i3 doesn't execute command on first login [closed]

answered Aug 6 '14

Adaephon
2299 ●3 ●16 ●42

I'm unsure, why the one-liner does not work consistently. In the split up version there is really no guarantee that it will run

Use assign(see User's Guide) to set a specfic workspace for an application.

In this case, you can set a custom title for the urxvtc terminal window with the option -title and use this as criteria for the assign setting. Adding the following lines to your ~/.i3/config should do the trick

assign [title="^mutt mail$"] 2
exec --no-startup-id urxvtc -title 'mutt mail' -e mutt -n

Note: you really only need i3-msg to run i3 commands. If you want to start program, exec program is the way to go. There is no need for exec i3-msg 'exec program'.