fix: omit mouse activity from process-unmapped-keys (#1880)
fix: avoid leaks in custom actions (#1853)
fix: make td-eager first custom action press work (#1852)
fix: evaluate switch transparency correctly (#1885)
fix(oneshot): release other actions on same key (#1881)
fix(jis,winiov2): add mapping for hiragana/katakana (#1893)
fix(jis,winiov2): add mapping for yen/pipe key (#1886)
feat: add --no-wait flag to skip exit prompt (#1872)
feat: add string mappings for keypad parenthesis keys (#1871)
feat: add tap-hold-tap-keys action (#1866)
feat(linux): add VID/PID to --list output (#1857)
doc: adjust transparent keys (#1888)
doc: clarify setmouse platforms and coordinates (#1883)
doc: reference tap-hold discussion and docs
doc: add push-msg action documentation and sample config (#1867)
doc: add comprehensive TCP protocol documentation (#1868)
doc: fix dead link for keys list (#1856)
doc(linux): update kanata setup and uinput instructions (#1891)

Download the appropriate kanata-windows-variant.zip file for your machine CPU. Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Optionally, download kanata.kbd. With the two files in the same directory, you can double-click the extracted .exe file to start kanata. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for tips to run kanata in the background.

You need to run via cmd or powershell to use a different configuration file:

kanata_windows_binaryvariant.exe --cfg <cfg_file>

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• x64 vs. arm64:
  • Select x64 if your machine's CPU is Intel or AMD. If ARM, use arm64.
• tty vs gui:
  • tty runs in a terminal, gui runs as a system tray application
• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application
• winIOv2 vs. wintercept
  • winIOv2 uses the LLHOOK and SendInput Windows mechanisms to intercept and send events.
  • wintercept uses the Interception driver. Beware of its known issue that disables keyboards and mice until system reboot: Link to issue.
    • you will need to install the driver using the release or from the copy in this repo.
    • the benefit of using this driver is that it is a lower-level mechanism than Windows hooks, and kanata will work in more applications.

wintercept installation

Steps to install the driver

• extract the .zip
• run a shell with administrator privilege
• run the script "command line installer/install-interception.exe"
• reboot

Additional installation steps

The above steps are those recommended by the interception driver author. However, I have found that those steps work inconsistently and sometimes the dll stops being able to be loaded. I suspect it has something to do with being installed in the privileged location of system32\drivers.

To help with the dll issue, you can copy the following file in the zip archive to the directory that kanata starts from: Interception\library\x64\interception.dll.

E.g. if you start kanata from your Documents folder, put the file there:

Example:

C:\Users\my_user\Documents\
    kanata_windows_wintercept_x64.exe
    kanata.kbd
    interception.dll

kanata_passthru_x64.dll

The Windows kanata_passthru_x64.dll file allows using Kanata as a library within AutoHotkey to avoid conflicts between keyboard hooks installed by both. You can channel keyboard input events received by AutoHotkey into Kanata's keyboard engine and get the transformed keyboard output events (per your Kanata config) that AutoHotkey can then send to the OS.

To make use of this, take kanata_passthru_x64.dll, then the simulated_passthru_ahk folder with a brief example, place the dll there, open kanata_passthru.ahk to read what the example does and then double-click to launch it.

Download the kanata-linux-x64.zip file.

Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Run the binary in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for how to set up kanata with systemd.

Example:

chmod +x kanata   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_linux_x64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

To avoid requiring sudo, follow the instructions here.

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application

The supported Karabiner driver version in this release is v6.2.0.

WARNING: macOS does not support mouse as input. The mbck and mfwd mouse button actions are also not operational.

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• x64 vs. arm64:
  • Select x64 if your machine's CPU is Intel. If ARM, use arm64.
• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application

Instructions for macOS 11 and newer

You must use the Karabiner driver version v6.2.0.

Please read through this issue comment:

#1264 (comment)

Also have a read through this discussion:

#1537

At some point it may be beneficial to provide concise and accurate instructions within this documentation. The maintainer (jtroo) does not own macOS devices to validate; please contribute the instructions to the file docs/release-template.md if you are able.

Install Karabiner driver for macOS 10 and older:

• Install the Karabiner kernel extension.

After installing the appropriate driver for your OS (both macOS <=10 and >=11)

Download the appropriate kanata-macos-variant.zip for your machine CPU.

Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Run the binary in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup.

Example:

chmod +x kanata_macos_arm64   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_macos_arm64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

Add permissions

If Kanata is not behaving correctly, you may need to add permissions. Please see this issue: link to macOS permissions issue.

• feat: add --no-wait flag to skip exit prompt (#1872)
• feat: add string mappings for keypad parenthesis keys (#1871)
• feat: add tap-hold-tap-keys action (#1866)
• feat(linux): add VID/PID to --list output (#1857)
• fix: omit mouse activity from process-unmapped-keys (#1880)
• fix: avoid leaks in custom actions (#1853)
• fix: make td-eager first custom action press work (#1852)
• fix: clippy warnings

Download the appropriate kanata-windows-variant.zip file for your machine CPU. Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Optionally, download kanata.kbd. With the two files in the same directory, you can double-click the extracted .exe file to start kanata. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for tips to run kanata in the background.

You need to run via cmd or powershell to use a different configuration file:

kanata_windows_binaryvariant.exe --cfg <cfg_file>

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• x64 vs. arm64:
  • Select x64 if your machine's CPU is Intel or AMD. If ARM, use arm64.
• tty vs gui:
  • tty runs in a terminal, gui runs as a system tray application
• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application
• winIOv2 vs. wintercept
  • winIOv2 uses the LLHOOK and SendInput Windows mechanisms to intercept and send events.
  • wintercept uses the Interception driver. Beware of its known issue that disables keyboards and mice until system reboot: Link to issue.
    • you will need to install the driver using the release or from the copy in this repo.
    • the benefit of using this driver is that it is a lower-level mechanism than Windows hooks, and kanata will work in more applications.

wintercept installation

Steps to install the driver

• extract the .zip
• run a shell with administrator privilege
• run the script "command line installer/install-interception.exe"
• reboot

Additional installation steps

The above steps are those recommended by the interception driver author. However, I have found that those steps work inconsistently and sometimes the dll stops being able to be loaded. I suspect it has something to do with being installed in the privileged location of system32\drivers.

To help with the dll issue, you can copy the following file in the zip archive to the directory that kanata starts from: Interception\library\x64\interception.dll.

E.g. if you start kanata from your Documents folder, put the file there:

Example:

C:\Users\my_user\Documents\
    kanata_windows_wintercept_x64.exe
    kanata.kbd
    interception.dll

kanata_passthru_x64.dll

The Windows kanata_passthru_x64.dll file allows using Kanata as a library within AutoHotkey to avoid conflicts between keyboard hooks installed by both. You can channel keyboard input events received by AutoHotkey into Kanata's keyboard engine and get the transformed keyboard output events (per your Kanata config) that AutoHotkey can then send to the OS.

To make use of this, take kanata_passthru_x64.dll, then the simulated_passthru_ahk folder with a brief example, place the dll there, open kanata_passthru.ahk to read what the example does and then double-click to launch it.

Download the kanata-linux-x64.zip file.

Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Run the binary in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for how to set up kanata with systemd.

Example:

chmod +x kanata   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_linux_x64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

To avoid requiring sudo, follow the instructions here.

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application

The supported Karabiner driver version in this release is v6.2.0.

WARNING: macOS does not support mouse as input. The mbck and mfwd mouse button actions are also not operational.

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• x64 vs. arm64:
  • Select x64 if your machine's CPU is Intel. If ARM, use arm64.
• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application

Instructions for macOS 11 and newer

You must use the Karabiner driver version v6.2.0.

Please read through this issue comment:

#1264 (comment)

Also have a read through this discussion:

#1537

At some point it may be beneficial to provide concise and accurate instructions within this documentation. The maintainer (jtroo) does not own macOS devices to validate; please contribute the instructions to the file docs/release-template.md if you are able.

Install Karabiner driver for macOS 10 and older:

• Install the Karabiner kernel extension.

After installing the appropriate driver for your OS (both macOS <=10 and >=11)

Download the appropriate kanata-macos-variant.zip for your machine CPU.

Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Run the binary in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup.

Example:

chmod +x kanata_macos_arm64   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_macos_arm64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

Add permissions

If Kanata is not behaving correctly, you may need to add permissions. Please see this issue: link to macOS permissions issue.

• fixed: a tap-hold that has been released but is pending is now able to tap
• fixed: output chord before or after an action using the same key now activates the key
• fixed: vkey press-release events on sequence completion are prioritized in the event queue
• fixed: more graceful handling of fast socket disconnection
• fixed: deflocalkeys no longer tries to parse other variants
• fixed: vkey actions no longer interfere with tap-hold tap repress
• fixed: XX action now works with switch action's input logic
• fixed(Windows): avoid double action activation on first wake after long idle time
• fixed(macOS): devices with empty names no longer cause a crash
• fixed(macOS): emit correct code for compose key
• added: reset-timeout-on-press as an option to tap-hold-release-timeout
• added: U+<hex_code> syntax for unicode action
• added: on-physical-idle action
• added: TCP commands for live reload of configuration
• added: --list flag to list devices for all platforms
• added: --cfg-stdin flag to read config from stdin instead of a file
• added: tap-hold-release-tap-keys-release which has a similar behaviour to QMK "chordal hold"
• added: mouse-accel actions for inertial scrolling
• added(Windows): non-Interception support for mouse buttons and scroll
• added(macOS): key mappings for EjectKey, IntlRo

Download the appropriate kanata-windows-variant.zip file for your machine CPU. Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Optionally, download kanata.kbd. With the two files in the same directory, you can double-click the extracted .exe file to start kanata. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for tips to run kanata in the background.

You need to run via cmd or powershell to use a different configuration file:

kanata_windows_binaryvariant.exe --cfg <cfg_file>

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• x64 vs. arm64:
  • Select x64 if your machine's CPU is Intel or AMD. If ARM, use arm64.
• tty vs gui:
  • tty runs in a terminal, gui runs as a system tray application
• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application
• winIOv2 vs. wintercept
  • winIOv2 uses the LLHOOK and SendInput Windows mechanisms to intercept and send events.
  • wintercept uses the Interception driver. Beware of its known issue that disables keyboards and mice until system reboot: Link to issue.
    • you will need to install the driver using the release or from the copy in this repo.
    • the benefit of using this driver is that it is a lower-level mechanism than Windows hooks, and kanata will work in more applications.

wintercept installation

Steps to install the driver

• extract the .zip
• run a shell with administrator privilege
• run the script "command line installer/install-interception.exe"
• reboot

Additional installation steps

The above steps are those recommended by the interception driver author. However, I have found that those steps work inconsistently and sometimes the dll stops being able to be loaded. I suspect it has something to do with being installed in the privileged location of system32\drivers.

To help with the dll issue, you can copy the following file in the zip archive to the directory that kanata starts from: Interception\library\x64\interception.dll.

E.g. if you start kanata from your Documents folder, put the file there:

Example:

C:\Users\my_user\Documents\
    kanata_windows_wintercept_x64.exe
    kanata.kbd
    interception.dll

kanata_passthru_x64.dll

The Windows kanata_passthru_x64.dll file allows using Kanata as a library within AutoHotkey to avoid conflicts between keyboard hooks installed by both. You can channel keyboard input events received by AutoHotkey into Kanata's keyboard engine and get the transformed keyboard output events (per your Kanata config) that AutoHotkey can then send to the OS.

To make use of this, take kanata_passthru_x64.dll, then the simulated_passthru_ahk folder with a brief example, place the dll there, open kanata_passthru.ahk to read what the example does and then double-click to launch it.

Download the kanata-linux-x64.zip file.

Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Run the binary in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for how to set up kanata with systemd.

Example:

chmod +x kanata   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_linux_x64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

To avoid requiring sudo, follow the instructions here.

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application

The supported Karabiner driver version in this release is v6.2.0.

WARNING: macOS does not support mouse as input. The mbck and mfwd mouse button actions are also not operational.

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• x64 vs. arm64:
  • Select x64 if your machine's CPU is Intel. If ARM, use arm64.
• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application

Instructions for macOS 11 and newer

You must use the Karabiner driver version v6.2.0.

Please read through this issue comment:

#1264 (comment)

Also have a read through this discussion:

#1537

At some point it may be beneficial to provide concise and accurate instructions within this documentation. The maintainer (jtroo) does not own macOS devices to validate; please contribute the instructions to the file docs/release-template.md if you are able.

Install Karabiner driver for macOS 10 and older:

• Install the Karabiner kernel extension.

After installing the appropriate driver for your OS (both macOS <=10 and >=11)

Download the appropriate kanata-macos-variant.zip for your machine CPU.

Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Run the binary in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup.

Example:

chmod +x kanata_macos_arm64   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_macos_arm64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

Add permissions

If Kanata is not behaving correctly, you may need to add permissions. Please see this issue: link to macOS permissions issue.

• fixed: a tap-hold that has been released but is pending is now able to tap
• fixed: output chord before or after an action using the same key now activates the key
• fixed: vkey press-release events on sequence completion are prioritized in the event queue
• fixed: more graceful handling of fast socket disconnection
• fixed: deflocalkeys no longer tries to parse other variants
• fixed: vkey actions no longer interfere with tap-hold tap repress
• fixed: XX action now works with switch action's input logic
• fixed(Windows): avoid double action activation on first wake after long idle time
• fixed(macOS): devices with empty names no longer cause a crash
• fixed(macOS): emit correct code for compose key
• added: reset-timeout-on-press as an option to tap-hold-release-timeout
• added: U+<hex_code> syntax for unicode action
• added: on-physical-idle action
• added: TCP commands for live reload of configuration
• added: --list flag to list devices for all platforms
• added: --cfg-stdin flag to read config from stdin instead of a file
• added: tap-hold-release-tap-keys-release which has a similar behaviour to QMK "chordal hold"
• added(Windows): non-Interception support for mouse buttons and scroll
• added(macOS): key mappings for EjectKey, IntlRo

Download the appropriate kanata-windows-variant.zip file for your machine CPU. Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Optionally, download kanata.kbd. With the two files in the same directory, you can double-click the extracted .exe file to start kanata. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for tips to run kanata in the background.

You need to run via cmd or powershell to use a different configuration file:

kanata_windows_binaryvariant.exe --cfg <cfg_file>

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• x64 vs. arm64:
  • Select x64 if your machine's CPU is Intel or AMD. If ARM, use arm64.
• tty vs gui:
  • tty runs in a terminal, gui runs as a system tray application
• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application
• winIOv2 vs. wintercept
  • winIOv2 uses the LLHOOK and SendInput Windows mechanisms to intercept and send events.
  • wintercept uses the Interception driver. Beware of its known issue that disables keyboards and mice until system reboot: Link to issue.
    • you will need to install the driver using the release or from the copy in this repo.
    • the benefit of using this driver is that it is a lower-level mechanism than Windows hooks, and kanata will work in more applications.

wintercept installation

Steps to install the driver

• extract the .zip
• run a shell with administrator privilege
• run the script "command line installer/install-interception.exe"
• reboot

Additional installation steps

The above steps are those recommended by the interception driver author. However, I have found that those steps work inconsistently and sometimes the dll stops being able to be loaded. I suspect it has something to do with being installed in the privileged location of system32\drivers.

To help with the dll issue, you can copy the following file in the zip archive to the directory that kanata starts from: Interception\library\x64\interception.dll.

E.g. if you start kanata from your Documents folder, put the file there:

Example:

C:\Users\my_user\Documents\
    kanata_windows_wintercept_x64.exe
    kanata.kbd
    interception.dll

kanata_passthru_x64.dll

The Windows kanata_passthru_x64.dll file allows using Kanata as a library within AutoHotkey to avoid conflicts between keyboard hooks installed by both. You can channel keyboard input events received by AutoHotkey into Kanata's keyboard engine and get the transformed keyboard output events (per your Kanata config) that AutoHotkey can then send to the OS.

To make use of this, take kanata_passthru_x64.dll, then the simulated_passthru_ahk folder with a brief example, place the dll there, open kanata_passthru.ahk to read what the example does and then double-click to launch it.

Download the kanata-linux-x64.zip file.

Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Run the binary in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for how to set up kanata with systemd.

Example:

chmod +x kanata   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_linux_x64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

To avoid requiring sudo, follow the instructions here.

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application

The supported Karabiner driver version in this release is v6.2.0.

WARNING: macOS does not support mouse as input. The mbck and mfwd mouse button actions are also not operational.

Binary variants

Explanation of items in the binary variant:

• x64 vs. arm64:
  • Select x64 if your machine's CPU is Intel. If ARM, use arm64.
• cmd_allowed vs. not
  • cmd_allowed allows the cmd actions; otherwise, they are compiled out of the application

Instructions for macOS 11 and newer

You must use the Karabiner driver version v6.2.0.

Please read through this issue comment:

#1264 (comment)

Also have a read through this discussion:

#1537

At some point it may be beneficial to provide concise and accurate instructions within this documentation. The maintainer (jtroo) does not own macOS devices to validate; please contribute the instructions to the file docs/release-template.md if you are able.

Install Karabiner driver for macOS 10 and older:

• Install the Karabiner kernel extension.

After installing the appropriate driver for your OS (both macOS <=10 and >=11)

Download the appropriate kanata-macos-variant.zip for your machine CPU.

Extract and move the desired binary variant to its intended location. Run the binary in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup.

Example:

chmod +x kanata_macos_arm64   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_macos_arm64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

Add permissions

If Kanata is not behaving correctly, you may need to add permissions. Please see this issue: link to macOS permissions issue.

• fixed: a tap-hold that has been released but is pending is now able to tap
• fixed: output chord before or after an action using the same key now activates the key
• fixed: vkey press-release events on sequence completion are prioritized in the event queue
• fixed: more graceful handling of fast socket disconnection
• fixed: deflocalkeys no longer tries to parse other variants
• fixed: vkey actions no longer interfere with tap-hold tap repress
• fixed: XX action now works with switch action's input logic
• fixed(Windows): avoid double action activation on first wake after long idle time
• fixed(macOS): devices with empty names no longer cause a crash
• fixed(macOS): emit correct code for compose key
• added: reset-timeout-on-press as an option to tap-hold-release-timeout
• added: U+<hex_code> syntax for unicode action
• added: on-physical-idle action
• added: TCP commands for live reload of configuration
• added: --list flag to list devices for all platforms
• added: --cfg-stdin flag to read config from stdin instead of a file
• added: tap-hold-release-tap-keys-release which has a similar behaviour to QMK "chordal hold"
• added(Windows): non-Interception support for mouse buttons and scroll
• added(macOS): key mappings for EjectKey, IntlRo

NOTE: All Windows binaries are compiled for x86-64 architectures only.

Download kanata.exe. Optionally, download kanata.kbd. With the two files in the same directory, you can double-click the exe to start kanata. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for tips to run kanata in the background.

You need to run kanata.exe via cmd or powershell to use a different configuration file:

kanata.exe --cfg <cfg_file>

NOTE: The kanata_winIOv2.exe variant contains an experimental breaking change that fixes an issue where the Windows LLHOOK+SendInput version of kanata does not handle defsrc consistently compared to other versions and other operating systems. This variant will be of interest to you for any of the following reasons:

• you are a new user
• you are a cross-platform user
• you use multiple language layouts within Windows and want kanata to handle the key positions consistently

This variant contains the same output change as in the scancode variant below, and also changes the input to also operate on scancodes.

NOTE: The kanata_legacy_output.exe variant has the same input defsrc handling as the standard kanata.exe file. It uses the same output mechanism as the standard kanata.exe variant in version 1.6.1 and earlier. In other words the formerly experimental_scancode variant is now the default binary. The non-legacy variants contain changes for an issue; the fix is omitted from this legacy variant. The legacy variant is included in case issues are found with the new output mechanism.

NOTE: All Linux binaries are compiled for x86 architectures only.

Download kanata.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for how to set up kanata with systemd.

chmod +x kanata   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata --cfg <cfg_file>`

To avoid requiring sudo, follow the instructions here.

WARNING: feature support on macOS is limited.

Instructions for macOS 11 and newer

You must use the Karabiner driver version v6.2.0.

Please read through this issue comment:

#1264 (comment)

Also have a read through this discussion:

#1537

Old instructions for macOS 11 and newer

sudo /Applications/.Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager activate

sudo '/Library/Application Support/org.pqrs/Karabiner-DriverKit-VirtualHIDDevice/Applications/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon'

Install Karabiner driver for macOS 10 and older:

• Install the Karabiner kernel extension.

After installing the appropriate driver for your OS (both macOS <=10 and >=11)

Download a kanata_macos variant.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup.

Example

chmod +x kanata_macos_arm64   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_macos_arm64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

Add permissions

If Kanata is not behaving correctly, you may need to add permissions. Please see this issue: link to macOS permissions issue.

The binaries with the name cmd_allowed are conditionally compiled with the cmd action enabled.

Using the regular binaries, there is no way to get the cmd action to work. This action is restricted behind conditional compilation because I consider the action to be a security risk that should be explicitly opted into and completely forbidden by default.

Warning: known issue

This issue in the Interception driver exists: oblitum/Interception#25. This will affect you if you put your PC to sleep instead of shutting it down, or if you frequently plug/unplug USB devices.

Description

These variants use the Interception driver instead of Windows hooks. You will need to install the driver using the release or from the copy in this repo. The benefit of using this driver is that it is a lower-level mechanism than Windows hooks. This means kanata will work in more applications.

Steps to install the driver

• extract the .zip
• run a shell with administrator privilege
• run the script "command line installer/install-interception.exe"
• reboot

Additional installation steps

The above steps are those recommended by the interception driver author. However, I have found that those steps work inconsistently and sometimes the dll stops being able to be loaded. I think it has something to do with being installed in the privileged location of system32\drivers.

To help with the dll issue, you can copy the following file in the zip archive to the directory that kanata starts from: Interception\library\x64\interception.dll.

E.g. if you start kanata from your Documents folder, put the file there:

C:\Users\my_user\Documents\
    kanata_wintercept.exe
    kanata.kbd
    interception.dll

The Windows kanata_passthru.dll file allows using Kanata as a library within AutoHotkey to avoid conflicts between keyboard hooks installed by both. You can channel keyboard input events received by AutoHotkey into Kanata's keyboard engine and get the transformed keyboard output events (per your Kanata config) that AutoHotkey can then send to the OS.

To make use of this, download kanata_passthru.dll, then the simulated_passthru_ahk folder with a brief example, place the dll there, open kanata_passthru.ahk to read what the example does and then double-click to launch it.

• fixed: a tap-hold that has been released but is pending is now able to tap
• fixed: output chord before or after an action using the same key now activates the key
• fixed: vkey press-release events on sequence completion are prioritized in the event queue
• fixed: more graceful handling of fast socket disconnection
• fixed: deflocalkeys no longer tries to parse other variants
• fixed: vkey actions no longer interfere with tap-hold tap repress
• fixed: XX action now works with switch action's input logic
• fixed(Windows): avoid double action activation on first wake after long idle time
• fixed(macOS): devices with empty names no longer cause a crash
• fixed(macOS): emit correct code for compose key
• added: reset-timeout-on-press as an option to tap-hold-release-timeout
• added: U+<hex_code> syntax for unicode action
• added: on-physical-idle action
• added: TCP commands for live reload of configuration
• added: --list flag to list devices for all platforms
• added: --cfg-stdin flag to read config from stdin instead of a file
• added: tap-hold-release-tap-keys-release which has a similar behaviour to QMK "chordal hold"
• added(Windows): non-Interception support for mouse buttons and scroll
• added(macOS): key mapping for EjectKey

NOTE: All Windows binaries are compiled for x86-64 architectures only.

Download kanata.exe. Optionally, download kanata.kbd. With the two files in the same directory, you can double-click the exe to start kanata. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for tips to run kanata in the background.

You need to run kanata.exe via cmd or powershell to use a different configuration file:

kanata.exe --cfg <cfg_file>

NOTE: The kanata_winIOv2.exe variant contains an experimental breaking change that fixes an issue where the Windows LLHOOK+SendInput version of kanata does not handle defsrc consistently compared to other versions and other operating systems. This variant will be of interest to you for any of the following reasons:

• you are a new user
• you are a cross-platform user
• you use multiple language layouts within Windows and want kanata to handle the key positions consistently

This variant contains the same output change as in the scancode variant below, and also changes the input to also operate on scancodes.

NOTE: The kanata_legacy_output.exe variant has the same input defsrc handling as the standard kanata.exe file. It uses the same output mechanism as the standard kanata.exe variant in version 1.6.1 and earlier. In other words the formerly experimental_scancode variant is now the default binary. The non-legacy variants contain changes for an issue; the fix is omitted from this legacy variant. The legacy variant is included in case issues are found with the new output mechanism.

NOTE: All Linux binaries are compiled for x86 architectures only.

Download kanata.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for how to set up kanata with systemd.

chmod +x kanata   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata --cfg <cfg_file>`

To avoid requiring sudo, follow the instructions here.

WARNING: feature support on macOS is limited.

Instructions for macOS 11 and newer

Please read through this issue comment:

#1264 (comment)

Also have a read through this discussion:

#1537

Old instructions for macOS 11 and newer

sudo /Applications/.Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager activate

sudo '/Library/Application Support/org.pqrs/Karabiner-DriverKit-VirtualHIDDevice/Applications/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon'

Install Karabiner driver for macOS 10 and older:

• Install the Karabiner kernel extension.

After installing the appropriate driver for your OS (both macOS <=10 and >=11)

Download a kanata_macos variant.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup.

Example

chmod +x kanata_macos_arm64   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_macos_arm64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

Add permissions

If Kanata is not behaving correctly, you may need to add permissions. Please see this issue: link to macOS permissions issue.

The binaries with the name cmd_allowed are conditionally compiled with the cmd action enabled.

Using the regular binaries, there is no way to get the cmd action to work. This action is restricted behind conditional compilation because I consider the action to be a security risk that should be explicitly opted into and completely forbidden by default.

Warning: known issue

This issue in the Interception driver exists: oblitum/Interception#25. This will affect you if you put your PC to sleep instead of shutting it down, or if you frequently plug/unplug USB devices.

Description

These variants use the Interception driver instead of Windows hooks. You will need to install the driver using the release or from the copy in this repo. The benefit of using this driver is that it is a lower-level mechanism than Windows hooks. This means kanata will work in more applications.

Steps to install the driver

• extract the .zip
• run a shell with administrator privilege
• run the script "command line installer/install-interception.exe"
• reboot

Additional installation steps

The above steps are those recommended by the interception driver author. However, I have found that those steps work inconsistently and sometimes the dll stops being able to be loaded. I think it has something to do with being installed in the privileged location of system32\drivers.

To help with the dll issue, you can copy the following file in the zip archive to the directory that kanata starts from: Interception\library\x64\interception.dll.

E.g. if you start kanata from your Documents folder, put the file there:

C:\Users\my_user\Documents\
    kanata_wintercept.exe
    kanata.kbd
    interception.dll

The Windows kanata_passthru.dll file allows using Kanata as a library within AutoHotkey to avoid conflicts between keyboard hooks installed by both. You can channel keyboard input events received by AutoHotkey into Kanata's keyboard engine and get the transformed keyboard output events (per your Kanata config) that AutoHotkey can then send to the OS.

To make use of this, download kanata_passthru.dll, then the simulated_passthru_ahk folder with a brief example, place the dll there, open kanata_passthru.ahk to read what the example does and then double-click to launch it.

• Added: name change of tap-timeout to tap-repress-timeout
• Added: capability to tap a key on mouse movement
• Added (Linux): configuration item for customizing kanata device name for uinput
• Added (macOS): mappings for Lang1/Lang2, for Japanese keyboard
• Fixed (macOS): unicode should now work properly in all applications

NOTE: All Windows binaries are compiled for x86-64 architectures only.

Download kanata.exe. Optionally, download kanata.kbd. With the two files in the same directory, you can double-click the exe to start kanata. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for tips to run kanata in the background.

You need to run kanata.exe via cmd or powershell to use a different configuration file:

kanata.exe --cfg <cfg_file>

NOTE: The kanata_winIOv2.exe variant contains an experimental breaking change that fixes an issue where the Windows LLHOOK+SendInput version of kanata does not handle defsrc consistently compared to other versions and other operating systems. This variant will be of interest to you for any of the following reasons:

• you are a new user
• you are a cross-platform user
• you use multiple language layouts within Windows and want kanata to handle the key positions consistently

This variant contains the same output change as in the scancode variant below, and also changes the input to also operate on scancodes.

NOTE: The kanata_legacy_output.exe variant has the same input defsrc handling as the standard kanata.exe file. It uses the same output mechanism as the standard kanata.exe variant in version 1.6.1 and earlier. In other words the formerly experimental_scancode variant is now the default binary. The non-legacy variants contain changes for an issue; the fix is omitted from this legacy variant. The legacy variant is included in case issues are found with the new output mechanism.

NOTE: All Linux binaries are compiled for x86 architectures only.

Download kanata.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for how to set up kanata with systemd.

chmod +x kanata   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata --cfg <cfg_file>`

To avoid requiring sudo, follow the instructions here.

WARNING: feature support on macOS is limited.

Instructions for macOS 11 and newer

Please read through this issue comment:

#1264 (comment)

Also have a read through this discussion:

#1537

Old instructions for macOS 11 and newer

sudo /Applications/.Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager activate

sudo '/Library/Application Support/org.pqrs/Karabiner-DriverKit-VirtualHIDDevice/Applications/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon'

Install Karabiner driver for macOS 10 and older:

• Install the Karabiner kernel extension.

After installing the appropriate driver for your OS (both macOS <=10 and >=11)

Download a kanata_macos variant.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup.

Example

chmod +x kanata_macos_arm64   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_macos_arm64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

Add permissions

If Kanata is not behaving correctly, you may need to add permissions. Please see this issue: link to macOS permissions issue.

The binaries with the name cmd_allowed are conditionally compiled with the cmd action enabled.

Using the regular binaries, there is no way to get the cmd action to work. This action is restricted behind conditional compilation because I consider the action to be a security risk that should be explicitly opted into and completely forbidden by default.

Warning: known issue

This issue in the Interception driver exists: oblitum/Interception#25. This will affect you if you put your PC to sleep instead of shutting it down, or if you frequently plug/unplug USB devices.

Description

These variants use the Interception driver instead of Windows hooks. You will need to install the driver using the release or from the copy in this repo. The benefit of using this driver is that it is a lower-level mechanism than Windows hooks. This means kanata will work in more applications.

Steps to install the driver

• extract the .zip
• run a shell with administrator privilege
• run the script "command line installer/install-interception.exe"
• reboot

Additional installation steps

The above steps are those recommended by the interception driver author. However, I have found that those steps work inconsistently and sometimes the dll stops being able to be loaded. I think it has something to do with being installed in the privileged location of system32\drivers.

To help with the dll issue, you can copy the following file in the zip archive to the directory that kanata starts from: Interception\library\x64\interception.dll.

E.g. if you start kanata from your Documents folder, put the file there:

C:\Users\my_user\Documents\
    kanata_wintercept.exe
    kanata.kbd
    interception.dll

The Windows kanata_passthru.dll file allows using Kanata as a library within AutoHotkey to avoid conflicts between keyboard hooks installed by both. You can channel keyboard input events received by AutoHotkey into Kanata's keyboard engine and get the transformed keyboard output events (per your Kanata config) that AutoHotkey can then send to the OS.

To make use of this, download kanata_passthru.dll, then the simulated_passthru_ahk folder with a brief example, place the dll there, open kanata_passthru.ahk to read what the example does and then double-click to launch it.

• Added: more key names
• Added(macOS): add missing mappings for F keys
• Fix: TCP layer names response now returns layers correctly
• Fix(macOS): allow devices with null product strings, preventing some crashes
• Fix(Windows): fix screenshot output for non-scancode read with scancode output (default binary behaviour)

NOTE: All Windows binaries are compiled for x86-64 architectures only.

Download kanata.exe. Optionally, download kanata.kbd. With the two files in the same directory, you can double-click the exe to start kanata. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for tips to run kanata in the background.

You need to run kanata.exe via cmd or powershell to use a different configuration file:

kanata.exe --cfg <cfg_file>

NOTE: The kanata_winIOv2.exe variant contains an experimental breaking change that fixes an issue where the Windows LLHOOK+SendInput version of kanata does not handle defsrc consistently compared to other versions and other operating systems. This variant will be of interest to you for any of the following reasons:

• you are a new user
• you are a cross-platform user
• you use multiple language layouts within Windows and want kanata to handle the key positions consistently

This variant contains the same output change as in the scancode variant below, and also changes the input to also operate on scancodes.

NOTE: The kanata_legacy_output.exe variant has the same input defsrc handling as the standard kanata.exe file. It uses the same output mechanism as the standard kanata.exe variant in version 1.6.1 and earlier. In other words the formerly experimental_scancode variant is now the default binary. The non-legacy variants contain changes for an issue; the fix is omitted from this legacy variant. The legacy variant is included in case issues are found with the new output mechanism.

NOTE: All Linux binaries are compiled for x86 architectures only.

Download kanata.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for how to set up kanata with systemd.

chmod +x kanata   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata --cfg <cfg_file>`

To avoid requiring sudo, follow the instructions here.

WARNING: feature support on macOS is limited.

Instructions for macOS 11 and newer

Please read through this issue comment:

#1264 (comment)

Also have a read through this discussion:

#1537

Old instructions for macOS 11 and newer

sudo /Applications/.Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager activate

sudo '/Library/Application Support/org.pqrs/Karabiner-DriverKit-VirtualHIDDevice/Applications/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon'

Install Karabiner driver for macOS 10 and older:

• Install the Karabiner kernel extension.

After installing the appropriate driver for your OS (both macOS <=10 and >=11)

Download a kanata_macos variant.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup.

Example

chmod +x kanata_macos_arm64   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_macos_arm64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

If the above shows Kanata running but keys are not being sent, you may need to add permissions: #1211.

The binaries with the name cmd_allowed are conditionally compiled with the cmd action enabled.

Using the regular binaries, there is no way to get the cmd action to work. This action is restricted behind conditional compilation because I consider the action to be a security risk that should be explicitly opted into and completely forbidden by default.

Warning: known issue

This issue in the Interception driver exists: oblitum/Interception#25. This will affect you if you put your PC to sleep instead of shutting it down, or if you frequently plug/unplug USB devices.

Description

These variants use the Interception driver instead of Windows hooks. You will need to install the driver using the release or from the copy in this repo. The benefit of using this driver is that it is a lower-level mechanism than Windows hooks. This means kanata will work in more applications.

Steps to install the driver

• extract the .zip
• run a shell with administrator privilege
• run the script "command line installer/install-interception.exe"
• reboot

Additional installation steps

The above steps are those recommended by the interception driver author. However, I have found that those steps work inconsistently and sometimes the dll stops being able to be loaded. I think it has something to do with being installed in the privileged location of system32\drivers.

To help with the dll issue, you can copy the following file in the zip archive to the directory that kanata starts from: Interception\library\x64\interception.dll.

E.g. if you start kanata from your Documents folder, put the file there:

C:\Users\my_user\Documents\
    kanata_wintercept.exe
    kanata.kbd
    interception.dll

The Windows kanata_passthru.dll file allows using Kanata as a library within AutoHotkey to avoid conflicts between keyboard hooks installed by both. You can channel keyboard input events received by AutoHotkey into Kanata's keyboard engine and get the transformed keyboard output events (per your Kanata config) that AutoHotkey can then send to the OS.

To make use of this, download kanata_passthru.dll, then the simulated_passthru_ahk folder with a brief example, place the dll there, open kanata_passthru.ahk to read what the example does and then double-click to launch it.

• Added: clipboard actions
• Added: use-defsrc action
• Added: zippychord, yet another chording implementation intended primarily for text expansion
• Added: chordsv2 is no longer marked experimental; using -experimental now generates a warning
• Added: macro variant that cancels on another press
• Added: hold-for-duration action for virtual keys
• Added: one-shot-pause-processing action
• Added: all-except configuration for process-unmapped-keys
• Added: template-expand is now allowed within deftemplate
• Added(macOS): now uses the v5 karabiner driver
• Added(macOS): macos-dev-names-exclude
• Fix(Windows): keypad enter now works when passed through without remapping
• Fix(macOS): mouse drag now works
• Fix(Linux): improve device identification
• Fix(Linux): fix unbounded reading of an endless device event stream

NOTE: All Windows binaries are compiled for x86-64 architectures only.

Download kanata.exe. Optionally, download kanata.kbd. With the two files in the same directory, you can double-click the exe to start kanata. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for tips to run kanata in the background.

You need to run kanata.exe via cmd or powershell to use a different configuration file:

kanata.exe --cfg <cfg_file>

NOTE: The kanata_winIOv2.exe variant contains an experimental breaking change that fixes an issue where the Windows LLHOOK+SendInput version of kanata does not handle defsrc consistently compared to other versions and other operating systems. This variant will be of interest to you for any of the following reasons:

• you are a new user
• you are a cross-platform user
• you use multiple language layouts within Windows and want kanata to handle the key positions consistently

This variant contains the same output change as in the scancode variant below, and also changes the input to also operate on scancodes.

NOTE: The kanata_legacy_output.exe variant has the same input defsrc handling as the standard kanata.exe file. It uses the same output mechanism as the standard kanata.exe variant in version 1.6.1 and earlier. In other words the formerly experimental_scancode variant is now the default binary. The non-legacy variants contain changes for an issue; the fix is omitted from this legacy variant. The legacy variant is included in case issues are found with the new output mechanism.

NOTE: All Linux binaries are compiled for x86 architectures only.

Download kanata.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for how to set up kanata with systemd.

chmod +x kanata   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata --cfg <cfg_file>`

To avoid requiring sudo, follow the instructions here.

WARNING: feature support on macOS is limited.

Instructions for macOS 11 and newer

Please read through this issue comment:

#1264 (comment)

Also have a read through this discussion:

#1537

Old instructions for macOS 11 and newer

sudo /Applications/.Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager activate

sudo '/Library/Application Support/org.pqrs/Karabiner-DriverKit-VirtualHIDDevice/Applications/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon'

Install Karabiner driver for macOS 10 and older:

• Install the Karabiner kernel extension.

After installing the appropriate driver for your OS (both macOS <=10 and >=11)

Download a kanata_macos variant.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup.

Example

chmod +x kanata_macos_arm64   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_macos_arm64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

If the above shows Kanata running but keys are not being sent, you may need to add permissions: #1211.

The binaries with the name cmd_allowed are conditionally compiled with the cmd action enabled.

Using the regular binaries, there is no way to get the cmd action to work. This action is restricted behind conditional compilation because I consider the action to be a security risk that should be explicitly opted into and completely forbidden by default.

Warning: known issue

This issue in the Interception driver exists: oblitum/Interception#25. This will affect you if you put your PC to sleep instead of shutting it down, or if you frequently plug/unplug USB devices.

Description

These variants use the Interception driver instead of Windows hooks. You will need to install the driver using the release or from the copy in this repo. The benefit of using this driver is that it is a lower-level mechanism than Windows hooks. This means kanata will work in more applications.

Steps to install the driver

• extract the .zip
• run a shell with administrator privilege
• run the script "command line installer/install-interception.exe"
• reboot

Additional installation steps

The above steps are those recommended by the interception driver author. However, I have found that those steps work inconsistently and sometimes the dll stops being able to be loaded. I think it has something to do with being installed in the privileged location of system32\drivers.

To help with the dll issue, you can copy the following file in the zip archive to the directory that kanata starts from: Interception\library\x64\interception.dll.

E.g. if you start kanata from your Documents folder, put the file there:

C:\Users\my_user\Documents\
    kanata_wintercept.exe
    kanata.kbd
    interception.dll

The Windows kanata_passthru.dll file allows using Kanata as a library within AutoHotkey to avoid conflicts between keyboard hooks installed by both. You can channel keyboard input events received by AutoHotkey into Kanata's keyboard engine and get the transformed keyboard output events (per your Kanata config) that AutoHotkey can then send to the OS.

To make use of this, download kanata_passthru.dll, then the simulated_passthru_ahk folder with a brief example, place the dll there, open kanata_passthru.ahk to read what the example does and then double-click to launch it.

• Added: use-defsrc action
• Added: zippychord-experimental, yet another chording implementation
• Added: chordsv2 is no longer marked experimental; using -experimental now generates an error
• Added: macro variant that cancels on another press
• Added: hold-for-duration action for virtual keys
• Added: one-shot-pause-processing action
• Added: all-except configuration for process-unmapped-keys
• Added(macOS): now uses the v5 karabiner driver
• Fix(Windows): keypad enter now works when passed through without remapping
• Fix(macOS): mouse drag now works

NOTE: All Windows binaries are compiled for x86-64 architectures only.

Download kanata.exe. Optionally, download kanata.kbd. With the two files in the same directory, you can double-click the exe to start kanata. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for tips to run kanata in the background.

You need to run kanata.exe via cmd or powershell to use a different configuration file:

kanata.exe --cfg <cfg_file>

NOTE: The kanata_winIOv2.exe variant contains an experimental breaking change that fixes an issue where the Windows LLHOOK+SendInput version of kanata does not handle defsrc consistently compared to other versions and other operating systems. This variant will be of interest to you for any of the following reasons:

• you are a new user
• you are a cross-platform user
• you use multiple language layouts within Windows and want kanata to handle the key positions consistently

This variant contains the same output change as in the scancode variant below, and also changes the input to also operate on scancodes.

NOTE: The kanata_legacy_output.exe variant has the same input defsrc handling as the standard kanata.exe file. It uses the same output mechanism as the standard kanata.exe variant in version 1.6.1 and earlier. In other words the formerly experimental_scancode variant is now the default binary. The non-legacy variants contain changes for an issue; the fix is omitted from this legacy variant. The legacy variant is included in case issues are found with the new output mechanism.

NOTE: All Linux binaries are compiled for x86 architectures only.

Download kanata.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup. See this discussion for how to set up kanata with systemd.

chmod +x kanata   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata --cfg <cfg_file>`

To avoid requiring sudo, follow the instructions here.

WARNING: feature support on macOS is limited.

Install Karabiner driver for macOS 11 and newer:

• Install the V5 Karabiner VirtualHiDDevice Driver.

To activate it:

sudo /Applications/.Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Manager activate

Then you need to run the daemon. You should run this in the background somehow or leave the terminal window where you run this command open.

sudo '/Library/Application Support/org.pqrs/Karabiner-DriverKit-VirtualHIDDevice/Applications/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon.app/Contents/MacOS/Karabiner-VirtualHIDDevice-Daemon'

Install Karabiner driver for macOS 10 and older:

• Install the Karabiner kernel extension.

After installing the appropriate driver for your OS

Download a kanata_macos variant.

Run it in a terminal and point it to a valid configuration file. Kanata does not start a background process, so the window needs to stay open after startup.

Example

chmod +x kanata_macos_arm64   # may be downloaded without executable permissions
sudo ./kanata_macos_arm64 --cfg <cfg_file>`

If the above shows Kanata running but keys are not being sent, you may need to add permissions: #1211.

The binaries with the name cmd_allowed are conditionally compiled with the cmd action enabled.

Using the regular binaries, there is no way to get the cmd action to work. This action is restricted behind conditional compilation because I consider the action to be a security risk that should be explicitly opted into and completely forbidden by default.

Warning: known issue

This issue in the Interception driver exists: oblitum/Interception#25. This will affect you if you put your PC to sleep instead of shutting it down, or if you frequently plug/unplug USB devices.

Description

These variants use the Interception driver instead of Windows hooks. You will need to install the driver using the release or from the copy in this repo. The benefit of using this driver is that it is a lower-level mechanism than Windows hooks. This means kanata will work in more applications.

Steps to install the driver

• extract the .zip
• run a shell with administrator privilege
• run the script "command line installer/install-interception.exe"
• reboot

Additional installation steps

The above steps are those recommended by the interception driver author. However, I have found that those steps work inconsistently and sometimes the dll stops being able to be loaded. I think it has something to do with being installed in the privileged location of system32\drivers.

To help with the dll issue, you can copy the following file in the zip archive to the directory that kanata starts from: Interception\library\x64\interception.dll.

E.g. if you start kanata from your Documents folder, put the file there:

C:\Users\my_user\Documents\
    kanata_wintercept.exe
    kanata.kbd
    interception.dll

The Windows kanata_passthru.dll file allows using Kanata as a library within AutoHotkey to avoid conflicts between keyboard hooks installed by both. You can channel keyboard input events received by AutoHotkey into Kanata's keyboard engine and get the transformed keyboard output events (per your Kanata config) that AutoHotkey can then send to the OS.

To make use of this, download kanata_passthru.dll, then the simulated_passthru_ahk folder with a brief example, place the dll there, open kanata_passthru.ahk to read what the example does and then double-click to launch it.