KeyGhost

Category

Developer Tools

Launched

June 22, 2026

Pricing

free

Website

keyghost.dev

KeyGhost is a macOS menu bar app that transforms a keyboard key—Caps Lock, F keys, Right Option, or any other modifier—into a launcher. When you hold the trigger key, a translucent keyboard overlay fades in showing app icons bound to each letter. Press a bound letter while holding the trigger, and the app launches immediately; the key chord is consumed and never reaches your focused window. The app reads the trigger key from the raw HID layer, beneath any modifier remapping, so it works regardless of Hyperkey, Karabiner, or macOS Modifier Keys. KeyGhost supports nested radial menus: bind a letter to a root action plus four arrow direction sub actions (e.g., Caps+F opens Chrome; Caps+F+↑ opens Gmail; Caps+F+→ opens Calendar). It also offers a passthrough mode that rewrites event flags to the full ⌃⌥⇧⌘ chord before letting the key through, making it compatible with hotkeys for apps like Maccy, Raycast, or Shortcuts.app. The overlay shows live app icons resolved from NSWorkspace, and settings can be edited via a click to edit on screen keyboard or by editing a JSON file that is live watched.