Largely automate the process of making a special-purpose Firefox profile without window chrome.

create_firefox_app.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
from __future__ import print_function

import argparse
from os import system
from glob import glob
from os.path import join, expanduser
HOME = expanduser('~')



def sanitize(s, alpha=True, ALPHA=True, num=True, extra='_'):
    allowed = str(extra)

    abc = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'

    if alpha:
        allowed += abc.lower()

    if ALPHA:
        allowed += abc.upper()

    if num:
        allowed += '1234567890'

    return ''.join([
        c for c in s if c in allowed
    ])


parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(formatter_class=argparse.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter)
parser.add_argument('URL', type=str, help='Homepage to be used when opening new windows in the profile via the .desktop file.')
parser.add_argument('icon_name', type=str, help='Icon name to use in .desktop file. An explicit path can be given, or something that resolves using the regular icon search path (however that works; e.g., for ~/.local/share/icons/gmail.svg, you could enter just gmail.svg).')
parser.add_argument('--app_name', type=str, default=None, help='Name for the generated "app" to use in the .desktop file. If not given, a santized version of the URL will be used instead.')
parser.add_argument('--hide_user_chrome', type=bool, default=True, help='Whether to generate userChrome.css file that will hide window chrome in all windows created in the new profile. Useful to make web-apps seem more app-y.')
parser.add_argument('--run_after_creating', type=bool, default=True, help='Whether we should start the new app after creating it.')
args = parser.parse_args()

tag = sanitize(args.URL)
if tag.startswith('https'):
    tag = tag[5:]
elif tag.startswith('http'):
    tag = tag[4:]

if args.app_name is None:
    args.app_name = args.icon_name.replace('_', ' ').title()


def run_and_speak(cmd, instructions):
    print()
    for l in instructions.split('\n'):
        print(l)
    print()
    print('$ %s' % cmd)
    return system(cmd)

run_and_speak('firefox -P',
'''Create Firefox profile with name "%s" (without quotes) now.
  1. Be sure not to check the box setting this to the default.
  2. Optionally, open the new profile and set the home page to "%s".''' % (tag, args.URL)
)


execline = '/usr/bin/firefox -new-window -P "%s" --class="%s" "%s"' % (tag, tag, args.URL)
desktopfile = '''#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Name=%s
Exec=%s
Icon=%s
StartupWMClass=%s''' % (
    args.app_name,
    execline,
    args.icon_name,
    tag,
)
desktopfile_path = join(HOME, '.local', 'share', 'applications', '%s.desktop' % tag)

print('Creating "%s" with contents:\n>>>>\n%s\n<<<<' % (desktopfile_path, desktopfile))
with open(desktopfile_path, 'w') as fp:
    fp.write(desktopfile)
system('chmod +x "%s"' % desktopfile_path)

# Find profile dir.
print('Searching for profile folder:')
found = None
for folder in glob(join(HOME, '.mozilla', 'firefox', '*')):
    if tag in folder:
        print('>>>>', end=' ')
        found = folder
    else:
        print('    ', end=' ')
    print(folder)
if found is None:
    print('Couldn\'t find profile "%s". Did you create it?' % tag)
    exit(1)
else:
    userChrome_path = join(found, 'chrome', 'userChrome.css')
    print('Found profile folder at "%s"; creating userChrome.css file:\n%s' % (found, userChrome_path))


if args.hide_user_chrome:
    system('mkdir -p "%s/chrome/"' % found)
    with open(userChrome_path, 'a') as fp:
        fp.write('''/*
     * Do not remove the @namespace line -- it's required for correct functioning
     */
    @namespace URL("http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul"); /* set default namespace to XUL */

    /*
     * Hide tab bar, navigation bar and scrollbars
     * !important may be added to force override, but not necessary
     * #content is not necessary to hide scroll bars
     */
    #TabsToolbar {visibility: collapse;}
    #navigator-toolbox {visibility: collapse;}
    browser {margin-right: -14px; margin-bottom: -14px;}''')

if args.run_after_creating:
    run_and_speak(execline, 'Starting new app.')

Hi @tsbertalan, does this script work with any non-Firefox? For example, I want to two Dolphin apps, one Dolphin with Meld whose WM CLASS would be dolphin-meld and another Dolphin with Beyond Compare whose WM Class would be dolphin-bcompare.

No, this is for Firefox on Linux. It has only been tested in Ubuntu. It creates a .desktop shortcut file; presumably an alternative script could be written that creates .ink files or whatever it is that Windows uses. Android and iOS are a completely different story, which I'm not really competent to comment on.

…

On Mon, Nov 25, 2019 at 8:24 PM Gustavo Reis ***@***.***> wrote: Hi @tsbertalan <https://github.com/tsbertalan>, does this script work with any non-Firefox? For example, I want to two Dolphin apps, one Dolphin with Meld whose WM CLASS would be dolphin-meld and another Dolphin with Beyond Compare whose WM Class would be dolphin-bcompare. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://gist.github.com/5773a35403052578340c5bf5e28c6675?email_source=notifications&email_token=AACKXWJYF5ZWS6CKKETB3SDQVR3DTA5CNFSM4JRRASC2YY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVNDWS43UINXW23LFNZ2KUY3PNVWWK3TUL5UWJTQAF4ZBU#gistcomment-3093018>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AACKXWOXG7JPKOBFAP2AREDQVR3DTANCNFSM4JRRASCQ> .

Too bad, @tsbertalan! Thank you for your answer! I have to duplicate the source code, modify and compile.

Thanks for uploading this! It helped me separate my work Firefox from my personal Firefox :D