SXHKD(1)

NAME
sxhkd - Simple X hotkey daemon

SYNOPSIS

sxhkd [OPTIONS] [EXTRA_CONFIG ...]

DESCRIPTION

sxhkd is a simple X hotkey daemon with a powerful and compact configuration syntax.

OPTIONS

-h
    Print the synopsis to standard output and exit.

-v
    Print the version information to standard output and exit.

-m COUNT
    Handle the first COUNT mapping notify events.

-t TIMEOUT
    Timeout in seconds for the recording of chord chains.

-c CONFIG_FILE
    Read the main configuration from the given file.

-r REDIR_FILE
    Redirect the commands output to the given file.

-s STATUS_FIFO
    Output status information to the given FIFO.

-f FREQUENCY
    Set the maximum frequency for motion events.

BEHAVIOR

sxhkd is a daemon that listens to keyboard events and execute commands.

It reads its configuration file from $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/sxhkd/sxhkdrc by default, or from the given file if the -c option is used.

Additionnal configuration files can be passed as arguments.

If sxhkd receives a SIGUSR1 signal, it will reload its configuration file.

The commands are executed via SHELL -c COMMAND (hence you can use environment variables).

SHELL will be the content of the first defined environment variable in the following list: SXHKD_SHELL, SHELL.

If you have a non-QWERTY keyboard or a non-standard layout configuration, you should provide a COUNT of 1 to the -m option or -1 (interpreted as infinity) if you constantly switch from one layout to the other (sxhkd ignores all mapping notify events by default because the majority of those events are pointless).

CONFIGURATION

Each line of the configuration file is interpreted as so:

    • If it is empty or starts with #, it is ignored.

    • If it starts with a space, it is read as a command.

    • Otherwise, it is read as a hotkey.

General syntax:

    HOTKEY
        COMMAND
    HOTKEY     := CHORD_1 ; CHORD_2 ; ... ; CHORD_n
    CHORD_i    := [MODIFIER_i] [@|!|~]KEYSYM_i
    MODIFIER_i := MODIFIER_i1 + MODIFIER_i2 + ... + MODIFIER_ik

The valid modifier names are: super, hyper, meta, alt, control, ctrl, shift, mode_switch, lock, mod1, mod2, mod3, mod4, mod5 and any.

The keysym names are given by the output of xev.

Hotkeys and commands can be spread across multiple lines by ending each partial line with a backslash character.

When multiple chords are separated by semicolons, the hotkey is a chord chain: the command will only be executed after receiving each chord of the chain in consecutive order.

The colon character can be used instead of the semicolon to indicate that the chord chain shall not be aborted when the chain tail is reached.

The Escape key can be used to abort a chord chain.

If @ is added at the beginning of the keysym, the command will be run on key release events, otherwise on key press events.

If ! is added at the beginning of the keysym, the command will be run on motion notify events and must contain two integer conversion specifications which will be replaced by the x and y coordinates of the pointer relative to the root window referential (the only valid button keysyms for this type of hotkeys are: button1, ..., button5).

If ~ is added at the beginning of the keysym, the captured event will be replayed for the other clients.

Mouse hotkeys can be defined by using one of the following special keysym names: button1, button2, button3, ..., button24.

The hotkey and the command may contain sequences of the form {STRING_1,...,STRING_N}.

In addition, the sequences can contain ranges of the form A-Z where A and Z are alphanumeric characters.

The underscore character represents an empty sequence element.

EXAMPLE BINDINGS

    XF86Audio{Prev,Next}
        mpc -q {prev,next}
    @XF86LaunchA
        scrot -s -e 'image_viewer $f'
    super + shift + equal
        sxiv -rt "$HOME/image"
    XF86LaunchB
        xdotool selectwindow | xsel -bi
    super + {h,j,k,l}
        bspc window -f {left,down,up,right}
    super + alt + {0-9}
        mpc -q seek {0-9}0%
    super + {alt,ctrl,alt + ctrl} + XF86Eject
        sudo systemctl {suspend,reboot,poweroff}
    ~button1
        bspc pointer -g focus
    super + button{1-3}
        bspc pointer -g {move,resize_side,resize_corner}
    super + !button{1-3}
        bspc pointer -t %i %i
    super + {_,shift + }{h,j,k,l}
        bspc window {-f,-s} {left,down,up,right}
    {_,shift + ,super + }XF86MonBrightness{Down,Up}
        bright {-1,-10,min,+1,+10,max}
    super + o ; {e,w,m}
        {gvim,firefox,thunderbird}
    super + m : {h,j,k,l}
        xdo move {-x -5,-y +5,-y -5,-x +5}
    super + alt + control + {h,j,k,l} ; {0-9}
        bspc window -e {left,down,up,right} 0.{0-9}
    super + alt + p
        bspc config focus_follows_pointer {true,false}

AUTHOR

Bastien Dejean <nihilhill at gmail.com>

MAILING LIST

sxhkd at librelist.com