Your first chord

A chord is hold super, type keys, release. On a Mac, super is ⌘ cmd + ⌥ option held together. (Windows and Linux: Ctrl + Alt.)

1. Open TextEdit and make a new, blank document (File › New).
2. Hold ⌘ and ⌥. Keep holding.
3. Tap t.
4. Let go of both keys.

keychord works ✓ is typed into the document the moment you let go (that is the starter config’s t chord). The keys you pressed never reach TextEdit.

What happened

keychord saw t while super was held, looked up the chord t in your config on release, and typed its text. Release to first character is well under 10 ms.

• Keys are matched exactly on release: t and tt are different chords.
• Keys you type that don’t match a chord are swallowed, and nothing is typed.
• A small hint near the cursor shows the keys as you type them.

Make your own

Menu-bar icon › Edit config opens ~/.config/keychord/keychord.yml. Add:

chords:
  - keys: hi
    text: "Hello from keychord!"

Save. keychord reloads on save (the menu bar says Reloaded · N chords). Now hold ⌘⌥, type hi, release.

Tip

Or select some text, hold super, press =, release, and type keys for it: the selection becomes a new chord without opening the file.

If the file has a mistake, keychord keeps using the last good config and the menu-bar icon shows a warning with the line number. Next: the config guide.