HotkeysProvider, Default Options, and Hotkey Scopes in Solid

HotkeysProvider is optional. Without one, every hotkey uses the built-in defaults and belongs to the 'global' scope, so it works whenever its component is mounted. Many apps never need more. Add a provider when you want to:

• Change the default options for every hotkey or recorder in part of your app.
• Provide app hotkeys and the user's custom hotkeys.
• Group hotkeys into scopes that turn on and off together, such as everything in a dialog.

Set default options#

Pass defaultOptions to change the defaults for everything inside the provider:

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

function Root() {
  return (
    <HotkeysProvider
      defaultOptions={{
        hotkey: { requireReset: true, timeout: 1500 },
        hotkeyRecorder: { idleTimeoutMs: 2000 },
      }}
    >
      <App />
    </HotkeysProvider>
  )
}

• hotkey defaults apply to every createHotkey and createHotkeys inside the provider. requireReset applies to chords, and timeout to sequences. Options passed to a primitive override the defaults. See Hotkey options.
• hotkeyRecorder defaults apply to every createHotkeyRecorder inside the provider. See Custom Hotkey Recording.

A nested provider merges its defaults over its parent's, so a provider deeper in the tree can change the defaults for one part of your app.

Provide app hotkeys#

Pass your app hotkeys to the root provider, along with the user's saved custom hotkeys and a function that saves changes:

<HotkeysProvider
  appHotkeys={appHotkeys}
  customHotkeys={savedHotkeys}
  onCustomHotkeysChange={saveHotkeys}
>
  <App />
</HotkeysProvider>

Nested providers use the app hotkeys and custom hotkeys of the provider above them, so pass these only once, at the root.

Group hotkeys into scopes#

Apps reuse keys. Escape should close the dialog, not the panel behind it, and Mod+S should post the comment you are typing, not save the whole document. You could pass enabled to every hotkey, but then each component has to know about every other component that might want the same key.

Scopes group hotkeys by where they render instead. Wrap part of your tree in a HotkeysProvider with a scope, and every hotkey created inside it belongs to that scope. The scope is active while the provider is mounted and enabled, and nested scopes take precedence over the scopes around them.

import { HotkeysProvider, createHotkey } from '@tanstack/solid-hotkeys'

function App() {
  return (
    <HotkeysProvider>
      <Toolbar />
      <HotkeysProvider scope="editor">
        <Editor />
      </HotkeysProvider>
    </HotkeysProvider>
  )
}

function Editor() {
  // Created in the 'editor' scope
  createHotkey('Mod+B', () => toggleBold())
  return <div>...</div>
}

A hotkey created with createHotkey or createHotkeys uses the scope of the nearest provider that sets one. Hotkeys outside any scoped provider, including those under the root provider, are in the 'global' scope, which is always active. A provider without scope uses its parent's scope.

Scopes are names, not instances. Two mounted providers with scope="editor" share one scope, and it stays active until both unmount. Give each region its own name when you need to turn them on and off separately.

Scopes and targets#

A scope and a target both limit when a hotkey works, and a hotkey can have both:

import { createSignal } from 'solid-js'

function Editor() {
  const [outline, setOutline] = createSignal<HTMLElement | null>(null)

  // In the 'editor' scope: works wherever focus is, while the scope is active
  createHotkey('Mod+B', () => toggleBold())

  // Also has a target: works only while focus is inside the outline
  createHotkey('Delete', () => deleteHeading(), () => ({ target: outline() }))

  return <nav ref={setOutline} tabIndex={0}>...</nav>
}

Nested scopes win#

When hotkeys in two active scopes match the same key, only one scope handles it:

• A nested scope beats the scopes it is nested in.
• Otherwise, the scope that activated most recently wins.

Every hotkey in the winning scope that matches the key runs. Hotkeys in other scopes do not.

function Page() {
  return (
    <HotkeysProvider scope="document">
      <DocumentView />
    </HotkeysProvider>
  )
}

function DocumentView() {
  createHotkey('Mod+S', () => saveDocument())

  return (
    <HotkeysProvider scope="comments">
      <CommentBox />
    </HotkeysProvider>
  )
}

function CommentBox() {
  // Wins while mounted, because 'comments' is nested in 'document'
  createHotkey('Mod+S', () => postComment())
  return <textarea />
}

When the comment box unmounts, Mod+S saves the document again.

Precedence compares hotkeys on the same target. A hotkey bound to an element still handles events from inside that element before document hotkeys do, as long as its scope is active.

Two registrations of the same hotkey in different scopes are not a conflict, so conflictBehavior does not warn about them.

Turn a scope off with enabled#

Set enabled={false} to deactivate a provider's scope while it stays mounted. This suits tabs, carousels, and split views that keep inactive panes rendered:

function Folders() {
  const [current, setCurrent] = createSignal('inbox')

  return (
    <For each={folders}>
      {(name) => (
        <HotkeysProvider scope={name} enabled={current() === name}>
          <FolderPane name={name} />
        </HotkeysProvider>
      )}
    </For>
  )
}

function FolderPane(props: { name: string }) {
  // Only the current folder's handler runs
  createHotkey('Alt+N', () => addItem(props.name))
  return <div>...</div>
}

FolderPane doesn't know which folder is current. Without scopes, each pane would need an enabled option on every hotkey it creates. Provider props are reactive, so the scope turns on and off as current changes.

enabled is inherited. Disabling a provider also deactivates every scope nested in it. A provider without its own scope has no scope to deactivate, so disabling it affects only the scoped providers inside it.

Hotkeys in an inactive scope stay registered. Devtools list them under their inactive scope, and createAppHotkeyList reports their app hotkeys as 'suspended'.

Exclusive scopes#

An exclusive scope suspends every other scope while it is active, including 'global'. Use it for dialogs, menus, and other overlays that should own the keyboard:

function EditDialog(props: { onClose: () => void }) {
  return (
    <HotkeysProvider scope="edit-dialog" exclusive>
      <DialogBody onClose={props.onClose} />
    </HotkeysProvider>
  )
}

function DialogBody(props: { onClose: () => void }) {
  createHotkeys([
    { hotkey: 'Escape', callback: () => props.onClose() },
    { hotkey: 'Mod+S', callback: () => saveAndClose() },
  ])
  return (
    <Portal>
      <div role="dialog">...</div>
    </Portal>
  )
}

While the dialog is open, Mod+S saves the dialog and nothing else, even though the page behind it registers Mod+S too. Scopes nested inside the exclusive provider keep working, so the dialog can still be built from scoped components.

A scope follows the component tree, not the DOM. The Portal above renders into document.body, but its hotkeys still belong to edit-dialog.

Allow other scopes#

Pass { allow } to keep some scopes working while an exclusive scope is active:

<HotkeysProvider
  scope="edit-dialog"
  exclusive={{ allow: ['global', 'command-palette'] }}
>
  <DialogBody />
</HotkeysProvider>

• An allowed scope still has to be active on its own. Only 'global' is always active.
• Allowed scopes follow the usual precedence. A popover that opens over the dialog in an allowed scope is newer, so its Escape closes the popover first.
• The allow array can be written inline. Providers compare it by value, so a new array with the same scopes does not reactivate the scope.

Stacked exclusive scopes#

When more than one exclusive scope is active, the one with the highest precedence owns the keyboard, and only its allow list applies. A confirmation dialog opened from inside an edit dialog suspends the edit dialog until it closes.

Each exclusive scope needs a unique name. Activating the same exclusive scope twice logs a warning in development, because hotkeys from both providers would fire together.

Choose a scope for one hotkey#

Pass scope to a single hotkey to register it somewhere other than the nearest provider's scope:

function Sidebar() {
  // Created in 'global' even when Sidebar renders inside a scope
  createHotkey('Mod+K', () => openPalette(), { scope: 'global' })
  return <nav>...</nav>
}

A hotkey can name any scope, but it fires only while some provider has that scope active.

Scopes and app hotkeys#

An app hotkey can declare a scope. The declared scope wins over the provider it registers under:

export const appHotkeys = defineAppHotkeys({
  'doc.save': { hotkey: 'Mod+S', meta: { name: 'Save' }, scope: 'document' },
  'comment.post': { hotkey: 'Mod+S', meta: { name: 'Post comment' }, scope: 'comments' },
  'palette.open': { hotkey: 'Mod+K', meta: { name: 'Command palette' }, scope: 'global' },
})

App hotkeys without a declared scope use the provider's scope, like any other hotkey.

The declared scope also drives conflict checks. findConflicts and setCustomHotkey let app hotkeys in different scopes share a hotkey, as doc.save and comment.post do above. An app hotkey in 'global', or with no declared scope, conflicts with every app hotkey that uses the same hotkey. Declare scopes on app hotkeys that are meant to share keys.

createAppHotkeyList reports an app hotkey as 'suspended' when it has enabled registrations but none of them is in an active scope.

Scopes outside Solid#

For UI that Solid doesn't render, such as a dialog from another library, activate a scope on the hotkey manager. See Activate a scope.

Inspect scopes#

The hotkeys devtools group registrations by scope and show which scopes are active, suspended, allowed, or exclusive.

Your app doesn't need to track scopes itself. If you want to show scope state anyway, read it from the hotkey manager. See Read scope state.

See the Scopes example for nested, enabled, and exclusive scopes together.