Application-aware layer switching

[jtroo]

For Linux, can use https://github.com/k0kubun/xremap for inspiration.

For Windows: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winuser/nf-winuser-getforegroundwindow

[13minutes-yt]

Is tcp server needed? In linux xdotool can get the activewindow
xdotool getactivewindow getwindowclassname
and xdotool can also simulate keystroke movements( based on result of getactivewindow)
xdotool keydown n (can be used to switch to layer)

[jtroo]

The TCP server is not necessary for this particular feature as you've shown. There can be workarounds that don't involve inter-process communication.

However, the TCP server is nice to have for software integrations.

[jtroo]

For ease of discovery:

• Windows has the komokana project that integrates with kanata's TCP server
• Linux has no fancy solution, but as 13minutes-yt said, xdotool could be one way to do this

[13minutes-yt]

Just a thought. I have been using Espanso as a text expander and noticed they have application aware triggers.
Can't a crate be used in kanata for that purpose?
https://github.com/espanso/espanso/search?q=Appinfo

[jtroo]

Yep, that's a good reference to use if one were to implement this in kanata.

https://github.com/espanso/espanso/tree/9f82b4e146e6090897c876a02f5eee697b85e979/espanso-info

[gerhard-h]

espanso offers similar features than autohotkey hotstrings, and similar to ahk hotstrings espanso won't work while kanata is running (at least on windows).

But if we could tell espanso to listen to the kanata ouput instead of the real keyboard it should work?
Is the kanata tcp server the right thing to use to make espanso listen to it?

[veyxov]

I quickly put together a rough draft.

It uses swaymsg for getting information about windows (wayland/sway) which also shows which windows is focused. I searched, but it seems there is no universal way to get this information in wayland, so this only works in sway.

Sends a request to change the layer to the current window name.

Needs significant improvements, for example switch to the default layer, if current window is not in the list of application-specific layers.

Here is the code: https://github.com/veyxov/qanata (sorry for the name 😅)

Updates:
Saw the xremap implementation for sway, it looks a lot cleaner. Maybe I can integrate some parts from that.
Now using swayipc to get the window name.

[Aqaao]

I use SetWinEventHook implemented a simple tool in windows: kanawin.
This is my first code with rust. I referenced ChatGPT and komokana.
This might help a little.

[reidprichard]

Wow, would you believe that timing! I just finished my own daemon to interact with Kanata's TCP server. I guess it's pretty similar to kanawin with a few pros and cons.

Cons

• It's not Rust :(
• Looping is less efficient than using the Windows event hook (but I've yet to see it break 0% CPU usage in Task Manager)
• No pattern matching for mapping applications to layers

Pros

• For those of us with Rust skill issues, C isn't bad!
• No config file needed. You open firefox.exe, layer "firefox" is activated.
• Additional utility "window_manager" allows you to use hotkeys to save and activate windows. Always find yourself searching for that one browser window? Bind it to a hotkey and refocus it later with a single button press.
• No dependencies
• Doesn't need to run as administrator

While it's still a work in progress, it's 100% working on my end. I'd love feedback if anyone gives it a try!

Window Tools

https://github.com/reidprichard/window_tools

[Zerogaku]

Hey are there any plans for linux application aware layer switching or is xremaps the only solution?

[reidprichard]

@jtroo has said that Kanata does not plan to implement application-aware bindings, leaving that to other tools. The situation is a bit tricky on Linux (not having a unified API like Windows does). I believe there are a good number of tools that can accomplish that on X11, but Wayland (or at least most implementations of Wayland) does not let any arbitrary app see which window is currently active. That drops it down one layer further, requiring a desktop environment-specific implementation. I plan to eventually add functionality for KDE to Window Tools, allowing per-application binds with Kanata.

[Zerogaku]

I do believe xremaps does support wayland, but I don't know if it's a suitable replacement feature-wise and since it's syntax doesn't feel as intuitive, so If I wanted a simpler more minimal solution could I just create a script that loops in the background and update the currently focused application name with xdotool and have kanata switch layouts based on that? Then again I don't know how to use tcp to make kanata switch layouts using shell scripting

[jtroo]

@Zerogaku Example: #892 (comment)

printf '{"ChangeLayer":{"new":"requested-layer"}}\n' | nc -w1 127.0.0.1 10000

[Zerogaku]

@Zerogaku Example: #892 (comment)

printf '{"ChangeLayer":{"new":"requested-layer"}}\n' | nc -w1 127.0.0.1 10000

That's so cool! I'll give this a try when I can!