Tactile vs keymaster

keymaster pioneered elegant minimal shortcuts (key('⌘+shift+k', handler)) and simple named scopes. It’s also effectively unmaintained (no release in roughly a decade) and built on the deprecated keyCode. If you’re here, you’re probably migrating.

At a glance

	keymaster	Tactile
Maintenance	dormant for ~10 years	active
Key model	`keyCode` (deprecated)	`event.key` + `event.code`, hybrid
Scopes	`key.setScope('issues')`	`when` expressions
Filter	global `key.filter`	per-engine `ignore`
Query pressed state	`key.isPressed(77)` (by keyCode!)	not exposed — rules + context instead
Sequences	✗	✅ `'g i'`
Conflicts	✗	detected + priority

Migration

keymaster’s scope model maps directly onto a context key:

// keymaster
key('⌘+k, ctrl+k', openPalette);
key('j', 'issues', nextIssue);
key.setScope('issues');
key.unbind('j', 'issues');

// Tactile
const kb = createKeybindingEngine();

kb.add({ id: 'palette', keys: 'mod+k', handler: openPalette }); // one string, both OSes
const off = kb.add({ id: 'next', keys: 'j', when: "scope == 'issues'", handler: nextIssue });
kb.context.set('scope', 'issues'); // replaces key.setScope
off(); // replaces key.unbind

Notes:

⌘+k, ctrl+k alternatives collapse into the single mod+k alias.
keymaster’s key.filter (which you had to override to allow shortcuts in inputs) becomes the documented ignore option.
isPressed-style polling has no direct equivalent; model modes as context keys instead — it’s declarative and introspectable.

Next steps