MouseTracks

MouseTracks is an application designed to track and visualize mouse movements, clicks, keyboard activity, and gamepad inputs over time. It's designed to be unobtrusive, allowing you to leave it running indefinitely - even for years - and return later to render colourful visualisations of the data.

Questions? Check out the FAQ, or raise an issue if you can't find an answer.

MouseTracks is and will always remain free, but if you enjoy using it and would like to buy me a pint in appreciation (as I don't like coffee), then that would be very kind.

---

Features

• Live Tracking

  Continuously monitors mouse movements and clicks. Older movements gradually fade, keeping the view focused on recent activity.

  Keyboard heatmaps and gamepad inputs are also supported.

• Live Preview

  The GUI displays an optimised real-time render of tracking data.

• Image Rendering

  Renders are generated at full quality, regardless of resolution changes. Each resolution is tracked independently and merged during the render process.

  • Mouse and gamepad thumbsticks: Track maps and position heatmaps.

  • Mouse clicks: Heatmaps.

  • Key presses: Heatmap overlaid on a keyboard image.

  • (Gamepad rendering is not yet supported.)

• Colourful Renders

  Includes predefined colour maps for all render types, with the option to customise or create your own.

• Application Tracking

  Use separate tracking profiles depending on which application has focus.

  (New applications must be added via the GUI.)

• Multi-Monitor Support

  Tracks activity across multiple monitors. If linked to a specific application, the rendering bounds will automatically adjust to the application's window geometry.

• Unobtrusive

  Designed to run silently in the background. It can be configured to launch on startup and minimise directly to the System Tray.

• Modular Design

  The application was designed with multiple components that communicate but run independently of each other, ensuring the live tracking remains fully stable, even during resource intensive tasks like rendering or waiting on GUI operations.

• Stability

  A lot of effort has been put into making this as error free as possible, so it will happily keep running for years without any issues.

---

Installation (v2.0)

• Fully compatible with Windows.
• Compatible with Linux.

On Linux, MouseTracks requires an X11 (Xorg) session to work. On modern distributions like Ubuntu, you may need to select "Ubuntu on Xorg" from the gear icon on the login screen.

---

Download the Prebuilt Executable (Recommended)

This is the simplest way to get started. No installation is required.

1. Go to the latest release page.
2. Download the appropriate file for your system (eg. MouseTracks-2.0.0-windows-x64.exe).
3. If on Linux, make the file executable: chmod +x MouseTracks-2.0.0-linux-x64
4. Run the executable to launch the application.

Linux Prerequisites

MouseTracks requires the XCB cursor library to be installed.

• Ubuntu/Debian:

  sudo apt install libxcb-cursor-dev

• Arch Linux:

  sudo pacman -Syu xcb-util-cursor

---

Running from Source

This is recommended if you want to view or contribute to the code. Python 3.11 or higher is required.

1. Clone the repository and create the virtual environment:

   git clone https://github.com/huntfx/MouseTracks.git
   cd MouseTracks
   python -m venv .venv

2. Run the launch script. It will automatically install dependencies and start the app:

   • Windows:

     launch.bat

   • Linux:

     chmod +x launch.sh
     ./launch.sh

---

Building from Source

This is only supported on Windows.

Use build-pyinstaller.bat or build-nuitka.bat to create an executable.

---

Installation (v1.0 - Deprecated)

The v1.0 version is no longer supported, but the launch process has been updated to bring it in line with v2.0.

• Fully compatible with Windows.

You will be prompted with a choice to start tracking or generate images. This can be skipped by passing the --start-tracking or --generate-images flags.

Running from Source

Any version of Python may be used.

1. Clone the repository and create the virtual environment:

   git clone https://github.com/huntfx/MouseTracks.git
   cd MouseTracks
   python -m venv .venv-legacy

2. Run the launch script. It will automatically install dependencies and start the app:

   launch-legacy.bat

---

Render Types

Multiple data types can be rendered.
There are additional options, but the main ones are highlighted below.

The majority of these renders are from 500 hours of general PC use, excluding coding and gaming.
The gamepad renders are from a game that was played for 30 hours.

Mouse Movement

Mouse Speed

Mouse Position

Mouse Clicks

Keyboard Heatmap

Gamepad Thumbstick Movement

Gamepad Thumbstick Position

Colour Maps

Each render is given a colour map.
There are additional options, but the main ones are highlighted below.
It's also possible to define your own.

Ice

Citrus

Demon

Sunburst

Jet

Explosion

Submerged

Aqua

Nature

Fire

Chalk

Example Renders

Desktop

Path of Exile

Factorio

Overwatch

Torchlight 2

Heroes of the Storm

Hogwarts Legacy

Livelock

Alien Swarm

Age of Empires IV

Adobe Lightroom

---

Data Privacy

All data recorded or generated by MouseTracks is stored entirely locally on your computer. You have full control over this data, including the ability to change the storage location, export your data, and delete it.

MouseTracks does not transmit any of your personal data or usage information over the internet - the only connection made is to check for updates, and this feature can be completely disabled with the --offline flag if required.