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 the layout).
142 === \~/.i3/config (or ~/.config/i3/config)
144 When starting, i3 looks for configuration files in the following order:
146 1. ~/.config/i3/config (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/i3/config if set)
147 2. /etc/xdg/i3/config (or $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/i3/config if set)
151 You can specify a custom path using the -c option.
153 .Sample configuration
154 -------------------------------------------------------------
155 font -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--13-120-75-75-C-70-iso10646-1
157 # Start terminal (Mod1+Enter)
158 bind Mod1+36 exec /usr/bin/urxvt
160 # Start dmenu (Mod1+v)
161 bind Mod1+55 exec /usr/bin/dmenu_run
163 # Kill current client (Mod1+Shift+q)
164 bind Mod1+Shift+24 kill
167 bind Mod1+73 exec /home/michael/toggle_beamer.sh
170 bind Mod1+68 exec /usr/bin/i3lock
172 # Restart i3 inplace (Mod1+Shift+r)
173 bind Mod1+Shift+27 restart
175 # Exit i3 (Mod1+Shift+e)
176 bind Mod1+Shift+26 exit
179 bind Mod1+97 exec sudo sh -c "echo up > /proc/acpi/ibm/brightness"
180 bind Mod1+103 exec sudo sh -c "echo down > /proc/acpi/ibm/brightness"
182 # Fullscreen (Mod1+f)
191 # Toggle tiling/floating of the current window (Mod1+Shift+Space)
194 # Go into the tiling layer / floating layer, depending on whether
195 # the current window is tiling / floating (Mod1+t)
196 bind Mod1+28 focus ft
198 # Focus (Mod1+j/k/l/;)
204 # Focus Container (Mod3+j/k/l/;)
210 # Snap (Mod1+Control+j/k/l/;)
211 bind Mod1+Control+44 sh
212 bind Mod1+Control+45 sj
213 bind Mod1+Control+46 sk
214 bind Mod1+Control+47 sl
216 # Move (Mod1+Shift+j/k/l/;)
217 bind Mod1+Shift+44 mh
218 bind Mod1+Shift+45 mj
219 bind Mod1+Shift+46 mk
220 bind Mod1+Shift+47 ml
222 # Move Container (Mod3+Shift+j/k/l/;)
223 bind Mod3+Shift+44 wcmh
224 bind Mod3+Shift+45 wcmj
225 bind Mod3+Shift+46 wcmk
226 bind Mod3+Shift+47 wcml
237 -------------------------------------------------------------
241 This file is where you should configure your locales and start i3. It is run by
242 your login manager (xdm, slim, gdm, …) as soon as you login.
245 -------------------------------------------------------------
246 # Disable DPMS turning off the screen
253 # Enable zapping (C-A-<Bksp> kills X)
254 setxkbmap -option terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
256 # Enforce correct locales from the beginning
258 export LC_CTYPE=de_DE.UTF-8
259 export LC_TIME=de_DE.UTF-8
260 export LC_NUMERIC=de_DE.UTF-8
261 export LC_MONETARY=de_DE.UTF-8
263 export LC_PAPER=de_DE.UTF-8
264 export LC_NAME=de_DE.UTF-8
265 export LC_ADDRESS=de_DE.UTF-8
266 export LC_TELEPHONE=de_DE.UTF-8
267 export LC_MEASUREMENT=de_DE.UTF-8
268 export LC_IDENTIFICATION=de_DE.UTF-8
270 # Use XToolkit in java applications
271 export AWT_TOOLKIT=XToolkit
273 # Set background color
274 xsetroot -solid "#333333"
276 # Enable core dumps in case something goes wrong
279 # Start i3 and log to ~/.i3/logfile
280 echo "Starting at $(date)" >> ~/.i3/logfile
281 exec /usr/bin/i3 >> ~/.i3/logfile
282 -------------------------------------------------------------
286 There is still lot of work to do. Please check our bugtracker for up-to-date information
287 about tasks which are still not finished.
291 You should have a copy of the userguide (featuring nice screenshots/graphics which is why this
292 is not integrated into this manpage), the debugging guide and the "how to hack" guide. If you
293 are building from source, run +make -C docs+.
295 You can also access these documents online at http://i3.zekjur.net/
297 i3-input(1), i3-msg(1)
301 Michael Stapelberg and contributors