pyautogui README

The project's README from github.com/asweigart/pyautogui. As one markdown file: README.md.

PyAutoGUI

PyAutoGUI is a cross-platform GUI automation Python module for human beings. Used to programmatically control the mouse & keyboard.

pip install pyautogui

Full documentation available at https://pyautogui.readthedocs.org

Simplified Chinese documentation available at https://github.com/asweigart/pyautogui/blob/master/docs/simplified-chinese.ipynb

Source code available at https://github.com/asweigart/pyautogui

If you need help installing Python, visit https://installpython3.com/

Dependencies

PyAutoGUI supports Python 2 and 3. If you are installing PyAutoGUI from PyPI using pip:

Windows has no dependencies. The Win32 extensions do not need to be installed.

macOS needs the pyobjc-core and pyobjc module installed (in that order).

Linux needs the python3-xlib (or python-xlib for Python 2) module installed.

Pillow needs to be installed, and on Linux you may need to install additional libraries to make sure Pillow's PNG/JPEG works correctly. See:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7648200/pip-install-pil-e-tickets-1-no-jpeg-png-support

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1751455

If you want to do development and contribute to PyAutoGUI, you will need to install these modules from PyPI:

Example Usage

Keyboard and Mouse Control

The x, y coordinates used by PyAutoGUI has the 0, 0 origin coordinates in the top left corner of the screen. The x coordinates increase going to the right (just as in mathematics) but the y coordinates increase going down (the opposite of mathematics). On a screen that is 1920 x 1080 pixels in size, coordinates 0, 0 are for the top left while 1919, 1079 is for the bottom right.

Currently, PyAutoGUI only works on the primary monitor. PyAutoGUI isn't reliable for the screen of a second monitor (the mouse functions may or may not work on multi-monitor setups depending on your operating system and version).

All keyboard presses done by PyAutoGUI are sent to the window that currently has focus, as if you had pressed the physical keyboard key.

    >>> import pyautogui
    >>> screenWidth, screenHeight = pyautogui.size() # Returns two integers, the width and height of the screen. (The primary monitor, in multi-monitor setups.)
    >>> currentMouseX, currentMouseY = pyautogui.position() # Returns two integers, the x and y of the mouse cursor's current position.
    >>> pyautogui.moveTo(100, 150) # Move the mouse to the x, y coordinates 100, 150.
    >>> pyautogui.click() # Click the mouse at its current location.
    >>> pyautogui.click(200, 220) # Click the mouse at the x, y coordinates 200, 220.
    >>> pyautogui.move(None, 10)  # Move mouse 10 pixels down, that is, move the mouse relative to its current position.
    >>> pyautogui.doubleClick() # Double click the mouse at the
    >>> pyautogui.moveTo(500, 500, duration=2, tween=pyautogui.easeInOutQuad) # Use tweening/easing function to move mouse over 2 seconds.
    >>> pyautogui.write('Hello world!', interval=0.25)  # Type with quarter-second pause in between each key.
    >>> pyautogui.press('esc') # Simulate pressing the Escape key.
    >>> pyautogui.keyDown('shift')
    >>> pyautogui.write(['left', 'left', 'left', 'left', 'left', 'left'])
    >>> pyautogui.keyUp('shift')
    >>> pyautogui.hotkey('ctrl', 'c')

Display Message Boxes

    >>> import pyautogui
    >>> pyautogui.alert('This is an alert box.')
    'OK'
    >>> pyautogui.confirm('Shall I proceed?')
    'Cancel'
    >>> pyautogui.confirm('Enter option.', buttons=['A', 'B', 'C'])
    'B'
    >>> pyautogui.prompt('What is your name?')
    'Al'
    >>> pyautogui.password('Enter password (text will be hidden)')
    'swordfish'

Screenshot Functions

(PyAutoGUI uses Pillow for image-related features.)

    >>> import pyautogui
    >>> im1 = pyautogui.screenshot()
    >>> im1.save('my_screenshot.png')
    >>> im2 = pyautogui.screenshot('my_screenshot2.png')

You can also locate where an image is on the screen:

    >>> import pyautogui
    >>> button7location = pyautogui.locateOnScreen('button.png') # returns (left, top, width, height) of matching region
    >>> button7location
    (1416, 562, 50, 41)
    >>> buttonx, buttony = pyautogui.center(button7location)
    >>> buttonx, buttony
    (1441, 582)
    >>> pyautogui.click(buttonx, buttony)  # clicks the center of where the button was found

The locateCenterOnScreen() function returns the center of this match region:

    >>> import pyautogui
    >>> buttonx, buttony = pyautogui.locateCenterOnScreen('button.png') # returns (x, y) of matching region
    >>> buttonx, buttony
    (1441, 582)
    >>> pyautogui.click(buttonx, buttony)  # clicks the center of where the button was found

How Does PyAutoGUI Work?

The three major operating systems (Windows, macOS, and Linux) each have different ways to programmatically control the mouse and keyboard. This can often involve confusing, obscure, and deeply technical details. The job of PyAutoGUI is to hide all of this complexity behind a simple API.

Support

If you find this project helpful and would like to support its development, consider donating to its creator on Patreon.

pyautogui (asweigart/pyautogui)

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12.7K ·GitHub
Pyautogui
What is this?PyAutoGUI is a cross-platform Python module that lets you programmatically control the mouse and keyboard to automate GUI interactions.
Is it a library or a standalone app?It is a Python library you import into your own scripts, not a standalone application.
How do I install and start using it?Install it with 'pip install pyautogui', then import it in your Python script to call functions like moving the mouse, clicking, typing, or taking screenshots.
What do I need installed besides PyAutoGUI itself?Windows needs no extra dependencies; macOS needs pyobjc-core and pyobjc; Linux needs python3-xlib; all platforms need Pillow for screenshot features.
Does it work with multiple monitors?No, it's only reliable on the primary monitor; mouse functions on a second monitor may or may not work depending on your OS.
How does PyAutoGUI actually control the mouse and keyboard on each OS?It hides OS-specific complexity behind a simple API: on Windows it uses ctypes to call the WinAPI, on macOS it uses rubicon-objc to access Cocoa, and on Linux it uses Xlib to access X11.
Can it find things on screen, not just click blindly?Yes, it includes screenshot functions built on Pillow, including locateOnScreen() and locateCenterOnScreen() to find an image on the screen and get its center coordinates.
Does it support Python 2?Yes, PyAutoGUI supports both Python 2 and Python 3.
Will keyboard presses go to whatever window I'm working in?Keyboard presses are sent to whichever window currently has focus, just as if you pressed the physical key, so make sure the right window is focused before automating.
What are similar projects?robotgo, Codex-Minecraft-Gameplay, self-operating-computer, KeymouseGo, March7thAssistant, mobile-mcp, easytrader, huashu-mac-use
Which topics is it in?rpa, mouse, desktop-automation, gui-automation, x11, keyboard, screenshot, python-library, bsd, testing, command-line, gui
Creator
asweigart
Size
2.3 MB
Stars
12.7K
Updated
CommitJun 07
Age
12y
Commits · 90 Days