diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3c06e6d87..4aa00fd82 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,10 +6,13 @@
  * convey tui/tpack state in resize events
  * target\_anchorhint added for informing clients about positioning and hierarchy
  * video\_displaymode expose eotf / coordinates for primaries and contents light levels
+ * open\_nonblock can now adopt an existing iostream into a target vid
+ * input\_remap\_translation overloaded form for serializing backing keymap
 
 ## Core
  * respect border attribute in text rasteriser
  * added frame\_id to external events that pairs with shmif-SIGVID signals
+ * optional tracy build for profiling (-DENABLE\_TRACY)
 
 ## Tui
  * nbio asynch type confusion fix (function becomes pcall:userdata)
diff --git a/doc/input_remap_translation.lua b/doc/input_remap_translation.lua
index 1bbf59f3c..ecca45769 100644
--- a/doc/input_remap_translation.lua
+++ b/doc/input_remap_translation.lua
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 -- input_remap_translation
 -- @short: Reset or modify platform level keyboard translation
 -- @inargs: number:devid, number:action, string:arg_1, ...
--- @outargs: bool:ok, string:reason
+-- @inargs: number:devid, number:action, bool:extract, string:arg_1, ...
+-- @outargs: bool:ok, string:reason or nbiotbl
 -- @longdescr: For some low level platforms it makes sense modifying input
 -- translation before the inputs are processed and forwarded onwards and forego
 -- patchin in the scripting layer. The main case where this has caused problems
@@ -17,12 +18,19 @@
 -- The *action* can be one out of:
 -- TRANSLATION_CLEAR, TRANSLATION_SET and TRANSLATION_REMAP.
 -- TRANSLATION_CLEAR is to revert as close to as the initial state as possible.
--- TRANSLATION_MAP is to set/override a complete map.
+-- TRANSLATION_SET is to set/override a complete map.
 -- TRANSLATION_REMAP is to add a specific remapping.
 --
 -- The set of string arguments following the action will be raw-forwarded to
 -- the input platform and is thus platform dependent.
 --
+-- It is also possible to get a readable representation of the platform input
+-- map through the *extract* parameter form. With TRANSLATION_SET this will
+-- just give you the map based on the spec as an iostream (see
+-- ref:open_nonblock). With TRANSLATION_REMAP this will instead provide the
+-- current active map. No local modifications will be made with the *extract*
+-- form.
+--
 -- The constant API_ENGINE_BUILD can be used to obtain which input platform
 -- is currently in use, which mutates the interpretation and effect of the
 -- various actions.
diff --git a/doc/open_nonblock.lua b/doc/open_nonblock.lua
index 2e2b53ca0..a03ad4eb8 100644
--- a/doc/open_nonblock.lua
+++ b/doc/open_nonblock.lua
@@ -1,24 +1,32 @@
 -- open_nonblock
 -- @short: Open a file in read or write mode for non-blocking I/O.
--- @inargs: string:res
--- @inargs: string:res, bool:write
 -- @inargs: vid:res
 -- @inargs: vid:res, bool:write
 -- @inargs: vid:res, bool:write, string:identifier=stream
+-- @inargs: vid:res, bool:write, string:identifier=stream, blocktbl
+-- @inargs: string:res
+-- @inargs: string:res, bool:write
 -- @outargs: blocktbl
 -- @longdescr: Create or open the resource indicated by *res* in (default)
 -- read-mode or (if *mode* is provided, write mode)
--- If *res* is a vid connected to a frameserver, a streaming fifo session will
--- be set up over the connection along with the corresponding _BCHUNK events.
+--
+-- If *res* is a vid connected to a frameserver, either a streaming fifo
+-- session will be set up over the connection along with the corresponding
+-- _BCHUNK events or an pre-existing nonblock-io stream will be redirected to
+-- said client and the backing descriptor closed locally.
+--
 -- The *identifier* argument can then be used to specify some client announced
 -- type identifier, or one of the reserved "stdin", "stdout", "stderr".
+--
 -- If *res* is a string, the initial character determines if it creates a
 -- FIFO (<) or a SOCKET (=). Unless a namespace is explicitly set and the
 -- namespace is marked as valid for IPC, FIFOs and SOCKETs will be created
 -- in the RESOURCE_APPL_TEMP namespace.
+--
 -- If the string starts with a valid namespace identifier and separator
 -- (alphanum:/)  the identifier will first be matched to a user defined
 -- namespace (see ref:list_namespaces).
+--
 -- If successful, FIFOs and normal resources return a table wih a close
 -- operation (which is activated on garbage collection unless called in
 -- beforehand) and a read or write function depending on the mode that
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index bc6d5c1db..7c98b9030 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -511,6 +511,18 @@ elseif(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "Darwin")
 	message(FATAL_ERROR "${CL_RED}Unsupported OS(${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME}) detected, abandon ship!${CL_RST}")
 endif()
 
+# XKB might be necessary to deal with nested clients of all platform types
+# and near necessary for wayland and x11 clients.
+pkg_check_modules(XKB QUIET xkbcommon)
+if (XKB_FOUND)
+	amsg("${CL_YEL}xkb keyboard: \t${CL_GRN}libxkbcommon${CL_RST}")
+	list(APPEND ARCAN_DEFINITIONS HAVE_XKBCOMMON)
+	list(APPEND ARCAN_LIBRARIES ${XKB_LINK_LIBRARIES})
+	list(APPEND INCLUDE_DIRS ${XKB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+else()
+	amsg("${CL_YEL}xkb keyboard: \t${CL_RED}no libxkbcommon${CL_RST}")
+endif()
+
 if (CLIENT_LIBRARY_BUILD OR BUILD_PRESET STREQUAL "client")
 	set(AGP_PLATFORM "stub")
 else()
diff --git a/src/engine/alt/nbio.c b/src/engine/alt/nbio.c
index 881e117b8..b39982832 100644
--- a/src/engine/alt/nbio.c
+++ b/src/engine/alt/nbio.c
@@ -865,26 +865,42 @@ static int opennonblock_tgt(lua_State* L, bool wr)
 	if (vobj->feed.state.tag != ARCAN_TAG_FRAMESERV)
 		arcan_fatal("open_nonblock(tgt), target must be a valid frameserver.");
 
+/* overloaded form:
+ *  open_nonblock(vid, r | w, type, nbio_ud)
+ *
+ *  This takes an existing userdata, extracts the descriptor and sends to the
+ *  target, while disassociating the descriptor from the argument source.
+ */
+	const char* type = luaL_optstring(L, 3, "stream");
+	struct arcan_event ev = {
+		.category = EVENT_TARGET,
+		.tgt.kind = wr ? TARGET_COMMAND_BCHUNK_IN : TARGET_COMMAND_BCHUNK_OUT
+	};
+	snprintf(ev.tgt.message, COUNT_OF(ev.tgt.message), "%s", type);
+	if (lua_type(L, 4) == LUA_TUSERDATA){
+		struct nonblock_io** ibb = luaL_checkudata(L, 4, "nonblockIO");
+		struct nonblock_io* ib = *ibb;
+
+		if (ib->fd > 0){
+			platform_fsrv_pushfd(fsrv, &ev, ib->fd);
+			close(ib->fd);
+			ib->fd = -1;
+		}
+
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+/* WRITE mode = 'INPUT' in the client space */
 	int outp[2];
 	if (-1 == pipe(outp)){
 		arcan_warning("open_nonblock(tgt), pipe-pair creation failed: %d\n", errno);
 		return 0;
 	}
-
-	const char* type = luaL_optstring(L, 3, "stream");
-
-/* WRITE mode = 'INPUT' in the client space */
 	int dst = wr ? outp[0] : outp[1];
 	int src = wr ? outp[1] : outp[0];
 
 /* in any scenario where this would fail, "blocking" behavior is acceptable */
 	alt_nbio_nonblock_cloexec(src, true);
-	struct arcan_event ev = {
-		.category = EVENT_TARGET,
-		.tgt.kind = wr ? TARGET_COMMAND_BCHUNK_IN : TARGET_COMMAND_BCHUNK_OUT
-	};
-	snprintf(ev.tgt.message, COUNT_OF(ev.tgt.message), "%s", type);
-
 	if (ARCAN_OK != platform_fsrv_pushfd(fsrv, &ev, dst)){
 		close(dst);
 		close(src);
diff --git a/src/engine/arcan_lua.c b/src/engine/arcan_lua.c
index 0248cfb9d..17522d44c 100644
--- a/src/engine/arcan_lua.c
+++ b/src/engine/arcan_lua.c
@@ -6414,6 +6414,14 @@ static int inputremaptranslation(lua_State* ctx)
 	LUA_TRACE("input_remap_translation")
 	int devid = luaL_checknumber(ctx, 1);
 	int act = luaL_checknumber(ctx, 2);
+	bool getmap = false;
+	int ofs = 2;
+
+/* set if we want an iostream to the current (remap) or a desired one */
+	if (lua_type(ctx, 3) == LUA_TBOOLEAN || lua_type(ctx, 3) == LUA_TNUMBER){
+		getmap = luaL_checkbnumber(ctx, 3);
+		ofs++;
+	}
 
 	if (
 		act != EVENT_TRANSLATION_CLEAR &&
@@ -6423,14 +6431,30 @@ static int inputremaptranslation(lua_State* ctx)
 	}
 
 	int ttop = lua_gettop(ctx);
-	const char* arr[ttop-2];
-	for (size_t i = 0; i < ttop - 2; i++){
-		arr[i] = luaL_checkstring(ctx, i+3);
+	const char* arr[ttop];
+
+	if (ttop - ofs > 0){
+		for (size_t i = 0; i < ttop - ofs; i++){
+			arr[i] = luaL_checkstring(ctx, i+ofs+1);
+		}
+		arr[ttop-ofs] = NULL;
 	}
 
-	arr[ttop-2] = NULL;
 	const char* err = "";
-	bool res = platform_event_translation(devid, act, arr, &err);
+
+	if (getmap){
+		int mode = EVENT_TRANSLATION_SERIALIZE_CURRENT;
+		if (act == EVENT_TRANSLATION_SET)
+			mode = EVENT_TRANSLATION_SERIALIZE_SPEC;
+
+		int fd = platform_event_translation(devid, mode, arr, &err);
+		struct nonblock_io* dst;
+		alt_nbio_import(ctx, fd, mode, &dst, NULL);
+		lua_pushstring(ctx, err);
+		LUA_ETRACE("input_remap_translation", NULL, 2);
+	}
+
+	int res = platform_event_translation(devid, act, arr, &err);
 	lua_pushboolean(ctx, res);
 	lua_pushstring(ctx, err);
 
@@ -7275,8 +7299,7 @@ static int arcantargethint(lua_State* ctx)
 	if (lua_type(ctx, tblind) != LUA_TTABLE)
 		luaL_typerror(ctx, tblind, "expected argument table");
 
-/*  LABELHINT (labelhint: label, initial, descr, vsym, subv) */
-	if (strcmp(msg, "input_label") == 0){
+	else if (strcmp(msg, "input_label") == 0){
 		struct arcan_event ev = {
 			.category = EVENT_EXTERNAL,
 			.ext = EVENT_EXTERNAL_LABELHINT,
diff --git a/src/platform/arcan/video.c b/src/platform/arcan/video.c
index 8fb7e87d6..e8b62c0fb 100644
--- a/src/platform/arcan/video.c
+++ b/src/platform/arcan/video.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 #include <math.h>
 #include <stdatomic.h>
 #include <lua.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 
 extern jmp_buf arcanmain_recover_state;
 
@@ -75,7 +76,6 @@ extern jmp_buf arcanmain_recover_state;
 #include "../egl-dri/egl_gbm_helper.h"
 
 static struct egl_env agp_eglenv;
-
 #endif
 
 #ifdef _DEBUG
@@ -84,6 +84,12 @@ static struct egl_env agp_eglenv;
 #define DEBUG 0
 #endif
 
+#ifdef HAVE_XKBCOMMON
+#include <xkbcommon/xkbcommon.h>
+#include <xkbcommon/xkbcommon-keysyms.h>
+#include <xkbcommon/xkbcommon-compose.h>
+#endif
+
 #define debug_print(fmt, ...) \
             do { if (DEBUG) arcan_warning("%lld:%s:%d:%s(): " fmt "\n",\
 						arcan_timemillis(), "platform-arcan:", __LINE__, __func__,##__VA_ARGS__); } while (0)
@@ -132,6 +138,7 @@ struct display {
 	struct agp_vstore* vstore;
 	float ppcm;
 	int id;
+  map_region keymap;
 
 /* only used for first display */
 	uint8_t subseg_alloc;
@@ -420,11 +427,92 @@ int platform_video_cardhandle(int cardn, int* method, size_t* msz, uint8_t** dbu
 	return -1;
 }
 
-bool platform_event_translation(int devid,
+static char* names_to_keymap_str(const char** arg, const char** err)
+{
+#ifdef HAVE_XKBCOMMON
+/* setup / fill out pref. */
+	struct xkb_context* xkb_context = xkb_context_new(XKB_CONTEXT_NO_FLAGS);
+	struct xkb_rule_names names = {0};
+	names.layout = arg[0];
+	if (names.layout)
+		names.model = arg[1];
+	if (names.model)
+		names.variant = arg[2];
+	if (names.variant)
+		names.options = arg[3];
+
+/* compile / convert */
+	struct xkb_keymap* kmap =
+		xkb_keymap_new_from_names(xkb_context, &names, XKB_KEYMAP_COMPILE_NO_FLAGS);
+	if (!kmap){
+		*err = "couldn't compile map";
+		xkb_context_unref(xkb_context);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+	char* map = xkb_map_get_as_string(kmap);
+	if (!map){
+		*err = "export failed";
+		xkb_keymap_unref(kmap);
+		xkb_context_unref(xkb_context);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+/* export / cleanup */
+	char* res = strdup(map);
+	if (!res){
+		*err = "map copy failed";
+	}
+	else
+		*err = "";
+
+	xkb_keymap_unref(kmap);
+	xkb_context_unref(xkb_context);
+	return res;
+#else
+	*err = "no xkb support";
+	return NULL;
+#endif
+}
+
+int platform_event_translation(int devid,
 	int action, const char** names, const char** err)
 {
+/*
+ * The serialize and remap can have meaning here as we might have native
+ * wayland / x11 clients that need the map client side and we are running
+ * inside another arcan that has it.
+ *
+ * If we get a BCHUNK event with 'xkb' type, the shared / cached 'current'
+ * is forwarded, and if not we build and set according to the shared helper
+ */
+	if ((devid == -1 || devid == 0) && disp[0].keymap.ptr){
+		switch (action){
+			case EVENT_TRANSLATION_SET:{
+				char* newmap = names_to_keymap_str(names, err);
+				if (!newmap){
+					return -1;
+				}
+				arcan_release_map(disp[0].keymap);
+				disp[0].keymap.ptr = newmap;
+				disp[0].keymap.sz = strlen(newmap);
+				return 0;
+			}
+			break;
+			case EVENT_TRANSLATION_SERIALIZE_SPEC:{
+				char* newmap = names_to_keymap_str(names, err);
+				int fd = arcan_strbuf_tempfile(newmap, strlen(newmap), err);
+				free(newmap);
+				return fd;
+			}
+			case EVENT_TRANSLATION_SERIALIZE_CURRENT:{
+				return arcan_strbuf_tempfile(disp[0].keymap.ptr, disp[0].keymap.sz, err);
+			}
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
 	*err = "Not Supported";
-	return false;
+	return -1;
 }
 
 int platform_event_device_request(int space, const char* path)
@@ -1193,7 +1281,7 @@ static bool scan_subseg(arcan_tgtevent* ev, bool ok)
  * return true if the segment has expired
  */
 extern struct arcan_luactx* main_lua_context;
-static bool event_process_disp(arcan_evctx* ctx, struct display* d, size_t i)
+static bool event_process_disp(arcan_evctx* ctx, struct display* d, size_t did)
 {
 	if (!d->conn.addr)
 		return true;
@@ -1367,8 +1455,18 @@ static bool event_process_disp(arcan_evctx* ctx, struct display* d, size_t i)
 			return true; /* it's not safe here */
 		break;
 
+		case TARGET_COMMAND_BCHUNK_IN:
+			if (strcmp(ev.tgt.message, "xkb") == 0){
+			    data_source ds = {.fd = ev.tgt.ioevs[0].iv};
+					arcan_release_map(d->keymap);
+/* setting to write means that the fd won't be cached and the whole resource
+ * will be read in one go and copied, so no need to dup and keep a fd */
+					d->keymap = arcan_map_resource(&ds, true);
+			}
+
+/* fallthrough to default is intended */
 		default:
-			if (i == 0){
+			if (did == 0){
 				arcan_lwa_subseg_ev(main_lua_context, ARCAN_VIDEO_WORLDID, 0, &ev);
 			}
 		break;
diff --git a/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.BSD b/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.BSD
index d59a7167a..b839efc11 100644
--- a/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.BSD
+++ b/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.BSD
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ list(APPEND ARCAN_PLATFORM
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/launch.c
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/config.c
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/random.c
+	${PLATFORM_PATH}/tempfile.c
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/prodthrd.c
 )
 set(LWA_PLATFORM ${ARCAN_PLATFORM})
diff --git a/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Darwin b/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Darwin
index e84bb175f..d5d9ab5f0 100644
--- a/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Darwin
+++ b/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Darwin
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ set(ARCAN_PLATFORM
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/launch.c
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/config.c
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/random.c
+	${PLATFORM_PATH}/tempfile.c
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/fsrv_guard.c
 )
 
diff --git a/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Linux b/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Linux
index 9be1e239e..aadf92998 100644
--- a/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Linux
+++ b/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Linux
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ set(ARCAN_PLATFORM
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/launch.c
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/config.c
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/random.c
+	${PLATFORM_PATH}/tempfile.c
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/../stub/setproctitle.c
 	${PLATFORM_PATH}/prodthrd.c
 )
diff --git a/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Video b/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Video
index 084747b2a..39882aa71 100644
--- a/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Video
+++ b/src/platform/cmake/CMakeLists.Video
@@ -147,16 +147,3 @@ if (NOT ENABLE_LWA)
 	set(LWA_PLATFORM_STR "stub")
 endif()
 
-if (INPUT_PLATFORM STREQUAL "evdev")
-	pkg_check_modules(XKB QUIET xkbcommon)
-	if (XKB_FOUND)
-		amsg("${CL_YEL}evdev    \t${CL_GRN}libxkbcommon${CL_RST}")
-		set_property(SOURCE ${PLATFORM_ROOT}/evdev/event.c APPEND PROPERTY
-			COMPILE_DEFINITIONS HAVE_XKBCOMMON)
-		list(APPEND VIDEO_LIBRARIES ${XKB_LINK_LIBRARIES})
-		list(APPEND INCLUDE_DIRS ${XKB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-	else()
-		amsg("${CL_YEL}evdev    \t${CL_RED}no libxkbcommon${CL_RST}")
-	endif()
-endif()
-
diff --git a/src/platform/evdev/event.c b/src/platform/evdev/event.c
index 53b5297cd..54852c55a 100644
--- a/src/platform/evdev/event.c
+++ b/src/platform/evdev/event.c
@@ -33,18 +33,15 @@
 #include "arcan_videoint.h"
 #include "keycode_xlate.h"
 
-#ifndef __FreeBSD__
-#include <sys/inotify.h>
-#endif
-
 #ifdef HAVE_XKBCOMMON
+static struct xkb_context* xkb_context;
 #include <xkbcommon/xkbcommon.h>
 #include <xkbcommon/xkbcommon-keysyms.h>
 #include <xkbcommon/xkbcommon-compose.h>
-/*
- * shared between all event queues
- */
-static struct xkb_context* xkb_context;
+#endif
+
+#ifndef __FreeBSD__
+#include <sys/inotify.h>
 #endif
 
 #ifdef _DEBUG
@@ -1017,6 +1014,23 @@ static void setup_led(struct devnode* dst, size_t bitn, int fd)
 	}
 }
 
+static int xkb_layout_to_fd(struct xkb_keymap* layout, const char** err)
+{
+	if (!layout){
+		*err = "no active map";
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	char* map = xkb_map_get_as_string(layout);
+	if (!map){
+		*err = "serialization request rejected";
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	int fd = arcan_strbuf_tempfile(map, strlen(map) + 1, err);
+	return fd;
+}
+
 static int alloc_node_slot(const char* path)
 {
 /* pre-existing? close old node and replace with this one, happens
@@ -1095,7 +1109,8 @@ static void send_device_added(struct arcan_evctx* ctx, struct devnode* node)
 	arcan_event_enqueue(ctx, &addev);
 }
 
-bool platform_event_translation(
+
+int platform_event_translation(
 	int devid, int action, const char** arg, const char** err)
 {
 	struct devnode* node = NULL;
@@ -1160,7 +1175,8 @@ bool platform_event_translation(
 		names.layout = layout ? options : getenv("XKB_DEFAULT_LAYOUT");
 	}
 /* just fill struct from arg */
-	else if (action == EVENT_TRANSLATION_SET){
+	else if (action == EVENT_TRANSLATION_SET ||
+		action == EVENT_TRANSLATION_SERIALIZE_SPEC){
 		names.layout = arg[0];
 		if (names.layout)
 			names.model = arg[1];
@@ -1169,11 +1185,25 @@ bool platform_event_translation(
 		if (names.variant)
 			names.options = arg[3];
 	}
+	else if (action == EVENT_TRANSLATION_SERIALIZE_CURRENT){
+		return xkb_layout_to_fd(node->keyboard.xkb_layout, err);
+	}
 	else {
 		*err = "Unsupported action";
 		return false;
 	}
 
+/* build the map and depending on if we should serialize or not, create a tmp
+ * file, write the string to it, seek back and return the descriptor */
+	struct xkb_keymap* map =
+		xkb_keymap_new_from_names(xkb_context, &names, XKB_KEYMAP_COMPILE_NO_FLAGS);
+
+	if (action == EVENT_TRANSLATION_SERIALIZE_SPEC){
+		int fd = xkb_layout_to_fd(map, err);
+		xkb_keymap_unref(map);
+		return fd;
+	}
+
 	if (node->keyboard.xkb_layout){
 		if (node->keyboard.xkb_state)
 			xkb_state_unref(node->keyboard.xkb_state);
@@ -1182,14 +1212,13 @@ bool platform_event_translation(
 		node->keyboard.xkb_layout = NULL;
 	}
 
+	node->keyboard.xkb_layout = map;
+
 /* Disable xkb translation entirely */
 	if (!names.rules && !names.model &&
 		!names.variant && !names.options && !names.layout)
 		return false;
 
-	node->keyboard.xkb_layout =
-		xkb_keymap_new_from_names(xkb_context, &names, XKB_KEYMAP_COMPILE_NO_FLAGS);
-
 	if (node->keyboard.xkb_layout)
 		node->keyboard.xkb_state = xkb_state_new(node->keyboard.xkb_layout);
 
diff --git a/src/platform/event_platform.h b/src/platform/event_platform.h
index 0985d2639..45d664456 100644
--- a/src/platform/event_platform.h
+++ b/src/platform/event_platform.h
@@ -97,14 +97,31 @@ enum translation_actions {
  * Revert to config or environment default.
  */
 	EVENT_TRANSLATION_CLEAR = 0,
+
 /*
  * Apply a preset (e.g. "sv")
  */
 	EVENT_TRANSLATION_SET = 1,
+
 /*
  * Apply a custom remap (e.g. code+mods=ucs4)
  */
-	EVENT_TRANSLATION_REMAP = 2
+	EVENT_TRANSLATION_REMAP = 2,
+
+/*
+ * Extract the current device map into some custom format for inspection
+ * or serializing to a system with the same translation language.
+ *
+ * Returns a fd or -1.
+ */
+	EVENT_TRANSLATION_SERIALIZE_CURRENT = 3,
+
+/*
+ * Like serialize_current but on a presentation like _SET.
+ *
+ * Returns a fd or -1.
+ */
+	EVENT_TRANSLATION_SERIALIZE_SPEC = 4
 };
 
 /*
@@ -117,7 +134,7 @@ enum translation_actions {
  * Returns false of ailure and sets *errmsg to a user presentable string
  *               indicating the cause.
  */
-bool platform_event_translation(
+int platform_event_translation(
 	int devid, int action, const char** names, const char** errmsg);
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/platform/headless/event.c b/src/platform/headless/event.c
index 4f1158852..0a661c436 100644
--- a/src/platform/headless/event.c
+++ b/src/platform/headless/event.c
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ void platform_event_analogfilter(int devid,
 {
 }
 
-bool platform_event_translation(
+int platform_event_translation(
 	int devid, int action, const char** names, const char** err)
 {
 	*err = "Unsupported";
diff --git a/src/platform/os_platform.h b/src/platform/os_platform.h
index 2eae92c5c..28fd940bc 100644
--- a/src/platform/os_platform.h
+++ b/src/platform/os_platform.h
@@ -289,7 +289,6 @@ void arcan_override_namespace(const char* path, enum arcan_namespaces space);
  */
 void arcan_softoverride_namespace(const char* newp, enum arcan_namespaces space);
 
-
 /*
  * implemented in <platform>/namespace.c,
  * prevent the specific slot from being overridden with either soft/hard
@@ -298,6 +297,12 @@ void arcan_softoverride_namespace(const char* newp, enum arcan_namespaces space)
  */
 void arcan_pin_namespace(enum arcan_namespaces space);
 
+/*
+ * implemented in <platform>/tempfile.c,
+ * take a buffer, write into a temporary file, unlink and return the descriptor
+ */
+int arcan_strbuf_tempfile(const char* msg, size_t msg_sz, const char** err);
+
 /*
  * implemented in <platform>/appl.c
  * ensure a sane setup (all namespaces have mapped paths + proper permissions)
diff --git a/src/platform/sdl/event.c b/src/platform/sdl/event.c
index 1fc466901..b6c8ebc79 100644
--- a/src/platform/sdl/event.c
+++ b/src/platform/sdl/event.c
@@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ static unsigned gen_devid(unsigned hid)
 	return hid;
 }
 
-bool platform_event_translation(
+int platform_event_translation(
 	int devid, int action, const char** names, const char** err)
 {
 	*err = "Unsupported";
diff --git a/src/platform/sdl2/event.c b/src/platform/sdl2/event.c
index 9ff3997bf..682620137 100644
--- a/src/platform/sdl2/event.c
+++ b/src/platform/sdl2/event.c
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ void platform_event_samplebase(int devid, float xyz[3])
  */
 }
 
-bool platform_event_translation(
+int platform_event_translation(
 	int devid, int action, const char** names, const char** err)
 {
 	*err = "Unsupported";
diff --git a/src/platform/stub/event.c b/src/platform/stub/event.c
index 4a76b071b..a00139ca8 100644
--- a/src/platform/stub/event.c
+++ b/src/platform/stub/event.c
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ void platform_event_analogall(bool enable, bool mouse)
 {
 }
 
-bool platform_event_translation(
+int platform_event_translation(
 	int devid, int action, const char** names, const char** err)
 {
 	*err = "Unsupported";
diff --git a/src/platform/syscons/event.c b/src/platform/syscons/event.c
index 052e41915..65bd390a1 100644
--- a/src/platform/syscons/event.c
+++ b/src/platform/syscons/event.c
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ static struct bsdkey decode_tok(char* tok)
 	return res;
 }
 
-bool platform_event_translation(
+int platform_event_translation(
 	int devid, int action, const char** names, const char** err)
 {
 	*err = "Unsupported";
diff --git a/src/platform/wscons/event.c b/src/platform/wscons/event.c
index 49918db6d..321ff3a2e 100644
--- a/src/platform/wscons/event.c
+++ b/src/platform/wscons/event.c
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ void platform_event_keyrepeat(arcan_evctx* ctx, int* period, int* delay)
 	}
 }
 
-bool platform_event_translation(
+int platform_event_translation(
 	int devid, int action, const char** names, const char** err)
 {
 	*err = "Unsupported";
diff --git a/src/shmif/arcan_shmif_evpack.c b/src/shmif/arcan_shmif_evpack.c
index f2416ee8c..988657610 100644
--- a/src/shmif/arcan_shmif_evpack.c
+++ b/src/shmif/arcan_shmif_evpack.c
@@ -212,8 +212,11 @@ const char* arcan_shmif_eventstr(arcan_event* aev, char* dbuf, size_t dsz)
 				ev.ext.netstate.name
 			);
 		break;
+		case EVENT_EXTERNAL_PRIVDROP:
+			snprintf(work, dsz,"EXT:PRIVDROP(level=%d)", (int)ev.tgt.ioevs[0].iv);
+		break;
 		default:
-			snprintf(work, dsz,"EXT:UNKNOWN(!)");
+			snprintf(work, dsz,"EXT:UNKNOWN(%d)", (int)ev.ext.kind);
 		break;
 		}
 	}