docs » hs.window.filter

Filter windows by application, title, location on screen and more, and easily subscribe to events on these windows

Warning: this module is still somewhat experimental. Should you encounter any issues, please feel free to report them on https://github.com/Hammerspoon/hammerspoon/issues or #hammerspoon on irc.freenode.net

Windowfilters monitor all windows as they're created, closed, moved etc., and select some (or none) among these windows according to specific filtering rules. These filtering rules are app-specific, i.e. they start off by selecting all windows belonging to a certain application (but you can also define default and override filters - see :setAppFilter(), :setDefaultFilter(), :setOverrideFilter()) and they can allow or reject windows based on:

The filtering happens automatically in the background; windowfilters then:

A default windowfilter (not to be confused with the default filter within a windowfilter) is provided as convenience; it excludes some known apps and windows that are transient in nature, therefore unlikely to be "interesting" for e.g. window management. hs.window.filter.new() (with no arguments) returns a copy of the default windowfilter that you can further tailor to your needs - see hs.window.filter.default and hs.window.filter.new() for more information.

Usage examples:

local wf=hs.window.filter

-- alter the default windowfilter
wf.default:setAppFilter('My IDE',{allowTitles=1}) -- ignore no-title windows (e.g. transient autocomplete suggestions) in My IDE

-- set the exact scope of what you're interested in - see hs.window.filter:setAppFilter()
wf_terminal = wf.new{'Terminal','iTerm2'} -- all visible terminal windows
wf_timewaster = wf.new(false):setAppFilter('Safari',{allowTitles='reddit'}) -- any Safari windows with "reddit" anywhere in the title
wf_leftscreen = wf.new{override={visible=true,fullscreen=false,allowScreens='-1,0',currentSpace=true}}
-- all visible and non-fullscreen windows that are on the screen to the left of the primary screen in the current Space
wf_editors_righthalf = wf.new{'TextEdit','Sublime Text','BBEdit'}:setRegions(hs.screen.primaryScreen():fromUnitRect'0.5,0/1,1')
-- text editor windows that are on the right half of the primary screen
wf_bigwindows = wf.new(function(w)return w:frame().area>3000000 end) -- only very large windows
wf_notif = wf.new{['Notification Center']={allowRoles='AXNotificationCenterAlert'}} -- notification center alerts

-- subscribe to events
wf_terminal:subscribe(wf.windowFocused,some_fn) -- run a function whenever a terminal window is focused
wf_timewaster:subscribe(wf.hasWindow,startAnnoyingMe):subscribe(wf.hasNoWindows,stopAnnoyingMe) -- fight procrastination :)

API Overview

API Documentation

Constants

default
Signature hs.window.filter.default
Type Constant
Description

The default windowfilter; it filters apps whose windows are transient in nature so that you're unlikely (and often unable) to do anything with them, such as launchers, menulets, preference pane apps, screensavers, etc. It also filters nonstandard and invisible windows.

Notes:

  • 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'
defaultCurrentSpace
Signature hs.window.filter.defaultCurrentSpace
Type Constant
Description

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

Notes:

  • This windowfilter will inherit customizations to the default windowfilter if they're performed before referencing this
hasNoWindows
Signature hs.window.filter.hasNoWindows
Type Constant
Description

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

Notes:

  • 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
hasWindow
Signature hs.window.filter.hasWindow
Type Constant
Description

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

Notes:

  • 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
sortByCreated
Signature hs.window.filter.sortByCreated
Type Constant
Description

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

sortByCreatedLast
Signature hs.window.filter.sortByCreatedLast
Type Constant
Description

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

sortByFocused
Signature hs.window.filter.sortByFocused
Type Constant
Description

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

sortByFocusedLast
Signature hs.window.filter.sortByFocusedLast
Type Constant
Description

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

Notes:

  • This is the default sort order for all windowfilters
windowAllowed
Signature hs.window.filter.windowAllowed
Type Constant
Description

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

Notes:

  • this pseudo-event will be emitted before the actual event(s) (e.g. windowCreated) that caused the window to be allowed
windowCreated
Signature hs.window.filter.windowCreated
Type Constant
Description

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

windowDestroyed
Signature hs.window.filter.windowDestroyed
Type Constant
Description

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

windowFocused
Signature hs.window.filter.windowFocused
Type Constant
Description

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

windowFullscreened
Signature hs.window.filter.windowFullscreened
Type Constant
Description

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

windowHidden
Signature hs.window.filter.windowHidden
Type Constant
Description

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

windowInCurrentSpace
Signature hs.window.filter.windowInCurrentSpace
Type Constant
Description

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window is now in the current Mission Control Space, due to a Space switch or because it was hidden or minimized (hidden and minimized windows belong to all Spaces)

windowMinimized
Signature hs.window.filter.windowMinimized
Type Constant
Description

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

windowMoved
Signature hs.window.filter.windowMoved
Type Constant
Description

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

windowNotInCurrentSpace
Signature hs.window.filter.windowNotInCurrentSpace
Type Constant
Description

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window that used to be in the current Mission Control Space isn't anymore, due to a Space switch or because it was unhidden or unminimized onto another Space

windowNotOnScreen
Signature hs.window.filter.windowNotOnScreen
Type Constant
Description

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window is no longer actually visible on any screen because it was minimized, closed, its application was hidden (e.g. via cmd-h) or closed, or because it's not in the current Mission Control Space anymore

windowNotVisible
Signature hs.window.filter.windowNotVisible
Type Constant
Description

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window is no longer "visible" (in any Mission Control Space, as per hs.window:isVisible()) because it was minimized or closed, or its application was hidden (e.g. via cmd-h) or closed

windowOnScreen
Signature hs.window.filter.windowOnScreen
Type Constant
Description

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window became actually visible on screen (i.e. it's "visible" as per hs.window:isVisible() and in the current Mission Control Space) after having been not visible, or when created

windowRejected
Signature hs.window.filter.windowRejected
Type Constant
Description

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

Notes:

  • this pseudo-event will be emitted after the actual event(s) (e.g. windowDestroyed) that caused the window to be rejected
windowsChanged
Signature hs.window.filter.windowsChanged
Type Constant
Description

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

Notes:

  • 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
windowTitleChanged
Signature hs.window.filter.windowTitleChanged
Type Constant
Description

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

windowUnfocused
Signature hs.window.filter.windowUnfocused
Type Constant
Description

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

windowUnfullscreened
Signature hs.window.filter.windowUnfullscreened
Type Constant
Description

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

windowUnhidden
Signature hs.window.filter.windowUnhidden
Type Constant
Description

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

windowUnminimized
Signature hs.window.filter.windowUnminimized
Type Constant
Description

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

windowVisible
Signature hs.window.filter.windowVisible
Type Constant
Description

Event for hs.window.filter:subscribe(): a window became "visible" (in any Mission Control Space, as per hs.window:isVisible()) after having been hidden or minimized, or if it was just created

Variables

allowedWindowRoles
Signature hs.window.filter.allowedWindowRoles
Type Variable
Description

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

Set the desired window roles as keys in this table, like this: hs.window.filter.allowedWindowRoles = {AXStandardWindow=true,AXDialog=true}

Notes:

  • 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.
forceRefreshOnSpaceChange
Signature hs.window.filter.forceRefreshOnSpaceChange
Type Variable
Description

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

Due to OS X limitations Hammerspoon cannot directly query for windows in Spaces other than the current one; therefore when a windowfilter is initially instantiated, it doesn't know about many of these windows.

If this variable is set to true, windowfilters will re-query applications for all their windows whenever a Space change by the user is detected, therefore any existing windows in that Space that were not yet being tracked will become known at that point; if false (the default) this won't happen, but the windowfilters will eventually learn about these windows anyway, as soon as they're interacted with.

If you need your windowfilters to become aware of windows across all Spaces as soon as possible, you can set this to true, but you'll incur a modest performance penalty on every Space change. If possible, use the hs.window.filter.switchedToSpace() callback instead.

Notes:

  • 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
ignoreAlways
Signature hs.window.filter.ignoreAlways
Type Variable
Description

A table of application names (as per hs.application:name()) that are always ignored by this module. These are apps with no windows or any visible GUI, such as system services, background daemons and "helper" apps.

You can add an app to this table with hs.window.filter.ignoreAlways['Background App Title'] = true

Notes:

  • 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.

Functions

focusEast
Signature hs.window.filter.focusEast()
Type Function
Description

Convenience function to focus the nearest window to the east

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • None

Notes:

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

Convenience function to focus the nearest window to the north

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • None

Notes:

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

Convenience function to focus the nearest window to the south

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • None

Notes:

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

Convenience function to focus the nearest window to the west

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • None

Notes:

  • This is a convenience wrapper that performs hs.window.filter.defaultCurrentSpace:focusWindowWest(nil,nil,true)
isGuiApp
Signature hs.window.filter.isGuiApp(appname) -> boolean
Type Function
Description

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

Parameters:

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

Returns:

  • false if the app is a known non-GUI (or not accessible) app; true otherwise
switchedToSpace
Signature hs.window.filter.switchedToSpace(space)
Type Function
Description

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

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.

Parameters:

  • space - the Space number the user is switching to

Returns:

  • None

Notes:

  • 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

Constructors

copy
Signature hs.window.filter.copy(windowfilter[,logname[,loglevel]]) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Constructor
Description

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

Parameters:

  • 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
new
Signature hs.window.filter.new(fn[,logname[,loglevel]]) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Constructor
Description

Creates a new hs.window.filter instance

Parameters:

  • 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

Returns:

  • a new windowfilter instance

Methods

allowApp
Signature hs.window.filter:allowApp(appname) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

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

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Notes:

  • this is just a convenience wrapper for windowfilter:setAppFilter(appname,{visible=true})
focusWindowEast
Signature hs.window.filter:focusWindowEast(window, frontmost, strict)
Type Method
Description

Focuses the nearest window to the east of a given window

Parameters:

  • 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

Returns:

  • None

Notes:

  • 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
focusWindowNorth
Signature hs.window.filter:focusWindowNorth(window, frontmost, strict)
Type Method
Description

Focuses the nearest window to the south of a given window

Parameters:

  • 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

Returns:

  • None

Notes:

  • 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
focusWindowSouth
Signature hs.window.filter:focusWindowSouth(window, frontmost, strict)
Type Method
Description

Focuses the nearest window to the north of a given window

Parameters:

  • 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

Returns:

  • None

Notes:

  • 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
focusWindowWest
Signature hs.window.filter:focusWindowWest(window, frontmost, strict)
Type Method
Description

Focuses the nearest window to the west of a given window

Parameters:

  • 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

Returns:

  • None

Notes:

  • 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
getFilters
Signature hs.window.filter:getFilters() -> table
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • 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()
getWindows
Signature hs.window.filter:getWindows([sortOrder]) -> list of hs.window objects
Type Method
Description

Gets the current windows allowed by this windowfilter

Parameters:

  • 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)

Returns:

  • a list of hs.window objects
isAppAllowed
Signature hs.window.filter:isAppAllowed(appname) -> boolean
Type Method
Description

Checks if an app is allowed by the windowfilter

Parameters:

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

Returns:

  • false if the app is rejected by the windowfilter; true otherwise
isWindowAllowed
Signature hs.window.filter:isWindowAllowed(window) -> boolean
Type Method
Description

Checks if a window is allowed by the windowfilter

Parameters:

  • window - an hs.window object to check

Returns:

  • true if the window is allowed by the windowfilter, false otherwise; nil if an invalid object was passed
pause
Signature hs.window.filter:pause() -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

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()

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining
rejectApp
Signature hs.window.filter:rejectApp(appname) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

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

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Notes:

  • this is just a convenience wrapper for windowfilter:setAppFilter(appname,false)
resume
Signature hs.window.filter:resume() -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

Resumes the windowfilter event subscriptions

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining
setAppFilter
Signature hs.window.filter:setAppFilter(appname, filter) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

  • 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)

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Notes:

  • 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          |
setCurrentSpace
Signature hs.window.filter:setCurrentSpace(val) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

  • 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

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Notes:

  • 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.
setDefaultFilter
Signature hs.window.filter:setDefaultFilter(filter) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

  • filter - see hs.window.filter:setAppFilter

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining
setFilters
Signature hs.window.filter:setFilters(filters) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

Sets multiple filtering rules

Parameters:

  • 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 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()

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Notes:

  • every filter definition in filters will overwrite the pre-existing one for the relevant application, if present; this also applies to the special default and override filters, if included
setOverrideFilter
Signature hs.window.filter:setOverrideFilter(filter) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

  • filter - see hs.window.filter:setAppFilter

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining
setRegions
Signature hs.window.filter:setRegions(regions) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

Sets the allowed screen regions for this windowfilter

Parameters:

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

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Notes:

  • 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
setScreens
Signature hs.window.filter:setScreens(screens) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

Sets the allowed screens for this windowfilter

Parameters:

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

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Notes:

  • 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
setSortOrder
Signature hs.window.filter:setSortOrder(sortOrder) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

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

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Notes:

  • The default sort order for all windowfilters (that is, until changed by this method) is hs.window.filter.sortByFocusedLast
subscribe
Signature hs.window.filter:subscribe(event, fn[, immediate]) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

Subscribe to one or more events on the allowed windows

Parameters:

  • 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

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Notes:

  • 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.
unsubscribe
Signature hs.window.filter:unsubscribe([event][, fn]) -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

Removes one or more event subscriptions

Parameters:

  • 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)

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Notes:

  • 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.
unsubscribeAll
Signature hs.window.filter:unsubscribeAll() -> hs.window.filter object
Type Method
Description

Removes all event subscriptions

Parameters:

  • None

Returns:

  • the hs.window.filter object for method chaining

Notes:

  • You should not use this on the default windowfilter or other shared-use windowfilters
windowsToEast
Signature hs.window.filter:windowsToEast(window, frontmost, strict) -> list of hs.window objects
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

  • 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

Returns:

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

Notes:

  • 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)
windowsToNorth
Signature hs.window.filter:windowsToNorth(window, frontmost, strict) -> list of hs.window objects
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

  • 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

Returns:

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

Notes:

  • 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)
windowsToSouth
Signature hs.window.filter:windowsToSouth(window, frontmost, strict) -> list of hs.window objects
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

  • 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

Returns:

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

Notes:

  • 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)
windowsToWest
Signature hs.window.filter:windowsToWest(window, frontmost, strict) -> list of hs.window objects
Type Method
Description

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

Parameters:

  • 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

Returns:

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

Notes:

  • 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)