IPC interface (interprocess communication)
==========================================
Michael Stapelberg <michael@i3wm.org>
-February 2014
+October 2014
This document describes how to interface with i3 from a separate process. This
is useful for example to remote-control i3 (to write test cases for example) or
num (integer)::
The logical number of the workspace. Corresponds to the command
- to switch to this workspace.
+ to switch to this workspace. For named workspaces, this will be -1.
name (string)::
The name of this workspace (by default num+1), as changed by the
user. Encoded in UTF-8.
So, when using the +default+ layout, you will have a 2 pixel border on
each side, making the window_rect +{ "x": 2, "y": 0, "width": 632,
"height": 366 }+ (for example).
+deco_rect (map)::
+ The coordinates of the *window decoration* inside its container. These
+ coordinates are relative to the container and do not include the actual
+ client window.
geometry (map)::
The original geometry the window specified when i3 mapped it. Used when
switching a window to floating mode, for example.
*Example:*
---------------------------------
type: SUBSCRIBE
-payload: [ "workspace", "focus" ]
+payload: [ "workspace", "output" ]
---------------------------------
barconfig_update (4)::
Sent when the hidden_state or mode field in the barconfig of any bar
instance was updated and when the config is reloaded.
+binding (5)::
+ Sent when a configured command binding is triggered with the keyboard or
+ mouse
*Example:*
--------------------------------------------------------------------
+change (string)+ which indicates the type of the change
* +new+ - the window has become managed by i3
+* +close+ - the window has closed
* +focus+ - the window has received input focus
* +title+ - the window's title has changed
* +fullscreen_mode+ - the window has entered or exited fullscreen mode
+* +move+ - the window has changed its position in the tree
+* +floating+ - the window has transitioned to or from floating
+* +urgent+ - the window has become urgent or lost its urgent status
Additionally a +container (object)+ field will be present, which consists
of the window's parent container. Be aware that for the "new" event, the
barconfig of the specified bar_id that were updated in i3. This event is the
same as a +GET_BAR_CONFIG+ reply for the bar with the given id.
+=== binding event
+
+This event consists of a single serialized map reporting on the details of a
+binding that ran a command because of user input. The +change (sring)+ field
+indicates what sort of binding event was triggered (right now it will always be
++"run"+ but may be expanded in the future).
+
+The +binding (object)+ field contains details about the binding that was run:
+
+command (string)::
+ The i3 command that is configured to run for this binding.
+mods (array of strings)::
+ The modifier keys that were configured with this binding.
+input_code (integer)::
+ If the binding was configured with +bindcode+, this will be the key code
+ that was given for the binding. If the binding is a mouse binding, it will be
+ the number of the mouse button that was pressed. Otherwise it will be 0.
+symbol (string or null)::
+ If this is a keyboard binding that was configured with +bindsym+, this
+ field will contain the given symbol. Otherwise it will be +null+.
+input_type (string)::
+ This will be +"keyboard"+ or +"mouse"+ depending on whether or not this was
+ a keyboard or a mouse binding.
+
+*Example:*
+---------------------------
+{
+ "change": "run",
+ "binding": {
+ "command": "nop",
+ "mods": [
+ "shift",
+ "ctrl"
+ ],
+ "input_code": 0,
+ "symbol": "t",
+ "input_type": "keyboard"
+ }
+}
+---------------------------
+
== See also (existing libraries)
[[libraries]]
know):
C::
- i3 includes a headerfile +i3/ipc.h+ which provides you all constants.
-
- https://github.com/acrisci/i3ipc-glib
+ * i3 includes a headerfile +i3/ipc.h+ which provides you all constants.
+ * https://github.com/acrisci/i3ipc-glib
Go::
* https://github.com/proxypoke/i3ipc
JavaScript::
* https://github.com/acrisci/i3ipc-gjs
Lua::
- * https:/github.com/acrisci/i3ipc-lua
+ * https://github.com/acrisci/i3ipc-lua
Perl::
* https://metacpan.org/module/AnyEvent::I3
Python::
* https://github.com/whitelynx/i3ipc (not maintained)
* https://github.com/ziberna/i3-py (not maintained)
Ruby::
- http://github.com/badboy/i3-ipc
+ * http://github.com/badboy/i3-ipc