lukas018 / i3-app-list

List applications in each i3wm workspace in the name of the workspace

    ___                            _
o  /   \                          | | o
     __/      __,    _    _       | |     , _|_
|      \-----/  |  |/ \_|/ \_-----|/  |  / \_|
|_/\___/     \_/|_/|__/ |__/      |__/|_/ \/ |_/
------------------/|---/|-----------------------
                  \|   \|

What

Add glyphs for each application to the workspace name.
The glyph for the currently focused application is highlighted.
Workspaces can still be renamed - these are displayed along with the app glyphs.

Why

I use a lot of workspaces, and it becomes hard to keep track of what's going on in each one.
Naming each one is time-consuming, and having fixed workspaces for each task is too inflexible.

How

We use window class and instance names, titles, etc to form rules to identify applications.
For example, we choose the browser glyph if the window class is any of "Firefox", "Google-chrome", or "qutebrowser".

    def is_browser(app):
        return app.class_ in ("Firefox", "Google-chrome", "qutebrowser")

Installation

• Clone this repo
• cd <path-to-repo>
• Install dependencies with pip3 install -r requirements.txt
• python3 src/i3_app_list.py
• set for autostarting with i3 by placing exec --no-startup-id python3 <path-to-repo>/src/i3_app_list.py in ~/.config/i3/config
• To add custom names, simple rename the workspace (with i3-msg 'rename workspace to "custom name"')
  • use a keybind and get input through i3-input, dmenu, rofi or equivalent - place the following into ~/.config/i3/config, and trigger with $mod+n
    • bindsym $mod+n exec i3-input -F 'rename workspace to "%s"' -P "workspace name: "
  • to remove the custom name, repeat the above with whitespace as custom name
    • i3-msg 'rename workspace to " "', or with any of the above binds, simply enter a space in the input box
    • one small caveat: the custom name cannot be equal to the workspace number, since this changes the workspace number [feature incoming]

Support

The list of supported applications is always growing, mostly as I start using something new.
Currently supported applications:

• download managers
  • uget
• browsers
  • firefox
  • google chrome
  • qutebrowser
  • tor
• pdf viewers
  • okular
  • zathura
  • foxit
  • mupdf
• virtual machines
  • virtual box
  • vmware
• media players
  • vlc
  • mplayer
• wireshark
• terminals
  • gnome terminal
  • urxvt
  • xterm
  • st
• file browsers
  • nautilus
• image viewers
  • pinta
  • pqiv
  • feh
  • eog
• fontforge
• office applications
  • libreoffice
• text editors
  • gvim
  • gedit
• android studio
• skype
• ida
• steam
• burp suite
• gephi
• zeal
• gitk
• bless
• discord
• todoist
• inkscape

If something you use is not on this list (which is very probable), see extending.

Extending

Adding support for new applications is extremely straightforward. Most cases are extremely simple, and you can do it without any knowledge of python.
Steps: (for application example)

• Run python3 i3_app_list.py -l
  • This prints a list of all running applications, each with their name, class, and instance.
  • Locate the ones for example - say, example_name, example_class, and example_instance
• Add a function in app_definition.py under the class AppDefinition.

        def is_example(app):
            return app.class_ == "example_class"  # simplest, most common case

• Add a glyph in settings.yaml

        glyphs:
            example: Ex

Customization

Settings are listed in settings.yaml.
Each glyph is a unicode string, so using Nerdfonts or similar allows for a lot of options.
Glyphs can be customized for each application.
In addition, you can choose colors and separators.