History of the server's development

The server was originally written in C++.
Then I rewrote it in Rust with windows-rs for Rust's memory safety and the newer Gamepad injection Windows support.
Windows.UI.Input.Preview.Injection, as the name says, is in preview and is buggy. (Read unusable)
I, unfortunately, didn't know the source of the problems and decided to rewrite the app according to the Microsoft recommended way for Windows Apps (C# with WinUI 3 and the Windows App SDK).
This is also when I figured that a GUI is worth the effort.
Finally, due to the aforementioned reasons, this was created in C++ with the Win32 API and Qt6 for the UI.
Experimental gamepad executor for Windows using Windows.UI.Input.Preview.Injection was added.
Linux support was introduced due to user requests.

How it works

Note: Design choice: Colfer over Protocol Buffers.
Reason: Performance and simplicity.

Client-Server Communication:
The mobile client (Android app) connects to the server over TCP. Communication uses a custom binary protocol for efficient, structured data exchange.
Input Parsing and Execution:
The server receives gamepad state from the client. These are parsed and mapped to system-level input events via an Executor.

There are two Executors which you can choose from:
- Keyboard/Mouse Executor: Maps gamepad buttons/axes to keyboard keys and mouse movements/clicks via user-defined keymap profiles. Use this for games without native gamepad support.
- Gamepad Executor: Simulates a virtual gamepad device. You can run multiple instances of the server to create multiple virtual gamepads for local multiplayer.
The Executor uses platform APIs:
- Windows: Uses SendInput() for keyboard/mouse, and WinRT APIs for gamepad simulation.
- Linux: Uses uinput/libevdev for input injection.
Keymap Profiles:
Users can define custom keymap profiles for different games or applications. Profiles are managed via the GUI and stored locally.
System-Level Input Injection:
The server synthesizes input events at the OS level, allowing control of any application. No external drivers are needed.
Security and Privacy:
All communication is local (Wi-Fi/LAN). No ads, tracking, or telemetry. Source code is open for review.

Source Layout

src - Main source code (networking, simulation, UI, platform-specific code)
res - Resources (like icons and logos)
VGP_Data_Exchange - Communication protocol implementation
third-party-libs - External libraries (e.g., QR code generator)
docs - Doxygen documentation output
cmake - CMake modules for platform setup

Build Instructions

See the build document for detailed build instructions.

Generating Documentation

This project uses Doxygen to generate documentation.
If Doxygen is available on your system,
You can generate the documentation by running the following command:

doxygen Doxyfile

This repository has automated workflow via Github Actions.
Documentation is auto-generated and deployed to Github Pages.

For usage, downloads, and troubleshooting, visit the main project website.