🎨 My Arch Linux Dotfiles

A clean and functional i3wm setup with Catppuccin Mocha color scheme, featuring polybar, rofi, and picom for a polished desktop experience.

✨ Features

• Window Manager: i3wm with 1px borders and smart gaps
• Status Bar: Polybar with custom modules
• Application Launcher: Rofi with custom theme
• Compositor: Picom with rounded corners and smooth animations
• Terminal: Kitty
• Color Scheme: Catppuccin Mocha throughout all applications
• Audio Visualizer: Cava (if you use it)

🔧 Components

Component	Description
WM	i3-wm (i3-gaps features)
Bar	Polybar
Compositor	Picom (GLX backend)
Launcher	Rofi
Terminal	Kitty
Shell	Zsh
Font	MesloLGS Nerd Font, Figtree, JetBrainsMono NF
Theme	Catppuccin Mocha

📦 Dependencies

Required Packages

Install all required packages from official repositories:

sudo pacman -S i3-wm picom polybar rofi kitty feh maim xclip xdotool \
               brightnessctl xorg-xrdb i3lock xss-lock network-manager-applet \
               pulseaudio pavucontrol dex

Fonts

Install required fonts (using an AUR helper like yay or paru):

yay -S ttf-meslo-nerd-font-powerlevel10k ttf-figtree

Or from official repos:

sudo pacman -S ttf-firacode-nerd ttf-font-awesome

Optional but Recommended

sudo pacman -S dunst               # Notification daemon
sudo pacman -S thunar              # File manager
sudo pacman -S nitrogen            # Alternative wallpaper setter
sudo pacman -S lxappearance        # GTK theme manager
sudo pacman -S cava                # Audio visualizer

🚀 Installation

1. Backup Your Existing Configs

mkdir -p ~/dotfiles-backup
cp -r ~/.config/i3 ~/dotfiles-backup/
cp -r ~/.config/polybar ~/dotfiles-backup/
cp -r ~/.config/rofi ~/dotfiles-backup/
cp -r ~/.config/picom ~/dotfiles-backup/

2. Clone This Repository

git clone https://github.com/lalitp-dev/i3dotfiles.git ~/dotfiles
cd ~/dotfiles

3. Copy Configuration Files

# Create config directories if they don't exist
mkdir -p ~/.config/{i3,polybar,rofi,picom}

# Copy configurations
cp -r i3/* ~/.config/i3/
cp -r polybar/* ~/.config/polybar/
cp -r rofi/* ~/.config/rofi/
cp i3/picom.conf ~/.config/i3/

4. Make Polybar Launch Script Executable

chmod +x ~/.config/polybar/launch.sh

5. Set Up Wallpaper

mkdir -p ~/Pictures/Wallpapers
# Copy your wallpaper to the directory
cp /path/to/your/wallpaper.jpg ~/Pictures/Wallpapers/

Update the wallpaper path in ~/.config/i3/config:

exec_always --no-startup-id feh --bg-scale ~/Pictures/Wallpapers/your-wallpaper.jpg

6. Reload i3

Press $mod+Shift+r or restart your X session.

⌨️ Keybindings

General

Keybinding	Action
Super + Return	Open terminal (Kitty)
Super + Shift + q	Kill focused window
Super + Shift + c	Reload i3 config
Super + Shift + r	Restart i3
Super + Shift + e	Exit i3

Application Launcher (Rofi)

Keybinding	Action
Alt + a	Launch applications (drun mode)
Alt + Space	Combined launcher (combi mode)
Alt + Tab	Window switcher

Window Navigation

Keybinding	Action
Super + h/j/k/l	Focus left/down/up/right
Super + Arrow keys	Focus direction (alternative)
Super + Shift + h/j/k/l	Move window left/down/up/right
Super + Shift + Arrow keys	Move window (alternative)
Super + f	Toggle fullscreen
Super + Shift + Space	Toggle floating

Workspaces

Keybinding	Action
Super + 1-9	Switch to workspace 1-9
Super + d	Switch to workspace 10
Super + Shift + 1-9	Move container to workspace 1-9
Super + Shift + 0	Move container to workspace 10

Layouts

Keybinding	Action
Super + s	Stacking layout
Super + w	Tabbed layout
Super + e	Toggle split layout

System Controls

Keybinding	Action
Super + = / Super + +	Increase volume 5%
Super + -	Decrease volume 5%
Super + 0	Toggle mute
XF86AudioRaiseVolume	Increase volume 10%
XF86AudioLowerVolume	Decrease volume 10%
XF86AudioMute	Toggle mute
XF86MonBrightnessUp	Increase brightness 5%
XF86MonBrightnessDown	Decrease brightness 5%

Screenshots

Keybinding	Action
Print	Screenshot entire screen
Super + Print	Screenshot active window
Shift + Print	Screenshot selection
Ctrl + Print	Screenshot to clipboard
Ctrl + Super + Print	Active window to clipboard
Ctrl + Shift + Print	Selection to clipboard

Resize Mode

Keybinding	Action
Super + r	Enter resize mode
j / Left	Shrink width
k / Down	Grow height
l / Up	Shrink height
; / Right	Grow width
Enter / Escape	Exit resize mode

🎨 Customization

Change Colors

The color scheme uses Catppuccin Mocha. To change colors, edit the color variables at the bottom of ~/.config/i3/config:

set $rosewater #f5e0dc
set $mauve     #cba6f7
set $red       #f38ba8
# ... etc

Modify Polybar

Edit ~/.config/polybar/config.ini to customize modules, fonts, or colors.

Customize Rofi

Edit ~/.config/rofi/config.rasi to change the launcher appearance.

Picom Effects

Edit ~/.config/i3/picom.conf to adjust:

• Corner radius (currently 10px)
• Shadow settings
• Fade animations
• Opacity settings

🐛 Troubleshooting

Polybar not loading

Make sure the launch script is executable:

chmod +x ~/.config/polybar/launch.sh

Loading cursor appears after commands

The configs use --no-startup-id flag to prevent this. If it still occurs, check your i3 config for any missing flags.

Rofi not appearing

Check if rofi is installed and the config file path is correct:

rofi -show drun

Picom transparency not working

Ensure your graphics drivers support compositing:

glxinfo | grep "direct rendering"

Fonts not displaying correctly

Install the required Nerd Fonts:

yay -S ttf-meslo-nerd-font-powerlevel10k ttf-figtree

Then reload i3 with Super + Shift + r.

📁 Directory Structure

~/.config/
├── i3/
│   ├── config          # Main i3 configuration
│   └── picom.conf      # Compositor configuration
├── polybar/
│   ├── config.ini      # Polybar configuration
│   └── launch.sh       # Polybar launch script
├── rofi/
│   └── config.rasi     # Rofi theme configuration
└── cava/
    └── config          # Audio visualizer config (if applicable)

🤝 Contributing

Feel free to fork this repository and submit pull requests for any improvements!

📝 License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

Credits

• i3wm - i3wm.org
• Polybar - github.com/polybar/polybar
• Catppuccin Theme - github.com/catppuccin/catppuccin
• Rofi - github.com/davatorium/rofi