Automatically minimize program after X time without focus?

Question

Is there a way to automatically minimize a program after it hasn't had focus for a set amount of time?

Answer 1

Got it working perfectly, pretty much exactly as you describe.

1. Script to minimize windows after x time without focus

The background script below will minimize windows after an arbitrary time without focus.

The script

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess
import sys
import time

def getwindowlist():
    # get windowlist
    try:
        return [
            l.split()[0] for l in \
            subprocess.check_output(["wmctrl", "-l"]).decode("utf-8")\
            .splitlines()
            ]
    except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
        pass

def getactive():
    # get active window, convert to hex for compatibility with wmctrl
    wid = str(hex(int(
        subprocess.check_output(["xdotool", "getactivewindow"])\
        .decode("utf-8"))))
    return wid[:2]+str((10-len(wid))*"0")+wid[2:]

# round down on 2 seconds (match needs to be exact)
minitime = (int(sys.argv[1])/2)*2

wlist1 = []
timerlist = []

while True:
    time.sleep(2)
    wlist2 = getwindowlist()
    if wlist2:
        # clean up previous windowlist; remove non- existent windows
        try:
            timerlist = [
                wcount for wcount in timerlist if wcount[0] in wlist2
                ]
        except IndexError:
            pass
        for w in wlist2:
            # add new windows, zero record
            if not w in wlist1:
                timerlist.append([w, 0])
        # add two to account(s)
        for item in timerlist:
            item[1] += 2
        active = getactive()
        for w in timerlist:
            # minimize windows that reach the threshold
            if w[1] == minitime:
                subprocess.Popen(["xdotool", "windowminimize", w[0]])
            # set acoount of active window to zero
            w[1] = 0 if w[0] == active else w[1]
        wlist1 = wlist2

How to use

1. The script needs both wmctrl and xdotool:

   sudo apt-get install wmctrl xdotool
   

2. Copy the script into an empty file, save it as minimize_timer.py

3. Test- run it with the required time, in seconds (before minimizing), as argument, e.g.:

   python3 /path/to/minimize_timer.py 300
   

   ...to minimize windows after 5 minutes without focus

4. If all works fine, add it to startup applications: Dash > Startup Applications > Add. Add the command:

   /bin/bash -c "sleep 15 && python3 /path/to/minimize_timer.py 300"
   

Notes

• Running the script, I couldn't notice any additional burden to the processor.
• The script "rounds" time on two seconds. If a window has focus for e.g. only 0.5 seconds, it might not be noticed as being "focussed".

Explanation

• The script keeps record of all opened windows. Once per two seconds, the script adds two seconds to the windows' "account", unless the window has focus.
• If the window has focus, its account isa set to 0
• If the account reaches a certain threshold, set in the argument, the window is minimized by xdotool's windowminimize.

If a window no longer exists, it is removed from the record list.

---

2. Application specific version

The vesrion below will minimize all windows of an arbitrary application after x seconds.

The script

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import subprocess
import sys
import time

# --- set the application below
app = "gedit"
# ---

minitime = (int(sys.argv[1])/2)*2

def get(cmd):
    # helper function
    try:
        return subprocess.check_output(cmd).decode("utf-8").strip()
    except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
        pass

t = 0

while True:
    time.sleep(2)
    # first check if app is runing at all (saves fuel if not)
    pid = get(["pgrep", app])
    if pid:
        # if app is running, look up its windows
        windows = get(["xdotool", "search", "--all", "--pid", pid]).splitlines()
        if windows:
            # ...and see if one of its windows is focussed
            if get(["xdotool", "getactivewindow"]) in windows:
                # if so, counter is set to 0
                t = 0
            else:
                # if not, counter adds 2
                t += 2
        if t == minitime:
            # if counter equals the threshold, minimize app's windows
            for w in windows:
                subprocess.Popen(["xdotool", "windowminimize", w])
    else:
        t = 0

How to use

1. The script needs xdotool:

   sudo apt-get install xdotool
   

2. Copy the script into an empty file, save it as minimize_timer.py

3. In the head section, set the application to minimize

4. Test- run it with the required time, in seconds (before minimizing), as argument, e.g.:

   python3 /path/to/minimize_timer.py 300
   

   ...to minimize windows after 5 minutes without focus

5. If all works fine, add it to startup applications: Dash > Startup Applications > Add. Add the command:

   /bin/bash -c "sleep 15 && python3 /path/to/minimize_timer.py 300"