go-uinput is Go interface to Linux uinput kernel module that makes it possible to emulate input devices from userspace.

The interface aims to make it dead simple to create virtual input devices, e.g. keyboard, joystick, or mice for generating arbitrary input events programmatically.

First, the system must have uinput kernel module loaded.

sudo modprobe -i uinput

Second, /dev/uinput device is owned by root and therefore its default permissions must either be changed using chmod

sudo chmod 666 /dev/uinput

or, which is a much more preferred option, add the udev rule to allow a user use the device

echo KERNEL=="uinput", MODE="0666" | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/90-$USER.rules
sudo udevadm trigger

To build the package from sources, clone the repository and run

go build
go install

Alternatively, use go get to obtain and install the package in your $GOPATH

go get github.com/sashko/go-uinput

The following example shows how to create a new virtual keyboard, and how to send a key press event.

All the default imports and error handlers were removed for the sake of simplicity.

func main() {
	keyboard, err := uinput.CreateKeyboard()

	defer keyboard.Close()

	// Press left Shift key, press G, release Shift
	keyboard.KeyDown(uinput.KeyLeftShift)
	keyboard.KeyPress(uinput.KeyG)
	keyboard.KeyUp(uinput.KeyLeftShift)

	// Press O key
	keyboard.KeyPress(uinput.KeyO)
}