app launchers

Applications launchers

This page shows how to create application launchers with keyboard shortcuts.

• Dmenu apps
• Dropdown terminal

Dmenu apps

ℹ️	Code taken from qtile/qtile-examples/zordsdavini.

Here is an example of how to run dmenu apps:

class Commands:
    dmenu = "dmenu_run -i -b -p '>>>' -fn 'Open Sans-10' -nb '#000' -nf '#fff' -sb '#00BF32' -sf '#fff'"
    dmenu_session = "dmenu-session"
    dmenu_mocp = "dmenu-mocp"
    dmenu_windows = "dmenu-qtile-windowlist.py"


mod = "mod4"
keys = [
    Key([mod, "control"], "q", lazy.spawn(Commands.dmenu_session)),
    Key([mod], "m", lazy.spawn(Commands.dmenu_mocp)),
    Key([mod], "l", lazy.spawn(Commands.dmenu_windows)),
    Key([mod], "r", lazy.spawn(Commands.dmenu)),
]

Dropdown terminal

ℹ️	Code taken from qtile/qtile-examples/mort65.

Here is a snippet of code that shows how to setup a dropdown terminal:

from libqtile.config import ScratchPad, DropDown

# define your keys and groups
keys = [...]
groups = [...]

# append a scratchpad group
groups.append(
    ScratchPad(
        "scratchpad", [
            # define a drop down terminal
            # it is placed in the upper third of the screen by default
            DropDown(
                "term",
                "/usr/bin/termite",
                opacity=0.88,
                height=0.55,
                width=0.80
            ),

            # define another terminal exclusively for qshell at different position
            DropDown(
                "qshell",
                "/usr/bin/termite -e qshell",
                x=0.05,
                y=0.4,
                width=0.9,
                height=0.6,
                opacity=0.9,
                on_focus_lost_hide=True
            ),
        ]
    )
)

# define keys to toggle the dropdown terminals
keys.extend([
    Key([], "F12", lazy.group["scratchpad"].dropdown_toggle("term")),
    Key([], "F11", lazy.group["scratchpad"].dropdown_toggle("qshell")),
])

Dropdown terminal with environment variables

To set an terminal emulator that can be called on Qtile and any other program that support environment variables reading.

Export a variable in ~/.profile:

export TERMINAL="urxvt"

Then, in config.py:

from os import environ
from libqtile.config import ScratchPad, DropDown

# Get terminal from environment variables
terminal = environ.get("TERMINAL")

# define your keys and groups
keys = [...]
groups = [...]

# append a scratchpad group
groups.append(
    ScratchPad(
        "scratchpad", [
            # define a drop down terminal for Cmus (music player)
            DropDown(
                "cmus",
                terminal + " -e cmus",
                opacity=0.88,
                height=0.55,
                width=0.80
            ),
        ]
    )
)

# define keys to toggle the dropdown for Cmus (music player)
keys.extend([
    Key([], "F10", lazy.group["scratchpad"].dropdown_toggle("cmus")),
])

ℹ️	Environment variables are loaded on login, so any change will require you to login again.