KDE Web App Manager

Note: I created (vibe coded) this because I wanted to have a clean way to create and manage PWAs on KDE. This is my first KDE app, Claude did most of the heavy lifting so there might be loads of IA slop code in here. You have been warned. In saying this, I would really appreaciate any sort of feedback if anyone happens to use this app.

A KDE Plasma application for creating and managing Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) on Fedora KDE.

Web apps run in a clean, chrome-free window powered by an embedded Qt WebEngine (Chromium) view, and are fully integrated into the KDE application launcher and task manager with their own icons. Links that lead off the app's own site open in your default browser, so the window stays focused on the app itself.

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Features

• Add web apps from any URL with a name, icon, and category
• Fetch favicons automatically from the site, or choose a custom image
• Embedded web view — apps run in their own Qt WebEngine window with no tabs or address bar; no external browser needed
• External links open in your default browser — clicking a link to another site (or a target=_blank / mailto: link) hands off to your default browser instead of navigating the app away
• Isolated profiles — each app gets its own persistent profile so cookies, logins, and settings don't bleed between apps or your main browser
• KDE integration — apps appear in KDE's application launcher and icons-only task manager with their own icon
• Edit and remove apps at any time; removal cleans up the desktop entry and profile

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Requirements

Runtime

• KDE Plasma 6
• Qt 6 WebEngine (qt6-qtwebengine) — provides the embedded Chromium view; no separate browser required

Build

• CMake ≥ 3.20
• Qt 6 (Core, Gui, Widgets, Network, WebEngineWidgets)
• KDE Frameworks 6: CoreAddons, I18n, XmlGui, WidgetsAddons, KIO, IconThemes, ConfigWidgets, Notifications
• Extra CMake Modules (ECM)

Install build dependencies on Fedora:

sudo dnf install \
  cmake extra-cmake-modules \
  qt6-qtbase-devel qt6-qtnetwork-devel qt6-qtwebengine-devel \
  kf6-kcoreaddons-devel kf6-ki18n-devel kf6-kxmlgui-devel \
  kf6-kwidgetsaddons-devel kf6-kio-devel kf6-kiconthemes-devel \
  kf6-kconfigwidgets-devel kf6-knotifications-devel

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Building

git clone https://github.com/j4np0l/kwebappmanager.git
cd kwebappmanager
cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=~/.local
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)
cmake --install build

The app installs to ~/.local/bin/kwebappmanager and registers a desktop entry so it appears in the KDE application launcher.

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Usage

Launch from the app menu (Web App Manager) or run:

kwebappmanager

Adding a web app

1. Click Add Web App (or press Ctrl+N)
2. Enter a name and URL
3. Pick a category, and choose whether to use a dedicated (isolated) profile
4. Optionally click Fetch from URL to grab the site's favicon, or Choose file… for a custom icon
5. Click OK

The app is immediately available in the KDE application launcher.

Launching

Double-click an entry in the list, press Enter, or click the Launch toolbar button.

Editing / Removing

Select an entry and click Edit or Remove (or press Delete). Removing an app deletes its desktop entry and, if an isolated profile was enabled, its profile directory.

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How it works

Each app gets a .desktop file written to ~/.local/share/applications/kwebapp-<id>.desktop. Instead of launching an external browser, its Exec line re-invokes the manager in PWA runtime mode:

kwebappmanager --app <id>

In this mode the app hosts the page itself in an embedded QWebEngineView (Qt WebEngine / Chromium) with no tabs or address bar. Because the manager owns the window, it can control navigation:

• Same-site links navigate within the app window (use Alt+Left / Alt+Right to go back/forward).
• Off-site links, target=_blank / window.open popups, and mailto: / tel: links are handed to your default browser via QDesktopServices::openUrl().

The process sets its desktop file name to kwebapp-<id>, matching the .desktop entry's StartupWMClass, so KDE's task manager associates the window with the correct launcher and icon.

The embedded view's user agent has the QtWebEngine/<version> token stripped (leaving a plain Chrome user agent) so sites that sniff for a "real" browser don't reject it.

Isolated apps use a persistent WebEngine profile stored in ~/.local/share/kwebappmanager/profiles/<id>/; non-isolated apps run off-the-record (nothing persists between launches).

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License

GPL v3 — see LICENSE.