← Otto User GuideInput

Keyboard layout and repeat, touchpad behaviour, pointer acceleration and scrolling. Everything here lives under [input] except the two keyboard-repeat keys, which are top-level.

Keyboard layout

[input]
xkb_layout = "us"
xkb_variant = "dvorak"
xkb_options = ["caps:escape"]

These are standard XKB settings, the same names setxkbmap uses.

The easiest way to set them is Settings → Keyboard → Input source. Each layout has its own pop-up, listing every layout XKB knows about on this machine, with a Variant pop-up under it when that layout has variants. Add appends a layout (up to four), and Remove this layout at the bottom of a layout’s pop-up takes it out again. With more than one layout, Switch layouts with picks the keys that cycle through them, and Show in the bar puts the active layout in the top bar. Each change applies at once.

Multiple layouts

[input]
xkb_layout = "us,ru"
xkb_options = ["grp:win_space_toggle", "caps:escape"]

grp:win_space_toggle binds Logo+Space to cycle layouts. Other common switchers: grp:alt_shift_toggle, grp:caps_toggle, grp:ctrl_space_toggle. The first layout is the one a session starts on. xkb_variant holds one entry per layout, by position: xkb_layout = "us,it" with xkb_variant = "intl" gives US international and standard Italian.

A switch combination still reaches Otto’s shortcuts, so avoid one that is already bound. With altwin:ctrl_win, for example, Logo+Space is also Ctrl+Space, which opens the launcher.

Layout in the bar

With more than one layout, otto-bar can show the active one as its short code (US, IT). Clicking it lists the layouts to switch to, and opens the keyboard settings. It is off by default: turn it on with Show in the bar in Settings, or:

[input]
show_layout_in_bar = true

A script can switch layouts too, in sway’s words:

otto-msg input type:keyboard xkb_switch_layout next   # or prev, or 0, 1, …
otto-msg -t get_inputs                                # which one is active

Useful options

Discover what is available:

xkbcli list                    # every layout, variant and option
man xkeyboard-config           # the full reference
./scripts/show-keys.sh         # print the keysym for whatever you press

Layout changes apply as you make them: the new keymap replaces the seat’s and is sent to whichever window has the keyboard, so there is nothing to restart, whether you edit the file or change it in Settings.

Mac-style modifiers

altwin:ctrl_win maps the Cmd keys onto Ctrl, so Cmd+C, Cmd+V and Cmd+X reach applications as the Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V/Ctrl+X they expect. The catch is that Cmd and the real Ctrl key then produce the same event, and a binding like Ctrl+W fires from both, closing the window when you meant ^W to delete a word in a terminal.

With this option set, Otto reads the physical keycode behind the modifier and matches shortcuts on Cmd alone. The real Ctrl key is left to the focused application:

Bindings are still written as Ctrl+... in the config; they simply follow the Cmd key. Nothing changes for layouts without this option, where Ctrl behaves normally.

This follows the altwin:ctrl_win option, since that is the only layout it makes sense for. To force it either way, set it explicitly:

[input]
mac_style_modifiers = true

Note that the built-in Ctrl+Alt+Backspace follows the same rule and becomes Cmd+Alt+Backspace. VT switching (Ctrl+Alt+F1) is read from raw keycodes and keeps working from either key.

Key repeat

keyboard_repeat_delay = 300    # ms before repeat starts
keyboard_repeat_rate = 30      # repeats per second

These are top-level keys, not inside [input]. Otto sends them to clients over wl_keyboard, so applications repeat at the rate you set.

Accents and special characters

Hold a letter such as e, a, n or c and a row of its accented forms appears at the text cursor, each with a number under it:

è é ê ë ē ė ę
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Press the number, or move with the arrow keys and press Return. The numbers are the top row’s keys, so on AZERTY they work without Shift. The letter you held is replaced by the one you picked. Escape, a click or another window taking the focus puts the row away and keeps the plain letter, and any other key closes it and types as usual. Hold Shift for the capital forms.

The row follows the character your layout types, not the key’s position, so it works with any Latin layout. Keys that have no accented forms, punctuation among them, repeat as before; a letter that has them no longer repeats while held.

The row only appears in applications that report their text cursor, which covers GTK, Qt, Chromium, Firefox and most terminals. In other windows, and in X11 applications, a held key repeats as usual. Turn it off with Accents on hold in Settings → Keyboard, or in the config:

[input]
press_and_hold_accents = false

Touchpad

[input]
tap_enabled = true
tap_drag_enabled = true
tap_drag_lock_enabled = false
touchpad_click_method = "clickfinger"
touchpad_dwt_enabled = true
touchpad_natural_scroll_enabled = true
touchpad_left_handed = false
touchpad_middle_emulation_enabled = false

Click method

clickfinger is the default, and is what GNOME and KDE use too. buttonareas is what most Windows laptops do.

These settings apply to touchpads only, not to mice. Some hardware does not support every option; libinput ignores what it cannot do.

Pointer

[input]
pointer_accel_speed = 0.0        # -1.0 (slowest) to 1.0 (fastest)
pointer_accel_profile = "adaptive"
scroll_speed = 1.0

pointer_accel_speed and pointer_accel_profile apply to all pointing devices: mice and touchpads alike.

scroll_speed is a software multiplier applied to scroll events. 1.0 leaves them alone, 2.0 doubles them, 0.5 halves them. Use it when a mouse wheel’s notches move too far. The Settings app offers 0.1 to 2.0; libinput reports finger scrolling in the same units as pointer motion, so 1.0 is already the finger’s own travel and there is little reason to go past double it.

Scroll acceleration (speed varying with how fast you spin the wheel) is not implemented.

Touchscreen

Touch input works for ordinary interaction: tap, drag, and window move and resize requests from applications. There are no touchscreen gestures; the gestures documented for Otto are touchpad-only.

Tablets

Otto implements the tablet protocol (wp-tablet-v2), so drawing tablets with pressure and tilt work in applications that support them. There are no tablet-specific settings. Mapping and pressure curves come from the application.

Input methods and virtual devices

Otto implements the protocols an input-method framework needs, so IBus, fcitx5 and similar work for CJK and other complex input: text-input, input-method and virtual-keyboard.

zwlr-virtual-pointer-v1 is also implemented, which is what tools like wtype, ydotool and the RDP bridge use to synthesize input.

Shortcut inhibition

Applications can ask Otto to suspend its keyboard shortcuts while they are focused, via keyboard-shortcuts-inhibit. Remote-desktop viewers, virtual machines and terminal multiplexers use this so keys like Ctrl+Tab reach the guest rather than being eaten by Otto.

The always-on keys (Logo+Q, Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, VT switching, Ctrl+Alt+Escape, the power button) are never inhibited. See Keyboard Shortcuts.

Troubleshooting

Touchpad settings are ignored. They apply to touchpads only. Confirm libinput classifies your device as one:

libinput list-devices

Check the Tap-to-click and Click methods lines — a device that reports n/a for a capability cannot do it.

The layout does not change. A layout or variant XKB does not know is refused, and you stay on the previous layout. Settings reports the refusal; a typo in the file leaves a warning in the log. Check the names with xkbcli list.

Keys produce the wrong characters. Check xkb_variant — many layouts (dvorak, colemak, intl) are variants of a base layout, not layouts in their own right.

A shortcut does nothing in one app but works elsewhere. That app has probably taken a shortcuts inhibitor. That is intentional.