Hotkey Recording Guide

TanStack Hotkeys includes the useHotkeyRecorder hook for building keyboard shortcut customization UIs. Users record their own shortcuts by pressing the desired key combination, the same way system preferences or IDE shortcut editors work.

Recorders default to physical codes: recording a shortcut stores a string such as Mod+[KeyS]. Pass it directly to your hotkey registration and use formatForDisplay for the label. Set recordBy: 'key' when you intentionally want the produced character instead.

Basic usage#

import { useHotkeyRecorder, formatForDisplay } from '@tanstack/preact-hotkeys'

function ShortcutRecorder() {
  const { isRecording, recordedHotkey, startRecording, stopRecording, cancelRecording } =
    useHotkeyRecorder({
      onRecord: (hotkey) => {
        console.log('Recorded:', hotkey) // e.g., "Mod+Shift+[KeyS]"
      },
    })

  return (
    <div>
      <button onClick={isRecording ? stopRecording : startRecording}>
        {isRecording
          ? 'Press a key combination...'
          : recordedHotkey
            ? formatForDisplay(recordedHotkey)
            : 'Click to record'}
      </button>
      {isRecording && (
        <button onClick={cancelRecording}>Cancel</button>
      )}
    </div>
  )
}

Return value#

The useHotkeyRecorder hook returns an object with:

Options#

recordBy#

Recorders default to recordBy: 'code'. Option+S producing ß on macOS records Alt+[KeyS]; Option+2 producing ™ records Alt+[Digit2]. The stored brackets preserve physical identity through state, serialization, and registration; formatForDisplay produces a readable label. There is no code-to-letter conversion. Existing authored strings such as Mod+S remain logical bindings.

Set recordBy: 'key' to intentionally record the produced logical character. A code-mode event with no usable code is rejected rather than silently switching modes. IME composition is ignored. AltGraph character entry is rejected in code mode; key mode preserves the produced character without synthetic Control/Alt while retaining Shift. Recording events, repeats, and their releases do not trigger registered hotkeys or sequences.

useHotkeyRecorder({
  recordBy: 'code', // default; choose 'key' for logical characters
  onRecord: (hotkey) => { /* called when a hotkey is recorded */ },
  onCancel: () => { /* called when recording is cancelled */ },
  onClear: () => { /* called when the recorded hotkey is cleared */ },
})

onRecord#

Called when the user presses a valid key combination (a modifier + a non-modifier key, or a single non-modifier key). Receives the recorded Hotkey string.

onCancel#

Called when recording is cancelled (either by pressing Escape or calling cancelRecording()).

onClear#

Called when the recorded hotkey is cleared (by pressing Backspace or Delete during recording).

Global defaults via provider#

You can set default options for all useHotkeyRecorder calls by wrapping your component tree with HotkeysProvider. Per-hook options override the provider defaults.

import { HotkeysProvider } from '@tanstack/preact-hotkeys'

<HotkeysProvider
  defaultOptions={{
    hotkeyRecorder: {
      onCancel: () => console.log('Recording cancelled'),
    },
  }}
>
  <App />
</HotkeysProvider>

Recording behavior#

The recorder has specific behavior for different keys:

ignoreInputs#

The HotkeyRecorderOptions supports an ignoreInputs option (defaults to true). When true, the recorder doesn't intercept normal typing in text inputs, textareas, selects, or contentEditable elements. Keystrokes pass through to the input as usual. Pressing Escape still cancels recording even when focused on an input. Set ignoreInputs: false if you want the recorder to capture keys from within input elements.

useHotkeyRecorder({
  ignoreInputs: false, // record even from inside inputs
  onRecord: (hotkey) => console.log(hotkey),
})

Mod auto-conversion#

Recorded hotkeys automatically use the portable Mod format. If a user on macOS presses Command+S, the recorded hotkey is Mod+[KeyS] rather than Meta+[KeyS], so the shortcut keeps working when it syncs to a machine on another OS.

Validation and conflicts#

Both recorder APIs accept detectConflicts, validate, and onReject. For a single-hotkey recorder, these options can be supplied alongside onRecord:

const options = {
  detectConflicts: {
    // Use registration IDs to exclude the binding being edited:
    excludeIds: [registrationId],
    target: document,
    eventType: 'keydown',
  },
  validate: (_hotkey, { parsedHotkey }) =>
    parsedHotkey.modifiers.length > 0 || 'Include a modifier.',
  onReject: ({ reason, message, conflicts }) => {
    // Show feedback; recording stays active.
    console.log(reason, message, conflicts)
  },
}

validate returns true to accept, or false/a message to reject. onReject receives reason (missing-code, alt-graph, invalid, validation, or conflict), a message, the candidate when available, and conflicting registration views for conflict rejections. Validation runs before commit; rejection never falls back to another key identity.

detectConflicts: true checks enabled live registrations with the intended event type (default keydown) and overlapping targets (default document). Document/nested scopes can conflict; disjoint widgets can reuse a binding. The options object also supports scope: 'all', includeDisabled, and an exclude(registration) predicate. Both single bindings and sequence prefixes are checked. Source events detect physical/logical overlap on the recorded layout. This is a conservative collision check, not a promise that two callbacks will execute: propagation, input filtering, match priority, external listeners, unmounted routes, and other layouts can affect actual dispatch.

For checks outside recording, use findHotkeyConflicts(bindingOrSequence, options). Without source events, it compares binding identity and sequence prefixes; it does not guess equivalence between a logical character and a physical position.

Building a shortcut settings UI#

Here's a more complete example of a shortcut customization panel:

import { useState } from 'preact/hooks'
import {
  useHotkey,
  useHotkeyRecorder,
  formatForDisplay,
} from '@tanstack/preact-hotkeys'
import type { Hotkey } from '@tanstack/preact-hotkeys'

function ShortcutSettings() {
  const [shortcuts, setShortcuts] = useState<Record<string, Hotkey>>({
    save: 'Mod+S',
    undo: 'Mod+Z',
    search: 'Mod+K',
  })

  const [editingAction, setEditingAction] = useState<string | null>(null)

  const recorder = useHotkeyRecorder({
    onRecord: (hotkey) => {
      if (editingAction) {
        setShortcuts((prev) => ({ ...prev, [editingAction]: hotkey }))
        setEditingAction(null)
      }
    },
    onCancel: () => setEditingAction(null),
  })

  // Register the actual hotkeys with their current bindings
  useHotkey(shortcuts.save, () => save())
  useHotkey(shortcuts.undo, () => undo())
  useHotkey(shortcuts.search, () => openSearch())

  return (
    <div>
      <h2>Keyboard Shortcuts</h2>
      {Object.entries(shortcuts).map(([action, hotkey]) => (
        <div key={action}>
          <span>{action}</span>
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              setEditingAction(action)
              recorder.startRecording()
            }}
          >
            {editingAction === action && recorder.isRecording
              ? 'Press keys...'
              : formatForDisplay(hotkey)}
          </button>
        </div>
      ))}
    </div>
  )
}

Under the hood#

The useHotkeyRecorder hook creates a HotkeyRecorder class instance and subscribes to its reactive state via @tanstack/preact-store. The class manages its own keyboard event listeners and state, and the hook handles cleanup on unmount.