gotcha

Catches people trying to use your computer while you're away. Grabs all input devices so nothing works, snaps a timestamped webcam photo when someone tries, and unlocks with a secret key.

Working on macOS and Linux.

Setup

macOS

The app needs Accessibility API access to grab input devices.

1. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility
2. Add your terminal app (e.g. Terminal.app, iTerm2, Alacritty) to the list
3. Run with cargo run

If input stops being blocked after a macOS update, remove the terminal from that list and add it back.

Linux

The app needs access to /dev/input/* devices to grab keyboards and mice.

1. Add your user to the input group:

   sudo usermod -aG input $USER
   

2. Log out and back in for the group change to take effect
3. Verify with groups: input should be in the list
4. Run with cargo run

Usage

1. Run cargo run, or cargo run -- --password <secret> (--pw for short) to choose the secret
2. All keyboard and mouse input is grabbed and the desktop stops responding
3. Any input triggers a timestamped webcam photo saved to gotchas/
4. Type the secret to release all devices and exit: test unless you passed --password. Letters and digits only, and case does not matter, since a key press carries no Shift