CAPS LOCK modification broken in 12.3.0

[collenjones]

I use CAPS LOCK as Ctrl when used as a modifier and Esc when tapped and this no longer works after the 12.3.0 update.

[maindoor]

Exact same issue, but event-viewer says everything is great.

Here is my code:

                        "description": "Post escape if caps is pressed alone, right_ctrl otherwise",
                        "manipulators": [
                            {
                                "from": {
                                    "key_code": "caps_lock",
                                    "modifiers": {
                                        "optional": [
                                            "any"
                                        ]
                                    }
                                },
                                "to": [
                                    {
                                        "key_code": "right_control"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "to_if_alone": [
                                    {
                                        "key_code": "escape"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "type": "basic"
                            }
                        ]
                    },

[ikatza]

I got it working again with version 12.3.4 downloaded from: https://github.com/tekezo/pqrs.org/tree/master/webroot/osx/karabiner/files

Had to reboot my system.

[maindoor]

@ikatza Nope still doesn't work for me. Can you post your related config ?

[nickgravish]

Agreed, 12.0 broke my caps lock hyper. Tried upgrading to 12.3.4 and rebooting but no luck.

[ikatza]

Not too sure about what you're asking for @maindoor. Yeah sure I can post my config if you let me know where to find it. Alternatively I can tell you that I just added Complex Modifications from the available rules.

[maindoor]

@ikatza all settings including complex modifications are stored at ~/.config/karabiner/karabiner.json I thought if I could see your working config I can compare with mine. My relevant config is posted above.

[ikatza]

The relevant part is:

{
    "description": "Change caps_lock to control if pressed with other keys, to escape if pressed alone.",
    "manipulators": [
        {
            "from": {
                "key_code": "caps_lock",
                "modifiers": {
                    "optional": [
                        "any"
                    ]
                }
            },
            "to": [
                {
                    "key_code": "left_control"
                }
            ],
            "to_if_alone": [
                {
                    "key_code": "escape"
                }
            ],
            "type": "basic"
        }
    ]
}

[BrendanThompson]

Yeah removing the modifiers section for to_if_alone is the key bit.

[maindoor]

@BrendanThompson I didn't fully understand your comment, can you please clarify ? What is the "key bit" to address this issue ?

[BrendanThompson]

@maindoor – let me clarify a bit better.

Take the below example of a complex_modification that was working prior to the update.

"complex_modifications": {
    "parameters": {
        "basic.to_delayed_action_delay_milliseconds": 500,
        "basic.to_if_alone_timeout_milliseconds": 1000,
        "basic.to_if_held_down_threshold_milliseconds": 500
    },
    "rules": [
        {
            "manipulators": [
                {
                    "description": "Change caps_lock to command+control+option+shift.",
                    "from": {
                        "key_code": "caps_lock",
                        "modifiers": {
                            "optional": [
                                "any"
                            ]
                        }
                    },
                    "to": [
                        {
                            "key_code": "left_shift",
                            "modifiers": [
                                "left_command",
                                "left_control",
                                "left_option"
                            ]
                        }
                    ],
                    "to_if_alone": [
                        {
                            "key_code": "escape",
                            "modifiers": {
                                "optional": [
                                    "any"
                                ]
                            }
                        }
                    ],
                    "type": "basic"
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

I have extracted out the piece which is responsible for causing the Hyper-Key shortcut to fail, at least in my situation. Specifically out to the excerpt below the issue is the modifiers{} object. Further down I have taken an entry from the KE logs.

"to_if_alone": [
    {
        "key_code": "escape",
        "modifiers": {
            "optional": [
                "any"
            ]
        }
    }
],

From the logs it can be seen that the schema for the modifiers{} object has changed, if they're not required then remove the modifiers{} object from the config and refresh the conf, or alter it to match what is seemingly a new schema. I could however be wrong about this, I had a really quick look at some commits and couldn't see anything though; in saying that, I am not a C developer 😄

[2019-05-06 10:48:29.592] [error] [grabber] karabiner.json error: `to_if_alone` entry error: `modifiers` error: json must be array or string, but is `{"optional":["any"]}`

[maindoor]

@BrendanThompson Thanks for clarifying. FYI it did not help my case as I already didn't have the "modifiers" section in "to_if_alone" as per my config above.

[BrendanThompson]

@maindoor aahh bummer!

[hng]

@BrendanThompson Removing the modifiers object fixed it for me, thanks!

[maindoor]

I'm having to use the Touch Bar escape key. This is super frustrating, I've tried everything still can't get the Caps lock to work as escape. The only clue I see is that even when I quickly press caps lock, the even viewer shows both control and escape as shown in my previous post.

edit: this felt a little roundabout way of configuring but hey it works for me now: https://medium.com/@pechyonkin/how-to-map-capslock-to-control-and-escape-on-mac-60523a64022b

[sabbatical]

I had this issue on 12.3.0 (CAPSLOCK to "hyper key" mapping) and what solved it for me was simply removing the Complex Modifications rule that wasn't working, and then re-adding it. (Your mileage may vary?)

This probably removed the defunct json and replaced it with an updated version.

[geewiz]

see also: https://brettterpstra.com/2019/05/10/did-your-hyper-key-break/

[stale[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[esn89]

I haven't managed to get this to work, I have imported this rule:

Change caps_lock key (rev 4) -> Change caps_lock to control if pressed with other keys, to escape if pressed alone.

And still no luck.

Do I need to make any changes in the Keyboard -> Modifier Keys menu of my mac?

The json is here:

{
  "title": "Change caps_lock key (rev 4)",
  "rules": [
    {
      "description": "Change caps_lock key to command+control+option+shift if pressed with other keys",
      "manipulators": [
        {
          "type": "basic",
          "from": {
            "key_code": "caps_lock",
            "modifiers": {
              "optional": [
                "any"
              ]
            }
          },
          "to": [
            {
              "key_code": "left_shift",
              "modifiers": [
                "left_command",
                "left_control",
                "left_option"
              ]
            }
          ],
          "to_if_alone": [
            {
              "hold_down_milliseconds": 100,
              "key_code": "caps_lock"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "description": "Change caps_lock key to command+control+option+shift. (Post escape key when pressed alone)",
      "manipulators": [
        {
          "type": "basic",
          "from": {
            "key_code": "caps_lock",
            "modifiers": {
              "optional": [
                "any"
              ]
            }
          },
          "to": [
            {
              "key_code": "left_shift",
              "modifiers": [
                "left_command",
                "left_control",
                "left_option"
              ]
            }
          ],
          "to_if_alone": [
            {
              "key_code": "escape"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "description": "Change caps_lock key to command+control+option+shift. (Post f19 key when pressed alone)",
      "manipulators": [
        {
          "type": "basic",
          "from": {
            "key_code": "caps_lock",
            "modifiers": {
              "optional": [
                "any"
              ]
            }
          },
          "to": [
            {
              "key_code": "left_shift",
              "modifiers": [
                "left_command",
                "left_control",
                "left_option"
              ]
            }
          ],
          "to_if_alone": [
            {
              "key_code": "f19"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "description": "Change caps_lock key to command+control+option+shift. (Use shift+caps_lock as caps_lock)",
      "manipulators": [
        {
          "type": "basic",
          "from": {
            "key_code": "caps_lock",
            "modifiers": {
              "mandatory": [
                "shift"
              ],
              "optional": [
                "caps_lock"
              ]
            }
          },
          "to": [
            {
              "key_code": "caps_lock"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "basic",
          "from": {
            "key_code": "caps_lock",
            "modifiers": {
              "optional": [
                "any"
              ]
            }
          },
          "to": [
            {
              "key_code": "left_shift",
              "modifiers": [
                "left_command",
                "left_control",
                "left_option"
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "description": "Change caps_lock to control if pressed with other keys, to escape if pressed alone.",
      "manipulators": [
        {
          "type": "basic",
          "from": {
            "key_code": "caps_lock",
            "modifiers": {
              "optional": [
                "any"
              ]
            }
          },
          "to": [
            {
              "key_code": "left_control"
            }
          ],
          "to_if_alone": [
            {
              "key_code": "escape"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "description": "Change caps_lock to control if pressed with other keys. (rev 2)",
      "manipulators": [
        {
          "type": "basic",
          "from": {
            "key_code": "caps_lock",
            "modifiers": {
              "optional": [
                "any"
              ]
            }
          },
          "to": [
            {
              "key_code": "left_control"
            }
          ],
          "to_if_alone": [
            {
              "key_code": "caps_lock",
              "hold_down_milliseconds": 500
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "description": "Disable caps_lock delay (rev 1)",
      "manipulators": [
        {
          "type": "basic",
          "from": {
            "key_code": "caps_lock",
            "modifiers": {
              "optional": [
                "any"
              ]
            }
          },
          "to": [
            {
              "key_code": "caps_lock",
              "hold_down_milliseconds": 200
            },
            {
              "key_code": "vk_none"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}