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Fix focus on target window #162

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Fix focus on target window #162

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a1ee38d
Fix focus on target window
chid Jun 6, 2026
c113118
fix: update ordering as suggested by CodeRabbit
chid Jun 6, 2026
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17 changes: 15 additions & 2 deletions Swift Shift/src/Manager/WindowManager.swift
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -73,7 +73,21 @@ class WindowManager {
if let parent = p { return getWindow(from: parent as! AXUIElement) }
return nil
}
static func focus(window: AXUIElement) { AXUIElementPerformAction(window, kAXRaiseAction as CFString); getNSApplication(from: window)?.activate() }
static func focus(window: AXUIElement) {
guard let app = getNSApplication(from: window) else { return }
let axApp = AXUIElementCreateApplication(app.processIdentifier)
let trueValue = kCFBooleanTrue!

AXUIElementPerformAction(window, kAXRaiseAction as CFString)
AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXMainWindowAttribute as CFString, window)
AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXFocusedWindowAttribute as CFString, window)
AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(window, kAXMainAttribute as CFString, trueValue)
AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(window, kAXFocusedAttribute as CFString, trueValue)

AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXFrontmostAttribute as CFString, trueValue)
// TODO: evaluate whether this works on sandboxed/Electron apps that ignore AX attributes.
app.activate(options: [.activateIgnoringOtherApps])
}
Comment on lines +76 to +90

@coderabbitai coderabbitai Bot Jun 6, 2026 •
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⚠️ Potential issue | 🟠 Major

🧩 Analysis chain

🏁 Script executed:

#!/bin/bash
# Verify the current caller contract before changing the return type.
sed -n '76,88p' 'Swift Shift/src/Manager/WindowManager.swift'
sed -n '94,100p' 'Swift Shift/src/Manager/MouseTracker.swift'
rg -n -C2 --type=swift '\bWindowManager\.focus\(window:' .

Repository: pablopunk/SwiftShift

Length of output: 2174

Propagate AX focus failures to the caller (don’t mark focused unconditionally).

WindowManager.focus(window:) returns Void and ignores the results of AXUIElementPerformAction / AXUIElementSetAttributeValue (plus app.activate), while MouseTracker sets trackedWindowIsFocused = true immediately after the call (MouseTracker.swift:97). If any AX step fails, that flag blocks future focus retries while the window may still be unfocused.

Make focus(window:) return a success indicator (e.g., Bool / Result) based on the AX return values, and only set trackedWindowIsFocused in MouseTracker when focus reports success.

🤖 Prompt for AI Agents 
Verify each finding against current code. Fix only still-valid issues, skip the
rest with a brief reason, keep changes minimal, and validate.

In `@Swift` Shift/src/Manager/WindowManager.swift around lines 76 - 88,
WindowManager.focus(window:) currently ignores failures from app.activate,
AXUIElementSetAttributeValue and AXUIElementPerformAction and always returns
Void; change it to return a Bool (or Result) that aggregates the
AXError/OSStatus results (treat any non-success as failure) by checking and
combining the return values of app.activate, AXUIElementSetAttributeValue and
AXUIElementPerformAction inside focus(window:), and propagate failure to the
caller; then update MouseTracker (where trackedWindowIsFocused is set after
calling WindowManager.focus) to only set trackedWindowIsFocused = true when
focus(window:) reports success. Include references to
AXUIElementCreateApplication, kAXFrontmostAttribute, kAXMainWindowAttribute,
kAXFocusedWindowAttribute, kAXMainAttribute and kAXFocusedAttribute when
collecting results so each AX call’s status is checked and affects the returned
success value.

@chid chid Jun 6, 2026

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there seems to be an issue where other windows that aren't the trackedWindow also get focused, what's the fix for that (we only want to activate the window not the app) - why did the original WindowManager.focus not work?

@coderabbitai coderabbitai Bot Jun 6, 2026

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🧩 Analysis chain

🏁 Script executed:

#!/bin/bash
cat "Swift Shift/src/Manager/MouseTracker.swift"

Length of output: 17437

@chid — good questions, here's the breakdown:

Why the original focus() didn't work

The original was:

AXUIElementPerformAction(window, kAXRaiseAction as CFString)
getNSApplication(from: window)?.activate()

Two problems:

  1. kAXRaiseAction only adjusts z-order — it brings the window visually in front but does not set it as the app's key/focused window.
  2. activate() without .activateIgnoringOtherApps is "polite" — on modern macOS, it won't reliably steal focus away from the currently active app. If SwiftShift itself is the active app (likely during a drag), the target app may simply be ignored.

Why other windows get focused in the new code

The ordering is the culprit. The new implementation does:

1. app.activate(options: [.activateIgnoringOtherApps])  ← ASYNC, takes effect next run-loop tick
2. AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXFrontmostAttribute ...)
3. AXUIElementPerformAction(window, kAXRaiseAction ...)
4. AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXMainWindowAttribute ..., window)   ← too late
5. AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXFocusedWindowAttribute ..., window) ← too late

When app.activate fires, the system activates the app using its own last-known key window (whichever window that app had focused before). The AX attribute writes to nominate the specific trackedWindow as focused come after that activation, so there's a race you can't reliably win.

The fix: set the target window as focused before activating

Swap the order so the app activates into an already-configured state:

static func focus(window: AXUIElement) {
    guard let app = getNSApplication(from: window) else { return }
    let axApp = AXUIElementCreateApplication(app.processIdentifier)
    let trueValue = kCFBooleanTrue!

    // Tell the app which window to use as main/focused FIRST
    AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXMainWindowAttribute as CFString, window)
    AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXFocusedWindowAttribute as CFString, window)
    AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(window, kAXMainAttribute as CFString, trueValue)
    AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(window, kAXFocusedAttribute as CFString, trueValue)
    AXUIElementPerformAction(window, kAXRaiseAction as CFString)

    // NOW activate — the app will see the target window already marked as main/focused
    AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXFrontmostAttribute as CFString, trueValue)
    app.activate(options: [.activateIgnoringOtherApps])
}

By writing kAXFocusedWindowAttribute and kAXMainWindowAttribute on the AX app element before calling app.activate, you pre-configure which window the app should treat as key when it comes to the front, avoiding the race that lets the previously-focused window steal activation.

Note: Some apps (especially Electron/sandboxed apps) may ignore AX attribute writes on a background process. For those you'd need an async follow-up write after a short delay, but for standard Cocoa apps the ordering above is reliable.

🧬 Code Graph Analysis Results

Relevant snippet(s)

Swift Shift/src/Manager/WindowManager.swift

  • Lines 76-88 — static func focus(window: AXUIElement)
static func focus(window: AXUIElement) {
    guard let app = getNSApplication(from: window) else { return }
    let axApp = AXUIElementCreateApplication(app.processIdentifier)
    let trueValue = kCFBooleanTrue!

    app.activate(options: [.activateIgnoringOtherApps])
    AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXFrontmostAttribute as CFString, trueValue)
    AXUIElementPerformAction(window, kAXRaiseAction as CFString)
    AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXMainWindowAttribute as CFString, window)
    AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(axApp, kAXFocusedWindowAttribute as CFString, window)
    AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(window, kAXMainAttribute as CFString, trueValue)
    AXUIElementSetAttributeValue(window, kAXFocusedAttribute as CFString, trueValue)
}
  • Lines 41-49 — static func getCurrentWindow() -> AXUIElement?
static func getCurrentWindow() -> AXUIElement? {
    guard let ev = CGEvent(source: nil) else { return nil }
    let sys = AXUIElementCreateSystemWide(); var el: AXUIElement?
    if AXUIElementCopyElementAtPosition(sys, Float(ev.location.x), Float(ev.location.y), &el) == .success, let el = el, let w = getWindow(from: el) {
        var pid: pid_t = 0; AXUIElementGetPid(w, &pid)
        if pid != NSRunningApplication.current.processIdentifier { return w }
    }
    return getTopWindowAtCursorUsingCGWindowList(mouseLocation: ev.location)
}
  • Lines 50-68 — private static func getTopWindowAtCursorUsingCGWindowList(mouseLocation: NSPoint) -> AXUIElement?
private static func getTopWindowAtCursorUsingCGWindowList(mouseLocation: NSPoint) -> AXUIElement? {
    let list = CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo([.excludeDesktopElements, .optionOnScreenOnly], kCGNullWindowID) as? [[String: AnyObject]] ?? []
    for e in list.sorted(by: { ($0[kCGWindowLayer as String] as? Int ?? 0) < ($1[kCGWindowLayer as String] as? Int ?? 0) }) {
        if let bDict = e[kCGWindowBounds as String] as? [String: CGFloat], let b = CGRect(dictionaryRepresentation: bDict as CFDictionary), b.contains(mouseLocation), let pid = e[kCGWindowOwnerPID as String] as? pid_t {
            let app = AXUIElementCreateApplication(pid); var val: AnyObject?
            if let nsApp = getNSApplication(from: app), let bid = nsApp.bundleIdentifier, PreferencesManager.isAppIgnored(bid) { continue }
            if AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(app, kAXWindowsAttribute as CFString, &val) == .success, let wList = val as? [AXUIElement] {
                for w in wList {
                    if let pos = getPosition(window: w), let size = getSize(window: w) {
                        let winRect = CGRect(origin: pos, size: size)
                        if winRect.contains(mouseLocation) { return w }
                    }
                }
                return wList.first
            }
        }
    }
    return nil
}
  • Lines 69-74 — private static func getWindow(from element: AXUIElement) -> AXUIElement?
private static func getWindow(from element: AXUIElement) -> AXUIElement? {
    var r: AnyObject?; AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(element, kAXRoleAttribute as CFString, &r)
    if r as? String == kAXWindowRole { return element }
    var p: AnyObject?; AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(element, kAXParentAttribute as CFString, &p)
    if let parent = p { return getWindow(from: parent as! AXUIElement) }
    return nil
}

Swift Shift/src/Manager/Preferences.swift

  • Lines 80-82 — static func isAppIgnored(_ bundleId: String) -> Bool
static func isAppIgnored(_ bundleId: String) -> Bool {
    return getIgnoredApps().contains(bundleId)
}
🧠 Learnings used 
Learnt from: pablopunk
Repo: pablopunk/SwiftShift PR: 150
File: Swift Shift/src/Manager/WindowManager.swift:0-0
Timestamp: 2026-05-13T17:15:02.309Z
Learning: In SwiftShift's `getVisibleWindowRects(excluding:)` (Swift Shift/src/Manager/WindowManager.swift), the exclusion filter uses exact rect equality (`rect.equalTo(excludedRect)`) to remove only the dragged window itself from snap candidates. Containing or maximized background windows must NOT be excluded — their outer edges are valid snap targets. Actual snapping is gated by perpendicular-overlap and a 10px edge-proximity check in MouseTracker, not by this exclusion filter.

static func getNSApplication(from element: AXUIElement) -> NSRunningApplication? {
var pid: pid_t = 0; AXUIElementGetPid(element, &pid); return NSRunningApplication(processIdentifier: pid)
}
Expand All @@ -89,4 +103,3 @@ class WindowManager {
return WindowBounds(topLeft: fixed, topRight: NSPoint(x: fixed.x + windowSize.width, y: fixed.y), bottomLeft: NSPoint(x: fixed.x, y: fixed.y - windowSize.height), bottomRight: NSPoint(x: fixed.x + windowSize.width, y: fixed.y - windowSize.height))
}
}

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