daktilo ("typewriter" in Turkish, pronounced "duck-til-oh", derived from the Ancient Greek word δάκτυλος for "finger") is a small command-line program that plays typewriter sounds every time you press a key. It also offers the flexibility to customize keypress sounds to your liking. You can use the built-in sound presets to create an enjoyable typing experience, whether you're crafting emails or up to some prank on your boss.
✨ Inspiration: "Taking notes in class with my typewriter"
Now you can recreate this moment without the actual need for a physical typewriter!
Table of Contents
Getting Started
Simply run daktilo for the classic typewriter effect.
There are also different presets available:
| Preset Name | Description |
|---|---|
default |
the classic typewriter effect |
basic |
an alternative and more basic typewriter effect |
musicbox |
plays random notes like a music box |
ducktilo |
quack quack 🦆 |
drumkit |
dum, tss, cha! 🥁 |
To list the presets:
daktilo --list-presets
To use a preset:
daktilo --preset musicbox
To use a different output device:
daktilo --device pipewire
Also, you can use --list-devices to list the available output devices.
Supported Platforms
- Linux
- X11
- Wayland*
- Windows
- MacOS
Installation
Packaging status
Cargo
daktilo can be installed from crates.io using cargo if Rust is installed.
cargo install daktilo
The minimum supported Rust version is 1.70.0.
On Linux, the following packages should be installed:
- Arch Linux:
alsa-lib libxtst libxi - Alpine Linux:
alsa-lib-dev libxi-dev libxtst-dev - Debian/Ubuntu:
libasound2-dev libxi-dev libxtst-dev
Arch Linux
daktilo can be installed from the official repositories using pacman:
pacman -S daktilo
Alpine Linux
daktilo is available for Alpine Edge. It can be installed via apk after enabling the testing repository.
apk add daktilo
Binary releases
See the available binaries for different targets from the releases page.
Build from source
- Clone the repository.
git clone https://github.com/orhun/daktilo && cd daktilo/
- Build.
CARGO_TARGET_DIR=target cargo build --release
Binary will be located at target/release/daktilo.
Usage
daktilo [OPTIONS]
Options:
-v, --verbose Enables verbose logging [env: VERBOSE=]
-p, --preset <PRESET> Sets the name of the sound preset to use [env: PRESET=]
-l, --list-presets Lists the available presets
--list-devices Lists the available output devices
-d, --device <DEVICE> Sets the device for playback [env: DAKTILO_DEVICE=]
-c, --config <PATH> Sets the configuration file [env: DAKTILO_CONFIG=]
-i, --init Writes the default configuration file
-h, --help Print help
-V, --version Print version
Configuration
daktilo can be configured with a configuration file using the TOML format.
The path of the configuration file can be specified via --config argument or DAKTILO_CONFIG environment variable.
It can also be placed in one of the following global locations:
<config_dir>/daktilo.toml<config_dir>/daktilo/daktilo.toml<config_dir>/daktilo/config
<config_dir> depends on the platform as shown in the following table:
| Platform | Value | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | $XDG_CONFIG_HOME or $HOME/.config |
/home/orhun/.config |
| macOS | $HOME/Library/Application Support |
/Users/Orhun/Library/Application Support |
| Windows | {FOLDERID_RoamingAppData} |
C:\Users\Orhun\AppData\Roaming |
See daktilo.toml for the default configuration options.
You can also create the default configuration file in the current directory with --init flag:
daktilo --init
Adding custom presets
The configuration file consists of an array of sound_preset entries.
To define an array in TOML, you can create different sections as follows:
[[sound_preset]]
name = "custom"
key_config = []
[[sound_preset]]
name = "another_custom"
key_config = []
disabled_keys = []
As shown above, sound_preset consists of 2 entries:
name: The name of the preset. It will be used in conjunction with--presetflag. e.g.--preset customkey_config: An array of key press/release events for assigning audio files to the specified keys. It can also be used to control the volume etc.disabled_keys: An array of keys that will not be used for playback.
Click for the list of available keys.
Alt, AltGr, Backspace, CapsLock, ControlLeft, ControlRight, Delete, DownArrow, End, Escape, F1, F10, F11, F12, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, Home, LeftArrow, MetaLeft, MetaRight, PageDown, PageUp, Return, RightArrow, ShiftLeft, ShiftRight, Space, Tab, UpArrow, PrintScreen, ScrollLock, Pause, NumLock, BackQuote, Num1, Num2, Num3, Num4, Num5, Num6, Num7, Num8, Num9, Num0, Minus, Equal, KeyQ, KeyW, KeyE, KeyR, KeyT, KeyY, KeyU, KeyI, KeyO, KeyP, LeftBracket, RightBracket, KeyA, KeyS, KeyD, KeyF, KeyG, KeyH, KeyJ, KeyK, KeyL, SemiColon, Quote, BackSlash, IntlBackslash, KeyZ, KeyX, KeyC, KeyV, KeyB, KeyN, KeyM, Comma, Dot, Slash, Insert, KpReturn, KpMinus, KpPlus, KpMultiply, KpDivide, Kp0, Kp1, Kp2, Kp3, Kp4, Kp5, Kp6, Kp7, Kp8, Kp9, KpDelete, Function, Unknown
As an example, here is how you can configure key_config:
key_config = [
{ event = "press", keys = "Return", files = [{ path = "ding.mp3", volume = 1.0 }] },
]
event: "press" or "release"keys: A regular expression (regex) for matching the keys.files: An array of files.path: The absolute path of the file. If the file is embedded in the binary (i.e. if it is insidesounds/directory) then it is the name of the file without full path.volume: The volume of the sound. The value 1.0 is the "normal" volume (unfiltered input). Any value other than 1.0 will multiply each sample by this value.
If you have defined multiple files for a key event, you can also specify a strategy for how to play them:
key_config = [
{ event = "press", keys = ".*", files = [{ path = "1.mp3" }, { path = "2.mp3" }], strategy = "random" },
]
Currently supported strategies are:
strategy = "random": pick a random file from the list and play it.strategy = "sequential": play the files sequentially.
Here is how you can combine everything together:
[[sound_preset]]
# Custom sound preset named "custom"
name = "custom"
# Key configurations for various events
key_config = [
# When a key starting with "Key" is pressed, play 1.mp3, 2.mp3, and 3.mp3 sequentially
{ event = "press", keys = "Key*", files = [
{ path = "1.mp3" },
{ path = "2.mp3" },
{ path = "3.mp3" },
], strategy = "sequential" },
# When a key starting with "Key" is released, play 4.mp3
{ event = "release", keys = "Key*", files = [
{ path = "4.mp3" },
] },
# When a key starting with "Num" is pressed, play num.mp3 at a very high volume (10.0)
{ event = "press", keys = "Num*", files = [
{ path = "num.mp3", volume = 10.0 },
] },
# When any key is pressed, play a random sound from cat.mp3, dog.mp3, or bird.mp3
{ event = "press", keys = ".*", files = [
{ path = "cat.mp3" },
{ path = "dog.mp3" },
{ path = "bird.mp3" },
], strategy = "random" },
]
# Disabled keys that won't trigger any sound events
disabled_keys = ["CapsLock", "NumLock"]
Similar Projects
bucklespring: Nostalgia bucklespring keyboard soundselectric-mode: Make your Emacs sound like a proper typewriter
Acknowledgements
Huge thanks to H. Arda Güler for giving me the idea for this project, sharing the inspiration behind it and implementing the first iteration in Python.
Kudos! 👾
Donations
If you find daktilo and/or other projects on my GitHub useful, consider supporting me on GitHub Sponsors or becoming a patron!
Contributing
See our Contribution Guide and please follow the Code of Conduct in all your interactions with the project.
Also, see how you can add new presets here.
License
Licensed under either of Apache License Version 2.0 or The MIT License at your option.
🦀 ノ( º _ º ノ) - respect crables!
Copyright
Copyright © 2023, Orhun Parmaksız
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