i3-workspace-names-daemon 0.14.0

Dynamically update the name of each i3wm workspace using font-awesome icons or the names of applications running in each workspace.

i3-workspace-names-daemon

This script dynamically updates i3wm workspace names based on the names of the windows therein.

It also allows users to define an icon to show for a named window from the Font Awesome icon list.

tl;dr

update i3-bar workspace names to look something like this

install

Install the package from pypi with pip.

sudo pip3 install i3-workspace-names-daemon

NB. if you don't have sudo privileges instead do

pip3 install --user i3-workspace-names-daemon

font

Install the Font Awesome font via your favourite package manager. This is necessary if you want to show an icon instead of a window's name in the i3 status bar.

For Debian/Ubuntu et al.

sudo apt install fonts-font-awesome

NB: if the glyphs are not rendering make sure the font is installed.

i3 config

Add the following line to your ~/.i3/config.

exec_always --no-startup-id exec i3-workspace-names-daemon

If you use the $mod+1 etc. shortcuts to switch workspaces then update the following so that the switch to workspace and move focussed window to workspace shortcuts still work.

from

bindsym $mod+1 workspace 1
bindsym $mod+Shift+1 move container to workspace 1
# etc

to

bindsym $mod+1 workspace number 1
bindsym $mod+Shift+1 move container to workspace number 1
# etc

icons config

Configure what icons to show for what application-windows in the file ~/.i3/app-icons.json or ~/.config/i3/app-icons.json (in JSON format). For example:

chris@vulcan: ~$ cat ~/.i3/app-icons.json
{
    "firefox": "firefox",
    "chromium-browser": "chrome",
    "chrome": "chrome",
    "google-chrome": "chrome",
    "x-terminal-emulator": "terminal",
    "thunderbird": "envelope",
    "jetbrains-idea-ce": "edit",
    "nautilus": "folder-open",
    "clementine": "music",
    "vlc": "play",
    "signal": "comment"
}

where the key is the name of the i3-window (ie. what is shown in the i3-bar when it is not configured yet) and the value is the font-awesome icon name you want to show instead, see picking icons.

Note: the hard-coded list above is used if you don't add this icon-config file.

picking icons

The easiest way to pick an icon is to search for one in the gallery. NB: the "pro" icons are not available in the debian package.

FAQ

https://pypi.org/project/i3-workspace-names-daemon/