Controlling py3status remotely

Just like i3status, you can force an update of your i3bar by sending a SIGUSR1 signal to py3status. Note that this will also send a SIGUSR1 signal to i3status.

$ killall -USR1 py3status

The py3-cmd CLI

py3status can be controlled remotely via the py3-cmd cli utility.

This utility allows you to run a number of commands.

# button numbers
1 = left click
2 = middle click
3 = right click
4 = scroll up
5 = scroll down

Commands available

click

Send a click event to a module as though it had been clicked on. You can specify the button to simulate.

# send a left/middle/right click
$ py3-cmd click --button 1 dpms      # left
$ py3-cmd click --button 2 sysdata   # middle
$ py3-cmd click --button 3 pomodoro  # right

# send a up/down click
$ py3-cmd click --button 4 volume_status  # up
$ py3-cmd click --button 5 volume_status  # down

# toggle button in frame module
$ py3-cmd click --button 1 --index button frame  # left

# change modules in group module
$ py3-cmd click --button 5 --index button group  # down

# change time units in timer module
$ py3-cmd click --button 4 --index hours timer    # up
$ py3-cmd click --button 4 --index minutes timer  # up
$ py3-cmd click --button 4 --index seconds timer  # up

list

Print a list of modules or module docstrings.

# list one or more modules
$ py3-cmd list clock loadavg xrandr  # full
$ py3-cmd list coin* git* window*    # fnmatch
$ py3-cmd list [a-e]*                # abcde

# list all modules
$ py3-cmd list --all

# show full (i.e. docstrings)
$ py3-cmd list vnstat uname -f

refresh

Cause named module(s) to have their output refreshed.

# refresh all instances of the wifi module
$ py3-cmd refresh wifi

# refresh multiple modules
$ py3-cmd refresh coin_market github weather_yahoo

# refresh module with instance name
$ py3-cmd refresh "weather_yahoo chicago"

# refresh all modules
$ py3-cmd refresh --all

Calling commands from i3

py3-cmd can be used in your i3 configuration file.

To send a click event to the whatismyip module when Mod+x is pressed

bindsym $mod+x exec py3-cmd click whatismyip

This example shows how volume control keys can be bound to change the volume and then cause the volume_status module to be updated.

bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume  exec "amixer -q sset Master 5%+ unmute; py3-cmd refresh volume_status"
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume  exec "amixer -q sset Master 5%- unmute; py3-cmd refresh volume_status"
bindsym XF86AudioMute         exec "amixer -q sset Master toggle; py3-cmd refresh volume_status"