i3 Migration Guide

Sway is almost a drop-in replacement for i3, but you may have to make a few changes to get everything working correctly. Here are a few common ones:

• Use the output command to configure outputs instead of xrandr
• Use the output command to configure your wallpaper instead of feh
• Use the input command to configure input devices
• Replace usage of i3 specific programs with the equivalent sway tools:
  • i3-msg → swaymsg
  • i3lock → swaylock
  • i3-nagbar → swaynag
  • i3bar → swaybar
  • i3status → Alternative bar content generators
• Sway handles quotes slightly differently - commands are handled more like shell commands
• To emulate xset dpms force off, use swayidle timeout 600 'swaymsg "output * dpms off"' resume 'swaymsg "output * dpms on"' then run pkill -USR1 swayidle to trigger timeout immediately.

Font configuration

Sway does not support X logical font description (XLFD) configuration strings. Instead it uses Pango, and one can use pango-list | grep [fontname] to confirm the correct font name. Pango, as of version 1.44, does not support older bitmap fonts (BFD), although it does support bitmap-only OTF fonts.

Common X11 apps used on i3 with Wayland alternatives

• xbacklight (backlight management) → brightnessctl
• dunst (notification daemon) → dunst (supports wayland) / mako / fnott / swaync
• feh (wallpaper setting) → sway output configuration, see man 5 sway-output (or oguri swww, which supports animated wallpapers)
• scrot (screenshot) → grim + slurp (or grimshot, which wraps around both).
• picom / compton / xcompmgr (compositor) → built in
• unclutter (hiding cursor after some time) → seat <name> hide_cursor <timeout>
• xbanish (hiding cursor on keypress) → seat <name> hide_cursor when-typing enable
• xclip / xsel (clipboard copy/paste) → wl-clipboard, wlsnarf wl-clipboard-rs, wayclip
• clipster / etc. (clipboard manager) → cliphist, wl-clipboard-history
• xdotool → wtype, wlrctl, swaymsg seat <seat> cursor …, dotool, ydotool
• xrandr → swaymsg output …, wlr-randr
• arandr (GUI to configure outputs) → wdisplays
• autorandr → kanshi
• screenkey (screencast tool to display your keys) → wshowkeys, showmethekey
• X11 forwarding → waypipe
• xev → wev
• xmodmap → custom keymap file, interception-tools
• xprop → wlprop
• xob → wob
• dmenu → wmenu, mew, bemenu, fuzzel, gmenu, wldash
  • bemenu: To use the same color scheme used in dmenu, use bemenu-run -p "" --tb "#285577" --hb "#285577" --tf "#eeeeee" --hf "#eeeeee" --nf "#bbbbbb"
• rofi → wofi, rofi patch
• ffmpeg x11grab (screen recorder) → wf-recorder, txproto
• VNC → wayvnc
• Redshift → gammastep, wlsunset
• slock → waylock, wlock
• kbdd (per-window keyboard layout) → swaykbdd
• sxhkd (an X daemon that reacts to input events by executing commands), shkd (a simple hotkey daemon for the Linux console. ) → swhkd
• synergy (client) → waynergy

See Also

• FAQ
• Differences from i3
• The man pages (start with man sway)