i3smartfocus can be used in place of the default i3wm focus in order to restore a more natural way of moving focus.

The default focus behavior will focus on the last focused window inside a container (which might not be the chosen direction) instead of honoring the direction chosen. i3smartfocus fixes this.

sudo pip3 install i3smartfocus

Or simply copy i3smartfocus.py somewhere in your path.

Edit your i3 config ~/.config/i3/config and replace the default focus tool

bindsym Mod1+Left  exec --no-startup-id "i3smartfocus left"
bindsym Mod1+Down  exec --no-startup-id "i3smartfocus down"
bindsym Mod1+Up    exec --no-startup-id "i3smartfocus up"
bindsym Mod1+Right exec --no-startup-id "i3smartfocus right"

#bindsym Mod1+Left focus left
#bindsym Mod1+Down focus down
#bindsym Mod1+Up focus up
#bindsym Mod1+Right focus right

If you are having trouble installing or using i3smartfocus, open an issue.

If you want to contribute, feel free to do a PR (please follow PEP8).

This project is licensed under the terms of the GPLv3 license.