docs » hs.window.filter

The default windowfilter; it filters apps whose windows are transient in nature so that you're unlikely (and often

• While you can customize the default windowfilter, it's usually advisable to make your customizations on a local copy via mywf=hs.window.filter.new(); the default windowfilter can potentially be used in several Hammerspoon modules and changing it might have unintended consequences. Common customizations:
  • to exclude fullscreen windows: nofs_wf=hs.window.filter.new():setOverrideFilter{fullscreen=false}
  • to include invisible windows: inv_wf=windowfilter.new():setDefaultFilter{}
• If you still want to alter the default windowfilter:
  • you should probably apply your customizations at the top of your init.lua, or at any rate before instantiating any other windowfilter; this way copies created via hs.window.filter.new(nil,...) will inherit your modifications
  • to list the known exclusions: hs.inspect(hs.window.filter.default:getFilters()) from the console
  • to add an exclusion: hs.window.filter.default:rejectApp'Cool New Launcher'
  • to add an app-specific rule: hs.window.filter.default:setAppFilter('My IDE',1); ignore tooltips/code completion (empty title) in My IDE
  • to remove an exclusion (e.g. if you want to have access to Spotlight windows): hs.window.filter.default:allowApp'Spotlight'; for specialized uses you can make a specific windowfilter with myfilter=hs.window.filter.new'Spotlight'

A copy of the default windowfilter (see hs.window.filter.default) that only allows windows in the current

• This windowfilter will inherit customizations to the default windowfilter if they're performed before referencing this

Pseudo-event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): the windowfilter now rejects all windows

• callbacks for this event will receive (as the first argument) the last window that was allowed (and is now rejected)
• this pseudo-event won't trigger again until after the windowfilter allows at least one window
• this pseudo-event will be emitted after the actual event(s) (e.g. windowDestroyed) that caused the window to be rejected

Pseudo-event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): the windowfilter now allows one window

• callbacks for this event will receive (as the first argument) the window that is now allowed
• this pseudo-event won't trigger again until after the windowfilter reverts to rejecting all windows
• this pseudo-event will be emitted after the actual event(s) (e.g. windowCreated) that caused a window to be allowed

Sort order for hs.window.filter:getWindows(): windows are sorted in order of creation, oldest first (see also hs.window.filter:setSortOrder())

Sort order for hs.window.filter:getWindows(): windows are sorted in order of creation, newest first (see also hs.window.filter:setSortOrder())

Sort order for hs.window.filter:getWindows(): windows are sorted in order of focus received, least recently first (see also hs.window.filter:setSortOrder())

Sort order for hs.window.filter:getWindows(): windows are sorted in order of focus received, most recently first (see also hs.window.filter:setSortOrder())

• This is the default sort order for all windowfilters

Pseudo-event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a previously rejected window (or a newly created one) is now allowed

• this pseudo-event will be emitted before the actual event(s) (e.g. windowCreated) that caused the window to be allowed

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a new window was created

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window was destroyed

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window received focus

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window was expanded to fullscreen

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window was hidden (its app was hidden, e.g. via cmd-h)

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window is now in the current Mission Control Space, due to

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window was minimized

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window was moved or resized, including toggling fullscreen/maximize

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window that used to be in the current Mission Control Space isn't anymore,

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window is no longer actually visible on any screen because it was minimized, closed,

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window is no longer "visible" (in any Mission Control Space, as per hs.window:isVisible())

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window became actually visible on screen (i.e. it's "visible" as per hs.window:isVisible()

Pseudo-event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a previously allowed window (or a window that's been destroyed) is now rejected

• this pseudo-event will be emitted after the actual event(s) (e.g. windowDestroyed) that caused the window to be rejected

Pseudo-event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): the list of allowed windows (as per windowfilter:getWindows()) has changed

• callbacks for this event will receive (as the first argument) either a random window among the currently allowed ones, or nil if the windowfilter is rejecting all windows
• similarly, the second argument passed to callbacks (window's app name) will be nil if the windowfilter is rejecting all windows
• this pseudo-event will be emitted after the actual event(s) that caused the list of allowed windows to change

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window's title changed

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window lost focus

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window was reverted back from fullscreen

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window was unhidden (its app was unhidden, e.g. via cmd-h)

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window was unminimized

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window became "visible" (in any Mission Control Space, as per hs.window:isVisible())

A table for window roles (as per hs.window:subrole()) that are allowed by default.

• You can have fine grained control of allowed window roles via the setAppFilter, setDefaultFilter, setOverrideFilter methods.
• If you know what you're doing you can override the allowed window roles globally by changing this variable, but this is discouraged.

Tells all windowfilters whether to refresh all windows when the user switches to a different Mission Control Space.

• If you defined one or more Spaces-aware windowfilters (i.e. when the currentSpace field of a filter is present), windows need refreshing at every space change anyway, so this variable is ignored

A table of application names (as per hs.application:name()) that are always ignored by this module.

• As the name implies, even the empty, "allow all" windowfilter will ignore these apps.
• You don't need to keep this table up to date, since non GUI apps will simply never show up anywhere; this table is just used as a "root" filter to gain a (very small) performance improvement.

Convenience function to focus the nearest window to the east

• None

• None

• This is a convenience wrapper that performs hs.window.filter.defaultCurrentSpace:focusWindowEast(nil,nil,true)

Convenience function to focus the nearest window to the north

• None

• None

• This is a convenience wrapper that performs hs.window.filter.defaultCurrentSpace:focusWindowNorth(nil,nil,true)

Convenience function to focus the nearest window to the south

• None

• None

• This is a convenience wrapper that performs hs.window.filter.defaultCurrentSpace:focusWindowSouth(nil,nil,true)

Convenience function to focus the nearest window to the west

• None

• None

• This is a convenience wrapper that performs hs.window.filter.defaultCurrentSpace:focusWindowWest(nil,nil,true)

Checks whether an app is a known non-GUI app, as per hs.window.filter.ignoreAlways

• appname - name of the app to check as per hs.application:name()

• false if the app is a known non-GUI (or not accessible) app; true otherwise

Callback to inform all windowfilters that the user initiated a switch to a (numbered) Mission Control Space.

• space - the Space number the user is switching to

• Only use this function if "Displays have separate Spaces" and "Automatically rearrange Spaces" are OFF in System Preferences>Mission Control
• Calling this function will set hs.window.filter.forceRefreshOnSpaceChange to false
• If you defined one or more Spaces-aware windowfilters (i.e. when the currentSpace field of a filter is present), windows need refreshing at every space change anyway, so using this callback will not result in improved performance
• See hs.window.filter.forceRefreshOnSpaceChange for an overview of Spaces limitations in Hammerspoon. If you often (or always) change Space via the "numbered" Mission Control keyboard shortcuts (by default, ctrl-1 etc.), you can call this function from your init.lua when intercepting these shortcuts; for example:

hs.hotkey.bind('ctrl','1',nil,function()hs.window.filter.switchedToSpace(1)end)
hs.hotkey.bind('ctrl','2',nil,function()hs.window.filter.switchedToSpace(2)end)
-- etc.

• Using this callback results in slightly better performance than setting forceRefreshOnSpaceChange to true, since already visited Spaces are remembered and no refreshing is necessary when switching back to those.

Returns a copy of an hs.window.filter object that you can further restrict or expand

• windowfilter - an hs.window.filter object to copy
• logname - (optional) name of the hs.logger instance for the new windowfilter; if omitted, the class logger will be used
• loglevel - (optional) log level for the hs.logger instance for the new windowfilter

• An hs.window.filter object

Creates a new hs.window.filter instance

• fn
  • if nil, returns a copy of the default windowfilter, including any customizations you might have applied to it so far; you can then further restrict or expand it
  • if true, returns an empty windowfilter that allows every window
  • if false, returns a windowfilter with a default rule to reject every window
  • if a string or table of strings, returns a windowfilter that only allows visible windows of the specified apps as per hs.application:name()
  • if a table, you can fully define a windowfilter without having to call any methods after construction; the table must be structured as per hs.window.filter:setFilters(); if not specified in the table, the default filter in the new windowfilter will reject all windows
  • otherwise it must be a function that accepts an hs.window object and returns true if the window is allowed or false otherwise; this way you can define a fully custom windowfilter
• logname - (optional) name of the hs.logger instance for the new windowfilter; if omitted, the class logger will be used
• loglevel - (optional) log level for the hs.logger instance for the new windowfilter

• a new windowfilter instance

Sets the windowfilter to allow all visible windows belonging to a specific app

• appname - app name as per hs.application:name()

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

• this is just a convenience wrapper for windowfilter:setAppFilter(appname,{visible=true})

Focuses the nearest window to the east of a given window

• window - (optional) an hs.window object; if nil, hs.window.frontmostWindow() will be used
• frontmost - (optional) boolean, if true focuses the nearest window that isn't occluded by any other window in this windowfilter
• strict - (optional) boolean, if true only consider windows at an angle between 45° and -45° on the eastward axis

• None

• This is a convenience wrapper that performs hs.window.focusWindowEast(window,self:getWindows(),...)
• You'll likely want to add :setCurrentSpace(true) to the windowfilter used for this method call

Focuses the nearest window to the south of a given window

• window - (optional) an hs.window object; if nil, hs.window.frontmostWindow() will be used
• frontmost - (optional) boolean, if true focuses the nearest window that isn't occluded by any other window in this windowfilter
• strict - (optional) boolean, if true only consider windows at an angle between 45° and -45° on the southward axis

• None

• This is a convenience wrapper that performs hs.window.focusWindowNorth(window,self:getWindows(),...)
• You'll likely want to add :setCurrentSpace(true) to the windowfilter used for this method call

Focuses the nearest window to the north of a given window

• window - (optional) an hs.window object; if nil, hs.window.frontmostWindow() will be used
• frontmost - (optional) boolean, if true focuses the nearest window that isn't occluded by any other window in this windowfilter
• strict - (optional) boolean, if true only consider windows at an angle between 45° and -45° on the northward axis

• None

• This is a convenience wrapper that performs hs.window.focusWindowSouth(window,self:getWindows(),...)
• You'll likely want to add :setCurrentSpace(true) to the windowfilter used for this method call

Focuses the nearest window to the west of a given window

• window - (optional) an hs.window object; if nil, hs.window.frontmostWindow() will be used
• frontmost - (optional) boolean, if true focuses the nearest window that isn't occluded by any other window in this windowfilter
• strict - (optional) boolean, if true only consider windows at an angle between 45° and -45° on the westward axis

• None

• This is a convenience wrapper that performs hs.window.focusWindowWest(window,self:getWindows(),...)
• You'll likely want to add :setCurrentSpace(true) to the windowfilter used for this method call

Return a table with all the filtering rules defined for this windowfilter

• None

• a table containing the filtering rules of this windowfilter; you can pass this table (optionally

after performing valid manipulations) to hs.window.filter:setFilters() and hs.window.filter.new()

Gets the current windows allowed by this windowfilter

• sortOrder - (optional) one of the hs.window.filter.sortBy... constants to determine the sort order of the returned list; if omitted, uses the windowfilter's sort order as per hs.window.filter:setSortOrder() (defaults to sortByFocusedLast)

• a list of hs.window objects

Checks if an app is allowed by the windowfilter

• appname - app name as per hs.application:name()

• false if the app is rejected by the windowfilter; true otherwise

Checks if a window is allowed by the windowfilter

• window - an hs.window object to check

• true if the window is allowed by the windowfilter, false otherwise; nil if an invalid object was passed

Stops the windowfilter event subscriptions; no more event callbacks will be triggered, but the subscriptions remain intact for a subsequent call to hs.window.filter:resume()

• None

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Sets the windowfilter to outright reject any windows belonging to a specific app

• appname - app name as per hs.application:name()

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

• this is just a convenience wrapper for windowfilter:setAppFilter(appname,false)

Resumes the windowfilter event subscriptions

• None

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Sets the detailed filtering rules for the windows of a specific app

• appname - app name as per hs.application:name()
• filter - if false, reject the app; if true, nil, or omitted, allow all visible windows (in any Space) for the app; otherwise it must be a table describing the filtering rules for the app, via the following fields:
  • visible - if true, only allow visible windows (in any Space); if false, reject visible windows; if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • currentSpace - if true, only allow windows in the current Mission Control Space (minimized and hidden windows are included, as they're considered to belong to all Spaces); if false, reject windows in the current Space (including all minimized and hidden windows); if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • fullscreen - if true, only allow fullscreen windows; if false, reject fullscreen windows; if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • hasTitlebar - if true, only allow windows with titlebar; if false, reject window with titlebar; if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • focused - if true, only allow a window while focused; if false, reject the focused window; if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • activeApplication - only allow any of this app's windows while it is (if true) or it's not (if false) the active application; if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • allowTitles * if a number, only allow windows whose title is at least as many characters long; e.g. pass 1 to filter windows with an empty title * if a string or table of strings, only allow windows whose title matches (one of) the pattern(s) as per string.match * if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • rejectTitles - if a string or table of strings, reject windows whose titles matches (one of) the pattern(s) as per string.match; if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • allowRegions - an hs.geometry rect or constructor argument, or a list of them, designating (a) screen "region(s)" in absolute coordinates: only allow windows that "cover" at least 50% of (one of) the region(s), and/or windows that have at least 50% of their surface inside (one of) the region(s); if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • rejectRegions - an hs.geometry rect or constructor argument, or a list of them, designating (a) screen "region(s)" in absolute coordinates: reject windows that "cover" at least 50% of (one of) the region(s), and/or windows that have at least 50% of their surface inside (one of) the region(s); if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • allowScreens - a valid argument for hs.screen.find(), or a list of them, indicating one (or more) screen(s): only allow windows that (mostly) lie on (one of) the screen(s); if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • rejectScreens - a valid argument for hs.screen.find(), or a list of them, indicating one (or more) screen(s): reject windows that (mostly) lie on (one of) the screen(s); if omitted, this rule is ignored
  • allowRoles * if a string or table of strings, only allow these window roles as per hs.window:subrole() * if the special string '*', this rule is ignored (i.e. all window roles, including empty ones, are allowed) * if omitted, use the default allowed roles (defined in hs.window.filter.allowedWindowRoles)

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

• Passing focused=true in filter will (naturally) result in the windowfilter ever allowing 1 window at most
• If you want to allow all windows for an app, including invisible ones, pass an empty table for filter
• Spaces-aware windowfilters might experience a (sometimes significant) delay after every Space switch, since (due to OS X limitations) they must re-query for the list of all windows in the current Space every time.
• If System Preferences>Mission Control>Displays have separate Spaces is on, the current Space is defined as the union of all the Spaces that are currently visible
• This table explains the effects of different combinations of visible and currentSpace, showing which windows will be allowed:

             |visible=         nil                      |             true             |     false    |
|currentSpace|------------------------------------------|------------------------------|--------------|
|     nil    |all                                       |visible in ANY space          |min and hidden|
|    true    |visible in CURRENT space+min and hidden   |visible in CURRENT space      |min and hidden|
|    false   |visible in OTHER space only+min and hidden|visible in OTHER space only   |none          |

Sets whether the windowfilter should only allow (or reject) windows in the current Mission Control Space

• val - boolean; if true, only allow windows in the current Mission Control Space, plus minimized and hidden windows; if false, reject them; if nil, ignore Mission Control Spaces

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

• This is just a convenience wrapper for setting the currentSpace field in the override filter (other fields will be left untouched); per-app filters will maintain their currentSpace field, if present, as is
• Spaces-aware windowfilters might experience a (sometimes significant) delay after every Space switch, since (due to OS X limitations) they must re-query for the list of all windows in the current Space every time.

Set the default filtering rules to be used for apps without app-specific rules

• filter - see hs.window.filter:setAppFilter

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Sets multiple filtering rules

• filters - table, every element will set an application filter; these elements must: - have a key of type string, denoting an application name as per hs.application:name() - if the value is a boolean, the app will be allowed or rejected accordingly - see hs.window.filter:allowApp() and hs.window.filter:rejectApp() - if the value is a table, it must contain the accept/reject rules for the app as key/value pairs; valid keys and values are described in hs.window.filter:setAppFilter() - the key can be one of the special strings "default" and "override", which will set the default and override filter respectively - the key can be the special string "sortOrder"; the value must be one of the sortBy... constants as per hs.window.filter:setSortOrder()

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

• every filter definition in filters will overwrite the preexisting one for the relevant application, if present; this also applies to the special default and override filters, if included

Set overriding filtering rules that will be applied for all apps before any app-specific rules

• filter - see hs.window.filter:setAppFilter

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Sets the allowed screen regions for this windowfilter

• regions - an hs.geometry rect or constructor argument, or a list of them, indicating the allowed region(s) for this windowfilter

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

• This is just a convenience wrapper for setting the allowRegions field in the override filter (other fields will be left untouched); per-app filters will maintain their allowRegions and rejectRegions fields, if present

Sets the allowed screens for this windowfilter

• regions - a valid argument for hs.screen.find(), or a list of them, indicating the allowed screen(s) for this windowfilter

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

• This is just a convenience wrapper for setting the allowScreens field in the override filter (other fields will be left untouched); per-app filters will maintain their allowScreens and rejectScreens fields, if present

Sets the sort order for this windowfilter's :getWindows() method

• sortOrder - one of the hs.window.filter.sortBy... constants

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

• The default sort order for all windowfilters (that is, until changed by this method) is hs.window.filter.sortByFocusedLast

Subscribe to one or more events on the allowed windows

• event - string or list of strings, the event(s) to subscribe to (see the hs.window.filter constants); alternatively, this can be a map {event1=fn1,event2=fn2,...}: fnN will be subscribed to eventN, and the parameter fn will be ignored
• fn - function or list of functions, the callback(s) to add for the event(s); each will be passed 3 parameters
  • a hs.window object referring to the event's window
  • a string containing the application name (window:application():name()) for convenience
  • a string containing the event that caused the callback, i.e. (one of) the event(s) you subscribed to
• immediate - (optional) if true, also call all the callbacks immediately for windows that satisfy the event(s) criteria

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

• Passing lists means that all the fns will be called when any of the events fires, so it's not a shortcut for subscribing distinct callbacks to distinct events; use a map or chained :subscribe calls for that.
• Use caution with immediate: if for example you're subscribing to hs.window.filter.windowUnfocused, fn(s) will be called for all the windows except the currently focused one.
• If the windowfilter was paused with hs.window.filter:pause(), calling this will resume it.

Removes one or more event subscriptions

• event - string or list of strings, the event(s) to unsubscribe; if omitted, fn(s) will be unsubscribed from all events; alternatively, this can be a map {event1=fn1,event2=fn2,...}: fnN will be unsubscribed from eventN, and the parameter fn will be ignored
• fn - function or list of functions, the callback(s) to remove; if omitted, all callbacks will be unsubscribed from event(s)

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

• You must pass at least one of event or fn
• If calling this on the default (or any other shared use) windowfilter, do not pass events, as that would remove all the callbacks for the events including ones subscribed elsewhere that you might not be aware of. You should instead keep references to your functions and pass in those.

Removes all event subscriptions

• None

• the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

• You should not use this on the default windowfilter or other shared-use windowfilters

Gets all visible windows allowed by this windowfilter that lie to the east a given window

• window - (optional) an hs.window object; if nil, hs.window.frontmostWindow() will be used
• frontmost - (optional) boolean, if true unoccluded windows will be placed before occluded ones in the result list
• strict - (optional) boolean, if true only consider windows at an angle between 45° and -45° on the eastward axis

• A list of hs.window objects representing all windows positioned east (i.e. right) of the window, in ascending order of distance

• This is a convenience wrapper that returns hs.window.windowsToEast(window,self:getWindows(),...)
• You'll likely want to add :setCurrentSpace(true) to the windowfilter used for this method call (or just use hs.window.filter.defaultCurrentSpace)

Gets all visible windows allowed by this windowfilter that lie to the north a given window

• window - (optional) an hs.window object; if nil, hs.window.frontmostWindow() will be used
• frontmost - (optional) boolean, if true unoccluded windows will be placed before occluded ones in the result list
• strict - (optional) boolean, if true only consider windows at an angle between 45° and -45° on the northward axis

• A list of hs.window objects representing all windows positioned north (i.e. up) of the window, in ascending order of distance

• This is a convenience wrapper that returns hs.window.windowsToNorth(window,self:getWindows(),...)
• You'll likely want to add :setCurrentSpace(true) to the windowfilter used for this method call (or just use hs.window.filter.defaultCurrentSpace)

Gets all visible windows allowed by this windowfilter that lie to the south a given window

• window - (optional) an hs.window object; if nil, hs.window.frontmostWindow() will be used
• frontmost - (optional) boolean, if true unoccluded windows will be placed before occluded ones in the result list
• strict - (optional) boolean, if true only consider windows at an angle between 45° and -45° on the southward axis

• A list of hs.window objects representing all windows positioned south (i.e. down) of the window, in ascending order of distance

• This is a convenience wrapper that returns hs.window.windowsToSouth(window,self:getWindows(),...)
• You'll likely want to add :setCurrentSpace(true) to the windowfilter used for this method call (or just use hs.window.filter.defaultCurrentSpace)

Gets all visible windows allowed by this windowfilter that lie to the west a given window

• window - (optional) an hs.window object; if nil, hs.window.frontmostWindow() will be used
• frontmost - (optional) boolean, if true unoccluded windows will be placed before occluded ones in the result list
• strict - (optional) boolean, if true only consider windows at an angle between 45° and -45° on the westward axis

• A list of hs.window objects representing all windows positioned west (i.e. left) of the window, in ascending order of distance

• This is a convenience wrapper that returns hs.window.windowsToWest(window,self:getWindows(),...)
• You'll likely want to add :setCurrentSpace(true) to the windowfilter used for this method call (or just use hs.window.filter.defaultCurrentSpace)