i3 Tiling Window Manager

i3 is a dynamic tiling window manager for X11, inspired by wmii and designed for users who want full keyboard control over their window layout and workflow. Created by Michael Stapelberg in 2009, the project has over 9,700 stars as of 2026 and is one of the most popular tiling window managers on Linux. Key features include: tiling layout (windows are automatically arranged in a tree structure, filling available screen space without overlapping, with horizontal and vertical split containers), manual tiling (user-controlled split direction and container nesting, unlike automatic tilers), workspaces (virtual desktops with per-monitor workspace assignment, enabling multi-monitor productivity), tabbed and stacking layouts (containers can be set to tabbed or stacking mode for browser-like tab or stacked window management), mode-based keybindings (Vim-like modal keybinding system with configurable modes for resize, move, and custom operations), i3bar (built-in status bar with customizable workspace buttons and status text via i3status or custom scripts), i3status (companion status line generator displaying CPU, memory, disk, network, battery, volume, and time), dmenu integration (application launcher via dmenu or rofi with custom scripts), window management (fullscreen toggle, floating toggle, scratchpad for hidden windows, and window marks for quick navigation), gaps support (optional inner and outer gaps between windows and containers), multi-monitor (per-monitor workspace assignment and dynamic monitor detection via xrandr), configuration file (plain text configuration with modifier keys, keybindings, window rules, startup commands, and bar configuration), and IPC interface (Unix socket-based inter-process communication for external scripting and integration with polybar, py3status, and other status bar alternatives).