--- title: Mouse Unlock!—no password, just a secret click pattern description: A developer built a mouse-click pattern unlock system for a Linux laptop without biometric sensors. Using Python and the evdev library, a ~150-line daemon... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/mouse-unlock-no-password-just-a-secret-click-pattern-b7ovu5o0n twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Mouse Unlock!—no password, just a secret click pattern | daily.dev og:description: A developer built a mouse-click pattern unlock system for a Linux laptop without biometric sensors. Using Python and the evdev library, a ~150-line daemon... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/mouse-unlock-no-password-just-a-secret-click-pattern-b7ovu5o0n og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/b7OVU5o0N.png og:image:alt: Mouse Unlock!—no password, just a secret click pattern og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Mouse Unlock!—no password, just a secret click pattern **[Dixit Ram](https://daily.dev/sources/heegh9lv7vd4adf6h7mep)** · [@dixitram](https://daily.dev/dixitram) · 1 min read · 462 upvotes · 99 comments ## Summary A developer built a mouse-click pattern unlock system for a Linux laptop without biometric sensors. Using Python and the evdev library, a ~150-line daemon reads raw mouse events from /dev/input/, checks lock state via loginctl, and unlocks the screen when a secret click sequence is entered. It runs as a systemd service and works on Wayland. The project was built with Claude Code on Fedora + KDE Plasma. ## Content My 10-year-old laptop has no fingerprint sensor. No Face ID. Just a keyboard. And I was typing a 10+ character password every single time I locked my screen. Lock. Type. Unlock. Lock. Type. Unlock. Repeat 40 times a day. So I thought — my mouse has 3 buttons. What if clicking them in a secret pattern could unlock the screen instead? 2 left clicks → 2 right clicks → 1 left click. Screen unlocked. I'm running Linux (Fedora + KDE Plasma) on a decade-old machine, so I asked Claude Code to build it from scratch. It wrote a Python daemon using evdev that: - Reads raw mouse events directly from `/dev/input/` (works even on Wayland lock screen) - Checks if the session is locked via `loginctl` - Matches your registered click pattern → fires `loginctl unlock-sessions` - Runs as a systemd service at boot The whole thing is ~150 lines of Python. No PAM hacks. No special hardware. Is it secure? Absolutely not — but neither is a laptop old enough to be in 5th grade. 😅 Old laptop. No biometrics. Zero excuses now. 🖱 #Linux #KDE #Python #OpenSource #Wayland #DIY ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@rritvikkakkar30** · 16 upvotes > Really fun and interesting implementation. **@cahyatt** · 11 upvotes > This is awesome! Super cool idea. You could implement more external devices to this too, like a music keyboard where you have to play a tune to unlock your computer 😂 **@dansowaru** · 7 upvotes > I like the idea tha this open up to new shortcut possibilities inside the OS. > Maybe execute a n app with a combination of clicks? **@jeanne** · 6 upvotes > Love the idea! I wish it could be compliant with my company security policy, it would save a lot of typing 🙄 **@divyesh\_vekariya** · 5 upvotes > It's sound fun, Let me give a try. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I Ditched My Mouse: How I Control My Computer With Hand Gestures \(In 60 Lines of Python\)](https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-mouse-how-i-control-my-computer-with-hand-gestures-in-60-lines-of-python--kbg4g2jli) · Towards Data Science · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [This Tiny Fingerprint Key Unlocks Linux, Approves SSH and AI Agents](https://daily.dev/posts/this-tiny-fingerprint-key-unlocks-linux-approves-ssh-and-ai-agents-f9zeesla7) · It's Foss · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [GitHub - TomBadash/MouseControl: A lightweight, open-source alternative to Logitech Options\+ for remapping buttons on the Logitech MX Master 3S mouse](https://daily.dev/posts/github---tombadash-mousecontrol-a-lightweight-open-source-alternative-to-logitech-options-for-rem-udesrnp53) · Hacker News · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [Someone made an ESP32 passwordless fingerprint unlocker, and you can make one at home](https://daily.dev/posts/someone-made-an-esp32-passwordless-fingerprint-unlocker-and-you-can-make-one-at-home-orpgzzddt) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#python](https://daily.dev/tags/python), [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/mouse-unlock-no-password-just-a-secret-click-pattern-b7ovu5o0n) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https://daily.dev/posts/mouse-unlock-no-password-just-a-secret-click-pattern-b7ovu5o0n","headline":"Mouse Unlock!—no password, just a secret click pattern","text":"A developer built a mouse-click pattern unlock system for a Linux laptop without biometric sensors. Using Python and the evdev library, a ~150-line daemon reads raw mouse events from /dev/input/, checks lock state via loginctl, and unlocks the screen when a secret click sequence is entered. It runs as a systemd service and works on Wayland. The project was built with Claude Code on Fedora + KDE Plasma.","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/mouse-unlock-no-password-just-a-secret-click-pattern-b7ovu5o0n","datePublished":"2026-05-27T05:20:19.976Z","dateModified":"2026-05-27T05:32:57.285Z","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Dixit Ram","url":"https://daily.dev/dixitram","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--VHLuHQ-F--/f_auto/v1780176590/avatars/avatar_heEGh9lV7vd4ADF6H7mEp?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"EndorseAction"},"userInteractionCount":7960}},"image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--aYmX2tKw--/f_auto/v1779859220/posts/b7OVU5o0N?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":462},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":99}],"comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"Really fun and interesting implementation.","datePublished":"2026-05-27T10:07:16.740Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/b7OVU5o0N#c-R8FtmsAGc","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Rritvik Kakkar","url":"https://daily.dev/rritvikkakkar30","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocIjIAe4tuBI6VFvx8RJhKCdaFfs2gJB_AkZxZEk3vQHau3ipg=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":16}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"This is awesome! Super cool idea. You could implement more external devices to this too, like a music keyboard where you have to play a tune to unlock your computer 😂","datePublished":"2026-05-27T14:56:29.354Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/b7OVU5o0N#c-4nxzOmoYu","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Caleb Hyatt","url":"https://daily.dev/cahyatt","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--QkOd2ch7--/f_auto,q_auto/v1/avatars/avatar_tCICiGdmmahtNlzoidbbJ"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":11}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"I like the idea tha this open up to new shortcut possibilities inside the OS.\nMaybe execute a n app with a combination of clicks?","datePublished":"2026-05-27T12:04:07.226Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/b7OVU5o0N#c-CdSOVFJYP","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Danilo Soares","url":"https://daily.dev/dansowaru","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/90362534?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":7}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Love the idea! I wish it could be compliant with my company security policy, it would save a lot of typing 🙄","datePublished":"2026-05-27T10:52:40.537Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/b7OVU5o0N#c-vJtzkSW6U","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeanne Auvray","url":"https://daily.dev/jeanne","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--O0TOmw4y--/f_auto/v1715772965/public/noProfile"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":6}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"It’s sound fun, Let me give a try.","datePublished":"2026-06-01T04:26:16.521Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/b7OVU5o0N#c-bzVhomnf1","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Divyesh Vekariya","url":"https://daily.dev/divyesh_vekariya","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--RDCl1xsD--/f_auto/v1728905544/avatars/avatar_WXcnVdXbQljWuHJCBcViw"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":5}}],"isPartOf":{"@type":"WebPage","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/heegh9lv7vd4adf6h7mep","name":"Dixit Ram"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dixit Ram","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/heegh9lv7vd4adf6h7mep"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Mouse Unlock!—no password, just a secret click pattern"}]} ```