Treechord

The Microsoft Windows keybind system lacks any form of customizability. Your only choice is to assign button presses to individual links or shortcuts. Unfortunately, this is hard to manage, and doesn't scale between systems. Treechord solves this problem by bringing a single executable file that works on all Windows systems.

By design, Treechord doesn't modify any Windows internals, unlike unsuppored modifications that use the registry. Instead, Treechord adds a simple JSON file to your user's home folder, allowing for fast and simple customization without fuddling with complex source code.

Features

Built on top of Windows; doesn't cause instability; doesn't touch registry, or group policies.
Standalone; no installation.
Supported by all keyboards (extended on Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard 4000).
JSON configurable.

Configuration

The configuration file is in JSON format, with each key representing a keyboard shortcut and the corresponding value representing the program to be launched.

Here is an example of a valid configuration:

{
"bindA": "C:/Users/Brody/AppData/Roaming/Telegram Desktop/Telegram.exe",
"bindShiftA": "C:/Users/Brody/AppData/Local/Discord/app-1.0.9007/Discord.exe",
"bindAltA": "C:/Users/Brody/AppData/Local/Microsoft/WindowsApps/SpotifyAB.SpotifyMusic_zpdnekdrzrea0/Spotify.exe"
}

In this example, pressing "Windows + A" will launch Telegram, "Windows + Shift + A" will launch Discord, and "Windows + Alt + A" will launch Spotify.

Note: Windows + Ctrl + r is used to reload the current Treechord configuration.

Key Bindings

The keys or key combinations to be bound are specified as strings. Here are some examples of valid key bindings:

"bindB": Binds the Windows + B key combination.
"bindShiftB": Binds the Windows + Shift + B key combination.
"bindAltB": Binds the Windows + Alt + B key combination.

Program Paths

The programs to be launched are specified as file paths. These paths should be absolute and should include the program's executable file.

Here is an example of a valid program path:

"C:/Users/Brody/AppData/Roaming/Telegram Desktop/Telegram.exe"

Note: Use / (forward slashes) instead of \ (backslashes). If you must use backslashes, use \\ for proper Treechord interpretation.

Usage

To use the keyboard shortcuts, simply press the bound key or key combination. The corresponding program will be launched.

To run Treechord, run Treechord.ahk, or the Treechord-x64-windows.exe file.

Note: The keyboard shortcuts will only work if the configuration file is properly loaded by Treechord.

You can download Treechord with the source code here.