i3blocks-weather

Weather display script for i3blocks status bar. Fetches weather information from wttr.in and displays it in your status bar with an interactive popup for detailed forecasts.

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/hastinbe/i3blocks-weather.git
cd i3blocks-weather

2. Make the script executable:

chmod +x weather

3. Configure your i3blocks config file (typically ~/.config/i3blocks/config):

   Add the weather block configuration to your i3blocks config. See i3blocks.conf for a complete example. The basic configuration:

[weather]
full_text=☂ฺ ☀ฺ Weather ☂ฺ ☀ฺ
command=~/i3blocks-weather/weather
interval=1800
color=#8ec07c
#separator=true
separator_block_width=20

Replace ~/i3blocks-weather/weather with the actual path to the weather script.

Dependencies

The script requires the following dependencies:

• curl - For fetching weather data from wttr.in
• rofi - For displaying the interactive weather popup
• jq - For parsing JSON configuration from i3wm

Install dependencies on:

• Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install curl rofi jq
• Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S curl rofi jq
• Fedora: sudo dnf install curl rofi jq

Usage

i3blocks Integration

Add the weather block to your i3blocks configuration as shown in the installation section. The script will:

• Display weather information (temperature, wind, condition icon, humidity) in your status bar
• Update automatically every 30 minutes (1800 seconds) as specified by interval
• Show a detailed ASCII weather report when you click on the block (left-click)

Display Format

The script displays weather information in the following format:

• Full line: ICON TEMPERATURE WIND 💧HUMIDITY
• Short line: TEMPERATURE
• Color: Dynamically set based on weather conditions (sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, foggy)

Interactive Popup

Click on the weather block in your status bar (left-click) to open an interactive rofi popup showing:

• Full ASCII weather report from wttr.in
• Detailed forecast information
• Current conditions and extended forecast

The popup automatically matches your i3bar colors and font settings.

Comparison with rofi-wttr

This script was designed as an enhanced alternative to rofi-wttr from i3blocks-contrib. Below is a feature comparison:

Feature	i3blocks-weather	rofi-wttr
Caching	✅ Yes (15 min default, configurable)	❌ No
Lock file	✅ Yes (prevents concurrent runs)	❌ No
Color coding	✅ Yes (automatic based on conditions)	❌ No
Config file	✅ Yes (~/.config/i3blocks-weather/config)	❌ No
Error handling	✅ Yes (fallback to cache, dependency checks)	❌ No
Auto-detect i3 colors	✅ Yes (matches bar colors/font)	❌ No
Customizable format	✅ Yes (via FORMAT variable)	⚠️ Limited
Units selection	✅ Yes (US/metric via UNITS)	⚠️ Hardcoded
Debug mode	✅ Yes	❌ No
Structured output	✅ Yes (full/short/color lines)	⚠️ Single line
Complexity	Higher (~335 lines)	Lower (~70 lines)
Dependencies	curl, rofi, jq	curl, rofi
Offline support	✅ Yes (uses cache)	❌ No
Cache control	✅ Yes (configurable duration, set to 0 to disable)	❌ No

Key Advantages

i3blocks-weather provides a more robust solution with:

• Performance: Caching reduces API calls and provides instant responses
• Reliability: Lock files prevent race conditions; error handling with fallbacks
• User Experience: Automatic color coding, color/font matching with i3bar
• Flexibility: Extensive configuration options via config file or environment variables
• Offline capability: Works with cached data when network is unavailable

rofi-wttr is better for:

• Simplicity: Easier to understand and modify (~70 lines)
• Minimal dependencies: Doesn't require jq

Configuration

i3blocks-weather looks for a configuration file located at either ~/.config/i3blocks-weather/config, or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/i3blocks-weather/config. You can use this file to set any variables that are not set in the command line or environment.

Create the configuration directory and file:

mkdir -p ~/.config/i3blocks-weather

Then edit ~/.config/i3blocks-weather/config with your settings. By default, the script will auto-detect your location based on your IP address. For example, if you want to always use metric units:

UNITS="m"
CACHE_DURATION=1800

Or if you want to set a specific location:

LOCATION="Bismarck,ND"
UNITS="m"
CACHE_DURATION=1800

Or if you want to customize the popup appearance and use a custom location:

LOCATION="Paris,France"
UNITS="m"
ROFI_WIDTH="70%"
ROFI_CONFIG_FILE="$HOME/.config/rofi/config.rasi"
DEBUG=0

Now every invocation of the script will use these settings, unless overridden by environment variables or command line options.

Configuration Variables

Variable	Description	Default
LOCATION	Weather location (city name, postal code, or coordinates). Leave empty to auto-detect based on IP	"" (auto-detect)
FORMAT	wttr.in format string for weather data	%t+%w+%c+%h
UNITS	Temperature units: u (US), m (metric), M (metric with wind in m/s)	u
CACHE_DURATION	Cache duration in seconds	900 (15 minutes)
CACHE_FILE	Path to cache file	/tmp/weather-wttr-cache.txt
POPUP_CACHE_FILE	Path to popup cache file	/tmp/weather-wttr-popup-cache.txt
BAR_ID	i3bar identifier (auto-detected if not set)	Auto-detected
ROFI_CONFIG_FILE	Path to rofi config file	/dev/null
ROFI_WIDTH	Width of rofi popup window	65%
ROFI_LOCATION	Location of rofi popup window	northwest
FONT	Font for rofi popup (auto-detected from i3bar if not set)	Auto-detected
WEATHER_BG	Background color for rofi popup (auto-detected from i3bar)	Auto-detected
WEATHER_FG	Foreground color for rofi popup (auto-detected from i3bar)	Auto-detected
DEBUG	Enable debug output (set to 1 to enable)	0
LABEL	Optional label prefix for the weather display	Empty

Location Configuration

By default, the script will auto-detect your location based on your IP address. You can set a specific location in several ways:

1. Using a configuration file (recommended):

# ~/.config/i3blocks-weather/config
# Leave LOCATION unset or empty to auto-detect, or set a specific location:
LOCATION="Bismarck,ND"
# or
LOCATION="58501"  # Postal code
# or
LOCATION="48.8566,2.3522"  # Coordinates

2. Using environment variables:

export LOCATION="Bismarck,ND"

3. In your i3blocks config:

[weather]
full_text=☂ฺ ☀ฺ Weather ☂ฺ ☀ฺ
command=env LOCATION="Bismarck,ND" /path/to/this/repo/weather
interval=1800

Units Configuration

• u - US units (Fahrenheit, mph)
• m - Metric units (Celsius, km/h)
• M - Metric units with wind in m/s

Set in your config file:

# ~/.config/i3blocks-weather/config
UNITS="m"

Or using environment variables:

export UNITS="m"  # Use metric units

Custom Format

The FORMAT variable controls which weather data is fetched. Default format %t+%w+%c+%h includes:

• %t - Temperature
• %w - Wind
• %c - Condition emoji
• %h - Humidity

See wttr.in format documentation for all available format options.

Weather Icons and Colors

The script automatically assigns colors based on weather conditions:

Condition	Icon	Color
Sunny	☀️	#FFCC66
Partly Cloudy	🌤️ ⛅ 🌥️	#ADD8E6
Rainy	🌦️ 🌧️ ⛈️	#4169E1
Snowy	❄️ 🌨️	#E0FFFF
Foggy	🌫️	#D3D3D3
Unknown	(none)	#ffffff

Troubleshooting

Script not displaying weather

1. Check that all dependencies are installed:

which curl rofi jq

2. Test the script manually:

DEBUG=1 /path/to/weather

3. Verify your location is valid by testing with curl:

curl "https://wttr.in/YourLocation?format=%t+%w+%c+%h"

Popup not showing

1. Ensure rofi is installed and working:

rofi -version

2. Check that i3wm is running (required for bar config detection):

i3-msg -t get_version

3. Enable debug mode to see what's happening:

DEBUG=1 /path/to/weather

Cache issues

If you're seeing stale weather data, you can:

1. Manually delete the cache files:

rm /tmp/weather-wttr-cache.txt /tmp/weather-wttr-popup-cache.txt

2. Reduce the CACHE_DURATION in the script (line 24)

License

i3blocks-weather is released under GNU General Public License v2

Copyright (C) 2024 Beau Hastings