docs: preserve upstream English README
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[](https://ko-fi.com/rvaiya)
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# Impetus
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[](https://repology.org/project/keyd/versions)
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Linux lacks a good key remapping solution. In order to achieve satisfactory
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results a medley of tools need to be employed (e.g xcape, xmodmap) with the end
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result often being tethered to a specified environment (X11). keyd attempts to
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solve this problem by providing a flexible system wide daemon which remaps keys
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using kernel level input primitives (evdev, uinput).
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# Note on v2
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The config format has undergone several iterations since the first
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release. For those migrating their configs from v1 it is best
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to reread the [man page](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rvaiya/keyd/refs/heads/master/docs/keyd.scdoc) (`man keyd`).
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See also: [changelog](docs/CHANGELOG.md).
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# Goals
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- Speed (a hand tuned input loop written in C that takes <<1ms)
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- Simplicity (a [config format](#sample-config) that is intuitive)
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- Consistency (modifiers that [play nicely with layers](https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd/blob/6dc2d5c4ea76802fd192b143bdd53b1787fd6deb/docs/keyd.scdoc#L128) by default)
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- Modularity (a UNIXy core extensible through the use of an [IPC](https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd/blob/90973686723522c2e44d8e90bb3508a6da625a20/docs/keyd.scdoc#L391) mechanism)
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# Features
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keyd has several unique features many of which are traditionally only
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found in custom keyboard firmware like [QMK](https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware)
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as well as some which are unique to keyd.
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Some of the more interesting ones include:
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- Layers (with support for [hybrid modifiers](https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd/blob/6dc2d5c4ea76802fd192b143bdd53b1787fd6deb/docs/keyd.scdoc#L128)).
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- Key overloading (different behaviour on tap/hold).
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- Keyboard specific configuration.
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- Instantaneous remapping (no more flashing :)).
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- A client-server model that facilitates scripting and display server agnostic application remapping. (Currently ships with support for X, sway, and gnome (wayland)).
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- System wide config (works in a VT).
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- First class support for modifier overloading.
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- Unicode support.
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### keyd is for people who:
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- Would like to experiment with custom [layers](https://docs.qmk.fm/feature_layers) (i.e custom shift keys)
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and oneshot modifiers.
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- Want to have multiple keyboards with different layouts on the same machine.
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- Want to be able to remap `C-1` without breaking modifier semantics.
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- Want a keyboard config format which is easy to grok.
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- Like tiny daemons that adhere to the Unix philosophy.
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- Want to put the control and escape keys where God intended.
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- Wish to be able to switch to a VT to debug something without breaking their keymap.
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### What keyd isn't:
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- A tool for programming individual key up/down events.
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# Dependencies
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- Your favourite C compiler
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- Linux kernel headers (already present on most systems)
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## Optional
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- python (for application specific remapping)
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- python-xlib (only for X support)
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- dbus-python (only for KDE support)
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# Installation
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*Note:* master serves as the development branch, things may occasionally break
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between releases. Releases are [tagged](https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd/tags), and should be considered stable.
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## From Source
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git clone https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd
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cd keyd
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make && sudo make install
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sudo systemctl enable --now keyd
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# Quickstart
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1. Install and start keyd (e.g `sudo systemctl enable keyd --now`)
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2. Put the following in `/etc/keyd/default.conf`:
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```
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[ids]
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*
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[main]
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# Maps capslock to escape when pressed and control when held.
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capslock = overload(control, esc)
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# Remaps the escape key to capslock
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esc = capslock
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```
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Key names can be obtained by using the `keyd monitor` command. Note that while keyd is running, the output of this
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command will correspond to keyd's output. The original input events can be seen by first stopping keyd and then
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running the command. See the man page for more details.
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3. Run `sudo keyd reload` to reload the config set.
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4. See the man page (`man keyd`) for a more comprehensive description.
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Config errors will appear in the log output and can be accessed in the usual
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way using your system's service manager (e.g `sudo journalctl -eu keyd`).
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*Note*: It is possible to render your machine unusable with a bad config file.
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Should you find yourself in this position, the special key sequence
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`backspace+escape+enter` should cause keyd to terminate.
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Some mice (e.g the Logitech MX Master) are capable of emitting keys and
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are consequently matched by the wildcard id. It may be necessary to
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explicitly blacklist these.
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## Application Specific Remapping (experimental)
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- Add yourself to the keyd group:
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`usermod -aG keyd <user>`
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- Populate `~/.config/keyd/app.conf`:
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E.G
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[alacritty]
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alt.] = macro(C-g n)
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alt.[ = macro(C-g p)
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[chromium]
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alt.[ = C-S-tab
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alt.] = macro(C-tab)
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- Run:
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`keyd-application-mapper`
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You will probably want to put `keyd-application-mapper -d` somewhere in your
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display server initialization logic (e.g ~/.xinitrc) unless you are running Gnome.
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See the man page for more details.
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## SBC support
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Experimental support for single board computers (SBCs) via usb-gadget
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has been added courtesy of Giorgi Chavchanidze.
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See [usb-gadget.md](src/vkbd/usb-gadget.md) for details.
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## Packages
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Third-party packages exist for some distributions. If you wish to add
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yours to the list please file a PR. These are kindly maintained by community
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members, no personal responsibility is taken for them.
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### Alpine Linux
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[keyd](https://pkgs.alpinelinux.org/packages?name=keyd) package maintained by [@jirutka](https://github.com/jirutka).
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### Arch
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[Arch Linux](https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/keyd/) package maintained by Arch packagers.
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### Debian
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A keyd package is available in Debian 13 ("trixie") and later. To install:
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```shell
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sudo apt install keyd
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```
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### Fedora
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[COPR](https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/alternateved/keyd/) package maintained by [@alternateved](https://github.com/alternateved).
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### Gentoo
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[GURU](https://gitweb.gentoo.org/repo/proj/guru.git/tree/app-misc/keyd) package maintained by [jack@pngu.org](mailto:jack@pngu.org).
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### openSUSE
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[opensuse](https://software.opensuse.org//download.html?project=hardware&package=keyd) package maintained by [@bubbleguuum](https://github.com/bubbleguuum).
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Easy install with `sudo zypper in keyd`.
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### Ubuntu
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A keyd package is available in Ubuntu 25.04 ("plucky") and later. To install:
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```shell
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sudo apt install keyd
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```
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In addition, the latest Debian package backported to various Ubuntu releases can
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be found in the [`ppa:keyd-team/ppa`
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archive](https://launchpad.net/~keyd-team/+archive/ubuntu/ppa).
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### Void Linux
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[xbps](https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/tree/master/srcpkgs/keyd) package maintained by [@Barbaross](https://gitlab.com/Barbaross).
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Easy install with `sudo xbps-install -Su keyd`.
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# Example 1
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[ids]
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*
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[main]
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leftshift = oneshot(shift)
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capslock = overload(symbols, esc)
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[symbols]
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d = ~
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f = /
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...
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# Example 2
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This overrides specific alt combinations macOS users might
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be more familiar with, while keeping the rest intact.
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[ids]
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*
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[alt]
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x = C-x
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c = C-c
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v = C-v
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a = C-a
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f = C-f
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r = C-r
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z = C-z
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# Recommended config
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Many users will probably not be interested in taking full advantage of keyd.
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For those who seek simple quality of life improvements I can recommend the
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following config:
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[ids]
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*
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[main]
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shift = oneshot(shift)
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meta = oneshot(meta)
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control = oneshot(control)
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leftalt = oneshot(alt)
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rightalt = oneshot(altgr)
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capslock = overload(control, esc)
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insert = S-insert
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This overloads the capslock key to function as both escape (when tapped) and
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control (when held) and remaps all modifiers to 'oneshot' keys. Thus to produce
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the letter A you can now simply tap shift and then a instead of having to hold
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it. Finally it remaps insert to S-insert (paste on X11).
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# FAQS
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## Why is my trackpad is interfering with input after enabling keyd?
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libinput, a higher level input component used by most wayland and X11 setups,
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includes a feature called 'disable-while-typing' that disables the trackpad
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when typing.
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In order to achieve this, it needs to distinguish between internal and external
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keyboards, which it does by hard coding a rules for specific hardware
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('quirks'). Since keyd creates a virtual device which subsumes both external
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and integrated keyboards, you will need to instruct libinput to regard the keyd
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virtual device as internal.
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This can be achieved by adding the following to `/etc/libinput/local-overrides.quirks` (which may need to be created):
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```
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[Serial Keyboards]
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MatchUdevType=keyboard
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MatchName=keyd*keyboard
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AttrKeyboardIntegration=internal
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```
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Credit to @mark-herbert42 and @canadaduane for the original solution.
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## What about xmodmap/setxkbmap/*?
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xmodmap and friends are display server level tools with limited functionality.
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keyd is a system level solution which implements advanced features like
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layering and [oneshot](https://docs.qmk.fm/#/one_shot_keys)
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modifiers. While some X tools offer similar functionality I am not aware of
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anything that is as flexible as keyd.
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## What about [kmonad](https://github.com/kmonad/kmonad)?
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keyd was written several years ago to allow me to easily experiment with
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different layouts on my growing keyboard collection. At the time kmonad did not
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exist and custom keyboard firmware like
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[QMK](https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware) (which inspired keyd) was the only
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way to get comparable features. I became aware of kmonad after having published
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keyd. While kmonad is a fine project with similar goals, it takes a different
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approach and has a different design philosophy.
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Notably keyd was written entirely in C with performance and simplicitly in
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mind and will likely never be as configurable as kmonad (which is extensible
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in Haskell). Having said that, it supplies (in the author's opinion) the
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most valuable features in less than 2000 lines of C while providing
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a simple language agnostic config format.
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## Why doesn't keyd implement feature X?
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If you feel something is missing or find a bug you are welcome to file an issue
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on github. keyd has a minimalist (but sane) design philosophy which
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intentionally omits certain features (e.g execing arbitrary executables
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as root). Things which already exist in custom keyboard firmware like QMK are
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good candidates for inclusion.
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# Contributing
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See [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md).
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IRC Channel: #keyd on oftc
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