KeyBuddy
Real mechanical keyboard sounds for every key you press, in every app — on
macOS, Windows and Linux. Lives in the menu bar / system tray.
Packs
| Pack | Build |
|---|
| Creamy | Evo80, PP plate, Oat linears |
| Poppy | Rainy75 Pro, HMX Pink Pig |
| Clacky | Rainy75, Akko Cilantro |
| Thocky | Crush80, ceramic keycaps, Kailh Cocoa |
| Clicky | QK65, Outemu Ocean |
| Lego | Luminkey80, BSUN Dusty Rose |
Sounds come from LumeKeebs builds (credits).
Each pack has five feel levels, Pillow to Hard: softer levels pick gentler
recorded hits and round off the tone, harder ones pick stronger hits and
brighten it. The app and the website play the same files from site/packs/.
Record your own keyboard
Settings → Record your keyboard. Type a sentence, then tap Space, Enter
and Backspace a few times. KeyBuddy records the mic while the key hook logs
which key moved, so every hit is labeled exactly (press vs release, big keys).
It measures the mic's delay from the recording itself, drops overlapping
hits, and saves a pack you can preview, pick from the tray, or delete.
Recorded packs live in the app's config folder under packs/.
Run
npm install
npm run dev # dev build
npm run build # installers in src-tauri/target/release/bundle
Needs Rust and Node. On Linux also install the
Tauri prerequisites.
Release
Installers are built by GitHub Actions (release.yml)
for macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel), Windows and Linux:
- Bump
version in src-tauri/tauri.conf.json (and VERSION in site/main.js).
git tag v0.1.0 && git push origin v0.1.0
The website's download buttons point at releases/latest/download/…, so they
work as soon as the release is published.
Installing on macOS
KeyBuddy isn't notarized by Apple yet (that needs a paid developer account), so
the first launch is blocked. Open it once, then System Settings → Privacy &
Security → Open Anyway. From Terminal, this does the same:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/KeyBuddy.app
Permissions
- macOS: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring → allow KeyBuddy.
- macOS (recording): Microphone access, asked on first recording.
- Windows: nothing to grant.
- Linux: reads
/dev/input (works on X11 and Wayland). Add yourself to the
input group: sudo usermod -aG input $USER, then log out and back in.
Privacy
KeyBuddy only sees which physical key moved, never characters. It keeps key
counts and typing speed locally. No account, no network.
Layout
src-tauri/src/hook/ global key listening (macOS event tap, Windows LL hook, Linux evdev)
src-tauri/src/keymap.rs native codes -> key position + class
src-tauri/src/packs.rs embedded sample packs (from site/packs)
src-tauri/src/feel.rs soft-to-hard shaping
src-tauri/src/audio.rs low-latency mixer (cpal)
src-tauri/src/engine.rs settings, stats, playback, recorded packs
src-tauri/src/recorder.rs mic capture + slicing for recorded packs
ui/ settings window
tools/slice.py recordings -> packs
