Files
teamsTrick/stay_active_win.py
T
ckochandClaude Opus 4.8 aeb28958de Initial commit: Teams keep-active tool for Linux (X11) and Windows
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>
2026-07-23 17:11:03 -04:00

134 lines
4.3 KiB
Python

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""stay_active_win.py — keep Microsoft Teams showing 'Available' on Windows.
Teams marks you 'Away' after ~5 minutes of no keyboard/mouse input. This tool
resets Windows' idle timer periodically by sending a harmless input via the Win32
SendInput API. It also optionally tells Windows not to sleep/turn off the display
while running.
No third-party packages required — pure ctypes against user32/kernel32.
Windows only. Press Ctrl+C to stop.
"""
import argparse
import ctypes
import sys
import time
from ctypes import wintypes
if not sys.platform.startswith("win"):
sys.exit("This script is for Windows. On Linux use stay_active.py instead.")
user32 = ctypes.WinDLL("user32", use_last_error=True)
kernel32 = ctypes.WinDLL("kernel32", use_last_error=True)
# --- SendInput structures ----------------------------------------------------
ULONG_PTR = wintypes.WPARAM
INPUT_MOUSE = 0
INPUT_KEYBOARD = 1
MOUSEEVENTF_MOVE = 0x0001
KEYEVENTF_KEYUP = 0x0002
VK_F15 = 0x7E # virtual key; valid even without a physical F15 on the keyboard
# SetThreadExecutionState flags (keep system/display awake)
ES_CONTINUOUS = 0x80000000
ES_SYSTEM_REQUIRED = 0x00000001
ES_DISPLAY_REQUIRED = 0x00000002
class MOUSEINPUT(ctypes.Structure):
_fields_ = [
("dx", wintypes.LONG),
("dy", wintypes.LONG),
("mouseData", wintypes.DWORD),
("dwFlags", wintypes.DWORD),
("time", wintypes.DWORD),
("dwExtraInfo", ULONG_PTR),
]
class KEYBDINPUT(ctypes.Structure):
_fields_ = [
("wVk", wintypes.WORD),
("wScan", wintypes.WORD),
("dwFlags", wintypes.DWORD),
("time", wintypes.DWORD),
("dwExtraInfo", ULONG_PTR),
]
class _INPUTunion(ctypes.Union):
_fields_ = [("mi", MOUSEINPUT), ("ki", KEYBDINPUT)]
class INPUT(ctypes.Structure):
_fields_ = [("type", wintypes.DWORD), ("u", _INPUTunion)]
def _send(*inputs):
n = len(inputs)
arr = (INPUT * n)(*inputs)
sent = user32.SendInput(n, arr, ctypes.sizeof(INPUT))
if sent != n:
raise ctypes.WinError(ctypes.get_last_error())
def nudge_mouse():
# Relative move +1px then -1px: cursor ends where it started, effectively invisible.
right = INPUT(type=INPUT_MOUSE, u=_INPUTunion(mi=MOUSEINPUT(1, 0, 0, MOUSEEVENTF_MOVE, 0, 0)))
left = INPUT(type=INPUT_MOUSE, u=_INPUTunion(mi=MOUSEINPUT(-1, 0, 0, MOUSEEVENTF_MOVE, 0, 0)))
_send(right, left)
def tap_f15():
down = INPUT(type=INPUT_KEYBOARD, u=_INPUTunion(ki=KEYBDINPUT(VK_F15, 0, 0, 0, 0)))
up = INPUT(type=INPUT_KEYBOARD, u=_INPUTunion(ki=KEYBDINPUT(VK_F15, 0, KEYEVENTF_KEYUP, 0, 0)))
_send(down, up)
def main():
p = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Keep Teams presence 'Available' on Windows.")
p.add_argument("-i", "--interval", type=float, default=120,
help="seconds between signals (default: 120; keep under Teams' ~300s Away threshold)")
p.add_argument("-m", "--method", choices=["mouse", "key"], default="key",
help="how to signal activity (default: key — an invisible F15 tap)")
p.add_argument("--no-sleep", action="store_true",
help="also prevent the system and display from sleeping while running")
p.add_argument("-q", "--quiet", action="store_true", help="don't print heartbeat messages")
args = p.parse_args()
action = tap_f15 if args.method == "key" else nudge_mouse
label = "tapping F15" if args.method == "key" else "nudging mouse 1px"
if args.no_sleep:
flags = ES_CONTINUOUS | ES_SYSTEM_REQUIRED | ES_DISPLAY_REQUIRED
kernel32.SetThreadExecutionState(flags)
if not args.quiet:
awake = " (sleep inhibited)" if args.no_sleep else ""
print(f"stay_active: {label} every {args.interval:g}s{awake}. Press Ctrl+C to stop.")
taps = 0
try:
while True:
action()
taps += 1
if not args.quiet:
print(f"\r active — {taps} signal(s) sent, last at {time.strftime('%H:%M:%S')}",
end="", flush=True)
time.sleep(args.interval)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
if not args.quiet:
print("\nstay_active: stopped.")
finally:
if args.no_sleep:
kernel32.SetThreadExecutionState(ES_CONTINUOUS) # release the keep-awake request
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()