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Version: 2.0 (dev)

Input Device Configuration somewm-only

This guide shows how to configure your touchpad, mouse, and keyboard from your config, give different devices different settings, and change the cursor theme, all at runtime with no restart. The mechanism is awful.input, a SomeWM addition (AwesomeWM delegated this to X11 tools).

Set Defaults for All Devices​

Settings written directly on awful.input apply to every connected device:

local awful = require("awful")

-- Touchpad settings
awful.input.tap_to_click = 1
awful.input.natural_scrolling = 1
awful.input.accel_speed = 0.3

-- Keyboard settings
awful.input.xkb_layout = "us"
awful.input.xkb_options = "ctrl:nocaps"
awful.input.keyboard_repeat_rate = 30
awful.input.keyboard_repeat_delay = 300

A value of -1 means "leave at device default." A value of 0 disables the feature, 1 enables it.

Give Different Devices Different Settings​

If you use both a touchpad and an external mouse, you probably want different settings for each. Input rules let you do this using the same { rule, properties } pattern as client rules:

awful.input.rules = {
    { rule = { type = "touchpad" },
      properties = {
          natural_scrolling = 1,
          tap_to_click = 1,
          tap_3fg_drag = 1,
      } },
    { rule = { type = "pointer" },
      properties = {
          natural_scrolling = 0,
          accel_profile = "flat",
      } },
}

Two device types are available:

  • touchpad - Touchpads (any device that supports tap gestures)
  • pointer - Everything else: mice, trackballs, trackpoints

Targeting a Specific Device​

Use the name field to match a specific device by name (substring match):

awful.input.rules = {
    { rule = { type = "touchpad" },
      properties = { natural_scrolling = 1 } },
    { rule = { name = "Logitech G502" },
      properties = { accel_speed = -0.5, accel_profile = "flat" } },
}

To find device names on your system:

libinput list-devices | grep "Device:"

How Globals and Rules Interact​

Global awful.input.* settings are the baseline. Rules override them per-property, per-device. Later rules take priority over earlier ones:

-- Global: natural scrolling on for everything
awful.input.natural_scrolling = 1

-- Rule: turn it off for mice
awful.input.rules = {
    { rule = { type = "pointer" },
      properties = { natural_scrolling = 0 } },
}
-- Touchpads get natural scrolling (global default), mice don't (rule override)

All Properties​

See awful.input Reference for the complete property list and rule API.

Change the Cursor Theme and Size​

Try a theme live, then persist the keeper. At runtime, from Lua or the CLI: somewm-only

root.cursor_theme("Adwaita")  -- Change theme (no argument returns the current one)
root.cursor_size(32)          -- Change size in pixels
somewm-client eval 'root.cursor_theme("Adwaita")'
somewm-client eval 'return root.cursor_theme(), root.cursor_size()'

To persist it, set the standard environment variables before SomeWM starts (shell profile or a wrapper script):

export XCURSOR_THEME="Adwaita"  # Theme name (from /usr/share/icons/)
export XCURSOR_SIZE="24"        # Size in pixels
Fallback Behavior

If a cursor theme cannot be loaded (e.g., theme not installed), wlroots provides built-in fallback cursors. These are basic black-and-white cursors that ensure your mouse always works, even on minimal systems.

Use a Different Cursor Per Context​

The desktop cursor, hover cursors on wiboxes, and the cursors shown during move/resize grabs are each settable. Values are standard X cursor names like left_ptr or hand1 (the AwesomeWM appearance docs list them):

-- Root/desktop cursor
root.cursor("left_ptr")

-- Hover cursor for a wibox
mywibox.cursor = "hand1"

-- In theme.lua: per-operation cursors
theme.cursor_mouse_move = "fleur"      -- During window move
theme.cursor_mouse_resize = "cross"    -- During window resize
theme.enable_spawn_cursor = true       -- Show "watch" during app startup

See Theme Variables: Cursors for all options.

Next Steps​