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Assign a workspace to a specific Output (Display)

Assign a workspace to a specific Output (Display)

i3 and sway can open a workspace on a given output (monitor) every time. To set this up, add workspace ... output ... lines to a config partial: a file in your user config directory that Regolith includes after its own configuration. The variables $ws1 to $ws19 hold the names of Regolith’s workspaces, which you can change as described in Change Workspace Icons and Labels.

X11 Session (i3)

  1. Find the name of the output with xrandr --listmonitors:

    $ xrandr --listmonitors
Monitors: 2
 0: +*eDP-1 1920/309x1080/173+0+0  eDP-1
 1: +HDMI-1 1920/527x1080/296+1920+0  HDMI-1

    The output names are in the last column, here eDP-1 and HDMI-1.

  2. Create a partial, for example ~/.config/regolith3/i3/config.d/70_workspace-outputs, with a line for each workspace:

    ~/.config/regolith3/i3/config.d/70_workspace-outputs
    workspace "$ws1" output eDP-1
workspace "$ws2" output HDMI-1

    Keep the double quotes around the variable: Regolith’s workspace names contain spaces.

  3. Log out and back in, or reload i3 with super shift c.

With regolith-session older than 1.2.2 (Regolith 3.4 and earlier), i3 reports a CONFIG error for these lines right after login (regolith-desktop#890). Refreshing Regolith with super shift r or regolith-look refresh after logging in fixes the workspace names and restarts i3, which then applies the lines.

Wayland Session (sway)

  1. Find the name of the output with swaymsg -t get_outputs:

    $ swaymsg -t get_outputs
Output eDP-1 'AU Optronics 0x573D Unknown' (focused)
[...]
Output HDMI-A-1 'ViewSonic Corporation VG2448 V5E192121969'
[...]

  2. Create a partial, for example ~/.config/regolith3/sway/config.d/70_workspace-outputs, with a line for each workspace:

    ~/.config/regolith3/sway/config.d/70_workspace-outputs
    workspace $ws1 output eDP-1
workspace $ws2 output HDMI-A-1

    Write the variable without quotes here. Regolith’s sway config already quotes $ws1 to $ws19, and with extra quotes the line doesn’t match the workspace.

  3. Log out and back in, or reload sway with super shift c.

Because the two sessions need different quoting, use the i3 and sway partial directories for these lines, not ~/.config/regolith3/common-wm/config.d/.

More Than One Output

A line can list several outputs. The workspace opens on the first of them that is available. With the following line, workspace 2 opens on the external monitor when it is connected, and on the laptop screen otherwise:

~/.config/regolith3/i3/config.d/70_workspace-outputs
workspace "$ws2" output HDMI-1 eDP-1

In sway, the same line is workspace $ws2 output HDMI-A-1 eDP-1.

See the i3 user guide and man 5 sway for details.

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