keystats
per-key keystroke counter that stores lifetime stats in SQLite and renders a live terminal heatmap with FTXUI
Architecture
keystats is split into two binaries that communicate through a shared SQLite database:
keyboard input
└── /dev/input/eventX (Linux evdev)
└── keystroke (daemon)
└── ~/.keystroke_counts.db (SQLite)
└── keystroke-stats (viewer)
└── terminal heatmap (FTXUI)
Daemon (keystroke) runs silently as a systemd user service. It reads raw keyboard events directly from /dev/input/ using Linux's evdev interface — the same layer the kernel uses to handle input devices. Every keydown event increments that key's count in memory and flushes it to a local SQLite database. No key sequences are ever stored — only counts.
Viewer (keystroke-stats) is a separate binary ran manually. It reads the SQLite database, renders a live color-coded keyboard heatmap using FTXUI, and refreshes every 200ms.
Dependencies
Arch
sudo pacman -S gcc cmake sqlite
Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt install g++ cmake libsqlite3-dev
Fedora
sudo dnf install gcc cmake sqlite-devel
FTXUI is fetched automatically by CMake during build using FetchContent() — no manual installation needed.
Install
git clone https://github.com/Manoj-HV30/keystats
cd keystats
make
sudo make install
Then enable and start the daemon:
systemctl --user enable keystats
systemctl --user start keystats
You will need to log out and back in after install for input group permissions to take effect.
Usage
keystroke-stats
Press q to quit.
Data
Your keystroke database is stored at ~/.keystroke_counts.db locally. It never leaves your machine. Also only key counts are stored — not sequences, not context, not timing.
Uninstall
sudo make uninstall
References
License
MIT