Reference — Raspberry Pi Setup

Mod key = Super (Win key). Every binding below that says Mod means the Win/Super key.

Basics

Keybind	Action
`Mod`+`Return`	Open terminal (alacritty)
`Mod`+`d`	App launcher (rofi)
`Mod`+`b`	Open browser (Firefox ESR)
`Mod`+`v`	Open ranger (file manager in terminal)
`Mod`+`F3`	Open Thunar (GUI file manager)
`Mod`+`q`	Kill focused window
`Mod`+`m`	Toggle polybar visibility
`Mod`+`z`	Open Reference Page

Focus & Move Windows

Vim-style navigation throughout. hjkl = left/down/up/right. Arrow keys also work everywhere.

Focus (move cursor to window)

Keybind	Action
`Mod`+`h`	Focus left
`Mod`+`j`	Focus down
`Mod`+`k`	Focus up
`Mod`+`l`	Focus right
`Mod`+`a`	Focus parent container
`Mod`+`Space`	Toggle focus: tiling ↔ floating

Move window

Keybind	Action
`Mod`+`Shift`+`h`	Move window left
`Mod`+`Shift`+`j`	Move window down
`Mod`+`Shift`+`k`	Move window up
`Mod`+`Shift`+`l`	Move window right

Floating windows

Keybind	Action
`Mod`+`Shift`+`Space`	Toggle floating for focused window
`Mod`+`Shift`+`s`	Toggle sticky (window follows all workspaces)
`Mod`+`Mouse drag`	Drag floating window

Scratchpad (hidden window store)

Keybind	Action
`Mod`+`Shift`+`-`	Send window to scratchpad
`Mod`+`-`	Show/cycle scratchpad windows

Workspaces

Keybind	Action
`Mod`+`1–8`	Switch to workspace 1–8
`Mod`+`Shift`+`1–8`	Move window to workspace 1–8 (and follow it)
`Mod`+`Ctrl`+`1–8`	Move window to workspace 1–8 (stay on current)
`Mod`+`Ctrl`+`→`	Next workspace
`Mod`+`Ctrl`+`←`	Previous workspace
`Mod`+`Shift`+`b`	Move window to last workspace (and follow)

Auto back-and-forth is on. Press Mod+N on your current workspace to jump back to the previous one instantly.

Layout & Splitting

Keybind	Action
`Mod`+`t`	Toggle split direction (horizontal ↔ vertical)
`Mod`+`e`	Toggle split layout
`Mod`+`s`	Stacking layout
`Mod`+`w`	Tabbed layout
`Mod`+`f`	Fullscreen toggle

Border style

Keybind	Action
`Mod`+`u`	No border
`Mod`+`y`	Pixel border (2px)
`Mod`+`n`	Normal border (with title bar)

Modes

Modes change what your keys do temporarily. Press Escape or Enter to exit any mode.

Resize mode RESIZE

Enter with Mod+r

Key (in resize mode)	Action
`h`	Shrink width by 5px
`l`	Grow width by 5px
`k`	Shrink height by 5px
`j`	Grow height by 5px
`←→↑↓`	Same but 10px steps

Gap mode GAPS

Enter with Mod+Shift+g

Key	Action
`o`	Enter outer gaps sub-mode
`i`	Enter inner gaps sub-mode
`+` / `-` / `0`	Increase / decrease / remove gaps (current workspace)
`Shift`+`+/-/0`	Same but applies to ALL workspaces

System mode SYSTEM

Enter with Mod+0 — be careful in here!

Key	Action
`l`	Lock screen
`s`	Suspend
`e`	Exit i3 (logout)
`r`	Reboot
`Shift`+`s`	Shutdown

Apps & Screenshots

Keybind	Action
`Mod`+`p`	Screenshot → `~/Pictures/Screenshots/`
`Mod`+`Print`	Screenshot of focused window
`Mod`+`Shift`+`Print`	Screenshot of selected region (drag)
`Mod`+`9`	Lock screen (black)
`Mod`+`Shift`+`c`	Reload i3 config (no restart)
`Mod`+`Shift`+`r`	Restart i3 (preserves session)

alacritty Terminal

Tabs & Windows

Keybind	Action
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`t`	New tab (opens in current directory)
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`w`	Close tab
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`→`	Next tab
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`←`	Previous tab
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`l`	Next window (split)
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`h`	Previous window (split)

Font size

Keybind	Action
`Ctrl`+`=`	Increase font size
`Ctrl`+`-`	Decrease font size
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`0`	Reset font size

Clipboard

Keybind	Action
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`c`	Copy selection
`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`v`	Paste

Ranger File Manager

Launch with Mod+v. Ranger uses vim-style navigation.

Navigation

Key	Action
`h` / `l`	Go up / enter directory
`j` / `k`	Move down / up
`gg` / `G`	Go to top / bottom of list
`J` / `K`	Half page down / up
`gh`	Go to home (~)
`gr`	Go to root (/)
`gd`	Go to ~/Documents (custom)
`gw`	Go to ~/Downloads (custom)
`gc`	Go to ~/.config (custom)

File operations

Key	Action
`yy`	Copy (yank) file
`dd`	Cut file
`pp`	Paste
`dD`	Delete (with confirmation)
`cw`	Rename file
`a`	Rename (append to end)
`Space`	Mark/select file
`v`	Invert selection

View & search

Key	Action
`zh`	Toggle hidden files
`zi`	Toggle image previews
`/`	Search in current directory
`Ctrl`+`f`	Fuzzy find (fzf)
`f`	Filter files (type to filter)
`i`	Display file info / preview
`co`	Open current dir in VS Code (custom)

Tabs

Key	Action
`Ctrl`+`n`	New tab
`Ctrl`+`w`	Close tab
`Tab`	Next tab
`Shift`+`Tab`	Previous tab

Bash Aliases

Defined in ~/.bashrc. All your original aliases are carried over.

General

Alias	Expands to
`c`	clear
`ll`	ls -alF (long list, all files)
`la`	ls -A (all except . and ..)
`l`	ls -CF

Git shortcuts

Alias	Expands to
`gs`	git status
`gss`	git status --short
`ga`	git add
`gaa`	git add .
`gc`	git commit
`gcm`	git commit --message
`gco`	git checkout
`gcob`	git checkout -b (new branch)
`gp`	git push
`gpl`	git pull
`gd`	git diff
`glg`	git log --graph --oneline --decorate --all
`gst`	git stash
`gstp`	git stash pop
`gb`	git branch
`gr`	git rebase
`glf "msg"`	Search git log by commit message (function)

System & Pi-specific

Check CPU temp

vcgencmd measure_temp
# or watch it live:
watch -n 1 vcgencmd measure_temp

Network interfaces

ip link
# To check your wifi/eth names
# for polybar config

Audio control

pavucontrol   # GUI mixer
alsamixer     # TUI mixer
amixer        # CLI control

Performance tips

If Pi feels slow, in picom.conf change:

backend = "xrender";
# and comment out blur:

Also lower gaps inner in i3 config.

Setup & Config Locations

Quick install: Run bash ~/rpi-setup/scripts/install.sh from the package you downloaded.

Config file locations

File	Location
`i3`	`~/.config/i3/config`
`picom`	`~/.config/picom/picom.conf`
`polybar`	`~/.config/polybar/config.ini`
`alacritty`	`~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf`
`ranger`	`~/.config/ranger/rc.conf`
`flashfocus`	`~/.config/flashfocus/flashfocus.yml`
`bash`	`~/.bashrc`

After changing i3 config

Mod + Shift + c   # Reload config (no restart)
Mod + Shift + r   # Full restart (if something breaks)

After changing polybar config

~/.config/polybar/launch.sh   # Re-run launch script

Fix polybar network module

# Find your interface names:
ip link

# Edit polybar config:
nano ~/.config/polybar/config.ini
# Change [module/wlan] interface = wlan0
# Change [module/eth]  interface = eth0

Set a wallpaper

# Put your image at e.g. ~/Pictures/wallpaper.jpg
nitrogen   # GUI picker — saves and auto-restores on login

Wallpaper command-line

feh --bg-scale ~/Pictures/wallpaper.jpg
# Add to ~/.config/i3/config to make permanent:
exec --no-startup-id feh --bg-scale ~/Pictures/wallpaper.jpg

Neovim (Coding Setup)

Embedded Linux / firmware dev setup (C, Python, Rust) using Neovim + LSP + Mason.

Core usage

Keybind / Command	Action
`vim file.c`	Open file in Neovim (use instead of vim)
`:q`	Quit Neovim
`:w`	Save file
`:Lazy`	Open plugin manager (lazy.nvim UI)
`:Mason`	Open LSP/tool installer UI
`:MasonLog`	View Mason install logs (debug failures)

LSP navigation (C / Python / Rust)

Keybind	Action
`gd`	Go to definition
`gr`	Find references
`K`	Hover documentation
`Shift + p`	Fuzzy Find File
`gf`	Format file (if configured)
`:LspInfo`	Check active language servers

Insert mode improvements

Keybind	Action
`kj`	Exit insert mode (escape alternative)

Tooling (Mason installs)

Tool	Purpose
`clangd`	C / C++ language server (firmware dev)
`pyright`	Python language server
`black`	Python formatter (via conform.nvim)
`clang-format`	C/C++ formatter

Note: If mason or treesitter fails, run :MasonLog and :checkhealth. On Raspberry Pi, some tools may fail due to architecture or missing binaries.

Important setup notes (Pi / embedded Linux)

# Install system deps (preferred over pip where possible)
sudo apt install clangd python3 python3-pip

# If pip blocks installs:
python3 -m pip install --user black

# Restart Neovim after installs:
nvim