https://github.com/dfranzen/simple-universal-touchpad-for-homeassistant
A simple universal touchpad which can trigger arbitrary automation
https://github.com/dfranzen/simple-universal-touchpad-for-homeassistant
homeassistant input lovelace-custom-card lovelace-ui touchpad
Last synced: 2 months ago
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A simple universal touchpad which can trigger arbitrary automation
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/dfranzen/simple-universal-touchpad-for-homeassistant
- Owner: DFranzen
- License: bsd-3-clause
- Created: 2025-05-20T17:55:58.000Z (about 1 year ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-06-02T18:43:06.000Z (about 1 year ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-06-09T05:01:56.913Z (about 1 year ago)
- Topics: homeassistant, input, lovelace-custom-card, lovelace-ui, touchpad
- Language: JavaScript
- Homepage:
- Size: 107 KB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 1
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
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README
# Simple Universal Touchpad for Homeassistant / Lovelace
This card displays a simple universal touchpad which writes its events into helper variables. This way the events can be acted upon with any automation.
(Inspired and initially based on code from https://github.com/iablon/HomeAssistant-Touchpad-Card)
## Sample view
### Card
### Configuration
## Features
- Simple to use card
- Simulating a touchpad input area with two buttons, similar to the trackpad of a laptop.
- Flexible mapping of the input to homeassistant actors trough full feature set of automations
## Generated Events
The card generates three kinds of events:
- Mouse move events: Every time the user moves the finger on the touchpad, the distance travelled in the two axes (x and y) is measured
- Mouse Click events: The card simulates a mouse with two buttons: left and right.The emulated mouse buttons can be in a pressed or released state. The pressed state of each of the two buttons is represented as a boolean. If the user taps (touch and release imidiately) the touchpad area or the buttons on the bottom of the card the corresponding button is pressed and released imidiately, resulting in a mouse button click.
If the user holds the finger down without mocing (longpress) on the buttons or the touchpad area, the card initialtes a hold, keeping the button state pressed, even if the finger or mouse is subsequently removed from the touchpad. This way the user can drag items with the simulated mouse. The holding can only be released by a simple tap.
- Cursor events: In addition to the mouse movement, the card also generates Cursor events, every time the user lifts the finger from the touchpad area. For example, when the final position of the finger is mostly to the right of the initial touch-down position, a curser-right event. The same holds for all for major directions left/right/up/down. This event can be used with devices, which do not have a mouse pointer, but directional input buttons, like TVs.
# Setup
## Installation
- In HomeAssistant navigate to HACS and open the overflow menu (three dots at the top)
- Select "Custom Repositories" and enter the following into the pop-up:
- Repository: https://github.com/DFranzen/Simple-Universal-Touchpad-for-Homeassistant/
- Type: Dashboard
- Click Add
- In HACS click on tree dots in the row for "Simple Universal Touchpad"
- Select "Download" and confirm with "Download"
- After the download is finished, confirm "Reload" in the pop-up
## Preperation
The Touchpad card interfaces with HomeAssistant through helpers.
To Prepare for the configuration you need to create a few new helpers, which the card can use to store the events.
Open the "Helpers" Tab under "Settings" -> "Devices & Services" and create the required helpers. You only need to create the helpers for the event you want to use.
- For the mouse movement events, create two input_numbers for the mouse movements (x/y), suggested names: Mouse_x, Mouse_y
- For the mouse button events, create two input_boolean for the mouse buttons (left/right), suggested names: Mouse_ButtonLeft, Mouse_ButtonRight
- For the cursor move events, create four input_boolean, one for each direction (left/right/up/down), suggested names: Mouse_CursorLeft, Mouse_CursorRight, Mouse_CursorUp, Mouse_CursorDown,
## Configuration
Add the touchpad card to the dashboard and open the configuration dialog. Here you can enable the desired events, which should be fired, and assign the newly created helpers to the corresponding fields.
## Usage
Once the card is interacted with it writes the event's data into the given helpers. The input_boolen helpers are set to true, when the mouse button is pressed and the input_numbers helpers contain the last distance travelled in x/y direction.
In order to link the events written to the helpers with actors automations can be used. These could do any action in HomeAssistant. The automations should have the following properties
- The trigger is
```
entity_id:
- input_number.mouse_y
trigger: state
```
- One of the actions under "Then do" should reset the helper to 0 or false:
```
data:
value: 0
target:
entity_id: input_number.mouse_y
action: input_number.set_value
```
# Example Usage
## ssh - xdotool
One of the easiest way to relay the inputs to the mouse-pointer of a computer is ssh under kde with xdotool
### Reqiurements
- The Computer should be running linux with x11-server as the window manager
- The HomeAssistant server needs ssh-access to the target computer.
- Grant authorisation, either
- set up password-less login from the HomeAssistant device
- (not recommended) use sshpass infront of all ssh commands
- Make ssh sessions permanent (Otherwise HomeAssistant needs to authenticate for every mouse movement, resulting in delays):
Add the following to .ssh/config on the HomeAssistant device
```
Host *
ControlMaster auto
ControlPath /tmp/ssh-%r@%h:%p
ControlPersist yes
```
-
### Preparation
Add the following shell_commands to the configuration.yaml. Substitude "user" and "targetip" with the appropriate values and modify mouse_x/mouse_y with the names you assigned to the helper variables.
```
shell_command:
computer_mousemove: ssh user@targetip 'export DISPLAY=:0;xdotool mousemove_relative -- {{ ((states.input_number.mouse_x.state | float *-10 ) ) | string }} {{ ((states.input_number.mouse_y.state | float *-10 ) ) | string }}'
computer_mouse_leftdown: ssh user@targetip 'export DISPLAY=:0;xdotool mousedown --clearmodifiers 1'
computer_mouse_leftup: ssh user@targetip 'export DISPLAY=:0;xdotool mouseup --clearmodifiers 1'
computer_mouse_rightdown: ssh user@targetip 'export DISPLAY=:0;xdotool mousedown --clearmodifiers 3'
computer_mouse_rightup: ssh user@targetip 'export DISPLAY=:0;xdotool mouseup --clearmodifiers 3'
```
### Automation
Mouse move:
```
alias: MouseMove_to_Laptop
description: ""
triggers:
- entity_id:
- input_number.mouse_y
trigger: state
actions:
- action: shell_command.computer_mousemove
data: {}
- data:
value: 0
target:
entity_id: input_number.mouse_y
action: input_number.set_value
- data:
value: 0
target:
entity_id: input_number.mouse_x
action: input_number.set_value
mode: single
```
Mouse Down/up (Example for Left Down, adjust for right and up)
```
alias: MouseLeftDown_to_Laptop
description: ""
triggers:
- entity_id:
- input_boolean.mouse_buttonleft
to: "on"
trigger: state
actions:
- action: shell_command.computer_mouse_leftdown
data: {}
mode: single
```
## MQTT / Node-red
### Requirements
- Node-red setup on the target computer
- Target computer reachable through node-red from the HomeAssistant
### Setup on Node-red
#### Mousemove flow
Example Node-Red configuration
Replace all the information with your own
```
[
{
"id": "3a04694b8d100522",
"type": "mqtt in",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"name": "",
"topic": "input_pair/Laptop_Mouse/set",
"qos": "2",
"datatype": "auto-detect",
"broker": "7715a72184178191",
"nl": false,
"rap": true,
"rh": 0,
"inputs": 0,
"x": 280,
"y": 1060,
"wires": [
[
"524a96c3928b323b"
]
]
},
{
"id": "524a96c3928b323b",
"type": "function",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"name": "extract coordinates",
"func": "var factor=10\nif (Number.isInteger(msg.payload.x) && Number.isInteger(msg.payload.y))\n factor = 1\nreturn {payload: \"\" + Math.round(-msg.payload.x*factor) + \" \" + Math.round(-msg.payload.y*factor)};",
"outputs": 1,
"noerr": 0,
"initialize": "",
"finalize": "",
"libs": [],
"x": 570,
"y": 1060,
"wires": [
[
"01badf34c2ebf7ec"
]
]
},
{
"id": "01badf34c2ebf7ec",
"type": "exec",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"command": "export DISPLAY=:0;xdotool mousemove_relative -- ",
"addpay": "payload",
"append": "",
"useSpawn": "false",
"timer": "",
"winHide": false,
"oldrc": false,
"name": "",
"x": 1050,
"y": 1060,
"wires": [
[],
[],
[]
]
},
{
"id": "7715a72184178191",
"type": "mqtt-broker",
"name": "",
"broker": "",
"port": "",
"tls": "",
"clientid": "",
"autoConnect": true,
"usetls": true,
"protocolVersion": "4",
"keepalive": "60",
"cleansession": false,
"birthTopic": "",
"birthQos": "0",
"birthPayload": "",
"birthMsg": {},
"closeTopic": "",
"closeQos": "0",
"closePayload": "",
"closeMsg": {},
"willTopic": "",
"willQos": "0",
"willPayload": "",
"willMsg": {},
"userProps": "",
"sessionExpiry": ""
},
{
"id": "",
"type": "tls-config",
"name": "",
"cert": "",
"key": "",
"ca": "",
"certname": "",
"keyname": "",
"caname": "ca.crt",
"servername": "",
"verifyservercert": false,
"alpnprotocol": ""
}
]
```
#### Mouse Buttons
Example Node-Red configuration
Replace all the information with your own
```
[
{
"id": "68ee587de3365dea",
"type": "mqtt in",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"name": "",
"topic": "Laptop",
"qos": "2",
"datatype": "auto-detect",
"broker": "7715a72184178191",
"nl": false,
"rap": true,
"rh": 0,
"inputs": 0,
"x": 270,
"y": 260,
"wires": [
[
"f63a897fbf0460ad",
"5e5ae2d9cfad85f8",
"f3f9502a7003f089",
"df065cd6c88b4e8b",
"420ff0bba7a7cbe2",
"c9716270880d3135",
"49a5c228e64102dc",
"56cb45a845748ce6",
"5323ed83dc049965",
"40f7e260cd17ca73",
"10f6151b0d8c6f9d",
"ee79288130de68b1",
"9ccff470ca2fc817",
"2c1966a95f9e2761",
"0b380d539e0bfc8b",
"bb35db7c5d7dc5b3",
"491c9a8850117c71",
"61e87448ede9ac50",
"f0038b2d1afc638c",
"e428907093e90395"
]
]
},
{
"id": "491c9a8850117c71",
"type": "switch",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"name": "MOUSE_LEFT_DOWN",
"property": "payload",
"propertyType": "msg",
"rules": [
{
"t": "eq",
"v": "MOUSE_LEFT_DOWN",
"vt": "str"
}
],
"checkall": "true",
"repair": false,
"outputs": 1,
"x": 590,
"y": 840,
"wires": [
[
"2415104344d7e653"
]
]
},
{
"id": "61e87448ede9ac50",
"type": "switch",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"name": "MOUSE_LEFT_UP",
"property": "payload",
"propertyType": "msg",
"rules": [
{
"t": "eq",
"v": "MOUSE_LEFT_UP",
"vt": "str"
}
],
"checkall": "true",
"repair": false,
"outputs": 1,
"x": 570,
"y": 880,
"wires": [
[
"ec8d695a743ec90b"
]
]
},
{
"id": "f0038b2d1afc638c",
"type": "switch",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"name": "MOUSE_RIGHT_DOWN",
"property": "payload",
"propertyType": "msg",
"rules": [
{
"t": "eq",
"v": "MOUSE_RIGHT_DOWN",
"vt": "str"
}
],
"checkall": "true",
"repair": false,
"outputs": 1,
"x": 590,
"y": 920,
"wires": [
[
"74e9b9ce8fca68e1",
"c18dc4dfb84e51e8"
]
]
},
{
"id": "e428907093e90395",
"type": "switch",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"name": "MOUSE_RIGHT_UP",
"property": "payload",
"propertyType": "msg",
"rules": [
{
"t": "eq",
"v": "MOUSE_RIGHT_UP",
"vt": "str"
}
],
"checkall": "true",
"repair": false,
"outputs": 1,
"x": 580,
"y": 960,
"wires": [
[
"7585f81886584946",
"c18dc4dfb84e51e8"
]
]
},
{
"id": "7585f81886584946",
"type": "exec",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"command": "export DISPLAY=:0;xdotool mouseup --clearmodifiers 3",
"addpay": "",
"append": "",
"useSpawn": "false",
"timer": "",
"winHide": false,
"oldrc": false,
"name": "",
"x": 1060,
"y": 960,
"wires": [
[],
[],
[]
]
},
{
"id": "74e9b9ce8fca68e1",
"type": "exec",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"command": "export DISPLAY=:0;xdotool mousedown 3",
"addpay": "",
"append": "",
"useSpawn": "false",
"timer": "",
"winHide": false,
"oldrc": false,
"name": "",
"x": 1020,
"y": 920,
"wires": [
[],
[],
[]
]
},
{
"id": "ec8d695a743ec90b",
"type": "exec",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"command": "export DISPLAY=:0;xdotool mouseup --clearmodifiers 1",
"addpay": "",
"append": "",
"useSpawn": "false",
"timer": "",
"winHide": false,
"oldrc": false,
"name": "",
"x": 1060,
"y": 880,
"wires": [
[],
[],
[]
]
},
{
"id": "2415104344d7e653",
"type": "exec",
"z": "9072b355de756fe9",
"command": "export DISPLAY=:0;xdotool mousedown --clearmodifiers 1",
"addpay": "",
"append": "",
"useSpawn": "false",
"timer": "",
"winHide": false,
"oldrc": false,
"name": "",
"x": 1070,
"y": 840,
"wires": [
[],
[],
[]
]
},
{
"id": "7715a72184178191",
"type": "mqtt-broker",
"name": "",
"broker": "",
"port": "",
"tls": "",
"clientid": "",
"autoConnect": true,
"usetls": true,
"protocolVersion": "4",
"keepalive": "60",
"cleansession": false,
"birthTopic": "",
"birthQos": "0",
"birthPayload": "",
"birthMsg": {},
"closeTopic": "",
"closeQos": "0",
"closePayload": "",
"closeMsg": {},
"willTopic": "",
"willQos": "0",
"willPayload": "",
"willMsg": {},
"userProps": "",
"sessionExpiry": ""
},
{
"id": "",
"type": "tls-config",
"name": "",
"cert": "",
"key": "",
"ca": "",
"certname": "",
"keyname": "",
"caname": "ca.crt",
"servername": "",
"verifyservercert": false,
"alpnprotocol": ""
}
]
```
### Automation
```
alias: Mouse Move to MQTT
description: ""
triggers:
- entity_id:
- input_number.mouse_y
trigger: state
actions:
- data:
qos: 0
retain: false
topic: input_pair/Laptop_Mouse/set
payload: >
{{ "{\"x\": " + (states.input_number.mouse_x.state) | string + ", \"y\":
" + (states.input_number.mouse_y.state) | string + "}" }}
action: mqtt.publish
- data:
value: 0
target:
entity_id: input_number.mouse_y
action: input_number.set_value
- data:
value: 0
target:
entity_id: input_number.mouse_x
action: input_number.set_value
mode: single
```
#### Mouse Button
```
alias: Mouse Left button Down to MQTT
description: ""
triggers:
- entity_id:
- input_boolean.mouse_buttonleft
to: "on"
trigger: state
conditions:
- condition: state
entity_id: input_select.video_gerat
state: Laptop
actions:
- data:
topic: Laptop
payload: MOUSE_LEFT_DOWN
action: mqtt.publish
mode: single
```
## Conditional actors
The flexibility of the automations allows for conditional actors, meaning the events are send to different devices (even via different protocols) depending on a condition.
### Example
Here is an example automation of using an input_select condition to send the buttonleft event to either a laptop or a gaming computer.
```
description: ""
mode: single
triggers:
- entity_id:
- input_boolean.mouse_buttonleft
to: "on"
trigger: state
actions:
- choose:
- conditions:
- condition: state
entity_id: input_select.active_playback_device
state: Laptop
sequence:
- action: shell_command.laptop_mouse_leftdown
metadata: {}
data: {}
- conditions:
- condition: state
entity_id: input_select.active_playback_device
state: Gaming
sequence:
- action: shell_command.gaming_mouse_leftdown
metadata: {}
data: {}
```