Overview

wdotool.py is a simple replacement for xdotool suitable for Wayland desktops. It uses Gnome Remote Desktop and libEI APIs to synthesize keyboard and mouse input.

Setup instructions

The following instructions assume an externally-managed Python environment:

• Install Python dbus:

  sudo apt install python3-dbus

• Set up a virtual environment:

  python3 -m venv --system-site-packages venv

• Activate it:

  . venv/bin/activate

• Install snegg (libEI Python bindings):

  pip3 install git+http://gitlab.freedesktop.org/whot/snegg

Using the tool

• Activate the virtual environment:

  . venv/bin/activate

• Run:

  python3 wdotool.py [options]

• Help:

  python3 wdotool.py --help

Examples

• Click at a location:

  python3 wdotool.py --move_to 100 100 --click

• Wait a few seconds to give the user time to select a window, then scroll it:

  python3 wdotool.py --sleep 3 --scroll_discrete 1

• Type “Hello World”, assuming a US English keyboard for which 42 is the left Shift key and the other constants below are the letters of “hello world”:

  python3 wdotool.py \
    --key_down 42 \
    --type 35 \
    --key_up 42 \
    --type 18 38 38 24 57 \
    --key_down 42 \
    --type 17 \
    --key_up 42 \
    --type 24 19 38 32