keypop 0.2.1

Transparent keypress overlay for Linux screencasts and demos
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148

# [keypop](https://crates.io/crates/keypop)

A transparent keypress overlay for Linux. Shows your recent keypresses in a pill bar — great for screencasts, tutorials, and live demos.

Works on **X11** and **Wayland**.

```
┌──────────────────────────────────┐
│                                  │
│           (your desktop)         │
│                                  │
│              ┌──────────────────┐│
│              │ Ctrl+C │ Tab │ V ││
│              └──────────────────┘│
│                               ▲  │
│              ════════════════════│
└──────────────────────────────────┘
```

---

## Install

Make sure you have [Rust](https://rustup.rs) installed, then:

```bash
cargo install --git https://github.com/OmChillure/keypop
```

This builds a release binary and places it in `~/.cargo/bin/keypop`.

### System dependencies [if not already]

```bash
# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt install libxkbcommon-dev libwayland-dev pkg-config

# Fedora
sudo dnf install libxkbcommon-devel wayland-devel
```

### Permissions

keypop reads directly from `/dev/input`. Add yourself to the `input` group — no root required:

```bash
sudo usermod -aG input $USER
# log out and back in, then verify:
groups | grep input
```

---

## Usage

### Configure

Set your preferences interactively. Press **Enter** to keep the value shown in brackets:

```bash
keypop configure
```

```
keypop configuration
Press Enter to keep the value shown in [brackets].

  Font size [24]: 28
  Opacity (0.0–1.0) [0.75]:
  Display time in seconds (2, 3, or 5) [3]: 5
  Number of keys to show (1–5) [3]:

Saved to /home/user/.config/keypop/config.toml
```

Settings are saved to `~/.config/keypop/config.toml`. Run `keypop configure` again at any time to update them.

### Run

```bash
keypop run
```

Press **Esc** or **Ctrl+C** to quit.

### Command list

```bash
keypop
```

Shows:

```text
..K...K..EEEE..Y...Y..PPPP....OOO...PPPP..
..K..K...E......Y.Y...P...P..O...O..P...P.
..KKK....EEE.....Y....PPPP...O...O..PPPP..
..K..K...E.......Y....P......O...O..P.....
..K...K..EEEE....Y....P.......OOO...P.....
-----------------------------------------------
keypop --help
keypop run
keypop configure
```

---

## Options

| Setting | Default | Description |
|---------|---------|-------------|
| `font_size` | `24` | Key label font size in pixels |
| `opacity` | `0.75` | Bar opacity (0.0–1.0) |
| `display_time` | `3` | Seconds before overlay hides (2, 3, or 5) |
| `keys` | `3` | Number of recent keys to show (1–5) |

---

## Tiling WM notes

| WM | Config |
|----|--------|
| **Sway** | `for_window [app_id="keypop"] floating enable, sticky enable` |
| **Hyprland** | `windowrulev2 = float, class:^(keypop)$` + `windowrulev2 = pin, class:^(keypop)$` |
| **i3** | Requires a compositor (e.g. `picom`) for transparency |
| **GNOME / KDE** | Works out of the box |

---

## Contributing

1. Create an issue for the bug or feature.
2. Fix it in your branch.
3. Open a pull request linked to the issue.

---

## Socials

- X: https://x.com/OmChillure
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omchillure
- GitHub: https://github.com/OmChillure/keypop

---

## License

MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE)