3 Michael Stapelberg <michael+i3@stapelberg.de>
8 i3 - an improved dynamic, tiling window manager
12 i3 [-a] [-c configfile] [-C] [-d <loglevel>] [-v] [-V]
20 Specifies an alternate configuration file path.
23 Check the configuration file for validity and exit.
26 Specifies the debug loglevel. To see the most output, use -d all.
29 Display version number (and date of the last commit).
38 i3 was created because wmii, our favorite window manager at the time, didn’t
39 provide some features we wanted (multi-monitor done right, for example), had
40 some bugs, didn’t progress since quite some time and wasn’t easy to hack at all
41 (source code comments/documentation completely lacking). Still, we think the
42 wmii developers and contributors did a great job. Thank you for inspiring us to
45 Please be aware that i3 is primarily targeted at advanced users and developers.
50 A client is X11-speak for a window.
53 Your workspace is managed using a table. You can move windows around and create
54 new columns (move a client to the right) or rows (move it to the bottom)
57 By "snapping" a client in a specific direction, you increase its colspan/rowspan.
60 A container contains a variable number of clients. Each cell of the table is a
63 Containers can be used in various modes. The default mode is called "default"
64 and just resizes each client equally so that it fits.
67 A workspace is a set of clients (technically speaking, it’s just a table).
68 Other window managers call this "Virtual Desktops".
70 In i3, each workspace is assigned to a specific virtual screen. By default,
71 screen 1 has workspace 1, screen 2 has workspace 2 and so on… However, when you
72 create a new workspace (by simply switching to it), it’ll be assigned the
73 screen you are currently on.
76 Using XRandR, you can have an X11 screen spanning multiple real monitors.
77 Furthermore, you can set them up in cloning mode or with positions (monitor 1
78 is left of monitor 2).
80 i3 uses the RandR API to query which outputs are available and which screens
81 are connected to these outputs.
85 Here is a short overview of the default keybindings:
88 Direction keys (left, down, up, right). They are on your homerow (see the mark
89 on your "j" key). Alternatively, you can use the cursor keys.
92 Focus window in <direction>.
95 Focus container in <direction>.
97 Mod1+Shift+<direction>::
98 Move window to <direction>.
100 Mod3+Shift+<direction>::
101 Move container to <direction>.
103 Mod1+Control+<direction>::
104 Snap container to <direction>.
107 Switch to workspace <number>.
109 Mod1+Shift+<number>::
110 Move window to workspace <number>.
113 Toggle fullscreen mode.
116 Enable stacking layout for the current container.
119 Enable default layout for the current container.
122 Toggle tiling/floating for the current window.
125 Select the first tiling window if the current window is floating and vice-versa.
128 Kills the current window. This is equivalent to "clicking on the close button",
129 meaning a polite request to the application to close this window. For example,
130 Firefox will save its session upon such a request. If the application does not
131 support that, the window will be killed and it depends on the application what
135 Restarts i3 in place (without losing any windows, but at this time, the layout
136 and placement of windows is not retained).
143 === \~/.i3/config (or ~/.config/i3/config)
145 When starting, i3 looks for configuration files in the following order:
147 1. ~/.config/i3/config (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/i3/config if set)
148 2. /etc/xdg/i3/config (or $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/i3/config if set)
152 You can specify a custom path using the -c option.
154 .Sample configuration
155 -------------------------------------------------------------
156 font -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--13-120-75-75-C-70-iso10646-1
158 # Start terminal (Mod1+Enter)
159 bind Mod1+36 exec /usr/bin/urxvt
161 # Start dmenu (Mod1+v)
162 bind Mod1+55 exec /usr/bin/dmenu_run
164 # Kill current client (Mod1+Shift+q)
165 bind Mod1+Shift+24 kill
168 bind Mod1+73 exec /home/michael/toggle_beamer.sh
171 bind Mod1+68 exec /usr/bin/i3lock
173 # Restart i3 inplace (Mod1+Shift+r)
174 bind Mod1+Shift+27 restart
176 # Exit i3 (Mod1+Shift+e)
177 bind Mod1+Shift+26 exit
180 bind Mod1+97 exec sudo sh -c "echo up > /proc/acpi/ibm/brightness"
181 bind Mod1+103 exec sudo sh -c "echo down > /proc/acpi/ibm/brightness"
183 # Fullscreen (Mod1+f)
192 # Toggle tiling/floating of the current window (Mod1+Shift+Space)
195 # Go into the tiling layer / floating layer, depending on whether
196 # the current window is tiling / floating (Mod1+t)
197 bind Mod1+28 focus ft
199 # Focus (Mod1+j/k/l/;)
205 # Focus Container (Mod3+j/k/l/;)
211 # Snap (Mod1+Control+j/k/l/;)
212 bind Mod1+Control+44 sh
213 bind Mod1+Control+45 sj
214 bind Mod1+Control+46 sk
215 bind Mod1+Control+47 sl
217 # Move (Mod1+Shift+j/k/l/;)
218 bind Mod1+Shift+44 mh
219 bind Mod1+Shift+45 mj
220 bind Mod1+Shift+46 mk
221 bind Mod1+Shift+47 ml
223 # Move Container (Mod3+Shift+j/k/l/;)
224 bind Mod3+Shift+44 wcmh
225 bind Mod3+Shift+45 wcmj
226 bind Mod3+Shift+46 wcmk
227 bind Mod3+Shift+47 wcml
238 -------------------------------------------------------------
242 This file is where you should configure your locales and start i3. It is run by
243 your login manager (xdm, slim, gdm, …) as soon as you login.
246 -------------------------------------------------------------
247 # Disable DPMS turning off the screen
254 # Enable zapping (C-A-<Bksp> kills X)
255 setxkbmap -option terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
257 # Enforce correct locales from the beginning
259 export LC_CTYPE=de_DE.UTF-8
260 export LC_TIME=de_DE.UTF-8
261 export LC_NUMERIC=de_DE.UTF-8
262 export LC_MONETARY=de_DE.UTF-8
264 export LC_PAPER=de_DE.UTF-8
265 export LC_NAME=de_DE.UTF-8
266 export LC_ADDRESS=de_DE.UTF-8
267 export LC_TELEPHONE=de_DE.UTF-8
268 export LC_MEASUREMENT=de_DE.UTF-8
269 export LC_IDENTIFICATION=de_DE.UTF-8
271 # Use XToolkit in java applications
272 export AWT_TOOLKIT=XToolkit
274 # Set background color
275 xsetroot -solid "#333333"
277 # Enable core dumps in case something goes wrong
280 # Start i3 and log to ~/.i3/logfile
281 echo "Starting at $(date)" >> ~/.i3/logfile
282 exec /usr/bin/i3 >> ~/.i3/logfile
283 -------------------------------------------------------------
289 If no ipc-socket is specified in the configfile, this variable is used
290 to determine the path, at wich the unix domain socket is created, on which
291 i3 listenes to incoming connections.
295 There is still lot of work to do. Please check our bugtracker for up-to-date
296 information about tasks which are still not finished.
300 You should have a copy of the userguide (featuring nice screenshots/graphics
301 which is why this is not integrated into this manpage), the debugging guide,
302 and the "how to hack" guide. If you are building from source, run:
305 You can also access these documents online at http://i3.zekjur.net/
307 i3-input(1), i3-msg(1)
311 Michael Stapelberg and contributors