Announcing Keyshift: A performance focused keyboard remapping and layering software
submitted a month ago by hirak99@lemmy.ml edited a month ago
I'm excited to introduce Keyshift, a performance-focused and easy-to-configure keyboard remapping software that I've been developing. I've been using it for some time, and I'm really happy with the results!
A layering software allows you to create your own Fn key equivalents. You can also have multiple of them.
With Keyshift, you can do the following and more:
- Remap Keys: Use
--config="A=B"
to remap A to B, or--config="A=B;B=A"
to swap keys. - Layer Keys: Try
--config="CAPSLOCK+1=F1"
to layer keys easily. - Layer Keys with Original Key Intact: For example,
--config="CAPSLOCK+1=F1;CAPSLOCK+nothing=CAPSLOCK"
keeps the original key functional. - Surround Keys: With
--config="LEFTSHIFT=LEFTSHIFT;LEFTSHIFT+ESC=GRAVE;LEFTSHIFT+*=*"
, you can type "~" using Shift+Esc.
Full call example -
sudo keyshift --config "A=B;B=A" \
--kbd /dev/input/by-id/usb-ITE_Tech._Inc._ITE_Device_8910_-event-kbd
You can also create a config-file with all mappings, which is the recommended way to use it. You can add this to your startup (or udev if you want) to make the mapping permanent.
The main difference from KMonad is Keyshift's focus on performance and a newer remapping syntax.
I invite you to give it a try and share your feedback!
Does it work on Wayland?
Yes, it works on Wayland.
Since Keyshift interacts directly with input devices, it’s independent of the desktop system, so it works seamlessly on Wayland, X11, and even in terminal environments.
Fucking finally
I'm a happy user of input-remapper (AUR). I use it to replace PageUp/PageDown with Home/End keys on my Laptop. How does your tool compared to that?
Feedback: Can you add an example systemd service? Or it would be even better if the PKGBUILD would install it, I've seen a lot of software which adds a disabled service, so you just have to enable and start it.
Thanks for sharing your experience with input-remapper—glad to hear it’s working well for you! I wasn’t familiar with it before, but after looking into it a bit, here are some initial comparisons:
CAPSLOCK+1 = F1
orDELETE+BACKSPACE = VOLUMEUP
, making it easy to define combinations similar to a laptop’s Fn key functionality with added flexibility. I’m not sure if input-remapper offers something similar, but would be interested to hear more!If input-remapper meets all your needs, there’s no reason to switch, though I’d still love any feedback if you decide to try Keyshift.
Feedback noted on the systemd example—I’ll include it. On installing a service in PKGBUILD, since it requires a keyboard device, I’ll need to rework it a bit—opened an issue here. Thanks again for the insights!