How to read a single character from the user?

Here's a link to the ActiveState Recipes site that says how you can read a single character in Windows, Linux and OSX:

    getch()-like unbuffered character reading from stdin on both Windows and Unix

class _Getch:
    """Gets a single character from standard input.  Does not echo to the
screen."""
    def __init__(self):
        try:
            self.impl = _GetchWindows()
        except ImportError:
            self.impl = _GetchUnix()

    def __call__(self): return self.impl()


class _GetchUnix:
    def __init__(self):
        import tty, sys

    def __call__(self):
        import sys, tty, termios
        fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
        old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
        try:
            tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno())
            ch = sys.stdin.read(1)
        finally:
            termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, old_settings)
        return ch


class _GetchWindows:
    def __init__(self):
        import msvcrt

    def __call__(self):
        import msvcrt
        return msvcrt.getch()


getch = _Getch()

---

sys.stdin.read(1)

will basically read 1 byte from STDIN.

If you must use the method which does not wait for the \n you can use this code as suggested in previous answer:

class _Getch:
    """Gets a single character from standard input.  Does not echo to the screen."""
    def __init__(self):
        try:
            self.impl = _GetchWindows()
        except ImportError:
            self.impl = _GetchUnix()

    def __call__(self): return self.impl()


class _GetchUnix:
    def __init__(self):
        import tty, sys

    def __call__(self):
        import sys, tty, termios
        fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
        old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
        try:
            tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno())
            ch = sys.stdin.read(1)
        finally:
            termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, old_settings)
        return ch


class _GetchWindows:
    def __init__(self):
        import msvcrt

    def __call__(self):
        import msvcrt
        return msvcrt.getch()


getch = _Getch()

(taken from http://code.activestate.com/recipes/134892/)

---

The ActiveState recipe quoted verbatim in two answers is over-engineered. It can be boiled down to this:

def _find_getch():
    try:
        import termios
    except ImportError:
        # Non-POSIX. Return msvcrt's (Windows') getch.
        import msvcrt
        return msvcrt.getch

    # POSIX system. Create and return a getch that manipulates the tty.
    import sys, tty
    def _getch():
        fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
        old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
        try:
            tty.setraw(fd)
            ch = sys.stdin.read(1)
        finally:
            termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, old_settings)
        return ch

    return _getch

getch = _find_getch()

---

Also worth trying is the readchar library, which is in part based on the ActiveState recipe mentioned in other answers.

Installation:

pip install readchar

Usage:

import readchar
print("Reading a char:")
print(repr(readchar.readchar()))
print("Reading a key:")
print(repr(readchar.readkey()))

Tested on Windows and Linux with Python 2.7.

On Windows, only keys which map to letters or ASCII control codes are supported (Backspace, Enter, Esc, Tab, Ctrl+letter). On GNU/Linux (depending on exact terminal, perhaps?) you also get Insert, Delete, Pg Up, Pg Dn, Home, End and F n keys... but then, there's issues separating these special keys from an Esc.

Caveat: Like with most (all?) answers in here, signal keys like Ctrl+C, Ctrl+D and Ctrl+Z are caught and returned (as '\x03', '\x04' and '\x1a' respectively); your program can be come difficult to abort.

---

An alternative method:

import os
import sys    
import termios
import fcntl

def getch():
  fd = sys.stdin.fileno()

  oldterm = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
  newattr = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
  newattr[3] = newattr[3] & ~termios.ICANON & ~termios.ECHO
  termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSANOW, newattr)

  oldflags = fcntl.fcntl(fd, fcntl.F_GETFL)
  fcntl.fcntl(fd, fcntl.F_SETFL, oldflags | os.O_NONBLOCK)

  try:        
    while 1:            
      try:
        c = sys.stdin.read(1)
        break
      except IOError: pass
  finally:
    termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSAFLUSH, oldterm)
    fcntl.fcntl(fd, fcntl.F_SETFL, oldflags)
  return c

From this blog post.

---

The (currently) top-ranked answer (with the ActiveState code) is overly complicated. I don't see a reason to use classes when a mere function should suffice. Below are two implementations that accomplish the same thing but with more readable code.

Both of these implementations:

work just fine in Python 2 or Python 3 work on Windows, OSX, and Linux read just one byte (i.e., they don't wait for a newline) don't depend on any external libraries are self-contained (no code outside of the function definition)

Version 1: readable and simple

def getChar():
    try:
        # for Windows-based systems
        import msvcrt # If successful, we are on Windows
        return msvcrt.getch()

    except ImportError:
        # for POSIX-based systems (with termios & tty support)
        import tty, sys, termios  # raises ImportError if unsupported

        fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
        oldSettings = termios.tcgetattr(fd)

        try:
            tty.setcbreak(fd)
            answer = sys.stdin.read(1)
        finally:
            termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, oldSettings)

        return answer

Version 2: avoid repeated imports and exception handling:

[EDIT] I missed one advantage of the ActiveState code. If you plan to read characters multiple times, that code avoids the (negligible) cost of repeating the Windows import and the ImportError exception handling on Unix-like systems. While you probably should be more concerned about code readability than that negligible optimization, here is an alternative (it is similar to Louis's answer, but getChar() is self-contained) that functions the same as the ActiveState code and is more readable:

def getChar():
    # figure out which function to use once, and store it in _func
    if "_func" not in getChar.__dict__:
        try:
            # for Windows-based systems
            import msvcrt # If successful, we are on Windows
            getChar._func=msvcrt.getch

        except ImportError:
            # for POSIX-based systems (with termios & tty support)
            import tty, sys, termios # raises ImportError if unsupported

            def _ttyRead():
                fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
                oldSettings = termios.tcgetattr(fd)

                try:
                    tty.setcbreak(fd)
                    answer = sys.stdin.read(1)
                finally:
                    termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, oldSettings)

                return answer

            getChar._func=_ttyRead

    return getChar._func()

Example code that exercises either of the getChar() versions above:

from __future__ import print_function # put at top of file if using Python 2

# Example of a prompt for one character of input
promptStr   = "Please give me a character:"
responseStr = "Thank you for giving me a '{}'."
print(promptStr, end="\n> ")
answer = getChar()
print("\n")
print(responseStr.format(answer))

---

This code, based off here, will correctly raise KeyboardInterrupt and EOFError if Ctrl+C or Ctrl+D are pressed.

Should work on Windows and Linux. An OS X version is available from the original source.

class _Getch:
    """Gets a single character from standard input.  Does not echo to the screen."""
    def __init__(self):
        try:
            self.impl = _GetchWindows()
        except ImportError:
            self.impl = _GetchUnix()

    def __call__(self): 
        char = self.impl()
        if char == '\x03':
            raise KeyboardInterrupt
        elif char == '\x04':
            raise EOFError
        return char

class _GetchUnix:
    def __init__(self):
        import tty
        import sys

    def __call__(self):
        import sys
        import tty
        import termios
        fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
        old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
        try:
            tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno())
            ch = sys.stdin.read(1)
        finally:
            termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, old_settings)
        return ch


class _GetchWindows:
    def __init__(self):
        import msvcrt

    def __call__(self):
        import msvcrt
        return msvcrt.getch()


getch = _Getch()

---

Try using this: http://home.wlu.edu/~levys/software/kbhit.py It's non-blocking (that means that you can have a while loop and detect a key press without stopping it) and cross-platform.

import os

# Windows
if os.name == 'nt':
    import msvcrt

# Posix (Linux, OS X)
else:
    import sys
    import termios
    import atexit
    from select import select


class KBHit:

    def __init__(self):
        '''Creates a KBHit object that you can call to do various keyboard things.'''

        if os.name == 'nt':
            pass

        else:

            # Save the terminal settings
            self.fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
            self.new_term = termios.tcgetattr(self.fd)
            self.old_term = termios.tcgetattr(self.fd)

            # New terminal setting unbuffered
            self.new_term[3] = (self.new_term[3] & ~termios.ICANON & ~termios.ECHO)
            termios.tcsetattr(self.fd, termios.TCSAFLUSH, self.new_term)

            # Support normal-terminal reset at exit
            atexit.register(self.set_normal_term)


    def set_normal_term(self):
        ''' Resets to normal terminal.  On Windows this is a no-op.
        '''

        if os.name == 'nt':
            pass

        else:
            termios.tcsetattr(self.fd, termios.TCSAFLUSH, self.old_term)


    def getch(self):
        ''' Returns a keyboard character after kbhit() has been called.
            Should not be called in the same program as getarrow().
        '''

        s = ''

        if os.name == 'nt':
            return msvcrt.getch().decode('utf-8')

        else:
            return sys.stdin.read(1)


    def getarrow(self):
        ''' Returns an arrow-key code after kbhit() has been called. Codes are
        0 : up
        1 : right
        2 : down
        3 : left
        Should not be called in the same program as getch().
        '''

        if os.name == 'nt':
            msvcrt.getch() # skip 0xE0
            c = msvcrt.getch()
            vals = [72, 77, 80, 75]

        else:
            c = sys.stdin.read(3)[2]
            vals = [65, 67, 66, 68]

        return vals.index(ord(c.decode('utf-8')))


    def kbhit(self):
        ''' Returns True if keyboard character was hit, False otherwise.
        '''
        if os.name == 'nt':
            return msvcrt.kbhit()

        else:
            dr,dw,de = select([sys.stdin], [], [], 0)
            return dr != []

An example to use this:

import kbhit

kb = kbhit.KBHit()

while(True): 
    print("Key not pressed") #Do something
    if kb.kbhit(): #If a key is pressed:
        k_in = kb.getch() #Detect what key was pressed
        print("You pressed ", k_in, "!") #Do something
kb.set_normal_term()

Or you could use the getch module from PyPi. But this would block the while loop

---

The answers here were informative, however I also wanted a way to get key presses asynchronously and fire off key presses in separate events, all in a thread-safe, cross-platform way. PyGame was also too bloated for me. So I made the following (in Python 2.7 but I suspect it's easily portable), which I figured I'd share here in case it was useful for anyone else. I stored this in a file named keyPress.py.

class _Getch:
    """Gets a single character from standard input.  Does not echo to the
screen. From http://code.activestate.com/recipes/134892/"""
    def __init__(self):
        try:
            self.impl = _GetchWindows()
        except ImportError:
            try:
                self.impl = _GetchMacCarbon()
            except(AttributeError, ImportError):
                self.impl = _GetchUnix()

    def __call__(self): return self.impl()


class _GetchUnix:
    def __init__(self):
        import tty, sys, termios # import termios now or else you'll get the Unix version on the Mac

    def __call__(self):
        import sys, tty, termios
        fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
        old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
        try:
            tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno())
            ch = sys.stdin.read(1)
        finally:
            termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, old_settings)
        return ch

class _GetchWindows:
    def __init__(self):
        import msvcrt

    def __call__(self):
        import msvcrt
        return msvcrt.getch()

class _GetchMacCarbon:
    """
    A function which returns the current ASCII key that is down;
    if no ASCII key is down, the null string is returned.  The
    page http://www.mactech.com/macintosh-c/chap02-1.html was
    very helpful in figuring out how to do this.
    """
    def __init__(self):
        import Carbon
        Carbon.Evt #see if it has this (in Unix, it doesn't)

    def __call__(self):
        import Carbon
        if Carbon.Evt.EventAvail(0x0008)[0]==0: # 0x0008 is the keyDownMask
            return ''
        else:
            #
            # The event contains the following info:
            # (what,msg,when,where,mod)=Carbon.Evt.GetNextEvent(0x0008)[1]
            #
            # The message (msg) contains the ASCII char which is
            # extracted with the 0x000000FF charCodeMask; this
            # number is converted to an ASCII character with chr() and
            # returned
            #
            (what,msg,when,where,mod)=Carbon.Evt.GetNextEvent(0x0008)[1]
            return chr(msg & 0x000000FF)

import threading
            
            
# From  https://stackoverflow.com/a/2022629/2924421
class Event(list):
    def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        for f in self:
            f(*args, **kwargs)

    def __repr__(self):
        return "Event(%s)" % list.__repr__(self)            


def getKey():
    inkey = _Getch()
    import sys
    for i in xrange(sys.maxint):
        k=inkey()
        if k<>'':break
    return k

class KeyCallbackFunction():
    callbackParam = None
    actualFunction = None
    
    def __init__(self, actualFunction, callbackParam):
        self.actualFunction = actualFunction
        self.callbackParam = callbackParam

    def doCallback(self, inputKey):
        if not self.actualFunction is None:
            if self.callbackParam is None:
                callbackFunctionThread = threading.Thread(target=self.actualFunction, args=(inputKey,))
            else:
                callbackFunctionThread = threading.Thread(target=self.actualFunction, args=(inputKey,self.callbackParam))
            
            callbackFunctionThread.daemon = True
            callbackFunctionThread.start()
        
        

class KeyCapture():


    gotKeyLock = threading.Lock()
    gotKeys = []
    gotKeyEvent = threading.Event()

    keyBlockingSetKeyLock = threading.Lock()

    addingEventsLock = threading.Lock()
    keyReceiveEvents = Event()


    keysGotLock = threading.Lock()
    keysGot = []

    keyBlockingKeyLockLossy = threading.Lock()
    keyBlockingKeyLossy = None
    keyBlockingEventLossy = threading.Event()
    
    keysBlockingGotLock = threading.Lock()
    keysBlockingGot = []
    keyBlockingGotEvent = threading.Event()
    

    
    wantToStopLock = threading.Lock()
    wantToStop = False
    
    stoppedLock = threading.Lock()
    stopped = True
    
    isRunningEvent = False
    
    getKeyThread = None
    
    keyFunction = None
    keyArgs = None
    
    # Begin capturing keys. A seperate thread is launched that
    # captures key presses, and then these can be received via get,
    # getAsync, and adding an event via addEvent. Note that this
    # will prevent the system to accept keys as normal (say, if
    # you are in a python shell) because it overrides that key
    # capturing behavior.
    
    # If you start capture when it's already been started, a
    # InterruptedError("Keys are still being captured")
    # will be thrown
    
    # Note that get(), getAsync() and events are independent, so if a key is pressed:
    #
    # 1: Any calls to get() that are waiting, with lossy on, will return
    #    that key
    # 2: It will be stored in the queue of get keys, so that get() with lossy
    #    off will return the oldest key pressed not returned by get() yet.
    # 3: All events will be fired with that key as their input
    # 4: It will be stored in the list of getAsync() keys, where that list
    #    will be returned and set to empty list on the next call to getAsync().
    # get() call with it, aand add it to the getAsync() list.
    def startCapture(self, keyFunction=None, args=None):
        # Make sure we aren't already capturing keys
        self.stoppedLock.acquire()
        if not self.stopped:
            self.stoppedLock.release()
            raise InterruptedError("Keys are still being captured")
            return
        self.stopped = False
        self.stoppedLock.release()
        
        # If we have captured before, we need to allow the get() calls to actually
        # wait for key presses now by clearing the event
        if self.keyBlockingEventLossy.is_set():
            self.keyBlockingEventLossy.clear()
            
        # Have one function that we call every time a key is captured, intended for stopping capture
        # as desired
        self.keyFunction = keyFunction
        self.keyArgs = args
        
        # Begin capturing keys (in a seperate thread)
        self.getKeyThread = threading.Thread(target=self._threadProcessKeyPresses)
        self.getKeyThread.daemon = True
        self.getKeyThread.start()
        
        # Process key captures (in a seperate thread)
        self.getKeyThread = threading.Thread(target=self._threadStoreKeyPresses)
        self.getKeyThread.daemon = True
        self.getKeyThread.start()
    
    
    def capturing(self):
        self.stoppedLock.acquire()
        isCapturing = not self.stopped
        self.stoppedLock.release()
        return isCapturing
    # Stops the thread that is capturing keys on the first opporunity
    # has to do so. It usually can't stop immediately because getting a key
    # is a blocking process, so this will probably stop capturing after the
    # next key is pressed.
    #
    # However, Sometimes if you call stopCapture it will stop before starting capturing the
    # next key, due to multithreading race conditions. So if you want to stop capturing
    # reliably, call stopCapture in a function added via addEvent. Then you are
    # guaranteed that capturing will stop immediately after the rest of the callback
    # functions are called (before starting to capture the next key).
    def stopCapture(self):
        self.wantToStopLock.acquire()
        self.wantToStop = True 
        self.wantToStopLock.release()

    # Takes in a function that will be called every time a key is pressed (with that
    # key passed in as the first paramater in that function)
    def addEvent(self, keyPressEventFunction, args=None):   
        self.addingEventsLock.acquire()
        callbackHolder = KeyCallbackFunction(keyPressEventFunction, args)
        self.keyReceiveEvents.append(callbackHolder.doCallback)
        self.addingEventsLock.release()
    def clearEvents(self):
        self.addingEventsLock.acquire()
        self.keyReceiveEvents = Event()
        self.addingEventsLock.release()
    # Gets a key captured by this KeyCapture, blocking until a key is pressed.
    # There is an optional lossy paramater:
    # If True all keys before this call are ignored, and the next pressed key
    #   will be returned.
    # If False this will return the oldest key captured that hasn't
    #   been returned by get yet. False is the default.
    def get(self, lossy=False):
        if lossy:
            # Wait for the next key to be pressed
            self.keyBlockingEventLossy.wait()
            self.keyBlockingKeyLockLossy.acquire()
            keyReceived = self.keyBlockingKeyLossy
            self.keyBlockingKeyLockLossy.release()
            return keyReceived
        else:
            while True:
                # Wait until a key is pressed
                self.keyBlockingGotEvent.wait()
                
                # Get the key pressed
                readKey = None
                self.keysBlockingGotLock.acquire()
                # Get a key if it exists
                if len(self.keysBlockingGot) != 0:
                    readKey = self.keysBlockingGot.pop(0)
                # If we got the last one, tell us to wait
                if len(self.keysBlockingGot) == 0:
                    self.keyBlockingGotEvent.clear()
                self.keysBlockingGotLock.release()
                
                # Process the key (if it actually exists)
                if not readKey is None:
                    return readKey
                
                # Exit if we are stopping
                self.wantToStopLock.acquire()
                if self.wantToStop:
                    self.wantToStopLock.release()
                    return None
                self.wantToStopLock.release()
            
            
            
    
    def clearGetList(self):
        self.keysBlockingGotLock.acquire()
        self.keysBlockingGot = []
        self.keysBlockingGotLock.release()
    
    # Gets a list of all keys pressed since the last call to getAsync, in order
    # from first pressed, second pressed, .., most recent pressed
    def getAsync(self):
        self.keysGotLock.acquire();
        keysPressedList = list(self.keysGot)
        self.keysGot = []
        self.keysGotLock.release()
        return keysPressedList
    
    def clearAsyncList(self):
        self.keysGotLock.acquire();
        self.keysGot = []
        self.keysGotLock.release();

    def _processKey(self, readKey):
        # Append to list for GetKeyAsync
        self.keysGotLock.acquire()
        self.keysGot.append(readKey)
        self.keysGotLock.release()
        
        # Call lossy blocking key events
        self.keyBlockingKeyLockLossy.acquire()
        self.keyBlockingKeyLossy = readKey
        self.keyBlockingEventLossy.set()
        self.keyBlockingEventLossy.clear()
        self.keyBlockingKeyLockLossy.release()
        
        # Call non-lossy blocking key events
        self.keysBlockingGotLock.acquire()
        self.keysBlockingGot.append(readKey)
        if len(self.keysBlockingGot) == 1:
            self.keyBlockingGotEvent.set()
        self.keysBlockingGotLock.release()
        
        # Call events added by AddEvent
        self.addingEventsLock.acquire()
        self.keyReceiveEvents(readKey)
        self.addingEventsLock.release()

    def _threadProcessKeyPresses(self):
        while True:
            # Wait until a key is pressed
            self.gotKeyEvent.wait()
            
            # Get the key pressed
            readKey = None
            self.gotKeyLock.acquire()
            # Get a key if it exists
            if len(self.gotKeys) != 0:
                readKey = self.gotKeys.pop(0)
            # If we got the last one, tell us to wait
            if len(self.gotKeys) == 0:
                self.gotKeyEvent.clear()
            self.gotKeyLock.release()
            
            # Process the key (if it actually exists)
            if not readKey is None:
                self._processKey(readKey)
            
            # Exit if we are stopping
            self.wantToStopLock.acquire()
            if self.wantToStop:
                self.wantToStopLock.release()
                break
            self.wantToStopLock.release()
            
    def _threadStoreKeyPresses(self):
        while True:
            # Get a key
            readKey = getKey()
            
            # Run the potential shut down function
            if not self.keyFunction is None:
                self.keyFunction(readKey, self.keyArgs)
        
            # Add the key to the list of pressed keys
            self.gotKeyLock.acquire()
            self.gotKeys.append(readKey)
            if len(self.gotKeys) == 1:
                self.gotKeyEvent.set()
            self.gotKeyLock.release()
            
            # Exit if we are stopping
            self.wantToStopLock.acquire()
            if self.wantToStop:
                self.wantToStopLock.release()
                self.gotKeyEvent.set()
                break
            self.wantToStopLock.release()
    
        
        # If we have reached here we stopped capturing
        
        # All we need to do to clean up is ensure that
        # all the calls to .get() now return None.
        # To ensure no calls are stuck never returning,
        # we will leave the event set so any tasks waiting
        # for it immediately exit. This will be unset upon
        # starting key capturing again.
        
        self.stoppedLock.acquire()
        
        # We also need to set this to True so we can start up
        # capturing again.
        self.stopped = True
        self.stopped = True
        
        self.keyBlockingKeyLockLossy.acquire()
        self.keyBlockingKeyLossy = None
        self.keyBlockingEventLossy.set()
        self.keyBlockingKeyLockLossy.release()
        
        self.keysBlockingGotLock.acquire()
        self.keyBlockingGotEvent.set()
        self.keysBlockingGotLock.release()
        
        self.stoppedLock.release()

The idea is that you can either simply call keyPress.getKey(), which will read a key from the keyboard, then return it.

If you want something more than that, I made a KeyCapture object. You can create one via something like keys = keyPress.KeyCapture().

Then there are three things you can do:

addEvent(functionName) takes in any function that takes in one parameter. Then every time a key is pressed, this function will be called with that key's string as it's input. These are ran in a separate thread, so you can block all you want in them and it won't mess up the functionality of the KeyCapturer nor delay the other events.

get() returns a key in the same blocking way as before. It is now needed here because the keys are being captured via the KeyCapture object now, so keyPress.getKey() would conflict with that behavior and both of them would miss some keys since only one key can be captured at a time. Also, say the user presses 'a', then 'b', you call get(), the user presses 'c'. That get() call will immediately return 'a', then if you call it again it will return 'b', then 'c'. If you call it again it will block until another key is pressed. This ensures that you don't miss any keys, in a blocking way if desired. So in this way it's a little different than keyPress.getKey() from before

If you want the behavior of getKey() back, get(lossy=True) is like get(), except that it only returns keys pressed after the call to get(). So in the above example, get() would block until the user presses 'c', and then if you call it again it will block until another key is pressed.

getAsync() is a little different. It's designed for something that does a lot of processing, then occasionally comes back and checks which keys were pressed. Thus getAsync() returns a list of all the keys pressed since the last call to getAsync(), in order from oldest key pressed to most recent key pressed. It also doesn't block, meaning that if no keys have been pressed since the last call to getAsync(), an empty [] will be returned.

To actually start capturing keys, you need to call keys.startCapture() with your keys object made above. startCapture is non-blocking, and simply starts one thread that just records the key presses, and another thread to process those key presses. There are two threads to ensure that the thread that records key presses doesn't miss any keys.

If you want to stop capturing keys, you can call keys.stopCapture() and it will stop capturing keys. However, since capturing a key is a blocking operation, the thread capturing keys might capture one more key after calling stopCapture().

To prevent this, you can pass in an optional parameter(s) into startCapture(functionName, args) of a function that just does something like checks if a key equals 'c' and then exits. It's important that this function does very little before, for example, a sleep here will cause us to miss keys.

However, if stopCapture() is called in this function, key captures will be stopped immediately, without trying to capture any more, and that all get() calls will be returned immediately, with None if no keys have been pressed yet.

Also, since get() and getAsync() store all the previous keys pressed (until you retrieve them), you can call clearGetList() and clearAsyncList() to forget the keys previously pressed.

Note that get(), getAsync() and events are independent, so if a key is pressed:

One call to get() that is waiting, with lossy on, will return that key. The other waiting calls (if any) will continue waiting. That key will be stored in the queue of get keys, so that get() with lossy off will return the oldest key pressed not returned by get() yet. All events will be fired with that key as their input That key will be stored in the list of getAsync() keys, where that lis twill be returned and set to empty list on the next call to getAsync()

If all this is too much, here is an example use case:

import keyPress
import time
import threading

def KeyPressed(k, printLock):
    printLock.acquire()
    print "Event: " + k
    printLock.release()
    time.sleep(4)
    printLock.acquire()
    print "Event after delay: " + k
    printLock.release()

def GetKeyBlocking(keys, printLock):    
    while keys.capturing():
        keyReceived = keys.get()
        time.sleep(1)
        printLock.acquire()
        if not keyReceived is None:
            print "Block " + keyReceived
        else:
            print "Block None"
        printLock.release()

def GetKeyBlockingLossy(keys, printLock):   
    while keys.capturing():
        keyReceived = keys.get(lossy=True)
        time.sleep(1)
        printLock.acquire()
        if not keyReceived is None:
            print "Lossy: " + keyReceived
        else:
            print "Lossy: None"
        printLock.release()

def CheckToClose(k, (keys, printLock)):
    printLock.acquire()
    print "Close: " + k
    printLock.release()
    if k == "c":
        keys.stopCapture()
        
printLock = threading.Lock()

print "Press a key:"
print "You pressed: " + keyPress.getKey()
print ""

keys = keyPress.KeyCapture()

keys.addEvent(KeyPressed, printLock)



print "Starting capture"
            
keys.startCapture(CheckToClose, (keys, printLock))
            
getKeyBlockingThread = threading.Thread(target=GetKeyBlocking, args=(keys, printLock))
getKeyBlockingThread.daemon = True
getKeyBlockingThread.start()

            
getKeyBlockingThreadLossy = threading.Thread(target=GetKeyBlockingLossy, args=(keys, printLock))
getKeyBlockingThreadLossy.daemon = True
getKeyBlockingThreadLossy.start()

while keys.capturing():
    keysPressed = keys.getAsync()
    printLock.acquire()
    if keysPressed != []:
        print "Async: " + str(keysPressed)
    printLock.release()
    time.sleep(1)

print "done capturing"

It is working well for me from the simple test I made, but I will happily take others feedback as well if there is something I missed.

I posted this here as well.

---

This might be a use case for a context manager. Leaving aside allowances for Windows OS, here's my suggestion:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
# file: 'readchar.py'
"""
Implementation of a way to get a single character of input
without waiting for the user to hit <Enter>.
(OS is Linux, Ubuntu 14.04)
"""

import tty, sys, termios

class ReadChar():
    def __enter__(self):
        self.fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
        self.old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(self.fd)
        tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno())
        return sys.stdin.read(1)
    def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
        termios.tcsetattr(self.fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, self.old_settings)

def test():
    while True:
        with ReadChar() as rc:
            char = rc
        if ord(char) <= 32:
            print("You entered character with ordinal {}."\
                        .format(ord(char)))
        else:
            print("You entered character '{}'."\
                        .format(char))
        if char in "^C^D":
            sys.exit()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    test()

---

If I'm doing something complicated I'll use curses to read keys. But a lot of times I just want a simple Python 3 script that uses the standard library and can read arrow keys, so I do this:

import sys, termios, tty

key_Enter = 13
key_Esc = 27
key_Up = '\033[A'
key_Dn = '\033[B'
key_Rt = '\033[C'
key_Lt = '\033[D'

fdInput = sys.stdin.fileno()
termAttr = termios.tcgetattr(0)

def getch():
    tty.setraw(fdInput)
    ch = sys.stdin.buffer.raw.read(4).decode(sys.stdin.encoding)
    if len(ch) == 1:
        if ord(ch) < 32 or ord(ch) > 126:
            ch = ord(ch)
    elif ord(ch[0]) == 27:
        ch = '\033' + ch[1:]
    termios.tcsetattr(fdInput, termios.TCSADRAIN, termAttr)
    return ch

---

You could use click. It's well-tested and works on Linux, Mac & Windows.

import click

print('Continue? [yn] ')
c = click.getchar()   # Gets a single character


if c == 'y':
    print('We will go on')
elif c == 'n':
    print('Abort!')
else:
    print('Invalid input :(')

---

This is NON-BLOCKING, reads a key and and stores it in keypress.key.

import Tkinter as tk


class Keypress:
    def __init__(self):
        self.root = tk.Tk()
        self.root.geometry('300x200')
        self.root.bind('<KeyPress>', self.onKeyPress)

    def onKeyPress(self, event):
        self.key = event.char

    def __eq__(self, other):
        return self.key == other

    def __str__(self):
        return self.key

in your programm

keypress = Keypress()

while something:
   do something
   if keypress == 'c':
        break
   elif keypress == 'i': 
       print('info')
   else:
       print("i dont understand %s" % keypress)

---

The ActiveState's recipe seems to contain a little bug for "posix" systems that prevents Ctrl-C from interrupting (I'm using Mac). If I put the following code in my script:

while(True):
    print(getch())

I will never be able to terminate the script with Ctrl-C, and I have to kill my terminal to escape.

I believe the following line is the cause, and it's also too brutal:

tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno())

Asides from that, package tty is not really needed, termios is enough to handle it.

Below is the improved code that works for me (Ctrl-C will interrupt), with the extra getche function that echo the char as you type:

if sys.platform == 'win32':
    import msvcrt
    getch = msvcrt.getch
    getche = msvcrt.getche
else:
    import sys
    import termios
    def __gen_ch_getter(echo):
        def __fun():
            fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
            oldattr = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
            newattr = oldattr[:]
            try:
                if echo:
                    # disable ctrl character printing, otherwise, backspace will be printed as "^?"
                    lflag = ~(termios.ICANON | termios.ECHOCTL)
                else:
                    lflag = ~(termios.ICANON | termios.ECHO)
                newattr[3] &= lflag
                termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, newattr)
                ch = sys.stdin.read(1)
                if echo and ord(ch) == 127: # backspace
                    # emulate backspace erasing
                    # https://stackoverflow.com/a/47962872/404271
                    sys.stdout.write('\b \b')
            finally:
                termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, oldattr)
            return ch
        return __fun
    getch = __gen_ch_getter(False)
    getche = __gen_ch_getter(True)

References:

https://pypi.python.org/pypi/getch

---

Try this with pygame:

import pygame
pygame.init()             // eliminate error, pygame.error: video system not initialized
keys = pygame.key.get_pressed()

if keys[pygame.K_SPACE]:
    d = "space key"

print "You pressed the", d, "."

---

A comment in one of the other answers mentioned cbreak mode, which is important for Unix implementations because you generally don't want ^C (KeyboardError) to be consumed by getchar (as it will when you set the terminal to raw mode, as done by most other answers).

Another important detail is that if you're looking to read one character and not one byte, you should read 4 bytes from the input stream, as that's the maximum number of bytes a single character will consist of in UTF-8 (Python 3+). Reading only a single byte will produce unexpected results for multi-byte characters such as keypad arrows.

Here's my changed implementation for Unix:

import contextlib
import os
import sys
import termios
import tty


_MAX_CHARACTER_BYTE_LENGTH = 4


@contextlib.contextmanager
def _tty_reset(file_descriptor):
    """
    A context manager that saves the tty flags of a file descriptor upon
    entering and restores them upon exiting.
    """
    old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(file_descriptor)
    try:
        yield
    finally:
        termios.tcsetattr(file_descriptor, termios.TCSADRAIN, old_settings)


def get_character(file=sys.stdin):
    """
    Read a single character from the given input stream (defaults to sys.stdin).
    """
    file_descriptor = file.fileno()
    with _tty_reset(file_descriptor):
        tty.setcbreak(file_descriptor)
        return os.read(file_descriptor, _MAX_CHARACTER_BYTE_LENGTH)

---

The curses package in python can be used to enter "raw" mode for character input from the terminal with just a few statements. Curses' main use is to take over the screen for output, which may not be what you want. This code snippet uses print() statements instead, which are usable, but you must be aware of how curses changes line endings attached to output.

#!/usr/bin/python3
# Demo of single char terminal input in raw mode with the curses package.
import sys, curses

def run_one_char(dummy):
    'Run until a carriage return is entered'
    char = ' '
    print('Welcome to curses', flush=True)
    while ord(char) != 13:
        char = one_char()

def one_char():
    'Read one character from the keyboard'
    print('\r? ', flush= True, end = '')

    ## A blocking single char read in raw mode. 
    char = sys.stdin.read(1)
    print('You entered %s\r' % char)
    return char

## Must init curses before calling any functions
curses.initscr()
## To make sure the terminal returns to its initial settings,
## and to set raw mode and guarantee cleanup on exit. 
curses.wrapper(run_one_char)
print('Curses be gone!')

---

I believe that this is one the most elegant solution.

import os

if os.name == 'nt':
    import msvcrt
    def getch():
        return msvcrt.getch().decode()
else:
    import sys, tty, termios
    fd = sys.stdin.fileno()
    old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(fd)
    def getch():
        try:
            tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno())
            ch = sys.stdin.read(1)
        finally:
            termios.tcsetattr(fd, termios.TCSADRAIN, old_settings)
        return ch

and then use it in the code:

if getch() == chr(ESC_ASCII_VALUE):
    print("ESC!")

---

Simplest cross platform solution is sshkeyboard. Install with pip install sshkeyboard,

then write script such as:

from sshkeyboard import listen_keyboard

def press(key):
    print(f"'{key}' pressed")

def release(key):
    print(f"'{key}' released")

listen_keyboard(
    on_press=press,
    on_release=release,
)

And it will print:

'a' pressed
'a' released

When A key is pressed. ESC key ends the listening by default.

It requires less coding than for example curses, tkinter and getch.

---

TL;DR: here is your no-dependencies-crossplatform maximum density copy-pasta

I know I was looking for that ☝️. You came here from google and want something that will just work without pip install this-and-that? I'm fairly sure this solution will continue working for a long time.

Example use

>>> getch_but_it_actually_works() # just normal key like a
'a'

>>> getch_but_it_actually_works() # a but its shift or capslock
'A'

>>> getch_but_it_actually_works() # just bare enter
'\r'

>>> getch_but_it_actually_works() # literal ESC key
'\x1b'

>>> getch_but_it_actually_works() # one of the arrow keys on linux
'\x1b[A'

>>> getch_but_it_actually_works() # one of the arrow keys on windows
'àK'

>>> getch_but_it_actually_works() # some really obscure key-combo. still works.
'\x1b[19;6~'

Crossplatform solution, no external dependencies

Scroll for more detailed answer at the end with sane indentation and commenting. This is maximum density preview for easy copy-pasting. Just call getch_but_it_actually_works()

import os
def _read_one_wide_char_win(): return msvcrt.getwch()
def _char_can_be_escape_win(char): return True if char in ("\x00", "à") else False
def _dump_keyboard_buff_win():
    try: msvcrt.ungetwch("a")
    except OSError: return msvcrt.getwch()
    else: _ = msvcrt.getwch(); return ""
def _read_one_wide_char_nix():
    old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(sys.stdin.fileno()); tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno())
    wchar = sys.stdin.read(1)
    termios.tcsetattr(sys.stdin.fileno(), termios.TCSANOW, old_settings); return wchar
def _char_can_be_escape_nix(char): return True if char == "\x1b" else False
def _dump_keyboard_buff_nix():
    old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(sys.stdin.fileno())
    tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno()); os.set_blocking(sys.stdin.fileno(), False)
    buffer_dump = ""
    while char := sys.stdin.read(1): buffer_dump += char
    os.set_blocking(sys.stdin.fileno(), True); termios.tcsetattr(sys.stdin.fileno(), termios.TCSANOW, old_settings)
    if buffer_dump: return buffer_dump
    else: return ""
if os.name == "nt":
    import msvcrt
    read_one_wdchar, char_can_escape, dump_key_buffer = _read_one_wide_char_win, _char_can_be_escape_win, _dump_keyboard_buff_win
if os.name == "posix":
    import termios, tty, sys
    read_one_wdchar, char_can_escape, dump_key_buffer = _read_one_wide_char_nix, _char_can_be_escape_nix, _dump_keyboard_buff_nix
def getch_but_it_actually_works():
    wchar = read_one_wdchar()
    if char_can_escape(wchar): dump = dump_key_buffer(); return wchar + dump
    else: return wchar

The long answer, code with comments and sane indentation

Here is the long answer with all the comments. Still no dependencies.

This will in all likelihood work for long time on both linux and windows. No external dependencies, only built-ins.

It will also deal with edge cases like hitting arrow keys or something obscure like which will produce long ANSI escape sequence on linux and something else on windows. It will capture things like or or tab or F1-12 as single input

I have come back to this post literally dozens of times of the years so now it is time for me to give back the two cents and interest. Below is the fully commented code.

The example is somewhat long but you can skip reading most of it. The relevant bit is at the very end, you can just copy-paste the entire thing.

import os

def _read_one_wide_char_win():
    """Wait keyhit return chr. Get only 1st chr if multipart key like arrow"""
    return msvcrt.getwch()

def _char_can_be_escape_win(char):
    """Return true if char could start a multipart key code (e.g.: arrows)"""
    return True if char in ("\x00", "à") else False # \x00 is null character

def _dump_keyboard_buff_win():
    """If piece of multipart keycode in buffer, return it. Else return None"""
    try:                       # msvcrt.kbhit wont work with msvcrt.getwch
        msvcrt.ungetwch("a")   # check buffer status by ungetching wchr
    except OSError:            # ungetch fails > something in buffer so >
        return msvcrt.getwch() # return the buffer note: win multipart keys
    else:                      # are always 2 parts. if ungetwch does not fail
        _ = msvcrt.getwch()    # clean up and return empty string
        return ""

def _read_one_wide_char_nix():
    """Wait keyhit return chr. Get only 1st chr if multipart key like arrow"""
    old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(sys.stdin.fileno()) # save settings
    tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno()) # set raw mode to catch raw key w/o enter
    wchar = sys.stdin.read(1)
    termios.tcsetattr(sys.stdin.fileno(), termios.TCSANOW, old_settings)
    return wchar

def _char_can_be_escape_nix(char):
    """Return true if char could start a multipart key code (e.g.: arrows)"""
    return True if char == "\x1b" else False # "\x1b" is literal esc-key

def _dump_keyboard_buff_nix():
    """If parts of multipart keycode in buffer, return them. Otherwise None"""
    old_settings = termios.tcgetattr(sys.stdin.fileno()) # save settings
    tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno()) # raw to read single key w/o enter
    os.set_blocking(sys.stdin.fileno(), False) # dont block for empty buffer
    buffer_dump = ""
    while char := sys.stdin.read(1):
        buffer_dump += char
    os.set_blocking(sys.stdin.fileno(), True) # restore normal settings
    termios.tcsetattr(sys.stdin.fileno(), termios.TCSANOW, old_settings)
    if buffer_dump:
        return buffer_dump
    else:
        return ""

if os.name == "nt":
    import msvcrt
    read_one_wdchar = _read_one_wide_char_win
    char_can_escape = _char_can_be_escape_win
    dump_key_buffer = _dump_keyboard_buff_win
if os.name == "posix":
    import termios
    import tty
    import sys
    read_one_wdchar = _read_one_wide_char_nix
    char_can_escape = _char_can_be_escape_nix
    dump_key_buffer = _dump_keyboard_buff_nix


def getch_but_it_actually_works():
    """Returns a printable character or a keycode corresponding to special key
    like arrow or insert. Compatible with windows and linux, no external libs
    except for builtins. Uses different builtins for windows and linux.

    This function is more accurately called:
    "get_wide_character_or_keycode_if_the_key_was_nonprintable()"

    e.g.:
        * returns "e" if e was pressed
        * returns "E" if shift or capslock was on
        * returns "x1b[19;6~'" for ctrl + shift + F8 on unix

    You can use string.isprintable() if you need to sometimes print the output
    and sometimes use it for menu control and such. Printing raw ansi escape
    codes can cause your terminal to do things like move cursor three rows up.

    Enter will return "\ r" on all platforms (without the space seen here)
    as the enter key will produce carriage return, but windows and linux
    interpret it differently in different contexts on higher level
    """
    wchar = read_one_wdchar()    # get first char from key press or key combo
    if char_can_escape(wchar):   # if char is escapecode, more may be waiting
        dump = dump_key_buffer() # dump buffer to check if more were waiting.
        return wchar + dump      # return escape+buffer. buff could be just ""
    else:                        # if buffer was empty then we return a single
        return wchar             # key like "e" or "\x1b" for the ESC button

---

My solution for python3, not depending on any pip packages.

# precondition: import tty, sys
def query_yes_no(question, default=True):
    """
    Ask the user a yes/no question.
    Returns immediately upon reading one-char answer.
    Accepts multiple language characters for yes/no.
    """
    if not sys.stdin.isatty():
        return default
    if default:
        prompt = "[Y/n]?"
        other_answers = "n"
    else:
        prompt = "[y/N]?"
        other_answers = "yjosiá"

    print(question,prompt,flush= True,end=" ")
    oldttysettings = tty.tcgetattr(sys.stdin.fileno())
    try:
        tty.setraw(sys.stdin.fileno())
        return not sys.stdin.read(1).lower() in other_answers
    except:
        return default
    finally:
        tty.tcsetattr(sys.stdin.fileno(), tty.TCSADRAIN , oldttysettings)
        sys.stdout.write("\r\n")
        tty.tcdrain(sys.stdin.fileno())

---

The accepted answer didn't perform that well for me (I'd hold a key, nothing would happen, then I'd press another key and it would work).

After learning about the curses module, it really seems like the right way to go. And it's now available for Windows through windows-cursors (available through pip), so you can program in a platform agnostic manner. Here's an example inspired by this nice tutorial on YouTube:

import curses                                                                                                                                       
def getkey(stdscr):
    curses.curs_set(0)
    while True:
        key = stdscr.getch()
        if key != -1:
            break
    return key

if __name__ == "__main__":
    print(curses.wrapper(getkey))

Save it with a .py extension, or run curses.wrapper(getkey) in interactive mode.

---

Answered here: raw_input in python without pressing enter

Use this code-

from tkinter import Tk, Frame


def __set_key(e, root):
    """
    e - event with attribute 'char', the released key
    """
    global key_pressed
    if e.char:
        key_pressed = e.char
        root.destroy()


def get_key(msg="Press any key ...", time_to_sleep=3):
    """
    msg - set to empty string if you don't want to print anything
    time_to_sleep - default 3 seconds
    """
    global key_pressed
    if msg:
        print(msg)
    key_pressed = None
    root = Tk()
    root.overrideredirect(True)
    frame = Frame(root, width=0, height=0)
    frame.bind("<KeyRelease>", lambda f: __set_key(f, root))
    frame.pack()
    root.focus_set()
    frame.focus_set()
    frame.focus_force()  # doesn't work in a while loop without it
    root.after(time_to_sleep * 1000, func=root.destroy)
    root.mainloop()
    root = None  # just in case
    return key_pressed


def __main():
        c = None
        while not c:
                c = get_key("Choose your weapon ... ", 2)
        print(c)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    __main()

Reference: https://github.com/unfor19/mg-tools/blob/master/mgtools/get_key_pressed.py

---

If you want to register only one single key press even if the user pressed it for more than once or kept pressing the key longer. To avoid getting multiple pressed inputs use the while loop and pass it.

import keyboard

while(True):
  if(keyboard.is_pressed('w')):
      s+=1
      while(keyboard.is_pressed('w')):
        pass
  if(keyboard.is_pressed('s')):
      s-=1
      while(keyboard.is_pressed('s')):
        pass
  print(s)

---

The build-in raw_input should help.

for i in range(3):
    print ("So much work to do!")
k = raw_input("Press any key to continue...")
print ("Ok, back to work.")

---

if you just want to hold the screen so you can see the result on the terminal just write

input()

at the end of the code and it will hold the screen

---