Script to run kanata as a background daemon on MacOS

[patrikkj]

Created the following script to run kanata in the background:

#!/bin/bash

# Variables
KANATA_PATH="$HOME/tools/kanata_macos"
KANATA_CFG_PATH="$HOME/tools/kanata.kbd"
SUDOERS_FILE="/etc/sudoers.d/kanata"
PLIST_FILE="/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.jtroo.kanata.plist"

# Create a sudoers file entry for kanata
echo "$(whoami) ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: $KANATA_PATH" | sudo tee "$SUDOERS_FILE" > /dev/null

# Create a plist file for the LaunchDaemon
cat <<EOF | sudo tee "$PLIST_FILE" > /dev/null
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.jtroo.kanata</string>

    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>$KANATA_PATH</string>
        <string>-c</string>
        <string>$KANATA_CFG_PATH</string>
        <string>-n</string>
    </array>

    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>

    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>

    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
    <string>/var/log/kanata.error.log</string>

    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/var/log/kanata.output.log</string>
</dict>
</plist>
EOF

# Load the daemon
sudo launchctl load -w "$PLIST_FILE"

Make sure that you know what this script does before running it.
Note that this modifies the sudoers file to allow kanata to run as root without being prompted for a password.

[caliguIa]

 269   │ Press enter to exit
 270   │ Error: failed to open keyboard device(s): Couldn't register any device
 271   │ 17:27:35.6119 [ERROR] channel disconnected
 272   │ libc++abi: terminating
 273   │ IOHIDDeviceOpen error: (iokit/common) not permitted
 274   │ 17:27:45.2713 [ERROR] failed to open keyboard device(s): Couldn't register any device
 275   │
 276   │
 277   │ Press enter to exit
 278   │ 17:27:45.2715 [ERROR] channel disconnected
 279   │ Error: failed to open keyboard device(s): Couldn't register any device
 280   │ libc++abi: terminating
 281   │ IOHIDDeviceOpen error: (iokit/common) not permitted
 282   │ 17:27:45.6534 [ERROR] failed to open keyboard device(s): Couldn't register any device

I get this output in my error log. I'm assuming it can't access the karabiner virtual driver kit? Anyone else run into this issue and resolved it? It works fine if I run sudo kanata .... manually, this issue specifically happens when trying to start via a launch daemon.

[22ispencer]

For me what ended up fixing it was going to "System Settings -> Input Monitoring" and manually removing and re-adding kanata to the list (by clicking the minus, followed by the plus).

[LeonardoMor]

For me what ended up fixing it was going to "System Settings -> Input Monitoring" and manually removing and re-adding kanata to the list (by clicking the minus, followed by the plus).

It is worth pointing out that the directory containing kanata might not be shown by the picker. But, you can enter it manually.

[LeonardoMor]

I keep getting:

Load failed: 5: Input/output error
Try running `launchctl bootstrap` as root for richer errors.

This is because of the lauchctl load. I don't know how to fix it.

[LeonardoMor]

I could not get this to work with load (which is deprecated by launchctl now). The plist file is correct, but the way to add the service that worked for me, was with these commands:

sudo launchctl bootstrap system /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.jtroo.kanata.plist
sudo launchctl enable system/com.jtroo.kanata.plist