Display microphone activity status with mute detection on macOS and Linux.

 ON
 MUTED
 75%

This plugin uses a native macOS binary for efficient microphone status detection using CoreAudio APIs.

The binary is downloaded automatically from GitHub Releases when you first enable this plugin on macOS. A confirmation dialog will ask if you want to download it.

cd src/native/macos && make powerkit-microphone
cp powerkit-microphone ../../bin/

If the binary is not available and you decline the download, the plugin returns inactive state on macOS (no fallback method available).

The native binary provides:

• Active microphone usage detection (-a)
• Mute status detection (-m)
• Input volume level (-v)
• List all input devices (-l)

# Add to your tmux configuration
set -g @powerkit_plugins "microphone"

# Reload tmux configuration
tmux source-file ~/.tmux.conf

set -g @powerkit_plugins "microphone"

# Display options
set -g @powerkit_plugin_microphone_show_volume "false"

# Icons
set -g @powerkit_plugin_microphone_icon ""
set -g @powerkit_plugin_microphone_icon_muted ""

# Cache
set -g @powerkit_plugin_microphone_cache_ttl "2"

set -g @powerkit_plugins "microphone"

set -g @powerkit_plugins "microphone"
set -g @powerkit_plugin_microphone_show_volume "true"

set -g @powerkit_plugins "microphone"
set -g @powerkit_plugin_microphone_icon ""
set -g @powerkit_plugin_microphone_icon_muted ""

set -g @powerkit_plugins "microphone"
set -g @powerkit_plugin_microphone_cache_ttl "1"

Uses osascript to read input volume:

osascript -e "input volume of (get volume settings)"

Detection:

• Volume = 0: Muted
• Volume > 0: Unmuted

The plugin always shows on macOS when input volume is available (simplified behavior).

Uses PulseAudio/PipeWire (via pactl) or ALSA (via amixer) to detect microphone status.

Detection methods:

1. pactl: Check source outputs for active capture
2. lsof: Check /dev/snd/* for capture devices
3. Process detection: Check for common mic-using processes (zoom, teams, discord, etc.)

Mute detection:

• pactl: pactl get-source-mute
• amixer: amixer get Capture | grep [off]

1. Check if osascript works:

   osascript -e "input volume of (get volume settings)"

2. Verify input device is configured:

   • System Preferences > Sound > Input
   • Select an input device

3. Test plugin directly:

   POWERKIT_ROOT="/path/to/tmux-powerkit" ./bin/powerkit-plugin microphone

1. Check if pactl is available:

   which pactl
   pactl list short sources

2. Verify microphone is active:

   pactl list short source-outputs

3. Check for mic-using processes:

   lsof /dev/snd/* | grep -E "pcmC[0-9]+D[0-9]+c"

4. Test plugin directly:

   POWERKIT_ROOT="/path/to/tmux-powerkit" ./bin/powerkit-plugin microphone

macOS:

1. Check actual input volume:

   osascript -e "input volume of (get volume settings)"

2. Adjust input volume in System Preferences > Sound > Input

Linux:

1. Check mute status:

   pactl get-source-mute @DEFAULT_SOURCE@

2. Unmute:

   pactl set-source-mute @DEFAULT_SOURCE@ 0

The plugin checks for active capture in this order:

1. PulseAudio source outputs (most reliable)
2. lsof on audio devices (checks device access)
3. Process names (checks known applications)

If none work, install pactl:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install pulseaudio-utils

# Fedora
sudo dnf install pulseaudio-utils

# Arch
sudo pacman -S pulseaudio

If the plugin causes lag:

1. Increase cache TTL:

   set -g @powerkit_plugin_microphone_cache_ttl "5"

2. Check if detection commands are slow:

   time pactl list short source-outputs
   time lsof /dev/snd/*

• Cannot reliably detect actual microphone usage without SIP bypass
• Plugin shows whenever input volume is available
• No per-application usage detection

• Requires PulseAudio/PipeWire for best results
• ALSA-only systems have limited detection
• Process-based detection is approximate

Monitor mic status during calls:

set -g @powerkit_plugins "microphone,camera"

Confirm mic is active and unmuted:

set -g @powerkit_plugins "microphone"
set -g @powerkit_plugin_microphone_show_volume "true"

Quickly see if mic is in use:

set -g @powerkit_plugins "microphone,camera"

• PluginCamera - Camera usage indicator
• PluginVolume - System volume control
• PluginAudiodevices - Audio output device