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On Windows, I used TinyTask multiple times a week for years (amazing program, recommended for every Windows user). Now I want to switch to Linux, but I can't find a program that does the same: Start recording mouse+keyboard, stop recording, start replay (multiple times replay, faster replay optional).

What I want is something that saves me effort when I e.g. have to do a 1-minute action combination 10 times or so, so manually writing a script is not an option. Xdotool is a nice program to do that, but for everyday use I need something that can record input as well.

What I have tried so far:

  • Autohotkey: On my Raspberry Pi it had a recording button, but it made the program crash. On my Debian laptop, there just was no such button. It's also discontinued and intended for scripting.
  • vijazedan ghost mouse: Page is gone and I can't find an alternative download.
  • running TinyTask with Wine: can move the mouse, but not click or press keys
  • gnee: Not even people who write tutorials online seem to completely understand it, it apparently requires a lot of random steps to get working and I couldn't do it.
  • cnee: The best so far, it's like gnee, except for the console, easier to use and not buggy. The biggest problem is that there is no "stop recording" button, because it runs in the console. I can focus the console again and press Ctrl+Z to stop, but that's not nice, since every replay will go to the console and back. I can also guess the number of mouse actions I'll need beforehand and make it end after that, but if I guess too low, it doesn't record everything and if I guess too high, I have to wiggle the mouse around at the end until it stops recording and then it replays those wiggles every time.

I thought that recording and replaying user input was a common task, but apparently not. Maybe people don't like automation? Anyway, rant aside, does anyone know a program that can:

  • record mouse+keyboard
  • replay it
  • let me stop recording whenever I want
  • optimally start replaying when pressing a key
  • optimally also replay faster or multiple times
  • optimally also allow saving recordings, preferably in a format I can edit

A free option is of course preferred, a paid one is acceptable if I can test it beforehand and it's really good and not stupidly expensive (I donated 50$ to TinyTask and that one was absolutely amazing, so it shouldn't be much more than that).

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2 Answers 2

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I found a tool that might help:

https://github.com/xaaronc/injectevents

You can:

  • record input
  • replay input
  • recorded input will always be saved in a file.

You might:

  • Be able to edit the files. (I couldn't work it out, the encoding seems off, but it should be an easy fork)

You can't:

  • Start and stop with an application internal hotkey
  • Repeatedly play the recording with the application
    • (You can use bash for that, though)
  • Change the speed of the recording

Hope that helps!

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  • This does indeed seem to work! The documentation is a bit incomplete (and sounds like it was only for Android), but I managed to get it to record and replay input (with some problems)! I'll do some more experiments later, thanks for the recoomendation!
    – Fabian Röling
    Jan 27, 2020 at 19:59
  • After some more testing: This program seems to have all the upsides and downsides of cnee, but it works on Wayland (as well?) and does not take in mouse input. So it's not quite the solution I wanted, especially because it cannot be stopped properly. I experimented with killing the process, but the file keeps growing after I do that and the only way to stop it seems to be to reboot. So: Nice program, but not really on a similar level to TinyTask.
    – Fabian Röling
    Feb 28, 2020 at 2:47
  • Looks like it hasn't been updated since 2012 :(
    – robertspierre
    Aug 17, 2022 at 17:53
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http://www.murguu.com

Maybe this will help I am looking for an aut-clicker too and am attempting to use this it looks promising

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  • That seems to be a GUI alternative to xdotool. But I wanted to record and replay mouse and keyboard.
    – Fabian Röling
    Nov 5, 2018 at 0:26

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