Overview
The Analog WakaTime Desktop Agent is a background program that tracks which desktop application is focused and how long it stays in focus. Unlike the VS Code extension (which tracks coding inside the editor), the agent covers the whole desktop session: browsers, terminals, IDEs, design tools, chat apps, and anything else that owns an active window.
Installation
This page covers how to get the Desktop Agent binary onto a machine and run it for the first time.
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.
What it collects
The Desktop Agent only tracks which application is focused and for how long. It does not record keystrokes, screenshots, file contents, microphone audio, or clipboard data.
CLI reference
The agent binary is both a control CLI and a background worker. When you pass --worker (normally only the agent does this to itself), it runs the tracking loop. All other invocations are user-facing commands.
Linux desktops (GNOME & KDE)
On modern Linux Wayland sessions, normal applications cannot freely ask “which window is focused?” the way they could on X11. GNOME and KDE therefore need a small helper that runs inside the compositor and exports focus over D-Bus.
Auth, sync, and local state
How the Desktop Agent talks to the Analog WakaTime backend, and how it behaves when the network is flaky.
Troubleshooting
Common Desktop Agent problems and how to fix them.