---
name: "xkbcli"
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"
---

# xkbcli(1)

tool to interact with X Keyboard keymaps

## NAME

**xkbcli** – tool to interact with X Keyboard keymaps

## SYNOPSIS

**xkbcli** *command* \[arguments\]

**xkbcli** \[**--help** \| **--version**\]

## DESCRIPTION

**xkbcli** is a commandline tool to query, compile and test XKB keymaps, layouts and other elements.

- **--help**

  Print help and exit

- **--version**

  Print the version and exit

### COMMANDS

- **info**

  Print information about libxkbcommon configuration

- **compile-keymap**

  Compile an XKB keymap, see [xkbcli-compile-keymap(1)](/xkbcli-compile-keymap/1.md)

- **compile-compose**

  Compile a compose file, see [xkbcli-compile-compose(1)](/xkbcli-compile-compose/1.md)

- **how-to-type**

  Show how to type a given Unicode codepoint, see [xkbcli-how-to-type(1)](/xkbcli-how-to-type/1.md)

- **interactive**

  Interactive debugger for XKB keymaps that automatically select from the following backends, if available: Wayland, X11 and evdev. See the corresponding entries hereinafter.

- **interactive-evdev**

  Interactive debugger for XKB keymaps for evdev, see [xkbcli-interactive-evdev(1)](/xkbcli-interactive-evdev/1.md)

- **interactive-wayland**

  Interactive debugger for XKB keymaps for Wayland, see [xkbcli-interactive-wayland(1)](/xkbcli-interactive-wayland/1.md)

- **interactive-x11**

  Interactive debugger for XKB keymaps for X11, see [xkbcli-interactive-x11(1)](/xkbcli-interactive-x11/1.md)

- **dump-keymap**

  Dump an XKB keymap from a Wayland or X11 compositor, see the corresponding entries hereinafter.

- **dump-keymap-wayland**

  Dump an XKB keymap from a Wayland compositor, see [xkbcli-dump-keymap-wayland(1)](/xkbcli-dump-keymap-wayland/1.md)

- **dump-keymap-x11**

  Dump an XKB keymap from an X server, see [xkbcli-dump-keymap-x11(1)](/xkbcli-dump-keymap-x11/1.md)

- **list**

  List available layouts and more, see [xkbcli-list(1)](/xkbcli-list/1.md)

Note that not all tools may be available on your system.

## EXIT STATUS

- 0

  exited successfully

- 1

  an error occured

- 2

  program was called with invalid arguments

## SEE ALSO

*The libxkbcommon online documentation:* **https://xkbcommon.org**