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plasmaar roadmap

plasmaar is an independent fork of Solaar. It keeps Solaar's Logitech HID++ protocol core and replaces the GTK application with a headless service plus native KDE Plasma integration. Nothing is contributed back upstream. The upstream remote is fetch-only, for optional cherry-picks of new device support.

Reference hardware: MX Master 4 (Bluetooth 046d:B042) and K850 keyboard.

Part 0: What stays cleanly outside the GUI

Measured on 2026-10-02 by importing each module with Gtk, Gdk, Notify and Xlib blocked.

Layer Status Notes
hidapi/, hid_parser/, keysyms/ Clean pyudev only; GLib only for hotplug monitoring (monitor_glib)
logitech_receiver/ protocol core (base, hidpp10/20, settings, settings_validator, descriptors, common, special_keys, listener) Clean base and listener import with GUI libs blocked
logitech_receiver/ device, receiver, settings_templates, notifications Fail to import Only because they import diversion, which needs Gdk. Their own code is GUI-free
logitech_receiver/diversion.py (rules engine) Coupled Gdk keymap + modifier masks (~12 uses), Xlib, evdev. On Wayland it already uses uinput
logitech_receiver/desktop_notifications.py Partly coupled libnotify, plus Gtk for an icon-theme lookup
logitech_receiver/rgb_power.py Fine GLib timers only
solaar/ configuration, dbus, tasks, upower, i18n Clean
solaar/listener.py Fine once diversion is fixed GLib main loop; the UI is reached only through 3 callbacks (status changed, setting changed, error), which is the seam we use
solaar/cli/ Mostly clean config forwards to a running instance via Gtk.Application; it will use D-Bus instead
solaar/ui/, solaar/gtk.py To be replaced GTK application

Already native in Plasma, so we don't rebuild it: battery. The kernel's hid-logitech-hidpp driver exposes hidpp_battery_*, UPower picks it up, and Plasma's battery widget and low-battery warnings use it. The K850 is covered via BlueZ.

Phase 0: Headless core and plasmaard (shared foundation)

Status: done (2026-10-03). 0.1 #4, 0.2 #5, 0.3 #7, 0.4 #8, 0.5 #9, 0.6 this change. Development setup: make install_udev (device access for the seated user) and make install_user_service PLASMAARD=$PWD/.venv/bin/plasmaard (starts with the Plasma session).

Both assessments below depend on this. Estimate: 3–4 sessions.

  1. Decouple diversion: import it lazily from settings_templates and notifications, make Gdk optional, hard-code the modifier masks, look up keys via evdev/xkb on Wayland.
  2. Notifications without GTK: use org.freedesktop.Notifications over D-Bus instead of libnotify.
  3. Own identity: ~/.config/plasmaar/ and its own app ID, so plasmaar never fights an installed Solaar for the device.
  4. plasmaard: a GLib main loop that wires the 3 listener callbacks to D-Bus signals. Reuses solaar.dbus for suspend/resume. Runs as a systemd user service.
  5. D-Bus API on the session bus, io.github.fredaime.Plasmaar (org.kde.* belongs to the KDE project):
    • ListDevices()
    • GetDevice(id): name, connection, firmware, battery
    • ListSettings(id): normalized schema per setting (name, label, description, kind, choices, range, keys, value, display)
    • SetSetting(id, name, value), SetSettingKey(id, name, key, value)
    • PlayHaptic(id, waveform)
    • Signals: DeviceAdded, DeviceRemoved, DeviceChanged, SettingChanged, ButtonEvent
  6. Device access without root: udev rule for hidraw + uinput. Merge the pending fix branches (fix/check-feature-settings-no-persister, fix/haptic-missing-replies).

Done when busctl --user call … ListSettings returns the MX Master 4's settings with no GTK installed, and the test suite stays green.

Assessment A: Minimal Plasma integration outside the settings page

Status: A1 done (plasmaard user service, Phase 0.6). A2 done: notifications carry the io.github.fredaime.plasmaar desktop entry. A4/A5 done as a KdeShortcut rule action plus automatic reload of rules.yaml — see kde-actions.md. A5 now also managed: buttons.yaml + SetButtonAction (#15). A6 haptic feedback on desktop events and A7 per-app rules through a KWin script done (#16) — see desktop-events.md.

Goal: the mouse feels native in Plasma before any settings UI exists. No C++. Estimate: 4–6 sessions.

# Item KDE mechanism Effort
A1 Session service: autostarts with Plasma, survives suspend and reconnects systemd user unit, graphical-session.target S
A2 Notifications: connected/disconnected, "device needs attention" freedesktop notifications + plasmaar.notifyrc + .desktop S
A3 Battery Already native (UPower); only make sure we don't duplicate it 0
A4 Buttons → KDE actions: divert gesture/haptic/thumb buttons and trigger KDE actions by name (e.g. gesture up → KWin Overview) org.kde.kglobalaccel invokeShortcut over D-Bus; fallback: F13–F24 via uinput, bound in Plasma Shortcuts M
A5 Mappings in plasmaar.yaml until the settings page exists YAML S
A6 Haptics on desktop events (notifications, virtual-desktop switch, low battery) D-Bus signal watching → PlayHaptic M
A7 Per-app awareness on Wayland KWin script reports the focused window to plasmaard M, optional

Minimal set: A1 + A2 + A4 + A5.

Assessment B: The settings page (System Settings module)

Goal: "Logitech devices" under System Settings → Input Devices. Build deps (libkf6kcmutils-dev, qt6-declarative-dev, extra-cmake-modules) are already installed on the dev machine. Estimate: 6–9 sessions.

# Item Effort
B1 Skeleton: thin C++ plugin + QML page talking to plasmaard over D-Bus; appears in System Settings M
B2 Device header: picker, name, connection, firmware, battery S
B3 Settings drawn from the schema: TOGGLE → Switch, CHOICE → ComboBox (long lists such as DPI become a stepped slider), RANGE → Slider/SpinBox M
B4 Apply/Reset semantics: stage changes and write on Apply; "Defaults" = values captured when a device is first seen S–M
B5 Per-key maps: button remapping and diversion as a table M
B6 Button-actions editor: pick KDE actions from kglobalaccel; GUI over A4/A5, replaces Solaar's rules editor M
B7 Haptics panel: intensity + per-waveform "test" buttons S
B8 Advanced kinds: MULTIPLE_TOGGLE/RANGE, PACKED_RANGE, GRAPHIC_EQ, COLOR/RGB L, deferred
B9 Pairing UI for Bolt/Unifying receivers Deferred

Minimal set: B1–B4 + B7.

Ordering

Phase 0 (headless core + plasmaard + D-Bus API)
   ├──► A: A1 → A2 → A4/A5      usable early, no C++
   └──► B: B1 → B2/B3 → B4 → B7 → B5/B6

A goes first: it gives daily value cheaply and road-tests the D-Bus API that B depends on. B6 is a GUI over the A4/A5 configuration, so doing A4 first designs that data model once.

Risks

  • A diverted button only works while plasmaard is running; diversion must be undone on shutdown.
  • If invokeShortcut can't reach an action, fall back to F13–F24 keys.
  • Independent fork: new device support has to be cherry-picked from upstream deliberately.