feat: Rename to vimproved. Add README.md

2026-06-04 16:19:18 -06:00 · 2020-09-14 14:52:57 +02:00
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+# Interception plugin for vimproved input
+
+My hideous (but working and performant) C++ code to remap the keys on any input device that emits keys.
+
+## tl;dr;
+
+* space cadet: Maps space into modifier key when held for long that transforms hjkl (vim homerow) into arrows, number row into F-keys and a bit more. Space still emits SPACE key when tapped without holding.
+* caps2esc: Makes CAPS key send ESC when tapped and CTRL when held.
+
+## Requirements
+Basically any OS that works with `libevdev` (linux with kernel newer than 2.6.36), no matter what desktop environment, or even if any DE is used (yes, it works the same in X server instead of `xmodmap`, but also in plain terminal, without graphical environment).
+
+## Running
+Use it with a job specification for `udevmon` (from [Interception Tools](https://gitlab.com/interception/linux/tools)). I install `remap` to `/opt/interception/interception-vimproved` and use it like the following on Arch linux on Thinkpad x1c gen7.
+
+```yaml
+- JOB: "intercept -g $DEVNODE | /opt/interception/interception-vimproved | uinput -d $DEVNODE"
+  DEVICE:
+    NAME: "AT Translated Set 2 keyboard"
+```
+
+Alternatively, you can run it with `udevmon` straight, just make sure to be negatively nice (`nice -n -20 udevmon -c /etc/udevmon.yml`) so your input is always available.
+
+### Testing
+In case you want to edit the source code, kill the `udevmon` daemon, and manually try the following to avoid getting stuck with broken input. Trust me, you can get yourself in a dead end situation easily.
+
+```bash
+# sleep buys you some time to focus away from terminal to your playground
+sleep 1 && timeout 10 udevmon -c /etc/udevmon.yml
+```
+
+
+## Why make this
+1. I have problems switching back and forth between my external keyboard and laptop keyboard. I customized my external keyboard with QMK to reduce my pinky strain and improve usability, but when I switch back to laptop keyboard, it's all lost, plus I have to fight my muscle memory.
+2. I used to use X.Org server with xinput, where I had an [xkbcomp based solution with xcape and xmodmap](https://github.com/maricn/dotfiles/blob/master/.xinitrc-keyboard-remap). However, since moving to wayland, that solution doesn't work anymore, and I needed to move to `libevdev` based solution.
+3. Enter [Interception Tools](https://gitlab.com/interception/linux/tools). It advertises itself as "a minimal composable infrastructure on top of libudev and libevdev". It, on one side, intercepts events from devices and writes them raw to `stdout`, and on the other side, it receives events from `stdin` and writes them to virtual input device.
+4. This plugin sits piped between Interception Tool's `intercept` and `uinput` (`intercept | remap | uinput`). It interprets input from `intercept` and maps it to desired events which are then passed to `uinput` for emitting.
+
+* Other solutions I tried didn't behave as expected and produced unexpected artefacts.
+* In this solution, the use of sleeps is eliminated, there's no buffers for input and the interaction with output is minimized to reduce extra costs of writing to it often.
+
+## Related work
+
+* [Interception Tools](https://gitlab.com/interception/linux/tools)
+* [space2meta](https://gitlab.com/interception/linux/plugins/space2meta)
+* [dual-function-keys](https://gitlab.com/interception/linux/plugins/dual-function-keys)
+* [interception-k2k](https://github.com/zsugabubus/interception-k2k)