Replicating Niri-like scroll bindings (Mod+Scroll for focus, Mod+Shift+Scroll for workspaces)

[ffact]

Hi, I'm trying to replicate my Niri workflow here:

• Mod + Scroll: Focus next/prev window
• Mod + Shift + Scroll: Switch workspace

I added these to my config:

bindsym $mod+button4 focus prev
bindsym $mod+button5 focus next
bindsym $mod+Shift+button4 workspace prev
bindsym $mod+Shift+button5 workspace next

They don't work. However, other scroll bindings do work (e.g., default Mod+Wheel scaling works fine). It seems like these specific combinations are being ignored.

[dawsers]

focus prev/next are probably not what you want to use. They focus on the prev/next window of the current top level container. So they only make sense when you are focused on a column with multiple windows. This command is not very useful, and that is why it is not assigned to anything in the default config. In scroll you want to use left/right/up/down/beginning/end to focus, and that is hard to map on a wheel with only one axis.

That said, if I do this:

    bindsym --whole-window $mod+button4 focus left
    bindsym --whole-window $mod+button5 focus right

it will only work for the container under the cursor as stated in the manual (see bindsym command):

         Mouse bindings operate on the container under the cursor instead of the container that has focus.

so it will only change focus once unless the cursor is warped to the new container. If you want this to work, you also need to specify the mouse_warping container option, which by default is output. So, your config should include:

mouse_warping container
bindsym --whole-window $mod+button4 focus left
bindsym --whole-window $mod+button5 focus right

As for workspaces:

bindsym --whole-window $mod+Shift+button4 workspace prev_on_output
bindsym --whole-window $mod+Shift+button5 workspace next_on_output