Hide, show, open terminal

hide_show_term.sh

#!/bin/bash
pids="$(pidof gnome-terminal-server)"

if [ -z "$pids" ]
then
    gnome-terminal
else
    focus_window_pid="$(xdotool getwindowfocus getwindowpid)"

    if [[ $pids == *"$focus_window_pid"* ]]
    then
        xdotool getactivewindow windowminimize
    else
        wmctrl -lp | while read identity desktop_number PID window_title; do 
            if [[ $pids == *"$PID"* ]]; then
                wmctrl -ia $identity
            fi
        done
    fi
fi

I bound this shell script to a keyboard shortcut on my Ubuntu desktop. It makes for extremely quick access to the gnome terminal.

If a terminal window does not have focus, the script will move all terminals to the front and give one of them focus. If a terminal window does have focus, it will minimize that window. If no terminals are open, the script will open a new terminal.

Unfortunately, you need to install both xdotool and wmctrl because neither is fully featured enough to accomplish everything this script does.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install xdotool
sudo apt-get install wmctrl

This broke when I upgraded to Ubuntu 24. Switching back to Xorg from Wayland fixes it, though. https://beebom.com/how-switch-between-wayland-xorg-ubuntu/