.Dd February 27, 2026
.Dt XKBCLI\-INTERACTIVE\-EVDEV 1
.Os
.
.Sh NAME
.Nm "xkbcli\-interactive\-evdev"
.Nd interactive debugger for X Keyboard keymaps
.
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Ar options
.Op Ar KEYMAP_PATH
.
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm
is a commandline tool to interactively debug XKB keymaps by listening to
.Pa /dev/input/eventX
evdev devices.
.
.Pp
.Nm
requires permission to open the evdev device nodes.
This usually requires being the
.Dq root
user or belonging to the
.Dq input
group.
.
.Ppr
Press the
.Aq Escape
key to exit.
.
.Pp
This is a debugging tool, its behavior or output is not guaranteed to be stable.
.
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Ar KEYMAP_PATH
Path to a keymap file, or
.Dq \-
to read the standard input
.
.It Fl h, \-help
Print help and exit
.
.It Fl V, \-version
Print version information and exit
.
.It Fl \-verbose
Enable verbose debugging output
.
.It Fl \-include Ar PATH
Add the given path to the include path list.
This option is order\-dependent, include paths given first are searched first.
If an include path is given, the default include path list is not used.
Use
.Fl \-include\-defaults
to add the default include paths.
.
.It Fl \-include\-defaults
Add the default set of include directories.
This option is order-dependent, include paths given first are searched first.
.
.It Fl \-format Ar KEYMAP_FORMAT
Specify the keymap format (numeric or label, e.g.\&
.Dq v1 )
.
.It Fl \-strict
Parse using the strict mode.
.
.It Fl \-rules Ar RULES
The XKB ruleset
.
.It Fl \-model Ar MODEL
The XKB model
.
.It Fl \-layout Ar LAYOUT
The XKB layout
.
.It Fl \-variant Ar VARIANT
The XKB layout variant
.
.It Fl \-option Ar OPTIONS
The XKB options
.
.It Fl \-enable\-environment\-names
Allow to set the default RMLVO values via the following environment variables:
.Bl -dash -compact -hang
.It
.Ev XKB_DEFAULT_RULES
.It
.Ev XKB_DEFAULT_MODEL
.It
.Ev XKB_DEFAULT_LAYOUT
.It
.Ev XKB_DEFAULT_VARIANT
.It
.Ev XKB_DEFAULT_OPTIONS
.El
Note that this option may affect the default values of the previous options.
.
.It Fl \-legacy\-state\-api Op Ar =true|false
Use the legacy state API instead of the server machine API.
.
.It Fl \-controls Ar CONTROLS
Enable or disable controls. It implies
.Fl \-legacy\-state\-api=false
\&.
.Ar CONTROLS
is a comma-separated-list of the following entries:
.Bl -tag -compact -hang
.It Ar sticky-keys
Enable sticky-keys accessibility feature
.It Ar sticky-keys-no-simultaneous
Deactivate sticky-keys if 2 keys or more are pressed simultaneously.
.It Ar sticky-keys-latch-to-lock
Enable latch-to-lock option for sticky-keys
.It Ar latch-simultaneous
Relax the strict tapping sequence requirement operating key latches.
.It Ar overlay Ns Brq 1-8
Enable the corresponding keyboard overlay
.El
Each entry may be preceded by
.Ar \+
or
.Ar \-
in order to respectively enable or disable the corresponding control.
.
.It Fl \-modifiers\-mapping Ar MAPPING
Use the given modifiers mapping.
.Ar MAPPING
is a comma-separated list of modifiers masks mappings with format
.Ar source:target
, e.g.
.Ar Control+Alt:LevelThree,Alt:Meta
\&.
It implies
.Fl \-legacy\-state\-api=false
\&.
.
.It Fl \-shortcuts\-mask Ar MASK
Use the given modifier mask to enable selecting a specific
layout (see
.Fl \-shortcuts\-mapping
) when some of these modifiers are active.
The modifier mask is a plus-separated list of modifiers names, e.g.
.Ar "Control+Alt+Super"
\&.
It implies
.Fl \-legacy\-state\-api=false
\&.
.
.It Fl \-shortcuts\-mapping Ar MAPPING
Use the given layout indices mapping to enable selecting a specific
layout when some modifiers are active (see
.Fl \-shortcuts\-mask
).
.Ar MAPPINGS
is a comma-separated list of 1-indexed layout
indices mappings with format
.Ar source:target
, e.g.
.Ar 2:1,3:1
\&.
It implies
.Fl \-legacy\-state\-api=false
\&.
.
.It Fl \-keymap Ar FILE
Specify a keymap path.
This option is mutually exclusive with the RMLVO options.
.
.It Fl \-enable\-compose
Enable Compose functionality
.
.It Fl \-consumed\-mode Brq xkb|gtk
Set the consumed modifiers mode (default: xkb)
.
.It Fl \-without\-x11\-offset
Don't add an offset of 8 when converting an evdev keycode to an XKB keycode.
You probably don't want this option.
.
.It Fl \-report\-state\-changes
Report changes to the keyboard state
.It Fl 1, \-uniline
Enable uniline event output.
.
.It Fl *, \-multiline
Enable multiline event output.
.
.It Fl \-short
Print shorter event output.
.
.It Fl \-no-state-report
Do not report state changes
.
.El
.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr xkbcli 1 ,
.Xr xkbcli\-interactive\-wayland 1 ,
.Xr xkbcli\-interactive\-x11 1 ,
.Lk https://xkbcommon.org "The libxkbcommon online documentation"