Goals

This is what the project is for. If a change fights this file, the change is wrong.

enBoxer is a Rust rewrite, for Arch Linux + Hyprland, of a Windows multibox controller, then extras on top. It lives in ~/git/enBoxer and ships to https://gitea.nettsi.de/en/enBoxer over HTTPS only (never SSH).

The user plays several World of Warcraft clients (Forever when it exists; until then retail-shaped macros). They move with ESDF, not WASD. They do not want the game to think they are botting: no DLL, no memory inject, no addon required in v1. Keys and clicks only. They will bind macros in-game themselves.

They do not want to test until they have to. Agents must not crash the Hyprland session: no live hyprctl dispatch that floats, moves, resizes, pins, or closes the user’s windows. Layout apply is opt-in (ENBOXER_ALLOW_LAYOUT=1 plus a GUI confirm). Do not launch Steam or unrelated programs.

Rewrite first (the original app)

That Windows app is a GUI with a window layout wizard. enBoxer must be the same kind of program, not a YAML daemon with a thin panel bolted on.

Control panel

One native GUI (enboxer with no args). Menus, not only CLI.
File: save / reload / named profiles.
Session: start/stop routing, three modes, capture list, passthrough, game binds.
Layout: the important missing piece from the first GUI pass — see below.
Maps: hotkeys and steps.
Video FX: source and viewer rectangles.
Macros: text to bind in WoW.

Window layout (from the source app’s wizard)

Choose how many clients.
Presets: all stacked, same-size grid, one large main + a strip of minions.
Options: main at bottom, one row for small windows, stay-on-top / pin, which monitor.
Per-slot x y w h (pixels), editable after generate.
Drag-equivalent: Generate, Capture current positions, Save and Apply.
Apply only when the user allows window moves (see Safety).
Swap a minion into the main tile (Make main / swap next / per-slot swap hotkeys).
Focus next / previous / main / slot N.
Reset all to the saved layout.
Auto-capture matching game windows by class/title regex (do not grab the whole desktop; empty match = match nothing).

Key delivery (rewrite, then the extra)

The Windows app cloned keys by posting messages and/or swapping which window was in front. enBoxer routes instead:

maps — only configured hotkeys are intercepted and sent to current / others / all / groups. Everything else goes to the front client.
mirror — front client still gets the real key; the same key is cloned to the other game windows. passthrough (ESDF by default, or empty, or WASD — user’s list, never hardcoded) is not cloned.
off — no intercept. All keys go to the front window. Mode-toggle still works.

Toggle: Shift+Alt+M (configurable) and GUI. Routing off when alt-tabbed to a non-game window. The machine is a normal PC.

Keys are Hyprland compositor events (send_shortcut / send_key_state). Wine on XWayland (usual WoW) accepts them unfocused. Native Wayland / winewayland: brief focus, send, restore. Not a physical /dev/input keyboard; not process injection.

Mouse click clone (optional): relative to each client. Do not leave the cursor stranded.

Interact / loot (on top of routing)

One press, not spam. Assist others → Click-to-Move on → Interact with Target once → wait walk_delay_ms → CTM off. Hold and auto styles exist. Macros: docs/MACROS.md. No addon until Forever exists and we know the API.

Extras on top of the rewrite

Video FX (live crop)

The user must be able to set:

Source: which other client, which rectangle, what size.
Viewer: where that crop is drawn on the primary, what size.
Fractions 0–1 of that window, or pixels if any value > 1. GUI Pick via slurp.
While the mouse is over the viewer: clicks and keys go only to that source, not to the primary and not to the rest of the team.

Today capture is grim (visible pixels) + mpv overlay. Covered/stacked sources need compositor window-export (hyprland-toplevel-export). Until that exists, keep the source on a visible output. Do not claim grim is good enough for a stacked layout.

Other extras (wanted, not all shipped)

Named profiles (multiple teams).
Type/clipboard broadcast to other clients (passwords, /commands) without swapping windows.
Slot-number overlay on the layout (click to make main), like the source app.
Borderless game windows via Hyprland rules, not inject.
Follow/assist macros that follow who is currently main after a swap.
Forever client check when that game exists (lean retail macros until proven otherwise).

Safety (non-negotiable)

Default enboxer run: keys only. No float/move/resize/pin.
ENBOXER_ALLOW_LAYOUT=1 required for apply/swap-geometry/reset.
GUI: checkbox “Allow moving game windows”, then a confirm before Apply.
Example profile: Video FX off, layout tiles empty, auto_apply: false.
Agents: unit tests only against Hyprland. No live dispatch that rearranges the user’s session. No Steam.

Done when

GUI can configure all of the above without hand-editing YAML (YAML remains the store).
Layout wizard + apply works when the user opts in, without off-monitor garbage.
Maps / mirror / off work; ESDF passthrough is configurable.
Video FX source/viewer/size + hover click and key pass-through work for visible sources; export for hidden sources is the remaining capture gap.
No inject, no required addon, HTTPS remote is en/enBoxer.

5.6 KiB Raw Blame History Unescape Escape