Note: This site is currently "Under construction". I'm migrating to a new version of my site building software. Lots of things are in a state of disrepair as a result (for example, footnote links aren't working). It's all part of the process of building in public. Most things should still be readable though.

Get The Name Of The Current Mac App In OSA/JXA JavaScript

Run this to get the name of the currnet app

Code

#!/usr/bin/env osascript -l JavaScript

const appName = Application("System Events").processes.whose(
  {frontmost: {'=': true }}
)[0].name()

console.log(appName)

Results

iTerm2

Notes

  • When run in Emacs Org Mode the return value is blank. I'm guessing that has to do with the way it does the execution process

  • I spent an hour figuring out that the reason I couldn't get the name to was due to running it in Emacs. I love having executable source code blocks in my grimoire, but sometimes you run into things like that

References