Ah ah ah, you didn't say the magic word

On a failed lock-screen unlock attempt, this spawns a looping animation of the author's face photoshopped onto Dennis Nedry's body and plays the "ah ah ah, you didn't say the magic word" clip from Jurassic Park. Each wrong guess adds another sprite at a random screen position. Volume is forced to 100% on the first failure and restored when the screen unlocks.

Platform support

The integration method differs by display server:

Platform	Display server	Module loaded	How it works
Linux	Wayland	ahfail-module.so	Loaded directly by gtklock via its module API
Linux	X11	libahfail_pam.so + ahfail-display	PAM cleanup hook spawns the display binary after each failed auth
macOS	—	libahfail_pam.so + ahfail-display	Same PAM approach, hooks into the screensaver PAM stack

The gtklock module is Wayland-only — it uses gtklock's internal window API to overlay sprites directly on the lock screen. The PAM module works on X11 and macOS by registering a cleanup callback that fires on each failed authentication attempt; it double-forks a standalone display binary (ahfail-display) that runs independently of the PAM stack.

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Linux — Wayland (gtklock)

Install dependencies (Arch)

sudo pacman -S meson ninja rust gtk3 gstreamer gst-plugins-base gst-plugins-good gst-plugins-bad gtklock

Build and install

meson setup builddir
meson compile -C builddir
sudo meson install -C builddir

Installs:

• /usr/lib/gtklock/ahfail-module.so — gtklock module
• /usr/lib/ahfail/libahfail_pam.so — PAM module (for X11)
• /usr/lib/ahfail/ahfail-display — standalone display binary

Run

gtklock -m /usr/lib/gtklock/ahfail-module.so

Arguments

Pass module arguments after --:

gtklock -m /usr/lib/gtklock/ahfail-module.so -- --deadzone=860,440,200,200

• --deadzone=X,Y,W,H — rectangle where sprites will not spawn (keep your password field clear)
• --audio-uri=URI — override the default audio clip, e.g. file:///home/user/custom.mp3

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Linux — X11 (i3lock, xscreensaver, etc.)

Add the PAM module to your screen locker's PAM service file. Use the full path — $(libdir)/ahfail is not in PAM's default search path.

Arch / standard:

auth optional /usr/lib/ahfail/libahfail_pam.so

Fedora / RHEL (multilib):

auth optional /usr/lib64/ahfail/libahfail_pam.so

Debian / Ubuntu (multiarch):

auth optional /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ahfail/libahfail_pam.so

Common service files: /etc/pam.d/i3lock, /etc/pam.d/xscreensaver, /etc/pam.d/lightdm.

Optionally pass the display binary path as an argument if it is not at the default location:

auth optional /usr/lib/ahfail/libahfail_pam.so display_path=/usr/lib/ahfail/ahfail-display

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macOS

Quick install (recommended)

git clone https://gitea.weircon.dk/agw/gtk-ahfail.git
cd gtk-ahfail
bash scripts/install-macos.sh

The script installs Homebrew dependencies, builds from source, copies binaries to /usr/local/lib/ahfail/, and patches the screensaver PAM configuration automatically.

Manual install

Prerequisites

brew install gtk+3 gstreamer gst-plugins-base gst-plugins-good meson ninja

Rust: install via rustup.rs if not already present.

Build

meson setup builddir
meson compile -C builddir

Install

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/lib/ahfail
sudo cp builddir/libahfail_pam.so /usr/local/lib/ahfail/
sudo cp builddir/ahfail-display /usr/local/lib/ahfail/

Configure PAM

Find the screensaver PAM service file:

• macOS 13 (Ventura) and later: /etc/pam.d/screensaverui
• macOS 12 and earlier: /etc/pam.d/screensaver

Add this line after the existing auth entries (requires sudo):

auth optional /usr/local/lib/ahfail/libahfail_pam.so

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Customization

The sprite is the author's face on Nedry's body. To use your own:

1. Replace the sprite frames in assets/sprites/ with your own PNG sequence.
2. Update assets/ahfail.gresource.xml if you add or remove files.
3. Rebuild with Meson.

To replace the audio clip, swap assets/audio/magic-word.mp3 and rebuild.

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Development

cargo test                                        # unit + integration tests (needs display)
cargo test --test benchmarks -- --nocapture       # sprite placement benchmarks
cargo clippy                                      # lint
meson setup builddir && meson compile -C builddir # full build including .so
xvfb-run meson test -C builddir --verbose        # Meson tests headless