Activation tokens with old serials still steal focus after #16427

[dmkenney]

What's the problem?

#16427 Fixes most of the focus stealing, but an app keeps every serial Hyprland scrent it, even after you switch away, and browsers (and probably apps) use that. So when a script or an AI agent opens a link, the browser makes its own token with the last serial that was used, and Hyprland accepts it. What this does is causes the browser to focus when it shouldn't - because there's no serial attached. Tested it in Chromium, Chrome, Brave, and Firefox.

What's your proposed solution?

To remember the serial of the last keyboard leave Hyprland sent each app and if it's older than the last one used, reject it. Input that the app got while it still had focus still counts. As do tokens another app makes from a fresh click and passes on.

I wrote it on a fork on top of main: https://github.com/dmkenney/Hyprland/tree/activation-reject-stale-serials

Attachments

Tested in a nested Hyprland with focus_on_activate on:

• A link opened by a script after I'd typed in Chromium and switched to a terminal: main raises Chromium; the patch rejects it ("predates the client losing focus") and focus stays.
• The same again: rejected on both.
• A link I opened in foot, with its token passed to Chromium: focus moves to Chromium.
• A notification click passed to Chromium: focus moves.

I acknowledge that:

• I have searched all (open and closed) discussions and issues, checked the wiki, and my feature is not there.

• I have read the Code of Conduct and agree to follow it.

• I wrote this request with my own hands, my own keyboard, and in my own words.