---
id: inputs
version: "0.5"
license: BSD
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: aging
---

# inputs — Cross-platform Python support for keyboards, mice and gamepads.

License: permissive · Maintenance: aging · Downloads: 81.4K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Inputs is a library that lets your Python program listen for and capture keyboard, mouse, and gamepad events across Linux, Windows, and macOS. It abstracts away the platform-specific details of reading hardware input, so you can write input-handling code once and run it on multiple operating systems. The library has no runtime dependencies, making it lightweight to install and use.

The package is designed for straightforward use: import the devices module and start listening for input events. It supports Python 2.7 and all Python 3 versions, though development has been inactive since 2018. The library is useful for building games, interactive tools, or any application that needs to respond to keyboard, mouse, or gamepad input without relying on a GUI framework.

Use it for:

- Build a simple game or interactive application that responds to keyboard and gamepad input on multiple platforms
- Create a Raspberry Pi or embedded system project that listens for user input from connected peripherals
- Capture raw hardware input events for accessibility tools or input remapping utilities
- Develop a command-line tool that responds to mouse or gamepad events without a GUI framework

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Provides cross-platform Python access to keyboard, mouse, and gamepad input on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Yes, if you need cross-platform hardware input capture without GUI framework dependencies and can accept that the package is no longer actively maintained. The lack of recent updates means it may have compatibility issues with very recent OS versions or Python releases, so test thoroughly in your target environment before relying on it for production use.

## Install

pip install inputs
uv add inputs
poetry add inputs

## Installing inputs

Before you install: Low install friction with no runtime dependencies. Maintenance is aging—last release was 2018-10-05 and the last commit 2025-05-26, so the package is not actively developed but remains available and functional.

License in practice: BSD license is permissive, allowing use in commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install inputs

from inputs import devices
# Listen for input events
for event in devices.get_gamepad():
    print(event)

Platform-specific input drivers must be available on the target OS; on Linux, may require udev rules or permissions to access input devices.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works reliably with modern Python 3 versions beyond what was tested at release time
- Current state of platform-specific input handling on recent OS versions (Windows 11, macOS 14+, modern Linux distributions)
- Whether gamepad support covers modern controllers and protocols

## Package facts

- License: BSD (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: aging
- Downloads: 81.4K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

keyboard input listener, mouse gamepad input, cross-platform input devices, read keyboard events, gamepad input python, hardware input capture, user input listener, hardware-input, cross-platform, gamepad-keyboard-mouse

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/inputs) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/inputs/)