xkbd(1)

📦 version 0.8.18, in nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable

🎀 NAME 🎀

xkbd — an onscreen virtual keyboard for X11 💖

okay so real quick bestie, this is a page from the General Commands Manual, section 1, and it's giving "tiny utility that does one thing and slays at it." Periodt.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

xkbd -help
xkbd [options...]

two moods fr: ask for help, or just run it with whatever options your heart desires 🫶

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Xkbd is a lightweight software keyboard for X11 🌸

that's it. that's the whole pitch. a lil keyboard that lives on your screen. no cap, it's just that. lowkey iconic for how little it needs to say.

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -display — tell xkbd which XServer to connect to. if you don't say anything it just defaults to the $DISPLAY environmental variable, which, honestly, mood. it already knows.
  • -k <keybaord file> — pick your keyboard definition file, and it overrides whatever is set in ~/.xkbd or the default $PREFIX/share/xkbd/qwerty.xkbd. yes it's the main character option, yes it can override your whole config, iykyk. (and yes, the man page spells it keybaord, we don't fix, we respect 💀)
  • -font <font name> — choose the font xkbd uses. pick something cute. or don't, your call.
  • -xid <font name> — makes Xkbd not map its window, and prints its window ID to stdout instead. super useful for embedding in other toolkits such as GTK 🧚 so like, xkbd as a supporting actress in someone else's app. we love a collab.

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

X(7) — go read it, bestie, it's the whole ecosystem ✨

💀 BUGS 💀

if you find some, report to mallum@handhelds.org 📧 be nice, be specific, attach the receipts.

okay genuine heads-up: -xid doesn't map the window — that's the whole point, not a bug. if your keyboard doesn't show up, that's the vibe working as intended 🙈

sign-off 🌈💜

that's the whole page, bestie — xkbd(1) from the General Commands Manual, straight off the presses of whoever shipped this into section 1. now go put a keyboard on your screen and be the main character you were always meant to be 💖🎀🦋

📦 where this page comes from