A script for i3 window manager to have one global drop-down terminal window toggleable by a hotkey.
Just drop quake-terminal.py somewhere and create some keybinds to launch it in your i3 config.
Requires i3ipc package (PyPI, GitHub).
Fellow Fedora enjoyers:
sudo dnf install python3-i3ipc
For other distros, consult your package manager repos, or install via pip:
python -m pip install i3ipc
The script will create a single sticky terminal window on specified monitor, toggleable via hotkey. The first call will launch show the window, the second call will hide it. If the window is closed, subsequent call will create it again.
Available settings:
$ quake-terminal.py -?
usage: quake-terminal.py [--width WIDTH | --relative-width WIDTH_RATIO] [--height HEIGHT | --relative-height HEIGHT_RATIO] [--horizontal {left,l,centre,c,right,r}] [--vertical {top,t,centre,c,bottom,b}] [--offset-horizontal OFFSET_X] [--offset-vertical OFFSET_Y] [--focus-first] [--output OUTPUT] [--terminal {generic,urxvt}] [--name NAME] [--version] [--help]
A script to have one global terminal window toggleable by a hotkey.
options:
--width WIDTH, -w WIDTH
set the terminal window width, in pixels (default: 1280)
--relative-width WIDTH_RATIO, -rw WIDTH_RATIO
set the terminal window width relative to the output width (default: None)
--height HEIGHT, -h HEIGHT
set the terminal window height, in pixels (default: 720)
--relative-height HEIGHT_RATIO, -rh HEIGHT_RATIO
set the terminal window height relative to the output height (default: None)
--horizontal {left,l,centre,c,right,r}, -x {left,l,centre,c,right,r}
set the terminal window's horizontal align (default: centre)
--vertical {top,t,centre,c,bottom,b}, -y {top,t,centre,c,bottom,b}
set the terminal window's vertical align (default: top)
--offset-horizontal OFFSET_X, -oh OFFSET_X, -ox OFFSET_X
horizontal offset for the terminal window, in pixels; positive values move to the right (default: 0)
--offset-vertical OFFSET_Y, -ov OFFSET_Y, -oy OFFSET_Y
vertical offset for the terminal window, in pixels; positive values move down (default: 0)
--focus-first, -f if enabled, calling will focus unfocused visible terminal window instead of hiding it; focused terminal will be hidden (default: False)
--output OUTPUT, -o OUTPUT
set the terminal window's output. Use its name as it appears in xrandr (e.g. DP-2) or main for primary output (default: main)
--terminal {generic,urxvt}, -t {generic,urxvt}
terminal to use; "generic" calls "i3-sensible-terminal -T NAME", may or may not work depending on terminal (default: urxvt)
--name NAME, -n NAME set the terminal window name. Should be unique for the script to work (default: The terminal)
--version, -v show program's version number and exit
--help, -? show this help message and exit
Any unrecognized arguments are passed as is to the terminal emulator. To prevent flickering, please add an i3 rule to move created terminal windows to the scratchpad, for example: for_window [class="URxvt" title="The terminal"] move scratchpad
Suggested usage: a quickly accessible general terminal window, or htop as a task manager. Feel free to invent your own uses!
This script only really supports urxvt (as it's the terminal emulator I use). "generic" option might work for other terminal emulators if:
i3-sensible-terminallaunches your terminal emulator- your terminal emulator supports
-Tas an argument to set window title
Otherwise, please extend the script to work with another terminal emulator. See terminals dict in the configuration section.
As stated in help message, to prevent terminal window first appearing in default position and visibly teleporting, add a rule to i3 config to move it to the scratchpad by default.
An example for default settings, an urxvt window called "The terminal":
for_window [class="URxvt" title="The terminal"] move scratchpad
Adjust class and title as needed.
This script is inspired by https://github.com/NearHuscarl/i3-quake. If this script is not exactly what you're looking for, check it out!
MIT