how do i switch to a certain binding mode when i'm on a certain workspace and switch back when i'm off it?

[ghost]

i have a special mode for qemu virtual machines. i don't want any of my regular keybindings to work when i'm in this mode. it looks like this

mode "_" {
    bindsym Mod1+Shift+x exec "playerctl play-pause"
    bindsym Mod1+Shift+z exec "playerctl previous"
    bindsym Mod1+Shift+c exec "playerctl next"
    bindsym $mod+minus mode "default", bar mode hide
}
bindsym $mod+minus mode "_", bar mode invisible

i designate the 5th workspace for the virtual machines, so i have this in my config

for_window [workspace="5"] mode "_", floating enable, bar mode invisible
for_window [workspace=all] mode "default", bar mode hide

but it doesn't work? i also tried listing all workspaces but 5, instead of "workspace=all" to the same result

inb4 "how do you switch to a different workspace without keybindings?" this is a laptop, so i have libinput-gestures installed and configured in such a way that a swipe right/left gets me to next/previous workspace

[ghost]

i wrote a tiny program

#!/usr/bin/env python3

from i3ipc.aio import Connection
import asyncio
import time


async def main():
    i3 = await Connection().connect()
    tree = await i3.get_tree()
    focused = tree.find_focused()
    if focused.workspace().name == "5":
        await i3.command("mode '_'")
        await i3.command("bar mode invisible")
    else:
        await i3.command("mode 'default'")
        await i3.command("bar mode hide")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    while True:
        asyncio.run(main())
        time.sleep(1)

[orestisfl]

You can rely on i3's events to trigger the change, this way no need to do the check every second.

#!/usr/bin/env python3
from i3ipc import Connection


def main():
    i3 = Connection()
    i3.on("workspace::focus", cb)
    i3.main()


def cb(i3, event):
    if event.current.workspace().name == "5":
        i3.command("mode '_'")
        i3.command("bar mode invisible")
    else:
        i3.command("mode 'default'")
        i3.command("bar mode hide")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

see https://i3wm.org/docs/ipc.html

[ghost]

thanks a ton!