File README.markdown of Package activityfox
<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT-0 SPDX-FileCopyrightText: © 2021 Matija Šuklje <matija@suklje.email> --> [TOC] # Activity-aware Firefox [](https://api.reuse.software/info/gitlab.com/hook/activity-aware-firefox) ## Problem [Firefox][] is a great and powerful web browser by Mozilla, and [Plasma][] is a great and powerful desktop by KDE. The problem is that one of the most powerful features of Plasma – Activites – do not work well with Firefox. There are several pain points in this combination out of the box, including: - a link opened in one Activity could open in a Firefox window in a different Activity (sometimes even starting that extra Activity, if it was stopped) - when resuming a stopped Activity with Firefox in it, it would sometimes spawn other Firefox windows that are not related to that Activity - in general Firefox windows tend to move around Activities where you do not expect them to be This small script tries to work around those limitations. [firefox]: https://getfirefox.org [plasma]: https://kde.org/plasma-desktop/ ## Solution: Make Firefox aware of Activites In short, using `activityfirefox` you can have a Firefox window (or several) in each Plasma Activity, and they will be bound to that Activity. What `activityfirefox` does is to create a [Firefox Profile][profile] for the Activity (using its unique ID) it was ran in. [profile]: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data Then every next time you run `activityfirefox` in that Plasma Activity, it will start the Firefox Profile associated with it. ## News There is a [CHANGELOG](<./CHANGELOG.markdown>) that is maintained based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/). For summaries of bigger changes and other news, Matija Šuklje has a blog series about it, the [first post is here][blog], and any newer will be linked there. [blog]: https://matija.suklje.name/introducing-activity-aware-firefox # Installation ## From packages _Activity-aware Firefox_ is packaged for a few distributions already (at least Debian- and Arch-based ones): [](https://repology.org/project/activity-aware-firefox/versions) ## Dependencies The package depends on the following: - `kdialog` – should already be installed as part of Plasma - `plasma-activities-cli6` – should already be installed as part of Plasma - `xdpyinfo` - `gawk` - `gio` – part of `glib2`; optional ## Manual installation Save the `activityfirefox` script to somewhere in your `$PATH`. In my case, I saved it to `~/.local/bin/activityfirefox` and have that folder in my `$PATH`. E.g. in [Fish shell][fish], this is what I did: [fish]: https://fishshell.com/ ```shell git clone https://gitlab.com/hook/activity-aware-firefox.git mkdir --parents ~/.local/bin/ cp activity-aware-firefox/activityfirefox ~/.local/bin/ set --universal fish_user_paths ~/.local/bin/ $fish_user_paths ``` Next, make sure your desktop knows about this “new” browser, by giving it a `.desktop` file. For example copy the one provided in this repository: ```shell mkdir --parents ~/.local/share/applications/ cp activity-aware-firefox/activityfirefox.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/ ``` And finally, make sure that Plasma uses your new ”Activity-aware Firefox” as the default browser: - open _System Settings_ - either search for “browser” or navigate manually to: _Personalisation_ ↦ _Applications_ ↦ _Default Applications_ - and there under _Web Browser_ select the new entry called “Activity-aware Firefox” # Running From this point onward, just use the “Activity-aware Firefox” browser as your browser of choice and be happy about it :) ## Creating a new Profile On its absolute first run, `activityfirefox` will create a template profile: `~/.mozilla/firefox/????????.template-profile` You can copy (or create) settings you want to be present in ever new Activity-aware Firefox Profile into that. An example set-up useful for [Tree-Style Tabs][tst] is present in <./template_example> (see [Hiding the tab row](#hiding-the-tab-row) for what it does). On any first run within a new Activity, `activityfirefox` will prompt you whether you want to: - **New** – This option will create a fresh new profile without copying anything. This is the fastest method, but you will end up with Firefox default settings, so you might need to manually modify settings yourself. - **Minimal** – This is a good trade-off between convenience and resource usage. Only a few important files will be copied over: - Bookmarks, Downloads and Browsing History - Passwords - Site-specific preferences - Search engines - Personal dictionary - Autocomplete history - Cookies - Security certificate settings - Download actions - Toolbar customization - User preferences - **Template profile copy** – It will copy everything, and only what is in `~/.mozilla/firefox/????????.template-profile` - **Full copy** – This option will copy _all_ data found in the default Firefox Profile. Please mind it _might_ take a long time and take a lot of disk space. **WARNING:** Please note that Mozilla developers advise against making full profile copy! - **Migrate from pre-0.3 profile** – Use in case you used `activityfirefox` in its early (0.1 and 0.2) days and want to simply move the old profile into the new one. More on this subject: <https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profiles-where-firefox-stores-user-data> ## Clean-up of unused Profiles On launch `activityfirefox` will automatically search for any stale Firefox Profiles that it created and which do not have a matching KDE Plasma Activity (anymore, because the Activity was deleted). In that case it will pop up a dialog asking you for confirmation whether you want to delete the unused Profile or not. **NB:** the script intentionally does not touch any Profiles that were _not_ created by `activityfirefox`. The best way to clean those out is to manage your existing Profiles through the means of `firefox --ProfileManager`. # General caveats and work-arounds As with any hack, there are a few caveats, of course: ## On session or Activity (re)start, Firefox opens a default Profile The biggest annoyance is that due to the fact that [Firefox kills itself if it has been sleeping for a certain period of time][ff_stop] after receiving e.g. `SIGSTOP`, if you resume a stopped Activity, Firefox will start with the default Profile. This can be quite annoying, especially when several Activities are running. To work around this issue, it is suggested to make sure Firefox does not automatically launch. In Plasma 6 you can do so by: 1. open KDE Plasma _System Settings_ (`systemsettings`) 1. in the _Session_ module 1. go to _Desktop Session_ and there 1. under _Ignored applications_ add the following into the text field: `activityfirefox,firefox` ## Separate profiles = separate settings A limitation of this script is that add-ons, bookmarks, settings, etc. are _not_ copied (except for `chrome/`) – I suggest using [Firefox Sync][sync] to sync all of this between Firefox Profiles. This is is also needed if you want to move tabs between Profiles/Activities. Syncing everything through Firefox Sync can take some time when you run the “Activity-aware Firefox” in a new Plasma Activity for the first time – depending on how much stuff you sync, of course. Alternatively, you can also set up a local [template Firefox Profile](#not-using-firefox-sync-but-getting-similar-functionality) to copy this data. That would certainly be much faster. On the first run `activityfirefox` asks you what you want to copy (if anything) from the default or template Profile (see [Creating a new Profile](#creating-a-new-profile) above); or migrate the profile from an old (pre-0.3) version of this script. [sync]: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/sync/ [ff_stop]: https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/source/dom/ipc/ContentParent.h#1490 ## Debugging To enable verbose debugging output, run the script in a terminal emulator with the `-x` flag: ```sh activityfirefox -x ``` # Specifics for different use-cases ## How to find your default Firefox Profile Depending on your installation, your default Firefox Profile will either be in `~/.mozilla/firefox/????????.default-release/` or `~/.mozilla/firefox/????????.default/`. You can find the exact folder by going through the menu _Help_ ↦ _More Troubleshooting Information_ and in the tab that pops up search for “Profile Directory”. ## Firefox Sync With Firefox Sync you can decide (per Profile/device) which of the following you want to sync: - bookmarks - history - open tabs – does not auto-sync tabs, but allows you to move tabs between Profiles (and devices) - logins and passwords – uses Firefox Lockwise - credit card info - add-ons - preferences – not all preferences are synced though, as some are deemed too specific to be safely synced (to work around this you can also use `user.js` or force [tweak your Syncing preferences][tweak_sync]) If you use Firefox Sync, it makes sense to rename each “device”, so you know which Profile is which. A good option is to include the Activity name and the machine name. We are trying to figure out how to automate this step, help is welcome (see [issue 8](https://gitlab.com/hook/activity-aware-firefox/-/issues/8)). [tweak_sync]: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/sync-custom-preferences ### Firefox Multi-Account Containers If you use the [Multi-Account Containers][containers] add-on, it can sync its containers settings through Firefox Sync, but you need to trigger that through the add-on itself. [containers]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/ ### Add-ons using local storage Some more complex add-ons that make use of local storage cannot sync through Firefox Sync. You have to take that into account. ## Not using Firefox Sync, but getting similar functionality In case you do not want to use Firefox Sync, you can get pretty close to the above functionaltiy by instead: - using a different solution to sync bookmarks (and tabs) – e.g. [Nextcloud Bookmarks][nc_bookmarks] and the [Floccus][floccus] browser add-on; - using a different solution to store and sync passwords – e.g. using [KeepassXC][keepassxc] and syncing its encrypted passwords file via Nextcloud; - setting up a template Firefox Profile to include all the add-ons and preferences ([example][hook_dotfiles]). This approach has some benefits over Firefox Sync like much faster set-up of each new Profile and the being able to depend on browser-agnostic (and self-hostable) solutions. The biggest drawback, though, is probably that moving tabs between Profiles/“devices” is not as simple and initially setting up a template for settings takes much more time than simply syncing it. [keepassxc]: https://keepassxc.org/ [nc_bookmarks]: https://github.com/nextcloud/bookmarks/ [floccus]: https://floccus.org/ [hook_dotfiles]: https://gitlab.com/hook/dotfiles/#firefox-template ## Rename Firefox windows to match the Activities In case you want to more easily identify which Firefox window belongs to which Plasma Activity, you can use the [Window Titler add-on][wt] to change the names of Firefox windows. [wt]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/window-titler/ Apparently it should be possible to do this through the Desktop as well using [Native Messaging WebExtension][native_messaging], but that is beyond my skills. [native_messaging]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/Native_messaging ## Tree Style Tab / Sidebery Note: As of Firefox 140, its _vertical tabs_ and _tab groups_ offer a similar functionality. All three options have their pros and cons. ### Hiding the tab row If you use the [Tree Style Tab add-on][tst] or [Sidebery][sb], you probably want to hide the tab row on the top. [sb]: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/sidebery/ [tst]: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/ For your convenience, see `template_example/chrome/userChrome.css` in this repository and copy it to your default – or better yet, your template – profile. If the `chrome/` (sub)folder does not exist yet there, create it. Although the `chrome/` folder is copied when you first run this script, since Firefox 57 user chrome is by default disabled. So even after everything syncs over Firefox Sync, you will need to enable user chrome yourself. An easy way to modify the settings from `about:config` by storing the settings you want to override into `user.js` and store that in the Profile folder. The included `template_example/user.js` does that for you. The following command should copy all that is needed to your template profile: ```shell cp -r template_example/* ~/.mozilla/firefox/????????.template-profile/ ``` If the `*.template-profile/` directory does not exist yet, run `activityfirefox` once and either quit or keep the dialog window open while you populate the now created template folder with all that you need. ### Sending groups of tabs to a different Activity Since [there is no Web Extension API to send tabs between Firefox Sync devices][no_api], moving whole branches of tabs (in our case: a Firefox window in a different Plasma Activity) relies on different creative work-arounds from different add-ons. In short: - with **Tree Style Tab** you can send tab branches via Firefox Sync, but needs extra setting-up for each Profile - with **Sidebery** you can drag-and-drop tab branches between Profiles (but not via Firefox Sync) [no_api]: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1417183 #### Tree Style Tab Luckily Tree Style Tab have worked around this issue in a way, but you need to manually set the name of the sync device again in the Tree Style Tab settings. To do so head out to `about:addons` ↦ _Tree Style Tab_ ↦ _Preferences_ ↦ _Context Menu_ ↦ _Send Tabs to Other Devices with the context menu via Firefox Sync_ and follow the instructions there. You will need to do this for every Profile that you want to tab trees to and from, as unfortunately this add-on can not see the device names of Firefox Sync. #### Sidebery In Sidebery they [do _not_ support sending tabs through Firefox Sync][no_sync], but in addition to still being able to use Firefox Sync itself to send individual tabs between devices/Profiles, simply drag-and-dropping a tab branch from one window to another works even if the two windows are from a different Profile. [no_sync]: https://github.com/mbnuqw/sidebery/issues/130 ## How to move a vast amount of tabs If you already have a huge amount of tabs open that you want to migrate to your new Activity-aware Firefox Profiles, I suggest you use the [Bulk URL Opener add-on][bulk]. [bulk]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bulkurlopener/ # Inspiration & further reading This is where I pulled inspiration from to create this script. - <https://yuenhoe.com/blog/2012/08/associating-firefox-profiles-with-kde-activities/> - <https://cukic.co/2016/02/08/heavy-activities-setup/> - <https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=137941> - <https://adrian15sgd.wordpress.com/2012/12/16/soporte-de-actividades-para-firefox/> I would also like to thank the official `#general:mozilla.org` Mozilla Matrix channel, Ivan Čukić, Kai Uwe Broulik, and Lim Yuen Hoe for all their help with the first version.
