diff --git a/espanso-detect/src/evdev/device.rs b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/device.rs
index e07e730..61763f3 100644
--- a/espanso-detect/src/evdev/device.rs
+++ b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/device.rs
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ use super::{
 };
 
 const EVDEV_OFFSET: i32 = 8;
-const KEY_STATE_RELEASE: i32 = 0;
-const KEY_STATE_PRESS: i32 = 1;
-const KEY_STATE_REPEAT: i32 = 2;
+pub const KEY_STATE_RELEASE: i32 = 0;
+pub const KEY_STATE_PRESS: i32 = 1;
+pub const KEY_STATE_REPEAT: i32 = 2;
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub enum RawInputEvent {
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ pub enum RawInputEvent {
 pub struct RawKeyboardEvent {
   pub sym: u32,
   pub value: String,
-  pub is_down: bool,
+  pub state: i32,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ impl Device {
     let content = content_raw.to_string_lossy().to_string();
 
     let event = RawKeyboardEvent {
-      is_down,
+      state: value,
       sym,
       value: content,
     };
diff --git a/espanso-detect/src/evdev/ffi.rs b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/ffi.rs
index e242ca5..31bf665 100644
--- a/espanso-detect/src/evdev/ffi.rs
+++ b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/ffi.rs
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ pub type xkb_state_component = u32;
 
 pub const EV_KEY: u16 = 0x01;
 
+pub const XKB_KEYCODE_INVALID: u32 = 0xffffffff;
+
 #[link(name = "xkbcommon")]
 extern "C" {
   pub fn xkb_state_unref(state: *mut xkb_state);
@@ -57,6 +59,7 @@ extern "C" {
   pub fn xkb_context_unref(context: *mut xkb_context);
   pub fn xkb_state_get_keymap(state: *mut xkb_state) -> *mut xkb_keymap;
   pub fn xkb_keymap_key_repeats(keymap: *mut xkb_keymap, key: xkb_keycode_t) -> c_int;
+  pub fn xkb_keymap_key_by_name(keymap: *mut xkb_keymap, name: *const c_char) -> u32;
   pub fn xkb_state_update_key(
     state: *mut xkb_state,
     key: xkb_keycode_t,
diff --git a/espanso-detect/src/evdev/hotkey.rs b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/hotkey.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2549efe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/hotkey.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * This file is part of espanso.
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2019-2021 Federico Terzi
+ *
+ * espanso is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * espanso is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with espanso.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+use crate::{event::KeyboardEvent, hotkey::HotKey};
+use std::{
+  collections::{HashMap, VecDeque},
+  time::Instant,
+};
+
+use super::state::State;
+
+// Number of milliseconds between the first and last codes of an hotkey
+// to be considered valid
+const HOTKEY_WINDOW: i32 = 5000;
+
+pub type KeySym = u32;
+pub type KeyCode = u32;
+pub type SymMap = HashMap<KeySym, KeyCode>;
+
+pub type HotkeyMemoryMap = VecDeque<(KeyCode, Instant)>;
+
+pub fn generate_sym_map(state: &State) -> HashMap<KeySym, KeyCode> {
+  let mut map = HashMap::new();
+  for code in 0..256 {
+    if let Some(sym) = state.get_sym(code) {
+      map.insert(sym, code);
+    }
+  }
+  map
+}
+
+pub fn convert_hotkey_to_codes(hk: &HotKey, map: &SymMap) -> Option<Vec<KeyCode>> {
+  let mut codes = Vec::new();
+  let key_code = map.get(&hk.key.to_code()?)?;
+  codes.push(*key_code);
+
+  for modifier in hk.modifiers.iter() {
+    let code = map.get(&modifier.to_code()?)?;
+    codes.push(*code);
+  }
+
+  Some(codes)
+}
+
+pub fn detect_hotkey(
+  event: &KeyboardEvent,
+  memory: &mut HotkeyMemoryMap,
+  hotkeys: &HashMap<i32, Vec<KeyCode>>,
+) -> Option<i32> {
+  // TODO: implement the actual matching mechanism
+  // We need to "clean" the old entries
+}
diff --git a/espanso-detect/src/evdev/keymap.rs b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/keymap.rs
index bb2f266..89d1c72 100644
--- a/espanso-detect/src/evdev/keymap.rs
+++ b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/keymap.rs
@@ -10,13 +10,7 @@ use thiserror::Error;
 
 use crate::KeyboardConfig;
 
-use super::{
-  context::Context,
-  ffi::{
-    xkb_keymap, xkb_keymap_new_from_names, xkb_keymap_unref, xkb_rule_names,
-    XKB_KEYMAP_COMPILE_NO_FLAGS,
-  },
-};
+use super::{context::Context, ffi::{XKB_KEYMAP_COMPILE_NO_FLAGS, xkb_keymap, xkb_keymap_new_from_names, xkb_keymap_unref, xkb_rule_names}};
 
 pub struct Keymap {
   keymap: *mut xkb_keymap,
@@ -24,7 +18,7 @@ pub struct Keymap {
 
 impl Keymap {
   pub fn new(context: &Context, rmlvo: Option<KeyboardConfig>) -> Result<Keymap> {
-    let names = rmlvo.map(|rmlvo| Self::generate_names(rmlvo));
+    let names = rmlvo.map(Self::generate_names);
 
     let names_ptr = names.map_or(std::ptr::null(), |names| &names);
     let raw_keymap = unsafe {
diff --git a/espanso-detect/src/evdev/mod.rs b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/mod.rs
index 54814f8..01550c5 100644
--- a/espanso-detect/src/evdev/mod.rs
+++ b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/mod.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// This code is a port of the libxkbcommon "interactive-evdev.c" example
+// This code is heavily inspired by the libxkbcommon "interactive-evdev.c" example
 // https://github.com/xkbcommon/libxkbcommon/blob/master/tools/interactive-evdev.c
 
 /*
@@ -24,10 +24,15 @@ mod context;
 mod device;
 mod ffi;
 mod keymap;
+mod hotkey;
+mod state;
+
+use std::collections::HashMap;
 
 use anyhow::Result;
 use context::Context;
 use device::{get_devices, Device};
+use hotkey::HotkeyMemoryMap;
 use keymap::Keymap;
 use lazycell::LazyCell;
 use libc::{
@@ -36,12 +41,12 @@ use libc::{
 use log::{error, trace};
 use thiserror::Error;
 
-use crate::event::Variant::*;
+use crate::{event::Variant::*, hotkey::HotKey};
 use crate::event::{InputEvent, Key, KeyboardEvent, Variant};
 use crate::event::{Key::*, MouseButton, MouseEvent};
 use crate::{event::Status::*, KeyboardConfig, Source, SourceCallback, SourceCreationOptions};
 
-use self::device::{DeviceError, RawInputEvent};
+use self::{device::{DeviceError, KEY_STATE_PRESS, KEY_STATE_RELEASE, RawInputEvent}, hotkey::{KeyCode, convert_hotkey_to_codes, generate_sym_map}, state::State};
 
 const BTN_LEFT: u16 = 0x110;
 const BTN_RIGHT: u16 = 0x111;
@@ -51,10 +56,12 @@ const BTN_EXTRA: u16 = 0x114;
 
 pub struct EVDEVSource {
   devices: Vec<Device>,
+  hotkeys: Vec<HotKey>,
 
   _keyboard_rmlvo: Option<KeyboardConfig>,
   _context: LazyCell<Context>,
   _keymap: LazyCell<Keymap>,
+  _hotkey_codes: HashMap<i32, Vec<KeyCode>>,
 }
 
 #[allow(clippy::new_without_default)]
@@ -62,9 +69,11 @@ impl EVDEVSource {
   pub fn new(options: SourceCreationOptions) -> EVDEVSource {
     Self {
       devices: Vec::new(),
+      hotkeys: options.hotkeys,
       _context: LazyCell::new(),
       _keymap: LazyCell::new(),
       _keyboard_rmlvo: options.evdev_keyboard_rmlvo,
+      _hotkey_codes: HashMap::new(),
     }
   }
 }
@@ -91,6 +100,17 @@ impl Source for EVDEVSource {
       }
     }
 
+    // Initialize the hotkeys
+    let state = State::new(&keymap)?;
+    let sym_map = generate_sym_map(&state);
+    self._hotkey_codes = self.hotkeys.iter().filter_map(|hk| {
+      let codes = convert_hotkey_to_codes(hk, &sym_map);
+      if codes.is_none() {
+        error!("unable to register hotkey {:?}", hk);
+      }
+      Some((hk.id, codes?))
+    }).collect();
+
     if self._context.fill(context).is_err() {
       return Err(EVDEVSourceError::InitFailure().into());
     }
@@ -133,6 +153,8 @@ impl Source for EVDEVSource {
       }
     }
 
+    let mut hotkey_memory = HotkeyMemoryMap::new();
+
     // Read events indefinitely
     let mut evs: [epoll_event; 16] = unsafe { std::mem::zeroed() };
     loop {
@@ -154,6 +176,9 @@ impl Source for EVDEVSource {
             events.into_iter().for_each(|raw_event| {
               let event: Option<InputEvent> = raw_event.into();
               if let Some(event) = event {
+                // First process the hotkey
+
+
                 event_callback(event);
               } else {
                 trace!("unable to convert raw event to input event");
@@ -194,10 +219,13 @@ impl From<RawInputEvent> for Option<InputEvent> {
           Some(keyboard_event.value)
         };
 
-        let status = if keyboard_event.is_down {
+        let status = if keyboard_event.state == KEY_STATE_PRESS {
           Pressed
-        } else {
+        } else if keyboard_event.state == KEY_STATE_RELEASE {
           Released
+        } else {
+          // Filter out the "repeated" events
+          return None;
         };
 
         return Some(InputEvent::Keyboard(KeyboardEvent {
diff --git a/espanso-detect/src/evdev/state.rs b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/state.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5de799b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/espanso-detect/src/evdev/state.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+// This code is a port of the libxkbcommon "interactive-evdev.c" example
+// https://github.com/xkbcommon/libxkbcommon/blob/master/tools/interactive-evdev.c
+
+use std::ffi::CStr;
+
+use scopeguard::ScopeGuard;
+
+use anyhow::Result;
+use thiserror::Error;
+
+use super::{
+  ffi::{
+    xkb_state, xkb_state_key_get_one_sym, xkb_state_new, xkb_state_unref,
+  },
+  keymap::Keymap,
+};
+
+pub struct State {
+  state: *mut xkb_state,
+}
+
+impl State {
+  pub fn new(keymap: &Keymap) -> Result<State> {
+    let raw_state = unsafe { xkb_state_new(keymap.get_handle()) };
+    let state = scopeguard::guard(raw_state, |raw_state| unsafe {
+      xkb_state_unref(raw_state);
+    });
+
+    if raw_state.is_null() {
+      return Err(StateError::FailedCreation().into());
+    }
+
+    Ok(Self {
+      state: ScopeGuard::into_inner(state),
+    })
+  }
+
+  pub fn get_sym(&self, code: u32) -> Option<u32> {
+    let sym = unsafe { xkb_state_key_get_one_sym(self.state, code) };
+    if sym == 0 {
+      None
+    } else {
+      Some(sym)
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+impl Drop for State {
+  fn drop(&mut self) {
+    unsafe {
+      xkb_state_unref(self.state);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+#[derive(Error, Debug)]
+pub enum StateError {
+  #[error("could not create xkb state")]
+  FailedCreation(),
+}
diff --git a/espanso/src/main.rs b/espanso/src/main.rs
index 89a233e..3c2bbd2 100644
--- a/espanso/src/main.rs
+++ b/espanso/src/main.rs
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ fn main() {
   let handle = std::thread::spawn(move || {
     let injector = get_injector(Default::default()).unwrap();
     let mut source = get_source(SourceCreationOptions {
+      use_evdev: true,
       hotkeys: vec![
         HotKey::new(1, "OPTION+SPACE").unwrap(),
         HotKey::new(2, "CTRL+OPTION+3").unwrap(),