rxtt

X11 activity tracker. Records focused window intervals to SQLite. Generates usage reports and workflow timelines.

Platform

• Linux with X11 (Wayland not supported)
• Tested: Debian 13 + XFCE, single monitor
• Requires: X11 server, EWMH _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW, XScreenSaver extension (for idle detection)

Example

# rxtt report --no-tree --no-ansi
Usage report for 2026-07-17 (3h 53m 04s/12h 39m 26s)
Alacritty  1h 30m 52s
Chromium  47m 11s
firefox  39m 40s
Spotify  26m 41s
TelegramDesktop  20m 26s
Free Download Manager  6m 37s
Xfdesktop  26s
Throne  20s
Xfce4-clipman-history  11s

# rxtt report --no-ansi
Usage report for 2026-07-17 (3h 53m 04s/12h 39m 26s)
Alacritty  1h 32m 45s
  ├─ "rxtt"  37m 36s
  ├─ "ilya@ilya:~/projects/rust/rxtt"  19m 06s
  ├─ "π - rxtt"  9m 12s
  ├─ "nvim README.md"  3m 43s
  ├─ "nvim ~/.config/rxtt/config.toml"  3m 09s
# and so on...

Prebuilt binaries

Grab the pre-compiled binaries from the latest release page.

Build

Prerequisites:

• Rust toolchain (edition 2024)
• X11 development headers (libx11-dev on Debian/Ubuntu, libX11-devel on Fedora)

git clone <repo> && cd rxtt
cargo build --release
# or, build statically linked binaries using glibc or musl (make required)
make build-static-glibc
make build-static-musl # require musl-tools

Binary lands at target/release/rxtt. Install globally:

cargo install --path .

Dependencies:

Crate	Purpose
clap (derive)	CLI parsing
x11rb (+screensaver)	X11 connection, EWMH atoms, idle queries
rusqlite (bundled)	SQLite storage (sqlite3 bundled, no system dep)
chrono	Date/time handling
regex	Title grouping patterns
toml + serde	Config file parsing
unicode-normalization	Title normalization (NFKC, format-mark removal)
signal-hook	SIGINT/SIGTERM handling
anstyle	ANSI terminal styling
nix (poll)	poll() for X11 event loop

Autostart

You can add .desktop file to ~/.config/autostart/ directory:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=RXTT
Exec=/home/<user>/.cargo/bin/rxtt daemon
Terminal=false

You can change path depending from where rxtt is installed.

Commands

Command	Description
rxtt daemon	Foreground tracker. Watches X11 focus/idle, writes intervals to SQLite
rxtt report	Usage totals grouped by application and title for a date range
rxtt workflow	Chronological active window spans and unlogged periods
rxtt title-test	Trace how a raw title normalizes through grouping rules
rxtt probe	Diagnostic: print X11/EWMH/XScreenSaver support and current active window

Global flags

Flag	Description
--config PATH	TOML config path (default: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/rxtt/config.toml or ~/.config/rxtt/config.toml). Creates a missing file with default rules on first run, without overwriting an existing file

rxtt daemon

Run foreground. Watches _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW property changes and XScreenSaver idle state. Writes completed intervals to SQLite. Streams status events to stdout. Stops on Ctrl+C (SIGINT) or SIGTERM.

Only completed intervals persist. If the process dies mid-interval, in-memory data for that interval is lost.

Arguments

Flag	Default	Description
--database PATH	$XDG_STATE_HOME/rxtt/activity.sqlite3 (or ~/.local/state/rxtt/activity.sqlite3)	SQLite database path
--idle-threshold SECONDS	300 (5 min)	Seconds without input before entering idle state. Must be finite, >= 0, and representable as a duration
--sample-interval SECONDS	0.25	Seconds between safety focus/idle polls. Must be finite, positive after nanosecond conversion, and fit the polling limit (2,147,483,647 ms)
--title-interval SECONDS	5	Minimum seconds between emitted title-change events for one active window (throttle); finite, >= 0, representable as a duration
--no-idle	off	Disable idle detection. Track focused windows only (no idle intervals)

Invalid or overflowing duration arguments are rejected during CLI parsing with exit code 2. Fractional seconds remain supported.

Usage

# Default: 5 min idle threshold, 5 s title throttle
rxtt daemon

# Custom database, no idle tracking
rxtt daemon --database /tmp/activity.sqlite3 --no-idle

# Faster polling, longer idle
rxtt daemon --idle-threshold 600 --sample-interval 0.5

Tracker loop

1. Subscribe to _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW property changes
2. Subscribe to current window's title change events
3. Reconcile current state (active/idle) → start interval if needed
4. Loop: drain X11 events → safety poll → flush pending title update → reconcile
5. On shutdown: finish current interval → dispatch completes → exit 0

rxtt report

Print usage totals grouped by application. Shows title tree (collapsed equivalent titles) beneath each app.

Date range defaults to today. Heading shows (active usage / elapsed selected range). When range includes today, elapsed ends at current time.

Below the heading, Unlogged: <duration> shows elapsed time with no completed active or idle record, including gaps before the first record and after the last. Recorded idle time is logged and does not count toward this total. Use --verbose to list each unlogged period with its local start/end times and duration. Future time is excluded; an initialized database with no records makes the entire elapsed selection unlogged. A missing database is an error (exit code 1); reporting does not create it or its parent directories.

Arguments

Flag	Default	Description
--database PATH	same as daemon	SQLite database path
--since YYYY-MM-DD	today	First included calendar date (inclusive)
--until YYYY-MM-DD	today	Last included calendar date (inclusive)
--verbose	off	List each unlogged period beneath the unlogged total
--no-tree	off	Hide title branches below each application
--no-group-titles	off	Show exact stored titles instead of grouping equivalents
--no-ansi	off	Disable ANSI styling (use when redirecting to file)

Title grouping

Grouping merges titles that differ only in formatting or volatile UI state:

• Universal normalization: NFKC unicode, lowercase, remove format marks, normalize curly quotes, collapse whitespace
• App-specific regex rules: Strip browser tab badges ((5) Inbox → inbox), Telegram unread counters, terminal spinner prefixes, etc.

Rules run in file order. Every replacement in a rule runs in order. See Config for details.

Usage

# Today
rxtt report

# Show exactly when time was unlogged
rxtt report --verbose

# Two-week range with title tree
rxtt report --since 2026-07-01 --until 2026-07-16

# Flat output, exact titles, no ANSI (for piping)
rxtt report --since 2026-07-01 --until 2026-07-16 --no-tree --no-group-titles --no-ansi

rxtt workflow

Print chronological active window spans and unlogged periods. Active spans show local start/end time, application, exact stored title, and duration. Unlogged periods show local start/end time, Unlogged, and duration. Dates appear for multi-day selections and spans crossing midnight.

Like report, workflow requires an existing, initialized database and exits with code 1 if it is missing.

Adjacent spans with identical app + raw title merge. Recorded idle time is omitted but does not count as unlogged. Gaps include the leading and trailing elapsed time in the selection, stopping at now. Title changes shown at daemon's --title-interval resolution.

Arguments

Flag	Default	Description
--database PATH	same as daemon	SQLite database path
--since YYYY-MM-DD	today	First included calendar date (inclusive)
--until YYYY-MM-DD	today	Last included calendar date (inclusive)
--no-ansi	off	Disable ANSI styling
--json	off	Export as JSON array (suppresses heading/ANSI)
--verbose	off	Include unlogged entries and entry kinds in JSON; text already includes gaps

JSON output

Default JSON remains an array of active entries: { "app_id", "title" (or null), "started_at" (unix), "ended_at" (unix), "duration_seconds" }.

With --json --verbose, the array includes unlogged periods in chronological order. Active entries gain "kind": "active"; unlogged entries have no application/title fields:

{"kind": "unlogged", "started_at": 1789456500, "ended_at": 1789458300, "duration_seconds": 1800}

Usage

# Chronological view for two weeks
rxtt workflow --since 2026-07-01 --until 2026-07-16

# JSON export with unlogged periods
rxtt workflow --json --verbose

# Active-only JSON export
rxtt workflow --since 2026-07-01 --json > workflow.json

Unlogged output example

# rxtt report --verbose --no-ansi
Usage report for 2026-09-15 (1h 00m 00s/2h 00m 00s)
Unlogged: 30m 00s
  01:00:00–01:30:00  Unlogged  30m 00s
Alacritty  1h 00m 00s

# rxtt workflow --no-ansi
Workflow for 2026-09-15
00:00:00–01:00:00  Alacritty  "rxtt"  1h 00m 00s
01:00:00–01:30:00  Unlogged  30m 00s

This example has 30 minutes of recorded idle time after the gap. “Unlogged” describes missing completed records, not proof that the computer was offline. The daemon keeps its current interval in memory until it finishes, so that unfinished interval temporarily appears unlogged. Shutdowns, tracker downtime, and lost unfinished intervals can also leave gaps. These commands infer gaps without changing stored data.

rxtt title-test

Trace title normalization pipeline. Shows universal normalization step, then every app rule (matched/skipped) with per-replacement input/output.

No database needed. Uses same config and pipeline as report.

Arguments

Positional	Description
APP_ID	Application identifier (matched against rule match regex)
TITLE	Raw window title to normalize

Flag	Description
--expect TITLE	Expected final title. Prints PASS/FAIL and exits 0/1. Useful for shell regression

Usage

# Trace normalization
rxtt title-test Firefox '(33) Inbox'

# Regression check (exits nonzero on mismatch)
rxtt title-test Firefox '(33) Inbox' --expect inbox

rxtt probe

One-shot diagnostic. Connects to X11, checks EWMH _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW and XScreenSaver support, prints active window info and any warnings.

No arguments beyond --config.

Usage

rxtt probe

Config

First rxtt run creates $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/rxtt/config.toml (or ~/.config/rxtt/config.toml). Use --config PATH with any command to select alternate file.

Format: TOML. Invalid TOML, wrong version, or bad regex → warning + built-in defaults for that run.

Structure

version = 1

[[title_grouping.apps]]
match = "(?i)my-app"
replacements = [
  { pattern = '^\[\d+%\]\s*', replacement = "" },
]

Field	Type	Description
version	integer	Optional. Default - latest config version, now '1'
title_grouping.apps	array	Ordered list of app rules
apps[].match	regex	Rust regex pattern matched against application ID
apps[].replacements	array	Ordered list of { pattern, replacement }
replacements[].pattern	regex	Pattern to match (Rust regex syntax)
replacements[].replacement	string	Replacement string. Supports $1, ${name} capture refs

Built-in rules

App match	What it strips
Firefox, Chromium, Chrome, Brave	Tab count *, (N), N · , Telegram-style message counters
Telegram	Unread counters (N), inline - (N)
Terminals (Alacritty, Kitty, WezTerm, GNOME Terminal, Konsole, Terminator, Tilix, Foot, Xterm)	Block-element spinner chars, [!] / [·] status prefixes

Rules run in file order. Multiple rules can match same app (all replacements chain).

Database

SQLite file at ~/.local/state/rxtt/activity.sqlite3 (or --database path).

Settings: The daemon initializes SQLite with WAL mode, foreign keys ON, a 5s busy timeout, and versioned migrations (PRAGMA user_version = 1).

report and workflow open existing databases read-only, validate schema version 1, and read each result within one snapshot transaction. They do not initialize or migrate databases or change journal mode. SQLite may still use WAL coordination files when reading a running daemon’s database. Configuration-file initialization remains independent of database access.

Schema (v1)

activity_interval — completed intervals

Column	Type	Notes
id	INTEGER PK	Auto-increment
tracker_interval_id	INTEGER	Unique per daemon session
state	TEXT	'active' or 'idle'
started_at	INTEGER	Unix epoch seconds
ended_at	INTEGER	Unix epoch seconds
start_reason	TEXT	e.g. "startup", "_NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW changed"
end_reason	TEXT	e.g. "shutdown", "periodic sample; idle=305.2s"
initial_window_id	INTEGER	X11 window ID
initial_title	TEXT	Window title at interval start
initial_wm_instance	TEXT	WM_INSTANCE_NAME
initial_wm_class	TEXT	WM_CLASS class
initial_pid	INTEGER	Process ID
initial_executable	TEXT	Executable path
app_id	TEXT	Derived application identifier

window_metadata_change — title/metadata updates during interval

Column	Type	Notes
id	INTEGER PK	Auto-increment
interval_id	INTEGER FK	→ activity_interval.id (CASCADE delete)
observed_at	INTEGER	Unix epoch seconds
window_id	INTEGER	X11 window ID
title	TEXT	Updated title
wm_instance	TEXT	WM_INSTANCE_NAME
wm_class	TEXT	WM_CLASS class
pid	INTEGER	Process ID
executable	TEXT	Executable path
app_id	TEXT	Derived application identifier

activity_title_segment — view for title-level reporting

Splits each active interval into contiguous title segments. Starts from initial title, ends each segment at next metadata change or interval end. Exposes duration_seconds per segment.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Runtime error (storage fail, dispatcher crash)
2	Configuration error (invalid path, bad dates, X11 init fail)

Notes

• Terminal text: Titles, application identifiers, diagnostic values, and other external text escape terminal control characters and Unicode bidi controls before styling. Newlines, carriage returns, and tabs appear as \n, \r, and \t; other controls appear as \u{...}. Backslashes and enclosing quotes are escaped consistently. Ordinary Unicode and emoji remain readable. Stored metadata and JSON values retain their raw text.

• X11 metadata limits: Each title, window-manager name, or WM_CLASS property is limited to 64 KiB. Oversized or incorrectly formatted properties are treated as unavailable, not stored as truncated prefixes. Existing fallback paths still apply, such as WM_NAME when _NET_WM_NAME is unavailable. Scalar window/PID properties read the first 32-bit value and ignore trailing values for window-manager compatibility; the supported-atom list is limited to 16,384 atoms, with incomplete lists treated as unavailable.

• WAL mode: Database readable while daemon runs (concurrent reads safe)

• No recovery: Unfinished intervals on crash are not recovered

• Title throttle: --title-interval controls resolution. Shorter = more granular title tracking, more DB rows

📜 License

Project is licensed under the BSD-3-Clause license.