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libratbag/piper

5,787PythonAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

Piper is a point-and-click Linux app for configuring gaming mice, adjust DPI, button assignments, and LED colors through a visual interface instead of the command line.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    Mouse Settings
      DPI resolution
      Button assignments
      LED lighting
    How It Works
      GTK interface
      DBus communication
      ratbagd backend
    Device Support
      libratbag project
      Reverse engineered
      Supported device list
    Installation
      Wiki instructions
      Meson build system
      Source build steps
    Troubleshooting
      Mousetrap error page
      ratbagd not running
      Version mismatch
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Code map

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Changing your gaming mouse DPI sensitivity without using the command line.

USE CASE 2

Remapping mouse buttons to custom actions through a visual interface.

USE CASE 3

Setting up LED lighting colors on a supported gaming mouse on Linux.

USE CASE 4

Replacing manufacturer Windows-only software with an open-source Linux alternative.

Tech stack

PythonGTKDBusMeson

Getting it running

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires ratbagd from libratbag installed and running as a background service before Piper will work. Install instructions are on the project wiki.

GPLv2, open source, free to use and modify, but if you distribute your changes you must also share the source code under the same license.

In plain English

Piper is a graphical application for Linux that lets you configure gaming mice through a point-and-click interface. Instead of using command-line tools, you adjust settings across separate pages for resolution (DPI sensitivity), button assignments, and LED lighting colors. The interface is built with GTK, the same toolkit used by many applications in the GNOME desktop environment. Piper does not communicate with the mouse hardware on its own. It is a visual frontend that relies on a background service called ratbagd, which is part of a separate project called libratbag. Piper sends your configuration choices to ratbagd through a system communication channel called DBus, and ratbagd applies those settings to the physical device. You need ratbagd installed and running on your system before Piper will function. The range of mice Piper can configure depends entirely on libratbag, not on Piper itself. Each supported device requires the device's communication protocol to be reverse-engineered, which means the features available for a given mouse may not match everything the manufacturer advertises. The libratbag project maintains a list of all known supported devices. If Piper displays an error page showing a mousetrap graphic, it typically means ratbagd is not running, needs to be updated, or some other unexpected condition has occurred. Installation instructions are on the project's wiki. For those who want to build from source, Piper uses the Meson build system, and the README includes the specific commands to clone, configure, build, and install. The project is released under the GPLv2 open-source license.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I check if ratbagd is installed and running on my Linux system so Piper will work?
Prompt 2
How do I find out if my gaming mouse is supported by Piper and libratbag?
Prompt 3
Walk me through building and installing Piper from source using Meson on Linux.
Prompt 4
What does the Piper mousetrap error screen mean and how do I fix it?
Prompt 5
How do I change my mouse DPI and save a profile using Piper?
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