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How do I make Alt+V pull up KeePassXC if it's not already open AND trigger its auto-type prompt? (Mint 22.3) (programming.dev)
submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by Flagstaff@programming.dev to c/linux@lemmy.world
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  1. Set the custom keyboard shortcut sh -c 'pgrep -i keepassxc > /dev/null || keepassxc' to Alt+V
  2. Keep KeePassXC's default autotype prompt keybinding, which is Alt+V

One disables the other. I thought that going the grep route might make the program opener conditionally inactive, but apparently that's not doing anything. I would really like to avoid using a separate keybinding if possible. Otherwise, I guess I'd just have to have it open on launch.

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[-] HelloRoot@lemy.lol 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

The problem is that your desktop environment's shortcut handler intercepts Alt+V before KeePassXC ever sees it, so the internal keybinding never fires. And when pgrep finds the process running, your command simply does nothing.

The fix is to use KeePassXC's --auto-type CLI flag, which sends the auto-type signal to a running instance:

Command for your custom shortcut (Alt+V):

bash -c 'pgrep -x keepassxc > /dev/null && keepassxc --auto-type || keepassxc'

Not sure how keepass behaves though. Maybe you don't need the condition at all and can just run keepassxc --auto-type from the shortcut and if there is no running instance it will start it.

[-] Flagstaff@programming.dev 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Wow, it works; you're a genius!!! Thanks so much!!! Hmm, Lemmy doesn't seem to have post flair, but it does allow title-editing, so I'll just update the post title, haha.

@HelloRoot@lemy.lol, it is actually failing after all. It only pulls up the auto-type window the first time. Then it only summons the main window from thereafter until it closes...

[-] HelloRoot@lemy.lol 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Yeah you probably have to play around with the flags to figure out the right approach. I can not look into it right now

[-] Flagstaff@programming.dev 2 points 3 months ago

I don't really understand how to figure out flags, so I just set it to start up on boot and just log in from the start and that basically fixes it.

this post was submitted on 20 May 2026
25 points (100.0% liked)

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