How to bind to "Super" key only?

[mdhenriksen]

Hi!

Awesome launcher and features. Really love it!

However, it seems I can't bind the Super key to launch it? I can bind "Super + 'something'" but not Super-only. Is there anyway this can be achieved?

Using Ubuntu 18.10 by the way

[friday]

Super is a modifier. It doesn't trigger a normal key press event. If you want it to act like a plain key when you press and release immediately without hitting any other keys this is called "dual-role" keys. You have to use something like xcape (X11 only) for that. There's no good alternative for wayland.

Update 2022: There is now actually. A tool called Interception tools and the Dual Function Keys plugin.

[aasmpro]

using debian buster with xfce4 DE, installed latest version of ulauncher v4.3.1.r4 and set Hotkey to Super L, it works great.

Edit:
by the way, it does not allow any other Super L + <key> shortcuts.

[gornostal]

@aasmpro thanks for providing a workaround.

Can't bind to "Super" key only
That's s by design as explained by @friday.

I'm closing this issue.

[friday]

I just learned you can do this in Gnome too if you unset Mutter's overlay-key and then bind to Super_L. You have to use dconf or gsettings since the GUI keyboard settings is restricted by the same reason as already mentioned.

This should work:

CKBPATH=org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings
# Disable default mapping for Super 
gsettings set org.gnome.mutter overlay-key ''
# Add custom keybinding for Ulauncher
gsettings set $CKBPATH/ulauncher/ name 'ulauncher'
gsettings set $CKBPATH/ulauncher/ command 'ulauncher-toggle'
gsettings set $CKBPATH/ulauncher/ binding 'Super_L'

While it doesn't break Super L as a modifier key it will show ulauncher unconditionally when you press Super, not like Mutter's overlay-key, which is implemented as a real dual-role key. I suspect some or hard coded logic is to blame for the inconsistency. xcape is still my recommendation.

Restoring the defaults:

CKBPATH=org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys.custom-keybinding:/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/media-keys/custom-keybindings
gsettings reset org.gnome.mutter overlay-key
gsettings reset-recursively $CKBPATH/ulauncher/

[luispablo]

This solution, despite working, broke all my other Super+<key> bindings.

[friday]

@luispablo. That's a shame. It's nothing we can fix in Ulauncher of course. Maybe try https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd or https://github.com/kmonad/kmonad (I haven't done so myself, I'm using https://gitlab.com/interception/linux/plugins/dual-function-keys, but I think these newer options are easier).

[Vondelphia]

Hey @friday - might you know how to use xcape to get this to work, specifically? I was browsing over the github but the usage part is like gibberish. Maybe I have to slow down 😏 😂

I run / install in terminal: sudo dnf copr enable dawid/xcape ... and than install xcape and run xcape -e 'Super_L=F1' but when I press SUPER key it doesn't fire off an F1 (which is what I have bound to launch Ulauncher).

Thanks in advance and hope all is well.

[friday]

@Vondelphia I hope you found a solution. Xcape is designed to give users a lot of flexibility and power, as the cost of being very technical to adopt and learn. I recommend it if people truly want this behavior, but I'm not someone who can help you set it up.

[aindriu80]

mapping the super key to launch Ulauncher would be great

[Vaults]

For Linux Mint; a workaround is to go into Keyboard -> Shortcuts and add a custom shortcut to ulauncher-toggle with Super-L. Works as a keypress and doesn't obfuscate other shortcuts.

[skjerns]

I found out how to set the Super/Meta key in KDE Plasma 5.24.7 to toggle Ulauncher while retaining the ability to use other shortcuts such as Super+D or Super+E :)

the trick is to assign the dbus call to the ~/.config/kwinrc under the section ModifierOnlyShortcuts (which is available from Plasma 5.8 onwards)

however this alone will not focus the application. for this we need to install wmctrl and add a script to listen to the dbus call. You can do this by these commands:

sudo apt install wmctrl -y

echo $'#!/bin/bash

dbus-monitor --profile "interface='net.launchpad.ulauncher',member='toggle_window_focus'" |
while read -r line; do
    ulauncher-toggle
done
' > ~/.config/autostart/listen_ulauncher_toggle.sh

# create autostart launcher for ulauncher toggle
echo $'[Desktop Entry]
Exec=/home/simon/.config/autostart/listen_ulauncher_toggle.sh
Icon=dialog-scripts
Name=listen_ulauncher_toggle.sh
Path=
Type=Application
X-KDE-AutostartScript=true
' > ~/.config/autostart/listen_ulauncher_toggle.sh.desktop

# register dbus to toggle and focus window
kwriteconfig5 --file ~/.config/kwinrc --group ModifierOnlyShortcuts --key Meta "net.launchpad.ulauncher,/net/launchpad/ulauncher,net.launchpad.ulauncher,toggle_window_focus"
qdbus org.kde.KWin /KWin reconfigure

let me know if something seems wrong, I'm quite new to Linux