Xaizek: Initial import

2025-03-21T13:47:27Z

Initial import

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This script automates the process of launching a <code>byobu</code> session with predefined windows (<code>clash</code>, <code>scrcpy</code>, and <code>vifm</code>) and ensures only one instance of the session is active. If the session already exists, it attaches to the existing session and switches to the <code>vifm</code> window.

== Features ==

* Automatically creates or attaches to a <code>byobu</code> session.
* Configures multiple windows within the session as an example: <code>clash</code>, <code>scrcpy</code>, and <code>vifm</code>.
* Ensures only one instance of the session is active.
* Activates the session's terminal window and switches to the <code>vifm</code> window.
* Logs execution details for debugging purposes.
* Shortcut Integration: You can set up a keyboard shortcut (e.g., <kbd>Win + E</kbd>) in GNOME by configuring it to run: <code>gnome-terminal -- /home/xxx/apps/vifm_launcher.sh</code>

This allows you to activate the vifm window directly, similar to how applications are launched in Windows. When the shortcut is pressed:
* If the session exists, it attaches to the session and switches to the vifm window.
* If the session does not exist, it creates a new session and opens the predefined windows.

== Configuration ==

Edit variables at the top.

== Known issues ==

* In <code>find_existing_window</code>, using <code>grep -qi "byobu"</code> might cause confusion if multiple byobu windows exist
* When working with terminal tabs (where a new tab is opened in the same window) and the byobu tab isn't currently active, the script fails to reactivate the original byobu terminal tab and instead creates a new session

== Code ==

<source lang="bash">
#!/bin/bash

# Get the script directory
SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"

LOG_FILE="$SCRIPT_DIR/vifm-launcher.log"

SESSION_NAME="my_session"
VIFM_WINDOW_NAME="vifm"
TERMINAL_CMD="gnome-terminal"

# windowname:cmd pairs that define configuration of a session
WINDOWS=(
clash:$HOME/apps/clash-linux-amd64-v3
scrcpy:$HOME/apps/scrcpy.sh
$VIFM_WINDOW_NAME:vifm
)

fail() {
echo "Error:" "$@"
exit 1
}

# dependency checks
command -v xdotool >/dev/null 2>&1 ||
fail "xdotool is not installed. Install it using 'sudo apt install xdotool' or alike."
command -v byobu >/dev/null 2>&1 ||
fail "byobu is not installed. Install it using 'sudo apt install byobu' or alike."

detect_byobu_backend() {
if grep -q "tmux" ~/.byobu/backend ~/.config/byobu/backend 2>/dev/null; then
echo "tmux"
else
echo "screen"
fi
}

# just check for byobu-tmux and use it instead?
byobu_backend=$(detect_byobu_backend)
echo "Detected byobu backend: $byobu_backend" >> "$LOG_FILE"
[ "$byobu_backend" = tmux ] ||
fail "Only tmux backend is supported. Run 'byobu-select-profile' to switch."

find_existing_window() {
local retries=5
local delay=0.5

for ((i = 0; i < retries; i++)); do
window_id=$(xdotool search --onlyvisible --class "$TERMINAL_CMD" 2>/dev/null | while read -r id; do
xdotool getwindowname "$id" 2>/dev/null | grep -qi "byobu" && echo "$id"
done | head -n1)

if [ -n "$window_id" ]; then
echo "$window_id"
return 0
fi
sleep "$delay"
done

return 1
}

activate_window() {
local window_id="$1"

if [ -z "$window_id" ]; then
return 1
fi

xdotool windowmap "$window_id" 2>/dev/null
xdotool windowactivate "$window_id" 2>/dev/null

return 0
}

create_byobu_session() {
if byobu has-session -t "$SESSION_NAME" 2>/dev/null; then
echo "Session $SESSION_NAME already exists. Attaching..." >> "$LOG_FILE"
byobu attach-session -t "$SESSION_NAME"
return 0
fi

byobu new-session -d -s "$SESSION_NAME"

local first=yes
for id_cmd in "${WINDOWS[@]}"; do
local id=${id_cmd%%:*}
local cmd=${id_cmd#*:}

if [ "$first" = yes ]; then
byobu rename-window -t "$SESSION_NAME:0" "$id"
else
byobu new-window -t "$SESSION_NAME" -n "$id"
fi
byobu send-keys -t "${SESSION_NAME}:$id" "$cmd" Enter

first=no
done

byobu attach-session -t "$SESSION_NAME"
}

main() {
local window_id=$(find_existing_window)

if [ -n "$window_id" ]; then
if activate_window "$window_id"; then
if byobu select-window -t "$SESSION_NAME:$VIFM_WINDOW_NAME" 2>/dev/null; then
echo "Activated existing byobu terminal window and switched to vifm."
return 0
else
fail "Failed switching to vifm window."
fi
else
fail "Failed to activate existing window."
fi
fi

if ! create_byobu_session; then
echo "Failed to create a new byobu session." >> "$LOG_FILE"
exit 1
fi
}

main

echo "Script execution completed at $(date)" >> "$LOG_FILE"

</source>

== Source ==

[https://github.com/vifm/vifm/issues/1061 GitHub#1061] by [https://github.com/wideweide wideweide]

Vifm Launcher with Byobu - Revision history

Xaizek: Initial import