AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS
Project homepage: https://github.com/nikitabobko/AeroSpace
![]()
Do you have a cool automatization, AeroSpace integration, or workflow?
Feel free to open an issue or pull request to add it to this list!
The source code of the page can be found in the ./docs directory.
1. Move windows by dragging any part of the window
defaults write -g NSWindowShouldDragOnGesture -bool true
Now, you can move windows by holding ctrl + cmd and dragging any part of the window (not necessarily the window title)
2. Highlight focused windows with colored borders
To highlight the focused window with colored border you can use JankyBorders.
You can also use after-startup-command to start JankyBorders together with AeroSpace
after-startup-command = [
# JankyBorders has a built-in detection of already running process,
# so it won't be run twice on AeroSpace restart
'exec-and-forget borders active_color=0xffe1e3e4 inactive_color=0xff494d64 width=5.0'
]
3. AeroSpace Raycast extension
There is a third party Raycast extension for AeroSpace. https://www.raycast.com/limonkufu/aerospace
If you struggle remembering shortcuts, it’s useful to search for commands until they become muscle memory.
4. Disable windows opening animations
Observable in Google Chrome
defaults write -g NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool false
5. Use trackpad gestures to switch workspaces
The following commands focus next or previous workspaces on monitors where the mouse is located
aerospace workspace "$(aerospace list-workspaces --monitor mouse --visible)" && aerospace workspace next
aerospace workspace "$(aerospace list-workspaces --monitor mouse --visible)" && aerospace workspace prev
Use the software of your choice to assign trackpad gestures to the respective commands. Here are a few third party options in alphabetical order:
-
BetterTouchTool can assign arbitrary commands to trackpad gestures. Beware that you might need to specify full path to aerospace executable https://community.folivora.ai/t/how-to-execute-terminal-command-to-switch-workspaces-with-aerospace/35914
|
Caution
|
Make sure that you trust project authors before running the distributed binaries. Alternatively, inspect the source code, and build it yourself. |
6. Show AeroSpace workspaces in Sketchybar
You can integrate AeroSpace workspace indicators with Sketchybar. Use these snippets as a starting point.
# Run Sketchybar together with AeroSpace
# sketchybar has a built-in detection of already running process,
# so it won't be run twice on AeroSpace restart
after-startup-command = ['exec-and-forget sketchybar']
# Notify Sketchybar about workspace change
exec-on-workspace-change = ['/bin/bash', '-c',
'sketchybar --trigger aerospace_workspace_change FOCUSED_WORKSPACE=$AEROSPACE_FOCUSED_WORKSPACE'
]
sketchybar --add event aerospace_workspace_change
for sid in $(aerospace list-workspaces --all); do
sketchybar --add item space.$sid left \
--subscribe space.$sid aerospace_workspace_change \
--set space.$sid \
background.color=0x44ffffff \
background.corner_radius=5 \
background.height=20 \
background.drawing=off \
label="$sid" \
click_script="aerospace workspace $sid" \
script="$CONFIG_DIR/plugins/aerospace.sh $sid"
done
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# make sure it's executable with:
# chmod +x ~/.config/sketchybar/plugins/aerospace.sh
if [ "$1" = "$FOCUSED_WORKSPACE" ]; then
sketchybar --set $NAME background.drawing=on
else
sketchybar --set $NAME background.drawing=off
fi
7. Show AeroSpace workspaces in simple-bar
simple-bar can be used to display AeroSpace workspaces.
In order to sync simple-bar with AeroSpace, add these lines to your AeroSpace config file:
# Notify simple-bar about window focus change
on-focus-changed = [
"exec-and-forget osascript -e 'tell application id \"tracesOf.Uebersicht\" to refresh widget id \"simple-bar-index-jsx\"'",
]
# Notify simple-bar about workspace change
exec-on-workspace-change = [
'/bin/zsh',
'-c',
'/usr/bin/osascript -e "tell application id \"tracesOf.Uebersicht\" to refresh widget id \"simple-bar-index-jsx\""',
]
8. Open a new window with AppleScript
Invoking Safari/Terminal with a command the obvious way (exec-and-forget open -a Safari) results in an outcome that is probably not the intended one.
Namely, that any workspace already containing an instance of Safari/Terminal is brought in focus.
Opening a new window of a program that can support multiple windows (such as Safari or Terminal.app) can be accomplished with an AppleScript inlined in aerospace.toml as follows:
-
Safari
ctrl-g = '''exec-and-forget osascript -e ' tell application "Safari" make new document at end of documents activate end tell' ''' -
Terminal
ctrl-g = '''exec-and-forget osascript -e ' tell application "Terminal" do script activate end tell' '''
9. Disable annoying and useless "hide application" shortcut
If automatically-unhide-macos-hidden-apps isn’t enough, you can disable cmd-h altogether (which will make this hotkey unavailable for apps that might use it for other purposes)
[mode.main.binding]
cmd-h = [] # Disable "hide application"
cmd-alt-h = [] # Disable "hide others"
10. Take screenshots to clipboard using keyboard shortcut
You can configure a custom shortcut to take a screenshot.
screencapture is a built-in macOS command.
alt-shift-s = 'exec-and-forget screencapture -i -c'
11. i3 like config
# Reference: https://github.com/i3/i3/blob/next/etc/config
config-version = 2
# In i3, all workspaces are phantom
persistent-workspaces = []
# i3 doesn't have "normalizations" feature that why we disable them here.
# But the feature is very helpful.
# Normalizations eliminate all sorts of weird tree configurations that don't make sense.
# Give normalizations a chance and enable them back.
enable-normalization-flatten-containers = false
enable-normalization-opposite-orientation-for-nested-containers = false
# Mouse follows focus when focused monitor changes
on-focused-monitor-changed = ['move-mouse monitor-lazy-center']
[mode.main.binding]
# See: https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/goodies#open-a-new-window-with-applescript
alt-enter = '''exec-and-forget osascript -e '
tell application "Terminal"
do script
activate
end tell'
'''
# i3 wraps focus by default
alt-j = 'focus --boundaries-action wrap-around-the-workspace left'
alt-k = 'focus --boundaries-action wrap-around-the-workspace down'
alt-l = 'focus --boundaries-action wrap-around-the-workspace up'
alt-semicolon = 'focus --boundaries-action wrap-around-the-workspace right'
alt-shift-j = 'move left'
alt-shift-k = 'move down'
alt-shift-l = 'move up'
alt-shift-semicolon = 'move right'
# Consider using 'join-with' command as a 'split' replacement if you want to enable
# normalizations
alt-h = 'split horizontal'
alt-v = 'split vertical'
alt-f = 'fullscreen'
alt-s = 'layout v_accordion' # 'layout stacking' in i3
alt-w = 'layout h_accordion' # 'layout tabbed' in i3
alt-e = 'layout tiles horizontal vertical' # 'layout toggle split' in i3
alt-shift-space = 'layout floating tiling' # 'floating toggle' in i3
# Not supported, because this command is redundant in AeroSpace mental model.
# See: https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/guide#floating-windows
#alt-space = 'focus toggle_tiling_floating'
# `focus parent`/`focus child` are not yet supported, and it's not clear whether they
# should be supported at all https://github.com/nikitabobko/AeroSpace/issues/5
# alt-a = 'focus parent'
alt-1 = 'workspace 1'
alt-2 = 'workspace 2'
alt-3 = 'workspace 3'
alt-4 = 'workspace 4'
alt-5 = 'workspace 5'
alt-6 = 'workspace 6'
alt-7 = 'workspace 7'
alt-8 = 'workspace 8'
alt-9 = 'workspace 9'
alt-0 = 'workspace 10'
alt-shift-1 = 'move-node-to-workspace 1'
alt-shift-2 = 'move-node-to-workspace 2'
alt-shift-3 = 'move-node-to-workspace 3'
alt-shift-4 = 'move-node-to-workspace 4'
alt-shift-5 = 'move-node-to-workspace 5'
alt-shift-6 = 'move-node-to-workspace 6'
alt-shift-7 = 'move-node-to-workspace 7'
alt-shift-8 = 'move-node-to-workspace 8'
alt-shift-9 = 'move-node-to-workspace 9'
alt-shift-0 = 'move-node-to-workspace 10'
alt-shift-c = 'reload-config'
alt-r = 'mode resize'
[mode.resize.binding]
h = 'resize width -50'
j = 'resize height +50'
k = 'resize height -50'
l = 'resize width +50'
enter = 'mode main'
esc = 'mode main'
12. List of Apple application IDs
The list is useful to compose custom on-window-detected callback.
| Application name | Application ID |
|---|---|
Activity Monitor |
|
AirPort Utility |
|
App Store |
|
Audio MIDI Setup |
|
Automator |
|
Books |
|
Calculator |
|
Calendar |
|
Chess |
|
Clock |
|
ColorSync Utility |
|
Console |
|
Contacts |
|
Dictionary |
|
Disk Utility |
|
FaceTime |
|
Find My |
|
Finder |
|
Freeform |
|
Grapher |
|
Home |
|
iMovie |
|
Keychain Access |
|
Keynote |
|
|
|
Maps |
|
Messages |
|
Music |
|
Notes |
|
Pages |
|
Photo Booth |
|
Photos |
|
Podcasts |
|
Preview |
|
QuickTime Player |
|
Reminders |
|
Safari |
|
Shortcuts |
|
Stocks |
|
System Settings |
|
Terminal |
|
TextEdit |
|
Time Machine |
|
TV |
|
VoiceMemos |
|
VoiceOver Utility |
|
Weather |
|
Xcode |
|