Gram on Linux

See also Repology.

Distro Packages

The preferred installation method is adding the Gram repository for automatic updates. Alternatively, prebuilt .deb and .rpm packages are available as release assets at Gram releases.

Alpine

Alpine Linux provides official packages in the testing repository. Enable the testing repository, then run:

doas apk add gram@testing

Arch

Arch Linux provides official packages in the extra repository.

sudo pacman -S gram

Alternatively, build and install a development snapshot from the AUR: gram-git. Verify AUR package integrity yourself.

Debian/Ubuntu

Requires Debian 12 (Bookworm), Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble), or later.

# Add the repository key
sudo curl https://codeberg.org/api/packages/GramEditor/debian/repository.key -o /etc/apt/keyrings/forgejo-GramEditor.asc
# Add the repository
echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/forgejo-GramEditor.asc] https://codeberg.org/api/packages/GramEditor/debian gram release" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gram.list
# Update package cache and install
sudo apt update && sudo apt install gram

Fedora/RHEL/Rocky/Alma

Requires Fedora 42, RHEL 10.1, Rocky 10.1, Alma 10.1, or later.

Codeberg Repository

sudo dnf config-manager addrepo --from-repofile="https://codeberg.org/api/packages/GramEditor/rpm.repo"
sudo dnf install gram

[!NOTE]

RPM package signing is currently non-functional. To install Gram, set gpgcheck=0 in /etc/yum.repos.d/rpm.repo.

Terra Repository

sudo dnf install --nogpgcheck --repofrompath 'terra,https://repos.fyralabs.com/terra$releasever' terra-release && sudo dnf install gram

# For immutable/atomic editions
curl -fsSL https://github.com/terrapkg/subatomic-repos/raw/main/terra.repo | pkexec tee /etc/yum.repos.d/terra.repo
sudo rpm-ostree install terra-release && sudo dnf install gram

Gentoo

[!NOTE]

Gentoo packages are provided via Gram's overlay. For more information and installation methods, see Gram's overlay repository.

sudo eselect repository add gram git https://codeberg.org/GramEditor/gram-gentoo.git
sudo emerge --sync gram
sudo emerge -av app-editors/gram

Nix

See: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/tree/master/pkgs/by-name/gr/gram.

Modern Nix (Recommended)

# Temporary environment
nix shell nixpkgs#gram

# User profile installation
nix profile add nixpkgs#gram

NixOS Configuration

environment.systemPackages = [
  pkgs.gram
];

Legacy Nix (Channels)

# On NixOS
nix-env -iA nixos.gram

# On non-NixOS Linux
nix-env -iA nixpkgs.gram

OpenSUSE

Requires Leap 16 (or Tumbleweed/Slowroll) or later.

sudo zypper addrepo https://codeberg.org/api/packages/GramEditor/rpm.repo
sudo zypper install gram

[!NOTE]

RPM package signing is currently non-functional. To install Gram, set gpgcheck=0 in /etc/yum.repos.d/rpm.repo.

Solus

sudo eopkg install gram

Flatpak

Prebuilt Flatpaks are available as release assets at Gram releases. Install via:

flatpak install /path/to/app.liten.Gram-x86_64-${version}.flatpak

From Tarball

If a tarball is available for your architecture at the Gram releases repository:

1. Download the install.sh script.
2. Run the script.

./install.sh

This downloads and installs the latest Gram release to $HOME/.local. The installer registers the application launcher under share/applications and copies the bundled icons into share/icons/hicolor, so menus and running windows can resolve Gram's icon. With --prefix, the command symlink and our installation are installed under that prefix instead. For a system-wide installation, use the --prefix argument:

./install.sh --prefix /usr/local ./gram-linux-x86_64-VERSION.tar.gz

Replace VERSION with the release version. A nonstandard prefix must be included in the desktop's data search path for its launcher and icons to be discoverable.

From Source

Gram is open source. See developer notes for build instructions.

Troubleshooting

Graphics Issues

Gram fails to open a window

Gram requires a GPU and uses Vulkan for rendering. If Gram fails to load or perform well, Vulkan may be the cause.

A Gram failed to open a window: NoSupportedDeviceFound error indicates Vulkan cannot find a compatible GPU. Run vkcube command (usually in the vulkaninfo or vulkan-tools package) to troubleshoot.

[!NOTE]

Test both X11 and Wayland modes by running vkcube -m x11 or vkcube -m wayland. Some distributions use vkcube-wayland for Wayland.

This outputs your graphics setup and displays a rotating cube. If it fails, install Vulkan-compatible GPU drivers. Note that some hardware lacks Vulkan support.

Check which GPU Gram uses by searching for Using GPU: ... in ~/.local/share/gram/logs/Gram.log.

Errors like ERROR_INITIALIZATION_FAILED, GPU Crashed, or ERROR_SURFACE_LOST_KHR may be resolved by installing different GPU drivers or selecting a different GPU (see #14225).

• PRIME: On some systems, set /etc/prime-discrete to on (force discrete) or off (force integrated).
• DRI_PRIME: Set the environment variable DRI_PRIME=1 when running Gram to force the discrete GPU.
• AMD Long Lines: If Gram crashes when selecting long lines on an AMD GPU, set GRAM_PATH_SAMPLE_COUNT=0 (see #26143).
• AMD Broken Pipe: If you encounter a 'Broken Pipe' error on AMD, try using RADV or Mesa drivers (see #13880).
• AMDVLK: If Gram consistently fails to launch with the default amdvlk driver (e.g., on Omarchy, see #28851), remove amdvlk and lib32-amdvlk, and install vulkan-radeon instead (see #14141).

For more details, refer to the Arch Linux Vulkan guide.

Forcing Gram to use a specific GPU

Option A: Environment Variable Use GRAM_DEVICE_ID={device_id} to specify the GPU. Find the device ID via lspci -nn | grep VGA:

08:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GA104 [GeForce RTX 3070] [10de:2484] (rev a1)

The device ID is 2484 (hexadecimal). Force Gram to use it:

GRAM_DEVICE_ID=0x2484 gram

Export this variable in .bashrc or similar if defining it globally.

Option B: Mesa Device Select If using Mesa, list available GPUs:

MESA_VK_DEVICE_SELECT=list gram --foreground

Then export MESA_VK_DEVICE_SELECT=xxxx:yyyy to choose a specific device. To fallback to Xwayland, additionally export WAYLAND_DISPLAY="".

Option C: VKDeviceChooser Use vkdevicechooser.

Generating Debug Reports

Pass --system-specs to print system specifications:

gram --system-specs

The editor log is located at ~/.local/share/gram/logs/Gram.log. To generate a clean log for debugging graphics issues:

truncate -s 0 ~/.local/share/gram/logs/Gram.log # Clear the log file
GRAM_LOG=wgpu=info gram .
cat ~/.local/share/gram/logs/Gram.log
# Copy the output

Or, if the Gram CLI is set up:

GRAM_LOG=wgpu=info /path/to/gram/cli --foreground .
# Copy the output

Forcing X11 Scale Factor

On X11, Gram automatically detects the scale factor for high-DPI displays using this priority:

1. GPUI_X11_SCALE_FACTOR environment variable (if set)
2. Xft.dpi from the X resources database (xrdb)
3. Automatic detection via RandR (monitor resolution and physical size)

To customize the scale factor:

Check Current Scale Factor

Verify if Xft.dpi is set:

xrdb -query | grep Xft.dpi

If empty, Gram uses RandR for automatic calculation.

Option 1: Set Xft.dpi (X Resources Database)

Xft.dpi ensures consistent scaling across X11 applications. Edit or create ~/.Xresources:

vim ~/.Xresources

Add your desired DPI (e.g., 96 for 1x, 144 for 1.5x, 192 for 2x, 288 for 3x):

Xft.dpi: 96

Load the configuration:

xrdb -merge ~/.Xresources

Restart Gram.

Option 2: Use GPUI_X11_SCALE_FACTOR

This Gram-specific variable bypasses automatic detection.

GPUI_X11_SCALE_FACTOR=1.5 gram

Accepts decimal values (e.g., 1.25, 1.5, 2.0) or randr to force RandR detection even if Xft.dpi is set. Add to your shell profile or desktop entry to make it permanent.

Option 3: Adjust System-Wide RandR DPI

This changes the reported DPI for the entire X11 session. Add to .xprofile or .xinitrc:

xrandr --dpi 192

Replace 192 with your desired DPI.

Font Rendering Parameters

On Linux, Gram reads the following environment variables for font rendering:

• GRAM_FONTS_GAMMA: Corresponds to GetGamma values. Allowed range: [1.0, 2.2] (others are clipped). Default: 1.8.
• GRAM_FONTS_GRAYSCALE_ENHANCED_CONTRAST: Corresponds to GetGrayscaleEnhancedContrast values. Allowed range: [0.0, ∞) (others are clipped). Default: 1.0.