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

asked 2014-08-05 01:44:13 +0000

wombatr0n
1 ●1 ●1 ●2

updated 2014-08-05 02:07:37 +0000

In my .i3/config, I have

exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'workspace 2; exec urxvtc -e mutt -n; workspace 1'

to open mutt on workspace 2 and switch back to workspace 1. When I startx after logging in, mutt doesn't run. However, if I quit i3 and startx again, mutt opens in workspace 2. If I split the commands into different lines:

exec i3-msg 'workspace 2'
exec --no-startup-id i3-msg 'exec urxvtc -e mutt -n'
exec i3-msg 'workspace 1'

it will switch to workspace 2, but won't run the following commands. Again, it works just fine if I exit i3 and startx again. This is on Slackware 14.1 x86, with the SBo version of i3.

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Closed for the following reason question is not relevant or outdated by TonyC
close date 2014-08-08 22:01:47.915618

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1

answered 2014-08-06 12:23:34 +0000

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'.