Firefox Window Detection Tools for Linux | Generated by AI

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Besides xdotool, there are several alternative tools and methods to get information about the active Firefox window on Linux:

Alternative Tools

1. wmctrl

A more robust alternative to xdotool:

# Get active window
wmctrl -a

# List all windows with details
wmctrl -l -x

# Get Firefox windows specifically
wmctrl -l | grep -i firefox

2. qdbus (for KDE/Qt applications)

# Get active window info
qdbus org.kde.KWin /KWin activeWindow

# Get window list
qdbus org.kde.KWin /KWin windows

3. xwininfo

Built-in X11 utility:

# Interactive window selection
xwininfo

# Get root window info
xwininfo -root -tree | grep -i firefox

# Get active window (requires knowing window ID)
xwininfo -id $(xprop -root _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW | cut -d' ' -f5)

4. xprop

Another X11 utility:

# Get active window properties
xprop -root _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW

# Get window class and title
xprop -root | grep "_NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW(WINDOW)"

For Wayland Systems

If you’re running Wayland, X11 tools won’t work. Try these instead:

5. swaymsg (for Sway)

swaymsg -t get_tree | jq -r '.. | select(.focused? == true)'

6. hyprctl (for Hyprland)

hyprctl activewindow

7. gdbus (GNOME/GTK)

gdbus call --session --dest org.gnome.Shell --object-path /org/gnome/Shell --method org.gnome.Shell.Eval "global.get_window_actors()"

Python Solutions

8. Python with Xlib

from Xlib import X, display
from Xlib.error import XError

def get_active_window():
    try:
        d = display.Display()
        root = d.screen().root
        
        # Get active window
        active_window = root.get_full_property(
            d.intern_atom('_NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW'), X.AnyPropertyType
        )
        
        if active_window:
            window_id = active_window.value[0]
            window = d.create_resource_object('window', window_id)
            window_name = window.get_wm_name()
            return window_name
    except XError:
        return None

print(get_active_window())

9. Python with subprocess

import subprocess

def get_firefox_windows():
    try:
        # Using wmctrl
        result = subprocess.run(['wmctrl', '-l'], 
                              capture_output=True, text=True)
        firefox_windows = [line for line in result.stdout.split('\n') 
                          if 'firefox' in line.lower()]
        return firefox_windows
    except FileNotFoundError:
        return "wmctrl not installed"

print(get_firefox_windows())

Troubleshooting Your xdotool Issue

The “BadWindow” error usually means:

1. Permission issues: Try running with different permissions
2. Display issues: Check if $DISPLAY is set correctly
3. Wayland conflict: You might be on Wayland instead of X11

To check your display server:

echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
loginctl show-session $(loginctl | grep $(whoami) | awk '{print $1}') -p Type

Recommended Approach

For maximum compatibility, I’d recommend this order:

1. wmctrl - Most reliable across different window managers
2. xwininfo + xprop combination - Built into most X11 installations
3. Python solution - Most flexible and programmable
4. Desktop environment specific tools (swaymsg, hyprctl, etc.)

Try wmctrl -l | grep -i firefox first - it’s usually the most straightforward replacement for xdotool’s window detection functionality.

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