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Wayland - How Best to Log My Own Desktop Activities (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I'm self employed. I need to record how much time I spend on whatever task for whatever client.

Sounds simple, but I'm terrible at it. I always get to the end of the day without having recorded anything and not knowing what I've actually done.

Basically, I'd like to create a text log of the active window title, and take a screen cap.

I'd like to do this periodically as in every 15 minutes or so.

For the text log I just haven't been able to achieve this at all.

For the screen caps I can use flameshot to take a screenshot from the CLI, but it makes a sound and shows an animation which is sub-optimal.

Any suggestions of where to look much appreciated.

Edit: I'm not asking for a time tracking app. I want something to log the active window title and take a screen cap so I can figure out what I was doing and write it in my time tracking app.

Edit: I'm narrowing in on a solution.

Firstly, a lot of previously available solutions don't work because of recently implemented security features in gnome.

You need to enter unsafe mode by entering this:

global.context.unsafe_mode = true

in the looking glass tool which you can access by running lg in the alt + f2 dialog

thereafter, this can grab the active window title for you:

gdbus call --session --dest org.gnome.Shell --object-path /org/gnome/Shell --method org.gnome.Shell.Eval "global.display.focus_window.title"
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[-] HelloRoot@lemy.lol 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I don’t think it accepts a “prompt” like “make a list of activities for me”.

Ah I see, my bad.

Another idea that might or might not work is filming a video at 0.0011 fps (1 frame every 15 min). Not sure if it accepts values that low or handles them correctly.

wf-recorder --framerate=0.0011 --file=timelapse.mkv

Or maybe do a 1 frame video on a loop

while true; do
  wf-recorder -f frame_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).png -t 1
  sleep 900
done

As that will use a different interface it might not flash the screen. Just random ideas, no clue if they would work.

Good luck with your project.

this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2025
62 points (100.0% liked)

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