---
name: agent-desktop-linux
tags: linux-automation, accessibility, at-spi, x11, wayland, ai-agent, gui-automation, cli
requirements:
  - agent-desktop
description: >
  Linux platform guide for the agent-desktop CLI. Lists per command group
  what works on X11 and on Wayland, how to check the AT-SPI accessibility bus,
  the first-contact gotchas (app names, Chromium and Electron flags, headed
  focus, blocked key combos), and where to find lifecycle, screenshot,
  clipboard, tray, notification and troubleshooting details.
  Triggers on: "linux desktop automation", "AT-SPI tree", "automate GNOME app",
  "agent-desktop on Linux", "accessibility bus not available", "empty
  supported_surfaces", "wayland screenshot consent", or any Linux GUI
  interaction task.
---

# agent-desktop-linux

This file covers only what differs on Linux. The observe-act loop, refs, JSON
envelope, sessions and tracing are the same on every platform.

Needs Ubuntu 24.04+ (x86_64 or aarch64), a graphical session of the signed-in
user and a running AT-SPI bus. Other distributions need the at-spi2-core bridge
fix dc0dc33; Ubuntu 22.04's bridge aborts on `Action.GetActions`. The archive
loader floor is glibc 2.35. Run the CLI inside the target apps' desktop session:
the session bus, display and runtime directory come from its environment. A TTY
login, an SSH shell without session variables, a container without a bus or
another user's session sees no apps. GNOME is the measured desktop; X11 and
Wayland sessions both work and differ in input, capture and window control.
Observation and semantic actions need no helper tool.

## Capability Table

| Group | Commands | Status on Linux |
|-------|----------|-----------------|
| Observation | `snapshot`, `find`, `get`, `is` | Works on X11 and Wayland through AT-SPI. Supports `window`, `sheet`, `alert` and `menu`; GNOME adds shell surfaces. Virtual tray getters have limits; see the shell reference and check `status` |
| Surfaces | `list-surfaces` | Lists an app's windows, sheets and open menus; shell reads use `snapshot --surface` |
| Ref interaction | `click`, `right-click`, `type`, `set-value`, `clear`, `select`, `toggle`, `check`, `uncheck`, `expand`, `collapse`, `scroll-to` | Need a readable live identity and the required AT-SPI capability. See the shell reference for menu-ref resolution limits; X11 headed fallback also needs usable geometry and does not bypass identity checks |
| Wheel scrolling | `scroll`, `mouse-wheel` | Physical wheel input; X11 and `--headed` only |
| Pointer gestures | `double-click`, `triple-click`, `hover`, `drag` | `--headed`, X11 only. On Wayland the pointer cannot be aimed and these refuse with `ACTION_NOT_SUPPORTED` |
| Focus | `focus` | Needs `--headed` for the focus permission. Calls AT-SPI `Component.GrabFocus` on a focusable node that is not yet `focused`, not the pointer, and verifies the state; a GTK4 app rejects the call, so `focus` ends `ACTION_FAILED` `grab_focus_rejected` there and `focus-window` is the way to focus its window |
| Keyboard and mouse | `press`, `mouse-click`, `mouse-move`, `mouse-wheel` | `press` and text keys work on X11 and capability-detected Mutter Wayland sessions; pointer commands are X11 and `--headed`. See `references/display-servers-and-input.md` |
| Held input | `key-down`, `key-up`, `mouse-down`, `mouse-up` | Fail closed on every platform: on Linux, `key-down` and `key-up` with `ACTION_NOT_SUPPORTED`; `mouse-down` and `mouse-up` with `POLICY_DENIED` headless and `ACTION_NOT_SUPPORTED` with `--headed` |
| App and window | `launch`, `close-app`, `list-windows`, `list-apps`, `focus-window`, `move-window`, `resize-window`, `minimize`, `maximize`, `restore` | Launch and listing work on X11 and Wayland; `focus-window` requires X11. Other window control and graceful close need an X11 client. See `references/windows-and-lifecycle.md` |
| Displays | `list-displays` | Works |
| Capture | `screenshot` | X11: a window without permission; a display only under a non-compositing manager. Wayland: portal consent, with display cropping. No selector returns the primary display. See `references/capture-and-clipboard.md` |
| Clipboard | `clipboard-get`, `clipboard-set`, `clipboard-clear` | Works; text, images and file lists. Wayland needs `wl-clipboard` |
| Wait | `wait` | Works for ms, `--element`, `--window`, `--text`, `--menu`, `--menu-closed`, `--event`. Menu waits share the menu-surface detector; `--notification` waits for a new notification on GNOME |
| Notifications | `list-notifications`, `dismiss-notification`, `dismiss-all-notifications`, `notification-action` | GNOME Shell only; list headless, mutations `--headed` on X11, and `dismiss-notification` and `notification-action` also need `--expected-app` or `--expected-title`. Fields are read from the shell's widget layout, verified on GNOME Shell 46.0 only, and each mutation is proven by its effect. Wayland refuses the shell pointer before input. A notification owner that is not the shell or its own helper returns `PLATFORM_NOT_SUPPORTED`. See the shell reference |
| Shell surfaces | `open-system-surface` | Only `system-tray` and `action-center` can work. `system-tray` needs a StatusNotifierWatcher (else it refuses with `watcher: absent`); `action-center` needs proven role ancestry. `quick-settings` refuses with `shell_container_unproven`, `taskbar` always refuses, and `start-menu` and `system-tray-overflow` are not supported, though `--help` lists them. See the shell reference |
| Cursor overlay | `cursor-overlay` | Requires an active session; see Cursor overlay below. X11 enable returns `data.rendered: true`; Wayland saves the setting with `data.rendered: false` |
| System | `status`, `permissions`, `version`, `batch`, `skills`, `session`, `trace` | Works |

## First Contact

- **Run `agent-desktop status` first.** An empty `supported_surfaces` means the
  accessibility bus did not answer, not an empty desktop. Read
  `references/bus-and-permissions.md`; do not restart a bus you did not start.
- **`--app` takes the name `list-apps` prints** (`gnome-calculator`,
  `nautilus`) or a desktop-entry name or id backed by verified executable and
  argument identity, never a window title or an arbitrary registry label. A
  desktop-entry name such as `Files` is accepted once the entry exists.
  `list-windows --app` is exact (aliases included); `list-apps --app` combines a
  substring of the listed name with exact adapter aliases, ignoring case.
- **Window ids are opaque addresses** of 34 to 70 characters, valid for the
  life of the window's process; run `list-windows` again after a restart.
  `list-apps` rows carry `bundle_id` (desktop id when known) and
  `process_instance`.
- **GTK4 apps nest deeply.** `--max-depth` and `--skeleton` count semantic
  levels, so empty layout wrappers add output levels. `-i --compact` still
  shows nested nameless `group` nodes: read past them.
- **An empty file view does not prove an empty folder.** If an icon view
  exposes no file items, try an available list or detailed view, then take a
  fresh snapshot and verify which items the application exposes.
- **A window appears before its content.** Run
  `wait --window "Text Editor" --app gnome-text-editor` first, then
  `wait --text`, which matches a node's own name, value or description. For a
  web-engine app (detected from its AT-SPI toolkit metadata), a window
  observation waits for three equal full reads and a web-document role, or a
  requested depth cut. A shell with no document yet stays incomplete when the
  budget ends. A `--timeout` shorter than the first read returns `TIMEOUT`,
  never a partial tree.
- **A ref must have been unique.** Linux stores no element address, so a ref
  resolves only when it was the only element in the window its snapshot
  captured with its role, native id, name and description, and exactly one live
  element still matches. Uniqueness is counted over the whole window, not over
  the shallow tree a `--skeleton` or `--max-depth` snapshot presents, so a twin
  the shallow tree never showed still refuses the ref.
  Position, size and value never count as identity, so a layout change does not
  by itself stale a ref, but a twin does: identical buttons, or views that share
  a role and carry no other field, refuse with `AMBIGUOUS_TARGET`,
  `details.kind: identity_not_unique`, before anything reaches the app, and an
  element that is gone is `STALE_REF`, `saved_ref_absent`. Take a
  fresh snapshot after a list changes. To pick one of two identical controls on
  X11, use `--headed mouse-click --xy`; a Wayland session refuses headed pointer
  input, so there the twin has neither a ref nor a pointer path. A ref belongs
  to the window it was taken in, so two windows with the same title each
  resolve their own refs.
- **Chromium and Qt apps need a launch flag or variable** to appear on the bus;
  Electron apps need none, only `--no-sandbox` where `chrome-sandbox` is not
  setuid. See `references/troubleshooting.md`.
- **Headed ref actions need a window that can take focus.** A window the
  window manager never activated ends `activation_not_granted`. See
  `references/windows-and-lifecycle.md`.
- **A GTK4 secret field can show its text.** Only a password role is withheld.
  Treat a GTK4 entry with hidden characters as readable by every observation
  command.
- **Blocked key combos refuse without `--force`.** See
  `references/display-servers-and-input.md`.
- **After opening a menu-role popup, inspect `data.surfaces`.** A `menu` entry
  leads to `snapshot --surface menu --app <name> -i`. If absent, use
  `wait --menu` and `list-surfaces` before assuming the opener failed. A
  list-backed dropdown is part of the window, not a menu surface; see the shell
  reference.
- **Shell pointer input requires receiver proof.** On X11 a headed shell click
  is proven from the shell's own tree: the receiver must be the target and stand
  still, or the click refuses before any pointer event. Wayland shell clicks
  refuse. Notifications need the GNOME notification service; tray snapshots also
  need a StatusNotifierWatcher.
- **The state root must be private.** A group-writable or world-accessible
  `AGENT_DESKTOP_HOME` or `~/.agent-desktop` makes `snapshot` fail with
  `INTERNAL`; run `chmod 700` on it or let the tool create it.

## Wait for a window

Wait for an app window to appear (`--window` requires a title or title substring):

```bash
agent-desktop wait --window "Text Editor" --app gnome-text-editor --timeout 10000
```

To wait for a close that you cause, batch it so the baseline is taken before the
close (Calculator has no unsaved-document prompt to interrupt it):

```bash
agent-desktop batch '[{"command":"close-app","args":{"app":"gnome-calculator"}},{"command":"wait","args":{"event":"window-closed","app":"gnome-calculator","timeout":10000}}]' --stop-on-error
```

To watch someone else close a window, start
`agent-desktop wait --event window-closed --app gnome-text-editor --timeout 10000`
before they close the window. There is no `--window-closed` flag.

## Cursor overlay

Start a session and pass its returned ID to every overlay command:

```bash
session_id=$(agent-desktop session start --name docs-example | jq -r '.data.session_id')
agent-desktop cursor-overlay enable --session "$session_id"
agent-desktop cursor-overlay disable --session "$session_id"
agent-desktop session end "$session_id"
```

Without a session, `cursor-overlay enable` and `disable` return `INVALID_ARGS`.
On X11, enable returns `data.rendered: true`; on Wayland it saves the setting
and returns `data.rendered: false` without drawing an overlay.

`session start --cursor --multi-agent` returns `data.rendered: false`, because
nothing is drawn until an agent acts. On X11 each agent id then gets its own
cursor; on Wayland none is drawn.

## What differs on Linux

- Firefox/Gecko `select` can change the selected value without firing `change`
  or `input` events, so dependent page handlers do not run. The result stays
  `delivered_unverified` even when value readback matches. Check the dependent
  application effect before continuing: value readback alone is no commit proof.
- Two `click` calls on one GTK4 button less than about 250 ms apart act once.
  Both answer `ok: true` with `delivered_unverified`. To click one button
  several times, wait for the effect between the clicks: use
  `wait --element <ref> --predicate value --value <expected>` on the element
  that shows the result, or `wait 300`.
- Ref actions are semantic AT-SPI calls that never move the pointer or change
  the active window. Under `--headed`, ref `click`, `right-click` and `type` try
  physical input first and fall back to the semantic action only after a
  `not_delivered` refusal (Windows works the other way round). On Wayland, headed
  pointer commands and a headed `select` refuse at once with
  `ACTION_NOT_SUPPORTED`, cause `wayland_session`; a headed `type` needs the
  Mutter RemoteDesktop capability. `references/display-servers-and-input.md`
  has the full rules.
- `select` tries the semantic route first and the pointer second; the pointer
  route needs an explicit `--headed` request on X11. A Qt combo's semantic
  selection only highlights its popup row, so headless selection refuses with
  `POLICY_DENIED`, kind `pointer_required`, before changing that highlight.
  Headed, on a list whose toolkit index cannot be mapped to the
  row (a GTK4 list) it clicks the row and checks its `selected` state; on a
  combo with no semantic opener (a libadwaita combo row) it clicks the combo
  open, selects the choice through the popup's own list and checks the value the
  combo shows. Headless, a list refuses with `selection_index_unproven`, and a
  combo with no semantic opener with `POLICY_DENIED`, kind `pointer_required`,
  unless the combo already shows the choice. A GTK4 drop-down that opens through
  its own toggle takes `select` without `--headed` and checks the value it
  shows.
- A ref can expose no safe semantic mutation route. Headless requests then
  return an unsupported-action error without inventing `hidden` or `disabled`
  state and without switching to physical input. GTK4 entry and password
  `Activate` actions are one such case: use `type` to edit the field, or request
  `--headed` explicitly when a pointer click is intended.
- Opening a native Wayland Qt combo returns `ACTION_NOT_SUPPORTED`, kind
  `native_popup_requires_input`, before invoking its action. Qt needs a user
  input serial to show that popup. An already open combo may be collapsed;
  Qt windows proven to use Xwayland retain their semantic opener.
- Headless `type` writes through `EditableText`. A terminal's text node is a
  `textfield` named `Terminal` whose only action is `RightClick`; headless
  `type` on it is `POLICY_DENIED` with check `supported_action`, and its value is
  null. It receives keys only under `--headed`.
- In key combos `cmd` and `meta` are the Super key. Key names are the macOS and
  Windows names plus X keysym names. `press` takes mapped keys only; `type`
  handles characters the layout cannot produce.
- Window ops act on X11 clients; `focus-window` and headed scoped `press` require
  an X11 session. Headless scoped `press` requires live target focus on either
  display server. Focusing a window on another workspace can switch the user's
  current desktop.
- The exact FFI ref calls (`ad_resolve_element_exact` and
  `ad_execute_ref_action_exact_with_policy`) fail with `ACTION_NOT_SUPPORTED` on every
  platform; their bounds rule applies first: bounds must be window-relative.
- A ref re-identifies a unique element, not a widget instance. A toolkit that
  destroys and recreates its rows (GTK4, Qt6) resolves a ref with a unique name
  onto the replacement, so the action lands on the new element. Identical
  controls are refused as `AMBIGUOUS_TARGET` instead.
- A toolkit that keeps a removed widget listed (GTK4 unparented, Qt6
  `setParent(None)`) lets a ref resolve onto a control the user can no longer
  see. GTK4 then answers `ok` with `delivered_unverified` and no effect. No
  identity rule reaches this; check the application's own effect.

## References

- `references/bus-and-permissions.md`: bus bootstrap, the three bus states,
  `status` and `permissions` output, state-root rules.
- `references/display-servers-and-input.md`: X11 versus Wayland table,
  `press`, `type`, pointer, wheel, drag, blocked combos, key names.
- `references/windows-and-lifecycle.md`: `launch`, `close-app`, window ops,
  focus, workspaces, stopped apps, background `press`.
- `references/capture-and-clipboard.md`: `screenshot` on X11 and Wayland,
  the Wayland consent dialog, clipboard owner and helper.
- `references/shell-tray-and-notifications.md`: menus and GTK4 popovers, GNOME
  Overview/top bar, shell reads and input, notification identity guards, SNI
  and AppIndicator requirements and refusals, sandbox guidance.
- `references/troubleshooting.md`: symptom-to-cause map, Chromium, Electron
  and Qt flags, toolkit limits, error codes with `platform_detail`.

Read any file from the binary:
`agent-desktop skills get agent-desktop-linux references/troubleshooting.md`.