Actkbd - Revision history

JKJKIL4: fix typo

2026-02-09T02:53:59Z

fix typo

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:53, 9 February 2026
Line 56:		Line 56:
	It will report the keys this way:		It will report the keys this way:
	<pre>		<pre>
	~~fKeys~~: 33		Keys: 33
	Keys: 14		Keys: 14
	Keys: 29+46		Keys: 29+46
	</pre>		</pre>

	Where key codes with a + represents combinations. The numbers, including combinations can be used in the configuration.		Where key codes with a <code>+</code> represents combinations. The numbers, including combinations can be used in the configuration.

	== Sample configuration ==		== Sample configuration ==

Pigs: add category configuration

2025-05-18T18:01:58Z

add category configuration

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:01, 18 May 2025
Line 79:		Line 79:

	Additionally, the {{nixos:option\|sound.mediaKeys.enable}} option will use <code>actkbd</code> to control the media volumes. See the configuration it generates for an additional example.		Additionally, the {{nixos:option\|sound.mediaKeys.enable}} option will use <code>actkbd</code> to control the media volumes. See the configuration it generates for an additional example.

			[[Category:Configuration]]

Klinger at 20:44, 19 April 2024

2024-04-19T20:44:53Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:44, 19 April 2024
Line 79:		Line 79:

	Additionally, the {{nixos:option\|sound.mediaKeys.enable}} option will use <code>actkbd</code> to control the media volumes. See the configuration it generates for an additional example.		Additionally, the {{nixos:option\|sound.mediaKeys.enable}} option will use <code>actkbd</code> to control the media volumes. See the configuration it generates for an additional example.

	~~[[Category:Input]]~~

imported>Nix: add Input category

2021-09-20T05:15:57Z

add Input category

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:15, 20 September 2021
Line 79:		Line 79:

	Additionally, the {{nixos:option\|sound.mediaKeys.enable}} option will use <code>actkbd</code> to control the media volumes. See the configuration it generates for an additional example.		Additionally, the {{nixos:option\|sound.mediaKeys.enable}} option will use <code>actkbd</code> to control the media volumes. See the configuration it generates for an additional example.

			[[Category:Input]]

imported>Samueldr: removes whitespace

2018-05-06T20:51:32Z

removes whitespace

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:51, 6 May 2018
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{DISPLAYTITLE:actkbd}}		{{DISPLAYTITLE:actkbd}}

	<code>actkbd</code> is a keyboard shortcut daemon that works at the system level. It does so through reading the events directly from the input devices, thus working whether a graphical session is running or not.		<code>actkbd</code> is a keyboard shortcut daemon that works at the system level. It does so through reading the events directly from the input devices, thus working whether a graphical session is running or not.

imported>Samueldr: Adds an additional command to list input devices

2018-05-06T19:37:28Z

Adds an additional command to list input devices

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:37, 6 May 2018
Line 39:		Line 39:
	<pre>		<pre>
	journalctl --unit display-manager.service -b0 \| grep "Adding input device" \| sed -e 's;.*config/udev: ;;' \| sort \| uniq		journalctl --unit display-manager.service -b0 \| grep "Adding input device" \| sed -e 's;.*config/udev: ;;' \| sort \| uniq
			</pre>

			This command will also list all available input devices, two lines per.

			<pre>
			cat /proc/bus/input/devices \| grep "Name\\|Handlers"
	</pre>		</pre>

imported>Samueldr at 18:35, 6 May 2018

2018-05-06T18:35:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:35, 6 May 2018
Line 51:		Line 51:
	It will report the keys this way:		It will report the keys this way:
	<pre>		<pre>
			fKeys: 33
	Keys: 14		Keys: 14
	Keys: 29+46		Keys: 29+46
Line 59:		Line 60:
	== Sample configuration ==		== Sample configuration ==

	The following configuration will		The following configuration, from the [[Backlight]] page will configure the brightness control keys to use <code>light</code> to control the brightness.

	<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">		<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">

imported>Samueldr: Finishes up actkbd page

2018-05-06T18:31:37Z

Finishes up actkbd page

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 The key codes used by <code>actkbd</code> when binding commands will not match with the key code events <code>xev</code> reports.
-== Obtaining key codes with <code>xev</code> ==
+=== Obtaining key codes with <code>xev</code> ===
 While logged into an X session, using <code>nix-shell -p xorg.xev --run "xev -event keyboard"</code> will run <code>xev</code>, with filtering for keyboard events.
@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 {{tip| While the previous statement may be true, it has been observed that for some, if not all, key code events, subtracting 8 to the <code>xev</code> key code will give the expected <code>actkbd</code> event.}}
-== Obtaining key codes with <code>actkbd</code> ==
+=== Obtaining key codes with <code>actkbd</code> ===
-First enable the actkbd service (see below).<br />
+To read key codes with <code>actkbd</code>, you will need to select the right input event provider from <tt>/dev/input/</tt>. Each input device generating input events has its own entry there, enumerated with a number.
-To read key codes via actkbd, you need to select the right input event provider from /dev/input/. Each input device generating input events has it's own entry there, enumerated with an number. To find out which one generates the events from the hotkeys, it is viable (if tedious) to run the below command with each available entry, and see which one generates event notifications when pressing the brightness hotkeys:<br />
-<code>actkbd -n -s -d /dev/input/event#</code><br />
+To find out which one generates the events from the hotkeys, it is possible, while tedious, to run the following command with each available entry, and see which one generates event notifications when pressing the wanted key.
-Once you discover the right one, it will report key presses like so:<br />
-<code>Event: <number>:key</code><br />
+Alternatively, the <code>lsinput</code> from the <tt>input-utils</tt> package<sup>[not upstreamed yet]</sup> allows listing all <tt>/dev/input/</tt> files with a useful name.
-<code>Event: <number>:rel</code><br />
-Those represent the key-press and key-release actions. The number is the key code to use for mapping.
+Another method, which does not require additional packages, will list all the input devices recognized by the X server:

imported>Samueldr: WIP re-works sections

2018-05-06T18:17:45Z

WIP re-works sections

New page

{{DISPLAYTITLE:actkbd}}

<code>actkbd</code> is a keyboard shortcut daemon that works at the system level. It does so through reading the events directly from the input devices, thus working whether a graphical session is running or not.

Do note that this causes issues if it is expected to be used for user-level shortcuts. <code>actkbd</code> is better used to provide global user-agnostic shortcuts like volume or brightness control.

With NixOS, <code>actkbd</code> can be configured using the {{nixos:option|services.actkbd}} configuration options.

== Finding key codes ==

The key codes used by <code>actkbd</code> when binding commands will not match with the key code events <code>xev</code> reports.

== Obtaining key codes with <code>xev</code> ==

While logged into an X session, using <code>nix-shell -p xorg.xev --run "xev -event keyboard"</code> will run <code>xev</code>, with filtering for keyboard events.

In the following example output, the line with the key code event is prefixed with an arrow. The keycode for that particular key is 41 with xev.

<pre>
|KeyRelease event, serial 28, synthetic NO, window 0x2a00001,
| root 0x526, subw 0x0, time 263244557, (457,417), root:(1561,950),
→| state 0x10, keycode 41 (keysym 0x66, f), same_screen YES,
| XLookupString gives 1 bytes: (66) "f"
| XFilterEvent returns: False
</pre>

{{tip| While the previous statement may be true, it has been observed that for some, if not all, key code events, subtracting 8 to the <code>xev</code> key code will give the expected <code>actkbd</code> event.}}

== Obtaining key codes with <code>actkbd</code> ==

First enable the actkbd service (see below). 
To read key codes via actkbd, you need to select the right input event provider from /dev/input/. Each input device generating input events has it's own entry there, enumerated with an number. To find out which one generates the events from the hotkeys, it is viable (if tedious) to run the below command with each available entry, and see which one generates event notifications when pressing the brightness hotkeys: 
<code>actkbd -n -s -d /dev/input/event#</code> 
Once you discover the right one, it will report key presses like so: 
<code>Event: <number>:key</code> 
<code>Event: <number>:rel</code> 
Those represent the key-press and key-release actions. The number is the key code to use for mapping.