aw-watcher-web

A cross-browser WebExtension that serves as a web browser watcher for ActivityWatch.

Installation

Official Releases

Install from official stores:

• Chrome Web Store
• Firefox Add-ons

Development Build

Download the latest development build from our GitHub Actions:

1. Click on the latest successful workflow run
2. Scroll down to "Artifacts"
3. Download either firefox.zip or chrome.zip

[!NOTE]

• GitHub login is required to download artifacts
• These builds are unsigned and require developer mode/settings

Firefox Enterprise Policy

[!NOTE]
Due to Mozilla Add-on Policy, this is not possible with the Mozilla-hosted versions of the extension. You will need to fork the extension and change a hardcoded value to make this work.

Due to the above issue, a privacy notice must be displayed to comply with the Mozilla Add-on Policy. This can be pre-accepted by setting the following Firefox Enterprise Policy (More about Firefox Policies):

jsonCopy
{
    "policies": {
        "3rdparty": {
            "Extensions": {
                "{ef87d84c-2127-493f-b952-5b4e744245bc}": {
                    "consentOfflineDataCollection": true
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Node.js (23 or higher)
• Git
• Make

Build Steps

1. Clone the repository with submodules:

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git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/ActivityWatch/aw-watcher-web.git
cd aw-watcher-web

2. Install dependencies:

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make install

3. Build the extension:

shCopy
# For Firefox:
make build-firefox

# For Chrome:
make build-chrome

This will create zip files in the artifacts directory:

• artifacts/firefox.zip for Firefox
• artifacts/chrome.zip for Chrome

if you want to build safari version

1. First follow the steps above to build the extension:

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make install
make build-safari

2. Convert the extension to Safari format:

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xcrun safari-web-extension-converter ./build

after finished, xcode will open automatically.

3. In Xcode:

• Select build target of macOS
• Build the project (⌘B)
• Run the extension (⌘R)

4. Enable the extension in Safari:
   • Open Safari
   • Go to Safari > Settings > Extensions
   • Enable "aw-watcher-web"

[!NOTE]

• You need Xcode installed to build Safari extensions
• The extension needs to be signed with your Apple Developer account
• Safari extensions require macOS 11.0 or later

Installing the Development Build

Chrome

1. Extract artifacts/chrome.zip to a folder
2. Go to chrome://extensions
3. Enable "Developer mode"
4. Click "Load unpacked" and select the extracted folder

Firefox

1. Go to about:addons
2. Click the gear icon (⚙️) and select "Install Add-on From File..."
3. Navigate to and select the artifacts/firefox.zip file

[!NOTE]
For Firefox, installing unsigned extensions requires Firefox Developer Edition or Nightly.
In Firefox Developer Edition, you need to set xpinstall.signatures.required to false in about:config.