xdg activation may activate a window that isn't mapped yet and fails in 'strict' mode
GTK/GDK sets immediate focus using xdg activation on new windows when gtk_window_present()
is called. If the the window wasn't yet mapped the activation of it fails and the window isn't given focus. This is only a problem when focus stealing prevention is in 'strict' mode.
I would expect that window is focused once it's mapped instead of showing the window demands activation notification.