A complete desktop environment switcher, profile manager, and system configuration backup tool for Lilith Linux, built with Rust and Slint.

Shapeshifter unifies the functionality of several desktop configuration tools into a single, native application:

• Create profiles that capture your current desktop environment, installed packages, and configuration files
• Apply profiles to restore settings, configs, and install missing packages
• Export profiles as portable .tar.gz archives for sharing or migration
• Import profiles from exported archives
• Delete profiles you no longer need
• Remote backup to HTTP endpoints or local/network paths

• Detect all installed desktop environments (X11 and Wayland sessions)
• Switch default session with proper .dmrc and AccountsService integration
• Automatic config conflict detection and backup before switching
• Config restoration when switching back to a previous DE

• Granular control over what gets included in profiles:
  • GTK/Icon/Cursor themes
  • Fonts and wallpapers
  • GNOME extensions, KDE Plasma configs, XFCE configs
  • dConf settings dumps
  • Terminal, shell, and editor configurations
  • Flatpak apps and their data
  • Desktop folder and custom paths
• Per-item enable/disable toggles with size estimates

Automatically fix common multi-desktop issues:

• Theme isolation — preserve icon, cursor, and GTK themes per-DE
• Display settings — keep scaling and dark/light mode separate per-DE
• Menu cleanup — remove duplicate entries and hide DE-specific apps from wrong menus
• Default apps — set appropriate default applications per-DE
• Autostart isolation — keep DE-specific startup apps separate

• Add source-to-destination folder backup pairs
• Run backups on demand with timestamped copies
• Enable/disable individual backup jobs
• Support for local, external drive, and network destinations

• Configurable interval-based auto-save of profiles
• Enable/disable with adjustable frequency (1–168 hours)
• Manual "Run Now" trigger

• Remote backup target URL or file path
• External backup location for folder backups
• Auto-save configuration
• Profile storage location management

# Install Rust
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source $HOME/.cargo/env

# Install system dependencies (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential libfontconfig1-dev libxcb-render0-dev \
    libxcb-shape0-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev libxkbcommon-dev libssl-dev \
    libgtk-3-dev

cargo build --release

./target/release/shapeshifter

Or for development:

cargo run

shapeshifter/
├── Cargo.toml           # Rust dependencies
├── build.rs             # Slint build script
├── src/
│   └── main.rs          # Application logic
├── ui/
│   └── appwindow.slint  # Slint UI definition
└── target/              # Build output

Shapeshifter stores its configuration at ~/.config/shapeshifter/config.json:

{
  "remote_url": "",
  "profiles_dir": "/home/user/.config/shapeshifter/profiles",
  "backup_items": [...],
  "conflict_fixes": [...],
  "folder_backups": [],
  "scheduled_save": {
    "enabled": false,
    "interval_hours": 24,
    "last_run": ""
  },
  "external_backup_path": ""
}

Profiles are stored at ~/.config/shapeshifter/profiles/<name>/:

• profile.json — Profile metadata and package list
• configs.tar.gz — Archived configuration files

1. Navigate to Profiles in the sidebar
2. Click + New Profile
3. Enter a name and optionally enable remote backup
4. Click Create Profile

1. Go to Profiles
2. Click Apply on the desired profile
3. The app restores configs, installs missing packages, and sets the default DE

1. Go to Desktop Switcher
2. Click Switch next to your target DE
3. Log out and back in to complete the switch

1. Go to Backup Items
2. Toggle items on/off to control what gets included in profiles
3. Size estimates show how much space each item uses

1. Go to DE Conflict Fixes
2. Enable the fixes you want
3. Click Apply Selected Fixes

1. Go to Folder Backup
2. Enter source and destination paths
3. Click + Add to create a backup job
4. Click Run to execute a backup

1. Go to Settings
2. Configure remote backup URL, auto-save interval, and external backup path

Install the desktop launcher:

cp shapeshifter.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/
# Edit Exec path to match your installation

See LICENSE file for details.