I3-INPUT(1)

📦
version 4.25.1 · 10 versions
, in fedora 43, fedora 44, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ i3-input — the manual, but make it cute ✨

okay bestie, welcome to i3-input(1) from the i3 Manual 💖 this is the page where we learn how to pop open a lil text box, type something, and yeet it straight into i3. iconic behaviour, honestly.

🌸 NAME 🌸

i3-input — interactively take a command for i3 window manager 🎀

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

i3-input [-s <socket>] [-F <format>] [-l <limit>] [-P <prompt>] [-f
<font>] [-v]

like. that's the whole vibe. five lil flags and -v. we love a concise queen 💅

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so basically, i3-input is the tool that takes commands (or parts of a command) that the user composes, and sends it/them over to i3. 🫶

it's lowkey perfect for stuff like the mark/goto command — iykyk. you type a lil thing, i3 gets the lil thing, everybody wins. 🌈

and listen: you can press Escape to close i3-input without sending any commands. no accidental chaos, we stan a safe exit. 🧚

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -s <socket> — tell it the path to the i3 IPC socket. ngl you should not need this one, because i3-input will figure out the path all on its own like the independent main character it is. 👑
  • -F <format> — every single occurrence of "%s" inside the <format> string gets replaced by whatever the user typed, and then the whole result gets sent to i3 as a command. the default value is "%s". ✨
  • -l <limit> — sets the max allowed length of the user input to <limit> characters. and here's the fun part: once the user input reaches that length, i3-input will automatically issue the command. no enter key required, it just goes. 🔥
  • -P <prompt> — shows the <prompt> string in front of the user input text field. important detail bestie: the prompt string is not included in the user input or the command. it's purely decorative, a little garnish. 🎀
  • -f <font> — use the specified X11 core font. and yes, they really do suggest you use xfontsel to choose a font. periodt. 🦋
  • -v — show version and exit. short, sweet, slays. 💅

🌟 EXAMPLES 🌟

mark a container with a single character:

i3-input -F 'mark %s' -l 1 -P 'Mark: '

go to the container marked with the above example:

i3-input -F '[con_mark="%s"] focus' -l 1 -P 'Go to: '

see how the -l 1 means one character and then it immediately fires off? chef's kiss. 😭🔥

🌱 ENVIRONMENT 🌱

I3SOCK

i3-input handles the different sources of socket paths in the following order, and bestie, order matters:

  1. the I3SOCK environment variable 💖
  2. I3SOCK gets overwritten by the -s parameter, if specified 👀
  3. if neither are available, i3-input reads the socket path from the X11 property, which is the recommended way ✅
  4. if everything fails, i3-input tries /tmp/i3-ipc.sock 🙈
and why do we care?? because the socket path is necessary to connect to i3 and actually issue the command. no socket, no command. it's giving necessary prerequisite. 💀

🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Michael Stapelberg and contributors 💜

okay that's the whole page, you're basically an i3-input expert now, no cap. this was i3-input(1) from i3 4.25.1, dated 01/01/1980 — mwah, go forth and mark your containers, bestie 🎀✨💖

📦 where this page comes from