InputPlumber

About

InputPlumber is an open source input routing and control daemon for Linux. It can be used to combine any number of input devices (like gamepads, mice, and keyboards) and translate their input to a variety of virtual device formats.

Features

• Combine multiple input devices
• Emulate mouse, keyboard, and gamepad inputs
• Intercept and route input over DBus for overlay interface control
• Input mapping profiles to translate source input into the desired target input
• Route input over the network

How it works

InputPlumber is designed around the concept of a Composite Device, which is a logical collection of one or more source devices that InputPlumber reads input events from, then translates and routes those events to one or more target devices.

graph LR
  A["Xbox Gamepad (event0)"] --> C{Composite Device};
  B["Keyboard (event1)"] --> C{Composite Device};
  C --> D["DualSense Gamepad"];
  C --> F["Mouse"];
  C --> G["Keyboard"];

Input Event Flow

When InputPlumber reads an event from a source device, it first identifies any input events that may need to be interpreted differently using a Capability Map, which is a YAML configuration file that tells InputPlumber how it should interpret events from a source device. After the event is interpreted, it is sent to the Composite Device.

Once the Composite Device receives the input event from the source device, the event is translated according to any Profile that might be loaded on the Composite Device. A Profile allows translating one kind of input (like a gamepad joystick) into another kind of input (like mouse motion).

Finally, once the event is translated according to the Profile, it is routed to any target device(s) that support the input event.

sequenceDiagram
  autonumber
  Source Device->>Source Device: Interpret event with Capability Map
  Source Device->>Composite Device: Input Event
  Composite Device->>Composite Device: Translate event with Profile
  Composite Device->>Target Device: Route to target device