Update: SDL3/Wayland branch merged to main, GH release bin updated along with AUR packages.
There’s no good standalone controller-driven on-screen keyboard on Linux. Steam’s keyboard requires Steam running. Other virtual keyboards (Onboard, Florence) need a mouse pointer or are dead projects. I wanted something that takes D-pad and stick input directly, like a console, but can be launched independently of specific games or platforms.
So I built one written in Go with SDL3 and native Wayland layer-shell support. It works as a daemon with a configurable controller combo to toggle show/hide. AUR packages ( gamepad-osk-git , gamepad-osk-bin are updated to v2.
If you’re on Wayland with a gamepad, I’d appreciate testers. Bug reports and PRs welcome. Wayland testers still welcome - especially GNOME (falls back to standard window, no layer-shell). Bug reports and PRs welcome.
Features :
- Full QWERTY with shortcuts row (undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, select all, Alt+Tab, media keys)
- D-pad navigation with stick-driven mouse cursor
- Modifier support (Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Super, Caps) with visual status indicators
- Button-hold key repeat for backspace, space, enter
- Alt+Tab key for multiple Tab presses
- Auto-reconnect on controller disconnect/timeout
- Configurable button mapping, 60 themes, adjustable opacity
- Sub-1% CPU idle, under 4% during active input
I pushed the Wayland branch to main and have an updated bin if you wanted to avoid building yourself, though you still need to follow my non-distrobox instructions to test.