Use Double-Press of Control Key as Trigger

[JesseClouse]

Good morning everyone,

I’m trying to set up a macro in KM to continuously refresh the dictation time-out period in macOS, allowing for a seamless continuous speech-to-text experience. In the past, I’ve used a double-tap of the Control key as the MacOS System Level hotkey trigger and have grown very accustomed to it.

I’m looking for a way to replicate this behavior in KM, specifically, using the double-press of the Control key to trigger the macro, and furthermore, a single press subsequently that triggers the macro to stop executing. If anyone knows of an overlooked, lesser-known, or workaround method to achieve this, I’d greatly appreciate your insights. I want to continue using the Control key alone as a trigger for this function/feature to maintain my workflow.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Nige_S]

@JesseClouse

I’m looking for a way to replicate this behavior in KM, specifically, using the double-press of the Control key to trigger the macro, and furthermore, a single press subsequently that triggers the macro to stop executing.

Because you want to press only the Control key you'll need to use the "USB Device Key" trigger. Note that, unlike a Hot Key trigger, it doesn't get "swallowed" by the KM Engine and continues on to the frontmost application, so watch out for side effects...

That said, this should get you started. If you aren't using a Magic Keyboard you'll need to reset the trigger keys:

Double Press Start, Single Press Stop.kmmacros (7.4 KB)

Image

[Alexander]

Edit: See now that it does not that mye method below does not apply to your request, as it wont directly work to have a separat function from pressing control only once (for this @Nige_S's suggestion is the way to go). But the Typed Modifier method can be programmed in a similar way, and I guess it can be useful having the typed modifier method mentioned here in this thread anyways.

There's also the option to use Typed String Trigger, that from KM11 has supported modifiers as typed input. This has the benefit of not having to set it specifically for each keyboard you use, in the case you use more than one.

Double-Press of Control Key as Typed String Trigger.kmmacros (1.4 KB)
KM v11.0.3

Macro Image

[_jims]

@JesseClouse

I'm looking for a way to replicate this behavior in KM, specifically, using the double-press of the Control key to trigger the macro, and furthermore, a single press subsequently that triggers the macro to stop executing.

@Nige_S

Note that, unlike a Hot Key trigger, it doesn't get "swallowed" by the KM Engine and continues on to the frontmost application, so watch out for side effects...

Hi, @JesseClouse. The issue that @Nige_S mentioned is a showstopper for me.

My recommendation...

1. I use a Karabiner Elements Complex Modification to map a lone press of Control to some key that is not available on my keyboard. In my case, since I use a MacBook Pro and don't have a keypad, I map the lone press of Control to ⌃⌥⇧⌘+Key Pad 0.

2. On my MacBook Pro, the lone press of Control displays one of my Keyboard Maestro palettes. But in your case you could create a macro that has two hot key triggers:

   • ⌃⌥⇧⌘+Key Pad 0 is tapped only once
   • ⌃⌥⇧⌘+Key Pad 0 is tapped only twice

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Here's my Karabiner Elements Complex Modification for { ⌃ → ⌃⌥⇧⌘+[0] }:

( json )

{
    "description": "⌃ → ⌃⌥⇧⌘+[0]",
    "manipulators": [
        {
            "from": {
                "key_code": "left_control",
                "modifiers": { "optional": ["any"] }
            },
            "parameters": {
                "basic.to_if_alone_timeout_milliseconds": 250,
                "basic.to_if_held_down_threshold_milliseconds": 250
            },
            "to": [
                {
                    "key_code": "left_control",
                    "lazy": true
                }
            ],
            "to_if_alone": [
                {
                    "key_code": "keypad_0",
                    "modifiers": ["left_shift", "left_option", "left_control", "left_command"]
                }
            ],
            "to_if_held_down": [{ "key_code": "left_control" }],
            "type": "basic"
        }
    ]
}

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And here's a template macro that you could use to execute and cancel per your requirements.

Download: Execute-Cancel Example.kmmacros (20 KB)

Macro-Image

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Macro-Notes

• Macros are always disabled when imported into the Keyboard Maestro Editor.
  • The user must ensure the macro is enabled.
  • The user must also ensure the macro's parent macro-group is enabled.

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System Information

• macOS 15.4.1 (24E263)
• Keyboard Maestro v11.0.3

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