Shortcuts.app support (AppIntents) to trigger recording without a global hotkey monitor
- Dominant language
- Swift
- Stars
- 2.9k
- Forks
- 226
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Description
**Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.**
At my company, endpoint security flags apps that register global hotkey/keyboard-event monitors, since that's indistinguishable from keylogger behavior without deep inspection. To use Hex at work, I need a way to trigger recording that doesn't require broad keyboard-monitoring entitlements/behavior.
**Describe the solution you'd like**
I've implemented Shortcuts.app support via AppIntents (a `ToggleRecordingIntent`), so recording can be triggered through macOS Shortcuts instead of (or alongside) the existing `KeyEventMonitorClient`-based global hotkey. This lets users invoke Hex through a Shortcut, keyboard shortcut assigned in System Settings, or automation, without the app needing to run a global key-event monitor for that trigger path.
I have this working on my fork here: https://github.com/jamesbiederbeck/hex/commit/4bd9919 (branch: `main`, on top of current upstream `main`).
Would you be open to a PR for this? Happy to adjust the approach/scope if you'd prefer it structured differently.
**Describe alternatives you've considered**
- Keeping only the existing global hotkey monitor — doesn't solve the security-review problem.
- URL scheme / CLI trigger — AppIntents felt like the more native, discoverable option since it surfaces in Shortcuts, Spotlight, and can be bound to a keyboard shortcut via System Settings without Hex itself watching the keyboard.
**Additional context**
Motivation is purely about being able to justify the app to an endpoint security team — the global hotkey monitor looks identical to keylogger behavior in an audit, and offering a non-monitoring trigger path should make that conversation easier.
Contributor guide
No contributing guide indexed for this repository
Research direction
Review the linked fork commit 4bd9919 and the existing KeyEventMonitorClient-based hotkey path, then inspect how ToggleRecordingIntent integrates with Shortcuts.app. Done means the AppIntents trigger works alongside or instead of the global hotkey path without requiring a global key-event monitor for that trigger.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- macos, swift
- Domain
- desktop
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 58/100