The latest articles on DEV Community by Wesley Schwengle (@waterkip). https://dev.to/waterkip https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F385145%2F5413f3c0-8aa6-44ea-af5d-ac859561de0a.jpeg https://dev.to/waterkip en Wesley Schwengle Wed, 24 Sep 2025 18:05:29 +0000 https://dev.to/waterkip/workspace-on-demand-in-i3wm-3nki https://dev.to/waterkip/workspace-on-demand-in-i3wm-3nki <p><a href="https://wesley.schwengle.net/article/workspace-on-demand-in-i3wm-84a4/" rel="noopener noreferrer">I moved away from dev.to, read the full article here</a></p> <h2> TL;DR </h2> <p>I built a dynamic, context-aware workspace loader for i3wm that allows me to switch between workspace groups (such as "Client" and "Personal") without losing state. It autoloads layouts and launches apps on demand. It's built with Perl, AnyEvent::I3, and YAML config. It utilizes IPC events to detect state changes and trigger actions.</p> <h2> Workspaces on Demand </h2> <p>I have been using i3 as a Window Manager for years now. And while I love working with i3, there is one thing I found annoying. And that is that it lacks context awareness. What do I mean by this? I use it in several contexts: "Client", "Company", and "Personal". Meaning, I'm in either client mode, company mode or personal mode. And 'client mode' can mean working with one or multiple clients at once. <a href="https://github.com/i3/i3/discussions/5646" rel="noopener noreferrer">I pitched my initial idea on i3's discussion pages</a> and <a href="https://github.com/i3/i3/discussions/5976" rel="noopener noreferrer">someone else asked about something similar as KDE's "Activities"</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://wesley.schwengle.net/article/workspace-on-demand-in-i3wm-84a4/" rel="noopener noreferrer">I moved away from dev.to, read the full article here</a></p> i3wm perl x11 productivity