hott

Simple global hotkeys for Windows, with node

Install

npm i hott -g

Configuration

Hott currently has to be manually configured in the .hott file found in your home directory (%USERPROFILE%). The basic structure of a hotkey config file is:

[{
	"key": "VK_KEY_K",
	"modifiers": ["MOD_CONTROL", "MOD_SHIFT"],
	"cmd": "start chrome"
}]

• key: The virtual key code identifier for the key that the hotkey is bound against.
• modifiers: (optional) An array of modifier keys (currently, it must be an array - even if it only has one item). Valid modifier keys are MOD_SHIFT, MOD_ALT, and MOD_CONTROL.
• cmd: A string which will be executed using child_process.exec when the hotkey is triggered.

Programmatic usage

You can also use hott within scripts to establish (currently only global) key bindings and exec code, or invoke callbacks, when the hotkeys are pressed.

var hott = require('hott').Api;

// Register a hotkey to execute some code (using child_process.exec)
hott.registerHotkey(
	"VK_NUMPAD5",
	["MOD_SHIFT"],
	"node %USERPROFILE%/Documents/my-script.js --some_param=5",
	function(err, stdout, stderr) {
		// Callback to be passed to child_process.exec
	});

// Now accepting callbacks too
hott.registerHotkey("VK_NUMPAD8", ["MOD_SHIFT"], function onShiftEightPressed() {
	/* ... */
});

// Eval javascript!
hott.registerHotkey("VK_NUMPAD2", ["MOD_ALT"], {js: 'console.log("Yowzah!")'});

// Or spawn a process
hott.registerHotkey("VK_NUMPAD9", ["MOD_CONTROL"], {
	spawn: {
		cmd: 'node',
		args: ['--harmony', './src/index.js'],
		opts: {
			cwd: './src'
		}
	}
});

// You MUST then tell hott to monitor for the hotkeys being pressed!
// You can pass in options if you want (currently only poll-rate, in ms)
hott.monitorHotkeys({ poll: 50 });

How it works

Hott uses native winapi methods to register global hotkeys, and monitors them using a daemonised process that always runs in the background. You can manually stop and restart the daemon using:

hott stop

and

hott start

TODO

• CLI actions for adding, modifying and removing shortcuts more easily.
• Watching the .hott file for changes and refreshing the daemon as required.
• Non-global key-binding via API.