This tiny utility lets you quickly lock keyboard and mouse input. Unlike "Screen lock" this tool does not hide the display.
The primary use of this script is to let your cat watch their favourite YouTube videos without worrying that it might step on the keyboard and accidentally send an e-mail to your boss.
Another use case is to play video games with a gamepad while your cat sleeps on the keyboard.
This script works only with X. It requires python-xlib. Install with pip3 install python-xlib.
To lock your keyboard & mouse, run the script:
./catlock.py
The script grabs both keyboard and mouse pointer. While it is running, all key and button presses are ignored. When Ctrl+Alt+K is pressed, mouse and keyboard are released (so your system is back to normal) and the script closes.
Additionally, for your convenience, on GNOME environments the script can install a global shortcut that launches the script. Place the script in a permanent path. Run:
./catlock.py install
From now on whenever you press Ctrl+Alt+K your system will enable catlock. This is very convenient for quickly toggling between locked and unlocked keyboard, without running the script manually.