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.
update i3-bar workspace names to look something like this
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
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.
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 $mod+Shift+1 move container to workspace number 1
# etc
Configure what icons to show for what application-windows in the file ~/.i3/app-icons.json or ~/.config/i3/app-icons.json (in JSON format). For example:
chris@vulcan: ~$ 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.
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.