thank you! your command worked like a charm once i prepended it with exec. i even added a final command taking me back to workspace 1. tested it with exec_always and it seems to be good, crossing fingers it will actually work on boot.
maybe you can answer another question for me: is the config file executed asynchronously? What i mean is, does it run through each line, or is there a chance that, say, line 25 might execute before line 13?
I think the default mod key is the 'super' key (formerly known as the windows key). It might be alt actually, I don't remember. Super + 1-9 switches between workspaces, which hold your windows. Shift + super + 1-9 moves a window to another workspace. you can find more key bindings by viewing $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/sway/config (or wherever config files go on your system).
It's not about unclear communication. You know exactly what they meant.