Unswitch is a tiny event handler for Switch controllers on the web based on the Gamepad API. Attach callbacks to button presses (up & down) and the joystick!

$ npm install --save unswitch

Use script tags or modules? Check out the version on unpkg!

Connecting a Switch controller is easy: pair it with bluetooth and you're ready to go! This library doesn't listen to connected or disconnected events but in some cases it might be useful. Here's how you can listen to these events:

window.addEventListener("gamepadconnected", ({ gamepad }) => {});

window.addEventListener("gamepaddisconnected", ({ gamepad }) => {});

// Import the library
import Unswitch from 'unswitch';

// Observe a controller
const unswitch = new Unswitch({
  side: 'L', // or R
  buttons: (button, pressed, side) => console.log(`Catch-all - button: ${button} was ${pressed ? 'pressed' : 'released'} on the ${side} side`),
  b: p => {},
  a: p => {},
  y: p => {},
  x: p => {},
  sl: p => {},
  sr: p => {},
  minus: p => {},
  plus: p => {},
  lstick: p => {},
  rstick: p => {},
  home: p => {},
  screenshot: p => {},
  bumper: p => {}, // L or R
  trigger: p => {}, // ZL or ZR
  axes: p => {},
});

function render() {
  // Call the update function manually
  unswitch.update();
  requestAnimationFrame(render);
}

render();

Please note that it's not required to pass all button-functions to Unswitch and will only be executed when you provide them. You are able to use the buttons function to catch all button presses and implement your own logic using the provided data. The buttons function will always be executed when provided, even when the button is also passed as property.

It's possible to connect up to two controllers at the same time. To make this work side is to be passed with either L (left) or R (right) for the controllers respectively. Calling unswitch.update() will check every button for a change in state. If a callback is provided the new state is passed along. The axis works in the same way, but instead of a boolean it will return a number from 0 to 8. Number 0 to 7 are for the joystick positions going clockwise, number 8 is used as default (center).

Have a look at the demo on Codepen!

Are you excited about this library and have interesting ideas on how to improve it? Please tell me or contribute directly! 🙌

npm install > npm run demo > https://localhost:8080

MIT © Colin van Eenige