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

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 sequence of active window spans
`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`). Auto-creates file with default rules on first run

`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
`--sample-interval SECONDS`	`0.25`	Seconds between safety focus/idle polls. Must be finite, > 0
`--title-interval SECONDS`	`5`	Minimum seconds between emitted title-change events for one active window (throttle)
`--no-idle`	off	Disable idle detection. Track focused windows only (no idle intervals)

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

Subscribe to _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW property changes
Subscribe to current window's title change events
Reconcile current state (active/idle) → start interval if needed
Loop: drain X11 events → safety poll → flush pending title update → reconcile
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.

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-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

# 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. Each span shows: local start/end time, application, exact stored title, duration.

Adjacent spans with identical app + raw title merge. Idle time omitted. 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)

JSON output

Each entry: { "app_id", "title" (or null), "started_at" (unix), "ended_at" (unix), "duration_seconds" }

Usage

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

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

`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: WAL mode, foreign keys ON, 5s busy timeout, versioned migrations (PRAGMA user_version = 1).

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

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.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
src		src
.gitignore		.gitignore
Cargo.lock		Cargo.lock
Cargo.toml		Cargo.toml
LICENSE		LICENSE
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md

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rxtt

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Example

Prebuilt binaries

Build

Commands

Global flags

`rxtt daemon`

Arguments

Usage

Tracker loop

`rxtt report`

Arguments

Title grouping

Usage

`rxtt workflow`

Arguments

JSON output

Usage

`rxtt title-test`

Arguments

Usage

`rxtt probe`

Usage

Config

Structure

Built-in rules

Database

Schema (v1)

Exit codes

Notes

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rxtt

Platform

Example

Prebuilt binaries

Build

Commands

Global flags

rxtt daemon

Arguments

Usage

Tracker loop

rxtt report

Arguments

Title grouping

Usage

rxtt workflow

Arguments

JSON output

Usage

rxtt title-test

Arguments

Usage

rxtt probe

Usage

Config

Structure

Built-in rules

Database

Schema (v1)

Exit codes

Notes

📜 License

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`rxtt daemon`

`rxtt report`

`rxtt workflow`

`rxtt title-test`

`rxtt probe`