https://faq.i3wm.org/questions/Frequently asked questions and answers about the i3 window managerenCopyright i3, 2012Sun, 29 Jun 2014 21:33:46 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/Is there a way to create a launcher or menu within i3 without using an external program like dmenu?Mon, 09 Jun 2014 19:16:24 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=3944#post-id-3944I like both answers (though I slightly prefer phairland's one since Adaephon's suggestion resembles dmenu). I also use xfce application launcher which works well (it is also recognized as floating window and placed in the center of screen) because I have added i3 to original Debian + XFCE install. GMRun is also a nice option you might want to try. For the menu I always thought about adding lxpanel (a little out of i3 "spirit" but useful anyway) since I have no info about a "menu only" application.Tue, 10 Jun 2014 09:28:24 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=3944#post-id-3944https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=3937#post-id-3937I made a menu using the mode feature of i3. This is the code in my configuration file: set $MENU "Audacious Chromium Dolphin dOublecmd Foxit giMp Gvim Irfanview Nixnote Palemoon Qbittorrent Ranger Skype Vlc Xnview Wps Et Libreoffice" bindsym Menu mode $MENU mode $MENU { bindsym d exec dolphin, mode, "default" bindsym a exec audacious, mode "default" bindsym l exec libreoffice, mode "default" bindsym m exec gimp, mode "default" bindsym c exec chromium, mode "default" bindsym i exec irfanview,mode "default" bindsym p exec palemoon, mode "default" bindsym f exec foxitreader, mode "default" bindsym g exec gvim, mode "default" bindsym w exec wps, mode "default" bindsym e exec et, mode "default" bindsym q exec qbittorrent, mode "default" bindsym v exec vlc, mode "default" bindsym o exec doublecmd, mode "default" bindsym x exec xnviewmp, mode "default" bindsym r exec terminator --profile ranger, mode "default" bindsym s exec skype, mode "default" bindsym n exec nixnote, mode "default" bindsym Return mode "default" bindsym Escape mode "default" } Just press the Menu key and on the i3bar will appear the menu and you will select the application by pressing the capital letter of each application. Tue, 10 Jun 2014 04:59:39 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=3937#post-id-3937https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=3970#post-id-3970I did something similar to this, though I got tired of it after a while and slimmed it down to just a few things. (I'm a big fan of dmenu, myself). A keybinding is paired with a number to enter a mode for a category of applications, after which the number keys correspond to applications in that category. Here's a snippet of what I had in my old config. The glyphs are from Font Awesome, so that needs to be locally installed if you actually want to use them: # Enter Index mode bindsym $mod+Mod1+2 mode  Index [Editor] bindsym $mod+Mod1+3 mode  Index [Messages] mode " Index [Editor]" { bindsym 1 exec --no-startup-id termite -t " Work" -r edr -e "vim '+cd ~/doc/work'"; mode default bindsym 2 exec --no-startup-id termite -t " Blog" -r edr -e "vim '+cd ~/prj/web/crepcran'"; mode default bindsym 3 exec --no-startup-id termite -t " Code" -r edr -e "vim '+cd ~/prj'"; mode default bindsym 4 exec --no-startup-id termite -t " Conf" -r edr -e vim; mode default bindsym Escape mode "default" } mode " Index [Messages]" { bindsym 1 exec --no-startup-id termite -t " Mail" -r msg -e mutt; mode default bindsym 2 exec --no-startup-id termite -t ' Twitter' -r msg; mode default bindsym Escape mode "default" } Fri, 13 Jun 2014 04:58:52 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=3970#post-id-3970https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=3934#post-id-3934You can launch applications that you like by binding them to particular keyboard shortcuts, eg: bindsym $mod+Return exec xterm bindsym XF86Search exec /usr/bin/firefox bindsym XF86Mail exec /usr/bin/thunderbird Mon, 09 Jun 2014 20:27:28 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=3934#post-id-3934https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=3939#post-id-3939You could use `i3-input` for a primitive launcher: bindsym $mod+p exec --no-startup-id i3-input -F 'exec "%s"' -P 'run> ' Although - strictly speaking - `i3-input` is an external program, it comes with *i3* and should always be available. Tue, 10 Jun 2014 05:19:11 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=3939#post-id-3939https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?comment=3943#comment-3943You're right, that would work. I removed the paragraph about this no being possible ;)Tue, 10 Jun 2014 07:22:54 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?comment=3943#comment-3943https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?comment=3940#comment-3940How about the mode feature of i3. I managed to display a menu, much like when resizing the word "resize" appear on the i3bar, then capitalised each letter that binds the execution of the program as shown on my answer.Tue, 10 Jun 2014 05:28:49 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?comment=3940#comment-3940https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=4067#post-id-4067I use synapse with keybinding bindsym $mod+x exec --no-startup-id synapseSun, 29 Jun 2014 21:33:46 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3933/launcher-or-menu-in-i3/?answer=4067#post-id-4067