sloposk

iPad-style floating on-screen keyboard for Plasma Wayland. Qt 6, C++ core, QML UI.

• Flick a key down for its secondary symbol; long-press for accented alternates
• iOS shift: tap = one letter, double-tap = caps lock, hold = shift while held
• Letters follow the system keyboard layout; the globe key switches it
• Auto-capitalization, double-space → ". " (both optional, ⚙ on the bottom bar), backspace repeat → word delete
• Long-press space = trackpad; slide from .?123 onto a symbol and release
• Optional PC key blocks: function row, navigation (ins/home/pg up, del/end/pg dn, arrows), numeric keypad; any mix, typing keys included (⚙)
• Floating: drag the bottom bar, resize from the corner; geometry is remembered per screen

Build & test

cmake -B build -G Ninja && cmake --build build
ctest --test-dir build

Needs Qt ≥ 6.8 (Quick, WaylandClient, DBus, Test), LayerShellQt, xkbcommon, wayland-protocols.

Run

KWin only offers the input-method protocol to the process it launches itself.

Where	How
Nested session (safe)	kwin_wayland --no-lockscreen --socket sloposk-dev --width 1400 --height 900 --inputmethod $PWD/build/src/sloposk kwrite
Desktop	cmake --install build --prefix ~/.local, then System Settings → Keyboard → Virtual Keyboard → sloposk
UI only	build/src/sloposk (stays visible, types nowhere)

Show/hide, e.g. from a global shortcut: qdbus org.sloposk.Keyboard /Keyboard org.sloposk.Keyboard.Toggle

Dev hooks: SLOPOSK_AUTOTYPE=text commits on focus; SLOPOSK_SCREENSHOT=file.png saves the window and quits.

Layouts

Letters come from the system keymap (what KWin sends to every client): its Q/A/Z rows become the three letter rows. Letters elsewhere, e.g. Slovak ľščťž on the number row, become long-press alternates. The globe key switches the system layout over org.kde.keyboard, so the physical keyboard follows.

Everything else is layouts/template.json; ~/.local/share/sloposk/template.json replaces it.

{"type": "letters", "row": 0, "flicks": ["1", "2", "3"]},
{"type": "backspace", "width": 1.5, "stretch": true}

• Key: a string, or an object with type (char space backspace enter shift layer globe dismiss spacer letters keysym), label, shifted, flick, alternates, width (key units), target (for layer), stretch
• keysym: sends the XKB keysym named by keysym (Home, F5, Left...) on press; repeat auto-repeats while held
• letters: the keymap row row (0–2), with flicks handed out left to right
• stretch: the key grows so its row is as wide as the layer's widest (letter counts vary by layout)
• Top-level alternates: long-press choices per letter, after the keymap's own
• Top-level sections: optional blocks, {"id", "name", "placement": "above" | "right", "rows"}; the user picks which show

Settings

~/.config/sloposk/sloposk.conf, also editable from the ⚙ panel: typing/autoCapitalize, typing/doubleSpacePeriod, layout/visibleSections (main plus section ids).

Architecture

qml/        view only
input/      touch → PointerTracker gestures → KeyboardController rules
engine/     key output → text ops (DirectEngine; prediction/swipe later)
backend/    text ops → compositor (KWin input-method-v1); the compositor's keymap
layout/     template JSON + keymap letters → Layout → LayoutModel (geometry, hit testing)
window/     floating layer-shell placement, visibility, saved geometry
app/        D-Bus control and system layouts, dev hooks
settings/   persisted user preferences

sloposk_core (everything compositor-independent, plus the Sloposk QML module) is a static library shared by the app and the tests.