ckochandClaude Opus 4.8
aeb28958de
Cross-platform anti-idle utility that keeps Microsoft Teams showing Available by resetting the OS idle timer with an invisible input signal. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
73 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
73 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
# teamsTrick
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Keep Microsoft Teams (and any presence system driven by OS idle time) showing
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**Available** while you're reading, watching a video, on a call, or otherwise not
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touching the keyboard. Teams flips you to *Away* after roughly 5 minutes of no
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input; these scripts reset the OS idle timer with a brief, invisible signal so
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that never happens.
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No third-party packages — each script uses only the standard OS APIs via Python's
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`ctypes`.
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## Scripts
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| Script | Platform | Method |
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| --- | --- | --- |
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| `stay_active.py` | Linux (X11) | 1px mouse nudge (or key tap) via the X11 XTest extension |
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| `stay_active_win.py` | Windows | Invisible F15 key tap (or mouse nudge) via the Win32 `SendInput` API |
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## Requirements
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- Python 3
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- **Linux:** an **X11** session (`echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE` → `x11`) and the
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`libX11` / `libXtst` system libraries (present on essentially every desktop).
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Wayland is not supported — XTest does not reset the idle timer there.
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- **Windows:** nothing beyond Python. If `python` isn't on your PATH, use `py`.
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Run the script from **inside your desktop session** (not over SSH) so it can talk
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to the display / input system.
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## Usage
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### Linux
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```bash
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./stay_active.py # default: invisible 1px mouse nudge every 120s
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./stay_active.py -i 90 # nudge every 90s
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./stay_active.py -m key -k shift # tap Shift instead of moving the mouse
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./stay_active.py -q & # quiet, run in the background
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```
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### Windows
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```
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python stay_active_win.py # default: invisible F15 tap every 120s
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python stay_active_win.py -i 90 # every 90s
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python stay_active_win.py -m mouse # 1px mouse nudge instead
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python stay_active_win.py --no-sleep # also keep the PC/display awake
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python stay_active_win.py -q # quiet, good for background
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```
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Stop either script with **Ctrl+C**.
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## Options
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| Flag | Description |
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| --- | --- |
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| `-i`, `--interval` | Seconds between signals (default `120`). Keep it under Teams' ~300s Away threshold. |
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| `-m`, `--method` | `mouse` or `key`. Default is `mouse` on Linux, `key` on Windows. |
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| `-k`, `--key` | Which key to tap in key mode (Linux: `f13`–`f15`, `shift`). |
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| `--no-sleep` | *(Windows only)* Also prevent the system and display from sleeping. |
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| `-q`, `--quiet` | Suppress the heartbeat output. |
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## Notes & caveats
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- It only prevents the **idle → Away** transition. It does **not** override a
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status you set manually (e.g. *Do Not Disturb*).
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- It won't help if the machine **sleeps** — a sleeping PC goes offline regardless.
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On Windows use `--no-sleep`; on Linux disable screen lock / suspend if you need
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to stay green while away for a long time.
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- The signals are designed to be invisible: the mouse nudge returns the cursor to
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where it started, and F15 / the chosen keys aren't bound to anything on a normal
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desktop.
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