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What do I set the download path to for users?

This is for a project where a user can download all their GitHub Gists.
This code gets the directory of the user's Download folder on their computer for files to download into. But what if the user's browser's download location is not the computer's Download folder? Maybe it's the Desktop or some random folder.
Am I supposed to check what browser the user is using and somehow get the path of where their download location is? Though a Google search says there's 200 different browsers...
Even if I was to ignore the user's browser's download location and save to the operating system's Download folder there are at least 33 according to a search.
# Find the user's download folder
# Get the operating system
system = platform.system()
# Set the path to save the files to the user's Download folder location
if system == "Windows":
save_path = os.path.join(os.environ['USERPROFILE'], 'Downloads')
elif system == "Darwin":
save_path = os.path.expanduser("~/Downloads")
elif system == "Linux":
save_path = os.path.expanduser("~/Downloads")

on windows to get the path of the Downloads folder, it should be done through win32Api, specifically through SHGetKnownFolderPath, python has access to it through ctypes, the way to access this specific function is taken from Windows Special and Known Folders from python stack overflow answer. with some modifications to read c_wchar_p.
you have to pass in the GUID for the downloads folder from KNOWNFOLDERID which is "{374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B}".
, so you end up with the following code that works only on 64-bit python, for 32-bit you will probably have to change the argument types.
from ctypes import windll, wintypes
from ctypes import *
from uuid import UUID
from itertools import count
from functools import partial
# ctypes GUID copied from MSDN sample code
class GUID(Structure):
_fields_ = [
("Data1", wintypes.DWORD),
("Data2", wintypes.WORD),
("Data3", wintypes.WORD),
("Data4", wintypes.BYTE * 8)
]
def __init__(self, uuidstr):
uuid = UUID(uuidstr)
Structure.__init__(self)
self.Data1, self.Data2, self.Data3, self.Data4[0], self.Data4[1], rest = uuid.fields
for i in range(2, 8):
self.Data4[i] = rest>>(8-i-1)*8 & 0xff
FOLDERID_Downloads = '{374DE290-123F-4565-9164-39C4925E467B}'
SHGetKnownFolderPath = windll.shell32.SHGetKnownFolderPath
SHGetKnownFolderPath.argtypes = [
POINTER(GUID), wintypes.DWORD, wintypes.HANDLE, POINTER(c_char_p)]
def get_known_folder_path(uuidstr):
pathptr = c_char_p()
guid = GUID(uuidstr)
if SHGetKnownFolderPath(byref(guid), 0, 0, byref(pathptr)):
raise Exception('Whatever you want here...')
resp = cast(pathptr,POINTER(c_wchar))
iterator = (resp.__getitem__(i) for i in count(0))
result = ''.join(list(iter(iterator.__next__, '\x00')))
return result
print(get_known_folder_path(FOLDERID_Downloads))
this will return the Downloads folder location even if the user changes it through the properties, or for different languages.
on linux a similar method is to get it from $HOME/.config/user-dirs.dirs under the name of XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR, which is changed with user settings changes.
$ grep XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs
XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/Downloads"
This is obviously only the "default" location, you should allow the user to manually specify his own custom downloads path.
Using a hardcoded path is a recipe for "but it works on my machine", so just ask the OS about its path.

Open installed apps on Windows intelligently

I am coding a voice assistant to automate my pc which is running Windows 11 and I want to open apps using voice commands, I don't want to hard code every installed app's .exe path. Is there any way to get a dictionary of the app's name and their .exe path. I am able to get currently running apps and close them using this:
def close_app(app_name):
running_apps=psutil.process_iter(['pid','name'])
found=False
for app in running_apps:
sys_app=app.info.get('name').split('.')[0].lower()
if sys_app in app_name.split() or app_name in sys_app:
pid=app.info.get('pid')
try:
app_pid = psutil.Process(pid)
app_pid.terminate()
found=True
except: pass
else: pass
if not found:
print(app_name + " is not running")
else:
print('Closed ' + app_name)

Possibly using both wmic and use either which or gmc to grab the path and build the dict?
Following is a very basic code, not tested completely.
import subprocess
import shutil
Data = subprocess.check_output(['wmic', 'product', 'get', 'name'])
a = str(Data)
appsDict = {}
x = (a.replace("b\\'Name","").split("\\r\\r\\n"))
for i in range(len(x) - 1):
appName = x[i+1].rstrip()
appPath = shutil.which(appName)
appsDict.update({appName: appPath})
print(appsDict)

Under Windows PowerShell there is a Get-Command utility. Finding Windows executables using Get-Command is described nicely in this issue. Essentially it's just running
Get-Command *
Now you need to use this from python to get the results of command as a variable. This can be done by
import subprocess
data = subprocess.check_output(['Get-Command', '*'])
Probably this is not the best, and not a complete answer, but maybe it's a useful idea.

This can be accomplished via the following code:
import os
def searchfiles(extension, folder):
with open(extension[1:] + "file.txt", "w", encoding="utf-8") as filewrite:
for r, d, f in os.walk(folder):
for file in f:
if file.endswith(extension):
filewrite.write(f"{r + file}\n")
searchfiles('.exe', 'H:\\')
Inspired from: https://pythonprogramming.altervista.org/find-all-the-files-on-your-computer/

How do I create a link to a file in a specific directory?

I have a python file, which is... supposed to be an app. I found out that if I put a shortcut of it in the
"C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools"
section, that I would be able to put it in the application list, and the system would detect is as an app.
The python file will be a game kind of thing, and if others install it, it would be better if there was just another python file that creates the shortcut in the destination.
But.
I do not know how to do this with python.
I tried this:
import win32com.client
import getpass
from time import sleep
user = getpass.getuser()
import pythoncom
import os
# pythoncom.CoInitialize() # remove the '#' at the beginning of the line if
running in a thread.
desktop = r'C:/Users/' + user + '/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/Start
Menu/Programs/System Tools' # path to where you want to put the .lnk
path = os.path.join(desktop, 'Skulk.lnk')
target = r'C:/Users/' + user + '/main.py'
shell = win32com.client.Dispatch("WScript.Shell")
shortcut = shell.CreateShortCut(path)
shortcut.Targetpath = target
shortcut.WindowStyle = 7 # 7 - Minimized, 3 - Maximized, 1 - Normal
shortcut.save()
print("Success!")
sleep(3)
If it is, could you please tell me how to do it?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Trying to create a run Key in the Registry using Python

Hey guys I am using this code from a book. For the code it does take putty and move it to the document folder, but it does not end up putting in the registry key. I am running it python version 2.7 on a windows 7 64 bit machine.
import os # needed for getting working directory
import shutil # needed for file copying
import subprocess # needed for getting user profile
import _winreg as wreg # needed for editing registry DB
path = os.getcwd().strip('/n') #Get current working directory where the backdoor gets executed, we use the output to build our source path
Null,userprof = subprocess.check_output('set USERPROFILE', shell=True).split('=')
destination = userprof.strip('\n\r') + '\\Documents\\' +'putty.exe'
if not os.path.exists(destination):
shutil.copyfile(path+'\putty.exe', destination)
key = wreg.OpenKey(wreg.HKEY_CURRENT_USER, "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run",0,
wreg.KEY_ALL_ACCESS)
wreg.SetValueEx(key, 'RegUpdater', 0, wreg.REG_SZ,destination)
key.Close()

I run it in python 3 and it works well
path = os.getcwd().strip('\n')
Null, userprof = subprocess.check_output('set USERPROFILE', shell=True, stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
stderr=subprocess.PIPE).decode().split('=')
destination = userprof.strip('\n\r') + '\\Documents\\' + 'client.exe'
if not os.path.exists(destination):
shutil.copyfile(path + '\client.exe', destination)
key = wreg.OpenKey(wreg.HKEY_CURRENT_USER, "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run", 0, wreg.KEY_ALL_ACCESS)
wreg.SetValueEx(key,'RegUpdater', 0 , wreg.REG_SZ, destination)
key.Close()

git push through python subprocess.Popen() with authentication

I am trying to use git with python subprocess.Popen()
So far this is my code
import subprocess
gitPath = 'C:/path/to/git/cmd.exe'
repoPath = 'C:/path/to/my/repo'
repoUrl = 'https://www.github.com/login/repo'
#list to set directory and working tree
dirList = ['--git-dir='+repoPath+'/.git','--work-tree='+repoPath]
#init git
subprocess.Popen([gitPath] + ['init',repoPath],cwd=repoPath)
#add remote
subprocess.Popen([gitPath] + dirList + ['remote','add','origin',repoUrl],cwd=repoPath)
#Check status, returns files to be committed etc, so a working repo exists there
subprocess.Popen([gitPath] + dirList + ['status'],cwd=repoPath)
#Adds all files in folder
subprocess.Popen([gitPath] + dirList + ['add','.'],cwd=repoPath)
#Push, gives error:
subprocess.Popen([gitPath] + dirList + ['push','origin','master],cwd=repoPath)
This works, except for the last command. That's where I get this error:
bash.exe: warning: could not find /tmp, please create!
fatal: 'git' does not appear to be a git repository
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.
Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.
Of course I wouldn't expect it to work, since I did not put my login details anywhere in the code. I do not have any idea how I can add it though. I have a folder /.ssh in the C:/users/myUser directory. I tried changing the last line of my code to this:
env = {'HOME' : 'C:/users/myUser'}
subprocess.Popen([gitPath] + dirList + ['push','origin','master'],cwd=repoPath,env=env)
in the hope of git finding the /.ssh folder, but without any luck. I also tried without 'dirList', but it didn't matter. I also tried changing the name 'origin' into an url, but that also didn't work.
I do not mind if I am using the .ssh keys I already created, or if I have to use a method with login/password. I am not looking to use a git library though.

There might be a race condition in this script. Earlier subprocess
might not finish while a next one errors out because a git command depends on the previous ones. Instead it is possible to start a subprocess and wait until it is finished with
subprocess.run() or subprocess.check_ouput(). Might still need adjustment depending on layout
import subprocess
import shutil
# get a location of git
gitPath = shutil.which('git')
repoPath = 'C:/path/to/my/repo'
repoUrl = 'https://www.github.com/login/repo'
# list to set directory and working tree
dirList = ['--git-dir='+repoPath+'/.git', '--work-tree='+repoPath]
# init git
subprocess.run([gitPath] + ['init', repoPath], cwd=repoPath)
# add remote
subprocess.run([gitPath] + dirList + ['remote', 'add', 'origin', repoUrl], cwd=repoPath)
# check status, returns files to be committed etc, so a working repo exists there
subprocess.run([gitPath] + dirList + ['status'], cwd=repoPath)
# adds all files in folder
subprocess.run([gitPath] + dirList + ['add', '.'], cwd=repoPath)
# push
subprocess.run([gitPath] + dirList + ['push', 'origin', 'main'], cwd=repoPath)
For credentials could use Windows Credential Manager, cache, manager, --global, etc. - depends on what's needed.
git config --global credential.helper cache
# or in python
subprocess.run([gitPath] + ['config', 'credential.helper', 'cache', repoPath], cwd=repoPath)