macOS 14 and later · menu bar app · one config file
True hotkeys for macOS.Nothing less, nothing more.
One plain‑text file. Any key becomes a command: a shell script, Python, AppleScript, a menu item, a keystroke. And it fires only when the app or window you named is in front.
Built for people who live in a terminal, an IDE and a browser and want the keyboard to do the walking.
Config as code
YAML with comments and macros. Lives in Application Support, so it goes into git and travels with your dotfiles. Reload from the menu or from a hotkey. No settings UI, ever.
Context aware
currentApp("com.apple.dt.Xcode"), currentWindowContains("Emulator"), currentProcessEquals("mc"). The same key, a different job in every app, and an else branch for the rest.
Run anything
Shell commands run in your login shell, so your PATH, brew and virtualenvs just work. AppleScript inline or as a block. open an app, a file, a URL.
Send keystrokes
sendKeys("control-comma"). Give a Mac app the shortcut it never had, remap Home and End per app, chain keys after a script.
Menu items by name
openMenuItem("Google Chrome", "View", "Reload This Page"). Any menu, any app, no screen coordinates, no recording of clicks.
Modifier‑only hotkeys
⌥⇧ alone switches the keyboard layout, the way it does on Windows. Any combination of modifiers, no letter required.
Forward or consume
forward: true runs your action and still lets the key through to the app. forward: false swallows it. Per hotkey, no surprises.
Keyboard layouts
switchKeyboardLayout(us, ru) flips between any two input sources. displayAvailableKeyboardInputSources() lists their ids so you never guess.
Developer contexts
Android Emulator, iOS Simulator, Xcode, JetBrains, Chrome, Terminal, mc recognised out of the box. displayActiveWindowInfo() shows any app's bundle id and window title.
Native and light
Swift and a CGEvent tap, not Electron. The key is handled before the app in front even sees it. No polling loop, no dock icon, nothing to notice until you press a key.
Private
No account, no telemetry, no cloud. Your config never leaves the Mac. The only network call is validating your license key.
Free to start
Ten hotkeys free, no clock. A license unlocks the rest on three Macs, and updates arrive in‑app or through Homebrew.
ExamplesReal lines from real configs. Copy, paste, change the app name.
What people actually put in the file.
Four corners of one config. The full reference lives in the docs.
hotkeys:
_#2: runApp("Xcode")
_#3: runApp("AppCode")
_#p: runApp("PyCharm")
# previous and next tab, the way every other IDE does it^!left:
currentApp("com.apple.dt.Xcode"): sendKeys("control-comma")
^!right:
currentApp("com.apple.dt.Xcode"): sendKeys("control-dot")
# which app is this, what is its bundle id, what is the window called^!#\: displayActiveWindowInfo()
Put the IDEs on ⌘2, ⌘3, ⌘P and stop hunting the dock.
hotkeys:
f5:
currentAppChrome(): openMenuItem("Google Chrome", "View", "Reload This Page")
# Home and End that behave like everywhere else, only in the browserhome:
currentAppChrome(): sendKeys("command-up")
end:
currentAppChrome(): sendKeys("command-down")
_#l: runApp("Telegram")
_#semicolon: runApp("Discord")
^#o: runApp("System Settings")
Keys without a matching context pass straight through, so Home keeps doing its normal thing in every other app.
macros:
ADB: ~/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools/adb
hotkeys:
# hardware keys for the emulator, no mouse trip to the side baresc:
currentWindowAndroidEmulator: ADB -e shell input keyevent KEYCODE_BACK
f1:
currentWindowAndroidEmulator: ADB -e shell input keyevent KEYCODE_HOME
f2:
currentWindowAndroidEmulator: ADB -e shell input keyevent KEYCODE_APP_SWITCH
# the simulator gets its own branch of the same key_#esc:
currentAppSimulatorIos(): sendKeys("command-shift-h")
else: runApp("Android Studio")
Context by window title needs Screen Recording, macOS hides titles otherwise. Hotkeys asks once, only if your config uses it.
hotkeys:
# shell, in your login shell, so ~/bin and the venv are on PATH^!#t: ~/bin/timesheet.py start
_#f11: ~/bin/textshot.sh
# AppleScript, one line or a blockf4: osascript -e 'display dialog "Hello world"'f9:
currentApp("com.apple.dt.Xcode"):
appleScript: |
tell application id "com.jetbrains.fleet"activateend tell# the file that edits itselff10: openConfig()
_#f10: reloadConfig()
Anything that works in Terminal works here. Same shell, same PATH, same profile.
Free for ten hotkeys. Cheap for all of them.
A license key unlocks everything on up to three Macs. No account, the key arrives by email.
Hotkeys checks for updates on launch and installs them in place. Homebrew users can also run brew upgrade --cask hotkeys.
It needs the Accessibility permission, that is what lets it see and send keystrokes. Screen Recording is asked only if your config uses window‑title contexts.
Hotkeys Lite is the App Store edition. Sandboxed and permission‑free, it fires apps, files and scripts from a key. Sending keystrokes, opening menu items, mouse actions and modifier‑only hotkeys need the app above.
QuestionsEverything else is in the docs or one email away.
Why does it need Accessibility?
That permission is what lets an app see keystrokes meant for other apps and send its own. Every hotkey tool asks for it. Screen Recording is asked for separately and only if your config uses a window‑title context, because macOS hides other apps' window titles without it.
Can one key do a different job in every app?
That is what contexts are for. A context is a built‑in method that answers yes or no about the app in front. Put it under the key and the branch below it runs only when the answer is yes, with else for everywhere else.
Hotkeys reads the file when it starts and when you choose Reload config in the menu bar. Saving alone changes nothing, there is no file watcher. Give both a key and you never touch the menu again: f10: openConfig() to open it, _#f10: reloadConfig() to reload it.
How do I find out what an app is called?
Bind displayActiveWindowInfo() to a key and press it while the app is in front. The dialog shows the bundle id, the process name and the window title, which are exactly the strings a context takes, as in currentApp("com.apple.dt.Xcode").
Does the app in front still receive the key?
No, a matched hotkey is consumed and the app never sees it. If the key has contexts and none of them match, it passes through untouched. forward overrides both, so you can let the key through after your action, or swallow it even when nothing matched.
Does it phone home?
No accounts, no analytics, no crash reporters. Hotkeys validates your license key with Polar once on activation and about once a week afterwards, and keeps working for thirty days offline.
Can I move my license to another Mac?
A key activates on three Macs. Choose Deactivate in the License menu on the old one and the slot is free again. Lost the email? Your keys and invoices are in the customer portal.
Where is the config file?
~/Library/Application Support/hotkeys/hotkeys.yml. The Edit config menu item opens it, and a commented template is written on first run.
Is there a trial?
The free tier is the trial: ten hotkeys, every action type, no clock. Buy when you run out of keys.
Something is broken, or I want a refund.
Write to [email protected] or open an issue on GitHub. Most problems are a one‑line config fix and get answered the same day. Refunds go through Polar, just ask.
Nothing less, nothing more.
Ten hotkeys free, the rest for the price of a coffee.
Hotkeys
