Keys mapping

[Alberto Simoes]

Hi

I am new to Hammerspoon, so sorry if this is too basic.

I am trying to map a key to another (completely).

I want the target key to behave just like the original one.

I tried something like the following code (see below).

While it works for the key without modifiers, the shift modifier seems to be lost.

I suppose that's because we are sending a char, not a key code, but I can't really make it work.

Any suggestion?

Thanks in advance.

-- Key changes

local ptSwapKeys = {
   ["\\"] = "~",  -- send the physical key 'grave' (the key that normally has `~`)
}

local ptKeySwapper = nil

local function enablePtSwapper()
    if ptKeySwapper then return end

    print("Enable")
   
    ptKeySwapper = hs.eventtap.new({hs.eventtap.event.types.keyDown},
       function(e)
  local keyCode = e:getKeyCode()
  local mods = e:getFlags()
 
  local sampleChar = hs.keycodes.map[keyCode]
  if sampleChar == nil then
     return false
  end
 
  local mappedChar = ptSwapKeys[sampleChar]
  if mappedChar == nil then
     return false
  end
 
  local mappedKeyCode = hs.keycodes.map[mappedChar]
 
  if mappedKeyCode then
     hs.eventtap.keyStroke(mods, mappedKeyCode, 0)
     return true
        end

        return false
    end)

    ptKeySwapper:start()
end

[.dmg]

if your goal is to only remap the keys, karabiner and kanata are much better alternatives than hammerspoon.

that is the consensus among hammerspoon users/maintainers.

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--dmg

---
Daniel M. German
http://turingmachine.org

[Alberto Simões]

Hi

Will try Kanata. Karabiner is restricted by out IT department.

Thanks

--

Alberto Simões

[Alberto Simões]

Ok, here goes my bug, it was simple.

 local keyCode  = e:getKeyCode()
 local mods = e:getFlags()

 [...]

 hs.eventtap.keyStroke(mods, mappedKeyCode, 0)
 

mods, as returned by getFlags, is not recoignized by keyStroke.

it would be a great addition

Meanwhile, solved with this aux method

local function modsToTable(flags)
   local mods = {}
   if flags.cmd then table.insert(mods, "cmd") end
   if flags.alt then table.insert(mods, "alt") end
   if flags.ctrl then table.insert(mods, "ctrl") end
   if flags.shift then table.insert(mods, "shift") end
   return mods
end

Hope this heads-up helps someone.

On Wed, Dec 17, 2025 at 7:04 PM .dmg <dmge...@gmail.com> wrote:

--

Alberto Simões