Supported platforms

This page lists what the Desktop Agent can track today. Support means: the agent can resolve the focused application (name and, when possible, executable path) in a normal interactive session.

Operating systems

OS	Status	How focus is read
Linux	Supported	Compositor-specific backends (see below)
Windows	Supported	Win32 GetForegroundWindow + process image path
macOS (Darwin)	Supported	AppleScript via System Events (osascript)

The agent is a single Go codebase with build tags per OS. You need a binary built for the target GOOS/GOARCH.

Linux desktop environments and compositors

Linux support depends on the session type (Wayland vs X11) and the compositor. The agent tries backends in order and uses the first one that returns a focused window.

Fully supported

Environment	Session	Backend	Notes
GNOME	Wayland / X11	Built-in Shell extension over D-Bus; fallback xprop on X11	Agent auto-installs the user extension and may restart GNOME Shell once
KDE Plasma	Wayland / X11	KWin script over D-Bus; fallback xprop / xdotool on X11	Agent auto-installs and enables the KWin script
Hyprland	Wayland	hyprctl activewindow -j	Needs hyprctl on PATH
Sway	Wayland	swaymsg -t get_tree (focused node)	Needs swaymsg on PATH
Generic X11	X11	xprop and/or xdotool	Works for many X11 DEs when those tools are installed

Not supported / skipped

The following are not first-class targets right now. The agent does not ship a dedicated compositor helper for them. On pure Wayland they usually fail with:

no active window backend available for this desktop session

Environment	Reason
XFCE	No dedicated Wayland/X11 helper; not validated
Cinnamon	Not validated; may work only if X11 + xdotool/xprop happen to work
MATE	Same as above
Budgie	Same as above
LXQt / LXDE	Same as above
Other wlroots compositors (besides Sway)	No generic wlroots backend yet
Headless / SSH-only sessions	No interactive focused window

XFCE

XFCE is intentionally out of scope for now. Do not expect reliable active-window tracking there, especially on Wayland. Prefer GNOME, KDE Plasma, Hyprland, or Sway if you need the agent.

Windows details

• Uses the foreground HWND, window title, and QueryFullProcessImageName for the process path.
• The background worker is started detached (new process group, hidden console window).
• Stop uses process termination after writing the disabled flag (Windows does not deliver Unix SIGTERM to arbitrary processes).

macOS details

• Reads the frontmost process name and POSIX path through System Events.
• The first run may require granting Automation / Accessibility permissions to the terminal or to the agent binary in System Settings → Privacy & Security.
• Platform field reported to the API is Darwin.

Quick self-check

After start + login:

./Analog-WakaTime-Agent status
tail -f logs/agent.log

Switch focus between two apps. Within a poll interval you should see activity flushing / syncing rather than repeated:

active window: no active window backend available for this desktop session

If that warning keeps appearing on Linux, open Linux desktops for GNOME/KDE helper setup, or confirm you are not on an unsupported DE such as XFCE.