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addy-dclxvi / i3-starterpack

A simple guide (and example of configuration) about how to install i3 & its and essentials packages, then make them look eye candy, also contains my dotfiles of Debian 12 (Bookworm) setup
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debian dotfiles i3 rice

readme

Introduction

A simple guide (and example of configuration) to install i3 and its and essential packages and make them look eye candy, or at least make them not ugly.

Example configuration in this repo is pretty simple, minimal, and easy to be understood, without reducing the usability. Only contains about 140 lines of i3 configuration, pretty stock without any custom script, custom packages, and custom patch. This is my daily i3 configuration by the way. And this configuration only use packages that available on most Distros main repository. So You don't need AUR, PPA, xbps-src, or sudo make install.

I'm using Debian, with i3 stock metapackages (i3wm, i3bar, i3status, i3lock, i3-sensible-terminal, and i3-dmenu-desktop), so does this guide. Hence I name this repo i3-starterpack. So, the installation guide here will use Debian command & package name.

Preview

clean
Clean, without any opened app. Only i3bar is visible.

rofi
dmenu, for launching app. The i3-dmenu-desktop version only shows desktop apps. A minimal start menu replacement.

fullscreen
Fullscreen, when I write this guide using Vim inside URxvt. When only one window opened, the gaps and borders automatically disappear.

splitscreen
Splitscreen, I open cmus music player on the right. When two windows opened, they will be separated by gaps and borders.

floating
Floating, for show-off.

floating
Lockscreen. using i3lock

Disclaimer

I'm not a Pro. I just started learning Linux a couple yesars ago. And I'm not an IT guy. So, probably this guide will have some mistakes.

Why i3?

i3 is (arguably) the most easiest tiling window manager to learn and configure. And i3 has a really good documentation, including example command and troubleshooting. The community is also quite large. You will easily get more customization examples. So, I really recommend You to start from i3 if You want learn Linux customization. After You can handle i3, You can try more advanced window managers. i3 is my first tiling window manager by the way :relaxed:

Requirements

Installation

Explanations of Additional Packages

Copying Configurations

git clone https://github.com/addy-dclxvi/i3-starterpack.git

Or if You don't have git package installed, and have no willing to install it. Just use download as zip button on the top-right of this page, then extract it. After that, Open i3-starterpack folder. Then copy the configurations to your home. I mean if it's on i3-starterpack/.config/i3/config, copy it to ~/.config/i3/. If the folder doesn't exist on your home, just make it. Do the same with all of the files inside i3-starterpack folder. My dotfiles contains font, so refresh your fontconfig cache fc-cache -fv after You copy the font.

Note : You can deploy this repository recursively using git clone https://github.com/addy-dclxvi/i3-starterpack.git && cp -a i3-starterpack/. ~ but I recommend You to copy the configuration files one by one to make yourself have more control.

Inspect and Edit The Configurations Files

Update 2018 July : And remember, i3status supports Pango Markup. Not many customization options, but still interesting. Here is my current i3status customization (I remove the lines I don't use instead comment them out). 

general {
    output_format = "i3bar"
    colors = false
    markup = pango
    interval = 5
}

order += "load"
order += "cpu_temperature 0"
order += "wireless wlp2s0"
order += "volume master"
order += "battery 0"
order += "time"

load {
    format = "<span background='#b08500'>    </span><span background='#bfbaac'>  %5min Load  </span>"
}

cpu_temperature 0 {
    format = "<span background='#d12f2c'>    </span><span background='#bfbaac'>  %degrees °C  </span>"
    path = "/sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp"
}

wireless wlp2s0 {
    format_up = "<span background='#819400'>    </span><span background='#bfbaac'>  %essid  </span>"
    format_down = "<span background='#819400'>    </span><span background='#bfbaac'>  Disconnected  </span>"
}

volume master {
    format = "<span background='#696ebf'>    </span><span background='#bfbaac'>  %volume  </span>"
    format_muted = "<span background='#696ebf'>    </span><span background='#bfbaac'>  Muted  </span>"
    device = "default"
    mixer = "Master"
    mixer_idx = 0
}

battery 0 {
    last_full_capacity = true
    format = "<span background='#819400'>  %status  </span><span background='#bfbaac'>  %percentage  </span>"
    format_down = "No Battery"
    status_chr = ""
    status_bat = ""
    status_unk = ""
    status_full = ""
    path = "/sys/class/power_supply/BAT%d/uevent"
    low_threshold = 10
    integer_battery_capacity = true
}

time {
    format = "<span background='#2587cc'>    </span><span background='#bfbaac'>  %b %d at %H:%M  </span>"
}

i3status Variables

Launching i3

Logout your current session. Then login again with i3 session.

Some Cheatsheet

My keybind is pretty weird, I'm more focus on easy to memorize, and essential operations can be handled using left hand only. So it's easier to use softwares that need mouse like image editor, office suite, and web browser.

Now What?

Edit the configuration to make it suitable for you, of course. Maybe change some keybind, autostart apps, window rules, and more You can find on i3 official documentations. Also, make yourself getting used with keybinds. It is faster than using mouse. If you want to change the keybind but don't know the button name, you can use xev. 

# change volume and brightness
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec amixer -q set Master 5%+
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec amixer -q set Master 5%-
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec amixer set Master toggle
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessUp exec brightnessctl set 5%+
bindsym XF86MonBrightnessDown exec brightnessctl set 5%-

I use Amixer to change my volume. If it doesn't work for You, change it with Pactl, Pamixer, or anything else. Just ask Google how to control volume via command line. 

# common apps keybinds
bindsym Print exec scrot 'Cheese_%a-%d%b%y_%H.%M.png' -e 'xdg-open ~/$f'
bindsym $super+l exec i3lock -i ~/.lock.png
bindsym $super+w exec firefox
bindsym $super+e exec thunar

I set keybind to launch my frequently used apps, you can remove what You don't need. And add what do You need. Note: i3lock need png image 

# autostart
exec --no-startup-id hsetroot -center ~/.wallpaper.png

Maybe You want to add some programs to your autostart, like network manager applet, clipboard manager, power manager, conky, and some goodies. Probably your network manager applet is nm-applet. So, if want to use it, add exec --no-startup-id nm-applet & (exec --no-startup-id means the program will be executed without changing the mouse cursor to circle shape or loading, ampersand means run the command in the background then execute next command without waiting the current command finished). It will be loaded on next login. I don't put it on my autostart, because usually I only launch it from terminal when I want to switch SSID. And if You come from Xfce maybe You want use its setting daemon. Add exec --no-startup-id xfsettingsd &. You will have some Xfce advantage, like mouse settings, appearance settings (LXAppearance will be overiden by this), font settings, and some other advantage. But it will cost a thing, slightly reduce the performance. And if the window rendering looks broken, maybe you'll also need to install a compositor like compton or picom then add it to autostart. With compositor you'll get more advantage like transparancy and window animation. 

# autostart
exec --no-startup-id hsetroot -center ~/.wallpaper.png
exec --no-startup-id nm-applet &
exec --no-startup-id xfsettingsd &
exec --no-startup-id compton &

Next is window rules. i3 has abilities to assign workspace for certain programs, make the window floating by default, make the launched window steals the focus, etc.

# window rules, you can find the window class using xprop
for_window [class=".*"] border pixel 4
assign [class=URxvt] 1:I
assign [class=Firefox|Transmission-gtk] 2:II
assign [class=Thunar|File-roller] 3:III
assign [class=Geany|Evince|Gucharmap|Soffice|libreoffice*] 4:IV
assign [class=Audacity|Vlc|mpv|Ghb|Xfburn|Gimp*|Inkscape] 5:V
assign [class=Lxappearance|System-config-printer.py|Lxtask|GParted|Pavucontrol|Exo-helper*|Lxrandr|Arandr] 6:VI
for_window [class=Viewnior|feh|Audacious|File-roller|Lxappearance|Lxtask|Pavucontrol] floating enable
for_window [class=URxvt|Firefox|Geany|Evince|Soffice|libreoffice*|mpv|Ghb|Xfburn|Gimp*|Inkscape|Vlc|Lxappearance|Audacity] focus
for_window [class=Xfburn|GParted|System-config-printer.py|Lxtask|Pavucontrol|Exo-helper*|Lxrandr|Arandr] focus

That's my window rules. I use it to group apps on several workspace.

And I set some apps to launch in floating mode. You can make your own rules of course. Maybe my window rules isn't efficient for You. My workspaces are only six, and it's more than enough for me.

Update 2024 August Now I no longer use window rules to assign workspace for certains programs. Now my configuration looks like this.

for_window [class=Eog|Sxiv|feh|mpv|Vlc|File-roller|Xarchiver] floating enable
for_window [class=Eog|Sxiv|feh|mpv|Vlc|File-roller|Xarchiver] focus

Now let's see the panel coloring

# panel
bar {
    status_command i3status
    position top
    workspace_min_width 24
    padding 2px 8px 2px 8px
    strip_workspace_numbers yes

    colors {
    background #141c21
    statusline #141c21
    separator #141c21

    # colour of border, background, and text
    focused_workspace #141c21 #d12f2c #93a1a1
    active_workspace #141c21 #141c21 #93a1a1
    inactive_workspace #141c21 #141c21 #93a1a1
    urgent_workspace #141c21 #b08500 #93a1a1
    }
}

That's my panel colour. I set it has a black background, with white color for workspace name. Active workspace is highlighted by red colour, and urgent workspace will be highlighted with yellow colour. If one of your workspaces is highlighted with yellow colour, it means that workspace needs an attention. You can modify it by yourself of course. 

# colour of border, background, text, indicator, and child_border
client.focused #d12f2c #263640 #93a1a1 #696ebf #2587cc1
client.focused_inactive #263640 #b08500 #93a1a1 #263640 #263640
client.unfocused #263640 #b08500 #93a1a1 #263640 #263640
client.urgent #263640 #b08500 #93a1a1 #263640 #263640
client.placeholder #263640 #b08500 #93a1a1 #263640 #263640
client.background #263640

That's my settings of window border colour. I set the focused window border to blue, and unfocused window border to black. On focused window, the purple border means splitting direction. If the purple border is on the right, that means if You launch a new window on that workspace, it will be launched on the right of current focused window. You can change the splitting direction to bottom using Super + V. If You want to split to right again, hit Super + H. If You unsatisfied with it, just modify it :wink:

That's For Now

I think, this is quite enough for a starter. You can improve it by yourself.
Thanks for reading! :blush:

Update 1 August 2024

I put some changes to my i3 setup.

I also made a light theme and put it in leaf branch.

Preview

clean
Clean Without any window opened

floating
Floating Opening Vim, Cmus, and Ranger in floating mode for show off. The bottom line is i3-dmenu-desktop.

tiling-two
Tiling With two windows opened

tiling-three
Tiling With three windows opened

gimp
monocle
Monocle One windows opened, the gaps and borders are automatically disappeared, so no space wasted

fullscreen
Fullscreen Using Super + F. The gaps, borders, and statusbar disappeared for maximum reading experience

dunst
Dunst notification daemon, slightly misplaced to the right. I tried to change the coordinate from the config file but it's no longer working. They said it's depreciated.

lockscreen
Lockscreen using i3lock

Note I make my terminal background has lines by using ~/.pixmap.png as tiled terminal background image. Declared in ~/.Xresources. If your want to use it, replace addy in line number four with your own username.

Update 22 August 2024

I try my config in openSUSE (VM) and the statusline looks broken. The markup of time is not processed. The solution is to use tztime format instead of time

(In the video I also disable battery, temperature, and wifi since it's a VM).

In the order zone :

order += "tztime local"

In the function zone :

tztime local {
    format = "<span background='#289c93'>    </span><span background='#bfbaac'>  %time  </span>"
    format_time = "%b %d at %H:%M"
}

Update 29 August 2024

Doing minimal install is getting harder, I have problems with Network Manager on Debian Bookworm. On previouses Debian versions, I only need to install proprietary Atheros driver then my wifi card will be automatically managed by Network Manager. I only need to open nmtui to connect to my wifi. But now, my wifi card won't appear in nmtui. When I try Debian Bookwork Gnome Live CD, the wifi working out of the box. It seems that on minimal install, Network Manager needs to be configured manually. Other than network manager, I also have other issues. And too lazy to solve them all, so now I use ISO file with complete desktop environment instead of DE-less ISO like usual.

And for ISO with complete desktop environtment, I prefer Fedora or openSUSE than Debian because they have better package selection. Debian put too many unimportant softwares on default Gnome or KDE install.

Now, I use openSUSE default install (KDE) then install some packages I need.

sudo zypper install i3 rxvt-unicode xsel ranger cmus hsetroot caca-utils git highlight fish brightnessctl
sudo zypper install opi && sudo opi codecs
sudo chsh -s /usr/bin/fish addy
git clone https://github.com/addy-dclxvi/i3-starterpack
cd i3-starterpack
git checkout aeroplane
cp -a . ~

Preview

My current openSUSE setup. I put it in aeroplane branch. Of course it's also work on other distros. The only differences are

ufetch

ranger

gimp

vim

cmus

lock

Update 30 August 2024

Some new themes

canyon branch

dmenu

cmus

split

lock

wall branch

cmus

ranger

lock

pistachio branch

dmenu

floating

lock