pynput 1.1

Monitor and control user input devices

pynput

This library allows you to control and monitor input devices.

Currently, mouse and keyboard input and monitoring are supported.

Controlling the mouse

Use pynput.mouse.Controller like this:

from pynput.mouse import Button, Controller

mouse = Controller()

# Read pointer position
print('The current pointer position is {0}'.format(
    mouse.position))

# Set pointer position
mouse.position = (10, 20)
print('Now we have moved it to {0}'.format(
    mouse.position))

# Move pointer relative to current position
mouse.move(5, -5)

# Press and release
mouse.press(Button.left)
mouse.release(Button.left)

# Double click; this is different from pressing and releasing
# twice on Mac OSX
mouse.click(Button.left, 2)

# Scroll two steps down
mouse.scroll(0, 2)

Monitoring the mouse

Use pynput.mouse.Listener like this:

from pynput.mouse import Listener

def on_move(x, y):
    print('Pointer moved to {0}'.format(
        (x, y)))

def on_click(x, y, button, pressed):
    print('{0} at {1}'.format(
        'Pressed' if pressed else 'Released',
        (x, y)))
    if not pressed:
        # Stop listener
        return False

def on_scroll(dx, dy):
    print('Scrolled {0}'.format(
        (x, y)))

# Collect events until released
with Listener(
        on_move=on_move,
        on_click=on_click,
        on_scroll=on_scroll) as listener:
    listener.join()

A mouse listener is a threading.Thread, and all callbacks will be invoked from the thread.

Call pynput.mouse.Listener.stop from anywhere, or raise pynput.mouse.Listener.StopException or return False from a callback to stop the listener.

On Windows, virtual events sent by other processes may not be received. This library takes precautions, however, to dispatch any virtual events generated to all currently running listeners of the current process.

Controlling the keyboard

Use pynput.keyboard.Controller like this:

from pynput.keyboard import Key, Controller

keyboard = Controller()

# Press and release space
keyboard.press(Key.space)
keyboard.release(Key.space)

# Type a lower case A; this will work even if no key on the
# physical keyboard is labelled 'A'
keyboard.press('a')
keyboard.release('a')

# Type two upper case As
keyboard.press('A')
keyboard.release('A')
with keyboard.pressed(Key.shift):
    keyboard.press('a')
    keyboard.release('a')

# Type 'Hello World' using the shortcut type method
keyboard.type('Hello World')

Monitoring the keyboard

Use pynput.keyboard.Listener like this:

from pynput.keyboard import Key, Listener

def on_press(key):
    print('{0} pressed'.format(
        key))

def on_release(key):
    print('{0} release'.format(
        key))
    if key == Key.esc:
        # Stop listener
        return False

# Collect events until released
with Listener(
        on_press=on_press,
        on_release=on_release) as listener:
    listener.join()

A keyboard listener is a threading.Thread, and all callbacks will be invoked from the thread.

Call pynput.keyboard.Listener.stop from anywhere, or raise pynput.keyboard.Listener.StopException or return False from a callback to stop the listener.

Starting a keyboard listener may be subject to some restrictions on your platform.

On Mac OSX, one of the following must be true:

• The process must run as root.
• Your application must be white listed under Enable access for assistive devices. Note that this might require that you package your application, since otherwise the entire Python installation must be white listed.

On Windows, virtual events sent by other processes may not be received. This library takes precautions, however, to dispatch any virtual events generated to all currently running listeners of the current process.

Release Notes

v1.1 - Simplified usage on Linux

• Propagate import errors raised on Linux to help troubleshoot missing Xlib module.
• Declare python3-xlib as dependency on Linux for Python 3.

v1.0.6 - Universal wheel

• Make sure to build a universal wheel for all python versions.

v1.0.5 - Fixes for dragging on OSX

• Corrected dragging on OSX.
• Added scroll speed constant for OSX to correct slow scroll speed.

v1.0.4 - Fixes for clicking and scrolling on Windows

• Corrected name of mouse input field when sending click and scroll events.

v1.0.3 - Fixes for Python 3 on Windows

• Corrected use of ctypes on Windows.

v1.0.2 - Fixes for thread identifiers

• Use thread identifiers to identify threads, not Thread instances.

v1.0.1 - Fixes for Python 3

• Corrected bugs which prevented the library from being used on Python 3.

v1.0 - Stable Release

• Changed license to LGPL.
• Corrected minor bugs and inconsistencies.
• Corrected and extended documentation.

v0.6 - Keyboard Monitor

• Added support for monitoring the keyboard.
• Corrected wheel packaging.
• Corrected deadlock when stopping a listener in some cases on X.
• Corrected key code constants on Mac OSX.
• Do not intercept events on Mac OSX.

v0.5.1 - Do not die on dead keys

• Corrected handling of dead keys.
• Corrected documentation.

v0.5 - Keyboard Modifiers

• Added support for modifiers.

v0.4 - Keyboard Controller

• Added keyboard controller.

v0.3 - Cleanup

• Moved pynput.mouse.Controller.Button to top-level.

v0.2 - Initial Release

• Support for controlling the mouse on Linux, Mac OSX and Windows.
• Support for monitoring the mouse on Linux, Mac OSX and Windows.