YDOTOOL(1)

📦
version 1.0.4 · 6 versions
, in ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ YDOTOOL(1) — the command-line /dev/uinput automation tool ✨

okay bestie, welcome to ydotool, section 1 of the General Commands Manual. she's a command-line /dev/uinput automation tool and she is so good at pretending to be your keyboard. 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

ydotool cmd args
ydotool cmd --help

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

okay so real talk: ydotool lets you simulate keyboard input and mouse activity and stuff, either programmatically (like, from a script) or manually (like, you typing the command yourself). the way that it works is lowkey iconic.

⚠️ bestie the ydotoold(8) daemon must be running. no daemon, no vibes. that's the rule. 🙈

here's what's currently implemented, command-wise:

  • type — types a string for you, like a lil ghostwriter 👻
  • key — presses keys (plural, she can do multiple)
  • mousemove — moves the mouse pointer to an absolute position
  • click — clicks on mouse buttons. that's it. that's the whole thing.

⌨️ KEYBOARD COMMANDS ⌨️

key

key [-d,--key-delay <ms>] [<KEYCODE:PRESSED> ...]

type a given keycode, bestie. simple as.

e.g. 28:1 28:0 means pressing the Enter button on a standard US keyboard. (where :1 means the key is down and :0 means the key is released. press then release, iykyk.)

and check this out:

42:1 38:1 38:0 24:1 24:0 38:1 38:0 42:0 - "LOL"

that's literally "LOL". feel free to scream.

non-interpretable values — think 0, aaa, l0l — will only cause a delay. they don't do anything else, they just sit there and pass the time 🫠

you can find available key codes (KEY_*) by peeking at /usr/include/linux/input-event-codes.h. go look, it's fine.

and if you wanna find the key name/number your keyboard is sending to libinput, run sudo libinput record and then select your keyboard from the list — it'll show you the proper libinput key name and number for each key you press. very demure, very mindful, very useful 🔍

Options:

  • -d, --key-delay <ms> — delay time between keystrokes. default 12ms.

type

type [-D,--next-delay <ms>] [-d,--key-delay <ms>] [-f,--file <filepath>] "text"

types text as if you had typed it on the keyboard. it's giving keyboard cosplay, no cap.

Options:

  • -d, --key-delay <ms> — delay time between key events (up/down each). default 12ms.
  • -D, --next-delay <ms> — delay between strings. default 0ms.
  • -f, --file <filepath> — specify a file, and the contents of it get typed as if you'd passed them as an argument. the filepath can also be - to read from stdin. cute right? 🍓

Example: to type 'Hello world!' you would do:

ydotool type 'Hello world!'

🖱️ MOUSE COMMANDS 🖱️

mousemove

mousemove [-a,--absolute] <x> <y>

moves the mouse to the relative X and Y coordinates on the screen. she's going places ✨

Options:

  • --absolute — use absolute position

Example: to move the cursor to absolute coordinates (100,100):

ydotool mousemove --absolute 100 100

click

click [-d,--next-delay <ms>] [-r,--repeat N ] [button ...]

sends a click. periodt.

Options:

  • -d, --next-delay <ms> — delay between input events (up/down — a complete click means doubled time). default 25ms.
  • -r, --repeat N — repeat the entire sequence N times 🔁

all mouse buttons are represented using hexadecimal numeric values, with an optional bit mask to specify if mouse up/down needs to be omitted. here's the whole roster:

  • 0x00 - LEFT
  • 0x01 - RIGHT
  • 0x02 - MIDDLE
  • 0x03 - SIDE
  • 0x04 - EXTR
  • 0x05 - FORWARD
  • 0x06 - BACK
  • 0x07 - TASK
  • 0x40 - Mouse down
  • 0x80 - Mouse up

Examples:

  • 0x00: chooses left button, but does nothing (you can use this to implement extra sleeps 😴)
  • 0xC0: left button click (down then up)
  • 0x41: right button down
  • 0x82: middle button up

the 0x prefix can be omitted if you want. you do you, icon. 💜

🔌 YDOTOOL SOCKET 🔌

the socket that ydotool writes to for ydotoold(8) can be changed with the environment variable YDOTOOL_SOCKET. change it whenever. live your truth.

👑 AUTHOR 👑

ydotool was written by ReimuNotMoe. king behavior fr fr.

this manpage was written by bob.hepple@gmail.com but updated since. shoutout to both of them honestly 🫶

📜 LICENCE 📜

AGPLv3

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

and that's the whole page bestie!! this version is dated 2026-01-18 and it's from the General Commands Manual, YDOTOOL(1). now go automate something and slay 💅✨🦋

📦 where this page comes from