Turn your keyboard into a typewriter! 📇

daktilo-demo.mp4

daktilo ("typewriter" in Turkish, pronounced "duck-til-oh", derived from the Ancient Greek word δάκτυλος for "finger") is a small command-line program that plays typewriter sounds every time you press a key. It also offers the flexibility to customize keypress sounds to your liking. You can use the built-in sound presets to create an enjoyable typing experience, whether you're crafting emails or up to some prank on your boss.

✨ Inspiration: "Taking notes in class with my typewriter"

Now you can recreate this moment without the actual need for a physical typewriter!

Simply run daktilo for the classic typewriter effect.

There are also different presets available:

To list the presets:

daktilo --list-presets

To use a preset:

daktilo --preset musicbox

To use a different output device:

daktilo --device pipewire

Also, you can use --list-devices to list the available output devices.

• Linux
  • X11
  • Wayland*
• Windows
• MacOS

daktilo can be installed from crates.io using cargo if Rust is installed.

cargo install daktilo

The minimum supported Rust version is 1.70.0.

On Linux, the following packages should be installed:

• Arch Linux: alsa-lib libxtst libxi
• Alpine Linux: alsa-lib-dev libxi-dev libxtst-dev
• Debian/Ubuntu: libasound2-dev libxi-dev libxtst-dev

daktilo can be installed from the official repositories using pacman:

pacman -S daktilo

daktilo is available for Alpine Edge. It can be installed via apk after enabling the testing repository.

apk add daktilo

On macOS, daktilo can be installed via MacPorts:

sudo port install daktilo

More info here.

See the available binaries for different targets from the releases page.

1. Clone the repository.

git clone https://github.com/orhun/daktilo && cd daktilo/

2. Build.

CARGO_TARGET_DIR=target cargo build --release

Binary will be located at target/release/daktilo.

daktilo [OPTIONS]

Options:

-v, --verbose          Enables verbose logging [env: VERBOSE=]
-p, --preset <PRESET>  Sets the name of the sound preset to use [env: PRESET=]
-l, --list-presets     Lists the available presets
    --list-devices     Lists the available output devices
-d, --device <DEVICE>  Sets the device for playback [env: DAKTILO_DEVICE=]
-c, --config <PATH>    Sets the configuration file [env: DAKTILO_CONFIG=]
-i, --init             Writes the default configuration file
-h, --help             Print help
-V, --version          Print version

daktilo can be configured with a configuration file using the TOML format.

The path of the configuration file can be specified via --config argument or DAKTILO_CONFIG environment variable.

It can also be placed in one of the following global locations:

• <config_dir> / daktilo.toml
• <config_dir> / daktilo/daktilo.toml
• <config_dir> / daktilo/config

<config_dir> depends on the platform as shown in the following table:

See daktilo.toml for the default configuration options.

You can also create the default configuration file in the current directory with --init flag:

daktilo --init

The configuration file consists of an array of sound_preset entries.

To define an array in TOML, you can create different sections as follows:

[[sound_preset]]
name = "custom"
key_config = []

[[sound_preset]]
name = "another_custom"
key_config = []
disabled_keys = []

As shown above, sound_preset consists of 2 entries:

• name: The name of the preset. It will be used in conjunction with --preset flag. e.g. --preset custom
• key_config: An array of key press/release events for assigning audio files to the specified keys. It can also be used to control the volume etc.
• disabled_keys: An array of keys that will not be used for playback.

As an example, here is how you can configure key_config:

key_config = [
  { event = "press", keys = "Return", files = [{ path = "ding.mp3", volume = 1.0 }] },
]

• event: "press" or "release"
• keys: A regular expression (regex) for matching the keys.
• files: An array of files.
  • path: The absolute path of the file. If the file is embedded in the binary (i.e. if it is inside sounds/ directory) then it is the name of the file without full path.
  • volume: The volume of the sound. The value 1.0 is the "normal" volume (unfiltered input). Any value other than 1.0 will multiply each sample by this value.

If you have defined multiple files for a key event, you can also specify a strategy for how to play them:

key_config = [
  { event = "press", keys = ".*", files = [{ path = "1.mp3" }, { path = "2.mp3" }], strategy = "random" },
]

Currently supported strategies are:

• strategy = "random": pick a random file from the list and play it.
• strategy = "sequential": play the files sequentially.

Here is how you can combine everything together:

[[sound_preset]]
# Custom sound preset named "custom"
name = "custom"

# Key configurations for various events
key_config = [
  # When a key starting with "Key" is pressed, play 1.mp3, 2.mp3, and 3.mp3 sequentially
  { event = "press", keys = "Key*", files = [
    { path = "1.mp3" },
    { path = "2.mp3" },
    { path = "3.mp3" },
  ], strategy = "sequential" },

  # When a key starting with "Key" is released, play 4.mp3
  { event = "release", keys = "Key*", files = [
    { path = "4.mp3" },
  ] },

  # When a key starting with "Num" is pressed, play num.mp3 at a very high volume (10.0)
  { event = "press", keys = "Num*", files = [
    { path = "num.mp3", volume = 10.0 },
  ] },

  # When any key is pressed, play a random sound from cat.mp3, dog.mp3, or bird.mp3
  { event = "press", keys = ".*", files = [
    { path = "cat.mp3" },
    { path = "dog.mp3" },
    { path = "bird.mp3" },
  ], strategy = "random" },
]

# Disabled keys that won't trigger any sound events
disabled_keys = ["CapsLock", "NumLock"]

• bucklespring: Nostalgia bucklespring keyboard sound
• selectric-mode: Make your Emacs sound like a proper typewriter

Huge thanks to H. Arda Güler for giving me the idea for this project, sharing the inspiration behind it and implementing the first iteration in Python.

Kudos! 👾

If you find daktilo and/or other projects on my GitHub useful, consider supporting me on GitHub Sponsors or becoming a patron!

See our Contribution Guide and please follow the Code of Conduct in all your interactions with the project.

Also, see how you can add new presets here.

Licensed under either of Apache License Version 2.0 or The MIT License at your option.

🦀 ノ( º _ º ノ) - respect crables!

Copyright © 2023, Orhun Parmaksız