flash

Flash and warpd

warpd is “A modal keyboard-driven virtual pointer” in MIT-licensed C for Linux (X11 and wlroots) and macOS, with a Windows alpha. It knows nothing about elements: its hint mode “indiscriminately covers the entire screen” with labels, its grid bisects the screen, and its normal mode moves the pointer with hjkl and counts. The last macOS release was v1.3.5 in November 2022; the last commit was May 2023, and a 2026 issue asking whether it is maintained has no reply.

	warpd	Flash
License, price	MIT, free	MIT, free
Platforms	Linux X11 and wlroots, macOS, Windows alpha	macOS 14+
Permissions	Accessibility	Accessibility; Automation per browser for tab lists; Screen Recording only for `:screenshot`
Targets	Pixels: uniform hint labels, grid, history hints; no element detection	Accessibility elements; keyboard grid; bisect
Pointer modes	Normal (vi pointer with counts), hint, two-stage hint, grid, screen selection; drag with `v`, scroll with `e`/`r`	Hints, search, grid, bisect, pointer mode, screens, drag, select, words, path, sticky
Configuration	`~/.config/warpd/config`; CLI flags; built to be scripted	One TOML file; `flash <verb>` CLI
Maintenance	Unmaintained since 2023	1.0.0, October 2026

Where warpd is stronger

Linux. It is the reference modal pointer there.
Element-free design works everywhere, including games and remote desktops, because it never asks the app anything.
A scriptable single binary: --oneshot, --click, --move, --query make it “a poor man’s xdotool”.
Counts in normal mode (10l) for precise movement.

Where Flash is stronger

It knows what is on screen. One label per button, link or field, instead of a label every few pixels.
It is maintained and installs from a cask. warpd on macOS is a curl | sudo tar into /, a LaunchAgent, a self-signed certificate, and a tccutil reset on upgrade.
Non-Latin input sources work; warpd hangs with them (#290).
Everything after the click.

Flash features you might like

mouse_pointer is warpd’s normal mode on macOS: hjkl, click keys, v drag (commands).
mouse_grid --bisect halves the screen the way warpd’s grid does.
mouse_screens is screen selection; mouse_position --action=hints are history hints.

Moving from warpd

warpd	Flash
`warpd --hint`	`["flash", "mouse_target"]` for elements, `mouse_grid` for positions
`warpd --grid`	`["flash", "mouse_grid", "--bisect"]`
`warpd --normal`	`["flash", "mouse_pointer"]`
`--oneshot --click`	`flash mouse_target` then type; `flash mouse_repeat` re-clicks the last point
History hints	`mouse_position --action=save`, then `--action=hints`
Screen selection	`["flash", "mouse_screens"]`
`e` / `r` scroll	NORMAL `ctrl+e` / `ctrl+y`, `ctrl+d` / `ctrl+u`

[mode.all.mappings]
"alt+ctrl+x" = ["flash", "mouse_target"]
"alt+ctrl+g" = ["flash", "mouse_grid", "--bisect"]
"alt+ctrl+c" = ["flash", "mouse_pointer"]

Checked 2026-10-14 against the warpd README and man page.

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