Hotkey

The @ramstack/hotkey package is a very small and lightweight library for handling hotkeys. The library weighs around 1.3KB and approximately 750 bytes when gzipped.

Installation

Using via NPM

npm install --save @ramstack/hotkey

Using via CDN

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@ramstack/hotkey@1/dist/hotkey.min.js"></script>

Using ES module build

<script type="module">
  import { registerHotkey } from "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@ramstack/hotkey@1/dist/hotkey.esm.min.js";
</script>

Quick start

You can specify either the element itself or its selector as the target for key events. For global listening across the entire page, use window or document.

registerHotkey("#app", "Ctrl + K", e => {
  e.preventDefault();
  console.log("Search...");
});

The function returns a cleanup function that allows you to unsubscribe from event listening.

const cleanup = registerHotkey(...);
...

// Unregister the hotkey when they are no longer needed
cleanup();

Exclude elements from hotkey handling

If you wish to prevent hotkey handling on certain elements, add the data-hotkey-ignore attribute to the respective element.

<div id="app">
    ...
    <!-- Ignoring hotkeys on the input element -->
    <input type="text" data-hotkey-ignore>
</div>

Alternatively, apply it to the parent if you want to exclude an entire group of elements at once.

<div id="app">
    ...
    <!-- Ignoring hotkeys on form elements -->
    <form data-hotkey-ignore>
        ...
    </form>
</div>

API

/**
 * Registers a hotkey on the specified target element.
 *
 * @param {EventTarget | string} target - The target element on which the hotkey will be registered.
 * @param {string} hotkey - The combination of keys for the hotkey, e.g., "Ctrl+Alt+Delete".
 * @param {(e: KeyboardEvent) => void} handler - The function to be called when the hotkey is triggered.
 * @param {string} [eventName="keydown"] - The name of the event to listen for (default is "keydown").
 * @param {HotkeyEventListenerOptions | boolean | undefined} [options] - Additional options for the event listener.
 *
 * @returns {() => void} - A function to unregister the hotkey.
 */
function registerHotkey(
    target: EventTarget | string,
    hotkey: string,
    handler: (e: KeyboardEvent) => void,
    eventName?: string,
    options?: HotkeyEventListenerOptions | boolean | undefined): () => void;

Parameters

target (required)

The target element on which the hotkey will be registered. Use window or document for global hotkeys.

registerHotkey(window, "Win + PgUp", e => {
    console.log("Do something");
});

hotkey (required)

The combination of keys for the hotkey, e.g., Ctrl + Alt + Delete The hotkey description is a case-insensitive. Spaces are not important. Standard key names are used. You can find them here Key values for keyboard events

In addition, there are also aliases for some key names:

const aliases: Record<string, string> = {
    "esc"         : "escape",
    "ins"         : "insert",
    "del"         : "delete",
    "up"          : "arrowup",
    "down"        : "arrowdown",
    "right"       : "arrowright",
    "left"        : "arrowleft",
    "pgup"        : "pageup",
    "pgdn"        : "pagedown",
    "break"       : "pause",
    "scroll"      : "scrolllock",
    "scrlk"       : "scrolllock",
    "prtscr"      : "printscreen",
    "win"         : "meta",
    "windows"     : "meta",
    "cmd"         : "meta",
    "command"     : "meta",
    "comma"       : ",",
    "period"      : ".",
    "quote"       : "\"",
    "singlequote" : "'",
    "colon"       : ":",
    "semicolon"   : ";",
    "plus"        : "+",
    "minus"       : "-",
    "tilde"       : "~",
    "equal"       : "=",
    "slash"       : "/"
};

handler (required)

The function to be called when the hotkey is triggered.

The value of this inside the handler will be a reference to the element. It will be the same as the value of the currentTarget property of the event argument that is passed to the handler.

registerHotkey("#el", "Ctrl + K", function(e) {
    console.log(e.currentTarget === this); // logs true
});

As a reminder, arrow functions do not have their own this context.

registerHotkey("#el", "Ctrl + K", e => {
    console.log(e.currentTarget === this); // logs false
});

eventName (optional, default: 'keydown')

The name of the event to listen for. You can subscribe to events on keydown (used by default) or keyup.

registerHotkey(window, "Ctrl + Up", e => {
    e.preventDefault();
    ...
}, "keyup");

options (optional)

Additional options for the event listener. See Options.

/**
 * Extended options for hotkey event listeners.
 */
export interface HotkeyEventListenerOptions extends AddEventListenerOptions {
    /**
     * If specified, ensures that only trusted events are handled.
     */
    trusted?: boolean;
}

The trusted option ensures that only events marked as trusted are handled. This can help prevent synthetic or untrusted events from triggering hotkeys.

registerHotkey(window, "Ctrl + S", e => {
    e.preventDefault();
    console.log("Saving...");
}, "keydown", { trusted: true });

In this example, the hotkey will only trigger for events that are marked as trusted, preventing manually dispatched or synthetic events from interfering.

Returns

A function that, when called, unregisters the hotkey.

const cleanup = registerHotkey(...);
...

// Unregister the hotkey when they are no longer needed
cleanup();

Contributions

Bug reports and contributions are welcome.

License

This package is released as open source under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.