A CLI-Based Mechanical Keyboard Sound Simulator

mechsim         # default uses sound eg-oreo at volume 50

mechsim -l      # list out all sound packs

mechsim -s turquoise -V 60  # choose soundpack turquoise at 60% volume

yay -S mechsim

git clone https://github.com/cjlangan/mechsim
cd mechsim
make
sudo make install

Usage: mechsim [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -s, --sound SOUND_NAME   Select sound pack (default: eg-oreo)
  -V, --volume VOLUME      Set volume [0-100] (default: 50)
  -l, --list               List available sound packs
  -h, --help               Show this help message
  -v, --verbose            Enable verbose output

Examples:
  mechsim                       # Use default sound (eg-oreo)
  mechsim -s cherrymx-blue-abs  # Use Cherry MX Blue ABS sound
  mechsim -l                    # List all available sounds

• nk-cream
• cherrymx-black-abs
• cherrymx-red-pbt
• cherrymx-blue-abs
• eg-oreo
• cherrymx-brown-pbt
• eg-crystal-purple
• cherrymx-brown-abs
• topre-purple-hybrid-pbt
• cream-travel
• holy-pandas
• mxbrown-travel
• cherrymx-red-abs
• mxblack-travel
• cherrymx-black-pbt
• turquoise
• cherrymx-blue-pbt
• mxblue-travel

• build-essential
• pkg-config
• libjson-c-dev
• libpulse-dev
• libsndfile1-dev
• libinput-dev
• libevdev-dev
• libudev-d

The motivation behind this project was that I couldn't hear my keybaord presses in screen-recordings or when I had headphones on. I tried other programs such as MechVibes (which I took the sound files and configs from) -- but none were Wayland compatible.

I decided to take some backend code from Show Me The Key which could detect global key presses -- even on Wayland -- and fit it to my use case.

Admittedly, I used a lot of AI to help me complete this, since I was more interested in just getting it to work to enjoy the sweet sweet keypresses. But I have since decided to share the code if others found themselves in a similar position.