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Events Received

Once a plugin is loaded by the Stream Deck application and the user sets some keys to use the plugin, the plugin will receive some events. Similarly when a Property Inspector is displayed, it will receive some events.

The plugin and Property Inspector can receive different events:

Event Description
didReceiveSettings Event received after calling the getSettings API to retrieve the persistent data stored for the action.
didReceiveGlobalSettings Event received after calling the getGlobalSettings API to retrieve the global persistent data.

The plugin can receive some additional events:

Event Description
keyDown When the user presses a key, the plugin will receive the keyDown event.
keyUp When the user releases a key, the plugin will receive the keyUp event.
willAppear When an instance of an action appears, the plugin will receive a willAppear event.
willDisappear When an instance of an action disappears, the plugin will receive a willDisappear event.
titleParametersDidChange When the user changes the title or title parameters, the plugin will receive a titleParametersDidChange event.
deviceDidConnect When a device is plugged to the computer, the plugin will receive a deviceDidConnect event.
deviceDidDisconnect When a device is unplugged from the computer, the plugin will receive a deviceDidDisconnect event.
applicationDidLaunch When a monitored application is launched, the plugin will be notified and will receive the applicationDidLaunch event.
applicationDidTerminate When a monitored application is terminated, the plugin will be notified and will receive the applicationDidTerminate event.
systemDidWakeUp When the computer is wake up, the plugin will be notified and will receive the systemDidWakeUp event.
propertyInspectorDidAppear Event received when the Property Inspector did appear.
propertyInspectorDidDisappear Event received when the Property Inspector did disappear.
sendToPlugin Event received by the plugin when the Property Inspector uses the sendToPlugin event.

The Property Inspector can also receive this event:

Event Description
sendToPropertyInspector Event received by the Property Inspector when the plugin uses the sendToPropertyInspector event.

didReceiveSettings

The didReceiveSettings event is received after calling the getSettings API to retrieve the persistent data stored for the action.

The json structure looks like:

var json = {
  "action": "com.elgato.example.action1", 
  "event": "didReceiveSettings", 
  "context": opaqueValue, 
  "device": opaqueValue, 
  "payload": {
    "settings": {<json data>},
    "coordinates": {
      "column": 3, 
      "row": 1
    }, 
    "isInMultiAction": false
  }
};
Members Description
action The action unique identifier.
event didReceiveSettings
context An opaque value identifying the instance's action.
device An opaque value identifying the device.
payload A json object

The payload object contains the following members:

Payload Description
settings This json object contains persistently stored data.
coordinates The coordinates of the action triggered.
state This is a parameter that is only set when the action has multiple states defined in its manifest.json. The 0-based value contains the current state of the action.
isInMultiAction Boolean indicating if the action is inside a Multi Action.

This API has been introduced in Stream Deck 4.1.

didReceiveGlobalSettings

The didReceiveGlobalSettings event is received after calling the getGlobalSettings API to retrieve the global persistent data stored for the plugin.

The json structure looks like:

var json = {
  "event": "didReceiveGlobalSettings", 
  "payload": {
    "settings": {<json data>}
    }
  }
};
Members Description
event didReceiveGlobalSettings
payload A json object

The payload object contains the following members:

Payload Description
settings This json object contains persistently stored data.

This API has been introduced in Stream Deck 4.1.

keyDown

When the user presses a key, the plugin will receive the keyDown event as a json structure like:

var json = {
    "action": "com.elgato.example.action1",
    "event": "keyDown",
    "context": opaqueValue,
    "device": opaqueValue,
    "payload": {
        "settings": {<json data>},
        "coordinates": {
            "column": 3, 
            "row": 1
        },
        "state": 0,
        "userDesiredState": 1,
        "isInMultiAction": false
    }
};
Members Description
action The action's unique identifier. If your plugin supports multiple actions, you should use this value to see which action was triggered.
event keyDown
context An opaque value identifying the instance's action. You will need to pass this opaque value to several APIs like the setTitle API.
device An opaque value identifying the device.
payload A json object

The payload object contains the following members:

Payload Description
settings This json object contains data that you can set and are stored persistently.
coordinates The coordinates of the action triggered.
state This is a parameter that is only set when the action has multiple states defined in its manifest.json. The 0-based value contains the current state of the action.
userDesiredState This is a parameter that is only set when the action is triggered with a specific value from a Multi Action. For example if the user sets the Game Capture Record action to be disabled in a Multi Action, you would see the value 1. Only the value 0 and 1 are valid.
isInMultiAction Boolean indicating if the action is inside a Multi Action.

keyUp

When the user releases a key, the plugin will receive the keyUp event as a json structure like:

var json = {
    "action": "com.elgato.example.action1",
    "event": "keyUp",
    "context": opaqueValue,
    "device": opaqueValue,
    "payload": {
        "settings": {<json data>},
        "coordinates": {
            "column": 3, 
            "row": 1
        },
        "state": 0,
        "userDesiredState": 1,
        "isInMultiAction": false
    }
};
Members Description
action The action unique identifier. If your plugin supports multiple actions, you should use this value to find out which action was triggered.
event keyUp
context An opaque value identifying the instance's action. You will need to pass this opaque value to several APIs like the setTitle API.
device An opaque value identifying the device.
payload A json object

The payload object contains the following members:

Payload Description
settings This json object contains data that you can set and is stored persistently.
coordinates The coordinates of the action triggered.
state This is a parameter that is only set when the action has multiple states defined in its manifest.json. The 0-based value contains the current state of the action.
userDesiredState This is a parameter that is only set when the action is triggered with a specific value from a Multi Action. For example if the user sets the Game Capture Record action to be disabled in a Multi Action, you would see the value 1. Only the value 0 and 1 are valid.
isInMultiAction Boolean indicating if the action is inside a Multi Action.

willAppear

When an instance of an action appears, the plugin will receive a willAppear event. You will see such an event when:

  • the Stream Deck application is started
  • the user switches between profiles
  • the user sets a key to use your action

The json structure looks like:

var json = {
    "action": "com.elgato.example.action1",
    "event": "willAppear",
    "context": opaqueValue,
    "device": opaqueValue,
    "payload": {
        "settings": {<json data>},
        "coordinates": {
            "column": 3, 
            "row": 1
        },
        "state": 0,
        "isInMultiAction": false
    }
};
Members Description
action The action unique identifier. If you plugin supports multiple actions, you should use this value to know which action was triggered.
event willAppear
context An opaque value identifying the instance's action. You will need to pass this opaque value to several APIs like the setTitle API.
device An opaque value identifying the device.
payload A json object

The payload object contains the following members:

Payload Description
settings This json object contains data that you can set and are stored persistently.
coordinates The coordinates of the action triggered.
state This is a parameter that is only set when the action has multiple states defined in its manifest.json. The 0-based value contains the current state of the action.
isInMultiAction Boolean indicating if the action is inside a Multi Action.

willDisappear

When an instance of an action disappears, the plugin will receive a willDisappear event. You will see such an event when:

  • the user switches between profiles
  • the user deletes an action

The json structure looks like:

var json = {
    "action": "com.elgato.example.action1",
    "event": "willDisappear",
    "context": opaqueValue,
    "device": opaqueValue,
    "payload": {
        "settings": {<json data>},
        "coordinates": {
            "column": 3, 
            "row": 1
        },
        "state": 0,
        "isInMultiAction": false
    }
};
Members Description
action The action unique identifier. If your plugin supports multiple actions, you should use this value to find out which action was triggered.
event willAppear
context An opaque value identifying the instance's action. You will need to pass this opaque value to several APIs like the setTitle API.
device An opaque value identifying the device.
payload A json object

The payload object contains the following members:

Payload Description
settings This json object contains data that you can set and is stored persistently.
coordinates The coordinates of the action triggered.
state This is a parameter that is only set when the action has multiple states defined in its manifest.json. The 0-based value contains the current state of the action.
isInMultiAction Boolean indicating if the action is inside a Multi Action.

titleParametersDidChange

When the user changes the title or title parameters of the instance of an action, the plugin will receive a titleParametersDidChange event. The json structure looks like:

var json = {
  "action": "com.elgato.example.action1", 
  "event": "titleParametersDidChange", 
  "context": "opaqueValue", 
  "device": "opaqueValue", 
  "payload": {
    "coordinates": {
      "column": 3, 
      "row": 1
    }, 
    "settings": {<json data>}, 
    "state": 0, 
    "title": "", 
    "titleParameters": {
      "fontFamily": "", 
      "fontSize": 12, 
      "fontStyle": "", 
      "fontUnderline": false, 
      "showTitle": true, 
      "titleAlignment": "bottom", 
      "titleColor": "#ffffff"
    }
  }
}
Members Description
action The action unique identifier. If your plugin supports multiple actions, you should use this value to find out which action was triggered.
event titleParametersDidChange
context An opaque value identifying the instance's action. You will need to pass this opaque value to several APIs like the setTitle API.
device An opaque value identifying the device.
payload A json object

The payload object contains the following members:

Payload Description
settings This json object contains data that you can set and is stored persistently.
coordinates The coordinates of the action triggered.
state This value indicates for which state of the action the title or title parameters have been changed.
title The new title.
titleParameters A json object describing the new title parameters.

The titleParameters object contains the following members:

TitleParameters Description
fontFamily The font family for the title.
fontSize The font size for the title.
fontStyle The font style for the title.
fontUnderline Boolean indicating an underline under the title.
showTitle Boolean indicating if the title is visible.
titleAlignment Vertical alignment of the title. Possible values are "top", "bottom" and "middle".
titleColor Title color.

deviceDidConnect

When a device is plugged to the computer, the plugin will receive a deviceDidConnect event. The json structure looks like:

var json = {
    "event": "deviceDidConnect",
    "device": opaqueValue,
     "deviceInfo": {
        "name": "Device Name",
        "type": 0,
         "size": {
            "columns": 5,
            "rows": 3
        }
    },
};
Members Description
event deviceDidConnect
device An opaque value identifying the device.
deviceInfo A json object containing information about the device.

The deviceInfo object contains the following members:

device Description
type Type of device. Possible values are kESDSDKDeviceType_StreamDeck (0), kESDSDKDeviceType_StreamDeckMini (1), kESDSDKDeviceType_StreamDeckXL (2) and kESDSDKDeviceType_StreamDeckMobile (3).
size The number of columns and rows of keys that the device owns.
name The name of the device set by the user.

deviceDidDisconnect

When a device is unplugged from the computer, the plugin will receive a deviceDidDisconnect event. The json structure looks like:

var json = {
    "event": "deviceDidDisconnect",
    "device": opaqueValue
};
Members Description
event deviceDidDisconnect
device An opaque value identifying the device.

applicationDidLaunch

A plugin can request in its manifest.json to be notified when some applications are launched or terminated. In order to do so, the manifest.json should contain an ApplicationsToMonitor object specifying the list of application identifiers to monitor. On macOS the application bundle identifier is used while the exe filename is used on Windows. For example the Apple Mail sample plugin uses the following:

"ApplicationsToMonitor": {
    "mac": [
        "com.apple.mail"
    ]
]

When a monitored application is launched, the plugin will be notified and will receive the applicationDidLaunch event. The json structure looks like:

var json = {
    "event": "applicationDidLaunch",
    "payload" : {
        "application": "com.apple.mail"
    }
};
Members Description
event applicationDidLaunch
payload A json object

The payload object contains the following members:

Payload Description
application The identifier of the application that has been launched.

applicationDidTerminate

A plugin can request in its manifest.json to be notified when some applications are launched or terminated. In order to do so, the manifest.json should contain an ApplicationsToMonitor object specifying the list of application identifiers to monitor. On macOS the application bundle identifier is used while the exe filename is used on Windows. For example the Apple Mail sample plugin uses the following:

"ApplicationsToMonitor": {
    "mac": [
        "com.apple.mail"
    ]
]

When a monitored application is terminated, the plugin will be notified and will receive the applicationDidTerminate event. The json structure looks like:

var json = {
    "event": "applicationDidTerminate",
    "payload" : {
        "application": "com.apple.mail"
    }
};
Members Description
event applicationDidTerminate
payload A json object

The payload object contains the following members:

Payload Description
application The identifier of the application that has been launched.

systemDidWakeUp

When the computer is wake up, the plugin will receive the systemDidWakeUp event. The json structure looks like:

var json = {
    "event": "systemDidWakeUp"
};
Members Description
event systemDidWakeUp

Several important points to note:

  • A plugin could get multiple systemDidWakeUp events when waking up the computer
  • When the plugin receives the systemDidWakeUp event, there is no garantee that the devices are available

This API has been introduced in Stream Deck 4.3.

propertyInspectorDidAppear

The plugin will receive a propertyInspectorDidAppear event when the Property Inspector appears:

var json = {
  "action": "com.elgato.example.action1", 
  "event": "propertyInspectorDidAppear", 
  "context": opaqueValue, 
  "device": opaqueValue
};
Members Description
action The action unique identifier.
event propertyInspectorDidAppear
context An opaque value identifying the instance's action.
device An opaque value identifying the device.

This API has been introduced in Stream Deck 4.1.

propertyInspectorDidDisappear

The plugin will receive a propertyInspectorDidDisappear event when the Property Inspector disappears:

var json = {
  "action": "com.elgato.example.action1", 
  "event": "propertyInspectorDidDisappear", 
  "context": opaqueValue, 
  "device": opaqueValue
};
Members Description
action The action unique identifier.
event propertyInspectorDidDisappear
context An opaque value identifying the instance's action.
device An opaque value identifying the device.

This API has been introduced in Stream Deck 4.1.

sendToPlugin

The plugin will receive a sendToPlugin event when the Property Inspector sends a sendToPlugin event:

var json = {
  "action": "com.elgato.example.action1", 
  "event": "sendToPlugin", 
  "context": opaqueValue, 
  "payload": {<json data>}
};

sendToPropertyInspector

The Property Inspector will receive a sendToPropertyInspector event when the plugin sends a sendToPropertyInspector event:

var json = {
  "action": "com.elgato.example.action1", 
  "event": "sendToPropertyInspector", 
  "context": opaqueValue, 
  "payload": {<json data>}
};