Vial Keymap

Shows the keymap of a Vial-configured split keyboard (splitkb Aurora Corne by default) as an overlay, read from a Vial .vil export. All non-empty layers at once, with mod-taps, layer-taps, combos, encoder bindings and the letters of your second OS layout (for example Russian). It is the Linux port of egno/vial_helper.

Plugin

Field	Value
ID	egno/vial_keymap
Entries	Bar widget: icon; panel: keymap

Requirements

• A .vil export of your keymap from Vial (File → Save current layout). Default path: ~/aurora.vil.
• python3 and libxkbcommon (both standard on most systems) for the second-layout letters.
• hyprctl to detect the configured OS layouts automatically. Without it, set the layout in Settings or the plugin falls back to a built-in Russian ЙЦУКЕН table.

Usage

Toggle the overlay from your compositor keybind:

noctalia msg panel-toggle egno/vial_keymap:keymap

For example in Hyprland's Lua config:

hl.bind(mainMod .. " + K", hl.dsp.exec_cmd("noctalia msg panel-toggle egno/vial_keymap:keymap"))

Optionally add the bar widget egno/vial_keymap:icon (Settings → Bar, or in your config), a keyboard glyph that toggles the overlay on click and opens the plugin settings on right or middle click:

[widget.keymap]
type = "egno/vial_keymap:icon"

While the overlay is open: 0–9 zooms into a layer, a or ` shows all layers, ←/→ cycle, Esc or a click outside closes. Clicking a layer card zooms into it. Layers that contain only transparent or unassigned keys are hidden. The .vil is re-read on every open and every 2 seconds while open, so a Vial re-export shows up immediately.

The overlay recognises the Aurora Corne / crkbd matrix (3×6+3 per half) and draws it with column stagger and thumb clusters; other split boards get a mirrored grid, and non-split boards a plain grid.

Settings

Settings → Plugins → Vial Keymap:

Setting	Type	Default	Description
vil_path	file	~/aurora.vil	The Vial .vil export to display.
layer_names	string	(empty)	Comma-separated names in layer order, e.g. Base, Nav, Sym, Fn. Replaces L1-style legends on layer keys and in the layer chips.
encoders	select	both	Which half's encoder bindings to draw (both, left, right, none). Vial exports a slot per half even if unused.
alt_layout_enabled	bool	true	Draw the letter each key produces in your second OS layout in the top-right corner of the cap, where it differs from the first layout.
alt_layout	string	(empty)	XKB layout for those letters, e.g. ru, rumac, de(neo). Empty means the second layout from Hyprland's input:kb_layout.

IPC

noctalia msg plugin egno/vial_keymap:keymap all layer 2   # zoom into layer 2
noctalia msg plugin egno/vial_keymap:keymap all all       # back to all layers
noctalia msg plugin egno/vial_keymap:keymap all reload    # re-read the .vil now
noctalia msg plugin egno/vial_keymap:keymap all layouts   # re-detect the OS layouts
noctalia msg plugin egno/vial_keymap:icon focused toggle  # same as clicking the bar icon

Notes

• Reads only the configured .vil file. Writes nothing.
• Spawns hyprctl -j getoption input:kb_layout / input:kb_variant and python3 xkb_legends.py <layouts> <variants> (bundled) once per open, at most once a minute, to compute the second-layout letters. No network access.
• Macro keys are shown as M0, M1, … without their contents.
• Modifiers are drawn as Tabler icons (Ctrl ^, Alt ⎇, Shift ⇧, Super ⌘). Change them in M.MODS at the top of keycode.luau.
• Tested on Hyprland with Noctalia 5.1.0. Layout detection is Hyprland-specific; on other compositors set alt_layout explicitly.
• Source and issues: github.com/egno/noctalia-vial-keymap.