Haptic Feedback — Reference

Makima drives the Steam Deck's trackpad actuators directly via hidraw. Haptic output is configured as a pulse chain — an array of steps, each describing a burst of pulses.

Pulse chain format

haptic_on = [
    { duration_us = 8000, interval_us = 8000, count = 1, pause_ms = 150 },
    { duration_us = 8000, interval_us = 8000, count = 1 },
]

Each step in the chain:

Field	Type	Default	Description
duration_us	integer	—	Pulse duration in microseconds
interval_us	integer	—	Interval between pulses in microseconds
count	integer	—	Number of pulses in this step
gain_db	float	0	Gain offset in dB (optional)
pause_ms	integer	0	Pause after this step before the next (optional)

Where pulse chains are used

• Gaming Mode — haptic_on and haptic_off in [gaming_mode]. See Gaming Mode reference.