i3wm Configuration Files

Table of Contents

About

This is my personal i3wm configuration. The actual code itself is inside this one org-mode file that can be tangled from inside Emacs with the command org-babel-tangle-file. I'm using Gnu Stow to create symlinks from the files tangled in this org file into my home directory since not all the files in this repository needs to be symlinked1. i3wm.png

The Rework

After playing with hyprland for a while, I realized that I still need to have an Xorg configuration for my desktop experience. And this i3 configuration has not been updated for a long time.

The thing is, the Xorg itself needs configuring, and the i3 configuration itself doesn't configure X. I've had a separate repository for Xorg configuration files, but it's a pain to update them just for small changes in the window manager.

My goal is to have a repository for i3 window manager, but also have the configuration for X, and also i3 supporting apps.

Required packages

I'm using archlinux as my main system for years, so I don't really know if the application listed here are also available on other distribution.

Full Xorg package
by installing the xorg package group, perhaps not all are required, but I rather have them from the start just in case.
i3-wm
Archlinux package for i3-wm. Also install the optional dependencies:
i3lock-fancy-git
i3lock script that takes a screenshot of the desktop, blurs the background and adds a lock icon and text.
xidlehook
xautolock rewrite in Rust, with a few extra features.
i3status
for the default status bar generator.
perl-anyevent-i3
for i3-save-tree.
dunst
a lightweight replacement for the notification-daemons provided by most desktop environments. Should be started using systemd, unless you only used it for i3.
libnotify
Library for sending desktop notifications.
firefox
I used to love chromium, but keeps falling back to firefox eventually.
picom
Lightweight compositor for X11.

Optional packages

archlinux-wallpaper
for initial wallpapers.
feh
a lightweight image viewer aimed mainly at users of command line interfaces. Unlike most graphical image viewers.
dex
Program to generate and execute DesktopEntry files of type Application. If used, try running dex -d -v --autostart for testing which applications get auto started in dry run. Note that this will auto start every .desktop files in /etc/xdg/autostart/.
x11-ssh-askpass
Lightweight passphrase dialog for SSH.
polkit-kde-agent
Daemon providing a polkit authentication UI for KDE. It is suggested not to use polkit-gnome. I should start checking if that's still true.
Blueman
GTK+ Bluetooth Manager.
Udiskie
Removable disk automounter using udisks.
Thunar
Modern, fast and easy-to-use file manager for Xfce. Install all the optional dependencies if needed.
Scrot
Simple command-line screenshot utility for X.
flameshot
Powerful, yet simple to use open-source screenshot software.
Wmctrl
Control your EWMH compliant window manager from command line.
Maim
Utility to take a screenshot using imlib2.
Tesseract
An OCR program.

Themes, fonts, and other UI related packages

ttf-jetbrains-mono-nerd
Patched font JetBrains Mono from nerd fonts library
otf-overpass-nerd
Patched font Overpass from nerd fonts library.
bibata-cursor-theme
Material Based Cursor Theme.
papirus-icon-theme
Papirus icon theme.
Breeze
Artwork, styles and assets for the Breeze visual style for the Plasma Desktop.
Breeze-GTK
Breeze widget theme for GTK 2 and 3. Also works on GTK 4 (I think).
Breeze-Icons
Breeze icon theme.
Unclutter
A small program for hiding the mouse cursor, this is already the unclutter-xfixes package on archlinux.
Volumeicon
Volume control for the system tray.

Apps Used

Multimedia

ncmpcpp
Featureful ncurses based MPD client inspired by ncmpc

<<<<<<< HEAD

GTK

GTK, or the GIMP Toolkit, is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. Offering a complete set of widgets, GTK is suitable for projects ranging from small one-off tools to complete application suites. Most of these settings are taken from Arch wiki.

GTK 3

Settings

[Settings]
gtk-theme-name=Breeze-Dark
gtk-cursor-theme-size=0
gtk-toolbar-style=GTK_TOOLBAR_BOTH
gtk-toolbar-icon-size=GTK_ICON_SIZE_LARGE_TOOLBAR
gtk-button-images=1
gtk-menu-images=1
gtk-enable-event-sounds=1
gtk-enable-input-feedback-sounds=1
gtk-xft-antialias=1
gtk-xft-hinting=1
gtk-xft-hintstyle=hintfull
gtk-key-theme-name=Emacs
gtk-font-name=JetBrainsMonoNL Nerd Font Mono 8
gtk-sound-theme-name=freedesktop
gtk-icon-theme-name=Papirus
gtk-cursor-theme-name=Bibata-Modern-Classic
gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=1
gtk-xft-rgba=rgb

GTK 4

Settings

[Settings]
gtk-theme-name=Breeze-Dark
gtk-cursor-theme-size=0
gtk-toolbar-style=GTK_TOOLBAR_BOTH
gtk-toolbar-icon-size=GTK_ICON_SIZE_LARGE_TOOLBAR
gtk-button-images=1
gtk-menu-images=1
gtk-enable-event-sounds=1
gtk-enable-input-feedback-sounds=1
gtk-xft-antialias=1
gtk-xft-hinting=1
gtk-xft-hintstyle=hintfull
gtk-key-theme-name=Emacs
gtk-font-name=JetBrainsMonoNL Nerd Font Mono, 8
gtk-sound-theme-name=freedesktop
gtk-icon-theme-name=Papirus
gtk-cursor-theme-name=Bibata-Modern-Classic
gtk-application-prefer-dark-theme=1

i3wm

The i3-wm package that I used is from the default repository in archlinux.

variables

Mostly these variables are set to avoid repetion.

mod key

Mod4 is the Super key, or Win key for the rest of the world. Mod1 is Alt2. You don't have to set this variable, but by using variable, we can change the mod key without having to change each individual lines of keybindings.

set $mod Mod4

font

# font
font pango:JetBrainsMonoNL Nerd Font Mono 8

notify

I used dunst as a desktop notification, though there's many other packages that can replace it. I prefer dunst because it's easier to configure.

set $notify exec notify-send -t 1000

refresh i3status

The preferred status bar for i3, I like the simplicity of i3status.

set $refresh_i3status killall -SIGUSR1 i3status

navigation keys

I use vim keys obviously.

set $up k
set $down j
set $left h
set $right l

TODO workspaces

I tried to have a uniformed workspaces across all my window manager configurations. I should work on this.

set $ws1 "1: Term"
set $ws2 "2: Code"
set $ws3 "3: Web"
set $ws4 "4: Mail"
set $ws5 "5: File"
set $ws6 "6: Office"
set $ws7 "7: Others"
set $ws8 "8: Media"
set $ws9 "9: Remote"
set $ws10 "10: Steam"

Set workspace_back_and_forth Bound to $mod+TAB, I really use this alot, this is mandatory in every window manager I use.

workspace_auto_back_and_forth yes

applications

set $terminal xterm
set $browser firefox
set $mail thunderbird
set $guiemacs emacsclient -c -a emacs
set $tuiemacs emacsclient -t -a emacs
set $file thunar

Xresouces

#### https://build.i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html#xresources
set_from_resource         $background_i3wm  background      #000000
set_from_resource         $foreground_i3wm  foreground      #000000
set_from_resource         $color00_i3wm         color0          #000000
set_from_resource         $color01_i3wm         color1          #000000
set_from_resource         $color02_i3wm         color2          #000000
set_from_resource         $color03_i3wm         color3          #000000
set_from_resource         $color04_i3wm         color4          #000000
set_from_resource         $color05_i3wm         color5          #000000
set_from_resource         $color06_i3wm   color6          #000000
set_from_resource         $color07_i3wm   color7          #000000
set_from_resource         $color08_i3wm   color8          #000000
set_from_resource         $color09_i3wm   color9          #000000
set_from_resource         $color10_i3wm         color10         #000000
set_from_resource         $color11_i3wm         color11         #000000
set_from_resource         $color12_i3wm         color12         #000000
set_from_resource         $color13_i3wm         color13         #000000
set_from_resource         $color14_i3wm         color14         #000000
set_from_resource         $color15_i3wm         color15         #000000

Colors

# Theme colors
# class                 border          backgr.         text            indic.                  child_border
# My colors
client.background $background_i3wm

client.focused          $foreground_i3wm  $background_i3wm  $foreground_i3wm $background_i3wm $background_i3wm
client.unfocused        $foreground_i3wm  $background_i3wm  $foreground_i3wm $background_i3wm $background_i3wm
client.focused_inactive $foreground_i3wm  $background_i3wm  $foreground_i3wm $background_i3wm $background_i3wm
client.urgent           $foreground_i3wm  $background_i3wm  $foreground_i3wm $background_i3wm $background_i3wm
client.placeholder      $foreground_i3wm  $background_i3wm  $foreground_i3wm $background_i3wm $background_i3wm

floating modifier

floating_modifier $mod

Gaps

i3wm-2025-04-18_21-42.png

gaps inner 2px
gaps outer 2px
smart_gaps on

bar

bar {
    status_command i3status
    position bottom
    workspace_buttons yes
    font pango:JetBrainsMonoNL Nerd Font Mono 8
    mode hide
    colors {
        statusline          $color04_i3wm
        background          $background_i3wm
        separator           $color03_i3wm
        #                   BORDER          BACKGROUND        TEXT
        focused_workspace   $color03_i3wm   $color00_i3wm     $color02_i3wm
        inactive_workspace  $color00_i3wm   $color00_i3wm     $color02_i3wm
        active_workspace    $color00_i3wm   $color00_i3wm     $color01_i3wm
        urgent_workspace    $color01_i3wm   $background_i3wm  $color00_i3wm
        binding_mode        $color03_i3wm   $background_i3wm  $color00_i3wm
        }
}

Also set keybinding for toggling bar. This is useful since I don't need the status bar all the time, and setting it to auto-hide it will show each time I hold the mod key, which also works inside a fullscreen virtual machine, making it easier to switch back to i3wm.

bindsym $mod+Control+m bar mode toggle

application autostart

# exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/monitor-setup
exec --no-startup-id xsetroot -cursor_name left_ptr
exec --no-startup-id dbus-launch --exit-with-session picom -b --config "${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}"/picom/picom.conf &
exec --no-startup-id /usr/lib/geoclue-2.0/demos/agent &
exec --no-startup-id dbus-launch --exit-with-session unclutter &
exec --no-startup-id dbus-launch nm-applet &
exec --no-startup-id dbus-launch blueman-applet &
exec --no-startup-id volumeicon &
exec --no-startup-id flameshot &
exec --no-startup-id dbus-launch --exit-with-session greenclip daemon>/dev/null &
exec --no-startup-id $file --daemon &
exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/transfer-sleep-lock-i3lock-fancy &
exec --no-startup-id ~/.fehbg
exec --no-startup-id emacs --daemon
#exec --no-startup-id xss-lock --transfer-sleep-lock -- i3lock-fancy -n -f Overpass-Nerd-Font-Reg -detectsleep
exec --no-startup-id $terminal -class ncmpcpp -e ncmpcpp
exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/conky-start &

window rule

for_window [class=".*"] border pixel 0
# for_window [class="(?i)xclipboard"] , move scratchpad
for_window [instance="(?i)pavucontrol"] floating enable
for_window [window_role="pop-up"] floating enable
for_window [instance="(?i)engrampa"] floating enable
for_window [window_role="GtkFileChooserDialog"] floating enable
for_window [title="(?i)alsamixer"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)qtconfig-qt4"] floating enable
for_window [title="(?i)nmtui"] floating enable
for_window [window_role="buddy_list"] floating enable, resize set 360 680
for_window [window_role="conversation"] floating enable, resize set 480 680
for_window [class="(?i)blueman.*"] floating enable, resize set 512 256
for_window [class="evolution-alarm-notify"] floating enable
for_window [class="Evolution-alarm-notify"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)kooha"] floating enable
for_window [class="^org.kde.polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1"] floating enable
for_window [class="thunderbird" title="status"] floating enable
for_window [class="thunderbird" title="(.*)Reminders"] floating enable
for_window [class="thunderbird" title="Write.*"] floating enable resize set 680 680
for_window [class="thunderbird" title="Send.*"] floating enable
for_window [class="Msgcompose.*"] floating enable resize set 680 680
for_window [class="QtPass"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)zoom"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)file-roller"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)ncmpcpp"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)khal"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)htop"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)nmtui"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)vim"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)org.kde.kdeconnect.app"] floating enable
for_window [title="(?i)File Operation Progress"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)showmethekey-gtk"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)screenkey"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)bitwarden"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)authy.*"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)transmission.*"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)anydesk.*"] floating enable
for_window [class="(?i)lxappearance"] floating enable
for_window [class="virt-manager"] floating enable resize set 680 680 move position center
for_window [class="(?i)steam.*"] floating enable resize set 680 680 move position center
for_window [class=".*FileRoller"] floating enable resize set 680 680 move position center
for_window [class=".*vokoscreenNG"] floating enable resize set 680 680 move position center
for_window [class=".*ncmpcpp"] , move scratchpad
for_window [class=".*vokoscreenNG"] , move scratchpad
for_window [class=".*easyeffects"] floating enable resize set 680 680 move position center
for_window [class=".*Cheese"] floating enable resize set 680 680 move position center
for_window [class=".*pwvucontrol"] floating enable resize set 680 680 move position center

This section sets the window rules for specific window classes, which can be determined using the xprop command.

workspace assignment

Workspace specific assignment.

workspace 1

The first workspace is reserved for terminals. But I'm not assigning apps into this workspace since I'd like to open terminals on other workspaces.

workspace 2

assign [class="Emacs"] $ws2
assign [class="Leafpad"] $ws2
assign [class="L3afpad"] $ws2
assign [class="Gedit"] $ws2
assign [class="code-oss"] $ws2

Text editing is on workspace 2.

workspace 3

assign [class="qutebrowser"] $ws3
assign [class="firefox"] $ws3
assign [class="google-chrome"] $ws3
assign [class="Nyxt"] $ws3
assign [class="pidgin"] $ws7

Web browser goes here.

workspace 4

assign [class="Evolution"] $ws4
assign [class="thunderbird"] $ws4

For when I use GUI mail client.

workspace 5

assign [class="Thunar"] $ws5

File manager.

workspace 6

assign [title="Libreoffice"] $ws6
assign [title="com-sonicwall-NetExtender"] $ws6
assign [title="Bitwarden"] $ws6
assign [title="zoom"] $ws6

Office-related

workspace 7

assign [class="Gucharmap"] $ws7
assign [class="org.gnome.Characters"] $ws7
assign [class="winbox.exe"] $ws7
assign [class="discord"] $ws7

This suppose to be my chat workspace.

workspace 8

assign [class="Rhythmbox"] $ws8
assign [class="vlc"] $ws8
assign [class="mpv"] $ws8
assign [class="Cheese"] $ws8
assign [class="Spotify"] $ws8
assign [class="Picard"] $ws8

Multimedia related.

workspace 9

assign [class="org.remmina.remmina"] $ws9
assign [class="Virt-manager"] $ws9
assign [class="Vncviewer"] $ws9

Remoting the remotes.

workspace 0

assign [class="Steam"] $ws10
assign [title="Steam"] $ws10

Game!

Keybindings

media keys

On my laptop these media keys are on F10, F11, and F12 for Previous, Play/Pause, and Next. There's also F7, F8, and F9 for Mic toggle, Volume up, and Volume down, so that's what I set for my other keyboards, even those without media keys, since pressing Fn with the mod keys is not very convenient.

bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/dunst-volume -i 1 && $refresh_i3status
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/dunst-volume -d 1 && $refresh_i3status
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/dunst-volume -t && $refresh_i3status
bindsym XF86AudioMicMute exec --no-startup-id pactl set-source-mute @DEFAULT_SOURCE@ toggle && $refresh_i3status

bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec playerctl play-pause
bindsym XF86AudioNext exec playerctl next
bindsym XF86AudioPrev exec playerctl previous

bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/dunst-backlight +1%
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/dunst-backlight 1%-

bindsym Print exec flameshot gui

For keyboard with no media keys:

bindsym $mod+F9 exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/dunst-volume -i 1 && $refresh_i3status
bindsym $mod+F8 exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/dunst-volume -d 1 && $refresh_i3status
bindsym $mod+F7 exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/dunst-volume -t && $refresh_i3status

bindsym $mod+F11 exec playerctl play-pause
bindsym $mod+F12 exec playerctl next
bindsym $mod+F10 exec playerctl previous

bindsym $mod+Shift+F3 exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/dunst-backlight +1%
bindsym $mod+Shift+F2 exec --no-startup-id ~/.local/bin/dunst-backlight 1%-

bindsym $mod+v exec pwvucontrol
pamixer
package is needed for volume, even if you're using pipewire.
brightnessctl
package for setting up brightness.
playerctl
works on most MPRIS player.
dunst
the notification used in the scripts.
pwvucontrol
volume control for pipewire

I've been using pipewire for a while, and though I didn't notice any difference with pulseaudio I think I'll use it for my main machine. It's also play nice with other applications that relies on pulseaudio.

i3wm-Peek-2025-05-16_15-13.gif

Figure 1: transparency binding using picom-trans.

browser

bindsym XF86MyComputer exec $browser
bindsym $mod+Mod1+f exec $browser

My goto browser has always been firefox.

Peek-firefox-2025-05-16_15-56.gif

Figure 2: firefox using vim addons.

mail

bindsym XF86Mail exec $mail
bindsym $mod+Mod1+t exec $mail

Using thunderbird. Both thunderbird and firefox works well using the GTK theme.

thunderbird-2025-05-16_15-52.png

Figure 3: thunderbird

music

bindsym $mod+Mod1+m exec $terminal -class ncmpcpp -e ncmpcpp

Since I've placed window with the class name ncmpcpp on the scratchpad, the window won't automatically shows up when the keybinding is pressed. To view this we must view the scratchpad window (here bound to $mod -).

ncmpcpp-Peek-2025-05-16_16-06.gif

Figure 4: terminal window with ncmpcpp on scratchpad

htop

bindsym $mod+Mod1+h exec $terminal -class htop -e htop

htop-Peek-2025-05-16_16-13.gif

Figure 5: htop

nmtui

For machine running networkmanager.

bindsym $mod+Mod1+w exec $terminal -class nmtui -e nmtui

nmtui-2025-05-16_16-16.png

Figure 6: nmtui for connection settings

khal

A simple calendar application.

bindsym $mod+Mod1+k exec $terminal -class khal -e khal interactive

khal-2025-05-16_16-18.png

Figure 7: khal

vim

For when I'm feeling like using vim.

bindsym $mod+Mod1+v exec $terminal -class vim -e vim

vim-2025-05-16_16-19.png

Figure 8: vim

dired

File manager under Emacs.

bindsym $mod+Mod1+e exec emacsclient -c -a emacs -e '(dired (getenv "HOME"))'

dired-Peek-2025-05-16_16-22.gif

Figure 9: dired

rofi-pass

rofi-pass.png Rofi front end for pass. It stores passwords using git and encrypted with GnuPG. It also has an OTP extensions.

bindsym $mod+Mod1+p exec rofi-pass

rofi-calc

Simple calculator using rofi.

bindsym $mod+Mod1+c exec rofi -show calc -modi calc -no-show-match -no-sort

rofi-calc-2025-05-16_16-24.png

Figure 10: rofi-calc

rofi-rbw

Similar to rofi-pass, but for bitwarden. I don't use this often since I used the firefox extension.

bindsym $mod+Mod1+b exec rofi-rbw

text editor

Just your regular Emacs, bound to a key.

bindsym $mod+Mod1+n exec $guiemacs
bindsym $mod+Control+n exec $terminal -e $tuiemacs

file manager

Default to thunar.

bindsym $mod+e exec $file

thunar-2025-05-16_16-27.png

Figure 11: thunar

terminal

Now default to xterm.

bindsym $mod+Return exec $terminal

xterm-2025-05-16_16-33.png

Figure 12: xterm

terminal + screen

I don't use screen much anymore. Been tinkering with tmux and until now haven't been disappointed yet.

bindsym $mod+Shift+Return exec $terminal -e screen -m

kill focused window

Useful for windows without a kill button (looking at you spotify).

bindsym $mod+Shift+F4 kill
bindsym Mod1+F4 kill

rofi-menu

Using rofi as an application launcher.

bindsym $mod+d exec --no-startup-id rofi -show drun -theme i3-apps

rofi-menu-2025-05-16_16-39.png

Figure 13: rofi-menu

rofi-greenclip

This package is available in the aur.

bindsym $mod+c exec --no-startup-id rofi -theme i3-apps -modi "clipboard:greenclip print" -show clipboard

rofi-greenclip-2025-05-16_16-41.png

Figure 14: rofi-greenclip

rofi window menu

With Shift key will only show window in the current workspace.

bindsym $mod+shift+w exec rofi -theme i3-apps -show windowcd
bindsym $mod+w exec rofi -theme i3-apps -show window

rofi-window-menu-2025-05-16_16-44.png

Figure 15: rofi window menu

tesseract

bindsym $mod+shift+t exec ~/.local/bin/ocr

The recommended full package to install is ocrdesktop according to archlinux wiki. I got this script from the internet which basically doing the same thing only with maim and the tesseract package.

ocr-Peek-2025-05-16_15-37.gif

Figure 16: OCR using tesseract.

screenkey

A screencast tool to display your keys inspired by Screenflick.

bindsym $mod+Mod1+s exec screenkey

window management

change focus

The basic window navigation key.

bindsym $mod+$left focus left
bindsym $mod+$down focus down
bindsym $mod+$up focus up
bindsym $mod+$right focus right

Alternatively, with arrow keys:

bindsym $mod+Left focus left
bindsym $mod+Down focus down
bindsym $mod+Up focus up
bindsym $mod+Right focus right

Adding ALT-TAB functionality just in case.

bindsym Mod1+Tab focus right
bindsym Mod1+Shift+Tab focus left
move focused window

Used for moving window within workspace.

bindsym $mod+Shift+$left move left
bindsym $mod+Shift+$down move down
bindsym $mod+Shift+$up move up
bindsym $mod+Shift+$right move right

Also, with arrow keys:

bindsym $mod+Shift+Left move left
bindsym $mod+Shift+Down move down
bindsym $mod+Shift+Up move up
bindsym $mod+Shift+Right move right
split

horizontally

bindsym $mod+Control+h split h; exec $notify "Horizontal split"

vertically

bindsym $mod+Control+v split v exec $notify "Vertical split"
fullscreen toggle
bindsym $mod+f fullscreen toggle; exec $notify "Fullscreen toggle"
container layout

stacked

bindsym $mod+Control+s layout stacking; exec $notify "Stacking layout"

tabbed

bindsym $mod+Control+w layout tabbed; exec $notify "Tabbed layout"

split, this is the default behavior.

bindsym $mod+Control+e layout toggle split; exec $notify "Split toggle"
toggle tiling / floating
bindsym $mod+Shift+space floating toggle; exec $notify "Floating toggle"
change focus between tiling / floating windows
bindsym $mod+space focus mode_toggle; exec $notify "Window focus toggle"
focus parent container
bindsym $mod+Control+a focus parent; exec $notify "Focus parent container"
focus child container
bindsym $mod+Control+d focus child; exec $notify "Focus child container"
move to scratchpad

Move the current focused window into the scratchpad

bindsym $mod+Shift+minus move scratchpad; exec $notify "Moved to scratchpad"
show scratchpad

Show the next scratchpad window or hide the focused scratchpad window. If there are multiple scratchpad windows, this command cycles through them.

bindsym $mod+minus scratchpad show; exec $notify "Show scratchpad"
bindsym $mod+Shift+c [class="(?i)xclipboard"] scratchpad show

workspace management

bindsym $mod+1 workspace $ws1
bindsym $mod+2 workspace $ws2
bindsym $mod+3 workspace $ws3
bindsym $mod+4 workspace $ws4
bindsym $mod+5 workspace $ws5
bindsym $mod+6 workspace $ws6
bindsym $mod+7 workspace $ws7
bindsym $mod+8 workspace $ws8
bindsym $mod+9 workspace $ws9
bindsym $mod+0 workspace $ws10
switch to workspace prev / next
bindsym $mod+bracketleft workspace prev
bindsym $mod+bracketright workspace next
move focused containerto workspace
bindsym $mod+Shift+1 move container to workspace $ws1
bindsym $mod+Shift+2 move container to workspace $ws2
bindsym $mod+Shift+3 move container to workspace $ws3
bindsym $mod+Shift+4 move container to workspace $ws4
bindsym $mod+Shift+5 move container to workspace $ws5
bindsym $mod+Shift+6 move container to workspace $ws6
bindsym $mod+Shift+7 move container to workspace $ws7
bindsym $mod+Shift+8 move container to workspace $ws8
bindsym $mod+Shift+9 move container to workspace $ws9
bindsym $mod+Shift+0 move container to workspace $ws10
move using bracket keys
bindsym Control+Mod1+bracketleft move to workspace previous
bindsym Control+Mod1+bracketright move to workspace next
back and forth
bindsym $mod+Tab workspace back_and_forth
bindsym $mod+Shift+Tab move container to workspace back_and_forth
switch output focus
bindsym $mod+Control+1 focus output primary
bindsym $mod+Control+2 focus output right
moving to output
bindsym $mod+Control+Shift+1 move workspace to output primary
bindsym $mod+Control+Shift+2 move workspace to output right

Reload configuration

bindsym $mod+Shift+F11 reload

Hot restart

bindsym $mod+Control+r restart

exit i3

A simple script using rofi for logout menu.

bindsym $mod+q exec ~/.local/bin/rofi-i3-logout

rofi-logout-2025-05-16_16-52.png

Figure 17: rofi-logout

picom transparency

bindsym $mod+F3 exec picom-trans -c +5
bindsym $mod+F2 exec picom-trans -c -5

A showcase of picom capability, changing transparency on the fly. I set this to F2 and F3 since it's the media keys for brightness on my laptop.

dunst

bindsym $mod+Mod1+grave exec dunstctl history-pop
bindsym $mod+Shift+grave exec dunstctl context
bindsym $mod+Control+grave exec dunstctl close
bindsym $mod+grave exec dunstctl action

Notice all keybindings is on grave key?

context
opens up the context menu.
history-pop
Redisplay the most recently closed notification.
close
Closes current notification.

modes

resize

This only work in floating mode.

# resize window (you can also use the mouse for that)
mode "resize" {
# These bindings trigger as soon as you enter the resize mode

# 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 $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

# 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 or $mod+r
bindsym Return mode "default"
bindsym Escape mode "default"
bindsym $mod+r mode "default"
}

bindsym $mod+r mode "resize"

Emoji

Using the same keybinding as windows. Needs noto-fonts-emoji package. Clicking or pressing RET on the emoji will immediately paste it.

rofi-emoji-2025-05-16_21-26.png

Figure 18: rofi-emoji

bindsym $mod+period exec --no-startup-id rofi -show emoji -theme i3-emoji

i3status

I don't mess much with i3status, it's usually hidden most of the times. Also since I'm already use conky there's not much else to show in i3status.

general

general {
colors = true
interval = 5
output_format = i3bar
}

order

order += "ipv6"
order += "wireless _first_"
order += "ethernet _first_"
order += "battery 0"
order += "memory"
order += "tztime local"

wireless

wireless _first_ {
format_up = "󰖩: (%quality at %essid, %bitrate / %frequency) %ip"
format_down = "󰖩: down"
}

ethernet

ethernet _first_ {
format_up = "󰈀: %ip (%speed)"
format_down = ""
}

battery

battery 0 {
format = "%status %percentage %remaining"
format_down = ""
status_chr = "󰂄"
status_bat = "󰂂"
status_unk = "󰂑"
last_full_capacity = true
}

memory

memory {
format = "󰍛 %used"
threshold_degraded = "1G"
format_degraded = "󰍛 < %available"
}

time

tztime local {
format = "󰥔 %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"
}

picom

A standalone compositor for Xorg. This should be on it's own separate repository, but I don't use any other window manager.

Shadows

# Enabled client-side shadows on windows. Note desktop windows
# (windows with '_NET_WM_WINDOW_TYPE_DESKTOP') never get shadow,
# unless explicitly requested using the wintypes option.
#
# Can be set per-window using rules.
#
# Default: false
shadow = true;

# The blur radius for shadows, in pixels.
#
# Default: 12
shadow-radius = 1;

# The opacity of shadows.
#
# Range: 0.0 - 1.0
# Default: 0.75
shadow-opacity = .25

# The left offset for shadows, in pixels.
#
# Default: -15
shadow-offset-x = -1;

# The top offset for shadows, in pixels.
#
# Default: -15
shadow-offset-y = -1;

# Hex string color value of shadow. Formatted like "#RRGGBB", e.g. "#C0FFEE".
#
# Default: #000000
shadow-color = "#2E3440"

# Crop shadow of a window fully on a particular monitor to that monitor. This is
# currently implemented using the X RandR extension.
#
# Default: false
crop-shadow-to-monitor = true

Fading

#################################
#           Fading              #
#################################

# Fade windows in/out when opening/closing and when opacity changes,
# unless no-fading-openclose is used. Can be set per-window using rules.
#
# Default: false
fading = true;

# Opacity change between steps while fading in. (0.01 - 1.0, defaults to 0.028)
fade-in-step = 0.05;

# Opacity change between steps while fading out. (0.01 - 1.0, defaults to 0.03)
fade-out-step = 0.05;

# The time between steps in fade step, in milliseconds. (> 0, defaults to 10)
# fade-delta = 10

# Do not fade on window open/close.
no-fading-openclose = true

# Do not fade destroyed ARGB windows with WM frame. Workaround of bugs in Openbox, Fluxbox, etc.
no-fading-destroyed-argb = true

Transparency

#################################
#   Transparency / Opacity      #
#################################

# Opacity of window titlebars and borders.
#
# Range: 0.1 - 1.0
# Default: 1.0 (disabled)
frame-opacity = 0.9;

# Use fixed inactive dim value, instead of adjusting according to window opacity.
#
# Default: false
# inactive-dim-fixed = true

Corners

#################################
#           Corners             #
#################################

# Sets the radius of rounded window corners. When > 0, the compositor will
# round the corners of windows. Does not interact well with
# `transparent-clipping`.
#
# Default: 0 (disabled)
corner-radius = 0

Blur

#################################
#            Blur               #
#################################

# Parameters for background blurring, see BLUR section in the man page for more information.
# blur-method =
# blur-size = 12
#
# blur-deviation = false
#
# blur-strength = 5

# Blur background of semi-transparent / ARGB windows.
# Can be set per-window using rules.
#
# Default: false
# blur-background = false

# Blur background of windows when the window frame is not opaque.
# Implies:
#    blur-background
#
# Default: false
# blur-background-frame = false

# Use fixed blur strength rather than adjusting according to window opacity.
#
# Default: false
# blur-background-fixed = false


# Specify the blur convolution kernel, with the following format:
# example:
#   blur-kern = "5,5,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1";
# Can also be a pre-defined kernel, see the man page.
#
# Default: ""
blur-kern = "3x3box";

General Settings

#################################
#       General Settings        #
#################################

# Enable remote control via D-Bus. See the man page for more details.
#
# Default: false
# dbus = true

# Daemonize process. Fork to background after initialization. Causes issues with certain (badly-written) drivers.
# daemon = false

# Specify the backend to use: `xrender`, `glx`, or `egl`.
#
# Default: "xrender"
backend = "xrender"

# Use higher precision during rendering, and apply dither when presenting the
# rendered screen. Reduces banding artifacts, but may cause performance
# degradation. Only works with OpenGL.
dithered-present = false;

# Enable/disable VSync.
#
# Default: false
#vsync = true;

# Try to detect windows with rounded corners and don't consider them
# shaped windows. The accuracy is not very high, unfortunately.
#
# Has nothing to do with `corner-radius`.
#
# Default: false
detect-rounded-corners = true;

# Detect '_NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY' on client windows, useful for window managers
# not passing '_NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY' of client windows to frame windows.
#
# Default: false
detect-client-opacity = true;

# Use EWMH '_NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW' to determine currently focused window,
# rather than listening to 'FocusIn'/'FocusOut' event. May be more accurate,
# provided that the WM supports it.
#
# Default: false
# use-ewmh-active-win = false

# Unredirect all windows if a full-screen opaque window is detected,
# to maximize performance for full-screen windows. Known to cause flickering
# when redirecting/unredirecting windows.
#
# Default: false
# unredir-if-possible = false

# Delay before unredirecting the window, in milliseconds.
#
# Default: 0.
# unredir-if-possible-delay = 0

# Use 'WM_TRANSIENT_FOR' to group windows, and consider windows
# in the same group focused at the same time.
#
# Default: false
detect-transient = true;

# Use 'WM_CLIENT_LEADER' to group windows, and consider windows in the same
# group focused at the same time. This usually means windows from the same application
# will be considered focused or unfocused at the same time.
# 'WM_TRANSIENT_FOR' has higher priority if detect-transient is enabled, too.
#
# Default: false
# detect-client-leader = false

# Use of damage information for rendering. This cause the only the part of the
# screen that has actually changed to be redrawn, instead of the whole screen
# every time. Should improve performance.
#
# Default: false
use-damage = true;

# Use X Sync fence to wait for the completion of rendering of other windows,
# before using their content to render the current screen.
#
# Required for explicit sync drivers, such as nvidia.
#
# Default: false
# xrender-sync-fence = false

# GLX backend: Use specified GLSL fragment shader for rendering window
# contents. Read the man page for a detailed explanation of the interface.
#
# Can be set per-window using rules.
#
# window-shader-fg = "default"

# Force all windows to be painted with blending. Useful if you
# have a `window-shader-fg` that could turn opaque pixels transparent.
#
# Default: false
# force-win-blend = false

# Do not use EWMH to detect fullscreen windows.
# Reverts to checking if a window is fullscreen based only on its size and coordinates.
#
# Default: false
# no-ewmh-fullscreen = false

# Dimming bright windows so their brightness doesn't exceed this set value.
# Brightness of a window is estimated by averaging all pixels in the window,
# so this could comes with a performance hit.
# Setting this to 1.0 disables this behaviour. Requires --use-damage to be disabled.
#
# Default: 1.0 (disabled)
# max-brightness = 1.0

# Make transparent windows clip other windows like non-transparent windows do,
# instead of blending on top of them. e.g. placing a transparent window on top
# of another window will cut a "hole" in that window, and show the desktop background
# underneath.
#
# Default: false
# transparent-clipping = false

# Set the log level. Possible values are:
#  "trace", "debug", "info", "warn", "error"
# in increasing level of importance. Case insensitive.
# If using the "TRACE" log level, it's better to log into a file
# using *--log-file*, since it can generate a huge stream of logs.
#
# Default: "warn"
log-level = "info";

# Set the log file.
# If *--log-file* is never specified, logs will be written to stderr.
# Otherwise, logs will to written to the given file, though some of the early
# logs might still be written to the stderr.
# When setting this option from the config file, it is recommended to use an absolute path.
#
# log-file = "/path/to/your/log/file"

# Write process ID to a file.
# write-pid-path = "/path/to/your/log/file"

Rules

# Rule-based per-window options.
#
# See WINDOW RULES section in the man page for how these work.
rules: ({
  match = "window_type = 'tooltip'";
  fade = false;
  shadow = true;
  opacity = 0.97;
  full-shadow = false;
}, {
  match = "window_type = 'dock'    || "
          "window_type = 'desktop' || "
          "_GTK_FRAME_EXTENTS@";
  blur-background = false;
}, {
  match = "window_type != 'dock'";
  # shader = "my_shader.frag";
}, {
  match = "window_type = 'dock' || "
          "window_type = 'desktop'";
  corner-radius = 0;
}, {
  match = "name = 'Notification'   || "
          "class_g ?= 'Notify-osd' || "
          "class_g = 'Cairo-clock' || "
          "_GTK_FRAME_EXTENTS@";
  shadow = false;
},
  { match = "window_type = 'normal'"; full-shadow = false; },
  { match = "window_type = 'dropdown_menu'"; shadow = false; focus = false; },
  {
   match =
           "class_g = 'vlc' || "
           "class_g = 'mpv' ";
   opacity = 1;
},
   {
   match = "class_g = 'Emacs' || "
           "class_g = 'Google-chrome' || "
           "class_g = 'Brave-browser'"
   opacity = 0.99;
   argb = true;
},
  { match = "class_g = 'steam'";},
  { match = "class_g = 'Conky"; opacity = 0.80; shadow = false; fade = false;},
)

Includes

# `@include` directive can be used to include additional configuration files.
# Relative paths are search either in the parent of this configuration file
# (when the configuration is loaded through a symlink, the symlink will be
# resolved first). Or in `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/picom/include`.
#
#@include "extra.conf"

Scripts

ocr

This utilize the tesseract package. The script simply select an area in the desktop with maim, pipe it into tesseract, which also pipes it into xclip.

maim -u -s -b 5 -l -c 0.3,0.4,0.6,0.4 -d 0.1 | tesseract -l eng - - | xclip -selection clipboard
notify-send -i ebook-reader "OCR" "Saved to clipboard"

Rofi

i3-nord theme

I separate the main nord theme here so I can make changes to it without 'disturbing' other window manager settings.

/* -*-css-*- */
/**
 * Nordic rofi theme
 * Adapted by undiabler <undiabler@gmail.com>
 *
 * Nord Color palette imported from https://www.nordtheme.com/
 *
 */


* {
    nord0: #2e3440;
    nord1: #3b4252;
    nord2: #434c5e;
    nord3: #4c566a;

    nord4: #d8dee9;
    nord5: #e5e9f0;
    nord6: #eceff4;

    nord7: #8fbcbb;
    nord8: #88c0d0;
    nord9: #81a1c1;
    nord10: #5e81ac;
    nord11: #bf616a;

    nord12: #d08770;
    nord13: #ebcb8b;
    nord14: #a3be8c;
    nord15: #b48ead;

    foreground:  @nord9;
    backlight:   #ccffeedd;
    background-color:  transparent;

    highlight:     underline bold #eceff4;

    transparent: rgba(46,52,64,0);
}

window {
    location: center;
    anchor:   center;
    transparency: "screenshot";
    padding: 10px;
    border:  0px;
    border-radius: 6px;

    background-color: @transparent;
    spacing: 0;
    children:  [mainbox];
    orientation: horizontal;
}

mainbox {
    spacing: 0;
    children: [ inputbar, message, listview ];
}

message {
    color: @nord0;
    padding: 5;
    border-color: @foreground;
    border:  0px 2px 2px 2px;
    background-color: @nord7;
}

inputbar {
    color: @nord6;
    padding: 11px;
    background-color: @nord1;

    border: 1px;
    border-radius:  6px 6px 0px 0px;
    border-color: @nord10;
}

entry, prompt, case-indicator {
    text-font: inherit;
    text-color:inherit;
}

prompt {
    margin: 0px 1em 0em 0em ;
}

listview {
    padding: 8px;
    border-radius: 0px 0px 6px 6px;
    border-color: @nord10;
    border: 0px 1px 1px 1px;
    background-color: rgba(46,52,64,0.9);
    dynamic: false;
}

element {
    padding: 3px;
    vertical-align: 0.5;
    border-radius: 4px;
    background-color: transparent;
    color: @foreground;
    text-color: rgb(216, 222, 233);
}

element selected.normal {
    background-color: @nord7;
    text-color: #2e3440;
}

element-text, element-icon {
    background-color: inherit;
    text-color:       inherit;
}

button {
    padding: 6px;
    color: @foreground;
    horizontal-align: 0.5;

    border: 2px 0px 2px 2px;
    border-radius: 4px 0px 0px 4px;
    border-color: @foreground;
}

button selected normal {
    border: 2px 0px 2px 2px;
    border-color: @foreground;
}

i3-apps theme

/* -*-css -*- */
@theme "i3-nord"

window {
    location: southwest;
    anchor: center;
    width: 40%;
    x-offset: 19.5%;
    y-offset: -17.5%;
    /* padding-right: 25px; */
}

listview {
    columns: 2;
    lines: 6;
}

/* inputbar { */
/*     children: [textbox-prompt]; */
/* } */

/* textbox-prompt { */
/*     str: "Apps"; */
/*     text-color: inherit; */
/* } */

i3-logout theme

/* -*-css -*- */
@theme "i3-nord"

window {
    location: northeast;
    anchor:   center;
    transparency: "screenshot";
    width: 15%;
    padding: 10px;
    border:  0px;
    border-radius: 6px;
    x-offset: -7.5%;
    y-offset: 12.5%;
    spacing: 0;
    children: [mainbox];
}

listview {
    columns: 1;
    lines: 4;
}

i3-emoji

/* -*-css -*- */
@theme "i3-nord"

window {
    location: southwest;
    anchor: center;
    width: 70%;
    x-offset: 35.5%;
    y-offset: -14.5%;
    /* padding-right: 25px; */
}

listview {
    columns: 2;
    lines: 4;
}

/* inputbar { */
/*     children: [textbox-prompt]; */
/* } */

/* textbox-prompt { */
/*     str: "Apps"; */
/*     text-color: inherit; */
/* } */

i3-logout

question=$(echo "󰌾 lock|󰍃 logout|󰜉 reboot|󰐥 shutdown" | rofi -sep "|" \
    -dmenu -i -p 'System: ' "" \
    -hide-scrollbar \
    -eh 1 \
    -color-enabled true \
    -theme "i3-logout")

case $question in
    *lock)
        i3lock-fancy
        ;;
    *logout)
        i3-msg exit
        ;;
    *reboot)
        if [[ $(command -v systemctl) ]]; then
            systemctl reboot
        else
            shutdown -r now
        fi
        ;;
    *shutdown)
        if [[ $(command -v systemctl) ]]; then
            systemctl poweroff
        else
            poweroff
        fi
        ;;
    *)
        exit 0  # do nothing on wrong response
        ;;
esac

transfer screen lock

A locker script for i3lock-fancy and xss-lock. Requires xidlehook

# get the primary display
export PRIMARY_DISPLAY="$(xrandr | awk '/ primary/{print $1}')"

# Run xidlehook
xidlehook \
    `# Don't lock when there's a fullscreen application` \
    --not-when-fullscreen \
    `# Don't lock when there's audio playing` \
    --not-when-audio \
    `# Dim the screen after 60 seconds, undim if user becomes active` \
    --timer 60 \
    'xrandr --output "$PRIMARY_DISPLAY" --brightness .1' \
    'xrandr --output "$PRIMARY_DISPLAY" --brightness 1' \
    `# Undim & lock after 10 more seconds` \
    --timer 10 \
    'xrandr --output "$PRIMARY_DISPLAY" --brightness 1; i3lock-fancy -f Overpass-Nerd-Font-Reg -d ' \
    '' \
    `# Finally, suspend an hour after it locks` \
    --timer 3600 \
    'systemctl suspend' \
    ''

i3lock-fancy-2025-05-16_17-01.png

Figure 19: i3lock-fancy

Footnotes:

Date: 2022-06-08 Wed 00:00

Author: Kristian Alexander P

Created: 2025-05-23 Fri 13:12