub. That is a narrow target, and it is narrower than the Windows side.

A tray icon opens the settings file or the main window

Configuration is reached through the system tray. The README says that after starting WTQ an icon appears in the tray, and that the context menu carries a few useful buttons, illustrated with a screenshot of that menu.

Two entries matter. Open Settings File goes straight to the settings file, and Open Main Window opens a graphical configuration interface. The settings are JSON, and the README adds a detail that makes hand editing practical: a JSON schema file is generated next to the settings file, which gives supporting editors intellisense-like completion for the configuration keys. On Linux the configuration usually lives at `~/.config/wtq`, a path the README gives in the context of the uninstall script, which removes the installed application but leaves the configuration behind.

The repository carries a `schema/` directory at the top level and a `global.json` file, which is consistent with the schema being part of the build rather than something hand maintained elsewhere.

Installing on Windows with Scoop or WinGet

Windows has two documented package manager routes, and both are two commands.

With Scoop, the WTQ packages have moved to the Scoop extras bucket, so you add that bucket first and then install from it.

scoop bucket add extras
scoop install extras/wtq

Afterwards a shortcut named WTQ - Windows Terminal Quake is available, and the README says you can also just run `wtq` from a command line or from the Run dialog.

WinGet is the shorter path, and it names the package identifier directly.

winget install windows-terminal-quake

After running WinGet at least once, a start menu shortcut appears called WTQ - Main Window. The difference between the two routes matters for updates: both are package managers, so the upgrade path is the manager's own, and the README does not document a separate in-app update mechanism.

If you would rather not use a package manager, the README points at the latest release page and tells you to pick a zip for your platform.

Arch and Flatpak routes for KDE Plasma

Arch users get two AUR packages with a deliberate split. `wtq-bin` is the recommended one: latest stable release, pre-built, downloaded from GitHub Releases, quicker to install with minimal dependencies.

yay -S wtq-bin

or

paru -S wtq-bin

The other package, `wtq`, builds from source. The README describes it as the purist open source option, with a longer install and more build time dependencies.

yay -S wtq

Flatpak works, but through a separate remote hosted in the sister repository rather than on Flathub, and the README gives both a per-user and a system-wide form.

flatpak --user remote-add flyingpie https://flatpak.flyingpie.nl/index.flatpakrepo
flatpak --user install nl.flyingpie.wtq

The Flatpak is built entirely from source with GitHub Actions, in the open, using the Flatter action, and the repository is hosted on GitHub Pages.

The Linux one-liner and the source build

On Linux the README offers a shell script that downloads the latest version, installs it to `~/.local/share/wtq` and creates a `wtq.desktop` file. It needs webkit2gtk-4.1 installed, which the README marks as a requirement, and it runs as a one-liner.

bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/flyingpie/windows-terminal-quake/refs/heads/master/pkg/linux/install-or-upgrade-wtq.sh)

There is a matching uninstall script, and the README is explicit that it does not remove the configuration.

bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/flyingpie/windows-terminal-quake/refs/heads/master/pkg/linux/uninstall-wtq.sh)

Building from source needs the .Net 9 SDK, and on Linux the same webkit2gtk-4.1 requirement. You clone the repository and run the Install build target, which installs to `~/AppData/Local/wtq` on Windows and to `~/.local/share/wtq` on Linux, respecting the XDG spec.

git clone https://github.com/flyingpie/windows-terminal-quake.git
cd windows-terminal-quake

./build.ps1 Install
# OR
./build.sh Install

The build script also takes an Uninstall target and a help flag, plus separate BuildWindows and BuildLinux targets for compiling without installing.

./build.ps1|sh --help

./build.ps1|sh BuildWindows
./build.ps1|sh BuildLinux

Where WTQ is the wrong choice

The clearest boundary is the desktop environment on Linux. WTQ supports KDE Plasma 5 and 6, and Wayland only, so an X11 session or a GNOME desktop gets nothing from this project. The author's own Flatpak note says as much when it explains why the app is not on Flathub.

The second boundary is the difference between v1 and v2. The README says v1 was a companion program for the new Windows Terminal, before the rewrite that supported other apps, and it tells users that if you are missing a feature from v2, you can use v1 instead. That is an admission that v2 does not cover everything v1 did, and the repository keeps both paths alive for that reason.

Third, the dependency floor. On Linux, webkit2gtk-4.1 must be present for the package installs and for the source build, and the .Net 9 SDK is needed to build at all. A minimal container image or a locked down distribution may not have them, in which case the release zips are the only route.

Finally, the project is not a window manager. It draws a dropdown over applications and toggles that dropdown on and off. Anything beyond that, such as tiling behaviour or per window rules, is outside what the README describes.

Release tags, licences and where the code lives

The project is MIT licensed, with the terms in the LICENSE file at the repository root, and it is not archived. The last push was on 2026-10-22, which is more recent than any of the tagged releases.

The tag names are unusual and worth reading before you judge the release history. Alongside v2.2.0-pre2 from 2026-04-26 there are tags called vNsis from 2026-05-29 and vHorizontalAlignNone from 2026-09-15, which read like markers for individual packaging or layout changes rather than numbered releases. A maintainer uses them as release points for specific builds, so the presence of a tag does not map neatly onto a version number a user would recognise.

The source layout follows the packaging story. There are `pkg/` directories for platform packages, `scoop/` for the Windows Scoop manifest, a `docs/` directory that backs the documentation site at wtq.flyingpie.nl, and `src/` for the C# code, with `build.ps1`, `build.sh` and `docker-build.sh` at the root as the build entry points. The `global.json` file pins the.NET SDK version used by the build, which is how the toolchain requirement stays consistent across contributors and CI.

Editorial conclusion

WTQ fits a Windows user who wants a terminal that drops down over everything, and a KDE Plasma user on Wayland who wants the same behaviour in Dolphin, System Monitor or WezTerm. It does not fit GNOME, X11 or anyone who needs a feature that only exists in the older v1 companion app. Before installing on Linux, check that webkit2gtk-4.1 is present, since the README marks it as a requirement for the Linux packages and for building from source.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. flyingpie/windows-terminal-quake on GitHub
2. License: MIT
3. Project website
4. README
5. Releases