---
name: "xkbcli-interactive-evdev"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "libxkbcommon"
version: "1.13.2-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/xkbcli-interactive-evdev"
---

# xkbcli-interactive-evdev(1)

interactive debugger for X Keyboard keymaps

## NAME

**xkbcli-interactive-evdev** – interactive debugger for X Keyboard keymaps

## SYNOPSIS

**xkbcli-interactive-evdev** \[*options*\] \[*KEYMAP\_PATH*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**xkbcli-interactive-evdev** is a commandline tool to interactively debug XKB keymaps by listening to */dev/input/eventX* evdev devices.

**xkbcli-interactive-evdev** requires permission to open the evdev device nodes. This usually requires being the “root” user or belonging to the “input” group.

Press the ⟨Escape⟩ key to exit.

This is a debugging tool, its behavior or output is not guaranteed to be stable.

- *KEYMAP\_PATH*

  Path to a keymap file, or “-” to read the standard input

- **--help**

  Print help and exit

- **--verbose**

  Enable verbose debugging output

- **--include** *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 **--include-defaults** to add the default include paths.

- **--include-defaults**

  Add the default set of include directories. This option is order-dependent, include paths given first are searched first.

- **--format** *keymap\_format*

  Specify the keymap format (numeric or label, e.g. “v1”)

- **--rules** *rules*

  The XKB ruleset

- **--model** *model*

  The XKB model

- **--layout** *layout*

  The XKB layout

- **--variant** *variant*

  The XKB layout variant

- **--option** *options*

  The XKB options

- **--enable-environment-names**

  Allow to set the default RMLVO values via the following environment variables:

  - XKB\_DEFAULT\_RULES

  - XKB\_DEFAULT\_MODEL

  - XKB\_DEFAULT\_LAYOUT

  - XKB\_DEFAULT\_VARIANT

  - XKB\_DEFAULT\_OPTIONS

    Note that this option may affect the default values of the previous options.

- **--keymap** *file*

  Specify a keymap path. This option is mutually exclusive with the RMLVO options.

- **--enable-compose**

  Enable Compose functionality

- **--consumed-mode** {xkb\|gtk}

  Set the consumed modifiers mode (default: xkb)

- **--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.

- **--report-state-changes**

  Report changes to the keyboard state

- **-1,** **--uniline**

  Enable uniline event output.

- **--multiline**

  Enable multiline event output.

- **--short**

  Print shorter event output.

## SEE ALSO

[xkbcli(1)](/xkbcli/1.md), [xkbcli-interactive-wayland(1)](/xkbcli-interactive-wayland/1.md), [xkbcli-interactive-x11(1)](/xkbcli-interactive-x11/1.md), *The libxkbcommon online documentation:* **https://xkbcommon.org**