i3 FAQ - Individual question feed

Where can I find examples for i3 configurations?

Tue, 09 Dec 2014 10:08:50 +0000

I know there are (or at least should be) a default configurations at `/etc/i3/config` and `/etc/i3/config.keycodes`. But it is rather basic, intentionally so. It is designed to get one started but it does not showcase half of what *i3* is actually capable of. There is the - IMHO excellent - [User's Guide](http://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html) that lists and explains every single command and configuration option. And of course, there is this FAQ site that provides answers to a lot of questions, often in the form of configuration snippets. But sometimes just knowing the parts is not enough: You may know what the parts do, you'll be able to build something, it probably will even work. But it takes time and experience to get something that works as well. So, this question is essentially a request to share (post and/or link to) your configuration - or maybe even configurations of others you found useful. So that beginners have a starting point and experienced users a source of inspiration. There may be a lot of *i3* configurations available around the Internet, but this site is the only one that is actually linked from the offical *i3* website.

Answer by daedalus.mythos for
I know there are (or at least should be) a default configurations at `/etc/i3/config` and `/etc/i3/config.keycodes`. But it is rather basic, intentionally so. It is designed to get one started but it does not showcase half of what i3 is actually capable of.

There is the - IMHO excellent - User's Guide that lists and explains every single command and configuration option.

And of course, there is this FAQ site that provides answers to a lot of questions, often in the form of configuration snippets.

But sometimes just knowing the parts is not enough: You may know what the parts do, you'll be able to build something, it probably will even work. But it takes time and experience to get something that works as well.

So, this question is essentially a request to share (post and/or link to) your configuration - or maybe even configurations of others you found useful. So that beginners have a starting point and experienced users a source of inspiration. There may be a lot of i3 configurations available around the Internet, but this site is the only one that is actually linked from the offical i3 website.

Tue, 09 Dec 2014 12:30:56 +0000

My personal i3 config is currently being born, so sharing it wouldn't make sense. But as I am in this state I am looking at i3 configs to get a grasp on what I could do. You can find plenty of configs on various sites as GitHub, Arch Forums or various Subreddits (/r/i3wm, /r/unixporn, ..). (Sorry I can't post links yet..) I hope you find something new!

Comment by Adaephon for
My personal i3 config is currently being born, so sharing it wouldn't make sense. But as I am in this state I am looking at i3 configs to get a grasp on what I could do.

You can find plenty of configs on various sites as GitHub, Arch Forums or various Subreddits (/r/i3wm, /r/unixporn, ..). (Sorry I can't post links yet..)

I hope you find something new!

Tue, 09 Dec 2014 12:47:36 +0000

Please do not hesitate to post your findings - and your configuration once it is finished - here. As you can see, I am not completely new to *i3* and the main intention behind the question is to gather these different configurations here where they should be found more easily.

Answer by Adaephon for
I know there are (or at least should be) a default configurations at `/etc/i3/config` and `/etc/i3/config.keycodes`. But it is rather basic, intentionally so. It is designed to get one started but it does not showcase half of what i3 is actually capable of.

There is the - IMHO excellent - User's Guide that lists and explains every single command and configuration option.

And of course, there is this FAQ site that provides answers to a lot of questions, often in the form of configuration snippets.

But sometimes just knowing the parts is not enough: You may know what the parts do, you'll be able to build something, it probably will even work. But it takes time and experience to get something that works as well.

So, this question is essentially a request to share (post and/or link to) your configuration - or maybe even configurations of others you found useful. So that beginners have a starting point and experienced users a source of inspiration. There may be a lot of i3 configurations available around the Internet, but this site is the only one that is actually linked from the offical i3 website.

Tue, 09 Dec 2014 12:40:47 +0000

My configuration originated with *i3-3.ε*, when I migrated from *wmii*. Of course it has changed quite a bit since then - just as *i3* has - but the core is the same. [The current version of configuration can be found on GitHub](https://github.com/Adaephon-GH/i3-config). I am using `bindcode` for my key bindings because I usually use the [Neo2 keyboard layout](http://www.neo-layout.org) but sometimes need to switch to QWERTZ as some programs just will not work properly with Neo2. With `bindcode` the *i3* key bindings remain on the same physical key. I prefer to start out with a stacked layout. If I want to actually see two windows (on the same output) at once, I usually open the new one and move it out of the stacked container. This leads than to two (or more) stacked containers side-by-side in a horizontal split container. Sometimes I also switch to vertical split. I only rarely use tabbed or horizontal split layouts (with the aforementioned exception). Nearly all bindings start with `Mod4` ("Super", "Windows-Key") as this key is conveniently unused by nearly every other Linux program. One big exception are the multi-media keys. For directions in focusing, moving and resizing I mostly use the keys `I`, `J`, `K`, `L` (on QWERT[ZY]) with different modifiers, but I also have the Arrow keys bound. The modifier `Shift` usually implies movement instead of focus switch. I also have bindings that combine focusing of the parent container and focusing in a direction, which comes in handy with `force_focus_wrapping yes`. Lots of workspaces! Each key of the number row (with exception of the left-most and *Backspace*) is bound to two workspaces, `Mod4+` is one, `Mod4+Control+` the other. An additional `Shift` is again for moving a window to a workspace. I have two displays, workspaces with keys on the left-hand side are assigned to the display on the left, workspaces with keys on the right-hand side go to the display on the right. For starting programs I use `dmenu` with a `dmenu_run`-inspired wrapper. There is a similar wrapper for running commands with `i3-msg`. ---- (Edit: I removed the blob with my configuration, it was just to long for this format. If, for whatever reason, [my GitHub repository](https://github.com/Adaephon-GH/i3-config) should not be reachable, you can still find the configuration in the edit history here)

Answer by joepd for
I know there are (or at least should be) a default configurations at `/etc/i3/config` and `/etc/i3/config.keycodes`. But it is rather basic, intentionally so. It is designed to get one started but it does not showcase half of what i3 is actually capable of.

There is the - IMHO excellent - User's Guide that lists and explains every single command and configuration option.

And of course, there is this FAQ site that provides answers to a lot of questions, often in the form of configuration snippets.

But sometimes just knowing the parts is not enough: You may know what the parts do, you'll be able to build something, it probably will even work. But it takes time and experience to get something that works as well.

So, this question is essentially a request to share (post and/or link to) your configuration - or maybe even configurations of others you found useful. So that beginners have a starting point and experienced users a source of inspiration. There may be a lot of i3 configurations available around the Internet, but this site is the only one that is actually linked from the offical i3 website.

Wed, 10 Dec 2014 00:39:27 +0000

Not sure this is a good place to dump blobs of personal preferences. Next to questions of readability, I have had bad experiences with copy pasting a configuration that did not grow over time. My fingers do not have photographic(?) memory, and the configuration of an interactive tool should be minimal and slowly develop and grow with you. That being said, I believe [dotshare.it](http://dotshare.it) has some sound ideas about presenting and sharing config files. They host an interesting [collection of `i3`-configs](http://dotshare.it/category/wms/i3/).

Comment by daedalus.mythos for
Not sure this is a good place to dump blobs of personal preferences. Next to questions of readability, I have had bad experiences with copy pasting a configuration that did not grow over time. My fingers do not have photographic(?) memory, and the configuration of an interactive tool should be minimal and slowly develop and grow with you.

That being said, I believe dotshare.it has some sound ideas about presenting and sharing config files. They host an interesting collection of `i3`-configs.

Wed, 10 Dec 2014 07:27:05 +0000

I'm with you there! thanks for the links though, didn't know dotshare.it..