Files
saphid--frame-control/ui/frame_input_agent.py
T
saphidandClaude Opus 5.5 b9e31178f3 Keyboard and trackpad for the Frame, through its own KDE Connect
Home → Keyboard and trackpad, in every version of Frame Control (Mac,
Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad) with nothing to install on the device in
your hand. On a phone: a trackpad (drag, tap, two-finger scroll and
right-click) and a field that types on the Frame. On a computer: click
the pad to pass the mouse and keyboard through; Esc to stop.

First-party route: ui/frame_input_agent.py runs on the Frame and talks
KDE Connect's LAN protocol (v7) to kdeconnectd as if it were a phone.
KDE Connect isn't on the image, but Valve's package repository has it;
the agent fetches it and four libraries into ~ (no root, survives
updates), starts it, pairs by itself (accepting over D-Bus), and stops
it again when the last device disconnects. Each device has its own
identity; a stuck KDE Connect is restarted once.

Verified against the real Frame (SteamOS 0.4.1): first-time install,
pairing, pointer moves from the Mac's server and the iPhone app
(Simulator), Mac and iPhone at once, two installs at once, a frozen
daemon replaced, and the daemon stopping when the app quits.

Reviewed by GPT-6 Astra (xhigh) over seven rounds; all findings fixed
except per-event delivery acknowledgement (documented known limit).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-09-28 17:42:19 +10:00

377 lines
15 KiB
Python

"""Keyboard and pointer for the Steam Frame. Frame Control's server runs this ON the Frame.
It speaks KDE Connect's LAN protocol (version 7, as in KDE Connect 24.02) to the
Frame's own kdeconnectd, as a phone would, and forwards remote-input events read
from stdin: one JSON object (or list of them) per line, each a KDE Connect
"mousepad" request body such as {"dx": 4, "dy": -2} or {"key": "hello"}.
KDE Connect does the typing and clicking.
KDE Connect isn't installed on the Frame, but Valve's package repository for it
has a build. The first run fetches that and the few libraries the Frame lacks
into ~/.local/share/frame-control/kdeconnect: no root, and SteamOS updates
leave it alone.
Status goes to stdout, one JSON object per line:
{"state": "installing" | "starting" | "pairing" | "ready" | "error", ...}.
Standard library only: this runs on the Frame's own Python.
"""
import fcntl
import json
import os
import selectors
import shutil
import signal
import socket
import ssl
import subprocess
import sys
import time
from pathlib import Path
BASE = Path.home() / ".local/share/frame-control/kdeconnect"
ROOT = BASE / "root"
BRIDGE = BASE / "bridge"
# kdeconnect plus the dependencies the Frame's image doesn't have (checked 2026-09-28,
# SteamOS 0.4.1); `pacman -Sp` adds any others still missing.
PACKAGES = ["kdeconnect", "kpeople", "libfakekey", "modemmanager-qt", "pulseaudio-qt"]
PORT = int(os.environ.get("FRAME_INPUT_PORT", "1716"))
UID = os.getuid()
MOUSEPAD = "kdeconnect.mousepad.request"
def say(state, **more):
print(json.dumps({"state": state, **more}), flush=True)
def packet(kind, body):
return (json.dumps({"id": int(time.time() * 1000), "type": kind, "body": body}) + "\n").encode()
# ---- KDE Connect on the Frame ------------------------------------------------
def daemon_path():
for path in (Path("/usr/lib/kdeconnectd"), ROOT / "usr/lib/kdeconnectd"):
if path.exists():
return path
return None
def install():
say("installing", message="Fetching KDE Connect from the Frame's package repository")
found = subprocess.run(["pacman", "-Sp", *PACKAGES], capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=120)
urls = [u for u in found.stdout.split() if u.startswith("https://")]
if found.returncode or not urls:
raise RuntimeError("Couldn't find KDE Connect in the Frame's package repository: "
+ (found.stderr.strip() or "no packages listed"))
download, stage = BASE / "download", BASE / "root.new"
for d in (download, stage):
shutil.rmtree(d, ignore_errors=True)
d.mkdir(parents=True)
for url in urls:
name = download / url.rsplit("/", 1)[1]
subprocess.run(["curl", "-fsSL", "--retry", "2", "-o", str(name), url], check=True, timeout=600)
if subprocess.run(["tar", "--zstd", "-xf", str(name), "-C", str(stage)], capture_output=True).returncode:
subprocess.run(["bsdtar", "-xf", str(name), "-C", str(stage)], check=True, capture_output=True)
shutil.rmtree(ROOT, ignore_errors=True)
stage.rename(ROOT)
shutil.rmtree(download, ignore_errors=True)
def app_display():
"""The X display that apps (not Steam's own VR menus) are on.
gamescope runs two Xwayland servers: on 2026-09-28 :0 held Steam's VR bar and
menus and ignored XTest pointer motion, while :1 held apps such as Chromium and
took it. Inferred to hold in general.
"""
return ":1" if Path("/tmp/.X11-unix/X1").exists() else ":0"
def daemon_env(daemon):
env = dict(os.environ, DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=f"unix:path=/run/user/{UID}/bus",
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=f"/run/user/{UID}", DISPLAY=app_display(), QT_QPA_PLATFORM="xcb")
if str(daemon).startswith(str(ROOT)):
env.update(LD_LIBRARY_PATH=str(ROOT / "usr/lib"), QT_PLUGIN_PATH=str(ROOT / "usr/lib/qt6/plugins"),
QML_IMPORT_PATH=str(ROOT / "usr/lib/qt6/qml"),
XDG_DATA_DIRS=f"{ROOT / 'usr/share'}:/usr/share")
return env
def listening():
try:
socket.create_connection(("127.0.0.1", PORT), 1).close()
return True
except OSError:
return False
def our_daemons():
"""Process ids of the kdeconnectd that Frame Control installed (never a system one)."""
pids = []
for proc in Path("/proc").iterdir():
if proc.name.isdigit():
try:
if os.readlink(proc / "exe").startswith(str(ROOT) + "/"):
pids.append(int(proc.name))
except OSError:
pass
return pids
def stop_daemon():
"""Stop our kdeconnectd and wait until it's gone (so its port is closed too)."""
for sig, wait in ((signal.SIGTERM, 30), (signal.SIGKILL, 30)): # tenths of a second
for pid in our_daemons():
try:
os.kill(pid, sig)
except ProcessLookupError:
pass
for _ in range(wait):
if not our_daemons() and not listening():
return
time.sleep(0.1)
def ensure_daemon():
if listening():
return
BASE.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
daemon = daemon_path()
if not daemon:
install()
daemon = daemon_path()
say("starting", message="Starting KDE Connect on the Frame")
log = open(BASE / "kdeconnectd.log", "ab")
# Its own session, so it outlives this connection and serves the next one.
subprocess.Popen([str(daemon)], env=daemon_env(daemon), cwd=str(Path.home()), stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
stdout=log, stderr=log, start_new_session=True)
for _ in range(40):
if listening():
return
time.sleep(0.25)
raise RuntimeError(f"KDE Connect didn't start; see {BASE / 'kdeconnectd.log'} on the Frame")
def qdbus(device, method):
"""Call a method on KDE Connect's D-Bus object for our device; its output, or None."""
env = dict(os.environ, DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=f"unix:path=/run/user/{UID}/bus")
try:
r = subprocess.run(["qdbus6", "org.kde.kdeconnect", f"/modules/kdeconnect/devices/{device}",
f"org.kde.kdeconnect.device.{method}"], capture_output=True, text=True, env=env, timeout=5)
except (OSError, subprocess.TimeoutExpired):
return None
return r.stdout.strip() if r.returncode == 0 else None
# ---- our identity --------------------------------------------------------------
def identity(client):
"""A device id and certificate for this client, made once and kept (pairing is tied to them).
Each computer or phone gets its own: KDE Connect keeps one connection per device,
so a shared identity would make them knock each other off.
"""
folder = BRIDGE / client
folder.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
id_file, cert, key = folder / "id", folder / "cert.pem", folder / "key.pem"
if not (id_file.exists() and cert.exists() and key.exists()):
device = "framecontrol_" + os.urandom(12).hex() # KDE Connect wants 32-38 of [A-Za-z0-9_]
subprocess.run(["openssl", "req", "-x509", "-newkey", "ec", "-pkeyopt", "ec_paramgen_curve:prime256v1",
"-nodes", "-days", "3650", "-subj", f"/O=KDE/OU=Kde connect/CN={device}",
"-keyout", str(key), "-out", str(cert)], check=True, capture_output=True)
os.chmod(key, 0o600)
id_file.write_text(device)
return id_file.read_text().strip(), cert, key
# ---- the link ------------------------------------------------------------------
class Link:
"""One TLS connection to kdeconnectd, as a paired device that sends remote input."""
def __init__(self, device, cert, key, port=PORT, name="Frame Control"):
self.device, self.buf, self.keyboard = device, b"", None
raw = socket.create_connection(("127.0.0.1", port), 5)
raw.sendall(packet("kdeconnect.identity", {
"deviceId": device, "deviceName": name, "deviceType": "phone", "protocolVersion": 7,
"incomingCapabilities": [], "outgoingCapabilities": [MOUSEPAD], "tcpPort": port}))
# KDE Connect's rule: whoever opened the TCP connection is the TLS server.
ctx = ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_TLS_SERVER)
ctx.load_cert_chain(str(cert), str(key))
ctx.verify_mode = ssl.CERT_NONE # both sides are on this machine
self.sock = ctx.wrap_socket(raw, server_side=True)
self.sock.setblocking(False)
def send(self, body):
# Bounded: if KDE Connect stops reading, fail (and be restarted) rather than hang.
self.sock.settimeout(5)
try:
self.sock.sendall(packet(MOUSEPAD, body))
finally:
self.sock.setblocking(False)
def pair(self, paired, accept, timeout=15):
"""Ask to pair and accept it on KDE Connect's side (we control both ends).
Only asks when not already paired: a pair request to a device that is
already paired makes KDE Connect unpair it.
"""
if paired():
return
self.sock.settimeout(5)
self.sock.sendall(packet("kdeconnect.pair", {"pair": True}))
self.sock.setblocking(False)
end = time.time() + timeout
while time.time() < end:
accept()
self.read(0.5)
if paired():
return
raise RuntimeError("KDE Connect didn't accept the pairing")
def read(self, wait=0.0):
"""Packets waiting from kdeconnectd; None once it has closed the connection."""
if wait:
sel = selectors.DefaultSelector()
sel.register(self.sock, selectors.EVENT_READ)
sel.select(wait)
sel.close()
try:
while True:
chunk = self.sock.recv(65536)
if not chunk:
return None
self.buf += chunk
except (ssl.SSLWantReadError, BlockingIOError):
pass
out = []
while b"\n" in self.buf:
line, self.buf = self.buf.split(b"\n", 1)
if line.strip():
p = json.loads(line)
if p.get("type") == "kdeconnect.mousepad.keyboardstate":
self.keyboard = bool(p.get("body", {}).get("state"))
out.append(p)
return out
def events(line):
"""The event bodies in one stdin line (an object or a list of objects)."""
try:
value = json.loads(line)
except ValueError:
return []
return [e for e in (value if isinstance(value, list) else [value]) if isinstance(e, dict) and e]
def connect(device, cert, key, name):
link = Link(device, cert, key, name=name)
link.pair(lambda: qdbus(device, "isPaired") == "true", lambda: qdbus(device, "acceptPairing"))
link.read(0.5) # its hello, including whether it can type
return link
def client_args():
"""argv: a folder-safe id for the computer or phone, and the name KDE Connect shows for it."""
client = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else "default"
client = "".join(c for c in client if c.isalnum() or c in "-_")[:64] or "default"
name = (sys.argv[2] if len(sys.argv) > 2 else "")[:60].strip()
return client, f"Frame Control ({name})" if name else "Frame Control"
def main():
client, name = client_args()
# A dropped ssh (the Frame slept, the app quit) hangs up on us: exit through the
# clean-up below rather than dying on the spot.
for sig in (signal.SIGHUP, signal.SIGTERM):
signal.signal(sig, lambda *_: sys.exit(0))
BASE.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
# Every agent holds this lock shared while it runs. The last one out gets it
# exclusively and stops KDE Connect, so it runs, and shows up on the network,
# only while something is using the keyboard and trackpad.
clients = open(BASE / "clients.lock", "w")
fcntl.flock(clients, fcntl.LOCK_SH)
try:
return run(client, name)
finally:
# Finish the clean-up even if a second hang-up or TERM arrives meanwhile.
for sig in (signal.SIGHUP, signal.SIGTERM):
signal.signal(sig, signal.SIG_IGN)
fcntl.flock(clients, fcntl.LOCK_UN)
try:
fcntl.flock(clients, fcntl.LOCK_EX | fcntl.LOCK_NB)
except OSError:
pass # another device is still using it
else:
with daemon_lock():
stop_daemon()
class daemon_lock:
"""Installing, starting and restarting KDE Connect happen one agent at a time."""
def __enter__(self):
self.file = open(BASE / "daemon.lock", "w")
fcntl.flock(self.file, fcntl.LOCK_EX)
def __exit__(self, *_):
self.file.close()
def run(client, name):
try:
with daemon_lock():
ensure_daemon()
device, cert, key = identity(client)
say("pairing")
seen = our_daemons()
try:
link = connect(device, cert, key, name)
except (OSError, RuntimeError):
if not seen:
raise
# Ours, but not answering (KDE Connect 24.02 can hang, for one after
# unpairing a device that's offline): start it afresh, once. If another
# agent already replaced it, just use the new one.
say("starting", message="Restarting KDE Connect on the Frame")
with daemon_lock():
if set(our_daemons()) & set(seen):
stop_daemon()
ensure_daemon()
link = connect(device, cert, key, name)
except (OSError, RuntimeError, subprocess.SubprocessError) as e:
say("error", message=str(e))
return 1
say("ready", keyboard=link.keyboard is not False)
stdin, pending = sys.stdin.fileno(), b""
sel = selectors.DefaultSelector()
sel.register(stdin, selectors.EVENT_READ)
sel.register(link.sock, selectors.EVENT_READ)
while True:
for key_, _ in sel.select(30):
if key_.fileobj == stdin:
chunk = os.read(stdin, 65536) # raw reads: a buffered readline could strand lines select can't see
if not chunk: # the server went away
return 0
*lines, pending = (pending + chunk).split(b"\n")
try:
for line in lines:
for body in events(line):
link.send(body)
except OSError as e:
say("error", message=f"Lost KDE Connect: {e}")
return 1
else:
packets = link.read()
if packets is None:
say("error", message="KDE Connect closed the connection")
return 1
if any(p.get("type") == "kdeconnect.pair" and not p.get("body", {}).get("pair") for p in packets):
say("error", message="KDE Connect unpaired Frame Control")
return 1
if __name__ == "__main__":
sys.exit(main())