README.md

What is this for?

This is a configuration file for GokuRakuJoudo which in turn generates a Karabiner profile.

Some things rely upon the fact that the Colemak layout (and its corresponding layer) is used. Single press mod keys are used as "power key combos" and a trigger things like toggling reader mode in Safari, switching between editor and terminal in VSCode or sending the tmux prefix in Kitty, the fast, lightweight, terminal emulator.

What are Karabiner and GokuRakuJoudo?

Karabiner is a powerful and stable keyboard customizer for macOS. Goku is a tool to let you manage your Karabiner configuration with ease, since Karabiner uses JSON for its very verbose, complex config file, while Goku uses the "optimized for typing" edn format.

Sample combos

• press and release LCmd to switch to previously used app
• press and release RCmd and, depending on the current app get this:
  • toggle between terminal and editor in VSCode
  • toggle reading mode in Safari
  • send tmux prefix in Kitty
  • toggle left pane with notes list in Drafts
• press and release ROpt and, depending on the current app get this:
  • toggle between left and right editors in split-screen VSCode
  • toggle tab overview in Safari
  • etc
• get an extended layer on pressing and holding the space bar
• etc

Special mention: there is an experimental branch where some settings are active, like sequence layers (press shift, quickly followed by s to send S, or LCmd quickly followed by t to send Cmt+T) or getting 4 different outcomes from a single key. Check it out.

Installation

1. Install Karabiner-Elements
2. Create a profile named 'Default' in Karabiner-Elements. (It will generate a karabiner.json file under ~/.config/karabiner/ folder for goku to use.)
3. Install Goku
4. Install files from this repo.

# curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kiinoda/goku/master/karabiner.edn > ~/.config/karabiner.edn
# goku

Inspiration

Various parts were adapted from other internet sources, indicated below.

• Kun Chen - k-goku - document structure and general inspiration
• John Lindquist - dotfiles - emoji layer contents and from/to templates needed to "translate" between QWERTY and Colemak
• Nikita Voloboev - dotfiles - general inspiration, properly using conditions in rules
• Xah Lee - Banning the Shift Key - the seed for the sequence layers
• Øystein Bech Gadmar - Colemak Forum - Extend Layer - the general organization of the extend layer