Command Line (polyctl)

polyctl is a small command-line tool that talks to a running PolyKybdHost daemon over its local control socket. It is stdlib-only and never imports Qt, which makes it ideal for headless machines, scripted setups, and quick one-off commands without opening the tray GUI.

Subcommands

Command	Description
`status`	Show connection state and current keyboard status
`lang list` / `lang set <code>`	List available languages, or switch the active language
`brightness <value>`	Set display brightness
`brightness --auto`	Hand brightness back to automatic — a manual level otherwise sticks until you do. With adaptive daylight off there is no automatic source to return to, so it just clears the override and restores the keyboard’s stored level.
`idle <…>`	Configure or trigger idle behaviour
`idle-style [pulse\|jitter]`	Get or set the idle anti-burn-in style
`glyph-script [standard\|tengwar\|…]`	Get or set the glyph-script legend override
`fontpack status\|sync\|flash <id>\|wipe [id]`	Inspect and manage the font-pack bundles
`overlay …`	Inspect and manage key overlays
`keymap …`	Read/write the dynamic keymap
`commands`	List the keyboard’s available one-off commands
`fw version`	Report the keyboard’s firmware version
`fw flash <bin> [--apply]`	Flash a firmware `.bin` over HID (streams progress)
`pause` / `resume`	Suspend or resume the daemon’s device I/O
`mru save`	Ask the keyboard to persist its recently-used emoji / language picks
`settings get <key>` / `settings set <key> <value>`	Read or change a setting (e.g. `settings set developer_mode true` — restart the app for the Developer submenu to appear)
`update check` / `update install`	Check for and install host updates (streams progress)
`telemetry status\|preview\|enable\|disable\|send`	Inspect or turn off the anonymous usage report — `preview` prints the exact report that would be sent
`unicode-mode`	Re-detect the host’s unicode input method (WinCompose vs native) and push it to the keyboard
`window report`	Report the current active window to the daemon
`watch`	Stream live events from the daemon to the terminal
`shutdown`	Stop the daemon

Long-running operations (fw flash, update install) subscribe to daemon events and stream their progress to the terminal as it happens.

Examples

# Check the daemon is alive and the keyboard is connected
polyctl status

# Switch the active language
polyctl lang set en-US

# Set display brightness
polyctl brightness 80

# ...and give control back to the automatic/daylight source
polyctl brightness --auto

# Flash firmware and apply it immediately
polyctl fw flash firmware.bin --apply

# Stream live events (reconnects, overlay sends, window changes)
polyctl watch

# Adopt the daemon-by-default startup model
polyctl settings set daemon_mode true

Because polyctl speaks the same control protocol the tray GUI uses, you can mix the two freely — drive a headless daemon from scripts and attach the GUI later with python -m polyhost --connect when you want a window.