https://faq.i3wm.org/questions/Frequently asked questions and answers about the i3 window managerenCopyright i3, 2012Thu, 23 Oct 2014 08:48:39 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4815/adding-shell-script-to-i3statusconf/ status_command i3status -c "${HOME}"/.i3/i3status.conf here is my `i3status.conf` general { output_format = "i3bar" colors = true interval = 2 color_good = "#00bfd5" color_bad = "#cc3333" } order += "wireless wlan0" wireless wlan0 { format_up = "W: (%quality at %essid) %ip" format_down = "W:" } If i add another order.. say order+="Gmail" Gmail { format="Unread sh checkmail.sh" } It does not update my statusbar. here is my `checkmail.sh` #!/bin/bash i3status | while: do gmail=`perl gmail.pl` echo "GMAIL | $gmail" || exit 1 done Tue, 21 Oct 2014 13:32:31 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4815/adding-shell-script-to-i3statusconf/https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4815/adding-shell-script-to-i3statusconf/?answer=4838#post-id-4838 First of all, there is no way to add a shell script to i3status, it explicitly say so in the `i3status` manpage: "there is no module to run arbitrary scripts or commands" --- That being said, you can add i3status to a shell script. For that you do not need to (read: must not) add a `Gmail` section to your `i3status.conf`. (The sections need to be of a specific type like `wireless` and sometimes require an additional argument like `wlan0`. They cannot be arbitrarily named (`Gmail`).) Instead you have to edit your `~/.i3/config` and set `status_command` in the `bar` section to call `checkmail.sh` instead of `i3status`. For example bar { status_command /path/to/checkmail.sh } Also, your `checkmail.sh` will need to be closer to the example in the `i3status` manpage in order to work: #!/bin/bash i3status | while : do read line gmail=`perl gmail.pl` echo "GMAIL $gmail | $line" || exit 1 done Note the space between `while` and `:` which is really needed. The `read line` will read the output of `i3status` into the parameter `line` so that it can then be combined with the output of `perl gmail.pl`. ---- You may also want to have a look at [py3status](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/py3status) which is an i3status-wrapper that allows for user-made extensions. Thu, 23 Oct 2014 08:48:39 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/4815/adding-shell-script-to-i3statusconf/?answer=4838#post-id-4838