qutebrowser/doc/userscripts.asciidoc

Writing qutebrowser userscripts
===============================
The Compiler <mail@qutebrowser.org>

qutebrowser is extensible by writing userscripts which can be called via the
`:spawn --userscript` command, or via a key binding.

You can also call a userscript via hints so they get the selected hint URL by
calling `:hint links userscript ...`.

These userscripts are similar to the (non-javascript) dwb userscripts. They can
be written in any language which can read environment variables and write to a
FIFO. Note they are *not* related to Greasemonkey userscripts.

Note for simple things such as opening the current page with another browser or
mpv, a simple key binding to something like `:spawn mpv {url}` should suffice.

Also note userscripts need to have the executable bit set (`chmod +x`) for
qutebrowser to run them.

To call a userscript, it needs to be stored in your data directory under
`userscripts` (for example: `~/.local/share/qutebrowser/userscripts/myscript`), 
or just use an absolute path.

Getting information
-------------------

The following environment variables will be set when a userscript is launched:

- `QUTE_MODE`: Either `hints` (started via hints) or `command` (started via
  command or key binding).
- `QUTE_USER_AGENT`: The currently set user agent.
- `QUTE_FIFO`: The FIFO or file to write commands to.
- `QUTE_HTML`: Path of a file containing the HTML source of the current page.
- `QUTE_TEXT`: Path of a file containing the plaintext of the current page.
- `QUTE_CONFIG_DIR`: Path of the directory containing qutebrowser's configuration.
- `QUTE_DATA_DIR`: Path of the directory containing qutebrowser's data.
- `QUTE_DOWNLOAD_DIR`: Path of the downloads directory.

In `command` mode:

- `QUTE_URL`: The current URL.
- `QUTE_TITLE`: The title of the current page.
- `QUTE_SELECTED_TEXT`: The text currently selected on the page.
- `QUTE_SELECTED_HTML` The HTML currently selected on the page (not supported
  with QtWebEngine).

In `hints` mode:

- `QUTE_URL`: The URL selected via hints.
- `QUTE_SELECTED_TEXT`: The plain text of the element selected via hints.
- `QUTE_SELECTED_HTML` The HTML of the element selected via hints.

Sending commands
----------------

Normal qutebrowser commands can be written to `$QUTE_FIFO` and will be
executed.

On Unix/OS X, this is a named pipe and commands written to it will get executed
immediately.

On Windows, this is a regular file, and the commands in it will be executed as
soon as your userscript terminates. This means when writing multiple commands,
you should append to the file (`>>` in bash) rather than overwrite it (`>`).

Examples
--------

Opening the currently selected word on http://www.dict.cc/[dict.cc]:

[source,bash]
----
#!/bin/bash

echo "open -t http://www.dict.cc/?s=$QUTE_SELECTED_TEXT" >> "$QUTE_FIFO"
----