2503 lines
89 KiB
Plaintext
2503 lines
89 KiB
Plaintext
i3 User’s Guide
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===============
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Michael Stapelberg <michael@i3wm.org>
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March 2013
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This document contains all the information you need to configure and use the i3
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window manager. If it does not, please check http://faq.i3wm.org/ first, then
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contact us on IRC (preferred) or post your question(s) on the mailing list.
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== Default keybindings
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For the "too long; didn’t read" people, here is an overview of the default
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keybindings (click to see the full size image):
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*Keys to use with $mod (Alt):*
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image:keyboard-layer1.png["Keys to use with $mod (Alt)",width=600,link="keyboard-layer1.png"]
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*Keys to use with Shift+$mod:*
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image:keyboard-layer2.png["Keys to use with Shift+$mod",width=600,link="keyboard-layer2.png"]
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The red keys are the modifiers you need to press (by default), the blue keys
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are your homerow.
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Note that when starting i3 without a config file, i3-config-wizard will offer
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you to create a config file in which the key positions (!) match what you see
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in the image above, regardless of the keyboard layout you are using. If you
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prefer to use a config file where the key letters match what you are seeing
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above, just decline i3-config-wizard’s offer and base your config on
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+/etc/i3/config+.
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== Using i3
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Throughout this guide, the keyword +$mod+ will be used to refer to the
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configured modifier. This is the Alt key (Mod1) by default, with the Windows
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key (Mod4) being a popular alternative.
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=== Opening terminals and moving around
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One very basic operation is opening a new terminal. By default, the keybinding
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for this is $mod+Enter, that is Alt+Enter in the default configuration. By
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pressing $mod+Enter, a new terminal will be opened. It will fill the whole
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space available on your screen.
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image:single_terminal.png[Single terminal]
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If you now open another terminal, i3 will place it next to the current one,
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splitting the screen size in half. Depending on your monitor, i3 will put the
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created window beside the existing window (on wide displays) or below the
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existing window (rotated displays).
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image:two_terminals.png[Two terminals]
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To move the focus between the two terminals, you can use the direction keys
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which you may know from the editor +vi+. However, in i3, your homerow is used
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for these keys (in +vi+, the keys are shifted to the left by one for
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compatibility with most keyboard layouts). Therefore, +$mod+J+ is left, +$mod+K+
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is down, +$mod+L+ is up and `$mod+;` is right. So, to switch between the
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terminals, use +$mod+K+ or +$mod+L+. Of course, you can also use the arrow keys.
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At the moment, your workspace is split (it contains two terminals) in a
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specific direction (horizontal by default). Every window can be split
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horizontally or vertically again, just like the workspace. The terminology is
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"window" for a container that actually contains an X11 window (like a terminal
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or browser) and "split container" for containers that consist of one or more
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windows.
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TODO: picture of the tree
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To split a window vertically, press +$mod+v+ before you create the new window.
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To split it horizontally, press +$mod+h+.
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=== Changing the container layout
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A split container can have one of the following layouts:
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splith/splitv::
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Windows are sized so that every window gets an equal amount of space in the
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container. splith distributes the windows horizontally (windows are right next
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to each other), splitv distributes them vertically (windows are on top of each
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other).
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stacking::
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Only the focused window in the container is displayed. You get a list of
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windows at the top of the container.
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tabbed::
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The same principle as +stacking+, but the list of windows at the top is only
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a single line which is vertically split.
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To switch modes, press +$mod+e+ for splith/splitv (it toggles), +$mod+s+ for
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stacking and +$mod+w+ for tabbed.
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image:modes.png[Container modes]
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=== Toggling fullscreen mode for a window
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To display a window in fullscreen mode or to go out of fullscreen mode again,
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press +$mod+f+.
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There is also a global fullscreen mode in i3 in which the client will span all
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available outputs (the command is +fullscreen toggle global+).
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=== Opening other applications
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Aside from opening applications from a terminal, you can also use the handy
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+dmenu+ which is opened by pressing +$mod+d+ by default. Just type the name
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(or a part of it) of the application which you want to open. The corresponding
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application has to be in your +$PATH+ for this to work.
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Additionally, if you have applications you open very frequently, you can
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create a keybinding for starting the application directly. See the section
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<<configuring>> for details.
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=== Closing windows
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If an application does not provide a mechanism for closing (most applications
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provide a menu, the escape key or a shortcut like +Control+W+ to close), you
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can press +$mod+Shift+q+ to kill a window. For applications which support
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the WM_DELETE protocol, this will correctly close the application (saving
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any modifications or doing other cleanup). If the application doesn’t support
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the WM_DELETE protocol your X server will kill the window and the behaviour
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depends on the application.
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=== Using workspaces
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Workspaces are an easy way to group a set of windows. By default, you are on
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the first workspace, as the bar on the bottom left indicates. To switch to
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another workspace, press +$mod+num+ where +num+ is the number of the workspace
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you want to use. If the workspace does not exist yet, it will be created.
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A common paradigm is to put the web browser on one workspace, communication
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applications (+mutt+, +irssi+, ...) on another one, and the ones with which you
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work, on the third one. Of course, there is no need to follow this approach.
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If you have multiple screens, a workspace will be created on each screen at
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startup. If you open a new workspace, it will be bound to the screen you
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created it on. When you switch to a workspace on another screen, i3 will set
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focus to that screen.
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=== Moving windows to workspaces
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To move a window to another workspace, simply press +$mod+Shift+num+ where
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+num+ is (like when switching workspaces) the number of the target workspace.
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Similarly to switching workspaces, the target workspace will be created if
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it does not yet exist.
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=== Resizing
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The easiest way to resize a container is by using the mouse: Grab the border
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and move it to the wanted size.
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See <<resizingconfig>> for how to configure i3 to be able to resize
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columns/rows with your keyboard.
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=== Restarting i3 inplace
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To restart i3 in place (and thus get into a clean state if there is a bug, or
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to upgrade to a newer version of i3) you can use +$mod+Shift+r+.
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=== Exiting i3
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To cleanly exit i3 without killing your X server, you can use +$mod+Shift+e+.
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By default, a dialog will ask you to confirm if you really want to quit.
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=== Floating
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Floating mode is the opposite of tiling mode. The position and size of
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a window are not managed automatically by i3, but manually by
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you. Using this mode violates the tiling paradigm but can be useful
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for some corner cases like "Save as" dialog windows, or toolbar
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windows (GIMP or similar). Those windows usually set the appropriate
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hint and are opened in floating mode by default.
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You can toggle floating mode for a window by pressing +$mod+Shift+Space+. By
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dragging the window’s titlebar with your mouse you can move the window
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around. By grabbing the borders and moving them you can resize the window. You
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can also do that by using the <<floating_modifier>>. Another way to resize
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floating windows using the mouse is to right-click on the titlebar and drag.
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For resizing floating windows with your keyboard, see <<resizingconfig>>.
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Floating windows are always on top of tiling windows.
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== Tree
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i3 stores all information about the X11 outputs, workspaces and layout of the
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windows on them in a tree. The root node is the X11 root window, followed by
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the X11 outputs, then dock areas and a content container, then workspaces and
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finally the windows themselves. In previous versions of i3 we had multiple lists
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(of outputs, workspaces) and a table for each workspace. That approach turned
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out to be complicated to use (snapping), understand and implement.
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=== The tree consists of Containers
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The building blocks of our tree are so called +Containers+. A +Container+ can
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host a window (meaning an X11 window, one that you can actually see and use,
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like a browser). Alternatively, it could contain one or more +Containers+. A
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simple example is the workspace: When you start i3 with a single monitor, a
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single workspace and you open two terminal windows, you will end up with a tree
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like this:
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image::tree-layout2.png["layout2",float="right"]
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image::tree-shot4.png["shot4",title="Two terminals on standard workspace"]
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=== Orientation and Split Containers
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[[OrientationSplit]]
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It is only natural to use so-called +Split Containers+ in order to build a
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layout when using a tree as data structure. In i3, every +Container+ has an
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orientation (horizontal, vertical or unspecified) and the orientation depends
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on the layout the container is in (vertical for splitv and stacking, horizontal
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for splith and tabbed). So, in our example with the workspace, the default
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layout of the workspace +Container+ is splith (most monitors are widescreen
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nowadays). If you change the layout to splitv (+$mod+v+ in the default config)
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and *then* open two terminals, i3 will configure your windows like this:
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image::tree-shot2.png["shot2",title="Vertical Workspace Orientation"]
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An interesting new feature of i3 since version 4 is the ability to split anything:
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Let’s assume you have two terminals on a workspace (with splith layout, that is
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horizontal orientation), focus is on the right terminal. Now you want to open
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another terminal window below the current one. If you would just open a new
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terminal window, it would show up to the right due to the splith layout.
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Instead, press +$mod+v+ to split the container with the splitv layout (to
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open a +Horizontal Split Container+, use +$mod+h+). Now you can open a new
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terminal and it will open below the current one:
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image::tree-layout1.png["Layout",float="right"]
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image::tree-shot1.png["shot",title="Vertical Split Container"]
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unfloat::[]
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You probably guessed it already: There is no limit on how deep your hierarchy
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of splits can be.
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=== Focus parent
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Let’s stay with our example from above. We have a terminal on the left and two
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vertically split terminals on the right, focus is on the bottom right one. When
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you open a new terminal, it will open below the current one.
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So, how can you open a new terminal window to the *right* of the current one?
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The solution is to use +focus parent+, which will focus the +Parent Container+ of
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the current +Container+. In this case, you would focus the +Vertical Split
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Container+ which is *inside* the horizontally oriented workspace. Thus, now new
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windows will be opened to the right of the +Vertical Split Container+:
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image::tree-shot3.png["shot3",title="Focus parent, then open new terminal"]
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=== Implicit containers
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In some cases, i3 needs to implicitly create a container to fulfill your
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command.
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One example is the following scenario: You start i3 with a single monitor and a
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single workspace on which you open three terminal windows. All these terminal
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windows are directly attached to one node inside i3’s layout tree, the
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workspace node. By default, the workspace node’s orientation is +horizontal+.
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Now you move one of these terminals down (+$mod+Shift+k+ by default). The
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workspace node’s orientation will be changed to +vertical+. The terminal window
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you moved down is directly attached to the workspace and appears on the bottom
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of the screen. A new (horizontal) container was created to accommodate the
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other two terminal windows. You will notice this when switching to tabbed mode
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(for example). You would end up having one tab with a representation of the split
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container (e.g., "H[urxvt firefox]") and the other one being the terminal window
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you moved down.
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[[configuring]]
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== Configuring i3
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This is where the real fun begins ;-). Most things are very dependent on your
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ideal working environment so we can’t make reasonable defaults for them.
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While not using a programming language for the configuration, i3 stays
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quite flexible in regards to the things you usually want your window manager
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to do.
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For example, you can configure bindings to jump to specific windows,
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you can set specific applications to start on specific workspaces, you can
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automatically start applications, you can change the colors of i3, and you
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can bind your keys to do useful things.
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To change the configuration of i3, copy +/etc/i3/config+ to +\~/.i3/config+
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(or +~/.config/i3/config+ if you like the XDG directory scheme) and edit it
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with a text editor.
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On first start (and on all following starts, unless you have a configuration
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file), i3 will offer you to create a configuration file. You can tell the
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wizard to use either Alt (Mod1) or Windows (Mod4) as modifier in the config
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file. Also, the created config file will use the key symbols of your current
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keyboard layout. To start the wizard, use the command +i3-config-wizard+.
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Please note that you must not have +~/.i3/config+, otherwise the wizard will
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exit.
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=== Comments
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It is possible and recommended to use comments in your configuration file to
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properly document your setup for later reference. Comments are started with
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a # and can only be used at the beginning of a line:
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*Examples*:
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-------------------
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# This is a comment
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-------------------
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[[fonts]]
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=== Fonts
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i3 has support for both X core fonts and FreeType fonts (through Pango) to
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render window titles.
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To generate an X core font description, you can use +xfontsel(1)+. To see
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special characters (Unicode), you need to use a font which supports the
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ISO-10646 encoding.
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A FreeType font description is composed by a font family, a style, a weight,
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a variant, a stretch and a size.
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FreeType fonts support right-to-left rendering and contain often more
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Unicode glyphs than X core fonts.
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If i3 cannot open the configured font, it will output an error in the logfile
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and fall back to a working font.
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*Syntax*:
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------------------------------
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font <X core font description>
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font pango:<family list> [<style options>] <size>
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------------------------------
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*Examples*:
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--------------------------------------------------------------
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font -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--13-120-75-75-C-70-iso10646-1
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font pango:DejaVu Sans Mono 10
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font pango:DejaVu Sans Mono, Terminus Bold Semi-Condensed 11
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font pango:Terminus 11px
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--------------------------------------------------------------
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[[keybindings]]
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=== Keyboard bindings
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A keyboard binding makes i3 execute a command (see below) upon pressing a
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specific key. i3 allows you to bind either on keycodes or on keysyms (you can
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also mix your bindings, though i3 will not protect you from overlapping ones).
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* A keysym (key symbol) is a description for a specific symbol, like "a"
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or "b", but also more strange ones like "underscore" instead of "_". These
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are the ones you use in Xmodmap to remap your keys. To get the current
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mapping of your keys, use +xmodmap -pke+. To interactively enter a key and
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see what keysym it is configured to, use +xev+.
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* Keycodes do not need to have a symbol assigned (handy for custom vendor
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hotkeys on some notebooks) and they will not change their meaning as you
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switch to a different keyboard layout (when using +xmodmap+).
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My recommendation is: If you often switch keyboard layouts but you want to keep
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your bindings in the same physical location on the keyboard, use keycodes.
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If you don’t switch layouts, and want a clean and simple config file, use
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keysyms.
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Some tools (such as +import+ or +xdotool+) might be unable to run upon a
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KeyPress event, because the keyboard/pointer is still grabbed. For these
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situations, the +--release+ flag can be used, which will execute the command
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after the keys have been released.
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*Syntax*:
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----------------------------------
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bindsym [--release] [<Group>+][<Modifiers>+]<keysym> command
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bindcode [--release] [<Group>+][<Modifiers>+]<keycode> command
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----------------------------------
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*Examples*:
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--------------------------------
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# Fullscreen
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bindsym $mod+f fullscreen toggle
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# Restart
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bindsym $mod+Shift+r restart
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# Notebook-specific hotkeys
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bindcode 214 exec --no-startup-id /home/michael/toggle_beamer.sh
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# Simulate ctrl+v upon pressing $mod+x
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bindsym --release $mod+x exec --no-startup-id xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+v
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# Take a screenshot upon pressing $mod+x (select an area)
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bindsym --release $mod+x exec --no-startup-id import /tmp/latest-screenshot.png
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--------------------------------
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Available Modifiers:
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Mod1-Mod5, Shift, Control::
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Standard modifiers, see +xmodmap(1)+
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Group1, Group2, Group3, Group4::
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When using multiple keyboard layouts (e.g. with `setxkbmap -layout us,ru`), you
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can specify in which XKB group (also called “layout”) a keybinding should be
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active. By default, keybindings are translated in Group1 and are active in all
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groups. If you want to override keybindings in one of your layouts, specify the
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corresponding group. For backwards compatibility, the group “Mode_switch” is an
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alias for Group2.
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[[mousebindings]]
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=== Mouse bindings
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A mouse binding makes i3 execute a command upon pressing a specific mouse
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button in the scope of the clicked container (see <<command_criteria>>). You
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can configure mouse bindings in a similar way to key bindings.
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*Syntax*:
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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bindsym [--release] [--border] [--whole-window] [<Modifiers>+]button<n> command
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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By default, the binding will only run when you click on the titlebar of the
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window. If the +--release+ flag is given, it will run when the mouse button
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is released.
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If the +--whole-window+ flag is given, the binding will also run when any part
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of the window is clicked, with the exception of the border. To have a bind run
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when the border is clicked, specify the +--border+ flag.
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*Examples*:
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--------------------------------
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# The middle button over a titlebar kills the window
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bindsym --release button2 kill
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# The middle button and a modifer over any part of the window kills the window
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bindsym --whole-window $mod+button2 kill
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# The right button toggles floating
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bindsym button3 floating toggle
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bindsym $mod+button3 floating toggle
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# The side buttons move the window around
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bindsym button9 move left
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bindsym button8 move right
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--------------------------------
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[[floating_modifier]]
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=== The floating modifier
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||
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To move floating windows with your mouse, you can either grab their titlebar
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or configure the so called floating modifier which you can then press and
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click anywhere in the window itself to move it. The most common setup is to
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use the same key you use for managing windows (Mod1 for example). Then
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you can press Mod1, click into a window using your left mouse button, and drag
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it to the position you want.
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When holding the floating modifier, you can resize a floating window by
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pressing the right mouse button on it and moving around while holding it. If
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you hold the shift button as well, the resize will be proportional (the aspect
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ratio will be preserved).
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*Syntax*:
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--------------------------------
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floating_modifier <Modifier>
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--------------------------------
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*Example*:
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--------------------------------
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floating_modifier Mod1
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--------------------------------
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=== Constraining floating window size
|
||
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||
The maximum and minimum dimensions of floating windows can be specified. If
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||
either dimension of +floating_maximum_size+ is specified as -1, that dimension
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||
will be unconstrained with respect to its maximum value. If either dimension of
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||
+floating_maximum_size+ is undefined, or specified as 0, i3 will use a default
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value to constrain the maximum size. +floating_minimum_size+ is treated in a
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manner analogous to +floating_maximum_size+.
|
||
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||
*Syntax*:
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||
----------------------------------------
|
||
floating_minimum_size <width> x <height>
|
||
floating_maximum_size <width> x <height>
|
||
----------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
--------------------------------------
|
||
floating_minimum_size 75 x 50
|
||
floating_maximum_size -1 x -1
|
||
--------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Orientation for new workspaces
|
||
|
||
New workspaces get a reasonable default orientation: Wide-screen monitors
|
||
(anything wider than high) get horizontal orientation, rotated monitors
|
||
(anything higher than wide) get vertical orientation.
|
||
|
||
With the +default_orientation+ configuration directive, you can override that
|
||
behavior.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
--------------------------------------------
|
||
default_orientation horizontal|vertical|auto
|
||
--------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
default_orientation vertical
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Layout mode for new containers
|
||
|
||
This option determines in which mode new containers on workspace level will
|
||
start.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------------------------------------
|
||
workspace_layout default|stacking|tabbed
|
||
---------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
---------------------
|
||
workspace_layout tabbed
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Border style for new windows
|
||
|
||
This option determines which border style new windows will have. The default is
|
||
+normal+. Note that new_float applies only to windows which are starting out as
|
||
floating windows, e.g., dialog windows, but not windows that are floated later on.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------------------------------------
|
||
new_window normal|none|pixel
|
||
new_window normal|pixel <px>
|
||
new_float normal|none|pixel
|
||
new_float normal|pixel <px>
|
||
---------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
---------------------
|
||
new_window pixel
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
The "normal" and "pixel" border styles support an optional border width in
|
||
pixels:
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
---------------------
|
||
# The same as new_window none
|
||
new_window pixel 0
|
||
|
||
# A 3 px border
|
||
new_window pixel 3
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
|
||
=== Hiding vertical borders
|
||
|
||
You can hide vertical borders adjacent to the screen edges using
|
||
+hide_edge_borders+. This is useful if you are using scrollbars, or do not want
|
||
to waste even two pixels in displayspace. Default is none.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-----------------------------------------------
|
||
hide_edge_borders none|vertical|horizontal|both
|
||
-----------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
----------------------
|
||
hide_edge_borders vertical
|
||
----------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Arbitrary commands for specific windows (for_window)
|
||
|
||
[[for_window]]
|
||
|
||
With the +for_window+ command, you can let i3 execute any command when it
|
||
encounters a specific window. This can be used to set windows to floating or to
|
||
change their border style, for example.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-------------------------------
|
||
for_window <criteria> <command>
|
||
-------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
------------------------------------------------
|
||
# enable floating mode for all XTerm windows
|
||
for_window [class="XTerm"] floating enable
|
||
|
||
# Make all urxvts use a 1-pixel border:
|
||
for_window [class="urxvt"] border pixel 1
|
||
|
||
# A less useful, but rather funny example:
|
||
# makes the window floating as soon as I change
|
||
# directory to ~/work
|
||
for_window [title="x200: ~/work"] floating enable
|
||
------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
The valid criteria are the same as those for commands, see <<command_criteria>>.
|
||
|
||
=== Don't focus window upon opening
|
||
|
||
[[no_focus]]
|
||
|
||
When a new window appears, it will be focused. The +no_focus+ directive allows preventing
|
||
this from happening and can be used in combination with <<command_criteria>>.
|
||
|
||
Note that this does not apply to all cases, e.g., when feeding data into a running application
|
||
causing it to request being focused. To configure the behavior in such cases, refer to
|
||
<<focus_on_window_activation>>.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-------------------
|
||
no_focus <criteria>
|
||
-------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
-------------------------------
|
||
no_focus [window_role="pop-up"]
|
||
-------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Variables
|
||
|
||
As you learned in the section about keyboard bindings, you will have
|
||
to configure lots of bindings containing modifier keys. If you want to save
|
||
yourself some typing and be able to change the modifier you use later,
|
||
variables can be handy.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-------------------
|
||
set $<name> <value>
|
||
-------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
------------------------
|
||
set $m Mod1
|
||
bindsym $m+Shift+r restart
|
||
------------------------
|
||
|
||
Variables are directly replaced in the file when parsing. Variables expansion
|
||
is not recursive so it is not possible to define a variable with a value
|
||
containing another variable. There is no fancy handling and there are
|
||
absolutely no plans to change this. If you need a more dynamic configuration
|
||
you should create a little script which generates a configuration file and run
|
||
it before starting i3 (for example in your +~/.xsession+ file).
|
||
|
||
=== Automatically putting clients on specific workspaces
|
||
|
||
[[assign_workspace]]
|
||
|
||
To automatically make a specific window show up on a specific workspace, you
|
||
can use an *assignment*. You can match windows by using any criteria,
|
||
see <<command_criteria>>. It is recommended that you match on window classes
|
||
(and instances, when appropriate) instead of window titles whenever possible
|
||
because some applications first create their window, and then worry about
|
||
setting the correct title. Firefox with Vimperator comes to mind. The window
|
||
starts up being named Firefox, and only when Vimperator is loaded does the
|
||
title change. As i3 will get the title as soon as the application maps the
|
||
window (mapping means actually displaying it on the screen), you’d need to have
|
||
to match on 'Firefox' in this case.
|
||
|
||
Assignments are processed by i3 in the order in which they appear in the config
|
||
file. The first one which matches the window wins and later assignments are not
|
||
considered.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
assign <criteria> [→] [workspace] <workspace>
|
||
------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
----------------------
|
||
# Assign URxvt terminals to workspace 2
|
||
assign [class="URxvt"] 2
|
||
|
||
# Same thing, but more precise (exact match instead of substring)
|
||
assign [class="^URxvt$"] 2
|
||
|
||
# Same thing, but with a beautiful arrow :)
|
||
assign [class="^URxvt$"] → 2
|
||
|
||
# Assignment to a named workspace
|
||
assign [class="^URxvt$"] → work
|
||
|
||
# Start urxvt -name irssi
|
||
assign [class="^URxvt$" instance="^irssi$"] → 3
|
||
----------------------
|
||
|
||
Note that the arrow is not required, it just looks good :-). If you decide to
|
||
use it, it has to be a UTF-8 encoded arrow, not `->` or something like that.
|
||
|
||
To get the class and instance, you can use +xprop+. After clicking on the
|
||
window, you will see the following output:
|
||
|
||
*xprop*:
|
||
-----------------------------------
|
||
WM_CLASS(STRING) = "irssi", "URxvt"
|
||
-----------------------------------
|
||
|
||
The first part of the WM_CLASS is the instance ("irssi" in this example), the
|
||
second part is the class ("URxvt" in this example).
|
||
|
||
Should you have any problems with assignments, make sure to check the i3
|
||
logfile first (see http://i3wm.org/docs/debugging.html). It includes more
|
||
details about the matching process and the window’s actual class, instance and
|
||
title when starting up.
|
||
|
||
Note that if you want to start an application just once on a specific
|
||
workspace, but you don’t want to assign all instances of it permanently, you
|
||
can make use of i3’s startup-notification support (see <<exec>>) in your config
|
||
file in the following way:
|
||
|
||
*Start iceweasel on workspace 3 (once)*:
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
# Start iceweasel on workspace 3, then switch back to workspace 1
|
||
# (Being a command-line utility, i3-msg does not support startup notifications,
|
||
# hence the exec --no-startup-id.)
|
||
# (Starting iceweasel with i3’s exec command is important in order to make i3
|
||
# create a startup notification context, without which the iceweasel window(s)
|
||
# cannot be matched onto the workspace on which the command was started.)
|
||
exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'workspace 3; exec iceweasel; workspace 1'
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Automatically starting applications on i3 startup
|
||
|
||
By using the +exec+ keyword outside a keybinding, you can configure
|
||
which commands will be performed by i3 on initial startup. +exec+
|
||
commands will not run when restarting i3, if you need a command to run
|
||
also when restarting i3 you should use the +exec_always+
|
||
keyword. These commands will be run in order.
|
||
|
||
See <<command_chaining>> for details on the special meaning of +;+ (semicolon)
|
||
and +,+ (comma): they chain commands together in i3, so you need to use quoted
|
||
strings if they appear in your command.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------------------------------
|
||
exec [--no-startup-id] <command>
|
||
exec_always [--no-startup-id] <command>
|
||
---------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
--------------------------------
|
||
exec chromium
|
||
exec_always ~/my_script.sh
|
||
|
||
# Execute the terminal emulator urxvt, which is not yet startup-notification aware.
|
||
exec --no-startup-id urxvt
|
||
--------------------------------
|
||
|
||
The flag --no-startup-id is explained in <<exec>>.
|
||
|
||
[[workspace_screen]]
|
||
|
||
=== Automatically putting workspaces on specific screens
|
||
|
||
If you assign clients to workspaces, it might be handy to put the
|
||
workspaces on specific screens. Also, the assignment of workspaces to screens
|
||
will determine which workspace i3 uses for a new screen when adding screens
|
||
or when starting (e.g., by default it will use 1 for the first screen, 2 for
|
||
the second screen and so on).
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-------------------------------------
|
||
workspace <workspace> output <output>
|
||
-------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
The 'output' is the name of the RandR output you attach your screen to. On a
|
||
laptop, you might have VGA1 and LVDS1 as output names. You can see the
|
||
available outputs by running +xrandr --current+.
|
||
|
||
If you use named workspaces, they must be quoted:
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
---------------------------
|
||
workspace 1 output LVDS1
|
||
workspace 5 output VGA1
|
||
workspace "2: vim" output VGA1
|
||
---------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Changing colors
|
||
|
||
You can change all colors which i3 uses to draw the window decorations.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
------------------------------------------------------
|
||
<colorclass> <border> <background> <text> <indicator>
|
||
------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Where colorclass can be one of:
|
||
|
||
client.focused::
|
||
A client which currently has the focus.
|
||
client.focused_inactive::
|
||
A client which is the focused one of its container, but it does not have
|
||
the focus at the moment.
|
||
client.unfocused::
|
||
A client which is not the focused one of its container.
|
||
client.urgent::
|
||
A client which has its urgency hint activated.
|
||
client.placeholder::
|
||
Background and text color are used to draw placeholder window contents
|
||
(when restoring layouts). Border and indicator are ignored.
|
||
client.background::
|
||
Background color which will be used to paint the background of the
|
||
client window on top of which the client will be rendered. Only clients
|
||
which do not cover the whole area of this window expose the color. Note
|
||
that this colorclass only takes a single color.
|
||
|
||
Colors are in HTML hex format (#rrggbb), see the following example:
|
||
|
||
*Examples (default colors)*:
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------
|
||
# class border backgr. text indicator
|
||
client.focused #4c7899 #285577 #ffffff #2e9ef4
|
||
client.focused_inactive #333333 #5f676a #ffffff #484e50
|
||
client.unfocused #333333 #222222 #888888 #292d2e
|
||
client.urgent #2f343a #900000 #ffffff #900000
|
||
client.placeholder #000000 #0c0c0c #ffffff #000000
|
||
|
||
client.background #ffffff
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Note that for the window decorations, the color around the child window is the
|
||
background color, and the border color is only the two thin lines at the top of
|
||
the window.
|
||
|
||
The indicator color is used for indicating where a new window will be opened.
|
||
For horizontal split containers, the right border will be painted in indicator
|
||
color, for vertical split containers, the bottom border. This only applies to
|
||
single windows within a split container, which are otherwise indistinguishable
|
||
from single windows outside of a split container.
|
||
|
||
=== Interprocess communication
|
||
|
||
i3 uses Unix sockets to provide an IPC interface. This allows third-party
|
||
programs to get information from i3, such as the current workspaces
|
||
(to display a workspace bar), and to control i3.
|
||
|
||
The IPC socket is enabled by default and will be created in
|
||
+/tmp/i3-%u.XXXXXX/ipc-socket.%p+ where +%u+ is your UNIX username, +%p+ is
|
||
the PID of i3 and XXXXXX is a string of random characters from the portable
|
||
filename character set (see mkdtemp(3)).
|
||
|
||
You can override the default path through the environment-variable +I3SOCK+ or
|
||
by specifying the +ipc-socket+ directive. This is discouraged, though, since i3
|
||
does the right thing by default. If you decide to change it, it is strongly
|
||
recommended to set this to a location in your home directory so that no other
|
||
user can create that directory.
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
ipc-socket ~/.i3/i3-ipc.sock
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
|
||
You can then use the +i3-msg+ application to perform any command listed in
|
||
the next section.
|
||
|
||
=== Focus follows mouse
|
||
|
||
By default, window focus follows your mouse movements. However, if you have a
|
||
setup where your mouse usually is in your way (like a touchpad on your laptop
|
||
which you do not want to disable completely), you might want to disable 'focus
|
||
follows mouse' and control focus only by using your keyboard. The mouse will
|
||
still be useful inside the currently active window (for example to click on
|
||
links in your browser window).
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
--------------------------
|
||
focus_follows_mouse yes|no
|
||
--------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
----------------------
|
||
focus_follows_mouse no
|
||
----------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Mouse warping
|
||
|
||
By default, when switching focus to a window on a different output (e.g.
|
||
focusing a window on workspace 3 on output VGA-1, coming from workspace 2 on
|
||
LVDS-1), the mouse cursor is warped to the center of that window.
|
||
|
||
With the +mouse_warping+ option, you can control when the mouse cursor should
|
||
be warped. +none+ disables warping entirely, whereas +output+ is the default
|
||
behavior described above.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
mouse_warping output|none
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
------------------
|
||
mouse_warping none
|
||
------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Popups during fullscreen mode
|
||
|
||
When you are in fullscreen mode, some applications still open popup windows
|
||
(take Xpdf for example). This is because these applications may not be aware
|
||
that they are in fullscreen mode (they do not check the corresponding hint).
|
||
There are three things which are possible to do in this situation:
|
||
|
||
1. Display the popup if it belongs to the fullscreen application only. This is
|
||
the default and should be reasonable behavior for most users.
|
||
2. Just ignore the popup (don’t map it). This won’t interrupt you while you are
|
||
in fullscreen. However, some apps might react badly to this (deadlock until
|
||
you go out of fullscreen).
|
||
3. Leave fullscreen mode.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------
|
||
popup_during_fullscreen smart|ignore|leave_fullscreen
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
popup_during_fullscreen smart
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Focus wrapping
|
||
|
||
When being in a tabbed or stacked container, the first container will be
|
||
focused when you use +focus down+ on the last container -- the focus wraps. If
|
||
however there is another stacked/tabbed container in that direction, focus will
|
||
be set on that container. This is the default behavior so you can navigate to
|
||
all your windows without having to use +focus parent+.
|
||
|
||
If you want the focus to *always* wrap and you are aware of using +focus
|
||
parent+ to switch to different containers, you can use the
|
||
+force_focus_wrapping+ configuration directive. After enabling it, the focus
|
||
will always wrap.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------------------
|
||
force_focus_wrapping yes|no
|
||
---------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
------------------------
|
||
force_focus_wrapping yes
|
||
------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Forcing Xinerama
|
||
|
||
As explained in-depth in <http://i3wm.org/docs/multi-monitor.html>, some X11
|
||
video drivers (especially the nVidia binary driver) only provide support for
|
||
Xinerama instead of RandR. In such a situation, i3 must be told to use the
|
||
inferior Xinerama API explicitly and therefore don’t provide support for
|
||
reconfiguring your screens on the fly (they are read only once on startup and
|
||
that’s it).
|
||
|
||
For people who cannot modify their +~/.xsession+ to add the
|
||
+--force-xinerama+ commandline parameter, a configuration option is provided:
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------------
|
||
force_xinerama yes|no
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
------------------
|
||
force_xinerama yes
|
||
------------------
|
||
|
||
Also note that your output names are not descriptive (like +HDMI1+) when using
|
||
Xinerama, instead they are counted up, starting at 0: +xinerama-0+, +xinerama-1+, …
|
||
|
||
=== Automatic back-and-forth when switching to the current workspace
|
||
|
||
This configuration directive enables automatic +workspace back_and_forth+ (see
|
||
<<back_and_forth>>) when switching to the workspace that is currently focused.
|
||
|
||
For instance: Assume you are on workspace "1: www" and switch to "2: IM" using
|
||
mod+2 because somebody sent you a message. You don’t need to remember where you
|
||
came from now, you can just press $mod+2 again to switch back to "1: www".
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
------------------------------------
|
||
workspace_auto_back_and_forth yes|no
|
||
------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
---------------------------------
|
||
workspace_auto_back_and_forth yes
|
||
---------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Delaying urgency hint reset on workspace change
|
||
|
||
If an application on another workspace sets an urgency hint, switching to this
|
||
workspace may lead to immediate focus of the application, which also means the
|
||
window decoration color would be immediately reset to +client.focused+. This
|
||
may make it unnecessarily hard to tell which window originally raised the
|
||
event.
|
||
|
||
In order to prevent this, you can tell i3 to delay resetting the urgency state
|
||
by a certain time using the +force_display_urgency_hint+ directive. Setting the
|
||
value to 0 disables this feature.
|
||
|
||
The default is 500ms.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------------------------------
|
||
force_display_urgency_hint <timeout> ms
|
||
---------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
---------------------------------
|
||
force_display_urgency_hint 500 ms
|
||
---------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Focus on window activation
|
||
|
||
[[focus_on_window_activation]]
|
||
|
||
If a window is activated, e.g., via +google-chrome www.google.com+, it may request
|
||
to take focus. Since this may not preferable, different reactions can be configured.
|
||
|
||
Note that this may not affect windows that are being opened. To prevent new windows
|
||
from being focused, see <<no_focus>>.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
--------------------------------------------------
|
||
focus_on_window_activation smart|urgent|focus|none
|
||
--------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
The different modes will act as follows:
|
||
|
||
smart::
|
||
This is the default behavior. If the window requesting focus is on an active
|
||
workspace, it will receive the focus. Otherwise, the urgency hint will be set.
|
||
urgent::
|
||
The window will always be marked urgent, but the focus will not be stolen.
|
||
focus::
|
||
The window will always be focused and not be marked urgent.
|
||
none::
|
||
The window will neither be focused, nor be marked urgent.
|
||
|
||
=== Drawing marks on window decoration
|
||
|
||
If activated, marks on windows are drawn in their window decoration. However,
|
||
any mark starting with an underscore in its name (+_+) will not be drawn even if
|
||
this option is activated.
|
||
|
||
The default for this option is +yes+.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-----------------
|
||
show_marks yes|no
|
||
-----------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
--------------
|
||
show_marks yes
|
||
--------------
|
||
|
||
[[line_continuation]]
|
||
|
||
=== Line continuation
|
||
|
||
Config files support line continuation, meaning when you end a line in a
|
||
backslash character (`\`), the line-break will be ignored by the parser. This
|
||
feature can be used to create more readable configuration files.
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
-------------------
|
||
bindsym Mod1+f \
|
||
fullscreen toggle
|
||
-------------------
|
||
|
||
== Configuring i3bar
|
||
|
||
The bar at the bottom of your monitor is drawn by a separate process called
|
||
i3bar. Having this part of "the i3 user interface" in a separate process has
|
||
several advantages:
|
||
|
||
1. It is a modular approach. If you don’t need a workspace bar at all, or if
|
||
you prefer a different one (dzen2, xmobar, maybe even gnome-panel?), you can
|
||
just remove the i3bar configuration and start your favorite bar instead.
|
||
2. It follows the UNIX philosophy of "Make each program do one thing well".
|
||
While i3 manages your windows well, i3bar is good at displaying a bar on
|
||
each monitor (unless you configure it otherwise).
|
||
3. It leads to two separate, clean codebases. If you want to understand i3, you
|
||
don’t need to bother with the details of i3bar and vice versa.
|
||
|
||
That said, i3bar is configured in the same configuration file as i3. This is
|
||
because it is tightly coupled with i3 (in contrary to i3lock or i3status which
|
||
are useful for people using other window managers). Therefore, it makes no
|
||
sense to use a different configuration place when we already have a good
|
||
configuration infrastructure in place.
|
||
|
||
Configuring your workspace bar starts with opening a +bar+ block. You can have
|
||
multiple bar blocks to use different settings for different outputs (monitors):
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
---------------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
status_command i3status
|
||
}
|
||
---------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== i3bar command
|
||
|
||
By default i3 will just pass +i3bar+ and let your shell handle the execution,
|
||
searching your +$PATH+ for a correct version.
|
||
If you have a different +i3bar+ somewhere or the binary is not in your +$PATH+ you can
|
||
tell i3 what to execute.
|
||
|
||
The specified command will be passed to +sh -c+, so you can use globbing and
|
||
have to have correct quoting etc.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-----------------------
|
||
i3bar_command <command>
|
||
-----------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
-------------------------------------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
i3bar_command /home/user/bin/i3bar
|
||
}
|
||
-------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
[[status_command]]
|
||
=== Statusline command
|
||
|
||
i3bar can run a program and display every line of its +stdout+ output on the
|
||
right hand side of the bar. This is useful to display system information like
|
||
your current IP address, battery status or date/time.
|
||
|
||
The specified command will be passed to +sh -c+, so you can use globbing and
|
||
have to have correct quoting etc. Note that for signal handling, depending on
|
||
your shell (users of dash(1) are known to be affected), you have to use the
|
||
shell’s exec command so that signals are passed to your program, not to the
|
||
shell.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
------------------------
|
||
status_command <command>
|
||
------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
-------------------------------------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
status_command i3status --config ~/.i3status.conf
|
||
|
||
# For dash(1) users who want signal handling to work:
|
||
status_command exec ~/.bin/my_status_command
|
||
}
|
||
-------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Display mode
|
||
|
||
You can either have i3bar be visible permanently at one edge of the screen
|
||
(+dock+ mode) or make it show up when you press your modifier key (+hide+ mode).
|
||
It is also possible to force i3bar to always stay hidden (+invisible+
|
||
mode). The modifier key can be configured using the +modifier+ option.
|
||
|
||
The mode option can be changed during runtime through the +bar mode+ command.
|
||
On reload the mode will be reverted to its configured value.
|
||
|
||
The hide mode maximizes screen space that can be used for actual windows. Also,
|
||
i3bar sends the +SIGSTOP+ and +SIGCONT+ signals to the statusline process to
|
||
save battery power.
|
||
|
||
Invisible mode allows to permanently maximize screen space, as the bar is never
|
||
shown. Thus, you can configure i3bar to not disturb you by popping up because
|
||
of an urgency hint or because the modifier key is pressed.
|
||
|
||
In order to control whether i3bar is hidden or shown in hide mode, there exists
|
||
the hidden_state option, which has no effect in dock mode or invisible mode. It
|
||
indicates the current hidden_state of the bar: (1) The bar acts like in normal
|
||
hide mode, it is hidden and is only unhidden in case of urgency hints or by
|
||
pressing the modifier key (+hide+ state), or (2) it is drawn on top of the
|
||
currently visible workspace (+show+ state).
|
||
|
||
Like the mode, the hidden_state can also be controlled through i3, this can be
|
||
done by using the +bar hidden_state+ command.
|
||
|
||
The default mode is dock mode; in hide mode, the default modifier is Mod4 (usually
|
||
the windows key). The default value for the hidden_state is hide.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
mode dock|hide|invisible
|
||
hidden_state hide|show
|
||
modifier <Modifier>
|
||
------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
----------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
mode hide
|
||
hidden_state hide
|
||
modifier Mod1
|
||
}
|
||
----------------
|
||
|
||
Available modifiers are Mod1-Mod5, Shift, Control (see +xmodmap(1)+).
|
||
|
||
=== Mouse button commands
|
||
|
||
Specifies a command to run when a button was pressed on i3bar to override the
|
||
default behavior. This is useful, e.g., for disabling the scroll wheel action
|
||
or running scripts that implement custom behavior for these buttons.
|
||
|
||
A button is always named +button<n>+, where 1 to 5 are default buttons as follows and higher
|
||
numbers can be special buttons on devices offering more buttons:
|
||
|
||
button1::
|
||
Left mouse button.
|
||
button2::
|
||
Middle mouse button.
|
||
button3::
|
||
Right mouse button.
|
||
button4::
|
||
Scroll wheel up.
|
||
button5::
|
||
Scroll wheel down.
|
||
|
||
Please note that the old +wheel_up_cmd+ and +wheel_down_cmd+ commands are deprecated
|
||
and will be removed in a future release. We strongly recommend using the more general
|
||
+bindsym+ with +button4+ and +button5+ instead.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
bindsym button<n> <command>
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
# disable clicking on workspace buttons
|
||
bindsym button1 nop
|
||
# execute custom script when scrolling downwards
|
||
bindsym button5 exec ~/.i3/scripts/custom_wheel_down
|
||
}
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Bar ID
|
||
|
||
Specifies the bar ID for the configured bar instance. If this option is missing,
|
||
the ID is set to 'bar-x', where x corresponds to the position of the embedding
|
||
bar block in the config file ('bar-0', 'bar-1', ...).
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------------
|
||
id <bar_id>
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
---------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
id bar-1
|
||
}
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
[[i3bar_position]]
|
||
=== Position
|
||
|
||
This option determines in which edge of the screen i3bar should show up.
|
||
|
||
The default is bottom.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-------------------
|
||
position top|bottom
|
||
-------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
---------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
position top
|
||
}
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Output(s)
|
||
|
||
You can restrict i3bar to one or more outputs (monitors). The default is to
|
||
handle all outputs. Restricting the outputs is useful for using different
|
||
options for different outputs by using multiple 'bar' blocks.
|
||
|
||
To make a particular i3bar instance handle multiple outputs, specify the output
|
||
directive multiple times.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------
|
||
output <output>
|
||
---------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
-------------------------------
|
||
# big monitor: everything
|
||
bar {
|
||
# The display is connected either via HDMI or via DisplayPort
|
||
output HDMI2
|
||
output DP2
|
||
status_command i3status
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
# laptop monitor: bright colors and i3status with less modules.
|
||
bar {
|
||
output LVDS1
|
||
status_command i3status --config ~/.i3status-small.conf
|
||
colors {
|
||
background #000000
|
||
statusline #ffffff
|
||
}
|
||
}
|
||
-------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Tray output
|
||
|
||
i3bar by default provides a system tray area where programs such as
|
||
NetworkManager, VLC, Pidgin, etc. can place little icons.
|
||
|
||
You can configure on which output (monitor) the icons should be displayed or
|
||
you can turn off the functionality entirely.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------------------------
|
||
tray_output none|primary|<output>
|
||
---------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
# disable system tray
|
||
bar {
|
||
tray_output none
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
# show tray icons on the primary monitor
|
||
bar {
|
||
tray_output primary
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
# show tray icons on the big monitor
|
||
bar {
|
||
tray_output HDMI2
|
||
}
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
|
||
Note that you might not have a primary output configured yet. To do so, run:
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
xrandr --output <output> --primary
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
|
||
Note that when you use multiple bar configuration blocks, either specify
|
||
`tray_output primary` in all of them or explicitly specify `tray_output none`
|
||
in bars which should not display the tray, otherwise the different instances
|
||
might race each other in trying to display tray icons.
|
||
|
||
=== Tray padding
|
||
|
||
The tray is shown on the right-hand side of the bar. By default, a padding of 2
|
||
pixels is used for the upper, lower and right-hand side of the tray area and
|
||
between the individual icons.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
tray_padding <px> [px]
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
# Obey Fitts's law
|
||
tray_padding 0
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Font
|
||
|
||
Specifies the font to be used in the bar. See <<fonts>>.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------------
|
||
font <font>
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
font -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--13-120-75-75-C-70-iso10646-1
|
||
font pango:DejaVu Sans Mono 10
|
||
}
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Custom separator symbol
|
||
|
||
Specifies a custom symbol to be used for the separator as opposed to the vertical,
|
||
one pixel thick separator.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
separator_symbol <symbol>
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
------------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
separator_symbol ":|:"
|
||
}
|
||
------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Workspace buttons
|
||
|
||
Specifies whether workspace buttons should be shown or not. This is useful if
|
||
you want to display a statusline-only bar containing additional information.
|
||
|
||
The default is to show workspace buttons.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
------------------------
|
||
workspace_buttons yes|no
|
||
------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
------------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
workspace_buttons no
|
||
}
|
||
------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Strip workspace numbers
|
||
|
||
Specifies whether workspace numbers should be displayed within the workspace
|
||
buttons. This is useful if you want to have a named workspace that stays in
|
||
order on the bar according to its number without displaying the number prefix.
|
||
|
||
When +strip_workspace_numbers+ is set to +yes+, any workspace that has a name of
|
||
the form "[n]:[NAME]" will display only the name. You could use this, for
|
||
instance, to display Roman numerals rather than digits by naming your
|
||
workspaces to "1:I", "2:II", "3:III", "4:IV", ...
|
||
|
||
The default is to display the full name within the workspace button.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
strip_workspace_numbers yes|no
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
strip_workspace_numbers yes
|
||
}
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Binding Mode indicator
|
||
|
||
Specifies whether the current binding mode indicator should be shown or not.
|
||
This is useful if you want to hide the workspace buttons but still be able
|
||
to see the current binding mode indicator.
|
||
For an example of a +mode+ definition, see <<resizingconfig>>.
|
||
|
||
The default is to show the mode indicator.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-----------------------------
|
||
binding_mode_indicator yes|no
|
||
-----------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
-----------------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
binding_mode_indicator no
|
||
}
|
||
-----------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Colors
|
||
|
||
As with i3, colors are in HTML hex format (#rrggbb). The following colors can
|
||
be configured at the moment:
|
||
|
||
background::
|
||
Background color of the bar.
|
||
statusline::
|
||
Text color to be used for the statusline.
|
||
separator::
|
||
Text color to be used for the separator.
|
||
focused_workspace::
|
||
Border, background and text color for a workspace button when the workspace
|
||
has focus.
|
||
active_workspace::
|
||
Border, background and text color for a workspace button when the workspace
|
||
is active (visible) on some output, but the focus is on another one.
|
||
You can only tell this apart from the focused workspace when you are
|
||
using multiple monitors.
|
||
inactive_workspace::
|
||
Border, background and text color for a workspace button when the workspace
|
||
does not have focus and is not active (visible) on any output. This
|
||
will be the case for most workspaces.
|
||
urgent_workspace::
|
||
Border, background and text color for a workspace button when the workspace
|
||
contains a window with the urgency hint set.
|
||
binding_mode::
|
||
Border, background and text color for the binding mode indicator. If not used,
|
||
the colors will be taken from +urgent_workspace+.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
----------------------------------------
|
||
colors {
|
||
background <color>
|
||
statusline <color>
|
||
separator <color>
|
||
|
||
<colorclass> <border> <background> <text>
|
||
}
|
||
----------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example (default colors)*:
|
||
--------------------------------------
|
||
bar {
|
||
colors {
|
||
background #000000
|
||
statusline #ffffff
|
||
separator #666666
|
||
|
||
focused_workspace #4c7899 #285577 #ffffff
|
||
active_workspace #333333 #5f676a #ffffff
|
||
inactive_workspace #333333 #222222 #888888
|
||
urgent_workspace #2f343a #900000 #ffffff
|
||
binding_mode #2f343a #900000 #ffffff
|
||
}
|
||
}
|
||
--------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
== List of commands
|
||
|
||
Commands are what you bind to specific keypresses. You can also issue commands
|
||
at runtime without pressing a key by using the IPC interface. An easy way to
|
||
do this is to use the +i3-msg+ utility:
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
--------------------------
|
||
# execute this on your shell to make the current container borderless
|
||
i3-msg border none
|
||
--------------------------
|
||
|
||
[[command_chaining]]
|
||
|
||
Commands can be chained by using +;+ (a semicolon). So, to move a window to a
|
||
specific workspace and immediately switch to that workspace, you can configure
|
||
the following keybinding:
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------
|
||
bindsym $mod+x move container to workspace 3; workspace 3
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
[[command_criteria]]
|
||
|
||
Furthermore, you can change the scope of a command - that is, which containers
|
||
should be affected by that command, by using various criteria. The criteria
|
||
are specified before any command in a pair of square brackets and are separated
|
||
by space.
|
||
|
||
When using multiple commands, separate them by using a +,+ (a comma) instead of
|
||
a semicolon. Criteria apply only until the next semicolon, so if you use a
|
||
semicolon to separate commands, only the first one will be executed for the
|
||
matched window(s).
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
------------------------------------
|
||
# if you want to kill all windows which have the class Firefox, use:
|
||
bindsym $mod+x [class="Firefox"] kill
|
||
|
||
# same thing, but case-insensitive
|
||
bindsym $mod+x [class="(?i)firefox"] kill
|
||
|
||
# kill only the About dialog from Firefox
|
||
bindsym $mod+x [class="Firefox" window_role="About"] kill
|
||
|
||
# enable floating mode and move container to workspace 4
|
||
for_window [class="^evil-app$"] floating enable, move container to workspace 4
|
||
------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
The criteria which are currently implemented are:
|
||
|
||
class::
|
||
Compares the window class (the second part of WM_CLASS). Use the
|
||
special value +__focused__+ to match all windows having the same window
|
||
class as the currently focused window.
|
||
instance::
|
||
Compares the window instance (the first part of WM_CLASS). Use the
|
||
special value +__focused__+ to match all windows having the same window
|
||
instance as the currently focused window.
|
||
window_role::
|
||
Compares the window role (WM_WINDOW_ROLE). Use the special value
|
||
+__focused__+ to match all windows having the same window role as the
|
||
currently focused window.
|
||
window_type::
|
||
Compare the window type (_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE). Possible values are
|
||
+normal+, +dialog+, +utility+, +toolbar+, +splash+, +menu+, +dropdown_menu+,
|
||
+popup_menu+ and +tooltip+.
|
||
id::
|
||
Compares the X11 window ID, which you can get via +xwininfo+ for example.
|
||
title::
|
||
Compares the X11 window title (_NET_WM_NAME or WM_NAME as fallback).
|
||
Use the special value +__focused__+ to match all windows having the
|
||
same window title as the currently focused window.
|
||
urgent::
|
||
Compares the urgent state of the window. Can be "latest" or "oldest".
|
||
Matches the latest or oldest urgent window, respectively.
|
||
(The following aliases are also available: newest, last, recent, first)
|
||
workspace::
|
||
Compares the workspace name of the workspace the window belongs to. Use
|
||
the special value +__focused__+ to match all windows in the currently
|
||
focused workspace.
|
||
con_mark::
|
||
Compares the mark set for this container, see <<vim_like_marks>>.
|
||
con_id::
|
||
Compares the i3-internal container ID, which you can get via the IPC
|
||
interface. Handy for scripting.
|
||
|
||
The criteria +class+, +instance+, +role+, +title+, +workspace+ and +mark+ are
|
||
actually regular expressions (PCRE). See +pcresyntax(3)+ or +perldoc perlre+ for
|
||
information on how to use them.
|
||
|
||
[[exec]]
|
||
|
||
=== Executing applications (exec)
|
||
|
||
What good is a window manager if you can’t actually start any applications?
|
||
The exec command starts an application by passing the command you specify to a
|
||
shell. This implies that you can use globbing (wildcards) and programs will be
|
||
searched in your +$PATH+.
|
||
|
||
See <<command_chaining>> for details on the special meaning of +;+ (semicolon)
|
||
and +,+ (comma): they chain commands together in i3, so you need to use quoted
|
||
strings if they appear in your command.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
--------------------------------
|
||
exec [--no-startup-id] <command>
|
||
--------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
# Start the GIMP
|
||
bindsym $mod+g exec gimp
|
||
|
||
# Start the terminal emulator urxvt which is not yet startup-notification-aware
|
||
bindsym $mod+Return exec --no-startup-id urxvt
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
The +--no-startup-id+ parameter disables startup-notification support for this
|
||
particular exec command. With startup-notification, i3 can make sure that a
|
||
window appears on the workspace on which you used the exec command. Also, it
|
||
will change the X11 cursor to +watch+ (a clock) while the application is
|
||
launching. So, if an application is not startup-notification aware (most GTK
|
||
and Qt using applications seem to be, though), you will end up with a watch
|
||
cursor for 60 seconds.
|
||
|
||
=== Splitting containers
|
||
|
||
The split command makes the current window a split container. Split containers
|
||
can contain multiple windows. Depending on the layout of the split container,
|
||
new windows get placed to the right of the current one (splith) or new windows
|
||
get placed below the current one (splitv).
|
||
|
||
If you apply this command to a split container with the same orientation,
|
||
nothing will happen. If you use a different orientation, the split container’s
|
||
orientation will be changed (if it does not have more than one window). Use
|
||
+layout toggle split+ to change the layout of any split container from splitv
|
||
to splith or vice-versa.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
split vertical|horizontal
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
bindsym $mod+v split vertical
|
||
bindsym $mod+h split horizontal
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Manipulating layout
|
||
|
||
Use +layout toggle split+, +layout stacking+, +layout tabbed+, +layout splitv+
|
||
or +layout splith+ to change the current container layout to splith/splitv,
|
||
stacking, tabbed layout, splitv or splith, respectively.
|
||
|
||
To make the current window (!) fullscreen, use +fullscreen enable+ (or
|
||
+fullscreen enable global+ for the global mode), to leave either fullscreen
|
||
mode use +fullscreen disable+, and to toggle between these two states use
|
||
+fullscreen toggle+ (or +fullscreen toggle global+).
|
||
|
||
Likewise, to make the current window floating (or tiling again) use +floating
|
||
enable+ respectively +floating disable+ (or +floating toggle+):
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
--------------------------------------------
|
||
layout default|tabbed|stacking|splitv|splith
|
||
layout toggle [split|all]
|
||
--------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
--------------
|
||
bindsym $mod+s layout stacking
|
||
bindsym $mod+l layout toggle split
|
||
bindsym $mod+w layout tabbed
|
||
|
||
# Toggle between stacking/tabbed/split:
|
||
bindsym $mod+x layout toggle
|
||
|
||
# Toggle between stacking/tabbed/splith/splitv:
|
||
bindsym $mod+x layout toggle all
|
||
|
||
# Toggle fullscreen
|
||
bindsym $mod+f fullscreen toggle
|
||
|
||
# Toggle floating/tiling
|
||
bindsym $mod+t floating toggle
|
||
--------------
|
||
|
||
[[_focusing_moving_containers]]
|
||
|
||
=== Focusing containers
|
||
|
||
To change focus, you can use the +focus+ command. The following options are
|
||
available:
|
||
|
||
left|right|up|down::
|
||
Sets focus to the nearest container in the given direction.
|
||
parent::
|
||
Sets focus to the parent container of the current container.
|
||
child::
|
||
The opposite of +focus parent+, sets the focus to the last focused
|
||
child container.
|
||
floating::
|
||
Sets focus to the last focused floating container.
|
||
tiling::
|
||
Sets focus to the last focused tiling container.
|
||
mode_toggle::
|
||
Toggles between floating/tiling containers.
|
||
output::
|
||
Followed by a direction or an output name, this will focus the
|
||
corresponding output.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
----------------------------------------------
|
||
focus left|right|down|up
|
||
focus parent|child|floating|tiling|mode_toggle
|
||
focus output left|right|up|down|<output>
|
||
----------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
-------------------------------------------------
|
||
# Focus container on the left, bottom, top, right
|
||
bindsym $mod+j focus left
|
||
bindsym $mod+k focus down
|
||
bindsym $mod+l focus up
|
||
bindsym $mod+semicolon focus right
|
||
|
||
# Focus parent container
|
||
bindsym $mod+u focus parent
|
||
|
||
# Focus last floating/tiling container
|
||
bindsym $mod+g focus mode_toggle
|
||
|
||
# Focus the output right to the current one
|
||
bindsym $mod+x focus output right
|
||
|
||
# Focus the big output
|
||
bindsym $mod+x focus output HDMI-2
|
||
-------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Moving containers
|
||
|
||
Use the +move+ command to move a container.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------
|
||
# Moves the container into the given direction.
|
||
# The optional pixel argument specifies how far the
|
||
# container should be moved if it is floating and
|
||
# defaults to 10 pixels.
|
||
move <left|right|down|up> [<px> px]
|
||
|
||
# Moves the container either to a specific location
|
||
# or to the center of the screen. If 'absolute' is
|
||
# used, it is moved to the center of all outputs.
|
||
move [absolute] position [[<px> px] [<px> px]|center]
|
||
|
||
# Moves the container to the current position of the
|
||
# mouse cursor. Only affects floating containers.
|
||
move position mouse
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------
|
||
# Move container to the left, bottom, top, right
|
||
bindsym $mod+j move left
|
||
bindsym $mod+k move down
|
||
bindsym $mod+l move up
|
||
bindsym $mod+semicolon move right
|
||
|
||
# Move container, but make floating containers
|
||
# move more than the default
|
||
bindsym $mod+j move left 20 px
|
||
|
||
# Move floating container to the center of all outputs
|
||
bindsym $mod+c move absolute position center
|
||
|
||
# Move container to the current position of the cursor
|
||
bindsym $mod+m move position mouse
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Sticky floating windows
|
||
|
||
If you want a window to stick to the glass, i.e., have it stay on screen even
|
||
if you switch to another workspace, you can use the +sticky+ command. For
|
||
example, this can be useful for notepads, a media player or a video chat
|
||
window.
|
||
|
||
Note that while any window can be made sticky through this command, it will
|
||
only take effect if the window is floating.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
sticky enable|disable|toggle
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
------------------------------------------------------
|
||
# make a terminal sticky that was started as a notepad
|
||
for_window [instance=notepad] sticky enable
|
||
------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Changing (named) workspaces/moving to workspaces
|
||
|
||
To change to a specific workspace, use the +workspace+ command, followed by the
|
||
number or name of the workspace. To move containers to specific workspaces, use
|
||
+move container to workspace+.
|
||
|
||
You can also switch to the next and previous workspace with the commands
|
||
+workspace next+ and +workspace prev+, which is handy, for example, if you have
|
||
workspace 1, 3, 4 and 9 and you want to cycle through them with a single key
|
||
combination. To restrict those to the current output, use +workspace
|
||
next_on_output+ and +workspace prev_on_output+. Similarly, you can use +move
|
||
container to workspace next+, +move container to workspace prev+ to move a
|
||
container to the next/previous workspace and +move container to workspace current+
|
||
(the last one makes sense only when used with criteria).
|
||
|
||
See <<move_to_outputs>> for how to move a container/workspace to a different
|
||
RandR output.
|
||
|
||
Workspace names are parsed as
|
||
https://developer.gnome.org/pango/stable/PangoMarkupFormat.html[Pango markup]
|
||
by i3bar.
|
||
|
||
[[back_and_forth]]
|
||
To switch back to the previously focused workspace, use +workspace
|
||
back_and_forth+; likewise, you can move containers to the previously focused
|
||
workspace using +move container to workspace back_and_forth+.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-----------------------------------
|
||
workspace next|prev|next_on_output|prev_on_output
|
||
workspace back_and_forth
|
||
workspace <name>
|
||
workspace number <name>
|
||
|
||
move [window|container] [to] workspace <name>
|
||
move [window|container] [to] workspace number <name>
|
||
move [window|container] [to] workspace prev|next|current
|
||
-----------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
bindsym $mod+1 workspace 1
|
||
bindsym $mod+2 workspace 2
|
||
bindsym $mod+3 workspace 3:<span foreground="red">vim</span>
|
||
...
|
||
|
||
bindsym $mod+Shift+1 move container to workspace 1
|
||
bindsym $mod+Shift+2 move container to workspace 2
|
||
...
|
||
|
||
# switch between the current and the previously focused one
|
||
bindsym $mod+b workspace back_and_forth
|
||
bindsym $mod+Shift+b move container to workspace back_and_forth
|
||
|
||
# move the whole workspace to the next output
|
||
bindsym $mod+x move workspace to output right
|
||
|
||
# move firefox to current workspace
|
||
bindsym $mod+F1 [class="Firefox"] move workspace current
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
|
||
==== Named workspaces
|
||
|
||
Workspaces are identified by their name. So, instead of using numbers in the
|
||
workspace command, you can use an arbitrary name:
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
bindsym $mod+1 workspace mail
|
||
...
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
|
||
If you want the workspace to have a number *and* a name, just prefix the
|
||
number, like this:
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
bindsym $mod+1 workspace 1: mail
|
||
bindsym $mod+2 workspace 2: www
|
||
...
|
||
-------------------------
|
||
|
||
Note that the workspace will really be named "1: mail". i3 treats workspace
|
||
names beginning with a number in a slightly special way. Normally, named
|
||
workspaces are ordered the way they appeared. When they start with a number, i3
|
||
will order them numerically. Also, you will be able to use +workspace number 1+
|
||
to switch to the workspace which begins with number 1, regardless of which name
|
||
it has. This is useful in case you are changing the workspace’s name
|
||
dynamically. To combine both commands you can use +workspace number 1: mail+ to
|
||
specify a default name if there's currently no workspace starting with a "1".
|
||
|
||
==== Renaming workspaces
|
||
|
||
You can rename workspaces. This might be useful to start with the default
|
||
numbered workspaces, do your work, and rename the workspaces afterwards to
|
||
reflect what’s actually on them. You can also omit the old name to rename
|
||
the currently focused workspace. This is handy if you want to use the
|
||
rename command with +i3-input+.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
----------------------------------------------------
|
||
rename workspace <old_name> to <new_name>
|
||
rename workspace to <new_name>
|
||
----------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
i3-msg 'rename workspace 5 to 6'
|
||
i3-msg 'rename workspace 1 to "1: www"'
|
||
i3-msg 'rename workspace "1: www" to "10: www"'
|
||
i3-msg 'rename workspace to "2: mail"'
|
||
bindsym $mod+r exec i3-input -F 'rename workspace to "%s"' -P 'New name: '
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Moving workspaces to a different screen
|
||
|
||
See <<move_to_outputs>> for how to move a container/workspace to a different
|
||
RandR output.
|
||
|
||
=== Moving containers/workspaces to RandR outputs
|
||
|
||
[[move_to_outputs]]
|
||
|
||
To move a container to another RandR output (addressed by names like +LVDS1+ or
|
||
+VGA1+) or to a RandR output identified by a specific direction (like +left+,
|
||
+right+, +up+ or +down+), there are two commands:
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
----------------------------------------------------
|
||
move container to output left|right|down|up|<output>
|
||
move workspace to output left|right|down|up|<output>
|
||
----------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------
|
||
# Move the current workspace to the next output
|
||
# (effectively toggles when you only have two outputs)
|
||
bindsym $mod+x move workspace to output right
|
||
|
||
# Put this window on the presentation output.
|
||
bindsym $mod+x move container to output VGA1
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Moving containers/workspaces to marks
|
||
|
||
To move a container to another container with a specific mark (see <<vim_like_marks>>),
|
||
you can use the following command.
|
||
|
||
The window will be moved right after the marked container in the tree, i.e., it ends up
|
||
in the same position as if you had opened a new window when the marked container was
|
||
focused. If the mark is on a split container, the window will appear as a new child
|
||
after the currently focused child within that container.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
------------------------------------
|
||
move window|container to mark <mark>
|
||
------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------
|
||
for_window [instance="tabme"] move window to mark target
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
[[resizingconfig]]
|
||
|
||
=== Resizing containers/windows
|
||
|
||
If you want to resize containers/windows using your keyboard, you can use the
|
||
+resize+ command:
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------
|
||
resize grow|shrink <direction> [<px> px [or <ppt> ppt]]
|
||
resize set <width> [px] <height> [px]
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Direction can either be one of +up+, +down+, +left+ or +right+. Or you can be
|
||
less specific and use +width+ or +height+, in which case i3 will take/give
|
||
space from all the other containers. The optional pixel argument specifies by
|
||
how many pixels a *floating container* should be grown or shrunk (the default
|
||
is 10 pixels). The ppt argument means percentage points and specifies by how
|
||
many percentage points a *tiling container* should be grown or shrunk (the
|
||
default is 10 percentage points). Note that +resize set+ will only work for
|
||
floating containers.
|
||
|
||
I recommend using the resize command inside a so called +mode+:
|
||
|
||
.Example: Configuration file, defining a mode for resizing
|
||
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
mode "resize" {
|
||
# These bindings trigger as soon as you enter the resize mode
|
||
|
||
# Pressing left will shrink the window’s width.
|
||
# Pressing right will grow the window’s width.
|
||
# Pressing up will shrink the window’s height.
|
||
# Pressing down will grow the window’s height.
|
||
bindsym j resize shrink width 10 px or 10 ppt
|
||
bindsym k resize grow height 10 px or 10 ppt
|
||
bindsym l resize shrink height 10 px or 10 ppt
|
||
bindsym semicolon resize grow width 10 px or 10 ppt
|
||
|
||
# same bindings, but for the arrow keys
|
||
bindsym Left resize shrink width 10 px or 10 ppt
|
||
bindsym Down resize grow height 10 px or 10 ppt
|
||
bindsym Up resize shrink height 10 px or 10 ppt
|
||
bindsym Right resize grow width 10 px or 10 ppt
|
||
|
||
# back to normal: Enter or Escape
|
||
bindsym Return mode "default"
|
||
bindsym Escape mode "default"
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
# Enter resize mode
|
||
bindsym $mod+r mode "resize"
|
||
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example 2 - setting urxvt size to 640x480:*
|
||
------------------------------------------------
|
||
for_window [class="urxvt"] resize set 640 480
|
||
------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Jumping to specific windows
|
||
|
||
Often when in a multi-monitor environment, you want to quickly jump to a
|
||
specific window. For example, while working on workspace 3 you may want to
|
||
jump to your mail client to email your boss that you’ve achieved some
|
||
important goal. Instead of figuring out how to navigate to your mail client,
|
||
it would be more convenient to have a shortcut. You can use the +focus+ command
|
||
with criteria for that.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
----------------------------------------------------
|
||
[class="class"] focus
|
||
[title="title"] focus
|
||
----------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
------------------------------------------------
|
||
# Get me to the next open VIM instance
|
||
bindsym $mod+a [class="urxvt" title="VIM"] focus
|
||
------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== VIM-like marks (mark/goto)
|
||
|
||
[[vim_like_marks]]
|
||
|
||
This feature is like the jump feature: It allows you to directly jump to a
|
||
specific window (this means switching to the appropriate workspace and setting
|
||
focus to the windows). However, you can directly mark a specific window with
|
||
an arbitrary label and use it afterwards. You can unmark the label in the same
|
||
way, using the unmark command. If you don't specify a label, unmark removes all
|
||
marks. You do not need to ensure that your windows have unique classes or
|
||
titles, and you do not need to change your configuration file.
|
||
|
||
As the command needs to include the label with which you want to mark the
|
||
window, you cannot simply bind it to a key. +i3-input+ is a tool created
|
||
for this purpose: It lets you input a command and sends the command to i3. It
|
||
can also prefix this command and display a custom prompt for the input dialog.
|
||
|
||
The additional +--toggle+ option will remove the mark if the window already has
|
||
this mark, add it if the window has none or replace the current mark if it has
|
||
another mark.
|
||
|
||
Refer to +show_marks+ if you don't want marks to be shown in the window decoration.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
mark [--toggle] <identifier>
|
||
[con_mark="identifier"] focus
|
||
unmark <identifier>
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Example (in a terminal)*:
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
$ i3-msg mark irssi
|
||
$ i3-msg '[con_mark="irssi"] focus'
|
||
$ i3-msg unmark irssi
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
|
||
TODO: make i3-input replace %s
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
---------------------------------------
|
||
# Read 1 character and mark the current window with this character
|
||
bindsym $mod+m exec i3-input -p 'mark ' -l 1 -P 'Mark: '
|
||
|
||
# Read 1 character and go to the window with the character
|
||
bindsym $mod+g exec i3-input -p 'goto ' -l 1 -P 'Goto: '
|
||
---------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Alternatively, if you do not want to mess with +i3-input+, you could create
|
||
seperate bindings for a specific set of labels and then only use those labels.
|
||
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
|
||
|
||
=== Window title format
|
||
|
||
By default, i3 will simply print the X11 window title. Using +title_format+,
|
||
this can be customized by setting the format to the desired output. This
|
||
directive supports
|
||
https://developer.gnome.org/pango/stable/PangoMarkupFormat.html[Pango markup]
|
||
and the following placeholders which will be replaced:
|
||
|
||
+%title+::
|
||
The X11 window title (_NET_WM_NAME or WM_NAME as fallback).
|
||
+%class+::
|
||
The X11 window class (second part of WM_CLASS). This corresponds to the
|
||
+class+ criterion, see <<command_criteria>>.
|
||
+%instance+::
|
||
The X11 window instance (first part of WM_CLASS). This corresponds to the
|
||
+instance+ criterion, see <<command_criteria>>.
|
||
|
||
Using the <<for_window>> directive, you can set the title format for any window
|
||
based on <<command_criteria>>.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------------
|
||
title_format <format>
|
||
---------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
# give the focused window a prefix
|
||
bindsym $mod+p title_format "Important | %title"
|
||
|
||
# print all window titles bold
|
||
for_window [class=".*"] title_format "<b>%title</b>"
|
||
|
||
# print window titles of firefox windows red
|
||
for_window [class="(?i)firefox"] title_format "<span foreground='red'>%title</span>"
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Changing border style
|
||
|
||
To change the border of the current client, you can use +border normal+ to use the normal
|
||
border (including window title), +border pixel 1+ to use a 1-pixel border (no window title)
|
||
and +border none+ to make the client borderless.
|
||
|
||
There is also +border toggle+ which will toggle the different border styles.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
-----------------------------------------------
|
||
border normal|pixel [<n>]
|
||
border none|toggle
|
||
|
||
# legacy syntax, equivalent to "border pixel 1"
|
||
border 1pixel
|
||
-----------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
----------------------------------------------
|
||
# use window title, but no border
|
||
bindsym $mod+t border normal 0
|
||
# use no window title and a thick border
|
||
bindsym $mod+y border pixel 3
|
||
# use neither window title nor border
|
||
bindsym $mod+u border none
|
||
----------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
[[shmlog]]
|
||
|
||
=== Enabling shared memory logging
|
||
|
||
As described in http://i3wm.org/docs/debugging.html, i3 can log to a shared
|
||
memory buffer, which you can dump using +i3-dump-log+. The +shmlog+ command
|
||
allows you to enable or disable the shared memory logging at runtime.
|
||
|
||
Note that when using +shmlog <size_in_bytes>+, the current log will be
|
||
discarded and a new one will be started.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
shmlog <size_in_bytes>
|
||
shmlog on|off|toggle
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
---------------
|
||
# Enable/disable logging
|
||
bindsym $mod+x shmlog toggle
|
||
|
||
# or, from a terminal:
|
||
# increase the shared memory log buffer to 50 MiB
|
||
i3-msg shmlog $((50*1024*1024))
|
||
---------------
|
||
|
||
=== Enabling debug logging
|
||
|
||
The +debuglog+ command allows you to enable or disable debug logging at
|
||
runtime. Debug logging is much more verbose than non-debug logging. This
|
||
command does not activate shared memory logging (shmlog), and as such is most
|
||
likely useful in combination with the above-described <<shmlog>> command.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
----------------------
|
||
debuglog on|off|toggle
|
||
----------------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
------------------------
|
||
# Enable/disable logging
|
||
bindsym $mod+x debuglog toggle
|
||
------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Reloading/Restarting/Exiting
|
||
|
||
You can make i3 reload its configuration file with +reload+. You can also
|
||
restart i3 inplace with the +restart+ command to get it out of some weird state
|
||
(if that should ever happen) or to perform an upgrade without having to restart
|
||
your X session. To exit i3 properly, you can use the +exit+ command,
|
||
however you don’t need to (simply killing your X session is fine as well).
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
bindsym $mod+Shift+r restart
|
||
bindsym $mod+Shift+w reload
|
||
bindsym $mod+Shift+e exit
|
||
----------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Scratchpad
|
||
|
||
There are two commands to use any existing window as scratchpad window. +move
|
||
scratchpad+ will move a window to the scratchpad workspace. This will make it
|
||
invisible until you show it again. There is no way to open that workspace.
|
||
Instead, when using +scratchpad show+, the window will be shown again, as a
|
||
floating window, centered on your current workspace (using +scratchpad show+ on
|
||
a visible scratchpad window will make it hidden again, so you can have a
|
||
keybinding to toggle). Note that this is just a normal floating window, so if
|
||
you want to "remove it from scratchpad", you can simple make it tiling again
|
||
(+floating toggle+).
|
||
|
||
As the name indicates, this is useful for having a window with your favorite
|
||
editor always at hand. However, you can also use this for other permanently
|
||
running applications which you don’t want to see all the time: Your music
|
||
player, alsamixer, maybe even your mail client…?
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------
|
||
move scratchpad
|
||
|
||
scratchpad show
|
||
---------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
------------------------------------------------
|
||
# Make the currently focused window a scratchpad
|
||
bindsym $mod+Shift+minus move scratchpad
|
||
|
||
# Show the first scratchpad window
|
||
bindsym $mod+minus scratchpad show
|
||
|
||
# Show the sup-mail scratchpad window, if any.
|
||
bindsym mod4+s [title="^Sup ::"] scratchpad show
|
||
------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== Nop
|
||
|
||
There is a no operation command +nop+ which allows you to override default
|
||
behavior. This can be useful for, e.g., disabling a focus change on clicks with
|
||
the middle mouse button.
|
||
|
||
The optional +comment+ argument is ignored, but will be printed to the log file
|
||
for debugging purposes.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------
|
||
nop [<comment>]
|
||
---------------
|
||
|
||
*Example*:
|
||
----------------------------------------------
|
||
# Disable focus change for clicks on titlebars
|
||
# with the middle mouse button
|
||
bindsym button2 nop
|
||
----------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
=== i3bar control
|
||
|
||
There are two options in the configuration of each i3bar instance that can be
|
||
changed during runtime by invoking a command through i3. The commands +bar
|
||
hidden_state+ and +bar mode+ allow setting the current hidden_state
|
||
respectively mode option of each bar. It is also possible to toggle between
|
||
hide state and show state as well as between dock mode and hide mode. Each
|
||
i3bar instance can be controlled individually by specifying a bar_id, if none
|
||
is given, the command is executed for all bar instances.
|
||
|
||
*Syntax*:
|
||
---------------
|
||
bar hidden_state hide|show|toggle [<bar_id>]
|
||
|
||
bar mode dock|hide|invisible|toggle [<bar_id>]
|
||
---------------
|
||
|
||
*Examples*:
|
||
------------------------------------------------
|
||
# Toggle between hide state and show state
|
||
bindsym $mod+m bar hidden_state toggle
|
||
|
||
# Toggle between dock mode and hide mode
|
||
bindsym $mod+n bar mode toggle
|
||
|
||
# Set the bar instance with id 'bar-1' to switch to hide mode
|
||
bindsym $mod+b bar mode hide bar-1
|
||
|
||
# Set the bar instance with id 'bar-1' to always stay hidden
|
||
bindsym $mod+Shift+b bar mode invisible bar-1
|
||
------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
[[multi_monitor]]
|
||
|
||
== Multiple monitors
|
||
|
||
As you can see in the goal list on the website, i3 was specifically developed
|
||
with support for multiple monitors in mind. This section will explain how to
|
||
handle multiple monitors.
|
||
|
||
When you have only one monitor, things are simple. You usually start with
|
||
workspace 1 on your monitor and open new ones as you need them.
|
||
|
||
When you have more than one monitor, each monitor will get an initial
|
||
workspace. The first monitor gets 1, the second gets 2 and a possible third
|
||
would get 3. When you switch to a workspace on a different monitor, i3 will
|
||
switch to that monitor and then switch to the workspace. This way, you don’t
|
||
need shortcuts to switch to a specific monitor, and you don’t need to remember
|
||
where you put which workspace. New workspaces will be opened on the currently
|
||
active monitor. It is not possible to have a monitor without a workspace.
|
||
|
||
The idea of making workspaces global is based on the observation that most
|
||
users have a very limited set of workspaces on their additional monitors.
|
||
They are often used for a specific task (browser, shell) or for monitoring
|
||
several things (mail, IRC, syslog, …). Thus, using one workspace on one monitor
|
||
and "the rest" on the other monitors often makes sense. However, as you can
|
||
create an unlimited number of workspaces in i3 and tie them to specific
|
||
screens, you can have the "traditional" approach of having X workspaces per
|
||
screen by changing your configuration (using modes, for example).
|
||
|
||
=== Configuring your monitors
|
||
|
||
To help you get going if you have never used multiple monitors before, here is
|
||
a short overview of the xrandr options which will probably be of interest to
|
||
you. It is always useful to get an overview of the current screen configuration.
|
||
Just run "xrandr" and you will get an output like the following:
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
$ xrandr
|
||
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1280 x 800, maximum 8192 x 8192
|
||
VGA1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
|
||
LVDS1 connected 1280x800+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 261mm x 163mm
|
||
1280x800 60.0*+ 50.0
|
||
1024x768 85.0 75.0 70.1 60.0
|
||
832x624 74.6
|
||
800x600 85.1 72.2 75.0 60.3 56.2
|
||
640x480 85.0 72.8 75.0 59.9
|
||
720x400 85.0
|
||
640x400 85.1
|
||
640x350 85.1
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Several things are important here: You can see that +LVDS1+ is connected (of
|
||
course, it is the internal flat panel) but +VGA1+ is not. If you have a monitor
|
||
connected to one of the ports but xrandr still says "disconnected", you should
|
||
check your cable, monitor or graphics driver.
|
||
|
||
The maximum resolution you can see at the end of the first line is the maximum
|
||
combined resolution of your monitors. By default, it is usually too low and has
|
||
to be increased by editing +/etc/X11/xorg.conf+.
|
||
|
||
So, say you connected VGA1 and want to use it as an additional screen:
|
||
-------------------------------------------
|
||
xrandr --output VGA1 --auto --left-of LVDS1
|
||
-------------------------------------------
|
||
This command makes xrandr try to find the native resolution of the device
|
||
connected to +VGA1+ and configures it to the left of your internal flat panel.
|
||
When running "xrandr" again, the output looks like this:
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
$ xrandr
|
||
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 2560 x 1024, maximum 8192 x 8192
|
||
VGA1 connected 1280x1024+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 338mm x 270mm
|
||
1280x1024 60.0*+ 75.0
|
||
1280x960 60.0
|
||
1152x864 75.0
|
||
1024x768 75.1 70.1 60.0
|
||
832x624 74.6
|
||
800x600 72.2 75.0 60.3 56.2
|
||
640x480 72.8 75.0 66.7 60.0
|
||
720x400 70.1
|
||
LVDS1 connected 1280x800+1280+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 261mm x 163mm
|
||
1280x800 60.0*+ 50.0
|
||
1024x768 85.0 75.0 70.1 60.0
|
||
832x624 74.6
|
||
800x600 85.1 72.2 75.0 60.3 56.2
|
||
640x480 85.0 72.8 75.0 59.9
|
||
720x400 85.0
|
||
640x400 85.1
|
||
640x350 85.1
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Please note that i3 uses exactly the same API as xrandr does, so it will see
|
||
only what you can see in xrandr.
|
||
|
||
See also <<presentations>> for more examples of multi-monitor setups.
|
||
|
||
=== Interesting configuration for multi-monitor environments
|
||
|
||
There are several things to configure in i3 which may be interesting if you
|
||
have more than one monitor:
|
||
|
||
1. You can specify which workspace should be put on which screen. This
|
||
allows you to have a different set of workspaces when starting than just
|
||
1 for the first monitor, 2 for the second and so on. See
|
||
<<workspace_screen>>.
|
||
2. If you want some applications to generally open on the bigger screen
|
||
(MPlayer, Firefox, …), you can assign them to a specific workspace, see
|
||
<<assign_workspace>>.
|
||
3. If you have many workspaces on many monitors, it might get hard to keep
|
||
track of which window you put where. Thus, you can use vim-like marks to
|
||
quickly switch between windows. See <<vim_like_marks>>.
|
||
4. For information on how to move existing workspaces between monitors,
|
||
see <<_moving_containers_workspaces_to_randr_outputs>>.
|
||
|
||
== i3 and the rest of your software world
|
||
|
||
=== Displaying a status line
|
||
|
||
A very common thing amongst users of exotic window managers is a status line at
|
||
some corner of the screen. It is an often superior replacement to the widget
|
||
approach you have in the task bar of a traditional desktop environment.
|
||
|
||
If you don’t already have your favorite way of generating such a status line
|
||
(self-written scripts, conky, …), then i3status is the recommended tool for
|
||
this task. It was written in C with the goal of using as few syscalls as
|
||
possible to reduce the time your CPU is woken up from sleep states. Because
|
||
i3status only spits out text, you need to combine it with some other tool, like
|
||
i3bar. See <<status_command>> for how to display i3status in i3bar.
|
||
|
||
Regardless of which application you use to display the status line, you
|
||
want to make sure that it registers as a dock window using EWMH hints. i3 will
|
||
position the window either at the top or at the bottom of the screen, depending
|
||
on which hint the application sets. With i3bar, you can configure its position,
|
||
see <<i3bar_position>>.
|
||
|
||
=== Giving presentations (multi-monitor)
|
||
|
||
When giving a presentation, you typically want the audience to see what you see
|
||
on your screen and then go through a series of slides (if the presentation is
|
||
simple). For more complex presentations, you might want to have some notes
|
||
which only you can see on your screen, while the audience can only see the
|
||
slides.
|
||
|
||
[[presentations]]
|
||
==== Case 1: everybody gets the same output
|
||
This is the simple case. You connect your computer to the video projector,
|
||
turn on both (computer and video projector) and configure your X server to
|
||
clone the internal flat panel of your computer to the video output:
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------
|
||
xrandr --output VGA1 --mode 1024x768 --same-as LVDS1
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------
|
||
i3 will then use the lowest common subset of screen resolutions, the rest of
|
||
your screen will be left untouched (it will show the X background). So, in
|
||
our example, this would be 1024x768 (my notebook has 1280x800).
|
||
|
||
==== Case 2: you can see more than your audience
|
||
This case is a bit harder. First of all, you should configure the VGA output
|
||
somewhere near your internal flat panel, say right of it:
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------
|
||
xrandr --output VGA1 --mode 1024x768 --right-of LVDS1
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------
|
||
Now, i3 will put a new workspace (depending on your settings) on the new screen
|
||
and you are in multi-monitor mode (see <<multi_monitor>>).
|
||
|
||
Because i3 is not a compositing window manager, there is no ability to
|
||
display a window on two screens at the same time. Instead, your presentation
|
||
software needs to do this job (that is, open a window on each screen).
|