i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

i3-msg vs i3

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 11:46:25 +0000

Using i3 for sending commands to current i3 instance works. I found that i3-msg can also be used. For e.g. while in an xterm window the following two commands do the same thing:

$ i3 border none

$ i3-msg border none

I would like to know if there is a difference between the two approaches.

Answer by badboy_ for
Using i3 for sending commands to current i3 instance works. I found that i3-msg can also be used.

For e.g. while in an xterm window the following two commands do the same thing:

$ i3 border none

$ i3-msg border none

I would like to know if there is a difference between the two approaches.

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 13:55:49 +0000

It's effectively the same. As you will see when using `i3 border none` the output includes `Additional arguments passed. Sending them as a command to i3`, which is exactly the same i3-msg does. i3-msg was the original client that came with i3 (and still is), the main binary was later switched to also send commands

Comment by Michael for
It's effectively the same. As you will see when using `i3 border none` the output includes `Additional arguments passed. Sending them as a command to i3`, which is exactly the same i3-msg does. i3-msg was the original client that came with i3 (and still is), the main binary was later switched to also send commands

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 06:54:36 +0000

Note that i3-msg allows you to use other message types, not just COMMAND. E.g. i3-msg -t get_workspaces