FlowMacro

Windows keyboard and mouse automation with precise timing — a Tauri 2 desktop app with a Rust input engine and a React front end.

Download

Grab the latest build from the Releases page:

• FlowMacro-<version>-portable.exe — no installer, just double-click and run.
• FlowMacro_<version>_x64-setup.exe — installer with a Start menu shortcut.
• FlowMacro_<version>_x64_en-US.msi — MSI for managed deployments.

The builds are unsigned, so SmartScreen may warn on first launch: More info -> Run anyway.

FlowMacro checks this Releases feed on startup and can install a new version by itself (Settings -> Updates, where the check can also be turned off). Update packages carry a minisign signature and are rejected unless they were signed with this project's key.

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• Node.js 20+
• Rust 1.77+ with the x86_64-pc-windows-msvc toolchain
• MSVC C++ build tools + Windows SDK (Visual Studio "Desktop development with C++")
• WebView2 runtime (preinstalled on Windows 11)

Development

npm install
npm run tauri dev

Run the checks the project gates on:

npm run typecheck
npm run build
cargo test --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml
cargo clippy --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml --all-targets -- -D warnings

The suite has 86 unit tests. One more is ignored by default because it moves the real cursor to prove SendInput reaches the system:

cargo test --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml -- --ignored

Run cargo from PowerShell, not Git Bash: Git Bash ships a GNU link that shadows the MSVC linker and the build fails with "extra operand".

Packaging

npm run tauri build

Produces an NSIS .exe and an .msi under src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

How it works

Layer	Where	Note
Input injection	src-tauri/src/input/inject.rs	SendInput with scan codes, so DirectInput/RawInput games see the events
Global capture	src-tauri/src/input/hook.rs	WH_KEYBOARD_LL / WH_MOUSE_LL on a dedicated thread; event driven, ~0% CPU at idle
Timing	src-tauri/src/input/timing.rs	timeBeginPeriod(1) while running, hybrid sleep + spin, absolute deadlines so long runs do not drift
Execution	src-tauri/src/macros/	Worker thread, atomic state machine, condvar pause, sub-millisecond stop
Storage	%APPDATA%\FlowMacro\	settings.json, profiles.json, history.jsonl; every write is temp-file + rename

Safety net

F6 start · F7 stop · F8 pause · F12 emergency stop, all reassignable. Independently of those, three taps of Esc within 500 ms stops the engine unconditionally — so a mis-assigned hotkey can never leave the machine clicking. It can be turned off in Settings → Hotkeys.

Known limitations

• Antivirus warnings. A program that installs a global hook and synthesises input looks like what it is. Unsigned builds may be flagged; code signing is the fix and is not set up here.
• Elevated windows. Windows UIPI blocks input from a lower integrity process, so macros do nothing over an app running as administrator. FlowMacro reports this rather than failing silently — run it as administrator to match.
• Anti-cheat. Some games filter injected input regardless of scan codes. Nothing in the app tries to evade that.
• Timing above ~200 CPS. The Windows scheduler stops being reliable; the UI shows the measured CPS, not the requested one, so the gap is visible.

Layout

src/                React front end (pages, stores, design tokens, i18n)
src-tauri/src/
  input/            SendInput, hooks, key tables, timing
  macros/           model, validation, scheduler, executor, engine
  hotkeys/          matcher (pure, tested) and the hook registry
  recorder/         live capture and recording → macro conversion
  config/           settings and profiles
  storage/          atomic JSON and the history log
  commands/         Tauri command surface