i3-shade

Auto show/hide floating windows in the i3 window manager.

Effortlessly move floating windows out of your way and then back to their original position whenever focus changes between a tiling window and a floating one. Unfocused, floating windows peek slightly out from the top of screen for a unobstrusive visual reminder and clickability. Each floating window can be exempted to perform the default i3 behavior.

Install

from npm:

$ npm install -g i3-shade

using nvm can ease permissions issues

from source:

$ git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/ctemplin/i3-shade.git

OR

$ npx degit github.com/ctemplin/i3-shade.git i3-shade

THEN

$ cd i3-shade
$ npm install
$ # link from a directory on your $PATH
$ ln -s /usr/local/bin/i3-shade ./src/index.js

Config

Disabling focus_follows_mouse is recommended. Otherwise, floating windows may disappear unexpectedly.

# ~/.i3/config
focus_follows_mouse no

Add a key combination to exempt the current window from shading.

# ~/.i3/config
bindsym $mod+Ctrl+space nop i3-shade-exempt

$ i3-msg reload

Run

In terminal:

$ i3-shade &

Automatically:

# ~/.i3/config
exec_always --no-startup-id i3-shade

$ i3-msg restart

Usage

This can also be viewed by running i3-shade -h

usage i3-shade [-h|--help] [--peek=<integer>] [--prefix=<string>]
                [--exempt=<string>] [--exemptCallbackExec=<string>]
                [--command=<string>] [--fallback=<string>] [--urgent]

Options

This can also be viewed by running i3-shade --help

i3-shade
    -v, --version Show version number.
    -h            Show brief usage summary.
    --help        Show this message.
    --peek=<integer>
                  Defaults to 2. Number of pixels that shaded windows will peek out
                  from the screen edge. Values less than 2 will be set to 2.
    --prefix=<string>
                  Defaults to "shade". Included in mark that stores 
                  floating window position. No need to set unless default
                  conflicts with other marks.
                  <prefix>_<x>_<y>_<con_id> 
    --exempt=<string>
                  Defaults to "shade_exempt". Included in mark that exempts
                  containers from shading. No need to set unless default
                  conflicts with other marks.
                  _<exempt>_<con_id> 
    --exemptCallbackExec=<string>
                  Defaults to no operation (":"). Shell command that executes when
                  an exempt status is toggled.
    --socketpath=<string>
                  Defaults to output of `i3 --get-socketpath`.
    --command=<string>
                  Defaults to "nop i3-shade-exempt". The i3 command to toggle
                  the shading exemption for the focused window. 
    --fallback=<string>
                  Defaults to null. An i3 command to run if the 'focus mode_toggle'
                  command cannot find an eligible window to focus.
    --urgent
                  Make shaded windows more prominent by marking them urgent.
                  i3 does not expose a way to modify window urgency, so this
                  feature requires either 'xdotool' or 'wmctrl' system command.