Getting an event on input()

Question

I want to get an event or at least run a function each time the input() function is called. This should happen without wrapping the input function in any way.

Is there a way to get an event or some signal that the input() function is called without modifying it directly?

Answer 1

Since Python 3.8, one can use an audit event to get notified on input calls. This allows to specify a hook which gets called on all events and may filter out the input and its prompt.

import sys

def intercept_input(event, *args):
    # the hook is called on all events
    # only react if it is an interesting one
    if event == "builtins.input":
        # the only input argument is the prompt message
        prompt, = args
        print("Querying for input as", repr(prompt))


sys.addaudithook(intercept_input)
input("Hello?")

See the sys.addaudithook function on how audit hooks work, and the audit event table for the events an audit hook receives.

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Note that if the intention is to capture the input, then wrapping input and replacing it in builtins.input is both simpler and faster.