Bring i3 Features to Hyprland!

Speaker background & motivation

• The speaker is a long-time i3 user (window manager) who values its simplicity and excellent documentation.
• A key i3 feature they miss in other setups is tabbed windows being built in.
• They’re impressed by Hyprland’s feature depth and were surprised it can replicate i3-style tabs.

What Hyprland feature is being shown

• Hyprland “tabs” are implemented using groups (the speaker calls them “tabs”).
• These tabs are not as customizable as i3, with one key limitation:
  • The group bar can only be at the top.

Setup guide (configuration + keybinds)

Step 1: Add a group section

Add a group section to the Hyprland configuration file. The section controls:

• Whether the group bar is shown (on/off)
• Font and font size
• Gradient usage
• Bar height
• Color settings, including:
  • Transparency via RGBA, using RGBA hex-style codes

The speaker mentions their own setup is modularized, but the essential requirement is that Hyprland has a group section defined.

A link/snippet is promised to be included in the description (not shown in the transcript).

Step 2: Add key bindings for group control

The speaker uses keybinds to manage which windows join which group (tab set). Examples:

• Super + U: toggle/lock group page
  • Locking prevents new windows from being added to that group.
  • When locked, newly opened windows appear outside the group.
• Add windows to a group (requires the group to be unlocked)
  • After unlocking (again via Super + U), add a window to the group using a command like Super + Ctrl + Alt + H (as described).
• Navigation between tabs
  • Uses dispatcher-based navigation like Alt + H and Alt + L to move between tabbed windows within the group.

Additional behavior mentioned:

• Move window outside the group: described with a modifier combo including Mod + Alt + U.
• Move window back into the group: described with Mod + Alt + H, with the requirement that the group is unlocked / in the appropriate state.

Conceptual comparison: i3 vs Hyprland

• In i3, tabs are more “default” and treated largely as a built-in layout/behavior via configuration.
• In Hyprland, the speaker emphasizes that you must build the tab workflow yourself by combining:
  • the group section
  • and key bindings that implement:
    • locking/toggling
    • moving windows in/out of the group
    • switching between grouped “tabs”

Practical outcome / usage review

• The speaker says they discovered this yesterday and now use it heavily.
• A productivity example:
  • Multiple applications (e.g., Terminal, OBS, Audacity) can share the same monitor space by being placed into the same tabs/groups—reducing the need for additional windows/monitors.

Who the main speaker/source is

• Main speaker: The creator/host of the channel (speaks throughout and references their i3/Hyprland experience and setup).
• Referenced sources/products: i3 (window manager) and Hyprland (Wayland compositor/window manager).