i3 is a

tiling window manager In computing, a tiling window manager is a window manager with an organization of the screen into mutually non-overlapping frames, as opposed to the more common approach (used by stacking window managers) of coordinate-based stacking of overlap ...

designed for

X11 The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems. X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting wi ...

, inspired by

wmii In computing, a tiling window manager is a window manager with an organization of the screen into mutually non-overlapping frames, as opposed to the more common approach (used by stacking window managers) of coordinate-based stacking of overlap ...

and written in C. i3 - An Improved Tiling Window Manager
/ref> It supports tiling, stacking, and tabbing layouts, which it handles dynamically. Its configuration is achieved via a plain text file and extending i3 is possible using its

Unix domain socket A Unix domain socket aka UDS or IPC socket (inter-process communication socket) is a data communications endpoint for exchanging data between processes executing on the same host operating system. It is also referred to by its address family AF_UN ...

and

JSON JSON (JavaScript Object Notation, pronounced ; also ) is an open standard file format and data interchange format that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data objects consisting of attribute–value pairs and arrays (or other se ...

based IPC interface from many programming languages. Like wmii, i3 uses a control system very similar to that of vi and Vim. By default, window focus is controlled by what the documentation refers to as the 'Mod1' key (

Alt key The Alt key (pronounced or ) on a computer keyboard is used to change (alternate) the function of other pressed keys. Thus, the Alt key is a modifier key, used in a similar fashion to the Shift key. For example, simply pressing ''A'' will t ...

Windows key The Windows logo key (also known as Windows-, win-, start-, logo-, flag-, or super-key) is a keyboard key which was originally introduced on the Microsoft Natural keyboard in 1994. This key became a standard key on PC keyboards. In Window ...

) plus the right-hand home row keys (Mod1+J,K,L,Semicolon), while window movement is controlled by the addition of the

Shift key The Shift key is a modifier key on a keyboard, used to type capital letters and other alternate "upper" characters. There are typically two shift keys, on the left and right sides of the row below the home row. The Shift key's name originated f ...

(Mod1+Shift+J,K,L,Semicolon).

Design goals

i3's primary design goals are to possess well-written, documented code that encourages user contribution; to use XCB instead of

Xlib Xlib (also known as libX11) is an X Window System protocol client library written in the C programming language. It contains functions for interacting with an X server. These functions allow programmers to write programs without knowing the d ...

; to implement multi-monitor features correctly, so that each workspace is assigned to a virtual screen, and monitor additions and removals are non-destructive of windows; to implement different

modes Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...

, similar to the text editors vi and vim; to use a tree as the abstraction (and underlying data structure) for window management; and to implement

UTF-8 UTF-8 is a variable-length character encoding used for electronic communication. Defined by the Unicode Standard, the name is derived from ''Unicode'' (or ''Universal Coded Character Set'') ''Transformation Format 8-bit''. UTF-8 is capable of e ...

character encoding.

Features

i3's configuration is done via a

plain text In computing, plain text is a loose term for data (e.g. file contents) that represent only characters of readable material but not its graphical representation nor other objects ( floating-point numbers, images, etc.). It may also include a lim ...

file (usually found in ~/.config/i3/config),In Unix filesystems, "~" refers to the user's

home directory A home directory is a file system directory on a multi-user operating system containing files for a given user of the system. The specifics of the home directory (such as its name and location) are defined by the operating system involved; fo ...

. which can be customized without any sophisticated programming knowledge. Contrary to other popular tiling window managers, such as

dwm dwm is a minimalist dynamic window manager for the X Window System developed by Suckless that has influenced the development of several other X window managers, including xmonad and awesome. It is externally similar to wmii, but internally ...

, awesome, and

xmonad xmonad is a dynamic window manager ( tiling) for the X Window System, noted for being written in the functional programming language Haskell. Window manager Begun in March 2007, version 0.1 was announced in April 2007 as 500 lines of Haskell ...

, window management is left to the user in i3. Windows are held inside containers, which can be split vertically or horizontally. They can also optionally be resized. There are also options for stacking the windows, as well as tabbing them (similar to the interface that web browsers use). i3 uses

dmenu dwm is a minimalist dynamic window manager for the X Window System developed by Suckless that has influenced the development of several other X window managers, including xmonad and awesome. It is externally similar to wmii, but interna ...

as the default program launcher, but it can be replaced. i3 also has an associated program called i3bar that displays information about the system at the bottom of the screen. i3 also supports the use of multiple monitors.

Floating pop-up windows

Even though i3 is a tiling window manager, specific windows, such as password pop-ups, are not displayed as new tiles by default; they are always stacked in front of tiled windows, unless in full screen mode. These floating windows can be moved and resized freely, just as they can in stacking window managers and popular

desktop environment In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphic ...

s like

GNOME A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its character ...

or KDE Plasma. The authors of i3 intend floating windows to be used for pop-up windows only.

Gallery

File:i3 window manager with stacking layout.png, i3 with stacked layout File:i3 window manager with tabbed layout.png, i3 with tabbed layout File:i3 window manager with floating window.png, i3 with floating window

References

Footnotes

External links

* {{X desktop environments and window managers Free software programmed in C Free X window managers Software using the BSD license Tiling window managers Unix windowing system-related software 2009 software