ℹ️ This is a machine-translated document. In case of discrepancies, refer to the original document.

dotool – Installation & Configuration (Manjaro / Arch based)

What is dotool?

dotool is a quick tool for simulating keyboard input in Linux. It is significantly faster than xdotool and works on both X11 and Wayland.

Installation (Manjaro/Arch)

1. Install package

pamac build dotool
# oder mit yay:
yay -S dotool

2. Add user to the input group

sudo gpasswd -a $USER input

Create the 3. udev rule

echo 'KERNEL=="uinput", GROUP="input", MODE="0660", OPTIONS+="static_node=uinput"' \
  | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/80-dotool.rules

Reload 4. udev

sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger

5 New login (important!)

Without new login, group membership does not apply.

Configuration in the project

config/settings.py

# Eingabemethode für X11: "dotool" (schnell) oder "xdotool" (Fallback)
x11_input_method_OVERRIDE = "dotool"

# Delay zwischen Tastenanschlägen in Millisekunden
# 2ms = dotool-Default, zuverlässig auch für Umlaute (ä, ö, ü, ß)
# 0ms = maximal schnell, kann Sonderzeichen verschlucken
dotool_typedelay = 2

How the script uses dotool

Input Function

do_type() {
    local text="$1"
    if [[ "$INPUT_METHOD" == "dotool" ]]; then
        printf 'typedelay %s\ntype %s\n' "$DOTOOL_TYPEDELAY" "$text" | dotool
    else
        LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 xdotool type --clearmodifiers --delay 12 "$text"
    fi
}

Read configuration (without side effects)

Settings are read in such a way that print() outputs in settings.py do not falsify the value:

OVERRIDE=$(python3 -c "
import importlib.util, sys, io
spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location('settings', '$(pwd)/config/settings.py')
old_stdout = sys.stdout
sys.stdout = io.StringIO()
mod = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
spec.loader.exec_module(mod)
sys.stdout = old_stdout
print(mod.x11_input_method_OVERRIDE)
")
[[ "$OVERRIDE" == "dotool" ]] && INPUT_METHOD="dotool"

DOTOOL_TYPEDELAY=$(python3 -c "
import importlib.util, sys, io
spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location('settings', '$(pwd)/config/settings.py')
old_stdout = sys.stdout
sys.stdout = io.StringIO()
mod = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
spec.loader.exec_module(mod)
sys.stdout = old_stdout
print(mod.dotool_typedelay)
")

Notes

  • ** Umlaute & Sonderzeichen:** typedelay 2 (dotool-Default) is recommended. In typedelay 0, characters such as ä, ö, ü, ß can be lost.

  • Too fast for the target application? Some apps (e.g. Electron, browser inputs) lose signs at low delay. In this case, use dotool_typedelay = 5 or higher.

  • Wayland: dotool also works under Wayland, xdotool does not.

  • Fallback: If dotool is not installed, the script automatically falls back to xdotool.

How the script uses dotool

The script starts a persistent dotool process via a FIFO, to avoid the overhead of a new process with each keystroke.

Relevant code (type_watcher.sh)

export DOTOOL_DELAY=0

# Alten Listener beenden falls noch läuft
pkill -f "dotool < /tmp/dotool_fifo" 2>/dev/null

DOTOOL_PID=$!

# typedelay direkt nach Start setzen
sleep 0.1
echo "typedelay 0" > /tmp/dotool_fifo

# Cleanup beim Beenden
trap "kill $DOTOOL_PID 2>/dev/null; rm -f /tmp/dotool_fifo" EXIT

Input Function

do_type() {
    local text="$1"
    if [[ "$INPUT_METHOD" == "dotool" ]]; then
        printf 'typedelay 0\ntype %s\n' "$text" | dotool
        # printf 'typedelay 0\ntype %s\n' "$text" > /tmp/dotool_fifo
        # printf 'type %s\n' "$text" | dotool

    else
        LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 xdotool type --clearmodifiers --delay 12 "$text"
    fi
}

Read configuration (without side effects)

Settings are read in such a way that print() outputs in settings.py do not falsify the value:

OVERRIDE=$(python3 -c "
import importlib.util, sys, io
spec = importlib.util.spec_from_file_location('settings', '$(pwd)/config/settings.py')
old_stdout = sys.stdout
sys.stdout = io.StringIO()
mod = importlib.util.module_from_spec(spec)
spec.loader.exec_module(mod)
sys.stdout = old_stdout
print(mod.x11_input_method_OVERRIDE)
")
[[ "$OVERRIDE" == "dotool" ]] && INPUT_METHOD="dotool"

Notes

  • Too fast for the target application? Some apps (e.g., Electron, browser inputs) lose characters at typedelay 0. In this case, use typedelay 5 or typedelay 10.

  • Wayland: dotool also works under Wayland, whereas xdotool does not.

  • Fallback: If dotool is not installed, the script automatically falls back to xdotool.