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macros.md

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Macros

Macros are used for sending multiple keystrokes in a single action, and can be used for things like Unicode characters (even emojis! 🇨🇦), Lorem ipsum generators, triggering side effects (think lighting, speakers, microcontroller-optimized cryptocurrency miners, whatever). Macros have worse performance and higher memory usage than custom keys, so unless the objective is to type out a sequence or to perform an action repeatedly and asynchronously while a key is pressed, custom keys are the recommended solution.

Setup

from kmk.modules.macros import Macros

macros = Macros()
keyboard.modules.append(macros)

This will enable a new type of keycode: KC.MACRO()

Keycodes

Key Description
KC.MACRO(macro) Create a key that will play back a macro.
KC.UC_MODE_IBUS Switch Unicode mode to IBus.
KC.UC_MODE_MACOS Switch Unicode mode to macOS.
KC.UC_MODE_WINC Switch Unicode mode to Windows Compose.

Full macro signature, all arguments optional:

KC.MACRO(
    on_press=None,
    on_hold=None,
    on_release=None,
    blocking=True,
)

on_press

This sequence is run once at the beginning, just after the macro key has been pressed. KC.MACRO(macro) is actually a short-hand for KC.MACRO(on_press=macro).

on_hold

This sequence is run in a loop while the macro key is pressed (or "held"). If the key is released before the on_press sequence is finished, the on_hold sequence will be skipped.

on_release

This sequence is run once at the end, after the macro key has been released and the previous sequence has finished.

blocking

By default, all key events will be intercepted while a macro is running and replayed after all blocking macros have finished. This is to avoid side effects and can be disabled with blocking=False if undesired. (And yes, technically multiple blocking macros can run simultaneously, the achievement of which is left as an exercise to the reader.)

Sending strings

The most basic sequence is an ASCII string. It can be used to send any standard English alphabet character, and an assortment of other "standard" keyboard keys (return, space, exclamation points, etc.). Keep in mind that some characters from shifted keys are i18n dependent.

WOW = KC.MACRO("Wow, KMK is awesome!")

keyboard.keymap = [<other keycodes>, WOW, <other keycodes>]

Key sequences

If you need to add modifier keys to your sequence or you need more granular control. You can use it to add things like copying/pasting, tabbing between fields, etc.

from kmk.modules.macros import Press, Release, Tap

PASTE_WITH_COMMENTARY = KC.MACRO(
    "look at this: ",
    Press(KC.LCTL),
    Tap(KC.V),
    Release(KC.LCTL)
)

keyboard.keymap = [<other keycodes>, PASTE_WITH_COMMENTARY, <other keycodes>]

The above example will type out "look at this: " and then paste the contents of your clipboard.

Sleeping within a sequence

If you need to wait during a sequence, you can use Delay(ms) to wait a length of time, in milliseconds.

from kmk.modules.macros import Tap, Delay

COUNTDOWN_TO_PASTE = KC.MACRO(
    Tap(KC.N3),
    Tap(KC.ENTER),
    Delay(1000),
    Tap(KC.N2),
    Tap(KC.ENTER),
    Delay(1000),
    Tap(KC.N1),
    Tap(KC.ENTER),
    Delay(1000),
    Tap(KC.LCTL(KC.V)),
)

keyboard.keymap = [<other keycodes>, COUNTDOWN_TO_PASTE, <other keycodes>]

This example will type out the following, waiting one second (1000 ms) between numbers:

3
2
1

and then paste the contents of your clipboard.

Alt Tab with delay

If alt tab isn't working because it requires a delay, adding a delay and triggering down and up on ALT manually may fix the issue.

from kmk.modules.macros import Delay, Press, Release, Tap

NEXT = KC.MACRO(
    Press(KC.LALT),
    Delay(30),
    Tap(KC.TAB),
    Delay(30),
    Release(KC.LALT),
)

Unicode

Unicode Modes

On Linux, Unicode uses Ctrl-Shift-U, which is supported by ibus and GTK+3. ibus users will need to add IBUS_ENABLE_CTRL_SHIFT_U=1 to their environment (~/profile, ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or through your desktop environment's configurator).

On Windows, WinCompose is required.

  • Linux : UnicodeModeIBus, the default
  • MacOS: UnicodeModeMacOS
  • Windows: UnicodeModeWinC

Unicode Examples

Initialize Macros to use UnicodeModeMac and make a key to cycle between modes at runtime.

from kmk.keys import Key
from kmk.modules.macros import Macros, UnicodeModeIBus, UnicodeModeMacOS, UnicodeModeWinC

macros = Macros(unicode_mode=UnicodeModeMacOS)
keyboard.modules.append(macros)

def switch_um(keyboard):
    if macros.unicode_mode == UnicodeModeIBus:
        macros.unicode_mode = UnicodeModeMacOS
    elif macros.unicode_mode == UnicodeModeMacOS:
        macros.unicode_mode = UnicodeModeWinC
    else:
        macros.Unicode_mode = UnicodeModeIBus

UCCYCLE = Key(code=None, on_press=switch_um)

FLIP = KC.MACRO('(ノಠ痊ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻')

keyboard.keymap = [<other keycodes>, UCCYCLE, FLIP, <other keycodes>]

Arbitrary Actions

As it happens, macros accept any callable object (even generators) as arguments. The KMKKeyboard object is passed as argument to that callable.

Example 1

Change the RGB animation mode to "SWIRL" for five seconds and print an ASCII spinner

# ... boilerplate omitted for brevity.

prev_animation = None

def start_spinning(keyboard):
    global prev_animation
    prev_animation = rgb.animation_mode
    rgb.animation_mode = AnimationModes.SWIRL
    rgb.effect_init = True

def stop_spinning(keyboard):
    rgb.animation_mode = prev_animation
    rgb.effect_init = True

DISCO = KC.MACRO(
    "disco time!",
    start_color_wheel,
    "-",
    DELAY(1000),
    KC.BSPC,
    "\\",
    DELAY(1000),
    KC.BSPC,
    "|",
    DELAY(1000),
    KC.BSPC,
    "/",
    DELAY(1000),
    KC.BSPC,
    "-",
    DELAY(1000),
    KC.BSPC,
    stop_color_wheel,
    " disco time over.",
    )

Example 2

Here's a programmatic version of the earlier countdown-to-paste example, using a generator. Any return value that is not None is interpreted as a delay instruction in milliseconds.

def countdown(count, delay_ms):
    def generator(keyboard):
        for n in range(count, 0, -1):
            KC[n].on_press(keyboard)
            yield
            KC[n].on_release(keyboard)
            yield
            KC.ENTER.on_press(keyboard)
            yield
            KC.ENTER.on_release(keyboard)
            yield delay_ms
    return generator

COUNTDOWN_TO_PASTE = KC.MACRO(
    countdown(3, 1000),
    Tap(KC.LCTL(KC.V)),
)

Example 3

A high productivity replacement for the common space key: This macro ensures that you make good use of your time by measuring how long you've been holding the space key for, printing the result to the debug console, all the while reminding you that you're still holding the space key.

from supervisor import ticks_ms
from kmk.utils import Debug

debug = Debug(__name__)

def make_timer():
    ticks = 0
    def _():
        nonlocal ticks
        return (ticks := ticks_ms() - ticks)
    return _

space_timer = make_timer()

SPACETIME = KC.MACRO(
    on_press=(
        lambda _: space_timer() and None,
        Press(KC.SPACE),
        lambda _: debug('start holding space...'),
    ),
    on_hold=(
        lambda _: debug('..still holding space..'),
    ),
    on_release=(
        Release(KC.SPACE),
        lambda _: debug('...end holding space after ', space_timer(), 'ms'),
    ),
    blocking=False,
)