Detect workspace change

[RZarifov]

Hello everyone.
Is it possible to detect the workspace change, and if so, can I for example write to file the name or number of the workspace I changed to?
For example, I switch to workspace 1, then the "1" or "1: workspace one" is getting written in the text file. Is it possible to do so?

[orestisfl]

Yes, see the IPC interface: https://i3wm.org/docs/ipc.html

You can use i3-msg -t subscribe -m '["workspace"]' and parse the json output or a third party library, e.g. https://github.com/altdesktop/i3ipc-python

[Airblader]

Just as an addendum, the information could also be obtained by spying on the root window's _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP atom (xprop -root -spy _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP). The value can then be looked up in _NET_DESKTOP_NAMES (again on the root window).

This is more cumbersome, but portable to all EWMH-compliant window managers.