Puck Puck - Your Swift Input Method Switching Daemon for macOS

Puck is a lightweight daemon for macOS designed to provide fast and configurable switching between input methods using keyboard shortcuts. Inspired by the simplicity and efficiency of skhd, Puck uses a similar configuration syntax for defining your keybindings.

Features

• Background Operation: Runs silently as a launchd service.
• Configurable Hotkeys: Define custom keyboard shortcuts for specific input methods or groups.
• Input Method Cycling: Assign the same shortcut to multiple input methods to cycle through them.
• Simple Configuration: Uses an skhd-inspired text file for easy setup.
• Discoverability: List available input methods and observe key presses directly from the CLI.
• Autostart: Automatically configures itself to launch on login.
• Modern macOS: Built with Swift for optimal performance and integration.

CLI Usage

• puck: Installs and starts the service if not already running.
• puck -l or puck --list: Lists all available input source IDs configured on the system.
• puck -o or puck --observe: Enters a mode to observe and print key presses (names and modifiers) to help with configuration.
• puck -f or puck --foreground: Run in foreground mode without installing as a service.
• puck -s or puck --status: Show service status (installed and running state).
• puck -u or puck --uninstall: Uninstall the service.
• puck -c <path> or puck --config <path>: Use a specific configuration file path.
• puck -v or puck --version: Show version information.

The default configuration file location is ~/.config/puck/puckrc. You need to create this file before running the service.

Note: The application requires accessibility permissions to function. You will be prompted to grant these permissions in System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Accessibility when installing the service.

Configuration (~/.config/puck/puckrc)

Puck looks for its configuration file at ~/.config/puck/puckrc by default. The syntax is straightforward:

Define hotkeys using modifier symbols (cmd, ctrl, alt, shift) and key names.

Map a hotkey to a specific input source ID.

Example: Switch to U.S. layout with Cmd+Shift+Space

cmd + shift - space : com.apple.keylayout.US

Example: Cycle between Russian and U.S. using Ctrl+Alt+P

ctrl + alt - p : com.apple.keylayout.Russian ctrl + alt - p : com.apple.keylayout.US

Find input source IDs using 'puck -l'

Find key names using 'puck -o'

Installation

Via Homebrew

brew tap hmepas/puck
brew install puck

Prerequisites

• macOS
• Xcode 14.0 or later (will be installed automatically via Homebrew if not present)
• Accessibility permissions (required for input source switching)

Dependencies

• Swift Package Manager
• Xcode Command Line Tools

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

MIT License