3 Michael Stapelberg <michael+i3@stapelberg.de>
8 i3 - an improved dynamic, tiling window manager
12 i3 [-c configfile] [-a]
17 Specifies an alternate configuration file path
26 i3 was created because wmii, our favorite window manager at the time, didn’t
27 provide some features we wanted (Xinerama done right, for example), had some
28 bugs, didn’t progress since quite some time and wasn’t easy to hack at all
29 (source code comments/documentation completely lacking). Still, we think the
30 wmii developers and contributors did a great job. Thank you for inspiring us to
33 Please be aware that i3 is primarily targeted at advanced users and developers.
38 A client is X11-speak for a window.
41 Your workspace is managed using a table. You can move windows around and create new columns
42 (move a client to the right) or rows (move it to the bottom) implicitly.
44 By "snapping" a client in a specific direction, you increase its colspan/rowspan.
47 A container contains a variable number of clients. Each cell of the table is a container.
49 Containers can be used in various modes. The default mode is called "default" and just
50 resizes each client equally so that it fits.
53 A workspace is a set of clients (technically speaking, it’s just a table). Other window
54 managers call this "Virtual Desktops".
56 In i3, each workspace is assigned to a specific virtual screen. By default, screen 1
57 has workspace 1, screen 2 has workspace 2 and so on… However, when you create a new
58 workspace (by simply switching to it), it’ll be assigned the screen you are currently
62 Using Xinerama, you can have an X11 screen spanning multiple real monitors. Furthermore,
63 you can set them up in cloning mode or with positions (monitor 1 is left of monitor 2).
65 A virtual screen is the result of your Xinerama setup. For example, if you have attached
66 two real monitors (let’s say your laptop screen and a video projector) and enabled cloning, i3
67 will use one virtual screen with the size of the smallest screen you have attached (so
68 that you can see all your windows on each screen all the time).
69 If you have two monitors attached, one configured to be left of the other, i3 will use
74 Here is a short overview of the default keybindings:
77 Direction keys (left, down, up, right). They are on your homerow (see the mark on your "j" key).
80 Focus window in <direction>.
83 Focus container in <direction>.
85 Mod1+Shift+<direction>::
86 Move window to <direction>.
88 Mod3+Shift+<direction>::
89 Move container to <direction>.
91 Mod1+Control+<direction>::
92 Snap container to <direction>.
95 Switch to workspace <number>.
98 Move window to workspace <number>.
101 Toggle fullscreen mode.
104 Enable stacking layout for the current container.
107 Enable default layout for the current container.
110 Kills the current client.
113 Restarts i3 in place (without losing any windows, but the layout).
122 When starting, i3 looks for ~/.i3/config and loads the configuration. If ~/.i3/config is not found,
123 i3 tries /etc/i3/config. You can specify a custom path using the -c option.
125 At the moment, you can specify only the path to your favorite terminal emulator, the font and keybindings.
127 At the moment, you have to bind to keycodes (find them out via xev(1)).
129 .Sample configuration
130 -------------------------------------------------------------
131 terminal /usr/bin/urxvt
132 font -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--13-120-75-75-C-70-iso10646-1
134 # Start terminal (Mod1+Enter)
135 bind Mod1+36 exec /usr/bin/urxvt
137 # Start dmenu (Mod1+v)
138 bind Mod1+55 exec /usr/bin/dmenu_run
140 # Kill current client (Mod1+Shift+q)
141 bind Mod1+Shift+24 kill
144 bind Mod1+73 exec /home/michael/toggle_beamer.sh
147 bind Mod1+68 exec /usr/bin/i3lock
149 # Restart i3 inplace (Mod1+Shift+r)
150 bind Mod1+Shift+27 restart
152 # Exit i3 (Mod1+Shift+e)
153 bind Mod1+Shift+26 exit
156 bind Mod1+97 exec sudo sh -c "echo up > /proc/acpi/ibm/brightness"
157 bind Mod1+103 exec sudo sh -c "echo down > /proc/acpi/ibm/brightness"
159 # Fullscreen (Mod1+f)
168 # Focus (Mod1+j/k/l/;)
174 # Focus Container (Mod3+j/k/l/;)
180 # Snap (Mod1+Control+j/k/l/;)
181 bind Mod1+Control+44 sh
182 bind Mod1+Control+45 sj
183 bind Mod1+Control+46 sk
184 bind Mod1+Control+47 sl
186 # Move (Mod1+Shift+j/k/l/;)
187 bind Mod1+Shift+44 mh
188 bind Mod1+Shift+45 mj
189 bind Mod1+Shift+46 mk
190 bind Mod1+Shift+47 ml
192 # Move Container (Mod3+Shift+j/k/l/;)
193 bind Mod3+Shift+44 wcmh
194 bind Mod3+Shift+45 wcmj
195 bind Mod3+Shift+46 wcmk
196 bind Mod3+Shift+47 wcml
207 -------------------------------------------------------------
211 This file is where you should configure your locales and start i3. It is run by
212 your login manager (xdm, slim, gdm, …) as soon as you login.
215 -------------------------------------------------------------
216 # Disable DPMS turning off the screen
222 # Enforce correct locales from the beginning
224 export LC_CTYPE=de_DE.UTF-8
225 export LC_TIME=de_DE.UTF-8
226 export LC_NUMERIC=de_DE.UTF-8
227 export LC_MONETARY=de_DE.UTF-8
229 export LC_PAPER=de_DE.UTF-8
230 export LC_NAME=de_DE.UTF-8
231 export LC_ADDRESS=de_DE.UTF-8
232 export LC_TELEPHONE=de_DE.UTF-8
233 export LC_MEASUREMENT=de_DE.UTF-8
234 export LC_IDENTIFICATION=de_DE.UTF-8
236 # Enable core dumps in case something goes wrong
239 # Start i3 and log to ~/.i3/logfile
240 echo "Starting at $(date)" >> ~/.i3/logfile
241 exec /usr/bin/i3 >> ~/.i3/logfile
242 -------------------------------------------------------------
246 There is still lot of work to do. Please check our bugtracker for up-to-date information
247 about tasks which are still not finished.
251 Michael Stapelberg and contributors