node-i3status

An i3status implementation in Node.js

const { Block, Status } = require('node-i3status');
/** An example block that shows the date every second */
class ExampleBlock extends Block {
  /** The constructor */
  constructor() {
    super('example');
    this.n = 0;
    // update the block every second
    setInterval(() => this.update(), 1000);
    this.on('mouse-LEFT', ev => {
      // can also use numbers, eg mouse-1
      this.n++;
      this.update();
    });
  }
  /**
   * The render function
   * @return {String}
   */
  render() {
    return {
      full_text: `${(new Date()).toString()} ${this.n}`,
      color: '#ffff00'
    };
  }
}

let status = new Status();

let b = new ExampleBlock();

// add the block to the status
status.addBlock(b);

// bind the status display to stdin/stdout
status.outStream.pipe(process.stdout);
process.stdin.pipe(status.inStream);

// remove it after 10 seconds
setTimeout(() => status.deleteBlock(b), 10000);

In ~/.config/i3/status:

bar {
    status_command /path/to/your/script.js
}

See examples folder for examples of more complex blocks.

API Reference

class: Status

Represents the status display. The Status object consists of many different Block objects.

update()

Sends the text of the current blocks to i3bar

renderBlock(block)

• block <string> | <Block> The block to render

Render a single block

renderAll()

Render all the blocks

addBlock(block, index)

• block <Block> The block to add
• index <integer> Where to add the block

Add a block to the status display. If index is not specified, add the block to the end.

deleteBlock(block)

• block <Block> The block to remove

Remove a block from the status display.

class: Block

Represents a part of the status display.

Constructor: new Block(name)

• name <String> The name of the block

Create a new block. The name isn't currently used, besides to give to i3bar.

Event: 'input'

• event <Object> A click event from i3

Emitted whenever there is input on the block, for example, if a user clicks it. See here for more information on the format which is used.

Event: 'mouse-<button>'

• event <Object> A click event from i3

Emitted for a specific mouse event on the block. Both button names and button numbers can be used. See the input event for details and src/mouse-buttons.json for the names of the buttons.

update()

Tells the status display to update the block. Will call render() to get an updated display of the contents of the block.

render()

• Returns: <string>

Update function. Will be called by the Status object to obtain the latest information provided by this block. See here for details about the format which should be used.

Does it suck?

Yes.