Mousetrap

Mousetrap is a simple library for handling keyboard shortcuts in Javascript.

It is around 1.6kb minified and gzipped and 3kb minified, has no external dependencies, and has been tested in the following browsers:

• Internet Explorer 6+
• Safari
• Firefox
• Chrome

It has support for keypress, keydown, and keyup events on specific keys, keyboard combinations, or key sequences.

Getting started

1. Include mousetrap on your page before the closing </body> tag

   <script src="/path/to/mousetrap.min.js"></script>

2. Add some keyboard events to listen for

   <script>
       // single keys
       Mousetrap.bind('4', function() { console.log('4'); });
       Mousetrap.bind("?", function() { console.log('show shortcuts!'); });
       Mousetrap.bind('esc', function() { console.log('escape'); }, 'keyup');
   
       // combinations
       Mousetrap.bind('command+shift+K', function() { console.log('command shift k'); });
   
       // map multiple combinations to the same callback
       Mousetrap.bind(['command+k', 'ctrl+k'], function() {
           console.log('command k or control k');
   
           // return false to prevent default browser behavior
           // and stop event from bubbling
           return false;
       });
   
       // gmail style sequences
       Mousetrap.bind('g i', function() { console.log('go to inbox'); });
       Mousetrap.bind('* a', function() { console.log('select all'); });
   
       // konami code!
       Mousetrap.bind('up up down down left right left right b a enter', function() {
           console.log('konami code');
       });
   </script>

Why Mousetrap?

There are a number of other similar libraries out there so what makes this one different?

• There are no external dependencies, no framework is required
• You are not limited to keydown events (You can specify keypress, keydown, or keyup or let Mousetrap choose for you).
• You can bind key events directly to special keys such as ? or * without having to specify shift+/ or shift+8 which are not consistent across all keyboards
• It works with international keyboard layouts
• You can bind Gmail like key sequences in addition to regular keys and key combinations
• You can programatically trigger key events with the trigger() method
• It works with the numeric keypad on your keyboard
• The code is well documented/commented

Documentation

Full documentation can be found at http://craig.is/killing/mice