Handy on Ubuntu 26.04 GNOME Wayland
Tested on Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS, GNOME Wayland, Handy 0.9.8.
The fix is to use ydotool for typing and handy_keys for shortcuts.
Note: Run commands one by one in terminal
1. Check Wayland and uinput
echo "$XDG_SESSION_TYPE"
id
ls -l /dev/uinput
grep -R 'uinput' /etc/udev/rules.d /usr/lib/udev/rules.d 2>/dev/null
You should be using Wayland, be in the input group, and have /dev/uinput owned by root:input with mode 0660. Ubuntu provides the required udev rule in 80-uinput.rules.
If you are not in input:
sudo usermod -aG input "$USER"
Log out and back in after adding the group.
2. Install and test ydotool
sudo apt install ydotool
systemctl --user start ydotool
systemctl --user status ydotool --no-pager
ydotool type "HELLO FROM YDOTOOL"
The service should show active (running) and the test should type into the focused application.
3. Configure Handy
Edit Handy's settings with:
sed -i 's/"typing_tool": "auto"/"typing_tool": "ydotool"/' ~/.local/share/com.pais.handy/settings_store.json
sed -i 's/"keyboard_implementation": "tauri"/"keyboard_implementation": "handy_keys"/' ~/.local/share/com.pais.handy/settings_store.json
Restart Handy:
pkill handy
handy --start-hidden &
Check the Handy log for:
handy-keys manager thread started
handy-keys shortcuts initialized
Then use your existing Handy shortcut and test dictation.
4. Hide the overlay
On GNOME, the overlay is a regular window that can take the focus, so nothing is pasted. Set Overlay to None.
5. Install wl-clipboard
Handy uses wl-copy on Wayland when it is installed:
sudo apt install wl-clipboard
6. Non-QWERTY keyboard layouts
ydotool sends physical keys, so the built-in paste methods fail on layouts such as bépo or Dvorak: Ctrl+V presses the QWERTY V key, and Shift+Insert breaks while a modifier of your shortcut is still held.
Use an external script instead: it presses Ctrl and the key that types v on your layout, KEY_U (22) on bépo or KEY_DOT (52) on Dvorak (codes in /usr/include/linux/input-event-codes.h).
Create ~/.local/bin/handy-paste, here for bépo:
#!/bin/sh
printf '%s' "$1" | wl-copy
sleep 0.1
ydotool key 29:1 22:1 22:0 29:0
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/handy-paste
Set Paste Method to External Script with this path.