deckless/docs/i3.md

i3 integration

Big Picture and the launched game are separate top-level windows on a normal Linux desktop session. On i3 that can lead to an awkward controller-first workflow:

• Big Picture is fullscreen
• the game opens as a second window
• the game does not automatically take over the fullscreen seat
• you end up reaching for a keyboard or mouse

Deckless ships an i3-only bridge to fix that behavior.

How it works

The bridge subscribes to i3 window events and looks for:

• a fullscreen Steam Big Picture window
• a newly created non-Steam window on the focused Big Picture workspace

When it sees that pattern, it:

1. disables fullscreen on Big Picture
2. moves focus to the new game window
3. enables fullscreen on the new game window

When that tracked game window closes, it restores fullscreen to Big Picture.

Autostart

install.sh installs:

• ~/.config/autostart/deckless-i3-bigpicture-bridge.desktop

The entry uses OnlyShowIn=i3;, so it stays out of non-i3 sessions. If your i3 setup starts XDG autostart entries, the bridge will come up automatically.

Current scope

The bridge is intentionally conservative.

• It only targets i3.
• It only reacts while Big Picture is the focused workspace.
• It treats non-Steam normal, dialog, and utility windows as candidates.

That keeps the rule local to the couch-mode problem instead of changing global i3 focus behavior for the whole desktop.