mirror of https://github.com/andwati/kget-capture.git synced 2026-10-18 03:02:56 +00:00

Files

T

Default KGet's download folder to Downloads and add release workflow

install.sh now sets KGet's remembered "New Download" folder
(kgetrc Internal/LastDirectory) to the XDG downloads directory if it
isn't already configured, since KGet's own out-of-the-box default was
Documents. Falls back correctly even when xdg-user-dir has no
user-dirs.dirs config to read (it silently returns bare $HOME
otherwise).

Also add a GitHub Actions workflow that packages extension/ into a zip
and publishes a GitHub Release with generated notes whenever a
v*.*.* tag is pushed.

2026-08-12 09:13:13 +03:00

4.4 KiB

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KGet Capture

A Chrome (and other Chromium-browser) extension that sends downloads to KGet, KDE's download manager, instead of (or in addition to) the browser's built-in downloader.

Right-click any link, image, video, or audio element and choose "Download with KGet" to open KGet's "New Download" dialog, prefilled with the URL — edit the filename or destination folder if you want, then confirm to start the transfer.
A toolbar toggle enables auto-capture: while on, every download Chrome starts is cancelled and redirected to the same KGet dialog automatically. Defaults to ON.

Requirements

Linux with KGet installed (and running, or set to autostart)
One of: Google Chrome, Chromium, Brave, Vivaldi, Microsoft Edge
python3 and dbus-send on PATH (standard on virtually all Linux/KDE systems already)

Install

git clone <this-repo-url> kget-capture
cd kget-capture
./install.sh

install.sh registers a native messaging host for every supported browser it finds installed, then prints the extension's fixed ID and next steps:

Open chrome://extensions (or your browser's equivalent).
Enable Developer mode (top-right toggle).
Click Load unpacked and select this repo's extension/ directory.
Confirm the loaded extension's ID matches the one install.sh printed.

Usage

On-demand: right-click a link/image/video/audio → "Download with KGet".
Automatic: click the toolbar icon and flip "Auto-capture all downloads" on or off. The badge shows "ON" (green) or "OFF" (grey).

Uninstall

./uninstall.sh

This removes the native messaging host registrations and the installed host script. You'll still need to remove the unpacked extension yourself via chrome://extensions — that step can't be scripted.

Releases

Pushing a tag matching v*.*.* (e.g. v1.0.0) triggers a GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/release.yml) that zips extension/ and publishes it as a GitHub Release with auto-generated release notes. Bump "version" in extension/manifest.json before tagging so the packaged extension's version matches.

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

Known limitations

blob:/data: URLs can't be captured. There's no real network URL to hand to KGet, so these downloads proceed normally through Chrome (a console warning is logged in the extension's service worker).
Auto-capture has a brief head start. Manifest V3 removed blocking webRequest, so Chrome begins the download before the extension can cancel it. A small/partial temp file may transiently appear before it's erased.
A KGet dialog opens for every capture. The extension uses KGet's showNewTransferDialog D-Bus method, which opens the interactive "New Download" dialog rather than starting the transfer immediately. This is intentional — it lets you rename the file or change the destination folder before it starts. If you'd rather it start immediately without a prompt, see Troubleshooting for the alternate addTransfer call — note that route only returns once the dialog is dismissed, so it's not what the extension uses by default.
KGet must already be running. If it's not, captures fail silently from the user's perspective — check the service worker console for the actual error (see Troubleshooting).

Troubleshooting

Check native host registration: confirm ~/.config/<browser>/NativeMessagingHosts/com.kget_capture.host.json exists and its path points at an executable file (~/.local/share/kget-capture/kget_capture_host.py).
Inspect the extension's logs: on chrome://extensions, find "KGet Capture", click "service worker" under "Inspect views" to open its console.

Test D-Bus directly:

dbus-send --print-reply --dest=org.kde.kget /KGet \
  org.kde.kget.main.showNewTransferDialog array:string:"https://example.com/file.zip"

If this fails with ServiceUnknown, KGet isn't running. To skip the dialog and start a transfer straight away instead, use addTransfer with a real destination folder:

dbus-send --print-reply --dest=org.kde.kget /KGet \
  org.kde.kget.main.addTransfer string:"https://example.com/file.zip" string:"$HOME/Downloads" boolean:true

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

4.4 KiB Raw Blame History