[[http://www.hammerspoon.org/][Hammerspoon]] config inspired by [[http://spacemacs.org/][Spacemacs]]
** Rationale Keyboard-oriented workflows are often far more efficient and less frustrating than similar mouse-driven techniques. However, the most popular strategy in that space is to use a multitude of keyboard shortcuts. And obviously, that approach is not very scalable. You start adding keyboard shortcuts for various actions, and soon you will be blocked by conflicting shortcuts.
Command composability (first explored in ~Vi~ and later expanded in its successor ~Vim~), although does require some initial learning and getting used to, allows you to expand your keyboard-oriented workflow with a minimal effort to memorize keys. There's so much you can do with the ~h/j/k/l~ keys alone.
However, the "one-dimensional" approach utilized in vanilla Vim, where a single modal (to switch from Normal to Edit to Select mode) is used, also has limitations. Fortunately, the basic idea of modality can be expanded further. The [[http://spacemacs.org/][Spacemacs]] project is an excellent example of where that was done. In Spacemacs there is a single primary "modifier" key ~SPACE~. To trigger an action, user is required to press a mnemonically recognizable combination of keys (that usually starts with ~SPACE~ key), e.g., ~SPC w m~ is used to maximize the current window/buffer.
The Spacehammer project explores these ideas to allow you to take your keyboard-driven workflow to the next level. Jumping between applications, controlling the size and position of their windows, searching for things, etc. - everything follows simple, mnemonic semantics. It lets you keep your fingers on the home row and liberates you from having to memorize a myriad of keystrokes, or require you to drag your hand to reach for mouse/touchpad/arrow keys - which inevitably slows you down.
*** Fennel Spacehammer initially was written in Lua (as the majority of Hammerspoon configs), but later was completely re-written in [[https://fennel-lang.org/][Fennel]] - a tiny Lisp that compiles to Lua. There is nothing wrong with Lua, but Lisp has many benefits (sadly often overlooked and ignored by majority of programmers today). Switching to Fennel allowed us to keep the code more structured and concise.
** Installation *** Install Hammerspoon You can use [[https://brew.sh/][brew]]:
brew install hammerspoon
#+end_src*** Install Fennel >= v1.0.0
brew install luarocks
luarocks install fennel
#+end_src
Older versions of Fennel are incompatible with Spacehammer.*** Clone Spacehammer
git clone https://github.com/agzam/spacehammer ~/.hammerspoon
#+end_src** LEAD keybinding =LEAD= is the main and major keybinding that invokes the main Spacehammer modal. By default it is set to =Option+SPC=, but it can be re-configured in =~/.spacehammer/config.fnl= by changing the =:mods= and =:key= bindings for the =lib.modal:activate-modal= action string. You might want to set it, for example, to =Ctrl+Shift+SPC=.
If you want to use =Cmd+SPC= as =LEAD= you will have to rebind it in your system, since it is normally used for Spotlight.
***** Unbinding =Cmd+SPC= in system preferences. Go to your Preferences/Keyboard, find =Cmd+SPC= keybinding and change it to something else. Unfortunately, simply disabling it sometimes is not enough. You'd have to set it to be something else e.g. =Ctrl+Cmd+Shift+\= or anything else , it doesn't really matter, since you can then un-check the checkbox and disable it.
Features ** =LEAD w= - Window management
**** =LEAD a= - Apps (quick jump)
=s= - Slack
you can add more, also try =LEAD j j=
**** =LEAD SPC= - open Alfred search bar pressing =SPC= in the main modal takes you to Alfred search popup, pressing =SPC= in other modals returns to previous modal.
**** =LEAD m= - multimedia controls Why not use media-keys?
a) because different external keyboards impose their own ways to control media.
b) because Spacehammer allows you to keep fingers on the home row.
By default =LEAD m a= - =jump to music app= is configured to work with Spotify, but you can change that in =~/.spacehammer/config.fnl=*** Edit anything [with Emacs] You can edit any text in any app =Cmd+Ctrl+O=. Currently, it supports only Emacs. Read more [[docs/emacs.org][here]].
Other features ** Alternative App Switcher =Option n/p= Simple tab switcher for Chrome and iTerm =Option j/k= Slack Desktop App enhancements
** Customizing * Update menus, menu items, bindings, and app-specific features All menu, app, and key bindings are defined in =~/.spacehammer/config.fnl=. That is your custom config and will be safe from any upstream changes to the default config.fnl. /The reason to keep it in its own directory is so that it can be maintained in version-control in your own repo/. ** Modal Menu Items Menu items are listed when you press =LEAD= and they can be nested.
Items map a key binding to an action, either a function or ="module:function-name"= string.
Menu items may either define an action or a table list of items.
For menu items that should be repeated, add =repeatable: true= to the item table.
The repeatable flag keeps the menu option after the action has been triggered.
Repeating a menu item is ideal for actions like window layouts where you may wish to move the window from the left third to the right third.
#+BEGIN_SRC fennel
(local launch-alfred {:title "Alfred"
:key :SPACE
:action (fn [] (hs.appplication.launchOrFocus "Alfred"))})
(local slack-jump {:title "Slack"
:key :s
:action "slack:quick-switcher"})
(local window-inc {:title "Window Halves"
:mods [:cmd]
:key :l
:action "windows:resize-inc-right"})
(local submenu {:title "Submenu"
:key :t
:items [{:key :m
:title "Show a message"
:action (fn [] (alert "I'm a submenu action"))}]})
(local config {:items [launch-alfred
slack-jump
window-inc
submenu]})
#+END_SRC* Lifecycle methods Menu items may also define =:enter= and =:exit= functions or action strings. The parent menu item will call the =enter= function when it is opened and =exit= when it is closed. This may be used to manage more complex or dynamic menus. Global keys Global keys are used to set up universal hot-keys for the actions you specify. Unlike menu items they do not require a title attribute. Additionally you may specify =:repeat true= to repeat the action while the key is held down.
If you place =:hyper= as a mod, it will use a hyper mode that can be configured by the =hyper= config attribute.
This can be used to help create bindings that won't interfere with other apps.
For instance you may make your hyper trigger the virtual =:F18= key and use a program like [[https://github.com/tekezo/Karabiner-Elements][karabiner-elements]] to map caps-lock to =F18=.
#+BEGIN_SRC fennel
(local config {:hyper {:key :F18}
:keys [{:mods [:cmd]
:key :space
:action "lib.modal:activate-modal"}
{:mods [:cmd]
:key :h
:action "chrome:prev-tab"
:repeat true}
{:mods [:hyper]
:key :f
:action (fn [] (alert "Haha you pressed f!"))}]})
#+END_SRC**** App specific customizations Configure separate menu options and key bindings while specified apps are active. Additionally, several lifecycle functions or action strings may be provided for each app.
- ~:activate~ When an application receives keyboard focus
- ~:deactivate~ When an application loses keyboard focus
- ~:launch~ When an application is launched
- ~:close~ When an application is terminated
#+BEGIN_SRC fennel
(local emacs-config
{:key "Emacs"
:activate "vim:disable"
:deactivate "vim:enable"
:launch "emacs:maximize"
:items []
:keys []})
(local config {:apps [emacs-config]})
#+END_SRC*** Replacing spacehammer behavior The =~/.spacehammer= directory is added to the module search paths. If you wish to change the behavior of a feature, such as vim mode, you can create =~/.spacehammer/vim.fnl= to override the default implementation.