/osx-compose-key

Utilities for my custom OS X compose key.

Primary LanguageShell

What is a compose key?

A "compose" key is an input method used for complex characters. It allows you to press your compose key (I bind mine to right-alt on my mac keyboard), and then type something, for instance:

  • [Compose], +, 1 = 👍
  • [Compose], s, h, r, u, g = ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This repo contains my compose key setup but should easily allow you to create your own powerful compositions. The DefaultKeyBinding.dict file contains a tree of "composition". I entertain pull requests to add new shortcuts you feel are important to your day to day.

You can read more about it on the blog that inspired this setup.

Setting up a "Compose Key" in Mac OS X

Install Karabiner for remapping keys support, and download these files into the correct places:

brew cask install karabiner
mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Karabiner
curl 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gnarf/osx-compose-key/master/private.xml' -o ~/Library/Application\ Support/Karabiner/private.xml
mkdir -p ~/Library/KeyBindings
curl 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gnarf/osx-compose-key/master/DefaultKeyBinding.dict' -o ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict

In Karabiner, enable "Send § for Right Option" (or right command if you use right alt):

screenshot

Note: changes to ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict require quitting and restarting any apps you want to test them in.