Learn the layout
Nobody memorizes 357 bindings up front. Capslock teaches the layout in three ways: it shows the current plane when you pause, it can show each action as it runs, and the Playground has short lessons that follow your own mappings.
Hold-to-Reveal
Hold Caps Lock without pressing another key. After a short delay the current plane appears on screen as a full keyboard with every action written on its key. Press ⌘, ⌥, ⌃ or ⇧ to switch planes while it is open; release Caps Lock to close it.
It is on by default. In Settings › Hyper you can turn it off, change the delay (550 ms by default, 250 to 1500 ms), and choose whether it hides when an action runs or only when you release Caps Lock.
Show actions on screen
Settings › Hyper › Show actions on screen displays a small caption at the bottom of the screen each time a chord runs: the keys you pressed and the action they produced. It is off by default; the caption stays for 1.35 seconds unless you change the duration.
Playground
The Playground page has three parts, chosen under Lesson:
- Basics practises four gestures: tap Caps Lock for Escape, hold it to
reveal the plane,
⇪ Escto toggle Caps Lock, and⇪ Spaceto switch input source. - Navigate practises moving with
⇪ H,⇪ J,⇪ Kand⇪ L. - Free Play shows the last key you pressed: the plane, the action, the app in front, and whether the action ran, was previewed, was blocked, or the key passed through.
Lessons read your current mappings. If you changed or disabled a key a lesson uses, the lesson says so instead of asking for a key that no longer does what it describes.
Live and Safe Practice
The Mode switch chooses between Live, where chords really run, and Safe Practice. In Safe Practice, actions with side effects are previewed instead of run: opening apps, Shell commands, sleep, clipboard slots, and toggling Caps Lock. Keystrokes and mouse actions still run, so you can see the cursor move.
Safe Practice turns itself off when you leave the Playground, hide the window, or switch to another app.
Free Play keeps only the most recent key, only while the Playground is in front, and clears it when you leave. Nothing you type is recorded.
The Keyboard page
The Keyboard page draws your keyboard with each key's action on it. Choose a plane from the menu or with the ⌘ ⌥ ⌃ ⇧ toggles. While you hold Caps Lock, the drawing follows the plane you are actually on and shows a Live badge. Key legends follow your active keyboard layout, so Dvorak or AZERTY users see their own letters. Click a key to see or change it; see Keyboard editor.