EchoInput

A privacy-first keyboard visualization overlay for Wayland, X11, Windows, and macOS.

Shows your keyboard shortcuts on screen as you type. Like KeyViz, but cross-platform.

No telemetry, no cloud, no tracking.

📥 Installation

Linux

Arch Linux / Manjaro (AUR)

yay -S echoinput
# or
paru -S echoinput

AppImage (Universal)

# Download from GitHub Releases
wget https://github.com/SuperSection/echoinput/releases/latest/download/echoinput-<version>-x86_64.AppImage
chmod +x echoinput-*.AppImage
./echoinput-*.AppImage

Debian / Ubuntu (.deb)

wget https://github.com/SuperSection/echoinput/releases/latest/download/echoinput-<version>-amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i echoinput-*.deb
# Fix dependencies if needed
sudo apt-get install -f

Fedora / RHEL (.rpm)

wget https://github.com/SuperSection/echoinput/releases/latest/download/echoinput-<version>-x86_64.rpm
sudo dnf install echoinput-*.rpm

From Source

# Install dependencies
# Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt-get install libwayland-dev libxkbcommon-dev libcairo2-dev pkg-config libx11-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev libxrandr-dev libxi-dev libglib2.0-dev

# Fedora:
sudo dnf install wayland-devel libxkbcommon-devel cairo-devel pkg-config libX11-devel libXext-devel libXfixes-devel libXrandr-devel libXi-devel glib2-devel

# Arch:
sudo pacman -S wayland libxkbcommon cairo pkg-config libx11 libxext libxfixes libxrandr libxi glib2

# Build
cargo build --release
./target/release/echoinput

Windows

Portable (Recommended)

# Download from GitHub Releases
# Extract zip and run echoinput.exe

Installer

# Download echoinput-<version>-x86_64-setup.exe from GitHub Releases
# Run the installer

WinGet (Coming Soon)

winget install EchoInput.EchoInput

From Source

# Install Rust: https://rustup.rs/
# Build
cargo build --release
.\target\release\echoinput.exe

macOS

Homebrew (Coming Soon)

brew install echoinput/tap/echoinput
# or
brew install --cask echoinput

DMG Installer

# Download echoinput-<version>-universal.dmg from GitHub Releases
# Open DMG and drag EchoInput to Applications

From Source

# Install dependencies
brew install cairo pkg-config

# Build
cargo build --release
./target/release/echoinput

⚠️ macOS Permissions: On first run, macOS will prompt for Accessibility permissions. Grant them in: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → EchoInput

---

🚀 Quick Start

# Run the overlay
echoinput

# Run with settings GUI
echoinput --settings

Linux Permissions

Requires read access to /dev/input/event*:

sudo usermod -aG input $USER
# Log out and back in, or run with sudo

---

✨ Features

Feature	Description
Keycap-style rendering	Rounded rectangles with key labels, like KeyViz
Always on top	Wayland layer-shell / Windows TopMost / macOS NSPanel
Click-through	Doesn't steal focus or intercept input
Fade-out animation	Appears on keypress, fades after configurable duration
Multi-monitor	Picks the right output, supports HiDPI
Cross-platform	Linux (Wayland/X11), Windows, macOS
Settings GUI	echoinput --settings for easy configuration

---

⚙️ Configuration

On first run, creates ~/.config/echoinput/config.toml:

# Position: BottomCenter (default), TopLeft, TopRight, TopCenter, BottomLeft, BottomRight, Center
position = "BottomCenter"

# Scale: Small (16pt), Medium (24pt), Large (32pt), ExtraLarge (48pt)
scale = "Medium"

opacity = 0.9
display_duration_ms = 1500
history_length = 3

# Theme: Dark (default), Light, System
theme = "Dark"

Or use the settings GUI: echoinput --settings

---

🏗️ Architecture

Input Provider  →  Event Processor  →  MessageBus  →  Overlay Renderer
(evdev/CGEventTap/WH_KEYBOARD_LL)  (grouping/dedup)   (broadcast)    (Cairo/GDI/CoreGraphics)

Crate Structure

Crate	Purpose
input-core	Types, traits, MessageBus, event processor, config
overlay	Cross-platform overlay state manager
platform-linux	evdev capture + Wayland/X11 renderers
platform-windows	WH_KEYBOARD_LL capture + GDI renderer
platform-macos	CGEventTap capture + NSPanel/Cairo renderer
settings	Settings GUI (egui/eframe)
echoinput	Main binary

---

🖥️ Platform Support

Platform	Input Capture	Overlay	Status
Linux (Wayland)	evdev	wlr-layer-shell + Cairo	✅ Working
Linux (X11)	evdev	X11 override-redirect + Cairo	✅ Working
Windows	SetWindowsHookEx (WH_KEYBOARD_LL)	Layered WS_EX_TRANSPARENT window + GDI	✅ Working
macOS	CGEventTap	NSPanel + Cairo	✅ Working

---

🔨 Building from Source

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.75+ (rustup default stable)
• Platform-specific dependencies (see Installation sections above)

Build

git clone https://github.com/SuperSection/echoinput.git
cd echoinput
cargo build --release

Run

# Overlay mode
./target/release/echoinput

# Settings GUI
./target/release/echoinput --settings

---

📦 Creating a Release

Releases are automated via GitHub Actions:

1. Push a version tag: git tag v0.1.0 && git push origin v0.1.0
2. GitHub Actions builds for all platforms
3. Artifacts are attached to the GitHub Release

Manual Release Build

# Linux
cargo build --release

# Windows (cross-compile from Linux)
cargo build --release --target x86_64-pc-windows-gnu

# macOS (cross-compile from Linux - requires osxcross)
cargo build --release --target x86_64-apple-darwin
cargo build --release --target aarch64-apple-darwin

---

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Run tests: cargo test --workspace
5. Submit a PR

---

📄 License

MIT OR Apache-2.0

---

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Inspired by KeyViz
• Built with Cairo, wayland-rs, winit