i3 User’s Guide
===============
-Michael Stapelberg <michael+i3@stapelberg.de>
-October 2011
+Michael Stapelberg <michael@i3wm.org>
+August 2012
This document contains all the information you need to configure and use the i3
window manager. If it does not, please contact us on IRC (preferred) or post your
A split container can have one of the following layouts:
-default::
+splith/splitv::
Windows are sized so that every window gets an equal amount of space in the
-container.
+container. splith distributes the windows horizontally (windows are right next
+to each other), splitv distributes them vertically (windows are on top of each
+other).
stacking::
Only the focused window in the container is displayed. You get a list of
windows at the top of the container.
The same principle as +stacking+, but the list of windows at the top is only
a single line which is vertically split.
-To switch modes, press +mod+e+ for default, +mod+s+ for stacking and
-+mod+w+ for tabbed.
+To switch modes, press +mod+e+ for splith/splitv (it toggles), +mod+s+ for
+stacking and +mod+w+ for tabbed.
image:modes.png[Container modes]
press +mod+f+.
There is also a global fullscreen mode in i3 in which the client will span all
-available outputs.
+available outputs (the command is +fullscreen global+).
=== Opening other applications
It is only natural to use so-called +Split Containers+ in order to build a
layout when using a tree as data structure. In i3, every +Container+ has an
-orientation (horizontal, vertical or unspecified). So, in our example with the
-workspace, the default orientation of the workspace +Container+ is horizontal
-(most monitors are widescreen nowadays). If you change the orientation to
-vertical (+mod+v+ in the default config) and *then* open two terminals, i3 will
-configure your windows like this:
+orientation (horizontal, vertical or unspecified) and the orientation depends
+on the layout the container is in (vertical for splitv and stacking, horizontal
+for splith and tabbed). So, in our example with the workspace, the default
+layout of the workspace +Container+ is splith (most monitors are widescreen
+nowadays). If you change the layout to splitv (+mod+l+ in the default config)
+and *then* open two terminals, i3 will configure your windows like this:
image::tree-shot2.png["shot2",title="Vertical Workspace Orientation"]
-An interesting new feature of the tree branch is the ability to split anything:
-Let’s assume you have two terminals on a workspace (with horizontal
-orientation), focus is on the right terminal. Now you want to open another
-terminal window below the current one. If you would just open a new terminal
-window, it would show up to the right due to the horizontal workspace
-orientation. Instead, press +mod+v+ to create a +Vertical Split Container+ (to
+An interesting new feature of i3 since version 4 is the ability to split anything:
+Let’s assume you have two terminals on a workspace (with splith layout, that is
+horizontal orientation), focus is on the right terminal. Now you want to open
+another terminal window below the current one. If you would just open a new
+terminal window, it would show up to the right due to the splith layout.
+Instead, press +mod+v+ to split the container with the splitv layout (to
open a +Horizontal Split Container+, use +mod+h+). Now you can open a new
terminal and it will open below the current one:
image::tree-shot3.png["shot3",title="Focus parent, then open new terminal"]
+=== Implicit containers
+
+In some cases, i3 needs to implicitly create a container to fulfill your
+command.
+
+One example is the following scenario: You start i3 with a single monitor and a
+single workspace on which you open three terminal windows. All these terminal
+windows are directly attached to one node inside i3’s layout tree, the
+workspace node. By default, the workspace node’s orientation is +horizontal+.
+
+Now you move one of these terminals down (+mod+k+ by default). The workspace
+node’s orientation will be changed to +vertical+. The terminal window you moved
+down is directly attached to the workspace and appears on the bottom of the
+screen. A new (horizontal) container was created to accomodate the other two
+terminal windows. You will notice this when switching to tabbed mode (for
+example). You would end up having one tab called "another container" and the
+other one being the terminal window you moved down.
+
[[configuring]]
== Configuring i3
* A keysym (key symbol) is a description for a specific symbol, like "a"
or "b", but also more strange ones like "underscore" instead of "_". These
are the ones you use in Xmodmap to remap your keys. To get the current
- mapping of your keys, use +xmodmap -pke+.
+ mapping of your keys, use +xmodmap -pke+. To interactively enter a key and
+ see what keysym it is configured to, use +xev+.
* Keycodes do not need to have a symbol assigned (handy for custom vendor
hotkeys on some notebooks) and they will not change their meaning as you
*Examples*:
--------------------------------
# Fullscreen
-bindsym mod+f f
+bindsym mod+f fullscreen
# Restart
bindsym mod+Shift+r restart
floating_modifier Mod1
--------------------------------
+=== Constraining floating window size
+
+The maximum and minimum dimensions of floating windows can be specified. If
+either dimension of +floating_maximum_size+ is specified as -1, that dimension
+will be unconstrained with respect to its maximum value. If either dimension of
++floating_maximum_size+ is undefined, or specified as 0, i3 will use a default
+value to constrain the maximum size. +floating_minimum_size+ is treated in a
+manner analogous to +floating_maximum_size+.
+
+*Syntax*:
+----------------------------------------
+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
=== Border style for new windows
-This option determines which border style new windows will have.
+This option determines which border style new windows will have. The default is
+"normal".
*Syntax*:
---------------------------------------------
To get the class and instance, you can use +xprop+. After clicking on the
window, you will see the following output:
-*xwininfo*:
+*xprop*:
-----------------------------------
WM_CLASS(STRING) = "irssi", "URxvt"
-----------------------------------
*Syntax*:
--------------------------------------------
-colorclass border background text
+colorclass border background text indicator
--------------------------------------------
Where colorclass can be one of:
used to paint it. If you use a color other than black for your terminals, you
most likely want to set the client background color to the same color as your
terminal program's background color to avoid black gaps between the rendered
-area of the termianal and the i3 border.
+area of the terminal and the i3 border.
Colors are in HTML hex format (#rrggbb), see the following example:
*Examples (default colors)*:
------------------------------------------------
-# class border backgr. text
-client.focused #4c7899 #285577 #ffffff
-client.focused_inactive #333333 #5f676a #ffffff
-client.unfocused #333333 #222222 #888888
-client.urgent #2f343a #900000 #ffffff
------------------------------------------------
+---------------------------------------------------------
+# 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
+---------------------------------------------------------
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
(to display a workspace bar), and to control i3.
The IPC socket is enabled by default and will be created in
-+/tmp/i3-%u/ipc-socket.%p+ where +%u+ is your UNIX username and +%p+ is the PID
-of i3.
++/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.
+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 /tmp/i3-ipc.sock
+ipc-socket ~/.i3/i3-ipc.sock
----------------------------
You can then use the +i3-msg+ application to perform any command listed in
=== Focus follows mouse
-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).
+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*:
----------------------------
}
-------------------------------------------------
+[[status_command]]
=== Statusline command
i3bar can run a program and display every line of its +stdout+ output on the
You can have i3bar either be visible permanently at one edge of the screen
(+dock+ mode) or make it show up when you press your modifier key (+hide+
-mode).
+mode). The modifier key can be configured using the +modifier+ option.
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.
-The default is dock mode.
+The default is dock mode; in hide mode, the default modifier is Mod4 (usually
+the windows key).
*Syntax*:
----------------
mode <dock|hide>
+modifier <Modifier>
----------------
*Example*:
----------------
bar {
mode hide
+ modifier Mod1
}
----------------
+Available modifiers are Mod1-Mod5, Shift, Control (see +xmodmap(1)+).
+
+[[i3bar_position]]
=== Position
This option determines in which edge of the screen i3bar should show up.
*Syntax*:
-------------------------
-tray_output <none|output>
+tray_output <none|primary|output>
-------------------------
*Example*:
tray_output none
}
+# show tray icons on the primary monitor
+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
+-------------------------
+
=== Font
Specifies the font (again, X core font, not Xft, just like in i3) to be used in
statusline::
Text color to be used for the statusline.
focused_workspace::
- Text color/background color for a workspace button when the workspace
+ Border, background and text color for a workspace button when the workspace
has focus.
active_workspace::
- Text color/background color for a workspace button when the 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::
- Text color/background color for a workspace button when the 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::
- Text color/background color for workspaces which contain at least one
+ Border, background and text color for a workspace button when the workspace
window with the urgency hint set.
*Syntax*:
background <color>
statusline <color>
- colorclass <foreground> <background>
+ colorclass <border> <background> <text>
}
----------------------------------------
-*Example*:
+*Example (default colors)*:
--------------------------------------
bar {
colors {
background #000000
statusline #ffffff
- focused_workspace #ffffff #285577
- active_workspace #ffffff #333333
- inactive_workspace #888888 #222222
- urgent_workspace #ffffff #900000
+ focused_workspace #4c7899 #285577 #ffffff
+ active_workspace #333333 #5f676a #ffffff
+ inactive_workspace #333333 #222222 #888888
+ urgent_workspace #2f343a #900000 #ffffff
}
}
--------------------------------------
the following keybinding:
*Example*:
--------------------------------------------
-bindsym mod+x move workspace 3; workspace 3
--------------------------------------------
+--------------------------------------------------------
+bindsym mod+x move container to workspace 3; workspace 3
+--------------------------------------------------------
[[command_criteria]]
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).
+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)
con_mark::
Compares the mark set for this container, see <<vim_like_marks>>.
con_id::
=== Splitting containers
The split command makes the current window a split container. Split containers
-can contain multiple windows. Every split container has an orientation, it is
-either split horizontally (a new window gets placed to the right of the current
-one) or vertically (a new window gets placed below the current one).
+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).
+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*:
---------------------------
=== Manipulating layout
-Use +layout default+, +layout stacking+ or +layout tabbed+ to change the
-current container layout to default, stacking or tabbed layout, respectively.
+Use +layout toggle split+, +layout stacking+ or +layout tabbed+ to change the
+current container layout to splith/splitv, stacking or tabbed layout,
+respectively.
To make the current window (!) fullscreen, use +fullscreen+, to make
it floating (or tiling again) use +floating enable+ respectively +floating disable+
(or +floating toggle+):
+*Syntax*:
+--------------
+layout <tabbed|stacking>
+layout toggle [split|all]
+--------------
+
*Examples*:
--------------
bindsym mod+s layout stacking
-bindsym mod+l layout default
+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
=== Focusing/Moving containers
-To change the focus, use the focus command: +focus left+, +focus right+, +focus down+ and +focus up+.
+To change the focus, use the focus command: +focus left+, +focus right+, +focus
+down+ and +focus up+.
There are a few special parameters you can use for the focus command:
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.
For moving, use +move left+, +move right+, +move down+ and +move up+.
-----------------------------------
focus <left|right|down|up>
focus <parent|child|floating|tiling|mode_toggle>
+focus output <<left|right|down|up>|output>
move <left|right|down|up> [<px> px]
+move [absolute] position [[<px> px] [<px> px]|center]
-----------------------------------
Note that the amount of pixels you can specify for the +move+ command is only
# 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
+
# Move container to the left, bottom, top, right:
bindsym mod+j move left
bindsym mod+k move down
# 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
----------------------
=== 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 workspace+.
++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. Similarily, you can use +move workspace next+ and +move workspace
-prev+ to move a container to the next/previous workspace.
+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).
[[back_and_forth]]
To switch back to the previously focused workspace, use +workspace
back_and_forth+.
To move a container to another xrandr output such as +LVDS1+ or +VGA1+, you can
-use the +move output+ command followed by the name of the target output. You
-may also use +left+, +right+, +up+, +down+ instead of the xrandr output name to
-move to the the next output in the specified direction.
+use the +move container to output+ command followed by the name of the target
+output. You may also use +left+, +right+, +up+, +down+ instead of the xrandr
+output name to move to the next output in the specified direction.
+
+To move a whole workspace to another xrandr output such as +LVDS1+ or +VGA1+,
+you can use the +move workspace to output+ command followed by the name of the
+target output. You may also use +left+, +right+, +up+, +down+ instead of the
+xrandr output name to move to the next output in the specified direction.
+
+*Syntax*:
+-----------------------------------
+workspace <next|prev|next_on_output|prev_on_output>
+workspace back_and_forth
+workspace <name>
+workspace number <number>
+
+move [window|container] [to] workspace <name>
+move [window|container] [to] workspace number <number>
+move [window|container] [to] workspace <prev|next|current>
+-----------------------------------
*Examples*:
-------------------------
bindsym mod+2 workspace 2
...
-bindsym mod+Shift+1 move workspace 1
-bindsym mod+Shift+2 move workspace 2
+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
+
+# 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
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.
+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.
+
+=== 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.
+
+*Syntax*:
+----------------------------------------------------
+rename workspace <old_name> 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"'
+------------------------------------------------
[[resizingconfig]]
resize <grow|shrink> <direction> [<px> px] [or <ppt> ppt]
---------------------------------------------------------
-Direction can be one of +up+, +down+, +left+ or +right+. 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).
+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).
I recommend using the resize command inside a so called +mode+:
mode "resize" {
# These bindings trigger as soon as you enter the resize mode
- # They resize the border in the direction you pressed, e.g.
- # when pressing left, the window is resized so that it has
- # more space on its left
-
- bindsym j resize shrink left
- bindsym Shift+j resize grow left
-
- bindsym k resize grow down
- bindsym Shift+k resize shrink down
-
- bindsym l resize shrink up
- bindsym Shift+l resize grow up
-
- bindsym semicolon resize grow right
- bindsym Shift+semicolon resize shrink right
+ # 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 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).
+
+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
+------------------------------------------------
+
[[multi_monitor]]
== Multiple monitors
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. Use a pipe to connect them: +i3status | i3bar -d+.
+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 use +-d+ or +-dbottom+
-for positioning it at the bottom and +-dtop+ to position it at the top of the
-screen.
+on which hint the application sets. With i3bar, you can configure its position,
+see <<i3bar_position>>.
=== Giving presentations (multi-monitor)
projects / i3 / i3 / blobdiff