adamwg / i3layout

Tools for i3wm

i3layout - Tools for i3wm

i3layout is a set of tools that extend i3wm, giving it support for dynamic layouts and simple window movement in the style of xmonad.

See this snippet of my i3 config for a complete usage example.

i3layout

i3layout provides dynamic layouts.

By default, i3wm supports only very basic window layouts: splitting the screen evenly in one direction, or showing one window at a time. If you want a 30/70 split, a master area, or any other kind of layout offered by other tiling window managers such as xmonad, you have to do that manually.

i3layout solves this problem by running a server that listens for window changes from i3 and lays out workspaces automatically as windows come and go. A "oneshot" mode is also provided, allowing the user to trigger a manual re-layout of the focused workspace.

Installation

$ go install github.com/adamwg/i3layout/cmd/i3layout

Usage

To manually re-layout a workspace immediately, use the oneshot mode:

$ i3layout oneshot [--layout=<name>] [workspace name]

By default, the tall layout will be applied to the focused workspace.

To have i3layout automatically manage your windows, use the server mode:

$ i3layout serve

It is recommended that you run the server from your i3 config. It is not wise to use the oneshot mode with the server running.

To change the layout of a workspace with the server running use the client:

$ i3layout client change-layout [--workspace=<name>] <layout name>

By default, the focused workspace's layout is changed. The special names prev and next can be used in place of a layout name to cycle through layouts.

Supported Layouts

i3layout supports the following layouts:

tall

The tall layout has a single narrow "master" window on the left with the remaining windows tiled vertically on the right using the remainder of the screen.

----------------------------------------------------
| window 1      | window 2                         |
|               |                                  |
|               |                                  |
|               |----------------------------------|
|               | window 3                         |
|               |                                  |
|               |                                  |
|               |----------------------------------|
|               | window 4                         |
|               |                                  |
|               |                                  |
----------------------------------------------------

columns

This is i3's built-in SplitH layout.

----------------------------------------------------
| window 1       | window 2       | window 3       |
|                |                |                |
|                |                |                |
|                |                |                |
|                |                |                |
|                |                |                |
|                |                |                |
|                |                |                |
|                |                |                |
|                |                |                |
|                |                |                |
----------------------------------------------------

rows

This is i3's bulit-in SplitV layout.

----------------------------------------------------
| window 1                                         |
|                                                  |
|                                                  |
|--------------------------------------------------|
| window 2                                         |
|                                                  |
|                                                  |
|--------------------------------------------------|
| window 3                                         |
|                                                  |
|                                                  |
----------------------------------------------------

full

This is i3's built-in Tabbed layout.

How it works

i3layout (ab)uses i3's layout saving feature. To lay out a workspace, it does the following:

1. Lists all the windows on the workspace (in depth-first order, as described below).
2. Creates a "template" of window containers based on the number of windows and the current layout mode. Each container has an i3 "mark" based on the window ID of a window in the list.
3. Creates a new, temporary workspace containing empty containers based on the template.
4. Swaps each window with its marked container.
5. Swaps the temporary workspace and the real workspace by renaming them.
6. Kills the temporary workspace.

Since this is a somewhat involved process, i3layout users may notice a bit of flicker when layout is happening.

i3window

i3window implements dimensionless window navigation and movement and provides some helpful tools for scripting and interrogating i3.

By default, i3 supports navigating and swapping windows in four dimensions: left, right, up, and down. Other window managers "flatten" the window tree, allowing the user to navigate or swap the "next" or "previous" window using some arbitrary ordering.

i3window solves this by flattening the tree on the fly and allowing next/previous movement and swapping. It also provides some helpful utilities for scripting i3 and observing its state.

Installation

$ go install github.com/adamwg/i3layout/cmd/i3window

Usage

i3window never moves focus or windows off the current workspace or current output. It enumerates windows in a depth-first manner. E.g., given the window tree:

                  workspace
                  /       \
               win1      splitv
                         /    \
                      splith  win2
                      /    \
                    win3  win4

The order of windows will be:

win1
win3
win4
win2

Navigation

To change focus, use i3window focus next or i3window focus prev.

Swapping

To swap the current window with the next or previous window use i3window swap next or i3window swap prev.

Utilities

To get a json-formatted list of windows on a workspace, in the order i3window enumerates them, run i3window list [--workspace=<workspace name>]. By default windows from the focused workspace will be listed.

To get a list of all windows, use i3window list --all.

To get a json representation of i3's window tree, use i3window tree.

i3listen

i3listen is a simple utility that listens for i3 events and prints them in json format. It is helpful when developing against the i3 API.

$ go get github.com/adamwg/i3layout/cmd/i3listen
$ i3listen window
{"change":"focus","container":{"id":94737508960384,"name":"emacs@gitega","type":"con","border":"normal","current_border_width":2,"layout":"splith","percent":0.7,"rect":{"x":576,"y":53,"width":1344,"height":1027},"window_rect":{"x":2,"y":0,"width":1340,"height":1025},"deco_rect":{"x":576,"y":0,"width":1344,"height":26},"geometry":{"x":0,"y":0,"width":896,"height":864},"window":65174629,"window_properties":{"title":"emacs@gitega","instance":"emacs","class":"Emacs","window_role":"","transient_for":0},"urgent":false,"focused":true,"focus":[],"nodes":[],"floating_nodes":[]}}
{"change":"focus","container":{"id":94737508011008,"name":"dev | i3layout","type":"con","border":"normal","current_border_width":2,"layout":"splith","percent":0.3,"rect":{"x":0,"y":53,"width":576,"height":1027},"window_rect":{"x":2,"y":0,"width":572,"height":1025},"deco_rect":{"x":0,"y":0,"width":576,"height":26},"geometry":{"x":0,"y":0,"width":884,"height":580},"window":58720260,"window_properties":{"title":"dev | i3layout","instance":"st-256color","class":"st-256color","window_role":"","transient_for":0},"urgent":false,"focused":true,"focus":[],"nodes":[],"floating_nodes":[]}}

TODO / Help Wanted

i3layout does what I need, but could do more. Any contributions would be welcome, but especially the following:

• More layouts.
• File-based configuration of layouts.
• Reduced code duplication between layouts.
• Bug fixes.
• Fixing any incompatibilities with x3 since they're great to use together.