Keyd — Keyboard Re-Mapping

Linux

Keyboard

Published

January 12, 2023

Modified

January 31, 2025

keyd ¹ …key remapping daemon for Linux

…enables the configuration of keyboard layers
…similar to keyboard firmware like QMK
…independent of any specific keyboard model or keyboard firmware
…no requirement to flash keyboard firmware
…independent of any specific GUI like X11 or Wayland
…common system-wide configuration …including the console
Alternative keymapper²

Installation

File	Description
`keyd-install` ³	Script to build & install `keyd`

Manual …from source code:

pushd $(mktemp -d /tmp/$USER-keyd-XXXXXX)
git clone https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd && cd keyd
make && sudo make install
sudo systemctl enable --now keyd
popd
rm -rf /tmp/$USER-keyd-*

…read the log file sudo journalctl -eu keyd
…configuration in /etc/keyd and /usr/share/keyd
…executables keyd* in /usr/bin
…documentation /usr/share/doc/keyd

Configuration

Special key sequence backspace+escape+enter should cause keyd to terminate

File	Description
`keyd.sh` ⁴	Script to configure `keyd`
`default.conf` ⁵	`keyd` configuration file

Configuration in /etc/keyd/default.conf

…sudo systemctl reload keyd after changes…
…use capslock to access a dedicated layer on the keyboard
…bring back function keys not present on keyboards smaller then 75%
…make backtick and tilde more accessible close to the home row

[ids]

*

[main]

capslock = layer(capslock)

[capslock:C]

# function keys missing on small keyboards
1 = f1
2 = f2
3 = f3
4 = f4
5 = f5
6 = f6
7 = f7
8 = f8
9 = f9
0 = f10
- = f11
= = f12

# vim-style arrow keys
h = left
j = down
k = up
l = right

# typically inconvenient
space = backspace
q = ~
w = `
e = \
r = |

# copy&paste in Linux terminals
d = C-S-c
f = C-S-v

Footnotes

keyd Source Code, GitHub
https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd ↩︎
keymapper, GitHub
https://github.com/houmain/keymapper ↩︎
keyd-install build & install script, GitHub
https://github.com/vpenso/scripts/blob/master/bin/keyd-install ↩︎
Script to configure keyd, GitHub
https://github.com/vpenso/scripts/blob/master/var/aliases/keyd.sh ↩︎
keyd configuration file, GitHub
https://github.com/vpenso/scripts/blob/master/etc/keyd/default.conf ↩︎

--- title: 'Keyd — Keyboard Re-Mapping' categories: - Linux - Keyboard date: 2023/01/12 date-modified: 2025/01/31 --- `keyd` [^FJwJ3] …key remapping daemon for Linux [^FJwJ3]: `keyd` Source Code, GitHub <https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd> - ...**enables the configuration of keyboard layers** - ...similar to keyboard [firmware like QMK][qmk] - ...independent of any specific keyboard model or keyboard firmware - ...no requirement to flash keyboard firmware - ...independent of any specific GUI like X11 or Wayland - ...common system-wide configuration ...including the console - Alternative `keymapper`[^4AZ9G] [qmk]: https://qmk.fm [^4AZ9G]: `keymapper`, GitHub <https://github.com/houmain/keymapper> ### Installation File | Description -----|----------------------------------------------- `keyd-install` [^afwU5] | Script to build & install `keyd` [^afwU5]: `keyd-install` build & install script, GitHub <https://github.com/vpenso/scripts/blob/master/bin/keyd-install> Manual …from source code: ```sh pushd $(mktemp -d /tmp/$USER-keyd-XXXXXX) git clone https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd && cd keyd make && sudo make install sudo systemctl enable --now keyd popd rm -rf /tmp/$USER-keyd-* ``` - ...read the log file `sudo journalctl -eu keyd` - ...configuration in `/etc/keyd` and `/usr/share/keyd` - ...executables `keyd*` in `/usr/bin` - ...documentation `/usr/share/doc/keyd` ### Configuration **Special key sequence `backspace+escape+enter` should cause `keyd` to terminate** File | Description -----|----------------------------------------------- `keyd.sh` [^joV7A] | Script to configure `keyd` `default.conf` [^eIL61] | `keyd` configuration file [^joV7A]: Script to configure `keyd`, GitHub <https://github.com/vpenso/scripts/blob/master/var/aliases/keyd.sh> [^eIL61]: `keyd` configuration file, GitHub <https://github.com/vpenso/scripts/blob/master/etc/keyd/default.conf> Configuration in `/etc/keyd/default.conf` - …`sudo systemctl reload keyd` after changes... - …use capslock to access a dedicated layer on the keyboard - …bring back function keys not present on keyboards smaller then 75% - …make backtick and tilde more accessible close to the home row ```ini [ids] * [main] capslock = layer(capslock) [capslock:C] # function keys missing on small keyboards 1 = f1 2 = f2 3 = f3 4 = f4 5 = f5 6 = f6 7 = f7 8 = f8 9 = f9 0 = f10 - = f11 = = f12 # vim-style arrow keys h = left j = down k = up l = right # typically inconvenient space = backspace q = ~ w = ` e = \ r = | # copy&paste in Linux terminals d = C-S-c f = C-S-v ```