ydotool(1)

1YDOTOOL(1)                  General Commands Manual                 YDOTOOL(1)
2
3
4

NAME

6       ydotool - command-line /dev/uinput automation tool
7

SYNOPSIS

9       ydotool cmd args...
10
11       ydotool cmd --helpfR
12

DESCRIPTION

14       ydotool lets you programatically (or manually) simulate keyboard input
15       and mouse activity, etc. It does this by writing directly to /dev/uin‐
16       put so it generally needs to run as root.
17
18       Currently implemented command(s):
19
20       type
21           Type a string
22       key
23           Press keys
24       mousemove
25           Move mouse pointer to absolute position
26       mousemove_relative
27           Move mouse pointer to relative position
28       click
29           Click on mouse buttons
30       recorder
31           Record/replay input events
32       mouseup
33           Send a mouse up event.
34       mousedown
35           Send a mouse down event.
36

KEYBOARD COMMANDS

38       key [--up] [--down] [--delay <ms>] [--key-delay <ms>] [--repeat
39       <times>] [--repeat-delay <ms>] [--persist-delay <ms>] <key sequence>
40
41           Type a given keystroke. Examples being "alt+r", "ctrl+J",
42           "ctrl+alt+n", "backspace".
43
44           Options:
45
46           --up
47               Only keyup
48
49           --down
50               Only keydown
51
52           --delay <ms>
53               Delay before starting to output keystrokes. Default 100ms.
54
55           --key-delay <ms>
56               Delay time between keystrokes. Default 12ms.
57
58           --repeat <times>
59               Times to repeat the key sequence.
60
61           --repeat-delay <ms>
62               Delay time between repetitions. Default 0ms.
63
64           --persist-delay <ms>
65               Keep virtual device alive for <ms> ms. Should be used in con‐
66               junction with --down or --up
67
68           Generally, any valid name from /usr/include/linux/input-event-
69           codes.h will work. Multiple keys are separated by '+'.
70
71           Each key sequence can be any number of modifiers and keys, sepa‐
72           rated by plus (+) For example: alt+r Alt+F4 CTRL+alt+f3 aLT+1+2+3
73           ctrl+Backspace
74
75           Since we are emulating keyboard input, combinations like Shift+# is
76           invalid because typing a `#' involves pressing Shift and 3.
77
78           Example: Switch to tty1:
79               ydotool key ctrl+alt+f1
80
81           Example: Close a window in graphical environment:
82               ydotool key Alt+F4
83
84       type [--delay <ms>] [--key-delay <ms>] [--args <N>] [--file <filepath>]
85       "something to type"
86
87           Types text as if you had typed it on the keyboard.
88
89           Options:
90
91           --delay <ms>
92               Delay before starting typing. Default 100ms.
93
94           --key-delay <ms>
95               Delay time between keystrokes. Default 12ms.
96
97           --args <N>
98               ????
99
100           --file <filepath>
101               Specify a file, the contents of which will be be typed as if
102               passed as an argument. The filepath may also be '-' to read
103               from stdin.
104
105           Example: to type 'Hello world!' you would do:
106               ydotool type 'Hello world!'
107

MOUSE COMMANDS

109       mousemove [--delay <ms>] <x> <y>
110           Move the mouse to the specific X and Y coordinates on the screen.
111
112           Options: --delay <ms>
113               Delay before starting move. Default 100ms.
114
115           Example: to move the cursor to absolute coordinates (100,100):
116               ydotool mousemove 100 100
117
118       mousemove_relative [--delay <ms>] <x> <y>
119           Move the mouse x,y pixels relative to the current position of the
120           mouse cursor.
121
122           Options: --delay <ms>
123               Delay before starting move. Default 100ms.
124
125           Example: Relatively move mouse pointer to -100,100:
126               ydotool mousemove_relative -- -100 100
127
128       click  [--delay <ms>] button
129           Send a click. Buttons are: 1=left 2=right 3=middle
130
131           Options:
132
133           --delay <ms>
134               Delay before click. Default 100ms.
135
136           Example: Mouse right click:
137               ydotool click 2
138
139       recorder [--delay <ms>] [--record <devices>] [--replay <input files>]
140       [--display] [--duration <ms>]
141
142           Options:
143
144           --delay <ms>
145               Delay time before start recording/replaying. Default 5000ms.
146
147           --record <devices>
148               Devices to record from. Default is all, including non-keyboard
149               devices.
150
151           --replay <input files>
152               The record file can't be replayed on an architecture with dif‐
153               ferent endianness.
154
155           --display
156               ????
157
158           --duration <ms>
159               Record duration. Otherwise use SIGINT to stop recording.
160
161       mouseup [--delay <ms>] button
162           Send a mouse up event.  Buttons are: 1=left 2=right 3=middle
163
164           Options:
165
166           --delay <ms>
167               Delay before click. Default 100ms.
168
169           Example: Mouse right click:
170               ydotool click 2
171
172       mousedown [--delay <ms>] button
173           Send a mouse down event.  Buttons are: 1=left 2=right 3=middle
174
175           Options:
176
177           --delay <ms>
178               Delay before click. Default 100ms.
179
180           Example: Mouse right click:
181               ydotool click 2
182

AUTHOR

184       ydotool was written by ReimuNotMoe.
185
186       This man page by bob.hepple@gmail.com
187

BUGS

189       When ydotool(1) runs and creates a virtual input device, it will take
190       some time for your graphical environment (eg X11/Wayland) to recognize
191       and enable the virtual input device. (Usually done by udev)
192
193       If the delay is too short, the virtual input device may not be recog‐
194       nized & enabled by the graphical environment in time.
195
196       In order to solve this problem, there is a persistent background ser‐
197       vice, ydotoold(1), to hold a persistent virtual device, and accept
198       input from ydotool(1). When ydotoold(1) is unavailable, ydotool(1) will
199       work without it.
200

COPYRIGHT

202       MIT License
203