list_windows
Retrieve available windows for screenshot capture, providing IDs and titles to select targets for automated document processing and PDF conversion.
Instructions
List all available windows for screenshot capture.
Returns:
JSON string containing list of windows with their IDs, titles, and properties.Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
No arguments | |||
Output Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| result | Yes |
Implementation Reference
- server.py:71-102 (handler)Primary MCP tool handler and registration for 'list_windows'. Initializes CrossPlatformWindowManager, lists windows, adds environment info, and returns formatted JSON response.
@mcp.tool() async def list_windows() -> str: """ List all available windows for screenshot capture. Returns: JSON string containing list of windows with their IDs, titles, and properties. """ try: wm = get_window_manager() windows = wm.list_windows() env_info = wm.get_environment_info() result = { "status": "success", "windows": windows, "count": len(windows), "environment": env_info } return json.dumps(result, indent=2) except Exception as e: logger.error(f"Failed to list windows: {e}") return json.dumps({ "status": "error", "error": str(e), "windows": [], "count": 0, "environment": {"error": "Could not determine environment"} }) - capture.py:1375-1390 (helper)CrossPlatformWindowManager.list_windows(): Platform-agnostic wrapper that delegates to specific manager (WindowsWindowManager or WindowCapture) and enriches window data with environment information.
def list_windows(self) -> List[Dict[str, str]]: """List all available windows using the appropriate manager.""" try: windows = self.manager.list_windows() # Add environment info to each window for window in windows: window['environment'] = self.environment if 'type' not in window: window['type'] = 'x11' if self.environment == 'linux' else self.environment return windows except Exception as e: logger.error(f"Failed to list windows: {e}") return [] - capture.py:75-234 (helper)WindowsWindowManager.list_windows(): Core implementation for Windows using detailed PowerShell script with Win32 API calls to enumerate capturable windows (visible, minimized, maximized) with properties like ID, title, process info, state.
def list_windows(self) -> List[Dict[str, str]]: """ List all Windows applications with visible windows using PowerShell. Returns list of window info dictionaries. """ if not self.powershell_available: logger.error("PowerShell not available - cannot list Windows applications") return [] try: # Enhanced PowerShell script to get comprehensive window information ps_script = ''' Add-Type -TypeDefinition @" using System; using System.Runtime.InteropServices; using System.Text; public class Win32 { [DllImport("user32.dll")] public static extern bool IsWindowVisible(IntPtr hWnd); [DllImport("user32.dll")] public static extern bool IsIconic(IntPtr hWnd); [DllImport("user32.dll")] public static extern bool IsZoomed(IntPtr hWnd); [DllImport("user32.dll")] public static extern int GetWindowText(IntPtr hWnd, StringBuilder lpString, int nMaxCount); [DllImport("user32.dll")] public static extern int GetWindowTextLength(IntPtr hWnd); [DllImport("user32.dll")] public static extern uint GetWindowThreadProcessId(IntPtr hWnd, out uint lpdwProcessId); } "@ $windows = @() # Get processes with capturable windows only Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.MainWindowHandle -ne 0 -and $_.ProcessName -notmatch "^(dwm|csrss|winlogon|wininit)$" } | ForEach-Object { $handle = [IntPtr]$_.MainWindowHandle $isVisible = [Win32]::IsWindowVisible($handle) $isMinimized = [Win32]::IsIconic($handle) $isMaximized = [Win32]::IsZoomed($handle) # Only include windows that are in capturable states # Skip hidden windows that can't be meaningfully captured if (-not ($isVisible -or $isMinimized)) { return # Skip this window } # Get window title using Windows API (more reliable than MainWindowTitle) $titleLength = [Win32]::GetWindowTextLength($handle) if ($titleLength -gt 0) { $title = New-Object System.Text.StringBuilder($titleLength + 1) [Win32]::GetWindowText($handle, $title, $title.Capacity) | Out-Null $windowTitle = $title.ToString() } else { $windowTitle = $_.MainWindowTitle } # Include window even if title is empty, but provide useful info if ([string]::IsNullOrEmpty($windowTitle)) { $windowTitle = "[$($_.ProcessName) - $($_.Id)]" } # Determine window state - only capturable states $windowState = if ($isMinimized) { "minimized" } elseif ($isMaximized) { "maximized" } else { "normal" } $windows += @{ id = $_.MainWindowHandle.ToString() title = $windowTitle process_name = $_.ProcessName process_id = $_.Id.ToString() window_handle = $_.MainWindowHandle.ToString() is_visible = $isVisible is_minimized = $isMinimized is_maximized = $isMaximized window_state = $windowState type = "windows" } } # Convert to JSON $windows | ConvertTo-Json -Compress ''' result = subprocess.run( ['powershell.exe', '-Command', ps_script], capture_output=True, text=True, check=True, timeout=30, # 30 second timeout for window enumeration encoding='utf-8', errors='ignore' # Ignore encoding errors to handle special characters ) import json if result.stdout.strip(): try: # Handle both single object and array responses data = json.loads(result.stdout.strip()) if isinstance(data, dict): data = [data] # Convert single result to list windows = [] for window_info in data: # Only include windows with valid window handles (> 0) window_handle = str(window_info.get('window_handle', '0')) if window_handle == '0': continue # Skip processes without actual windows # Use the enhanced window information from the new PowerShell script windows.append({ 'id': str(window_info.get('id', '')), 'title': window_info.get('title', ''), 'process_name': window_info.get('process_name', ''), 'process_id': str(window_info.get('process_id', '')), 'window_handle': window_handle, 'is_visible': window_info.get('is_visible', False), 'is_minimized': window_info.get('is_minimized', False), 'is_maximized': window_info.get('is_maximized', False), 'window_state': window_info.get('window_state', 'normal'), # Default to normal instead of unknown 'type': 'windows' }) logger.info(f"Found {len(windows)} capturable windows using enhanced detection") if windows: # Log stats about capturable window states for debugging normal_count = sum(1 for w in windows if w['window_state'] == 'normal') minimized_count = sum(1 for w in windows if w['window_state'] == 'minimized') maximized_count = sum(1 for w in windows if w['window_state'] == 'maximized') logger.info(f"Window states: {normal_count} normal, {minimized_count} minimized, {maximized_count} maximized") return windows except json.JSONDecodeError as e: logger.error(f"Failed to parse PowerShell JSON output: {e}") logger.error(f"PowerShell output was: {result.stdout[:500]}...") # Log first 500 chars for debugging return [] else: logger.warning("PowerShell returned empty output - no windows detected") return [] except subprocess.TimeoutExpired: logger.error("PowerShell window enumeration timed out after 30 seconds") return [] except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e: logger.error(f"Failed to list Windows applications: {e}") return [] - capture.py:1439-1479 (helper)WindowCapture.list_windows(): Linux/X11-specific implementation using 'wmctrl -l' command to list windows with basic properties (ID, title, desktop, machine).
def list_windows(self) -> List[Dict[str, str]]: """ List all available windows using wmctrl command. Returns list of window info dictionaries. """ try: # Use wmctrl to list windows result = subprocess.run( ['wmctrl', '-l'], capture_output=True, text=True, check=True, timeout=10 # 10 second timeout for window listing ) windows = [] for line in result.stdout.strip().split('\n'): if line.strip(): parts = line.split(None, 3) if len(parts) >= 4: window_id = parts[0] desktop = parts[1] machine = parts[2] title = parts[3] windows.append({ 'id': window_id, 'title': title, 'desktop': desktop, 'machine': machine }) return windows except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e: logger.error(f"Failed to list windows with wmctrl: {e}") return [] except FileNotFoundError: logger.error("wmctrl not found. Please install: sudo apt-get install wmctrl") return []