Installing the command-line executable

Assuming you have Rust/Cargo installed, run this command in a terminal:

cargo install betterdisplay-kvm

It will make the betterdisplay-kvm command available in your PATH if you've allowed the PATH to be modified when installing Rust. cargo uninstall betterdisplay-kvm uninstalls.

Back to the crate overview.

Readme

BetterDisplay KVM

A Rust-based KVM switch utility for BetterDisplay that utilizes the betterdisplaycli.

How it works

This works by using the BetterDisplay app and CLI to issues commands to your monitor when a configured USB devices is connected/disconnected via the betterdisplay-kvm rust program. This uses the DDC/CI protocols to send commands directly to your monitor.

With the single press of a button you can switch over to you gaming PC or macBook seamlessly.

Diagram

diagram

Why not use a KVM?

Because they don’t support high refresh rates without spending an ungodly amount of money.

Config

# the USB device you'd like watch for
usb_device_id = "046d:c547"
# id that betterdisplaycli uses to configure input
system_one_input = 15
# id that betterdisplaycli uses to configure input
system_two_input = 18
# log level
log_level = "debug"
# if you use an lg monitor that doesnt follow the spec this might work if you enable it
ddc_alt = false

Development

RUST_LOG=debug cargo watch -x run

Install

Run the ./install.sh and it will install a LaunchAgent and start the program.

Uninstall

Run the ./uninstall.sh and it remove the program and clean everything up.

Roadmap

add a config system so others can use it
add some setup guide for adding a launch agent
fix the hardcoded bin to betterdisplaycli from homebrew
publish it to crates.io so you can just install from there
codesign the bin for people wanting to use outside of homebrew