Read Ctrl, Alt and Shift keys from python CLI

Question

Writting a CLI program, I would like to read Ctrl+<anything> commands.

How can I listen and handle ie: Ctrl+R combination keys from my CLI python application?

For the moment, it is necessary only for Linux environments. An pythonic approach would be the best option, but I don't know how.

From signals, it is possible to handle well-known inputs, but not custom keystrokes.

Answer 1

Pynput is a package that's setup to handle mouse and keyboard input for a variety of operating systems. This Github issue demonstrates how to detect held keys. If you don't want to follow the link:

from pynput import keyboard

# The key combination to check
COMBINATION = {keyboard.Key.cmd, keyboard.Key.ctrl}

# The currently active modifiers
current = set()


def on_press(key):
    if key in COMBINATION:
        current.add(key)
        if all(k in current for k in COMBINATION):
            print('All modifiers active!')
    if key == keyboard.Key.esc:
        listener.stop()


def on_release(key):
    try:
        current.remove(key)
    except KeyError:
        pass


with keyboard.Listener(on_press=on_press, on_release=on_release) as listener:
    listener.join()