Linux UI Automation

Linux UI Automation CLI

Use xdotool, wmctrl, and xclip to automate Linux desktop UI. This is a Linux alternative to macOS Peekaboo automation features.

Setup

Install required tools:

sudo apt-get install -y xdotool xclip wmctrl xwininfo

Keyboard Input

Type text

xdotool type "Hello World"

Type with delay (ms between keys)

xdotool type --delay 50 "Hello World"

Press key

xdotool key Return
xdotool key Escape
xdotool key Tab
xdotool key BackSpace

Key combinations

xdotool key ctrl+c
xdotool key ctrl+v
xdotool key ctrl+shift+t
xdotool key alt+F4
xdotool key super

Hold and release

xdotool keydown shift
xdotool type "hello"
xdotool keyup shift

Mouse Input

Move mouse to coordinates

xdotool mousemove 500 300

Move relative

xdotool mousemove_relative 100 50

Click

xdotool click 1  # Left click
xdotool click 2  # Middle click
xdotool click 3  # Right click

Double click

xdotool click --repeat 2 --delay 50 1

Click at position

xdotool mousemove 500 300 click 1

Drag

xdotool mousemove 100 100
xdotool mousedown 1
xdotool mousemove 500 500
xdotool mouseup 1

Scroll

xdotool click 4  # Scroll up
xdotool click 5  # Scroll down

Scroll multiple times

xdotool click --repeat 5 --delay 50 5  # Scroll down 5 times

Window Management

Get active window ID

xdotool getactivewindow

Focus window by name

xdotool search --name "Firefox" windowactivate

Focus window by class

xdotool search --class "code" windowactivate

List windows

wmctrl -l

Activate window by title

wmctrl -a "Visual Studio Code"

Minimize window

xdotool getactivewindow windowminimize

Maximize window

wmctrl -r :ACTIVE: -b toggle,maximized_vert,maximized_horz

Move window

xdotool getactivewindow windowmove 100 100

Resize window

xdotool getactivewindow windowsize 800 600

Close window

xdotool getactivewindow windowclose

Bring window to front

wmctrl -a "Firefox"

Clipboard

Copy text to clipboard

echo "Hello World" | xclip -selection clipboard

Paste from clipboard

xclip -selection clipboard -o

Copy file contents to clipboard

cat file.txt | xclip -selection clipboard

Copy image to clipboard

xclip -selection clipboard -t image/png -i image.png

Copy from primary selection

xclip -selection primary -o

Application Control

Launch application

xdotool exec firefox

Launch and wait for window

xdotool exec --sync firefox

Get window PID

xdotool getactivewindow getwindowpid

Kill window

xdotool getactivewindow getwindowpid | xargs kill

Combined Workflows

Open terminal and run command

xdotool key ctrl+alt+t
sleep 1
xdotool type "ls -la"
xdotool key Return

Copy selected text

xdotool key ctrl+c
sleep 0.1
xclip -selection clipboard -o

Paste text

echo "Text to paste" | xclip -selection clipboard
xdotool key ctrl+v

Switch to window and type

xdotool search --name "Slack" windowactivate
sleep 0.5
xdotool type "Hello team!"
xdotool key Return

Wait for Window

Wait for window to appear

xdotool search --sync --name "Firefox"

Wait and activate

xdotool search --sync --name "Dialog" windowactivate

Get Window Info

Window geometry

xdotool getactivewindow getwindowgeometry

Window name

xdotool getactivewindow getwindowname

All windows matching name

xdotool search --name "Code"

Screen Info

Get screen size

xdotool getdisplaygeometry

Get mouse location

xdotool getmouselocation

Notes

• Linux-only (alternative to macOS Peekaboo/keyboard maestro).
• Works with X11; for Wayland, use ydotool instead.
• Add delays between actions for reliability.
• Use --sync flag to wait for windows.
• Some applications may block synthetic input.

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