Cuttlefish: Execute Actions When Specific Events Are Triggered

Cuttlefish is a tool which can execute various actions when specific events are triggered. For example, you can change the proxy mode depending on the currently connected wireless network, unlock your computer when a specific Bluetooth or USB device is connected or disconnected and so on.

Supported event types:

• Application starts/stops
• Bluetooth device dis/connects (you can select the device)
• Bluetooth is turned on/off
• WLAN dis/connects (the network can be selected)
• Power cable is plugged in / unplugged
• Screensaver is turned on/off (lock screen)
• USB device is plugged in / unplugged (the device can be selected)

Supported action types:

• Application starts or stops (with an advanced mode where you can use parameters, a script, working directory, etc.)
• Set audio volume
• De/Activate Bluetooth
• Change default printer
• Change background
• Change proxy mode
• Wait
• Pidgin: change status
• Power: hibernate, reboot, shut down, suspend
• De/Activate WLAN
• De/Activate screensaver (lock screen)

Cuttlefish comes with an Ubuntu AppIndicator which can be used to open the app configuration dialog or manually run any of the actions you've set up. Unfortunately, the application indicator doesn't use monochrome icons so it doesn't integrate well with the default Ubuntu theme; and speaking of icons, the main application icon could use some work too.

The application can already be very useful in some situations and has the potential to become even better, by adding more event types, or maybe even an option to record actions.

Cuttlefish was developed for the Ubuntu App Showdown so it's very new and therefore you'll probably find bugs - in my test, I've only found one: USB events don't seem to work, at least on my computer the USB bug has been fixed in the latest release. Report them @ Launchpad.

Install Cuttlefish

To install Cuttlefish in Ubuntu 12.04, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:noneed4anick/cuttlefish
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cuttlefish

The application should be available in the Ubuntu Software Center once the Ubuntu Apps Showdown is over.

For other Linux distributions, you can download Cuttlefish via Launchpad.