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Pierre Kisters 5a3d0b9d05 README: full user documentation again, docs/ only technical

The README is the complete user documentation again: features, install,
two sessions, usage, the full options table (and renamed options), every
feature with problem, usage, limitations, security and "remove when",
UI patches at user level (DevTools on the LAN, after a Steam update),
changes outside Nix, rollback and uninstall.

docs/ keeps only the technical side (how the patches work, writing
patches, signatures and the update procedure, the SteamVR debugger
mechanics, cleanup and installer internals), linked from each feature.
docs/options.md, two-sessions.md and desktop-integration.md are gone
(their content is in the README).

2026-09-29 00:47:16 +02:00

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VR keyboard: how it works

Technical details of the two VR keyboard patches. What they do and how to configure them: README, extra keys and swipe and suggestions.

Extra keys

keyboard.vr.extraKeys.enable, module steam-keyboard-patch.

The steam-keyboard-patch user service (helper.mjs) injects a patch into Steam's SharedJSContext over DevTools (127.0.0.1:8080) and re-injects it after Steam restarts; stopping it (or disabling the option) runs the unpatch, so no reboot or Steam restart is needed.
Ctrl/Alt chords and Esc are sent with xdotool key on :0 (focus follows the VR-selected window); a toggled Ctrl/Alt is held down with xdotool while the keyboard is open.
Problem characters (non-ASCII, AltGr/dead-key characters on the German keymap) are typed with xdotool type; everything else goes through Steam's own text emulation. On other keymaps those characters are still typed by xdotool, which is why the routing is harmless there.
The helper's command set is deliberately narrow (see the README's security note): single-key Ctrl/Alt chords, the extra keys, Ctrl/Alt hold/release and single non-ASCII/AltGr characters.

Found by signature (see finders and signatures); if one stops matching, the keyboard stays stock and the journal says why (see after a Steam update).

Swipe and suggestions

keyboard.vr.*, module vr-keyboard.

A Steam UI patch (vr-keyboard, injected by steam-ui-patches like the other UI patches).
Swiped words are matched by shape (SHARK2-style template matching) against a dictionary built at build time from wordfreq frequency lists and Hunspell, both from nixpkgs (dictionary.*: per language the words most frequent wordfreq entries, shifted by frequencyOffset, filtered by Hunspell except words at or above keepFrequentAbove).
The strip below/above the keyboard is a SteamVR dashboard panel (panel.js, a patch of SteamVR's systemui page on port 8087, via the SteamVR debugger), fed by the vr-keyboard-relay user service (relay.mjs) between the two pages. With inside neither the panel nor the relay runs.
With extraKeys, non-ASCII words are typed via its xdotool helper.

Found by signature (entries vr-keyboard, vr-keyboard-panel); if one stops matching the keyboard stays stock.

Tests: nix flake check (checks vr-keyboard: text model, corrector, decoder accuracy on German + English) and keyboard.vr.checks for the configured dictionary.

Debugging: window.__sfuiSwipeLog and __sfuiSwipePaths in Steam's SharedJSContext (replay swipes with scripts/vr-keyboard-replay.mjs).

2.8 KiB Raw Blame History

VR keyboard: how it works

Extra keys

Swipe and suggestions

2.8 KiB

Raw Blame History