true-input

by factory-ai

Background knowledge for droid-control workflows -- not invoked directly. True-input driver mechanics for real terminal emulator automation via headless…

npx skills add https://github.com/factory-ai/factory-plugins --skill true-input

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True-Input Driver

The orchestrator routed you here. Use these mechanics to execute your plan.

Drive a real terminal emulator, injecting keystrokes through the platform's native HID input path. This proves exactly what bytes the terminal emits -- no synthetic injection, no PTY distortion.

When to use

Proving that a terminal really sends the sequence you expect (e.g., Ghostty's Shift+Enter)
Recording demos that reflect actual terminal rendering
Validating that Droid handles a keystroke correctly end-to-end in a specific terminal

If you don't need real terminal proof, use tuistory -- it's faster and more deterministic.

Platform support

Platform	Status	Driver	Read
Linux / Wayland	Implemented	`cage` + `wtype` + any Wayland terminal	platforms/linux.md
macOS (QEMU)	Implemented	QEMU monitor `sendkey` to a macOS VM	platforms/macos.md
Windows (KVM)	Implemented	`virsh send-key` to a KVM/QEMU VM	platforms/windows.md

Read the platform file for your target OS. Each contains prerequisites, core pattern, command reference, encoding reference, recording, troubleshooting, and recovery -- specific to that platform.

Key differences from tuistory

Concern	tuistory	true-input
Snapshot source	Virtual screen buffer	Scrubbed PTY log (Linux) or screenshot (VM platforms)
Wait mechanism	Event-driven (screen redraws)	Log polling (Linux) or sleep-based (VMs)
Recording	Must wrap launch (`--record`)	Can start/stop any time
Keyboard encoding	Synthetic (bypasses terminal)	Real terminal encoding path

Known dead ends

Xvfb + xdotool: bypasses real keyboard processing entirely
uinput + Xvfb: Xvfb does not consume kernel input devices
SSH for TUI testing: PTY layer distorts input encoding; use SSH only for deployment
Raw asciinema rec: true-input records via wf-recorder (Wayland screen capture), not asciinema. Use tctl --record or tctl record start/stop. Calling asciinema rec directly has no access to the compositor and produces nothing useful.