i3configger

Disclaimer: this is a tool aimed at users who already know how the configuration of i3 works (as described in the excellent docs). i3configger is an independent add-on, not directly affiliated with the project and in no way necessary to use i3 productively.

NOTE using i3configger will replace your existing config files (config and optional status bar configs), but it will move them to <original-name>.bak if no backup exists yet, so that you can easily revert the damage if you want to go back to your old files.

Why?

I wanted to be able to switch between different color themes and do things like hide the i3bar with a keyboard shortcut. i3configger makes this and other dynamic changes possible without changing i3wm itself.

Main characteristics

• same config language as i3 with these differences:
  • possibility to spread config over several files
  • possibility to assign variables to variables
  • variables in i3status configs are also resolved (set them anywhere in the sources)
• additional configuration of i3configger itself and persistence of changes to the i3 configuration is achieved by sprinkling a bit of json on top of the config files.
• command line driven - activities can be bound to keyboard shortcuts directly or as part of a binding mode

How?

In the end i3wm needs a config file it can cope with and it needs to reload or restart, when something changes.

This is realized by adding a build step that can be triggered by calling i3configger directly or by running it as a [daemonized] watcher process that automatically rebuilds and reloads when source files change or messages are sent.

What can I do with it?

Switch between arbitrary "schemes"

You can switch sub configurations (e.g. different color schemes) that conform with a simple naming convention (config.d/<key>.<value1>.conf, config.d/<key>.<value2>.conf, etc.) by invoking e.g. i3configger select-next <key> or i3configger select <key> <value2>.

To get an idea what can be done, have a look at the examples and read the docs.

Override any variable

You can change any variable you have defined in the configuration by invoking i3configger set <variable name> <new value>. These changes are persisted not in the config itself but in an additional file.

See i3configger docs for a detailed explanation of the concept and other possible commands.

Usage example

Here is a snippet from an i3 config that uses a mode to alter itself by sending messages to i3configger:

set $i3cBin ~/.virtualenvs/i3/bin/i3configger

bindsym $win+w mode "i3configger"
mode "i3configger" {
    bindsym Right exec "$i3cBin select-next colors --i3-refresh-msg restart"
    bindsym Left exec "$i3cBin select-previous colors --i3-refresh-msg restart"
    bindsym Up exec "$i3cBin shadow bars:targets:laptop:mode dock"
    bindsym Down exec "$i3cBin shadow bars:targets:laptop:mode hide"
    bindsym Return mode "default"
    bindsym Escape mode "default"
}

Explanation of the messages used:

• select[...] integrates different config partials and can therefore make broad changes. In this case for example there are different colors.<value>.conf partials that activate different color schemes
• shadow adds an overlay that in this case changes the mode of the laptop bar between hide and dock

Installation

$ pip install i3configger

See docs For more details and different ways of installation.

Some inspiration from the i3 project

... that I would also like to heed for this project:

• Never break configuration files or existing workflows. Breaking changes require a major version bump (v4 → v5).
• Keep mental complexity low: once you know i3’s key features, other features should be easy to understand.
• Only add features which benefit many people, instead of going to great lengths to support rarely used workflows.
• Only documented behavior is supported. Clear documentation is a requirement for contributions.

CHANGELOG

0.9.0 (A new beginning) - 2018-12-19

Added

• where it makes sense, defaults for command line settings can be changed in i3configger.json (command line overrides settings in config)
• make status command configurable (for refresh)
• off-switch for ipc configuration (for easier testing)
• functional tests for main cli functionality

Changed

• keep Python version in sync with Arch system Python: test with Python 3.7
• breaking changes in i3configger.json - check examples to see what is different. Easiest way to upgrade is to move your old config to the side, run i3configger to generate a new default config and add your settings from the old config back in.
• terminology: i3status -> i3bar
• terminology: value -> select
• internal modernization and refactoring

Fixed

• wrong use of reversed in select-next/previous

Removed

• option for different config has no real use and unnecessarily complicates things

0.8.0 (Naming things is hard) - 2017-06-20

Changed

• Name for i3bar key is fixed to i3bar - no need to be configurable

Fixed

• don't crash if no i3bar config file was yet generated
• terminology i3status -> i3bar

0.7.7 (It's just getting better and better) - 2017-06-16

Added

• resolve variables with as many levels of indirections as you want
• if resolving fails proper feedback about the failing path is given
• better error handling/notification, when config is broken
• tests for resolving contexts

Fixed

• watch process does not crash anymore but gives proper feedback
• don't crash if switching without a default in .messages.json

0.7.6 (The devil is in the detail) - 2017-06-11

Changed

• do not add partial into config if it purely contains set statements
• strip empty lines from beginning and end of partials

0.7.5 (Time to make an -git AUR?) - 2017-06-11

Changed

• make checks more forgiving if no i3 is installed - for testing a complete run after a PKGBUILD

0.7.4 (Packaging is fun and good for testing) - 2017-06-11

Changed

• improve ipc handling - fix setting methods too late

0.7.3 (Do the right thing) - 2017-06-11

Fixed

• use actual partials path for initialization instead of assuming that parent of config path == partials path

0.7.2 (Need for speed) - 2017-06-11

Changed

• shave off a few hundred precious milliseconds startup time, by moving the very expensive version fetching into a function that is only called, when the version is really needed.
• help the user, when they use a non existing command
• remove unwanted side effects from message
• when config.d already exists, but no i3configger.json exists yet, it is automatically created now
• better examples/tests

0.7.1 (The great packaging adventure begins) - 2017-06-10

Changed

• (internal) vendor in a different inotify library that makes it easier to package for Archlinux

0.7.0 (Better safe than sorry) - 2017-06-10

Changed

• always create a backup of the users files if it does not exist already. Do not clobber it on subsequent builds to make sure you can always go back to your old files if needed, even if they have no external backups or SCM in place.

0.6.0 (Command & Conquer) - 2017-06-10

Fixed

• wrong ordering of context merges (set was not working in all cases)

Added

• new command: shadow - shadow arbitrary entries in i3configger.json
• new command: merge - merge a .json file into .messages.json
• new command: prune - opposite of merge: remove all keys from a given .json file in .messages.json

Changed

• renamed file containing frozen messages from .state.json to .messages.json

0.5.3 (KISS) - 2017-06-09

Changed

• de-rocket-science release process
• change description of tool

0.5.2 (Releasing correctly is hard) - 2017-06-09

Fixed

• wrong CHANGELOG :)

0.5.1 (Maybe I should test more) - 2017-06-09

Fixed

• #4 repair watch and daemon mode

0.5.0 (Half way there) - 2017-06-08

Added

• proper documentation at http://oliver.bestwalter.de/i3configger/
• copy user or default config into config.d on initialization

Removed

• end of line comments are not supported anymore (too much bug potential - would need some form of parsing already to make it work -> not worth the fuzz)

Changed

• comments are not stripped from the build anymore
• notification is off by default: cli arg changed from --no-notify- to --notify

Fixed

• checking the config with i3 -C did not work because -c (small c) was not passed and the passed path to the new config was silently ignored and the active config was checked instead

0.4.4 (I am not alone) - 2017-06-05

Fixed

• #2 - fails if not using i3status. Fixed by making the refresh call ignore any errors - not nice, just a quick fix.

0.4.3 - (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) - 2017-06-04

Added

• examples that are used as test cases

Fixed

• some small fixes regarding selection

0.4.2 (The answer) - 2017-06-03

Basic implementation

• build main config and one or several i3status configs from the same sources
• variables are handled slightly more intelligently than i3 does it (variables assigned to other variables are resolved)
• end of line comments are possible (removed at build time)
• variables in i3status configs are also resolved (set anywhere in the sources)
• reload or restart i3 when a change has been done (using i3-msg)
• notify when new config has been created and activated (using notify-send)
• simple way to render partials based on key value pairs in file name
• simple way to change the configuration by sending messages
• build config as one shot script or watch for changes
• send messages to watching i3configger process
• if i3 -C fails with the newly rendered config, the old config will be kept, no harm done

Note: format based on: Keep a Changelog project adheres to Semantic Versioning.