booski / keyboardwait

Python script to trigger an action after a period of keyboard inactivity

trigger.py

This is a small script to trigger some action based on a user-defined period of keyboard inactivity. It must be run as root since it monitors the keyboard regardless of focus.

Dependencies

Depends on the keyboardpackage. Install with pip3 install keyboard or similar.

Usage

Invoke the script as follows:

./trigger.py --timeout <some whole number of seconds> \
             --trigger-action <some shell command to be run> \
             --reset-action <some other shell command to be run>

The script can also be invoked with the --help flag, which will provide basic usage instructions.

Both trigger-action and reset-action must be quoted if they contain spaces.

Providing reset-action is optional, but probably necessary in most cases, unless the trigger-action can meaningfully run several times in a row.

Examples

Trigger a screen locker (slock) after 1 minute of inactivity (careful, it will require the root password!):

./trigger.py -t 60 -a slock

Disable the keyboard backlight after 30 seconds, restoring it on keyboard input. xset led * must work with the keyboard:

./trigger.py -t 30 -a 'xset led off' -r 'xset led on'